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Entered at the PostoXfice at Wllming- ton, N. C, a second-Class Matter. April 13. 1879. JACKSON & BELL COMPANY TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION : THE DAILY MESSENGER by mall one year, $6.00; six months, $3.00; three months, $1.5; oe month, 50 cents. THE SEMI-WEEKLY MESSEN GER (two eight page papers), bv mail, ne year. $1.00; six months, 50 cents, advance. WILMINGTON. N. C. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1007 TAKEN FOR GRANTED There is one peculiar feature of this railroad passenger rate cantest now be 'ing waged in this state which, so far as we are aware, has not been alluded to in a single newsaper in this state. That is the assumption by all those who have taken sides against the right of the railroad to bring its orig inal suit in the federal court that the state supreme court would, as a mat ter of course, decide the criminal case on appeal from Wake superior court in favor of the state and against the defendant, the Southern railroad. That is the case in which the South ern was indicted in the state court for having refused to disobey an order the federal court made, covering the subject matter on which the indict ment was based, in a suit pending in that court before the institution of the criminal action in the state court. Our readers remember that after the federal court had enjoined the putting into effect of the new rates the South ern was indicted in the state court in Wake county, convicted and fined thirty 'thousand dollars. The defend ant has appealed to the state supreme court on the ground that it was ot liable to indictment pending the final decision on the constitutionality of the ct establishing the lower rate. 1 is a quesion of law to be !e- Thau , "''ipreme court. The anli- cidea Dy uu .xailroaa taction, fffl7! has SWT looked upon it as such. It has taken it as a foregone conclusion that the state supreme court would decide this abstruse legal question in favor of the state simply because it was as some maintain a conflict between state and federal courts, and, of course, the state court would decide in favor of the state. -"Those who look for such a d as a matter of ctfur&e, logs sight fcn frely t Vn lact that the state sn- pfentt court is a judicial body, which passes upon the law as its member understand it to be, but they see:n to think that, in this case at least, that court will "stand by the state against federal usurpation" and declare in favor or the state, uo mai the law in the case may be. We do not hold to that opinion. We believe that court will decide the case accord ing to the opinion of a majority of its members as to what the law is in the case without regard to which side shall gain and which side shall lose by its decision. The contention among certain per sons who have been prominent on the state's side in this case that the action should have been brought in the state court, because they thought the state supreme court would, as a matter of course, decide against the railroad, is far from complimentary to that court and is a grave insinuation against the integrity and honor of its members. It is an insinuation that, law or no law for it, the judges of that court would decide in favor of the state. They expect those judges of the highest court in the state to fling aside the law and decide the case from a parti san standpoint. There is strong prejudice, the public has a right to believe, on the pait of one member of that court against the Southern railroad which has existed frt- vd! Vmt nn nne who honors the ..... , court believes he win let nis peiwum spite rule him in determining the law in a case subject to his decision. BRINGS HONOR TO HIS STATE . We . are glad to see the unanimity with which the newspapers of the j state, with a few exceptions, applaud and endorse the complementary re-1 . f marks on Senator Overman mad de by it forf Senator McEnery. They take granted that there will be no serious opposition to his re-election by the next legislature. There will be some opposition, of course, but we believe that by the . time the legislature meets there will be such a general de mand for his re-elecion that the oppo sition will not have the face to make a stand against him, be is growing so rapidly in favor with the people of the state. Of the many favorable press comments on the McEnery interview we give the following from the Fayette- ville Observer: That was a fine tribute to .Senator Overman which t?e reprinted the other day from the Cleveland Star. No man has grown more than he since he be came a senator four years ago. Vet eran Senator McEnery justly regards him as alreaayln the very front rank of .the state. Besides his acknowled ged ability and remarkable resource fulness, which? he employs with con. summate skill in his state's behalf, he is such a clean man and throughall such a gentleman! He has brought great honor to his tate, and we imagine that k grateful constituency will see to It that he shall long continue to adorn the place now filled by him. FORFEITURE OF CITIZENSHIP A dispatch states that Richard Crok er is no longer a citizen of the Unit ed States; that he has forfeited his naturalization rights by the fact that he has resided in Great Britain for two years. An act of congress which went into effect last March, provides that a naturalized American citizen, who resides two years in the country from which he came or five years in any oth er country, shall lose his citizenship. The question is, would such a law have a retroactive effect and deprive a nat uralized citizen of his rights already acquired before that law was passed because he had resided out of the coun try for two years at a time prior to the passage of the act? It strikes us that a man's right of citizenship by natur alization already acquired could not be taken from him because of certain conduct prior to the passage of an act of congress making that conduct cause for canceling his naturalization. Would not that be in violation of that provision of the federal constitution prohibiting the passage of ex post facto laws? Surely congress did not intend that act to cut off from citizenship such naturalized citizens as had, prior to the passage of the act, lived in their native country for two years or in some other country for the space of five earsjo take away a man's already acquired citizenship for an act which was no cause for such forfeiture at the time it was done but was afterward made cause for such forfeiture. THE PARCELS POST J" Postmaster Geal Meyers seems de-termr-d 6ft establishing a parcels post "which will not interfere with the ex press companies." Mr. Wanamaker, "wen postmaster general, tried to ac complish that feat but was unsuccess ful. The express companies defeated his scheme. We hope they will be as suc cessful in their fight against Mr. Mey ers. His plan is for the postoffice to handle ten-pound packages, but he is willing to reduce the weight to five pounds if that is necessary to secure the success of his undertaking. The parcels post will chiefly benefit the big department stores and mail-order houses in the large cities, and that to the great detriment of the merchants in the smaller cities, the towns and in the county. It will cause greater cen tralization of trade and the destruc tion of local markets. It will work to the still greater building up of trade at commercial centers to the injury of the local markets. If it is for the good of the country that most of the retail trade from every section should be transferred to three or four cities and to a few stores in each of them, then the system will be beneficial; other wise it will be injurious to the coun try. Speaker Cannon, who was never yet known to desire democratic victory, is predicting a democratic victory in 1908. Of course he does not make the prediction in express terms, but here is the way he puts it. "If congress does not act wisely at the next session; if it is not actuated by calmness and patriotism; if it makes great mistakes and fails to meet the approval of the reasoning American public, there will not be much need for the election of dele gates to the next national convention of the republican party." . This tantamount to a prediction of j a democratic victory. "News -and Ob- serve Of course Mr. Cannon does not de sire democratic victory, nor does he anticipate it in 190S. "If congress does not act. wisely", means if con gress does not again elect him speak er of the house and put the control of legislation into his hands. In other words Mr. Cannon threatens the re - publican party with direful calamity if it interrupts his management and ab solute control of all congressional Leg islation. Senator Bailey is talking too much No southern man has any business saying in a public speech that "the Texas negro can be made as good as a Massachusetts white man, but he can not be made as good as a Texas white man". If that really was Mr. Bailey's belief what was the use or the sense of giving expression to it in a public speech? What a howl there would be from the south and what an outburst of protest against Yankee prejudice against the south if a Massachusetts senator were to make the same declar ation in a public speech, with the states reyersed. The republicans of the state have nipped . one aspiration of ex-Switor Buttler, having' placed State Chair man Adams Tietween Butler and the president In affairs relating to the republican party in this state, Butler will not be stole to reach the presi dent except over the shoulders of Ad ams. The latter is boss antTclictator. Charlotte Chronicle. We are not sure that The Chronicle is correct. Were any other man pres ident but Mr. Roosevelt we would agree with that paper; but the president is too much like the Irishman's flea for one to count on the certainty of Butler being choked off by the action of the republican state committee. As apt as not the ex-senator will have the ear of the president to greater extent than every before; or it may be that he will be made to understand that the president Will abide by the action of the committee. No one can with cer taintity predict one day what he will do the next. The Salisbury Post announces, on what is considered good authority, that Mr. Frank Linney, son of ex-Congressman Linney, will be the republican candidate for congress in the Eighth district as Mr. Hackett's opponent. We do not suppose the republicans of that district will care to be represented in congress by a man who opposes the establishment by the government of the great Appalachian reservation. The senior Mr. Linney has been stumping th district in opposition to the meas- ure, so we take it for granted that his) son, if elected for congress, would furn ish bis mite toward defeating the meas ure. However, it does not make any difference what are his views on that or any other subject; he will not have the opportunity of airing them in the house of representatives of the Sixty first congress, as Mr. Hackett will JJe j sute To represent tb,e Eighth district in that body. It would be a great pity for this state to send to congress a man who is opposed to the establish ment of the reservation. THE CZAR IN HIS CAPITAL. On Sunday last the czar of Rus sia entered his capital for the first time in nearly three years. His last visit there was on that fearful "Red Sunday" January 22, 1905, when s many of his subjects were butchered in the streets while on their way to the royal palace to humbly present a petition to their emperor for the cor rection of the many grievances they suffered at the hand of the nobility and the government officials. One may well believe that the czar's entry on Sunday was no triumphal one. There were no shouts of wel come from assembled populace. Houses all along the route were closed and the occupants were not even allowed to appear at their windows to ses the monarch go by. Troops were massed along the line to prevent the assassi nation of the czar or some of his of ficial household; still the entry was pronounced a complete success, because "no. untoward incident occurred.' The czar's visit to the city was in order to attend the consecration of t church built to the memory of his grandfather, Czar Alexander II, erect ed on the spot on which he was as sassinated by nihilists in 1881. Czar Nicholas fully appreciates the truth of the saying: "Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown." ELECTIVE FEDERAL SUPREME COURT JUDGES. The News and Observer says that plank in the democratic platform which declares: "We favor such amendments to the constitution of the United States as will provide for ths election of district and circuit judges of the United States and of tie United States senators by direct vote of the people and a graduated in come tax" is all right so far as it gee?. That paper says the only objection to f it is Uiat It does not taclade the jus- tlces of the federal supreme cent; "for", it says "they ought to be elective i too." , God forbid that change should eicr be made in the constitution. It would be a bad day for the nation on which the members of that court were made to depend upon the schemings of par ty convention managers for securing nomination as candidates and upon the votes of members of political parties for election to the ench for a short term of years. Besides the objection to having the members of this court of last resort in any way dependent on the will of the people through political preferences, the personnel of such a court should be kept the same as fr as it is possible to do so. Frequent changes of judges would have a tenden cy to unsettle the law, through the danger of one set of judges overruling the previous set. The decisions of that court are the law finally settled. There is no reversing them except by tne court itself. That court has at Units overruled former decisions made by U, but these have been very rare cases It ,as a rule, follows one straight and undeviating line in construing the stat utes of the Unted States and those of the states when a federal ques tion is involved in the case. Frequent change of judges would be liable to unsettle the line of decisions followed by the court and would tend to lessen the confidence the people nov: have in the court. There should be no possibility of a condition exlsfng which would allow a judge of that court or his friends to scheme or piaii for the retention of his position by ie nomination and re-election. CAPE FEAR IOVER IMPROVE MENTS. The Fayetteville Observer, of Mon day, contained a letter from Congress man Godwin to Mr. F. R. Rose, secre tary of the Fayetteville chamber of commerce, in reference to mat ters in which the people of Fayetteville are interested. One of the subjects is of great interest to Wilmingtonians, also the proposed deepening of the Cape Fear river both below and above this city. On this subiect Mr. Godwin writes to Mr. Rose, Referring to the mJtter of the Cape Fear river, I desire to assure you that this subject will receivermy earnest' support and careful attention, j eon. sider this one of the most Important projects before the peoplfe 0f the dis trict. I am vary anxious to secure a sufficient appropriation from the next c2Tigress to complete the construction Of the locks and dams; this will make Fayetteville a great distributing point. If we can secure a deep channel from Wilmington a port of entry, we will then be able to compare Wil mington to Norfolk and Charleston, and Fayetteville wittl be as great a distributing point as Richmond or At lanta. We are glad to know that Mr. God win Is so much in earnest about the deep water channel from our city, to the sea and the establishment of locks on the river between this city and Fayetteville. WTe feel sure he will persevere until he secures sufficient appropriations for both these import ant works. As he says, with the proposed im provement on the upper Cape Fear, Fayetteville will be made a great dis tributing point. There is no estimat ing the increase of traffic with inland territory that city will secure. No scheme could be devised which would be of greater benefit to her; and the benefit would not stop there; it wuld extend to a large area of surrounding country into many counties. Its re sults would be far-reaching. Then if Mr. Godwin can succeed in securing the undertaking f giving WiL. mington a thirty-foot channel to the sea our port will in a short while be second to none on the South Atlantic seaboard. This would help Fayetteville also, for it would add to the import ance of her deep waterway to our city. Mr. Godwin is energetic in his en deavors to secure the river improve ments; but, because he is the congress man, he must not be expected to do all the work and to do it alone. He must have the encouragement and the help of the people of his district, es pecially of the commercial bodies in the cities. There is much they can do in his aid. If they lose interest in the matter and become disheartened they vill throw a damper on Mr. Godwin and hamper him in his efforts. If he cannot show the goverment depart ments and the congress that the peo ple who are to b benefitted are suffi ciently interested in the same to ex ert themselves to secure its consumma tion he will not be able to secure the appropriation of the millions of dol lars necessary to make the improve ments. - s REVOLT IN ARGENTINA A Buenos Ayresdispatca says that news of serious unrest In the pro vince of Oorrientes has reached that city. Armed bands have appeared on the frontier and a revolution Is declar ed to be Imminent Corrlentes is a province of Argentina, in the central -eastern section, lying west of Brazil. Its population in 1S90 was 220,000. It lies not very far north of the cauital of he republic Ar gentina is em? of the most progressive and prosperous of the South American countries. Her people are not given to revolts and revolutions as are those of most of the Central and South Arneri can countries. are much more "peaceable and far more industrious That republic has a large foreign trad her chief exports being wheat, hides and cattle. She is quite a rival of the United States in supplying the wheat markets of Europe. A great many Germans have settled in that countrj, and they have imparted much of their thrift to the natives. Next to Brazil and Mexico Argentina is the moit advanced of all the Latin-American nations. We are surprised to hear that the sprit of revolution has broken out there. It is something new for that republic. NEWS FROM THE CAPITAL, Negro Brought to Raleigh to Avert Possible Lynching 1 recruit for Penitentiary Reward lor Murderer Charter Granted. Messenger Bureau Raleigh, Sept 4. Last night Robert Upchureh the ne gro Mho is charged with felonious as sault upon a white woman near Louis burg, was brought here and placei in jail ior safe keeping. A special term of court is to try him at Louisburg. September 22, but there were some hints of lynching and inorder to be on th safe side the sheriff bropght him here so he can be kept until the trial. A charter is granted the Mid-Way Telephone Company, headquarters at Winston-Salem, capital stock $25,000. C. E. Snider and othersare the stock holders. Sheriff Smith, of Caldwell, brought to the penitentiary today John Bristol, white, to serve two years for incest. It seems that there was some doubt as to his guilt, his wife having a grudge, it is intimated against the daughter and there being some other reasons for a light sentence. Governor Glenn offers a reward of ?1Q0 for Ransom Godwin, a white man, who muidered bis wife in Johnston county recentlj'. The carnival which was here In the month of July is to be here again un der the auspices of the Macabees. This afternoon the funeral was held of Mrs A J Bynum who was a daugh ter of the late Co. A. W. Shaffer, of Raleigh. She died of appendicitis in a hospital in Sumpter S. C, her home being in Timmonsville. Calls for money for the high schools from the state appropriation of $45,000 come in daily and all has been appor tioned except about $5,000. This will no doubt be allowed before the fiscal year ends. A report having come to State Vet erinarian Tait Butler there was a case of glanders in horses at Wilson, he has gone there to investigate. Deputy Marshal J. b. Jordan, who was shot in the night battle between two squads or revenue officers in Chat ham county last week, has been taken to his home at Cary. Posseman John Banks who was also shot Is doing very wel lat the hospital here and it is not thought will not loose his leg the bone iOf which Is considerably shattered however. SERIOUS OPERATION DONE Leg of Twelve Year Old Girl Taken Off at Knee lor Tuberculosis. Miss Tessie Cates, twelve year old daughter of Allison Cates, of Orange county, underwent a serious opera tion a day or two ago. In this opera tion it was found to be necessary to amputate the left leg of the little irl, this being just below the knee. She was suffering from tuberculosis: of the bone. Before the operation was done an X-ray photograph of the limb was taken. This showed that the bone was badly diseased. Then it was de cided that the operation was necessary The patient is now getting along nicely. This is a peculiarly sad case. The family of the little girl is an extreme ly poor one. So poor, in fact, that it will be impossible for the family to get an artificial limb. Unless this can be done the little girl will be in bad shapo for the remainder of her life, if, in fact, it does not cost her life. With an artificial limb it will en- ble the little girl to get plenty of ex ercise and at the same time put ner in shan tn ti -n n living: in the f:- t'?rc Durham I- raid. There Is getting to be an awful lot of agnosticism In the world. It Is now said that wearing a cabbage1 leaf In the hat will not prevent sunstroke. They'll be claiming next that spitting Ion the halt does not make the fish" bite. Exchange. FIGimNO HUGHES RooscTcit Preparing to Snow New York's Governor Under at Presi dential Candidate. As a result of, the attack on Govern or Hughes by Senator Piatt, character izing the governor as a political tyr ant and declaring: that he cannot cootrol the delegates to the next re publican national convention and claim lag that Fairbanks is the logical arrf 1 Idael candidate and a statement fronTO Washington that President Roosevelt v ' has decided to recognize Cortelyou as the state leader, the republican rarty is badly split. A number of personal friends of the governor here today are requesting him to declare himself a candidate In a speech at Buffalo Thursday. He will not do so but may touch on national issues then. Albany Dispatch. CIIAS. D. McIVKR' JR., HURT Struck While on the TnUn by Tvl graph Pole and Painfully II art News was received In the city yes terday of an accident which beftll Cbas. D. Mclver, son of the late Dr. Mclver, at Spray last Saturday after noon which came dangerously n.ur resulting seriously. Young Mclver who is staying at Draper, a small to-,n near Spray, went up to Spray Satu day afternoon nn business and when he started to go home saw hla train pulling out so It wus neevtihary for hlci to run to catch it. As the train glided fTi by he swung the last coach but before he could get off the steps and watlo he was hanging on his head struck a teh graph ixjle which was plante d ve:y near the track and ho was knocked off the train on the ground in an uncon scious condition. The services of a physician were at imcc called In anj It was something like a half hour be fore he completely regained con sciousness. Upon examination it was found that he had an uIy scalp wound on the back of his head but It was not thought that his skull was fractured. At last rejK)rt ho was get ting along nicely. Greensboro Tele gram. Johnson for President. There is something more than sug gestion in the name of Governor John so nof Minnesota. Ho Is a democratic governor of a state which gives a nor mal majority of 70,000 to the republi can ticket. At the election last year he had 69,000 majority. He is of Swedish origin, brainy, 8elf poised, thoroughly honest and terribly inearnest as to reform of every department of public service. a - - . He is not radical in any use terra. He was elected because the people of Minnesota had confidence in hla ability, Integrity and will power. Johnson would be les3 antagonized by the corporation element than Bry an; therefore It would be well to keep In mind that there is another than the great commoner who could lead th democratic party to victory. Our choice Is Bryan. We believe him the greatest American, but if there Is too much objection, then Johnson. Hast ings (Mich.,) Journal. Cliargrs and Counter CI large At Washington last week the rail road attorneys In the North Carolina rate case were charging the stale's attorneys with obstructing thoJsi Ing and delaying the case, and supreme court at Raleigh the state's attorneys were making the same charges against the railroad. Both may be right or both may be wrong. The public doesn't know. It only wishes that both would bring the matter to a conclusion. Charlotte Ob server. Salisbury's Proposcul Bon Fue A bond election has been calh'd to be held on October 1st in Salisbury for the purpose of authorizing nn is sue of $300,000 of five per cent, munic ipal Improvement bonds. It is pro posed to use the proceeds of the issue for street, water and sewer improve ments during the next three years Concord Times. Mr. R. A. Doughton, of Sparta, who has been prominently mentioned as a probable candidate for the democratic nomination for governor next year hai decided not to enter the contest. Thr he has so decided may prove wipe, Lntf there will be many strong friends and political admirers throughout the 3tate who will regret his decision. Mr. Doughton would have made a splendid governor. Concord Tribune. We wonder what the capta-oC high finance will think when tbWie the latest utterances of the attorney, general on the subject of imprisonment and the probable effect of such Im prisonment. Raleigh Times. Uncle Billy Waring, of New Jersey, who says that he can forecast the weather by the curl or the lack of It in the tails of his hogs, may expect a brief, pointed communication from the white house shortly. Buffalo Times. Don't worry about Ellhu Root, after, months and months and months of strenuous cabinet meetings Wrectlec Muldoon's place Is a true rest cure for him. Brooklyn Eagle. Other rich men are said to be p-, -trustful of Harrlman'g ability as a f A nancler. Still nothing that has ot ten away from Mr. Hani man has been seen loose. Cincinnati Enquirer.