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Oregon—Portland Hotel, Perkins < Hotel. An Early Adjournment There are abundant reasons why the eeacru to be held at St. Paul to-night should determine upon a short session of The legislature and an early adjournment. One sufficient reason is the character of the responsibility resting upon the pres ent legislature, in one respect. An imper ative necessity demands a revision of our tax laws, and the sitting body has recog nized the necessity by creating a com mission for revision. This is a prompt and commendable recognition by the legisla ture of its responsibility in the premises. But more is to be done, and done now, if that responsibility is to be fully met. Two sessions are needed to complete the work, because all the tax commission can do at present is to draft a law and be ready to report it; and the final enactment of the law must be the work of another session. Shall the actual revision be put off one * year, or two years, or three years? If the present legislature doe* its full duty, it will shorten its present session, and hold a second one a year hence, when the re- ! port of the commission can be received and considered. No bugbear of the increased expense of an extra session should be al lowed to cause delay. An early adjourn ment of this session will save practically all the expense attending an adjourned ses sion; so that there will be, in fact, no sub stantial increase of expense, if any at all. Let the members of the legislature treat the question heroically, shorten all oratori cal displays, proceed to dispatch all nec essary business and adjourn early, and oome back to settle the question of our tax laws. Good business sense would dic tate just euflh a course. Having put their hands to the plow, let not the representa tives of .the people look back. Any mer chant, farmer or other business man, who ■bad realized the absolute necessity of re farm in anx one branch of his business, would tolerate no delay in the work, but vouW cay to (his clerks or managers, "Wfcattliou doest, do quickly." The Fifty-sixth Congress The customary outcry is heard about the "prodigality" of the late congress. There Is no doubt that it has left a rather steep record as a disburser of public moneys, which have to be acquired by taxation. There is no doubt that we spend the public money in a manner not altogether in accordance with the canons of business. The process of appropriating money is too much like a grab game. Vast sums are appropriated for purposes, a considerable percentage of which has no recognizable public or national utility. They are in tended to give certain congressmen sundry politico advantages. The late congress, however, seems to have had a conscience sufficiently quickened to lop off a consid erable portion of the $70,000,000 river and harbor bill. And even with this cut, the bill did not pass. The sum total of expenditures at the two sessions of the fifty-sixth con gress will approximate $1,600,000,000. The ■war revenue tax reduction of about $40, --• 000,000 was moderate compared with the initial proposition for such reduction, but it -was too large, as Secretary Gage has shown, and it would have been well for congress to have followed his counsel and adhered to the $30,000,000 cut, which he pronounced safe. Still, it seems probable that there will be a surplus of $10,000,000 a month during the next fqur months, judging by the treasury statements, even taking the cut in war taxation into con sideration. The failure of the ship subsidy bill was fortunate for the treasury, it is folly to introduce such measu.-es into congress, for the country is getting very antagonistic to measures of pretended public benefit which embody only gain to preferred individuals. During the discussion of the army bill in the senate it was shown by Senator Hale that our war budget, including pen sions and other expenditures legitimately belonging to war, aggregates nearly $400, --000,000, or, in exact figures, $386,818,527, and is larger than that of Germany, Rub-' sla or Prance. The pensions figure large ly in this budget, and it should be remem bered that we pay our enlisted men much higher wages than Europe pays her sol diers. The appropriation for the army is about $135,000,000. It might be expected that the chief opponents of army expendi tures would be the democrats, and they are. They called imperatively in 1898 for the war with Spain and for large expendi tures on fortifications and they got botn. While there are many needless expendi tures every year by congress which are to be condemned, it is folly to abuse that body for appropriating money demanded by the growth and expansion of the coun try. Some men talk as if it were'possible to close up the treasury and suspend all public appropriations for national neces sities. The only just criticism upon large expenditures is that they are not always made with business economy and prudence. The fault is with the people who elect congressmen. The voter is to blame for using his ballot irrationally. The check upon congressional "prodigality" must be put in operation in the congressional dis trict. Cuban Independence The an\iadministratiou journals tell us that our government Is intent upon "rob bing" the Cubans of their independence and making of the island of Cuba an American colony and so repudiating the solemn pledges of congress in 1898. The answer of the president to these outrage ous charges, which have not the slightest foundation in fact, was the attachment of his signature Saturday night to the army appropriation bill, which embodies the provisions touching the relations of the United States with Cuba and the Philip pines. The president has thus emphasized the position of this government and nation on this important subject. The position is in the highest sense commendable. rational, conciliatory and calculated to bestow upon Cuba the strongest reality of independence and local autonomy and to insure the reign of law and order,peace and justice on the island and insure it against a lapse into the chaotic condition of Haiti. Having freed the island from Spain, our government has, in every step it has taken, given the Cubans to under stand that it purposes to be guardian of the island and to establish the stable gov ernment required by the treaty of Paris. It declared, in the call for the Cuban con stitutional convention, that the constitu tion framed by the convention must be submitted to the United States congress for approval. There was not a delegate in the convention who did not perfectly un derstand that the work of the convention would be subject to such supervision. Even men like Cisneros understood this and made no objection when the convention met. They all knew tiiat they were ex pected to define the relations of the island to the United States. Intelligent Cubans saw that as the United States holds the sovereignty of Cuba as trustee, the trus teeship cannot be turned «ver to any jjer sons or government who do not have the right and ability to act in the place of the United States. If the constitution were eminently acceptable, the Cuban gov ernment elected ninety days after its pro mulgation would have to be installed under the protection of our troops and the United States would^iave to see that the elections were properly held and the ma chinery of the insular government put in operation successfully. The Cuban con stitution itself devotes several sections to the subject of the transfer of government, plainly conceding that the elections must be held in accordance with the orders of the United States issued July 25, 1900. Obviously, the trusteeship of the United StaYeß over the island does not end until a stable government shall have been es tablished there, and the United States has properly and lawfully insisted that the Cubans shall give certain guaranties pro tective of the interests of both parties and either to be made a part of the organic law or to be embodied in a permanent treaty between the United States and Cuba. It is a small thing for the United States to require American supervision of Cuba's treaty-making and debt-making power. The United States righteously de mands that the last state of Cuba shall not be worse than the former state under Spain. It is the truest statesmanship to insist that Cuba shall not fall into the hands of revolutionary Juntas which will prove destructive of the real welfare of the Cubans and make it the desolate stalking ground for a series of dictators. Fortunately, the administration of President McKlnley is equal to the duty and responsibility of dealing with the Cuban matter, which will be settled in a statesmanlike way. conducive to the high est interests of Cuba and the United States. The New United States ■ With the advent of the twentieth cen- tury, the United States of America passes into a new cycle of national activity. - The republic experienced a similar transition, when she passed from her first stage of continental isolation, promulgated the Monroe Doctrine, and became the self-ap pointed • protector of the American democ racies. Again there was a distinct na tional advance when, at the close of the civil war, the republic freed all her own people from the burdens of African slav ery,; girded up her loins and prepared her self for the discharge of new international functions. JWith the advantage of this ■ preparation, she took another advanced step, transmuted those new functions into duties'- and enlarged the defensive Monroe doctrine into a positive -policy, when she intervened forcibly in the affairs of Cuba. Perhaps • the • intervention of: 1898 was not necessarily decisive of the character of our future. It was -an innovation, and it took us out of our previous self-centered policy, and plunged us : for the time into the international activities and complica tions of the world. Still, we might pos sibly have decided to retreat, and to de cline to assume, permanently the responsi bilities of a world-power. But now, the decision is made otherwise. There is to be no retreat. With the close of the fifty sixth congress, the ' legislation which ex presses the determination of the people, places the nation prominently among the powers whose operations fashion and con trol the , destinies of the.' peoples of the world. : V f By ' this legislation, ■ congress has estab lished, for the present at least, a policy which 'enlarges the normal powers of the , executive department \of " the government. This is a new departure. It is new, not in the sense of creating such powers, or \ changing, their intrinsic character, but in the sense of extending the field of the op eration of those powers 'to subjects, not heretofore within their normal control. We use the term "normal", because the exercise, by the president, in the recent pfst, of functions not. materially different from those to be exercised in the immedi ate future, has been accidental and excep tional. But now, the same procedure is made regular. ', The rule in force under the. late regime has been that the presi dent should govern newly- acquired ter ritory,' and ■ enforce the ■ laws therein tem porarily, until such time as > congress should.; legislate tax . suck .territory. Vo-- THE MINNEAPOLIS JOURNAL 1, der this rule, President McKinley has gov erned the Philippine archipelago. Con gress has now declared the legislative will of the people, has declined for the present to legislate fully and in detail for those islands, but has continued them in the control and under the government of the executive. This action manifests a remarkable ac- vord between the legislative and the ex ecutive departments of the government. Mr. McKinley, upon whom, by the accident of war, was cast the duty of governing the islands temporarily, has confined him self within his constitutional duty, has. exercised his power for temporary ends only, and has urged legislative action. Congress recognizes the inability of any department of the government to settle the destiny of the Philippines off hand, and approves the past action of the presi dent and decides that the best policy is to continue his experiment of slowly and patiently encouraging the Filipinos into exercising the duties of self-government. In this'we find the new departure. Here tofore, grants of similar power to the ex ecutive have applied to sparsely settled territories. Now, the practice is adopted 'with reference to well-peopled islands. It is a new practice in this, also, that the new plan is of necessity tentative. No one^ now pretends or tries to declare the outcome. Heretofore, we have provided government for new territories which have been expected, sooner or later, to become parts of the union. Our executive has been charged with the duty of executing the laws of the United States, within the settled states and territories. Now, we make him the ruler over distant islands. Are the people of those islands to be made into commonwealths like ourselves, or to become independent states, or to be giyen statehood with local independence but un der suzerainty, or to be continued for a long period as dependencies? No one can presume at present to answer these ques tions. The United States which con fronts these problems, ahd with them as sumes the necesasry burdens they impose, ia not the United States of 1897, to which Cuba then and for years before was ap pealing for help. Assuming new duties, so widely variant from those discharged previously, she becomes in a moral and in ternational sense, a new nation. This does not mean that she is new" in constitutional sense. The same nation has chosen to impose upon a well-tried and trusted executive new, delicate and im portant duties. The people have heard, considered, and estimated at their true worth, an extensive and well-assorted ar ray of cries of "imperialism," "colonial ism," "militarism," and the like. Deaf to those partizan cries, the people have de termined to try what a democracy can do to promote democratic government among peoples not yet fitted for it. The experi ment proceeds under a constitution which has in the past borne far more severe strains with success. The conduct of the experiment is committed to an executive, who, as a man of the people, has shown himself a believer in and devoted to the government of the people. The old ship of state sails forth upon a new voyage. Her past experience justifies the belief that she was built originally for Just such adventures as this. The present departure is certainly no greater than that of a century since, when the Louisiana" terri tory was acquired, with limits practically equal to those which the nation was al ready occupying. No new constitution was then needed. Those whose fears made them tremble lest the ship of state should prove to be tehn overloaded gladly dropped all such uneasiness and themselves shouted, "Sail on! sail on! oh, ship of state!" Obedient to the impulse then giv en, she now again weighs anchor for wider seas, laden with hopes, not fears; the hopes of the orient for free local self government. Don't Shoot The Slorious art of snow . _ balling has been given the "*® OOys. "solar plexus" by an august Boston judge who has de cided that it is not a misdemeanor to shoot a boy who snowballs your house. The text of the decision is not hand but the probabilities are that the judge would not uphold the snowballee in killing tne snowballer. It is probably legal in Boston and its handsome envirous to shoot the legs of the small boy full of rock salt and birdshot and in this way to discourage his hostile intentions on your windows. There is one way the Boston boy can and doubtless will get even. He will wait til! he catches "your bowwow around the block, then he will "soak" nim good and plenty with a frozen-over-nlght snowball. And it will serve you right. To shoot at a boy for snowballing is not nice. Have you "denounced" anything to-day? A doctor the other day denounced the mati nee habit. A clergyman laet Sunday preached against the euchre party. A lecture at a wo man's chib session a few weeks ago made the rafters ring with his denunciation of ice cream soda. Now is your time to get up and "denounce" or to take the opposite and now rather obsolete tack of minding your own business. The German government has sent over a special agent to report on the American hen. It seems that the German biddy is a good bird, but that she refuses to sprain herself when eggs are high. ..... . ■■■%,-■ I "Theodore Roosevelt," says the Baltimore American, "will not be an inconspicuous fig ure at the inauguration." Don't shoot, Theo dore, the inauguration, committee is doing the best it can. W. M. Evarts, who died at 83, once said his good health. was due :to the facts that he never ; rose early.,.and. never took. exercise. Yet had he done these things he might have I lived to be 85. .. - : : The New Richmond basket ball girls are j known as the New. Richmond Cyclones, but they did not blow hard enough. when . they met the Hudson lady terrors. ... General'Gomez cays the American troops ought to | stay a little longer.. The. old hero has evidently had his fill of bleedshed. .";.'■ A man who has been reading "Proverbs" says it is no wonder Solomon was bo prolific of good advice when he had 700 wives. Admiral Crowninshipld threatens to have Gunner Morgan • court-martialed. Have him shot first, admiral! . \ ".•. V . The Pioneer Press must have been thinking what good weather we were having!' The' new star is said to be losing ', its "spark." Theatrical to the last! The Advance Agent of, Prosperity was sent out on the road a sain to-day. ' We are thinking of getting our ■ private yacht out of the cellar. Nicola Tesla to Admiral Sampson.—We are talking too much! • i . _ .:„ A LIE NAILED. ' Philadelphia Press.™ There was a committee to wait upon* the legislator when he got home. '. , ' ..>"lt'. is generally T ~ reported," said the spokesman, "that i you got 'your share of the money used to elect the United States senator." - -"It's a lie," he cried. "Ah! then the public has been ". misin formed." * . -' ' * "■■"■; - ■ "That's what! MI • know of ait a dozen XellQws .ifcaj. gQi_m.ojCfl .me." ' New York Daily Letter. BUREAU OP THE JOURNAL, No. 21 Park Row. In the Clutch of Reform. March 4.—Again is our poor old town in the clutch of reform, with members of the vari ous* purification ' committees going about in evening clothes making picturesque and spectacular raids on the teinpl«s of the God dess of Chance. March seems to be a fatal month for New York's gambling resorts. It was at just this tinfe a year ago that the Parkhurst society and allie.l inter ests got after several poolrooms and gambling houses. It is true that the indictments werp subsequently thrown aside by a supreme court justice, but nevertheless the reformers had their fun. Now they are at it again, and this March grand jury has evidently as lively a line of work laid out for it as had its predecessor of a year ago. The two rival purification committees known respectively as the citizens' committee of fifteen and the Tammany committee of five have been hard pressed for a month trying to gain an ad vantage one over the other. A few days ago the Tammany committee raided a poolroom, got some prisoners and secured a few indict ments. Then (satisfied with Its work, the commjttee decided to go out of the reform business. It no lcnger exists. Spurred on by this, the citizens' comniittete of fifteen in augurated a crusade and tarried. !t out in the Tenderloin. Within the last week over a dozen gambling houses hnve had their doors battered in and their paraphernalia con fiscated. This has Deen a serious loss to th* fraternity, for which only partial compensa tion has been found in the fact that the police kindly notified the resorts by telephone two hours in advance of the visits. It is understood about town that the tip has gone forth to the gambling houses to quit business for a while, until the new district attorney and the anti-Tammany elements now so busy, have settled back into the quiet of their homes, which, according to all precedents, will be inside of another month. It Is Tamilian>*« Game. Now that the Tammany juriflcatlon com mittee hRs gene out of business after en deavoring to cover up the. tiger's spots with a coat of whitewash, there is no further chance of the Tammany Hall animal disfigur ing itself by slicing off one or more of its features. Tammany's crusade from start to finish was one of the biggest jokes ever perpetrated. All of the gambling syndicates which control the games of chance in the metropolis are run by Tammany men; ani* they are not small fry in the political or ganization, either. Some of the strongest men in this body are largely Interested finan cially in these syndicates. One of the mem bers of the old bi-partisan police commission was himself heavily involved in the poolroom game. Throughout its rank and file Tam many members iv a large percentage are de pendant on gambling for' their living. To close up the sport would mean to remove from these persona their livelihood. There fore it was a crusade on the part of Tam many, for *he benefit of Tammany, against Tammany. The result was inevitably a farcical investigation and the coat of white wash covered nothing. The shake up in the police department whereby Colonel Murphy has become the single commissioner with the notorious Devery as his deputy, has amounted to nothing and will amount to nothing. Tam many must and will protect its interests. Just so long as the present city government is in power and Tammany Hall is in the saddle, gambling houses, poolrooms and other resorts will be permitted to run. The Rate of Wages Law. Millions of dollars will be saved to New Yerk city through a decision of our stat<? court of appeals. It has just declared invalid the rate of wages law passed by a recent legislature. Claims against the city amount ing to over ten million dollars have been rendered valueless by the decision. As yet, Corporation Counsel Whalen and other city officials are unable to determine the exact scope of the court's findings. The law re ferred to declares eight hours shall consti tute, a day's work and that the cities of the state shall pay their employes the wages pre vailing in the several localities for similar employment. It also compels contractors do fng work for the cities to pay the prevail ing rates of wages. Under this law all em ployes have dem#R4etl compensation for over time work and extra pay for services per formed for less than the prevailing rate or compensation at the time. Over sixty judges have passed upon the status of this law. Thn finance department of the city ha 3 refused payment of these claims, but the lower courts have hitherto been favorable to the claimants. Now the court of appeals has determined that the entire law Is unconstitutional. The law caused an Increase of several millions in our current expenses and has had a marked effect on our tax rate. Therefore the decision of the court will be a welcome one to New Yorkers at large. —N. N. A. AMUSEMENTS Foyer (but. A fair-aized audience'witnessed the produc tion of "The Christian" at the Metropolitan laat night. Julia Stuart as Glory Quayle and Lionel Adams as John Storm gave excel lent interpretations of their respective roles and the remainder of the cast was adequate. A more extended review of the production will be given in this column to-morrow. The- sale of seats opened at the Metropoli tan this morning for the engagement of "The Rounders," which is for three nights and Saturday matinee, commencing Thursday. With Thomas Q. Seabrooke as its star this play last season, ran for seven months at the New York Casino. The rapidly revolving pot pourri of songs, dances and musical gems, interspersed with bright quips, pretty girls, dainty costumes and scenic lavishness, go to make up an entertainment that has proved a great drawing card in all the large cities of the country. The cast includes Ber tha Waltzinger, William C. Mandeville, Jake Bernard, Herbert C. Cripps, Jeanette Lowrie, Nellie Lynch, Harry Stuart and about three score others. "Arizona," announced for appearance at the Metropolitan for the week beginning next Sunday, has proved one of the big successes of the New York season. It is a ruggedly picturesque and spiritedly romantic drama which has b6en called a model for play wrights as well as an excellent and uplifting entertainment for intelligent playgoers. The country has always an eager eye for the announcement of a Sousa concert, and never fails to respond with a ready purse. With the present announcement that Sousa and his band are coming on Saturday, March 9, for two concerts, at the Lyceum theater, goes the assurance that the public will be out in full force and make the most of the op portunity 'o enjoy whatever novelties the "march king" may put before them. The soloists with Sousa this season are Miss Blanche Duffleld, suprano, aad Miss Bertha Bucklin, violiuiste. To the lovers of melodrama "The King of the Opium Ring," which will be presented at the Bijou the comLng week, offers a treat. It is excitement in all its phases, there are hairbreath escapes with creepy music, and there are enough sensations to satisfy the most exacting devotee of thrills and excite ment. When one considers the variety and character of the subjects the author has drawn upon for material it is not surprising that tb© result should be moat successful. The inner workings of the opium joint afford a theme never before exhibited upon the stage and certainly a novel substitute for the time-worn melodrama. There is a pretty love story running through the play, while a number of clever specialties are introduced in the several scenes. THE STRAW. Detroit Journal. Court —Wai it merely your husband's habit of saying "hey?" in answer to every question asked him, that you left him? Litigant—Oh, no! His "hey?" was sim ply the straw tbat broke the camel's back. IN THIS AGE OF COMBINES. Chicago Record. "How do you think Mr. Simpson, pro posed?" "I'll never guess." "He asked me if I felt favorably dis posed to a unification of interests." A SHOCKED CONTEMPORARY. Atchison Globe. We notice that when a Leavenworth girl has her picture taken with her dress cut low in the neck, she has it cut the lowest ever. i On the River's Brink BY ELIAS LISLE. Copyright, 1901, by A. S. Richardson. "What did you have to go and pick out this pier for?" complained the watchman. "You're only making me trouble." "Mau is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward," quoted the man. "This was the nearest one," he added. He was panting a little. '"You'd never a-got past me if—if —" "If you hadn't been taking a little nap," suggested the man. "Well, it's a good night for"—he paused, glancing down at the dark river, silvered over with the wavy radiance of the moonlight—"for sleep." The watchman shuddered. 'You ain't really going to do it," he said entreatingly, and edged forward. The company which em ployed him was opposed to suicides off its P.iers, "Don't come any nearer now," warned the man, "unless you want to hurry me." There was a long silence, accentuated by the nervous puffing of a belated tug far out on the river, and the slapping of the little waves against the pier head. The man was leaning against a pile at the extreme end of the pier. Within arm's length of him a steamship, made fast, upreared Its dark bulk. If some one would only reach out of a port hole and seize him, was the wild hope of the watchman. The map straightened up and Btrefehed himself. "Pardon this natural hesitation," he said, lightly. "It is time I want." "Hold on!" cried the watchan. "Don't— don't—don't bo in. a hurry!" It was the best he could do on the spur of the moment. The man laughed—but he paused. Desperately the watchman groped for something—any thing to say. But the power of light and genial conversation (which i 3 a special gift of those who watch by night) had gone from him. "What do you want to do it for, anyway?" he finally burst out. "I'm a juatiftable suicide," replied the man. "A what ?" This was beyond the watch man's ken. •'A justifiable suicide. You've heard of a justifiable homicide, haven't you? Well, I'm a justifiable suicide. 1 have a right to kill myself." "Not off'n this pier," said the watchman with conviction. "Nobody will know where I jumped in, un less you tell them. The current will carry the body away." "Don't talk that way," besought the watchman, sitting down heavily on the string piece of the pier. "I—l don't like it." "I'm glad to see you sit down," observed the man, "because now I need not watch you so closely, for fear you might make a lush. If you did"—he glanced again at the swift water—"we'd both go. And I wouldn't like to take you from a steady job." The watchman caught at the last words. "Maybe you're out of work. If it's that, I know a job I might get you to-morrow." "I don't reckon I s-hall be a candidate for any job to-morrow, thank you," said the man grimly. I "Oh," said the watchman blankly. Obvious ly he had got on the wrong track. He tried another. "If It's from being broke—" "That reminds me," interrupted the other. He pulled a handful of bills out of his pocket and laid them on a plank. "There are several dollars there. I shall not need them where I'm going. The money may be .of some use to you, if you 'don't mind using a dead mart's wealth." "It wouldn't hardly be lucky, would it?' faltered the watchman. "Most people aren't so squeamish about legacies. Don't worry; I won't haunt you." "Maybe :t's a woman that's the trouble." pursued the watchman desperately, having struck another trail. "But you've got a right to wait and see how it turns out. I knew a Dutchman that lived in the same house with me and the lady he was keeping com pany with threw him down. He turned on ihe gas, but somebody turned it off again. Say; in three months he was ao stuck on an other lady that he was talking about killing himeelf again." "Curious r.eople. the Germans," remarked the man absevtly. The baffled watchman rubbed his head pain fully and patiently tried again. "If it's sickness that's driving you to It, you don't want to be too quick about it, 'cause you can't never tell. Like as not it ain't as had as you think. There was a friend of my brother's in the grocery business shot him gelf on account of not. having good health, and the autopsy showed he could have been fixed all right if he had went to a good doc tor." "I'm well enough in body," said the man shortly. '■You don't talk like a man that's crazy," ventured the watchman. "N"o? That's surprising, all things consid ered," remarked the man bitterly. "Say, pardner," said the watchman, appeal ingly, "if you're bound to go you might as well tell me who you are and what you're doing it for. It'd save a lot of trouble to the coroner." "Very thoughtful of you. Well, I'm John Smith. That's a lie. Thirty-four years old, r.o friends, no relatives, to speak of. That's the truth. Live at 999 Fifth avenue. That's a lie. And I'm doing this because it's the only thing for me to do." ""That's another," said the watchman promptly. He leaned over the side of the pier, swinging his arm in a sharp, sweeping gesture. "What's that you're doing?" the man de manded, suspiciously. "Just throwing away my plug of tobacco. Ain't you going to tell me it straight?" The man pondered. There was a splashing sound from below hardly to be distinguished from the wash of the ripples, and in the watchman's attitude a certain alertness. "Don't try any tricks," the man said, "un less you want to hasten matters." "Right across the end," said the watchman sharply. The. man stared. "I guess you're a little queer yourself," he remarked. "But as you're polite enough to be interested, I'll tell you this much. It's a case of a woman." "That's what I thought," said the watch man eagerly. ''But don't you let it knock you out this way. Brace up " "It's no use," said the man quietly. •'There's no--help for this." "Is she dead?" ."Worse," replied the man. "Gee!" said the watchman. "That's tough. Tough!" he repeated, and there was houest sympathy in his voice. "Yes," said the man, dispassionately, "It is, rather. I'd been away for a year, and when I came back—well, I found out. What's that?" The tread of feet on the far end of the pier fell on his ear. He peered anxiously back, half turning. "I must be going," he said. "Look behind you," said the watchman. The man whirled around, facing the river. Across the end of the pier floated a rowboat, held in place by two men, who paddled gen tly. The watchman's whistle sounded its keen, rattling note. "You can't do it," he said to the man. "They'll catch you if you jump. Wharf rats, and can swim like fish." The flooring of the pier was now vibrating with the heavy impact of swift feet. With a fry, the man made a rush for the unpro tected side of the pier, but the watchman intercepted and grapled him. "Help!" he shouted, as they both fell. They were locked tightly together when the police reached them. "This gentleman," panted the watchman as he got to his feet, "has been drinkin' some and was walkin' off the end of the dock " "Never mind that," interrupted the man. "The game's up. 1 am Charles Sales, gentle man," he added, turning to the police. "I am the man that's wanted. ■"Wanted?" repeated the watchman stupid ly. "What for?" "Murder; that's aU," answered one of the policemen, and there was exultation in his voice, for this was a big catch. "Shot a mau and a girl in an uptown restaurant this even ing. Come along. Sales." The watchman looked blankly at the man. "If—if I'd only known," he stammered. His eyes wandered away and fell on the little pile of money lying on the pier. "Hold on," he said weakly. "You—you left something be hind you." "Keep the change," said the man bitterly. "Yon've earned it " STRANGEST SIGHT AT VICTORIA'S FUNERAL. London Globe. Many facts of the end of Queen Vic toria's reign would have seemed incred ible if predicted in its early or even its middle ye#rs; but few indeed can have dreamed that of all the battleships gath ered to do her honor by sea in the great funeral procession, the mightiest vessel of all—the Hatsuse—should be sent by the fleet of Japan. MONDAY EVENING, MARCH 4, 1901. MINNEAPOLIS JOURNAL'S CURRENT TOPICS SERIES (Cefpyright, 1901, by Victor F. Lawson.) PAPERS BY EXPERTS AND SPECIALISTS OF NATIONAL REPUTATION. THE OPPORTUNITY AND THE MAN. (This series, whioh is under the direction of President Andrew S. Draper of the Univer sity of Illinois, will close with "A Study of American Opportunity," by Senator George P. Hoar of Massachusetts.) 111 WILLIAM WILTON Dl SOX Southwest Louisiana, the- land of "Evan geline," has been transformed within the last two decades from a wild waste of prai rie Into the center of a thriving industry. It has been populated by progressive men from northern and western states, and is now one of the wealthiest sections of the country. Towns dot ev«Ty parish, an 4 the homeseekers who but a few years ago were paetieally without means are now well to do or even wealthy. The development of this rich agricultural .section, is the work of one. man. In 1880 William W. Duson, native Louis ianian of small means and incomplete educa tion, came to the conclusion that fortunes were to be made in growing rice in south west Louisiana. At that time he was a merchant. After a consultation with his elder - . - , '•'-■." . ■ . WILLIAM WI LTON DUSON. brother, C. C. Duson, the two decided to in vest in land and to experiment in rice culture. The natives of that region, who were an easy going, non-ambitious people, had long en gaged in rice-growing on a small scale, the cereal produced by them being irrigated only by natural rainfall. Men owning half a sec tion of land planted eight or ten acres of the lowest ground, using the rest as a water shed. Mr. Duson revolutionized the industry by damning up the gullies, building reser voirs and pumping the water out of them on to the fields of growing rice. In this way it became practicable to plant the grain on every acre of land that he owned. His profits for the first year were so large that he bought vast tracts of land and extended his opera tions. Up to that time genuine prosperity had been an unknown quantity to the peo ple of that section. He next determined to attract settlers to the country, and made a trip north and west in the interest of his plan. Since he started on that work over 25,000 northern and west ern men have become inhabitants of the prairies of southwest Louisiana. , To-day most of them are prosperous, tbeir lauds are irrigated by over 600 miles of canals, and millions of barrels of rice are shipped from their fields to the markets of the country every year. Dr. Dusou has established towns and factories and enterprises of various kinds, and the people look upon him not alane ns the leading spirit and master mind, but as the benefactor of their country. When Mr. Duson began to put into execu tion his scheme to develop southwest Louis iana he encountered conditions that were peculiarly discouraging. Nearly all the peo ple inhabiting the country were poor and densely ignorant. They cultivated small patches of cotton, weaving it into cloth suf ficient for their own use. They raised their own sweet potatoes, they had little fields of sugar cane, and they produced rice enough for their own families, which they prepared for the table by pounding it in wooden mor tars and- pouring it from one dish to another to winnow the chaff from the grain. This was only twenty years ago. These people paid no taxes and wanted no Improvements. There were also cattlemen who owned thous ands of cattle which occupied the prairies. It was not to be expected that this class was anxious to see the ranges broken up and the land put under cultivation. So if a stranger stopped to look at the country not a man could be found to speak a good word for southwest Louisiana. He was told by the cattlemen that the land was so poor that it would produce nothing. He was gruffly in formed by the shiftless and lawless element that northern men were not wanted. Hostility of the Native Acadian*. The first northern settlers brought to Acadie parish by Mr. Duson were from Hillsdaie, Mich. He was compelled to pay the freight on their household goods and to furnish the money with which to pay the government fee to enter their land. These people to-day are among the most thrifty farmers of south west Louisiana. They now cultivate 2,000 acres of rice land. Mr. Duson's headquarters, now at Crow ley, were then at Rayne, the principal town of the section In those days. The newspaper of that town was particularly bitter against his efforts, and, having some old political scores to settle, squared matters by misrep resenting the country and discouraging strangers from coming to it. To get it out of the way, Mr. Duson purchasM the plant and locked up the office until he could find the right man to run It. After he had advertised the advantages of the rice section for several years throughout the northern states many settlers began to arrive. Lauds that a 3hort time before could not have been cold for 73 cents nn acre brought $10 an acre, and the profits from the industry were piling up. The irrigation canals were being extended in all directions, towns and hamlets were fast dotting the once prairie waste, and prosperity was making .itself apparent. These early settler 3 wrote glowing accounts of their surroundings to their friends at home, and the work of the Dusons became easier. Up to that time there had been no large town or city nearer than New Orleans. Mr. Duson came to the conclusion that it was time to establish one. The parish of St. Landry was selected, and the town of Crow ley laid- out. As an inducement to secure the parish seat at Crowley, Mr. Dusou called the parish commissioners together and offered to donate a square of ground in the center of the new town and $5,000 in cash. This wa3 refused, but the ground was neverthe less donated, and also the money, on condi tion that if it was not expended on a court house it should be used by the commission ers in building roads leading into Crowiey. The settlement of the question whs ieft to a vote of the people, and -Crowley- was de clared the parish seat. A short time later Mr. Duson arranged a series of excursions from New Orleans and other places, with free transportation. Auction sales of-loft •were held, and hundreds of lota were sold at prices ranging from $5 tc $25 each. Many of these lots have since brought from f6,4M to $10,000 each. To Induce the Southern Pacific railroad to build a depot at Crowleyi C. C. Dusoa was compelled to go to New York, visit the late Collls P. Huptington, then the president of the railroad, and agree to pay the expense of putting in the switches and siding and also to pay the salary of the railroad agent. When Mr. Duson moved his newspaper from Kayne to Crowley the bitter feeling of the natives broke out afresh. A band .of sixty-two men organized themselves into a good-of-the-community league and sixty of them voted to destroy the newspaper plant and burn the home of W. W. Dusoii. But Mr. Duaon persisted in his policies and over came all ignorant opposition. Since those days the growth and develop ment of Crowley and the rice country around it has been marvelous. Emigrants from Kan sas, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Minnesota and other states poured into the new country. They are now growing rice. Until within the last few years there wer» no manufacturing enterprises in that entire section, and nearly every dollar secured by the people was derived from agriculture, th* profits on rice culture so far exc*«dlng those of cotton and sugar cane that the rice planter has grown wealthy, while the sugar and cot ton planter has done well '.o hold hie own. There is now about to be put under way a plan whereby large tracts of swamp lands in, the parishes of Rapides, Avoyelles and St. Landry will be drained a"nd the rich alluvial soil given over to the cultivation of rice. Th 9 Dusons are largely responsible for the enter prise. The levee board, representing these parishes, a few weeks ago sold bonds to the amount of $250,000 for the purpose of excavat ing elghtv-five miles of drainage canals and carrying off the water which now covers a great portion of the parishes during a consid erable period of the year, into the Red river and the Island lake«. It is a peculiar fact that in the lowlands of Louisiana the ground is higher along the rivers than anywhere else, and the slope is from the rivers to the lakes. Under the new plan the drainage Will be in both directions by reason of a system of pumping stations such as those at present in successful operation at New Orleans. These pumping stations will be placed at in tervals alor,g the canals and the water lifted and then precipitated down the succeeding grade. Much of this land Is covered with valuable timber which will be cleared out and marketed in New Orleans for export to Europe. Making a Poor Country Rich. Some years ago W. W. Duson was asked where his profits would come from in his schemes of deveiopment. It seemed that many of his settlers were growing ricn. while he remained in only moderate circumstauces. His reply was: "I will be worth many mil lions some of these days, but to make this possible I must first develop the rice lands, make the men around me rich, make a poor country wealthy and then draw tribute from it." The work of development has proceeded rapidly since that day, and although Mr. Du son and his brother have grown comparative ly wealthy their successes are yet to bring them in the great returns they have long an ticipated. Their scheme is a simple one. after all, and is made complex merely through the extensive nature of their opera tions. Both own vast tracts of undeveloped land, which to become valuable must first be made to pay a profit to the homesteader. They hold the key to the entire situation, through their ownership of many enterprises on which the country's prosperity rests ia large measure. W. W.. Duson, while all his interests are centered in the rice-producing section of Louisiana, has the active management of more different kinds of business on his hands than any other man in the south, the details of which he looks after carefully. C. C. Du son is the diplomat. He it is who In Wash ington has secured the tariff protection from the government which makes the production of rice so highly profitable to the Louisiana planter. The securing of favorable freight rates, helpful legislation and similar bene tts has been left to C. C. Duson, and in nearly every instance his labors have been successful. W. W. Duson, however, control* the whole organization. The brothers work together in perfect harmony and for the common good. W. W. Duson is now th 9 owner of the Crowley Canal company, presi dent of the Roller Canal company (limited), vice president of the Ferre Canal company (limited), vice president of the Abbott-Duson Canal company, president of the Midland Ca nal company, vice president of the Miller- Morris Canal company and president of the Star Rice Milling company (limited). He is the controlling power in dozens of commercial ond financial enterprises of various kinds. His latest undertaking is the organization of a $15,000,000 company to control the rice mar ket of the United States. The capital is un derstood to be available whenever Mr. Dusoi is ready for operations to begin. A number of New York capitlaLsts and financiers are as sociated with Mr. Duson in his enterprise, which is known as the American Rice Grow erg' Distribution company (limited). Mr. Du son is the general manager. C. C. Duson, through his wide acquaintance with men of means and prominence through out the north and east, has aided largely la the work of development and investment. H« is the president of the American Rice Orow ers' Distribution company. He is also presi dent of the Acadie Canal company and vie* president of the Midlaud Canal company. He is sute senator from the twelfth senatorial district of Louisiana, composed of St. Landry and Acadie parishes. He was born oa th« Mermentau river, in St. Landry parish, Aug. 31, 1846. W. W, Duson was born a few yeari later. • /frrzJZ^r^a^c^ AS TO STOCKINGS. Bacheller —What are you going to put la your children's stockings this Christmas? Phamlian—Huh! It takes all my money to keep the children in them.