THE EVENING STAR
VTTB SUNDAY MORNING EDITION.
? Office 11th St. and PtowylTuift Anm
The Evening Star Newspaper CoapsBy,
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Dally. Sunday '.Deluded, one month. 6C cent*.
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Saturday Star. SI r?r. Sunday Star. 11.00 year.
W eather.
No. 17,865.
WASHINGTON, D. C., TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 1909-SIXTEEN PAGES.
TWO CENTS.
Fair tonigfit and \Vednes?
ly; not
pc rat? re.
day; not much change in tcm
WILL REOPEN CONTEST
Cannon Fight to Be Resumed
When Congress Meets.
PLANNING FOR NEXT YEAR
Strong Effort to Be Made to Defeat
Speaker's Re-Election.
INTEREST IN TAFT'S ATTITUDE
Conflicting Assertions Regarding
the Loyalty of the Head of the
House to the President.
As certain as the sun rises, the opening:
of the next session of Congress will wit
ness the beginning of a contest against
the re-election of Mr. Cannon as Speaker
of the House a twelvemonth later and an
effort to deprive the office of Speaker of
somo of Its arbitrary power. Although
these objects could rot. in regular or
der, be achieved until the beginning of
the Congress assembling in tnc succeed
ing December, the ground work for them
will be laid at the coming session.
It is too early to prophesy the prob-J
able outcome of the fight against Mr*
Cannon. He is a fighter himself, his
blood is up. he is strongly, though far
from impregnably, intrenched in a loyal
organization, whose members' ?welfare is
Identical with his own. He has announc
ed his intention to defend his course, and
If he keeps his vigor can be depended
upon to make the defense a lively pro
ceeding for his antagonists.
This Impending contest is not due to
the attack of Representative Fbwler upon
the Speaker, but that onslaught undoubt
edly will be used by the anti-Cannon
forces as material of war. Mr. Fowler
will not lead the attacking iorees, for
his influence In the House is not that
of a leader. He can "tote" ammunition,
however, and in that useful. If some
what subordinate, capacity his services
will be utilized.
Taft's Apprehended Opposition.
Tiic antagonistic influence most feared
by the House organization, as It at pres
ent exists, is the apprehended opposi
tion of President Taft to the Speaker's
re-election. No one Is at this time author
ised to say thai the President ?will favor
the supplanting of Speaker Cannon by
another. Jt may be that the President
himself has not determined positively
upon that course. But of
the House, loyal to Mr. Cannon, fear
that the President may find it desirable
to sympathize with efforts to elect an
other as Speaker.
All that aside. It is an undeniable fact
the movement has already been
started among republican members of this.
Congress, all of whom hope to be mem
bers of the succeeding House, to turn
down the present organization and its
rules. The work will be prosecuted at
the coming session for Its moral effect
upon the country and upon the prospective
candidates for nomination to the Slxty
vecond Congress. The propaganda is to
be carried beyond Congress and to the
people at the polls before the next House
Is elected.
Returning to speculations upon possible
executive influence against the Speaker.
? he support found for such suggestion lies
In the consideration of some well known
facts of the past and present. In the
first place, it is known that prior to the
President's election, and to Mr. Cannon's
re-election to Congress. President Taft re
garded the Cannon policies, of which Mr.
Cannon was held up as a type, as a lia
bility and not an asset of the republican
national campaign last year.
To put it brutally, although correctly,
Mr. Cannon was regarded as a drag upon
the campaign then being entered upon and
a load to be carried. It will not be for
gotten that a year ago there was open dis
cussion of the possibility of Mr. Taft's op
position to Mr. Cannon's re-election as
Speaker, and that some conferences were
necessary at Hot Springs between Mr.
Taft and Mr. Cannon's friends before that
ta.k could be quieted. The public impres
sion was that assurances were given at
those conferences that Mr. Cannon would
support the Taft policies in Congress.
Cannon's Loyalty to the President.
Now, no one except President Taft him
self probably knows whether he considers
that the Speaker has made good those as
surances or not. Mr. Cannon's friends
e'alm that he has. They declare that the
Speaker did all In his power to forward
the revision of the tariff demanded by the
President. They point out that the Speaker
fell In with the President's plan to put
forward the corporation tax as against
the House plan of inheritance tax, al
though a majority of the republican lead
ers were opposed to the substitution. They
say that the Speaker wielded the power of
the committec on rules to facilitate the
progress of the bill In Its successive
stages.
As aerainst this, the charge is made that
the Speaker packed the conference com
mittee by the substitution of Messrs.
Fordney *nd t'alderhoad for men in line,
this with tlie alleged purpose of strength
ening the high protec'tonists on the con
ference committee. Further, that the
Speaker, in the interest of his friend, ex-1
Representative IJttauer, opposed the
President's demands for lower duties on
gloves and had to be ridden down by the
executive.
Those are charges which have been spe
cifically and repeatedly made. To the al
legation that he packed the conference
committee Speaker Cannon in an inter
view yesterday replied that It was be
neath his dignity to take notice of It.
President Taft has not Indicated his
opinion of these charges, and no one
thus far has been authorized to speik
for him, but it has been a persistent sub
ject of gossip that he felt resentment
toward the Speaker upon these alleged
grounds.
It Is certain, however, that the oppo
nents of Mr. Cannon are busily circulat
ing these Indictments and as zealously
c:a:;r.lng that they constitute basis for ex
isting the aid or President Taft In the
t'jrht against Speaker Cannon's re-elec
tion. It is not known whether President
Tart is aware of all this or not, but
t here Is no mistaking the fact that the
anti-Cannon people are trading upon It
extensively. They believe, that for the
present they need nothing more than the
President s silence to "get away with it."
A nummary of the criticism* of the
Speaker by Mr. Fowler and Mr. Can
non's reply will be found elsewhere in
The Star.
Woman Accused of Burglary.
CHICAGO, August 24.?Charged with
having plundered a North Side residence in
true burglar fashion, and with having
swindled several other women of the
same section out of small sums of money,
Mrs. Brunei! Kacer. forty-three years
old. Is a prisoner at the West Chicago
avenue police station. Neighbors who
are said to have identified the prisoner
declared that the woman ontered the
home of one of the victims by forcing a
front window and climbing through the
aptrture in daylight
{COURT LIMITS POWER
Interstate Commission En
joined at Chicago.
RATE ORDER NULLIFIED
I
Alleged Unwarranted Exercise of
Authority.
MISSOURI RIVER CASE DECIDED
i :
Opinion Delivered by Judge Gross
cup?It Is Said That Matter
Will Be Taken to Supreme
Court.
CHICAGO, August 24.?The permanent'
Injunction sought by western railways
against the Interstate commerce commis
sion in the famous Missouri river rate !
case was granted here today by Judges !
Grosscup, Baker and Ivohlsaat of the ;
United States circuit court.
Judge Grosscup delivered the opinion o* ?
the court, Judge Kolilsaat concurring, i
while Judge Baker delivered a dissenting '
opinion.
The Missouri Biver Case.
The railroads in the Missouri river
case sought to have the interstate com
merce commission enjoined from enforc
ing an order of the commission made |
June 24, 11)08, relating to joint rates from
the Atlantic seaboard to Missouri river
cities. This order sought to create a svs
tem of through rates from the Atlantic
seaboard to the Missouri river that wer-?
I a reduction from the sums of the local
| rates. Th.s. according to western roads,
| threw the burden upon them.
The joint rate now in force from the i
Atlantic seaboard to the Missouri river, i
on first-class matter, is $1.47 per hundred ;
pounds. The reduction proposed by the i
commission was $1.38. The through rate i
now in force on the same matter from
the Atlantic seaboard to the Mississippi
river is 87 cents, which plus the through
rate from the Mississippi river to the
Missouri river (60 cents) .makes the same
total, $1.47 per hundred pounds, as the
joint rate from the Atlantic seaboard to
the Missouri river.
The commission's defeated purpose
would have allowed the At.antic seaboard
to deliver goods to Missouri river cities
on a joint rate 0 cents less than could
have bren done if the shipments were
sent first to the Mississippi river and then {
resent to the Missouri river.
In the Denver case It is said the ua- I
board, by shipping direct to Denver !
under the order of the commission,
could save twenty-three cents on first
class shipments and proportionately on
Other Classes, instead of re-shipping at
tho Missouri. The shippers of the Mis
souri valley thereupon protested vigor
ously that the enforcement of the order
would discriminate against them.
Limiting the Commission.
Today's decision, if sustained, will, it
is said, limit the power of the inter
state commerce commission to the set
tlement of casbs of rate discrimination.
In the present case the railroads main
tain that the principle laid down by tn?:
Interstate commerce commission would
be proper if applied to but one road,
but that its application to more than
one would work a hardship because of
the expense of operation of terminals
by each road. The railroads also con
tended that the reductions ordered by
the commission meant discrimination
against western manufacturers and
merchants in f^vor of. the Atlantic sea
board shippers.
The commission, thus defeated in its
first attempt to bring about what'Is al
leged to be a new system, principle of rate
making, will, it is asserted, carry the case
to the Supreme Court of the United States.
The petitioners for the injunction were
the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, the
Chicago. Burlington and Quincy Railroad
Company, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St.
Paul Railway Company, the Chicago and
Northwestern Railway Company and the
receivers of the Chicago Great Western
Railway Company et al.
The Illinois Central, the Santa Fe, the
Alton, the Missouri Pacific, the 'Frisco
railroad companies and a number of im
portant shipping Interests intervened as
complainant!!.
The Interests Affected.
"The question raised,", said Judge
Grosscup in rendering his opinion, "in
its larger aspects is not so much a ques
tion bet.ween the shippers and the rail
roads a*> between the commercial and
manufacturing interests of Denver and
of tho territory east of the Mississippi
river on the one side and the commercial
and manufacturing interests of the Mis
souri river cities on the other."
By the decision announced todav the
Missouri river cities lose the advantage
which the enforcement of the commis
sion's order would have given them.
Besides granting the permanent Injunc
tion in the Missouri river rate ease the
court also granted a preliminary injunc
tion in the Denver rate case, which Is
basod on similar principles as the Mis
souri river case. The Denver case, in
volving shipments to Denver instead of
Missouri river points, is still pending
final decision on a demurrer filed by the
Interstate commerce commission to the
bill of the complaining railroads.
Commission's Power Discussed.
Speaking of the power of the commis
sion the opinion says:
"We arc not prepared to say the com
mission has not the power to enter upon
a plan looking toward a system of rates
wherein the rates for longer and shorter
hauls will taper downward according to
I distance, providing such tapering is both
I comprehensively and symmetrically ap
| plied?applied with a design of carrying
! out what may be the economic fact that
; on the whole it is worth something lees
per mile to carry freight long distances
| than shorter distances.
I , "But It does not follow that power of
? that character includes power by the use
of differentials, to artificially divide the
country into trade zones tributary to
1 given trade and manufacturing centers
the commission In such cases having, as
a result, to predetermine what the trade
and manufacturing centers shall be; for
such power, vaster than any one body of
men has heretofore exercised, though
wisely exerted in specific instances, would I
he putting into the hands of the commis
sion the general power of lite and death 1
j over every trade and manufacturing cen-!
ter in the United States."
The opinion holds that the commission i
in attempting to enforce its order sought
to exercise this colossal power. The
' opinion states that much testimony was
heard from various sections of the coun
try to show the effect the proposed new
rate would have.
Not Intention of Congress.
"But in the case here," Judge Gross
cup continued, "the question involved is
not a question of fact, but a question of
power?the question is not whether, by
the application of correct principles, a
given rate has been decided by the com
mission to be unreasonable, but whether
the principles applied themselves are
H ARRIMAN S HOME-COMING.
within the power of the commission; for
Congress did not intend to confer upon
the commission power to do by indirec
tion what it could not directly do?did
not intend to include within the word
'reasonable' every power over the trade
and manufacturing of the country that
the commission should determine It wan
reasonable that it (the commission) should
possess. '
"AgfcffTT is urged that though the
effect of the order In the Missouri river
rate case is to discriminate in favor of
the Atlantic seaboard -and the Missouri
river cities against tlic central' traffic
territory, and in the Denver oAse in
favor of Denver and the east Mississippi
river country against the Missouri liver
cities, the discrimination is not 'undue'
within the meaning of the interstate com
merce act and that, therefore, the courts
have no power to enjoin. The difficulty
with this argument Is that it draws no
distinction between the power that the
commission is actually given ? ? ? and a
power that the commission is usurping."
THIS JUD6E TO BE JUD6E0
MAYOR ST07 OF ATLANTIC
CITY ALSO IN ROW.
It Has All Come About Because of
the Sunday Closing
Campaign.
ATLANTIC CITY, X. J.. August 24.
Atlaritic City's Sunday closing contro
versy was complicated today when repre
sentatives of the state law and order
?oclety served a mandamus on Judge Mar
tin E. Keffer of the city police court re
quiring him to show cause at once why
he should not accept complaints of viola
tions of Sabbath regulations brought by
detective? of the reform organisations.
The mandamus was issued by Justice
Garrison of the supreme court.
More than a week ago Judge Keffer re
fused to receive any complaints for ln-f
fractions of the Sabbath laws unles3 they
were preferred through the office of Chief
of Police Woodruff.
Chief Woodruff refused to co-operate
with the reform bodies in any way. If
the mandamus served this morning Is
made permanent by the court the Pa&tors'
Alliance will be in position, it Is said, for
the first time in years to compel abso
lute closing alonjc the beach front.
Although he was served with the state I
attorney general's ultimatum yesterday j
to enforce the Sunday closing laws j
against sixty saloon men. Mayor Stoy to- I
day denied he had received any formal j
notification to enforce the lawd.
Mayor Stoy Sidesteps.
"I think I heard something about a
piece of ordinary paper that purported to
be an official communication from the
great state of New Jersey," the mayor
added, quizzically. Mayor Stoy has ten
days in which to obey the order of the
attorney general. If he still refuses to ac
cept service at the expiration of that
time the mayor is liable to prosecution.
AWAITING COURT DECISION.
Corpse Cannot Be Buried Because
? of an Old Contract.
Special Dispatch to The Star.
GOSHEN, Ind., August 24.?When the
funeral of Charles Crary reached Oak
Ridge cemetery yesterday it was met by
C. B. Stiver, an undertaker, with lawyers
and policemen, who stopped it, and pre
vented the casket from being lowered into
the grave on the contention that Crary,
six years ago, had entered into a written
contract with Stiver to take charge of
his funeral and have his body cremated
in Chicago.
Crary's uncle, Wesley Crary, who is the
only heir to the $10,000 estate ol the de
ceased, refused to recognize the contract,
but when the funeral procession reached
the burial ground the officers refused to
permit interment and the body was placed
in the receiving vault until the courts de
termine the validity of the contract.
"Suicide Seeker" Badly Injured.
WAUKESHA, Wis., August 24.?Burt
Williams, billed on park vaudeville cir
cuits as the ?"suicide seeker," was prob
ably fatally injured w-hile doing his act at
Waukesha Beach yesterday morning. Wil
liams leaps the gap on roller skates, turn
ing a backward somersault Into the lake.
He turned the somersault too; quick and
struck his head on the chute,' sustaining
a fracture of the skull. Rendered uncon
scious by the blow, he narrowly escaped
drowning, but was rescued by spectators
on the pier.
HUNDREDS DROWNED IN SEA
TWO EXCURSION STEAMERS
COLLIDE.
e- < * * ' T
German Vessel Sinks Immediately
and Her Captain Tries to
Commit Suicide.
BUENOS 'AIRES, Augtist 24.-A col
lision today between', two excursion
steamers at the, entrance of Montevideo
harbor resulted in the drowning of from
150 to 300 persons, mostly women ? and
children.
?The vessels were the Argentine steamer
Colombia, carrying: passengers from Bue
nos Aires to the festival at Montevideo,
and a German steamer, also engaged in
the local passenger service.
The latter went, down so quickly that
all -attempts at rescue were practically
hopeless. It is said that the captain of
the - German steamer and a few of the
passengers were saved. The captain had
to be restrained from committing suicide.
MBS. GOULD GETS DIVORCE.
Final Papers in Case Signed in New
York Today.
NEW YORK." August 24.?Mrs. Helen;
Kelly Gould obtained her final decree of ;
divorce from Frank J. Gould today. The
.nterlocutory degree was signed May 20
of this year. There was no opposition
today when Mrs. Gould's attorney made
a iormal application to Supreme Court
Justice Gieger.ch for the final papers.
The decree gives the custody of the two
children, Helen and Dorothy, to each
parent for six months in each year. Mr.
Gould is not permitted to remarry in this
state unt.l atter the ueatti ot his wiie.
The papers do not mention alimony.
SPEED WAS TOO SWIFT.
And Young Vanderbilt Pays Fine!
"Without Protest."
Sprclal Dispatch to Th<* Sv'tar.
MOUNT VERNON, N. Y., August 2*.--j
William K. Vanderbilt, jr., who was ar- j
rested on 1st street, this city, last night j
for violating the automobile spe^tl law, i
and was released on $50 cash bail, ap
peared before Judge Gay this morning
and was fined $15, which he paid without
protest.
Motorcycle Officer Reilly, who made the
arrest, stated that the automobile was
speeding at the rate of thirty-five miles
sin hour through the city streets. Mr.
Vanderbilt did not deny the charge, but
said his speedometer aid no: indicate a
speed in excess of twenty-two miles.
The court remarked that ton miles an
hour was the maximum speed in the
city and imposed the fine.
WHITNEY'S HORSES .WINNERS.
Whiskbroom Captures Prince of
Wales Plate at York Races.
YORK, England, August 24.?The Nun
thorpe selling stakes of live sovereigns
each, with 200 sovereigns added, for two
year-olds, distance five furlongs, was won
today by Pie Man. H. P. Whitney's
Oversight was second and The Spender
was third. Nineteen horses started.
The Prince of Wales plate of 1.000
sovereigns, for two-year-olds, distance
five furlongs, was won by H. P. Whit
ney's Whiskbroom. Galatlne was second
and Woolacombe third. Mr. Whitney's
Sallie of Navarre colt was among the
ten starters, but did not ^et a place.
The Badminton plate of 150 sover
eigns, for two-year-olds, distance five
.furlongs, was won by H. P. Whitney's
Top-o'-the-Morning. Photlme was second
and Sister Anne third. Eleven horses
ran.
PARK SALE ENJOINED.
Judge Motter Grants Temporary
Order in Glen Echo Case.
Special Dispatch to Tlie Star.
ROCKVIL.LE, Md., August 24.?A tem
porary Injunction, granted by Judge John
C. Motter in the circuit court here,
prevented the sale at public auction of
the various amusements at Glen Echo
Park, which had been advertised for yes
terday to satisfy a mortgage, of $15,000
held b>' the Washington Railway and
Electric Company. The bill was filed by
Birney A- Woodward and J. Dawson Wil
1 Uaras of Washington, representing Lo
renzo D: 8haw, proprietor of Glen Echo
Park, and the injunction was asked on
the mound of failure of consideration.
The date for arguments has not yet been
set.
There was nothing doing in the amuse
ment line at Glen Echo Park Sunday.
Sheriff Mulllcan recently notified the
management that the various amuse
ments must not be operated Sundays, at
! the same time serving notice that should
the warning be disregarded wholesale ar
rests would follow. As a result, Sunday
last was the first Sunday this season that
the lid has been on. Both the sheriff and
state's attorney declare that similar con
ditions must prevail every Sunday here
after.
STORM MOVING TOWARD GULF
HURRICANE IN VICINITY 01
CUBA, EAST OF JAMAICA.
Weather Bureau Sends Out Warn
ing?Movement of Disturb
ance Ominous of Trouble.
Following closely upon the storm that
swept the gulf coast yesterday and which
d'.minshed in severity after it crossed the
Texas line going westward])', the weather
bureau today gave warning of a hurri
cane in the vicinity of Cuba and east o.
Jamaica, moving toward the Gulf of Mex
ico.
This hurricane, quite different in its
nature from yesterday's storm, and per
haps of niuoh greater severity, was this
morning making its way toward the gulf
with a good deal of uncertainty as to its
destination. This weather disturber is
I not yet within the jurisdiction oj; the
weather bureau, but its reported move
ment in the gulf is ominous of trouble.
The forecaster at the weather bureau
today could form no definite idea as to
what would become of the hurricane?
whether It will exhaust its fury In the
gulf, show up along the southern coast,
or whether it will reach the United
States at all.
LAKE CHARLES, La.. August 2?."
Strong winds and a heavy incoming tide
In Calcasieu river last night indicated
that a severe storm was raging on the
gulf. There is no means of communica
tion with Cameron, at the mouth of the
river, until the regular steamer arrives
late today. It is feared the gale lias
done- much damage to' the rice now ready
for harvest, much of which is still uncut.
PRESIDENT REFUSES PARDON.
Clemency Denied in Celebrated
Nickell Land Fraud Case. .
President Taft has denied the applica
tion for the pardon of Charles Nickell,
a prominent citizen of Medford, Oreg.
The ease has excited great attention
throughout Oregon. Nickell was United
States commissioner, and also editor of
the local paper at Medford. He was con
victed In the United States court at
Portland. Oreg., of conspiracy to suborn
persons to ? permit perjury by making
false statements in their applications to
purchase and enter timber and stone land
in' that state. August 6, 1006, he was
sentenced to thirteen months in prison at
McNeill's Island. Wash. Various appeals
were taken, but the Judgment of the
lower court was affirmed.
Nickeli's petu.on pardon was signed
by hundreds of people of prominence, in
! eluding I'nited States Senator* Fulton
i and Chamberlain. Nickell was represent
ed as a man of known honesty and ln
tf^rlty. In spite of tne strength .of the
petitions, however, the President denied
the pardon.
The President has commuted to .expire
immediately the life imprisonment sen
' tence of James B. Chambers, who is In
I priscn in Sante Fe, New Mexico, and has
served eleven years and six months.
I Cliambers was convicted of robbing the
| United States mail.
I The President" has also commuted to
; five years the twenty-five-year sentence
| of J. R. ' Bailey, convicted In Alaska for
the murder of Robert Mackintosh. Both
S men were employed on a railroad con
struction sang, Bailey being the superin
tendent. There were two factions in the
camp and the shooting of Mackintosh
j was the outgupwth of ill-feeling. Bailey,
who is in prison at McNeills Island,
claims to have dqne .the shooting in self
defense.
Financier Arrives in New York
on Kaiser Wilhelm II.
SENDS WIRELESS MESSAGE!
Declares His Condition Is Good and
Makes Prophecy.
|
SXPECTS BUSINESS PROSPERITY
Large Crops and Restored Confidence
Auguries of Good Times?Here ?
to Complete Cure.
NEW YORK. August 24.?The steamer |
Kaiser Wilhelm II, with E. II. llarriman I
on board, arrived in quarantine at 1:10
p.m. Th* steamer immediately ran up i
two black balls anil the letters S. M. P.,
which means "unmanageable."
At 1!.20 p.m. she appeared to be all
right again, as she dropped her anchor
age.
Mr. Harrlman today sent the following
wireless message to the Associated Press
in response to a request:
"On Board Steamship Kai?er Wilhelm
II, via Wireless to Sagaponack.?My con
dition is good. I am going back to
Arden for the after-cure and to regain
ten pounds which I left at the Gastein
cure. The condition of the American
crops makes the outlook bright and busi
ness conditions for the future safe.
"The views I expressed June 1 before
leaving the United States have undergone
no change."
Vice President Lovett and a number of
directors of the Union Pacific railroad
went down to the quarantine station on
the Southern Pacific tug El Amigo to
meet Mr. llarriman. Mr. Lovett said
before starting that It was then planned
to take Mr. llarriman on board a tug
and convey him from the steamer to the
Erie railroad station in Jersey City. An
other party - of Mr. Harriman's friends
was on board the second tug which also
went down the bay to meet the steamer.
Mr. Harriman's statement of Jur^e 1,
which he now says is applicable to con
ditions today, said, in part:
"The business of the country is now
on a very substantial basis. AH that
Is needed now is a realisation on the
part 'of the farmers of the preparations
for prosperity, which have been so
liberally mad<5. There are now more
acrcs In cultivation, than ever before in
th? history : of the country,' and -if ' we
have favorable weather and correspond
ingly large crops I look fbr happy times.
There will be a big burst of speculation
and a rise in the prices* of everything,
hut these will quiokiy grade down from
the top to whatever level the crops will
make logical. I shall look to sec the
improvement In cond.tlcns go on. The
time. Is ripe, however, for a warning
as' to the p.oper employment of idle
money. We should be careful that this
money be not devoted to the supposed
development of fake projects, but, on
the contrary, used in the upbuilding of
real undertakings resting upon solid
foundations.
'?A Panic of Sentiment.*'.
"There was no necessity for the 1907
panic. That panic was directly caused
by the extraordinary Laudls decision and
the general attitude prevailing at the
time against the railroads and corpora
tions generally. There is no mistake
about this. I know what I am talkffig
about, because I went through it all. It
was a panic of sentiment.
"As far as the mental attitude of the
public is concerned we are on a saner
asis today than we were in 1907. If
we keep going up, however, and come
down it will hurt more after we have
gone up three or four stories."
"MEXICO FOB MEXICANS.*'
Discharged American Telegraphers
Tell of New Political Issue.
Special DUpatch to The Star.
COLUMBUS. Ohio, August 24.?L. W.
Cowles, who fifteen years ago was a
telegraph operator in Columbus, and
whose original home was at Johnstown,
I jc-king county, returned to Columbus to
day from Old Mexico, and with him over
the border Into the United States came
sixtj* o.her telegraphers, who had been
employed on the National railroad, and
who lost their places as a result of the
political activity of Gen. Rayes. who is
fighting President Diaz. They were told
to leave Mexico forthwith, as the cry ie
now, "Mexico for Mexicans!"
Their places were all taken by Mexi
cans. Mr. Cowles says the fight in Mex
ico 1b not as to who shall be the next
president: that there is no doubt it will
be Diaz, but that the argument is all
about the vice pres dency. Gen. Reyes
is an anti-foreign man, and has been
making all kinds of promises as o what
will happen to benefit the Mexicans if he
is elected. He whetted Mexican appe
tites. and when the government got con
trol of the National railroad recently by
purchase of a majority of the stock
through a New York house here came a
demand that Mexican railroads be run by
Mexicans in the Mexican language in
stead of by Americans in .th ? English
language. The discharge of the Ameri
can operators, who were drawing |29i) in
Mexican money every month, followed.
ASK KING'S AID.
Women of Stockholm Would End
Strike Troubles.
STOCKHOLM, August 24.?A petition
signed by women from all classes of so
ciety has been presented to the king beg
ging him to intercede to bring about
arbitration of the dispute between the
laborers and their employers that re
sulted In the strike now almost & month
old. The ministry of the interior has
seut telegraphic instructions to all local
governors to take drastic measures to
protect the laborers who have returned
to work.
One hundred and twelve German steve
dores have arrived * here from Trave
munde to unload a number of coal steam
ers that have been lying In the harbor
over a fortnight.
Suicide of Pittsburg Bank Clerk.
PITTSBURG, August 24.?M. L. Ott
man. jr., thirty years old, a clerk em
ployed at the Metropolitan National
Bank, committed suicide by shooting
himself in the head in the directors*
room of the institution shortly beforo
noon today. The officials say his ac
counts are straight and give 11) health
as the motiv*
TALKS OF THE TRUSTS
Address by President of Na
tional Bar Association.
TAXING THE CORPORATIONS
Recent Legislation by Congress and
Its Effect.
POWER OF HOLDING COMPANIES
Varity of Topics to Be Discussed
During the Session?Prominent
Men Present.
DETROIT, Mich., August 24.?The an
| nual meeting of the American Bar Asso
ciation opened h<;re today with the read
i ing oC his annual address by Frederick W.
Leiimann of St. Louis, Mo., president of
! the association. Mr. Lehmann dwelt main
: ly on the noteworthy changes In statute
' law made in the states and by Congrees
! during the year.
| Among the delegates at the meeting are
i many of America's leading lawyers, and
among the distinguished visitors arc Sec
retary of War Dickinson, Georges Barbey.
advoeatc of the court of appeals of Paris,
France, and Sir Frederick Powell. the
English Jurist. The visitors and delegates
number about 330.
Following the president's addrosB the re
port of the secretary was read, showing a
large increase in the membership. Sine*
1903 the membership has gro^n from 1.8UU
to more than
The association now includes representa
tives from all the states. Alaska. Arizona.
Hawaii, New Mexico and the Philippine
Islands. Tonight Georges Barbey will
read a paper on "French Family Uw,"
and Judge Julian \V. Mack of the circuit
court of Cook county. 111., will present on*
on "Juvenile Courts."
The subjects will then be discussed by
the delegates.
Significance of Excise Tax.
The excise tax upon corporations im
posed at the special session of Congress
has a significance far beyond its revenue
features, according to President Leh
mann. president of the American Bar As
, sociation, who delivered his annual ad
dress at the meeting of the organization
today.
"It is of highest importance as the
opening door to regulation which will
broaden with the yearn,"' said Mr. Leh
mann. "There id Jn".?l}ja no. invasion of
merely private affairs. "A business con
ducted by corporate methods Is not a
private business. Corporate powers are
not natural rights and the general welfare
is the only justification for the grant of
them. The right of public supervision
Inheres in them and is as broad.as the
interests that may be affected."
.Mr. Lehmann declared that the trust ie
?bsiAeu.. ' .Noix)dy now is so ignorant or
so defiant of law as to think Qf forming
one." said he. "And it Is very easy to
do much better. Out of the ashes o. tlie
'trust* "has sprung the holding company?
"the 'trust' in an improved perfected form.
The holding company does and Is designed,
to do exactly what was done by the
?trust.' and does it more efficiently. Is it
under the ban of the law? Certainly not
in all of the states."
Prohibition Does Not Prohibit.
Mr. Lehmann mentioned the prohibition
in Montana against trusts. "Having
slain the senile and debilitated 'trusts,'
they made invulnerable through legiti
macy its youthful and sturdy successor,
the holding company," said he. The
speaker said these two laws stand to
gether, with the result that any industry
or business of the state may be legally
monopolized, provided it is well and thor
oughly done, and no hal -way measures
are employed. This condition of the law
exists in other states, he asserted.
"But the holding company is not the
ull and final development of Industrial
combination." continued Mr. Lehmann.
This is reached in the single corporation
with unlimited power of capitalization
and direct ownership of the business and
properties with which it deals. Here is
eliminated even the disturbing element
of minority interests in constituent com
panies. Yet states which prohibit 'trusts'
and assume to prohibit monopolies set
no bounds to the capitalization of their
corporations or fix the limit so high that
under it many industries may be com
pletely engrossed.
"The result of such legislation is simply
to prevent combination where the appear
ance of competition is maintained and
to sanction it where the combination is
open, avowed and most effective. That
certainly was not tlio popular purpose
The movement against 'trusts' was
against the monopoly of industry or
business, however accomplished, and the
more thoroughly it was done the greater
was the objection to It. The assuranco
that the economies resulting from com
bination would cheapen production ard
that this w*>uld go to the benefit of the
consumer was never accepted.
No Faith in Benevolent Despotism.
"Our .people have no faith in a bene\ -
olent despotism. They know that power
tends to a/buse. A corporation large
enough to engroas an industry cannot be
trusted to a generous or even a just use
of its mastery. An enlightened self-inter
est may find its real and lasting advan
tage in moderation, but self-interest does
not me<an self-enlightenment. Recent dis
closures show that greed has not changed
its nature and still grows by what it
*eeds upon. The complete absorption of
a rival in not beyond capacity, and the
crumbs of a false balance are not be
neath its covetousness.
"No state can deal with the problem
singly and master it, and there haa
been, and can be. no concert of action
between the states.
"The great industrial corporations are,
in practical effect, as much agencies of
interstate commerce as are the great
carrier companies. If the production of
a commodity is under one cont.ol, com
merce In that commodity is under the
same control, but, unfortunately, produc
tion is held not to be within tho com
merce clause of the federal Constitution,
and so combinations to engross production
may be effected, because the general
government cannot prevent them, and the
states in which they are located w 11 not.
But something can be done under the
taxing power."
Significance of Federal Tax.
Mr. Lehmann then referred to the sig
nificance of the federal tax on corpora
tions.
Continuing, the speaker said: "Almost
the firBt law enacted by the First Con
gress of the United States at its ttrst
session was one levying duties upon im
ports, the pu poses declared by the act
being 'the support of government, the
discharge of the debts of the United
States and the encouragement and pro
tection of manufacturers,' and we have
never been without such a law. What
may thus be aided by the government
may also be regulated, for there is no