The Billings gazette. [volume], December 01, 1905, Page 4, Image 4

About The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919

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The Billings Gazette.
Sazette Printing Company, Publishers
Issued Semi-Weekly.
TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS,
Subscription Rates.
One )ear, in advance............$3.00
Six months.....................1.50
Entered at the Billings Postoffce as
Second Class Matter.
Friday, December 1, 1905.
ISLE OF PINES.
If the American colonists in the Isle
of Pines really believed that their
movement for annexation to the
United States would prove successful
they must be a disappointed lot. The
letter of Secretary Root makes plain
the fallacy of any hope they may have
entertained in that direction. Not only
does the secretary tell them that there
is no procedure by which they can
lawfully set up a territorial form of
government in the island, but that
they are bound to render obedience to
-the laws of the republic of Cuba under
-whose dominion they live or be pre
pared to take the consequences, with
out hope of interference from this
nation. Plainly also he tells them not
to build false hopes as to what the
future may hold in store for them as
regards any action likely to be taken
by the United States in reference to
changing the status of the island. The
treaty now pending before the senate,
if approved, he points out will relin
quish any claim this country may pre
tend to have to the island. But even
though disapproved, it would still not
alter the relative positions of the two
countries; the Isle of Pines would be
as much a part of the territory of
Cuba as though the senate had agreed
to the treaty. To make himself still
clearer, the secretary tells the colon
ists that to transfer the island formal
ly to this country would necessitate a
treaty directly contrary to the one
now awaiting action by the senate,
"and there is not the slightest pros
geot of such a treaty being made. You
may be sure," he adds, " that Cuba
will never consent to give up the Isle
of Pines and that the United States
will never try to compel her to give
it up against her will."
This succinctly and forcibly sets
forth the position of the administra
tion and should for all time put an end
to the silly talk of prejudiced and
warped persons who have pretended
to believe that the appeal of the Amer
icans on the Isle of Pines would be
taken advantage of by the president
as an excuse for depriving a friendly
and to a certain extent helpless na
tion of what rightfully and justly be
longs to it, regardless of right and in
ternational law. Feebly it was at
tempted to draw an analogy between
the case of the Isle of Pines and Pana
ma. Although knowing that abso
lutely no similarity existed, partisan
bias could not resist the temptation to
belittle the president and place him in
a wrong light before the people. In
Panama citizens organized a revolu
tion and declared for reinstatement of
a former condition, a return td a con
dition of actual independence and the
recreation of a sovereign state, which
Panama was before the union with
Columbia. A regularly organized gov
ernment was set up and immediately
entered upon the discharge of its
functions as such, giving every evi
dence of stability and permanancy. It
was then that this government recog
nized Panama, as did other foreign
nations and Panama as a separate
state was given place in the world.
Nothing of the kind can be said as
regards the Isle of Pines. No actual
severance was attempted there, unless
it be said that the action of a few
aliens who went through the pretense
of organizing a territory under the
laws and usages of the United States
constituted such action. Not for a
moment did they cease to be subject
to the laws and government of the
nation of which the island on which
they found themselves formed a part
and is now a part. They did not de
clare themselves an independent state,
nor did they go to the extent of main
taining a form of government. In
stead they asked that they be recog
nized by the United States as a part
of itself, a proposition impossible of
entertainment.
The fact that the Americans settled
on the island under a misconception of
the real situation and that they may
have been induced to form a wrong be
lief and build hopes not destined to
fruition does not alter the matter.
Much as some of us may regret that the
island belongs to Cuba, and not to us,
does not affect the question of right
and wrong involved. We may be
steeped in imperialism, as some of the
well meaning but misguided men and
women of the east insist, but we have
eot yet reached the stage of imperial
il where our conception of right and
J suls Is so blunted as to impel us as
a nation into the commission of a
downright act of territorial robbery.
The Isle of Pines belongs to Cuba and
always will, unless the time comes, as
many believe, when Cuba and all be
longing to it shall become a part of
the United States. That time as mat
ters now seem to stand is a long ways
hence.
PROMISES INTERESTING TALE.
Cassie Chadwick says she has
changed her mind and if given the op
portunity will tell much more than
on her first hearing in the bankruptcy
court. She has petitioned to have her
case reopened and only asks to be
permitted to tell all she knows. If
what she hints at is really true, then,
it is safe to say, strong effort will be
made to prevent what she is asking
for. Undoubtedly she 1l a wicked, dis
honest, scheming woman, but it is
only reasonable to suppose that with
out assistance to some degree she
could hardly have carried out her
game of theft and dishonesty to the
collosal extent that marked her op
erations.
For the sake of the information of
undoubted value she can give it is to
be hoped that she will be granted a
rehearing. While it might not be
productive of real good to the com
munities in which she operated, her
story would undoubtedly prove, as
she says, highly interesting. If she
has shielded those guilty with her
self she should be permitted to tell
her story and if it is capable of proof
then others should go to prison witn
her.
LAST APPEAL FAILS.
Evidently Mrs. Rogers is doomed
to die on the gallows. The highest
court in the land has passed upon her
case and seen nothing in the record
to warrant reversal of the judgment
of the lower tribunals. It affirms their
decree and declares that the law has
been properly observed and that the
defendant has not been deprived of
any right that was hers. Governor
Bell, who alone has it within his pow
er to save the miserable woman's life,
is quoted as saying that he will not
interfere, that he does not intend to
set himself above the courts who de
cided that in taking the life of her
husband she forfeited her own.
Contemplation of the spectacle of a
woman dying on the scaffold is grue
some and revolting. American man
hood rebels against it, but after all it
is only sentiment that causes differen
tiation between a female taker of hu
man life and a male guilty of the
crime. In the eyes of the law all are
supposed to stand equal and the mat
ter of sex is supposed to make no
difference in the degree of punishment
that is to be meted out for violation
of its mandates. To hang Mrs. Rog
ers is probably only justice, but it is
the kind of justice that but few care
to see carried out.
A DEGRADED SPORT.
Chicago's city council, much as it
may have to answer for in other
respects, is entitled to the distinguish
ed regard of the country for the stand
it has taken in reference to the so
called game of football. While college
presidents and others are engaged Jp
academic discussions and deploring
the brutality which now marks what
was intended as a sport and pastime,
the Chicago aldermen propose not to
permit it within the territory over
which their jurisdiction extends. If
other cities were to do the same thing
the cry now heard against the "game"
would soon cease. There would be no
playing, or the rules governing it
would be so revised as to once more
make football something to be toler
ated and raise it above the level to
which it has degenerated during re
cent years.
A contemporary asks, "Is football
sport? Of course, it is sport, but of
the same kind as prizefighting and
purring matches, and its influence on
those who play it is the same. Its ten
dency is to brutalize, to dull the finer
sensibilities and to exalt brute
strength and brute force. The adher
ents of it pretend that it serves a use
ful purpose in fostering a spirit of fra
ternity and institutional pride among
students, while at the same time teach
ing them self-reliance and developing
physical courage. If it inspires fra
ternity and college pride they are of
the kin:l that find place in the minds
of the fellows whose "gang" Is capable
of worsting another "gang" whenever
their paths happen to lead them to
gether. Instead of fostering the spirit
of true sportsmanship it has the op
posite tendency. This has become evi
dent of late in the many charges and
counter charges of "professionalism."
It has been tolerably well established
that many of the men who are playing
in the teams of the larger in
stitutions are carried on the rolls
of those schools, not because
their educational qualifications make
them eligible to entry in the dif
ferent classes to which they are as
signed, but because of their prowess
on the football field. Hence ex-pugil
ists, retired wrestlers and others pos
sessed of brawn and muscle instead
of brains and intelligence are playing
all over the country under the colors
of reputable institutions of learning as
regularly enrolled students. So great
has the craze become for distinction
on the gridiron that the real purposes
of a school are only too often made
subservient to the training of bruiser;
and fighters. Parents may complain
that they send their sons to those
places for the purpose of acquiring
useful knowledge and not to learn to
play football, but their complaints re
main unheeded if their hopefuls but
show themselves possessed of the re
iuisite strength and coarseness of
nature to shine in those prearranged
rough-and-tumble fights called inter
;ollegiate football games. Their first
luty is to the "team" and their obedi
ence is due the professional trainpr
-etained at an enormous salary to fit
them for participation in those
ructions. If any time remains be
tween practice hours they may apply
themselves to their books and studies,
or between times they are supposedly
free to do as they please, so long as
they observe the stringent dietary
ules and for the care of their physi
ýal bodies prescribed for their obser
vance.
No one would find fault with foot
)all were it kept within its proper
;phere and made a source of innocent,
lealthful amusement for schools and
pupils, an incident to school life. But
,his it has ceased to be. As now re
tarded it is about all there is to a
'our-years' course at any of the col
eges or universities. Intelligence and
vit sufficient to understand signals
Lnd to gouge and hit are all that is
-equired, consequently many a youth
;raduates from the football field in
stead of from the college to which he
has been sent and at which he spent
several years of valuable time that
-ould have been devoted with much
better results to himself and those who
sent him there to the cultivation of
muscle at the forge or in the foundry.
His frame would have been no less
sturdy and his sinews no less strong,
while in intelligence and learning he
would probably have been equally far
advanced.
AN INTERESTING SERIAL.
With undiminished interest and e
well sustained continuity of plot the
serial appearing in the daily papers
under the New York date line contin
ues to reach those who care for that
kind of literature. Although not of
the blood and thunder order, the story
is not lacking in the element of ex
citement. The hero, of course, is Law
yer Hughes and the way he brings out
the truth and compels confessions of a
questionable transactions and d -
right dishonesty must prove refrei
ing to the well minded reader. e
cause of its length and completeness
of detail very few will probably pe
able to keep run of all the circum
stances. While this interferes in res
pect of keeping in mind the minutia, E
it answers admirably the purpose of
strengthening the conviction formed
at the very beginning that all the ras
cals who should be in the penitenitary
are not there by a goodly number. 1
With rare skill Mr. Hughes is hand
ling his case and continues to pile .p p
evidence'of guilt on the part of men
who heretofore have stood high in
the estimation of their friends and
acquaintances and enjoyed the esteem
and confidence of the business world.
From unwilling lips he forces confes
sions as astonishing to read as tlley
must be humiliating to .those making
them. In a pitiless way are given to
the world the secrets of how colos&~l
fortunes havr been built up in a few
years and how trusts have been viola
ted and custody of funds belonging to
others has been used in furtherance
of private gains. Yesterday's install
ment of the story was particularly
rich in this regard. Unblushingly men
told how they had speculated with
money belonging to policy holders;
how the company always stood to
loose in case the speculations failed
and how the manipulators pocketed
the profits when success attended the
ventures. More scandalous and dis
reputable methods have never been
employed by conscienceless men than
those of the insurance officials who
are now being forced to make public
what they had hoped would always
remain a secret known only to the
small circle directly concerned. The
worst is that the end seems to be as
far off as ever.
THE COMMISSION'S BILL.
Diffeting in many essentials from
that submitted by Senator Foraker
is the bill for a law for governme'ltal
control of the railroads which the
interstate commerce commission has
filed with the senate committee on
interstate commerce. It comes nearer
to being what popular demand calls
for and will probably receive the sup
port of the people for that reason,
regardless of how the committee may
regard it.
The bill is what it purports to be
Sa measure for control by the govern
ment of interstate transportation. It
goes without saying that the railroads
will not consider it in a kindly way
because it contains the very provi
sions against which they are con
tending, although it cannot well be
said that it is unfair to them. While
enlarging the power and scope of the
commission, it is not unjust to the
railroads, as it provides for appeal
.o the courts in every instance where
.hey may be dissatisfied with any or
ler issued by the commission. The
2hief objection of the roads will prob
ably be found in the provision which
leclares that an appeal shall not act
as a supersedeas, meaning that al
though appeal may be taken, the or
der appealed from shall continue in
affect until vacated by the courts.
This would have the result of afford
.ng instant and prompt remedy to ag
grieved shippers, without necessitat
ing the long delay of going into court
.irst and after months of waiting and
itigation obtain a decision.
Seemingly it is the desire of the com
nission to place the railroads relative
y on the same footing as the national
banks as regards examination of their
books and accounts by examiners ap
pointed for that purpose. This, of
course, is not for the purpose of as
certaining their financial standing in
respect of their solvency, but in order
to afford opportunity to learn whether
the law is being complied with. To
keep the business of transportation
within full and effective control of the
commission, or rather the statute en
forcement of which is made its duty,
care has been taken that evasion may
not'be practiced in cases where ship
ments originating in the United States
and destined to some other point in
the country which to reach it is neces
sary that they shall pass through a for
eign country. To accomplish this it is
provided that all goods so forwarded
shall be made liable to the payment
of a custom duty, unless the through
rate governing the same is filed with
the commission.
As well as this can be done, pio
vision is made against the payment of
rebates or the granting of secret, spe
cial rates to shippers by the clause
forbidding the keeping of books of
account other than those prescribed
by the commission. This part of the
law will probably be strongly opposedI
by the railroads who have arrayed
themselves against the president, but
if, as they claim, they are really in
earnest when they say that they would
welcome any law which would release
them from the power of the heavy
shippers, who, they charge, actually
force them into the payment of re
bates and the granting of secret rates,
it would seem that they have it in
this very clause.
As it reads the bill probably is satis
factory to Presidents Whitney, Cassmtt
and Mellen, who have gone on record
as favoring governmental control, be
ing in this respect at variance with
the other gentlemen occupying execu
tive positions with the greater sys
tems. As before said, the bill will
undoubtedly suit the people, but it
may be relied upon to arouse strong
antagonism from the railroads and the
senators who insist upon a modified
form of control.
Two bills are thus far before the
committee, varying greatly in their
purport and objects. Others will be
forthcoming, as it is known that sev
eral of the members intend to sub
mit bills. Even were no others to be
offbred, ground already exists for spir
ited and extended debate in the com
mittee before its report to the senate
shall be submitted.
FOR UNIVERSAL PEACE.
St. Louis Globe-Democrat: Repre
sentative Bartholdt's address on the
peace movement, which he has just
delivered before a society cf one of
the St. Louis churches, deserves wide
publicity. Its author is well qualified
to speak on that theme. He presided
over the sessions of the interparlia
mentary union which were held at
the St. Louis world's fair in 1904. At
the Brussels peace conference of 1905
he headed the American delegation,
consisting of twenty or more members
of congress. At that gathering he
presented the American plan of main
taining the peace of the world, of
which he was the chief author.
The American proposition at Brus
sels was a permanent international
parliament and a general arbitration
treaty. This subject formed the basis
for most of the discussions of the
conference. The subject is large. It
has an importance beyond anything
else which can come up in internation
al politics. The war just ended in
Manchuria cost over $4,000,000,000,
counting the destruction of property
as well as the debts which it incited
on both sides. The loss of life, from
wounds in battle, from disease and
from the regular exigencies of the
service, was over 400,000, most of the
deaths being among men in the early
prime of life. And this way only one
of the many wars which the world has
had in the past half century.
As Mr. Bartholdt pointed out in his
address, Europe's military budgets
just previous to the Franco-German
war were $588,000,000 a year. They
had advanced to $1,000,000,000 by
1893. They are $1,400,000,000 in 1905.
The amount expended by the great
nations for military purposes increas
es far faster than does population, and
the people's burdens, as a coa:s
quence, grow constantly heavier. For
a financial as well as humanitarian rea
sons the greatest question which con
fronts the nations is the invention of
some plan whereby the differences be
tween them can be settled" in court,
just as those between individuals are
in all civilized lands. America is
taking the lead in dealing with this
large ipsue. There is a prospect that
the plan of the American delegates at
the Brussels conference, or something
en those general lines, will be agreed
to ultimately by the powers, and wars
will be diminished, and eventually
abolished.
SOUND PROSPERITY.
Minneapolis Journal: Secretary
Wilson, when he had finished his an
nual report as head of the department
of agriculture, could scarcely refrain
from dropping into poetry, so wonder
fully impressive were the facts and
figures spread before him. One bit
of sentiment found its way in.
"Dreams of wealth production," he
says, "could scarcely equal actual re
sults; every sunset for five years has
witnessed an increase in the value
of the farms of our country of $2,
400,000." Every month has piled value
upon value until it represents to
day a gain per month of $102,000,
000, and since the census of 1900
was taken, the total farm value
of the United States has increased
by the great sum of $6,133,000,000.
These are mighty figures and they
speak of prosperity unparalleled in
the world's history. Little wonder
that the men who compile them and
come in touch with the moving forces
for which the figures stand, are tempt
ed to give away to enthusiasm.
While the lands of the farmer have
been advancing, the farmer himself
has not been idle. This past season
he made a new record, turning out a
total farm production of $6,415,000,000,
a sum greater than the increase rep
resented by land enhancement. Corn
is again the greatest crop, in measur
ed units of production as well as in
value and it stands this year for $1,
216,000,000. Hay measures up to
$605,000,000, cotton has a value of
$575,000,000, wheat $525,000,000, milk
and butter run to $665,000,000, and the
great variety of farm production
makes a diversity of items, each large
in itself, and bringing the total to the
figures above.
There are many different ways' in
which the effect of this production of
new wealth may be shown, but prob
ably no one thing makes it clearer
than the turning of the wealthier
farmers into the banking field. Of
national banks, of $50,000 capitaliza
tion or more, there were organized,
since March 14, 1900, to October 31 of
this year, 1,754 new banks, of which
a majority represent 'the money of
farmers, who have gone in both as
depositors and stockholders.
The whole exhibit is a wonder. But
after one reads it, there is no longer
wonder that the country is prosper
ous nor can any doubt remain of the
soundness of the advance in values
in general. Prosperity that is based
upon the farmers' prosperity is the
real thing, and nowhere is the farmer
more prosperous than in our own
- northwest.
UNDER THE BAN.
Catholics Unchurched For Attending
Divorced Man's Wedding.
[By Associated Prees]
Omaha, Nov. 30.-Bishop Richard
Scannell of the Nebraska diocese of
the Catholic church has declared ex
communicated, ipso facto, all mem
bers of the Catholic church who par
ticipated in the wedding of Congress
ian Kennedy and Miss Pritchett,
Monday. There were a number of
prominent Catholics present, including
Mrs. Edward Cudahy, wife of the
packing house magnate. Mrs. M. A.
Hamilton, whose individual fortune
is rated at over a million, was one of
the bridesmaids.
Congressman Ieennedy has a divorc
ed wife living and for that reason the
bishop issued last Sunday a pastoral
forbidding all Catholics to participate
in the ceremony.
COMMANDER SINKS SHIP.
Heroic Measure Taken to Save Life
at Sebastopol.
[By Associated Press]
Sebastopol, Via Warsaw, Nov. 30.
During the battle between the rebel
and loyal vessels of the Black sea
fleet a mining ship, which had 200
Whitehead torpedos and other explo
sives on board, was sunk by her com
mander, who feared that she would be
struck by a shell.
Some regiments with artillery have
arrived here from Odessa and other
places.
DIE PITIABLE DEATH.
[By Associated Press]
Vancouver, Nov. 30.---With sure
death facing them and without a fight
ing chance left, eight men were
caught in an ice jam at Coal creek
below Forty Mile, Alaska, October 26.
and drowned.
MARKS EPOCH
FOR ISRAEL
(Continued from Filst Page.)
rejoice in the good which the settle
ment we commemorate has brought to
the nation in which we all find safety
and protection; and, uninterrupted by
differences in religious faith, let us,
under the guidance of the genius of
toleration and equality, here conse
crate ourselves more fully than ever
to united and devoted labor in the field
of our common nation's advancement
and exaltation."
President Roosevelt's Letter.
President Roosevelt's letter read as
follows:
"The White House,
"Washington, November 16, 1905.
"My dear Sir:
"I am forced to make a rule not to
write letters on the occasion of any
celebration, no matter how important,
simply because I can not write one
without either committing myself to
write hundreds of others or else run
ning the risk of giving offense to
worthy persons. I make an exception
in this case because the lamentable
and terrible suffering to which so
many of the Jewish people in other
lands have been subjected makes me
feel it my duty as the head of the Amer
ican people not only to express my
deep sympathy for them, as I now do,
but at the same time to point out what
fine qualities of citizenship have been
displayed by the men of Jewish faith
and race, who, having come to this
country, enjoy the benefits of free in
stitutions and equal treatment before
the law. I feel very strongly that if
any people are oppressed anywhere,
the wrong inevitably reacts in the end
on those who oppress them; for it is
an immutable law in the spiritual
world that no one can wrong others
and yet in the end himself escape un
hurt.
"The celebration of the 250 anni
versary of the settlement of the Jews
in the United States properly empha
sizes a series of historical facts of
more that merely national significance.
Even in our colonial period the Jews
participated in the upbuilding of this
country, acquired citizenship, and took
an active part in the development of
foreign and domestic commerce. Dur
ing the revolutionary period they aided
the cause of liberty by serving in the
continental army and by substantial
contributions to the empty treasury of
the republic. During the civil war
thousands served in the armies and
mingled their blood with the soil for
which they fought. I am glad to be
able to say, in addressing you on this
occasion, that while the Jews of the
United States, who number more than
a million, have remained Joyal to their
faith and their race traditions, they
have become indissolubly incorporated
in the great army of American citizen
ship, prepared to make all sacrifice for
the country, either in war or peace,
and striving for the perpetuation of
good government and for the mainten
ance of the principles embodied in our
constitution. They are honorably dis
tinguished by their industry, their
obedience to law and their devotion to
the national welfare. They are en
gaged in generous rivalry with their
fellow citizens of other denominations
in advancing the interests of our com
mon country. This is true not only of
the descendants of, the early settlers
- and those of American birth, but of a
Sgreat and constantly increasing pro
- portion of those who have come to our
- shores within the last 25 years as ref
ugees reduced to the direst straits of
Spenury and misery. All Americans
Smay well be proud of the extraordinary
Sillustration of the wisdom and strength
Sof our givernmental system thus af
3 forded. In a few years, men and
fwomen hitherto utterly unaccustomed
to any of the privileges of citizenship,
- have moved mightily upward toward
Sthe standard of loyal, self-respecting
1 American citizenship; of that citizen
3 ship which not merely insists upon its
rights, but also eagerly recognizes its
duty to do its full share in the material,
social and moral advancement of the
nation.
e "With all good wishes, believe me,
Sincerely yours,
"THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
"Jacob H. Schiff, Esq.,
- Chairman, Committee on the Celebra
1 tion of the 250th Anniversary of the
a Settlement of the Jews in the United
O States, 52 William Street, New
. . York."
COURT MARTIAL CLOSES.
Only Announcment of Verdict in Meri
wether Case Remains.
[By Associated Press]
Annapolis, Md., Nov. 30.-Except for
the announcement of the verdict, after
it shall have been passed upon by the
secretary of the navy, the Meriwether
court martial insofar as the public is
concerned, is at an end.
Today was almost wholly given ov
er to arguments of counsel.
Calling cards at The Gasette of.ic