The Birmingham age-herald. [volume], June 23, 1902, Image 4

About The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950

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1m Age-Herald
1 . W. HAKBETT.Editor
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THE AGE-HERALD.
Birmingham. Ain.
Washington Bureau Age-Herald. 1421
f' ^treet. N W.
_'
With hi* disease of all-shunned pov- i
arty,
Walks, like contempt, alone.
—Timon of Athens.
1 ands of the Friars.
The cable brings Intelligence that J
the Vatican will not oppose the sale i
of the lands of the friars in the Philip- |
pines to the United States. The sub- j
Ject was referred to a committee con- i
slsting of five cardinals, and four of j
them favor a sale of the lands, only I
Cardinal Steinhuber, a Jesuit, oppos
ing the sale. Governor Taft will be
undoubtedly therefore successful in
his mission, and thus one troublesome
question in the endless Philippine se
ries will be settled. The Taft proposl- |
tlons are briefly these:
First—Purchase of the lands of the I
friars, the price to be fixed by arbltra- j
tion.
Second—The arbiters to fix the in- j
demnlty which the Americans shall pay i
for occupying ecclesiastical buildings.
Third—The above propositions ab- !
solutely conditional on the withdrawal j
of the friars.
Fourth—If the other propositions
are accepted the Americans propose
to give a deed or by law to grant &
patent to ecclesiastical buildings on
puulic lands.
Fifth—To settle by compromise or
arbitration the several trusts for
schools, hospitals, etc., claimed on the
one hand by the civil and on the other
hand by the church authorities.
The one proposition sternly insist
ed on by Governor Taft is the with
drawal of the friars from the islands,
undemocratic as that proposition may
be. They are unpopular among the
Filipinos, for they represent in Luzon
the old Spanish rule and Spanish
methods. They came originally from
Spain, and Spain took good care to
protect them In the treaty of Paris
As a matter of fact nearly all the
friars have left the Philippines, going
largely to South American countries,
but their lands remain, and it is these
the United States desires to buy, the
price to be named by arbitration.
It is said a very keen controversy
will arise over the disposition of the
money to be paid by the United
States, which inuy be about $5,000,000.
The Propaganda having the care and
oversight of foreign missions will
claim it, and so will the religious or
ders in the Philippines This is, how
ever, a piece of business that does not
concern the American government,
and the Vatican will settle the ques
tion in its own way. The disposition
of the purchased lands will become an
American question, and as these lands
are the pick of fertile and populous
Luzon no little trouble nnd feme scan
dal will perhaps arise over them.
. iid L?nds Irrigation.
The arid iands bill promises to be
come a law, and a very important and
far-reaching law it will be. The bill
waB passed by the Senate several
weeks ago, and it wont through the
House by a vote of 146 to 55.. A few
amendments were adopted by the
House, but there is little doubt of an
agreement between the houses. The
President favors the bill, and it is as
good as law today.
The bill In short creates a reclama
tion fund from the sale of public
lanus in Arinina. California, Colorado,
Idaho, Kan as, Montana, Nebraska,
Nevada. New Mexico. North Dakota,
Oklohoma, Oregon, South Dakota,
Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
This fund is to be used for the con
st. uction and maintenance of irriga
tion wonts in the States and territo
ries named. There is no appropria
tion whatever, but when the Bales of
public lands, which now amount to
about $3,000,000 a year, will permit
tne construction of irrigation works
they shall be constructed.
For example, a reservoir to cost
I10.00d.000 is to be constructed. It
will reclaim by the moisture route
,oOu acres of land. These acres are
to be sold to actual settlers and home
steaders at the bare cost of reclama
tion, or $10 an acre. Only settlers can
buy such lands, and one man can buy
but 160 acres, tnis would put the
cost of reclaiming the desert back into
the reclamation fund to be reapplied
In other places, and so on until per
haps 74,000,000 acres of our vast arid
wastes are reclaimed—an empire in
Itself.
The importance of this measure
sannot well be overestimated. It Is
not a political measure, and party
lines were not drawn upon it. , It is
simply a great effort to enlarge the
flelu of the home--jader and to bring
use vast tracts that are now
worthless. In every respect the bill
is one of great merit, and the fact
that it was passed in the House
against the wishes of the House lead
ers does not lessen its value.
War Taxes Repealed.
On July X, now near at hand, ihe
last of the taxes laid ou account of
the war with Spain will be repealed.
The stamp taxes in brokers' con
tracts, custom house paper?., drafts, i
bills of exchange, sleeping car tickets
and the like will then disappear. The ]
tax on beer will be reduced to one
dollar a barrel, which was the rate
before the war with Spain. Like re
ductions occur In regard to cigars and
i
tobacco.
The tax on tea, however, stands un- j
til January 1 next, when it too will ex
pire. This tax Is ten cents a pound,
and It should have been the first, In
stead of the last, of the war taxes to
be repealed, because it Is felt in more
homes than is the sleeping car stamp
tax, or the beer tax. The tax on tea
is a very onerous one In many hum
ble homes, it being ten cents a pound,
and every bit of this tax Is taken out
of consumers. And yet the bucket
shops are to be relieved of all federal
taxation on July X, while the tax on
tea Is to stand until January 1.
These reductions will not greatly
affect the revenue of the government, 1
cniefly because the country Is Increas
ing in every respect, and trade is very
prosperous. The surplus of the fiscal
year that will be ended at the end of
the present month will be about $80,- |
000,000, a balance much too large for
tne good of the country, Involving as
it does unnecessary taxation, and in
viting as it does extravagant appro
priations.
Fighting the Mosquito s
Tuscaloosa not only has a revenue
dispensary system of high rank, but
it also has an ordinance directed
against those bearers of disease
germs, the mosquitoes. Birmingham
Is very backward in the suppression
of the mosquito nuisance, and from
pool and rainwater barrel will soon
come millions of the ravenous and
really dangerous Insects. They are
dangerous because they carry disease
germs of all sorts which they push
directly Into the blood of their vic
tims. A more Insidious enemy Is not
known to man.
The fact that mosqpitoes are the
chief means of communicating disease
germs has been too well established
at Havana and elsewhere to be dis
puted. Their specialties may be said
to be malaria and fever germs, al
though they undoubtedly do carry
germs of all sorts, and if they carry
them they unload them in the first
victim they puncture.
Other causes may produce disease.
Other causes certainly do aggravate
diseases of one sort or another. But
for direct Disease innoculation nothing
equals the mosquito, for the pestifer
ous little creature pushes the germs
it has unwittingly picked up right
where they will do the most harm.
i he mosquito season in Jones Val
ley is not much over two monhts
long, but in that time great harm can
be done—harm that could be avoided
uy a wise and well-executed mosquito
orainance. Such an ordinance cannot
be expected this year, but the aider
men of this town next year will know
more than the aldermen of this year
do as to mosquitoes, and perhaps next
year we, too, will have an antl-mos
quito ordinance. In this valley mos
quitoes could easily lie squelched, be
cause we have no swamps nor large
bodies of water. The task is an easy
one here, but easy as it is our city
authorities are not equal to it.
The collective assassins of Greens
[ boro Nortn Caroona. are going about
with a price set on uieir heads. Gov
ernor Aycock wants all of them, sev
enty-five in number, at $450 a head.
They are adopting up there Alabama
methods, except that they depend too
much on rewards and too little on
good detective work.
King Edward had the old familiar
stomach ache, but »i was necessary to
give the complaint a bigger name in
order to make it correspond to the
victim's condition in life.
In spite of the snowdrifts the Boer
army is coming in and surrendering
promptly. Peace that people really
want cannot be blocked by mere snow
storms.
Grover Cleveland Is doctor of bo
many things the list of them Is kept
as the umpire keeps account of balls
and strikes In a ball game.
The Kansas City platform has been
repudiated by Senator Jones of Ar
kansas and It may now be considered
a back number.
General Gomez drew pensions from
two countries, and as he was born in
San Domingo he may yet collar a
third one.
The shadow of the coronation is the
apprehension that Alfred Austin will
publish an ode upon It.
King Edward has accumulated lum
bago in his back, and a crown on his
head will not help that
The Chicago’s men in Venice were
promptly whitewashed. Wine first and
whitewash afterwards.
Billy .vinson went over to the rail
road side after all, as did all others
who have "lost out.”
General Gomez Is a Cuban patriot
for evcnue only. There are others
ir .ther countries.
The first In war In South Africa are
now first in peace and a British
bounty.
It was King Edward’s rehearsals
that broke his naturally robust consti
tution.
No one surely will attempt to assas
sinate King Edward in his rehearsal
period.
The Panama hat begins to think all j
things are coming its way, including '
a canal.
King Edward’s crick in his lumbar
regions resounded round the world.
The beet-sugar scandal is but an ex
emplification of Dingley rottenness.
J. P. .uorgan should be given the
degree of T. D. t doctor of trusts).
All will rejoice when Edward really
gets his crown on straight.
Judge Taft has opened a real estate
office in Rome.
The beet has become our national
vegetable.
STRONG FOR JAKEY.
From the Manila American.
General Smith more than realized the
expectations of his friends. Everyone who
knows the intrepid little general and his
splendid record has felt sure, ever since
the news that he was to be tried was
published, that “Jakoy" Smith, who, in
all his long and glorions career, never
yet shirked ac risis, would prove himself
equal to the emergency when the crucial
moment should come, and acquit himself
like a man.
FOR STATE SUPERINTENDENT.
From the Bessemer Workman.
It Is announced that Hon. Chappel Cory
of Montgomery will be a candidate for
State superintendent of education and he
will be a formidable candidate. Gifted,
progressive, wide awake, thoroughly cog
nizant of the needs of the State In an
educational line, he 1b well fitted in every
way for the office he seeks and if elected
to the position he will make a most wor
thy and efficient officer. There Is no man
in Alabama better known nor one who
is more popular with all classes of men
than Chappel Cory and his brethren of the
press will doubtless rally to his support.
VALUABLE MANUSCRIPT.
| From Public Opinion.
The two greatest manuscripts In Amer
ica, according to the Bookman, are the
manuscript of the Declaration of Inde
pendence, which is in the government
archives, and which has become il
legible, and the life of Benjamin Frank
lin, written by himself (the only manu
script entirely In his own handwriting),
which changed hands a few weeks ago
and was added to a private collection in
New York City. The Franklin manuscript
was discovered In France some years
ago, in the possession of the descendants
of M. de Vaillard. to whom it had been
given by William Temple Franklin,
Franklin’s grandson.
A STATE PRIMARY.
From the Pine Belt News.
The people demand a primary election.
The antiquated convention must go.
From the Greenville Living Truth.
Candidates for state offices are fairly
falling over each other in trying to get
on the primary band wagon. The pri
mary Is the popular thing Just now, and
the astute politician realizes it and is
getting on the popular side.
From the Montevallo Sentinel.
Governor Jelks says he is in favor of
a state primary. It Is only a question of
a very short time when all the state of
ficers will be on that platform. It re
mains to be seen whether the state com
mittee will go to the back yard all by Its
lone self and dec*^e to turn down the
people. Such an action we believe would
Injure the party.
From the Huntsville Herald.
The newspapers of North Alabama that
are advocating a state convention in
| Ptmd of n state primary are not trre
to tlieir own people. They are in fact ad
vocating the doctrine that one white man
from another section of the state should
have as much voice In the government
as five or six of their own people. They
are endeavoring to put the people who
support their papers, men whose money
keeps the papers going, to the great po
litical odds of 6 to 1. This looks ungrate
ful to say the least of it, that they should
seek to put In this unfair position men
whose patronage makes their papers suc
cessful.
THAT STEEL INJUNCTION.
From the Wall Street Journal.
The continuance of the Injunction In the
Steel case met general expectations. Fur
ther expectation Is that the decision on
appeal will be against the Steel Company
anliss some new position from a legal
point of view' can be established. The es
sential point of the Steel case Is that the
stockholders possess certain rights and
that the enabling act of the legislature
did not Impair these rights. The plan of
the company does not permit any stock
holder to maintain his former position.
Whether that position Is changed for the
better or worse may be disputed.
The position of the assenting stock- ;
holder Is changed by giving him a lower
rate of Interest. If a better security. The j
position of the non-assenting stockholder ;
Is changed by putting a fixed charge [
ahead of his dividend. Very good lawyers
Insist that a stockholder In such a case
cannot have his position changed against
his will, except In case of necessity by
foreclosure. He has a right tos tay as he
was unless Inducements are sufficient to
make him wish to change. Reasoning
from this. It was assumed that the Injunc
tion would be continued and It is believed
In some circles at least that the ultimate
decision will be against the company un
less stockholders prove In the end to be
satisfied to have their positions changed.
IN HOTEL BILOBES
AND ELSEWHERE
Women Can’t Witness In Louisiana.
"It will be rather disappointing for the
Alabama women In charge of the Jeffcr
■on Davis relics at Montgomery to learn
they have made an error,” said a visitor
yesterday.
"A few weeks ago, at their convention,
if I remember correctly. It was an
nounced that Mrs. Davis had conveyed
these relics of her illustrious husband
by will to the organization. The docu
ment as printed in full showed that it ;
was executed In New Orleans, duly sign- I
ed by Mrs. Davis and two women of
the committee appointed to attend to the
matter. Apparently the document fills all
legal requirements, and in most states |
it would be so, but not In Louisiana. |
Law in that state was fashioned on the
old French model, which subordinated
woman very much In a legal way. As a
result a w’oman cannot be a witness In !
the signature of a legal document. Such
being the care, the will made by Mrs. ,
Davis is void.
"This fact that women cannot witness
legal documents wras brought out strong
ly a few years ago. Women who are tax- ^
payers can vote or bond propositions in j
Louisiana. Also, if a woman does not de
sire to go to the polls personally she can
issue a proxy signed by herself and two
witnesses and the holder thereof can vot?
In her stead.
When I was In New Orleans they were
voting on the proposition to issue bonds
tor an extensive sewer system. Miss Gor
don undertook the work of collecting
proxies to vote in favor of the bonds.
For a while she paid no special atten
tion to the persons who signed as wit
nesses. but her attention was called to
the fact that while a woman could sign
a proxy as principal, she could not sign
as a witness. Consequently a good many j
proxies had to be made out over again, j
"Its the same way with this will made
by Mrs. Davis. Two women signed as
witnesses, but their attestation will not
be considered in a Louisiana court, ac
cording to the way I understand things,
A legal document must conform to the
law3 o. the locality in which It is mad*?. |
hence It will be necessary for the Ala- j
bnma women, If they want to be sure of i
the will, to have It made rut once more !
and in strict conformity with local law.” j
Cleveland’s Speech.
"I have been reading the comments of
some of the leading papers of the country
—north and south—on Cleveland’s Tllden
Club speech and all save one or two of
them discuss It in a friendly tone, most
of the editorials being strong In commen
dation of the ex-President," said an old
Democrat.
"A conservative Republican Journal
says of the distinguished Democrat: *Mr.
Cleveland occupies a position of unusual
strength in his role of counselor for two
reasons. In the first place he Is not open
to the suspicion of desiring further per
sonal honors. He would rather fish the
brooks of Princeton than receive any
nomination, however complimentary, from
th( party that twice elevated him to the
presidency. He Is merely a spectator of
events, a man who during the period of
his own leadership saw Democracy win
great successes and who wishes that the
party might emerge once more from Its
slough of despond. Mr. Cleveland’ second
source of strength consists In the lack of
success that has attended the Democracy
since the Young Lochlnvar came out of
the west and captured the Chicago con
vention In 18%.’
"The only paper I have come across
that discusses the ex-Presldent In an un
friendly spirit is the Louisville Courier
Journal. but Editor Watterson has never,
I am told, said anything good of Mr.
Cleveland In ten years. I have read two
or three cutting articles on Cleveland by
Watterson. and the one the other day
was keyed up to Watterson’s most pas
sionate pitch.
“Cleveland will always have a host of
ardent admirers and the faith of the con
servativ*4)emocratB In Cleveland’s states
manship and force of character can never
be shaken."
Tobacco Habit.
“The bishop of an Episcopal diocese In
the northwest who issued a pronuncla
mento against the use of tobacco the
other day was probably intent on mak
ing a sensation." said a religious man
who smokes a pipe.
“The right reverend ecclesiastic referred
to tobacco as a curse and inveighed
against it as if It had been in the same
class with whisky. Tobacco Is no more
of a curse than tea or coffee. The ex
cessive use of coffee Is injurious, and so
is the excessive use of tobacco and the
excessive use of everything else. But
thousands of people find in coffee a harm
less stimulant, and 1 believe that to
bacco helps more people than it injures.
Perhaps the anti-tobacco bishop Is a
dyspeptic and cannot Indulge in the weed
with Impunity. If that is so, he should
not begrudge those who derive benefit
from It."
Book Publishing.
"1 believe that there Is going to be a
complete change In the metnoda of pub
lishing during tne next few years,” re
marked a New York publisher not long
ago.
"In the old days there were two sea
sons each year for bringing out books—
the spring and the autumn. These suit
ed the old conditions of the trade, when
new books had a much longer life than
they have now; but they do not suit pres
ent conditions.
"A popular book nowadays sells, as a
rule, only during the year In which It
is published. After that time the book
sellers refuse to touch It. Consequently,
In order to make a successful book, by
which, of course, I mean a novel, the
present day publisher's chief stock In
trade. It ought to be brought out early
In the year, by the first days of spring
at the latest. Then It Is announced as a
spring publication and catches the usual
spring sale; It may still be exploited as
a new book for the summer season, and
In the autumn It may be advertised again
among the books of the year. For these
reasons I believe that publishers will
come more and more to regard the first
months of the year as the only time for
launching their new productions.”
A Growing City.
"In 1900 the census gave Vicksburg a
few hundred more papulation than Merid
ian, but today Meridian has a larger pop
u'atlon by probably 1600 than the older
city,” said Mr. R. H. Walker, managing
editor of the Meridian Press at the Flor
ence.
"Our city has now a population of about
16,000 and It Is growing steadily. With the
suburbs Included Meridian has fully 20,000.
The Board of Trade Is strongly organised
ar.d it is back of the movement to build a
1 ranch road to the Illinois Central. This
important railroad connection is almost
sure to materialize.
Meridian has & solid commercial busi
ness and many flourishing industries. The
Virginla-Carolina Chemical Company has
bought a site of 320 acres just outside of
zhe city and will begin at once the con
struction of q. $300,000 fertilizer factory and
oil mill plant. I understand that this com
pany will erect other plants In Missis
sippi and that It will make Meridian its
headquarters for the state.”
MONARCH IAL CONVENTIONS.
From the Enterprise Enterprise.
Now we defy the Clipper to show an in
stance in the history of politics anywhere
and at any time when the weakest man.
the dark horse or the unknown candidate
w'as nominated In a primary. This Is the
peoples' plan and the bedrock of personal
liberty, and whenever you leave it you are
heading toward monarchy, corruption and ,
misrule.
SAGE STILL AN EARNER.
New York Letter In the Pittsburg Dis- i
patch.
On August 4 next Russel Sage will be \
86 years old. He has now entirely recov
ered from his recent illness, and today
attended the meeting of four boards of
directors to which he belongs. Mr. Sage
gets an income of about $15,000 a year
from the fees paid to him as a director.
He is a member of boards of twenty-six
companies and institutions.
HIS PUSH FOR RECIPROCITY.
Washington Dispatch to the New York
Herald.
In conversation one of the President's
close friends in Congress stated that the
finishing blow has been dealt to this bill
by:
Three members of the cabinet.
The Republican national committee,
through almost all its members.
8ecrct opposition of pretended friends
of the President in the Senate.
Disclosure by F. B. Thurber.
Early hostility by Speaker Henderson
and Representatives Payne. Dalzell and
Grosvenor.
This is a combination that no President,
however great and persistent, could beat,
and it was only after a thorough realiza
tion by the President and his real friends
that defeat and disaster were admitted.
The admission came from the Wrhlte
House in a semi-official announcement
this afternoon in these words:
“It is now pretty clearly understood
that the President has done all he is go
ing to do as to reciprocity legislation. He
is through with conferences, and does
not Intend to follow his recent special
message with further action of any
kind. He does not feel that the defeat of
reciprocity would be a defeat of his own
proposition, and therefore he has no
particular pride or ambition. Cuban reci
procity was advocated by President Mc
Kinley and others, and was one of the
problems inherited by President Roose
velt. He believes it to be a right and
just policy, but he is not to be held re
sponsible for its defeat, and would prob
ably not use all his powers to secure its
adoption.”
SOUTHERN PROGRESS.
The New Industries Reported In the
South and West.
Chattanooga. Tenn, June 21.—Among
the more Important of the new Industries
reported by the Tradesman for the week
ended June 21, are $100,000 machinery
works at Atlanta. Ga.; a $10,000 canning
factory at West Point, Tex.; a $50,000 ci
gar factory at Shenandoah Junction, W.
Va.; a $16,000 flour and grist mill and grain
elevator at Grapevine, Tex.; a $10,000 glass
factory at Buckhannon. W. Va.; a $10,000
Ice factory at Wheeling, W. Va.; a $60,000
lumber company at Galveston. Tex.; a
lumber company at Cordele, Ga.; a mat
tress factory at Anniston, Ala.; a mining
company at Lcwlsburg, Tenn.; a $360,000
coal and coke company at Philippi, W.
\ a., a $2,000,000 coal and coke company at
Welch, W. Va.; a $100,000 chemical com
pany at Lexington. Ky.; a contracting
company at Savannah, Go.; a $50,000 oil
company at Beaumont. Tex.; a $10,000 oil
company at Holly, W. Va.; a $50,000 oil
company at Nashville, Tenn.; a $20,000
oil and ga* eomiiany at New Martinsville.
M. V a.; a $100,000 pipe line company at
Morehad, Ky.; a $5000 telephone com
pany at Shiner, Tex.; a canning factory,
cotton gin and broom factory at Joppa,
Tenn.; car shops at New Orleans, La.;
a cotton gin at Lumkln. Ga.; a $300,
cotton products company at Senatobla.
Miss.; an electric light and gas plant
at Texarkana, Ark.; an Ice factory
at Humboldt. Tenn.; a $50,000 Ice and
cold storage plant at Slloam Sprlnga.
Ark.; extensive lime works at Knoxville.
Tenn.; a $25,000 lumber company at Ra
leigh, N. C.; machine shops at Cedar
town, Ga.; a $100,000 flber manufacturing
company at Lexington, Ky.; a sash, door
'P1 blind factory at Walllsvllle. Tex.;
a telephone company at Kershaw, S. C.;
a saw mill at Morton, Miss.; a $50,000 box
factory at Louisville, Ky.; a $1,500,000 cot
ton mill at Greensboro, N. C.; a $115 000
electric power plant at Martlnsburr. W
Va.; a $150,000 electric light and gas plant
at Hampton, Va.; a flouring mill at Buf
falo, K>., a $50,000 lead mining company
at Knoxville. Tenn.; a $100,000 company to
manufacture oil burners at Beaumont.
Tex.; a $100,000 oil company at El Paso!
lex. ; a $300,000 oil and transportation
company at Beaumont. Tex.; a saw mill
at Saukum, Miss.; a shuttle block fac
tory at Dickson, Tenn.; a stave factory
at Elora, Tenn.; bottling works at Col
lierville. Tenn.; a broom factory at Pine
Hall, N. C.; a $100,000 development com
pany at Wheeling. W. Va.; a $25,00.
Hour and grist mill at Troy, Tenn.; a
$2036)0 milling company at Chatham. Va.,
a $100,100 rnal and land company at
Fayetteville, N. C.; a $60,000 oil mill at
Lend Bridge, N. C.; a $100,000 oil mill
at Pine Level, N. C.; saw mills near
South Pittsburg, Tenn.; a telephone sys
tfm at Caldwell, Texas; an oil mill at
Cross Anchor, S. C.; a saw mill at Chat
ham. Va.; a $1,000,000 zinc smelter and
acid w'orks at Beaumont, Tex.; a $200.
000 brewery at Beaumont, Tex.; a $lo]
000 flouring mill at Morgantown. W. Va.;
a $12,500 furniture factory at Salem. N.
C.; an $80,000 handle factory at Louis
ville; a $16,00) hardware company at Co
lumbia, Tenn ; a $12,000 hoop factory at
Helena. Ark.; a $100,000 oil company at
Burkesvllle, Ky.; an oil and transporta
tion company at Jennings. I.a.; a $25,000
oil and gas company at Ptkevlllc, Tenn.;
an oil mill at Fnyettevllle. N. C.; a $50.
000 oil mill at Tarhoro, N. C.; a $100,000
telephone company at Waxahachle. Tex.;
a $50,000 elevator company at Atlanta; a
$100,000 flour and grist mill at Louisville,
an electric light plant at Tallahassee,
Fla.; a $100,000 machine empany at At
lanta; a large heading factory at Brink
ley. Ark.; a $25,000 lumber company at
Silica, Ark.; a glass factory at Willow
Dale (no postofrice), near Brandenburg;
Ky.; a laundry at West Point. Miss.; a
•aw mill near Toocoa, Go.; • box factory
at Grafton, W. Va.; a $50,000 furniture
factory at Hickory, N. C.; a $60,000 oil
mill at Brownsville, Tenn.; a $50,309 oil
mill at Little Rock; machine shop# at
Seguki, Tex.; a crate and basket factory
at Tyler, Tex.; $25,000 foundry and ma
chine sheps at Orafton, W. Va., and a
cotton gin at Lewisville, Tex.
Washington \
Day by Day \
What Would Democrats Do
if They Captured Congress?
Washington, June 22.—(Special.)—“What
ehall we do with It if we get It?” is a
question which some of the most astute
Democrats in Washington are asking in
view of the apparent probability that
their party will elect a majority of the
next House of Representatives.
At the moment it is not by any means
the unanimous agreement that we “won't
be happy till we get it." for most of the
wirer and cooler part} heads are agreed
that there would be elements of great
party danger in a Democratic majority
In the House facing a hostile Senate and
President.
In the first place, a business, or more
properly, a trade re-aetlon is held to be
impending. Concerning this there is lit
tle difference of opinion. The only ele
ment of doubt about this is as to when
the re-action will become serious enough
to cause general uneasiness.
What the bank/rs call a “book settle
ment" is inevitable, and you may accept
or reject as you will the opinion ex
pressed to a leader of Congress in my
hearing by the head of one of the oldest
and richest barks here that this final
“book settlement,” as he expressed him
self, cannot be postponed beyond eighteen
months. Venturing to ask his reasons for
his views, the banker frankly said to me
that “the country has over-traded itself,”
and he voluntarily remarked that his own
bank had already begun Its "settlement.”
“There Is such a condition as too much
prosperity, hurtful alike to nations and
individuals," he continued.
Knowing that this banker was in close
Intimacy with the treasury—his bank
during the past forty years having
handled something like a billion of treas
ury bonds and over-drafts—his remarks
Impressed me so deeply that I presumed
to press upon him one further question—
did he anticipate commercial disaster as
a result of the country's too-great trade
expansion?
“Not at all,” he answered quickly and
decisively. “I regard a panic as impos
sible—that is to say, a truly national ty
lng-tip of money. This country will not
again in our time experience financial
difficulties even remotely resembling
those of ’93-’94. Money is now too widely
distributed, wealth, corporate and per
sonal, is too general; there are too many
powerful banks all over the country cap
able of taking care of themselves. A
Wall street panic will never again mean
national disaster. But he is short-sighted
and over-sanguine who expects this pres
ent degree of prosperity to continue
very much longer. We have got to short
en sail. The country has got to take
stock. There must be a book settlement”
These views of one banker of Washing
ton may be accepted for whatever value
various individuals may place upon them;
but It does not require the most alert ob
server to perceive that such views are |
general. And the vast combinations of
capital, come within the past two years
to control every line of industry in this
country, from little snuff mills to three
billions of money in railroads, have yet i
to be tried in & great financial or busi
ness emergency.
But, however, all that may be, the
Presidential election in 1904 may be won
and lost on the business situation then
existent. Senator Hanna sounded the real
note of the Republican campaign of this
year when in his Ohio speech the other I
day he bade the country to “keep on let
ting well enough alone.” That was but
repeating in substance the Republican
cry of 1900, a cry to which the people
hearkened.
That the state of trade and the general
condition of the country will be “well
enough” twenty-four months hence many
observant, men do not believe, and herein |
lies big politics. If a Democratic House I
shall be elected the coming autumn, and
the expected business re-action takes
place within eighteen months thereafter,
the Republicans will immediately pro
claim that even the partial Democratic
success of an off-year had alarmed “the
business interests” and filled the people
with fear of certain forms of Kansas City
platform legislation. And seeing that the
people have twice refused to accept such
legislation, the effect of the Republican
argument, baseless and untenable as it
might be in this instance, can be read
ily imagined. No serious-minded man an
ticipates a re-adoption of the Kansas
City platform in 1904, but it will be held
to remain in all its parts Democratic doc
trine until in part it is formally dis
carded by another national convention of
the party. Wise or unwise the party holds
that platform to be party law.
Going back to what seems to be a prob
able Democratic House, which would as
semble on the eve of the next Presidential
campaign, and in the face of possible busi
ness depression, and we have a condi
tion to cause Democrats anxious thought.
No purely Democratic legislation would
be possible. In the end. and that end com
ing with the rising tide of the Presiden
tial canvass, the House would be com
pelled to merely register the will of the
Republican Senate and the Republican
President.
In that aspect it would be purely an
automatic body, while in other and purely
political respects It would be In position
to make many grave, even disastrous,
blunders. Too many members might be
desirous of "going on record” in favor
f this or that Impossible proposition.
The ever-present issue of the tariff Is
alone big with danger, as the party has
heretofore discovered to its bitter cost,
whilst every other Democrat in this coun
ry has appeared at times to be a faddist
on the purely business issues of coin
ige and currency, us the party has
krfown, almost to its destruction.
Thus we have some of the suggestions
of danger in a Democratic House of Rep
resentatives sandwiched between a Re
publican Senate and President on the eve
of a Presidential election.
To offset this possible danger it xpust
be confessed there is not much possible
good in sight. It is true that Republican
party legislation would * be effectually
checked; but if the Democratic cause be
Just—if it be Democratic of the Democra
cy of the fathers and not of the faddist—
the more Republican party legislation
there be before November, 1904, the great
er and more lasting will be that party’s
defeat. If the Democratic party of 1876
and 1884 be the party of 1904. not even the
weakest brother of us will feel one shiver
of fear.
t • * •
Rising to reason that Is based upon the
political facts of a generation, the best
hope of & Democratic house elected this
year would rest upon the apparent trifle
of “smelling” commltfce*—those obscure
standing committees of the house on ex
penditures of the various departments of
the government. So obscure are they
that the public doesn' know they exist,
and scarcely one of them has been heard
of for nearly thirty years, except when
a clerk would read them out as having
been named by the speaker In the first
month of the first session of each succeed
ing congress. Yet these little committees,
which have nothing to do In these days of
never hold meetings, do exist and given
certain conditions are capable of doing
great work.
It is something like thirty years ago
since the country heard much of any one
of these so-called "smelling" committees.
Then the world rung with the doings of
one of them. It wss that one officially
known as the committee on expenditures
of the war department Joe Blackburn,
then a new and obscure member, was
made chairman of the committee, the
house at that time being Democratic and
the senate and President Republican
conditions which may exist after the 4th
of next March.
Ambitious and zealous, Blackburn
argued that the business of an Investigat
ing committee was to investigate, a
proposition in effect long afterwards
made ffimouB by Lord Randolph Church
ill's dictum that it was the duty of the
opposition to oppose. And so the Ken
tuckian set to work investigating the
expenditures in the War Department.
The official corruption he discovered and
exposed proved disastrous to the Repub
lican party, and it still smells to heaven.
Let us assume therefore that the next
House will be Democratic, and that the
speaker, whoever he may be, will have
the good sense to make the right man
chairman of the committee on Expendi
tures in the War Department. The prob
able result may be left to the imagina
tion, for It quite takes one’s breath away.
Why, there is more damned villainy
and criminal folly concealed under our
military occupation of Cuba than ever
begotten of the Whisky Ring and Star
Route frauds of Grant’s time. And the
Philippines? The commissary and trans
port services? When all the facts are laid
bare they will appall the American peo
ple.
ETJCIEN JT7LIEN WALKER.
THE CANAL VOTE.
Washington Cor. Chicago Reoord-Herald.
Another dramatic element was obvious
enough. A white-haired, wrinkle-browed
old man sat In a front seat. He was
bowed and broken in defeat, hut brave
to the last. Half his life had been spent
In labor for the Nicaragua canal. For
years he had been the leader whom men
of both parties, of both houses, were
glad to follow. A veritable giant he had
been in other days Now he was shrunk
en and shriveled. The scepter had passed
from -lls hands. Across the aisle, smil
ing, radiant, surrounded by his brisk
lieutenants, giving his orders and know
ing that they would be obeyed, sat the
new leader, with his eighty majority be
hind him.
The poor old Morgan, the victorious
Hanna, were Incarnations of the differ
ence between the old South and the
North. Morgan, studious, drsemy. wordy,
unadaptable, courageous but unbusiness
like, wedded to an old Idol. Hanna, alert,
practical, masterful, man of business,
seeking only the best, conscious that In
every great competition superiority must
win In the end. Morgan's Idea was of the
old South. Hanna's Idea was essentially
that of the shrewd, pushing North. The
men of ffie new South stood loyally by
Morgan, many of them against their
Judgment. But the North prevailed.
A TROUBLE-HUNTER.
From the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Miss Rebecca Taylor, who was dis
missed from a position in one of the de
partments in Washington the other day
for a too free and frequent use of her
pen in berating the President for the in
iquities she imputed to him In connec
tion with Philippine matters, Is well
known in St. Paul, where some years
ago she was a school teacher. She then
disclosed an extraordinary faculty for
raising a rumpus on small provocation.
That she has managed to live at Wash
ington for several years without getting
into a row with somebody about some
thing belore this is rather surprising to
nor old friends in St. Paul.
THE EXILE OF ERIN.
By Thomas Campbell.
There came to the beach a poor exile of
Erin,
The dew on his thin robe was heavy and
chill;
For his country he sigh'd when at
twilight repairing
To wander alone by the wtnd-beaten hill.
But the day-star attracted his eye’s sad
devotion,
For it rose o’er his own native Isle of the
ocean,
Where once, in the fervor of youth’s
warm emotion.
He sung the bold anthem of "Erin go
bragh."
Sad is my fate! said the heart-broken
stranger.
The wild deer and wolf to a covert ean
flee;
But I have no refuge from famine and
danger,
A home and a country remain not to me.
Never again, in the green sunny bowers,
Where my forefathers lived, shall I spend
the sweet hours.
Or cover my harp with the wild woven
flowers,
And strike tc the numbers of "Erin go
bragh."
Erin, my country, though sad and for
saken.
In dreams I revisit thy sea-beaten shore,
But, alas! in a far foreign land I awaken.
And sigh for th"fe friends who can meet
me no more!
Oh, cruel Fate! wilt thou never replace
me
In a nanslon of peace, where no perils
can chase me?
Never again shall my brothers embrace
mo?
They died to defend me, or live to de
plore!
Where is my cabin-door, fast by the wild
wood ?
Sisters and sire, did ve weep for’Its fall*
Where is the mother, that look’d on my
childhood,
And where Is the besom-friend, dearer
than all?
Oh! m\ sad heart. long abardon’d bf
pic asure.
Why did it dote on a fas* • fading treas
ure?
Tears, like the raindrops, may fall with
out measure,
But rapture and bouuty they cannot re
call.
Yet, all its sad recollections suppress
ing,
One dying wish my lene bosom can draw;
Erin an exile bequeaths thee his blesslngi
Land of my forefathers! Erin go bragh!
Burled and cold, when my heart stills hep
nioUcn,
Green be thy fields, sweetest Isle of the
ocean!
And thy hai p-striking bards sing aloud
wtth devotion,
Erin mavourain! "Erin go bragh!"
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