Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel], June 10, 1910, Page 12, Image 12

About Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
12
Los Angeles Herald
ISSUED KVF.RV MORXISO BY
.^ TIIK HKKA_» CO.
THOMAS K. omnoN,
■ .-:.. ITesldent «nil Eiilor.
Entered oa second class matter at the
postofflce. In Los Angeles.
UI.DKST MOBNISO I'AI'KR IN
MIS ANGKI.KS. .
FoondeH Oct. 1, 1878. Tlilrt»-«lxth T'*r
. Chamber of Commerce Building.
. Phones—Sunset Main 8000; Bom* 10211.
The only Democrats newspaper In South
ern California receiving full . Associated
Press reports. ' _«__ — —
NEWS BBRVICB>—Kimbw of the Asso
ciated Press, receiving Its full report, aver
aging 28.000 words a (lay.
■"■ 'RATES OF SUDSCHIPTION WITH
SUNDAY MAGAZINE
Dally, by mall or carrier, a month.....* M
Daily! by mall or carrier, three months. 1.60
.Daily, by mall or carrier, six months.. .....
Dally, by mall or carrier, one year 5.00
Sunday Herald, one year ■■■■■ - ••'
Postage free In United States ami Mexico,
elsewhere postage added.
THE HERALD IN SAN FRANCISCO
AND OAKLAND— Angeles and SoUtri
era California visitors to Pan Francisco^ and
■Oakland will find The Herald on B-la at the
news stands In the Ban Francisco ferry
building and on the streets In Oakland bs
Wheat ley and by Amos News 10.
A file of The Los Angeles Herald can bo
seen at the office, of our English representa
tives, Messrs. E. and .1. Hardy ft Co.. 30. SI
and 82 Fleet street. London. Eng and. free
of charge, and that. firm will be glad to re
ceive news, subscriptions and advertise
ments on our behalf.
On all matters pertaining to advertising
address Charles n. Gates, advertising man
ager. _^
Population of Los Angeles 327,685
CLEAR, crisp and clean
AT THE THEATERS
AmiTOßirM—Dark.
BKLABCO —"The Dollar Mark."
BI'RBANK "Paid in Full"
•GRAND —"The Parish Trlest."
LOS ANGEI.KS —Vaudeville.
MAJESTIC —Jamn K. Hlckett.
MASON —Dnrk.
OLYMPIC—Musical farce.
OKTIIEVM —Vaudeville.
PRDtCBSS —Musical fare.
Jf you are a voter, sign the light ref
erendum petition.
No matter how many ballots are cast,
the vote promises to be "light" on
June 30.
Stewart and Whiffen have promptly
adopted 7-cent electricity as one of
their campaign slogans.
Not to be outdone in the march of
progress, Colorado has brought out a
bribery scandal of her own.
Let the citizens express their wish
as to the lighting rates, and the city
officials will abide by this decision.
The Columbia professor who has been
sued for breach of promise seems to
be in a regular Harry Thurston Peck
of trouble.
Pinchot still says nothing, and his
silence is a heap more disquieting to
his enemies than if he would tell what
he is thinking about.
If Wall street dislikes that railroad
bill so much, It is rather good evi
dence to a lot of other folks that it
has some merit in It.
The government has decided to wash
its germ-infested money, We have
therefore changed our minds, and will
accept a few rolls of It.
Kaiser "Wilhelm finds $3,925,000 hardly
enough annual salary. It Is a rather
beggarly sum to keep twenty-six do
mestic establishments going.
An exchange says it would not lie
surprising if some aviator Hies from
New York to Pan Francisco. Not if he
has been there, unless it be to pass
through on his way to Los Angeles.
A vote for Barney Healy and Doc
Houghton for council will be generally
construed as a vote to let corporations
tin what they please in the matter of
prti c for domestic service of any kind.
Charges having been filed In the sen
ate against the Hon. Mr. Lorimer, v,e
shall be favored with something from
that worthy gentleman besides his in
vective. i> hlch somehow was not very
convincing.
Miss Llrna Dinkey-Mock, niece of
Charles m. Schwab, eloped from Hryn
Mawr college to many Titus de Bo
bula. We can't Maine the gir] for
wanting another name, but couldn't
ihe do better than that?
Latest rurrior is that Senator Perkins
intends to retire at the nd of his term.
it would be more correct to say that
the people an about to assist Senator
Perkins to retire, and he has probably
gathered a suspicion of the fact.
If you &re not a voter, don't sign the
Municipal league's referendum peti
tion. No matter how praiseworthy
your desire to swell the list, you will
only put the league to the trouble of
seeking out your name, expunging it,
and perhaps finding another to take its
place. Voters only are wanted. You
can do your part by finding them and
vetting- them to sign.
UP TO THE VOTER
SIMItiIA slmlllbus curnntur—like
cures like. This Is the philosophy
of MRyor Alexander, who proposes
to cure the UKhtlng companies' bad at
tack of referendumltls with ■ serum of
the same stuff. The corporations that
sought to pervert a wisp and useful
agency for popular expression and
make it a. means of suspending an
ordinance distasteful to them are
"hoist with their own petard," nnfl find
themselves facing a situation that
could hardly be less promising for
them.
For if they had. Instead of using
obstructive tactics, carried their case
with entire candor before the. people,
there was a chance that the ordinance
reducing the price of light from 9 to
7 cents per kilowatt hour might have
been amended through popular belief
that substantial Justtre would most
likely be »dono by splitting' the differ
ence and fixing the rate at say 8 cents.
But Instead of such cand.or the public
Is apt to see In the methods of the
companies a repetition of the kind of
warfare that has been too often char
acteristic of American corporations In
recent years, causing a distrust and
hostility for which they alone are to
blame.
If the public, swayed more or less
hy prejudice, shall now vole a 7-cent
rate, the companies will have played
their last card and will have no re
dresß.- They will then admtt that they
made a tactical blunder In using the
referendum machinery for a purpose
never intended, merely With the in
tention of postponing a reduction in
prices for a Short while.
Corpnration managers ought to know
by this time that the public wishes
them no ill. but that on the other hand
it Will not brook any attitude on their
p:\rt that assumes a freedom from re
sponsibility to the people who created
them and the people's constituted au
thorities. A highly intelligent com
munity like I.os Angeles could have
been appealed to in frankness. with
solid argument. With absolute certainty
of fair dealing. It therefore passes
the understanding of the man in the
street why the managers of a public
utilities business should adopt an atti
tude such as they epitomized in their
letter to the mayor.
The voter will now. have the oppor
tunity—and it Is his duty—to pass on
the question whether the lighting rate
in Los Angeles shall be 9 or 7 cents.
He Will not be able to go into the tech
nical phases of the question, perhaps,
but he will be guided in his decision
in the relative confidence he has in
Mayor Alexander, the public utilities
board, the council and the companies
involved.
It must he slid that the last-named
factor In the contest has not .strength
ened popular confidence by its doings
of late. Bu! it may, after all, have
done a public service in introducing
Into the June 30 election an enlivening
clement without which there seemed
likely to be an apathy dangerous to
the best interests of the city.
FIRST AGAIN
Once more Los Angeles, already
first in a score of Important
things among American cities, is
to take the lead and point the way for
other communities. It is announced
that the first American trackless trol
ley Is to be Inaugurated in Ivaurel can
yon to carry passengers from an estab
lished street car line up into the moun
tain vales where a track line is not yet
feasible.
Trackless trolleys have been known
for some years In Europe, chiefly in
France and Germany. American con
sular reports have said they arc popu
lar and successful, and have proved a
useful adjunct to other means of trans
portation. In brief, th<- trackless trol
ley i* really an omnibus service with
elei trlcal propulsion. The difference be
tween it and the system with which we
are familiar is that there is no track.
Cood roads are the first essential to
the success of the trackless trolley,
which explains why it has been pos
sible in Europe and little considered on
this side of the world where, untH the
last few years. Christendom's most
wretched highways were to be found.
A second essential is width of road. It
must be wide enough to iet th< bus
have tin' right of way under the wire.
The saving in cost over the ordinary
trolley Is so apparent as to need no
comment.
Given these essentials there does not
seem to be any good reason why the
trackless trolley should not be a paying
Investment in the most populous parts
of Southern California, where we are
now building good roads, it' the Lauri 1
canyon enterprise succeeds its ada;>t
abllity to many real estate opportuni
ties in tills region is obvious.
MORE LAMENTATIONS
Tin: pour oil] Pullman company,
which cannot afford to pay its
porters living wages and depends
on the public to support tin in with
tips, is in court fighting against the
order of tt.e interstate commerce com
mission to mak«s a slight redui tion in
its tariff for upper berths in sli ■ pels.
The Pullman com pan) lia.s paid an
nual dividends ranging from 20 to no
per cent to its shareholders for years
back, and last winter It "cut a melon"
for them by distributing- a 110,0
stock dividend out of the surplus It had
piled up.
Prom 1599 to 1008 the Pullman com
pany paM its shareholders in dividends
the sum of $51,665,848, which amounts
to a 500 per cent dividend on its orig
inal capital stock of $100,000. But it
now feels that it would be great In
justice to make it take about 50 cents
a night off the charge for climbing up
a ladder and sleeping In a bunk With
nc ventilation.
In every quarter, both in and out of'
California the air is filled with the
lamentations oil the public utilities cor
poration*, waning that their liberties
are being trampled under foot and
their vested rights confiscated by a
heartless public It is enough to move
the stoniest hearts, but somehow it
doear "
LOS ANGELES HERALD: FRIDAY MORNING, JUNE 10, TOIO.
' *^^^j-"^jn^BdHWiS^s^^^^H ||^Mc^^jC^^^^*^^^^^^^S^s^'*^r^'T^^^^J /Tv 4*4l^ fVC
GOOD GOVERNMENT'
HIRAM JOHNSON'S energetic ram
-vning. the undoubted slncerit)
of the man and the true ring to
his speeches are having their effect.
Crowds are greeting him everywhere.
His addresses ire not the .perfunctory
affairs of his ri\ mls. who fear to speak
out on the one great issue of the times,
but are always pungei>t and often
trenchant. He is earning a reputation
for clever political epigrams.
Up- in San Francisco Wednesday
night at a great mass meeting he said
that only one city or town or hamlet
in the state was complaining of poor
business, and that was San Francisco,
■How long will it take you business
men to learn that good business and
good time go hand In hand with good
rnment?" he asked. The crowd of
8500 cheered this sentiment to the echo.
Over in Pasadena Mr. Johnson coined
one of his best epigrams: "Wf are not
seeking to put the Southern Pacific rail
road ">it of business but out of jtoll
tlcs." This is the whole campaign in a
kernel.
At San Francisco the Good Govern
ment candidate for governor paid this
compliment to the Angel city: ■
Comt'ig from the seat of good
government In California, where
they have blazed the way for us to
follow, I bring you this message of
cheer from Los Angeles. This move
ment In that county, where last
weeh the registration had already
reached 86.000, will receive moi-e
votes than all the others put to
gether.
The first opportunity Los Angeles
will have to live tip to this reputation
j and cheer the forces that are trying to
redeem California from corporation
thralldom will lie on June 30. See that
they arc not disappointed.
THE MEXICAN FICTION
AMERICANS who have never known
any government but their own
find it hard to believe that there
! is another "republic" to the south of
| us where a campaign for' the presi
j rloncy is eoing on with one of the
! for the highest office in a
prison cell. Just fancy Judge Taft or
Colonel Bryan behind the bars in the
last campaign of our own, and you
have a picture of the situation in
Mexico today.
Of course Porflrio Diaz is one of the
candidates. Almost from time out of
mind General Diaz lias held the office
and sought re-election to it. He has
grown fabulously wealthy, rich and
mighty to a degree that few rulers in
the history of the world have grown.
From tiiii t.i time rumors have come
out of Mexico that Diaz' troops have
i bo m a prominent feature of all elec
tions, that tli.- only ballots they take
the trouble to count after the "elec
tion" i:- over are tiiose for Diaz, and
that it Is not good for the- health of
anyone i ;.-• but himself to seek the
popular suffrage.
John Kenneth Turner Bald some
harsh thinga rec ntly of the brand of
civilization found by him In Mexico,
and b chorus of Indignant denials ac
companied the ' ti'.rts of Interested
parties'' through uu te department
and otherwise, t" suppress his state
ments. People in'iv left In some doubt,
perhaps, as to how much truth there
was In his stricture! on a state that
has been said by some to be the most
advanced in freedom and culture of
the Latin-American nations.
The arrest at Monti rey un Sunday
night last nf Francesco 1. Madero, who
is Diaz' opponent for the presidency,
is therefore Illuminating. He has .sine.'
1,.-. v formally declared a prisoner, and
has declined the privilege of defense
on the ground tllat lll! llilH "" '■llth '"
justice there at this time, which latter
fact is a highly significant matter.
The fiction of a Mexican "republic"
obtains in the school books and the
imagination of those to whom that
has only the American meaning,
As a matter of faot, the D>nz military
dictatorship, in the parlance of the
street, lias the Nicholas autocracy ill
Kussiu. backed, off the boards.
"He Never Even Stopped!"
Merely in Jest
f MOTHER GOOSE REVISED
Sing a song of aeroplanes
Whizzing in the sky.
Four and twenty blackbirds
Killed on tha its-. ■
When the chef had browned them
They were not fit to sine
Hut they made a dainty dish
,To set before the kin*.
— Chicago News.
READY TO DO HIS PART .
An eccentric country squire agreed
to employ an equally eccentric rustic
to rid his mansion of its plague of
| flies, the terms being board, lodging ;
! and beer for three days.
At the end of this period there were I
j more flies than ever, and the squire !
i interrogated his new employe thus:
"Why ever haven't you made a start?
You contracted to kill all the flies."
"I'm waiting for you, guvnor," re
torted the wily rustic; "you've got to
catch 'em first. I only promised to kill
'em."—London Daily News. .
FRIGHTENED OFF
A Washington car conductor, born
in London and still a cockney, has suc
ceeded In extracting- thrills from the
alphabet—imparting excitement to the
| names of the national capital's streets.
On a recent Sunday morning he was
calling the streets thus:
"Haitch!"
"High!"
"Jay!"
"Kay!"
"Hell!"
At this point three prim ladies picked
up their prayer books and left the
car. —Lippincott's.
ASTONISHING
A lady sitting by an open window
listening to the katydids. A choir re
hearsing in a near-by church. A gen
tleman stopping in front of the
window to speak.
He (referring to the choir)— They are
making a good deal of noise tonight.
She (Referring to the katydids)— Yes;
and do you know it is claimed they
do it with their hind legs.—Circle Mag
azine.
Far and Wide
HOW </£KY SAD
How Immeasurably sad it is to look
upon the bright. Binding faces of the
Innocent, happy little children of today
and think that seventy-five years hence
they will be telling their grandchildren
and great-grandchildren how they saw
Halleys comet in 1910 and what a bril
liant spectacle it was in the western
sky.—Springfield (Mass.) Union.
-4—
CHURCH ACCESSORIES
According to a New York preacher,
"churches should have press agents."
Perhaps so. Occasionally, too, a little
religion and spirituality do a church
no harm.—Boston Advertiser.
GOOD FOR MARIE!
Marie Doro is going to leave the
stage, she says, "because she's not an
actress." She's the first volunteer of
that kind in the world's history.—
Cleveland Leader.
CATCHING UNCLE JOE
"A college education is not necessar
ily fatal to success," says I'nclo Joe
Cannon. Neither is being speaker of
the house of representatives. — Ship*
pensburg News.
MAKING MARKET UNSTEADY
Considering the racl that Hetty
Green has lost a $sfiO law suit, Wall
street is no more feverish and panicky
thnn is to he expected.—Anaconda
Standard.
A FIXTURE
An exchange Bay* Speaker Cannon
"la on the list of immortals." That
being the case, he'll never resign.—
Bpringfleld Republican.
• . THEN AND NOW
I knew her when her eyes were bright,
Ami her Oheolu were a thrublilng reil;
Whin her rhefkn. wouli Hush with a k"'-n
delight *
At th^ least little word I said.
I knew her then when her silken hair
Would catch every sunlight ray:
When her vole* was as sweet as she waj fair,
(1 loved her then with a mad despair)
This maid nt a bygone day.
I know her now after fourscore years
Have furrowed her haughty brow,
Quite changed, 'tis true, but she still appears
More fair to m«. an,l her emllo (till cheers
And o! how 1 love her now,
• —W. Dayton Wcgcfarth.
Public Letter Box
DESCRIPTION OF MAN HUNT
• WORTHY OF SAVAGERY ONLY
[Editor Herald]: In the mountains
oast of San Luis Oblspo more than a
hundred armed men are engaging in
the delicious occupation of a man
hunt. The fugitives are two lads who
wounded a town marshal when he at
tempted to arrest them on suspicion,
and subsequently sawed their way out
of jail. They are said to have many
' friend* and their pictures, as pub
! lished in the Examiner of June 8, were
I decidedly attractive.
This man hunt ia played up In to
day's Examiner as if it wore a. matter
of enormous importance, Mr. Robert
Yost, "the staff correspondent, accom
panying the posse," straining every
energy to give his readers a blood
curdling pen picture of the grim pur
suers nursing their guns for the ex
pected fusillade. I direct attention to
his account of the wounded marshal,
who is among the pursuers. It runs
in part as follows:
"Throughout the long day Rude'l
fingers never left the butt of his black
gun. Sixty miles they rode over the
trail and through the brush of a June
sun. All the while the man on the
back trail panted with the heat. His
eyes turned toward the silver thread
of water in the canyon bed where the
black shadows of the death guns
waited."
This. I suppose, is considered line.
In reality—to my mind at least—the
scene presented depict! degeneracy of
the worst possible type; blind, brutal,
absolutely ravage revenge, that car
ries us back directly to the cave man.
It is absolutely unworthy of any na
tion with the least pretensions to -civ
ilization, and justifies the anything
but tlattfring esteem In which this
country is beginning to be held by
Europe. WILLIAM C. OWEN.
Los Angeles, June 9.
R. N. REPLIES TO CRITICS
REGARDING TRUTHS OF BIBLE
[Editor Herald): Replying to W. H.
Stewart's question, "Will U. N, kindly
say who is to he the infallible inter
preter "f the Bible, and from whom or
where he derived his authority?" Cer
tainly from the Bible. "When the spirit
of truth shall come he will guide you
into all truth." I understand the spirit
of truth to be Uod. How shall we
know? Jesus says, "If any man will
do his will he shall know of the doc
trine whether it be mine, or his that
sent me." Besides he mentioned cer
tain signs or proofs that Would follow
them that believe. Murk 16:1.. Per
sonal opinion amounts to nothing;
truth alone is capable of demonstration.
C. F. is so utterly illogical and gro
tesque that he hardly deserves atten
tion. In one breath commending the
reproof of materialists, and arguing to
substantiate the material conception of
creation, calling Adam (a matter made
imitation of spirit, truth i, "the spiritual
race," C. F. never saw the image of
(iod; the man 3od made dwells in the
bosom of the father and his type knows
no evil. •
How many of our self-instructed the
ologians comprehend the term infinity
or believe in it? Jesus said, "There is
none good but Qod," and he is infinite,
therefore no evil can exist to the con
sciousness of (iod, Good. He Is omni
present, therefore there Is no other
presence, notwithstanding the claim of
an evil presence; for the Bible teaches
that "The light shineth in darkness and
the darkness comprehendeth it not."
This suggests the thought of the ever
presence of Qood, although to human
sense it seemeth otherwise, "Be ye
therefore perfect, even as your Father
In heaven is perfect. R. N.
Ocean Park, June 9.
R. N.'S MILLENNIUM WILL COME
WHEN MEN CEASE TO THINK
[Editor Herald]: In your Issue of
the sth inst. It. N. sounds the keynote
of the millennium when he says,
"when mortals learn to quit thinking
evil it will have no place."
Let us apply this great truth to our
everyday lives. When citizens and
police quit thinking about burglaries
and attacks on women.' such evils will
ease. When farmers and sheriffs quit
thinking about horse thieves there
will be no more horses .stolen. When
passengers and engineers quit think
ing about broken rails, misplaced
switches and head-on collisions there
will lie no more railroad accidents,
and when the public and the tax COl
lectors quit thinking about taxes there
Will be no more taxes to pay.' Qod
■need the day when we all quit think
ing a THINKER.
Ventura, Cal., .June 9.
The Attorney General of the U. S.
OUT of the mass of revelations in
the last few days of the Ballinger
investigation, out of the five, thou
sand pages of printed testimony, fol
low this short and simple, sequence—
and if any student of American his
tory remembers anything to match it,
let us know:
Olavls Was an obscure young gov
ernment employe i he addressed a Tor
mal communication to the president of
the United States, charging that his
superior, Mr. Balllngrr, was expedit
ing the transfer of valuable lands to
the Guggenheim*. Tuft rend the
charges. He 1 consulted Ballinger and,
Wlckersham. Then he flipped Glavla
off like a fly from his sleeve; to Bal
llnger he gave that ponderous, swcop'
ing letter of exculpation and Indors
mont, Intended to bo a permanent seal
of sanctity, to refute all present
charges against Ballinger and make
future ones Impossible—such a docu
ment as. a man hands down to his
grandchildren. (This was on Septem
ber 13—bear the day In mind, for In
disentangling the truth from this
mass of suppression and evasion exact
dates are Important.)
Then Taft went Ills august way
nmoiiK the people, on that two montliß'
Journey of defense and glorification of
Aldrlch, Tawney and the tariff. By
every law, the Ballinger episode was
finished, settled, closed. Glavls ought
tO have crawled off to his quiet cor
ner in obscurity; but the injustice
dune him found him "owerful friends;
his side of the cane WU presented to
the public; the wheels that Would
finally grind out the truth were slowly
beginning to revolve; the people re
fused to accept the president* word;
finally congress met, and on a day in
December the senate passed ;i resolu
tion calling upon the president to fur
nish to the senate these things:
"Any reports, statements, papers or
documents upon which he acted in
reaching his conclusions."
Now this requisition from the senate
laid a heavy and embarrassing duty
upon the attorney general of the
United States, for it was lie upon
whom the president had relied for a
review of the charges against (llavis.
The president, when, on September LSi
he wrote the letter exculpating lUI
-linger, did hnve before him some "re
ports, statements, papers and docu
ments." "which he acted upon In
reaching his conclusions." But. look-
Ing backward after three months. Hal
linger and Wickersham felt that.these
reports find documents would not bear
public scrutiny. One of them—the
most important, indeed—they were not
willing to let the senate or the public
see. for It was the original draft of
Taffs own letter, but written by the
hand of Balllnger's friend'and sub
ordinate, Lawlpr, written by the one
man against whom Olavis hHd male
specific charges; aside from this, such
Trade Between U. S. and Panama
TRADE between the United States
and the Republic of Panama will
exceed $22,000,000 in the fiscal
year which ends this month, and for
the seven years since tho Republic of
Panama came into existence will ap
proximate $100,000,000. About nine
tenth.q of this total, speaking in very
round terms, ia merchandise exported
from the United States to Panama und
BbOUt one-tenth merchandise imported
Into the country from that republic.
Even these figures do not nlwivv the
grand total of merchandise sent from
the United States to Panama during
this period, since such portion of the
supplies for the Panama canal and
those engaged in its construction U
were not included In the figures reach
ing the bureau of statistics of the de
partment of commerce and labor, by
which this statement of trade with
Panama Is reported. Just what pro
portion of the merchandise sent to
Panama has been for use in the con
struction of the canal cannot be def
initely determined, though the Brit
ish minister at Panama recently ani
mated that about one-fifth of the total
imports of the republic were for the
commissaries of the canal zone, ap
proximately two-fifths for canal sup
plies and the remaining two-fifths for
general use.
The trade with Panama has steadily
grown and the figures of both Imports
and exports for the fifcCal year 1910 will
exceed those of any earlier year. In
1904 the earliest fiscal year for which
figures have been presented by the bu
reau of statistics, imports from Pan
ama were valued at $440,747. By 1905
they had grown to $1,065,887, and in
1909 were $1,676,994. Meantime exports
to the republic show an even more
iniml growth, having advanced from
$079 74 in 19U4 to $12,460,280 in 1906 and
118.787.680 in 1900. In the nine months
ending with March, 1910. imports were
$1 590,048, against $1,139,483 In the cor
responding period Of the preceding
fiscal year, and exports $iri.303,58u.
against 112,506,807, indicating that for
the complete fiscal year which will end
June 30 next the Imports from the isth-
Making Principles Unpopular
THE popular demand for a practical
reciprocal demurrage law, the
passage Of which up to the last
■esslon of the legislature, the machine
had puoceeded In preventing, was too
great last year even for the railroad
to ignore. So after some preliminary
resistance on the part of machine sen
ators, and tinkering with the original
measure, a •reciprocal demurrage" law
was passed. Curiously enough, it Is
now known that Jere Burke, the
Southern Pacific lobbyist, was consult
ed on the amendments made, to the
bill, which were accepted by its au
thor, Senator Miller of Kern.
One of the amendments provided that
a shipper holding cars beyond a
stated period should be charged $6 a
day for every car so held, "$5 de
murrage and *1 rent," while the rail
road company that failed to deliver
cars as «peclfled should be charged *v
a day only.
And the railroads have the manipu
lation of the cars.
They can, for example, run loaded
cars on a side track near their desti
nation, hold them until their client is
unable to unload, and then rush the
cars upon him. Under, this and simi
lar arrangements they have no diffi
culty In running up evcesslve demur
rage charges.
And the railroads are putting de
murrage charges "all over" the, ship
pers and importers of California. Kven
now the demurrage law has become a
most unpopular measure among those
whom it was Intended to protect. The
shippers are clamoring fov its repeal.
The railroad People are laughing at
them. In their manipulation under a
(Collier 1! Weekly)
"reports, statements, papers or docu
ments" as the president had "acted
upon In reaching his conclusions"
were scarce and fragmentary and
would not. In the eyes of the senate or
the public, Justify those conclusions.
night here came the temptation to
the grosser forms of moral turpitude;
it is not 1 an uncommon situation; every
man In the course of a lifetime may
find himself confronted with it. They
could have been frank and candid;
could havo sent to the senate what
documents they had, and bared their
heads to sin censure as might follow
probably It would not have been se
vere. Hut they did not.
What they did was this: Wlekershnm
sat down at his desk; ho wrote, a docu
ment which makes ninety printed pages
(It took him three weeks to do It); It
took up air the (ilnvls charges and met
them, and It ended with the statement
that Gliivia' charges (murk the present
tense—(Mavis, when Wlckersham wrote
these words had been dismissed three
month*) "are to unjust and unfounded
as to merit his Immediate separation
from the service." '-*»■-'
Having finished this document Wlck
ereham searched backward through his
calendar for the appropriate date, and
wrote at the top: "September It, 1909."
Then he signed it "rieorgc W. Wlrker
sham, attorney general," addressed it
formally to "The President," and sent
it to the senate as one of the documents
upon which the . president had "acted
In reaching his conclusions." Here was
a plausible document cunningly con
trived to look as If the attorney general
had laid It before the president two
days before the president wrote his
September 13 letter.
Omit for the present—lnteresting
story though It Is the Internal evidence
In this document, adroitly conceived
and elaborately executed though it was,
wnli h gave Mr. Brands*i the clew to its
falsity. "There Is In almost every kind
of crime." says Whnrton, "a swelling
of the upper coll, which shows the sub
terranean road which the criminal
traveled, ft would seem as If it were
a germinal element of guilt thnt it ein
not work without such memorials."
Omit, also, the details of Ihe long four
months of perjured resistance to Bran
dell' efforts to confirm or disprove his
appalling suspicions resistance which
began with timid shuffling and ended
with the angry bellowing of men
pushed to the corner and In the wrong.
All that was the natural sequence of
the original situation—lt duplicates the-
DreyfUl case: first, an injustice to an
honest subordinate, then suppression of
the facts in order |,i Justify that In
justice; then, from suppression and
evasion to direct affirmation of what
are not the facts. In a necessary and
easy step. But omit all thnt. It Is fre
quent and usual, Hut for you. reader,
here Is the important reflection: If you
ever found yourself In an embarrassing
situation, and saw how a falsehood
would let you out; If you ever contem
plated the profits and emoluments that
could bo yours through forgery: and If
throngh fear or conscience you paused,
then you were meant for lowly paths.
Not out of such callow finer as yours
are attorney generals made.
Moral: If you havent's got the docu
ments, make them.
mian republic will exceed two millions
and the exports thereto twenty million
dollars.
Bananas, vegetable ivory, India rub
ber and cattle hides comprise the prin
cipal articles Imported from Panama.
In the nine months ending with March,
the latest period for which detailed
statistics are available, the imports of
bananas aggregated 2,506,000 bunches.
valued at $604,381: India rubber. 292.53S
pounds, valued at $214,978; vegetable
Ivory, 4,689.545 pounds, valued Ht $147,
--261, and hides of cattle, 617.612 pounds,
valued at $67,654.
Iron and steel manufacturers, meat
and dairy products, breadstuff's, lum
ber, coal, cottorr manufactures, ex
plosives, cement, boots and shoes, and
cars, carriages, etc., constitute by far
the larger part of the merchandise ex
ported to Panama: while soap, malt
liquors, sugar, illuminating oil, scien
tific Instruments, India rubber manu
factures, fruits and n»ls, eggs, copper
manufactures, chemicals and lubricat
ing oil are also exported in consider
able quantities.
With few exceptions, all of the
articles named show Increased exports
In the present year. Those of iron
and steel, in the nine months endjng
with March of the years named, in
creased from $3,893,691 in 1909 to $4,032,
--322 In 1910, the principal growth oc
curring in structural Iron and steel,
pumps and pumping machinery, Iron
sheets and plates, and wire: while steel
rails, builders' hardware and locomo
tives decreased. Meat and dairy
products as a whole increased from
$1,163,733 in 1909 to $1,297,290 in 1910:
boards, deals and planks from $516.63!)
to $819,388; breadstufts from $544,408 to
$628,885, the growth occuring chiefly In
flour; bituminous coal from $677,458 to
$996,283, cement from $107,345 to $702,551,
explosives from $27,660 to $822,631, cot
ton manufactures from $521,576 to *803,
--968 and boots and shoes from $347,456
to $475,382, the comparisons In each cast;
being between the figures for the nine
months ending with March, 1909, and
those for the corresponding months of
the current yean
San Franclico Star
demurrage law the railroads have Cali
fornia In a worse box than ever.
But the principle (if reciprocal de
murraße Ul sound, however unpopular
the railroads may lj<- ahle to mako It
in California. In Oregon and In Texan
reciprocal demurrage laws have
worked henefU ially In the correction of
railroad abuses. The same is true of
states of the middle west. Why not in
California?
In answering the question one is
strongly reminded of the remark of
John Wanamaker, who nave four rea
sons why the United Slates should not
enjoy the benefits of the parcels post,
namely, four great express companies.
There la one good reason why Cali
fornia should not enjoy practical re
ciprocal demurrage, namely, one great
railroad corporation, known as thu
Southern Pacific, which dominates the
state.
Why cannot California enjoy the
benefits of a practical direct primary
law? ■
Same answer.
The machine interests, in dread o£
fair application of the principle of re
ciprocal demurrage and of the direct
primary, are laboring to make these
reformi objectionable anu unpopular.
It Is succeeding.
The same tactics will bo employed
with the initiative, when the demand
for that reform becomei too persistent
to ko unheeded.
The hand of tin- machine is raised
against the people and against the
stiite. it is h menace to free Institu
tions and m handicap. California will
never attain it" beat development until
the handicap ia removed.