The Commoner.
7
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1
July 25, 190a
most happy if he could follow faithfully in tho
foot-steps of his distinguished predecessor.
ARTHUR JAMES BALFOUR, SALISBURY'3
successor, is conceded to be a man of great abil
ity. His ancestors were known as "the bloody
Balfours," and while for many years the Irishmen
were very unfriendly to him, it is said that in re
cent years they have entertained for him more
kindly views. Balfour is 64 years of age. He en
tered parliament in 1874, and in 1878 ho began
service as private secretary, to the Marquis of Salis
bury, who, by the way, is his uncle. A writer In
the New York World, commenting upon Balfour'3
career, says: "He began by being despised; no
went on to be hated; and he has now conquered
respect." ' This same writer quotes a distinguished
Irish clergyman as referring once tp Balfour in
these words: "If the people only hated the devil
half as much .as they hate you, my occupation
would bo gone.i' But this same writer adds:
"At last tho Irish members of parliament
learned to give him the respect due to a relentless,
consistent, fearless opponent. The people them
selves regarded him even more favorably after
a time. Among the measures he brought forward
was the "bill for the improvement of Ireland by
the drainage of the Bann, Barrow and Shannon
and by the construction of light railways. The
New Purchase of Land bill, which created a con
gested districts board, was a measure of real re
lief to the peasantry. Ten years ago Mr. Balfour
was unanimously elected conservative leader in
tlie house of commons. His speeches added to his
reputation for statesmanship and showed his abil
ity as a debater as well as a student. He rose by
sheer might of intellect. His relationship to the
prime minister, instead of advancing him at once,
as might have been expected, rather tended to keep
him back. But he was not to be kept back. He
rose in the councils of his party, and at last Lord
Salisbury was forced to take him into his cabinet,
where he has since held a foremost place."
' ALTHOUGH CHAMBERLAIN FAILED IN
obtaining the position of. premier there are many
indications that under the new regime the shrewd
colonial secretary will have considerably more
influence than he had under the Salisbury ad
ministration. Sir4 Michael Hicks-Beach, the chan
cellor of t: 3 exchequer, has also resigned. Hicks
Beach has generally beeh unfriendly td Chamber
lain, and some say that Chamberlain may succeed
Hicks-Beach as controller of tho money-bags.
Others declare this to bo improbable, however, and
yet it is' very generally understood that under the
now arrangement, the Chamberlain star will be
very clearly in the ascendency.
' THE OUT-GOING OF SALISBURY AND THE
in-coming of Balfour marks, as one newspaper
writer well puts it, "the end of an era." Salis
bury was in the seventy-third year 01! his age and
for fifty years he has been conspicuous in English
politics. He was an old-time opponent of Glad
stone and he succeeded the "Grand Old Man" as
prime minister in Juno, 1885. In the general elec
tions of that year Salisbury was retired from office,
but in the general elections of 188G he once more
became prime minister. In the general elections of
1892 he was again retired, and in 1895, when Lord
Roseberry resigned, Salisbury formed a new cabi
net, .and sinoe then has held undisputed sway.
Salisbury figured in international politics so long
ago thatjt is recorded that at one time he was a
big enough man to arouse the ire of Bismarck,
and that the great German statesman once re
ferred to Salisbury as "a wooden lath painted to
look like iron."
THE CITY OF JOHNSTOWN, PA., SEEMS
to rest under adverse fate. Thirteen years ago .,
dam broke above the city and the resultant flood
in the Connemaugh valley literally wiped the city
of Johnstown from the face of the earth, atid
nearly five thousand people lost their lives. It
was one of the greatest disasters of the civilized
world. Johnstown pluckily rebuilt and in two or
thred years all traces of the great flood were re
moved, save for the monuments erected to the vic
tims of the disaster. Now Johnstown is suffering
from another great disaster, and nearly one hun
dred and fifty of Johnstown's citizens lost their
lives there. An explosion of gas in the Bethlehem
Steel company's Johnstown mine, known as "The
Klondike," caught the miners while eating their
jaoonday lunch, and hundreds were killed and in
sured. The list of dead foots up one hundred and
fourteen, so far aB actually known, and several
miners are still missing. No other American city
has ever been called upon to mourn two such fear
ful disasters.
. ONE OF CECIL RHODES' GREATEST AM
bitions was to build a Cape-to-Cairo railroad, but
he' died before work was. begun thereon. Indeed,
many thought it but a day dream that could novcr
bo realized. Now thero Is ovcry likelihood that
work on the great scheme will begin in a short
time. On July. 1G the state department at Wash
ington made public a report on railway develop
ment in Africa from United States Consul Raven
dale, at Beirut, bearing dato of May 10. Tho con
sul says that by an agreement signed at Brussels
the previous month by Robert Williams with the
king of the Belgians tho German route was aban
doned and the railway from Cairo to tho Capo 's
to bo carriod through the Congo Free State to the
upper waters of the Nile. From Stanley Falls, .on,
tho Upper Congo, a railway is to bo built to Ma
hagi, on Lake Albert Nyanza, and this connection
will supply the missing link between the Capo
and Egyptian railways. The consul reports that
the new railway project does not necessarily re
place tho original central lino through German
territory, as planned by Mr. Cecil Rhodes and tho
German government. In fact, ho says that it i ;
quite likely, if the proposed railway bo built from
the coast of DarrEsh-Salaam, tho capital of Ger
man East Africa, that tho original Cape-to-Cairo
scheme, by way of Tabora, will be realized. "Both
lines," says the consul "may astonish the. world
before many years as full-fledged realities.'' Tho
consul says that tho United States Is not playing
an important part in the development of Africa,
and that "Stanley's momentous work in the sev
enties has not been followed up by his quondam
countrymen." Only with Cape Colony is our com
merce of any material importance.
WAR PROPHETS ARE AGAIN AT WORK,
and this time they declare that Japan and Russia
will be the next great nations to engage in war.
Japan was deprived of the fruits of her great
victory over China by reason of the interference of
other nations, chiefly Russia. By tho terms of tho
agreement reached in the settlement of the Chlnb
Japanese war Russia was to vacate Manchuria, a
territory Russia long has coveted. Russia, how
over, has thus far failed to withdraw her troops
from Manchuria and Japan is said to be preparing
to fight 'to enforce the terms of the agreement. .
A CONVICT NAMED HARRY TRACEY,
who escaped from tho Oregon penitentiary, has
been holding the center of the stage for an unusual
ly long time. Tracey. eluded the officers, baffled tho
bloodhounds, forced people to feed him and killed
several of his pursuers, in the meantime keeping
the newspaper readers of the country busy follow
ing the accounts of the fruitless efforts made to
capture him. Tracey's escape and flight possesses
'Some really wonderful features, and one is im
pelled to wonder what such a man might have ac
complished for good had ho bent his energies in
the right direction.
AFTER READING A LITTLE INCIDENT
that occurred at the Piasa, 111., Chautauqua, ono
cannot censure Captain Richmond Pierson Hob
son for remarking that he is "tired of the Jiero
business." A young woman named Miss May
Cerf) of St. Louis, wondered if Hobson really pos
sessed heroic qualities, and in order to ascertain
asked him if he would rescue her in .case she
fell into the river. He replied that he would try.
A moment later Miss"Cerf was struggling in tho
water. Captain Hobson dived overboard and suc
ceeded in grasping her as she was about to sink
for the third time, and after a desperate struggle
brought her within reach of parties, on shore. Miss
Cerf is now convinced that Hobson Is a hero, and
it is not difficult to imagine what Hobson thinks
of the young woman who put him to. tho test,
although he probably .would decline to express
his thoughts saye in the privacy of his own apartments.
THE JOKE RECENTLY PLAYED ON THE
Official Police Gazette of Prague by which in the
columns of that publication was printed a notice
offering a reward for the arrest of the German em
peror and referring to him as a lunatic, recalls to
a writer in the Washington Post incidents that
occurred during the reign of King George II. Ac
cording to this writer, this particular king was
wont to spend far more time in his kingdom of
Hanover than in his British dominion. The no
tices which appeared in the papers of the day and
which "were likewise posted in the shape of big
bills on the palace- walls, read as follows:
"Lost, strayed, or stolen, a man known as
George of Hanover, who has deserted his wife and
children, leaving them dependent upon public
bounty. Four shillings and eleven pence three
farthings is the reward offered for any informa
tion which will lead to his restoration to his aban
doned family, as ho is not worth a crown." (The
latter being the denomination of the five shilling
bit.)
The Post writer further points out that "an
alogous notices havo likowlso appeared within the
last fow years in tho Belgian press, especially
onco when King Leopold was found to bo missing
from Belgium during tho midst of a ministerial
crisis. Nothing could bo dono to straighten out
mattors without his presonco. Ho was sought high
.and low all over Europe but In vain, and it was
only a, tho end of moro than a fortnight, during
which everything had boon at a standstill at Brus
sels, both politically and administratively, . that:
King Leopold was suddenly discovered ongagnd
in a driving and walking tour in fair but frail com?
pany in bno of the most remote portions .ef
Switzerland.' -
RECENTLY JOSEPH MARINER, A WALL
paper manufacture of Philadelphia, failed In
business. A meeting of his creditors was hold L
discuss ways and means of saving as much as
possible from tho wreck and it was decided to np
point a committee of four to outline a plan of pro
cedure. A proposition to incllido a banker creditor
on the committee was opposed op tho ground thnt
tho bankers were already amply secured by life
insurance policies. A banker present admitted
that tho banks held the life insurance policies, but
declared that they were such that the banks
could not. realize on them. "There is only ono
course," said tho banker, "by which the banks
can figure as preferred creditors in this case, and
that is for Mariner to considerately commit sui--clde."
The brutal remark was afterwards re
peated to Mariner, and after brooding1 over tho
matter for several days ho "considerately com
mitted suicide."
Need Only to Watch.
The ease with which the schemes pf tho "re
organizers" may bo thwarted was shown by tho
action of the Missouri democratic convention. The
committee on resolutions sought to evade reaffirm
ation of the Kansas City platform, asking that it
be left to a later convention. But watchful and
loyal democrats, knowing that In the meantime
tho "reorganizers" would be perfecting their plans,
refused to accopt the advice. The resolutions re
ported by the committee contained no reference to
the Kansas City platform, but loyal democrats on
the floor of the convention offered an amendment
reaffirming that platform and the amendment car
ried by an overwhelming majority.
What ws done in the Missouri convention can
be dono in any other democratic state convention
if loyal democrats insist upon standing by demo
cratic principles. And loyal democrats need only
to be put upon their guard to nullify the schemes
of those who would make tho democratic party So
like the republican party that the trusts and com
bines would be willing to accept either. Tho Com
moner discusses live political questions and top- ,
ics of the uay. Its news summary and other de
partments are being constantly Improved. Tho
Commoner will arouse loyal democrats to a sense
of the duty imposed upon them. Its" influence is
limited only by its circulation, and an extension
of the circulation means an. extension of its influ
ence. In order to extend its influence and circu
lation tho "Lots of Five" plan has been adopted.
By it The Commoner is placed within reach of all,
and democrats .are enabled to assist in securing
subscribers. Subscription cards, each good for
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moner Is willing to trust its readers. Fill out the
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Publisher Commokeb: -Pleaso Bend mo five subscrlpUon
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cards, and will remit for thom at tlio rate of CO cents each when
sold.
Namo ,
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Fostomco ..'.
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State ;.... ....'.
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