The Commoner,
MAT 5, 1906
7
THE DRAFT of tho new Transvaal constitu
tion was issued in London April 25. News
paper dispatches quote General Cronje as saying
that this constitution is a plain violation of tho
peace treaty. The Transvaal constitution provides
for a legislative assembly consisting of the lieu
tenant governor, six to nine official members and
thirty to thirty-five elected members. Every
burgher of the late South African republic is
entitled to vote for the members of the first volks
raad, as also will white males of British birth
occupying premises at annual rental of not Jess
than $50, or having capital to the value of $500,
unless convicted of treason since May 31, 1902,
or murder, unless they have obtained a free par
don. A commission will divide the Transvaal into
electoral districts. The debates in the assembly
will be carried on in English, but the president
of .the volksraad may permit a member to use
tho" Dutch language. Financial measures must bo
recommended to the assembly by the governor,
and no part of the revenue may be appropriated
without his authority.
A LONDON cablegram through the Associated
Press, referring to the Transvaal constitu
tion says: "In a communication to Lieutenant
Governor Lawley, accompanying the letters patent
providing for the changes, Colonial Secretary
Lyttleton says that the time is not yet ripe to
grant full self-government. The matter involves
party government, and this in the" Transvaal will
become more practicable when the two races
have acted longer together under equal rights
of citizenship, and when bitter memories have
become softened by time. In regard to the col
ored population not being directly represented in
the volksraad, any bill subjecting them to special
disability or restriction must have the sanction
of the home government before it becomes opera
tive. Secretary Lyttleton explains that similar
constitutional changes can riot be extended to tho
' Orange River colony immediately because the in
dustrial and economic conditions there do not so
urgently demand them.
T OSEPH JEFFERSSON, the eminent actor,
1 died at his home "The Reefs," at Palm
Beach, Fla., on the evening of April 23. The cor
respondent for the Chicago Record-Herald says:
"The end came after a day of unconsciousness and
, after a heroic struggle of days which had exhaust
ed his vitality. At his deathbed were his wife, his
sons, Charles B. and Frank Jeffetson; his nurse,
Miss Mabel Bingham; Dr. R, B. Potter, and his
faithful old servant, Carl Kettler. The end was
not a surprise to his family. Ever since his last
sinking spell, which came after a rally on Thurs
day morning and which was followed by an appa
rent improvement until Friday, the family has
been waiting for the end. Mr. .Jefferson's condi
tion Saturday night grew steadily worse, and
the family, who had retired, were summoned
from their beds and Dr. Potter was called. The
patient's condition continued to grow worse all
through today, and the brief bulletins from the
bedside contained no words of encouragement.
AN OLD PLAY BILL, outlining the perform
ance for the night of October 18, 1838, in
which performance Mr. Jefferson, then a mere
child, took part, is reproduced by the Record
Herald. This play-bill will doubtless be of gen
eral interest. It is liere given:
CHICAGO THEATRE
MR. M'KENZIE'S BENEFIT.
Mr. McKenzie respectfully announces that
In cbmpliance with a wish very generally ex
pressed by his fellow citizens of Chicago he Is
induced to announce his benefit, which will take
Dlace on Thursday evening, October 18, 1838.
There will be presented Sir E. L. Bulwer's play,
in five acts, entitled
THE LADY OF LYONS
v Or, Love and Pride. .
Claude Melnotte '...."..Mr. Leicester
Beausant r, Mr. "Warren
Glavis ...... f '....J.... Mr. Germon
Colonel Damas .'..,,,. . , Dr. Sankey
Deschappelles '.,.,. .Mr. Wright
Gaspar ,.;.. w .' Mr Burk
Officer; , . j. .......,.............; uf . . . Mr. Watts
Pauline ......,... ,.fKMrs. Ingersoll
Mme. Deschappelleb Mrs. ' Jefferson
Widow Melnotte Mrs. McKenzio
After the play Master J. Jefferson will sing
tho comic song of
"Lord Lovel and Lady Nancy."
Mr. Gorman will sing for the first tlmo
"Tho Hunters of Kentucky."
The evening's entertainment to conclude with
the first time here,
THE TWO FRIENDS
Ambrose Mr. Sankey
Herbert Mr. Leicester
Valentine Mr. Warren
Elinor Mrs. Ingersoll
Rose Mrs. McKenzio
The curtain will rise at seven precisely.
The box plan is in charge of Mr. W. H. Davis
(at the store of Mr. Hatch on Lake street) who
has consented to act as treasurer on this occa
sion, where seats and tickets may bo procured.
FOR MORE than seventy years, Joseph Jeffer
son was on the stage. His father and his
grandfather, both, were actors, and Joseph made
his debut in a child's part at Washington City
in 1833. The Chicago Record-Herald presents
in a nutshell Jefferson's sketch in this way:
"Born Philadelphia, February 20, 1829; debut as
an actor, Washington, 1833; appeared in Chicago
1838; with- Macready and Booth, 1845; stage man
ager, Baltimore, 1853; stage manager, Richmond,
1854; in England and France, 1856; with Laura
Keene, New York, 1857; created Rip Van Winkle,
1859; went to Australia and England, 18G0-65;
died April 23, 1905. Mr. Jefferson won fame in
parts as follows: As Rip Van Winkle in "Rip
Van Winkle;" as Bob Acres, in "The Rivals;" as
Caleb Plummer in "The Cricket on the Hearth;"
As Mr. Golightly in "Lend Me Five Shillings;"
as Newman Noggs in "Nicholas Nickleby;" as
Dr. Ollapad in "The Poor Gentleman; " as Asa
Trenchard in "Our American Cousin;" as Dr.
Pangloss in "The Heir at Law;" as Marrall in
"A New Way to Pay Old Debts."
FRANK G. BIGELOW, president of the First
National Bank of Milwaukee, confessed to
the bank directors on April 24 that he was a
defaulter and that his peculations amounted to
$1,450,000. The money was spent in speculation
in wheat. The secret was kept for years through
falsification of the books. Bigelow said that tho
assistant cashier, Henry, G. Goll, aided him in
his embezzlements. Bigelow was promptly re
moved from the presidency and the directors sub
scribed out of their own personal fortunes sums
sufficient to cover the entire shortage. Bigelow
was promptly arrested and admitted to bail.
Frank G. Bigelow was in 1904 president of tho
American Bankers' association, which has a
membership of 7,500 banks in all parts of the
country.
IN 1902 MR. BIGELOW addressed the Ameri
can Bankers' association at New Orleans
in which address he said: "I sincerely believe the
only scientific currency in times to come will be
asset currency." The Cincinnati Enquirer says
that in Mr. Bigelow's address at the meeting in
New York, he made some remarks that are
interesting, in view of the exposure of his specu
lative operations. Introducing his address he said:
"However much prejudice there may appear to bo
at times against bankers, our business is of the
utmost usefulness and Importance, and the right
pursuit of It in its broader and better aspects re
quires all the courage and all the conservatism wo
can command." And he concluded as follows:
"As I draw these reflections to a close, I remind
you that it has been well said that our greatest
debt to Franklin, one of the very greatest Ameri
cans, has been in the lessons of honesty, thrift,
temperance, industry and economy which he In
culated and which have so enormously Influ
enced life. The banker should learn these les
sons of self-restraint, of unbroken good humor and
.cheerfulness under difficulties. He has many op
portunities to properly promote good enterprises
and to declino to aid doubtful ones. He has a
"right thus to build, up his own business and that
' of the community twhere his lot is cast; and If ,
he does t efficiently he will have many experi-
, ences in times , of-stress and trial to encourage
him and show ftim 'that the masses ".of men aro
' inclined to be reasonable, considerate and just.
A banker may make friends nnd keep thoin In
time of need. I closo with a short quotation from
Robert Louis Stevenson as a sort of benediction.
To bo honest, to bo kind, to earn a little, and to
spend a Httlo less; to ronounco when that shall
bo necessary and not bo embittered; to keep a
few friends, but theso without capitulation;
abovo all on tho samo grim conditions to keep
friends with himself -here is a task for all that'
a man hath of fortitude and delicacy.'"
THE LAST MEETING of tho American
Bankers' association was held in Now York
in September, 1901, Mr. Bigelow presiding. Tho
New York correspondent for tho Cincinnati En
quirer says: "By a curious coincidence one of the
most important subjects considered at that meet
ing was a proposed amendment to the constitution,
favored by President Bigelow, providing that "tho
executive council shall appoint a board of five
trustees for management and administration of
a fund, to bo known as the 'American bankers'
guarantee fund.' This fund was to bo used to
reimburse banks losing through dishonesty of
bookkeepers and clerks. No definite action was
taken, although it was shown that 8,033 letters
sent to banks in the association had called forth
7,110 answers favoring tho proposition. The op
posing speech of J. Frank Suppleo, of tho United
States Fidelity and Guarantee company, who was
present as an official of tho Farmers and Planters'
Bank of Baltimore, reflected gloomily on tho hon
esty of bank employes. The secretary's report-on
the' detective branch of the work of tho asso
ciation said: 'In tho past year our detective
agents have captured seventy-five professional
bank criminals and convicted sixty-four, tho sum
total of whoso sentences amount to 181 years.
This does not include sixteen indeterminate
terms, and nlno criminals arc now awaiting
trial.' "
T'HE CHICAGO CORRESPONDENT for the Cin
cinnati Enquirer says: "American finance
is strewn with tho wrecks of embezzlers, .Tho
most notorious cases in tho last twenty ye)ars
are given: Ferdinand Ward, New York, $0,000,
000; John C. Eno, New York, $3,000,000; William
Schreiber, Ellzabethport, Now Jersey,' $109,000;
George W. Valentine, Perth Amboy, N. J., $220,
000; Gideon W, Marsh, Philadelphia, $1,000,000;
Charles I. Debaum, New York, $100,000; Charles
W. Spaulding, Chicago, $1,200,000; E. S. Drevor,
Chicago, $31G,000; Charles H. Cole, Boston, $900,
000; Charles L. Alvord, New York, $700,000;
Frank M. Brown, Newport, Ky., $200,000; Henry
J Fleischman, Los Angeles, $100,000; Frank C.
Andrews, Detroit, $062,000; Frank V. La Bountie,
Buffalo, $500,000; F. G. Bigelow, Milwaukee, $1,
450,000." A RANDOLPH, IOWA, reader of The Com
moner writes: "In the issue of tho 10th,
a reader of Tho Commoner asks for statistics
showing tho change that has taken placo In tho
proportion of property holders in the United
States since 1856. If the reader so referred to
wishes an accurate statement, or so near It that
'Infinity' himself would have to be called In to
get at an exact finish, I would refer him to
'The Present Distribution of Wealth In the Uni
ted States by Charles B. Spahr, New York, 46
East Fourteenth street. Thomas" Y. Crowell &
Company, Boston, 100 Purchase street, a work
copyrighted In 1896. The work now In my pos
session I purchased In 1897. The work goes back
farther than the reader refers to, 1856, and takes
up somewhat in a general way the causes that
have led up to the distribution of wealth as wo
find in England today, which occupies one chap
ter .of tho work. The bulk of the book is for
American students. The author has given lec
tures on the subjects of which tho book treats
in colleges high as the country affords. To show
tho unprejudiced mind of the author, I will quote
a part of his preface, to-wit: 'The writer has
learned, and hopes to teach, that upon matters
coming within Its field the common observation
of common people is more trustworthy than tho
statistical investigations of the most unpreju
diced experts. Indeed he has come to bellqve that
.social, statistics are only trustworthy when ,they
show to the world at large what common obser
vation shows tp those personally familiar with
the conditions described.'"
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