,-r.f-f m- rrrvr- wf w w$ipFJB? fWP it I i. I 6 Me Commoner. boon growing moro distinct, and the Norwegians havo again aud again demanded a separato min ister of foreign affairs and a separate consular servico." THE venerable King Oscar, now in his seventy fifth year is referred to by Mr. Creelman as "a scholar and philosopher, a man of gentle and meditative temperament." Mr. Creelman adds: "Ho is not the sort of monarch to com pose a dispute among his subjects by military force. The mild protest which he sent to the Norwegian parliament when its members declared Norway to be independent of his rulo was char acteristic. Ago and 111 health compelled King Oscar to placo a regent on the throne for some time. But the increasing demands of Norway for a separate consular system, accompanied by throats of secession, compelled the white-haired, feeble king to return to his duties. The Norweg ian parliament passed a law providing for sepa rate consuls. Two days after his resumption of power tbo king vetoed the law. Norway asked tho king to withdraw his veto. The king refused. The Norwegian council of state issued a decree putting Swedish war vessels on a footing with foreign war vessels in Norwegian ports. There were signs that Norwegian troops were being preparod to support a separate policy. The lead ers of tho two great political parties in Norway agreed that if tho king persisted in denying to Norway the right to be represented abroad by consuls of her own choosing the separation of the two kingdoms was inevitable. Yet there was lit tle talk of wnr. Tho controversy was carried on with equal dignity and firmness. It would be hard to conceivo of a free trado and protection war wagod In such a placid spirit in America. Yet, in its resolution declaring Norway Independ ent of. King Oscar, the Norwegian parliament made plain tho economic nature of tho issue by protesting its respect for his person, its lack ofv hostility to Sweden, and its readiness to place the ' crown upon tho head of some prince of the house of Bernadotte. It is not a. racial or dynastic quarrel, but a plain business dispute, sharpened somewhat by the greater democratic tendencies of one of the partners." fTJBA appears to bo enjoying prosperity. A K& writer in Harper's- Weekly says: "In 1899, when the Jast census was taken, tho population of tho island was 1,500,000; it is now computed to hare increased by some 300,000. Tho number of immi grants who arrived last year was about 15,000, tho great majority of whom came from Spain. Tho fact bears witness to the confidence now felt by Spaniards (formerly so pessimistic) in the maintenance of law, order and prosperity. In the first year of Cuban independence the sugar crop was about 300,000 tons; it had. increased last year to 1,000,000 tons, and is expected this year to reach 1,250,000. A large amount of raw cotton is now raised in the department of Puerto Prin cipe. The output of fruit and vegetables has un dergone remarkable extension; a great part of the surplus is sent to the United States by steamers twice a week. According to the figures compiled by tho bureau of statistics in our department of commerce and labor our imports from Cuba have advanced from about $57,000,000 in 1903 to nearly $75,000,000 in 1904. Our exports to the island have grown still more rapidly, their value last year hav ing been $32,644,000, as against $23,504,000 in tho preceding twelvemonth." ILLINOIS is one of the pioneer states in rural free delivery. The Rock Island (Illinois) Argus says: "This state leads all others in the rural free delivery service, having a total of 2,478 rural free delivery routes. Illinois will continue in this position, the postofflce department having made a statement that it is hardly probable any ether state will overtake her. Indiana has more coun ties in which have been installed complete ser- vice, but the Hoosier state can not compare with Illinois' in the total number of routes in operation. Ohio ranks second with 2,186 routes', Iowa third, with 2,068; Indiana fourth with 1,934; Pennsyl vania fifth, with 1,737; Missouri sixth, with 1,589, etc., showing Illinois well in the lead. This means much for Illinois. This state was recog nized by the department as tho best state in which to initiate it the topography of the state, its population, the character of its people, and all conditions pertaining to the installation of rural service being such as to invito the rapid extension of that great connecting link of city with city, county with county and district with district, insuring a convenient delivery of mail undreamed of a few years ago, but which has proved one of the most practical systems ever afforded by the government to its rural citizens. ' S - (VOLUME 5, NUMBER 23 May 1 the total number of routes in tho UnitPrf States was 30,982; as against 24,556 on Uig samo date of -the preceding year, showing a ranid growth in the service all over tho United States. AN AMERICAN lawyer by the Lame of Georgo Clark, writing from New Zealand says: "i have traveled around the world via New York London and the Suez canal, and I am now in tho land of government ownership of public utilities and ,a moro contented aiid' prosperous people does not exist in the world today lhan the inhabitants of New Zealand, The goverLmeut owns the rail roads,' life arid 'Are insurance 'and the coal mines. The fare on the, railroads ;is about, a cent per mile, and workmen are -arr,ie,d twenty miles each day to and "froni their w6rk for 24 cents per week, between, tlie cities, of J "Wellington and Pe tone. The government owns the telegraph and telephones and conducts a 'savings bank. Tho sayings bank lends : criey ' to the farmers at 3 ,per cent, and the minimum wage for labor is 25 cents per hour. The government gives a pension of $100 per year to all persons over tho age of sixty-five. The country is not the place for plutocrats and. exploiters who live by the sweat of other men's f-.ces, but. 'for merchants and store-keepers, as well as tlje workmen this is the best country in the world. The man with $10,000 invested gets the same freight rates as the man with a million dollars." A STENOGRAPHER for Armour company, ac cording to Collier's Weekly, testified before the interstate commerce commission that it was his particular duty to "handle correspondence, order icing for cars and make rebate statements." He interpreted some items in the code-book em ployed in these transactions. Tlie vocabulary of illegal rate making was given as follows: "Launch," better arrange rebate there; "launched," burning the stock at both ends; "launching," can make rebate; "Laura," handle rebate matters very carefully; "lava," pay rebates from cash on hand; "laveallo," rebate must bo confidential; "Kinsley," shade rebates a little rather than lose business; "junk' if necessary to secure shipments you can - make rates to -; "kaland," meet rate by voucher; "kalatna," meet any rate offered; "kashger," if this rate will not secure advise what is necessary. "MAN"-MR. BRYAN'S COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS (Continued from Page 2) of great value. There is justice in giving him a reasonable compensation out of the thing which he has discovered, but the fact that the govern ment under whose jurisdiction the land lies limits by metes and bounds tho land which the pioneer may claim is evidence of an effort to fix a rela tion between service and compensation. And so if one discovers precious metals the law deter mines the amount of land that can be claimed under the discovery. The inventor, also, in re turn for the benefits conferred upon society, is given a temporary monopoly of the sale of the thing invented, Lut the fact that lie "is protected for a limited time only is another proof of tho general desire that the reward collected from so ciety shall be proportioned to tho benefit conferred upon society. It is hardly necessary to add that in the case of an invention tho attempt is often a crude one, tho inventor in many cases losing in large part or entirely the protection intended for him, while some one prepared to furnish money :or experimentation receives the lion's share of the benefits. Tho inheritance would seem to furnish tho most notable exception to the rule of rewards and yet it can not really be considered an excep tion, for a man's right to provide for those depend ent upon him is as sacred as his right to provide for himself, and the mutual obligations between parent and child take inheritances out of tho ordinary rules of property, and yet oven in this case the graded taxes now imposed upon inherit ances in various states and they should be im posed in all states indicate a tendency to limit the testamentary disposition of property. Gifts are either first, an expression or affection or friendship, or, second, payment for service ren dered or payment in advance for service to bo rendered to the donor or to others. But turning from the exceptions to tho rule what could bo moro salutary today than a univer sal recognition of this law of rewards'' If in- stead of measuring success by the amount re ceived, each one measured success by the amount actually earned, what a transformation would be wrought in the world! If each one were so perfectly under self-control and so attached to a high ideal as not to desire more from tho world than a just reward for his contribution to the world's welfare, society would present a changed appearance. Nearly all injustice, nearly all of "man's inhumanity to man," can be traced to an attempt on the part of the wrong-doer to obtain something for nothing or something for which only part payment is offered. A conscien tious application of this law of rewards would not only go far toward adjusting disputes between labor and capital, but it would go far toward re mov ng the barriers between the classes. Tho employe to make a just complaint against his em ployer shows that the latter is claiming a larger share of the joint profit than is his due, and the employer to bring a just indictment against his employe alleges that the employe is seeking a larger compensation than he has earned. There would be little difficulty in adjusting hours of labor and the conditions of labor if the primary question of participation in profits could be ad justed, and that adjustment can not be enuitablv made upon any other basis than that of equiva lent values. With universal acquiescence in th?s rule tho usurer would disappear, carrying his train of evils with him; with the establishment of this rule the stock jobber and the S gambler would cease to disturb the law of s im ply and demand, and the reign of watered stock and of exploitation would be at an end The ob servance of this rule would make factory laws SSdrtrX nnd YeUre fr Premabireton hundreds of thousands of children who now to the shame of our civilization and t the perma nent harm of our country, become sullen smt ueiights of childhood and the advantages of mueTthev Wh' ,n8tead ot tryingTslo how mucn they can squeeze out of tho world nr anxious to give to the world -a dollart worth of service for a dollar's worth of pay, are protected against every form of swindling, for the "get-rich-quick" schemes Which spring up and impose upon the public until they are exposed and driven out, always appeal to the speculative spirit, and lead their victims to expect something for nothing. It must not be understood, however, that the law of rewards comprehends all of one's obliga tions. There is a clear distinction, between jus tice and benevolence. Justice requires that each person shall be secure in the enjoyment of that which he earns, but there is something better than justice. True, the elimination of injustice is greatly to be desired, but if the world con tained nothing more comforting there might still be a vast amount of suffering and woe. After the government has exhausted human wisdom in the effort to so adjust rewards as to secure to eacli person a fair and just compensation for all that he does, religion steps in and suggests a still higher and broader rule. Justice would leave the individual to suffer for his own errors and to pay the penalty for his own mistakes, but love, as taught in the Bible and exemplified by the Author of our religion, teaches us "to feel an other's woe" and to bear one another's burdens. If sickness overtakes a neighbor it does not sat isfy the conscience to say: "He brought it upon himself, let him suffer." If a wife is impoverished by the dissipations, of' a husband it does not satisfy the conscience to say: "She ought to have known better than to marry him," or "She ought to leave him." If a child is left friendless it does not satisfy the conscience to -say: "It is not my child; I owe it nothing." In a multitude of ways we are daily brought face to face with the fact that this world needs something more helpful more encouraging, more uplifting than justice, and love supplies this need. A high ideal of life. therefore, 'leads us to be more exacting with ourselves than we are with others. We must use a larger measure when we estimate society's claims upon us than when we. calculate our claims upon society, for while we have a right to expect from society a fair compensation for what we r m .. a -v. m "j V .. x,1t HLMmb . .fe.MjiM M teilydtoMMnMto.,!,.,. AiS sa.