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The Commoner.
yOLUMB 7, NUMBER 21
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MRS, JULIA WARD HOWE colobrated her
clglity-oighth birthday May 20, at Boston.
A Boston dispatch says: "Just to show her
activity, Mrs. Howo entered the elevator at her
homo on Beacon street and ran the machine
up and down three flights to accommodato a
visitor. All day she wad besieged with callers,
and flowers and other tokens of good will camo
in wagon loads. 'I think,' she said to a re
porter, 'that it is delightful the way the public
maintains its interest in mo.' Monday there
will bo a family rounlon."
O
I
SEVERAL NEWSPAPERS havo said that Wil
liam Makepeace Thackeray named Wash
ington "iho city of magnificent distances." The
Now York World says: "This is incorrect.
Thackeray may havo usod the phrase, but it or
iginated with John A. Corwino, of Bollcfontaine,
Logan county, Ohio, who was a very famous per
sonage in the forties and fifties. Once on a visit
to tho' national capital he wound up a period of
exhilarating experiences in tho visitors' gallery
of the' house of representatives,, and as the
urgent body camo to order Mr. Corwino felt im
pelled to rise in his place jand' make a few re
marks. Ho bogan: 'I have been visiting this
city of magnificent distances"?" There was a lot
more, out tins sentence uvea."
'.v
O
ripHE PHILADELPHIA Inquirer prints in its
, JL' Issue of May 1G this story from its Wash
ington correspondent: "As things stand today,
I am in favor of the nomination of Judge Gray,
of Delaware, by tho democratic national con-v
vention," said Henry Gassaway Davis, who was
Parker's running mate on the democratic ticket
. lnl.904. Senator 'Davis thinks that a great
many conservative republicans would support
the Dolaware man. "Judge Gray," said Senator
Davis, "is a strong, conservative and square man,
who has tho respect and confidence of the en
tire public. I am glad to see that a delegation
of miners and laborors is to meet at Pottstown,
"Pa., 'on Saturday of this week for the purpose
of indorsing Judge Gray. I am informed that
other efforts are quietly being made in his be
half also. I am constantly surprised to loam
how -Well thought of Judge Gray is by republi
cans. Only the other day a distinguished repub
lican said to me: "You follows nominate Judge
Gray for president and send the bill of cost's to
me;" and what is more, this man was able to
-pay the costs of nominating Judge Gray. This
is a good indication of what some republicans
think of Gray. That was a mighty good article
.that Sonator Raynor wrote the other day about
tho political situation. Evory one ought to read
it, particularly what he says about Mr. Bryan
being ,nore of a menace to state rights than
President Roosevelt or anybody else. ; That was
a. good article.' " ..'":.,...
O -
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT delivered the Me
morial day address at Indianapolis and in
that address- he dwelt at length upon corpora
tions. He said that government regulation of
railroads had come to stay; that wrongdoers
must be brought to justice; that the government
must have over the railroads the same power
they now havo over the national banks; that
traffic agreements are proper, when in the inter
est of the public and that railroad men must
keep out of politics as railroad representatives.
The St. Louis Globe-Democrat thus summarizes
the president's Indianapolis speech: "Govern
ment must have full control over the railroads
There can be no swerving from the course the
administration has mapped out. Railroads must
be kept free from speculation. The movement
to regulate railroads has come to stay. Wher
ever evildoers can be found they will be brought
to justice; no matter how high or low. Rail
roads, as a whole, are sound. The physical
value of each railroad must be determined. The
railroad property of the country is worth as
much as the securities representing it. Nothing
must be done to injure the interests of the
shareholders. In providing against overcapital
ization wo shall harm no man who is honest. I
believe in proper publicity. The government
must have access to the books of the roads. Tho
"means are at htnd which will put the public in
possession of the facts. There must be just
regulation of rates. Let the roads keep, out of
. politics. Men of wealth are but trustees of the
people. Positive restraint must be Imposed on
the railroads. Tho federal government is alone
competent to exercise full supervision." '
SNEAKING TO THE Washington-correspondent
for the New York World Secretary Taft
said: "I am a tariff revisionist. No man can
win the next election who does not favor changes
in tho tariff. I agree with tho position taken
by tho American Manufacturers' association
Which recently declared in favor of a revision."
Not long ago a representative of the American
Protective Tariff League called upon Mr. Taft
and told him that he could not expect any sup
port from that organization unless he declared
for the standpat policy. Mr. Taft declined to do
so, saying that ho believed the people would
so strongly demand tariff ' revision that it would
be disastrous to the party to fail to make defi
nite promise.
FOLLOWING IS THE language used by Mr.
Taft with reference to tariff revision:
"Speaking my individual opinion and for no one
else, I believe that since tho passage of the
Dingloy bill there has been a change in the
business conditions of the country making it
wise and just to revise the schedules of the ex
isting tariff. The sentiment in favor of a re
vision of the tariff is growing in the republican
party, and in the near future the members of
the party will doubtless be able to agree on a
reasonable plan. But the work of the present
session, which was pressing in its urgency could
never, have been accomplished if there had been
introduced into congress and the councils of the
party tho heated discussions certain, to arise
over the questions of the revision, of the tariff.
How soon the feeling in favqr of revision shall
crystalize into action can not be ', foretold, but
it is certain to come, and with it 'those sched
ules of the tariff which have inequalities and
are excessive will be readjusted. The reason
able prospect of a revision of the, tariff by the
republican party on conservative lines should
certainly be greatly preferred by those who
favor revision and yet believe in the protective
system to legislation which is always threatened
by the incoming of a democratic, congress, and a
democratic administration under tho battle-cry,
'A protective tariff is a robbery of the many
for the benefit of the few,' .and to the "disaster
to general "business which inevitably follows."
REFERRING TO the Taft statement the
Washington correspondent for the New
York World says: "Secretary Taft Is convinced
that there Is a strong sentiment throughout the
country in favor of a revision of the tariff and
that this is especially strong on account o'f the
increased cost of living, for which the tariff is
JrSy responsible. 0f course, this decision of
Mr; Tofts is of superlative political importance.
It probably lessens Taft's chances of securine
the nomination. The tariff interests always have
been the heart and core of the republican nartv
organization, and his action sets in motion
against him a machine which numbers its parts
in every state in the union and which is partic
ularly strong in its representation among re
publican politicians. With this issue drawn as
it is now an anti-Taf t a. d anti-revision element
will begin its fight on the secretary of war."
SECRETARY TAFT, who is said fo be Mr
Roosevelt's candidate for the presidency'
delivered a speech on Memorial day at St. Louis
He devoted his time in pointing with pride to
what tho United States had done in Cuba Porto
Rico and the Philippines, and said that the peo
ple of those islands wqre grateful for this work
He said: "I have not touched upon and do not
intend to discuss, for lack of time, what our
future: policy toward these three peoples must
bo. The problems to be presented are difficult
and. nped a clear and calm judgment and a gen
erous altruistic spirit for their satisfactory solu
tion. Neither -will be wanting,. I am sure. Our
experience in the three countries of Cuba, Po'rto
Rico and the Philippines has many points in
common, and .the chief common feature has
boen the desire on the part of the American
people, represented by the American congress
and the American executive, fo stimulate busi
ness, to elevate and educate the people, to main
tain and preserve order, to introduce Internal
improvements of all sorts into the 'islands to
build roads and bridges and harbors, and grad
ually to enlarge as far as possible the control
which the natives shall have over their own
local government. There have been, times when
abuses have crept into the administration of
the islands on the part of some of the civil
and military servants of the United States, but
the record of the nine years since the begin
ning of the Spanish war, looked at from an
Impartial standpoint is, on the whole, an un
blemished record of generous, earnest effort to
.uplift these people, to help them, on the way to
self-government, and to teach them a higher
and .a better civilization. It is a record I con
fidently submit will always redound in the coin
ing century to the high, credit of the people of
the United States as a generous civilizing nation
charged by the accident of war 'with the re
sponsibilities of guardianship of- a less fortu
nate people and discharging that Cod-given
responsibility in accordance with . thq highest
ideals of the brotherhood of man." '..'
-O- " -
THE SAN FBANCISCO grand jury has re
turned indictments against President Pat
rick Calhoun of the United Railroads, fourteen;
against Assistant to the President Thornwall
Mullaly, fourteen; against Attorneys Tirey L.
Ford and W. M. Abbott of the legal department
of the United Railroads, fourteen each-; against
Mayor Schmitz, sixteen;' against Abraham Ruef,
fourteen; against President Louis Glass of the
Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph com
pany, two; against Theodore V. Halsey, former
ly an agent of that corporation, one. A San
Francisco dispatch says: ilRuef, Schniitz, Cal
houn, Mullaly, Ford and Abbott are charged with
bribing fourteen supervisors togranfthe over
head tro ley franchise to the United Railroads.
Schmitz is further charged with bribery in con
nection with the fixing of the gas company's
rate and with receiving ?50,000 in the United
Railroads franchise deal. The indictments
against GlasB are additional to the eleven indict
ments already returned " against him on the
charge of bribing supervisors to refuse a com
petitive telephone franchise. The indictment
against Halsey is for the same offense."
TN ITS REPORT of Omaha's celebration of
X Memorial day, the World Herald prints this
pretty story: " 'You decorate the graves of your
soldier boys with beautiful flowers, but the
grave of my boy can never be decorated. For
he lies burled deep beneath the ocean waves
and his grave must ever remain without flowers.'
This was the cry of an anguished mother in
Beatrice, Neb., a few years since, when she was
present at the decorating of the soldiers' graves
on Menforial day at that place. In June, 1898,
one year before, her son, George Geddes, had
died at sea while with company C, First Ne
braska, of which he was sergeant, and had been
buri?d itn honors, the first American soldier
of the Spanish-American war to be buried at
sea. He was on his way to Manila and the burial
occurred between San Francisco and Honolulu.
By the weeping mother stood another mother
whose son had been in the same company. This
.was Mrs. C. M. Peters, now president of the Gar
field circle of the Ladies of .the Grand Army
of the Republic. Her heart swelled' with sym
pathy for the mother who could not have even
the comfort of weeping over her son's grave.
Her thoughts busily planned as she watched the
beautiful flowers laid on the graves of the fallen
heroes. The next year her plans bore fruit.
Before Memorial day an immense box of flowers
went from Nebraska to be scattered over the
waves of the Pacific ocean in honor of George
Geddes, who was buried at sea. Express com
panies heard of the intention of the loyal Ne
braska women and vied with one another to
carry the box. It was arranged' that three ex
press companies should- have this honor and
the flowers wore gladly carried to the coast
by three different companies,' relaying at differ-
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