TI1E OMAHA DAILY REE: SATURDAY, FEWtUAKY 18, 1005.
Tiie Omaha Daily Bee.
E. ROSE WATER, EDITOR.
PL'UUSHED EVERT MORNINQ.
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llluetrated iiee. one year J
Sunday Bee, on year J
Baturday Ilea, one year JX
Iwentlcth Century Farmer, one year... W
DELIVERED BT CARRIER.
Dally Be (without Bunday), per copy... te
fatly Bra (without Bunday), per week..l?o
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8unday Bee. per copy .; Z
hvenlns; Be (without Sunday). Per week JO
Evening Be (Including Bunday), P'
week 120
Complaints of irrerularitlea In llv,r
hould be addressed to City Circulation D
partrnenl OFFICES.
Omaha The Bee Bulldlnc.
m Bouth Omaha-Oty-Hall buildinr. Twenty
fifth and M wtreeta.
CnUnrll Bluff 10 eer1 atreet
Chlraro 16W fnltv "building.
New York 232 park Row building.
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CORRESPONDENCE.
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"e. Editorial Department.
REMITTANCES.
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Onlv 2-cent atamps received1 In payment or
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THE BEE PUBLISHING! COMPANY.
STATEMENT OT CTRCTTLATION.
Bfate of Ne'flraaka, DouRlna County. !
George R. Ttsehurk, e-eretary of Tba Be
Pnhllshlns; Company, being duly sworn,
says that the actual number ot full and
complete copies of The Dally. Morning.
Evening and 8unday Be printed during tb
month of January, 1906. waa ae followa:
1 80.820 IT 2T.T10
SHMVtO IS 27.020
1 28.4TO 10 2T.3S0
4 2H.210 20 2T.B20
2T.970 21 SO.OfJO
6 27.PHO ' 22 SO.OnO
7 10.400 . . . a .82,1()
SA.140 f4 SO.BTO
2T.70O 16 27.810
10 37,821 M 28.1R0
11 27,800' 27... ....28,070
II 27.0NO 2S 80,240
......... .27,840" a.... 2,IMM
14 80,300 90 27,870
16 ftO.BOO U 2T.OOO
J 2t,900
Total. 892.800
unsold coplea. 8,818
Net total aalea 882.772
Dally average , 28,470
OEO. B. TZ8CHUCK.
Bubecrlbed In my presence and aworn to
before m tbla Slat day f January. 1906.
(Seal) M. tt. HUNGATE,
' Notary Publlo.
Ascension by the bomb route seems
to bare the call over in Russia. -
The danger is that the bombs may
hold but longer than the "Russian grand
dukes.
No one will blame Maxim Gorky if he
"views with alarm" the sound which pro
ceeds from Moscow.
A big fireproof office building for rail
road occupants exclusively would be a
fine acquisition for Omaha. Tush It
along.
All snowbound railroads leading into
Omaha have been swept clean, but not
so all the snowbound sidewalks in
Omaha.
Would It not be a great deal better if
those charter, discussions ' were had at
meetings here In Omaha instead of at
mpptlncra flown at T.lnrailit? ..
Events at Lincoln are demonstrating
that all of the men who would doctor
our laws do not think it necessary for a
college to confer the degree.
It will take an event of real impor
tance to keep Cleveland out of the lime
light when Andrew Carnegie-begins tes
tifying in the Chadwick case.
One of the peculiar things of politics
Is that the senate should go behind
closed doors to do Just, what everybody
expects it to do and nobody wants.
It is now said that the czar has been
considering peace terms, but it appar
ently took the explosion at Moscow to
Jar the news loose at St. Petersburg.
The oldest member of the Hungarian
Diet presided when that body was called
together after the election. Hungary
knowa how to honor a man of many battles.
Emperor William in consenting to ac
cept an American collegiate decree has
demonstrated that he believes something
can still be added to the 'kalser-koenlg-liche"
title.
When the United States supreme court
thinks of the Kansas legislature it prob
ably hears a call to" work overtime as
soon as the lawyers get around to sev
eral new laws.
That lynching in Texas was probably
not intended as a curtain raiser to the
proposed visit of President Roosevelt,
but it may give him a tip on what Texas
needs in the way of advice.
In view of the report of the committee
investigating the Panama Railroad com
pany it might be well to abolish the
ranal commission before the members
become accustomed to receiving divi
dends on stock they never bought
While legislating on the subject, some
measure that would compel the railroads
to give reasonable train service to ac
commodate the public would be balled
with delight by dozens of towns In this
state that frequertly have to wait two
and three days for mall that should be
delivered the same. day as posted.
i f
Bouth Omaha democrats are fighting
shy of the Crawford county direct pri
mary system even in such a trivial po
litical contest as' the nomination of
candidates for the school - board. The
average Souto Omaha democratic poli
tician bangs on tenaciously to his rake
off privileges as a convention delegate.
The Prospect IIIU club, composed of
a baker's docen, some of whom, if not
all, were, doubtless, participants in the
boodle distribution made by the electric
light company to defeat the municipal
light plant bonds last fall, are said to
have resoluted In favor of the Howell
Dodge water bill on the ground chiefly
because Howell and the electric light
boodle distribution were Intimately con-joected.
RAILROAD REGULATION IN NEBRASKA
It Is conceded on all hands, excepting
possibly by railway managers, that lo
cal railroad rates In Nebraska have al
ways been and are now from 25 to 40
per cent higher than the local rates ex
acted from shippers of Iowa and Mis
souri, and from 10 to 20 per cent higher
than the local rates that prevail in Kan
sas for the same class of commodities.
This marked divergence In rates might
have been justifiable fifteen or twenty
years ago by reason of the difference In
the volnmn nf tralHo and cant of o Dera
tion, but it would scarcely be contended
that It Is justifiable at this time and
from now on. It would be too much to
expect, however, that the railway man
agers will volunteer to make reductions
that woula render railway regulation by
the legislature unnecessary.
The maximum rate law enacted In
1803 fixed the local rates for Nebraska
80 per cent higher than were the maxi
mum rates then established in Iowa, but
the railroads in solid phalanx resisted
Its enforcement and succeeded in its sus
pension on the ground that the volume
of traffic In 1804-1 893 had been reduced
to such an extent by reason of the
drouth that the enforcement of the law
would cause the railroads to operate at
a loss. The fact that the volume of
traffic In Nebraska has doubled, trebled,
and In some instances quadrupled,
within the past five years is not taken
into account, however, and will not be
unless the legislature shall come to the
relief of the people with enforclble rail
way regulation laws
Three modes of state railroad regula
tion are open to the legislature:
1. A measure for Immediate relief bv
the passage of a commodity rate bill
that will make a horizontal reduction
of from 10 to 15 per cent on grain, live
stock, lumber, coal and heavy products
raised on the farm and purchased by the
farrier.
2. A measure that will provide for the
enforcement of the lawg already on the
statute books prohibiting discrimination
and favoritism by rebates and other
methods through the ennctment of a law
reviving the State Board of Transporta
tion by making the state officers acting
as a board of public lands and buildings
perform its duties.
. .3.. The submission of a constitutional
amendment creating a railroad commis
sion. It may be safely predicted that the
railroad attorneys and railroad lobbv
will favor the last measure and oppose
all bills making a commodity rate reduc
tion, or authorizing an existing board to
perform the functions ordinarily devolv
ing on the railroad commission. The
first and second of these measures con
templates lmmediato relief; the last con
templates relief at some future time,
possibly never.
A commodity rate bill means to the
people of Nebraska a saving of hundreds
of thousands of dollars this year, and a
corresponding reduction of gross earn
ings to the railroads. The re-creation
of the State Board of Transportation
bolds out the possibility 'if Wt the
... . ...... . . v . . .
promise, oi intervention On the part of
state officers acting for; the nooniA
against unjust discrimination affecting
either shippers or localities. The pro
posed creation of a commission by con
stitutional amendment, If It carries,
would not go Into effect for at least two
years, or by the year 1007, when we may
have another drouth year and a lighter
volume of traffic. In that event ma
terial rate reduction would again be
stalled by appeal to the courts, whereas
a reduction now would be sustained by
the courts because of the extraordinary
volume of traffic.
Obviously .the constitutional amend
ment cannot be submitted until Novem
ber, 1000, and would not go tnto effect
until January, 1007. Obviously, also, a
constitutional amendment does not ex
ecute itself. It would require leglsla
tlon in 1007 to define the powers ni
duties of the railroad commission, and
if such law Is enacted the commissioners
to enforce the law are not llkelv to hp
elected until November, 1007, which is
tantamount to postponement of effective
railroad regulation until 190.8.
The proper thing for the present leg
islature to do is to enact air three meas
ures. 1. Pass the commodity rate bill.
2. Pass a bill making it the dnt'v t
the State Board of Lands and Buildings
to perrorm the functions formerly de
volving upon the State Board of Trans
portation.
8. Submit the constitutional amend
ment for an elective railroad onmmia.
slon.
All these measures may not give the
people absolute relief from the hi...
to which they have been and continue
to bo subjected by public carriers, but
they will go a great ways toward mi-.
Ing the relations of the railroads and
their patrona more equitable and more
amicable.
hold a conference with him and there
his plan was approved that a great "pop
ular loan" should be started, with an ap
peal that would touch the hearts as well
as the pockets of his countrymen. It
was at that same conference, too, he In
duced the bankers to loan the govern
ment $50,000,000 to meet its Immediate
needs. Mr. Cooke was soon thereafter
appointed as the financial agent of the
government In placing its bonds. His
task Mas gigantic, but he was equal to
Its demands, securing in four years for
the government from the sale of bonds
the Immense sum of twenty-five hundred
million dollars.
The great secretary of the treasury,
Salmon F. Chase, leaned upon Jay, Cooke
In the gloomiest days of the republic's
half paralyzed credit and General Grant
declared that to the labors of Cooke,
more than to those of any other man,
was due the continued life of the nation.
A man with such a record of usefulness
to his country, whose services at a vital
period of our history were of such trans
cendent value, is certainly entitled to be
remembered by his countrymen and to
their lasting esteem. We honor the mem
ory of Robert Morris, the financier of
the revolution. Why shall we not also
honor the memory , of Jay Cooke, the
financier of the civil war?
DEATH OF A GREAT FINANCIER.
Very few persons today remember
the wonderful financial service ren
dered the government of the United
states m the civil war bv Jav f!nnk
who died Thursday, but what he did Is
as worthy of being remembered as the
worn and deeds of the greatest states
men and soldiers of that period. Born
in Ohio, Jay Cooke went early in life to
Philadelphia and engaged In the bank
ing business. When the war came on
between the north and the south be was
at the head of a banking bouse in rhlla-
aeipnia which bore his name and he
soon had branches In Washington and
London. Salmon P. Chase, secretary
of the treasury, saw tifat Mr. Cooke
was the man of the hour for the gov
ernment to rely upon to raise money to
carry on the war. '
The financial outlook at the time was
very black. The Buchanan admlnistra
tiou had left an empty treasure and it-
seemed Impossible for the government
to borrow money at less rate of intr.
est than 1 per cent a month. But
Cooke was equal to' the occasion. He
called upon a number of big banks to
ASSASSINATION OF DUKE SEROIVS
The assassination of the czar's uncle,
Grand Duke Serglus, will revive uni
versal interest in the conditions In Rus
sia. The blow strikes close to the head
of the empire, for no one had greater
influence with Nicholas than the mur
dered man, who was a leader of the re
actionaries and au earnest supporter of
the autocracy. It has been understood
that Serglus, at the head of the grand
dukes, has been the chief obstacle in the
way of putting into effect the political
reforms asked for by the zemstvos.
What effect his removal will have upon
the situation can only be conjectured,
but It furnishes renewed evidence that
the spirit of revolt Is still active and
warns the czar himself that he is not
secure from the danger of assassination.
A naturally-tlmld man, this tragedy win
undoubtedly intensify the apprehension
that continually weighs upon him.
Only a few days ago it was reported
that affairs were resuming their usual
order. It was said that the greatest
confidence prevailed that the measures
taken by the government in behalf of
the workmen would prove satisfactory
and that the political side of the agita
tion was no longer considered a serious
factor. Manifestly this was merely a
surface view of conditions. The trag
edy at Moscow will stir Russia from
center to circumference. It may lead
the party of autocracy to give more
earnest attention to the demands of the
people, while on the other hand it may
cause the adoption of more drastic
measures for the repression of those
who are known to be hostile to the gov
ernment. . It Is quite possible that it will
have an influence in the interest of
peace in the far east. The civilized
world win "nwalt the' events to "follow
this tragedy with the profoundest In
terest. ..
THE SAN DOMINOO MATTER.
rresldept Roosevelt's communication
to congress in regard to the agreement
by which the "United States assumes the
obligation of collecting and disbursing
the customs reveuue of the republic of
San Domingo is an enlightening state
ment of a matter that has commanded
a great deal of interest and fn regard to
which the administration has been more
or less sharply criticised. The president
clearly points out the conditions which
seem to Justify the intervention of this
government and which are pretty gener
ally understood by those who have taken
the trouble to familiarize themselves
with the matter. San Domingo is heav
ily in debt, a large part of the obligations
of the republic being due to foreigners,
who have been clamoring for payment
Almost constantly harrassed by revolu
tion, the country has been unable to
satisfy the demands of creditors and for
several years has been in danger of Eu
ropean aggression. The present govern
ment there appealed to the United States
to give it assistance which would afford
relief from the impending danger and
this appeal was given favorable consid
eration. In the Judgment of the .presi
dent the course of our government in en
tering Into the agreement with San Do
mingo was entirely proper and .Justifi
able. This view is based In part upon the
proposition that the Monroe doctrlne
warrants and requlreg our Interposition
in a case of this kind. "We on our part
are simply performing In peaceful man
ner," Bays the president, "part of that
international duty which is necessarily
Involved in the assertion of the Monroe
doctrine," and he urges that if this be
done in good faith a general acceptance
of that doctrine will surely follow, which
will mean "an Increase of the sphere In
which peaceful measures for the settle
ment; of international difficulties grad
ually displace those of a warlike char
acter." If this can fairly be interpreted
as meaning that the Monroe doctrine
makes It the duty of this country to as
sume any responsibility for the financial
obligations of the Independent countries
of the western hemisphere there are un
doubtedly a great many who will dis
agree with the president's position, as
being an expansion of the Monroe doe
trine that was not Intended by Its au
thor. This part of President Roosevelt's
message Is quite certain to provoke no
little discussion, the tenor fit which will
be noted with a good deal of Interest.
When it comes to maintaining the dig
nity of the law-making branch of gov
ernment the house Is not behind the sen
ate, as shown by its action on the wheat
rebate measure, and that dignity seems
to be more generally admitted as a mat
ter of fact and not a matter of sentiment
than the dignity of the senators.
One communication calling attention
to the multiplicity of damage claims
against Uia city for defective sidewalk
accidents simply emphn sizes the neces
sity of abolishing altogether as soon as
possible the privilege of laying wooden
sidewalks now enjoyed by property
owners. The wooden sidewalk may be
cheap to the person who puts It down In
the first place, but It comes high to the
city, which is responsible for the dam
age suits.
If Interested parties are trying to cre
ate the Impression down at Lincoln that
the people of Omaha do not care
whether their city charter is amended to
meet present conditions or not, the mem
bers of the delegation should put their
ears to the ground. It might be well
to recall also that of the last legislative
delegation from Douglas county only
one was returned for a second term.
The publication of the schedule of
league base ball games at this particu
lar time Is a welcome reminder that the
weather will permit us to sit on the
bleachers before long If we only wait
patiently for the leaves to fall off the
calendar.
Well, Hardly!
Kansas City Star.
It la hardly expected, however, that the
United States eenate will go so far as to
try to read Theodore Roosevelt out of
the republican party.
Good Time for Snow Plowing.
Washington Post.
Bradstreet'a reports a dull opening for
the spring trade. Most of the traveling
men who are out with their straw1 hat
samples are snowboune
Information for the Caar.
St. Louis Republic.
King Edward, In opening Parliament, an
nounced that Great Britain has maintained
the strictest neutrality In the Japanese
Russian war. This Information should be
conveyed to St. Petersburg, where M will
be received with interest, if not as news,
"trainee Contrnata.
Portland Oregonlan.
Modernity and medlaevallstn are curi
ously mingled in the report from Mexico
City that a huge new building; Is to be
built of ateel and masonry. The structure
is being planned on the most improved
methods of construction and is to give
18,000 persons an opportunity to witness in
comfort the slaughter of horses and bulls.
Work for Willing Hands.
New York Tribune.
There are said to be 70,000 or 100,000 men
out of work in New Turk, yet a reporter
dressed as a working man found two jobs
in two days and could have had two more,
but he ran away frcm them. There may
not be a well paid job waiting for every
man, but anyone able and willing to work
probably can find work if he sets about it
resolutely and Is willing to do any honest
work, rather than beg or starve.
Another Canteen Inquiry.
Kansas City Star.
Secretary Taft has informed Representa
tive Llttlefleld that not only most of the
army officers, but the secretary of war
himself, are all disposed to favor the re
establishment of the 'army canteen. The
perversity of the anti-canteen advocates is
truly amazing. Those senators and repre
sentatives who are in favor of the present
"reform" regulations may be regarded as
merely obedient to what they believe to
be their political interests; but on the
outsido the opposition to the canteen repre
sents a perverse adherence to en adopted
principle, In spite of the fact that the prac
tice, whatever the principle may be worth,
is injurious. No true reformer can longer
support the abolition of the army canteen.
To do so la to uphold a reactionary meas
ure which has been detrimental to the
morals, the health and the discipline of the
army. And this is on the testimony of a
great majority of the officers and of the
wives, mothers and sisters of the soldiers.
STANDARD OIL INTERESTS.
A Factor In Two-Third nf the Rail
road Mileage of the Conn try.
Springfield (Mass.) Republican.
Some calculation, which would be im
pressive, might be made of the extent to
which the Standard OH Interests have come
Into control of the vast syndicated wealth
of the country of their presence in tho
direction of railroads, of many great met
ropolitan banks and of such Industrial cor
porations as Amalgamated Copper, United
States Steel, etc. But the present inquiry
relates to the Standard Oil group of mil
lionaires In the domination of railroads
where there has recently been a rapid ex
tension of this sinister influence. The
New York Evening Post prints this list of
railroads in whose management "the Stan
dard Oil Interest is now openly recog
nized:" .... Mileage.
Aicnison 8.03
niiiiiiirio oc .,nio. 4 sift
Chicago & Alton 'di6
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 6 8X2
Chicago & Northwestern 731B
Rock Island System 16 0i
Delaware, Lackawanna & Western.. 947
Delaware & Hudson (,43
Denver & Rio Orande t,40
Krie 2 553
Illinois Central 4301
Kansas City Southern 8.T9
Missouri, Kansas & Texas 2 713
Missouri Pacific System 20'(W0
New York Central 11178
New York, New Haven & Hartford..
New York. Ontario & Western 649
Northern Securities 18 9"0
Oregon Railroad and Navigation.... lira
Oregon Short Line 1 &2S
Reading 2,144
Southern Paclflo gl'1
Union Pacific gjoj
Total 13U30
These railroads embrace about two
thirds of the total mileage of the country,
and they do not include all the great
Pennsylvania system of above 11,000 miles,
In which the same financial group are
supposed to be accumulating a large in
terest. This exhibit Is of a character to put
beyond much of any question the state
ment which is frequently mads that the
railroads of the United States are practi
cally under the direction of half a dozen
men private citizens holding themselves
under no oligatlon to represent or forward
any other interests than those of their
own and the pockets of the Individuals
whom they represent. It Is within the
power of these half dozen men, by a
slight and almost Imperceptible advance
in the rate, or by a change in freight
claslflcatlons, which few people would be
able to understand, to impose a tax upon
the country amounting to tens of millions
of dollars yearly to divert In almost un
limited extent the property of the many
to the pockets ot the few.
The country Is being told by many news
papers, congressmen and others that It
would be dangerous to lodge in a govern
ment commission of five or seven men the
power to regulate and adjust railroad
rates. But if that would 4j dangerous
power in ihe hands of seven men moved
by no other Interest than to establish fair
and reasonable dealings between the rail
roads and the great body of people con
stituting their patrons, how much more
dangerous must It be when possessed by
seven private citizens actuated by selfish
Interests exclusively.
In the light of the facta nf the case
what boldness of the oligarchical spirit
enters Into this opposition te government
control of railroad rates.
OTHER LA3D9 THAI OVR.
Piecemeal reform Is the order of the dify
in Russia; liberal provisions for the free
dom of the press have alrendy been pub
lished. More, humane factory regulations
are promised. But piecemeal reform seems
to bo accompanied by piecemeal revolution.
Poland Is now the storm center, but there
are mutterlnga all the way to the Caucasus.
Indeed, there Is too much reason to fear
that any gratitude for the favors grad
ually doled out Is discounted before the
benefit Is experienced. Confusion of coun
cils has prevented the czar from taking any
step bold and generous enough to touch
the imagination of his people. In fact, he
displays a singular Incapacity to face the
fact as they are. An honest expresalon of
regret for the St. Petersburg slaughter,
such as his liberal ministers pressed upon
him, might have checked the current of In
dignation. A proclamation fearhsly liberal
In tenor might have worked powerfully
against the revolutionary ferment. The
case calls for a certain gallantry which It
seems impossible for a weak sovereign be
set by scheming advisers to achieve. The
policy of drift leads only one way to revo
lution. Year by year the greet wilderness of
houses which is London continues to spread
over the face of the surrounding country
Country villages become suburbs, and pres
ently, as new railroads, tubes or electric
tramways bring them In closer touch with
the center, themselves acquire all the char
acteristics of purely urban districts. As a
rule the old inhabitants are absorbed and
disappear in the new population. But there
are many to whom space and fresh air and
all the other concomitants of country life
are essentials, and these, unless they pos
sess enough land of their own to be indif
ferent to what encircles it, or enough
wealth to despise the offers of the specula
tive builder, are forced to uproot them
selves from their old homes and old asso
ciations and emigrate elsewhere. This
process applies no less to institutions than
to Individuals, and to none more than to
the great public schools which, whatever
the deficiencies of their methods of Instruc
tion, yet exercise so great and valuable an
Influence upon the formation. one is almost
tempted to say the standardization of the
national character. In that influence the
outer environment plays no unimportant
part. The fair sights and sounds amid
which Plato wished to educate the citizens
of his ideal state are not to be found In the
crowded heart of a great city, still less,
perhaps. In Its somewhat quieter, but
dingier and drearier, periphery. One after
another the great schools In the center of
London have realized this and have trans
ferred themselves to new surroundings.
Kossuth's reception by the emperor of
Austria is a dramatic Incident and one
that may prove to be a. very shrewd po
litical move. Kossuth's great victory at
the last election has made him the fore
most figure in the politics of his country.
In the natural order of events he would
become prime mli.lster. Kossuth's success
does not necessarily threaten the stability
of the empire. The sobering and chasten
ing effect of power upon the individual is
certain to make itself felt in this case. The
Influence of the emperor's personality Is
still very great, and his political wisdom
has been demonstrated so often that it is
not likely .to be wanting now. The era
peor probably feels that freedom to talk
and act may lead the ex-revolutlonlst and
his followers Into less dangerous paths, and
that practical experience In carrying on the
difficult Hungarian government will modify
the demand for economic separation, upon
which Kossuth Insisted In his talk with the
aged monarch na the only way to bring
about peace between the two countries. It
may, of course, yet come to pass that the
question of separation will be submitted to
the enlarged Hungarian electorate. But
there are some reasons for' bellnvlno) that
'Kossuth's followers care very much less
about their programs now that they have
obtained practical control of the govern
ment. The old dispute between Norway and
8weden respecting the matter of separate
consuls Is again approaching, or haa al
ready reached, a critical stage, Norway
and Sweden have commercial rivalries.
Norway outranks Sweden, however, and in
sists that her commercial Interests shall
not be committed to agents who are also
serving Sweden. Norway desires a separ
ate foreign department and separate con
sular representation. Recent negotiations
between the two countries on the question
have failed to relieve the situation, which,
It Is said, has now assumed a serious phase.
It is Intimated that the dissolution of the
union is threatened. It was declared a day
or two ago by the Norweglon premier that
a better working form f co-operation with
Sweden must be considered if the existing
bond between the countries is to continue.
The consular negotiations have been sus
pended, and King Oscar finds he la unable
to cope with the present difficult situa
tion. An English engineer of erfme standing
has written to the London newspapers to
sound a note of dreadful warning. He is
apparently convinced that at no distant
date the British metropolis, or huge slices
of It, at all events, will go sliding off from
Its foundations into somo unknown and
fathomless abyss. The deep tube railways,
It seems, are to cause this catastrophe.
His explanation is too technical for brief
report, and can be Indicated only In a very
general way. London subsoil is of clay,
some hundreds of feet In thickness, which j
forms a series of basins, gradually sloping
down to a point below the bed of the j
Thames. These basins are filled with water.
coming from the surface, which flows from
one receptacle to another until It reaches
the river. So long as the basins are kept
full, the top soli was properly supported,
but this prophet of evil declares that the
subways. In some manner, have created
new sluiceways, and are gradually drain
ing these subterranean ponds, causing enor
mous empty spaces Into which the foun
dations of the British capital will Blowly
but Inevitably settle. Already, he says,
settlements are occurring at different places
in London, and great buildings are show
ing large cracks. He implores the au
thorities to take timely warning, but no
publlo panto has manifested Itself as yet.
GIVIXQ AND RECEIVING BRIBES.
Phases of the Boodle Qnesdon De
veloped In Several States.
Washington Post.
There are apparently as many aides to
the boodle proposition as there Is to the
divorce question, and the solution Is almost
as difficult. Several of the state legisla
tures now In session are wrestling with
different phases of the bribery and lobby
evil, and remedies proposed are as numer
ous and varied as the means employed by
thoae who seek to secure legislation by cor
rupt methods. Kansas Is making a war on
bribers and lobbyists, and a bill has been
offered In the legislature legalizing the ad
ministration of a suit of tar and feathers
to the -lobbyist who attemps to bribe a mem
ber of the law-making body. In Missouri
the governor of the state has taken tha
matter into his personal charge and has
Issued orders requiring all lobbyists to call
upon him, when they arrive at the capital,
explain their business and get out of the
town In thirty hours. In California a lobby
ist has testified that he passed money, in
$350 rolls, to four different members ot the
state senate, in the furtherance of desired
leginlatlon. In Illinois a member of the
house has been expelled for making charges
of Doodling against his colleagues and fall
ing to sustain them. These are notable In
stances of the spirit of charge and counter
charge reflecting upon the Integrity of
members that seem to pervade nearly all
of the state legislatures.
On the heels of the agitation against lob
byists in Kansas comes ihe decision of the
supreme court of that state to the effect
that It does not constitute a felony for a
public official to solicit a bribe, the court
holding that the crime has not been com
mitted until the bribe is offered and paid.
In other states the law Is specific In making
th solicitation of a bribe as great an
offense as the proffer of It, and this appeal"
to common sense, for there Is nothing more
certain than that the lobbyist and the
briber would not exist if there was no mar
ket for their services among suaceptible
officials. The man who accepts a bribe Is
as guilty as the briber, Just as the receiver
of property known to have been stolen
shares responsibility with the thief. It is
contended that to punish the man who ac
cepts the bribe would make It difficult to
secure evidence needed for conviction of
the briber, but to punish only the briber
would alo open the way for conspiracy,
blackmail and other methods of Injuring
men and measures quite as reprehensible
as purchase of votes and Influence.
While the exposures of graft, real and al
leged. In the law-making bodies of the dif
ferent states constitute something of a pub
lic scandal, the situation Is not without Its
encouraging features. It furnishes an in
dication thnt the old reign of the profes
sional lobbyist Is over; that the people are
watching with lively interest the conduct
of their officials and the public conscience
is being awakened to the degree that will
soon And. Its manifestation In the demand
for the nomination and election of a higher
grade of men to public office. The people
are learning that graft Is nonpartisan and
opposition to it Is growing strong enough
to break down the barrier of party lines to
accomplish its elimination.
POLITIC.!, DRIFT.
The "bleeding commonwealth" is working
overtime on, the question, "Is the Standard
Oil company bigger than the state of Kan
sas 7
A nervy Cleveland councilman, In open
moating, called Mayor Tom Johnson a liar.
His honor merely smiled a knowing smile,
which was translated to mean "never
touched me."
What Is classed as "the world's easiest
Job" Is held by one Doa C. Johnson In the
senate end of the Minnesota state capital.
Mr. Johnson's laborious duty conslHts in
drawing a salary of $5 a day.
No one can fairly dispute President
Roosevelt's supremacy as an exemplar of
the strenuous life. At the dinner in "Lit
tie Hungary" he went against such dinner
confections as Cslga- Levcs, Tarhonya
Sashegyi Kabanyal and Kaposztas, without
apparent injury to his interior department
The arrival of "Bat" Masterson In New
York City to take the post of Deputy
United States marshal is merely prefatory
to his acceptance of an appointment oa the
detective force of Greater New York. No
two men of opposite political, parties are
more ardent admirers one of the other than
William McAdoo, police commissioner, and
Theodore Roosevelt, president.
Ex-Governor James E. Campbell of Ohio,
who for the last four or five years has
practiced law in New York City, last night
at the Fifth Avenue hotel announced that
he would soon move back to Chlo to prac
tlce law, making his home in Columbus.
In connection with Mr. Campbell's plana
It was learned that his democratic friends
In the Buckeye state are quietly working
up a boom for him for the governorship
nomination next fall against Governor
Myron T. Herrlck, who expects to be re
nominated by the republicans.
An, Interesting story of business dove
tailed with party politics comes from New
York state. It Is in effect that the savings
banks of the state, which have more than
2,000,000 deposltora, demanded of Governor
Hlggins before the election that he should
promise to recommend the repeal of the
tax on their surplus resources. When he
hesitated It was Intimated to him that the
banks, regardless of the politics of their
officers, would put into every bank book a
leaflet bearing the information that the
republican administration of the state had
compelled the banks to reduce their interest
'4 per cent by imposing new taxation upon
them. At this Hlggins assented, and in an
ticipation of the repeal of the tax the sav
ings banks Increased their interest on the
first of January H per cent. Now the re
publican party is reported to be indisposed
to repeal the tax.
Fifty Years h9 Standard
BMW'
m9M
1
v
K
)
Hade from pure cream ot
tartar derived from grapes.
LAl'G HI(3 GAS,
Moselv Wraggs (waiting outsldeM-Wot
did tie woman say when ye asked 'er fur a
hand out?
Wareham Iong Phe said she was Jlst
out o' soap, but If 1 would wait a second
sho'd give me some bllin' hot water. You
can tackle do next one, blame ! Chi
cago Tribune.
"Ah! dear," sighed she, "does It not
make you feel better to gaze upon the
red glory of a winter sunset like this?"
"Not much." replied her practical hus
band, "It looks so much like a Are and
that reminds me of our coal bill." Phila-
delphla Press.
"You've got a new minister, I hear. Good
talker?"
"Yes, and he always speak" extempore!
never prepares a sermon In advance.'
"Ah! I see. He doesn't practice what
he preaches. ""Philadelphia Ledger.
"Henry, wake up" exclaimed Mrs. Peck.
"I'm positive I hear burglars downstairs.
Get up and see If you can locate them."
"My dear," replied Henry, as he burled
his head under the pillow, "I'm very par
ticular about my associates, and I draw
the Hue at vulgar burglars. cnicago jour
nal. "I nhould like to become an optimist,"
said the man who seldom smiles. "How
would you advise me to go about it?"
"Well," answered the man with ashes on
his coat collar, "you want to start out by,
breaking your thermometer and then quit
keeping any account of your fuel bills."
Washington Star.
"Didn't I see you talcing a drink yes
terday with Dr. Klose? I'll bet he didn't
pay for it."
"Well, it was his treat. Tie suggested
it."
"But did he pay for IF?"
"My deur man, don't you know you
have to poy for It when a doctor treats
you?" Philadelphia Press.
AN IMPORTANT QLKSTIOS.
Baltimore American.
Just now through the nation a question is
flyinff.
The widows are asking each other a quiz;
'Tie not tho best method for dusting or
dying,
Tis not what the secret of youthfulness
is.
Instead, it's a query quite widely divergent,
A notion that's born of a newspaper
knock;
And this thu inquiry that's come to be ur
gent; Oh. Bay. did you ever get married to
Hoch? ,
No od.'Ts where they live, in Dubuque or
Decatur;
No odds where they lost number one,
two, or three;
Each woman who's shed her families pater
Is like to have taken the John.1111 degree.
His wives are dispersed from the lakes to
each ocean;
That is. such, as haven't been led to the
diock; -
He wedded as oft as he took the fool
notion
Say, widow, you ever been married to
Hoch?
How few we will find from New York to
Chicago,
Whose late unlamented had left them
some coin,
But Johunn has made them, contrary to
law, go
His way till their money he chanced to
i-urloln.
So all o'er the land- thero'a an Inquiry
ringing.
The Innocent, care-beset echoes to mock
Before It hns stopped, poor Johnnn may be
swinging.
Oh, say, did you ever get married to
Hoch?
COAL WOOD COKE KINDLING
We sell the best Ohio Cooking Coal-clean, hot, lasting
Rock Springs, Hanna, Sheridan, Walnut Block, Steam Coal.
Best medium grade is Illinois Nut $6; Egg and Lump $6.25.
For heaters and furnaces-Cherokee Nut $5.25; Lump
$1.50- A hot burner-Missouri Nutjarge size $4.50: Lump
$4.75. Scranton-the best Pennsylvania Anthrqcite mined.
Spadra-the hardest and cleanest Arkansas Anthracite.
All coal hand-aoreened and weighed over any olty scales desired.
COUTANT & SQUIRES, 'ftWAg 9&REeT
New Goods
Have begun to arrive and this month will cud the special
values we have been offering on our high grade clothes.
We've as many patterns in suits as any man could wish to
choose from, and as many styles of Overcoats as you can
think of. It will only take you a minute from your busi
ness to try on either a suit or coat and at a splendid saving.
Reductions range from
25 to 50
All our own make with our unequivocal guarantee aa
to goods and making.
XO CLOTHING FIT LIKE OUBS.
R. S. WILCOX, Mgr.