PRESIDENT IN
URGENT APPEAL
FOR LEGISLATION
^Roosevelt Sends Another Mes
sage to Rouse Present
Congress to Activity.
sQF UTMOST IMPORTANCE
stronger Anti-Trust Law and Regula
tion of Labor and Capital Relations
Are Greatly Needed—Civic
Conscience Firmer.
Washington. April 28.—The president
•lias sent another special message to
■congress, strongly urging the passage
•of measures which he has from time to
time recommended. He lays special
■emphasis'on the importance of legisla
tion to do away with abuse of the pow
er of injunction, amendments to the
anti-trust law and a bill strengthen
ing the Hepburn rate law. The mes
sage is an appeal to the public con
science as well as to the cor#jK*ss whose
jpolicy is to do nothin*. The message
follows:
To the Senate and House of Representa
tives:
In my message to the congress of March
t6, 1908, 1 outlined certain measures fthich
I believe the majority of our country
men desire to have enacted into law at
•this time. These measures do not rep
resent by any means all that I would like
to see done if I thought it possible, but
they do represent what I believe can now
’be done if an earnest effort toward this
end is made.
Since 1 wrote this message an employ
ers' liability law has been enacted which,
tft is true, comes short of what ought to
have been done, but which does represent
a real advance. Apparently there is good
ground to hope that there will be further
legislation providing for recompensing all
employes who suffer injury while engaged
In the public service; that there will be a
child-labor law enacted for the District
of Columbia; that the waterways commis
sion will be continued with sufficient
.financial support to increase the effective
ness of its preparatory work; that steps
will be taken to provide for such investi
gation into tariff conditions, by the ap
propriate committee of the House of Rep
resentatives and by government experts
in the executive service, as will secure
the full information necessary for imme
•diate action in revising the tariff at the
hands of the congress elected next fall;
and finally, that financial legislation will
be enacted providing for temporary meas
ures for meeting any trouble that may
Arise in the next year or two, and for a
commission of experts who shall thor
oughly investigate the whole matter, both
here and in the great commercial coun
tries abroad, so as to be able to recom
mend legislation which will put our finan
cial system on an efficient and perma
nent basis. It is much to be wished that
one feature of the financial legislation of
this session should be the establishment
of postal.saving banks. Ample appropria
tion should be made to enable the Inter
state Commerce commission to carry out
the very Important feature of the Hep
burn law which gives to the commission
■supervision and control over the account
ing systems of the railways. Failure to
provide means which will enable the com
mission to examine the books of the rail
ways would amount to an attack on the
law at its most vital point, and would
benefit, as nothing else could benefit,
those railways which are corruptly or in
competently managed. Forest reserves
•should be established throughout the Ap
palachian mountain region wherever it
can be shown that they will have a di
rect and real connection with the conser
vation and improvement of nav.gable
rivers.
Two Measures.
There seems, however, much doubt
About two of the measures I have recom
mended; the measure to do away with
Abuse of the power of Injunction and the
measure or group of measures to strength
en and render both more efficient and
more wise the control by the national gov
ernment over the great corporations «k>ing
An interstate business.
First, as to the power of injunction ami
of punishment for contempt. In contempt
casta, save where immediate action is im
perative, the trial should be before an
other judge. As regards Injunc
tions, some such legislation as that
I have previously recommended should
fce enacted. They are blind who
tail to realise the extreme bitterness
caused among large bodies of worthy citi
zens by the use that has been repeatedly
made of the power cf Injunction in labor
disputes. Those in whose judgment we
liave most right to trust are of the opinion
that while much of the complaint against
the use of the injunction is unwarranted,
.yet that it is unquestionably true that
In a number of cases this power has
t>een used to the grave injury of the
^rights of laboring men. I ask that it
tie limited in some such way as that I
.have already pointed out in my previous
messages, for the very reason that I do
mot wish to see an embittered effort made
to destroy it. It is unwise stubbornly to
refuse to provide against a repetition of
the abuses which have caused the present
tunrest. In a democracy likes ours it is
Idle to expect permanently to thwart the
■determination of the great body of our
citizens. It may be and often is the
Jiighest duty of a court, a legislature, or
.an executive, to resist and defy a gust
-of popular passion; and most certainly
*10 public servant, whatever may be the
consequences to himself, should yield to
what he thinks wrong. But in a ques
tion which is emphatically one of public
policy, the policy which the public de
mands is sure in the end to be adopted;
And a persistent refusal to grunt to a
large portion of our people what is right
Is only too apt in the end to result in
causing such irritation that when the right
Is obtained It is obtained in the course
-of a movement so ill considered and vio
lent as to be accompanied by much that
Is wrong. The process of injunction in
labor disputes, as well as where state
laws are involved, should be used spar
ingly, and only when there is the clear
est necessity for it; but it is one so
necessary to the efficient performance of
duty by the court on behalf of the nation
that it is in the highest degree to be
regretted that it should be liable to reck
less use; for this reckless use tends to
make honest men desire so to hamper its
exteution as to destroy its usefulness.
“Class Consciousness.”
Every far-sighted patriot should protest
first of all against the growth in this
country of that evil thing which is called
•‘class consciousness.” The demagogue,
the sinister or foolish socialist visionary
who strives to arouse this feeling of class
consciousness in our working people, does
a foul and evil thing; for he Is no true
American, he Is no self-respecting citizen
of this republic, he forfeits his right to
stand with manly self-reliance on a foot
imr of entire equality with all other citi
zens. who bows to envy and greed, who
erects the doctrine of class hatred into
a shibboleth, who substitutes loyalty to
men of a particular status, whether rich
#r poor, for loyalty to those eternal and
Immutable principles of righteousness
which bid us treat each man on his worth
as a man without regard to hts wealth
or his poverty. But evil though the In
fluence of these demagogues and vision
aries is, it is no worse in its consequences
than the influence exercised by the man
of great wealth or the man of power
and position In the industrial world, who
by his lack of sympathy with, and lack
of understanding of, still more by any
exhibition of uncompromising hostility to,
the millions of our working people, tends
to unite them against their fellow-Ameri
cans who are better off in this world's
goods. It la a bad thing to teach our
working people that men of means, that
men who have the largest proportion of
the substantial comforts of life, are nec
essarily greedy, grasping and cold-hearted,
and that they unjustly demand and ap
propriate more than their share of the
substance of the many. Stern condem
nation should be visited upon demagogue
and visionary who teach this untruth, and
even sterner upon those capitalists who
are in truth grasping and greedy and
brutally disregardlful of the rights of
others, and who by their actions teach
the dreadful lesson far more effectively
than any mere preacher of unrest. A
“class grievance" left too long without
remedy breeds “class consciousness" and
therefore class resentment.
otrengtnen Ann* i rusx uaw.
Tho strengthening of the anti-trust law
fs demanded upon both moral and eco
nomic grounds. Our purpose in strength
ening it is to secure more effective con
trol by the national government over the
business use of the vast masses of in
dividual, and especially of corporate,
wealth, which at the present time mo
nopolize most of the interstate business
of the country; and we believe the con
trol can best be exercised by preventing
the growth of abuses, rather than merely
by trying to destroy them when they have
already grown. In the highest sense of
the word this movement for thorough con
trol of the business use of this great
wealth is conservative. We are trying to
steer a safe middle course, which alone
can save us from a plutocratic class gov
ernment on the one hand, or a socialistic
class government on the other, either of
which would be fraught with disaster to
our free institutions, state and national.
We are trying to avoid alike the evils
which would flow from government owner
ship of the public utilities by which in
terstate commerce Is chiefly carried on,
and the evils which flow from the riot
and chaos of unrestricted individualism.
There is grave danger to our free In
stitutions in the corrupting Influence exer
cised by great wealth suddenly concen
trated In the hands of the few. We should
in sane manner try to remedy this dan
ger, in spite of the sullen opposition of
these few very powerful men, and with
the full purpose to protect them In all
their rights at the very time that we
require them to deal rightfully with oth
ers.
When with steam and electricity modern
business conditions went through the as
tounding revolution which in this country
began over half a century ago, there was
at first much hesitation as to what par
ticular governmental agency should be
used to grapple with the new conditions.
At almost the same time, about twenty
years since, the effort was made to con
trol combinations by regulating them
through the Interstate Commerce commis
sion, and to abolish them by means of
the anti-trust act: the two remedies there
fore being in part mutually incompatible.
The interstate commerce law has pro
duced admirable results, especially since
It was strengthened by the Hepburn law
two years ago. The anti-trust law, though
it worked some good, because anything
is better than anarchy and complete ab
sence of regulation, nevertheless has
proved in many respects not merely In
adequate but mischievous. Twenty years
ago the misuse of corporate power had
produced almost every conceivable form
of abuse, and had worked the gravest
injury to business morality and the pub
lic conscience. For a long time federal
regulation of Interstate commerce had
been purely negative, the national judici
ary merely acting in Isolated cases to
restrain the state from exercising a power
which* it was clearly unconstitutional as
well as unwise for them to exercise, but
which nevertheless the national govern
ment itself failed to exercise. Thus the
corporations monopolizing commerce made
the law for themselves, state power and
common law being inadequate to accom
plish any effective regulation, and the
national power not yet having been put
forth. The result was mischievous in the
extreme, and only short-sighted and utter
failure to appreciate the grossness of the
evils to which the lack of regulation gave
rise, can excuse the well-meaning persons
who now desire to abolish the anti-trust
law outright, or to amend it by simply
condemning "unreasonable” combinations.
Executive Power.
Pcwcr should unquestionably be lodged
somewhere In the executive branch of the
government to permit combinations which
will further the public interest; but It
must always be remembered that, as re
gards the great and wealthy combinations
through which most of the Interstate busi
ness of today Is done, the bbrdin of proof
should be on them to show that they
have a right to exist. No Judicial tribunal
has the knowledge or the experience to
determine in the first place whether a
given combination Is advisable or neces
sary In the Interest of the public. Some
body, whether a commission or a bureau
under the department of commerce and
labor, should be given this power. My
personal belief Is that ultimately we shall
have to adopt a national incorporation
law, though I am well aware that this
may be impossible at present. Over the
notions of the executive body ir. which
the power Is placed the courts should
possess merely a power of review analog
ous to that obtaining In connection with
the work of the Interstate Commerce com
mission at present. To confer tills power
would not be a leap in the dark; it would
merely be to entry still further the the
ory of effective governmental control of
corporations which was responsible for
the creation of the Interstate Comm wee
commission and for the enlargement of
its powers, and for the creation of the
bureau of corporations. The nterstate
commerce legislation has worked admira
bly. It has benefited the public; it has
benefited honestly managed and wisely
conducted railroads; and In spite of the
fact that the business of the country has
enormously Increased, the value of this
federal legislation has been shown by the
way In which It has enabled the federal
government to correct the must pro
nounced of the great and varied abuses
which existed In [he business world twen
ty years ago--while the many abuses that
still remain emphasize the need of fur
ther and more thorough-going legislation.
Similarly, the bureau of corporations has
amply Justified Its creation. In other
words, It Is clear that the principles em
ployed to remedy the great evils In the
business world have worked well, and they
can now be employed to correct the evils
that further commercial growth has
brought more prominently to the surface
The powers and scope of the Interstate
Commerce commission, and of any similar
body, such aa the bureau of corporations,
which has to deal with the matter in
hand, should be greatly enlarged so as
to meet the requirements of the present
day.
States Can’t Control.
The decisions of the supreme court In
the Minnesota and North Carolina cases
Illustrate how impossible Is a dual con
trol of national commerce. The states
cannot control it. Ail they can do Is to
control intrastate commerce, and tills now
forms but a small fraction of the com
merce carried by the railroads through
each state. Actual experience has shown
that the effort at state control Is sure to
be r«jlllfted In one way or another sooner
or later. The nation alone can act with
effectiveness and wisdom; It should have
the control both of the business and of
the agent by which the business Is done,
for any attempt to separate this control
must result tn grotesque absurdity. This
means that we must rely upon national
legislation to prevent the commercial
abuses that now exist and the others that
are sure to arise unless some efficient
governmental body has adequate power of
control over them. At present the failure
of the congress to utilize and exercise the
great powers conferred upon It as regards
interstate commerce leaves this commerce j
to be regulated, not by the state nor yet
by the congress, but by the occasional
and necessarily inadequate and one-sided
action of the federal Judiciary. However
upright and able a court Is, it cannot
act constructively; it can only act nega
tively or destructively, as an agency of
government; and this means that the
courts are and must always be unable
to deal effectively with a problem like
the present, which requires constructive
action. A court can decide what is faulty, j
but It has no power to make better what
It thus finds to be faulty. There should
be an efficient executive body created with
power enough to correct abuses and scope
enough to work out the complex problems
that this great country has developed. It;
is not sufficient objection to say that such
a body may be guilty of unwisdom or
of abuses. Any governmental body,
whether a cotm or a commission, whether
executive, legislative or judicial, ifgiven
power enough to enable It to do effective
work for good, must also Inevitably re
ceive enough power to make it possibly
effective for evil.
Therefore, It is clear that (unless a na
tional incorporation law can be forthwith
enacted) some body or bodies in the exe
cutive service should l>e given power to
pass upon any combination or agreement
In relation to Interstate commerce, and
every such combination or. agreement not
thus approved should be treated as in
violation of law and prosecuted accord
ingly. The issuance of the securities of
any combination doing interstate business
should be under the supervision of tne
national government.
Abuse of Power.
A strong effort has been made to have
labor organizations completely exempted
from any of the operations of this law,
whether or not their acts are In restraint
of trade. Such exception would In all
probability make the bill unconstitutional,
and the legislature has no more right to
pass a bill without regard to whether It
Is constitutional than the courts have
lightly to declare unconstitutional a law
which the legislature has solemnly en
acted. The responsibility is as great on
the one side as on the other, and an
abuse of power by the legislature in
one direction is equally to be con
demned with an abuse of power by the
courts In the other direction. It is not
possible wholly to except labor organiza
tions from the workings of this law, and
they who Insist upon totally excepting
them are merely providing that their
status shall be kept wholly unchanged,
and that they shall continue to be ex
posed to the action which they now dread.
Obviously, an organization not formed for
profit should not be required to furnish
statistics in any way as complete as those
furnished by organizations for profit*
Moreover, so far as labor Is engaged In
production only, its claims to be exempted
from the anti-trust law are sound. Tnia
would substantially cover the right of la
borers to combine, to strike peaceably,
and to enter into trade agreements with
the employers. But when labor under
takes in a wrongful manner to prevent the
distribution and sale of the products of
labor, as by certain forms of the boycott,
it has left the field of production, and Its
action may plainly be in restraint of in
terstate trade, and must necessarily be
subject to inquiry, exactly as in the case
of any other combination for the pur
pose, so as to determine whether such ac
tion is contrary to sound public policy.
The heartiest encouragement should be
given to the wageworkers to form labor
unions and to enter into agreements with
their employers; and their right to strike,
so long as they act peaceably, must^ be
preserved. But we should sanction neith
er a boycott nor a blacklist which would
oe Illegal at common law.
l_aw uerying Days uvw.
The measures I advocate are in the in
terest both of decent corporations and of
law-abiding labor unions. They are,
moreover, pre-eminently In the interest
of the public, for In my judgment the
American people have definitely made up
their minds that the days of the reign of
the great law-defying and law-evading
corporations are over, and that from this
time on the mighty organizations of cap
ital necessary for the transaction of busi
ness under modern conditions, while en
couraged so long as they act honestly
and in the interest of the general public,
are to be subjected to careful supervision
and regulation of a kind so effective as to
instil” their acting In the Interest of the
people as a whole.
Allegations are often made to the ef
fect tha: there Is no real need for these
laws looking to the more effective control
of the great corporations, upon the ground
that they will do their work well without
such control. I call your attention to the
accompanying copy of a report Just sub
mitted by Nathan Matthews, chairman of
the finance commission, to the mayor and
city council'of Boston, relating to certain
ev.l practices of various corporations
which have been bidders for furnishing to
the city Iron and steel. This report shows
that there have been extensive combina
t.ons formed among the various corpora
tions which have business with the city of
Boston, including, for instance, a care
fully planned combination embracing
practically all. the firms and corporations
engaged in structural steel work in New
England. This combination included sub
stantially all the local concerns, and
many of tfie largest corporations in the
United States, engaged In manufacturing
or furnishing structural steel for use In
any part of New England: It affected the
states, the cities and towns, the railroads
and street railways, and generally all per
sons having occasion to use Iron or steel
for any purpose in that section of the
country. As regards the city of Boston,
the combination resulted In parceling out
the work by collusive bids, plainly dishon
est, and supported by false affirmations.
In its conclusion the commission recom
mends as follows:
Commission Report.
I “Comment on the moral meaning of these
methods and transactions would seem
superfluous; but as they were defended at
the public hearings of the commission and
asserted to be common and entirely prop
er incidents of business life, and as these
practices have been freely resorted to by
some of the largest industrial corporations
that the world has ever known, the com
mission deems it proper to -ecord its own
opinion.
“The commission dislikes to believe that
these practices are, as alleged, established
by the general custom of the business
community; and this defense itself, if un
challenged, amounts to a grave accusa
tion against the honesty of present busi
ness methods.
“To answer an Invitation for public or
private work by sending in what purports
to be genuine bids, but what in reality are
collusive figures purposely made higher
than the bid which Is known will be sub
mitted by one of the supposed competitors
is an act of plain dishonesty.
“To support these misrepresentations by
false affirmations in writing that the bids
are submitted in good faith, and without
fraud, collusion, or connection with any
other bidder, is a positive and deliberate
fraud: the successful bidder in the com
petition is guilty of obtaining money by
false pretense; and the others have made
themselves parties to a conspiracy clearly
unlawful at the common law.
“Where, as in the case of the ‘Boston
Agreement,’ a number of the most Im
portant manufacturers and dealers In
structural steel in this country, including
the American Bridge company, one of the
constituent members of the United States
Steel corporation, have combined together
for the purpose of raising prices by means
of collusive bids and false representations,
their conduct is not only repugnant to
common honesty, but is plainly obnoxious
to the federal etatute known aa the ones*
man or anti-trust law.
“The commission believes that an ex
ample should be made of these men, and
that the members of the “Boston Agree
ment,” or at least all those who. in Oc
tober and November, 1906, entered in the
fraudulent competitions for the Cove
street draw span and the Brookline street
bridge, should be brought before a fed
eral grand Jury for violation of the act
of congress of July 2, 1890. The three
years* limitation for participation in these
transactions has not yet elapsed, and the
evidence obtained by the commission Is
so complete that there should be no dif
ficulty fn the government's securing a con
viction In this case.’*
I have submitted this report to the de
partment of Jus ice for thorough investi
gation and for action If action shall prova
practicable.
Demands Legislation.
Surely such a state of affairs as that
above set forth emphasizes the need or
further federal legislation, not merely be
cause of the material benefits such i^K18"
lation will secure, but above all because
this federal action should be part, and a
large part, of the campaign to waken our
people as a whole to a lively and etivcuv*
condemnation of the low standard or
morality implied in such conduct on tne
part of great business concerns. The lirst
duty of every man is to provide a liveli
hood for himself and for those dependent
upon him; it Is from every standpoint de
sirable that each of our citizens
endeavor by hard work and
methods to secure for him and nte such
a competence as will carry with it tne op
portunity to enjoy in reasonable lasmon
the comforts and refinements of lit©',
furthermore, the man of great
ability who obtains a fortune in uprlgnt
fashion inevitably In so doing confers a
benefit upon the community as a wnoie
and is entitled to reward, to respect, ana
to admiration. . . .._
But among the many kinds of evil, so
cial, industrial, and political, which it is
our duty as a nation sternly to combat,
there is none at the same time more base
and more dangerous than the greed which
treats the plain and simple rules of hon
esty with cynical contempt if they
fere with making a profit; and as a na
tion we can not be held guiltless If we
condone such action. The man
preaches hatred of wealth honestly ac
quired, who Inculcates envy and Jea.lous>
and slanderous ill will toward those of ms
fellows who by thrift, energy, and
dustry have become men of means, is a
menace to the community. But his coun
terpart in evil is to be found in that par
ticular kind of multimillionaire who is a/“
most the least envlble, and is cjrtaini
one of the least admirable, of all our
izens; a man of whom it has been well
said that his face haB grown ■ hard and
cruel while his body has grown soft,
whose son is a fool and his daughter a
foreign princess; whose nominal P‘ea8”
ures are at best those of a tasteless ana
extravagant luxury, and whose real ae
llght, whose real life work, i» the ac
cumulation and use of power in its most
sordid and least elevating form. In tne
chaos of an absolutely unrestricted com
mercial Individualism under modern c©n~
ditiOns. this is a type that becomes prom
inent as inevitably as the marauder baron
became prominent In the physical chaos
of the dark ages. We are striving for
legislation to minimize the aouses which
give this type Its flourishing prominence,
partly for the sake of what can be ac
complished by the legislation Itself, and
partly because the legislation marka our
participation In a great and stern moral
movement to bring our ideals and our con
duct into measurable accord.
Theodore Roosevelt.
The White House, April 27, 1908.
Summary or nepon.
In the report of the finance committee
to the mayor and city council of Boston,
subjoined by the president to his message,
the methods employed In the alleged col
lusions are considered under three heads—
combinations among boilermakers, com
binations among contractors for fire proof
ing, and combinations between corpora
tions and firms engaged In the manufac
ture or supply of structural steel.
Under the first heading the committee
charges that “some one familiar with the
operations of the school house department
would furnish each person Invited to bid
the names of the other persons to whom
Invitations had been extended. The con
cerns selected would then arrange be
tween themselves as to who should do the
work, as to the price to be fixed and as
to the division of the profits.
The report names two companies as the
corporations found to be guilty of collu
sive practices in bidding for fire proofing
contracts, and says: “These companies
combined for the purpose of parcelling
out the work. Contract for contract was
generally conceded, although In ®OI^e
cases money was paid as the price of ab
staining from competition. This resulted
in high prices to the customer, and exac
tions were thus obtained from all sorts
and conditions of men and corporations.'
The portion of the report devoted to
combinations in the structural steel trade
deals with what is termed “the Boston
agreement," and the charge is made that
“In order to preserve the appearance of
competition and to ensure the success of
the scheme of collusion, the parties to the
agreement would arrange the bids to be
submitted in a progressive scale above the
prearranged bid of the concern to which
the work had been allotted. • • • •
The members of the 'agreement' did not
hesitate to fortify their bids by false
statements in writing that they were
made in good faith, without fraud, collu
sion or connection with any other bidder."
Proposing to a Widow.
From London Sketch.
He—Would you think me very—I
mean, would It be bad taste on my part
She (hastily)—Not a bit.
He—But you don’t know—you can't
know—what I was going to say. I was
going to say, would (t be very Imperti
nent of me If I
She (tenderly)—I think I do know,
Harry, and I can assure you that I
should not resent It in the least.
He—Ah, but it was something much
more serious than you imagine—some
thing about
She (looking down)—Something about
your future life?
He—No; not quite so serious as that.
Something about my present life.
She—That’s what I meant—the sec
ond half of your present life.
He—Oh, I’m only 27, you know.
She—I know; but when a man con
templates a great change In his life
He—You did know, then?
She—Months ago, dearest. I read It
in your eyes the llrst day we met.
He—By Jove! Then—why, I’ve dona
It!
She (weeping a little)—Harry, you
have swept me off my feet!
He—My love! I know I was brutally
frank, but don’t cry.
She—You men! How irresistible you
are! __
A London specialist has been giving
his views on smoking to the Dally Mail.
This authority declares that the clgar
et. if the smoke is not inhaled, Is the
least harmful way of smoking, but if
the smoke is inhaled It is the most
rabid form of heart poisoning you can
get. It will affect a young man’s heart
quicker than cigar or pipe smoking af
fects a man between 56 and 65, at
which age a man is affected more by
smoking than at any other. And tho
beter the cigars the more ’’likely it la
that harm will be done. Therefore,
smoke cabbage; the Havana cigars ara
i worse than any others."
Curious of tha Future.
From the Youth's Companion.
•'Have you fixed up my will just the
way 1 told you?” asked the sick man,
who was the possessor of many needy
relatives and some well-to-do but
grasping ones.
"I have,” asserted the lawyer.
•'Just as strong and tight as you can
make it, eh?" asked his client.
The lawyer nodded.
"All right,” said the sick man. “Now
I want to ask you one thing—not pro
fessionally—who do you think stands
the best chance of getting the prop
erty when I’m gone?”
The Art of Punctuation.
From the Boston Transcript.
Returning from school the other aft
ernoon, little Edith proudly informed
her mother that she had learned how
to “punctuate."
“You see, mamma.” explained Edith,
when you write 'scat’ you put a hat
pin after it. and when you ask a ques
tion. then you put down a button
hook.”
The police department of Canton.
China, has Issued a proclamation for
bidding the sale of the flesh of dogs
and cats as food.
What She Thought.
From the Taller.
We were talking about honors, and
I heard the story about Sir Lawrence
Alma-Tadema, R. A., when he was
knighted.
•‘Oh," said a lady friend, ‘'dear Sir
Lawrence, I am so glad. I suppose now
that you have been knighted you'll give
up painting and live like a gentleman?”
A Montreal grain merchant recently
sent an Inquiry to London by the wire
less system and received an answer In
less than two hours.
FARM FACTS.
One ounce of carbonate of potassium
to each quart of rain water makes an
excellent wash for mange or itch.
Watch the affected parts once each
week wi this mixture and then wash
off the mixture with clean rain water.
For scratches in horses try this: Ox
ide of zinc, one dram; vaseline, one
ounce. Never apply water to the legs
Scratches will never occur when th*
mud has been allowed to dry and then
brushed oft without the application of
water.
FATE OF BIG FINE
NEAR SETTLEMENT
$29,000,000 Oil Trust Case to
to Be Heard in Court of Ap
peals Next Thursday.
Washington, D. C.. May r.,—Accord
ing to the view of the department of
Justice and administration officials
generally, the most important legal
case In the recent history of the gov
ernment is that which will be present
ed to the United States circuit court
of appeals of Edwin W. Sims, district
attorney at Chicago. The case Is set
down for argument on Thursday of
next week, and the decision ns to
whether the $29,000,000 fine Imposed
by Judge Landis upon the Standard Oil
company was Justified will be awaited
with Intense interest by members ol
Congress and by the president and of
ficers of the department of Justice.
If the big fine is sustained It will
mean a ’-ody blow for the oil monopoly,
as It will wipe out the profits of one
branch of the big concern for two or
three years at least. There Is a great
principle at stake, aside from the enor
mous fine, and the government Is anx
ious to uphold Its position that every'
shipment of goods Involving rebate is
a separate offense whether made un
der a general contract or not and
whatever be the time of payment.
Fortunately for the government the
supreme court has this winter decid
ed several cases which have a direct
bearing on the main contention of the
Standard OH company In the Chicago
suit, which resulted In the Imposition
of the sensational fine. The govern
ment has been sustained Invariably,
and some of the most Important points
made by John P. Miller and other at
torneys of the Standard OH company
during tbe trial of the Chicago case
Imvo now been specifically overuled by
the supreme court.
The result is that on appeal to the
circuit court of appeals next week the
principal point at issue will be not so
much the constitutionality of the Elk
ins law or the question whether It was
repealed In whole or In part by the
Hepburn law. The real Issue will be,
first, as to whether there was a sepa
rate offense every time a shipment
was made, and, secondly, whether the
fine of $29,240,000 was excessive, and
an abuse of discretion, so that it be
came cruel and unusual punishment,
which Is prohibited by the constitution
of the United States.
LOCKOUT IN ENGLAND
TO EFFECT 250,000
Disagreement as to Wages Puts
Shipbuilding Industry
to the Bad.
Gasgow, May 5.—Clyde shipbuilders
this morning locked out 6,000 wood
workers from their yards. Lockouts
have been decided upon at all ship
building yards In the United Kingdom,
affecting not less than 250,000 men.
The question of reduction of wages is
Involved.
London, May C.—Woodworkers In all
the shipbuilding yards In the country,
totaling about 15,000 men, were locked
out today In pursuance of the deter
mination of the masters to close the
yards unless the northeast coast strik
ers agree to their terms. Workmen In
other branches, totaling many scores of
thousands, will necessarily have to
cease work before long unless a settle
ment of the dispute Is reached.
ANOTHER TEAPOT WAR
IN SOUTH AMERICA
Panama, May B.—It is reported that
Honduras Is concentrating her forces
on tho Guatemalan frontiers. Passen
gers who have arrived here recently
from Guatemala say that a revolution
was being planned against the Hon
duran government by General Domingo
Vasques, ex-presldent of Honduras,
who la supposed to have the support
of Guatemala.
The situation In Guatemala Is re
ported to be exceedingly critical. The
passengers say that among the per
sons reported to have been executed
there are members of wealthy Central
American families.
AND HERE’S-ANOTHER.
rtlo Janeiro. Mny 5.—News has been
received here by telegraph from the
west coast of a revolutionary outbreak
In Peru. The movement is said to have
started at the town of Chosica, near
Lima. _ _
$1,400 LAY UNDER
SIDEWALK A YEAR
Minneapolis. May 5.—With hundreds
of people walking over them every day,
certificates of deposit representing a
small fortune—and representing, too, a
robbery—lay undisturbed under a First
avenue S sidewalk for almost a year
until they were discovered accidentally
yesterday.
Carl Strand, an employe of Janney,
Semple, Hill & Co., found the water
ctr.laed, discolored certificates, worth
$1,-100, under the sidewalk on the First
avenue side of the company's building.
They had been pushed through a
broken deadlight In the sidewalk. Mr.
Strand turned the papers, with a note
book found with them, over to Police
Superintendent Corriston.
The tour certificates of deposit repre
sent deposits made in the Citizens' bank
and the Si.ite bank of New Ulm by
Car’. Schwaderer. A year ago Schtvad
erer returned to New Ulm from Minne
apolis and told a story of having been
robbed ir. this city. He made no report
to the police here. Unable to recover
his certificates of deposit, he has been
forced to let the'money stay in the New
Ulm banks. He Is now working on a
farm near Nicollet, Minn.
DR. DIX'S FUNERAL.
New York, May 5.—Hundreds of men
prominent in New York business, social
and religious life attended the funeral
services today over the body of Rev.
Dr. Morgan Dix, held in Trinity church.
BOY FAN, HIT BY
POP BOTTLE, DEAD
Grand Rapid*. Mich., May 5-liWm.
Haverkamp, aged 13, died today as a
result of being strdek on the head dur
ing yesterday's ball game, by a pop
bottle thrown from above him in the
bleachers. Edward Parks Is under ar
rest, charged with having thrown the
bottle.
The total wages paid to textile work
ers in Germany Increased from $82,118,
000 In 1886 to *32,C78.CCO in 190R.
CHICAGO SUBWAY TO
BE LIKE BOSTON’S
Effort to Relieve Traffic Con
gestion Begun in Windy
City.
Chicago, May 5—What may be called
a start on building the much desired
subway in downtown Chicago was
made when General William Sooy
Smith called on Mayor Busse to talk
over the matter.
The general Is honorary consulting
engineer In the subway project, having
agreed to give the city the benefit of
hts professional skill and personal
knowledge of Chicago without charge.
At present he Is the only engineer tha
city has In this project, although other*
will have to be engaged later.
At the same time everybody connect
ed, either officially or only In a general
way, with the subway proposition got
busy as far as he could, and all Indi
cations showed that the mayor’s ex
pressed desire that the matter be car
ried through as quickly as it possibly
con will be compiled with. What Is
most remarkable was that, considering
the magnitude of the enterprise, ther*
was so little real difference of opinion.
Everybody agreed there are no en
gineering difficulties In the way and
the only question to be solved Is that of
raising the money to do the work with.
Everybody agreed that the subway
should be a high level one, having tha
street surface above as Its roof.
Everybody agreed the subway should
be built on the Boston, and not the New
York plan—In other words, taking the
cars underground In the congested dis
trict and bringing them to the surface
when the boundaries of this district are
passed.
Everybody agreed that the subway
must not be considered as a plan to re-*
move all cars from the street surface.
To meet the growth of the city some
cars must always be run there, but
the number sent underground will ma
terially relieve traffic congestion.
DUKE WRITES BOOK TO
TELL. OWN LOVE TALE
London, May 6.—Grand Duke Michael
Michaelovltch has written a novel en
titled "Never Say Die."
The book virtually tells the story of
hls own romance and exile for marry
ing morganatlcally, though the hero Is
represented as a German prince, who
is compelled to meet the enmity of his
family by marrying beneath hls rank.
'The novel Is dedicated to "My Wife."
In hls preface the author says ho
wishes from the standpoint of a mem
ber of an Imperial family to prove how
wrong the world is in thinking that per
sons of hls position are the happiest be
ings on earth.
He admits that they are well placed
financially, but he aaks If wealth is tho
only happiness In the world. He adds:
"Surely love for a woman, the cholco
of a wife, s the greatest happiness,
but even In this we have not the facili
ties or private Individuals. We havo
less choice, and there Is often a relig
ious question. So. It will be easily un
derstood what a terrible lottery mar
riage In our position is, and why, con
sequently, there are so few happy un
ions." The book was written In Eng
lish. of which Grand Duke Michael io
a master.
Grand Duke Michael was born at Pe
terhof In 1861, and was married mor
ganatlcally at San Remo In 1801 to
Sophie, countess of Merenberg, who was
created countess of Torby by the grand
duke of Luxemburg. They have two
daughters and a son.
GIRLS REBEL AT
TROUSERS; TEACHER
FORCED TO RESIGN
Chattanooga, Tenn., May 6.—With tho
resignation of Miss Lillie Condra as o
public school teacher culminates a most
Interesting series of sensations In school
circles.
Miss Condra was coaching her puptlo
for a play to be given at commence
ment and felt that she needed two boya,
for which parts she could only And two
girls who were eligible.
She suggested them to don masculine
attire for the occasion, but the two ob
jected most strenuously. The matter
was discussed before the class. All the'
girls objected, but the boys were per
fectly willing. Miss Condra pressed the
point and a revolution resulted which
ended In the teacher's retirement.
RAZORLESS SHAVER
CHARGED WITH FRAUD
Sellnsgrove, Pa„ May —Post office
Inspector Lucas arrested M. D. Mc
Oniber. of Milton, charging him with
fraudulent use of the malls. The de
fendant was held In ball for the June
term of the United States district
court.
McOmber’s arrest grew out of an ad
vertisement. which he sent broadcast,
claiming to manufacture a shaving
preparation with which the beard could
be removed from a man's face without
the use of a razor.
Postmaster Kopkins. of Milton. calleA
upon McOmber and asked to be shaved
without a razor. The latter proceeded,
to rub some stuff on the postmaster’#
face and then, with a towel, tried to re*
move all traces of his beard.
Before the job was completed thw
postmaster's face looked like a raw
piece of beef and was a sight to behold.
The arrest followed.
EJECTED HOBO TRIES
TO BLOW UP TRAIN
Butte, Mont., May 5.—An eastbound
Burlington train due In Butte at 11:3#
ust night was dynamited about a mlie
west of the Northern Pacaflc station.
The explosion caused the first or
-lelper engine to leave the rails, but It
plowed along for a few hundred feet
without turning over. The second en
gine • ■rushed into the bank south of
he track, near where the explosion oc
•urred. Engineer Bussey was crushed
,o death beneath the engine. Fireman
Bhle was badly scalded. Carl Mange
,vas seriously Injured.
The dynamiting Is believed to have
seen the work of some hobo seeking
evenge for being ejected from soma
:raln.
BARONESS MURDERS
HUSBAND BUT SURVIVES
ATTEMPT AT SUICIDE
Berlin, May 5.—Baroness Udo von
Ruexleber. shot and killed her husband
In their chateau at Huddenberg; near
Dortmund, last night. She then shot
herself, but survivt s the self Inflicted
wound. No explanation has beeu
made. The barcn, who was of an ol t
Thurlngian family, married Wand*
von Strombccl:, oi Bnlin, last Novem
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