1
r
7
-..
Commoner
Extracts From W.
.
Th Ohio 1'Ut form.
The Ohio democratic convention was
1 be political event of last week. The
platform adopted made a strong pre
sentation of some of the issues Imt
ia.iled to reafiirm the Kansas City plat -
'nn-
It beiran w ith municipal and state
issues and the handiwork of Mayor
Toni I... .lohnson was evident
in the
crse aim emphatic declaration of di m- this country for two such parties.
rxratie principles so far as they apply Then was a' time, under the Cleveland
floral questions. The necessity for j regime, when the party leaders used
.unicipal reform is an urgent one and i general anl ambig-uous phrases to de
t;iere is sound democracy in the plank j ccive the voters, but that scheme can
e.emamniin. that the jH-ople !m; -riven an j not Ik- worked a-rain. We cannot expect
opportunity to vote o:i -uestio;iN in- j the voters to have confidence in the
I,e t'raillllijj or c.tentlllr of a
franchise.
The plank which declares that -steam
anil electric railroads and other corpo
rations jMtsscssing' public franchises
.shall K' assessed io the same proportion
to their salable value as are farms
and city real estate" is both lo.'icaland
just, but it is likely to offend the very
people who were to Ik conciliated by
an evasion of the silver question.
.hum J..ISSI S is an rigm
but will not make votes amon;r the so-
vailed conservatives. The platform
v.rres tariff reform. .
The anti-trust plank would have l-cn
st ronger if it had reiterated the Kansas
ity platform on the subject. T!,e free
... w.i- o.e.eui.o,. ox rauroori ins-
onminaiions are TimkI so far as t hey
iro tiit tliev do not jro far enough
W lienever a trust can export its jjmhK
toother countries it can live here with
out any tarilT. Something mtire than
free trade is necessary to such a case.
.Absolute fairness in railroad rates is
desirable, but oven this will not make
private monopolies impossible. The
Kansas City platform suggested a com
plete remedy the only one yet pro
mised and it is to lie rep-retted that
the Ohio convention was so prejudiced
Jtgainst the last national platform of
the party that it ignored a remedy en
dorsed by more than six millions of vo
ters. The plank condemning imerialism
criticizes the republican jx.il icy without
pointicsr out a remedy. Here ajrain
the failure to reaffirm the Kansas City
platform has weakened the Ohio dem
ocracy. The convention endorsed the propo
sition to elect senators by the jieople.
The lal-or plank is excellent, but those
who wrote the platform failed, either
intentionally or unintentionally, to
mention government by injunction, the
black list and arbitration. A reaffirm
ation of the Kansas City platform
would have eovered these points also,
but having failed to reaffirm, the con
vention should have lieen careful to
touch on all the important questions.
The convention not only failed, but
refused to endorse the Kansas C'ity
platform. and. from the manner in
which the jroli element lias rejoiced
over this feature of the convention. one
would suppose that the main object of
the convention was xiot to write a new
platform, but to repudiate the one Trip
sin which the la.st national campaign
was fonpht.
Oeneral l inley was rip-lit in insisting-
upon a vote on his resolution en
dorsing the Kansas City platform, but
he made a mistake in intruding- in his
resolution a complimentary reference
to Mr. i:ryan. Mr. Bryan is not a can
didate for any office, and a mention of
him mipht lie construed by some as an
-endorsement of him for office. The
vote should have lieen upon the naked
proposition to endorse the platform of
last year, and then eg one could have
excused his abandonment of democrat
ic principles by pleadinphis dislike for
Mr. Bryan. The cause ought not to be
made to bear the sins of an individual.
Mr. Bryan will endure without com
plaint any punishment which the dem
ocracy of Ohio may itee fit to adminis
ter to him, but lie Kes not want his
name used to the injury of a good plat
form. The pold papers assume that the con
vention refused to endorse the Kansas
City platform because it contained a
silver plank. If so.it would have been
more courapvou to have declared open
ly for the gold standard. If the cold
btandard is p-ood it oufrht to have been
endorsed if bad. It ought to have len
denounced. To ignore the subject en
tirely was inexcusable.
The money question is not yet out of
politics. Every session of congress I
will have to deal with it. Republicans
-declare that it i dead but they keep
working at it. At the last session of
congress they tried to make the silver
dollar redeemable in pold and when
that is accomplished they will try to
limit the legal tender qualities of the
dollar. The gold standard will not be
.-.omplete -until pold is the only legal
tender inoney and Vatik notes the only
paper money. Then our supply of pri
mary money will lie controlled by for
eign financiers, and our supply of cred
it money by domcsti: financiers.
This plan has lieen developed grad
ually and exery tep Has l-een taken
secretly and stealthily. The republi
can leaders have lieen in this movement
for vears; as soon as the democratic
The men who paid the I'orto Ilican
tariff under protest are not worrj-ing.
Thy added enough to the price
charged to the cdnmmer to pay the
tas, and now they are to get the tax
back. The tax paj-er who fails to
tee the point deserves to lie held up.
This is the season t hen the lenefi-c-iaries
of republican policies meet at
cool summer resorts and devise plans
for making- it botter for the masses,
who have neither the time nor the
money to take a vacation.
Is it because the republican editors
are unselfish and anxious to see the
democrats win that they are exultant
over the repudiation of the Kansas
City platform by the Ohio convention?
There are indications that the re
publican leaders are lieooming sadly
mixed in their -"home market' and
"'foreign market" arguments.
The British war office admits the pres
ence of 251.000 troops in South Africa.
The British tax payer is certainly fret
ting a long- run for "his money.
Comment.
J. Bryan's Paper,
-5-
- r .
,
party found that mhiic of its leaders
had joined the eonspirswy those leaders
were deposed. It looks now as if the
reactionary i n 11 tu-nee were onee more
tryinir to set lire control. If thev suc-
I eed in Ohio o: elsewhere it simolv
j means another jrijrantic st ruckle such
i as w a witnessed in is'ic. 'i i,.. fium,u
era tic party i-unnut he made a pluto
cratic party oven if there was room in
! TiartV unless the inrlr lis .-onfi.l.-nce
in tl'n-c.t u.,i it 'u l,. .t.
tii'onee in the voters it will state its
position ,n all important questions le
fore the country and invite judgment.
The present campaign involves a sen
ator, as well as a state ticket, and as
the convention dealt with other na
tional questions it should have dealt
candidly and honestly with the monev
question. Mr. McLean is supposed to
; a canditate for the United State
; senate, and is also supposed to have
j dictated that portion of the platform
j that has to do with national issues.
; The senator elected bv the next Ohio
! Kiam,-,. ,iave t vot. n th.
In:u.v qll,.stion. Tht. democratic par-
1y t,f xhe nalil)!1 is oppo.a to making
pposed
Tilt. jj Vt.r (I) ,;
er iioiiar a liromise to iav in
pold. and is also opposed to substitut
ing national bank notes for govern
ment pjiper. but the democratic party
in Ohio was silent ujion these import
ant subjects. Why? Did the leaders
ignore the money question in order to
please those who liolted? Or does Mr.
McLean want to Ik left free to affiliate
with the ay-publicans on financial ques
tions in case of his election?
Mr. Killxiuriie. the nominee for pnv
ernor. is an excellent man. a lifelong
democrat and an active supporter of
the national ticket in lmth lfJ'.tfi and
l'.too. He is lietter than his platform.
He deserves and should receive the sup
port of every democrat in Ohio.
If any of the Ohio democrats feel ag
grieved ) localise the ri-organizing ele
ment of the party triumphed at the
convention, let them not visit their dis
appointment upon the state ticket, but
rather see to the nomination of sena
tors and representatives who will se
lect a trust-worthy senator. Let them
see to it Ris that the state platform is
made at the primaries next time rath
er than at the convention. lithe voters
at the primaries had instructed their
delegates to insist upon the reaffirma
tion of the Kansas City platform the
result would have lieen different.
In the Hollow of Tht-lr Hands.
At a banquet given by the American
Society in London on July 4. the Rev.
Too Parker proposed a toast to President
McKinley: and in the course of his re
marks said:
'"Despite the traditional prejudice,
which happily has lieen weakening
during- the past century, it is now well
recognized that no other nation can
sustain the relation to (ireat llritain
which the I'nited States now holds:
and. fortunately for the world, (ireat
Jlritain and the I'nited State now holds
the wor'd's jeacein the hollow of their
hands."
t ireat Ilritain and the I'ditod States
probably do hold the jieace of the
world in the hollow of their hands.'
This might Ik1 true because of tle great
influence and power, moral and ma
terial, wielded by these two great na
tiotis. It happens, however, to be par
ticularly true at this time liecause of
all the governments of the earth, the
I'nited States and (Ireat Ilritain are
the only ones now engaged in serious
warfare. On the part of Oreat Brit
ain, it is a ease where a nation claiming-
to be the greatest civilizer of all
nations of the earth is ong-aged in de
stroying two formally organized re
publics. In the case of the United
States, this government is carrj-ing- on
a war in the Philippine Islands, a war
that stands as an antagonism to the
purest of American traditions and the
most sacred of American principles.
(iranting it to lie true that Great
Britain and the United States t'hold
the peace of the world in the hollow of
their hands." is it not strange that
these great nations do not discharge
the high and sacred responsibilities
alwaj-s resting upon exclusive custo-
dians of great purposes?
All over the land today men and wo
men are hoping and praying that the
terrible blight of drought will not lie
visited upon this country. The anxiety
is not confined to the farmer for men
in all the avocations of life are asking
the question, "What shall the harvest
lie?" All the material interests of the
country are lieing. affected by even the
threat of crop failure. This should
serve to open the cyeji of those who
have lieen blind to the fact that the
welfare of the general public depends
largely upon the welfare of the farmer,
"llurn down your cities and leave our
farms and your cities will spring- up
again as if by magic: but detroy our
farms and grass will grow in the streets
of evcr3" city in the countrv."
If the republican reformers are so
horrified at iK'mocratic rule in New
York, how will they ' feel when they
survey the corruption of republican of
ficials in Philadelphia.
If the administration is responsible
for the big- wheat yield in Kansas it
stands to reason that 'Bryanism" must
be responsible for the burning- up of
the southern Kansas corn crop.
At any rate the commissary fraud
seems to le keeping- well up with the
Hap.
The indications are that the protect
ed industries will lie infants just as
long as the tariff food holds out.
Republican solicitude for the colored
man exists chiefly of "whereases" and
"there fores."
The soft coal trust is preparing- to
administer the people some hard
knocks.
The new game of grab is very pop
ular with Uncle Sam and Johnny Bull.
They arc certainly adopts at the business.
TflK WHITE SLAVES.
' STRIKE AGAINST THE TOBACCO
X TRUST.
Dally Papers Suppress News Low W r
of Uirls Ilmplnyed la Rlnfhaaitoa
Factories Out of tile lZrllt Tbat Cry
tog VanjciDea
Froaa Binghamton, N. Y., Independ
ent: Last week Wednesday sixty-five
girls working at the Trust Cigar fac
tory struck for an increase. Oa Sat
urday about 00 more were locked out
of the same factor-. It is now more
than a week since the strike starte.d
and not a mention of the rrattr hss
appeared in the daily pap?rs. Brief re
poits have appeared in a few pnp?rs
cutside, and the silence cf the nom?
papers is causing: much comment, and
a great deal of adverse criticism.
The American Tobacco conpany.
commonly known as the Tchacco trutt.
after having secured -i practical mon
opoly of the 'chewing aoA smoking
tobacco business, iias now turned its
attention to the cigar making branch,
and an attempt is being made to con
trol this also. As Binghamton is next
to New York as a cigar center the
tiust decided to open a factory here
Barlow, Rogers & Co.. sold out thtir
large factory to the Trust about twu
months ago. When tho change was
made Mr. Barlow assured the em
ployes that no change would li? made
in wages and that it v.cui.l he a good
thing for the men and wom-u work
ing. A superintendent from Kingston,
where the trust has a larg factory,
was put in charge, and several foremen
from the same place installed.
Very soon a change was made in
the system. Girls were paid the
amcunt they had averaged under the
old system while they were learning
the new and then their pay was by the
hundred. Rolling machines were part
of the new method. "What are known
as bunch makers were paid seven and
one-half cents a hundred, the same
price that was paid by Barlow. But
while before they could make from
1,000 to 1.200 bunches a day. under the
trust system they could make but 700
or 800. Rollers were paid twenty-seven
and one-half cents per hundred, or
the same as before, but instead of
being able to make 700 or 803 a oay
they could make only 300 or 400.
The effect of the change was to re
duce wages nearly one-half, and in
stead of making from $1.75 to $2.25 a
day, the girls could make only seventy-five
cents to $1.25. After working
from two to five weeks under the new
system the girls were convinced that
they could not make enough to sup
port themselves d-c-ently, and when
their request for a higher price was
refused, they struck. About 300 em
ployes were still working on the old
work, but as they understood that it
was but a question of a few weeks
when they would have to do the work
under the new system they agreed to
help the strikers.
In addition to the increased amount
of work they are compelled to do, the
strikers complain about the way they
are given tobacco. Out of each pad
they are required to get 100 cigars
They say that the pads have be?n
made so small that they can get but !
about -eighty, and as they are do: l:ed
for all they use over at the rate of 30
cents a pad, this still further reduces
their wages. Another thing they com
plain cf is the practice of taking out
of each hundred from 3 to 17 cigars
as defective, for which they get no
pay. These cigars they say are put up
in hundred packages and sent to the
packing room.
The work that the trust wants is
practically hand made cigars. At the
prices paid the cigarmakers would get
$4.50 per thousand for doing the work.
The same work at the union scale
would come to $16.50 a thousand. The
trust claims that the same work Is be
ing done at Kingston for less than the
price offered here, and that the girls
are making big wages. Those who
know the conditions at Kingston
know that the wages there are very
low, and that the girls make barely
enough to pay expenses. A few speedy
operators may by working long hours
get what would seem to them to be
fair pay, but on the average the pay
is not what girls should have in or
der to live respectably.
A DANGEROUS DECISION.
Some years ago a Chicago woman
was engaged in a labor strike. She
was no worse than all the others par
ticipating In the same strike. After
the strike was over and peace was
declared she attempted to get work,
but could not do so. She applied to
firm after firm and always met the
same answer. Nobody would give her
employment. She could beg, steal or
starve, but she couldn't work. There
was no way by which she could make
an honest living. She had been black
listed. The decree had gone forth that
no employer should give that woman
a job. A brand had been set on her
brow. She was a paraiah among the
people helpless and homeless. She
was like Cain, a fugitive and a vaga
bond on the face of the earth.
In her dire extremity she was in
duced to sue the cowardly scoundrels
who blacklisted her. She proved her
case all righL There was no question
about the facts. Everything was es
tablished as above set forth. But the
court decided that employers had a
right to blacklist employes and pre
vent them from getting work else
where. It practically decided that
slavery still exists in America. Not
the mild kind of slavery that existed
in the south before the war. but a
condition a thousand times more ter
rible. Black slaves were sure of a
comfortable support they were nsu
ally well treated they were not over
wor'ke'J they had their holidays and
their simple pleasures. The slavery
established by this corrupt court has
none of these ingredients. This poor
wage slave is entirely helpless 6he
can find no work she can earn no
wages she can only starve, live on
charity or do worse. This Is all ac
complished by tie order of a tyrant,
backed up by the decree of a court.
What hope is there for a laboring
man or woman who is blacklisted
when -the law sustains that form of
slavery? He . cr she had better get
out of the world or else proc&re a g-in
and learn how to use it.
No intelligent man believed tha. any
court would ever make such an out
rageous decision, but it is made and
it will be sustained by the higher au
thorities. Our judges are daily advancing in
Infamy. They ere making decisions
now for which they would have been
Impeached twenty years ago and if
any Judge had made a decision so dis
reputable a generation ago he would
not hare had the privilege of an Im
peachment, for the people would have
hung him up on the nearest lamp post.
Central Farmer.
THE TRUSTS MUST EE PRO
TECTED. Yv'ilbur F. Wakeman is secretary of
the American Protective League, and
as such is of course opposed to the
entry cf any foreign goods into this
country that would compete with vur
trust made products. He jilso. by the
grace of the President and the Repub
lican majority of the Senate, holds
the important office of appraiser of
merchandise of the port of New York.
This occupation cf . thee two oSicas
by the same person accounts for the
universal ruling of the appraiser
against the importers of foreign goods
and the stretching of the tariff law, al
most to the breaking point, to make
such goods subject to tlie highest duty
that can be assessed agiiinst them.
That Mr. Wakeman is most cc-tive in
this matter and more intent on lobby
ing to prevent a revision of the tariff
and to protect the trusts from com
petition than he is in fairly carrying
out the law, will be seen from the fol
lowing interview: Speaking of the
threat of certain Republicans to sup
port the Babcock movement to place
trust made articles on the free list.
Mr. Wakeman says, the league will
make a strong fight againtt any emas
culation of the protective tariff sys
tem. "We do not propose," said he,
"to allow the .system to be used as a
stalking horse for the purpose of doing
work which should be done by state
legislatures. These bodies have the
power to dal vith trusts doing busi
ness within the borders of their Etates.
It them apply the remedy."
That's It. No national legislation
againtt the trusts, they are, to quote
Hanna. good things and must not be
disturbed.
WAGES FALLING IN ENCLAND.'
Last year it was quite the usual
thing in England to see each month
that numbers of workers varying from
100.000 to 300,000 had obtained sub
stantial increases of pay. whilst those
who had sustained slight reductions to
talled up to only a few hundreds.
In November, however, the figures be
gan to tell a different tale. The num
ber of those who had received additions
to their wages were, it is true, still as
many as 137. but the reductions had
risen to 11.036. In December the in
crease had diminished to 18.383, and
the reductions were 8.21C. But it is
January that shows whither we are
drifting. During last month only
3,oCl workers received increases of pay,
whi!et. on the other hand, the decreas
es had risen to the large total of 51,631.
Justice, London. England.
Cuba is spoil that can be handled
at leisure. Just now the administra
tion is making the refractory child
understand that the velvet glove cov
ers the hand of steel. Poor deluded
Cuba mu.t first swallow the Piatt
amendment in order to prove that it
has acquired a sufficiently meek and
contrite spirit to fit it for dealing with
the United States; then other things
will happen to it not independence,
by a long way, either. San Franciscc
Star.
If endowing one man with unre
strained power over the lives, liber
ties and property of 10,000,000 people
lacks a single feature of an ideally
perfect despotism, then one never ex
isted on earth. Congressman McCall.
It Is estimated that the men ol
Great Britain spend 250,000 a yeai
on silk hats.
A small sample of the wholesale
land-grabbing which was the almost
sole impelling motive of the war on
the Filipinos, has cropped out at last
in the form of a deed from the Sultan
of Sulu to Prince Poniatowski (of thlj
city) and others, of the island ol
Palawan, for fifty years. A copy ol
the contract has been filed with the
Secretary of War, who says that "seri
ous questions are Involved."
tilrU Fortilddan to ITrar Corarta.
An active crusade against the wear
ing of corsets is being carried on at
Budapest. The Hungarian minister for
public instruction has issued an en
ergetic order against their use, for
bidding all girl pupils attending the
public and private day schools in
Hungary to wear them. Herr von
Wlassics declares in his order that
the corset prevents the full develop
ment of the bodily organs and stunts
the growth. He desires a uniform
blouse to be adopted in its stead. This
order has been eympathetically re
ceived in educational circles, but re
gret is expressed that the fe
male teachers have not been includ
ed In it, as it is thought their exam
ple may be prejudicial to their pu
pila. London Telegraph.
BIoslo for Antarctic Explorers.
A lady member of the Baxter fam
ily, so well known In connection with
the industrial development of Dundee,
where the steamship Discovery was
built, has presented Commander Scott,
R. N.. with a pianola and a quantity
of music for the entertainment of the
members of the exploring party dur
ing their adventurous voyage to the
Antarctic regions. Piano-forte music
has not heretofore formed any part
of the explorers equipment fear of
frozen fingers presumably, being the
reason but with the pianola all such
reasons disappear, and the exploring,
party will now be able to enjoy the
best music without any misgivings.
Cardiff Western Mail.
The census returns giving the area
of various states show that the one
which has the largest amount of land
nnder water is Florida, and the least.
In proportion to size Wyoming.
Many estates are spent In the set
ting.
AGAINST THE PEOPLE
REPUBLICAN PARTY HOPELESS
LY FOR TARIFF LOOT.
TCvldrnoe That Tiirjr Intend to Protrt
lh Trusts nnd I'erpetuate th Tariff
Making tb Iu for lb Next
Caoipalu.
That the Republican part- does not
Intend to legislate against the trusts,
however much individual members
may proclaim that it is necessary, is
thown by the evidence of Hon. Robert
Taylor, member of congress from th3
ISth Ohio district, given before the
industrial commission. In his opening
remarks he declaieJ that any attempt
to take the tariff off even trust maUe
goods would be bad in its effects. The
tariff principle, he said, should not be
ubandoned.
As a general proposition. Mr. Tay
lor announced himself as oppesrd . to
trusts. "I am one of those," he said,
"who have not been ab.e to bring
themselves in harmony with the idea
that the trusts are good things."
"The trusts," he declared, "put too
much power in the hands of a few
men."
Speaking of dealing with trusts, he
raid he knew of no remedy for that
evil, if it is an evil. Publicity might
be a good thing, but it would be a
mere scratch on the surface. He
knew that a trust has power to re
duce the price of an article, but he
did not think the public would get
mi-ch benefit from that. In order to
pay dividends on securities of the
United States Steel Company that
company would have to extract a
great deal from the public.
The wiiness said that apart from
any other question he thought that it
vould be exceedingly unfortunate to
Introduce any elements of unrest In
the country by discussing the tariff in
congress or opening up the tariff for
any revising.
Now, Taylor, is chairman of Election
Committee No. 1, and was selected as
such because he could be relied on to
do the bidding of those who rule con
gress and being a friend and follower
of the administration, his evidence
makes it certain that there is "no rem
edy for the evil" as far as the Republi
cans intend to discover one and that
even to discuss the revising of the tar
iff "is to introduce elements of unrest
in the country." j
If Mr. Taylor represents the Repub
lican policy on the trusts and the tariff
nothing will be clone to abate the
evils.
He admits there is robbery being
committed when he says the steel
trust wiP. "have to extract a great deal
from the public," but he and the large
majority of protection Republicans in
tend to sit still and see the steel trust
and the other combines "extract
great deal from the public." A very
cool proceeding on the part of those
who have ben selected as the ser
vants of the people to protect their in
terests.
The Democratic position is entirely
the reverse of this. They believe that
there is a remedy to prevent the
trust from carrying out their plan
of robbing the people and that is to
revise the tariff by placing trust pro
ductions on the free list except what
duties may be necessary for raising
revenue for the support of the govern
ment a tariff for revenue.
This will not kill the trusts but it
will allow the world to compete with
them by withdrawing the protection
that now gives them a monopoly.
A ROBBER TRUST.
The law under which corporations
are organized in the state of New Jer
Bey certainly ought to be amended or
repealed. Minority stockholders have
no protection and from appearances
the law was created espeeialiy to
swindle them. Public Policy says:
By its charter the United States steel
corporation may deal in its own se
curities, which has not usually been
f regarded as a proper function of corpo
rations. It may or may not pay any
dividends on tne common stock, no
matter what the profits may be. and
the recalcitrant stockholders will get
no consideration; he can see the books
as much as the statute, the board of
directors or the whole body of stock
holders permit.
Now is not that a nice corporation
to own stock in? If any one buys any
of it and knows of these restrictions
and loses his money he has only him
self to blame, except that rascally leg
islature that passed a law that allows
such a trust to be organized.
There are millions of stock cn the
market and the trust Is trying to push
it off on the public and doubtless many
an innocent purchaser will buy it, not
knowing the way the steel trust may
rob him.
And yet the Republicans say the
trust are all right.
RECIPROCITY. AND TARIFF
RE-
FORM.
The attempt of President McKinley
to reform the tariff by reciprocity
treaties was stopped by the United
States senate refusing to ratify them
and yet there is strong evidence that
the president will persist in that line
of action. Reciprocity Is a back-handert
ray of revising the Dingley tariff that
can be better accomplished by
straightforward methods. We cannot
make a reciprocity treaty with one
country that does not virtually make
it apply to nearly all the others. This
is brought about by the clause which
allows the same rights and rates as
tb most favored nati?n is given. If a
rreaty is made with France that allows
certain of her productions to be im
ported into the United States at a less
Cuty than the rate provided in the
Dingley tariff. Germany, who pro
duces the same articles, under the
most favored nation clause must be
granted the same rate.
There is also another obstacle to
these reciprocity treaties, a constitu
tional objection, that has not been ad
judicated, but is believed by most of
the constitutional lawyers to be a bar
to such legislation. Congress cannot
delegate its power to raise revenue,
which is a constitutional province of
Congress alone and such revenue bills
must ordinate in the House of Keprc-
sentatves, thus keeping the taxing
power In the hands of the direct repre
sentatives of the people.
To revise the tariff law by making
reciprocity treaties is a makeshift that
does not touch the protection granted
the trusts and monopolies and those
who advocate it are attempting to still
protect these giant corporations. As
the trusts are selling their produc
tions in Europe for less than they ar
obtaining from our own peop'e, they
no longer need protection and their
products should be put upon a tariff
for revenue basis or even placed on the
free list that competition may benefit
811 alike.
POLITICAL COMMENT.
A Canadian newspaper tells us that
the French statesman, M. Jules Sieg
fried, says not long ago when he was
at the White House, President Mc
Kinley admitted that he was no longer
tn ultra protectionist, "the time for
heavy protection has passed," are his
ciuoted words. The president evidently
sees that the tariff must be revised,
tut how to do it, that is the question.
What a row it will raise. The Ameri
can Protective League and the Home
Market club will be on the warpath
and the protected trusts. Well, we
sha'l see.
And now comes Senator Chauncey
M. Depew and joins in the third term
chorus, he says McKinley is the only
man against whom there is no opposi
tion. There is no doubt some truth in
this, the trusts, combines, corpora
tions, especially the railroads, want
McKinley as long as he if so complai
sant to their interests. A strong gov
ernment that will put down strikes
under the name of a republic but
really an empire, juct suits them.
They are under the rrespnt adminis
tration the oligarchy that contro'.s the
United States and the senator is their
mouthpiece.
The Cubans do not take kindly to
the dictation of Secretary Root, but a
little more "influence" brought to bear
on some of them by a careful distri
bution of the secret service fund will
probably round up a majority for all
that is wanted .
Perhaps it would bp advisable for
the American Protective Tariff League
to keep an eye on Brother McKinley
unlets they rely on Hanna to keep him
in the straight and narrow protection
;atk.
The Home Market club is in a bad
way, being an annex of the Protective
Tariff League, they have always cried
"give us the home market and we
care nothing for the world." But now
the Republican newspapers and spell
binders, even McKinley himself is
shouting for the world's markets and
even the protected infants are boasting
of their competition with foreigners
and the trusts are shouting with glt
of their conquest of the markets of
the world. The logic of the situation
would seem to demand a revision of
the tariff to meet the new conditions
but this does not suit the protection
ists. Here is another traitor to the pro
tective tariff. Hon. W. P. Hepburn of
Iowa, who at a dinner in London giv
en to the visiting members of the New
York Chamber of Commerce, said:
"The chairman of the Republican cam
paign committee has announced that
the tariff will be taken from all so
called trust commodities, and our abil
ity to produce has so largely outgrown
our capacity to consume that the 'open
door' is rapidly becoming the shibbo
leth of America." This is brave talk
but it will take more backbone than
most Republican members have shown
in the past to refuse to obey the cau
cus dictation that Hanna and the
trusts will bring to bear on them.
Perry Heath, the man-Friday of
Mark Hanna. w hen ways that are dark
and tricks that are vain are required,
has lieen interviewed again, this time
in Chicago, he still sticks to Mark Han
na for president unless McKinley
wants a third term. "I am not boom
ing Senator Hanna for president," he
said, "I think he could secure the
nomination if he went after it and be
lieve there would be no doubt of his
election." From the choice of these
two evils, good Lord, deliver us!
As Congress is the sole arbiter of
the fate of our new territory and the
president through patronage and the
caucus system controls congress.
President McKinley will rule our an
nexed colonies until a congress is
elected who will be independent of
stratagem and spoils.
The amorphous government that you
are netting up in the Philippines, Pres
ident McKinley. will bring you trou
ble: yon cannot govern people with
half military and half civil adminis
tration, it ia sure to result In fric
tion. Fred Grant. Trho is a general from
being the sor. of his father, has none
of the generosity of the victor of Ap
pomattox; he would put Aguinaldo in
jail and set him to breaking rock and
recommends that when he comes over
bre we treat him with contempt.
Grant will find that the American peo
ple respect a fallen enemy more than
a feneral made by political influence.
The money power will never be sat
isfied until they have organized a
banking trust that will control all the
financial institutions of the country.
This project is again being discussed
in New York and is said to offer 3 per
cent interest on bankers' balances, sub
ject to call, as an inducement to join
the trust. With such an institution in
existence with branchts in everv city
and town who shall and who shall not '
borrow money and even declining the
accounts of those who do not act in
business or politics to suit the trust,
complete financial slavery would re
sult
Secretary of War Root, and Knox,
the trust lawyer, are said to disagree
as to the power of the President under
tne Bpooner amendment to the army
bill. The President has sided with !
Knox, who peems to be the new power '
behind the throne. Great is K-jor, tie
steel trust lawyer.
WESTERN WATER FARMING.
nuruuii'l Mao7 TLnkM ttlrn 1'romU)
of UrMt I'rollt.
Scientists who make it their buiDess
to look ahead into the far future ar
now busy telling what will hapjieu
after all the land in the United States
has been put under cultivation. When
there are no more quarter sections up
on which the settler can establish him
self, it is predicted that water farm
ing will become a general occupation.
This information is comforting o resi
dents of Wisconsin. No state in the
Union has better facilities for water
farming than the one famous for the
number and beauty of its lakes. When
the time comes for men to feice off
acre plots on the c rystal a rs of the
inland seas Wisconsin will hae a
boom worth while waiting for with pa
tien:e. Of course there wi!i be draw
backs to water farming, hut the in
dustry offers great possibilities. Al
though it will be difficult to kr-ep one "a
crop of fls-h from being mixe.l with
one's neighbors', there w ill be no plow
ing or harrowing, no wrestling with
stumps, and no trouble over Irrigation.
After the fith are planted each s'-ason
there will be nothing to do b it to wait
until harvest time. By a little diplo
matic advertising water farmers may
persuade city men to spcn;l th'-lr va
cations on the lakes as assistants dur
ing this harvest season. HoUM-boats
on the water farms would l- ideal
places of residence during I lie hot
months. It is estimated that th" fish
eries of the United Slates pro lu e food
cf the value of f 45.Ooii.0-'" every year.
As toon as the water farming industr;.
has a good start. Wisi-oi.sin will be
able to adJ millions to this amount.
If the calamity howler cannot find any
thing wo;se to prophesy about t!:an th
water farm, this state can ptir.-ue daily
its business pursuits withunt iiny fore
bodings. Milwaukee Sentinel.
HOW TO KILL MOSQUITOES.
Chinatown Stills a Cheap and Moil I f
fee tire Obll Uratr.
It is the experience of the uei apt
housekeeper in Philadelphia that no
matter how thoroughly the doors and
windows of a nouse are screened, mos
quitoes will get inside. Many of them
do not understand that a small pool of
stagnant water in a cellar or water
Ftanding in pitcher plants is a birth
place for thousands of mosquitoes. In
flower vases on the table, where the
water is not frequently changed, mos
quito eggs are found In great numbers.
Applications of kerosene oil will top
that. The general question i how to
get the small insect pests cut of the
house when once they are in. To jh 1 -sous
of careful habits chlorine gas Is
recommended. Pour into a plate con
taining four teaspoonsfula of chloride
of lime about ten drop of crude sul
phuric acid. This liberates the c filorine
gas, which is said to kill tbe mob
quitoes. The plan can be used only in
rooms not temporarily occupied, or in
which the gas vapor c-ar be allowed
to remain for ueveral hou:. The burn
ing of pyrethrum powders in a room
will also kill them. The powder khoubi
be moistened and then made into lit
tle cones, which are dried in the oven.
When a cone is lighted at the top it
smoulders slowly, emitting an odor
w hich many persons find pler.rant. B it
a good, simple and cheap mosquito
killer may be bought in Chinatown.
The Chinese use pine or Juniper saw
dust, mixed with a small quantity of
brimstone and an ounce of artenic
This mixture is put into little baps in a
dr." state. Each bag is coil-d like a
snake and tied tightly with a thread.
The outer end is lighted. The c-oiis fie!l
at 10 cents a hundred and two c theni
are said to be enough to clear any or
dinary room of mosquitoes.
Great Production of Coal.
It is not at all surprising to barn
from the statistical gentlemen at
Washington that the I'nited States
leads the world in the production and
consumption of coal, nor that the out
put for the last 3-ear of the nineteenth
century exceeded that for any previous
year. The statistics themselves are
very impressive, however. The quan
tity of coal mined reached th enor
mous total of 267,542,444 tons, valued
at $297,920,000. The increase over the
previous year's value was 16 per cent.
Familiar as Fennsylvanians are with
the magnitude of the coal business in
this commonwealth, it is still worth
while noticing that this state produced
more than half of all the coal mined
in the United States. The rapid de
velopment of the coal resources of
West Virginia is seen in tb fact that
our neighbor reached a production of
20.000,000 tons for the first time, and
showed the largest relative increase.
A Remarkable Yoya ?.
The arrival at Manila of the quad
ron comprising the gunboat AnnapolU
and the ocean tugs Frolic, Piscataqtia.
and Wampatuck. which sailed from
Hampton roads early last winter, com
pletes a remarkable voyage. This Is
the longest trip ever accomplished by
such tiny naval craft and was prob
ably never equaled by similar war
ships. The distance covered was near
ly two-thirds around the world, cross
ing one ocean, skirting the Bouthern
part of Europe, thence through the
tornado seas of the Indian ocean, down
to the Philippines at a seaon when
typhoons are usual. There have been
trips of small ships across the Atlantic
and once an old monitor was bent
around to San Francisco by the Horn,
but no vessels of such light displace
ment have yet covered so much dan
gerous water area as the little squad
ron of American boats.
ToSarvey Rollvla.
The government of Bolivia has re
cently taken steps to obtain a complete
survey of the country. A Parks firm
has engaged to immediatelv survey
and map 40,000 kilometers and to lay
off a triangulatlon which will enable a
complete trigonometrical survey of the
country to be made. Bolivia has also
arranged with Paraguay for a Joint
commission to trace and mark the
boundary between the two nations. A
joint commission with Brazil ;rver!
months ago commenced surveying the
Bolivian-Brazilian line. A school of
mines has also been established by the
Bolivian government to train and cn-
courage its own people to the devel
opment of its mJnfr.al resources.
)
n
