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About The Nebraska independent. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1896-1902 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 1901)
CI O-tff1 ?.. '-.-, JavMu.,. mm 2!r '' '' '' 9 fTr 1$ ii j ii ii CM 9 VOL. XILL LINCOLN NEBRASKA, NOVEMBER 7, 1901. NO. 25. : h v.-.- i ' ' . I A TAX REVOLUTION i ... .1 t i r I 1 f I i X CwywuiM la IUJmU WIU lZaro tlmr pay Taaa oa tho T1m of Taair Proyorty too bM aa Otaar Pooplo A decision of lie supreme court of Ilaaoi will hereafter prevent the Utl corporauccs la iLt ttoai evadls Ltelr ut share of tie tAxe which for year 'they have been j-r-rsJtiea to do." The populists haTe ai- aertd a a maxim that all property should be taxed equally ac cord: n to it value, but te corpora tions aidd by th republican party to which they so liberally contribute, Lav made thm poor pay most of the taxes while they we.it free. The home of the worklzxgman It taxed according to its value, tut lis ralue of the fran efei and stock la great money-making inatituxio&a has not. According to this dtrirkfs every corporation in the state of Illinois must be taxed ou lta capital stock and franchise assessed at a Lir cat a valuation based on uaar ajt li.a. The Chicago traction, gas. kclrte. a&d other vast puLUc utility cos pcratic-ns must be a&t?si fully a tfctir stock and their franchise rthu- Aland to ry order Is lall cn the stati hoard of eqaaUxatiou that these properties be added to the uz The foregoing is the substance of the decision handed down by the Illi nois supreme court at the instance of the Chicago teachers federation. It is regarded ac the most important deci sion ever made in Illinois affecting the taxis of corporate intetests. By this decision, concurred in by every member of the supreme court, it is estimated that from J2W,0O0,000 to tSZS&jOAm will be added to the as sessment lists of Cook county. The cty. the county, the drainage board, and the public schools will have their coSers satisfactorily supplied with funds shocld existing laws not suffer alteration. Twenty-three Chicago and Cook county corporations were specifically mentioned in the plea for mandamus filed by the teachers federation. Their demand that $?s,KQ,000 be added to tie taxable property values for 1SC0 and assessed against these corpora tions has now been " approved and served on the ctate board of equaliza tion. These corporations mentioned were: Stocks and bonds. People's Gas Light and Coke company $65,028,271 ChlcAgo Telephone Co 12,250,000 Chicago Edison Co 13.764.C50 Chicago Consolidated Trac tion Co ;. ...... 21.750,000 Chicago City Railway Co... 28,419,500 West Chicago Street Rail road Co.. 2CS40.7&0 North Chicago Street Rail road Co 22.484.SOO Chicago Union Traction Co. 17.310,000 Chicago Electric Transit Co. 2.557,000 Chicago JeSerson Urban Transit Co 2,208,000 Cicero and Proviso Railway Co 4,052,000 Eraxstcn Electric Railway Co. 1430.000 North Chicago Electric Rail way Co 2,868,000 North Side Electric Railway Co ..... 1.305,000 Ogden Street Railway Co.. 2,750,000 Chicago North Shore Street Railway Co.... 125.000 Chicago Elertric Traction Co 2,500,000 Chicago General Railway Co. 1.838,850 South Chicago City Railway Co. 3,166,800 General Electric Railway Co. 5,500,000 Chicago Passenger Railway Co. 1,740,000 Chicago West Division Rail way Co.. 11,882,500 North Chicago City Railway Co. 5.750.000 This decision not only effects Cook county, the county In which Chicago is situated. t t the whole state and will take a heavy burden off from the shoulders of labor and place it where" it of right belongs. It will give a stimulus to all kinds of legitimate business. That sort of a law ought to be en forced In every state of the union. Wealth for years has escaped taxation while the ferrden has been borne by the poor. The Illinois supreme court rule?, asd repeats the words several times, that franchises are taxable and the way to arrive at the total value of corporate property, including fran chises, is to calculate tae value of the companies stock and add thereto Its total risible property, excluding only debts incurred In the ordinary course cf business. Th Illinois decision is a great victory for the principles of taxation so long advocated by The Independent. But we may never ex pect anything of that kind to happen In Nebraska as long as the republican party controls the legislation of this stale. JJut don't be "discontented. If yon are, you are an anarchist. TEDDY UP AGAINST IT Mwfcll fV CrMt Trot Uv Tariff rrt. . TUm a pp-wiat at Washington. D. C. Nor. 2. 1&01. president Iioovlt Is now enjoying the benefit cf unlimited advice on the select of tariff revision. At his so Ucitatitra a number of western sena tors of prominence in his party came and tola Urn that the tariff must be revised In the way taking off the heavy advantages given to the trusts. Whereupon President Roosevelt sharpened his pencils and put great gray thoughts to paper for bis annual iasge. declaring that the tariff pro tection of the trusts must go. Then ce Senator Aldrich of Rhode Ii!and, t, f h from a conference with i. Rockefeller between whom and lh Rhode iaijujd senator now exists the closest of family ties, and whis pered to Roosevelt that the tariff must be let alone. On this side of the ar gument Mr. Roosevelt has received enough advice to blue pencil every thing he had written on the other side. On this most important and delicate topic it is easy enough to tell what the late President McKInley would have done. He would hare written his message so skilfully that it could be read both ways, and yet would have laid stress upon the adoption of reciprocity treaties ' wherever such measures were feasible. Then the re ciprocity treaties could be killed, scotched or passed according to the situation. But President Roosevelt Is made of sterner stuff. He must live up to hi3 reputation. He is simply obliged to call the delving implement of toil a spade, even if it knocks the ears of the polite, but promiscuous political so ciety to which he is now the honored head. So his message on this impor tant subject, more perhaps than any other, will inform the country whether or not the new president is in truth a reformer, or merely one of the weaklings of political economy, who imagine that the determination of the status of a lot of government clerks is the only reform necessary to con sider when the whole people are stag gering under the load of bad legisla tion which the trusts have imposed upon them. Certainly so far. President Roose velt has not risen to any lefty stand ard whereby the determination of ap pointments to office shall be fixed by any competitive rest of merit. His appointments are extremely personal in their character and please nobody save the narrow coterie of Roosevelt's personal friends. J President Roosevelt forced the re tirement of Third Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Cridler, a.long-trJed and faithful public official who had risen from a low clerkship by merit. In order to make place for the brother-in-law of his particular' political crony. Senator Lodge of Massachu setts. The new appointee has not one half of.Cridler's brains,, or knowledge of the position,- but he can give Crid ler cards and spades on the particular brand of Boston culture which makes a man look like a codfish and .feel - like a plutocrat. Another tribulation has arisen over Roosevelt's third attempt to fill the South Carolina internal revnue col lectorshlp. The first one he revoked because the happy recipient celebrated his appointment by ignoring the Plimsoll mark on his red liquor tank. The second appointee refused the job with indignation at the president for thinking that'neculdtle- soreas ily bought to betray his fealty to ap pointee number one. So Roosevelt picked out one Koester. a gold demo crat newspaper man with the brand blown dn the bottle. Now it comes out through the general disapproval of the people of South' Carolina that Mr. Koester. a few years -ago. was the grand high Mohegan of a lynching party, and fired the first shot Into the body of the particular negro rapist who at that moment was suffering the penalty of his offense. Naturally, Mr. Koester Is a "person" not grateful" to the eleven million colored citizens of the south who have so lately been chortling with glee over the dining of Booker T. Washington at the White house. President Roosevelt will in time discover that his highly esteemed hab it of settling things in a minute will be successful in nothing except the production of party rows. But the leopard cannot change his spots nor can the president disrobe himself of his native temperament. One of the most interesting develop ments of the winter will be the admin istration's policy on the? Isthmian canal. While the Panama canal is unquestionably the object toward which President McKinley and Secre tary Hay worked, the Nicaraguan ca nal is for the moment to be favored as a blind whereby the Panama canal can be secured at a low figure. Ab an indication in this direction the com mission will report that the cost of the Nicaragua canal will be $200, 000.000. notwithstanding the fact that a syndicate of the Chicago drainage canal contractors, equipped with the best machinery In the world and backed by unlimited capital, stand ready to take a contract to build, com plete and equip the Nicaragua canal for less than J150.000.000 on the government's- own plan. A REMARKABLE OIL DEAL D Mtaa Men Stilk It Rich la a Ban aaoatOll Deal Attention is called to the advertise ment In this issue of the Io jra-Nebras-ka Beaumont Oil company, of Des Moines. Ia. From all the information we have on the subject it appears that this company la very strongly organ ized, and that it has a most safe and unique proposition. It seems that these men put in a few thousand dol lars in getting an option upon some Spindle Top Heights property, then they contracted with some highly re sponsible people to sink a well on con dition that they should receive no pay unless the gusher is complete and equal in capacity to any on Spindle Top Heights. Cf course, if they finally fall, the Des Molnea people will lose the money paid for the option. In of fering a part of the stock, however, they do not ask subscribers to take any chances : whatever. The money on subscription to stock is not to be called for until the gusher is ready to deliver. The company, in addition to this, will have all the oil and mineral rights upon the thousand acres of land, which may turn out to be as good a part of the proposition as the gusher itself. Altogether, the offer Is of more than ordinary Interest and is worthy of careful consideration. ASTOUNDING NEWS FROM AFRICA Bear Kill Two CoionaU, Eight Other Offleart, Baaldaa SX3 XoncommUsloaad Ofllcara and Man Dewet and Botha continue to aston ish the world. Last week in the east ern Transvaal Botha attacked an Eng lish column and killed two British col onels, 223 of the rank and file and seems to have escaped without ser ious loss. At the same time news comes that two weeks previous to that Dewet penetrated to within a short distance of Cape Town and captured the whole supply of horses of the British army. It is well known that horses and mules shipped from the United States have to be kept at least three months in corrals to acclimate them. If they are sent into the field sooner than that they all die within two or three weeks. This corral con tained the supply of horses -which were about to be sent forward and upon which the coming campaign on the part of Kitchener depends. With out horses he will be helpless and can make no aggressive movements. There were 6,000 of them in the corral and Dewet captured the whole lot, killing what he could not take along or did not need. It is said that the news of this dis aster, the worst the British have so far suffered, was suppressed for three weeks and : finally was made public by way of Germany, where it had been sent without the knowledge of the British censor. A London cablegram says: "Nothing more dramatic could be conceived than the news of the tremen dous disaster to Colonel Benson's col umn near Brakenlaagte, eastern Transvaal, coming upon London's masses as they were gathered to wel come home the duke and duchess of Cornwall and York. Thanks to the egregious stupidity of the war office, the effect of this blow was enormously intensified, as it had purposely with held the evil tidings from the morn ing newspapers. So it came with ap palling freshness upon the would-be rejoicing multitude. . - "Depression and dismay were ob served on all hands and, though the royal travelers were cheered, it was cheering of a perfunctory, half-hearted character, entirely devoid of enthus iasm. The effect was also heightened by the false hopes which had been raised by the recent speeches of Cham berlain and other ministerialists." . General Botha seems to bear a charmed life. The' attack on Colonel Benson's column lasted all day and all night and IBotha was in the midst of it all. While the fighting jwas done under the command of Botha, the strategical movement of ; Dewet was, from a military standpoint, much more disastrous to the British. The South African summer is-just beginning and the campaign is - under headway. Kitchener's torces"are left unhorsed and the Boers have an abun dant supply of the best acclimated cavalry horses. There have been many protests from the Boers because the British were allowed to buy cav alry horses In this country, which are undoubtedly, by all interpretations of international law, contraband of war. But the way the matter has turned out it seems that the British have at great . expense bought horses in Am erica and transported them to Africa with which to supply the Boer cavalry leaders. Kruger looks' upon this mat ter as a sure sign that the Lord is on his side and no one can blame him for holding such an opinion. It really be gins to look that Olive Schriner's warning to England is about to be ful filled. She told the English in the beginning that the result of the war would be the loss of - the -"whole of South Africa. . BRYAN CAMPAIGNING Tha Paaple Lot Him and Turn Oat in Graatar Ku in bars Than Whan Ha Was a Candirtata for Praaidaat The Associated press did not think it proper to send any accounts of the meetings, that Bryan addressed during the last campaign and the special cor respondents of the dailies in the towns where he spoke did not know he was there, or If they did, they were blue pencilled by the editors. Now that the weeklies are coming in, the truth after the campaign is over is known. It seems that everywhere that Bryan spoke that the people turned out in larger numbers than they did in the heat of the last two presidential cam paigns.. It was not curiosity that brought them, for at every place Bry an appeared in this campaign, he has spoken many times before. Overflow meetings were everywhere held to which Bryan could say a few words after his regular speech. In Denver a surpassing ovation was given him. The daily papers there say that the Coliseum could not begin to hold -the crowd. When the doors of the great auditorium were thrown open at 7 o'clock the people flocked in and stand ing room . was at a premium within ten minutes. They crowded Into the aisles and galleries until some were threatened with suffocation. At 7:30 the officers decided not to permit any one to approach the en trance and they shoved the crowd back into the street. All were good natured. They knew that if they could not gain admission to the hall they would still have an opportunity to see and hear the noted Nebraskan. A little before 8 o'clock a carriage drove up to the main entrance and the well known figure of Congressman John F. Shafroth appeared. Bryan followed. For half a block either way the street was filled with people. When they caught sight Oithe democratic leader they sent up a mighty shout. .He hesitated for a moment on the step of the carriage to bow his acknowledge ments and then springing down was swallowed up by the multitude. Sev eral sturdy officers cleared a way for him and he succeeded in reaching the nail and the" stage. The voters wedged into the auditor ium had heard the cheers of those on Champa street and they knew what to expect. . Bryan was coming. The Ne braskan 's sturdy form and magnifi cent head appeared at the Champa street entrance and the audience tore loose. Colorado had not greeted her cnampion for more than a year and her sons were determined to improve the opportunity. Mr. Bryan stood bowing and smiling to the frenzied crowd. Men . and - women mounted chairs in their' excitement and waved handkerchiefs and hats and canes and everything else portable. The de monstration lasted several minutes and when it began to wane some en thusiast, his voice hoarse from shout ing, proposed three cheers and a tiger for the popular leader. Then the crowd had to do ii all over again. : Mr. Bryan spoke for more than an hour.' He dealt principally with na tional issues. This campaign was Important, he declared,- because it had a bearing upon the determination of those issues. The enemy must not be permitted to gain a foothold anywhere. The audience was "en rapport" with the speaker and cheered every point he made. Outside the hall 4,000 or 5,000 people listened to several local orators discuss the issues of the campaign. The talks were short and snappy and excited bursts of applause. When Mr. Bryan concluded his principal speech he went outside and addressed the overflow. - Mr. Bryan was; unable to visit Den ver during the recent presidential cam paign, and v many thousands of per sons were anxious to hear his voice again. " Had the city A an auditorium capable of seating an audience of 20,- 000 every seat would have been oc cupied last night. Mr. Bryan was given the following poetic welcome " to Denver, by J. A. Edgerton: C Though the politicians falter And the weaklings drop away, Here are -friends that never alter. You can count on every day. In the sunshine or -the. shadow, - Here's the welcome warm and true, In the hearts of Colorado Is a corner kept for you. , In the days that sorely tried us There was one voice that we heard; And, though all the Vest denied us, Yet it spoke a cheering word; Although vilified and slandered, ' Tho opposed by wealth and might, There was one who held our standard In the forefront of the fight. ' ' - -v w.v - '-: Twas for us. when -storms-were raging, He the brunt of battle bore; Such a bloodless contest waging As was never seen before;, Twas for us he braved oppression; 'Twas for us the foe. he met; .... 'Twas for us he thrilled the nation. Are we likely to forget? With his face turned ever dawnward, In success or In -defeat, Six long years he led us onward And he never' beat retreat1 Till upon the heights before us w Freedom's flag at last is set And the better day breaks o'er us, He will.fight our battles yet. There' is something, in the mountains That inspires men to be free; And from out theirt shining fountains " Flow the streams of liberty. In their wide and distant reaches, In their sunny skies of blue. There is something ever teaches Men and women to be true. r : . . . So, our Silver Knight,, we hail you. Still our champion and friend. Here are those that will not fail you. Who'll be steadfast to the end. Loyal hearts for you are beating. Loyal hands with yours will clasp. Shop and mine extend their greeting With a warm and honest grasp. Clouds have yet a-silver, lining Where the gates of morning ope; ' Fragrant roses yet are twining 'Round the temples of our hope. If in sunshine, or in shadow. We our faith again renew, In the hearts of Colorado, There's a welcome still for yon. PUBLIC OWNERSHIP THE CURE FOR ANARCHY Tho Arfnmrnti la Its Snpportaro Xrrafut abto and no Attempt Is Err Mad a to Rafato Than "One view of municipal ownership which appeals Irresistibly to the think ing man Is that where these utilities are in the hands of the municipality, the interests of the various corpora tions hitherto controlling them cease to manifest themselves In city elec tions. Nominees or prospective nom inees are not hounded by the repre sentatives of the various corporations to declare themselves as for or against their employers r interests, and, when elected, there is no outside influence to swerve them in matters pertaining to the city's economics. We have tried it, and it has brought about a very satisfactory condition of affairs." Those are the words of Mr. O'Brien of Los Angeles, Cal. In addition to the above, Mr. Max Popper, former chairman of the democratic state com mittee of California, says: "It is but natural to assume that what can be done successfully by a small city can be even more successfully placed in operation by a large city." The Innumerable advantages which have accrued to the inhabitants of the cities of the old world that have adopted municipal ownership of pub lic utilities are too apparent to meet with contradiction. This populist idea is as sure of adoption in the near future as that the world will endure. Equal Rights for all and Special Privileges for Nobody Would so a Loar Way ' x Toward it In discussing the special privileges of the rich to escape taxation the Out look says: The breadth of ex-President Harri son's statesmanship has been acknowl edged even by his political opponents, but nowhere has it, been more strik ingly evinced than in his address on "The Obligations of Wealth," in his book, "Views of an ex-President." This address furnishes us with ex-President Harrison's remedy for the evils of anarchy, a subject which all thoughtful men are now considering. - Ex-President Harrison was a firm believer that the removal of the pop ular sense of injustice was the only real cure for the discontent out of which class conflicts and disorder arise. The chief injustice which he believes the rank and file of the people are suffering from is that caused by the exemption of - the richer people from their share of direct taxation. The "sense of inequality," he said, produces a fierce and unreasoning anger, creates classes, intensifies so cial differences." "No casuist," he went on, "can draw a sound moral dis tinction between the man who hides his property or makes a false return in order to escape the payment of his debt to the state, and the man who conceals his property from his private creditors." In forcing this point home, he told of a gentleman of prom inence in. a New England town, who had a reputation for philanthropy, yet had returned for taxation 1100,000 worth of personal property, though at his death his estate proved to con tain $6,000,000. "This gentleman," said ex-President Harrison, "who lived in neighborly relations to his fellow- citizens, and discharged apparently with kindliness all of the obligations of citizenship, had been every year of his residence in the town defrauding his neighbors by compelling them to contribute to the public expense a share, that he should in honesty and good conscience have discharged. He was filching from every hand that was extended to him in neighborly confi dence. His aims were of other men s goods." To prevent the continuance of such public wrongs, ex-President Harrison not only demanded a new public concsience which recognizes ob ligations to the state to be as sacred as obligations to individuals, but urged that better laws for the equal taxation of the property of men living shall be supplemented by taxes at death by which the publicmay recoup the sums unpaid during life. "If no other rem edy can be found," he concludes, "per haps the state might declare and main tain an estoppel against the claim of any man or his heirs for property, the ownership of which he had disclaimed in his tax returns." MASSACHUSETTS DEMOCRATS A Manly Statomantor Thalr Futura Par . 1'poaaa la Favor of Publio Owaar. : I snip of Pabllo Vtllitiaa Hon. Josiah Quincy has written a manly and able letter In which he sets forth the principles and purposes of the democratic party in that state. It is the position that must be finally taken by the party in its national con ventions if the republican oligarchy of wealth is ever t6 be overthrown. This letter is commended especially to pop ulists. The "reorganizers" in the democratic party should each be hand ed the following sentence from that letter: "Those who are attracted, whether by their interests or their conviction, to the side of imperialism and capi talism, which are so closely linked together, must find attractions in the republican party with which it is use less, to put it on no higher ground, for the democratic party to try to compete." There never was anything more fool ish than to try to gain power for the democratic party by duplicating the republican plutocratic tendencies. The great corporations and trusts will not be induced to slacken their support of the republican party by any such foolishness as that. The whole of Mr. Quincy's letter is sound and states manlike. In part is was as follows: - We have sufficiently emphasized par ty regularity and continuity by declar ing our confidence in "the essential principles of democracy as enunciated by the last national convention," while we have refrained from reaffirming plank by plank, verbatim et literatim, the last platform. This has seemed to us a fair and common sense method of avoiding un necessary differences over a question which, from all present indications, seems rather of the past than of the future. This is a case where "the letter kill eth but the spirit giveth life;" we stick to the spirit and purpose of dem ocracy, as last authoritatively de clared, but we claim the right to em body this In such form as may now seem best adapted to promote the spread of essential and fundamental democratic principles. That the spirit of the democratic party ' must remain a radical one I have fully recognized myself, and I have not encouraged any delusions on that score. The party cannot by any possibility go back to the attitude which it occupied ten years ago; if it did it would lose a large proportion of its adherents, who would be absorbed In some more radical political move ment. The new spirit has, it seems to me, come to stay, if not to control. The ground taken by the demo cratic party in Massachusetts this year is distinctly an advanced one. We have declared in favor of meeting the communism of capital by state con trol; of the public ownership of pub lic utilities; of large rights of home rule for cities; of the referendum upon legislative measures whenever peti tioned for by 5 per cent of the voters; of a single primary election for all parties; of the direct nomination, without political conventions, of all candidates voted for in districts; of progressive labor legislation; finally of a constitutional convention for the consideration of these and other re forms. In federal affairs we have declared that the imperialistic spirit must be opposed both at home and abroad; that the people of the Philippines should be prepared for speedy self government and for early indepen dence under American protection; for freer trade with other nations and for genuine reciprocity as a step toward it; for the regulation and control of trusts by federal authority; for the abolition of tariff duties which protect oppressive trusts; for uniformity of railroad rates, besed on the carload lot as a unit; aad in opposition to granting exorbitant shipping subsidies to favor a few interests. We believe that both those who were active democrats before 1896, and those who became democrats in that year, ought to be able, to unite in effective co-operation upon such a general bas is, which endeavors to avoid both ex treme and unscientific radicalism on the one hand and timid conservatism on the other. Those who are attracted, whether by their interests or by their convictions, to the side of imperialism and capi talism, which are now so closely linked together, must find attractions in the republican party with which it is useless, to put it upon no higher ground, for the democratic party to try to compete. On the other hand it is not.necessary for the democratic party, in order to make a real and ' effective opposition to republican policies, to allow Itself to be placed in . the attitude or oppos ine caDital as such, or of supporting specific proposals which are not both sound and Dracticable. It is tne apuse of the power of concentrated capital, not its legitimate employment, which the democratic party should strenu ously resists .::z:::..zz.:,z.. If it confines itself . to proposals whose economic soundness and legis lative feasibility are indorsed by high expert authority, it will still nave a program to carry out of sufficient dif ficulty and full of genuine significance. "In the face of the present tendency toward absolutism and arbitrary rule we reaffirm the principles of our lath ers; in the face of an unparalleled con centration of capital, we reaffirm the supremacy of the state." ThPSA closine words oi tne pianorm of the Massachusetts - democracy suf ficiently indicate its spirit. Things Grow Worse : The aspect of affairs, in the Phil- irmin . has chanced. - - For several months 'the propriety of reducing the nrmv from 40.000 to 25,000 men has been under consideration. Now three regiments of infantry and elgnt.com TinniAs nf cavalrv are under orders to proceed to Manila. Even the St. Louis Globe-Democrats -arntcnior a year uaa hoon rMrstKtpiritlv- asserting that the archipelago was pacified, admits that "it is clear tnat tne troumes m tue islands are not so nearly ended as was supposed." : General Chaffee all the time has had a more correct view w the situation than anyone else and he has insisted that a large force will be necessary for an indefinite penoa. The situation suggests . mat an im perialistic policy is certain to be the fruitful source of many woes, botn fnr tb American neonle and the na tional administrations that persist in pursuing it. Denver News. SKINNING AMERICANS Thay Soam to XJka tt aad Part With Thalr Catlclo Without a Word of Protaatation The assertion of Joseph Lawrence, M. P., in an address before an Eng lish chamber of commerce that - Mr. Srhwah had told him that the steel corporation could deliver steel billets in England for 16.50 a ton is an in teresting bit of commercial informa tion. There is little doubt that the assertion is accurate, and If accurate it means that American billet makers can undersell British makers in their own markets, in all conditions oi business, since the lowest cost of pro ducing steel billets in England is $19 a ton. This advantage is maintained in spite of wages that are about twice s hieh as those naid in English steel mills and in spite of the freight costs from Pittsburg to uverpooi. as u.ng land can make steel much more cheap ly than any - other European nation. the uselessness of maintaining a auty of 35 per cent on steel billets Is ap narent. It serves no purpose from the standpoint of revenue or of pro tection, but it does enaDie tne steei makers to maintain a price some S3 per cent higher .than the English cost of production. The situation in respect to steel bil lets is tvnical of the situation of a large number of articles largely con trolled bv trusts wnicn enjoy oenina the barrier of a stiff duty the power to demand rices wnlcn tney coma not demand if the duty were removed. As in most of these cases practically no revenue is collected, the only argu ment against the withdrawal of du ties which have outlived their useful ness Is that of the individual who is reaping benefits at the expense of the rest of the country. Pioneer-Press. Filipino Swat Box One of the gentle arts of peace em ployed with the Filipinos, with whom we are not at war, is, it appears, their confinement 'in a sweat-box built of steel rails, exposed to fiercest heat of a tropical sun. No doubt they will soon be conciliated. Denver News. BALLOT BOX STUFFING Tho Mannar In Which Republican llaro Carried Elections U Told by a Kapubllcan Pa par ' There is no more staunch, died-in-the-wool ' republican paper in the United States than the Public Ledger of Philadelphia. In a late issue of that journal it gives an account of how republicans have been in the habit of carrying that city. What is true of Philadelphia is trueof every other republican city in the union. The six hundred votes sworn in In the city of Lincoln at the last presidential election was work of exactly the same kind. The Ledger says: The names of sixty-three "floaters," or temporary lodgers In certain lodg ing houses in the Fifth ward, who fig ure In the assessors' lists as "resi dents" at these places, but who are not now to be found there, were or dered to be stricken from the lists by Judge Sulzberger on Monday. Judge Sulzberger promptly ruled, after hear ing all that could be urged in defense of the lists under investigation, that these occasional and very transient lodgers have no abiding place, no such residence In the house where they may happen to sleep temporarily as is requisite to make the citizen. "When a man moves from a house and takes whatever effects he may have he loses his residence there." Judge Sulzberger's decision was made with commendable timeliness, and is founded upon the soundest rea son and justice. Some idea of permanence attaches, or ought to attach, to the word "resi dence" as a voting qualification. The "floaters," who rapidly flit from place to place, with no intention of seeking a habitation for more than a night or two, cannot be called "residents" without doing violence to language. At any rate, there is no doubt as to the defective -and-ephemeral character of the: residence : claimed on behalf of the sixty-three floaters whose names were stricken from the assessors' lists of the Fifth ward by order of Judge Sulzberger. These names, many of them purely fictitious, would have re mained on the lists if they had not been purged by the court, and many of them would have been voted upon, in all probability, by repeaters and per sonators on election day. The presence of the names of bogus "residents" as citizens on the regis tration lists has long been one of the fruitful sources of fraud at the elec tions. Judge Sulzberger's ruling ap plied to all the assessors' lists will strip them of thousands of namej that are not legally entitled to remain upon them, and the opportunities for fraud will be to. that serious extent dimin ished. The padded assessors' lists which escape through investigation and purgation are the "quick"- assets of corrupt government, the dangerous instruments by .which the tyrannous machine nTilairrin-Tthis. city has been strengthened": and perpetuated. It is hard to say what proportion of the enormous majorities rolled up here for machine rule is directly attributa ble to the fraudulent use of assessors' lists. The zeal with which the sifting process is resisted indicates that the lists are outworks of the machine's defences which it is worth while to buttress by all legal expedients. The dens of ill repute, the gambling "hells" and other sinks of Iniquity are the nesting places of election frauds through the large number of fictitious names credited to them on assessors' lists. Election frauds go hand in hand with other forms of iniquity and ras cality. The machine has become im pregnable in certain wards by this al liance with all forms of lawlessness which serve Its purposes. The lawful vote cast in opposition to the machine is thereby cancelled, and machine majorities are kept at such appalling figures that many citi zens who have the interests of the city at heart are discouraged from partici pating actively In political reform movements. The prompt rulings of Judge Sulzberger as to the assessors lists Illustrate the Importance of a discerning judiciary as a factor of good government. Padded assessors' lists, like all other abuses which af fect the political interests of citizens, do not purge themselves. The organ izations and individuals who are In teresting themselves in the correction of the lists are performing an exceed ingly important public duty. Indorsing Arson I An English writer describing Kitch ener's policy in South Africa says: "Our English people have well learned the respectability of arson. It has been taught them by their gov ernment. Kitchener has not been able to whip the burghers of the Transvaal, but he has burned their farms. Our proletariat will not readily forget that which they have learned from the military heroes of the Lritish people. The same argument that has been used to Justify arson in South Africa will be used to justify arson in Eng land. There is no other way, says Kitchener In the Transvaal, to brine: the burghers to book. There 13 no other way, the proletariat will argue, to beat the capitalists and secure so cial reformation. In sack-cloth and ashes will England rue the day that she embarked officially upon the crim inal career of our internUonftl arson! "If our retribution doe3 not come upon us through domestic revolution and wholesale arson, it will come through a foreign war with soms na tion of our size which cuts off thd bread supply: It Is not at all un likely the two may come together. Paris is not the only great city in Europe that has within its borders. tl:e constituent elements of a commune." "V.