Nebraska Newspapers

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VOL. XILL
LINCOLN NEBRASKA, NOVEMBER 7, 1901.
NO. 25.
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A TAX REVOLUTION
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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.