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About The Nebraska independent. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1896-1902 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 28, 1901)
J . r 7 r. ' I'- f A 'V ;.-. Mr VOL. XIII. a- Si LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, NOVEMBER 28, 1901. NO. 28. ROOSEVELT'S MESSAGE Read "Part" of it to the Cabinet and it Took Three Hours Reciprocity "Washing ton Local News Washington, D. C, Nov. 22. Editor Independent: Locally, the interest centre of the whole week is the Bonine murder trial now progressing in .crim inal court No. 1, where a little woman of wonderful nerve Is on trial for her life. James Seymour Ayres, jr., a young employe of the census office, was found murdered in his bed 'at the Kenmore hotel and for a whole week the mystery of how he died, baffled the Washington police. Mrs. Bonine had gone to his room and shot him in de fense of her honor so she affirms. After the deed was committed she coolly climbed down the fire escape in front of the hotel and prepared to baffle the police. She i3 now defended by Charles A. Douglass, one of the best known democratic orators and lawyers of the city, and by Creed M. Fulton, who, from his striking re semblance to the last democratic nomi nee for the presidency, is called the "William Jennings Bryan" of the dis trict bar. Like his leader, he is also a democrat and an orator. Both wero on the stump for Bryan last year. Op posed is Ashley M. Gould, the new dis trict attorney, a noted republican ora tor and lawyer. Their case is indeed a strong one and prospects are for ac quittal. This is one of the hardest le gal battles of the city's history and its interest centre cannot be disputed. Nationally well, we are all waiting for Roosevelt's message. And the event that will give it to us, is, of course, the opening of congress. What will he say? From present accounts he will say a great deal for, we are told, that he read part of it to his cabi net one day last week and it took 3 hours and a quarter. We had all hoped that the day of voluminous messages was over and that Roosevelt's mess age would disregard custom. How ever, he will break custom in one re spect, the old-fashioned hand-written message has gone and "Teddy's" will be typewritten. We are told that congress will settle the reduction of southern representa tion in the lower house once and for all during the coming session. Those on the republican side, who are so mad because the south won't go republican, have decided to disarm their enemy, by reducing the representation from the south. This is a dangerous pro blem to fool with. So dangerous, in fact, that however they decide they will have produced the biggest political boomerang of the year. The "slippery" crowd in control of the last house saw the danger and wisely hugged their tents but this year, maddened by their power, the republican party will rush into the arena of politics pre pared to tread on the most dangerous ground and to lose less protective agents in their battle against public opinion. This whole week Washington has had a reciprocity convention on ex hibition at the Raleigh hotel. All these self-appointed policy artists have battled to and fro on the question. A week is ended and the question now is "What is reciprocity?'"' Those who have paid any attention to this con vention have heard so many different definitions of reciprocity that its defi nition isis ambiguous as the republi can doctrine of honesty. Thousands of people are crying reciprocity. How many know what it means? Last week there have been at least forty definitions of this reform policy. Everybody says they want reciproc ity. No two agree as to what it s and how it should .be applied. Senator Hale takes a constitutional position and objects to the expediency of "farm ing out our revenue legislation to vag rant commissions" and Senator Alli son, since it must change existing schedules, must originate in the house. And every one has planned it differ ently. If the United States is to enter into reciprocity treaties with different great powers and to offer special priv ileges to each power concerned, we might' promote some of our industries, but we would certainly cripple others. The only safe way is If we are to have a tariff is to have congress pass a tar iff act in accord with organic law. And when an amendment becomes nec essary there are a good many needed now it is best to have the legislative body and not the executive deal with this question exclusively. And is it best that we should consult foreign nations as to our organic law? Above all things the changes should be uni form the same to each nation. We should not have one special arrange ment with England, another with France, another with Germany and so through the whole list of nations. Such an expedient will bring confusion and Injustice at home, while it will create Ill-will and jealousy abroad. Unless we are to act on the principle that chaiity begins at home, and to run America for the Americans, our course is plain. The new Hay-Pauncefote treaty has been signed and will be delivered to congress together with the president's message. Reports have leaked out th.it by it England will recognize the Mon roe doctrine. B'efore our toadying pol icy and hunting in couples began, we did not ask England or any one elss to recognize it. We enforced it and that was sufficient. We have learned that England has applauded Secretary Hay's Boston speech. Well, that's a bad sign. President Roo&evelt is away from the city on a trip down the Potomac lhe Commoner, (Tij (Mr. Bryan's Papr) 1 yr. V 'k Thelndependent,e MoC . 1 year Send your order to either paper at Lin coln, Nebr. . - . . --.-. on the government yacht Sylph on one of those'1, trips . which helped to make Grover; jClevclahdf amous. But there is a little ..;bitdf '"rumor behind the trip and $fcat is ,that at the presi dent's church; n Sunday a Boer min ister will preibh and the fact that the president is away ; for the first time since his inauguration leads many to think that he did not want to hear a Boer . minist'e?, ' , There may be some thing in this.a " ' :)f!LLIAM W. BRIDE. BRITtiN AND - BOER A Struggle Untfj :I)eath A Counterpart of the American jReTolutlon The Sym pathy oVthe World With " the Boers v A correspondent writing from Lon don says that jie situation in South Africa is now eyen .more discouraging than is generally! supposed. Return ing after several. Weeks', absence from London, I find numerous personal let ters from all .parts of South Africa, and all testifying to the extreme em barrassment of t.hq military situation. The crux of the whole matter is that Tommy Atkinfe is sick of his job. More than two yfcars of the most ard uous campaigning, coupled with sad exhibitions of incompetency by many of his favorite officers, have taken the heart out of the.ran: and file. The British soldier has great pa tience and endurance) and indomitable courage, but he eihAnds intelligent leadership and. some measure of suc cess and progress toyards the accom plishment of his gven task. If these are lacking the tfpafc arrives flnally when Tommy makefc ftis feelings mani fest by a species o bassive revolt or supineness which is simply paralyz ing. J V This is the chief secret of Briti3h non-success in Souths jAfrica. The au thorities are helpless;, for it is impos sible to substitute tfreshl troops, as would have been donlin the case of a smaller campaign. 1ft Is impossible al so, apparently, to end! the war by ne gotiation. , Hence it is that tqe Boer struggle threatens to become . permanent in stitution; and hence ralso, strange thought it may seem, 1 there are soma shrewd observers in to is -country who" would not be uhwilling'.tb see Kai3er Wilhelm so far yield ftfc the popular clamor of his subjects as: to undertake intervention. ' 1 '; ' -l What would be the -natural result? England would be enabled to say that the empire was threatened by a great power and that therefore' there would be no loss of prestige inyblxfid 4n set tling the South African -Hispute on the easiest possible terms in order to mass all her resources against a new enemy. , i- ' It is hardly possible that the murder by starvation of womenj and children in the concentration caqips of South Africa will be endured AS, the civilized without some energetic protests pro-, tests that will mean action if word are not heeded. Among Ithe English men who are making thepe protests i William T. Stad. In a lefcture in LoaV don delivered last Saturday and o which thousands listened he said he thanked God that Germany and Eu rope were bold enough o call baby murder a crime. "Compared with Eng land's conduct," he: exclaimed, "Her od's slaughter of the innocents wa3 saintlike. Great Britain bought to be beaten in this unjust rar. In" the American war we employed redskins,, just as we have loosed Kaffirs against the B'oers and, thank Gjd, we; were beaten." : ? r The latest dispatches ;from jjSouth Africa show that the recent fighting near Villlersdorp, southwest o-Stan-derton, as to which Lord Kitchener re ported nothing beyond the fact that Commandant Buys had been qaptura:! after attacking a, patrol of 100 j-allroad pioneers, was really. 'a. serioui affair. It seems that Grobelaarfe commando succeeded in surrounding; and; captur ing a British force of 100! British cape railway pioneers. Subsequently Col onel Remington came up with rein forcements and: after Kfcavjf fighting compelled ine xjuera luyeiifc auu ivj release their prisoners. The British losses included - Major fFisljer killed and . three officers wounded. The cas ualties among the mehhavE not yet been, reported. J? A--' Colonel Arthur Lynch, this newly elected member, of parliament for G3l way, has been informed that if he comes to England he Vill be tried forthwith for treason, i The election of Colonel Lynch from a constituency in Ireland was an as tonishment to the whole world. No nation but the Irisn would have thought of doing such;! a thing. Col onel Lynch was the odmmander of a brigade in the, Boer army at the be ginning of the war. V A London corre spondent speaking q'f this matter says: . . ; '-f " ' - "The Irish: goad which Galway has struck into the government's back has a somewhat serious "''significance. It certainly is a. dramatic incident and a sublimely impudent one, but it is likely to have a great effect upon the Irish cause. It threatens 'to do no less than destroy the unionist- policy of killing home rule with ; kindness. .The elec tion of Colonel Lynh was possibly in tended in its Inception as a huge jol:e, but unquestionablyyit has exasperated the English ; people as a whole. Per haps this effect was deliberately da signed by the nationalist" leaders who selected Lynch as a candidate. The natural resultjwould be a revival of the hostile attitude ; tdwards Ireland in this country,! harsher governmental methods and measures, and, in a word, to render the home rule question acut er than ever. It, has been evident for, a long time that the nationalist mem bers of parliament are anxious to re vive interest in home rule , both in England and America." The Independent harbors no malice Preparing.-"NewsV'fq Where Truth is Stranger Than Fiction. or . hatred towards the "people" of England, but from the very beginning Of, this difficulty in South Africa.s it has seen the mistake that Joe Cham berlain, Cecil Rhodes and his gang of diamond and gold mine speculating financial pirates made when they at tacked a free and liberty-loving race like 3 the Dutch, with the intention of reducing the republics to a crown col ony and then exploiting the great nat ural s resources of the diamond and gold mines for the enrichment of them selves. With this "people" of Eng land bad ' nothing to do. But these land' pirates adopted the same plan of campaign that the plutocrats of Am erica have found so useful to them. They captured the' avenues of . com munication with the people and fed them on lies until the whole nation ws excited and demanding war upon the Boers. The censorship was estab lished after the fashion of the Asso ciated jjress " censdlrsh'lp in this country and the people were allowed to know nothing that the pirates did not want them to know. The triumph of Eng land in. the overthrow of liberty and free government in South Africa would be the worst blow to the English "poo ple'f that has occurred in a thousand years. -TEDDY BEATS A RETREAT The Office Seekers got too Numerous and . - the San Jnan Fighter was Forced to Ran Washington, D. C, Nov. 24. When President Roosevelt moved his play things into the White house he an nounced his purpose of seeing every body who came, high, low and indif ferent. ;He even invited them to come before the diffidence of the new comers had worn off. But when, finally, the ante rooms became so crowded that, the ap plicants stood on each other's feet and: sat in each other's laps and the que of office-seekers reached down be yond the treasury, Roosevelt weakened and fled down the river on a ducking expedition. His purpose is all right, but it would take sixteen presidents working twen ty rf pur hours a day to listen to every one who felt called upon to make a trip to the White house. t The various shindies which Roose velt is kicking up all over the country over appointments, are bound to have a disastrous reaction on the party or ganization. Whatever views the rank and, file of the republican party may have had regarding its mission on earth, it is an undeniable fact that the men who have done the hustling in the '. past, are the ones who have been expecting offiees in the present and future. ; Roosevelt's idea is that of the the oretical civil service reformer, that the; man best fitted for the office shall have it, regardless of the value of his services to the party. L-As a matter of fact there Is not one office . from the presidency down for wliich there are not thousands of men fully qualified. So it has grown up as a 7 matter ; of common political sense that the men Iwho -have been active in party work should have the offices. But Roosevelt Is disposed to jolt this plan out of use and substitute his own idea.. -Moreover he holds that his own knowledge and, judgment of the fitness of- individuals from the Atlantic to th Pacific Is' superior toithat of any local leaders. . - ' , ' ' . V i In .'New York, Pennsylvania, Dela ware, South Carolina,:? Alabama, Ken tucky,' Missouri and Kansas he has Al ready' roused" feelings - of bitterness over; his appointments which will 'not be easily removed. " i The factional differences which President McKInley so carefully avoid ed" have 'all teen stirred Into great ac tiyity. In Kentucky the president has practically told both factiops that he has no use for them or their recom mendation and will make his own ap pointments. In Missouri he has shown a disposition to place Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock on the same level of consideration which president .Mc Kinley gave to Richard C. Kerens. - Since Mr. Kerens is the unquestioned leader of the republican party in Mis souri, the inevitable 1 result of the president's course will be either the re tirement of Mr. Hitchcock from the cabinet or the disruption of the .Mis souri republican organization. Hitch cock has never been a man of force in, the cabinet, in which his career has been marked by numerous rows with his subordinates. It was his connec tion with the Window Glass trust which gave him sufficient prominence to attract the eye of the late President McKinley. Over in Russia a tax is imposed on every window in a house. There is a tax on1 every window in every house in the United States. The difference, however, is that in itussia the tax is for the benefit of the government while in the United States It is f or the benafit xf the trust, whose former president is - the " secretary of the interior. " While PreSianF-Rbosevelt has the whip hand of, his party leaders in the matter of appointments, they have turned the tables on him in the matter of legislation. The first draft of his forthcoming message was , dogmatic and peremptory to a degree on a dozen topics of proposed legislation. As it will actually go to congress it will contain far fewer recommendations than the draft. This is the . result of the discovery that, the republican leaders have no in tention of adopting any Irist'o legis lation on any topic whatever, prefer ring to do nothing which might tend to alarm the trusts and their allied and subjected business interests. The general popula- demand , that the tariff benefits which -;aoic the trusts to charge protection prices at home while they grant free trade prices abroad are not to b disturbed. A situation which demands radical and clear cut legislation is to be tick led with a few weak-kneed reciprocity treaties, in which the widest possible margin of tariff reduction Is limited to twenty per cent of the present tariff imposed. j; That is, a trust-made articles-protected by a sixty per cent tariff, and which needs no tariff protection at all, may nave Ita tavtfi cut to 4S per cent. A. forty reight foot w.'.ll is aj good as a sixty-foot wall when a ten foot wall i-ffords moro 'hn ample protection. - About the only piece of legislation with a clear way ahead of it is the re enactment of the Chinese exclusion act to which there seenfs to be no ma terial opposition. There is a fearf 1 ..fumor in republi can circles that President 'Roosevelt will not even reconjibend Senator Han ta's pet ship subsidy bill. t "t STUEFER. WON'T RESIGN ..... . ... All the Repm$Iiean Stmte House Officials Equally Qfpllty Rake-offs Given on . . p Their Order The FeeTs editorial last Sunday'gives a summing up of the evidence against Mr. Stnef er, and deserves a careful reading: "THE CASE OF MR: STUEFER. "The' successive disclosures of shady bond deals by which the school fund haseen milked for the benefit of pri- vate individuals have not improved the case of State Treasurer Stuefer. . '"Beyond the persistent denial that Lie has personally shared in the rake- off of these transactions, Mr. Stuefer s explanations explain nothing, but rath er make the salient points stand' out in still stronger light. That the school fund has been made to suffer a loss' of thousands - of dollars by speculative manipulation to which Mr. Stuefer has been a party is established beyond controverting. - ' ' ' "In the Burt county bond deal, a close business associate of the state treasurer is found buying $80,000 of bonds with checks drawn by Mr. Stue fer against school fund money and be fore turning the securities into "the school fund, detaching , interest ; cou pons representing half of 1 per cent on the principal for the time the bonds are to run. "In the Cuming county bond deal we find the same business associate of the state treasurer working ftp an exchange of bonds held among the school fund investments for a new Is sue bearing a lower rate 4, of interest, buying the new bonds by turning in on their purchase the old boDds be longing to the state, and then before delivering the securities bought with the state's money to the school fund as the rightful owner, detaching in terest coupons covering half of 1 pe? cent on the face of $55,000, tor their entire term. . "In the Otoe county bond deal, al though the same business associate of the state treasurer does not figure, we find a bond issue .offered, to the state school fund at par, making the transit from Nebraska City to the state house at Lincoln by way of Toledo between June and September, leaving coupons equal to a difference of 1 per cent in the interest rate on $44,000 in vhe hands of the middlemen. "None of the ' essential points in these transactions have been denied by Mr. Stuefer. ,Every step is attested by public records and the testimony of public officials. Nor has anything been offered in justification of so flagrant a perversion of sacred trust funds, "The Bee saida week -ago that the most charitable" construction tdj be placed on these transactions is -that Mr. Stuefer i: has allowed personal friends vto use the school fund for spec ulation and profit aV the expense of the state without risking or investing a dollar of their own. Public confi dence in , Treasurer Stuefer that had been seriously shaken by 'his refusal to comply with the reasonable demand of the republican state convention for a periodical exhibit of the whereabouts of the funds in his keeping has been completely destroyed by the exposure of this school fund mismanagement. "So far as the Bee is concerned it has no other interest in the matter than that of the state and the party. The school funds that constitute the partrimony of future generations are rightfully the object of most jealous care on the part of every patriotic Ne braskan. The misuse of these sacred trust funds for private gain cannot and will not be countenanced or con doned whether or not criminal respon sibility attaches. "The Bee has already suggested that the proper thing for Mr. Stuefer to do is to resign from his position as state treasurer. If he and his advisers have any true appreciation of the gravity of the situation he has brought upon himself, they will, see to it that this suggestion is carried out without un necessary delay.". Of course Treasurer Stuefer will not resign. i Who ever heard of one of the old gang resigning? Besides, he has the support of practically all the other republican papers in . the state, and why should he resign? But his term of office will expire early in January, 1903, and he will not succeed himself so the Bee can have that satisfaction. Let it contain its soul in patience. Although fusion, papers and fusion ists generally have no reason to take a hand in this fight between rival fac tions in the republican party, yet The independent desires to make a few plain statements of fact regarding the duties of the state treasurer and the board of educational lands and funds, no matter;. what their politics may be: 1. Article YIH. of the state consti tution covers the question of educa tion and the:.educational fund." 2. Section 1 - of this article makes the governor; secretary of state, treas urer, attorney- general and commis sioner of public lands and buildings a board of commissioners for the man agement of the school lands and funds. 3. Section 3 defines what shall con stitute the permanent school fund, "of which the annual interest or Income only can be appropriated." 4. Section 4 defines what shall con stitute the temporary school fund which "shall be exclusively applied to the-support and maintenance of com mon schools in each, school district in the state." 5. Section . 9 declares that the per manent school fund (and the other permanent educational funds) "shall be' deemed trust .funds held by: the state, and the state shall supply all .nArt ' IK Avfinf Viq mQ v ir onv man . ner accrue, so that the same shall re main forever inviolate and undimin ished. And shall not be invested ci loaned except on United States or state securities, or registered county bonds of this , state . and . shall not be transferred to any other fund for other uses." !' . :' . '; " -:;: 6. Section 1 places the duty of in! vesting the permanent funds upon the board. .' ' ' 7. The supreme court in State vs. Bartley, 40 Nebraska k Reports, 298, held that the funds must be invested by the whole board. - 8. The supreme court, in re School. Fund, 15 Neb., 680, held that the pay ment of a premium on purchase of investments shouldbe made - out of the permanent fund,; unless the( legis lature had by law provided some oth er method of paying such premiums. . 9. In this same opinion, , last cited, the court said: "The payment of a premium in making an J investment when the market value of 'the security purchased justifies and requires it, is a legitimate use. of thet.money as a part of the investment, and does in no sense violate the constitutional pro vision that this fund 'shall remain forever inviolate and undiminished." 10. The supreme court, in re State Warrants, 25 Neb. 660, (opinion by Chief Justice Reese) held that "state warrants issued in pursuance of an appropriation, and secured by a levy of taxes for their payment, are 'state securities' within the provisions o section 9, article 8 of the state con stitution." f- 11. The supreme court in 39 Neb., 353, held that a general 'deposit in u bank is a loan of the money deposited and, hence, that the trust fund3 could not legally be deposited in banks un der the depository law. 12.. Section 124 of the criminal code declares in effect that if the state treas urer "shall ' loan, with or without. interest, to any company, corporation, association, or individual, any portion of the public money ... held by him for safe keeping. . ' he shall be guil ty of a high crime and be imprisoned in the penitentiary not less than, one year nor more than 21 years.' A summary of the foregoing would justify the following conclusions: (a) That Mr. Rosewater's famoii3 resolution demanding that the state treasurer make a ,. statement as to where he keeps the trust funds, must have been made . either for political buncombe (and this is the reasonable construction); or made ignorantly, not knowing that it was asking the stale treasurer to confess himself guilty of embezzlement (for the law is harsh); or was made wilfully for the purpose of placing the treasurer, in an embar rassing situation. ' I (b) That Mr. Rosewater's disclosures regarding the Burt, Cuming and Otoe county bond deals fully justify his de mand for Treasurer Stuefer 's resigna tion but Treasurer Stuefer Is no more guilty than the other members of the board, and Mr. Rosewater cannot con sistently ask for the treasurer's resig nation without also asking for the res ignations of Governor Savage, Secre tary Marsh, Attorney General Prout and Land Commissioner Follmer. The Independent will join him in demand ing the resignations of all five mem bers of the board, but does not believe in making a scape goat of Mr. Stuefer. Let them all resign and allow Gover nor Steele to select an entire anti Thompson force of state officers. (c) - That the board has made a maliciously wrong construction of the constitution in, holding that the state treasurer cannot legally bid more than par for county bonds, and has thereby opened the door for just such frauds as were committed in the Bart and Cuming deals. (d) That owing to such wrong hold ing, the Otoe county bonds were sold to eastern bond brokers, and later bought by the state at a loss of 1 per cent interest per. year on $44,000. (e) That the board authorizes Treas urer Stuefer to pay a premium, out of the permanent fund, in buying state warrants as an investment, which is right and proper. That it should do the same regarding the purchase of county bonds or any other constitu tional , investment. (f ) That no impairment' of the per manent fund takes place in the pur chase of either bonds- or. warrants, such as would violate the constitution in any event, . even if the amount of such premium should never be made good to the permanent fund. Fut, if hair-splitting must be indulged in, im pairment" cannot take place until the security is finally redeemed by the authority issuing it. For example, $50,000 in Otoe county bonds be pur chased at a premium of 2 per cent. It would require $51,000 of . permanent funds to buy the bonds. They are worth that on the market, because .t the rate of interest. they bear. They are to run twenty years. When 'final ly paid off by Otoe county, of course only $50,000 comes back to the perma nent fund and there is a technical "impairment" of $1,000 in that fufrrt: But this is a matter for the legislature to make good,; and not something for the board to worry over. The board did its duty. It obeyed the constitu tion by buying a constitutional invest ment for the fund. The market price was such that it must either pay the 2 per cent premium or lose the bonds. The constitution does not require that investments shall be bought only at par. Considerable is left to the sound discretion of the board as to whether it is necessary to offer a premium rr otherwise. The constitutional conven tion evidently foresaw such . a contin gency when it provided that the "state shall supply all , losses thereof, that shall in any manner accrue." It was not supposed that . losses might not accrue in some , way or another in fact, it was evidently expected that there would be occasional loss. But the supplying of such losses is a mat ter for the legislature to act upon. An iron-bound construction of section 9 simply places the board at the mercy ofrJbond brokers, and it is the suprem est folly to say that the board shall not permit the treasurer to bid more than par for county bonds. The per manent fund has already been lmpalr- 1 ed probably $30,000 by the payment of fpremiums on county bondsbut the temporary school fund was greatly benefitted thereby, because choice in vestments were made, thereby bring ing Into the temporary fund a hand some income. Further impairment has occurred through Bartley's failure to deliver the amount he had "on hand" to his successor. And each succeeding legislature that fails to make provi sion for supplying these losses, fails to do Its full duty.. . f (g) Future legislatures, however, should make an appropriation out c.f some available fund, to be at the board's disposal in ' the payment of premiums on county bonds, and thus close the door against such frauds a3 have been committed by the present board. Also enact such legislation as would leave no .room for any legal quibbles over the right of the board to go into the market and bid for any constitutional security on an equal footing with any other bidder whom soever. , ! More strength to the Bee's strong right arm. Hammer away at theta. Rosewater. 1 But don't make fish of one and flesh of the other. The people would welcome Governor Steele and associates of his choosing until they have time to place another populist governor in the chair. Let the whole shooting match resign forthwith. It would be a good riddance of bad rub bish. - ,. ' -. GOV. SAVAGE FLUNKS It Causes Comment all Over the United States He Will not Fight any Rail road Trust Numerous comments have been made in the eastern papers over the retreat of Governor Savage after it had been announced that he would join the other governors in preserving the powers of all these western states in every one of whose constitutions there is a provision prohibiting the consolidations of competing lines of railroads. The great $400,000,000 rail road trusts proposes to override all these state constitutions and ntterly defies the state authorities. The Bur lington is in the deal and even some of the eastern dailies are surprised that the Nebraska governor should allow the constitution of his state to be trampled under the feet of the rail road trust, not only,wlthout a protest but with his consent. They are not well acquainted with the republican party in this state or they would net be surprised. Governor Savage, ta well as all the state officers, was elect ed by the railroads and it is only to be expected ' that he will stand by the men who made him governor. The Washington, D. C, Star, in comment ing on the matter, says: "The difficulty in the way of secur ing an Interstate agreement to fight the aggressions of the trusts is illus trated by Governor Van Sant's experi ence with the other executives of the northwestern states. While he ha9 received enthusiastic responses to his request for joint actipn from a num ber of the governors, Savage of Ne braska, after intimating his willing ness to join the movement, has recon sidered and is now quoted a3 opposed to any such course. He cites the fact that the railroads in Nebraska are fighting each other and he fails to se any reason for his working with the other governors to cure a Minnesota evil. The misfortune of the case is that such a fight cannot be well waged against a railroad combination unless it Includes, on the offensive side, the machinery of every state touched by the lines. The defection of a single executive weakens the front and leaves a hole for the escape of the trust. Herein occurs the strongest possible proof of the need of federal legislation which, taking cognizance of the in terstate character of the railroad sys tems, will place within the jurisdic tion of a national official or board, the power to regulate the affairs of the corporations as far as they affect the rights of the public in general." A place of Refuga Editor Independent: Strange as ?t may seem from my environment, I .im a populist and voted . for Weaver in 92. "I got It in the west though." The democratic party under its prese.-.t leader and the Kansas City and Chi cago platforms are good enough for me now. But if the "reorganizes" succeed in getting control and make it an annex to the republican party, w will have In the populist party a place of refuge. So, God speed you all, for are we not working to the same ends? CHAS. M.f BOWEN. B h, N. Y. : : Hakes Kruger Laugh -A cablegram from The Hague says that President Kruger laughs at the declaration of the Duke of Devonshire that the first requirement of the Brit ish government for a cessation of the fighting in South Africa is the uncon ditional surrender of the Boers. riMr. Kruger and his friends claim that the war is only beginning. The statistics given by Secretary of War Broderick are amazing, say the Kru ger party. The British, says Mr. Broderick. have captured 53,000 Boers, when the original British estimate jf the burghers strength was 30,000! - Again the Krugerites want to know If 10,000 men (the British estimate of the present Boer strength) could havo kept Kitchener's immense army cn the go over a country 1,000 by 500 miles in area? -f The Afrikander sympathizers in The Hague are". vastly pleased with what they claim is confusion, and doubt on the part of the' British government. They look to the future as big witli promise for Boer diplomatic success. i it . Tl '. t ", 1 . ? 1' 1 I i h u - r .. li