Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Nebraska independent. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1896-1902 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 11, 1902)
THE IIEBEASKA IITDEPENDENT. Sept. ll9 1902. Cf)t Hebraska Independent Lincoln, tltbratka PRESSE BLDG.. CORNER I3TH AND N STS Published Evebt Thubsdat $1.00 PER YEAR IN ADVANCE Whis mkin remittance : d nt Uav noDtey with newt arencUt, potaaitra, U to be forwarded by tbem. The frequeatlj forcet or remit a different amount tkaa wi left with them, and the subscriber fail to ft proper credit. Address all communication, and mako ail drafts, money er, etc., parable to Zbt Tltbraska Indtptndtnt, Lincoln, Neb. Anonymous comrannioatioms will oi h no ticed. Rejected manuscripts will bet bo re nrned. ' y The chief end of man is to glorify gold. New Catechism. Punch gives a good description of one of the modern cults in the follow ing: "What is mind?" "No matter." "What Is matter?" "Never mind." The list of republican political cow ards is just as long as the; list of re publican nominees for office. Not one of them dare meet a fusionist in joint debate. Everywhere on Labor Day the wage earners marched in solid columns, houlde to shoulder. When they have learned to march to the polls in the same way then labor may get its Just reward. , The republicans are as determined to "freeze out" the negro as ever were the southern .democrats. And still they continue to call themselves "Lin-, coin republicans." A head-line frequently seen in the dallies reads as follows; "The Dutch rule at Cape Town." Another is: "The British likely to lose the fruits of the war." Those announcements tell the whole story. There are statements constantly made in London that in less than five years the Boer war will be renewed. During the last three hundred years the Dutch have often been whipped, but the trouble has always been that they would not stay whipped. The town council of Dover, Eng land, has refused by a decisive major ity to recei7e a library from Mr. Car negio Thes ground of refusal seems to be about the same as in several cases , In this country, namely, they, did not care to receive a part of the fruits of robbery. The mass of the voters that have kept the republican party in power serve and never think. They echo the sentiments of their leaders as a parrot does the. words that it has been taught and get. their ideas always from those whom they deem their superiors. It is not so with populists. - When Bryan spoke on trusts six years ago every mullet head in the land was down on him, but now when Roosevelt says exactly the same things in almost exactly the same words, ev ery mullet head In the land pricks his ears and answers back: "Yep. That's SO." sxvyx Form trusts to kill competition at home, erect a high tariff wall to pre vent it coming in from abroad. That Is the republican policy. It is a plan for robbing that beats all the schemes of the old feudal lords, and kings by - divine right, ten to one. The republican, party adopted the financial theories of Bryan and coined more silver than was ever coined "be fore. - Now a large section of them want to adopt his tariff policy.. See the plank from the Idaho republican state platform printed 1 in another column. David Been It Hill has offered the t nomination for governor of New York on the democratic ticket to Judge Parker, Judge Peckham and several other distinguished men, . all of whom Instantly and emphatically refused. TheJ "logic of events" seem to indicate that Hill himself should b4 the candidate. . Besides the broom trust that was or ganized last week, there are also to be added to the list a chrysanthemum trust and a peanut trust This latter trust is said to . have an option on ev ery peanut plant in the whole country. , It is time for Teddy and Knox to make another assault on the trusts. If they don't the supply might run out. The citizens of the anthracite coal district wrote to Roosevelt and said that they "appealed from the king of trusts to the president of the United States." - But ; the president of the : United States .took no action to over . rule the king of trusts from which it : appears that the "king of "trusts," oth erwise known as J. Pierpont Morgan, Is the biggest man. y "" DEMOCRATIC CONVENTIONS Democratic state conventions have been held during the last ' week, in Ohio,-Wisconsln, Iowa, California and Idaho. , In Idaho and Ohio the con ventions indorsed the Kansas City platform and f Bryan. ; In the other states named, the conventions, after most bitter wrangling, repudiated the platform and leader of the democracy for the last two national campaigns. This shows that the democratic party is split from top to bottom. , The mon ey power has been at work and it has done efctive work. Its object is to destroy any effective opposition to the policies of .the republican party. The republican dailies have taken the mat ter up and are impressing, upon their readers that there is nothing to the Kansas City platform but the demffnd for the free coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1. That; the. democratic press and leadership has made a great mistake in not informing the rank and file of the party of the fact that the re publicans have coined more silver than was; ever coined before in the same length of time, and at once taking the position that this addition to the cur rency together with the enormous out put of gold had been a fulfillment of the Bryan policy of "more money" and then passed on to the discussion of the present important question of the in flation of credit, the formation, of trusts with stocks watered from 100 to 1,400 per cent, which Is an effort to enslave the producer and wage-worker, and in the end will be more disastrous than the old attempt, as Mr. McKinley once said, to make money dear and everything else cheap. Plutocracy has only changed its ground. Its objects are the same and it should be met in its new line of battle. If all the industries of the country afe to be Morganized and the people are to be made to pay interest on four5 times the capital Invested, the oppression will be greater than ever threatened us from the old bond is sues and contraction of the currency. Today, under, this system, Americans are paying -at least 40 per cent more for their necessary supplies than any other people on earth. Three good crops, from a continent of the most productive soil on earth have enabled them to pay interest by the hundred millions to the very men who first robbed them by contracting the cur rency and are now robbing them by collecting, interest on billions of cap ital that never "existed. The .threat against the welfare of the common people is much greater from this new battle line that plutoc racy has assumed than it ever was from the attempt to double the debts of the world by doubling the purchas ing power of money. That attempt we fought to the bitter end and plutoc racy seeing that in the near future it would be utterly overwhelmed, simply changed its battle ground. Unless something unforeseen happens, if the mines continue; to put forth an ever increasing amount of the money me tals (all silver that is mined and not used in the arts is constantly coined) there will be enough money for the safe transaction of business and debts will not double after they are con tracted, as they did under the old scheme of plutocracy. It seems that common sense would teach us to align our forces to meet the new and more dangerous assault. ' .That is what The Independent has advocated. The fight in the democratic conven tions that refused to indorse the Kan sas City platform plainly show that in those states the democracy will be rendered a harmless foe to plutoc racy. The trusts and corporations will be encouraged and In the future ride rough shod over the toiling people. While all silver that is mined is be ing coined by the republican party there can be no serious fight made with them on that subject, and it is foolish to waste good powder on such a man of straw. Let democracy be so reorganized so that all the guns of the joint opposition forces can be made to play upon this new army that has set out to make the whole world hirelings and pay interest on billions that never had any existence and form a moneyed aristocracy that is to rule and oppress mankind for ages to come. THE WRIT OF MANDAMUS It is well known to the legal profes sion that as to acts of a judicial or quasi-judicial character the writ of mandamus will not lie, but that the court by such writ may properly di rect a ministerial act to be done and punish by proceedings for contempt any disobedience of the order. This is best illustrated by taking the man damus suit brought by the Bee Build ing company against the state board of, equalization. . Because the .. court has not yet handed" down an opinion in the caseThe Independent will for bear discussing it further than the le gal principles Involved. - The mere routine work of assembl ing the board is a ministerial act. It involves no exercise of judgment. It is required by law to be done. And if the members of the board should fail or refuse to assemble, the court, by writ of mandamus, could properly or der them to do so. .The act of assess ing is also ministerial, but the valua tions decided upon are judicial or quasi-judicial, involving some exer cise of judgment. Now, in the ab sence of corruption or fraud, it is not in the province of the court to direct the judicial or quasi-judicial part of the board's duty rn making the assess ment. In other words, although the court has an undoubted right to direct that the board shall make SOME as sessment, yet it has no right to say how many dollars per mile the board shall assess any given road. If " It had such a right, there would be no necessity for a board of equalization the court could make the assessment by issuing a writ of mandamus to John Doe or some other fictitious per on. Of course, if the evidence should show some overt act of corruption or fraud, or that the assessment is ' so notoriously low as to raise the pre sumption of fraud, or that the board failed to consider certain facts which were absolutely, necessary to a fair exercise of Judgment-and, hence, raise the presumption of legal fraud then the court would be justified in directing the board to reassemble and reassess. But even then it could not direct how much greater the reassess ment should be than- the original as sessment. ' Tho people of Nebraska are await ing oar supreme court's decision in this case with a great deal of inter eat. If the writ should be grantedit will be a great victory for Edward Rosewater, Michael F. Harrington, Ed ward Simeral, and John D. Howe; yet in the very nature of things it cannot settle the question of equitable rail road taxation in Nebraska, because the same men who made the low as sessment complained of, and ' who treated the appeals of Messrs. Rosewa ter, Harrington and Simeral with con tempt, are the men who will finally say how many dollars per mile shall be assessed for taxation against the railroads of Nebraska. The court cannot, do this. Only one member of that board, Au ditor Weston, is a candidate for re election, but the Bee is giving him hearty support along with the rest of the republican ticket, all standing upon a platform which says not a syllable on the question of taxation which could not be construed as ample justi fication for the present board's acts. Every republican of any prominence in the party councils, except Mr. Rosewater and his immediate friends; Is standing up for the present board's assessment. And if Messrs. Mickey, Mortensen and Weston should be vic torious this fall, they can keep the railroad assessment at 26 millions next year and thereafter without violating a plank of their platform or calling upon them the ' adverse criticism Of any prominent republican in the state, save Mr. Rosewater. Mandamus suits must, delight Mr. Rosewater, judging from the vigorous efforts he makes to create conditions which will necessitate them. THE FARMERS Whenever a republican president goes out to solicit the favor of the people then he begins to talk populism. President Roosevelt not only has been repeating the words of Bryan, ' deliv ered six years ago, but in his Bangor speech to farmers he said what has been said in The Independent a hun dred times and almost exactly in the same words. Read the following ex tract and see if it does not sound very much like what you have often read in the editorial columns of The Independent: "Almost all of our great presi dents have been brought up in the country, and most of them worked hard on the farms in their youth and got their early mental train ing in the healthy democracy of farm life. The forces which made these farm-bred boys leaders of men when they had come to their full manhood are still at work in our country districts." ' The "great", presidents have been few in number, for most of them were mere sticks, "but those who were really great were all farmer boys. The only real and vigorous fighters today against the policies of the president's party are the men on the farms. It is they who have denounced the trusts from the beginning, it is they who de mand that the tariff under which the trusts destroy competition and charge' 'Americans moreor goods than they do foreigners, shall be revised. It is they who denounce wars of conquest and special privileges to the few. Yet there . are thousands even among the farmers who have been blinded by the sophistries of the press which is al most wholly given over to the advoc acy of the demoralizing doctrines of the philosophy of greed. It is a won der that there are any left with man hood enough to reject all offers of bribes and special privileges and are still willing to make , their way in a' fair and open contest, where all are equal before the law. Before the ' Piatt amendment to . the Cuban constitution can become effec tive they must be embodied in a treaty. It is now said that President Palma has firmly set himself against the sign ing of any such a treaty until the con cessions - promised as a quid pro quo have been granted. Therein lies a good deal of trouble xor the republi can "insurgents," . . WILL THEY RELIEVE f The Independent has been saying for the last four or five years: "That many of the industries of this coun try have outgrown the need of a pro tective tariff is made evident by the fact that the American manufacturer has entered the markets of the world and is successfully competing with the manufacturers of all other coun tries.' - Many pi the tariff schedules adopted to foster , infant industries have fully- served' that purpose and have now become " a means ofai&ing and ' building up powerful trusts and combinations, and enabled these to exact from the American purchasers the payment of higher prices than they exact for the same class of goods sold in foreign ,- countries. We therefore favor a revision of the tariff, without unreasonable delay,- which will place upon the JreeT list every article and product controlled by any monopoly and such other articles and products as are beyond the need of protection." The truth about the matter is that the editor of The Independent has been stating the facts included in the above paragraph ever sirice 1889, when he re turned from England with many re ceipted bills of sale of American goods in England and Scotland" at about half what American farmers had to pay for them, but the republicans would never believe a word of it. ' Perhaps a few of them may be induced to believe it now, for the above words in quotation marks is one plank in the republican platform of the ! state of Idaho. It was by the merestaccident that The Independent got "a copy of the repub lican platform v6f Idaho. The Asso ciated press rnever said a word about this plank'. -It' would therefore be good policy when you" have read this paper to mark the above and hand it to some of your f republican neighbors. Not one in ten of them have any idea that" they are paying twice as much for' their trust-made goods than the English,' Scotch, Germans and French pay for them. ' That is a thing that is never mentioned In republican papers. WATTERSON AND CLEVELAND In his last article on Cleveland, Hen ry Watterson says : "We detest him, not for anything he ever did or said to us, but for What we have seen him do and heard him say o' others." Mr. Wattersori might as well tell the pub lic what h"e heard Cleveland say and saw him do to others. Mr. Watterson has - a ' witness e or-6 two to prove the dastardly acte "referred to. The edi tor of The Independent was in. Wash ington at the time the" transaction re ferred to occurred-and knows what it was, but a statement ' by him, as he was - not present,5, v would carry jao weight, If 'Mr: Watterson should speak; a feW ; others, who know of other and more dastardly acts, of the same kind; might - also make public what they know. The plutocratic press, both democraticvand republican, have presented, Cleveland to the public as a sage, patriot and man of high moral character. ,.. Most of. these writers know that during the first part of his sec ond administration there was not . a viler human being on the face of the earths Some., score of men in high official position knowing facts that would have .damned Cleveland to all eternity, if made 'public,- have kept silence. These men are high in the councils, of the nation and in both political parties. Editors of great re publican dailies in the east, fully un derstand the allusions in Henry Wat terson's article, but they slur Watter son and praise Cleveland. Many men. honestly believe that, the horrible truths concerning Cleveland's private life, and his financial connection with J.. Pierpont. Morgan in the bond deals whereby he,.", Cleveland, became im mensely rich hould not be made pub lic, . for Cleveland was . president and such publication , would disgrace the whole nation,. In the. opinion of The Independent, ...Mr. Watterson deserves the thanks of the public for what he has said, but he should say more he should tell the whole story and name the witnesses .. present. THEY CAN BE TRUSTED The -idea persistently promulgated by the plutocratic press that - the pro ducers and wage-workers of the coun try, if put in control of the govern ment, would brings ruin and distress upon all, has no doubt produced a feeling in the ;mind of many that it would never do to trust them with su preme power. Upon what grounds such an idea is founded is hard to imagine. All the ' measures that have been pressed for adoption and which have been finally enacted into law by or ganized labor and the classes in sym pathy with ( it, are acknowledged to be wise; and salutory. They have re ceived, the indorsement of all fair minded men everywhere. Among them may be mentioned the following: Fire escapes on factories, factory inspec tors, enclosing dangerous machinery, abolition of child labor in factories, the eight-hour day, ventilation of crowded work shops, seats for women in department stores, and many other things that pertain to the welfare of wage-workers. But they have also advocated and forced into' i the stat utes other things that have affected thewhole population and which have become the pillars of free govern ment "The Australian ballot Is one of these measures.' Never have the producers J advocated anything that would endanger good government at any time. V The measures that they are today advocating are of the same nature as those of the past, such as the election of senators by a popular iOte and the referendum. What then i the- foundation of the belief that if the common people should take charge of the government and put the trusts and plutocrats out, that they would proceed to t pass injurious and unjust laws? There is ,- no foundation for such a belief.' It ? is only the devilish scheming of the" plutocrats to retain power. &h':1&.Z-. v That the government would be safer lr the hands of those who work and Produce the wealth than in those who grab' it after it is produced by means of tariffs and trusts, is the foundation fact upon which The' Independent puts most implicit faitfi. " , ' OHIO AND INDIANA There seems to be a fair prospect of a contest that will settle the ques tion whether, the Dave Hill or Bryan democracy ig Jhe most popular The Dave Hill kind bias control of the par ty in the state of Indiana and In Ohio, lying right alongside, of it, Tom John son is said , to 'have routed the McLean forces, even . cleaning out McLean - in his own county. The Ohio democratic state convention , has not ..yet been held, but news from that section is to the effect that it will be a Tom John son convention from start to finish, and they will indorse the Kansas City platfornTand Bryan. The platform will contain vigorous 'planks on tax re form and public ownership" and forge ahead on distinctively radical lines. Tom Taggart and" his gang of gold bugs will see what they can do in Indiana and when the "election is over we can compare results. At present it looks as if the Indiana democrats will appear, after the votes are counted, as about equal to the tag end of noth ing They are so insignificant at the present time that the republican pay not the least attention io them! Over in Ohio it will be different. ' There is a prospect there of about the liveliest campaign ever known in the state. Even before the . convention is held the campaign is on and the old re formers, with "the right kind of a plat form and the right kind of candidates in view1, are out making arrange ments for meetings, circulating literal ture and talking bn the street corners. ' Private letters to the editor of The Independent tiom 1 Indiana say that thousands' of democrats In ' that state will vote for their county, nominees arid, give: ttfe state,, officials '-the go-bye, while thousands of ottersVw'ill, just to give Taggart and his -crew a lesson, vote-the republican ticket."' It is announced alsO that Hill has obtained complete control. of the democratic-machine in New York and;that he will name the ticket. Other let ters from New York say that the Bry an democrats there will either stay at home or vote the liberal democratic ticket. It will be a good ' thing , for the democrats to settle this matter this year. The .populist watches it with iriterest IT WILL JAR THEM A Washington dispatch informs us that the "officials of the interior de- partment have just adopted rules and regulations relating to the transfer of Indian lands which they believe will spoil the plan of a syndicate of land locators. Evidence has been received at the department to show that this syndicate has been arranging to se cure possession of very valuable tracts of land in different states, particularly in the west and northwest; by a scheme for swindling Indian jowners of the lands." .. . ..';;:. y. ' That news will be a terrible jar to a clique of republican politicians in the northern part of this state. But what ever swindling has been done is direct ly attributable to the Washington offi cials themselves, for ?making such rules and regulations for trie sale of these large bodies of valuable land, as were promulgated when they came upon the market. A FA1R SAMPLE The ratio of 1 to 13, as a basis for assessing the property of rail--way corporations in Nebraska, is a live issue and will continue to en gage the attention of the people. Omaha Bee. But how- shall it - be settled? By electing the populist-democratic ticket pledged to. raise the railroad assess ment to at least forty millions, or by electing the republican' ticket and thereby necessitating a mandamus suit every year? - Mr. Rosewater deserves credit for his attempt to secure in court what the republican board should have done' on its own motion, but the officer who must be compelled to do his duty at the end of a man damus suit is certainly not the one to settle ajive issue. Perhaps Mr. Rose water tries to deceive himself into thinking that the question is not a political one but it must be settled by officers elected by some political party nevertheless. Shall it be by men who make a definite pledge as to what they will do, or by men who strenuously oppose what Mr. Rosewa ter seeks by mandamus to compel them to.: do? .: t . t THAT MAN LOOKS WELL WHO WEARS ARMSTRONG CLQIK J Yt vvV H- 1 , f ' ..." w It does majk .;"ilferencc That -Jilothes you wear. Too many people are interested in good appearance for you not to care. -, You are just as good figure 4ml just 48 good face as the other man. All you need is the proper suit to make the proper impression. And this is confidential should there be a trifle of 4 defect inyour form, there ' are clothes made to hidedefects. An Armstrong suit is the one thing needful. i We have a world-beating display of new fall arid winter styles in suits and overcoats. - s They are soma better in quality and some better in low prices than elsewhere. ' The selling figure fits your pocket book as well as. the clothe fit your form, , , ' r See the suits or samples of the suits selling at $7.5o, $8.(75, $10.00 . ; $12.50, and $15.00 ARMSTRONG CLOTHING M. 1221-1223::-122B-1227-0 STREET, LINCOLN. NEB. . XNOLAND'S DECLINE iv hundrtid columnsF have been wrhttn 'within the last three or four. years concerning' tne aosj; leaaersnip of rjlifud In the world's" affairs. None of tisse writers seem to have touched the1 rca' j; underlying cause, v It is not on cccciint of the loss of trade nor the tad ; management of financial af fairs. At is not tariffs nor js it free jtraa. t is the same' kind of dry rot that hat begun in these United States. Th taslSjOf .it all is that honor, posi tion an d i influence '! is given to the posr ;3ori)f money instead of to man- boa;.,y. .;;:-:; ,,;-!:. ,:: :r 1 ra.&ni in all England can obtain any: ; -Vmlnent position unleus he has moL; niyl a good pile.of it- If ina, borif it , town a v man aspires to be maj : vi .how does he get the place ? Firt "b p must have moxiey.' Second, he I . zt 'Vave jnade large donations, to chacl-ilile! institutions to. help feed and '.he the! thousands of starving wha h3rrebeen made nauners bv EnK- I lanir e homlc system: '.The principal use-i. :i ie ' of "the' lower pities in the kirit'Jrni (a to bestow" tneni on persons who ve made large dona.tions to chailtyr, An Englishman devotes him self Uf ; years s to a groveling, sordll search ' for money. He grinds down his cziKlayes 'to the starvation point.' HefTror ks with his rake in the alleys and cLfriof the poor, gathering up ev ery r srnt that he can extract from thepi ttfatil he begins to . grow gray. AllHl:8f e jyears he discards every no ble j' ration, drives' every generous thout' from' his mind and delves and digs tor money-; TWln at last his whcla nature has r been imbruted by yeans o J oppression -and grabbing for pennlss' when ..'it is impossible t for him to h4ve any statesmanlike views or kzovldge of what is for the pub Hciwelf are,-he tries to round out his career,-' by becopiing mayor of his town. !f he can get that, he in the big man" off the palace. The "acme of 'his amtltloa is to be the man to present an I tii f ess ; and '. the freedom of the town 'iift some lord or duke.r If he is extreriily fortunate, to s6aie scion' Of ToypZz who may visit the place. Be side t hat, : he presides at political metetii s' of his party" and "has influ ene Ujt selecting the parliamentary caiiia te although that ' candidate ' is chcr ;at and sent out there by a, club in Jlibi&pnV.'. i, .':- :" ' ' " -v'".'' v;- .'" ' e ; has - been mayor . for a whil.3,1makes some inore contribu tlojcis tc. supply weak soup and brown brpadHtp jthe castaways in' the alms hohsssjj whom he 'has" helped to make pattpers f iThis is . published In all the paptrsl tHe peasants lift theif hats to hip. nmipila final glory comes wheA he. is I red, hfzed by royalty and is 1 al lowed! tbl sign ! himself "Sir John Brc:rof o,j such ambitions are .the ma jority It? the upper middle class in Engliairevoted. They, are Ignorant, thev z.r sordid" thev are utterly unft to -'-'.. ... ... .... sujnee the policies or gume me spoke jff northea Zt.r destlnli pt a town, let alone a na tion, v ? ne of these mayors presided at "k tsi :eting in one of -the cities of middle-, England addressed by the edi tor cf the Independent, and T in his in tf z Zw lory address showed that bje did . not ij-iiow in which direction was theMJnJsd States of America. He 'our friend from the far I'his Joan, who by nature was strong an4 'xi'''l vigorous intellectual power, had dey&ted all the years of his man hoci to ettin' money. He had made idols . i id; sold them to the heathen while t -y paid most of his employes four or Fflve shillings a week-i-many of the t g. id employes were then in the alirs hense and he had "grown famous by I i-l dis donations to .them. He lf- ' ; was an .absolute tyrant in his home where he ruled with ; a rod of iron. Whatever was, lovely had been ban ished" therefrom. For thirty years of Lis 'life t.he had ' hunted for pound, shillings, and pence. He hud found them, but all that would go, towards maHirig a virile man had been ban ished from his soul. It is the policy of the whole British nation to make the possession of mon ey the standard not manhood. If ac quired in very large amounts the man becomes, a "lord," like Thomas Braa sey. So Jt is money, money, money, and nothing but money; that forms the policies and shapes the course of the British empire. --.,;. It Is true that a condescending sort of honor is paid to great writers and scholars, the inventors there having come in for even a smaller recogni tion. This policy ha3 begotten a dry rot and stopped the progress of th race. That is what is the mater with England. Money is the first requisite for. hpldingjjaofiJce In the British army. At present a man must have an r income of $3,000 besides hl3 pay be fore he v is permitted to hold & com- mission in that , arm of the service. The efficiency of an army orAanlred on the plan that every officer must be the possessor of a large amount cf money was shown, in the Boer war. Such an army as that, when brouRht face to face with one organized on the principle of the manhood and ability Of the officers, can easily be imagined. It is no more unsafe to make the pos session of money the base for a com mission in the army than to make it the , requisite : for! holding political offices. . t S . This English policy of making mon ey, the basis of honor and fame is fast getting a foothold in the United States. Carnegie and Rockefeller have gath ered fortunes-from the labors of other men and are trying to make them selves immortal by donations to char itable, purposes, just as Enpllahmen gain fame and . position on the little Island across the sea. If Carnegie and r ickefeller had been English subjects they would have been made "lords and members of the upper bouse of parliament. Therejar many such mn in. the English house of lords and they were gathered from Ahe four corners of the . earth to overthrow Gladstone who refused, to become a lord. That act was one of the great factors In England's decline and has. resulted In a standing threat against the British empire The. danger to England and the United States-the great and im minent danger Is the. making of the possession ' of money the standard of excellence Instead of righteous man hood. VOn that rock the kingdom of Mammon is founded, and the wrecks of many empires and republics float in the watersajromidit "A $5,000,000,000 dividend' on a $15. 674,69047 investment," Is .the way Public Opinion heads a review of news paper comment on the great crops of 1902. The "investment" is doubtless census figures for 1900, but the 'divi dend" is simply gross returns and not a dividend at all In the correct senso of that word. Out of the five billions must be. paid a world of expenses be fore there is any real dividend. After several million farmers have been ac corded fair pay for their work, and taxes, and, Insurance, and a great many other expenses have been paid out of this five billions and interest on the farm mortgages has been paid it will, be time enough to talk about dividends. Of course there will be one r and a good one, too; but a good deal of it must be used to make up for "assessments" incurred in some of the yegrs when Mark Hanna forgot to have it rain. - V f