The Commoner.
6
Curnnt Copies
REPORTS FROM PARIS ANNOUNCE THAT
Attorney General Knox made a brief stay in
tuat city, where lie wont for the purpose of in
vestigating the title to the Panama canal property
offered to the United States by the French com
pany." It is stated that the attorney general has
found the title to bo valid and that the organiza
tl6n for tho canal work will be promptly pushed.
TN RECENT YEARS MANY DISCOVERIES
X have beon mado concerning tho uses to
which paper may bo put It is now announced that
artificial teeth and "uppers" for boots and shoes
may bo made of "paper. It is also announced that
a business firm in Boston has undor consideration
the proposition to begin the work of manufac
turing hats from paper.
THE GOOD WORK UNDERTAKEN BY CIR
cuit Attorney Folk in unearthing tho corrup
tion in public offlce at St Loiiis is progressing in a
way eminently satisfactory to good citizens ev
erywhere. Indictments have already been re
turned against eighteen members of tho municipal
assembly and Mr. Folk has been placed in pos
session of the mothods of the combine by its "busi
ness agent," J. K. Murrell. The purpose of this
combine as stated by Murrell was "to sell legisla
tion" and in one instance the sum of $75,000 was
placed in a safety vault, to which vault the "busi
ness agent" of these public officials was given tho
koy. According to Murreil's confession this com
bine received ?47,600 for one measure in which a
great corporation was Interested. Mr. Folk is
now seeking to bring the bribe givors as well as
the bribe takers to justice and it is to be hoped
.hat he will succeed in his patriotic effort
EVEN THE CHILDREN ARE TO BECOME
the victims of the trust system. The candy
trust has been organized in New Jersey with a
capital stock of nine million dollars, which it is
announced will soon bo increased to twenty-five
million dollars, probably after -undergoing the
water cure treatment. The charter of this new con
corn states that the object ofvthe company is to
manufacture sugar, glucose, candy, chocolate,
licorice, chewing gum, popcorn, or any other va
riety of confection.
A STRANGE INSTANCE OF PRECOCITY AND
its unhappy results is reported from Ind
ianapolis, Ind. Carl Linn, a child three years of
ago, recently became famous becauso he had
learned to ride a bicycle, which was built espe
cially for him. Tho child had not yet learned to
talk and had but commenced to walk. The little
one was attacked with brain fever and menin
gitis and after an illness of several weeks died.
Physicians attribute tho child's death to bicycle
riding.
THE LEGAL PROFESSION HAS FOR SEV
eral years felt the effect of the trust sys
tem. H. Gerald Chapan, editor of the American
Lawyer, says that "within twenty years the indi
vidual or general practice lawyer will be extinct
except only in the remoter country districts. As a
calling the law is fast becoming obsolete." Mr.
Chapan says that all law business may be divided
into ton parts, as follows: Real estate 3, corpora
tions 2, commercial cases and collections 2, wills
and estates 1, accident and negligent suits 1, de
fense of criminals 1. In all theso parts, accord
ing to Mr. Chapan, except perhaps the last one,
the lawyer is beginning to be superseded by other
agencies.
THE CONFESSION OF J.-K. MURRELL WITH
relation to corruption in the St. Louis mu
nicipal assembly, rovealed the fact that the coun
cllmen who had combined for the purpose of sell
ing legislation had each beon required to subscribe
to a blood curdling oath, in words as follows:
"I do solemnly swear beforo the Almighty God
that in associating myself and in becoming a mem
ber of this combine I will vote and act with the
combine whenever and wherever I may bo so or
dered to do so. And I further solemnly swearthat
I will not, at any place or time, reveal the fact
that there is a combine, and that I will not com
municate to any person or persons anything that
may take place at any meeting of tho combine.
And I do solemnly agree that in case I should re
veal tho fact that any person in this combine has
received money, I hereby permit and authorize
other members of this combine to take the forfeit
of my lifo in such manner as they may deem
proper, and that ray throat may bo cut, my tongue
torn out and my body cast into the Mississippi
river. And all of this I do solemnly swear, so help
me God." It is strange that men who would enter
into a conspiracy for the purpose of "selling leg
islation!' would imagine that an oath pretended
to bo taken in the presence of tho Creator would
havo binding effect Tho oath taken by the St
Louis conspirators is the worst bit of blasphemy
that has beon brought to public attention in recent
years.
npHE CHARACTER OF THE RECEPTIONS
X accorded tho Boor generals by the English
people may be better understood when one reads
an editorial protest made by the Sheffield Tele
graph, referring to the ovations accorded Botha,
Delarey and Do Wet. The Telegraph says: "No
one is churlish enough to wish to withhold a
courteous greeting to our old foes who fought so
stubbornly. Far less will anyone refuse to accept
them as friends if they are honestly done with
tho past and at heart loyal to the peace of
Vereoniging. But what need is there for British
crowds gathering round these men, literally be
sieging their hotel and following them with tu
multuous cheering'' whenever they apear in pub
lic? Why shoulu we make heroes of them, and of
the three why should wo single out DeWet as tho
greatest hero? Popular imagination, we know,
was fired by tho daring and resourcefulness of the
wily Boer who so frequently escaped by the skin
of his teeth from positions in which he seemed
hopelessly pinned, but is DeWet tho sort of man
around whom should gather the glamour of ro
mance? The war is but of yesterday. There are
thousands of homes saddened with vacant chairs,
homes hallowed by memories of brave men who
havo found soldiers' graves on the veldt some seven
thousand miles away. Let us remember our. own
people first How must these cheers and shouts of .
'Good old Do Wet!' sound in the ears of "widows
bereft of their husbands, of fathers and mothers
mourning over their sons?"
NOT ALL OF THE FOREIGN PAPERS UN
derstand political situations in the United
States, but the Vienna Neues Wiener Tageblatt
is an exception to the rule. This paper, comment
ing upon Mr. Roosevelt's "campaign against the
trusts," says: "Messrs. Morgan, Carnegie, and
Rockefeller can rest content that tho president
does not mean mischief, but quite the contrary.
That military imperialist sees in trusts a national
source of power and a medium for American econ
omic imperialism. Accordingly, he takes them
under his powerful protection. Europe knows
what it has to expect from President Roosevelt,
tho once-Teputed opponent of trusts, who is now
transformed into a reckless economic imperialist"
WHEN INFORMED THAT SPEAKER HEN
derson had withdrawn from the congres
sional race, Postmaster General Payne declared:
"This is the most extraordinary thing that ever
occurred in American politics." One of tho inter
esting features of Mr. Henderson's sensational re
tirement is the general amazement occasioned by
his action even among his political associates.
It is reported from Dubuque that Mr. Henderson
consulted only with three friends before he made
his announcement, and that even in these in
stances, he did not ask their advice, but simply
announced to .them his determination to withdraw.
IF ANYONE DOUBTS THAT THE HENDERSON
retirement occasioned general surprise
among even the political associates of the speaker
the doubt may be removed by observing the man
ner in which the news was received by the re
publican party leaders. Tho New York corre
spondent to the Chicago Record-Herald says that
Speaker Henderson tossed a dynamite shell into
tho midst of a quiot conference between President
Roosevelt and his quintet of senatorial advisers
late this afternoon. If a foreign battle ship had
hove to in Oyster Bay and thrown a thirteen-inch
stool shot Into the cottage at Sagamore Hill it
could not have caused more consternation than
did thd news of Speaker Henderson's withdrawal
from the congressional r;ce.
MR. ROOSEVELT WAS SEATED UPON THE
piazza of his home in company with a num
ber of. friends wnen he was called to the telephone
"for a talk with Mr. Babcock, chairman of the re
publican congrossional campaign committee. Mr.
Babcock had received Speaker Henderson's tele
gram and it is reported that "his agitation trem
blod over the wires to Oyster Bay." Returning to
Vol. a, No. 36.
the porch it is said that the president "falrlv
shouted the news at his visitors." Senator A1H
son was one of the president's guests. ,He promnt
ly declared: "I don't believe it ' There must ha
some mistake. Henderson could not make such a
fool of himself." It is said that at the very time
this news was announced to the president, he was
discussing with his friends the embarrassing po
sition in which the republican party was placed
with relation to the trusts and tariff. The New
York correspondent of the ChicagoRecord-Herald
says: "And at that moment there descended upon
the president and his council of wise men word
from the speaker of the house that in one of the
banner republican districts of a, banner republican
state he would not stand for re-election, because
he was not in sympathy with a largo share of his
party who wanted something like free trade. This
was dramatic, indeed. It was almost tragic. Tho
news from Iowa had cast a heavy shadow over tho
president's policy party."
SOME OF THE STATEMENTS MADE BY THE
president's guests on this occasion with re
spect to Mr. Henderson's withdrawal will be of
interest. One of the number exclaimed: "Well,
wo have just decided that Tve don't want a tariff
question to bother us this year, and here is Dave
Henderson coming at us line a clap of thunder
out of a clear sky, making it absolutely certain
that we've got to have a tariff question whether
we like it or not." Senator Allison sighed and de
clared: "It is incomprehensible, absolutely in
comprehensible." One member of the republican
congressional committee declared: "It will cost
the Dubuque district," and another said: "That
isn't the worst of it; it will cost the next house.
This is an earthquake and it means" that the re
publican party is going to split in two on the tar
iff question. This explosion will reverberate
throughout the country. In twenty-four hours the
people of the United States will be talking revision.
The thing has baen smoldering for a long time,
and now Henderson has suddenly blown, it into a
blaze. If we save the house of representatives af
ter this we shall be in great luck."
THE QUESTION WITH RELATION TO MR.
Henderson's withdrawal that is uppermost in
republican gatherings is, "Why did he do it?" Re
publican leaders are seeking to devise all manner
of excuses in order to avoid the one presented
by Mr. Henderson himself and the one which
will have perhaps me most disastrous effect upon
the fortunes of the republican party. No attempt
is made to conceal the fact that republicans are
sorely grieved because of the speaker's action.
They think that his retirement under fire is a poor
return for all the honors which the republican par
ty hasN bestowed upon him, and some correspon
dents for republican papers even go so far as to
assert that the tariff question had, in fact, nothing
to do with Mr. Henderson's retirement, but that
the real reason was that he had heard that his
enemies intended to make a "scandal campaign"
against him. While, these correspondents say,
Mr. Henderson was perfectly innocent of the thing
to be charged, yet they declare he was adverse
to facing the fire.
ONE OF THE DUTIES OF THE CENSUS Bu
reau is to ascertain the number of persons
who are able to read and write in any language.
Investigation on this line indicates the conditions
of illiteracy. The bureau has recently issued its
statement on this point and it'shows that Nebraska
occupies the place of honor. The following state
ment shows the percentage of persons in the sev
eral states between the ages of 10 and 14 who are
able to read and write, the states being arranged
in the order of increasing literacy: Nebraska
99.66, Iowa 99.63, Oregon 99.58, Ohio 99.51, Kansas
99.48, Indiana 99.45, Connecticut 99.48, Utah 99.34,
Massachusetts 99.33. Michigan 99.30, Washington
99.30, Minnesota 99.29, Wisconsin 99.27, New York
99.26, Illinois 99.18, Wyoming 99.08, Vermont 99.05,
South Dakota 99.00, California 98.99, Pennsylvania
98.99, New Jersey 98.81, Idaho 98.77, Colorado 98.48,
Now Hampshire 98.31, District of Columbia 98.25,
Rhode Island 98.12, Montana 98.07, Maine 97.92,
North Dakota 97.65, Oklahoma 97.26, Missouri
96.64, Delaware 95.40, Maryland 95.36, West Vir
ginia 94.74, Nevada 91.88, Kentucky 91.56, Texas
90.74, Florida 86.24, Tennessee 85.08, Virginia 84.33,
Arkansas 83.80, New Mexico' 80.07, North Carolina
78.25, Arizona 77.79, Mississippi 77.62, Georgia
77.21, Indian Territory 75.61, Alabama 71.11, South
Carolina 70.44, Louisiana 67.12. The improvement
jn the efficiency of educational systems is shown
by the fact that while in 1890 there were only thir
teen states in which the percentage of children
from 10 to 14 able to read and write was over 98,
that percentage in the report for 1900 prevails in
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