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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 10, 1902)
6 The Commoner. that resort will bo had to tho courts should Mr. Vauderbnc persist 1n Ills course. . . ' '..--, r, ,- - - '- 1 Current topics Jf S THE COAL TRUST A CONSPIRACY?" IS X tho subject of an Interesting arttclo In Gun ton's Magazino for September. The facts stated In this article will bo a surprise to many people. It is pointed out that in tho first place there "was absolutely no justification for present conditions, and It is explained: It will bo remembered that, at tho outset, tho laborers mado no demand what ovdr; thoy simply asked that a conference bo hold to arrange tho schedulo of prices and other condi tions for tho ensuing, year. That course had previously boon adopted. At tho close of tho strike in 1900, they agreed to that method. It was very satisfactory; and tho agreement terminated on tho 1st of April, 190a. A very sensible, commonplaco act, therefore, was for both parties to meet, and either confirm the old agreoment or arrange a now ono for tho future. Tho request for a con ference was an ordinary, rational procedure, which nothing but a disposition to create a disturbance could refuse. Yet tho railroads all rejected tho proposition, and while the president of each rail road mado a personal reply, tho tone, and very largely the language, of the communications were Identical, showing-that tho letters had all been written or revised by tho same hand. TN THESE SAME LETTERS RAILROAD PRES j. idents, according tc- this sanio writer, refused to confer with tho men through thoir organiza tion, wliile claiming to bo "willing to "deal justly and fairly by them (tho laborers) and give every man fair compensation for the work he per formed." In short tho operators insisted upon be ing solo arbiters of both sides of the contract. In accordance with tills idea, a few days later they posted notices at their respectivo collieries, stat ing that "tho rate of wages now in offect will con tinue until April 1, 1903, and thereafter be sub ject to sixty days notice." This was well cal culated to create a rupture, and It is difficult to interpret this action in any other light than that it -was purposely designed to produce that result. Had there been the slightest element of fairness, or respect for the common right of tho laborer to make a contract, or the desire to maintain indus trial peace, such arbitrary action could not and would not have been taken. This left the laborers .no alternative but to forego all right eventually to participate in bargain making, regarding their own conditions, or to make a specific demand and strike for it IT IS REPORTED THAT THE ESTATE OP Samuel F. B. Morse, the inventor of the telegraph alphabet, who died in 1872, has but re cently been settled. During thirty years of ad ministration in controversy, tho estate has been reduced from $524,000 to $346,000. The latter sum, It la said, is now being distributed among ttie heirs. THE RESTING PLACE OF THE MOTHER OF Abraham Lincoln has recently been marked by a suitable monumont, erected by tho Nancy Hanks Memorial association, in a sovonteen-acre tract near Lincoln City, Ind. Tho base of the monument was f:rmorly used for a similar pur pose under tho first monument erected to the great emancipator In Springfield. For more than sixty years tho grave lay neglected, but in 1880 a plain marble slab was put up through funds provided by an anonymous donor who succeeded in keeping his identity a secret. It Is reported that unless tho legislature provides for turning tho surround ing tract about tho now monumont into a perma nent park, the land will revert to Spencer county, which Is wining to complete tho task. THE DOMINEERING INSTINCTS OF SOME rich men is illustrated in a story that con- cerns William lC Vanderbilt and the stand he has taken in regard to tho people of North Hampstead, L. I. It is reported that because that place rofused to accept his offer of $50,000 for Lake Success a pretty sheet of water which has long been a fav orite resort for picnic and othor excursion parties Mr. Vanderbilt has decided to refuse right of way over property surrounding It, and which is the only means of reaching the lake. He has gone so far as to station pickets at all entrances to prevent tho',passage"of'.any,tut-thosotowbom he gives permission. This .notion on the .part -of the mil lionaire "hns-aTousod-great'oppositloh and 1t is-sald THE RETURN OF THJ PEARY ARCTIC Ex pedition has aroused a new interest in the irozon regions of the north. Lieutenant Peary has been absent for four years, and though ho did not discover the North Pole, ho claims to have mado important scientific discoveries. In 'a newspaper interview Lioutonant Peary said: "The discovery of the North Polo is merely a more or less spec tacular fact, but still one that will bo tried again and again until actually accomplished. I have traveled tho most northerly land on the globe, although I did not succeed in forcing my way ovor tho Ico to tho pole itself. The departments of scienco which will bo benefited by my sojourn in the north aro geology, meteorology, anthropol ogy and natural history. The full result of my labors, especially in the field of meteorology, can not bo fully ascertained until the observations I have taken have been worked out by scientists. Perhaps tho most important result of my labor is tho demonstrating most conclusively that the right kind of man can carry on arctic exploration with out great danger or suffering exceptional hard ships. In fact, he can work in tho far north as well as in his office in New York. I have been a close student of the tribe of Eskimos at "Whale sound, wno are the most northerly people of the world and aro completely1 isolated from all other inhabitants of this sphere. They are a small tribe, some n5or 200 In number. Tho isolation of these people has resulted in a process which has differentiated them from every other people in thoir modes of living. I have a complete collec tion of everything pertaining to their habits of life, the implements they use, etc., and have for warded them to Now York." TZ-1 DEATH OF ALEXANDER H.4 SHEPHERD at Batopilas, Mex., on Septomber 12 gives the New York World occasion to recall some of the things that he did to make the national capital what it is. Mr. Shepherd was born in Washington in 18.35. President Grant appointed him governor of the District of Columbia and be transformed the city of Washington from an unsightly mud holo into tho beautiful city it now is. At one time he was accused of enriching a political ring with public funds, but the administration stood by him, and ho sorved as governor until 1874. He had then spent $40,000,ou0 in improving the city, and on his retirement found his private business ruined. He then went to Mexico where he bought mining property at Batopilas, and carried his ideas of improvement into effect by paving the streets, installing a public library, and an olectric light plant and making the town a wonder spot to the natives, incidentally, also, amassing a fortune, and dying a millionaire. EX-PRESIDENT KRUGER OF THE BOER RE , public has written an autobiography which is to be published cimultaiieously in many coun tries on November 15. President Kruger's friends assert that whatever is made out of the book will be given to the suffering burghers. The book con tains the story of Paul Kruger's life from his childhood to the negotiation of peace. In his de scription of the Jameson raid, reflections are cast on what he calls "the irritating policy of Cham berlain" in the negc tlations. The book is certain to bo interesting as it is written with all of Paul Kruger's old-time vigor. THAT REALLY IMPORTANT QUESTIONS DO not always provoke tho most discussion is a truth illustrated by an interesting account in the New York Tribune of recent date concerning the town of Reading, Mass. Tho Tribune says: "The .question which Reading, a town about twelve miles north of Boston, is now wrestling with," said F. H. Cutler, of Bostbn, "is no less a problom than this shall the Italian fruit dealer, whoso store is on the main square of tho town, be al lowed to have a whistle on his peanut roaster, or shall he not? The citizens have taken sides on tho question; a long list of them have signed a petition asking that the Italian's whistle, which was removed some time ago by order of the po lice, be restored, wnilo many others are opposed to the restoration. So heated is tho controversy that the selectmen of the town have set a date for a public hearing, when the citizens and the Italian will meet and discuss the grave question pro and con, and by public vote it wnl bo decided whether tho whistle shall shrill or be forever silent. Tho objection to the whistle is based on aesthetic grounds; it makes too much noise, its opponents say, 'and does not keep on the key when the 'band isplaying on the common or tho outdoor meetings. ot the local ;Young 'Men's -Christian asso i xiation'brealr forth into a hymn. The Italian and Vol. a, No. 38. his supporters, on tho other hand, uro tw abolish tho whistle jwum- to- Wt?ade for h dealer, and is unfair. The sacred rights of man aro in question. It surely is a matter -worthy to be de cided by that cherished institution of our republt the New England town government" The im? which "that cherished institution of our republiol the New England town government," has played in tho formation of this government has not been insignificant, and me solution of this case win i watched with interest U bo AN INTERESTING POLITICAL SITUATION has developed in Russell county, Kansas where tho democrats have nominated S. F. Rocked feller, a cousin and bitter enemy of John D Rockefeller, for the lower house of the state leg islature. Mr. Rockefeller is making the race on an anti-trust platform and promises to secure leg islation hich will drive the Standard Oil com pany out of business in Kansas. It is reported that the chances of his election are very good and he has pledged himself to introduce a bill in tho legislature which will provido that trusts shall have no standing in tho courts of Kansas and no power to collect bills in. the state. RIVERS OF INK, FORESTS OF CEDAR, and mines of graphite aro reasonably "mild exaggerations" when applied to the total of cleri cal supplies for the government service, according to the Washington correspondent of the New York World. This correspondent points out that the war department annually' uses 861,408 pens, 32,500 pencils, 1,927 quarts of mucilage, 4.634 quarts , of black ink, 3,167 bottles of red ink and 7,000 gross of rubber bands of different sizes. There aro used annually by the postoffice department 8,250' pounds of rubber bands. 3iw,000,000 facing slips, 3,500 dozen indelible pencils, 240,000 black and colored pencils and 13,225 gross of pens. There aro 300,000 penholders used annually. Each of these is inscribed "property of the United States post office department" The headquarters of the postal service uses each year 12,000 quarts of black ink, 1,300,000 pounds of small jute twine, put up in half-pound balls, 9,500 steel erasers and more than 2,228,000 black carbon sheets. -The Interior department uses annually 146,000 lead pencils, 6,925 gross of steel pens, 5,000 quarts of black ink and 2,500 quarts of mucilage. Unestlmated mil lions of pins and uncomputed reams of paper, with millions of envelopes, are used each year in the governmental service. The treasury depart ment and othor branches of the public service use supplies in proportion to the figures given for tho war, postoffice and interior departments. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A WOMAN'S court is advocated by a number of reformers in New York city. It is maintained that it is just as important to have a voman's court as it is to haye the children's court that has been established and is operating so satisfactorily in New York city. Those that favor the plan urge that a woman's court would bo the best incentive to reform be cause having less of publicity the tendency to recklessness which the gaze of the world gives would bo minimized. One advocate of this new plan says: "It is only when a woman feels that respectability is irretrievable that she gives up hope, and any one who has watched the stream of men and women in a police court and measured the debasing influence will understand what I mean when I say that the separation of the sexes in criminal consideration would be for the benefit of society." Considerable criticism of the plan has been mado by New York magistrates and there does not appear to be great promise that the new court will begin proceedings at an early day. SECRETARY OF THE NAVY MOODY IS JUST now wrestling with a great problem that in volves the securing of ren for the navy. Many sailors when thoir terms have expired have re fused to re-enlist because of tho strict discipline and the severe work on board a warship. It is not generally known that the navy department actually operates a literary bureau and sends in advance of its enlisted officers press agents whose duty it is to put the charm of a sailor's life before tho public in the best possible light. More ships are being built and as a consequonce many more men will be needed. It is admitted that the situa tion is a serious oro and Secretary Moody Is ex pected to recommend some radical changes in tho laws relating to the navy and in the opportunities for enlisted men. to advance upon merit. THE READERS OF DAILY NEWSPAPERS aru 7er wc'ontly .treated to a story relating to " Charles Rothschilds, and. his. fleas." This story was thought to .be of sufficient Talueto be cabled .1 , iBBSsBBS