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The Commoner.
Voti3.No.46.
Current topics
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AN ORGANIZED EFFORT TO RAISE ALL
freight rates in territory between Chicago
ana the Pacific coast is, according to Paul Morton,
second vice president of the Santa Fe, soon to he
made. Mr. Morton says: "Railroad frolght rates
are lower than they ought to he under the now
scale of wages and the present cost of supplies.
Some measure will have to bo taken very speedily
to readjust all our freight tariffs to meet the de
mands of the situation. Everything that the rail
roads need and deal in has been raised in price.
The views I express are the views of others also
and we are going to try to do something toward
readjusting our rates."
IT IS BELIEVED BY MANY THAT THE RE
cent increaso in wages given by a number
, of railroads to their employes was for the purpose
" of.,la3ring the fo:ndation for a radical increase in
" freight rates. Shippers do not take kindly to' the
proposed increaso and they insist that it is not
justified by the cost incurred by the railroads
either in the purchase of supplies or the employ
ment of labor. The proposed increase is vigor
ously denounced by the press genoralljr. The New
York World says that "by advancing wages and
freights simultaneously it is now estimated that
the railroads will put about $50,000,000 more in
the pockets of their employes and about $120,000,
000 more in their own, leaving them a clean net
profit of $70,000,000. The general public should
be thankful that the railroads ara not frequently
seized with these fits of generosity." The Balti
more American points out that the demands of
the railroads are very heavy and that their profits
are correspondingly large and it adds that the
railroad magnates are not making friends by in
creasing freight rates on a public convenience when
such increase is not rendered necessary by an in
crease in the cost of operation. The Louisville
Courier-Journal says that because the roads are
overrun with traffic, shortage of cars being esti
mated at about 60,000, although 80,000 new cars
have been added during the year, the situation is
such as to put the railroads in a position where
they can insist on an advance. But the Courier
Journal does not think the advance is justified.
The Philadelphia Record says that the increaso
in wages of railroad employes is merely a
shifting of the burden from the shoulders
of ' the railroad magnates to the shoulders
of their consumers. The Record adds:
"Unless the iron and steel makers and the farmers
shall be able to reduce the rate of wages paid by
them they will have to pay the increased freight
rates and make the best of it The prosperity,
. therefore, that falls into the lap of labor the astute
.. railway managers have merely acted as agents in
transferring from other sources of supply. There
Is a suspicion that when the balance is struck
there will be a superflux left in their hands."
GENERAL MILES, WHO IS IN THE PHILIP
.pines, made public an interesting statement
on November 24. In this statement General Miles
said: "I have seu 13,000 of our troops and will
inspect more before leaving. I found them to be
in fair condition. This is a hard country for cam
paigning. I inspected the principal natural de
fenses of the islands and some of the harbors
which the government may fortify. I found the
people generally impoverished from the effect of
. the war and the pestilence which followed it, and
I fear some may suffer from famine. The dearth of
farm animals leaves the people no means of re
covery!" SENOR PEDRO ALVARADO IS THE MOST
talked-about man in Mexico at this time.
This man suddenly became famous because of a
remarkable offer to the Mexican government Al
t varado was once a mine laborer and is now esti
mated to be worth $40,000,000. In a telegram to
the Mexican minister of finance, Senor Alvarado
offered to pay the Mexican debt la an interview
with a correspondent for the St Louis Post-Dispatch
the senor said: "I stand ready to make my
offer good at any tima the government gives me the
word. I have my millions. It ca came out of the
ground. I got ray title to the ground which pro
duced these millions from the government Why
should I not help my benefactor? Tho least I can
do is to pay the debt of my government That
would not be much for me to do. I hope it can be
arranged." Tho minister of finance has thanked
Alvarado for his generosity, but has declined to
accept his offor on tho ground that, it is "an im
practicable idea." Alvarado's offer should be ac
cepted. THE EFFORT OF TPIE SCIENTISTS TO UTIL
izo the sun's energy is referred to in the an
nual report of tho Smithsonian Institution. Pro
fessor Langley, secretary of the Smithsonian in
stitution, says that if alf the coal deposits of
Pennsylvania were burned in a single second it
would not liberate one-thousandth part as much
heat as tho surface of tho sun does in that unit of
time. In the opinion of those who prepared this
report tho experiments that have bpen made indi
cate that sooner or later the sun's rays will be
utilized in a practical way. Robert H. Thurston
of Cornell university says that the rapidly in
creasing destruction of the stores of mineral fuel
must sooner or late bring the world to a point
at which it will be no longer possible to derive
the power required from that source. "The per
iod is likely to be ushered in before many genera
tions," ho says. "Some portions of the world are
already presenting symptoms difficulty . in min
ing and increased price of fuel in the market, as
well as the expressed anxiety of statesmen guard-
ing the interests of the great manufacturing dis
tricts of Europe." According to Mr. Thurston the
result will be the gradual extinction of the fuel
supply and in his opinion .if no substitute for fuel
can be devised the civilized races must move to
the tropics. Mr. Thurston says that the solar
motor is a mechanical possibility beyond question
and he declares that in future centuries when fuel
Hupplies have been exhausted the sun's energy will
be employed.
TlHERE IS PERHAPS NO. BETTER KNOWN
song than "The Mocking Bird." eptimug
Winner, the composer of this song, died at his
home in! Philadelphia on November- 24. Mr. Win
ner was 76 years of. age:. It is said that he sold
"The Mocking Bird" for $35. and rthat out of vthis
investment the .publishers realized, more than $3,
000,000. ' ' , " . ' .
TPIE REPUBLICAN ADMINISTRATION IS
face to face with a problem concerning
which little has been said in the newspaper dis
patches. In one of the departments at Washington
a white clerk aged sixty years married a negro
rtoraan. This was the clerk's second marriage and
he was immediately repudiated by his two grown
children. This clerk purchased a house in one
of the residence portions of Washington and when
he installed his family therein his new neighbors
expressed great indignation because the family
consisted of one white man, his negro wife and
several negro children. Many tenants of tho
neighborhood announced that they would sur
render their leases and move away and it is said
tnat complaint will be made before the depart
ment in which this clerk is employed. As there is
no law in the District of Columbia against mis
cegenation some say that thro administration has
nothing to do with the matter.
ON THE OTHER HAND THE CRITICS CON
tend that the department will find it neces
sary to deal with the problem. The Washington
correspondent of the Des Moines Register and
Leader says: "If a clerk's conduct, although vio
lating no statute, defies local public sentiment in
such a matter as marriage involving both the for
tunes of posterity and the general social order, his
fellow clerks may refuse to associate with him,'
and the government's work bo put at a serious dis
advantage thereby. And while there Js nothing in
tho civil service rules making miscegenation a
cause for dismissal, neither is there any rule lim
iting dismissals which would interfere with the ex
ercise of the discretion of the head of tho depart
ment in such a case. The whole question is open
for decision on its own merits. Only a few days
ago a clerk was dismissed for lack of personal
cleanliness. He felt, or pretended to feel, that he
was the victim of gross oppression, but out he went
in spite of his protests. The ground commonly tak
en by the appointing powers in such an instance
is that the government is not bound, legally or
morally, to retain in its service a person who
ignores the decencies of life and thereby renders
himself offensive to those who have to associate
with him during working hours. On its face, the
case of a white clerk who marries a negress is
not precisely parallel to that of one whose un-
cleanlinesa of -person Is the cause of offence;.. and
" it is rendered all the more embarrassing, locally
by tho fact that Frederick Douglas, a negro citi-
zon of the District of Columbia, held public offices
of large responsibility and dignity for years after
his marriage with a white woman."
FROM THE STATISTICS OF THE CENSUS OF
1900 the Washington correspondent of tho
. (Jhicago Inter-Ocean has prepared a most interest
ing statement According to this showing, tho
"death months" are March and April for adults
and July and October for children under five years
of age, the mortality for both males and females
being greatest during these periods. The "health
months" for both adults and children are October
and November, when the mortality is at a mini
mum. Vital statistics show in practically every
instance the greatest mortality among the males,
evidence, the scientists assert, that tho males aro
becoming weaker physically and more' susceptible
to disease and death, while tho females are grow
ing stronger and are constitutionally better
equipped to battle for life. In the children's class,
known technically as the group "under 5 years of
age," the largest percentage of deaths per 100,000
population was in July, when tho figures show
males 675.9, females 570.5, and in August males
583.7, females 512.5, and was lowest in October,
males 380.6, females 309.4, and November, males
334.9, females 290.3. Between five and fifty-nine
years the rates for both males and females were
highest in March, males, 100.8; females, 87.7, and
in April, males, 98.4; females, 85.6, and were lowest
in June, males, 79.4; females, 63.4, and in Septem
ber, males, 73.5; fomales, 61.9. All the figures
show March to be the most fatal, month in the
year.
IT WOULD APPEAR FROM THIS SAME SHOW
ing that suicide is the most prevalent during
Apiil, May, August and January. The proportion,
of suicides has been greatest during the first de
cade on the Pacific coast,' where the deaths were
15.6 per 1,000 of population, with the South At
lantic coast, including Now York, ranking fourth,
with, a percentage of 0.7. In states where suicides
were recorded by the registration method the, death
rate from this cause, was the highest in M'tfine,
10.8; New York, 10.6; Connecticut, 10.5,. and "low
est in Michigan, New Jersey and Rhode Island,
with 9.1 each. The total number of deaths re
ported as due to suicide in the United States dur
ing the census year was 5,498, of which 4,313 wqre
males and 1,185 were females. The proportion of
deaths from this cause in 1,000 deaths from all
known causes was 5.5, while in 1890 it was but 4-5.
Shooting was by far the most popular method of
ending life, with poison and drowning in the orijer
named. The percentage of suicides was highest
among those whose mothers were born in France,
with Germany and Russia-Poland second and third.
The death rate from suicide of those "whose
mothers were born in the United States was much
lower than in other countries. Suicide is on the
Increase, especially among the married males.
The death rate of married males, from 15 to 44
years of age, was greater than in unmarried males.
After 45 years of age the rate was much greater
among the unmarried males. In females, unmar
ried, between 45 and 64 years of age, the rate of
death from suicide was greater than of those mar
tied or widowed. Males, between the ages of
35 ond 39 years, were in the majority of those who
committed suicide during the census year of 1900,
while among woman the greatest number who
killed themselves were between 20 and 24 years
old. Suicide is decreasing among the younger
generation. In cities April and May are the months
selected by a greater percentage of the persons to .
Kill themselves; while in the rural districts May
and July aro generally chosen.
IT IS REPORTED FROM LONDON THAT JOS
eph Chamberlain's visit to South Africa will
much resemble the tour of a king. A new first
class cruiser has been set aside for Mr. Chamber
lain's use and the vessel set sail November 25
Mr. Chamberlain is accompanied by a large mili
tary staff. He will visit Pretoria and other South
African towns and make a close Inspection of th
wreck which resulted from' his policies. It is said
that Mr. Chamberlain "feels his oats" these days.
Although holding a subordinate office ho is prac
tically a free lance. The'London correspondent of
the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says that Mr, Chamber
lain does not pay his colleagues the courtesy of
evep appearing to consult their views and they aro
quite ready to give him a free hand to extricate
the colonies from the terrible condition to which
his policy has reduced them. This correspondent
further says: "If tho South African jfur has been
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