The Commoner.
Dec. 26 1 190a
tJ
daughter of J. Ogdcn Armour of Chicago Tho
operation was a successful one and Mr. Armour
has announced that, he will erect -what is to be
known as the Lolita Armour Institute of Blood
less Surgery which is to he endowed with $3,
000,000. Mr. Armour invited Dr. Frederich Muel
ler, Dr. Lorenz's assistant, to become tho head
of the institution. This hospital is to be free to
any one who may be in need of the treatment pro
vided. A knife is never to be used within the
place. The new Armour Institute, is to bo, as its
name implies, an institute of bloodless surgery
and is to be for the benefit of the roor as well as
the' rich. A very fine way, indeed, for Mr. Ar
mour to show his gratitude for the relief provided
his crippled child.
AFTER ALL, PERHAPS MR. ROOSEVELT
is not to have a walkaway in the republican
national convention and perhaps, after all', Mr.
Hanna is not entirely out of ihl fight. A Wash
ington telegram to the New York world says:
"Gen. L. T. Michener, of thid city, formerly at- '
torney general of Indiana, has sent this letter to ,
numerous politicians in that state: It is bellevdd
here that Senator Hanna will try to get the presi
dential nomination in 1904, and that he expects
the support of Indiana. Some of the president's
friends are a little uneasy about'ft. Do ybu think
that Hanna could take Indiana away from Rcose
velt or Fairbanks? Kindly let me have your
views by next mail if at all convenient.'' The sup
porters of Senator Fairbanks, who still hope that
the presidential lightning may strike him in 1904,
are nervous over the letter, for they cannot make
out in whose interest it was written. General
Michener said to the World correspondent to- '
night: 'I don't know that Senator Hanna is a
candidate for president, and I don't know that lie
isn't It was purely a personal' inqury", and was
made for my own information, and It was npt1 sug
gested by anybody either in public or private life.'
General Michener was formerly prominent in Ind-1
iana politics, and was known as Gerieral ;H'ar-
. rison'S" political manager." it ,
THE SELECT COMMITTEE PN STEAMSHIP
subsidies in the house of commons recently
maa& a report This conftnlttfle. declares, bat
British ship , owners have not guttered seriously, v
by the fostering of subsidies paid, by, .the. foreign
government, that tue subsidies are merely nomi
nal factors, and that common sjcill and industry
were the major factors in the recent develppT
QT,f nf fh siiinnincr and the trade of foreign
countries, notably Germany. It is also, found by T
tii nrmTmA that subsidies restrict free compe
tition and facilitate the establishment of fedora-.
tions and shipping rings and that therefore a
general system of subsidies, except for services
rendered, and wltnout government cunuui w;
maximum rates on freights, is costly .and inex
pedient r '
IT WAS FURTHER POINTED OUT BY THE
same committee that where in 'view of spe-r.
cial imperial considerations subsidies may be de
sirable the provisions must include, adequate
a Iwa frt'i V10 nnio nr hire of any subsidized -
ship without the permission of the government
The committee considers tnai m uiue fa"
British owners a fair show against their foreign
rivals, the board of trade regulations should.be en
forced against foreign equally with British ships;,
also that the light dues should be abolished;, that
means should be adopted to secur6 the removal :of
the regulations by which British owners are ex
cluded from the costing trade of foreign countries.
The committee suggests that regulations should
be imposed on foreign vessels participating In,
the British and colonial trade of tho empire, as a.
means for securing reciprocal advantages for BNtn
ish ships owners abroad. The committee discussed
at some length the effect on British trade on the
transfer of merchant -vessels to foreign ownership
and enumerates the British lines sold to Ameri
cans, including the Morgan syndicate, and to
Germans. Dealing with the Morgan transfer, the
report says: "If tho American railway manage
ment unites with the steamship company man
agement, a very influential undertaking may per
haps be formed, but too many interests are often
involved to make such combinations quite' as
powerful as they might be supposed to be. It re
mains, however, quite certain that the transfer
of British ships to foreign flags, whether owing to
foreign subsidies or otherwise, may cause serious
results, such as developing new trades in which
British ship owners without government backing,
cannot engage and tho substitution of foreign offi
cers and crews for British."
Kl
THE RIGHTS, PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNI
ties of engaged girls wore recently passed
upon by Judge Templeton in a Toledo, O., court
One young man observed another walking out with
his fiance and proceeded to administer chastise
ment. Tho lover was arrosted and held in bonds
for the preservation of tho peace, Judge Templeton
declaring at the time: "White has seemed to
think that Miss Bosley is an automaton, his per
sonal property, a chattel. An engaged woman
has the right to go with others. After marriage
a third party may be sued for alienating the wife's
affections, but an engagement is merely a prom
ise to enter into the marriage contract The en
gagement of course should be held sacred, but
the lady has a right to accept the attentions of
other' men.
1 :
MiR. ROOSEVELT IS NOT FAMOUS AS A
punster and yet considerable attention has
leendirected to a recent attempt in that line. A
Washington dispatch to" the New York World
says: "When tho president of the United States
makes a pun 'it goes as it lays' and everybody
laughs. "When Secretary Shaw was trying all
sorts ,of expedients o. relieve the financial strin
gency Je. was severply ,critiqised n many, news-,
papers, some of which called for, his retirement
In the'midst of tne "hubbub he went to a. cabinet
meeting. t As lie. entered the room the president
shouted at him: "Hello, Shaw! I see Jfrora the
papers that X am expected to do with you what
Mitchell did .with ,hls .miners.', 'How is that?
asked Shaw, wonderlngly. 'Why .''said, the. presi
dent. Jl shall have ta send you back 'to Des
Moines!' Result: hysterical laughter by .every
body, presqnt, including the president." The 'Wash
ington 'correspondent .found it necessary ' to ex
plain that the president pronounced Des Moines
as though it sounded "Do Mines;" and yet in
spite of this- incident it may be reiterated that Mr.
Roosevelt is not fatnbus as a punster.
T T .IS RELATED THAT- TPJE 'LAST PICTURE
X drawn on American soil by Thomas Nast
the great cartoonist, jujjt, before he sailed, for, his
South -American post, hufriorously-, depicted tho
very dlseaseoto which 'he fell a victim. A writer
in th.etNeWrY.Qrk World greeting; attenlionUo this,
fact 'says; v i'rhe.; drawing- was a jocular illustra
tion 'Of "the dangers' in stpre-for him ih . th leqim
torial (region rearthquakes and yellow fever and
was bis farewell to the ' American public he had
amused and instructed for. '.many years." ;,
HP HE'.FATHR, OF AMERICAN CARICATURE,
lOIik
niifnrl
Lesliajijalsafaqfa ppr week.. His civ,il w.ar
pictures wnicn appeared, i,a .xiuvpui s vvuuuiy wyu,
for him a national reputation. President Lincoln
is credited with the statement that Mr. Nast'3
cartoohs werer the best recruiting sergeants' 6n
the sl'd&of Hie uti'ion. 'The- tigeV-now used as the
symbol-' for" 'Tammany Hall' and ;the "elephant n3w!
known as- the emblem 'irf'-carleature' of the 'repub
lican patty and the donkey as tho representative
of the democratic' partly originated will "Nast.- He
won perhaps his 'greatest fame by his cartoons diJ
rected'aga'inst' the-Tw'e'fed rlng'and 1Mb" said that
Boss 'Tweed dfc b'ne occasion 'dlvred 'Harper's
$100,000 if-they wdulU- stop their plctoral-attaCks
on him. 5 ' ' ' : . ' ;
THE CURRENCY' STEM' PROVIDED FOR
' tho Philippines' by Senator Lodge's bill la
described by the New York. Tribune In this way:
"Trie gold dollar of the United States, or .a
coin of identical value, is to be the standard of
value. But silver is the popular currency of the
islands, and will probably remain so; it surely will
in the important particular of fractional currency.'
This- fact is to be recognized in the coinage of a
silver peso, or dollar, and of smaller coins which
shall be 'aliquot parts thereof just like the sil
ver dollar, half dollar, quarter dollar and dime in
the United States. There will, however, be this
important difference, that the silver peso, or dol
lar, in the Philippl: es will be worth only half as
much as a gold dollar. This ratio will be fixed by
law,- and the Philippine government will be au
thorized to take whatever steps may be necessary
for maintaining it There is also an interesting
difference between this proposed scheme for .estab
lishing the gold standard and that adopted by
Japan in March, 1897. Japan had formerly the
double standard, with a gold yen actually worth
about a dollar of' our money and a silver yen of
nominally the same value, but intrinsically worth
much less. Japan effected tho change from the
doublo to tho single standard by cutting tho gold
yen exactly In two, tho now yen being worth about
00 cents American, while tho silver yen wao kept
at its former size, but reduced in nominal valuo to
parity with tho now gold yen. Thus it was hoped
to maintain tho two in circulation at par. But
tho bullion value of silver continued to decline,
and there was consequent danger that mon would
make counterfeit silver yens and exchange them
for gold, so further laws wcro passed prohibiting
the circulation of tho silver yen and putting mi
end to the exchange of silver for gold at par. Wo
shall see if the plan devised for-tho Philippines
will avoid tho evils of the original Japanese
scheme and the necessity of supplementary leg
islation." . . j .
tf J?
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i
oJ
AN ITALIAN HISTORIAN, PROF. CESARR.
' Augusto Levi, has undertaken to solvo tho
problem) -"Who were Othello and Desdomona?"
Professor Levi maintains that tho original of theso
interesting Shakespearian characters actually
lived and had their being. A writer in the Chi
cago RecOrd-IIorafd points out that Professor Levi
has discovered in an old v enctlan "palaco docu
ments in which tho Shakespearian tragedy is nar
rated at length. The principal characters therein
being members of aristocratic and influential fam
ilies, and though the names in the documontd'aro
not thotfe which appear in tho play the story in
both1 is so similar and there are so' many other
' points of resemblance that literary critics are of
the "unanimous opinion' that the great problem has"
at last "been satisfactorily solved. ' J '
TT"IS SAID THAT THIS SUBJECT WAS FIRST
JL 'brought to Professor Levi's attention two
s years ago .and that recently he has obtained evi
dence showing Uat Othello and Desdernona act
ually lived the tempestuous life portrayed by
Shakespeare; Professor LevJL gives an interesting
account of these discoveries. Ho says ho takes
nothing for granted and that every statement ho
makes is supported by indisputablo evidence.
. Much of this evidence comes from some lCth cen
tury manuscripts and old family portraits, and
. ', form";, ajicoMlng to the Record-Herald writer,, "a
luminous, picture of the tragic life which was J.ed
A by thd Shajresperirin hero and heroine."
t.
' ac
prld writer, ,Tkmas N.ast JielU, undis-
At fho nfTA nf 14 ho hocrjm work for Frank
TT IS' SAID THAT SEVERAL YEARS AGO
1 'Pi ofessor Levi discovered a large bundle of
letters in the archives of the Orimani palaco at
Vertlci and that after perusing these 1iq felt as
sured that they contained tho life and history of
the persona who. are known by students of Shake
speare afi Othello pid Desdernona. In brief, 'the
story obtained from Professor Levi's investigation
is as follows: Some time prior to 1542 one Maf
feo.Calergi was united in marriage to Elisabetta,
the daughter of Andrea Calergl, a wealthy Can
dian, Maffeo Calergl soon separated from his
bride, presumably it is written, on, account of her
"light, ciondyct," and Andrea, the father-in-law,
furious at ,such an, insult, lay In wait for his son-in-law
and stabbed him to death. His arrest and
trial follpwed, and only his great influence saved
him, from a shameful death. His daughter .took
as her sqqnd husband Pietro Querini, who Is. tho
living typo of Shakespear's Brabantlo, and from
this marriage came a daughter, Palma, who In
1533 married Nicolo Querini. Now, according to
Professor Levi, Palma and Nicolo Querini are tho
real names of Desdernona and Othello.
1
"fpHILD LABOR IS A SOCIAL WASTE," DE
Vl. clares Robert Hunter, head worker of the
University Settlempnt in Chicago. Mr. Hunter .de
clares also that the displacement of the adult by
the child has tho effect of retarding industrial
progress as well as reducing wages and stunting
mentally and morally the children engaged in labor
at an age when the full development of their
bodies and minds does not admit of drudgery. Ac
cording to the New York World, Mr. Hunter cited
grewsomo statistics of the history of child labor
from the English chimney sweeps of years ago to
the little workers in our southern mills, In tho an
thracite region of Pennsylvania and in New Jer
sey.' Child labor in Illinois is increasing more
rapidly than In any other state in the union. More
children under the age limit fixed by law aro at
work In the sweatshops, stores and factories in
Chicago than in New York. Child labor must be
counted where it exists as one of tho Important
causes of unemployment among adults. Tho lower
wages at which children can be hired is the great
est inducement for their employment