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6
The Commoner.
VOLUME 3, NUMBER 1
CUKBeNT OPICS
jOv ZT. -a-. .--
VHP
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PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES WHO
complain of tho tribulations consequent to
oxtromo cold weather and the machinations of tho
Ico trust will understand that their condition after
all is very comfortable compared with tho condi
tion of sonio other pcoplo in tho world. The St
Petersburg correspondent of the Chicago Chron
icle says that northern Siberia is threatened with
an ico ago, and that tho winter has never before
boon anything liko so sovcro as this year. Tho ox
tromo cold wcathor began last July before tho
grain was ripe. Tho grain froze in the fields and
beforo tho end of September, tho usual harvest,
tho oarth was cracking with intonse frost Ac
cording to this correspondent "so unusual an oc
currence extending 1,000 miles, attracted the at
tention of tho Russian authorities and an expedi
tion sent to inquire into tho causes now re
ports that huge masses of polar ice .are rapidly
leaving the vicinity of tho polo and wedging them
selves against tho coast, where they will never
thaw, and that tho impact of tho masses from tho
polo is driving tho ico far up on tho land. About
1,000 villages havo been deserted. Tho Samoycds,
tho aborigines of tho country, accounted specially
woathorwlso, say that tho Siberian grazing grounds
for reindeer aro being gradually driven southward
and that tho zone of tros and coarso grass within
tho memory of tholr old mon was 200 miles north
of tho present limit"
& if
AKSADiUR OF THE COMMONER WRITES:
"Ploase give us a short history of Tho
Hnguo tribunal, where located, after whom named,
when founded, together with its jurisdiction. There
is a good deal of ignoranco on this subject." Tho
Hague is a city of tho Netherlands. It is famous
for its gonoral beauty and tho handsome archi
tecture of its buildings. Its streets aro intersected
hy canals with rows of trees planted on either
side, tho canals being spanned by elegant bridges.
PERHAPS THE BEAUTY OP THIS QITY HAD
somothing to do with its selection as the
meeting placo for international conferences. Even
in 1869 tho international statistical congress met
at Tho Haguo. Tho Haguo tribunal to which this
correspondent rofcrs grow out of a suggestion
mado by tho czar of Russia. Pursuant to tho
czar's suggestion an international conference was
callod to moot at Tho Hague on May 18, 189D. Tho
various governments of tho world were invited to
send representatives to this conference and tho
original purpose of the meeting as stated by tho
czar was to consider plans for the disarmament
of tho governments nud to promote tho peace of
tho world. When this conference assembled tho
disarmament proposition was regarded as being
impracticable, but tho conference finally agreed
.upon a plan of arbitration, which plan was de
signed to promoto peace.
ACCORDING TO THE AGREEMENTS EN
terod into at "that conference it is provided
that in case of disagreement between nations be
fore appealing to arms they will havo recourse
so far as circumstances allow it to the good offices
or mediation of one or more of tho friendly pow
ers, in order to carry out this plan a permanent
court of arbitration was established, tho head
quarters of which wero to bo at The Hague and
placed under tho direction of a permanent secre
tary general. Each of the signatory powers wore
authorized to appoint four persons and these per
sons constitute tho mombers of tho court Tho
membors of this court aro appointed for a term
of s x years. When governments desire to apply
to tho court for a settlement of differences, they
aro o choose out of tho gonoral list of members
or tho court tho number of arbitrators jointlv
agreed upon. Other powers that did not take
part in this conference or agree to its conclusions
havo ho right to apply to tho couTt under to
proscribed condition. Tho Hague tribunal la mere?
y a court of arbitration and its jurisdiction de
pends upon the consent of both parties to a con
troversy. It was expressly stipulated by tho rep
resentatives of the United States that the agree
ment did not involve tho concession that purely
American Questions worn f i, ",:,"., purely
"n. By this "to"T wnsJ . aoa
that tho Monroo aootrino. for Instanco, ahouM
never be submitted to The Haguo or to any other
court
THE VAST EXTENT OF LEGISLATIVE OPER
ations of our government, according to the
ff Yor Sun, is reflected in certain specified dis
bursements which havo an extraordinary range.
Tho bun says: "While it appears that only twelve
packs of playing cards and three packages of the
game of dominoes were ordered during tho fiscal
year on tho account of the senators, they con
sumed not less tnan a dozen quarts of hair tonic,
costing $29.70 at wholesale, and the generally pre
vailing conditions of prosperity aro indicated by
their requisitions for not less than 162 pocket
books and purses, varying in price from 45 cents
up to $28, besides eleven of the so-called mesh
bags of gun metal or sterling silver which aro
hung at tho waist, four 'beaded bags' and threo
'wrist bags.' Three senators indulged in manicure
sets, and one a copy of Bowley's 'Elements of
Statistics.'" It is further pointed out that tho
remarkable total of 9.100 grains of quinine pur
chased at different times on sanitary account of
tho senators charged to the contingent fund and
one interesting entry is this: "April 28, 5 hoxes
Copenhagen Snuff, $3.75," to which entry the Sun
propounds the pertinent query, "for which sena
torial nose?"
& Jf
THE FACT THAT THERE IS NO SEVENTH
member on the board to bo appointed by tho
government of the United States and Great Brit
ain to discuss the Alaska boundary question has
stirred tho curiosity of a great many people. They
aro curious to know what reason there is to ex
pect results from a board composed of six mem
bers, three of whom aro appointed by tho United
States and tho other three being appointed by
Great Britain. A United States senator, a mem
ber of the foreign relations committee, provides an
interesting solution for tho problem. The Chica
go Chronicle quotes this senator as saying that for
tho first time a tribunal of a character to com
mand respect would consider the boundary ques
tion and that when the American commissioners,
who must be jurists of established reputation,
come to a decision after hearing all the testi
mony that decision "will be immediately accepted
by the American people as final," although all the
British commissioners may reach a very different
conclusion.
T T IS EXPLAINED BY THIS SENATOR THAT '
1 after this has been done "tho president can
safely and honorably take his stand and announce
to tho world that the boundary of the United
States will run exactly where our commissioners
run it Tho people hero will bad? him up in this
and the result of tho commission will therefore bo
a final delimitation of the panhandle of Alaska "
The Chronicle, commenting upon this statement
says that while the American people will accept
tho conclusion of their jurists as final, the British
people may be expected for the same reason to ac
cept the conclusion of their jurists as final and
tho Chronicle thinks that therefore there is small
hope tor a final settlement of the boundary ques
tion. Perhaps the Chronicle may bo reassured
Twr,adin,sAUo amous a(ldress written to the
British ministry by Richard Olney. m that ad
dress Mr. 01 noy said in effect that "on American
"the law StatGS iS sovereign and ita fiat 1b
HPHE PLANS FOR THE MANHATTAN BRIDGE
A recently made public indicate that that will
be tho longest city bridge in tho world. The
structure will bo lO.Uuu feet in length. The New
I0rnLCrMSPO?dent.of thG phadelphia ess, de
scribing tho plans for this structure says: "The
oye-bar-link cables will be a feature. There win
be four of the caWes, each a succession of nickel
clars- oind together by bolts through eyes
n each end of every bar. The roadway will be
In the center and the lower decks will bo broad
enough for four three-horse teams to pass abreast
There will be four trolley tracks, two on each
side of the roadway, with four elevated train
tracks on the upper deck. To promenades, eacS
nearly twelve feet wide, will bo on the outer
sides of the lower deck. Two hundred million
passengers a year can be carried across the bridge.
A unique feature of the bridge will be the steel
tower, which will work backward and forward on
pivots so as to take up tho strain and slack of tho
cables."
THE WOMAN WHO AT ONE TIME OWNED
Dred Scott died recently at Springfield, Mass.
It will be remembered that Dred Scott was tho
slave who became the subject of the great legal
controversy so frequently referred to in history re
lating to slavery. The name of this woman was
Mrs. C. C. Chaffee. At her death she was eighty
eight years of age. A Springfield, Mass., dis
patch to the New York Sun says that "Dred Scott
was left to Mrs. Chaffee a slave by her first hus
band, Dr. Emerson of St. Louis, and she had
practically given Scott his freedom after moving
to Springfield A lawyer brought suit on tho
claim that Scott had been freed by being taken in
to a free state. He hoped by this to gain Scott's
freedom and obtain fourteen years' wages for
him. The local court decided in his favor, but in
three succeeding courts up to tho United States
supreme court, it was declared that the negro's
ownership was not affected by his being taken
into free soil. Immediately after the suit had
been decided in her favor Mrs. Chaffee liberated
tho man."
3f a?
THE DRED SCOTT CASE WAS ONE OF THE
famous legal battles in the world's history.
Dr. Emerson, the first husband of Mrs. Chaffee,
moved from Missouri to Wisconsin in 1834, taking
with him his slave, Dred Scott Dr. Emerson, ac
companied by his slave, finally returned to Mis
souri and Scott brought suit in a St Louis court
claiming that he was entitled to his freedom and
that of his wife and two children because his
master had taken him to live in a free state. Tho
St Louis court decided in favor of Scott Dr.
Emerson appealed to the Missouri supreme court
and that tribunal in 1852 reyersed the lower court
and decided that Scott was yet in slavery. Subse
quently Scott and his family were sold to John
F. A. Sandford of New York and Scott again
brought suit for freedom, this time in tho United
States court at St Louis. This suit was com
menced in 1854. The federal court in St. Louis
decided against Scott and the slave appealed to
the United States supreme court. Montgomery
Blair and George P. Curtis volunteered to repre
sent Scott free of all expense. The case was tried
in 1856 and the judgment of the lower court to
the effect that Scott was still In slavery was af
firmed. THE POINT UPON WHICH THE SUPREME
court largely based its opinion was that the act
of congress that prohibited slavery north of lati
tude 36 degrees 30 minutes was unconstitutional.
Commenting upon this decision Thomas F. Benton,
said that it placed the government in a new light;
indicating slavery to be the organic law of the
land while freedom was the exception. The Dred
Scott case had much to do with contributing to
the energy of those who insisted upon the aboli-
qp0nnttlSalaVy.algeHier- lt seems that after
5SS i, Z ld toMli San(lfor and after he had
otinT1C1aS!!,in.th0nUnitGd States vome court
MrcTrw, iSi fam ly passed bv inheritance to
Mrs. Chaffee whose husband was Calhoun C. Chaf-
Mv ChSfnniM001188 from Massachusetts.
TavlSr Blow nf q?1? W,ife conveyed d Scott to
QpA w l St Louis- aml B1w formally gave
nose afndthhoSnamily frGedom' that bGine te pur
OhaffeJ! convevailce made by Mr. and Mrs.
A LL THE STORIES RELATING TO VERY
UnWaSCLS!;0I)iG' StCTies VGry miliar n tho
unitod States, have been discounted by a talo
dent oHf frrHm the Moscow' Russa correspon
ded savs ethGiCnaS0 Chronicle- This correspon
years olfi nironi a , ma,n who is moro than 200
te bSi tn 5L Tdy '? th? third centurv Mb life,
n !? f bQ in a h0SPital in Tomsk, the capital
e?n SbL"aWa7 ?rVinCe of that name in west:
ridden hut nm? iS a ,8ma11 peasant armor, bed-
AmonT thf IwLf G? at and tne Catherines.
trme aee t ? n tS Gil a8 proof ' "is ex"
iJr? i Ss a Passport bearing the dato of
1703. in which he Is described as I mil 60 year
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