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The Commoner.
VOLUME J, NUMBER .
CCURB6NT Topics
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THE SITUATION IN TURKEY IS VERY
grave According to a writer in the New
tek Sun, most of the four hundred persons
killed during the disturbances in Salonica, fol
lowing tho dynamite explosions, were Bulgarians
and Macedonians who were shot down by Turkish
soldiers. The Sun writer says: "There seems to
bo reason to believe that the blowing up of build
ings throughout the city was the work of tho
Bulgarian revolutionary committee, its purpose
being to provoke the soldiery to savage measures
of retaliation. The statement Is constantly re
peated from the best sources that most of tho
disorders in Macedonia can be traced to tho
sinister ingenuity of the revolutionists. They
seem to be acting on the theory that relief from
tho rule of the Turk can be had only by creating
such a situation that Russia and Austria will be
forced to intervene. To further their cause they
are desperate enough to sacrifice their own peo
ple, to shed the blood of the innocents, If good
may come of it The Turks are nothing loath to
revenge themselves, and the Porte seizes the op
portunity to appeal to the powers to restrain the
revolutionary committee, and to plead that it is
impossible to carry on reforms while the country
is rent with disorders."
THE HURRYING OP A STRONG NAVAL
fleet by Italy to Salonica is regarded by the.
writer in tho Sun as ominous, because the Ital
ians havo a fair understanding of the Turkish
character. Order has been restored temporarily,
but tho slightest demonstration on the part of
the Bulgarian population may precipitate a col
lision of soldiers who if they get out of hand will
take a fearful vengeance on the Christians. Tho
Sun writer says that "massacre under cover of
the exercise of police authority is not a novelty
In Turkey. The danger is that tho dynamite
outrages in Salonica may be repeated in Uakub
and Monastir, and even in Constantinople, and
that the wrath of the Turk may blaze into re
lentless retaliation that will render him blind
to the consequences. That the authorities aro
doing their utmost to preserve order is not to be
doubted for a moment On one side we see the
allies conscientiously trying to restrain the Bul
garian anarchists, and on the other the Porfe
standing between the Turkish soldiers and the
Christian population and pleading' for forbear
ance. Neither the sultan, who hen promised re
forms and realizes that his European throne is
in danger, nor the czar and his ally, Francis
Joseph, want war. Both sides are moving heaven
and earth to avoid it, but at the present time a
conflict between Turkey and Bulgaria seems al
most unavoidable."
THE BRIEF IN THE ALASKAN BOUNDARY
case on behalf of the United States was
prepared by Former Secretary of State John W.
Foster. The United States governmert depends
almost entirely on the interpretation of the treaty
between Great Britain and Russia in 1825 in
which treaty the boundary be'woen the American
possessions of those two governments was de
fined. A writer in the Sioux City Journal, com
menting on Mr. Foster's brief, says: "Back in
1821 the czar of Russia issued an imperial ukase
laying claim to exclusive jurisdiction on the
high seas for 100 miles from the coast of Alaska
and forbidding the vessels of any otherpower
to laud on the 'coast or trade with the natives
Great Britain, then, as now, the leading maritime
power, entered an emphatic protest to this high
handed proceeding, and Russia presently pre
pared to climb down the pole. To save tho face
of Russia, tho two nations entered upon the ne
gotiation of a treaty, ostensibly to define the
boundaries between their possessions, but actual
ly to provide for Russia's recession from her
ridiculous assumption of jurisdiction over tho
high sea. This phase of the matter was well
understood at the time, and ex-Secretary Foster
has been able to quote the words of the British
minister for foreign affairs in calling attention to
the main purpose. Abandoning her claim to tho
high sea, Russia devoted her attention to secur
ing exclusive control of the ports along the coast
Great Britain did not resist Russia's demands in
this direction. Great Britain did not think very
highly of the commercial possibilities of the ter
ritory .affected, and contented herself with push
ing Russia's southern line as far north as pos
sible." AS A RESULT OF THESE DIFFERENCES
the treaty between Great Britain and Rus
sia was concluded in 1825, and this treaty pro
vided that except where a mountain range formed
a natural water shed defining the boundary, be
tween the British and Russian territory, the
boundary should be accepted as lying thirty miles
in from the coast, making the Russian territory;
constitute a strip along the coast mainland fol
lowing the convolutions of the various Inlets or
arms of the sea. The Journal writer says: "Mr.
Foster claims to be able to show that the Brit
ish negotiations at the time were ready to make
the strip 100 miles wide if Russia had insisted,
but as Russia's acknowledged purpose was to con
trol access only to the coast Great Britain was
able to make a better bargain. Not only in the
language of the treaty, but in the motives the na
tions had in mind does the United States find
confirmation of its interpretation of the mean
ing of the treaty. What Great Britain wanted
was to induce Russia to abandon her claim to sea
jurisdiction and exclusive trading privileges. In
order to do this she was willing to concede Rus
sia's claim to the coast That Great Britain in
the treaty actually did relinquish all rights along
coast territory is shown by tho treaty itself,
which provides that British vessels plying along
the coast must be provided with a special lie j
to enable them to enter the Russian ports. The
British diplomats dickered for a while about the
latter provision, but finally conceded it, thereby
conceding the point which it is now trying to en
force against tho United States."
TT IS POINTED OUT BY THIS SAME AUTHOR
JL ity that for seventy years the Russian and
British map makers alike defined the Alaskan
boundary in accord with the treaty stipulations.
It was only after the opening of the Canadian
gold fields in the interior that Canada saw the
advantage of gaining access to the coast and ad
vanced the new theory that under the treaty of
1825 the Canadians were entitled to access to
tidewater. Against this belated claim is the logic
of the treaty, that of the motives leading up to
the treaty and the record of the negotiations, and
finally the long period during which Russia's in
terpretation of the treaty, later taken up by the
United States, remained undisputed.
AN INTERESTING STORY COMES FROM
Hartford, Conn., and relates to the finding
of some money and its restoration with interejt
shortly afterwards. The story is told by the
.Hartford Courant in these words: "Three week3
a0 Marwick, frv sent one of his clerks to
the Connecticut River 'Bank with a good-sized roll
of money, including ?5 in silver quarters. On
So J?T totbe banlc the clerk ln some way lost
the ?5 in silver and returned to tell Mr. Marwick
of the fact For a few days Mr. Marwick had
hopes of seeing his money again, as his name
was written plainly on the paper wrapped around
iiTUt .wbie,J two weeks went without any
signs of it he came to the conclusion that all
Hartford was not nonest Thursday night Mr.
Marwick received a queerly addressed envelope,
and on opening it he found a new $5 bill, twenty
five postage stamps of the 1-cent denomination,
US,'!01 j?"er. The letter was as follows:
Zl nbtLa.dis0rnest man' a ro11 of silver quar
ters, containing $5, near the Connecticut River
Bank, and marked Marwick Drug Company. It
was probably lost by a clerk." There wis no
flgSUr0i r any exPlantion regarding the twen-
,-cent Postage stamps. Miv Marwick
thinks they were no doubt sent as "interest for
lseengS"y for eeks Any way he
THE FAMOUS WASHINGTON ELM IN FRONT
of the Wadsworth Athenaeum, in Hartford,
oonn., was felled recently on account of the pos
sibility of its being blown down in the spring
storms. It was discovered that a cross section
made in one of its limbs showed it to he partly
hollow and revealed that this hollo-v space took
tho shape of the familiar profile bust of George
Washington. Although some people arc inclined
to doubt the veracity of this report, it is asserts
by the people of that city that tho specimen is
really as described and has been viewed by manv
persons. It will be remembered that this elm
was so called because General Washington and
Rochambeau met under it in Hartford, and the
tree has been regarded as a landmark in the citv
for over a century. y
SOME DISCUSSION HAS RECENTLY BEEN
held over the claim made by the German
emperor that he was one of the. youngest reigning
monarchs of Europe. A Paris cablegram to the
New York World says that Emperor William is in
reality eighth in point of youth, and adds: "TLa
lnM f Spain is seventeen years old, the queen
of Holland twenty-two, the king of Servia twenty
six, the king of Italy thirty-three, the czar of
Russia thirty-five this month, the king of Por
tugal thirty-nine, the prince of Bulgaria forty
two all his juniors. William II. is forty-four
years old. After him rank prince of Mona o,
fifty-four; the king of Bavaria, fifty-five; the
king of Greece, fifty-seven; the sultan of Tur
key, sixty; the prince of Montenegro, sixty-one;'
the king of England, sixty-one; the king of Rou
mania, sixty-four; the king of Wurtenberg, sixty
five; the king of the Belgians, sixty-eight; the
King of Saxony, seventy; Emperor Francis Joseph
' JLitS??11' seveny-two; the king of Sweden,
seventy-four, and the king of Denmark, eighty
five. To go outside of Europe, the sultan of
Morocco, twenty-four; the khedive of Egypt, twenty-eight,
and the emperor of China are younger
than Emperor William, while the older monarchs
?nL eSng f Siam' forty-nine; the mikado of
Japan fifty; the shah of Persia, fifty; the empe
ror of Corea, fifty; the ameer of Afghanistan, fifty
eight, and the negus of Abyssinia, sixty."
ACCORDING TO A CORRESPONDENT OF
the New York Tribune, the record for
economy in municipal government is held by the
town of White Pigeon, Mich., which makes tho
claim that it is run as cheapjy as any town in
this country, it is said that last year it cost
the 800 inhabitants ?1,321 for expenses. Tho
health department spent $2.25 in addition to tho
health officer's salary of $20; the police depart
ment appropriation was 50 cents; the fire de
partment ?60. Two of the big items of expense
were ?145 for ground mole bounties and $126 for
woodchuck scalps. The town should have econ
omized in these, as such an outlay was very
reckless. '
SINCE IT BECAME FULLY ESTABLISHED
that mosquitoes carry the germs of in
fectious diseases, scientists- have been-, studying
the manner in which many diseases are carried
about A correspondent of the Chicago Chronicle
says that It has been discovered that the bubonic
KlJS?6 B Crilied om port t0 Prt y Tats in
X ? 5?d ,hat a Frencb investigator now finds
that the disease is communicated from rat o
fwo7i?euT,and Promiscuous intercourse be
tween healthy and infected rats or their cadavers
fhl LnraDSmits. 2? plague' while fleas conveyed
offiPPr. G in eit tests out of nine. So medical
hffnl r? now giving assiduous attention to the
health and comfort of the rats in their district
A N ACCIDENT IN CARVING THE DATE ON
JT a tombstone has caused a curious Inscrlp-
o r Sr on a stone in the burying ground
New T S Pa- ,The story is told by the
rvnf k ,T"bimo n is way: "An oddly
252 Trvn116 marks thG restinS Place, in
re? & Gr?,Und' Germntown, Pa., of the
bl?n th fnS1 ?d r.eSident that suburb- lt
IS SMQll0Wi?g inscrPUonr 'In memory of
22 S77 iJnJ'oS10 deParted this life December
town w!? 9(? 1yrears Every one ln German-
t Af?r',bvlieves that Master Shisler was
must Mv v?aelah' and is fident that there
was ThI IT STq miste. And so there
mark J X explanation i that the stonecutter
accident twmanLae 96 Instead of 69 y a
Son ftf mIgh.t h?ppen t0 any absent-minded
wttn wf CrJeCt t5e error "9" was filled
"fi TE??t.M,dMother figuro was CQt after tho
0. lime and frost have loosened the cement;