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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (June 12, 1903)
TiT?9hf'r.'rrT"twrflrit' SP 6 The Commoner. VOLUME 3, NUMBEn 21. Mw CURRGNT GOPICS Jam i! -ri7r 7?r::S2mvWL7nrTw -"m ' ' ' n.. Hbl U' . '' - AMONG THE SEVERAL PROBLEMS IN our now possessions the opium question in tne Philippines is pressing for solution. William E. Curtis, the "Washington correspondent for the Chicago Record-Herald, says that this question is much more perplexing than tho regulation of the liquor traffic and that no dellnite plan has yet been decided upon. According to Mr. Curtis, tho members of the Philippine commission have been studying tho sulject and as a result of their in vestigations have devised a scheme which will be formally acted upon and probably adopted. This plan contemplates the "farming out" of an opium monopoly to tho highest bidder, so that one per son of responsibility shall have entire control of tho sale of tho drug in the archipelago, and will bo hold responsible under a heavy bond for tho enforcement of tho regulations. It will bo tha same method which the English and the Japanese have carried out with great success, but with some modifications. It is not difficult to understand that Mr. Curtis imagines that there is a degree of philanthropy in this "farming out" of an opium monopoly, and yet many people will be a bit anx ious as to the result of this experiment. IT jc THE CONCESSION ON THIS PROPOSED opium monopoly, according to the Record -Lorald's Washington correspondent, will be granted after a competitive bidding and the per son or corporation receiving it will be placed un der heavy bond to comply with the laws which tho correspondent says "will be made as strict as pos sible." The concessionaire will not only be tho solo importer, but will also be the only agent for tho sale of opium. During tho Spanish regim3 the income to tho government from tho opium monopoly averaged about $650,000 per year. The Record-Herald correspondent ventures the state ment, however, that proper regulation under United States authority "will bo so strict as to di minish its sale and tho revenues will not be so large." Ho thinks, however, that perhaps half a million dollars per year will be paid Into the treasury by tho holder of tho opium monopoly in quarterly installments without expense to tho government He says that this will be dlsburse.l by tho superintendent of education subject to the approval of the governor general and tho Philippine commission. UNDER THE PkUPOSED REGULATIONS AS stated by the Record-Herald's correspondent, no opium may be sold to any person except full blooded adult Chinese who are in tho habit of smoking it. Every sale must too recorded in a book, which shall too open to public inspection, and the records shall show tho name and ad dress of tho purchaser, the date, tho quantity and tho amount of money paid. Each purchaser will receive a certificate giving the same information, whicn must be shown to the police if he is found smoking tho drug. Any American or native Fili pino found smoking will be severely punished and tho penalty for soiling the drug to any but full-blooded adult Chinamen will be veiy heavy. 1C or CHAMBERLAIN'S PROPOSITION SUGGEST Ing a material change in the economic pol icy of the British government has attracted wide spread attention. It Is evident that there is with in the United States division of opinion as to exactly what Mr. Chamberlain means. Henry Wat terson, wrlung in tho Louisville Courlor-Journal says that stripped of evasions the doctrine enun ciated moans an abandonment of free trade pol icy by Great Britain and adoption In Its place of a policy of protection both for the benefit of tho British farmer and the farmers of tho colonies" Mr. Watterson admits .that it is quite true that Mr. Chamberlain disclaims any intention of a re versal of u policy of the empire, but he adds that protection "being a gigantic system of im posture, must always bo introduced under false pretenses and its advocates understand this bet ter than its dupes." Mr. Vvatterson, referrlne to Mr. Chamberlain, says that "he sooks to bemiile the working masses with a promise to tax other people for their benefit, the stock argument of tho ., protectionists jln other countries. But tho in crease of the price of food produced at homo will not go into the treasury, and so cannot bo paid wWV um uB tensions. Mr. Chamberlain will find It necessary to explain this also to tho ex ponents of taxed food." IT IS POINTED OUT BY MR. WATTERSON IN this same interesting review of tho Cham uerlaln policy that of the trade of Great Britain less than one-fourth is with tho colonies and that for tho sake of this, the remaining three-fourths or four-fifths are to be put In jeopardy. In other words, Mr. Watterson says that Mr. Chamberlain would tax the British workingman for the benefit of the colonies and that he will ask the colonies in return to back him up in pushing the preten sion of the empire to rule the world. "This," says Mr. Watterson, "is the program upon which Mr. Chamberlain proposes to go to the country with the suggestion that it be sanctioned, in which event ho would be the logical premier to carry it into elfect It is a bold scheme and Mr. Cham berlain has carried through other bold schemes, but he should remember the fato of the pitcher which goes once too often to the well. It may be that his effort to commit ureat Britain to pro-' tection as the handmaid of aggressive Imperialism will not command the assent of the British vot ers. At all events, the United ivingdom seems to bo at the parting of the ways. IT IT MR. CHAMBERLAIN'S NEW POLICY HAS naturally attracted attention at Washing ton and William E. Curtis, the Chicago Record Herald correspondent, refers to Mr. Chamberlain's suggestion as "an extraordinary proposition." iur. Curtis thinks that having Involved the British government in its present financial difficulties it is only natural for Mr. Chamberlain to suggest means of recuperation and relief. Air. Curtis ex plains, however, that Mr. Cnamberlain's proposi ti) does not contemplate exactly a protective tar iff. Ho says: "It is what we would call a tariff for revenue only with preferential duties in favor of the British colonies. The British treasury 'a empty, and free trade will not fill .it. British In dustries are suffering from keen competition with Germany, France and the United States, and free trade encourages instead of restricts the importa tion of foreign merchandise. The taxes now paid toy the British peoplo are such as no other na tion would, endure, and there is no other source of revenue except to introduce collectors into tha custom houses on the American plan. Mr. Chani toerlaln is perhaps the only man in public life In Great Britain, at least tho only man connected with the government, -who has nerve enough to offer such a solution of the pending problem and suggest such a reversal of the economic policy of tho government, but it is no more sensational than was his desertion of Mr. Gladstone on the Irish question eighteen or twenty years ago, an i he is a practical man. His enemies and critics delight in calling him a "shopkeeper," and he ha3 shown hmself to be a man of great resources on many occasions when such men were needed. Ho has no sentiment, he does not care for tradition, and he has never worshiped a fetich. He is will ing to adopt any measure in an emergency." Mr. Curtis explains that the changes proposed by Mr. Chamberlain car lot take place in Great Britain for a long time and that it will be at least eigh teen months If not two years toefore the peoplo will have a chance to vote upon it AN EXTRAORDINARY STORY RELATING TO r.a 4derel,ct which has toeen floating- around ;f!e ,n Sea s related to a representative of the Chicago Record-Herald toy a naval officer who has recently returned from China. According to this naval -officer: "The Fannie Kerr is a four masted hark of 2.42G tons, built of steel in 1892 at Liverpool. Commanded toy Captain Gibtoons she left Newcastle in April, 1902, with a cargo of coal for San Francisco. Sho rounded tho Horn in safety, but her cargo caught fire in tho South Pa cific, and after trying for more than a month to extinguish tho flames the ship became so hot that the captain and crew abanuoned her on tho Gth of June and took to thoir boats. They landed at Kauai, an island of tho Hawaiian group, madu their way to Honolulu and secured passage to San Francisco, whore the captain made his report and the crew were discharged. Ho then returned to his home In Bristol. The namo of tho vessel was stricken from the list and tho underwriters paid the full amount of Insurance. On the 10th of March last the captain of the stMiM Heathdeno, bound from Yokohama to ft sighted a vessel adrift, from which smoke S to arise. Steaming toward her he discovered St she was the long missing Fannie Kerr, which ha l been gradually drifting westward severa hou sand miles for nearly nine mo- ths. with her 7a -go still on fire. He sent men aboard with a ca ble and towed the derelict to the nearest port At last accounts the probability of extinguishing' tha smoldering fire In the cargo oX coal was quite fav orable. The Fannie Kerr is a fine steel vessel and, so far as can be-ascertained by outward an pearance, her hull has not been injured." THE HOLY FAMILY, IS THE TITLE OF A pictur.e that for several years has been hanging in the Bristol Young Men's Christian as sociation. A writer in the London Chronicle sa - that there has recently come to light an Inter esting romance "In connection with that picture, and describes the same in this way: "The own lent It for a long tlmo, ana onco proposed t the association should buy it He did not wish to drive a hard bargain. The picture was obviously a good one; it was 6 feet by A feet. Would the -committee like to buy it for 10? 'If you would,' he said, 'I am so much In sympathy with your excellent work that I am willing to contributa GL myself toward the purchase money.' But the committee felt that they had more important de mands for their 5 notes, and they replied ac cordingly. By and by the owner died, and tha executors began to realize Lis estate. The picture was looked up and the work was ordered to bo packed and sent to London for sale. Judge the satisfaction of the executors when they received an offer of 7,000 for it. and were advised not to sell under 10.000. Experts have identified tha picture .as from the brush of Pietro de Cortona, the great Italian painter of the early seventeenth century," THE NAME OF GOD AS IT APPEARS IN DIF ferent languages is described by a writer in the St Louis Post-Dispatch in this way: Elohim, Hebrew; Gott, Swiss and German; Eilah, Chaldaic; Goed, Flemish; Eleah, Assyrian; Godt, Dutch; Alah, Turkish and Syrlac; Alia, Malay; Goth, Teutonic; Allah, Arabic; Gude, Danish and Swedish; Teut, old Egyptian; Teun, new Egypt ian; Gude, Norwegian; xeuti, Armarian; Bogo, Polish; Thios, Greek; Bun, Pollacca; Jublnat, Lapp; Sire, Persian; Maratal, Tartar; Deus, La tin; Diex, Latin low; Diu, Gallic; Dieu, French; Dios, Spanish; Deos, Portugese; Diet, old Ger man; Dlous, Provencal; Doue, low Breton; Dio, Italian; Dia, Irish; Deu, Olala tongue; Thios, Cretan; Jumala, Finch; As, Runic; Fetiyo, Zem tolaln; Istu, Pannonlan; Rain, Hindostanee; Bra ma, Coromandel; Prussa, Chinese; Goezar, Ja panese; Zannah, Madagascar; Puchecammae, Pe ruvian. A LAW &JIT HAS RECENTLY BEEN Com menced in which Melville W. Fuller, chief justice of the United States supreme court, is tho leading defendant This is a proceeding involving an application to obtain a jucsal construction of the will of the late Wallace C. Andrews and while it is largely a formality, it is nevertheless inter esting. The New York1 correspondent for the Chicago American explains the proceeding in this way: "Wallace C. Andrews was ono of the orig inal Standard Oil men and president of the New York Steam company at the time of his tragic death in pril, 1899. The residence of Mr. An drews, at F.n avenue and Sixty-seventh street, caught fire, and ho and nis wife and his sister-in-law, Mrs. St John, wife of the present plaintiff, wore burned to death. Mr. Wallace's will gave JJs wife a life Interest in all his property, gave ?500,000 in bequests to other relatives and then the will provided for the establishment In WU loughtoy, O., of a home and school for girls where all useful, housewifely and business trades were to toe taught. Mr. St. John formed a corporation for the establishment of tho home in accordanc3 "with tho provisions of tho wi.l, so that the pres ent directors aro Governor Nash of Ohio, Con gressman Beidler, Mayor Collister of Willoughby, tho county treasurer of Lake county, Ohio, and Mr. St John himself. The will provided further that if tho scheme for the girls' home should W any event prove illegal because of the public