6
French navy, and that this Is enough. Here is
tho place to pull up. The future naval polcy of
tho United States should be simply to maintain tho
present strength, replacing old ships and keeping
tho efficiency of the establishment up to the mark
of today. Thus another of President Roosevelt s
policies strikes an obstado In tho senate. Tho
thing ho has done mo3t talking and writing about
since ho became president is the need of going
on with the upbuilding of tho navy. He has cham
pioned the big navy in almost every public address
he has delivered as president, but here comes
the senate republicans as well as democrats with
the plainest sort of notice that the limit has been
already reached. The navy is big enough. Hence
forth we should simply maintain what we have.
And so far as the senate is concerned there are to
bo no more big battleships, no more additions
to the fighting line."
REPRESENTATIVE VANDIVER, a democrat of
Missouri, introduced in the house on Feb
ruary 24, the following resolution: "Resolved, That
the attorney general inform the house at his
earliest convenience whether or not any proceed
ings have been instituted, either civil or criminal,
against the armor plate trust, and if not, why not,
and further, Resolved, That the attorney general
also inform the house what steps have been taken
by him to determine whether or not the said armor
plate trust should be prosecuted for violation of
the United States anti-trust law of July 2, 1890, or
other United States statutes against trusts and
combines in restraint of trade." The resolution
was referred to the judiciary committee.
A PREAMBLE to the Vandiver resolution re
cites that on September 6, 1901, the attor
ney genernl was petitioned to institute civil and
criminal proceedings against the Carnegie Steel
Co., and the Bethlehem S'teel Co., as combining
and constituting what, the petition alleged, was an
armor plate trust for controlling the price of
armor plate, and that there was filed witli the
attorney general and with the president a state
ment of facts and evidence showing a conspiracy
whereby the trade and commerce in armor plate
had been monopolized, and the armor plate trust
enabled to sell many thousand tons of armor plato
to the United States government at prices rang
ing from $45 to $520 per ton, after a dulv ap
pointed board of expert naval constructors had
roported that the actual cost of the armor did not
exceed $197 per ton.
TT IS further set forth in the preamble that an
1 agreement was made between the Carnegie and
Bethlehem companies as to prices and that they
have divided the contracts of tho government be
tween themselves, each bidding lower than tho
other for one-half of the armor required at any
time by the government. It is also charged that
further evidence of this conspiracy was shown in
the hearing of tho present secretary of the navv
when on January 26, 1905, Secretary Morton stated
to tho house committee on naval affairs thit tho
bids of tho Bethlehem and Carnegifcompanfes of
7,820 tons of armor plate, which had been opened
on January 12, last, were discovered to be identical.
BUT as the preamble recites, in spite of this
ovidenco, the secretary of the navy awarded
contracts to these two companies at $453 per ton
when an independent company outside of the trust
had offered to furnish exactly the same armorer
$398 per ton, thus increasing the cost to the Vov
ernment $63 per ton in order to favor tho tS
and "indicating the powerful influence ichttfc
aforesaid armor plate trust has acquired over the
government and officials of the United States."
MANY of the most familiar hymns were writ
by a blind woman. A writer in tho Xni
News says: "Few persons among those 5S ?
tend prayer meetings or revivals and SLW? 5
Binging of such hymns as "Rescue tho vll ln, thP
"All the Way My Savior Xs Me ' ann I1?,
familiar ones-a score or more all toW-nrf ther
that the words of the hymns were wnft? aWare
woman, blind since 6 months of age msthJ a
Crosby, the writer of the hymns ts now r ??
dent of Bridgeport, Conn., and will Tl
until March 24 next, celebrate her n, I lives
She is said to have enjoyed the ftSnV??
Presidents Tyler and Van Bm en Henri n?3hip of
Mam H. Seward, GenenawinSd S W"
men consp cuous in American historV ?n JhQr
cent Interview she said: 'I believe eveo-th ngnhare
The Commoner.
pens for a purpose, and what may seem to some
a misfortune is part of tho great plan that has
enabled mo to bring happiness to many through
my hymns. Not that I desire any credit, for if
I have this gift it would bo wrong not to use it
We are inspired to do things by a higher power
and should not take credit to ourselves. The
hymns quoted and others of her writing, such as
"Safe in tho Arms of Jesus" and "Savior More
than Life to Me," voice a sublime faith and confi
dence rarely found in man or woman."
REPRESENTATIVE MANN of Chicago has
pointed out some interesting instances of
rate discriminations and the Chicago Tribune edi
tor directs special attention to the statements made
by Mr. Mann. The Tribune says: "Chicago is 533
miles nearer to Montgomery, Ala., than is Boston,
but the rate per hundred pound3 on first class
freight is $1.26 from Boston and $1.38 from Chi
cago. It is 1,106 miles from Boston to Atlanta,
and the rate is $1.17. From Chicago to Atlanta
the distance is 733 miles and the rate is $1.38.
Chicago is penalized 21 cents per hundred pounds
of freight for being 373 miles nearer Atlanta than
is Boston. According to Representative Mann the
rales from Boston, New York, Philadelphia and
Baltimore are much less to the markets south of
the Potomac and east of the Mississippi than are
the rates from the manufacturing centers of the
middle northwest to the same markets. New York
city is much disturbed over a differential of 1
cent on export grain which Philadlphia and Balti
more enjoy. The advantages in rates which New
York enjoys over Chicago make the differences
about which the eastern city is wont to complain
look small, indeed."
REFERRING to freight rates from New York
to the cities on the Pacific coast, Mr. Mann
shows that it is uniformly cheaper to ship goods
across the continent than it is to ship them only
part way. While it costs $1 per hundred pounds to
ship cotton piece goods from New York to San
Francisco, the charge is $2.50 for the same goods
from Chicago to Salt Lake City and $1.75 from
this city to Denver. It costs $1.75 to ship merchan
dise a thousand miles that can be hauled four
thousand miles for $1.
THE TRIBUNE says: "If there he justice in this
arrangement it fs not apparent. The rates on
coal are peculiar. From Pennsylvania to Chicago
the rate on hard coal is $3.50 per gross ton and on
soft coal $2.05 per ton. West of Chicago" it costs
more to haul soft coal than it does to carry hard
coal, for the rate on the former to Buffalo lake is
$2.40 and on tho latter $2.25 per ton. The city of
Milwaukee comes in for a little favoritism at the
hands of the railroad companies. The rate from
Milwaukee to Missouri river points is 25 cents
less per ton than it is from this city. This too
in spite of the high rates which Governor La
Follette says prevail in Wisconsin."
HnHE COMMONER is in receipt of an interesting
1 communication signed by L. N. Yart, presit
dent, and J. H. Catron, vice president of the Far.
iners' hank at Nebraska City, Neb. This com
munication was called out by an article entitiSi
"Unsafe Banking" recently printed in The Com
moner. Referring to the statement that "There
a wrong somewhere in our banking svstem " nfJf
Nebraska bankers say: ''ThereAwi
where. We will name" i't without "any IrmeTor'
without any fear of successful contraSn u
is in the reserve that our stnto iili J ?' Ifc
requires us to have. We are rem, fr J"? board
hand 15 Per cent of our deDositfVh0 keep ou
national banking laws require tt in Zl the
banks to keep on hand 25 per cent Wo DaU?nal
that this is insufficient. Let the stat'p C?tend
banking laws compel all sman ba&s to E2naI
least 33 1-3 per cent of their doposUs on L:TP at
whenever a bank has ten ti i n hand anl
as it has capital, then le ! uJcSnffi tT
GO per cent of its deposits on Tan" if ave
things were in force, banks would J?' Jf these
bank can not do this, let it ffo L ffe If a
No bank, either state or nainnV, f business.
take charge of the money of thnS a rlght to
offer less protection than the nilrf C0U?try
lined. How much better ULn of n,iW1have out"
be than one just incorpora" ted in a hi 11 "' W0Uld
introduced in the recent session of ' fUy
y the failure of 2
VOLUME 5, NUMBER 8
consistent with good hanking. We might malm
another suggestion. If the bills receivable of I
hank are made "gilt edged," and under pressure
are made to pay out seventy-five cents on tha
dollar; then, this precaution, taken with the plan
for an adequate reserve which we have just out
lined, will make every bank in this state and in
this country a safe one, and banking will becomo
what it should be, barring all losses made through
theft and embezzlement. If you desire, you can
give this letter publicity over our signatures."
Q ENATOR KEARNS of Utah, who retires March
Jj 4, delivered in the senate on February 28, a
bitter speech against the Mormon church. Senator
Kearns addressed the senate concerning the antl
polygamy resolution introduced by Mr. Dubois ol
Idaho. The Washington correspondent for the
Chicago Record-Herald says: "Senator Kearns de
clared that the Mormon leaders had broken every
pledge they made when Utah was given statehood,
and accused President Smith of the church with
setting up. a monarchical institution within tho
republic. It is the duty of the senate of the
United States to serve notice on this church mon
archy that it must live within the laws, that the
nation is supreme and that the compact on which
statehood was granted must be preserved invio
late,' he declared. Senator Kearns recited the
pledges given by the people of Utah, as follows:
"That the Mormon leaders would live within the
laws pertaining to plural marriage and the con
tinued plural marriage relation and that they
would enforce this obligation upon all of their
followers, under penalty of disfellowship. That
the leaders of the Mormon church would no longer
exercise political sway, and that their followers
would be free and would exercise their freedom
in politics, in business and in social affairs.' Con
tinuing, he said: 'Utah secured her statehood by
a solemn compact made by the Mormon leaders in
behalf of themselves and their people. That com
pact has been broken wilfully and frequently.' Re
ligion, declared Mr. Kearns, is not involved, and
he passed to a denunciation of President Smith,
whom he accuses of building up a business monop
oly through the power of the tithes from all the
Mormons in the world, the annual income being
$1,600,000. The social autocracy of Smith, he
said, had now reached its highest point and tho
president of the church had affected a regal state.
'Parties are nothing to these leaders, except as
parties may be used by them,' declared Mr. Kearns.
'No man can be elected to congress against their
wish.' "
THE SUPREME COURT recently rendered a
decision in the case of Texas vs. The Na
tional and Southern Oil company. Referring to
this case, the Chicago Record-HeTald says that
while no new principle is laid down, "there is
considerable significance in the manner in which
an established, though still imperfectly under
stood principle has been applied, by the court in
this interesting suit." The Record-Herald adds:
"The corporations named were organized under
the laws of New Jersey, and they operated in
Texas by virtue of licenses issued to them by
the proper authority of that state. Suit was
brought against them by the attorney general of
Texas alleging that they had entered into an
unlafwul combination, doing away with competi
tion and fixing the price of cotton seed throughout
the state at $14 a ton. The court was asked to
cancel the licenses permitting them to do business
m Texas. Forfeiture having been declared by
the trial court and affirmed by tho appellate trib
unals, the companies carried tho case up to the
federal supreme court. They contended that the
anti-trust act under which the state proceedings
had been taken and the cancellation of their per
mits decreed violated the constitution of the United
States, in that it provided for the confiscation
of property without duo process of law. Clearly
this amounted to tho claim that, though the state
had licensed them to do business within its bor
ders on condition of obedience to its laws, it had
no power to oust them for disobedience. The su
preme court refused to sustain so manifestly un
tenable a position. It held that the Texas trust
law was valid and that a permit might be can
celed for violation thereof without offending the
clause of the fourteenth amendment guaranteeing
due process of law. In short, a corporation li
censed in accordance with the principle of comity
to enter and do business in any state must obey
iZ J?V t!lat state and respect the express and
implied conditions of the permit. It can not as
i hP? egcs superior to those enjoyed by "do
J?S; crporations, nor does it acquire vested
rights in the patronage and business'of the state."