rfVI-..:
6
foreign creditors. In a note to tho Venezuelan
minister at Washington February 28, 1881, Mr.
Evnrls, who was at that time secretary of state,
indicated that this proposal would receive favor
able consideration in case it should be found to bo
acceptable to all the creditor governments. Con
sideration of (ho subject was continued by the
government of tho United States after the change
of administration when Mr. Blaine succeeded Mr.
Evnrls as secretary of state. The chief difficulty
in dealing with tho matter arose out of tho fact
that France claimed a priority for her debt. With
reference to this situation Mr. Blrtino in an instruc
tion to Mr. Noyes, American minister at Paris,
July 23, 1881, said: 'Without attempting to pre
scribe or dictate tho president suggests that tho
United States will place an agent in Caracas
authorized to receive such amount each month
from tho Venezuelan government as may be
agreed to bo paid, not less than the aggregate now
paid, and distribute said amount pro rata to the
several creditor nations. Should the Venezuelan
government default for more than three months
in the regular installments, then the agent placed
there by the United States as acting trustee for
tho creditor nations shall be authorized to take
charge of tho custom houses at La Guayra and
Puerto Cabello and reserve from the monthly re
ceipts a sum sufficient to pay the stipulated
amount with 10 per cent additional, handing to
the Venezuelan government all tho remainder ob
tained.' Tills proposal failed, the French govern
ment declining to yield its claim of priority and ar
ranging a settlement directly with Venezuela."
IT SEEMS to be generally agreed that the late
republican congress was grossly extravagant.
The New York World says: "All quibbling aside,
tho impressive fact remains that, with an actual
deficit of about $24,000,000 for the first eight
months of the current fiscal year, congress has
authorized a net increase in expenditures of $37,
306,539 for next year. Tho government's receipts
this year have run slightly heavier than in 1901
and only $9,000,000 less than in 1903, when a
surplus of over $30,000,000 had been nccumulated
by the end of the first week in March. Mr. Roose
velt has always shown a mind superior to the
petty economies of administration. If congress
had accepted his naval estimates the appropria
tions would have been $15,000,000 heavier. As a
matter o fact, the military appropriations for
1906 are nearly $6,000,000 less than for 1905. But
how does Mr. Roosevelt expect to make both ends
meet? What are the financial prospects of his
'own administration?'"
WHILE Nebraska democrats have charged
that the Nebraska legislature is controlled
by the corporation lobby, many republicans have
entered denials; but William Ernst, a republican
from Johnson county, printed in the Lincoln Jour
nal, a republican paper, on March 13, a letter in
which he said: "I was elected to the legislature as
n republican. I believe in President Roosevelt in
the reforms he stands for. When I came to Lin
coln I felt sure that certain needed bills could be
. passed without any trouble, especially bills for
regulating railroad charges, telephones, the proner
supervision of the building of county bridges and
other measures which would be to the interest of
all he people of the state. Living as I do hi
southeastern Nebraska, where thousands of hush
els ol fruit went to waste last fall because high
railroad rates and slow service would not permit
shipment to market, I was anxious to see some
reasonable rate regulation bill enacted into aw
It has taken me forty days to find out hoV helplera
was do anything, as things are now In the
Nebraska legislature. Tho members of this legis
lnturo are generally men of high character Thev
have aimed to do tho right thing. Y spite ot
this, I havo seen nearly everv trinl tr nil!
for the benefit of the SwfJfiS
certain great private interests were concerned , re
vented from passing into law. I can evnlR?n t
on no other ground than that the KStoS
Sro
of legislatures, whUe the men Si2 th Ways
and paid to manage us have fhad ion JftBOnt. hopo
After forty days of tho Kesfwortf I eerIence'
done in my life I begin to see how J av.e ever
corporation IbbbyistI have beeT abie'to1 n thSG
tho passage of the laws that , , Prevent
By flattery they win our con fi in 1)GI)le demand
road passes and free tickets t Z Wth rai1'
Put us under obligationl
Tliie Commoner.
cunning they work to keep members who want to
do something apart from each other, and from
coming to an understanding as to the things they
ought to do for the people. They even go so
far as to try to entice members into debauchery
with wine and women in night orgies, where they
compromise their character and tie their hands
from future usefulness totheir constituents. They
encourage distrust among us. We have failed be
cause we are unorganized. But it is not too late
yet to change this. We may yet be able to give
tho, state some needed legislation in spite of tho
opposition of the railroads, the bridge lobby and
other interests that have allied themselves with
these. I can not be satisfied without asking the
members of both houses of the legislature who
really want to have something to show for their
winter's work when they go home to their constit
uents to make one more effort to stand together
and pass some of the bills now under discussion
which are in the interest of all the people."
T H. AGER, chief lobbyist for the Burlington
. Railroad company, made public a statement
in which he denies on behalf of himself and asso
ciates any responsibility for the charges of immor
ality as made by Representative Ernst. Mr. Ager
does not dodge, however, on the pass question; he
makes the following frank confession: "In regard
to 'passes': Previous to the convention of the
legislature, I (in accordance with the custom of
many years), sent the members annual passes
over our lines in the state, and on the personal
solicitation of members have since given them a
number of trip passes for the use of their families
and friends, more than 90 per cent of the latter
of whom were farmers desiring to Visit the legisla
ture. Without a single exception Mr. Ernst has
drawn more heavily upon me for trip passes than
any other member of the legislature. He has called
for as many as eight at once, six of which I gave
him, declining to give the other two on the ground
that we ought to be permitted to sell some tickets
at Graf, his home station; with tile exception of
the annual I sent him previous to the convening of
the legislature, every pass he has received from
me, has been at his own solicitation, he having
come to my residence several times for that pur
pose; he has for himself an annual pass over our
lines in this state, and is the best judge as to
whether or not he has been, or is influenced by
its possession on matters of railroad legislation;
if not, is he not assuming a good deal in charging
his fellow members with being more vulnerable
in the matter of passes than himself? If he is
as an honorable man, he should have long ere this
returned or destroyed his pass and have at least
established a record for consistency."
REPLYING to Mr. Ager's statement with re
spect to the passes, Mr. Ernst says: "Mr
Ager says truthfully that he gave me an annual
pass and trip passes for my large family to come
and see me. I accepted those courtesies, expecting
to give his road fair treatment, and did not think
anything more was ever expected. However as
I have seemingly violated the spirit under which
the pass was tendered, I will return the same to
Mn Af1er. ? Sha" not stand in th way of looking
after the interest of my constituents." luOKinS
Sald:, "S'nco myrotufn U"a $$
term of service as teacher in V y s
grot and iamJaoXye1' m?' rG"
been aroused over mlsteadtag 1 Umes'
paper articles dealing with the B?2ninn S8"
always been able to pardon the w rSSrS r laV
ranee is not the greatest crime fe otT'
who have sinnerl hiv ,i , st ot those
had the Demonc"athconfineSeitSsel fT. and
mis-statement the 'goveinmen LI n TSTimple
States pays $500 per velr SS . Ul Unite(
Pino boy sent to -American school U?e each Fil1"
I should have oln5 i ; edUo, ?2 onG b" f(JlIcatert'
host of the uninformed. But S, i?f the great
to moralize, to appeal to 'thVinJ??n he m,ceeds
nation, who are strugghni tn "? men of thls
eons and daughters and n? n educatD thelr own
to pay the cSSeBMoUauStLTthmIie,pI,1B
think it is time to call a mf,?0 I
personal opinion that our monA hl !t ls mV
each according to his abliitv to Sh?uld be 'Frm
his need,' that is in tvl y' to each according to
he republicans Sirt?,1P We
, let the Democrat make tt anZi h&mG' Bui
and passion from a solfd ZVt. Rt?
.VOLUME 5, NUMBER
10
true that the United States government
either for the schools in the Philippine islands
for the education of those hundred and more w?
pino students in the United States. "Upon what n
of congress does the editor base his statement?
When was such an appropriation made? u i
have been laboring under a misapprehension t
a mm uu viiiy wu &itiu iu ivuuw LUU truth, Thin
question of educating Filipinos in American
schools was discussed while I was in the islands
what the exact terms were I do not recall; atona
time it was proposed to take the revenues to bo
derived from a regulation of the opium trade but
at all events the money was to come from tho
insular treasury. It seems to me more than un
gracious, it is unjust, after imposing an expensive
'system of government upon a people who pay
for it themselves, and then to claim its best fea
tures. It is much to be regretted that the appeal
is made to prejudice, and covertly, it is to bo
feared, to the all-too-easily-inflamed race preju
dice of the American as against the Filipino, it
we are to rule without the consent of the gov
erned, then are we the more bound to be just
despots if there be such a paradox."
AN ASSOCIATED PRESS DISPATCH, under
date of Manila, February 20, said: "Tho
government has decided to redeem a number of
certificates of indebtedness held by the United
States issued for the purpose of establishing the
new Philippine currency in 1903." A Huston, Tex.,
reader of The Commoner4 encloses a clipping con
taining the above dispatch and says: "Perhaps it
would be a good idea to remind the government to
redeem revenue stamped checks which were sold
by the banks to merchants and during the war
which were not all used up. I consider the gov
ernment owes me $3.58 and no doubt it owes
many more merchants and others, just like me."
ANEW "EXPORT" MOVEMENT recently de
veloped at the Chicago stock yards, accord
ing to the Tribune of that city. The Tribune says:
"More of the employes whose presence might bo
desired when the federal grand jury begins its in
vestigation of the beef trust next Monday are now
out of town and reported to be sailing for Europe.
The names of four who sailed hurriedly from St
Johns, New Brunswick, yesterday afternoon have
been learned, according to report from St. John.
They are: E. A. Allen, former secretary of tho
Hammond Packing company, now with the Na
tional Packing company; James Brennan, a de
partment manager for Swift & Co.; G. D. Roberts,
salesman for the Hammond company; F. A. Spink,
traffic manager for the National Packing company.
A telegram from St. John last night stated Mr.
Allen was accompanied by his wife and two daugh
ters. All sailed on the steamer Lake Erie after
spending several days in St. John. 'The boat will
touch at Halifax." A number of other men are re
ported as missing, and with, the possible exception
of Mr. Roberts, all are wanted to testify at tho
coming investigation.
THE troubles between Messrs. Alexander and
Hyde of the Equitable Life Assurance so
ciety were compromised March 14, when, at a
meeting of the special committee, tho following
resolutions were adopted: "Resolved, at a meeting
held today, to recommend to the board of direc
tors that the charter of the society be forthwith
amended so ns to confer upon the policyholders
the right to elect a majority of the board of di
rectors; namely, twenty-eight out of fifty-two. Such
action was taken with the express consent and
approval of Mr. Hyde as the representative of
the majority of the capital stock of tho society,
A meeting of the board of directors has been
called for next Tuesday, March 21, 1905, when tho
committee will submit to the board the amended
charter as prepared by counsel."
THE "Kah-Gyur" or Tibetan bible, agcording' to
a writer in the Kansas City Journal, consists
of 108 volumes of 1000 pages each, containing 1083
separate books. This writer says: "Each of tho
volumes weighs ten pounds and forms a package
inches long, 8 inches broad and 8 inches deep.
lhs bible requires a dozen yoke for its transport
and the carved wooden blocks from which it is
printed need rows of houses, like a city, for their
storage. A tribe of Mongols paid 7,000 oxen for
a copy of this Bible. In addition to the Bible
there are 225 volumes of commentaries, which aro
necessary for 'ts understanding.- There is also a
. large collection of ,n.iinn-n,i, iw,iH0-Whfh sup
. plement the Blhio .... . . . . :
n 4
-"
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