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The Commoner.
ffUNE 9; 1905
'5
"
THE contest for the republican presidential
nomination in 1908 is on and the contest
ants seem to lose no opportunity to add to tho
gaiety of the situation. The Washington corre
spondent for tho Sioux City Journal under date of
May 30, says: "Yesterday newspaper men and of
ficials were good naturedly bantering Secretary
,Taft because Secretary Shaw had stolen a march
on him and had the newspaper correspondents
on the string for an evening down the Potomac.
Today Secretary Shaw is the victim of the joshing
and Secretary Taft is declared to have won out
in tho diplomatic game, tho presidency being tho
ultimate stake. It is charged that when Secretary
3?aft learned that Secretary Shaw was to do tho
honors with a hundred newspaper men as guests,
ho was wroth, and declared vengeance must be
his. At 8 o'clock last night, when tho revenue
cutter Windom sought to get past Fort Hunt,
searchlights were flashed in the pilot's eyes so
that he could not see, and he ran the government
boat with it journalistic crew aground. The news
paper men were wild. No wire within -sixteen
miles. Finally the quartermaster's bureau of the
war department sent a tug to pull the Windom
off, and failing, took the newspaper men off, after
several trials, and finally at a very late hour
landed them in Washington. Secretary Taft Is
now making it appear that Secretary Shaw got
the newspaper men in a hole and that he pulled
them out."
MAYOR WEAVER'S victory in Philadelphia
seems to be complete. The mayor is re
ceiving congratulations from all sections of tho
country. A telegram from Governor Folk of
Missouri was as follows: "Keep up the fight to
the end, no matter how strong the forces of cor
ruption opposing you may be. In every sincere
effort for the public good, remember that you
have behind you the strongest machine in the
world, the hearts and consciences of the people
of America." .. ,
THE plans of the railroad managers for the
campaign against rate legislation are told in
a dispatch to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, under
date of Chicago, May 25, in this way: "Alarmed
at the agitation in favor of government control
of rates, the railroad interests, have embarked
upon a campaign of education which Is national in
scope and which will cost them a very large sum
annually. The educational work, as they are
pleased to call it, will be conducted through the
medium of two large bureaus in New York and
Chicago, with branches in other big cities. The
New York and Chicago bureaus' agents are tour
ing the country in search of information regarding
conditions, and thoy are already engaged in
sending forth tons of literature and in preparing
more. The enterprise, which as yet is not known
by any definite name, but which some call an in-'
dustrial and .statistical bureau, has the direct
backing of the railway presidents of practically
all of the railroads in the United States. It is
the purpose to send men into every state in the
union and keep them traveling and talking with
every one who comes in contact with railroads.
Incidentally, they are presumed to assure the peo
ple that any abuses shown to exist will be cor
rected." THE United States supreme court has upheld
the constitutionality of the New York state
franchise tax law. According to the New York
World, the city-of New York will benefit to the
extent of $24,000,000 now due and about $6,000,000
a -year in the future. Many other municipalities
have been awaiting the final judication of tho
law and as a result of this decision, it is be
lieved that many towns throughout the "country
will be able to increase their income.
THE New York franchise -tax law case has
been in court for the past five years. The
bill for this law was passed at a special session
of the legislature several years ago and in 1900
a tax was first levied. Corporations fought the
law through the stato courts, finally appealing
the case to the United States supreme court. The
law provides for the taxation of franchises und
prior to its passage, franchises woro not taxable
either as real estate or as parsonal property.
According to the World, in this law franchises are
real property and taxable as Buch precisely tho
same as land and houses are taxed. Tho assess
ments are made by the stato tax commission and
not by local assessors.
IN ITS opinion of tho New York franchise tax
law, the United States supremo court was
unanimous. The court holds that tho intangible
assets of a company are subject to- taxation and
that corporations holding franchises must con
tribute their share to tho expense for government.
The opinion was delivered by Justice Brewer.
He hohi that, presumptively, all property within
the territorial limits of the state is subject to its
taxing power, and whoever insists that any partic
ular property is not so subject, has tho burden of
pi oof and must make It entirely clear that by
contract or otherwise, tho property is beyond its
reach.
JUSTICE BREWER said: "We had occasion to
review this subject in the Adams Express
case versus Ohio, where we said: 'In tho complex
civilization of today a largo proportion of the
wealth of a community consists in intangible
property, and there is nothing in the nature of
things or in the limitations of tho federal consti
tution which restrains the state from taxing at its
real value such intangible property. It matters
not in what the tanclble property consists wheth
er privileges, corporate franchises, contracts or
obligations. It Is enough that it is property which,
though intangible, exists, which has value, pro
duces Income, and passes current in tho mar
kets of the world. To ignore this intangible prop
erty or to hold that it is not subject to taxation
at its accepted value is to eliminate from tho
reach of the taxing power a largo portion of tho
wealth of tho country.' "
THE committee of seventy representing Phila
delphia citizens have engaged Joseph C.
Auerbach of New York as its special counsel to
probe corruption in Philadelphia. Joseph C. Win
ston, chairman of the committee, speaking to the
representative" of the New York World, said:
"We are after big game and it will be strange
ifsomebody does not go to the penitentiary." Mr.
Winston's experience as chairman of tho com
mittee of seventy has opened his eyes to tho
great evils flourishing in Philadelphia.
ADDRESSING President Robbins of tho Armour
private car line, Senator Elkins said: "It
seems that you have all the. ad vantages and none
of the responsibilities of common carriers." Pres
ident Robbins gave his testimony before the sen
ate committee and said that his company has
about thirty exclusive contracts and that by these
contracts the purchasers and shippers of fruit
must accept the rates imposed by the private car
line. But the -managers of the private car lino
claim that they are not engaged in interstate com
merce and are not therefore subject to law. The
Chicago Record-Herald says that Senator Elkins'
statement to President Uobbins presents "tho
private car line II a nutshell" and that paper de
clares that this monopoly is doomed and that
"new legislation and control as to them must
come."
A STRANGE story was recently cabled to the
Chicago Tribune from its London correspon
dent, as follows: "Sir Gilbert Parker, who claims
to have seen the astral body of Sir Came Rasch
in the house of commons while the latter was 111
in his home, is receiving corroboration of his ex
traordinary hallucination. Sir Arthur Haytor
writes as follows: 'I beg to say that I not only
saw Sir Came Rasch, myself, sitting below tho
gangway, but called him to the attention of Sir
Henry Campbell-Bannerman, with whom I was
talking on the front opposition bench. I said I
wondered why all the papers inserted notices of
Sir Carne's illness while he-was sitting opposite
apparently qulto well. Sir Henry replied that ho
hoped the illness was not catching.' It seems
that thlH is not the flrst instanco of the sort that
occurrod in tho house. In 1807 Mr. O'Connor, an
Irish member, went to Ireland to bo prosont at
tho deathbed of ono of his parents. Swift McNolli
saw his wraith in his usual seat on the third op
position bench. It also was soon from the pross
gallery. - Thirty years ago a member who went
abroad, suffering from an acuto malady, rccoivod
an urgent flvo line whip. He ropliod that ho would
attend the house at whatovcr cost to his health.
Tho house wns divided on tho matter at Ishuo, and
on division tho lobby tellors saw tho momber.and
counted his vote. Tho next day It was found that
tho number of votes recorded by tho division
clerks was ono less than that given by the lobby
clerks, and on the list of tho former this particular
name did not appear, as It did on tho list of tho
latter. At the time tho division was takon tho
mombor was dead."
i
WHETHER tho disastrous defeat encountered
by Russia will speedily bring about peaco,
seems, In tho general view, to dopond upon tho
character of tho demands which Japan may make.
It Is clear that Japan will pursuo tho war until
Russia asks for peaco and some authorities be
lieve that Japan's terms will bo sufficiently harsh
to destroy Russia's prestige In tho cast. Tho
Washington correspondent for tho Chicago Trib
une says that Japan has made this position
known to President Roosevolt and farther that she
will not consent to intervention of other powers,
but will Insist upon dealing with Russia alone.
President Roosevelt is strongly suggested as a
mediator and this suggestion appears to have tho
special endorsement of tho German emporor.
AN INTERESTING fact in connection with
Japan's groat sea victory Is pointed out by
tho Washington correspondent for tho Chicago
Tribune. This correspondent says: "Japan, which
on Saturday was a nation of somo 48,000,000, Js to
day a nation of about 60,000,000, for Corea belongs
to her as certainly as the Philippines belong to
the United States, and tomorrow, with Russian
territory she will have a greater population even
than the United States. The empire of the Rising
Sun is Indeed the empire of the risen sun." The
opinion is also expressed that Japan will insist
upon a largo cash indemnity because she has
made immense expenditures. The Interest she
pays upon loans negotiated since the war began
amount annually to $44,000,000. ' '
THAT "the naval battle in tho straits
of Corea will rank among tho decisive events
of all time" is the opinion expressed by a writer
in the Chicago Tribune. This writer says: "There
have be6n many naval contests which were de
cisive as to their immediate results, but which
had no definitive effect. Don John of Austria, in
the bay of Lepanto, Nelson at Aboukir, Dewey In
Manila bay won glorious victories, but these fights
did not decide anything of the first importance.
The fight in tho Corean straits, like the battle of
Salamls, the battle of Actium, the destruction of
the Spanish armada, the British triumph at Traf
algar, was not only decisive in its Immediate
results but it will also exert a powerful influence
upon the entire future history of mankind."
THE east is to be Mongol, not Slav? yellow, not
white. That, according to the Tribune writ
er, is the decree. That writer says: "If Togo had
been beaten by Rojestvensky Russia would now
be master of the eastern seas. Marshal Oyama's
great army would be Irretrievably cut off, the
Russian fleet would be harassing the Japanese
coast at will, and the issue of the war would be
doubtful. Tho Japanese victory settles both the
result of the war and the future of the east. The
east is to be Mongol, not Slav; yellow, not white.
It is to be free, not bond. It is to work out its
salvation under the sympathetic leadership of the
intelligent and progressive Japanese, not under
tho dictation of the despotic and reactionary Rus
sian bureaucracy. The Japanese victory will have
important effects in -Russia as well as in the
east It can not fail to hasten the downfall of tho
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