The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923, August 25, 1905, Page 7, Image 7

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    AUGUST 25, 1905
community and decidedly more satisfactory to the
recipients who, instead o being moved into an
almshouse to pass their remaining days, or re
ceiving private charity in their homes, would be
able in greater self Tespect to end their years
where they had lived in the days of self-support.
But it is not possible that the substitution of old
age pensions would relievo the community of
charitable effort to the extent indicated. It is
shown in the table that the largest contribution
for charitable purposes comes from individual
and corporate, benefactions, and these probably
go most largely, to j help people under 65 years
who are out of work qr have met with other mis
fortune. There ,Js every reason to believe that
a state old, age, pension would constitute to a
very large extent a net additional charge against
the public revenue."
THE total circulation of national bank notes
is now in excess' of $503,000,000 the high
est in the history of the national bank system. Re
ferring to this "fact a riter in the Record-Herald
says: '"The net ncrease for July was about $8,
250,000, more than $7,000,000 of the . bonds re
leased when the government withdrew about $8,
000,000 cash from the depository banks being
transferred to circulation account. The total bank
note circulation at the end of the Spanish-American
war was about, $240)000,000. The increase
since that time about seven years has been
110 per cent." In the last nine months the in
crease has been $46,000,000 or about 9 per cent
of the total. The bank note circulation totals
by months since the beginning of 1903 have been
a3 follows:
1905. 1904. 1903.
Jan. 1 .$464,244,506 $425,163,018 $384,929,784
Feb. 1 ! 467,308,533 426,857,627 383,973,546
March 1 .... 469,203,840 430,324,310 382,798,845
April 1...... 475,948,045 434,909,942 382,519,258
May 1 481,361,518 437,080,573 391,151,728
June 1 .:..,. 488,327,516 445,988,565 4.06,443,205
July 1 495,719,806 449,235,095 413,670,650
Auj. 1 503,971,395 450,206,888 417,346,487
Sept. 1.'.; 452,516,673 418,587,975
Oct. 1 - ,, 456,079,408 420,426,535
Nov- 1 ', -..'. 457,281,500 419,610,683
Dec. 1 ..:;;. ,. , . 460,67,675. . 42L106,?79
The tptal monkey In, circulation. August 1 was $2,
546,689,503,, thie.b.ank note, circulation bejing .-about
20 per cent of, the amount., While the bank cir
culation has bqen. Increasing from, $240,000,000 to
$503,QOO,000 the resources, of the; banks have
g own in proportion.. The .total resources of
banks in the national system have grown from
$4,000,000,000 to $7,350,000,000, and the resources
of banks other than national have doubled to
$9,000,000,000, In, the same time the. total cash
holdings of the national banks have increased .
$440,000,000 and of the banks other than national
$130,000,000."
DEAN SHEPARDSON of "Chicago University
in an interesting defense of John D. Rocke- -feller
asserted that Peter Faneuil, who built
Faneuil hall and gave It to Boston obtained his
money through questionable transactions. Dean
Shepardsoii claims that Faneuil made his for
tune by smuggling liquor arid defrauding the gov
ernment of its revenues; that with the proceeds
he built the famous hall, and that in 1740 when'
he offer '. the building to the 'people of Boston the"
record shows that 367 votes "were cast in favor
of accepting the gift and 360 against its accept
ance. Commentng upon the Dean's defense of
Mr. Rockefeller the Milwaukee Sentinel, a news
paper that does not appear to have great sym
pathy with protests' against the acceptance of
Rockefeller's gifts, says: "Dean Shepardsoii may
be sound in his history and his logic; but one may
well wonder how Mr. Rockefeller likes his line
of argument, which-ilrankly admits the Rockefel
ler money is tainted or ill gitten, but holds that
it Is justifiable to accept it for pious or beneficent
uses nevertheless. Dean Shepardson evidently
pockets his salary without a qualm, and why
shouldn't he, indeed, seeing that it is well and
worthily earned?" ' '
BULLETIN No. 61, issued by the Bureau of
Forestry at Washington, will be valuable to
those particularly interested in forestry and Num
bering. This bulletin will also be of interest to
the lay reader giving as it does an insight' into ,
the strange vernacular under the headline "Terms
Used in Foresty and Logging.," The Milwaukee
Sentinel gives an idea 'of the character of this
publication in this way: "The first half of the ;
pamphlet is devoted "to forestry. There we. may
read all the technical terms fn good use, from
absolute, forest land' to 'yield table,' Many terms
explain themselves, but , wherj thtfy.are-.not so
"Ai.ii.hmn tt Knott nnn Ain..!... tmnnnn
$68,356,000, Arkansas $124,626,000, Call-
- The Commoner;
readily understood the short definition makes
plain at once the idea conveyed and the need of
a special word or phrase to convoy It. Perspi
cuity, precision, and common sense seem to have
been the objects sought by the compilers. On
turning to the logging terms, which are listed in
the last half of the bulletin, we come across some
truly remarkable expressions terms which,
though evidently derived from slang, are uow in
good use among woodsmen either throughout the
country or In the region denoted in each case.
There thfe uninitiated may learn the distinction
between a 'ballhooter' and a 'boom rat,' between
a 'bull cock' and a 'cattyman,' and find that none
of them refers to any lesser animal than the log
ger himself. Among other creatures of the log
ging camp may be numbered also the 'alligator,'
the 'dolphin,' the 'dog, the 'pig.' and the 'road
donkey,' all names of objects are endowed with
life by the vernacular of the logger. The 'alli
gator proves to be 'a boat used In handling logs;'
the 'dog' a 'short, heavy piece of steel;' the 'pig'
a 'rigging sled; and the 'road donkey' a donkey
engine mounted on a heavy sled, etc. Birds are
represented by the 'blue jay' and the 'rooster'
(also called 'gooseneck'), reptiles by the 'snake,'
and insects by the 'katydid.' A tenderfoot In
tending to visit among the north woods, the Ap
palachian forest, or elsewhere; should find It de
cidedly In order to take along this bulletin."
ACCORDING to a bulletin recently Issued by
the census bureau, the commercial value
of railroad property In the United States Is $11,
244,852,000. A synopsis of this report Is given
by the Associated Press and shows that this value
is distributed among the various states as fol
lows:
Arizona
fornia $350,694,000. Colorado $198,261,000. Con
necticut $105,369,000, Delaware $17,285,000, Dis
trict of Columbia $5,578,000, Florida $80,467,000,
Georgia $156,603,000, Idaho $91,877,000, Illinois
$805,057,000, Indian Territory $79,405,000, Indiana
$375,541,000, Iowa $344,847,000, Kansas $356,356,
000, Kentucky $155,772,000, Louisiana $123,401,
000, Maine $80,146,000, Maryland $.132,342,000,
Massachusetts $250,052,000, Michigan $277,597,000,
Minnesota $466,734,000, Mississippi $107,884,000,
Missouri 309,768,000, Montana $196,209,000, Ne
braska $263,170,000, Nevada $43,745,000, New
Hampshire $79,786,000, New Jersey $333,568,000,
New Mexico $86,400,000, New York $898,222,000,
North. Carolina $113,146,000, North Dakota $123,-.
390,000, Ohio $689,797,000, Oklahoma $78,668,000,
Oregon $75,661,000, Pennsylvania $1,420,608,000,
Rhode Island $25,719,000, South Carolina $75,500,
000, South Dakota $49,646,000, Tennessee $131,
166,000, Texas $237,718,000, Utah $90,325,000, Ver
mont $37,311,000, Virginia $2ii,3J 5,000, Washing
ton $182,837,000, West Virginia $201,799,000, Wis
consin $284,510,000, Wyoming $109,307,000."
IT- IS EXPLAINED by the Associated Press
that the bulletin Is intended to show the esti
mate placed upon the railroads for business pur
poses, and it purports to give their market value,
rather than tax valuations. In a note it is ex
plained that "the value submitted was determined
not with a view to discovering a proper purchase
price for the railways of the United States, nor
as a basis for taxing these railway properties, but
as one step in ascertaining for the census bureau
the total ealth of the United States." "Whether,
or not," the note continues, "the value submitted
represents the value upon which the railways of
the United States might properly be taxed, de
pends upon whether the state undertakes to tax
the roads at their full commercial value, including
the values of both tangible and intangible prop
erty, or whether It seeks to confine its taxation
to the value of the tangible property alone. In
the former case the value submitted is believed
to be substantially correct so far as it concerns
the operating properties of the railways; in the
latter case it is too high."
T TRITING for the "Country Calendar," W. S.
W Harwood tells of some of the things Bur
bank has done in this way: "For thirty-five years
Mr. Burbank has been at work creating new forms
of plant life and improving old ones. In that
time he has created, by breeding and selection,
more than 2,500 distinct species of plants. Sorae
of his 'creations' are: The primus berry, a fruit
unknown before, made by the union of a black
berry and a raspberry, which union scientific men
said was impossible. The white blackberry, very
beautiful, with a delicate flavor. The 'phenome
nal berry,' a similar creation, a, cross between a
raspberry and a California dewberry, having the
color of a raspberry .and the .shape of a black-.
berry, but larger than cither, far more produc
live, and with a flavor surpassing both. The
plumcot (result of the union of the apricot and
the plum), of rare flavor and rlchnoKH, again dis
proving the dictum of the scientists. A plum
with no pll and one with the flavor of (he Harr
iett pear. A walnut first so thin of shell that
the birds could peck through it, afterward bred
backward along the path it had como until a
shell of the required thickness was secured. He
has produced a new thornloBM cactus, a combina
tion or many other varieties, which bears a fruit,
too, for man and beast, and which will redeem
the desert places of the earth; he has done all
these and many other marvelous things which
may not be montloned here for lack of space." .
TILE PERCENTAGE of the tax valuations com
pared with the commercial value is given
for the various states as follows: "Alabama 35.9,
Alaska , Arizona 9.7, Arkansas 27.8, California
26.3, Colorado 25., Connecticut 114.4, Delaware
, District of Columbia 44.6, Florida 27.1, Georgia
40.3, Idaho 11., Illinois 63.8, Indian Territory ,
Indiana 44.2, Iowa 16.7, Kansas 10,9, Kentucky
49.9, Louisiana 28.9, Malnj - , Maryland .Mas
sachusetts , Michigan 70.9, Minnesota , Mis
slsslppl 27.7, Missouri 31.6, Montana 18.7, Ncbras
18.5 Nevada 31.5, New Hampshire 28.3, Now Jer
sey 69.5, New Mexico 9.9, New York 25.6, North
Carolina 61.4, North Dakot.i 18.0, Ohio 19.1, Okla-
homn 15.2, Oregon , Pennsylvania , Rhode
Island 61.5, South Carolina 39., South Dakota
28.9, Tennessee 46.6, Texas 40, I ah 22.9, Ver
mont 73.3, Virginia 37.7, Washington 14.3, West
Virginia 14.2, Wisconsin 76.6, Wyoming 7.5. The
valuation given docs not Include the value of
Pullman cars or private cars. The value of this
equipment, independent of the commercial use
to which it is put, Is estimated as follows: Pull
man cars $51,000,000, private cars $72,000,000."
IN SPITE of the standing jokes about the
weather man, a writer In "Country Life In
America" says that it is probable for every dol
lar spent on the weather bureau $10 are saved.
At the time of the Mississippi flood of 1897, H5,
000,000 worth of live stock and other property
were saved as a result of earnings Issued a week
ahead. Signals' displayed for a single hurricane
have detained In port vessels valued with their
cargoes, at $20,000,000. The West Indian stations,
established In 1898, inform us of hurricanes as
soon as they begin. The course of the hurricane
that caused 'the Galveston flood was charted for
a week before It struck our shores for hurri
canes move slowly. Eighty-five per cent of the
forecasts now come true, and by the aid of rural
free delivery 25,000,000 forecast cards were dis
tributed last year to farmers, many of whom could
not have had them five years ago.
REV. FRANK GUNSAULUS, of Chicago, has
been subjected to considerable criticism
because of a report that he compared Theodore
Roosevelt with The Nazarene. Mr. Gunsalus de
nies the report. He explains: "I said nothing
of the kind, and no sane man would for one
second think I or any other minister of the
gospel could make such a statement. I was de
scribing Christlike qualities, steadfastness of pur
pose,, vigor, etc., and I said that there were two
great men on this earth who displayed these
qualities. One was Emperor William. Then I
said that the only man of whom I knew and who
can compare with him is the president of the
United States. That's all there was to It. Strange
to say, the very evening when I was making these
remarks about President Roosevelt he was act
ively Illustrating what I had said about him, by,
preaching a sermon on the same subject at Oys
ter Bay."
A, NUMBER of minority stockholders of the
Kansas City Southern railroad are, accord
ing to the New York World, considering the ad
visability of bringing suit against Edward J. Har
riman for the recovery of $100,000. Mr. Harri
man was chairman of the Kansas City Southern
road, and it is charged that he decided to pay
himself a salary of $25,000 a year after having
accepted the position with the understanding
that It was to be a non-salaried office. It Is
said that Mr. Harriman served as chairman of
the board for two years without pay, but during
the third year he decided he was entitled to
a salary and made the same retroactive to
cover the two .years during which he had drawn
no pay. As a result during the third year of his
service Harriman drew from the treasury $75,000
for three -years pay. Then he drew an additional
$25,000 for the fourth year, making the;, total
amount received; $10.0)00.;,.,, k ,un xt;a!J3rarc i
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