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The Commoner.
9
JULY 27, 1906
was almost as simple and regular as that of his
flowers. Almost Invariably -he rose at 5 o'clock
in the morning and- after a long day with his
plants he went to bed at half-past seven at night.
To this simplicity and regularity he attributed
his length of years. With so long a life devoted
to beauty, he must have added much to the joy
that other people found in living."
REFERRING TO Anthony Cook, the Baltimore
Sun sayB: "The aged florist's life was spent
among his blossoms, and flowers were his life.
In addition to raising blooming flowers he was a
collector of rare plants, in his collection being
one ot great rarity from the South "Sea islandsf
Another, which never failed to attract the atten
tion of the lover of flowers, was a plant techni
cally called the astrolttz, with curiously shaped
petals of sharply contrasting colors and quaint
spear-life leaves. The blossom part emerges from
a pointed leaf, tightly closed, and consists of two
pointed petals of a bright orange color extending
in an opposite direction from a harpoon counter
part of what may be best described as Alice
biue. With his vast knowledge of flow
ers, Mr. Cook not only grafted bud with bud,
but was cognizant of the sexes, and hybridized
them. It was in this manner, according to him,
that he propagated the American Beauty. It was
his story that he first raised the flower under the
name of Apollona, and under that name sold It
to a woman enthusiast of Washington. A florist
there finally secured an interest and exported
the rose to England, from which country it re
turned to its native land under its present name."
A NEWSPAPER EXPOSITION was recency
held at Frankfort-on-Main, Germany. This
exposition contained samples of the earliest jour
nals published in the world. A cablegram to the
Philadelphia Public Ledger referring to this ex
position says: "The precision of the modern
newspaper may be seen in the 'accounts' of the
Frankfort fairs. Two of these were held annu
ally, and during the events these 'accounts' were
issued, narrating the political events of the time.
They began in 1590 and lasted until 1806. The
first newspaper in Germany, and probably in the
world, was published in 1G09 in Strasburg; A
whole year's issues are still extant. Shortly after
its appearance, in 1615, was founded the Frank
fort Journal, which lived 257 years, and was then
sold to another newspaper of this city. Germany
led the nations in the newspaper enterprise. But
Vienna had a journal in 1610, England in 1G22,
Italy in 1630, France in 1631, Spain in 1661 and
Russia in 1703. Of the old German newspapers
there exist today four dating back to the seven
teenth century one at Koenigsberg, founded in
1640; one at Magdeburg, founded in 1627; one at
Sena, founded in 1647, and the oldest of all at
Heilbrunn, founded in, 1620."
A WASHINGTON DISPATCH says: "Consul
General Hector de Castro furnishes from
Rome interesting figures on the operations of the
tobacco monopoly of the Italian government, show
ing the same relative advance in business and
profits as the French tobacco monopoly had made.
The total revenue of the Italian tobacco monopoly
for the fiscal year 1904-5 amounted to $45,071,832,
while the total expenses were $9,739,982 and the
value of the stock employed $588,239, leaving a not
profit of $34,843,610, which shows ari increase of
$1,685,167 upon the preceding year. Although the
average amount of tobacco consumed annually
per individual has increased by 11 grams it is
still much lower than during 1886-7, the year after
the change of tariff in 1885. During that year
the average consumption of tobacco was 558 grams
per capita. The increase of revenue was 5 cents
per inhabitant, and what is more important, the
net profits was 7 cents per" capita. On a popula
tion of 33,000,000 this means a revenue of $2,300,
000 with reduction of $660,000 in the expenses
in comparison with the expenses sustained dur
ing the year 1886-7; and this notwithstanding
an important raise in the salaries and the Insti
tution a pensions fund for the workmen, which
last item absorbs annually about $180,000."
AN "INDEPENDENT republican" writes to the
New York World an interesting story en
titled "the republican ring in Vermont." This
"independent republican" says: "For over forty
years this state has been held under the iron
clad heel of a political set of office-seekers and
grafters who have dictated to the voters Whom
they shall elect to state and even town offices,
and going so far as ,to name tho candidates for
governor, lieutenant governor and other stato
officers two years in advanco of a republican con
vention. Four years ago there was a little change.
P. W. Clement, of Rutland, entered the conven
tion as a candidate for governor. The ring nom
inated McCullagh. Mr. Clement bolted the party
and came before the people as an independent
republican with a straight platform, and though
defeated at the polls had stirred up such a mess
in Vermont that 20,000 republicans loft the g. o.
p. and voted for hjm. At least one of tho planks
in his platform was turned to good effect that
year. The old prohibitory law of fifty years'
standing was taken off the statute books and a
high-licence, local-option law, framed partly on
the ideas of Mr. Clement, was placed in its
stead. Two years ago Bell, a ringster, was nom
inated and elected, .and the same old ring rule
has been carried down till today, the g. . o. p.
having nominated Fletcher D. Proctor for gov
ernor, with a full set of ringsters for the other
state offices."
THIRTY THOUSAND independent voters asked
Mr. Clement to become an independent can
didate for governor in this year of 1906 and ho
consented. The "Independent republican" adds:
"Last week two big conventions were held in
Burlington on the same day, culminating in one,
the democrats and independent republicans hav
ing fused, with Clement as standard-bearer. How
could this have happened about 1,200 delegates
to meet and select a man to oppose Proctor and
the ring! Why, that convention should be as
memorable in history as are the deeds pf Ethan
Allen 130 years ago. Now, then, to follow up
the good work so nobly begun, let all voters in
Vermont who hate ring rule the workingman,
the farmer and the business man show by united
action at the coming election that it is in their
power to throw the old machine aside and put in
its place one of the fusion type. To do this tho
democrats and 'independent republicans' must
nominate town representatives and senators who,
if elected, will support all beneficial measures
introduced by the leaders of the party of fusion.
If this be done, the machine and Proctor ring
will not have as easy a walkover as they predict."
IN THE RECENT SESSION of congress the
"hidden hand of the morieyed oligarchy," ac
cording to a writer in the St. Louis Republic,
"stretched out and left just enough anti-trust
law to give the republican spellbinders campaign
sky rockets and not enough to protect the people."
The Republic writer presents this bill of prin
ciples: '"Broad court review,! No anti-injunction
clause!' cried the great railroad trust. It
won. 'Let the people pay inspection costs. No
dates on labels!' was the shibboleth of the beef
trust. It won. 'No government standards! The
right to use harmless coloring and flavoring ex
tracts!' was the war cry against the pure food
bill. It won. These were tho crucial points of
the battle ground, and on this field the interests
of the great American people perished. Yet these
men, who surrendered the people to the trusts,
will go forth in the next campaign and point with
pride to their fangless rate bill, their dehorned
beef bill and their harmless pure food bill. They
will rekindle the verbal aurora borealis which
the president set a-shimmer about these meas
ures. In the awesome glow many will be dazzled
into indifference unless they hark back to that
hurry-up conference and remember the hidden
hand that gave the trusts all the vital things .they
asked nay, demanded."
MANY INTERESTING stories are told of the
life and services of William Pinkney Whyte
of Maryland, who succeeded the late Senator
Gorman. Referring to the various phases of Sen
ator Whyte's career, a writer in the Springfield
(Mass.) Republican, says: "His paternal grand
father left Ireland because he could not endure
the union with England in 1800. His maternal
grandfather was the celebrated William Pinkney,
who was President Madison's attorney general,
and one of the greatest lawyers of his time. His
tutor in boyhood and youth had beert the private
secretary of Emperor Napoleon I., a man, R. M.
McNally by name, who had come to America after
Napoleon's fall. When young Whyte was in Har
vard law school he was taken Into the intimate
friendship of the famous Judge Story, who was
his instructor.. When a boy he had often sat
on President Andrew Jackson's knee. When he
first entered the United States senate late in
1868 Senator Wbyte prevented the' success of
the radical republican effort to have President
Johnston's annual message wholly Ignored by that
body, thus killing a most harmful precedent in
the bud. Ho is tho only living man who voted
in the senate against tho fifteenth amendment.
He personally framed tho present government
of tho District of Columbia. And, finally, Mr.
Whyte, in his carper, hns dofonded seventy-nine
men indicted for murder, only two of whom wero
executed. This last may be a doubtful compli
ment, but his friends nay that he never took a
murder case without convincing himself that his
client was innocent. The aged senator from Mary
land has all Boris of traditions hanging about
him, and ho still has the voice and bearing of a
man of sixty."
TH?oiNDIANAP0LIS NKWS referred to tho
JL 1896 campaign ns a disastrous defeat for
the democratic party. A writer In the News, "P.
T. L.," of Indianapolis, writes to that paper to
say: "You evidently overlooked the fnct that
the democratic party lost nearly everything In
the elections of 1894, that even many of tho south
era states came near going populist, that tho
vote of 6,502,925 for Mr. Bryan as against a vote
of 7,104,779 for Mr. McKinley was a great gain
over the democratic vote of 1894. Had It not
been for the immense sums given by selfish spe
cial interests in 1896, fearful not so much of
free silver as of exposure of their methods In
case of Mr. Bryan's election, the result in 1896
would probably have been a Bryan victory. Tho
prevention of such 'contributions' is the most
important thing to insure fair elections in tho
future."
THE REPUBLICAN editors appear to under
stand that there Is a growing restlessness
in the rank and file of their party with respect
to the tariff question. Tho Washington corres
pondent for the Chicago Tribune, says: "Tariff
reciprocity as the beginning of tariff revision may
be made the chief issue of the short session of
the fifty-ninth congress. It is more than likely
that after the election in November steps will be
taken in the direction of the passage of a gen
eral reciprocity law. This does not mean that
any such law will be passed next winter, because
that absolutely is impossible at the short ses
sion of congress. It is likely, however, that some
preliminary action -will be taken by way of tho
appointment of a commission or joint committee
of the two houses of congress to draft something
in the way of a reciprocity law which will meet
the demand for such commercial arrangements.
Whatever reciprocity there is must be by a new
law, because the reciprocity feature of the Dlngley
act expired two years after its passage and none
of the treaties negotiated under its provisions
succeeded In securing ratification by the Benate."
REFERRING TO THIS promise, the Louisvillo
(Ky.) Times says: "It will be impossible
to pass a new law at the short"sessIon, but tho
prospect that it will be seriously discussed may
help republican candidates for congress in dis
tricts where the voters feel the same way Mr.
Roosevelt talks about the trust barons. In the
next session, if there is still a republican majority,
there will be further discussion in "preparation
for the national election. Of course, If the re
publicans win in 1908, there'll be no need to keep
on with the game."
A CANADIAN CATECHISM gives information
intended to impress the young Canadian
with the bigness of that country in words and
figures as follows, to-wit: "Canada is larger than
the United States by 250,000 square miles. Can
ada contains one-third of the area of the British
empire. Canada extends over twenty degrees of
latitudefrom Rome to the North Pole. Canada
is as large as thirty United Kingdoms, eighteen
Germanys, thirty-three Italys. Canada is larger
than Australasia and twice the size of British
India. Canada has a boundary line of 3,000 miles
between it and the United States. Canada's sea
coast equals half the earth's circumference. Can
ada is 3,500 miles wide and 1,400 from north to
south." Referring to this patriotic boast the
Nashville American says: "When it comes to
population, Canada does not yell so loudly. Its
population 'is estimated at 6,000,000.' The single
state of New York has 2,000,000 more than this.
The city of New York has only about 2,000,000
less. Most of Canada's territory is 'outdoors."
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