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The Commoners
' ' ' yOPMf'6 NUMBER 33
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NEWSPAPER DISPATCHES recqntly quoted
James D. Phelan, chairman of the San
Francisco relief committee as saying that only
$70,000 of the $200,000 pledged by the Standard
Oil company and Its officials for earthquake suf
ferers had been received. The New York World
says that this statement drew forth an explana
tion from 26 Broadway as follows: "It was ex
plained that, through its own agents and relief
committees of San Francisco and the neighboring
towns, all but $52,000 of the total of $230,000 Sub
scribed by the Standard Oil and its officials has
been expended Seventy thousand dollars was
given in a lump sum to the San Francisco relief
committee, and sums varying from $10,000 to
$1,000 to neighboring towns. With the rest the
Standard Oil agents went about individual relief,
, To one woman was given a pyrographic outfit, be
cause she thought it would make' her self-supporting;
a minister asked for a theological library;
a Scotch tailor wanted a sewing machine; a
woman writer wanted a table, a lamp, a diction
ary and a copy of Soule's Synonyms. Many women
were provided with sewing machines and wash
tubs. To artisans tools were given. Families
got cooking stoves, kitchenware, clothing and
food."
T7XISTING INEQUALITY in postal rates, is
JlL pointed out by a writer "in the New York
Evening Post. This writer says: "The distance
from Now York to Cuba is 1,366 miles, and from
New York to Jamaica not 300 miles further;
neither of these islands belong to our nation, yet
wo pay for letter postage less than half as much
to Cuba as to Jamaica. And this is only one
example of international postage inconsistency
the same inequality of rates is exemplified in in-
numorablo cases. For example, between Boston
uwuviaiuin, is iu.uuu miles, and between Boston'
fand London 3,500; yet to Manila is a two-cent rate, ,
and to London a five-cent To send a letter from
London to Montreal costs Id. (two cents); and"
the distance from London to Montreal can not
be much more than from London to New York.
If a uniform two-cent rate is not agreed upon
among the nations of this twentieth century, there
would seem no reason why such a rate should
not be arranged between our country and England,
Scotland and Iroland. The commerce, wealth and
population of both Great Britain and this republic
have vastly Increased since 1874 (when the pres
ent rate was established), and an immediate
change to a two-cent rate per a full ounce weight
would not only be practical but progressive."
m HE AUTHORITIES of the city of Budapest
T. W l'on SePtemuer 1C, 1906, unveil the
statue of George Washington, erected in the city
?T i?u,dS?ef fc by the Hungarians living in the
Un ted States and to the festivities in connection
with the unveiling of this monument of the gratU
tude felt by the Hungarians of America towards
their adopted country, a cordial invitation has
been tendered to many Americans. A letter from
the mayor of Budapest says: "When, a few years
ago, a statue was erected in the cit- of Cleveland
Ohio, to Louis Kossuth, concurrent with the un
veiling of this statue a movement was started
ttY representative Hungarian citizens of the
United States to raise the money necessary to de-
wl, ,th( COf ?,f erectlne a statue to George
Washington in the city of Budapest. This mon-
oTlft onw ln rlGd t0.1i?a tansIble expression
or not only the appreciation of the welcome no.
corded by the United States to tiioe of S peS
Pie, who have adopted that country as their
homo, but also of the manner in which Lou s
Kossuth was received in 1851 by the government
and the people of the United States. The call for
subscriptions was promptly and substantially an
swered by all classes of Hungarian residents of
American, who thus manifested their profound
and sincere love for their new country and also
trvir,n?Vn faI!!ng interest m their Native coin
compMed.""8 unortak!ne was successfully
MOZART AT THE age of twelve, Josef Hoff
man at fourteen, and Kubelik when a mere
boy wero marvels, but according to the New
York correspondent for the Chicago Tribune in
the nine-year old Michael Do W of 087 Bank-
street, Waterbury, the world seems to have
found a prodigy with acquirements surpassing
the work of his predecessors. The Tribune's cor
respondent explains: "Michael is the leader, con
ductor, organizer, and general manager of a full
sized, gro.wn up orchestra, which appears in pub
lic. The programs are severely classical, the
aim of the organization is strictly of the highest,
and all Waterbury that is musical as well as the
towns near by, is at the small Michael's feet.
Whatmay the future bring forth? Michael be
gan the study of music when he was but four
years old. He is the son of Perry DeVito, a
musician, and the lad's early training is due to
his father's desire to bring him up in the same
profession. But the elder DeVito had no idea
that the little fellow would develop such wonder
ful talents. At Beven or eight the. lad could play
well violin, mandolin, and piano His study of
the old masters was thorough, and he went far
ahead of his Instructors. Early, too, he showed
the ability to direct the playing of other musi
cians, and expressed his desire to be a conductor.
Concerts have been given in New Haven, Bridge
port, and elsewhere, and Michael is always the
star of the occasion. Jn his methods he isr said
to be like Creatoro, sometimes jumping from his
platform and running among his musicians, en
couraging them, threatening themv or begging
them to do as lie wishes. His gestures with the
baton are earnest and often the" result of great
excitement. When in the leader's chair he com
pletely forgets everything else but the beauties
of the music."
THERE WAS A FLURRY recently on Wall
street, and all because of a Union Pacific
deal. The Wall Street Journal .made a veritable
Marc Antony speech. The Journal said: "All
day Friday Wall street was full, of accusations,
recriminations, and abuse directed at Mr. E. H.
Harriman and the directors of Union Pacific, be
cause the dividends declared on Union Pacific
and Southern Pacific were larger than the street
had been led to expect. Thoughtless men, stand
ing over the ticker figuring out the profits that
they did not get, wore" prone to assert that the
Union Pacific directors and executive had known -beforehand
what the dividends were to be, and
had speculated upon that knowledge in the stocks "
of the Harriman roads. Of course this was not
true. It must be accepted as a fact that not a
single director nor official of the Union Pacific
bought or sold a share of stock upon fore-knowledge
of these dividends. For the directors of the
Union Pacific are surely honorable men. Any
director who bought stock from an innocent stock
holder of the Union Pacific put himself in the
position of a trustee who allowed his client to
sell to him, the trustee, certain of the trust estate,
keeping back from that client the knowledge that
this part of the estate was about to become much
more valuable."
ON THIS FACT, therefore, the Journal
bases its assumption that v neither E. H.
Harriman nor any other director used this tre
mendous bit of Knowledge in the Wall street
market. If they had done so they would have
beon not ono bit less culpable than would the
trustee who swindles his client. The Journal
adds: "This being so, the movement of the
stocks of Union Pacific and Southern Pacific "over
the last four weeks becomes intensely interest
ing as a study in spontaneous activity. By way
of illustration, prices at various dates may be
compiled as follows:
July 19 Aug. 2 Aug. 15 Aug. 17
Union Pacific 144 157 161 170
Southern Pacific... 68 75 81 87
The prices in the last column were recorded forty
five minutes after the dividends were announced.
Both stocks reached higher prices later. The
Union Pacific directors met on July 19. They re
ferred the question of a dividend to the executive
committee. Wall street is asked to believe that
neither the directors nor members of the execu
tive bought stock of the Union Pacific between
July 19 and August 17. Are not these market
advances singular things? It is to be presumed
that on July 19 the directors knew the earnings,
at least approximately, of these roads, even If
they did not know just what the dividends would
be. It is a remarkable coincidence that during
the four weeks through which this exclusive
knowledgo rested with the Union Pacific directors,
these two stocks have scored the most remark
able price movements of thoir history. Perish
the thought that any director or, executive officer
of the Union Pacific or the Southern Pacific has
sold his honor for stock profit! Some one else
did this. Some outside speculator must have
had wind of the huge dividends, and must have
risked his fortune In a tremendous campaign.
Wkjere Harriman gdnius has sown some other
man has reaped the golden harvest. What an
awful thing it is to be so bound in chains of
honor!"
ACCORDING TO THE New York Evening Post
the-pool in Union pacific stock realized
profits amounting to $15,000,000, and a similar
pool in Southern Pacific profits made $10,000,000.
An Associated Press dispatch from New York
tells the story of the trading on March 17, the
date when the dividend was declared, in this way:
"Notwithstanding the meeting-of the executive
committees of the Union Pacific and Southern
Pacific railroads in this city yesterday, the bulk
of the brokers were totally unprepared at the
announcement of dividends which was made pub
lic soon after the opening of today's market. The
dividends were: Union Pacific preferred, two
per cent semi-annual; common, five per cent
semi-annual; Southern Pacific common, 2
per cent semi-annual. Union Pacific common
heretofore paid three per cent and today's divi
dend was the first ever declared on the Southern
Pacific common. Brokers were swept into a mad
struggle to buy the two stocks within a minute
after the announcement was circulated and the
exciting scenes which ensued have hardly been
exceeded since the great struggle to control
Northern Pacific five years ago. The shorts in
both Pacifies were unprepared for the upward
rush which followed and led the scramble to
cover. Within half an hour aftorthe announce
ment, Union Pacific had bounded up more than
eight points and Southern Pacific nearly seven.
Feverish activity prevailed in the. two stocks
throughout- the session with various b.alts in the
upward movement when the traders sold to rea
lize profits. Except for these halts, the upward
movement' in Union Pacific continued throughout
the day almost to the close of the market, when
there was a slight recession on profit taking.
Southern Pacific's advance, however, was halted
early and held. Union Pacific's extreme advance
was from 162 to 179, and Southern Pacific's
from 83 to 89. Union Pacific closed at 178V and
Southern Pacific at 87. The ' total sales of
UnionlPacific were , 647,100 shares, 'and' .those
of Southern Pacific were 481,600.'.' v ';
A CASE OF MULE suicide is reported from the
, Morel district of Switzerland, and the Kan
sas City Journal tells -the story in this way:
"The beast had received rough usage and was
being driven daily with a heavy load back and
forth from Binn Valley to Morel. The other even
ing as the muleteer had added, as usual, his own
weight to the tired mule's already heavy load the
beast plunged and reared so violently that tho
man was thrown with violence, breaking his arm,
while the nack was flung off. Bolting then along
the torrent side, the mule was nearing the bridge
at Schert at full gallop, when a party of men
barred the way. Seeing escape thus blocked and
recapture inevitable, with a return to the old
unbearable -cruelty, the animal stopped, turned
to the torrent flowing at a great depth below,
and with a side leap plunged headlong into tho
aoyss.
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ABRAHAM WHITE made enough" money during
the Union Pacific flurry to enable him to
purchase the magnificent country home of the late
John A. McCall. His profits were said to have
exceeded $2,000,000. For years White has been
known as the "postage stamp financier.'" The
New -York World says: "White was the original
Sam Byerley, the man who first bid successfully
for United States government bonds with no capi
tal except the price of. the postage starcpswhich
carried his bids to Washington.. It was" just ten
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