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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 12, 1906)
" " "rjfBsr' - r7"l"'W - $;"swii a The Gommoner; VOLUME 6, NUMBER M "?& .'tto w MS5uRReNT5picsB 5 '., u m i'ir. va IT IS ANNOUNCED from Berlin that a great international exposition will be held in that city in 1912. Referring to this enterprise a writer in the Outlook says: "In the first place, the fair, it is announced, will be planned on an imperial Scale that will surpass all previous expositions, whother those of London, Paris, Vienna, Chipago or St. Louis. In all world's fairs in recent years Germany has been noted for its magnificent dis plays and, naturally, an exposition in Borlin may be expected to be on a proportionately elaborate and magnificent scale, commensurate with Ger many's commanding place in international affairs. That the fair will be planned with German thor oughness and carried out in every detail with the military-like precision and punctuality char acteristic of Germany's exhibits in other world's fairs may be assumed as a preliminary, and, with the kaiser personally supervising the plans and general details, it may also be assumed that when the exposition of 1912 opens, at the hour and day advertised six years in advance, the exposition itself will be found fitly representative of the empire, and worthy also of what it is now con fidently expected in Germany will six years. hence bo the continent's first capital in population; com merce, and political importance." v'cb' C HARLES E. TV1AGOON, late governor of Pan-. $ ama, has been sent to Cuba and will act as governor of that island. Washington dispatches say 'that a statement issued under authority de clares that President Roosevelt's purpose is to set the republic on its feetr again and hot to en courage annexation sentiment. Senator Beveridge, of Indiana, in his stump speeches, declares that Cutta will be annexed and that the American flag,vwlll "gtay put'4 Vri the island. Senator For aker is quoted as saying that there has been no legal intervention yet, but merely the use of the army and navy to pjotect the property of Amer ican citizens in Cuba. . Senator Foraker says that in a 'legal sense only congress, acting with the president, can declare tne intervention contem plated in the Piatt amendment. If the Foraker view be accepted generally, then the whole ques- tlon of intervention and' annexation may be threshed out in congress, in which event -it is not unlikely powerful jipterosts will' put annexation senfjheht to the iront. Mr. Palma', former presi dent, of Cuba, aridfarnUy have left Havana and the American government is practically 'in control of "tlie Island. ' - i . SENATOR RAYNER, of Maryland, is quoted in a Baltimore dispatch to the Chicago Record Herald as saying: "Jf the president has his way wewill annex everything down to, .Ojjnoco except thef orolgn possessions, The owners: o the sugar plantations and the sugar trust will see to It that Cuba Is In an apparent state of atritatinn an n to force annexation. I believe If we desired it we could maintain the independence of the island, but it does not look to me as if there was much sincerity in our purpose to do so. The president says the elections in Cuba are rotten. There is no doubt about that; that is the situation down to Terra del Fuego, but they are no rottener than the elections that keep the republican party in power in this country." "' ALREADY SOME international complications have developed in the Cuban situation. A correspondent for the New York Herald says that Secretary Taft finds it necessary to imake some precedents. This correspondent says that it is difficult for American representatives to explain just what relation Cuba bears to the United States, and just what are the. responsibilities of this government. Already the American govern ment has disclaimed responsibility for the acts of Cubans before or after intervention! The Her ald correspondent says: "I found Mr. Taft and Mr. Bacon flanked by law books at the American legation, looking blankly out on the wide, waters of theXgulf. They could find nothitfg in interna tional law to guide them. Governmont-'No. 1, representing the United States, has an agreoment with government 'No. 2 representing Cuba, that it has the right to intervene, and does so to re store order and becomes the government of No. 2, but declares that it really is not because in time government No. 2 will exist again. It is necessary to make a few precedents and Mr. Taft will make them, whether they become in ternational, law or not, but he is going very slowly in deciding the perplexing questions that are com- , ing up. His airrj seems to be to keep Cuba re sponsible for claims of all sorts, even if the dam age be incurred Or cause given after American occupation. Hold-over senators and representa tives whose election was not questioned, are ask ing about their salaries, during the suspension of-, the, Cuban government. They are advised that the United States can not pay such items out of the Cuban treasury, but the new republic may, see fit to do so. Minister Quesada at Washington has been asked to withdraw his resignation and . the United States state department will notify all Cuban representatives abroad to keep their posts. Minister Morgan of the United States will remain here and officially call on Mr. Taft who, as head of the Cuban government, will extend his best wishes to Mr. Morgan's government, of which .he is' secretary of war. ..Mr. Taft sees the humor cf, the whole situation and has seen it alf along and it helps him to deal successfully with serious . phases oil. a delicate situation. He. is taking up the threads of government one by one and be lieves he can get along without making any Impor tant changes in methods. The pipst important work is disbanding the militia and inducing the rebels to go home peacefully. It is progressing favorably. One of the results of the day's labor . of the" former peace" commission Was the addition to 111? neading of the 'Official Gazette of the Re-.' public of Cuba,' of the words 'under the provisional, administration of "the. United. States.' .'The sug-; gestlOn 'that the word 'limited' be inserted was :. regarded 4as unnecessary.",. P" RHAPS. THE. REPUBLICAN party's program, in Cuba is well , described by the St. Louis (ilobe-Democrat when it says "President Roose velt says that Cuban acquisition is not contem--plated.by him. Probably it Is not, Annexation, is a function which "the senate shares with, the , -president if it is ,tq be,. brought, by treaty. Both., house, and senate must ..participate in it if it is accomplished by joint resolution. By one or the other,-.of. these processes however, annexation is sure tocome at an early day. If the president imagines that annexation can be. staved, off alto--gether, he is much more credulous than, are, the majority of his countrymen. On the 'face .of the returns we are committed to get out of Cuba as soon as the Cuban people go through the motions- of electing a. now government,, executive and, legislative. Secretary Taft, who Is. Cuba's provisional head under the new dispensation, has promised this. President Roosevelt inspired the promise. It was the president's and the secre tary's intention, when the promise was made, to live up to this pledge, . Very likely it is their in tention still. The president will recognize the in? evitable before he sends his message to congress at the opening of the session seven and a half weeks hence. One of the first measures which will be introduced in congress when that-body assembles on December 3 will be a bill to annex Cuba. to. the United States." JOHN L. COWAN contributed to the New, York Evening Post an Interesting article, entitled "Tide of Gold Rapidly Rising." Mr. Cowan pre dicts that the world's present supply of gold may be doubled within the next ten years. Nevada, in his opinion, bids fair to outstrip South Africa as a gold producer. Mr. Cowan says: "The probable effect of a great and sudden increase in the world's Bupply of gold has long been a favor ite topic for academic discussion. Many theorists have urged that the disorganizing of values, the' disturbance of interest rates, thO unsettling of1 wage conditions, and the encouragement of irra tional, speculation tnat would be caused by an un precedented supply of new erold -famiilrl ho ntfrni. ed with grave danger 'and possible disaster. The' correctness or tnis conclusion must now be test- vi ed. A deluge of new gold, such as the world has never before known, is upon us; and unless all indications prove misleading, the tide will con tinue to rise for many years to' come. The world's production of gold for the year 1905 amounted to approximately $375,000,000, as compared with less than one-third of that amount in 1890, and but little more than one-half as much in 1896. For nine years the annual output has been increasing $30,000,000 each year; while for the preceding de cade the average annual increase in production was less than $9,000,000. If the yearly production of the mines continues to grow as rapidly for the next ten years, the world's present supply will be more than doubled. Yet for . a considerable portiqn of the nine-year period in which the pro duction of new gold, has been growing by leaps -of $30,000,000 each year,. one of the world's great est mining districts, the Witwatersrand, was en tirely unproductive, or else yielded only a fraction of its normal capacity. The high water mark of production on .'the Rand,' before operations were suspended by the Boer war, was reached in Aug ust, 1899, just before the. beginning of hostilities; and was not again equalled until December, 1904. The introduction .of Chinese coolie labor had its effect, as is shown by the fact : that while the production ;pf the district in 1898, the last complete year before the war, was but $60,0.00,000, in 1904, it had risen tp $80,000,000, and in ,1905 to $93, 000,000. The assurance of an adequate supply of cheap labor is. a. guarantee that all the old mines will continue, in .operation, and that many, new ones, will be opened. , -Prospecting has greatly extended the known productivearea, so that this ., great mining- district will continue, to increase its', output. "This ;year the production will exceed $100,000,0,00. It may ultimately -reach $200,000,000 annually." . . . ., .. . ' - ' v. "' ' , '" AN ASSOCIATED PRESS -dispatjoh under date of St.. -Paul, Minn., October .4, follows: "Sepa-tor LaFollette of .Wisconsin, ..it was an nounced .today, has . agreed to appear as a wit ness before, the Minnesota state railroad and ware house commission, which is now. holding a hear ing, regarding the reasonableness of commodity rates in this state and give testimony regarding the existence of 'yellow dog?. funds said, to have been contributed to by the -railroads to bring about his -political downfall. Senator LaFollette has not, only agreed to himself appear, and give testl mony, but! he says he will have other witnesses to support the contention qf the attorney for the shippers' association that: .such funds were given out of the gross earnings of the companies. At the hearing tpday it was openly charged, by At torney Manahan that President Marvin Hughitt of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha road, had paid $50,000 from the funds of the confc pany as a contribution to the campaign funds of one of the national political parties. A. T. Clark, vice president of the same. road, testified that there were vouchers to show that twenty men had been employed in recent campaigns in Wisconsin." OUT OF PIECES of woolen yarn, unraveled from a sock and twisted together, a" prisoner in the new federal prison at Leavenworth, Kan., - constructed an instrument which he-used, re cently, to saw through the top andbottom of a three inch steel bar. Mark A. Shipley, who re sides at 4636 Cook Avenue, St. Louis, returned from Leavenworth and gave the story to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, which saysr "A photo-, graph of the sawed bars, showing the opening made, was given to Mr. Shipley by the warden. Shipley was one of the men Instrumental in sending the man to prison. That a common piece of yarn could be made to cut the strongest steel bars, tested with acids and resisting steel saws, is a discovery that not only surprises police and keepers of jails and penitentiaries, but scientists as well. It is the first case of the kind on record, as far as can be learned, and the prisoner who used it In the Leavenworth penitentiary is the originator. The prisoner was confined in one. of tne Isolation cells. A, guard standing on atierj. above noticed him working his hands back and forth around the bars and notified the guards on m SA J JSri&faaiig JZZt tXMl ttlll..iM,,i. tauftjuft v ',. -&! Lf.Af- CuB5wLLnL8 -V J 4 WJMMWMIjWiyjaWWW .