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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1907)
V The Commoner 9 FEBRUARY 1, 1007 of 'Josiah Flynt,' Mr. -Wlllnrcl had made famous . his experiences as a tramp and his opinions upou sociological and economic questions. It is told ol! him that after liis graduation from a German uni versity and whjje casting about for a theme to bo used as a thesis in connection with a degree, tho subject of vagrancy appealed to him -with espe cial force. His really serious interest in criminals and criminology dated from that time, and it -was the effort to secure first-hand information oil the subject which led him to 'hit the road.' On his return to America he tramped with tramps for eight months in thirty different states, and later made shorter trips with the vagabonds of Russia, Germany, England, and other European countries. While in the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad, Willard policed the lines west of Pittsburg, and thus added another phase to his intimate knowl edge of 'hoboes' and their kind. Several of Jo siah Flynt's early descriptions of his experiences in the 'under world' first appeared in the columns of the Evening Post." MR. WILLARD was born in Apploton, Wiscon sin, in iSUO. The Post writer says: "Ho was the son of Oliver Apploton and Mary Bannis ter Willard, and was a direct descendant of Major Simon Willard, a native of Harmdndrey, England, who was one of the founders of Concord, Mass. On his mother's side he was descended from tho famous Mather family of Massachusetts. Frances E. Willard was his aunt. He was educated in the Massachusetts public schools, and at the Univer sity of Berlin, which institution he attended from 1800 to 1S95. The articles and magazine stories which soon began to attract attention were fol lowed by books among which the folowing are the best known: 'Tramping With Tramps,' Towers That Prey,' which was written in collaboration with Francis Walton; 'Notes of an Itinerant Po liceman,' 'The World of Graft,' 'The Little Brother,' and 'The Rise of Ruderick Clowd.' . Mr. Willard was a friend of Ibsen and Tolstoy. In the character of a workiugman he had tramped in every civilized country. Police criticism of an ar ticle by Mr. Willard, detailing tho methods of New Yorks under world, excited the police, some year.- ago, to such an extent that tho entire detective bureau set out to arrest him for what, no one then seemed to know. Day after day the police told of fruitless efforts, and told inquirers how much they wanted to lay their bauds on him, but they could not locate him. Then, after the farce had lasted two weeks. 'Flynt' walked into the De tective Bureau, introduced himself, and asked the police to say what he could do for them. By that time the official ardor had cooled, and he was neither detained nor questioned. He had been in this city, at his own home, all the time." I N CONNECTION with the increase of the sal aries of members of congress, this from the Washington Tost will bo interesting: "Several times the compensation of our national legislators has been increased, and always tho event made a storm of indignation that swept over the country from one end to the other. A Whig congress a congress, at least, of which Henry Clay was speaker increased the per diem of members and senators to $8. At the next election Clay was the only member of his party who was re-elected from Kentucky, and his majority was greatly reduced. When the per diem was changed to a salary $3,000, we believe there was another spasm, and the result was disastrous to many gentlemen. It was during the war that the salary was made what . It is now $5,000 and there was grumbling about that." IMMEDIATELY following the death of Senator Russell A. Alger, the Milwaukee Journal printed an Interview had with General Alger in Detroit, March 4, 1900, regarding his resignation from President McKinley's cabinet. General Al ger had been given the promise that the interview would not be published until after his death. In this interview General Alger said that on account of the severe criticism against him during the Spanish-American war he three times offered to resign from the cabinet, but that each time Presi dent McKinley said he would quit the presidency before he would allow it. General Alger said that the sequel showed how much McKinley's words were worth, in that later his resignation was ac cepted because the president was "embarrassed" and "annoyed" because of Alger's alleged alliance with Governor Pingree in a plan to elect Alger to the United States senate over McMillan, after the latter had promised to give way to Alger after his (McMillan's) term, was up. General Alger. said that McKinley lacked backbone. He related how he had finally learned through Vice-President Hobart that McKinley claimed he had embarrassed him and how he went to the president and asked if he had really embarrassed him. " 'Yes,' he said, 'you have embarrassed me and I am annoyed.' " "I told him that I could readily relieve Ids em barrassment by resigning from his-cabinet. j " 'I have not asked you to resign,' he said, I shall never ask you to resign.' " "But I wrote out my resignation and sent it to tho president. 1 had decided, in order to pre vent a fight among the republicans of Michigan a fight I should have won, however to withdraw as a candidate for the senate. But I did not tell the president this. The option ho meant to give me was to abandon the fight against McMillan in order to save my place in the cabinet. A few days after this I received from tho president his written acceptance of my resignation. Then I went to the president and told him that when I accepted a place in ids cabinet I did not surrender my citizenship." General Alger said he told the president some things about McMillan which he alleged were not favorable to McKinley. Asked for an estimate of McKinley's character, General Alger replied: "I cannot give that to you. He has many lov able qualities, but he lacks backbone, and nothing can make up for the lack of backbone." O THE REFUSAL of the governor of Jamaica to accept aid frpni the United States war ships on their mission of mercy, has been discussed throughout the civilized world. Ted McKereth of Brooklyn, New lork, writing to tho New York World, says that Swettenham had a precedent. Mr. McKereth explains :' "It was in the month of May, 1902, when the island bf St. Vincent, B. W. I., was in tho -throes of a volcanic eruption and, suffering from its devastating effects, misery and starvation stalked the city. The island of Martinique (French) was in like case from similar causes. Supplies of foodstuffs and medicine stores sent there by the generosity of the American gov ernment were transferred to St. Vincent, B. W. T., as there were no survivors of the catastrophe of Mont Pelee left to aid. On the arrival of tho transort ship at St. Vincent her commander was informed by the governor, at that time Sir Robert Baxter Llewellyn, that the island needed no as sistance, and tho proffered help was declined. Had it not been that the prompt protest of an indignant, starving populace awed him into acceptance the Dixie too would have been ordered to leave those waters. In Jamaica colonial history is only re peating itself and rehearsing the fact wo long have known, that men vested with a little authority ofttiraes engage their governments in unpleasant entanglements. I, a victim, impoverished by tho eruntion of La Souffriore in St Vinncnt in 1902. was in the island at the time of the foregoing oc currence. bread-and-butter people of this country nccd,ti) watch more closely than Senator Aldrich." A DISPATCH to the. New York World under date of- Dover, Delaware, follows: "By a vote of twenty-six to eight the House today passed the bill presented by Representative Holcomb (dem.), of Newcastle, providing that a surgical operation shall be performed on all men convicted of attempting to assault women in Delaware. It must be performed within twenty days after con viction and will be in addition to the existing im prisonment sentence of twenty years. Speaker Hodgson was excused from voting. The members who voted in the negative were Conwell, Evans, Elliott, Garrison, Harvey, Richards, Stoats and Wilson, all republicans. The opponents of the measure contend that the proposed punishment is cruel. The bill now goes to the senate. The ad ditional punishment is the most drastic ever pro posed in Delaware. The plan, which, has many supporters in botli political parties, is an outcome of recent attempted assaults on white women throughout Delaware by negroes." THE OHIO STATE JOURNAL, a republican paper, is not greatly impressed with the dis interested professions made by Senator Aldrich in the capacity of "Senator Foraker's right bower in his new found zeal for the rights of the negro bat talions." The Journal says: "Senator Aldrlch's heart was never known to beat for humanity; for the struggling masses; for the common country. Franchises, corporation, high finance, anti-food, anti-rate, anti-free alcohol, antl-anything that ' doesn't play into the hands of organized wealth, have been the landmarks of his senatorial career. He is opposed to Roosevelt and his whole 'square deal' business, and so his heart is with the soldiers that shotup the town. His heart is also with the constitution and anything that it says in favor of shooting up, rebates and Standard Oil. There is no man in the senate that the common; self-reliant, IN A PROVISION In the charter granted by congress to the Union Pacific Railroad com pany in 1S03, it is found according to the Wash ington correspondent for the Omaha World-Herald that the government reserve; the most sweeping authority over rales and charges which the Union Pacific system may make. The World-Herald cor respondent says: "The provision lias been inves tigated by legal authority since the Interstate com mission lias been given the task of investigating the Harriman system, and the conclusion is that it is still enforcible, never having been repealed or otherwise nullified in the various re-organizations of the Union Pacific properties. The lawyers who Jiave been working on the matter are confi dent that thin provision Ih the weapon needed by Uncle Sam In r-venl of a fight with The great com bination of roads. Tho provision follows: 'When ever it appears that the net earnings of the entire road and telegraph, including the amount allowed for services rendered the United States, after do ducting all expenditures, including repairs and the furnishing, running and managing of said road, shall exceed ten per cent per annum upon its cost, exclusive of the live per cent to be paid the United States, congress may reduce the rates of fare thereon if unreasonable in amount and may IK and establish the same hv law.'" THIS EXPLAINS why tho lawyer who first turned up the provision above refered to pre sented It as a basis of action by the commission that tho Union Pacific is undoubtedly earning far in excess of ten per cent per annum "upon Its cost," which has nothing to do with its present capitalization. He urges Unit with its capitaliza tion watered, as few other roads in the country have been able to do, its common stock is now oil a ten per cent basis and its surplus is very large. Therefore he declares the power of congress to prescribe rates has actually become operative and there Is needed only a valuation of the system and an investigation of Its earnings that will demon strate that it is earning more than the maximum allowed by the law. The World-Herald correspond ent adds: ''The interstate commission's inquiry into the Harriman group originated in part with numerous complaints that railroad rates from the Missouri river to the coast are excessive and in part with the discovery of tho land frauds along the Union Pacific by which that road lias benefited. The allegation of excessive rates was first in im portance. It is pointed out that if the government can compel a reduction In rates along the Union Pacific the other transcontinental lines must moot it and tiius tho whole western section would ben efit. It was tills idea that originally instigated the movement for investigation. The commission has not yet formulated a plan for carrying on the work and is not at ail certain when It will have time to do it. But there is a powerful pressure from higher up to have the work done. The fact that the Union Pacific is a Standard Oil interest and that the president is now Just preparing a fight on Standard Oil all along the line is supposed to be largely responsible for the interest in Union Pa cific affairs." IN ITS ISSUE of December 20, the New York Sun printed an editorial in which it said: "Tiie . roads are between Mr. Roosevelt and the deep sea. The gross earnings are suffocating them, the net earnings are steadily vanishing, and behind all is the spectre of an intolerable usurpation which means only bankruptcy and disaster." With the above paragraph from the Sun the New York World printed two other extracts from that publication: (From a Washington dispatch to the Sun, Deeem- ber 20.) "Tho report of the interstate commerce commission shows that the gross earnings of the roads described were $2,319,700,030, consisting of passenger earnings, $018,555,934; freight earnings, $1,040,942,802, and miscellaneous earnings, $00, 201,234. The gross earnings averaged $10,543 per mile. This average is much higher than the like average for any previous year for which the com mission has published a statistical report. The ratio of operating expenses to earnings, as shown by tho preliminary report, was 00.05 per cent. The same average in the final report for the year 1905 was 00.78 per cent. This advance report shows that the net earnings of the same roads for the year ended June 30, 1900, were $787, 590,877, or $3,580 per mile, and for the year 1905, $090,091,151." (From a local news article in the Sun, December 20.) "The regular semi-annual div idend of 2 per cent on the common stock and 5 per cent on the preferred stock and an extra divi dend of 1 per cent on the common stociv and 5 per cent on the preferred stock of tho Lehigh Valley railroad has been declared."