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."
