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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 12, 1909)
The Commoner, VOLUME 0, NUMBER U H 6 .& T I t i t. I . THE QUESTION, "who will succeed Prince Ito," Is of general interest The New Or lwuns Times-Democrat says: "The tragedy at Harbin may create problems for people wliich care not a rap for the fate of Korea. It is feared, for example, that the disappearance of Princo Ito will bring Japanese jingo to the fore. For us the crux of the problem lies In 1 the possibility that we may soon be vitally in- . volved in the far east." ' O IN AN INTERVIEW printed in the Louisville Courier-Journal Thomas Sammons, American coiibuI general at Seoul during Prince Ito's term of office as resident general, made the follow ing estimate of his methods and motives: "Princo Ito considered the conquests of peace more permanently beneficial than those of war, and that thought characterized his life and work toward the westernizing of ancient forms of Oriental civilization." CONCERNING the Times-Democrat's remarks tho Courier-Journal says they are quite true, and adds: "Prince Ito, it is well known, was sent to Korea as resident general because his name was the best and most favorably known name jn Japan among foreign nations, and because he was the most broad-minded statesman in the island empire. Inasmuch as he is generally regarded as having overshadowed the Mikado it might perhaps not be wholly in accurate to say that he went to Korea, instead of saying that he was sent. It was said when he retired, to be succeeded as resident general by Viscount Sone, that the hand of the first resident general would guide that of his succes sor In the larger problems in Korea. It was feayed that tho 'military party' would scarcely be kept In check by Viscount Sone with Prince Ito too far removed from the theatre of his former act vities to prevent the petty abuses roni haVS eptT up IrrItation between the Ko reans and the Japanese." TTO, ACCORDING to the Courier-Journal, was JL a man of sufficiently large caliber to realize the advantages of walking softly while carrying the big stick. The Courier-Journal adds: "Ho SayH 5?!, n0t' h,aV 'been ln Manchuria at t;eJlmo of tno murder to advance the interests of his country with a view to insuring the con tinuance of the policy of agression miS?,t out at Tokio, but Ss ityhas frequentl been X ato Is the Mikado,' it is unquestionable tha he' more than any other single individual in JaUn' represented the policies of Japan He remt sented the dynamics of the contemplated expan sion of the empire in a territorial sense as well as the moral force behind its advancement in arts, industries and form of government Muc? therefore depends upon whether Prince Ito- a dominating influence in Japanese affair succeeded by a statesman whc bSlevea K con ?hUnenVf P,eace more Permanently beneficial than those of war," and who is farRPPi t to undertake the extremely r lskTworkSo? niio1 Snaevllahnf JapaneSe, 8hip f Sate Sween the Scylla o.f war and tho Charybidis of terrS ortot puss sw assrSS3? is, apparently, the hope of thrfmperlovorn ncreasing Japanese terHtory a?d n V if China offers about the onlv fiowi k?a,S Japan can hope to expand if i i whIch Korea and exploltaUon, and th toSSSS J Manchuria, should continue aloSg'pce until Japan's now depleted exchequer po,,m ?! replenished, and her army SE ened it might be possible hersHcea good bit of Chinese territory for her own nL prov ded China does not fulflll the nfteS mS awakening' prophesies and becoml efflc?ent ?n a military sense. The prospects of the 'RussiaS advance' interfering seriously with the Japanese program within the next twenty years do not seem to be a large factor in the problem, and it has not yet-been demonstrated that the powers contemplate any drastic concerted action to force Japan to live up to her 'open door' agreements. If a Japanese of the military party should be come as prominent as Prince Ito was, as an ad viser of tho Mikado, and a molder. of the policies of the empire, hot-headedness might plunge Japan into a course -that would involve the 'nation in serious complications.' Supreme tact is a prequisito to the success of a program that contemplates the violation of treaties without tho provocation of war. Prince Ito, rather than any other Japanese statesman, demonstrated that he possessed, tact." AN INDIANAPOLIS dispatch printed in the Chicago Record-Herald follows: "The ne cessity for reform in national bank operation will be exemplified hero this week when the federal grand jury will investigate more cases of alleged criminal conversion of banks' funds than ever before in the history of this judicial district. The cases to be investigated are as follows: Elbert W. Shirk, president First Na tional Bank of Tipton, charged with misappro priation of $23,000; William H. Marker, cashier of the same bank, charged with making false entries; Noah R. Marker, assistant cashier of ?La ame baTlk' charsed with embezzlement offe ?50,000. Max C. Emmerich, bookkeeper of the Capital National Bank of Indianapolis, and Paul C. Gall and Harry Prinzler, depositors, charged ith defrauding the bank of $40,000. James H. Phillips, bookkeeper of the Terre Haute Na tional Bank of Terre Haute, charged with em bezzlement of $15,000. Frank H. Nicolai,, as sistant cashier, of the City National Bank of xUr?v' Aoharsed with embezzlement of $5,Q00. ; S 7 r telIer of the First National Bank ?7 Fnn re: ?aSfd with embezzlement of $7,000. Elbert W. Shirk is a capitalist of Chi- S5S- w noi:tlLern, HMHmia. President of the mill Ma 0ni? T?ai?k of Poru' Tnd" ad of the 5 ,Bank f Tipton' Ind' A draft for $23,000 was ssued to him as reimbursement i , ai? w,hich be says he ma(ie to the Tipton MrnkShbirk lV t aPPar D th 9 Mr. Shirk and the members of his family are the owners and directors of the bank. One Mo day morning in the late summer It was dis covered that the assistant cashier, Noah R o? e00idliBaPEe,lr8? and tbat a &W oi $50,000 in batik notes was missing The assistant cashier returned after a few days and was arrested. An examination showed that there was a total shortage of $1D3,000. The caS S em thnnMarker' brther of tte SStoS cashier, then was arrested. Just where the coavered?ney W0nt' hWever' has "e III PAUL REPS, an immigrant laborer from Russia was the hero of a novel recentton given at St. Louis November 5. Tbout to be come an American citizens Reps sent to , MrT W-K. Kavanaugh a letter in which he said- "i eTnVinmy g00d .m'SJfd this event m my ufe I want to remember and havo as something great. Old Russia for mete dead Is it possible for $10 or $15 for uto hni5 i. respectable manner and pllce, toone 1 ing 'America 'Banner of Country or othfr American patriotic songs, and even accompanied by fine music? We think it very badTnd dis grace as mostly immigrants do in such event induced by. politicians to take naturalizaUon' drink much beer, use bad language and fight' THtSftiiL0UIS women Promptly. accepted X the challenge and prepared a thoroughlv American j-eeeption for the new citizen. Refer ring to this celebration the Associated Press report says: -The leaders in the celebraUon were women whose names come at the ton 0f the social register; whose homes are the finest S?J? ,Luis "nd whose families are of tie wealthiest .Reps had challenged -the patriotism of the social leaders -and the women- made "iS their hero for a day. He received his final naS uralization -papers today. Two weeks itrn i, wrote to Mrs. W. K. KavanaughT wife of th! president of - the .lakesrto-the-gulf deen watnr way association, Informing her that hi Z Tt become a citizen Novembfr 6, and askinHld whether she could arrange wUh her "riends til a celebration in his honor on that dav ISl greatest day of his life. Mrs. KavanauKh m astonished, had the letter investtraiSd J was told-Rep was looking forward to ceiobwt ing his .citizenship. He Jiad spent $12 for court" fees and was willing to expend $16 for a hill where Mrs. Kavanaugh and her friends could meet him if they would come. The use of ?ho ripe Zant1 Kavanaeh, a"s was pipe organ in it. Reps, an employe of tho Frisco road, Mrs. Reps and their three chidren were in the hall early this afternoon. Among those who attended the celebration besides Mrs Kavanaugh were Mrs. F. H. Kreismann, wife JwJ TJ,0' LouIs' and Mrs- Wa"ace 0. Capon. While Reps was the guest of honor, he requested his hostess to sing different songs America' and other patriotic songs were ren dered by a chorus of the social leaders, and these were followed by bugle calls and war UNLESS THE United States supremo court intervenes Samuel Gorapers, president, Frank Morrison, secretary, and John Mitchell, vice president of the Federation of Labor must go to jail. The court of appeals for the Dis trict of Columbia has affirmed the decree of tho supreme court of the district, condemning theso men for contempt of court in the Bucks Stove and Range case. Chief Justice Sheppard dis sented from the opinion of the court on con stitutional grounds. The court held that tho fundamental issue was whether the constitu tional agencies of government should be obeyed or defied. The mere fact that the defendants were the officers of organized labor in America, said the court, lent importance to the causo and added to the gravity of tho situation, but it should not be permitted to influence the re sult. "If an organization of citizens, however large," the court held, "may disobey the man dates of the court, the same reasoning would render them subject to individual defiance. Both are subject to the law and neither is above it. If a citizen, though he may honestly beliovo his rights have been invaded, may elect when and to what extent he will obey the mandates of the court and the requirements of the law as interpretted by the court, instead of pursuing the orderly court of appeal, not only the courts but government itself would become powerless and society would be reduced to a state of anarchy." THE WASHINGTON correspondent for tho Associated Press says: "The action of tho supreme court of the District of Columbia in sentencing Gompers, Mitchell and Morrison to twelve, nine and six months' imprisonment in jail, respectively, was the "result of tho failure of these three defendants to obey the order of the court directing them to desist from placing the Bucks Stove and Range company of St. Louis on their 'unfair list' in the prosecution of their boycott against the corporation. While the name of tho corpor ation was removed from the unfair list of tho federation, Messrs. Gompers and Mitchell con tinued to keep alive the boycott by frequent reference to it in the'Federationist, official organ of the Federation. Mr. Mitchell was involved in the trouble by reason of his membership on cthe executivo board of the Federation and be cause it was alleged he had made no effort to prevent the adoption of a resolution at- the con vention of the United Mine Workers of America in antagonism to the Bucks Stove and Rango company. The result of the boycott, it was said, was to cause a decline in the business of the stove and range company of fifty per cent. The boycott placed by the Federation against the products of the Buck company grew out of a fight -made .by -the; metal'polishers': union and supported by.theiFederation-foran eight instead of a nine hour day. This was resisted by tho 4 .