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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 14, 1910)
(" ((MT' 'rt,T "fJJJv'.'.T"?? J'" Tfl "XP'V """t. . ,i- , iv1 If hewt- ' Tl" 5f e edminiiet: JANUARY 14,' 1910 i Topics tj' t --- g, ? ,r- - TVv ., --.-. -..fnF- T tBH ' j f? J"J1 KCCuteReNT .,. a kj r Sxm . trr irsTysmrr r ArAdX y- m ' -'- if "f "-' '"fMV.wyi? """1 VOCaPV IN HIS MESSAGE to the New York legislature Governor Hughes objected to the adoption of the constitutional amendment providing for an income tax. He said: "I am not in favor of conferring on the federal government the power to. lay and collect such a tax, I believe that this power should be held by the federal' government so as to properly equip it with the means of meeting national exigencies. But the power to tax incomes should not be granted In t such terms as to subject to federal taxation' the ' incomes' derived from bonds issued by the state itself or those issued by municipal governments offered under the state's authority. To place the borrowing capacity of the state and of its governmental agencies at the mercy of the fed eral taxing power would be an impairment-'of tlje essential rights of the state which, as its officers, we are bound to defend." The governor urged an amendment to the anti-racing laws penalizing the.j practice of bookmaking even though no- bets are recorded. .Tji OLLOvyTENG, THE reading of Governor JC TJ'ijgh'es message, State Senator Grady-nade a sensational-attack on the governor.. It was the governor's proposal to penalize the practice of bpokmaking that aroused the ire of the "sen ate minority leader to the point of attack. He "declared iha.t while the governor attacked the horse, owner, the bookmaker and. the man plac . ing ills. T)et upon a horse race, "he had 'never dared, to attack the most monstrous gambling In stitution there is in the world, the New York stock exchange, and to the end of his -career he will never have the courage to attack it."- "Let me call your attention to the kid gloved way in which the "governor handles Wall Street,"- con tinued . Qrady. "When he comes to speak of Jbookmaking it is gambling, public gambling and the distinction of gambling outside the track and inside the track have been obliterated; but when he comes to talk of Wall Street gambling, the only gambling with which he is personally acquainted, upon which he is an expert au thority, then it becomes speculation, and he wishes to appoint a commission to inquire whether the most nefarious system of gambling which exists today in the state of New York, Wall Street gambling, can be reformed with ad vantage to the public Now we did not abolish the .distinction between the mean and miserable gambling of the bucket shop and the equally mean and miserable gambling in the broker's office, and the reason we did not do it was be cause of the influence of the governor's clients who are members of the stock exchange.' He knows that the stock exchange is the biggest gambling institution in the world, driving men to suicide, robbing widows and orphans, playing with a stacked hand, playing with marked cards, and ho doesn't dare lift a finger against it; but he would sta,nd as the apostle of the public con tempt for the gambling of the race track." AN IMPORTANT financial deal was affected recently in New York City. A New York dispatch carried by the Associated Press tells the story in this way: "J. Pierpont Morgan, Thomas Ryan and Levi P. Morton linked Jiands In New York in a trust company merger which unites resources of $150,000,000. It is a triple combination, bringing the Guaranty Trust com pany, the Morton Trust company and the Fifth 'Avenue Trust company, all of this city, under one head, with the title of the Guaranty Trust company. The merger is perhaps the largest of its kind in the United States. Directors of all three companies met today and Informally approved the terms of the merger, which wijll be put In more definite form on Wednesday, when another directors' meeting will bo held and the .plan ratified by the stockholders, although a formal vote on the matter will not be taken until later. Levi P. Morton, who Is president of the Morton Trust company and the Fifth 'Avenue Trust company both known as Morton-Ryan concerns- has consented to act aa chairman of the board of the merged companies, for whjch no president has yet been selected. The name of Alexander J. Hemphill, vice presi dent and acting president of the Guaranty Trust company, has been, mentioned for the position, however. This new move in finance follows the recent absorption of the Guaranty Trust com pany by the so-called Morgan interests, but upon just what terms the merger was made was not disclosed today. The Guaranty TrUst company was organized " In 1891 and has total deposits of more than $88;0f00,000k The Morgan Trust company, which was. formerly the banking house of Bliss, Morton & Go;, was organized in 1899. Thomas F. Ryan is vice president. Its deposits aggregate more than $45,000,000. Like the Guaranty Trust conipany, its capital and surplus are $2,000,000. The Fifth Avenue TruBt com panyr founded ten years ago, is one of the bettor known uptown ilnancial institutions. With a capital nnd surplus of $1,000,000 each it has paid very large dividends in recent years. The capital stock of the new company will probably be fixed at $5,000,000, with perhaps a like amount for surplus. It is believed that the merger will involve largo stock and cash divi dends to the shareholders of the three com panies. The present headquarters of the Fifth Avenue Trust company will be retained as a' branch of the combined companies, while larger offices will house the co'mbined companies in the financial district. It was rumored that the Morgan interests had acquired the holdings of Thomas F. Ryan in the Morton Trust company, but no statement on this point was obtainable." CHARLES W. MORSE, former, "Ice king" and banker of New. York, is now in the fed eral prison at Atlanta. A press dispatch, refer ring to -Mr. Morse, says: "He is registered as convict .No. 2814, and tonight occupies a steel cell npt .in 'the .least different from" those to .which are assigned several hundred other pris oners. -His immaculate tailored garments gave way to a regulation suit of stripes, nor did the distinguished' prisoner escape the Bertillon ex pert, the prison photographer, the regulation bath or the barber. Morse arrived from New York at 10:45 a. m., In charge of two deputy marshals, and accompanied bv bin friend and close business associate, W. P. Reid of Boston. He made no protest when the cameras of tho newspaper men were trained upon him. He was placed in a cab and driven to the prison: Be cause he had not been vaccinated, Morse was not permitted to eat in the big dining room with his fellow convicts, and his first meal was served in his cell. The prisoner turned over to tho prison clerk $218 in currency. He was as signed to 'Class 1 which entitles him to the privilege of seeing relatives or friends for thirty minutes in each two weeks of his confinement. Morse probably will be assigned to the tailor shop or be put to work on the construction gang. Mrs. TVIorse, formerly the wife of an Atlanta hotel proprietor, is expected here from New York tomorrow. After a conference with her husband, she will return to New York and be gin trying to secure a pardon from President Taft." A LONDON cablegram carried by the Asso ciated Press says: "Premier Asquith, David Lloyd-George, ex-chancellor of the ex chequer, John Burns, president of the local gov ernment board and other members of the gov ernment denbunced A, J. Balfour's alarmist ref erences to Germany, and refuted his accusa tions of the unpreparedness of the navy. Chan cellor Lloyd-George, who received an ovation at Peckham, a district in London, described Mr. Balfour's speech as the last resort of a thor oughly desperate man, who saw that his cause was lost. Mr, Balfour had indulged In plucking the German eagle's tail feathers, and tall-twisting had become a discreditable practice, he said, even in America. JHe was sorryto seo the leader of a great party and an ex-premier reduced to the extremity of following in the footsteps of the most discredited type of politician in the United States. Such, talk was dangerous to the world's peace and a disgrace to British politics.' Great Britain, tho chancellor wont on, had warred with almost every country but never with Germany. On tho contrary, sho had generally had Germans fight side by sido with her. Dur ing tho past decade Great Britain had ""built nearly double tho number of battleships con structed by Germany, but if tho ratio wero re versed ho would not bo afraid, because Great Britain had the men behind the guns. 'But,' ho added, 'we will continuo to build warships faster than Germany.' " WHITELAW REID, the .American ambafisa doiyhas been drawn into British politics. Sir Charles Walpolo, tho unionist candidate in Chertsey, made public use of a letter written by 'Mr. Reid on the subject of unemployed men In, the United States. An Associated Press cablegram referring to this letter says: "Tho election agent for the opposing candidato has drawn attention in tho Daily Chronicle to this, asking whether it is permissable for a foreign ambassador thus to interfere in politics. Tho Chronicle says that if tho letter was published without the ambassador's authority, it is merely a local matter, but if Sir Charles has authority fpr its publication the matter will bo brought to the notice of Sir Edward Grey, tho foreign secretary. The letter referred to was written by Ambassador Reid in December In 1908. Tho Times describes the Incident as a 'Maro's nest.' " THE POLITICAL meetings are attended by great disorder. One Associated Press dis patch describes some of tho meetings in this way. "Tho Earl of Donoughmore and Lord Cheylesmore, in attempting to address a con servative meeting in Coventry, found that tho hall had been captured beforehand by the radi cals, who hooted all tho speakers down. Tho meeting broke up in disorder. A similar fate overtook Lord Rothschild at Wolverton, where a crowd of radical hooligans rushed tho doors. Lord Rothschild stood for a long time facing a deafening booing and cheering, but was obliged to content himself by addressing tho reporters. Sir William Bull, member of the house of com mons for Hammersmith, whlle speaking before tho electors of that constituency, was rudely heckled by a man in the crowd. Ho threatened to punch the man's head. 'Come on,' shouted the man. Sir William forthwith descended and the crowd formed a ring. A stand-up fight en sued until tho police separated tho combatants. Sir William, speaking of the affair, said he was none the worse for the encounter. 'There has been a great deal of unfair radical rowdyism lately,' he said. 'This affair may clear the air, as Englishmen like a fair fight and no fouling John Burns, president of tho local government board, and labor leader in the house of commons, had a sharp mixup with an unidentified man as he was leaving a political meeting last night. The minister was about to enter his motor car when the man sprang upon, him from behind and threw him to the ground. There was a lively struggle and exchange of blows until the police pulled the assailant away. In the excite ment tho offender escaped." CAPTAIN OF HIS SOUL While Charles W. Morse, the New York bank er, was in the Tombs ho learned the poem "Invictus" by W. E. Henry and ho took this poem with him to tho federal prison at Atlanta. His frjends say that this poem helped him to bear his burden: Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from polo to pole, I thank whatever gods there be For my unconquerable soul. In tho fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced or cried aloud; Under the bludgeonlngs of fate My head is bloody but unbowed. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishment the scroll; I am tho master of my fate, I am fb captain of my soul. iJfc&:AuJitMiJm!llJ& -LafatJg 1-& , -. JS