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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 20, 1912)
fs'iwrT''' DECEMBER 20, lilt' The Commoner. u j I 1 Z- ' . SZL yv ;jt SPEAKING of Woodrow Wilson's successor as governor of New Jersey, a writer in the Nashville Tennessean says: Stat.e Senator James Fielder is the caucus nominee for speaker of the senate of New Jersey, the selection hav ing been made a few days since in a democratic caucus at Trenton. By constitutional provision tho speaker of the. state senate of New Jersey succeeds to the governorship when the office is made vacant-by death, removal or resigna tion, and it is an interesting matter that Mr. Fielder, if the caucus nomination Bhould be ratified by his election, will become tho gover nor of that state when Governor Woodrow Wil son resigns to take the oath as president of the United States. Some, of the reports indicate that former United States Senator James Smith, jr., had much to do with Mr. Fielder's nomina tion, and that therefore Jhe will have much to do with the administration of the hew executive. If it be true that Smith has come back into power after having been emphatically repudiated by the people of his state at the instance of Governor Wilson, it only shows how persistent such men arev in the face of public rebuke and discredit. As an audacious and insolent politi cal boss, the people of New Jersey, under tho inspiring demands of Governor Wilson, were in duced to defeat and discredit Mr. Smith. Governor Wilson took a paTt in the fight against Mr. Smith right in the midst of Ills presidential campaign, indicating by his action that Smith's defeat was essential to the best interest of the democratic party both in New Jersey and the nation. And now, if reports are correct, tho old-time and discredited boss has come back into power. At least he has regained consider able lost ground, ground that had been taken away from him ,in a hotly contested fight in which Governor Wilson and his followers took a part, and it is not 'at all gratifying to see him so quickly recover. ' Governor Wilson, however, does not" take the view of Tho Tennessean. A Hamilton, Bermuda, -dispatch to the New York Herald says: Governor Wilson spoke highly of the qualifications of State Senator James F. Fielder, who will succeed him as governor, and said that Leon R. Taylor, who will be speaker of the assembly, also is aHe and efficient. "Sena tor Fielder is one of the highest type of men in our public life," ho said. "He has always stood for progress in New Jersey and is ad mirably equipped to carry on the work as governor." TT-IERE is trouble over the Gainesville, Ga., postoffice, but it is not democratic, trouble. An Atlanta, Ga., dispatch to the New York World, says: Republican leaders here say Mrs. Helen D. Longstreet, widow of the famous con federate general, will, be removed by President Taft as postmaster of Gainesville, because of her activity in support of Theodore Roosevelt, and will be succeeded by James B. Gaston, a mem ber of the regular republican organization. Mrs. Longstreet will be removed on the charge of 'pernicious political activity in office," these leaders say. Mrs. Longstreet occupied a seat on the stage at the Auditorium as Mr. Roose velt s guest of honor, when he last spoke in At lanta, and was an accredited representative to the Roosevelt convention at Chicago. Republi can leaders say President Taft has delayed ac tion because of Mrs. Longstneet's sex. She married General Longstreet after the .death of ate first wife, and has long held the Gainesville oilice. General Longstreet joined the republi can party soon after: tho ivar and held places under Grant and other republican presidents. W & -w T OSEPHUS DANIELS, editor of the Raleigh V w ') 0DSrvi told a representative pf jne Washington (D. C.) Post some interesting fn ?c concerning a contest over patronage dur ing Mr. Cleveland's last term. Indirectly, as a Jesuit of this contest, Mr. Daniels was jailed ior contempt of court hy a federal judge. Tho case precipitated one of the most exciting con flicts between state and federal courts in recent nfaxT8, "Judeo Seymour, of the'eastern district Si. .fth CaroHn&. died In February, 1897, and Pont Cleveland sent, in the nomination of j;- W. Clark, on of the ablest lawyers in the Nate. Senators Jeter C. Pritchard and M. F. StX1? lTS 5? nointion confirmed Senator T'SlS int McI?nlo'. " the request of been a Unitnrf & appolnte(1 Purne11. who had ronortJr "inn ?fate8r, commissloner and crop later Sn,onafId Mr Danlels' "JudSO Purnell rPCPivnrl o l HaU8!' ,PUt ,nt U,e h,lTld8 Of tWO SurflfMi,iallrCVld,lll1whIch the 8tatc ha(1 a WaTJnno fn"1 ueSt CharBGd ln ni' n"I)er thl nn,? wL f(Vhef purpose of wrecking the road and having it sold. I was cited for contempt and fined $2,000, which I refused to pay The marshal! reported this fact, and Judge Purnell ordered me sent to jail. My attorneys came to Washington, and Chief Justice Fuller, of the supreme court, issued an order to compel Judge Purnell to grant an appeal, and Judge Pritchard, who was then a circuit court judge, dismissed the case. Governor Charles B. Aycock at the time was vigorously fighting the case in the name of the state, and a most interesting situa tion was precipitated." i c5 t SPEAKING before tho National Rivers and Harbors congress, in session at Washington, Mayor Fitzgerald of Boston, declared that tin United States should own the coal mines of the country. An Associated Press dispatch, refer ring to Mayor Fitzgerald's speech, says: "Ho did not agree, however, with Senator Townsend of Michigan, who had preceded him, that it might be well for the federal government to take possession of dock sites on rivers improved by the government, so as to keep railways from pre venting water competition. "I would be in favor," said Mayor Fitzgerald, "of having the municipality or the state and tho federal gov ernment co-operate in tho control of dock sites, but I think the local authorities should havo some say. I do not agree with Senator Town send that no government improvement or rivers should be made unless it can be shown that it would reduce the cost of transportation over considerable territory. The only limit to appro bations for river and harbor improvements should bo a report from the army board that they are not good for any purpose. They Bhould be improved for water power and other purposes. Tho people of the whole country are anxious to see the Mississippi river improved, regardless of the cost, and we can do it without impoverish ing the country." The railways of the country can not carry all the business, the mayor said, and should have plenty of water competition. He declared that on $30,000,000 worth of coal Boston had paid $70,000,000 in transportation charges and that something should be done to improve these conditions. The government would take possession of the coal mines of the country in a few years, he asserted, If" things kept on as they had been during the last few years. All waterways to which sufficient com merce is tributary should be improved at federal expense, said Mayor Fitzgerald, and at the same time the question of water power, as well as navigation, should be considerad to help defray the expenses of Improvement. He declared that when there was competition between a railway and a boat line the former should not be allowed to make rateB over any part of its line lower than compensatory in an effort to destroy com petition. Dock privileges, he said, should bo onen to all and should be owned either by the municipalities or by the federal government. Jl jt THOUSANDS of men and women everywhere are interested to learn of the prospective niirriase of Helen Miller Gould the daughter S the late Jay Gould, and a woman who has de moted her talents and her money to the service nf society. A Lakewood, N. J. dispatch, carried . Aaeociated Press says: Announcement of engagement of Miss Helen Miller Gould of SL- vnrk to Finley J. Shepard, a prominent rail Ne a man of St Louis, was made at the residence r?a o 2 Mrs George J. Gould here. It was ?I!ipaaMOncemMfof the time and place of saId l wSe would be withheld for the present. e S'nhJd has long been prominently identi llrl railroad and financial affairs of the fledf He is at present assistant to the president w.eShaMLouri Pacific railroad with hoad of the M;011" Mr. shephard is forty-five JSS? oW and-thfson of a Connecticut minister who died recently. He has been in railroad work since 1889. Before entering tho service of tho Gould lines ho was with tho Northorn Pacific and Santa Fe. When B. F. Bush, presi dent of the Missouri Pacific-Iron Mountain lines, was chosen president of tho Denver & Kio Grande in January, 1912, Mr. Shephard was selected a his assistant, and recontly his ap pointment a assistant to President Bush on tho Missouri Pacific-Iron Mountain, with Jurisdic tion over nil departments, was announced. Upon the death of her fnthor, Jay Gould, In 1892, Helen Gould, then twenty-four yours old, In herited a fortune of about $10,000,000. It has heon cHtlmated that by Investment she has trebled this fortune, and at the snmo tlmo de voted fully half of her time to benefactions which brought her Into world prominence. Sho began her benefactions during the Bpanlsh American war, when sho gave tlmo and again several hundred thousands of dollars to tho re lief of sick and wounded soldiers, for which sho received the thanks of congress. In 1899 she led tho woman's movoment for tho unseating of Brigham 11. HobortB, congressman from Utah, as a demonstration ngalnat polygamy. Later she became devoted to the Interests of railroad em ployes and toward the establishment of the rail way Young Men's Christian Association sho gave her personal attention and upwards of a million dollars. Several rallrond Y. M. C. A. buildings, others for naval men, and several for the Young Men's Christian Association havo boon erected in cities throughout tho United States through her generosity. & & v5 TME "tip" is now recognized by the federal government. Tho Chicago Tribune says: "Tho United States treasury department has promulgated an order specifying tho tips that Its employees may Include in their traveling ex penses while transacting public business. Some may be inclined to accept the government's scale of tips, as they accept tho government's weights and measures, as establishing tho standard. Tho treasury department of a national administra tion that has tried to make a specialty of effi ciency and economy permits an employo In New York or Chicago to tip the persons who bring his meals to him not more than HO cents a day. lie may spend a like sum for this service In any one of a score of other cities of considerable size, the names of which are specified. For the services of sleeping car porters he may spend 25 cents a day and of chair car porters 15 cents a day. If he crosses the Atlantic ocean he may use $10 for stewards' feeB; going to or from Hawaii he may give tho stewards $15; going to or from Panama or Porto Rico $10. Ho Is not allowed to give baggage men or porters more than 25 cents on his arrival at or departure from hotels, wharves, railroad stations and such places. Tipp.ing is a serious matter to many an American of small resources. Not a few per sons wish they had the federal treasury behind them to stand the expense of tips when they travel. It may comfort them somewhat to know that the treasury Itself parcels out the tips with a considerable degree of prudence." fc j i& BASING his argument upon a careful analysis of the federal census figures, Prof. William Benjamin Smith, professor of philosophy, at Tulane university, speaking at New Orleans said that "the negro race In the United States will become extinct In 220 years. The last of tho race will be a negress, and she will die In tho south." Prof. Smith achieved national distinc tion as a student of the American negro by his book, "The Color Line." "Reports show," ho says, "that among tho whites of this state the males are gaining In proportion over females in birth a sure Indication of tho vlrulency and Increasing stamina of the whites. But the same reports show also that among the negroes tho females are gaining in number. Reports of other states confirm this retrogression. If the race were In ascendency, tho male births would at least retain an equal proportion. Thero can be no other conclusion than that the old law of the survival of the fittest Js coming into its In exorable sway. With the death of tho last negress, we will say about 2132, A. D., there will be no more of the race left in the United Statos." . i 'i i ' i J4 'A t i . 5 ! 31. il M M A .