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Vol. XIV.
LINCOLN, NEB., DEC. 18, 1902.
No. 30.
ANTI-TRUST BILLS
Congressman Shallenberger Explains to
House Committee the Yesexueleaa
Imbroglio Postal Bobberies
Washington, D. C, Dec. 15, 1902.
(Special Correspondence.) It is but
natural that the American people are
just now very much interested in the
trust question, an interest born of suf
fering experienced from their exac
tions. A number of anti-trust bills
have beep introduced in congress, one
of these" by Representative Shallen
berger of the Fifth Nebraska district
The house committee on judiciary has
been holding a series of hearing on the
question, and before this committee
Mr. Shallenberger was yesterday sum
moned to explain the provisions of
his bill, an outline of which was be
fore given in these columns.
The publicity feature, spoken of in"
the president's message, is a promi
nent factor in all these bills, and
Messrs. Shallenberger and Littlefield of
Maine engaged in a quite lengthy dis
cussion as to the efficacy of the remedy
proposed, Mr. Shallenberger taking the
position that not only should publicity
be given to trust management to pro
tect prospective investors, but to that
greater and more interested class, the
whole people.
In his address before the committee,
Mr. Shallenberger called attention to
the fact that there were at least eight
distinct evils in the trust system, the
three principal of which were the de
struction of competition, fraudulent
and overcapitalization and the favorit
ism of the tariff and the railroads. He
went on to explain the feature of his
bill, by which he proposed to do away
with these evils, and the intent of the
non-partisan tariff commission to re
port on the subject.
A large crowd was present at the
hearing, and Mr. S. was freely com
plimented on the merits of his bill
and his knowledge of the subject in
hand. The Washington papers were
all quite extended in their comments.
This has not been a busy week in
congress. The opponeh's of the om
nibus statehood bill have taken up
the time of the senate in filibustering
to prevent a vote thereon, but, now
that the bill has some republicans,
led by Quay, to assist the democrats,
there is a fair possibility of its pass
age. The bill to pay the expenses of the
anthracite coal commission has passed
both houses; the pension, legislative,
judicial and executive appropriation
bills, in all of which there is a slight
increase, have passed the lower house;
while the immigration bill has re
ceived senate approval.
The death of Tom Reed is deeDlv la
mented in many quarters, as he was
recognized by those best capable to
judge as being the ablest republican
of them all. It cannot be denied that
his last days were somewhat embit
tered by the fact that he could not
reach the goal of his ambition the
presidency. He was out of harmony
with the majority of his party on the
Philippine question and this induced
his withdrawal from public life.
A comparison between the Panama
and Nicaragua routes for an American
isthmian canal has been made by the
bureau of statistics. The total length
of. the Panama route is 49.09 miles,
that of the Nicaragua route is 183.66
miles. The relative cost of construct
ing the canals is, Nicaragua, $189,
864,062; Panama, $144,233,358. The an
nual cost of maintenance and opera
tion is, Nicaragua, $3,300,000; Pana
ma, $2,000,000. The annual cost of
maintaining the Suez canal is about
$1,300,000. An average steamer would
require twelve hours to pass through
the Panama canal and thirty-three
hours to cross the Nicaragua. But thc
sea distance between New York end
San Francisco by the Nicaragua route
is 498 nautical miles less than by way
of Panama.
Secretary Hay yesterday informed
the cabinet that the Panama negotia
tions had been practically completed
with the exception of fixing the in
creased price which Colombia is anx
ious to secure for the concession.
The bureau of engraving and print
ing had money to burn last month and
save money by burning it Forty thou
sand dollars' worth of revenue stamps
mixed with the regular fuel was shov
eled into the furnaces every day for
a month, and as a consequence the
price of a ton of coal was saved every
twenty-four hours
Owing to the high price of anthra
cite coal and the scarcity of fuel at
the bureau it was tnought best to get
some good out of the tons of waste
stamps that represented a value of
over a million dollars. This is the
first time in the history of the bu
reau that such a use has ever been
made of condemned stamps, and tho
precedent will probably be followed
on futuro occasions.
It is estimated that the total weight
of all mail matters, exclusive of gov
ernment "free," mailed during the year
was 745,742,872 pounds. The actual
postage revenue derived from this
source was $116,728,644. Of this sum
$90,950,751.72 was received for first
class mail. $4,541,523.59 for second
class, and $20,957,110.44 for' third and,
fourth class mail.
The railways these days are working
Christmas
(How the earth-man explained ifs significance to the man from Mars.)
Tou say you ne'er saw aught like this?
' Then you certainly missed mueli, for see
Tou get a taste of Heavenly bliss
Under our Christmas tree.
We earth folks are mighty sinners
Arid our quarrels would never cease
Were it not for the Christmas season,
That wonderful season of peace-
The very best that is in' us
Conies to the surface then ;
And we're only rivals as far as ice show
Good will to our fellow-m en.
. For once in the year we cast aside
Our heart-ache and care and sorrow;
Our faees assume a brighter look,
Saying, "Worry, I'll meet you tomorrow."
But where do we get this blessing?
(I always forget you're from Mars)
It's a costly gift from the Giver
Who owneth and guideth the stars.
Tie gave us the first Christmas j)rcsent
On the Christmas day numbered one,
When to this world, in unmeasured Love,
lie sent His beloved Son.
Anna Krumbach.
Down from the Heavens they came on that evening,
Heavenly messengers, Angels of light ;
Bringing good news to the shepherds affr ighted
Trembling in awe of the presences bright.
Down from the Heavenly portals they're winging,
Hark to the angels, oh hark to their singing;
Throughout the world the sweet carols are ringing
"Peace unto mankind; a Savior is bom."
Once more the heralds announce the glad Christmas
"Love rules the earth Let the people rejoice.
Praise ye the Lord who is King of all na tions;
Praise Him, oh praise Him, all ye who have voice "
Up to Heaven's portals triumphantly winging,
List to the children, oh list to their singing,
Join in the carols so joyously ringing
"Peace unto mankind: a Savior is born."
Verna F. Barr.
Money and the Taxing Power
BY W. II. ASIIBY.
All Rights Reserved.
It gives The Independent great pleas
ure to announce to its readers that ar
rangements have been completed for
the publication in serial form of Capt
W. H. Ashby's work on political econ
omy, "Money, and the Taxing Pow
er." This will be published in in
stallments of about two columns a
week, beginning January 1, 1903, un
til finished which will probabiy be
some time next summer. The Inde
pendent's policy will be to progress
by easy stages, giving our readers no
more each week than they can read
conveniently and mentally digest. Well
written criticisms of any position tak
en by Captain Ashby will always be
welcomed.
' Captain Ashby has for years been a
student of political economy, and for
a long time accepted without ques
tion many of the so-called fundamen
tals of the science. But as his inves
tigations proceeded he was at times
confronted with obstacles that were
insurmountable and which necessi
tated his taking a circuitous route, or
a retracing of his steps and search for
a new path. Finally he resolved to be
gin at the beginning and survey his
own road through the forest of politi
cal economy, accepting no landmarks
and blazings which did not show un
mistakable evidence of authenticity
under the searchlight of reason. "Mon
ey, and the Taxing Power" constitutes
his field notes in making this survey.
In part Captain Ashby's work U
iconoclastic. He has no reverence for
idols simply because they have been
worshipped for generations. Yet hi3
conclusions in many respects are in
harmony with those of the great econ
omists. Written in the clearest of
English, and avoiding as far as possi
ble the stilted style adopted by most
writers on political economy, it can
not fail to give our readers a rare
treat.
Tell your neighbors about this new
I feature of The Independent. Let them
try a three months' educational trial
trip subscription. A silver dime will
pay the bill. And if at the end of that
time Captain Ashby's instruction has
not become a necessity, it will be easy
to discontinue. Don't forget the date:
January 1, 1903, when the first in
stallment will be printed. Begin at
the beginning and don't miss a number.
Uncle Sam to a finish.
Postmaster General Wilson is the
only postmaster general who ever con
cerned himself enough about the mat
ter to endeavor to secure honest weigh
ing of the mails. He caught one rail
way company in the act of padding
the mails, and the manager of the
company candidly confessed that he
crowded free postage matter into the
mails during the quadrienniat weigh
ing period in order to get as large a
weight-basis for calculation of pay
ment as possible. The weight of mail
matter per day ascertained by the
weighing is made the basis of pay
ment, in accordance with certain es
tablished rules. Routes carrying mail
the whole length receive from $50 per
annum per mile for 200 pounds of
matter daily to $200 per mile per an
rium for 5,000 pounds daily. On the
Pennsylvania and New York Central
systems this works out to 9 cents per
ton per mile, as compared with 3-10th
of a cent per ton-mile paid for some
freight.
But this is not all the railways get
for carrying mails, and padding the
weights is a venial offense compared
with the way. the government Is
mulcted by its own act for the use of
railway mail cars. These cars are all
owned by the railways and the gov
ernment pays for their rent as well as
for transportation of the mails. This,
rent is paid at the folowing rates:
40-foot car, $25 per mile per annum;
45-foot car, $30 per mile per annum;
50-foot car, $40 per mile per annum; 55
to 60-foot, $50 per mile per annum.
Under these rates, for which, by
the way, congress is responsible, $3,
463,916.70 was paid for the use of 622
regular cars and 154 in reserve. If the
reserve cars are used half the time it
costs the government $5,000 a year for
each car, which is all it costs to build
one. The car will last at least twenty
years, and extract from the govern
ment $100,000.
It now costs the government about
$47,000,000 a year to transport the
mails by railways and steamships, in
cluding the salaries of the railway
postal clerks. It is a charge that un
der economical and careful manage
ment and some revision by congress
of the postal laws, might., be cut in
two. There is no excuse for a post
office deficit in view of this extrava
gance with the railways. .
The people are clamoring for exten
sion of the rural delivery mail service,
and are being put off with the cry
that there is no money, and yet at the
same time they are keeping in power
an administration that thinks nothing
of squandering millions every year to
convince the railroads it is worth their
while to put up large contributions to
aid the trusts in carrying elections
for the g. o. p.
The imbroglio in Venezuela is en
grossing much attention just now, and
if the action of the United States so
far in the premises is any criterion the
Monroe doctrine bids fair to go "the
way of all flesh," along with the Dec
laration of Independence and the constitution.
The Germans have already sunk a
part of the Venezuelan navy, and, with
England, have blockaded Venezuelan
ports, but yet have committed no
overt act loking toward the exercise
of sovereignty. However, it is well
known that Germany has never ac
cepted the Monroe doctrine in good
faith, and doubtless now awaits an
opportunity to step over into Brazil
ian territory, which she has long cov
eted, and which she thinks she may
secure through collusion with England,
in view of the administration's strong
friendship with our mother count y.
The United States is, in no sense,
bound to offer an impediment in the
way of the payment of honest debts,
but Secretary Hay is not exercising
our offices in the American way Blaine
and Olney would have done to prevent
European aggression. Our minister's
action has tended more to give the
W3rld notice that our sympathy is
with the stronger nations in the con
troversy. And yet. the people voted for this
sort of thing!
H. W. RISLE Y.
Jackson (O.) Herald: The president
says we have tho power to control the
trusts, but he never said that he felt
inclined to exercise It