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About The independent. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907 | View Entire Issue (June 15, 1905)
PAGE 6 JUNE 15, 1905 nrvn mrra n T7am n n rv n nsv pr n U U J U U U La UU V U U l!aC U U U UV U U Ls X3ho Nebraska Independent The railroad and trust magnates appear to have enough influence to prevent an extraordinary session of; he 59th congress. The Star published at the national capital, usually well informed on the purposes of the administration announces that no extra session will1 be called'; that Speaker Cannon and oiher republican leaders in congress have persuaded President Roosevelt that a special session would result hi tariff discussion and Injure the republican t party , in the congressional cam psigu next. year. This procrastinating policy may indicate that the legislation' hat will be enacted by the next congress against the railroads or trusts will be so devised as to help the people as little as possible and do the corporations no ser ious damage. 1 thij is an advisory council consisting of Edwin D. Mead, Robert Treat Paine, William Lloyd Gar s j ir.on, Henry Winn, Raymond L. Bridgman, Haz ard Stevens, and several others. A remarkable example of the- economic im portance of a wild animal is afforded by ' a' close study of the habits of the coyote of the western prairies, the results of which have just been pub lished by the department of agriculture. The activities of the coyote, whowill eat anything, really regulate the price of mutton in the cities of the eastern seaboard. Kansas alone paid bounties last year on 19,514 coyotes, and yet the coyote continues to enjoy life on the outer edge of civilization. To the credit of the coyote must be placed his war on rabbits, prairie dogs, rats, squirrels, woodchucks, moles, gophers and mice. On the other hand, coyotes sometimes capture wild animals that assist "man in his warfare against insects and rodent pests. Birds that roost and nest on the ground frequently fall vic tims to the coyote, which also attacks, in packs of two or more, deer and antelope. The coyote is a great destroyer, too, of domestic animals. The destruction of the larger game by man may partly account for this change to farm animals as a diet. The usual method pursued by the coyote in capturing hens, ducks, geese and tur keys is to lurk behind weeds or bushes, until the fowls come in sight. The coyotes are especially notorious as enemies of the sheep, and that in dustry has greatly languished as a result of their depredations. The number of sheep in the United States is now decreasing. Montana, with an area of 146,000 square miles, leads the states in the number of sheep kept, which is 5,638,957, while England has about five times as many as Mon tana. The reason generally given for the failure of the sheep industry is the abundance of coyotes In the east and south. The Massachusetts Referendum league is the name of an organization just formed at Boston for the purpose of tempering representative gov ernment with a little of the corrective power of pure democracy or the admission of the whole electorate to a final voice on legislative meas ures, as occasion may give rise to such a demand. The objects of the league are stated to be: To organize and make effective the popular senti ment in favor of referendum measures; that is, of majority rule. To pledge legislative candidates for referendum measures. To give publicity to pledges of candidates and acts of representatives. To support pledged candidates and to defeat un pledged candidates and unfaithful representatives. It is the intention to carry on an active pro paganda to the end of securing from the next legislature enactments looking toward the appli cation in this state of the referendum principle. Many rersons of professional, business and labor prominence in Boston and vicinity have enlisted in the work, as will be seen from the composi tion of the executive committee: Robert Treat aine, Jr., chairman; Prof. Frank Parsons, treas urer; Charles A. Dean, secretary; George Fred Williams, Charles M. Cox, Henry Sterling, Har vey N. Shepard, Rabbi Charles Fleischer, Henry B. Elackwell, Meyer Bloomfield, Frank K. Foster, Mrs. Marthr. P. Hadley, Miss . Anna Withington, John Tobin, Erving Winslow, B. 0. Flower, George E. McNeill, Prof. Amas R. Wells, Prof. Lewis J. Johnson and William N. Osgood. Additional to All : Iowa is interested in the plan of turning the waste products of the cornfields of the west ern corn-producing states into paper, and paper of such quality that it will compare favorable with the famous Japanase vellum. W. R. Patterson, Professor of Economics and Statistics of the State University of Iowa, investigated the process of the National Fiber and Cellulose company while in Chicago, in the interests of the commercial museum of the university. , Just common, ordi nary cornstalks, 50,000,000 tons of which are al lowed to rot yearly in the seven western states producing the greatest amount of corn, Is the material from which experimentally, the company has already produced excellent paper at a cost ranging from $24 to $25 per ton. The cost of manufacturing paper from wood pulp or rags is estimated at from $60 to $75 per ton. Over $100, 000 has been spent in the perfections of ma chinery for the handling of this material. An improved thrashing machine, which separates the stalk from the leaves, husks the ears, delivers the stalks bound in bundles ready for shipment and the parts of the plant valuable for stock food into the barn, has only recently been patented. These bundles of cornstalks are then shipped to a depithing plant, where, after passing through several operations, the pith is separated from the hard fiber surrounding the stalk and rolled, making an excellent quality of paper. The hard outside fiber is used in the manufacture of box board. The company has an option on a paper mill at Kankakee, UL, where the machines have been operating successfully. Every vestige of the. stalk is utilized in some manner. In prepar ing cellulose, gun cotton, smokeless powder, var nish, artificial leather, rubber substitutes, insulat ing materials, electrical apparatus, linoleum and floor coverings, papier mache and interior deco rations, picture frames and signs, paper cover ings, lubricants, golf balls and sundry other pro ducts, different parts of the stalk are said to be available. The development of this industry will mean much to the corn producer of the middle west. Its progress will be .watched with intense interest. - Canada's increasing consumption of products of . the United States continues to be a notable feature of American commerce. Figures just compiled by the department of commerce and labor, through its bureau of statistics, show that exports from the United States to the Dominion of Canada grew from.. $51,903,579 in the ten months ending with April, 1897, to $104,155,893 i,i the ten months ending with April, 1904, and to $114,943,079 in the corresponding period of 1905. The increase here noted 13 but a contin uation of the growth which, with trifling excep- ' tions, has , characterized our trade with Canada since 1870. During the period from 1855 to 1866 a recropocity treaty was in operation between the United States and Canada; from 1867 to 1897 commerce between the two countries was unaf- - fected by special trade arangements; from April, 1897, to August, 1898, the .United States was placed at a slight disadvantage as compared with the United Kingdom, products from that country entering the Dominion of Canada being admitted at a reduction of 12 per cent as compared with the duties charged on importations from the United States. On August 1, 1898, this reduction in favor of the United Kingdom was increased to 25 per cent, and on July 1, 1900, was still further increased to 33 1-3 per cent and cheapness of American good, however, has served to maintain and even increase the volume of exports from the United States to Canada, despite the varying con ditions to which our trade with that country has been subjected. In the fiscal year 1855, the first year of reciprocity with Canada, our exports to that country were $27,741,808 in value; in 1866, the closing year of the reciprocity period, $24, 828,880. In 1897, the year which inaugurated the policy by which ;Great Britain and certain of her colonies were given the benefit of a special re duction of het colonies were; given the benefit of a special reduction in duties charged upon im portations into Canada, our exports to ,that coun try were $64,928,821, and each' succeeding year has shown an increase, the total in 1904 having been $131,274,346, while for the present fiscal year, should May and June equal the record made by April last, the total will be in excess of $140,00,000. The past winter has been a notable one in England as far. as labor conditions are concerned. The returns issued each month by the London local government board show, that the number of persons in receipt of relief from the state is higher than in any preceding year since 1874. So acute has the situation become that the govern ment has introduced in parliament a measure designed to afford relief known as the "unem ployed workmen" bill. Somer labor leaders have been urging needy workingmen from all parts of England to march on London in a body and sev eral deputations have acted on the suggestion. One deputation which arrived in London wn? refused admission to the visitors' gallery of the house of commons and none of them have been received,' yet the government fathers this work ingmen's bill, recognizing the importance of the problem. "The unempolyed workmen bill pro vides for public relief by employment, compul sorily in London, optionally in the rest of the country," according to the New York World. "It is based on the principle that an applicant 'hon estly desirous of obtaining work, but temporarily unable to do so from exceptional causes over which he has no control,' should have a right to receive employment relief. The expenses are to be met by a special tax, supplemented by contri butions. The 'unemployed' taxes cannot be used to provide temporary work except on farm colo nies, thus drawing surplus labor away from con gested cities and back to the land. This ne"v authority will also keep labor registries, assist applicants by emigration and removal and share the cost of employment by other bodies. On the other hand, as safeguards, wages are to be less than the normal earnings of the unskilled laborer, and no one shall be assisted more than two years in succession." ' A railroad collision for the benefit of the dele gates to the International Railway Congress, who visited Pittsburg, was given by George Westing house. The collision took place on the Intar works Railroad, which is owned by the Westing house interests. In addition to the 300 delegates there were present 500 invited guests present. A train composed of fifty steel cars which had just been received from the works, was divided into three parts. Two of these parts were left stand ing on the track, a space of about fifty yards dividing them. The third section, to which the engine was attached, was then drawn down the track a distance of two miles. The engineer pulled the throttle wide open and jumped off and the section of the train crashed into the stationary cars while running at a speed of forty miles an hour. There was a quiver, the three sections united automatically and then set tied down on the tracks without any damage hav ing been done. The cars and the engine were equipped with friction draft gears, which absorbed the strain. The same experiment was repeated the second time, a single phase electric locomotive being use. It was equally successful. THE EDITOR WISHES TO DOUBLE THE CIRCULATION OF THE INDEPENDENT BY ANGUST 1. IF EVERY OLD SUBSCRIBER WILL GET ONE NEW SUBSCRIBER THE WORK WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED. WILL YOU DO YOUR PART?
