; VALENTINE DEMDUR/ /
I. M RICE EDITC
. January 5. I9O5.
RnterwJ at tte ro t-offlce at Valentine , Chtrry
. Htbnika , M Bwxiad-elau matter.
. TERM *
8orCTHk > n f 1.00 p r y ar IB ad van w ; 9' in
Wben not paid to advance. Hlntfe copies 8C-
Display advertising 1 Inch single column .5-
Issue or tG.OO a year.
Local NotlMi , Obituaries , Lodge Resolution ?
Md SoclaU ( or Screnue tc per line per issue.
Brands , l U Intl s-4.oo per year in advance
id < litlo&Al pacaiti * pr Inch par year ; engr T d
Mocks extra : $1.00 tadi ,
FarCM Iltlng'outslde Cherry county not p r
ooaUy known are requested to par la advance
10 per cent additional to above rates if overs
KOBtb * IB arrears.
Notices of losses of stock free to brand adver-
The coming legislature should
get up another bill for a constitu
tional amendment this winter so
as to have some more printing for
their pets at full legal rates. We
must have some way of spending
the state money. The last bill
cost something like $10,000 for
printing alone. We'ra running a
newspaper and wouldn't refuse a
legal notice from the state or any
individual at full legal rates , but
we'd not like to defend the action
ef the legislature in being so ex
travagant as to spend $10,000 or
more a year for advertising a con
stitutional amendment with no
hope of passing it.
RooscTclt and the Railroads.
President Roosevelt's attitude
npon the question of amending the
interstate commerce law as as to
compel the railroads to obey the
rates fixed by the commission un
til its findings are reversed by the
courts , is creating a great deal of
speculation everywhere.
No student of the railroad prob
lem , from the standpoint of indi
vidual ownership , Jvill deny that
with the law so amended , and an
interstate commerce commission
strong enough to stand for right ,
great relief could be realized from
it for the. people. But a large per
cent of the people , and practically
all the most profound students of
of this tfreat question , have long
ago concluded that the railroad
question will never be settled this
side of government ownership.
Government ownership of rail
roads will do more than to simply
settle the transportation question.
The railroadswith their strong
power , today form the center of
the greatest octopus of corporate
power the world has ever known.
Around the railroad trust , woven
into and a part of it , are tho steel
trust , the oil trust , the meat trust ,
the harvester trust and many oth
ers. These could not live without
the friendly support of the rail
roads. The people are groaning
under the burdens they impose.
The groans have reached the White
House. This week the traveling
men and Jobber's association pre
sented the case in person to the
president. They see the stealthy
coils of the trust boa encircling
and squeezing the life out of them ,
and at last they seek the powers
of the government for relief.
That the "people have the ear
and heart of the president there
is little room to doubt , but there
is room to doubt the power of the
government directed toward the
theory of control. If it is a fact ,
and there is little reason to doubt
it , that three great trusts today
are stronger than the government
* tsulf , then there is little hope of
control. Why quibble over trifles ?
The same authority that condemn- *
od our land and sold it for a right
of way , < can condemn the railroads ,
appraise them and take them for
the people. Like the slavery
question of 1861 , compromise only
means delay. A question is never
settled until it is settled right.
The people must arise , not as poli
ticians , but as patriots , and strike
the fatal blow at the trust domi
nation , by owning the railroads.
It vvould bring a crisis it is true ,
but not so great a one as it would
bring after ten years more of or
ganization and spoliation. West- ,
ern Rancher.
D ni
General Stoessell wrote a letter
to General Nogi offering to capitu
late Port Arthur , asking for terms
and the appointment of commis
sioners to confer with the same
appointed by him. General tfogi
accepted the proposal to surrend
er after terms were arranged
whereby the officers return to
Russia on parole , retaining their
side arms while the rank and file
of the garrison go to Japan as
prisoners according to the capitu
lation terms. The following from
the World-Herald will give a bet
ter idea of the conditions existing :
LETTERS OF SURRENDER.
Tokio , Jan. 2. General Nogi
reports as follows :
4'At 5 in the afternoon "of Jan
uary 1 , the enemy's bearer of a
flag of truce came into the first
line of our position south of
Shuishiying and handed a letter to
our officers. The same reached
me at 9 o'clock at night. The let
ter is as follows :
uJudging by the general con
dition of the whole line of hostile
positions held by you , I find fur
ther resistance at Port Arthur
useless , and for the purpose of
preventing needless sacrifice of
lives , I propose to hold negotia
tions with reference to capitula
tion. Should you consent to the
same you will please appoint com
missioners for discussing the order
and conditions regarding capitnh-
tion , and als' > appoint a plnce for
such commisioners to meet the
same appointed by me. I take
this opportunity to convey to your
excellency assurances of my re
spect. STOESSEL. "
Shortly after dawn today I will
dispatch our bearer of a flag of
truce with the following reply ad
dressed to Stoessel :
" 'I have the honor to reply to
your proposal to hold negotiations
regarding the conditions and order
of capitulation. For this purpose
I have appointed as commissioner
Major General Ijichi , chief of staff
of our army. He will be accom
panied by some staff officers and
civil officials. They will meet
your commissioners January 2 ,
noon , at Shuishiying. The com
missioners of both parties will be
empowered to sign a convention
for the capitulation without wait
ing for ratification , and cause the
same to take immediate effect.
Authorization for such plenary
powers shall be signed by the
highest officer of both negotiating
parties and the same shall be ex
changed by the respective com
missioners. I avail myself of this
opportunity to convey to your ex
cellency assurances of ray respect.
" ' ' "
'NOGI.
A MEMORABLE SIEGE.
The siege and the defense of
Russia's stronghold in the far east
have been marked by bravery ,
gallantry and desperation unequal-
ed in modern warfare and hardly
excelled in military history.
The story of the operations
around Port Arthur is one of re
peated fighting , both by land and
sea , and of the most desperate and
thrilling character.
Isolated instances of heroism that
. .would have set the world ringing
under less overwhelming circum
stances have been dwarfed by the
generally magnificent conduct of
both forces.
By sea there have been torpedo
boat dashes of superb recklessness
and big ships have plowed through
mine fields with heroic disregard
to give battle or in wild efforts to
escape.
By land the Japanese have hurl
ed themselves against positions de
clared to be impregnable. They
have faced and scaled rocky heights
crowned with batteries and crowd
ed with defenders , suffering losses
that , military experts say would
have appalled an European array.
In the doomed fortress its peo-
rpl have lived under
i : 'levastating
rain of shell and shrupnel. On
scanty rations , besieged on every
side , knowing that hope or succor
or escape was vain , the garrison
has fought with a stubbornp.ss that
has evoked the a irai cation of the
v
world. They met the untiring
assaults of the Japanese with a
grim valor that won even the praise
of their foe , and the fighting has
been waged with a relentlessness
that often refused truces to bury
the dead and collect the wounded.
Over corpse-filled trenches men
have fought hand-to-hand with
cold steel and clubbed guns , and at
short range have hurled at each
other hand grenades filled with
high explosives.
The whole story is one of un
daunted courage and subliraf
bravery.
What Port Arthur has cost in
human life and money is not esti
mated and even approximate cor
rectness cannot be made. Th
losses have been app tiling It h i
been reported that in some engag <
ments leading up to the recen'
of 203-Metre Hill the
capture - at
tacking force lost as high as 4 < !
per cent of the force engaged whil-
the garrison's losses , of which n-
word has come , must have been
frightful.
The defense of the position
which fell to her as a heritage af
ter tho Chine-uj-J-ipinose war , ha
cost Russia practically her entire
fleet in those waters. Her ship-
lie from Port Arthur's inner ba in
to Chemulpo , in Korea. .in < I al' n
fin Shantung peninsular , bitten *
hulks of once proud vessels , o
ignominously dismantled are in
terned in neutral Chinese harbors
Save the three or four cruiser- ,
and some leaser craft that lie ii-
the ice-bound refuge of Vladivo-
tok , not a warship now flies tho
Russian cross in the waters of th < -
northern orient.
And Japan too , has had her lo.
ses in the long drawn out opera
tions. Mines have struck from
Admiral Togo's fleet list many fin-
ships add smaller vessels since tin
morning of February 8 , when In
hurled his fleet at the Rus iai
ships in Port Arthur's roadstead
AT THE BIG EAGLE's NEST.
Che Foo , Jan. 3. Noon. The fon
where the negotiations for the
surrender of Port Arthur were
hold is called the Big Eigle's Nest
and it is near Rihlung mountain.
According to the reports of tho
negotiations received here , Gener
al Stoes ePs proposal that the Rus
sian sick and
wounded should re
main under Russian medical sup
ervision and that the Jepanese
transfer the
non-combatants was
acceptable to General Nogi , but
the Russian proposal that the Rus
sians should march out under arms
caused some controversy.
Midshipman Klisorich , com
manding a launch'which left Port
Arthur last night , said today :
"No shot has been fired at Port
Arthur for two days. That which
Chinese heard last night was the
Russians blowing up forts , ships ,
magazines , warehouses , docks and
everything valuable. When I left-
Port Arthur the fortress and town
v/ere almost completely wrecked.
The warship > > died hard. Several
explosions were necessary to com
plete the wrecking of them. The
Sevastopol caught fire and explod
ed and turned turtle. Tho harbor
entrance is blocked with sunken
ships. The only navigable craft
now at Port Arthur are. the hospi.
tal ships Kassan and Mongolia.
"You need expect no more ships
from Port Arthur as these are un
able to leave on account of the
blocking of the harbor.
"Colonel Reiss represented Gen
eral Stoissel in the negotiations
for surrender. A table was spread
with wine and food at the Eagle's
Nest and the envoys treated each
other with great courtesy , which
quickly melted into informal good
fellowship. Each complimented
the other on the bravery of their
forces.
"The statern at that there re
mained 5,000 1 jilting men at Port
Arthur is misleading , bpc iu e a
majority of the o aresickor slight
ly wounded. There have be.eri for
some time no proper bandages and
wound * * have been dressed with
hemp
"The news that , General Stoe < -
< cwa prepared to treat for sur-
runder was received by the soldiers
vit-h the feel g of utmost relief.
For the past month severe wounds
have been gladly received by the
soldiers because they were allowed
to rest. When the men were not
fighting they were tunneling on
half rations.
"The bombardment of the last
lay or so was terrific. Every
body remarked that even General
Stoessel must see the futility of
further resistance when our guns
were unable to reply.
"We might have surrendered a
nonth ago with the highest honor.
That resistance has continued ef-
ctivel.v since is scarcely l sthan
i miracle.
"It is a mere handful of broken
nen who surrender and a debris
'rewn desert which the Japanese
.fain. No one of Port Arthur's
Magnificent public works remain.
"The feeling created when Gen-
iral Stoessel took the unwelcome
te.p was generally one of relief.
"The soldiers for whom one
nonth's service has coun ted for a
year are rejoicing that they will
see their families. "
After all is over and I'ort Ar
thur is in the hands of the Japan
ese it mean but little if Russia de-
< ii < les to retake the country. The
nc'or.v is similar to to tint of Na-
{ > > lean at Moscow which had been
burned prior to his occupancy.
Vll public buildings and other ira-
> roveraents which made Port Ar-
nhur of value as a city and a port
* ave been destroyed by the Rus-
-ian army. Japan has paid dear-
l.v for the harbor but she succeed-
el in her purpose , according to
instructions from England that
she must take Port Arthur. What
will be the next step ?
Democratic Opportunity ,
Mr. Bryan has announced through
the columns of his paper , The
Commoner , that the principal
cause of democratic defeat this
year was that the men who seen red
control of the party organization
at St. Louis sounded a retreat
when a charge should have been
ordered all along the line. He in
sists that conditions demand radi
cal action , and that the people want
something definite upon which
they can rely. The Commoner ,
he announces , will carry on a cam
paign of education , advocating
tariff reform , the overthrow of
private monopolies labor legisla
tion , municipal ownership of pub
lic utilities , public ownership of
railroads and telegraph systems ,
income tax , the election of federal
judges by the people , the election
of U. S. senators by popular vote ,
direct legislation , and the selection
of postmasters by the people who n
they are to serve.
It will be necessary to regain
control of the party organization.
To do fchU the friends of reform
throughout the entire country
must work together. A democrat
ic paper of national scope offers
the best means for carrying on
rhis work , and The Commoner oc
cupies this field. The campaign
of education and organization
which Mr. Bryan announces will
he carried on through The Com
moner will not only be interesting
and instructive , but every demo
crat and independent thinker
should receive The Commoner
regularly so as to keep in touch
with the progress the reform forces
are making , and to fortify himself
withfacts and arguments to con
vince his republican neighbor that
the democratic party offers the
surest relief from class legislation
and trust domination.
Subscriptions received at this
office. Price § 1.00 per year.
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