2 Conservative.
A way hns been
PERPETUAL ,
MOTION. found , by menus
of grenfc cold and
pressure , to produce n hitherto unknown
liquid , apparently out of nothing , but
really out of the air ; in fact , it is air ,
only reduced to its fluid form , and if
the process could be carried far enough
it could no doubt bo made solid , since
all simple substances seem to pass in
regular order through the three condi
tions , solid , liquid and gaseous , accord
ing as thpy arc heated or cooled.
The value of this discovery is said to
bo that it furnishes a new motive power ,
which may take the place of steam and
stop the consumption of coal and wood
for fuel. It works thus :
There is one of the universal elements ,
as they \ised to bo called , which pusses
from its solid state ( ice ) to its liquid
state ( water ) at 32 ° above zero , and to
its gaseous state ( steam ) at 212 ° above
zero , and it is the expansion which
takes place in the last-named transformation
mation which does the world's business
at present. As the normal temperature
of water is 50 ° or so , it will be seen
that all the results are obtained by the
addition of lf > 2 degrees of heat.
Now the other universal element in
question , air , passes from its liquid to
its gaseous state at 812 ° below zero ,
so that before it is restored to its
normal temperature it must rise nearly
400 degrees. Therefore more than twice
as much energy ought to be obtained by
expanding liquid air as by expanding
liquid water. This is the story in a nut
shell.
The question of cost is naturally the
first that occurs to one , and here it is
that we are told a strange thing. It is
said that the expansion of three gallons
of liquid air in an ordinary engine will
drive a machine that will make ten gallons
lens of fro1liquid. ! . In other words , a
machine driven by this substance will
not only consume nothing , but will ac
cumulate a double store of its material
as it goes along ; doing away inciden
tally with boilers , chimneys , coal-rooms ,
cinder-piles , smoke and dirt , and appar
ently creating force without using any
thing up , since it merely uses the air
about it for a few minutes and then re
stores it uninjured , to circulation.
It will bo seen that this is neither
more nor less than perpetual motion ,
and the conclufion of the ordinary
mind is that it is therefore neither more
nor less than an absurdity.
RAILROAD ATTORNEYS.
It is a very remarkable fact that the
largo railroad companies make drafts on
the country towns for their legal talent.
George R. Peck , the general solicitor
of the Chicago , Milwaukee & St. Paul
railroad came from Topeka , Kansas.
Mr. Ohauncey M. Depew , who until
recently has had charge of the legal de
partment of the New York Central was
r ' ( ft t. '
discovered at Peekskill. E. D. Keuna ,
the general solicitor of the Atchisou ,
Topeka & Santa Fo company came from
Springfield , Mo. Robert Mather , gen
eral solicitor of the Chicago , Rock
Island & Pacific began life as a clerk in
the master mechanic's office of the C.
B. & Q. at Galesburg. The Chicago &
Northwestern found the head of their
law department , Mr. Bowers , in Wi-
nona , Minn. J. W. Blythe , the general
solicitor of the O. B. & Q. , lives in Bur-
ington , Iowa , while Fred Lehman who
ooks after the litigation for the Wa-
jash Company wont to St. Louis from
Des Moines , having formerly lived in
Nebraska City.
Judge Kelly , of the Union Pacific ,
first became connected with the com
pany at Lincoln , and "Wm. Brown , of
the Chicago & Alton , started from Jack
sonville , 111. J. J. Hagernian , of the
M. K. & T. , was from Keokuk.
These few instances of success among
country lawyers and the disposition of
large corporations to enter the rural dis
tricts for their legal talent ought to be
very encouraging to the country bar.
PROTECTION AND THE TRUSTS.
A new menace to protective tariffs
has arisen. Strange to say , it is the
trusts and combinations which have
been fostered by protection. A republi
can newspaper , and one of the
staunchest supporters of President
McKiuley in the country The Chicago
Times-Herald begins a double-leaded
editorial with the statement : "The
protective tariff must not protect
trusts. " In view of the fact that nearly
every manufacturing industry in the
country is organized into a trust , this is
equivalent to saying that the protective
tariff must be abolished.
Here is an excellent opportunity for
the republican party to get rid of the
incubus of protection. It is not in har
mony with the present policy and the
future destiny of the country. The re
publican administration at Washington
is now engaged in the labor of extend
ing the foreign trade of the United
States. Expansion is the magic word of
the hour , and the extension of territory
is only incidental to the enlargement of
trade. But it is absurd for a great na
tion to go abroad demanding an "open
door" and asking foreign countries to
remove restrictions on the purchase of
American goods , when here at home
there are tariffs ranging up to 100 per
cent which were adopted for the avowed
purpose of keeping goods from other
nations out of this country.
The republican party has entered upon
a new career , and to make it symmetri
cal and progressive the abandonment of
the policy of protection is essential.
Life-long advocates of protection can
hardly be expected to turn suddenly to
the policy of free trade , but they can
proceed to abolish protective tariffs on
the ground that they are giving trusts
and combinations an opportunity to
mulct the people. Certainly no protec
tion should be afforded to an industry
which is entirely controlled and regu
lated by a single head.
There are two reasons why this is
true : One is that the combination is
able to fix prices and is likely to put
them as high as possible without restrict
ing consumption , and the law should
aim to prevent such a practice , rather
than to encourage it. The other reason
is that the combination of numerous
factories in one line of industry results
in such a curtailment in the cost of pro
duction and distribution of goods that
no ordinary enterprise can compete with
it , and hence there is no need of pro
tection , even from the protectionist's
point of view.
The republican party is denounced by
its opponents as the friend of trusts and
combinations. It has an opportunity
now to repudiate the stigma by adopt
ing the policy of abolishing the protec
tive tariff on every article which is pro
duced by a trust. When this move
ment begins it will not end until the
last vestige of the absurd trade-shak-
ling policy of protection is wiped from
the statute books. Kansas City Star.
M ° " ° y
INTEREST RATES. , .
tmually getting
cheaper , the declining tendency has been
going on for years. The probabilities
are that in the next twenty years we
shall see farm loans being made at 8 per
cent and that good commercial paper
will be selling at 2) per cent and call
loans on approved collateral will go as
low as 1 % cent per annum.
Necessarily this will result in a lower
investment return on all classes of stocks
and bonds. Three per cent government
bonds will sell at over 150 and first-
class four per cent railroad bonds will
sell about 170.
The much abused money power does
not seem to be able to hold up the rates
of interest and it seems quite remarkable
that in view of the greedy , grasping ,
grabbing reputation of this power that it
should so complacently submit to the de
clining returns on the only thing it haste
to offer to the public.
The cheaper money is , the higher in
price other commodities become and
with these declines in the rates paid for
the use of money will come enhanced
value to farms and real estate of all
kinds.
The only element of real danger now
exists in the exploitation of various indus
trial securities. The speculative public
are quite quick to realize the danger of
absorbing too many of these wind and
water inflated securities however and the
banks of the country will examine them
very carefully as collateral so that the
prospect of their cutting much of a
I factor is minimized.
