'Cbe Conservative.
ANTI-COMPACT
be ten-
LEGISLATION.be a growing -
deiicy iu many of
the states to enact legislation hostile to
compacts or agreements among fire
insurance companies relative to rates.
The February number of the Monthly
Journal of Insurance Economics con
tains a comparison of the rates in anti-
compact states and those in which the
companies ore unrestricted. It shows
an increased rate for the anti-compact
states. The rates throughout the
United States have been reduced 17 per
cent from 1893 to 1898 while the re
duction in the anti-compact states has
been but 8 per cent. In the states with
out anti-compact legislation it is claimed
the companies wore able to agree upon a
reduction proportionate with the im
provement in the fire risks , while in
anti-compact states the companies , hav
ing learned by experience that the only
way to prevent chaos is by cooperation ,
they continue the old rate that existed
prior to the anti-compact legislation and
when an improvement in risk takes
place , which would ordinarily justify a
reduction , they are prevented from
making any agreement to that effect
because of the law prohibiting such
agreements.
If anti-compact legislation was de
signed for the purpose of creating com
petition among fire insurance companies
and thereby reducing rates , inasmuch ,
as it appears , the practical result is
directly the contrary , it would seem
that the interests of property owners
would be best subserved by doing away
with laws of this character. At any
rate it is a matter worthy of investiga
tion on the part of the insuring public.
The national asso-
TEACHERS-
MEETING.ciation of superin
tendents of public
instruction met in Chicago last week.
The part of their deliberations of most
interest to the public was that in rela
tion to the powers of the superintendent.
The representatives of the larger cities
favored , almost without exception ,
absolute power on the part of the super
intendent , that he should be made
responsible for the government and dis
cipline of the schools and have power to
enforce all recommendations relative
to the same ; while those who repre
sented the smaller places were almost
as unanimous in the opinion that they
had as much authority as they wished to
exercise and did not care to have their
responsibilities increased by the con
ferring of additional power. The dis
cussion probably assumed more than
ordinary interest because of the diffi
culty Professor E. Benjamin Andrews ,
superintendent of the Chicago schools , is
having , just now , with his board rela
tive to the prerogatives of the superin
tendent.
President Eliot of Harvard was one of
the "one man power" supporters and in
part said :
"The duty of the board should be
only to determine a general policy of
selecting instructors and managing
business affairs. It should not attempt
to execute. Most of the trouble in
school systems is caused by attempts of
boards to execute. A board of seven
should have two experts. I know there
is a prejudice against experts. Many
regard an export as a sort of proud
aristocrat. They forget that an expert
is simply one who does some special
work well. The woman who sews on a
button so that it won't come off is an
expert. One of the two experts should
be a man who understands the sequence
of studies , the correlation of studies , who
can recommend worthy teachers and
judge the value of experience. The
other expert should bo a business man
of capacity , honest , alert , vigorous and
industrious , who could be depended
upon to look after the board's business
as it should be looked after. The busi
ness expert should rank lower than the
educational expert. "
APOLITICAL
KLUNDER.TimesHerald un
der the caption ,
"A Grave Political Blunder , " has this
to say of the Puerto Rico bill :
"It may be said that the lower tariff
by this bill and its disposition of the
revenue are 'compensating benefits' for
the lost trade , but it is impossible to
escape 'the plain duty. ' The change , so
far as the house is concerned , was
brought about by a few members acting
like autocrats. If they finally succeeded
in whipping all but a small minority of
their party into line that was not because
the majority was persuaded that they
were right on principle. It was simply
because they arrogated to themselves
the authority of leadership and harped
on the dangers of a division in ranks. "
THE CONSERVATIVE asks how the
president who finally whipped bolting
congressmen into line reconciles him
self to the "plain duty" that , a little
while before , was so very "plain" to
him ?
An influential
GOLD STANDARD businesg man of
IN COLORADO. _ , , . .
Colorado writes
to THE CONSERVATIVE :
"As an evidence of the prosperity in
Colorado , under the gold standard , I en
close yon statement of the First Nation
al Bank of Colorado Springs , which has
a capital of $100,000 and deposits of $4-
200,000. ( The deposits in First National
bank at Denver ajgjpver $18,000,000) ) . I
send this statement merely to show how
things are in this country , which , by the
way , is the country Senator Teller made
such a tearful speech about when Presi
dent Cleveland asked for the repeal of
the Sherman Act. "
This is quite a different state of af
fairs than that depicted by "Bloody Bri
dles Waito" or indicated in the pessim
ism of Teller , who , as a United States
Senator , uses his positionnot to promote
the industrial and commercial interests
of Colorado , but slanders the common
wealth he represents and gives out an
altogether false impression of the con
dition that really exists.
8
UTAH DEMOCRATS.
, ,
of Utah in their
state convention endorsed Roberts by
the adoption of the following resolution :
"Resolved , That the democratic party
of the state of Utah , in convention as
sembled , solemnly affirms that the people
ple of this state have kept faith with
the nation and repels upon their behalf
all charges to the contrary as false and
misleading. Therefore , we deplore the
action of the congress of the United
States in refusing to administer the oath
of office to the member-elect from this
commonwealth. ' '
"elMntereBt
GERMANY AND
AMERICAN MEAT , of Germany will
probably impel the
German Reichstag to refrain from the
proposed discrimination against the im
portation of American meat. The ex
ports from Germany to this country
exceed by about 833,000,000 marks her
imports of American meat. The fear of
retaliatory measures on the part of the
United States will be sufficient to insure
the protection of American interests.
The German press is generally quite
favorable to the United States. The
Weser Zeitung says :
"We protest on behalf of the industry ,
commerce , and shipping of the German
fatherland. A tariff war would make
the British and the Belgians the suc
cessors to the German trade with the
United States. Moreover , the Ameri
cans themselves would develop those
industries which Germany now sup
plies. "
FREE TRADE.
Maine , burned
down congress immediately bestowed
by special act the boon of free trade as
the best possible direct aid for rebuilding
the city.
When Chicago was destroyed by fire
in 1871 congress passed similar legis
lation for facilitating the rebuilding of
the city.
And in 1000 Wm. McKinley recom
mends free trade for the Puerto Ricans
because they are in distress.
How can a tariff on things imported
by Puerto Rico hurt the Puerto Rican
consumer if as McKinley insists "the
foreigner pays the tax ? "
Emotional Americans are now fairly
bubbling over with sympathy for the
Boer republic. They do not seem to
know that the English government is
the more democratic , while the govern
ment of the Boors is a republic in name
only , but an autocracy in fact.