Conservative *
Lord Roberts has
THE 1JOKK WAR. ngaiu nB8umed the
offensive and has started his forward
movement toward Bloemfouteiu. The
waterworks iii the vicinity of Bloem-
fontein which had been in the possession
of the Boers for several weeks , were re
taken. The next move of Roberts was
for the relief of Wepener. General
French , who has , with so much skill ,
conducted the cavalry maneuvers , added
new laurels to his name by raising the
siege of Wepeuer , which had been in
progress for several weeks. The Boers ,
with their accustomed skill , decamped
and beat a hasty retreat in the direction
of Ladybrand , with French and his cav
alry division in pursuit. The plan of
campaign here was a reproduction of the
movement against Cronjo at Paardeberg ,
in which the cavalry under French went
ahead and overtook Crouje and held
him until the infantry arrived. After a
siege of ten days Crouje surrendered.
French was not destined to be so suc
cessful in the retreat from "Wepener.
The Boers were overtaken at Thab-
auchu. The British pursued in three
columns. This force was combined for
a united attack at Thabauchu. But
before the British had u chance to begin
operations their elusive enemy disap
peared. There is slight prospect of
engaging the Boers in a decisive conflict.
French will probably have to content
himself with harrassiug small detach
ments of the enemy whenever an oppor
tunity is afforded and preventing , if
possible , the detached bauds of the Boer
army reaching the main force at Krooii-
stadt. All efforts to relieve the siege of
Mnfekiug have failed
CHEAPENED PRODUCTION.
The following is from the address de
livered by T. B. Thurber , President of
the United States Export association , to
the Trans-Mississippi congress , April 17 :
Power and machinery brought to bear
upon our wonderful natural resources
have so increased production that wider
markets are necessary if we would
escape in the future more frequent peri
ods of overstocked home markets , idle
mills , and commercial crises.
Hon. Carroll D. Wright , United States
Commissioner of Labor , and one of our
most conservative statisticians , recently
stated the result of his investigations of
the relative productive power of hand
and machine labor.
A thousand paper bags could formerly
be made in six hours and thirty minutes
by hand ; they are now made in forty
minutes with the aid of a machine. To
rule ten reams of paper on both sides by
hand required 4,800 hours ; with a ruling
machine the work is done in two hours
and thirty minutes of one man's time.
In shelling corn by hand , sixty-six hours
and forty minutes would be required to
shell a quantity which can be handled
by a machine in thirty-six minutes. A
mowing machine cuts seven times as
much grass per hour as one man can cut
with a scythe.
One horse-power is equivalent to the
power of six men. Thus , if the work of
03,481 men in the flour mills of the
United States is supplemented with the
use of 752,805 horse-power , the power is
equivalent to the work of 4,514,190 ad
ditional men. In other words , the power
does seventy-one times as much work as
the employees.
In 1890 there were over 80,000 loco
motives in this country. It would take
57,940,820 horses to do their work , or
847,425,920 men. In countries like Chi
na nearly all the work of transportation
is actually done by man power , and no
further explanation of the difference
between America and Asia is required.
By the use of steam we are evoking aid
from the stored up heat in our coal beds
equivalent to the population of the
whole earth , while the Chinaman lets
his coal lie underground , packs his leaden
on his back , and does his manufacturing
largely by hand.
Our railways carry our products 1,000
miles to our seaboard for less than for
eign railways carry them two hundred
miles inland from their seaboard ; and ,
as a whole , our rates in this country are
only about one-half those of other coun
tries , while in safety , speed and comfort
we are immeasurably superior ; and yet
in legiolative halls and in the jury-box
we find a considerable element of hos
tility to our railroad interests. They are
looked upon by some as the original
trusts , but they have done more to de
velop the United States than any other
single agency , and the great need of
large sections of country is more rail
roads. This is illustrated by the follow
ing table showing the density of rail
roads in different localities.
Number of Miles
of Line per 100
Square Miles of
State. Territory.
New Jersey 80.01
Massachusetts 20.43
Pennsylvania 22.03
Ohio 21.48
Illinois 10.88
Iowa 15.85
Kansas 10.70
Nebraska 7.29
Virginia 9.10
South Carolina 8.91
Georgia 0.80
Mississippi . ' 5.79
Louisiana 5.51
Texas 8.08
California 8 51
Montana 2.01
Oregon 1.09
Will railroads be built as fast as is
desirable if in sections where they have
been constructed they are treated as if
they were public enemies to be con
stantly legislated against , their rates
reduced by law and their taxes increased ?
A tax of ten per cent upon the net
earnings of a mercantile house would be
deemed exorbitant , yet on one great
railroad system with which I am famil
iar , its taxes amount to eighteen per
cent of its net revenue. Railroads pay
a larger percentage of their earnings for
taxes and labor than any other business
in existence.
In the mining regions when a trader
grubstakes a miner and he finds a good
strike does the miner crawfish on a fair
divide ? I have yet to hear of such a
case ; but when a man of unusual energy
and enterprise conceives a railroad ,
gathers a hundred or a thousand part
ners as stockholders , builds it and
charges five cents a mile for carrying a
passenger with comfort where it had
previously cost ten cents by stage with
discomfort , or two cents per mile per
ton of freight , where it had cost ten cents
by wagon and the railroad is there and
can't be moved some public spirited
citizen ( generally a candidate for office ) ,
suggests that the great monopoly is
charging too much and that charges
should be reduced one half. I do not
say that railroads or other aggregations
of capital known as "trusts" are without
sin or that they should not be regulated
and controlled if they do what is un
reasonable , but I do say when capital
has grubstaked labor or has created
values without any labor on the part of
the public , as is often the case , it is en
titled to equitably share in the profits.
But few commodities have declined in
price as much as transportation. This
is illustrated by the following table
showing the average receipts per ton per
mile on leading railroads for the years
1870 , 1880 , 1890 and 1898 inclusively.
Average 1.991.17 .91 .72
This result has been attained largely
through combinations and consolida
tions , which contrary to the impressions
generally entertained , have not resulted
in abolishing competition , but have
resulted in economies of operation and
improvement in service , accompanied
with a steady reduction in rates.
Passenger rates have not declined as
largely as freight rates , but there has
been a material decline in the period
covered by the above statistics , while
the quality of the service has been
greatly improved , with a corresponding
increase in its cost to the railway.
The railroad of twenty years ago ,
with its equipment , would not be toler
ated today. How many of us appreciate
the privilege of stepping into a parlor on
wheels and being hurled through space
at the rate of forty miles an hour , with
as much safety as if we sat in our draw
ing-rooms or were sleeping in our beds
at home ?
At every hour of the day and night
the iron horae is speeding over this great