Conservative. 11
must also be a large number of Seku-
kuni's people iu the Transvaal , and they
will hardly forget that their chief not
only defeated the Boers , but made them
appear cowards in the face of all South
Africa. The prospect of meeting an
enemy in battle is wholesome and stimu
lating ; the fear of a rising of virtual
slaves is demoralizing. It hampers
every military movement , and haunts
the mind of every burgher on the march ;
yet he cannot take any measure to avert
the danger , nor can he tell when or
where it may break out. He has , as it
were , to contend with secret foes of his
own household as well as with the enemy
at his gates.
There is very little likelihood of a
native rising in Gape Colony or in Natal ,
where Kaffirs , Bushmen , Fingoes and
all the other races with which we have
been brought in contact are happy and
contented. The native administration
of British colonies in South Africa , in
spite of ignorant enthusiasts sitting safe
at home in their arm-chairs , is all that
can be desired. For twenty-five years
they have known absolute peace , a fact ,
considering the overwhelming numbers
of the native population , infinitely to
their credit. Not that it is for a moment
suggested that the conquered Bantu
peoples love us , but they respect us , and
appreciate the order and justice which
are inseparable from our rule. If they
must have a master and , as things go
in the world now , they must England
is the one of all others which they
would , and do , choose. 0. De Thierry
in the London Illustrated Magazine.
AN INTERESTING QUESTION.
Aldace F. Walker , one of the most
' prominent railway men of the country ,
and at one time a member of the inter
state commerce commission , has raised
a nice constitutional question in relation
to the power of congress in the matter
of regulating freight charges upon
American railways.
Senator Oullom some time ago intro
duced a bill giving the inter-state com
mission power to fix the rate that might
be charged for carrying freight in cer
tain cases , and the committee having the
bill in charge recently called before it a
number of witnesses supposed to be
familiar with the question involved
Among these was Mr. Walker , and his
[ testimony brought out several very
\ interesting points. In the first place he
; ' holds that the bill "proceeds upon an
/ imperfect and demagogic idea of rail
j way traffic. " It is a demagogue's idea
1 he holds , to maintain that the railroads
| and the public are necessarily opposed
to each other in their interests and thai
the public will benefit by bankrupting
the railroads. To fix the price of trans
portation , he holds , is on a par with
fixing the price of the article transported
and neither is properly within the power
of congress. Congress may not "regu
ate" commerce in that sense. "Com
merce" implies purchase and sale as
well as transportation , and it is un
reasonable to give a commission power
; o interfere with one feature of com
merce and not the other. "If , " says
Mr. Walker , "a commission can be
designated by congress with power to
name the price to be paid for the trans
portation of corn from Nebraska to New
York , no reason is apparent why con
gress cannot also empower another
commission to fix the price to be paid
'or ' Nebraska corn on the Chicago board
of trade. " The supreme court , he says ,
holds that "commerce , " as used in the
constitution , connotes the "totality of
ihat intercourse which constitutes trade
in any or all its forms. The transporta-
ion of a commodity might occur without
Bargain and sale without its becoming
an "article of commerce" at all. On
; he other hand , purchase and sale may
occur without transportation. But there
can be no commerce without sales. If
.t be held successfully that the commerce
which congress may "regulate" em
braces both sales and transportation ,
obviously interference with prices as
well as rates ought to be included in the
Cnllom bill. Or , as Mr. Walker puts it ,
"if the regulation which congress has
the right to exercise in respect of com
merce authorizes it to fix the price of
transportation , it must of necessity also
warrant the fixing of the price of the
commodity. " There seems to be a
necessity for the supreme court to define
what regulation is. In the minds of
many it embraces the power to dis
criminate between different commercial
interests in favor of the interest having
the most votes. Albuquerque Journal-
Democrat.
THE CURRENT MQUIDATION.
The country is now in the midst of
the liquidation following the great com
mercial boom of 1899. Slowly , and
without shook , conditions are adjusting
themselves to normal planes. Those
prices which soared too high are coming
down , and those branches which pro
duced too many goods last year are
ceasing to produce. The readjustment
is proceeding with the irresistible bul
noiseless force of a glacier. Nothing
can stop it. It is the great law of supply
and demand reasserting itself after hav
ing been feverishly diverted from its
natural course. In some lines the great
manufacturing combines are leading the
decline ; others are fighting it , but
vainly , for there is a limit to the public
purse , and that limit was reached las
December.
The proceeding is orderly. There is
no excitement , no disturbance of credits
no stringency in money , no cause for
alarm. But all over the United States
conservatism is again the dominant force
in trade , for the boom of 1899 is over
That it came to a pause without crash
of any description is a matter for general
'elicit atiori.
The shrinkage in values is steadily
assuming a wider range. At first it was
confined to iron and steel and hides ; it
now comprehends corn , pork , beef and
i
mutton , dairy'products , wool , cotton ,
petroleum , lead , tin , lumber , nails , wire ,
mper and dozens of other commodities.
In place of the wild speculation in
securities of a year ago , we now con-
; emplate a liquidation so pronounced
that twenty preferred industrial stocks
sold last week at prices averaging $88
) er share , against $99 in the same week
ast year , and twenty common stocks at
an average of $88.50. aeainst $77
year. The working force , which at that
; ime last year was rapidly increasing , is
now decreasing. Paper , which was
seriously scarce in 1899 , is now more
plentiful , and some of the works are
actually stopping to relieve the excessive
production. Many wool , leather and
steel works are doing the same thing.
This stoppage of works and consequent
dismissal of a certain percentage of
wage-earners is the only unsatisfactory
feature of the situation. Business in
some lines has been almost suspended by
the obstinacy of manufacturers and
agents in holding on to the high prices
of 1899. a
The boy tosses his ball into the air
and unconsciously enunciates a great
commercial truism when he cries ,
"What goes up must come down. " This
is the situation in the United States
today. The Call foresaw it immediately
after the new year , and pointed out at
the time that the limit of the public
pocket had been reached. Few saw it
then ; everybody sees it now. It is easy
to see through a millstone if somebody
will point out the hole.
It is better as it is than as it was. It
is better to do a good , steady business ,
as we are doing now , making our
moderate profit , than to be rushed by a
boom , which , though it is doubling
those profits , perhaps , is bearing us on
too furiously for our own good. Thanks
to the large increase in the circulation ,
there is plenty of money in the country.
In fact , we have more than we want ,
and are again loaning it in large blocks
to Europe. The other day we loaned
France $15,000,000 for her exposition.
She needed it , Europe did not have it to
spare , and it was a mere bagatelle to
New York. So she came over here and
got it. A few years more and New
York will be the financial center of the
world.
The bank clearings of the country last
week were 11.6 per cent less than in the
same week lost year. New York fell off
18.8 per cent and Boston 12.8 per cent.
The commercial failures were 155 ,
against 108 last year. So much for
statistics. They show that while the
volume of business is smaller this year
the failures ore fewer. So be it it
shows that the country is commercially
healthy. San Francisco Call.
