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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 23, 1902)
THE OMAHA DAILY KKEt SATUItDAY, AUGUST 23, 1002. 'Die Omaha Daily Bee. E. P.OSKVATErt, EDITOR. PUBLISHED EVEKT NOBBING. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. Dally p.ee (without Sunday), One Year.-KOO Dally H-e and Bunday, one Year .) liluatrated Uro. One Vear 3 Sunday liee, One Yrar 1.W Baturdny Hee. One Year l.M Twentieth Century Farmer, One Year.. 1.00 DELIVERED RT CARRIER. Dally Bee (without Sunday), per copy,.. Jo Dally lwe (without Bundayi. per week.. .120 Dally Ree (Including Sunday), per week.. lie Sunday Ree, per copy ac Evening Ree (without Sunday), per week. loc Evening' Ree (Including Sunday), per week 15c Complaint! of trregularltlea In delivery should be addressed to City Circulation Department. OFFICES. Omaha Thr Bee Dulldlng. South Omaha City Hall Building, Twenty-firth nrt M Streets. Council R luff's 10 Rear! Street. Chicago lirto Unity Rullding. New York Temple Court. Washington 61 Fourteenth Street. CORRESPONDENCE. Communications relating to newa aifd edi torial matter ahould he addreased: Omaha liee, Editorial Department. BUSINESS LETTERS. Business1 letters and remittances should be addressed: The Bee Publishing Com pany, Omaha. REMITTANCES. Remit by draft, express or postal order, payable to The Ree Publishing Company. Only 2-eent stamps accepted In payment of mall accounts. Personal checks, except on Omaha or eastern exchanges, not accepted. THE BEK PUBLISHING COMPANY. STATEMENT OF CIRCULATION. State of Nebraska Douglas County, ss.t George B. Tsschuck, secretary of The Bee Publishing Company, being duly sworn, says that the actual number of full ana complete copies of The Dally, Morning, Evening and Sunday Re printed during the month of July, 1903, was as follows: l so.sau 17 2'.B10 I .S,ST0 IS 29,080 I 8U.S40 1 UO.0TO 4 1TO,C20 10 30.018 ( 20,320 21 U1.BM1 2U.60O 22 20.B60 7 211,510 23 X9,B40 1 28.4BO 14 29.BHO .... 20.B40 S& JJtt.UTO 10 SU.BBO . 26 39,M0 11 .....X9.B10 27 2D.4H0 13 29,020 28 Stt.550 IS. Xtt.OlB 23 ..29,6ftO 14...., o,eo so aa.oto U... ...29,500 . SI SW.530 16 .29,80 ' . ' ToUl... W10.4BO Less unsold and returned copies.... 0.020 Net total sales B08.S24 Net dally average....... 29,202 GEO. B. TZSCHUC1C Subscribed In my presence and sworn to before me this list day of July, A. D. 1902. (Bea.U , , M. R. HUNGATH. Notary Publlo. King Corn doesn't hare to ask If his crown, it on straight this year. Sir Thomas JLlpton still has his eye on that America's cup. That Is all he has got on It so far. . Illinois grain dealers In convention have been discussing plans to prevent corners.- Bound them off. Omaha society has discovered that Italian music Is not all embossed on the barrel of the Italian hand organ. The session of the plumbers, in this city seems to have made no noticeable difference In the outflow of the water spouts. Germany's meat Inspection fees are evidently levied on the Donnybrook fair theory of bitting a head whenever you see It . When our navies are transformed into fleets of submarine boats, the spectacu lar part of a naval demonstration will completely disappear. It the Real Estate exchange Intends to swap the compliments of the season with the head, of the Union Pacific rail road, the sooner they get at it the better. Our nonresident congressman must be In hard lines when he has to import out side rooters to work up enthusiasm for him la what .he professes to call his home ward. The well-defined rumor that President Burt Is-getting good and ready to confer with the Union Pacific strikers has yet to be verified. We will believe it when we see Mr. Burt spit on his hands. It is safe to say that neither Governor Savage, Congressman Mercer nor Pom padour Baldwin will receive Invitations to act as the guest of honor at the com ing Labor day demonstration in this city. V Those Texas whitecaps whose hospi tality for an alleged divine healer took the form of cutting Lis hair off short ahould be called down with a thud. How can a divine healer do business without the regulation long hair? The state luncheon given by the shah of Persia is said to nave cost his royal highness $15,000 at least that la the figure at which the bill was made out Beef trust prices evidently prevail in London as well as on this side of the water. Every candidate on the prohibition state ticket In Nebrabka swears that Lis nomination came, to him without the expenditure of a single 5-ceut piece. Ne one will question the faithful veracity f these aelf -sacrificing prohi bition martyrs. , The democratic nominee for congress would like nothing better than to have the republicans renominate Nonresident Mercer for a sixth term. But do the re publicans of this district wsnt to make their nomination for the benefit of bis democratic opponent? If the attack of an invading foreign navy would really create no more com motion out here than the mimic war fare of the naval maneuvers off the New England coast, we may rest un disturbed that Nebraska Is at safe dis tance from danger In the event of a naval war. A sharp reminder by the American rnlnlator has etlrrwl the Turk lab. sultan to return a package of Insurance poli cies, the pjojx rty of an American cltl aen, that had been seized by the Turkish authorities. Needless to add that the sultan could nor realise on the Insurance policies, anyway. ' v TAX BUREAC QVACKtnf. Whenever a man "gives tip the ghost nowadays the doctors charge It .up to heart failure. On the same theory the railroad tax bureau quarks have figured It out that delinquent taxes have caused the state debt. . The (state debt at this day aggregates over $2,000,000 and has for the part ten years been growing at the rate of from $100,000 to. f 150.000 a year. The rail road tax agents place the amount of de linquent taxes at $1,090,873 for the whole state, of which amount they say $157,747 has been delinquent for thirty years or longer. In other words, more than one-sixth of the delinquent tax as set consists of cats and dogs that cannot be g"lvanl7.ed Into life by any known process. That would leave $i39,120 of live delinquent taxes, "which would be about $1,100,000 short of paying the state debt If all delinquent taxes were collectible. No rational business man conversant with the true condition of af fairs would contend that CO per cent of the taxes delinquent for more than five years are collectible. Everybody knows that these delin quencies represent town lots that have been turned Into corn fields and could not be sold for the taxes.' It represents sand hills that were palmed off for fer tile farm lands upon the unsuspecting Investor during the boom timet and are in about the same position as the child that cannot discover its father. Nobody claims to own them and nobody Is willing to pay taxes on them. The delinquent tax list moreover represents hundreds of thousands of dollars of per sonal taxes' levied upon bankrupt or de funct business concerns and parties who are out of the reach of the tax collector. In Douglas county, for example, the aggregate delinquency Is represented as $220,042.20, or 10.12 per cent of the taxes levied. How much of this $220,000 Is collectible? We venture to assert that it is not 10 per cent. The railroad tax quacks know well that under the law the tax levied Is always 10 per cent higher than the estimated amount of col lectible taxes. Everybody in Nebraska familiar with state finances knows that fully one-half of the Btate debt has been caused by bank wrecking aud embezzlement. Everybody knows that the state lost $230,000 In Charley Hostler's Capital National bank depository. Everybody knows that the state lost nearly $000,000 by Joe Hartley's benevolent financiering. Upon these losses the state, has been linjiug flow i U 7 per cent luieiesl ami the total loss now aggregates more than $1,000,000. Was this part of the state debt caused by tax delinquents or by bank wreckers and public thieves? Is It not about time for the tax bureau charlatans to quit their bunco bulletins and come down to the two main points: First, what is the actual value of rail road pioperty in Nebraska, and, second, what proportion does Its assessed value bear to its actual value? Manifestly, If the railroad property in Nebraska is worth $325,000,000, a may be proved by their own bulletins, lt as sessment for $26,500,000 Is scandalously below the ratio 4t assessment of all other property returned by the assessors. The property which the assessors have failed to return can cut no figure in theBo computations any more than the testimony of 100 men who did' not see a man steal sheep can offset the testimony of two witnesses who did see him steal the sheep. MORGAN IS KMlKPlXQ BUST. The return of J. Plerpont Morgan to the United States' Is expected to be speedily followed by interesting devel opments. The speculative world 4s, said to be waiting with no little anxiety for some further disclosure of the plans of the "Colossus of finance." Traders have hesitated to take any pronounced position In the market until they could discover which way the Morgan cat was going to jump. There is nor definite Information as to what was accom plished by Mr. Morgan In Europe In regard to his international schemes, but It Is safe to assume thai his efforts were uot without practical results. He ws a guest of King Edward and of Em peror William, but paid nokattentlo4 to lesser moharchs. It Is said thut be has carefully prepared the rulers of Great Britain and Germany for what U com ing and that Instead of having their an tugouism he will probably ecure their co-operation. ' .. Mr. Morgan has plenty of wort to do in this country. There are great schemes yet to" be carried out. One of these is the auttleuient of the Louisville & Nashville railroad deal, Involving tue consolidation of several lines. It Is un derstood that all the details were ar ranged while Mr. Morgan waa abroad and that & plan has been drawn by a railroad expert which the financier will pass upon. If .he approves the plan the public will be given another opportunity to add a few millions to the Morgan fortune. The complete details of the steamship combine are yet to be nade public by Mr. Morgan, If he purposes doing so. According to the terms the public has thus far heard, Morgan has arranged to pay $100,000,000 for one group of steamships that can be dupli cated with more modern lai-hluery for $50,000,000, yet there is no doubt be will profit handsomely by the operation. It was hoped that Mr. Morgan would make some effort to bring about a tt tlement of the anthracite coal strike, but it appears that he approves of the course of the operators. Nobody will be surprised at this, since his sympathies are necessarily and from self-interest with monopoly. There has never been a financier who cared less for the public Interests and welfare than J. Plerpont Morgan, ' A New York dlxpateh says that what Wall street experts him to do Imme diately Is to 6tart a new movement In stocks. Many are carrying a load of Morgan industrials which were bought at very much higher prices than are now, prevailing In Wall street and they tore? hoping he will enable them to un- ond. He will doubtless do the best he can in this direction in order that the confidence necessary to the carrying out of his other schemes shall be main tained. No one will question the finan cial Ingenuity and resourcefulness of Mr. Morgan, but there are many who re gard him, perhaps events will show Justly, as a most dangerous enemy x of the public interests and welfare. Tfl DEMOCRATIC UOPK. The hope of the democrats, according to Washington advices, Is In the dis satisfaction of the industrial classes. They are not counting upon the farm ers, for the reason that with good crops the agricultural producers are well satis- fled and people who are In this state of mind do not support the democratic party. Democrats at the national cap ital admit that the favorable crop con ditions are Injurious to the party's pros pects, but they profesB to believe that this loss will be more than counter balanced by the dissatisfaction among the Industrial classes "arising out of the present high prices and the failure of wages to keep up with them." They sayt- "The bad condition in the coal mining region and in a good many manufacturing centers where the people, although occupied, have hard work to get along, will do a great deal. We are not looking to the agricultural states for our gains. They will be republican anyhow, but it Is In the congested dis tricts, where political conditions are more' nicely weighed, that we shall en croach on the opposing party." It Is the usual thing for the democrats to base their hope of success on popular dissatisfaction and it Is quite probable that the party will profit to some extent from the existing unrest among the In dustrial classes, but the result may show that the democrats are' greatly overestimating this advantage. Intelli gent wage earners, who consider po litical conditions rationally, will ask themselves how they can be benefited by giving their support to the demo cratic party. In what respect could the condition of the Industrial classes be bettered If the next house of representa tives should have a democratic majority? It would not be able to accomplish any thing. It could carry through no legisla tion not acceptable to the republican senate and president The only effect the election of a democratic house of representatives would have would bo the creation of a fear of democratic ascendancy' In the government, which would certainly not be conducive to the maintenance of financial and business confidence. Grant that the Industrial classes have reasonable ground of com plaint in the fact that wages do not Increase with the rise In the price of commodities, the election of a demo cratic house of representatives would not remedy this condition. On the con trary. If it should have the effect reason ably to be expected, an Impairment of confidence through apprehension of the democratic party securing control of the government, the situation would prob ably become more serious for the In dustrial classes. At all events It as suredly would not be improved?. There Is no promise of betterment for the wage earners In democratic success and any one of that class that believes there la Is deluding himself. The policy of the democratic party Is hostile to the Interests and the welfare of the Industrial classes. This ought to be and undoubtedly Is well understood by all intelligent worklngmen and it Is therefore most Improbable that any con- sfflerable number of them will at this time be drawn to the support of that party. A correspondent writes us to suggest that something more onght to be done to procure for Omaha equal treatment at the hands of the railroad with that ac corded Kansas City. He tells us that for the Priests of Pallas festivities Kan sas City has secured a one-fare rate on all railroads for a distance of 200 miles extending over twelve days, while for the Ak-8ar-Ben carnival Omaha Is to have 1U one-fare concession only for three days and a smaller radius. As a result Kansas City can invite Omaha people to visit the Priests of Pallas at reduced railroad fare, while Kansas City people cannot come to Omaha Ak-Sar- Ben week except by paying full rates. If these conditions are as represented, complaint ought certainly to be entered and an effort made to equalize the rail road concessions to the two cities. The republicans of Douglas county are entitled to the same treatment In the selection of delegates to nominate a suc cessor1 for David H. Mercer as Is ac corded to the republicans of Sarpy and Washington counties. They have no right to ask for more and they will not be satisfied with less. The republicans of Washington and Harpy counties have been allowed to elect the number of del egates apportioned to them without the intervention of the 'congressional com mittee- and the republicans of this county should have the same privilege. We shall presently see whether the re publican congressional committee of this district represents the rank and file of the party or the nonresident congress' man. wnue Mercer was auoweu to name the committee as the candidate of the republicans of this district the com mittee is expected to "represent the re publicans of the district and not simply Mr. Mercer or his man Friday, who Las assumed to be the "whole thing" and irl vea nut his own program for the whole committee, of which he W only one of the nine members. Emperor William of Germany and King Victor Emmanuel of Italy are about to exchange courtesies by visiting one another . at each other'a capital. The medal makers, will be kept working overtime to turn out . the souvenir decorations their majesties will bestow on each other's subjects. The rainmakers have gone out of busi ness In Nebraska this year and the weather prophets who predicted terrible scorchers between July 17 and August 21 have lost their reckoning. But cabbage put la the pot It goes in cold and comes out hot. Away down south in Dixie, the same as before the "wah." Slstmsr Ip the Kinship. Philadelphia Ledger. A Cuban editor declares that this coun try Is not the father of the Cubaa republic; only the stepfather. A Glane Backward. Indianapolis Journal. Probably there waa not a single trust formed la this country during the (Santo of 189S to 1858, caused by democratic legisla tion and mtsgovernment, but there were hundreds of mills and factories closed. Moving- the Cora Crop. ' Indianapolis Journal. It would take a railway train girdling the world more than three times to move the wheat crop of the United States this year, with the bumpef corn crop to hear from. The Job will be neatly handled by breaking It Into sections. A Blgmiacsuat SI sTB. Minneapolis Journal. Tia fact that the steel trust refuses to Sell rails to a railway company which re fuses to explain Its purpose to the trust Is indeed profoundly significant. It indicates that the trust Is in alliance with the great railway systems of the country to prevent the building of new and independent lines. The company must go abroad for Its rails. And it will have to pay a tariff on them, too. Rational Game Tabooed. Philadelphia Press. Secretary Shaw has done a wise thing la punishing clerks found guilty of playing poker. Not only have their families suf fered for a long time, but there was con stant tear of. government loss. As a result their salaries were reduced and their work transferred so as to make It Impossible for them to take anything valuable, even If they tried. That is proper. The secretary retained the men only because of their fam ilies. Irrigation l'p-to-Date. x Philadelphia Record. Irrigation Is a process by no means con fined to the efforts of cpomotevs who are owners of arid landsk . The Irrigation of stocks Is an active Tti&stry. A tharp tongued contemporary says';. "When a rail road becomes proaperoufTtt never cuts down rates; It waters its stock until dividends are reduced to nomrqaV proportions. " The triok la as old as the., hills. There are even political philosophers ;who Insist upon irri gating the coin of the) realm. sue V Better Salaries Should Be Paid. Minneapolis Journal. Nebraska school are likely to remain closed because teachers can't be obtained. Maybe this condition 'will lead to an In crease in teachers' par In that state. If there is any class, of tollers that deserves better pay It Is the common school teachers everywhere, who fender the state a service of supreme but El Ue ..appreciated impor tance. It will beVno credit to -the Ne braskans If they, in their prosperity, close their schools through reluctance to raise salaries. access la Life. Ban Francisco Chronicle. There are scores' of living men who might be mentioned who Jtave attained to all that goes to make up success as It is commonly estimated. They have wealth, social and political Influence and popularity; they have everything that heart can wish, and yet the man of the world of the average sort would not tor a moment admit that their success Is to be compared with that of the man who has lost everything yet has served his coun try as a patriot, has made the foundations of the stato a little atronger, the life of the common people a little sweeter and happier. has given to hi family and his friends an example of unspotted rectitude and In do ing these things has missed personal ad vancement and pleasure. THE "TIDAL WAVE" SCARE. Apparently Sensible. People Infla- eaced fcy a Foolish Prophecy. Philadelphia Press. The fact that once a state of general ap prehension Is created, through no matter what silly Influences, sensible people will yield to its meaningless menace is proved once again In the matter of the Atlantlo City tidal wave scare. ' While no one of the thousands who took the scare seriously would have been affected by It at first In stance if they had heard Rev. Andrew Jones uttering his absurdities on the street corner, they were affected after the vague prophecy of an Ignorant and foolish man had been merged Into a general rumor of Impending danger, originating one knew not where. Now that It Is all over the whole episode Is a commentary on the curious, bait super stitious attitude that so many otherwise counted as well-informed and. well-educated people maintain toward all natural phe nomena. To them all the doings of nature are profound mysteries.- And since the mysterious has always in it more or less of threat, more or less of that which is In exorable and malignant, as well as Inex plicable, they are fearful of phenomena that are as orderly as the movement of the earth on Its axis and beneficent In effept. If, for Instance, tie mass of those leav ing out the avowedly Ignorant who were of the same race and color as the false prophet who were apprehensive over the so-called "tidal wave" had had the slightest Idea of wave causation they would have had no oc casion for fear, if they had known the simplest facts as to the conditions favorable to earthquake waves or the factors la the making of storm waves that move outward from some great storm center they would have known what Incredible folly lay la the alleged ability of an Itinerant religious mountebank to predict a "tidal wave." But, unfortunately, though our schools fuss over nature studies to a marked degree, neither the cider nor the younger generation has the slightest grasp on nature In Its larger aspects. Our faulty education Is responsible, there- tore, for whatever degree of Importance was attached to the rumors of death and de struction that took on so vital an aspect -to so many people. Even the weather Is taught , la some of our schools, but by teachers who have no Idea of weather causa tion and simply repeat old errors, while the children, Idle away their time with kinder garten exercises la the making of weather records. - . Nothing is apprehended of the broad prin ciples of physics, nothing is understood eC general tendencies; everything is knowa smatterlngly. And, consequently, being but little above The poor Indian, whose untutored mind Bees God la cloud end bears Ulna la the Wind, any Idiot barking at the creesroada U listened te with mouth sgape. Nebraska's Bumper Crop New York S'.x and seven years ago the biggest crop that Nebraska Sould boast of was her "anti-plutocracy" resolutions. Conditions had been good for the sowing and the cultivating, and the spring and summer of 1896 found almost all classes of Ne braska people' pelting the country at large with platform anathemas against wealth and banks and corporations and railroads and everything In- sight that was known to be a single dollar ahead of the game and anxious to keep that dollar honest. Nebraakans were poor, and they were for the most part consumed with a burning desire to punch the whole wide world as being responsible for It. Today you probably couldn't get an antl-money-power or free silver resolution through a Nebraska town meeting or any political gathering there, or by any In fluence persuade more than one Nebraska farmer orator to rise up and denounce things in general, ae was their wont. They haven't the time much less the Inclina tion. They are too busy getting rich themselves. With only Inconsiderable mineral resources and few manufactures, Nebraska still baa broad and broadening farms that are proving In the long run to be better wealth producers than mines or mills or steamships. The yield of wheat and corn ta unpre cedented this year. and the Ne braska farmers are all overflowing with WHO PAYS THE RAKE OPFf Fancy Profits Gathered In by Trast t'aderwrltera. Chicago Chronicle. Two recent dispatches from New Tork show that there is money in some trusts for some people. One of them states that the members of the underwriting syndicate for the United States Steel corporation has received . a third dividend of 6 per cent on the faoe value of the $200,000,000 for which they are liable. The syndicate was called on to advance only $25,000,000 of the $200,000,000 for which It was liable. It has now received $30,000, 000 as compensation for assuming the lia bility in addition to the cash which it ad vanced. That Is to say. It has oleared 123 per cent on the cash actually advanced, less a small sum In loss of Interest. The other dispatch states tbat tire latest underwriting syndicate formed by J: Pler pont Morgan for the purpose of taking over the Monon railroad for the Southern railway and the Louisville ft Nashville has received a profit of $302,300 without having advanced a dollar. That was clear profit, or compensation for assuming a liability which Involved (no outlay whatever. For the enlightenment of tb uninitiated In the mysteries of trust financing It may be stated that an underwriting syndicate for a trust Is a syndicate whlc-h undertakes to supply a certain amount of cash If It is found to be necessary fur luo put yuan ui "taking over" the plants of the constituent concerns. In the process of forming a combine some of the concerns which are wanted or some of the stockholders in some or all of them may decline to take the stock or bonds of the proposed corporation and de mand payment In cash. - To provide the cash which is supposed to be necessary to meet these' demands a syndicate is organ ized. This syndicate is promleed liberal com pensation In cash an agreed percentage of the sum which It undertakes to ad-' Yanoe, even though the deal may be car ried through without Its having- to ad vanoe a dollar. In addition to this cash compensation It receives stock of the combine In some agreed proportion to. the sum underwrit ten, all of which Is "velvet." As appears from the dispatches above mentioned. In some cases the underwriting syndicate has to advance only a small part and in other cases none at all of the sum underwritten, while the compensation Is the same as If It had advanced the entire sum. It will be seen that the profits may be enormous and out of all proportion to the capital actually advanced. On the other hand, in some instances the underwriters have to advance every dollar and never get anything out but unmarket able stocks and bonds. It is proper, of course, that compensa tion should be In some proportion to the risk, but it would seem that Mr. Morgan's syndicates do not take very great risks, while they rake In very handsome profits. Who pays? political Drift. West Virginia has the highest proportion of native-born voters of American par entage and Wisconsin the lowest. When W. C. Whitney remarked that the democracy was without a real leader he must have forgotten the old reliable Adlai E. Stevenson. President Roosevelt alarmed the supersti tious among his friends by making the thirteenth person at table at Oyster Bay. While others of the party exhibited much concern the president treated the matter with Indifference. The democrats of Pennsylvania In their support of Robert E. Pattlaon for governor are devoting great attention to the Issue of electoral reform, so-called, the adoption of which "Is expeoted to do away with frauds la balloting In Pennsylvania and thus bring about a political revolution the state. They depend much upon an expression of popular interest In this issue. , There la a plaintive note In Henry Wat terson'a words retiring from the race for the nomination for governor. "Sometimes I have declared," he says, "that I would like the people to write 'governor of Ken tucky' on my tombstone. But I should 111 rest la my grave It there were the sus picion of a stain upon a letter of that hon orable epitaph." Meanwhile the aballow pated are overwhelmed with Joy. New Jersey, small in area, gets ae large an Increase In representation under the new congTCBS apportionment ae Pennsylvania; twice as much as Massachusetts or Con necticut and proportionately more than either New Tork or Illinois. The large la crease la its population consequent upon the great development of Its Industries ac counts for a gala which Is not evenly dis tributed among the several divisions of the state. South Carolina elects a governor this year and for the democratic nomination there are three candidates: James H. Tillman, now lieutenant governor aad a nephew of Sena tor Tillman; Representative Talbert, a confederate veteran and former superin tendent of the State penitentiary, and Captain Heyward. Democratlo nominations in South Carolina are decided at party primaries and are ratified by the voters at the polls at the regular election. The democrats of Michigan at their De troit convention put up a gold democrat for governor and there baa been some threat of p-'.ltlcal reprisals by the silver democrats. It la a some what curious fact tbat although the voters of Michigan have been, unlike the voters of Wisconsin, frequently partial to soft money or free sliver, the populist party in Michigan nsver gained any Im portant foothold aad Michigan has bees unswerving la Its support of the republican Commercial. good nature and optimism. From framefs of resolutions aad populist orators they are turned Jokeemlths and money lenders If they ran find anybody to borrow their surplus cash. They are all dangerously near the- plutocracy line. Lots et farmers have 15.000, $ 10,000 or $28,000 wheat crops; there are reports of several $40,000 and $50,000 yields; and as to corn, all the known adjectives out there are powerless to ade quately describe the crop. The Nebraska editor ao longer "de nounces." He laughs end even tells a harmless whopper or two now and then. A newspaper In Dawson county soberly dis cusses the feasibility of utilising the corn stalks to replace the rotting poles of the local Independent telephone company. An other country sheet jnslsts that the corn cobs will go to waste this year because tbey are too big to use In the ordinary furnaces, fend the small number of sawmills la the state prevents any other use et them, unleRS the railroad companies will employ them for ties. And so It goes. Big crops In Nebraska and big prices! That combination can't come every year, of course. But the Ne traskans are being given an opportunity to reflect that It doesn't pay to .fight the benevolent system of government under which they live whenever prosperity doesn't happen to he quite so overwhelming as at present. OTHER LAXDg THAW OVRS. As to the actual comparative efficiency of the British fleet In action there Is room for Wide differences of opinion. The fact that with the officers who fought at Trafalgar, almost 100 years ago, there died all prac tical experience In real sea fighting cannot be cited to the disadvantage of Britain's navy as compared with the navies of France, Germany or Russia, since no great European power has engaged In a serious conflict at sea since the Napoleonlo wars. All the powers ' except the United States and Japan, which are not likely to be Eng land's foes, are deeUUite of officers who have experienced the Shock of battle at sea. Hence' there Is no reason to suppose that British captains and admirals, man for man,, would acquit themselves less creditably than their European opponents. In the British navy, moreover, there exists a body of fighting traditions which must be reck oned high as an asset of marine warfare. Unless British officers have wofully degen erated, they are steeped In those principles of the Initiative which Nelson so dasxlingly exemplified, and which, other things being equal, would place a British fleet at the outset on the way to victory. The Ger mans have no salt sea traditions; their naval history Is a blank. The French have traditions, but, unhappily, the traditions grown- up since the time of Tourvllle are those of nerveless Inefficiency and defeat. In the course of few hours the House of Common a the other dar gave formal sanction to ' expenditures amounting to $150,000,000. The legislative machine In Great Britain has manifestly broken down 6XMer the weight of business. Nominally every Item of expenditure can be discussed in committee of the whole (er committee of supply, as they cay in England); In fact, only one Item in a hundred is subjected to adequate criticism. By way of remedy It has been suggested tbat some of the powers of the House be delegated to subordinate bodies; but this would lead to what the unionist majority In Parliament affects to call "disunion." An alternative suggestion! im mo oeiegation. 10 appropriate committees of the consideration of various xlasses of supply bills. The adoption of either method would mean the Americanization of the methods of the British Parliament, and our transatlantic cousins. may have to resort to both the congressional committee system and the devolution of local legislation upon English, Scotch and Irish local legislatures. Parliament can no longer deal effectively with both Imperial and parochial affairs. . There Is not a promising outlook for the plans to induce the settlement of farmers on the agricultural lands of the Vaal and Orange River colonies. The great draw, back Is the aridity of the climate of the South African plateau. Irrigation is a pre requisite of success In farming on the un-pre-empted landf even cattle raising can be conducted only on a scale limited by the shortage of surface water In the dry sea son. Irrigation Is expensive and can be re sorted to by individual cultivators only un der exceptionally favorable circumstances. Isolated farmers uannbt construct the costly works required for the Impounding and dis tribution of flood water. The amount of governmental assistance that would be needed by eettlers la the new colonies would be prodigious, and as long as there are wheat lands In the Canadian northwest to be had practically free of cost the tide of emigration will be unlikely to set in for the Cape. Lord Kitchener's prophecy of a new America In South Africa must remain long unfulfilled, If It shall ever be realised. The surprising defeat of a conservative member of Parliament for the south' divi sion of Belfast In a by-election Is another Indication tbat the Balfour ministry cannot count with confidence on a normal majority cf 140 In the future. The North Leeds de feat was a warning; the' desertion of the unionist standard In a unionist stronghold like Belfast Is a severe blow. The former unionist member had twice received plu ralities of 2,600 and had been three times returned unopposed, while Thomas ' Sloan, the present member-elect, secured a ma jority of 82 votes. The dispatches assert that the election, has no bearing on the home rule question, but the defeat ot the unionist candidate wis due to dissatisfac tion with the government's, land policy. When strong unionist districts like Ulster revolt at the unsatisfactory handling of the land question, it must appear conclusive that the only possible solution of the Irish question will consist, not In the revival of the crimes act or Other forms of repression, but In a Just aad reasonable treatment of the relations of landlord and tenant, which la the basis of centuries ot discontent and agitation. In connection with Russia's attitude upon the baet sugar bounty question it Is Inter esting to observe that with the single ex ception of Denmark, .whose Industry Is too small to count materially, Russia Is the only European country that Is this year in creasing Its acreage of sugar beets, all the others having materially decreased theirs. Russia now has a much larger sugar beet acreage than any other country la the world, though, owing to her poor soli, primi tive methods and general inferiority, her production ot sugar is much smaller than that ot either Germany or France, and probably smaller . than that ot Austria. While Germany gets nearly two tons of sugir from an acre, Russia gets only three fourths et a ton. - ' Giving Pelaters to a Dtltt, Chicago Chronicle. We read that last Tuesday Duke Boris played poker and visited Dr. Kaiser. Prob ably there Is no connection between the two circumstances, yet It would be Just as well to have them "segregated" especially as his royal highness was separated from quite a few rubles at the American national taaie - AMAEINO AGniCVLTinAL rnOGRKM Dlaieaslone of the Mala Pillar of Aaaerleaa Prosperity. New Tor World. Agriculture being the main pillar ot American prosperity the census survey of the nation's farms Jutt published Is ot un usual Interest. From Its final footings we learn that the total value of farm property Id the United States in 1900 was $20,500,000,000; that the total value of their products, including crops, animals, poultry, eggs, dairy articles and everything, for the preceding year (1899) waa $4,739,118,762, and the "gross tnoome on Investment" In farming for the whole coun try was 18.3 per cent. Analysis snd comparlcon of these huge totals are necessary to make them In structive. The number of farms In 1900 was four times a many as id 1S50 and one fourth larger than In 1990. Their total value was five times as great tn 1900 as In 1850 and 28.4 per cent greater than in 1890. The total value of their products was very nearly doubled in the one decade from 1890 to 1900. No suck amaslng agricultural progress has ever taken place before In the world's history. Nearly all this Immense Increase in agri cultural values has taken place in the north central and south central groups of states. In the north Atlantlo division, com prising New York, New England. New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the total value ot farm property decreased nearly, $20,000,000 in the last decade. The seven leading sgrl cultural states are, beginning at the west, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois,. Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Tork; and Abraham) Lincoln's state leads the anion in the value of Its farm property at $2,004,118,897, hut Iowa Is a little ahead of all other state In the total yearly value of Us farm products, which Is $365,000,000 or $10,000,000 more than Illinois. New Tork Is not quite the Empire state la agriculture, but in the total value of Its farm property and its annual farm products it leads all other states save three only Illinois, Iowa and Ohio and Ohio and New York are so nearly even tbat they almoet tie each other for third place. DEMAND EXCEEDS Bt'PPLY. Why the Price of Meat Mar Contlnae ' ' ' ' ' ' Utah. John Gilmer Speed In Success. There is another important element that seems to indicate that the price of meat will oontinue to be higher for a long time there Is a falling off In the production ot rattle. In the United States, on January 1, 1900, the oxen and other cattle numbered 27,610,064. At a corresponding time, four years earlier, the oxen and other cattle numbered 82,084,409.' There is a falling off of something like 14H per cent,' during a period when the population increased some thing like 10 per cent Here are conditions which were not brought Into existence by the beet trust, nor yet by the predecessors ot the beef trust. Is the beef trust preparing to take ad Vantage of these conditions T That seems very likely, for the men who have combined to form this trust have waited until now to do It, waited until a time when the eyes of the whole toountry are turned upon them to form a combination nu.e Intimately connected with the life and the happiness of the people than any of the other great enterprises the steel, the sugar 'and the oil trusts,, for instance. Ib their purpose sinister? That can hardly be, unless It Is ' sinister to employ, large aggregations ot capital In a large way; for, after all, the only security that the futufe holds out to them is good service to the poople. The people are Just.bagianing.la look-into-lals matter of trusts. They will understand them very thoroughly . before' discussion ceases," and, If they are baneful in their Influence, ways will be found to curtail their power. Besides, beef cattle and other animals can be raised and killed In the old way In the older parts of the country. But meat .Is likely to be high, If not as high as at present, until the production and the demand are in more harmonious aocord. FLASHES OF FUN. Atlanta Constitution: "What de reason Br'er Williams shet bta eye Wen de col lection basket gwne roun'?" "He say de slngln' do him so much good dat he 'bleeie ter fall asleep en dream er heaven 1" Judge: . "Gentlemen," said the new sena tor from the oil country. "I have not pre pared a speech, I do not consider It nec essary. I have $20,000,000." After a long, long time the hearers as similated the thought that money talks. 'Philadelphia Presst Mr. -Ferguson You want to know what good my vacation did me, do you? It gave me a season of rest. It oiled up the hinges of my mind. Mrs. Ferguson I don't' believe It. You snore a good deal louder than you did be fore you went away. Chicago Tribune: Girl with the Gibson Girl Neck And . you've been to prayer meeting? That must have seemed strantre, after being three weeks at a summer re sort. - Girl with the Julia Marlowe Dimple No; It reminded me very much of the summer resort. There were no men there. Philadelphia Press: "Some of these people," protested the telephone girl, "would try the patience of a saint." "And do you consider yourself a saint?" "Well, I always bavo a 'hello around 1 my head." - ' . Chicago Trlbune:"I am much Impressed with tho peculiar geological formation of this country," observed the foreigner who had had financial dealings with the gov ernment. "Its geological formation?" said the na tive. , "Yes; you have to dig through so much red tape to get at it rocks. Washington Btar: "Don't you sometimes long for your childhood's happy days?" said the sentimental peraon. "Yes," ' answered Mies Cayenne, "there are times when I would enjoy hanging on the fence and rnaaing races at people 1 don't like,, Inateud of having to aay, 'How do you do, dear? Bo glad to see you I' " Puck: Clementine I wrote mamma that you had taken me out behind your $6,000 horse. Kuiene He Is valued at 1S00. Clementine Well. It doesn't coat anything to give dear mamma that additional $4,uv worth OI pleasure. . Philadelphia Press: The Chinaman had refused to give up the waahlng. "But." said the man who had called for It, "this Is the right check, ain't It?'' "Check all light," answered the China man, blowlna- a mouthful of sorav ever the. towels he was ironing. "Man all long.i Check says 'ugly little man.' 'You ugly big man. THE MYSTERY. Brooklyn Life. - "Oh, a half a yard of dark-blue aerge And a couple of spools of braid. And a spool of thread, That's all," she aald. "Are you euro the goods won't fadef "Will It stand the rlaA of the aummer e And the salt of the summer sea? And It mustn't shrlr.k. For, Mercyl think What a dreadful thing 'twould be!" I gased upon her fair sweet face And her gown of faultless fit) And I wondered why She came to buy. And what she could make of It The months rolled on and we met agait I On the shore of the aummer sea. Chs was Jue! e fal': And her costume rare A little too rare Ah. met 'Twae a half-yard of dark blue serge And a couple of spools of braid. And a apool of thread ; "Ye godsl" I said: " Twaa a bathing suit she mad!"