_Home News_
February 8.—John A. McCall, former President of the New York Life
Insurance Co., is seriously ill at Lakewood, N. J.
Richard A. McCurdy, former President of the Mutual Life
Insurance Co., plans to leave the United States and make his
home in Paris.
The New York Life Insurance Company’s “house cleaning”
committee reveal that Judge Andrew Hamilton has received
$1,347,382 from that company since 1892. This is $283,383
in excess of the total payments disclosed by the Armstrong
Committee. The committee recommends legal action against John
A. McCall for the recovery of the amount.
Senator La Follette, of Wisconsin, introduces a bill in the
Senate making it an offense for any Government officer,
official or employee to accept a railroad pass or franking
privilege over telegraph lines.
By a vote of 346 to 7 the House of Representatives passes
the Hepburn railroad rate regulation bill just as it came
from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, and
declared by Chairman Hepburn to be exactly in accordance with
recommendations of President Roosevelt on the subject.
The House of Representatives passes the General Pension bill
for the year ending June 30, 1907. The bill appropriates
$140,245,000. Congressman Gardner, of Michigan, declares
that when the last pensioner on account of the Civil War has
disappeared from the rolls, $12,000,000,000 will have been
expended.
February 9.—The Illinois coal operators decide to refuse the demands of
the United Mine Workers for an increase in wages.
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passes a resolution
directing the attorney general of that state to ascertain
whether any railroad companies in Pennsylvania are engaged in
the mining of coal, and if so, to proceed against them.
By reducing the rate of railroad fares to two cents a mile, it
is estimated that the people of Ohio will be saved $4,000,000
a year, or a sum equal to almost all the taxes paid for the
support of the state government.
The Senate Committee takes under consideration the Hepburn
railroad rate bill.
The taking of testimony against Senator Reed Smoot, the Mormon,
ends. Senator Smoot’s counsel will introduce testimony in his
defense.
The House of Representatives passes 429 pension bills. The
Judiciary Committee of the House begins an investigation to
ascertain whether or not Congress has the power for Federal
control of insurance.
Secretary Taft appears before the Senate Committee on the
Philippines and says the United States will probably suffer no
reduction in tariff income under the Philippine tariff bill
passed by the House of Representatives.
Secretary Root proposes to reorganize the State Department and
put it on a business basis.
Charles E. Magoon, governor of the Panama Canal Zone, appears
before the Senate Committee on Interoceanic Canals. He declares
the sanitary conditions good, the Supreme Court of Panama
capable and impartial, and advises the coinage of silver money
for use on the Isthmus.
The differences between President Dolan, of the United Mine
Workers of the Pittsburg district, and the delegates to the
convention are taken to the courts.
February 11.—Samuel Glasgow, manager of a milling company of
Spokane, Washington, claims to have received Chinese papers from his
representative in China, claiming that a recent speech of William J.
Bryan to Chinese merchants had been used to stir up renewed antipathy to
American goods.
John Mitchell, President of the United Mine Workers, reaches
New York City to confer with the mine operators on the new
scale of wages demanded by the miners.
President Baer, of the Reading Railroad, states that the
Pennsylvania Legislature has not the power to interfere with
the vested rights of coal-carrying railroads.
February 12.—The Senate passes the resolution introduced by Senator
Tillman which directs the Interstate Commission to investigate the
alleged discrimination by railroad companies in the matter of the
transportation of coal and other commodities; as to whether the railroad
companies own stock in coal companies or in other commodities carried
by them; whether any of the railroad officers are interested in such
commodities; whether there is any monopolizing combination or trust in
which the railroads are interested, and whether any of the railroad
companies control the output of coal or fix its price. The Commission
also is directed to investigate the system of car distribution, and
whether there is discrimination against shippers either in the matter of
the distribution of cars or otherwise.
Senator Lodge, of Massachusetts, makes a speech in the Senate
favoring a revision by the courts of all rates made by the
Commission. This would practically kill the effectiveness of
the Hepburn bill.
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives adopt a resolution
that the Attorney General be instructed to inquire into the
allegations that the Pennsylvania Railroad, the New York
Central and the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg Railroad
companies, and their leased lines, are directly or indirectly
engaged in the mining of bituminous coal, and if it be found
that they are engaged in this business that he proceed against
them.
Leaders of the United Mine Workers reach New York to hold a
conference with their President, John Mitchell.
February 13.—F. Augustus Heinze, defeated in the courts, sells his
Montana copper mines to the trust, ending the great Montana copper war.
John Mitchell and the wage-scale committee of the Mine Workers
are working on the schedule of demands which will be presented
to the mine operators.
The committee to which Thomas W. Lawson has turned over all his
proxies of the Mutual and New York Life Insurance Companies
agree to employ counsel to aid them in their efforts to oust
the new managements of the two companies. Five members of
Lawson’s committee are governors of various states.
Attorney General Hadley, of Missouri, who is conducting the
State’s case against the Standard Oil Co., goes to Iowa
and gets testimony from former officers of the Standard’s
subsidiary companies. He states that he has made out his case
against the Standard.
George W. Beavers, of New York, former Chief of the Division of
Salaries and Allowances of the Post Office Department, pleads
guilty to a charge of conspiracy, and is sentenced to two years
imprisonment. Machen and others have already been convicted and
are serving sentences.
The Bituminous Coal Trade League, of Pennsylvania, sends
Congressman Gillespie, of Texas, a petition stating that
Senators Elkins, of West Virginia, and Gorman, of Maryland
have caused violations of the anti-trust laws. Former Senator
H. G. Davis, of West Virginia, father-in-law to Senator
Elkins, cousin to Gorman, and Vice Presidential nominee of the
Democratic party in 1904, is also accused of being a party to
these violations.
February 14.—The “housecleaning” committee of the New York Life Insurance
Co. submits a report to the trustees of the company, showing that
$148,702.50 has been illegally contributed to campaign funds in the last
three elections. The committee recommends that suits for the recovery of
the same be brought against John A. McCall and all other officers who had
anything to do with making the contributions.
John G. Brady, Governor of Alaska, resigns.
The House of Representatives passes the appropriation bill for
fortifications. The total amount appropriated is $4,383,993,
$600,000 of this to be spent in fortifying the Philippines and
Hawaii.
The Senate passes the ship subsidy bill. If the bill becomes
a law it is estimated that $26,000,000, will be taken from
the United States Treasury and paid out in bounties to vessel
owners during the next ten years.
The resolution of Representative Sulzer, of New York, calling
for an inquiry regarding the sale of the old New York Custom
House to the National City Bank, of New York, passes the House
by a unanimous vote.
February 15.—John Mitchell presents the demands of the miners to the mine
owners. Committees are appointed to represent both sides.
Congressman Longworth procures a license to marry Miss Alice
Roosevelt. The President attends Mr. Longworth’s bachelor
dinner.
James W. Alexander is again stricken with paralysis and is in a
sanitarium at Deerfield, Mass.
Officers of the beef packers again testify that Commissioner
Garfield promised that no evidence they gave would be used
against them. The testimony brought out these facts: First,
Commissioner Garfield apparently took the word of Armour &
Co.’s general superintendent that the Armour Car Company,
which has been declared the tap root of the Beef Trust, was
not owned by Armour & Co., and had nothing to do with the
fresh meat industry, and made no further attempt to get
information concerning the private car line monopoly. Second,
Swift & Co. gave information reluctantly to the Commissioner
of Corporations, and only after consulting counsel. At this
conference attorneys for the other packers in the trust
were present. The secretary of Swift & Co. contributed the
information that he sought this advice of counsel because he
“wanted it.”
February 16.—James W. Alexander, former President of the Equitable Life
Insurance Co., is operated on. The physicians refuse to tell the nature
of the operation, but give hopes of Alexander’s recovery.
Reports from Memphis, Tenn., state that more than fifty per
cent of the Southern peach crop has been killed and the other
fifty per cent is commercially worthless.
State Senator James Minton, of New Jersey, invites Thomas W.
Lawson, Ida Tarbell and Attorney-General Hadley, of Missouri,
to attend a public hearing on his resolution calling on
Attorney-General McCarter, of New Jersey, to bring proceedings
to annul the charter of the Standard Oil Company.
Stuyvesant Fish, a member of the “housecleaning” committee of
the Mutual Life Insurance Co., resigns because Standard Oil
interests obstruct a thorough investigation of the company’s
affairs.
On account of the illness of Senator Tillman, the Senate
postpones the vote on the railroad rate bill until February 23.
February 17.—Miss Alice Roosevelt, the daughter of the President, is
married, in the White House, to Congressman Nicholas Longworth, of
Cincinnati.
Justice Rufus W. Peckham, of the United States Supreme Court,
advises the “housecleaning” committee of the Mutual Life
Insurance Co. to bring action against Richard A. McCurdy,
ex-president of the company, before he leaves this country.
Fire destroys $1,000,000 worth of wheat at Duluth, Minnesota.
President Peabody, of the Mutual Life Insurance Co., refuses to
give his consent for an investigation of the company’s board of
trustees by the “housecleaning” committee.
February 18.—John A. McCall, late president of the New York Life
Insurance Co., dies at Lakewood, N. J. His death was hastened by the
recent insurance scandals. The New York _World_ sums up the result of the
insurance investigation as follows:
John A. McCall, dead, fortune shattered; J. W. Alexander,
mental and physical wreck; James H. Hyde, self-expatriated in
Paris; Robert A. McCurdy, preparing to follow Hyde; Robert H.
McCurdy, preparing to follow his father; Judge Andy Hamilton,
on the Riviera; Thomas D. Jordan, in seclusion; Andrew Fields,
in seclusion; Louis Thebaud, going to Paris; W. H. McIntyre, in
seclusion; George W. Perkins, reputation smirched; Chauncey M.
Depew, damaged in reputation.
John B. Stetson, the millionaire hat manufacturer of
Philadelphia, dies at Gillen, Florida.
John Mitchell and his associates, representing the anthracite
miners, complete their demands to the coal operators. They will
be presented in a day or two.
President Roosevelt prepares to have the frauds in connection
with the Indian affairs in Indian Territory investigated.
February 19.—Eight suits are begun by the Mutual Life Insurance Co.
against the McCurdys, Louis A. Thebaud, son-in-law of Richard A. McCurdy,
and C. H. Raymond & Co., for restitution of moneys of the company
illegally spent. This includes campaign contributions, illegal salaries,
rebates and illegal commissions.
President Roosevelt recommends to Congress a lock canal of
eighty-five foot level across the Isthmus of Panama. The lock
canal was also favored by the Canal Commission and Secretary
Taft. A majority of the Board of Consulting Engineers favored a
sea level canal.
The United States Supreme Court decides that it is illegal for
railroads to sell commodities which they transport as common
carriers. The decision of the Court bears directly on railroads
that own or operate coal mines.
Congressman E. Spencer Blackburn, of North Carolina, is accused
of accepting a fee for using his influence to obtain action
by an executive department. The offense is similar to the one
committed by Senator Burton.
The trial of the beef packers continues at Chicago. E. Dana
Durand, chief assistant to Commissioner Garfield, testifies
that the Department of Commerce turned over certain data
obtained from the packers to the Department of Justice.
Sixteen miners are killed by an explosion at Maitland, Colorado.
A sub-committee of the House Committee on Interstate and
Foreign Commerce takes action on the Tillman, Gillespie and
Campbell resolution to authorize the Interstate Commerce
Committee to investigate the connection between railroads and
coal and oil companies. All three of the resolutions will be
embodied in one and sent back to the House for passage.
The Interstate Commerce Commission orders an investigation
of the rates and practices of the railroad carriers engaged
in transporting oil from Kansas and Indian Territory to
interstate destinations.
Representative Campbell introduces a joint resolution to
authorize the Interstate Commerce Commission to immediately
investigate and report to Congress from time to time whether
any interstate commerce carriers own or control any oil or
other products which they ship as common carriers; whether the
officers of such carriers charged with the distribution of
cars and furnishing facilities for transportation are directly
or indirectly owners of companies interested in oil products;
whether a combination in restraint of trade exists between the
carriers and the shippers of oil products, and whether the
officers of oil companies are officers, agents or members of
the directory of any common carrier.
Congressman Mann, of Illinois, introduces a bill to make
insurance business interstate commerce.
Senator Tillman introduces a bill in the Senate to prohibit
corporations from making money contributions in connection with
political elections.
February 20.—The McCurdys prepare to fight the suits brought against them
by the Mutual Life Insurance Co. for the restitution of money illegally
taken from the company. The McCurdys and Raymond & Co. also charge that
other officials and trustees of the Mutual received rebates on their own
policies.
Opinions of prominent lawyers show that the Supreme Court’s
decision against railroads owning commodities which they haul
as common carriers will prevent railroads from operating if
not from owning coal mines. Most of the big coal mines in
the country are either owned, controlled or operated by the
railroads.
Commissioner of Corporations James R. Garfield testifies in the
case of the Government against the beef packers now being tried
at Chicago. He denies that he promised the packers immunity
from prosecution or that all information given him would be
regarded as confidential.
Pittsburg, Pa., follows the example of other cities and throws
off the yoke of boss rule. George W. Guthrie, a Democrat
supported by the independent factions, defeats Alexander M.
Jenkinson, the Republican candidate of the Frick-Mellon-Cassatt
combination.
The House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce
recommends a favorable report to the House on the bill for an
investigation by the Interstate Commerce Commission of the
relations between railroads and coal and oil companies. This is
the resolution introduced in the Senate by Senator Tillman,
with a few modifications of the Gillespie and Campbell
resolutions substituted.
February 21.—President Roosevelt announces that he will not try to
influence the Senate Committee’s action on the Hepburn railroad rate
bill, but intimates that he will veto any bill that does not meet his
approval.
John Mitchell declares there will be a coal strike in the
bituminous coal fields.
The Senate passes a pure food bill by a vote of 63 to 4.
The bill makes it a crime to ship from one state to another
any article of food, drugs, medicines or liquors which is
adulterated or misbranded, or which contains any poisonous or
deleterious substances.
General Grosvenor, of Ohio, is defeated for re-nomination to
Congress. Gen. Grosvenor has been in Congress twenty years.
The House of Representatives takes up the army appropriation
bill. Chairman Hull, of Iowa, urges the need of preparing for
an emergency, as there is fear of trouble with China.
John A. McCall is buried in New York City. McCall left no money
and the suits for recovery of money illegally paid Hamilton
will be dropped.
Because of his stand for an honest investigation of the Mutual
Life Insurance Co., the trustees who fear exposure plan to oust
Stuyvesant Fish from the presidency of the Illinois Central
Railroad.
February 22.—John Mitchell, president of the United Mine Workers, has
another conference with several mine operators on a new scale of wages to
be paid after April 1.
Mrs. Minor Morris, who was forcibly ejected from the White
House some time ago, issues a statement in which she denounces
the President for her treatment.
Senator Knox, of Pennsylvania, introduces a railroad rate
regulation bill giving the courts the right to review any
order or action of the Interstate Commerce Commission. It is
the intention of the railroad senators to add the court review
clause of the Knox bill to the Hepburn bill.
In the report to the New York Legislature the Armstrong,
or Insurance Investigating, Committee, makes the following
recommendations.
Not only should stock corporations be permitted to give
policy-holders the right to vote, but an opportunity should be
afforded for conversion into purely mutual companies.
The law as to investments in securities should be amended so as
to provide: That no investment in the stock of any corporation
shall be permitted, except in public stocks of municipal
corporations.
The statute should forbid all syndical participations,
transactions for purchase and sale on joint account, and the
making of any agreement providing that the company shall
withhold from sale for any time or subject to the discretion of
others any securities which it may own or acquire.
No officer or director should be pecuniarily interested in any
purchase, sale or loan made by the corporation.
Contributions by insurance corporations for political purposes
should be strictly forbidden.... Any officer, director
or agent, making, authorizing or consenting to any such
contribution should be guilty of a misdemeanor.
The company should be compelled to set forth in its annual
statement to the Superintendent of Insurance all sums so
disbursed (for lobbying), giving the names of the payees, the
amounts paid and the specific purpose of the payment.
Limit the amount of new business; prohibit bonuses, prizes
and awards; limit renewal commissions to four years and to,
say, 10 per cent. of the first year’s premiums; prohibit loans
and advances to agents; limit total expenses to the total
“loadings” upon the premiums.
The companies should be required annually to file with the
Superintendent of Insurance a gain and loss exhibit for the
year in a prescribed form, showing the amount available for
distribution, the amount of dividends declared and the method
of calculation by which they have been determined.
Section 56 should be repealed and the matter should be left
subject to the general provisions of the Code of Civil
Procedure relating to actions against corporations.
In addition to requiring approval of the Superintendent of
other than certain standard forms, provision should be made
for the standardization of the new types of policies.... The
issue of other policies than those thus provided for should be
prohibited.
The committee recommends publicity of names and addresses
of policy-holders and the giving them the right to verify
statements and prosecute for falsity. The committee recommends
requiring statements in elaborate detail covering all
transactions, and favors giving the Superintendent of Insurance
power to examine under oath.
February 23.—Stuyvesant Fish resigns as a trustee from the Mutual Life
Insurance Co. and will head a committee of policy-holders to fight the
present management.
Insurance men plan to fight the new laws recommended by the
Armstrong Committee before the New York Legislature, and, if
unsuccessful there, to carry the matter before the courts.
The Hepburn railroad rate regulation bill is reported by the
Senate committee without any amendments. Through trickery of
Senator Aldrich, the bill will be presented to the Senate by
Senator Tillman as a Democratic measure.
The House of Representatives passes a resolution ordering an
investigation of the relations between coal and oil carrying
railroads and coal and oil companies.
Commissioner Garfield again testifies in the trial of the beef
packers at Chicago. He admits that the Department of Commerce
and Labor furnished the Department of Justice with evidence.
Johann Hoch, the noted bigamist, is hanged at Chicago.
February 24.—The House Committee on Immigration unanimously agrees on a
bill to amend the immigration laws. The new bill will make naturalization
uniform throughout the United States, and confines the issuance of
citizenship papers to United States Circuit and District Courts, and
to the highest court of original jurisdiction of each state. The bill
further provides that an alien must be able to read, write and speak
English before he can become a citizen.
Since Senator Aldrich’s trick of having Senator Tillman, of
South Carolina, report the Hepburn railroad rate bill, which
makes it a Democratic measure, Washington despatches state
that the long standing feud between the President and Senator
Tillman will end.
February 25.—C. Augustus Seton, who is under arrest in New York City,
confesses to forging $4,300,000 worth of Norfolk and Western Railroad
stock certificates.
Coal mine operators give out statements saying there will be a
strike, as they will refuse to grant the miners’ requests. T.
L. Lewis, vice-president of the United Mine Workers, declares
there will be no strike and that the operators will grant the
requests of the miners.
Harry Orchard, who assassinated the late Governor Steunenberg,
of Idaho, confesses to taking part in 26 murders.
Ex-Speaker David B. Henderson dies at Dubuque, Iowa. Mr.
Henderson served two terms as speaker, succeeding the late
Thomas B. Reed. He was elected in 1883 and served continuously
until the end of the Fifty-seventh Congress.
February 26.—The Missouri Supreme Court hands down a decision which
it is believed will influence the Supreme Court of New York to order
H. H. Rogers to answer the questions asked him in the Standard Oil
investigation. At the time Attorney-General Hadley, of Missouri, was
taking depositions in the case in New York City, Rogers was put on the
witness stand. He refused to answer certain questions and expressed
his contempt for Missouri Courts. Mr. Hadley went before Justice
Gildersleeve, of the New York Supreme Court, and asked for an order
forcing Rogers to answer or be held in contempt of court. The order was
refused on the grounds that the questions involved had never been passed
upon by the Missouri courts. Now comes the Missouri court with a strong
decision which covers every point at issue.
President Roosevelt intervenes to prevent the threatened coal
strike.
In accordance with a decision handed down by the Supreme Court
of Texas, the Pacific, the United States, the American and
Wells-Fargo Express Companies, and fifty of the principal
railroads of the state, will have to pay $5,225,000 in
penalties for violating the anti-trust law. The court holds
that when a railroad company enters into an agreement with
an express company which excludes other companies from doing
a business on its lines, it restrains trade and stifles
competition, which is prohibited by the anti-trust law.
The supposed shrewd trick of Senator Aldrich in having Senator
Tillman report the Hepburn railroad rate bill now has the
Republican Senators embarrassed. The Senate seems to be in
favor of the bill and the Republicans dare not let it pass as a
Democratic measure. Realizing that something must be done, they
appeal to Senator Spooner to draft a rate bill that will suit
all factions of the Republicans and be put through the Senate
as a party measure.
William Nelson Cromwell, the New York lawyer who unloaded the
Panama Canal property on the United States, and who has since
acted as counsel to the President and Secretary Taft on Panama
matters, appears before the Senate committee. He denies that he
was the cause of ex-Chief Engineer Wallace’s resigning. When
questioned as to his dealings with Secretary Taft he refused to
answer.
February 27.—Steel Trust officials and George Gould order the bituminous
coal mine operators to make peace with the miners and prevent a strike.
The Insurance Commissioners of Kentucky, Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Tennessee and Nebraska ask the New York Insurance Department to
co-operate with them in making an investigation of the Mutual
Life Insurance Co.
William Nelson Cromwell again appears before the Senate
Committee on Interoceanic Canals. He continues to refuse to
answer questions as to his dealings with Secretary Taft and the
amount of his fees. Senator Morgan, of Alabama, produced a
copy of Cromwell’s contract with the French company, or Panama
Canal Co., which gave Cromwell the power to organize companies,
issue stock, bonds, etc., and finance any and all sorts of
organizations to further the idea of selling the canal to the
United States.
February 28.—It is reported from Pittsburg that the United States Steel
Corporation, through President W. Ellis Corey, has demanded of the
Pittsburg Coal Company, with which it has a twenty-five-year contract
for coal, the minimum for each year being set at 8,000,000 tons, that
there be no strike in the Pittsburg district. At the same time the Gould
interests, so heavy in the West and Southwest, have ordered peace. As a
result there will be no strike of the bituminous miners, who will receive
a satisfactory advance.
It is reported from Springfield, Ohio, that local militia,
called out to check a race riot caused by the shooting of M.
M. Davis, a brakeman, by a negro, has been unable to stop the
riot. An appeal has been made to the Governor to send more
troops. Early this morning houses were burning in the negro
quarter, and the authorities are powerless.
Yesterday the President signed the Urgent Deficiency Bill,
which contains an appropriation of $118,000 for New York State
to pay its claim for money to equip Government troops during
the War of 1812.
Five hundred delegates of the Independence League, guests of
William R. Hearst, appeared yesterday at Albany to plead before
the Governor and the Legislature for the passage of measures in
which the league is interested.
The Commissioners of Insurance in the states of Kentucky,
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Tennessee and Nebraska have requested the
Insurance Department of New York State to co-operate with them
in an investigation of the Mutual Life Insurance Company.
It is reported from Little Rock, Ark., that Thomas E. Jordan,
former Controller of the Equitable Life Insurance Company, and
who could not be located during the Armstrong Investigation, is
stopping with his wife at Hot Springs, Ark.
The debate in the Senate on the railroad rate question opens
today with a speech by Senator Foraker, of Ohio.
Yesterday, before the Senate Committee on Interoceanic Canals,
Senator Morgan, of Alabama, in his examination of William
Nelson Cromwell, produced an agreement between the Panama Canal
Commission and William Nelson Cromwell, showing that for a
large compensation the Panama Canal Company contracted to pay
William Nelson Cromwell a large compensation to Americanize
the Panama project. Mr. Cromwell said the enterprise proposed
in the document was abortive and died long ago. Senator Morgan
tried to learn from Mr. Cromwell how much he had received in
fees from the old or new Panama Company and by persistent
questioning deduced the fact that the total payments to Mr.
Cromwell did not exceed $200,000, extending over a term of
years, and giving to him from $10,000 to $15,000 a year. Mr.
Cromwell declined to say what service he had performed for
these sums, admitting only that his clients were satisfied. The
inquiry will be continued.
At a dinner yesterday at Washington the Republican members
of Congress from New York proposed as the next nominee of
the Republican Party for Governor of New York State, Charles
E. Hughes, the inquisitor of the Armstrong Investigation
Committee. The platform indicated was based on general reform
and municipal ownership.
The Inter-State Commerce Commission at Washington yesterday
announced its decision in the cases of the Fred G. Clark
Company against the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway
Company and the Waverley Oil Works against the Pennsylvania
Company and others. In these cases the New York, New Haven and
Hartford Railroad Company was the principal defendant. The
commission holds that the combination rates on petroleum and
its product from Cleveland and Pittsburg to points reached
by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad result in
unreasonable and unjust rates, and that the refusal of the
railroad company to consent to participate in through rates
is unjust and the situation is such as to favor greatly the
Standard Oil. In its final conclusion the commission holds
that the act to regulate commerce does not authorize it to
compel the establishment of joint rates or the conditions
of interchange in case the connecting carriers fail to
agree in respect thereto; and it therefore concludes that
notwithstanding that the combination rates are unjust and the
general shipping situation is such as to work a practical
monopoly in favor of the Standard Oil Company, the Commission
is without authority to grant relief in these cases and the
petitions are therefore dismissed.
Yesterday at Washington the House Committee of Agriculture
decided by a vote of 8 to 7 not to recommend any appropriation
to buy seeds for free distribution by the Department of
Agriculture.
Special counsel for the State of Missouri will make application
before the New York courts to compel Henry H. Rogers to answer
questions in the inquiry the State of Missouri has been making
into Standard Oil methods.
In the United States Circuit Court at Chicago yesterday, Judge
Landis gave a decision that the Interstate Commerce Committee
has the power to compel witnesses to answer questions in
the hearing of Street’s Western Stable Car Line before the
commission.
At Oklahoma City, Okla., yesterday, the assistant
attorney-general began to take testimony in the ouster case
against the Standard and other oil companies. A wholesale oil
dealer testified that he had been instructed to get samples of
oil shipped if he had to steal them; and also that there had
never been any competition between the Standard Oil and the
Waters-Pierce Company in Oklahoma.
At Albany yesterday, Senator Saxe’s bill to impose a tax on
personal property wherever found, a measure designed to wipe
out tax dodging by rich New Yorkers who establish their legal
residence elsewhere, was passed in the Senate and goes to the
Governor.
At Aiken, S. C., yesterday, Professor S. P. Langley, Secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution, died of paralysis.
March 1.—Senator Foraker in the Senate yesterday made a speech, lasting
three hours, in which he attacked the Hepburn railroad rate bill.
For several hours last evening the city of Springfield, Ohio,
was in the hands of a mob which burned two houses and partly
destroyed a dozen others. All of these houses were inhabited by
negroes. Hundreds of negroes have fled from the city.
The annual report of the Pennsylvania Railroad shows a net
income for the year 1905 of more than $38,000,000, an increase
of about $10,000,000 as compared with 1904. The operating
expenses were reduced and traffic increased.
At the annual meeting of the Equitable Life Assurance Society
yesterday the directors were informed that counsel of the
society were definitely engaged in working out a plan of
mutualization.
Richard A. McCurdy, former president of the Mutual Life
Insurance Company sails for Europe today for an indefinite stay
abroad.
William Nelson Cromwell reappeared yesterday before the Senate
Committee of Interoceanic Canals and admitted that he drew the
monetary agreement entered into between the Republic of Panama
and Secretary of War Taft. This agreement caused criticism
in the Senate recently because in fact it was a treaty made
without consulting that body.
At Washington the Foreign Relations Committee finished its
work on the Santo Domingo treaty and reported it to the Senate.
The Republicans voted solidly for the report and the Democrats
against it.
The Independence League of New York State has decided to
perfect an organization in every assembly district in the
State of New York. In William R. Hearst’s address at Albany
he said: “The fundamental idea of the Independence League is
independence of boss control, of corporate control and of any
party subject to boss rule and corporation control.”
Yesterday the Senate in executive session ratified the treaty
between the United States and Japan relating to copyrights of
works of literature and art.
March 2.—It is reported from Washington that the President has been
conferring with Senators, Representatives, members of the Interstate
Commerce Commission and members of his Cabinet on the question of the
Hepburn railroad rate bill, and he is willing to accept three or four
amendments of the bill if they will strengthen it for trial before the
courts.
At Springfield, Ohio, the state militia charged the mob and
dispersed it. The members of the Commercial Club of that city
met to take action for the enforcement of the law, and said in
speeches that the present conditions were due to politicians
catering to negroes and low whites, and lax police and court
methods.
John F. Wallace, formerly chief engineer of the Panama Canal
Commission, becomes an employee of the George Westinghouse
Company at a salary of $50,000 per year. Mr. Wallace is to
assist in building electric railways paralleling steam railways
in many parts of the country.
It is reported from Washington that our Government takes a very
serious and gloomy view of the situation at Algeciras, and
would not be surprised to see the Moroccan conference end in a
rupture.
The existence of a Mutual Life policy-holders’ movement of
world-wide scope, at the head of which will undoubtedly be
Stuyvesant Fish, became known yesterday through the exchange
of telegrams between Lord Northcliffe, formerly Sir Alfred
Harmsworth, and Mr. Fish. Lord Northcliffe is chairman of the
British protection committee of the Mutual Life policy holders.
March 3.—John R. Walsh, president of the Chicago National Bank, which
failed December 18, 1905, was arrested yesterday on a Federal warrant
charging him with violation of the national banking laws in making false
reports to the Controller of Currency and with conversion to his own use
of bank funds amounting to $3,000,000. He was released after giving a
bond of $50,000.
At Meridian, Miss., a tornado swept through the business centre
of the town, destroying $5,000,000 of property and about
thirteen lives.
Springfield, Ohio, is quiet after two nights of rioting and
incendiary fires. The state militia is still on duty.
At Chicago, executives of all the Eastern railways in session
failed to settle the differential rate controversy. On account
of the attitude of the Erie Railroad it seems impossible to
avert a rate war. Every line except the Erie voted for the
arbitration of the question.
The Senate Committee of the Philippines voted to smother the
Philippine tariff bill yesterday. It is said that efforts will
be made to have the measure reconsidered or called before the
Senate.
Commissioner of Public Works, J. M. Patterson, of Chicago,
yesterday gave his resignation to Mayor Dunne. Mr. Patterson
says he has become a convert to Socialism.
March 4.—A delegation representing practically all life insurance
companies doing business in the United States will go to Albany on
March 9, the day set for the hearing of the bills that the insurance
investigation has presented, to state the case of the companies before
the Legislature.
Ex-Governor James Stephen Hogg died yesterday at Houston, Tex.
at the age of 55.
March 5.—It is reported that on the evening before his death the late
Ex-Governor Hogg said: “I want no monument of stone, but let my children
plant at the head of my grave a pecan tree, and at the foot a walnut
tree, and when these trees shall bear, let the pecans and walnuts be
given out among the plain people of Texas that they may plant them and
make Texas a land of trees.”
At St. Augustine, Fla., yesterday, Lieutenant-General John M.
Schofield, retired, died of cerebral hemorrhage at the age of
75.
March 6.—In the House of Representatives at Washington, John Sharp
Williams attacked the President and the Attorney-General and introduced
a resolution, which was passed by the House, inquiring whether the
Department of Justice had instituted criminal prosecutions against any
of the individuals or corporations adjudged by the Supreme Court of
the United States in the Northern Securities case to have violated the
anti-trust laws.
The Enterprise Transportation Company, carrying freight between
New York and Fall River, Mass., appeared before the Interstate
Commerce Commission in New York City, complaining that the
trunk lines out of New York refused to make through freight
rate arrangements with the Enterprise Transportation Company.
Lawyers representing nearly all the big railroads were present.
March 7.—Andrew Hamilton, who was legislative agent for the New York
Life Insurance Company at Albany, returned yesterday to New York. On the
steamship he was registered as “H. A. Milton.”
The suit of the State of Kansas against the Standard Oil
Company was dismissed by the Supreme Court of Kansas on March
5th. This ends, so far as present litigation is concerned, the
movement begun a year ago by Kansas against the Standard Oil
Company and re-establishes that corporation in the position it
held previous to the effort made to exclude it from the state.
Yesterday District-Attorney Jerome of New York City appeared
before the grand jury and asked that indictments be found
against the despoilers of the life insurance companies.
In the 20th annual report of the Boston Chamber of Commerce,
published yesterday, it is pointed out that Boston has become
re-established as the second port of the country.
March 8.—W. H. Moore, Municipal Ownership candidate for Mayor of Seattle,
was elected on a platform pledged to municipal ownership of public
utilities.
All over the Dominion of Canada the banks are collecting
American silver money and shipping it to Montreal, whence it
is shipped to Washington and changed for gold. The removal of
American silver from Canada will be a good thing for the banks
and profitable for the government. The banks will be paid of ⅜
of one per cent for collecting it and the government will bear
all transportation charges. It is estimated that the government
will clear at least one-half of a million dollars.
It is reported that Andrew Hamilton, the legislative agent for
the New York Life Insurance Company, who has just returned
from Paris, consulted with District-Attorney Jerome before his
return to find out just what his chances were with the law.
It has been learned that the National City Bank and the Hanover
Bank were the only two New York Banks who received yesterday
their allotment of a special deposit of $10,000,000 of
government funds which Secretary Shaw last week announced. The
news has caused much talk and criticism in banking circles.
In a special message to the Senate and the House the President
said that the action of both houses in passing the resolution
directing the Interstate Commerce Commission to investigate the
subject of railroad rate discriminations and monopolies in
coal and oil was hasty, ill-considered and ineffective.
_Foreign News_
February 9.—Mutiny is said to continue in the Russian Black Sea fleet.
Admiral Chouknin is wounded by a woman at Sevastopol. Siberian plague has
broken out among the Russian troops in Manchuria.
Professor Cattier, a prominent Belgian, publishes a book
stating that King Leopold has received $15,000,000 graft from
the rubber trade of the Congo Free State.
Passengers from Venezuela say President Castro is actively
preparing for war with France. The people do not agree with the
President’s views and a revolution may follow.
The negro inhabitants of the Transvaal and Orange River
Colonies, South Africa, are demanding of England all the
political rights enjoyed by the whites.
The Colonial Minister of France presents to the Council of
Ministers, a plan for the political, administrative and
economic reorganization of the French Congo.
Because of recent disorders, King Charles dissolves the
Portuguese Parliament.
Fifty-five miners are drowned in a gold mine at Johannesburg,
Transvaal.
The foreign representatives unite in demanding that the Shah
investigate conditions in the Province of Shiraz, Southern
Persia. Reports from other parts of Persia also show strong
feeling against the Shah.
February 10.—A bomb kills four gendarmes at Warsaw. Assaults on police
continue throughout Russian Poland.
The English garrison at Tibet is reported surrounded by hostile
tribes.
The Irish members of Parliament again elect John Redmond
chairman of the Irish Parliamentary party.
An armed expedition is sent against the religious fanatics of
Natal.
February 12.—The general opinion at Algeciras is that France and Germany
will reach an agreement on the Moroccan question.
General fear of another uprising and massacre in China is
expressed by despatches from different parts of that country.
A proclamation is issued by the Governor-General at Odessa
declaring the Russian Government will put to death any one
found with deadly implements.
Ex-Premier Balfour, of England, declares his policy to be one
to build up British industries by maintaining a larger foreign
market for manufacturers.
The Imperial Protestant Federation sends a petition to King
Edward, of England, asking him to refuse consent to the
marriage of Princess Ena to King Alfonso of Spain.
The new railroad over the Andes Mountains between Santiago,
Chili, and Buenos Ayres, Argentine Republic, begins operations.
February 13.—Another revolution is started in Santo Domingo.
St. Petersburg police save one of the Government banks from a
mob of revolutionists. Another armed revolt is frustrated at
Kharkoff, Russia. Many political prisoners are being sent to
Siberia.
Reforms are being agitated in Persia which may result in that
country’s being given a constitution.
Despatches from Algeciras state that the United States will
finally settle the dispute between France and Germany over the
Moroccan question.
Venezuela offers to arbitrate her differences with France.
The British Parliament meets preliminary to the formal opening
on Feb. 19.
February 14.—Balfour and Chamberlain agree on a protective policy for
England. This will have no effect at this time, as a new Parliament
overwhelmingly in favor of free trade has just been elected.
Despatches from Algeciras indicate that the American delegates
to the Moroccan conference are gradually bringing France and
Germany to a settlement of their dispute.
The secret has leaked out that America, England and Japan have
had a secret agreement concerning China since the close of the
Russo-Japanese war.
A monument at El Caney in honor of the Americans who lost their
lives during the siege of Santiago is unveiled.
February 15.—Fearing an outbreak in China, two of Admiral Sigsbee’s
cruisers are sent to reinforce the American Far Eastern fleet.
St. Petersburg reports show that the Russian Terrorists hire
boys to throw bombs.
The situation at Algeciras is unchanged.
February 17.—The Czar of Russia prevents a disruption of his Cabinet by
bringing about peace between Premier Witte and Interior Minister Durnovo.
General Linevitch turns over his command of the Russian troops in the far
East to Gen. Grodekoff. St. Petersburg police arrest a band of Terrorists
and discover enough poisons to kill half the population of St. Petersburg.
It is discovered that China has placed orders with German
manufacturers for 1,000,000 small arms and 100 cannon.
Venezuela completes all preparations for war. The Venezuelan
Government appoints Guzman Garbiras to succeed M.
Veloz-Goiticoa as Minister to the United States.
February 18.—Clement Armand Fallières, recently elected President of the
French Republic, assumes his duties.
The Russian Government orders the Governor General of East
Siberia to prevent Capt. Einar Mikkelson from hoisting the
American flag on any island which he may discover in the Arctic
Ocean north of East Siberia and between Wrangel Land and the
Parry Islands.
The body of the late King Christian IX of Denmark is entombed
in Roskelde’s cathedral, Copenhagen.
A despatch from Shanghai, China, states that nothing is known
there of conditions requiring the sending of United States
troops to that Country. The Methodist Foreign Missionary
Society receives reports from its head missionaries at
different Chinese cities stating that there is no danger of
disturbances. The Southern Baptist Missionary Board, through
its secretary, cables its missionaries to take refuge in the
nearest seaports, where they can be under the protection of
foreign consulates.
The King of Hungary prepares to dissolve the Diet when it
assembles today.
February 19.—The Hungarian Diet is dissolved by armed troops and police.
Another anti-Jewish riot occurs at Vietka, Russia. Most of the
city is burned, but no deaths are reported.
The “General Memorandum” issued by Admiral Nelson to his
captains at Trafalgar is found at Merton.
The mutineers of the Russian battleships _Kniaz Potemkin_, who
were sentenced to death, have had their sentences commuted to
imprisonment.
King Edward opens the newly elected English Parliament. In his
speech the King expresses a desire that the government of the
country shall be carried on in a spirit regardful of the wishes
of the Irish people.
February 20.—Germany rejects the final proposal of France for a
settlement of the Moroccan controversy. The points in dispute will now
come before the delegates of all the Powers.
A company of British mounted infantry and three officers are
massacred by fanatics in Sokoto, Northern Nigeria.
A despatch from Ekaterinodar, Ciscaucasia, states that a fight
is in progress between a detachment of Russian soldiers and 600
mutinous Kuban Cossacks.
Members of the Hungarian Diet decide to accept the dissolution
of that body without protest.
The British House of Commons records its determination to
resist any proposals which will create any system of protection.
The Russian Government is trying many prisoners for
participating in a movement to overthrow the Government. The
political dissatisfaction throughout the Empire seems to be as
great as at the beginning of the late revolution.
February 21.—Ambassador White, head of the American delegation to the
Algeciras conference, expresses the opinion that France and Germany will
reach an agreement on the Moroccan question.
Attacks upon Catholic missions are made by Chinese in several
of the southeastern provinces of China.
The British House of Commons pledges a system of intelligent
self-government for Ireland.
February 22.—German Reichstag passes a bill to extend reciprocal tariff
rates to the United States until June 30, 1907.
Fear that the Algeciras conference will end without France
and Germany reaching an agreement on the Moroccan question is
expressed by the French press.
People returning from China declare that the situation is very
critical and a revolution is feared. The feeling against the
present government is strong and the boycott of American goods
is rigidly enforced.
Religious fanatics destroy a French post in Sokoto, Central
Africa.
February 23.—The American Minister to China states that he sees very
little reason for apprehension over China’s affairs. Wu Ting Fang, former
Minister to the United States, says China is passing through a crisis. He
justifies the boycott of American goods. All missionaries are advised by
Assistant Secretary of State Bacon to move to places where they can be
protected.
Despatches from Algeciras state that the fear of war over
Germany’s rejection of France’s proposals on the Moroccan
question is growing less.
Bills providing for general suffrage are introduced in the
Lower House of the Austrian Parliament.
Reports from St. Petersburg state that Count Witte has not
resigned.
A revolt against the Turkish Government is reported to be
spreading in Yemen, Turkish Arabia.
February 24.—W. K. Vanderbilt, Jr., is attacked by a mob near Pisa,
Italy, after his automobile runs down and injures a boy.
Active preparations are being made at Manila for any trouble
with China.
Director General Ivanoff, of the Vistula Railroad, is
assassinated at Warsaw, Russia.
The Spanish Government distributes money in the famine stricken
provinces to relieve the sufferings of the people and prevent
disorders.
The German Foreign Office states that there is little danger
of war between Germany and France over the Moroccan question.
French despatches say about the same.
February 25.—More riots occur at Warsaw and Odessa, Russia. Six persons
are killed and 15 wounded.
The customs war between Austria and Servia ends. Servia agrees
to Austria’s demands.
Secretary Root says the United States has no right to interfere
with conditions in the Congo Free State, Africa.
President Castro, of Venezuela, declares he will clear his
country of all foreigners, break up the Monroe Doctrine and
humble France.
Canada will appoint a commission to investigate life insurance
business in Canada.
Two packages of dynamite are found at a gate of the Forbidden
City, Peking, China.
February 26.—Despatches from Shanghai, China, tell of the murder of
missionaries at Nan-Chang. Six Jesuits and two members of an English
family are reported murdered. The remaining foreigners escaped to
Kiu-Kiang in boats. Several missions at Nan-Chang and Kiang-se were
destroyed, among them the American.
February 27.—The Americans who escaped the Nan-Chang, China, massacre are
reported safe at Kiu-Kiang.
Cossacks knout several prisoners to death at Odessa, Russia.
Ex-Premier Balfour is elected to the British Parliament from
London.
Duchess Sophie Charlotte, of Oldenburg, and Prince Eitel
Frederick, second son of the Emperor of Germany, are married at
Berlin. The Emperor also celebrates his silver wedding.
France asks the Czar of Russia to use his influence to get
Germany to agree to France’s terms on the Moroccan question.
Premier Witte reopens negotiations to determine the extent of a
proposed agreement with England.
Japanese officers assume control of the Imperial War College
and the Trade and Commercial Schools at Canton, China. The
United States English and French war vessels sail for different
Chinese ports to protect foreigners.
February 28.—Duchess Sophia Charlotte Oldenburg, the daughter of the
Grand Duke of Oldenburg and Prince Eitel Frederick, the second son of the
Emperor of Germany, were married yesterday in the chapel of the palace at
Berlin.
President Caceres, of Santo Domingo, in a message to his
Congress, recommends the revision of the Constitution, of the
import and export duties, the improvement of the ports and
public roads, the enactment of laws benefiting agriculture, the
free administration of justice and other improvements becoming
a civilized nation. He recommends to Congress also the study
of the treaty now before the United States Senate and declares
that it is necessary to the welfare of his republic.
The leading papers of St. Petersburg evince no satisfaction
over the announcement of the date of the meeting of the Duma.
It is said that the Duma will be prorogued almost immediately
until autumn.
Premier Witte has become an advocate of an Anglo-Russian
understanding and it is reported that negotiations are about
to be opened in London to determine the extent of a proposed
agreement. If they are successful the new grouping of the
Powers will check Germany’s ambition.
It is reported from St. Petersburg that Russia is using all her
influence at Berlin to prevent a rupture between France and
Germany.
The French officials at the Moroccan Conference at Algeciras
do not look favorably upon the Berlin report that Germany will
make concessions if France will also yield something. The
French say that they have made concessions to which Germany has
not responded.
It is reported from Manila that Japanese officers have
assumed control of the imperial war college and the trade and
commercial schools at Canton, China.
The battleship _Ohio_, flagship of the American fleet at the
Asiatic station, has sailed for Hong Kong, where it will dock
and make repairs, so as to be ready for possible emergencies.
A telegram from Odessa states that in the village of Ivanislaw,
in the Province of Kherson, 50 Cossacks and 70 gunners appeared
a few days ago under orders from a police official and knouted
13 peasants. One of these peasants went mad and others are
dying. A schoolmaster became insane after witnessing the scene.
The sole offense chargeable against the villagers was their
re-election of communal representatives which was in conformity
with the ukase of Dec. 24 last.
March 1.—The reactionary policy of Interior Minister Durnovo received a
setback yesterday when the action of the St. Petersburg police in closing
the central bureau of the Constitutional Democracy was disowned by the
Government. Permission was given for the reopening of the bureau.
A dispatch from St. Petersburg says that the financial
embarrassments of Russia are increased by the necessity of
paying Japan for the maintenance of Russian prisoners.
The new general tariff and conventional tariffs between Russia
and Germany, France, and Austria-Hungary go into effect today.
March 2.—It is reported from Shanghai that the Chinese Government has
decided to instruct its ministers abroad to assure the Powers that there
is no cause for uneasiness in the present situation in China and that
there are no signs of an anti-foreign movement.
March 3.—As the result of a series of special councils composed of forty
high dignitaries presided over by the Czar, the main guarantees of
liberty have been granted to the Russian people and a manifesto is to be
coded and incorporated in the laws of the empire.
March 4.—A terrific cyclone swept over the Society and Cook’s Islands
in the Pacific Ocean on February 7 and 8. It is said 10,000 persons
perished. The damage to property is estimated at a million dollars.
March 5.—At Tokio a bill was introduced in the Diet providing for the
nationalization of the railways, and authorizing the government to compel
companies to sell out to it at a price based on the cost of building plus
twenty times the average profits for the last three years.
March 6.—It is reported that the Germans have refused any concessions at
the Moroccan conference at Algeciras. Russia proposed that France and
Spain control the policing of Morocco. France was willing to accept the
proposition, which was indorsed by Spain, Portugal and England. Herr von
Radowitz, chief German delegate, opposed the proposal.
The editor of a Barcelona (Spain) daily paper was sentenced to
eight years’ imprisonment for printing an insulting dispatch
concerning King Alfonso.
March 7.—An imperial manifesto has been published setting forth the
decisions of the imperial council with regard to the execution of the
Czar’s manifesto of last October. The manifesto reveals the purpose of
the government to keep a firm check on the Duma. The imperial veto is
absolute. The Czar controls the upper house; and the ministers have power
to legislate when the parliament is not sitting.
The Rouvier Ministry of France is defeated in the Chamber
of Deputies by a combination against the Anti-Clericals and
immediately resigns.
March 8.—Reported from Berlin, intense indignation and mortification are
shown at Russia’s action in throwing off her reserve and standing by
France in the proposition that the control of the police of Morocco shall
be entrusted to France and Spain. It is said that no more concessions can
be obtained and that Germany must now show her hand and back down; that
Von Radowitz, representing Germany at Morocco, will be sacrificed. There
is also talk of Von Buelow’s resignation.
[Illustration: _Along The Firing Line_
_BY The Circulation Manager_]
January was our best month for subscriptions at the time I wrote for the
March number, but I guessed that February would be better still—and I
guessed correctly. Although January had 27 business days, as against 22
in February (Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays cut in on the little,
short month), yet we received nearly fifty-one per cent more renewals
and new subscriptions in the latter month. And if we may judge the March
business by the first three days (I write this March 4), the stormy
month will bring more subscriptions than January and February combined.
It may possibly be a case of “coming in like a lion and going out like
a lamb”—but I do not think so. Our subscribers, agents, and clubbing
newspapers are showing a much greater interest than formerly—and as the
list grows our field of opportunity broadens.
* * * * *
One would naturally suppose that every subscription received would
narrow our field—but it doesn’t. On the contrary. I can imagine a state
of affairs—a list so large—that every subscriber secured would make it
harder to get another, for we can’t expect every man, woman and child to
take any one publication. But no magazine ever reached that dizzy height.
Practically every subscriber we get is a missionary who brings in at
least one convert within the year, and many of them send in dozens of
new subscriptions. I need hardly use space in saying that we thoroughly
appreciate these kindnesses and endeavor to show our appreciation by
making WATSON’S MAGAZINE better and better each month. That’s a foregone
conclusion.
* * * * *
Temporarily, however, we are embarrassed by the great influx of
subscriptions, and for a little while we ask the kind indulgence of our
friends. Everything shall be taken care of, but for a few weeks there may
be some delays. It takes time to train new subscription clerks.
* * * * *
Our one weakness heretofore has been lack of proper organization to keep
in touch with and look after the interests of the news-dealers. This has
been remedied by placing a thoroughly competent man in charge of the
news-dealer circulation. A complete roster of the news-dealers is being
made and every effort will be put forth to increase news-stand sales.
The tens of thousands of booksellers and news-dealers throughout the
United States, supplied by the American News Company and its branches,
constitute an army of distribution which has taken many years and an
immense sum of money to raise and equip. We want to make use of that army
to the best advantage of our patrons, the dealers and ourselves. Probably
more than one-half of the reading public buys regularly of news-dealers,
and a much larger percentage buys occasionally. Wherever our friends
prefer to buy of the dealer, we earnestly wish them to do so; and if at
any time there is any difficulty in securing Watson’s at the news stands,
write us about it. We are now equipped to take care of all complaints of
this character promptly.
There is, however, an immense reading public receiving mail on R. F.
D. routes—yet it is only thirteen years ago that Mr. Watson, after a
hard fight, secured a small appropriation in Congress to be used in
experiments with rural free delivery of mail—real “rural” delivery, not
the kind Mr. Wanamaker had tried in the small towns previously. But even
after Mr. Watson got the appropriation, Cleveland’s Postmaster-General
refused to use it. “Scandalous use of the people’s money,” he doubtless
argued, “and, besides, it might develop into something which would hurt
the express companies.” To Mr. Watson is due the credit for securing
the first appropriation for rural free delivery. He is the father. But
we must give the devil his due—the Republican Party built up the system
Mr. Watson originated. Well, that party never was afraid to spend the
people’s money.
* * * * *
Now, these R. F. D. patrons get mail at their respective doors every
weekday. They need not, and do not, go often to the nearest village or
town. Hence, they cannot so well depend upon news-dealers for WATSON’S.
They are best served by subscribing and having Uncle Sam’s mail-carrier
bring it to the door.
* * * * *
The news-stand buyer pays thirty cents a year more for WATSON’S than does
his rural brother—but he invests a much smaller amount each time, so the
two sacrifices (but it isn’t exactly correct to call buying WATSON’S
a “sacrifice”) are about equal. This calls to mind a suggestion, that
has been made several times, to allow taxes to be paid in instalments.
Cold-blooded figures say that it is exactly the same whether one pays a
$24 tax in one payment, or in four of $6 each, or in 12 of $2 each; but
actual experience says, No; there is a difference.
* * * * *
Funny, isn’t it, how the Republican Party denounces some proposition as
a Populistic vagary—and then turns ’round and does the very thing it
has denounced! In 1896 we were told that the people would have none
of silver—those “fifty-cent dollars”; yet between 1897 and 1903 the
Republican Party coined more silver than in any other seven years of the
country’s history. Not “free coinage,” of course, but that Sherman silver
which was stacked up in vaults, and which no one wanted.
* * * * *
Public ownership was denounced as “confiscation,” anarchy, socialism,
paternalism, and so on. But Teddy and Uncle Sam went into the railroad
business down in Panama, and only recently that fat boy, Taft, bought
300 acres of coal lands at Batan, Philippine Islands, for $50,000,
money voted by Congress for the purpose, and it is given out flatly
that “it is the intention of the Government not to relinquish title to
the mines.” They will be leased to competitive bidders. The Secretary
of War is drawing a bill to provide for this leasing, and says, oh, ye
gods, listen: That the Government will regulate the price of coal in the
Philippines!
* * * * *
Didn’t we hear something about the impossibility of doing such a stunt
as “regulating prices” away back in 1896 and later? Couldn’t regulate
the price of silver by letting it into the mints at $1.39 plus an ounce.
Oh, no! Seems to me we ought to have an “International agreement” on
the price of coal. Otherwise, what’s to prevent those disreputable
“furriners” from dumping their pauper-mined coal into the Philippines,
and carrying away every ounce of our gold?
* * * * *
Who said the People’s Party is dead? Out in Coal City, Ill., the
Populists recently nominated the following village ticket:
The People’s Party met in Borella’s Hall and made the following
nominations: For trustees, two years, John McNamara, Peter
Bono, and Axtel Anderson. For village clerk, Edward Fulton. For
police magistrate, Frank Francis. For library directors, James
Leish and Walter Palmer.
Some call it the decadence of party spirit, but others believe it a
recovery from partisan insanity—this independent attitude of men who
formerly wore a party collar with meekness, if not with actual pride. A
year or more ago Dr. Engelhard, of Rising City, Neb., expressed it in the
picturesque language of the West, thus: “I am now a political maverick.”
At a recent dinner of the Wisconsin Society of New York, Representative
Henry C. Adams, of the Badger State, pleading for the “insurgents”
who are in rebellion, not “against good government but against bad
government,” graphically described the political situation of today as
follows:
“Party feeling has run to the lowest ebb ever known in
American politics. It is hard work to tell a Democrat from
a Republican. The South is swinging toward protection. New
England is flirting with free trade. Pittsburg goes Democratic.
New York City barely escapes the rule of a Socialist.
Missouri sends Republicans to Congress. Folk is cheered by
Republicans. La Follette is voted for by Democrats. The House
of Representatives votes almost unanimously for the President’s
rate bill, and a Republican committee gives it in charge of a
Senator from South Carolina to report to the Senate.”
In Mr. Edgerton’s excellent article on “Farmers’ Organizations” (February
number) he failed to mention a very strong one in the grain belt—the
American Society of Equity, with headquarters at Indianapolis. It claims
a membership of over 200,000 farmers, and its president, J. A. Everitt,
asserts that its members will hold their wheat for $1.00 and other
cereals correspondingly—and that they expect to win. Let’s hope they may.
* * * * *
But let’s think a little. That won’t cut down railroad dividends, or
make kerosene and rent any cheaper; and it _will_ make bread higher. So
suppose the Farmers’ Union, down South, pushes cotton up to 15 cents;
and the American Society of Equity pushes wheat up to a dollar; and the
“Big 6” here wins its fight for an 8-hour day at 9 hours’ pay—won’t all
these wealth-producers, after matters get readjusted, be about where they
were before? I’m not throwing cold water on the efforts of any of these
organizations, for I glory in their fighting proclivities—but I can’t see
any permanent advantage accruing to any of them so long as the railroads
and the banks are armed with letters of marque and reprisal, and legally
empowered to rob every actual producer and every consumer. Each of these
organizations carefully avoids politics. Is that wise? Possibly; but I
can’t see it that way.
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“How shall I remit for subscriptions?” ask a number of agents. Well, most
anything that will bring the money will do, but we have this preference:
A United States Post Office Money Order, made out to TOM WATSON’S
MAGAZINE. That will give us your name on the order, making it easy to
trace errors—and our bank charges no exchange for handling. But we never
refuse cheques, drafts, express orders, currency, or postage stamps, if
sent us in good condition.
“But,” I hear a chorus of voices saying, “we thought you’d changed the
name, and just now you said ‘Tom Watson’s Magazine.’” Just so, I did.
That is the name of the corporation which publishes WATSON’S MAGAZINE.
The corporation known as Tom Watson’s Magazine has not changed its name.
It has five offices: President, vice-president, secretary, treasurer and
cashier. These offices are held by three Populists, as follows:
_President_, Thomas E. Watson.
_Vice-President and Treasurer_, H. C. S. Stimpson.
_Secretary and Cashier_, C. Q. de France.
I need not introduce Mr. Watson. Mr. Stimpson is secretary of the
People’s Party in New York State; and I am secretary of the National
Committee.
Don’t make your remittance payable to any of the officers, but simply to
the company, Tom Watson’s Magazine, and address your communications to
the Magazine—not to individuals.
[Illustration: _C. Q. de France_]
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