Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, September 30, 1894, Page 13

¥ R ) A TARIFF FOR BRITONS ONLY John Bull'a Glos Over the New Amerioan Tariff Law. ROBERT P. PORTER'S INVESTIGATIONS Great British Manafacturers Anticlpate an Ammense Trade with the United States to the Detrim nt of American Artisans and Manufacturors. LIVERPOOL, Correspondence. Eng., Not Sept. 20.—(Special far from this gloomy and ugly commercial cen- ter with its vast - expanse of docks, fts army of unemployed, its miles of dingy houses, an unattractive population, may be found the latter day Mecca of all B00d free trade Englishmen, To reach this pleturesque and romantic spot you must brave, or eat perhaps [ should say, the frightful atmosplere of the underground Birkenhead rallway station, encounter the terrors of a mighty English "I’ with its elanking doors suggestive of castle dungeons, and the darkness and horrors of the most illy ventilated of tunnels. ~Having survived this the undulating scenery, soft atmos- phere, groen meadows, stately trees and an- clent villages of Choshire scem veritable garden spots of loveliness. Finally after a drive through the old town with its queer projocting houses and other anclent at- tractions (for In Chester modern ‘“‘restora- tlon” has reached a high art) and fairly on the road to Hawarden castle (pronounced by natiyes Harden), you begin to realize the peace, beauty and conteniment which Eng- lish hills, grass, trees, roads and sunshine inspire. You pass In your drive to this beautiful retreat, away from public haunts, one of the grandest of English mansions, that of the duke of Westminster, Baton Hall. After a couple of hours drive the gates of Hawarden park are reached. There is no obstacle to your admission, for the Grand Old Man, who 18 ending his splendid life amid these pas- toral scenes, is at peace with all the world. You open the gate and drive in, passing the lodge overhung with the woodbine, already in autumn hues, and backed by stately hoily- hocks and a burst of vivid colors. The park, in which natural beauty predomi- nates, shows side stretches of green meadow dotted with sheep and fine cattle, heavily wooded glades and winding streams. Now and then one passes a tree equal to those of the new forest in size and silent grandeur. Under one of these trees nearly every fine day may be seen the distinguished owner of this ecstate, Mr. Gladstone. The photographs which I send with this letter were taken only two or three weeks ago and represent Mr. Gladstone exactly as he appeared the day I saw him, seated alone beneath a large beech tree which grows in the corner of the castle garden. The rough sent around this tree projects above the six foot stone wall surrounding the garden, the latter being graded up nearly to the height of the wall. From this point the old Eng Lish statesman and scholar has a fine view of the park and the distant hills, Here he not Infrequently sits alone for hours, per- haps reviewing his remarkable career and the tremendous political events and strife with which he bas been identified for half a century. The day I had the pleasure of 8eelng Mr. Gladstone he had just sent the st proofs of his translation of Horace to press. I am informed that while he was at work on these proofs he devoted hours in L his study to the work, attacking it with his old time energy. Still, as the photographs Indicate, Mr. Gladstone is showing the marks of age and mental work. He has to be much more careful. ““He no longer knocks about the estate as he used to,” said a gentleman who lives at Hawarden. Age is gently but surely creeping over England’s greatest and most commanding character. It seems a ftting ending to such a never-ccasing life of ex- citement and toll. The tranquility of the castle, its surroundings and the village with _ its old church and tiny cottages and dwell- . ings is indeed a forerunner of that peace which surpasses all understanding and which this great man has surely earned. Throughout the great manufacturing dis- tricts of Lancashire and Yorkshire great . Preparations are being made to win back the trade which, to use the common ex- pression here, “the MeKinley bill robbed us of.” Thete are signs of a general awaken- Ing, though the newspapers and lexding manu- facturers have been most guarded in their expressions. 1 have watched all the im- portant dally newspapers hereabouts for sev- ieral days, and the way they keep up that free trade fiction to the effect that with re- duced tariffs America would soon. distance the United Kingdom is slmply marvelous. In conversation, however, the grin is alto- gether too broad for one who is playing a losing game. In a pleasant chat with Mr. Reuben Spen- cer, Manchester manager of Rylands & Sons, he said: “We employ from 12,000 to 14,000 in our seventeen principal manufactories. We export now, In spite of protective tariffs, nay, in spite of McKinley bills, to nearly every country In the world. Of course, the reduction of the tarlff in your country will help us. We have already sent out additional men there to secure orders and we look for- ward to a good trade mow that you give us half a chance.” “Do you still think the United Kingdom can beat the world in the manufacture of textile goods?" Most assuredly T do. Whatever progress you may have made In the metal Industries You are not as strong In textiles. Our ex- port of textiles, as I say, in spite of tarlffs, is simply enormous. We embrace every branch of the clothing trades, and supply every nation and people under the sun. More than £100,000,000 sterling (§500,000,000) would nol cover the value of the textiles sent from this country every year. The position we have attained as a textile manufacturing and trading nation Is supreme, and not only do we clothe a larger proportion of the Inhabi- tants of the United Kingdom than do the manufacturers In other countries, but of the textiles bought by other countries from be- yond their own borders the greatest portion comes from this country. More than half of our exports of British and Irish produce and manufactures is comprised under the head of textile goods. The total exports of our metal and machinery trades, including raw material, is not one-half of our total exports of textiles, and our exports of coal are only about one-third. More than 1,000, 000 persons were engaged in the textile In- dustries of this country in 1891—a number almost on a par with the totals employed In the mining, mineral and metal industries combined. Then it should be borne in mind that combinations and centralizations of works or management have been more suc- cesstul in the soft and dry goods trades than in any other, so that that which is now our pre-eminent manufacturing industry is also that which can claim firms like ours, whose operations and whose capital are proportion- ate to the gigantic work carried on by the textile trade as a whole.” “Do you suppese the United States could, even with free wool, compete with English concerns in the markets of the world?" “Not under present conditions. We would be willing to give you 10 per cent the advan- tago on everything and practically open our factories free to the inspection of your Amer- dcan manufacture: With this difterence wa could practfeally supply everything you want. The magnitude of our business here ‘Would be impossible to imagine if the mar- Kets abroad were only free to sell in. This 18 a problem I should mot like to have to work out.” THEY WANTED TO KNOW. Mr, Spencer 1 found to be a pleasant, un- assuming gentleman, with a full gray beard, & pink and white British complexion and an agreeable manner. Indeed, he prides Dimselt somewhat on his amiability in the following incident, which he keeps for Amer- dcan visitors: “Not long ago a couple of ealled and informed me they represented #ome branch of your government-—labor do- partment, I think—and don't you know they actually had the cheek, for I can't call it anything else, to say in reply to my ques- tion what 1 could do for them: “*We want to go over all your estab- lishments. 'What, the seventeen? said I. ‘08, the whole lot,' sald they. **Anything else? said I. 7 M 'Yes; we waut to know how many hands Americans you employ In each department, the wa you pay weekly and for plece work, the cost | and quantity of your raw materfal, the labor cost and raw material cost of every artcle you produce, the amonnt of capital invested, borrowed and owned, the rate of interest and the cost of your several plants, the es- timated loss of wear and tear and— “‘Oh, come. stop now, my young friends, Is there nothing else you want?' " Yes, we should like to obtain— s “ ‘Nevef mind anything else; I am a pretty busy man myselt and I will simply refer you to Mr. one of our other directors. Tn doing so 1 may as well caution you that hoe Is not so polite A man as I am. What do you suppore he will tay when you pre- sent your sehedule to him?' “We have no idea,” said gentlemen, Inquiringly. “Go to the devil,” sald 1. An Englishman, as a rule, when he has a good thing dces not want to take all the world into partnership. The questions which our state and national departments of labor and the census office for that matter exact from manufacturers would not be tolerated for an Instant in England. The agents would literally, not metaphorically, as in the case mentioned above, be Kicked out of the office. In visiting this vast establishment I was struck with the barrenness of the surround- ings. Mr. Spencer himselt was standing in the counting house at a desk behind a painted pine partition in the same room with the clerks. His private room would hardly contain four people and was as aingy and windowless ns most British offices. There was no display, no style, no extras. Economy, business, industry prevailed throughout the cstablishment. And yet (his concern can boast of $10,000,000 paid oft capital, and em- ploys nearly 14,000 persons. Surely in manu- facturing the English belleve in rigid economy of production. So often have the unguarded and ardent expression of north of England newspapers been used in the “‘United States” by wicked protectionists as evidence against the theory that reduced duties would promote Ameri- can industrial supremacy and push to the wall such feeble concerns as Rylands & Sons, London and Manchester, that it is difficult to find out through these mediums the true sentiments of the community. If our genial and outspoken friend, Cousin Ben Folsom, had not gone back on the administration and resigned, we should have undoubtedly long oro this heard of the triumphs of Cleveland- ism in Sheffeld. Indeed, instead of poor Governor McKinley burned (in effigy we should have had glowing accounts of Cousin Ben being ‘‘cl red” by the enthusiastic populace of that grimy town. The nearest approach to genuine unalloyed rejoicing 1 find in the good city of Leeds, where the American consul seems to have risen to the occasion and outdone his British friends. A BLOW AT AMERICAN INDUSTRY. In an interview published n a local jour- nal a few days ago Mr. Northfleet Harris fairly bubbles over with joy in contemplat- ing the migration of industry, labor and pital from his own country to England There will be an increase of American trade,” says this patriotic young man, “of 50 per cent." “I have no doubt’” says Mr. Northfleet Harrls, with the air of ono who knows, “that there will be a great increase gener- ally under the operation of the new law, that trade will get back to what it was, and even to a great deal more, because the McKinley bill was a considerable_ advance over the old tariff. When the McKinley bill was passed in 1890 the rates on every- thing were raised very much, and es- peclally affected our district here, the heavy woolen district, because specific or weight dutles—so much according to the welght— wero put on those heavy cheap woolens, which was felt to be most oppressive.” How gratifying it must be to what Mr. Harrls calls “our district” to thus repair the ravages of the McKinley bill. Perhaps Mr. Harris never stops to think, in his com- mendable ardor for “‘our district,” that this unhappy swing of the pendulum means a loss in the textile trades alone of not less than 100,000,000 of cold dollars to “our dis- trict” at home. A loss of half that amount, perhaps in wages to our working people. A needless destruction of industry just fairly started on our side of the Atlantic. It would seem to me that Mr. Northfleet Harrls hardly represents our country (I mean the United States) over here in the following sentiments: “Now, when this is changed (the tariff) we ought mot only to do as well as we did a year ago, before the present depression commenced, but we ought to do a great deal better, seeing the duties ara so much lower—lower even than, in a great many cates, they were before the Mc- Kinley tarift bill. I don't think there is any question about the result of the new tariff. 1 think there will be quite an burst of business for the next few years, Here we certainly have an outburst of patriotism from an American consul that should be appreciated at home. Why con- gress should be called upon to vote salaries for the maintenance of consuls in the in- terest of British trade is a question Mr. Reed or Mr. Burrows should ask when con- gress assembles. It is moreover a question that Governor McKinley will ask of our wage earners this fall on the stump. The recent news from Maine and the pos- sibility of one of the above mentioned gen- tlemen in the presidential chair seems to have dampened the ardent Harrls, for he then modifics the “outburst of business” sentiment: “That may be followed by a decline and a reaction, but for the immedi- ate future—for the mext three or four years—I think there will be a big increase in business. You see there is a great de- sire, particularly in America, to have Eng- lish made woolen stuffs Yes, Mr. Harris, the dudes and free trad- ers of America are just sitting up nights in thelr anxiety for British clothes. The producers, however, you ¢will find much prefer American wages, Amer.can prosper- ity and- American clothes “A cheap coat makes a cheap man,” is an axiom which carries more weight today after nearly two years of democratic rule than It did when It was uttered by as patriotic and true American as ever sat in the presidential chair. By the way, Mr. Harris might read some of that statesman's speeches to advantage. But perhaps the “‘outburst of business” in “‘our district” oc- cuples all his spare time. BRADFORD'S ADVANTAGE, In contrast with this foolish talk, emana- ting from those who are paid by the United States government to look after American interests, I append a brief conversation with Sir Henry Mitchell of Bradford. I first met Sir Henry twelve years ago, and found him one of the most accomplished and able of the Yorkshire woolen and worsted manu- facturers. The following I think fairly sets forth the hopes of Bradford, which according to actual sta- tistics lost from $35,000,000 to $40,000,000 of trade during the forty-five months of the MeKlnley bill. “I have” said Sir Henry, “been very reticent all through, with the desire not to give a handle to the opponents of tarift re- form in America.” “How will the mew tarift bill affect Brad- ford? Do you look for a revival of trade?" “It will securo three great advantages to the Bradford merchant: “1, The removal of suspense, “2, Simplicity of tarlff and “3. The abolition of the weight duty. ““The removal of the weight duty opens the market to some of tho very best classes of Bradford goods, which have hitherto been excluded by its operation. Comparing the new tariff with that of 1881 (under which a good trade was done with America), I re- gard it as 40 to 60 per cent lower on manu- factured goods. That, of course, s com- pensated for to some extent, if not entirely. by abolition of the high duty on raw ma- terlal. Generally speaking, I consider (with a reservation as to the effect of free wool) the new tarift more favorable than any which has been In operation since the war of 1865." Mr. Sonnenthal (Messrs. Charles Semon & Co.) said when asked about the new tariff “The success of the Bradford merchant with American orders will now all be a question of price. The American manufacturer has advanced, and, with free wool, would be more of & rival. What has made the trade 80 poor recently was the fact that for some time past the American manufacturer has had wool on much cheaper terms than hith- erto, the growers having dropped their prices to almost the English level. That fact and free wool have to be remembered in com- peting for American trade, therefore 1 do not believe an era of inflated prices possi- ble the American AT DEWSBURY AND BATLEY. The drums and fifes are beating in a quiet sort of way in the shoddy towns of Dews- bury and Batley. Here are manufactured to the queen's taste those cheap shoddy goods that remind oune of the felt mats in a Ger- man beer saloon. The fiber is so short that the goods Lave the appearance of belug pressed together or rolled on cylinders Nke straw and wood pulp paper. One gentleman | trom the former town pointed with uncon- cealed joy to that schedule where the old rate exceeded 100 per cent ad valorem, but has been cut to 30 and 40 per cent, and in an outburst of part of the woolen | confidence: Free wool or not, your people won't stand & ghost of a chance with us in these cheaper 1t must stimulate our business expectation exists In Huddersfleld The United States consul there says that for the fiscal year ended July 1, 1893, the ex ports from that town were almost as large as they had been in any former year. “If this be true,” said a leading manufacturer, ‘we may certainly expect a period of great proaperity.” “In what arked, Under the new arrangement the duty on worsted and woolen goods, such as are manu factured in this district, will be 40 per cent ad valorem on all goods of less value than 50 cents p:r pound; on all goods valued at 50 cents per pound it will be 50 per cent ad valorem. Under the existing tariff the duties are from 90 to 100 per cent on goods over 40 cents per pound in value, so that under the new bill there will be a re- duction of from 40 to 50 per cent. As the Huddersfield manufacturers have been en- abled to retain their hold upon the American market for their goods even under what looked like prohibitive rates, they are nat urally hopeful that there ~ will be an Increased demand for the fine qualities of cloth which they - duce, and they belleve that they will be able to hold their own with their American competitors for some time, at any rate, notwithstanding the fact that the lat- ter will have wool fre: of duty. What is true in Huddersfield, 1 found in a measure true at Manchester. Our ex coedingly efficient and ever watchful consul at that point, Willlam F. Grinnell, kindly furnished mo with the totals of exporls to United States from that town, as foliows: Total Exports in Doila's it Tees e 811,051,525 3,105,211, 41 particular branch?’ he was are not much elated; leading cotton manufacturer of Manchester to me last week, “at what our free trade friends in your country have done for Man- chester, but nevertheless we are hopeful on all the finer lines. Having, as your figures Indicate, pretty much held our own under the McKinley bill, we certainly ought to apture considerable more trade under the new tariff. 1 am certain we can beat your people in every line where Egyptian cotton is used, and pay the duty. We look for a good increase.” SHEFFIELD STEEL. 1 find that the Sheffield people still be- lieve that the only steel in the world is made there. This in spite of the rub that Ger many and the United States have glven them during the last twenty years. Here Is a purely Shefield opnion expressed by a Sheffield man: 3 “Those engaged in the steel trade in Sheffleld are sanguine that the reduction of the tariff bill will bring them a substantial accession of business. Seelng that a large quantity of steel used by the continental firms Is purchased from Sheffield, they can look with equanimity upon the keen compe- tition for the American trade which is being waged between the Eonglish and German makers of cutlery and other kinds of steel goods. Makers of best qualities of steel are destined to profit most by the free trade bill, as the Germars are able to produce almost as much medium quality as they re- quire, very cheaply, and their steel shows improvement every year. Best steel, how- ever, continues to be practically a Sheffeld monopoly.” How do our Connecticut manufacturers Iike the above? Or perhaps more to the point the following, which I clip from a Shefild Journal: “Although the Americans supply nearly all their needs in the cheaper table knives, they are making but little progress in the production of really good cutlery. A knife that will cut is said to be a luxury rarely met with in the American hotels, and practically no attempt fs made in that country tu make carvers. The demand for this Jatter class of goods has increased even under the McKinley act, Everything, there- fore, points to the future trade in cutlery with America being confined largely to pen and pocket knives, best table knives, carvers, and hollow ground razors.” 1 am not inclined to deny the allegation in regard to hotel knives, but the general state- ment is a little broad and 1 should like to hear the opinion of some American manu- facturers on this point. Certain It is that American axes cut and are famous the world over. Why not American knives? gxplode this old country fiction, manufac- turers of American cutlery. I am aware it is difficult with Northflect Harrises as consuls decrying American goods. Tonight I leave for Birmingham. Much of interest will undoubtedly be gathered there. In that town, as in Manchester, we bave a patriotic consul. It is true my friend, Mr. George Parker of Birmingham, is a good democrat and it is likewise true that he Is somewhat “rocky” on protection Nevertheless, he is an American to the back- bone, and although during the past week the newspapers show he and the other of- ficlals of Birmingham have been hobnobbing with royalty, I expect to find him as en- thusiastic for the stars and stripes as ever. Judging from the Birmingham Post, they are expecting great things in that center of cheap goods and radicalism. Here we have some more ravages of the McKinley bill: “In 1887, before the McKinley tariff came Into operation, our iron and steel shipments 1o the United States reached a total in round figures of nearly 1,300,000 tons, or nearly four times last year's total. Thus, the McKinley tariff, combined with other adverse influ- ences, has reduced our trade with the States in fron and steel by nearly 75 per cent." Those of us who labored so long and so faithfully to enable our home manufacturers to build up for American labor a great tin- plate industry will read this from the same paper with regret to think it has been so unnecessarily knocked on the head: AMERICAN TIN PLATE. “We come now to tin plates, in which a large though declining trade is still done with the United States by our Welsh manu- facturers. Last year our shipments of this artiole were a little over 255,000 tons, as compared with 325,000 tons in 1891, and 336,000 tons In 1889, Something more than tarift influences are required to explain the substantial drop between 1891 and 1893, and it is probably to be found in the gradual development of the American manufacture of tinplate. During the first year or two after the McKinley tarift came into opera- tion the domestic manufacture of tin and terne plates in the United States was evi- dently passing through a probationary period; but we learn from a recent official return that during the first quarter of the current year it attained the goodly total of over £38,000,000, of which 72 per cent was made from sheets rolled in the United States, These figures are equivalent to an annual production of 1,500,000 boxes of 100 pounds each, which represents roughly about one- fourth of the American consumption during 1893, The reduced duty may check for a time the expansion of this thriving branch of American industry; but they are hardly sufficient to destroy it, and our tinplate maunfacturers will have cause to be thank- ful If they can recover any portion of the ground they have lcst in the last few years.' Let us hopt it will mot destroy this im- portant industry in America. The following from the same editorial, in my opinion, em- phasizes one of the most dangerous features of the new tarift bill: “It i probably in some of our minor manu- facturing branches that the principal benefits of the mew tariff will be felt.”” 1t is these ‘‘minor manufact ring branches™ that have done €0 much toward giving em- ployment at good wages to American work- men. As a rule, when once destroyed, or when once brought to a standstill, they are rarely or ever recovered. Hercin lies the hidden danger of the new tariff bill. THIS 18 PLAIN ENOUGH. In conclusion, says the outspoken Birming- ham Post, “if the democrats retain office at the next presidential election they will as- suredly drive home the wedge of which the thin end only has penetrated the protec- tionist log in the amended Wilson bill, and that would certainly not be an unmitigated blessing for British manufacturers, On the other hand, should the republicans return to office, which is quite on the cards, we may see the McKinley bill re-onacted with vindictive aggravations, which would go far o destroy the small remains of our once valuable trade with the United States. This bold expression of opinion ought to be are able to plain enough for all but the froe trade moles Who cannot or will a6t sea that no com- mensurate good can possibly come, in the way of trade with"'Sther countrles, by thus giving up odroewn valuable home markets to the foreign manitacturer. Free traders In America have to assure thelr Hritish friends that no change can be madeldor three years. A Marchester paper informs its readers: “Th anges are all In (he right direction, even if some of them only'aMount to a 10 per cent reduction of the duties prevailing. It s satisfactory to rememb.r that McKinleyism cannot be restored fof another three years, even should the republeans control the next two congresees, Mri (leveland's term does not cxpire until March, 1897, and his veto could not be overrlddéh by the congress next clected,” This from a Shefield paper: **We look for much from cvep, this imperfect settle ment. 1t will for the'fr.sent give a marked stimulus to importation, but we hope not to It will also at once give rashness in them. a new impetus to the home manufacturers of the United States, and the margin of pro- tection being somewhat reducd, and the force of competition correspondingly in- creased, more attention will be given to economy’” No one. really belleves this last ment here. It is merely thrown in sop to American free traders. Here Is an opening sentenc from the Yorkshire Post aggravated form, the McKinley tarift fs a thing of the past we may, without doing mischief across the water, roview some of the losses which we have undergone through this ection during the last four years." The Bradford Observer makes this cbserva- ticn: “In the meantime, however, pripar; tions for producing such fabrics as may b> likely to be required under the new arrange- ments are being pushed forward, and the most cautfous authorities beli-ve that the revision of duties will, for a time at least give a remarkable impetus to many depart- ments of textile industry DAWN OF A BRIGHTER BRITISH DAY. safe to predict,” cables the ew York correspondent of the hat the passage of the present law will mark the beginning of the gradual destruction of the tariff system. Nobody believes that the tariff will ever be increas agaln. Whatever changes may be made in future will be toward lower duties’’ To which the fmperturbable, stolid Manchester Guardian replies: ‘‘We should like to be able to think that this estimate is not a little too sanguine, but we take it to be right in the main, and we trust that the promise it holds out’ will be fulfilled.” The more cautious Liverpool Courier thus sums up the situation sradford in par- ticular should gain by the new regulations. Rolled iron, iron and steel sheets also bene fit and a substantial increase in shipments from England should follow the passing into law of the new tariff bill. Although, there- fore, the Sugar trust has still, in Mr. Wil- son’s phrase, ‘its grip upon the people's throats,' and although tho American press is almost unanimous in condemnation of the tactics that have marked the struggle, the fatal state of uncertainty is at an end, and thire Is now a fair prospect that the epoch of labor war, financial failure and embittered controversy will be followed by a period of commercial prosperity, in the benefits of which this country may be expected to participate.” All these will be Intcresting American wage-earners. ROBERT P. PORTER. RELIGIOUS, There are 50,000 Protestant Christians scattered through the Furkish empire. President Warres of/ Poston university asks for $100,000 with, which to found an “American Museum of All Religions.” Chattancoga has been, officially selected as tho place of meethig 0f the next biennial international conferencA of the Bpworth league, to be held in Jupe, 1895, Rev. Dr. F. B. Clark, the founder of the Christlan Endeavol soclety, has gone to Burope for res hile_there he will in- trofuce the society,intg, Germany, Denmark and Scandinsvia. ] The recent movefferit n the direction of the adoption of indiviiial communion cups emeng certain churghes,in Philadelphia has led a number of jewelers to begin the manu- facture of the cups and other paraphernalia connected with the semrioe. 'wo women recentlyssccepted invitations to speak at the Kentuchy Sunday school convention. Hearing of th's two clergymen, who had also contented to speak at the con- vention, canceled their engagement on the ground that women are forbidden by the Holy Ghost to speak in public. At the close of the war the Methodist church numbered 1,000,000 mem- be: owned 10,000 churche: 3,300 parson- cges, worth, in the aggregate, $34,000,000. It has now 2,600,000 members, owns over 24,000 churches and nearly 10,000 parson- ages, worth, in the aggregate, $125,000,000. Mohammedanism has won 200,000,000 followers, and its degraded and wretched myriads ‘are confined to southern Asia and northern Africa. _Christianity, efter nine- teen centuries of life has won 400,000,000 followers, and with the exception of Chi and Turkey, its happy and enlightened peo- ple rule the’ world. At the age of 78 Bishop Willam Taylor i8 as zeclous as ever in the work of evange- lizing Africa, though many of his best men have died or been compelled to return Among his most efficient aids are members of the Mead families In Underhill, Vt., and the Wilkes family of Lynn, Mass., whose ohildren easily learned the languages and gained the confidence and respect of the natives, According to recent statistics there are 229 monasteries with 4,775 monks in Belglum, besides 1,546 convents and sisters and nuns. This gives an increase of sixteen monasteries and 200 convents within the past ten years in that small country aloue, There are today 30,000 men and women belonging to the various orders, and, tsking the popu- lation of Belgium In 1890 at 6,000,000, we find one “religlous’’—monk or slster—to every 200 persons. An edict was recently promulgated by the Vatican conveying to the priests the pont'fl's permission to make use of the bicycle in the performance of their parish duties, In consequence of this several of the Italian bishops have issued psstoral letters recom- mending the clergy of their dioceses to learn to ride, with a view (o their being able to convey ‘more speedily than by other means spiritual consolation” and assistance to the sick and dylng. Three evangelists who are at present work- ing in the coal regions near Scranton—B. F. Armstrong, Thomas Thorrburn and J. C. Tennant—recently held a revival meeting for the miners of the Ontario mine under uncommon circumstances. It was at the bottom of the shaft. Slips of paper With the words of hymns printed upon them were handed around, and the miners, gathered in the gloom of the mine, joined heartily in the servico of song. The oldest Catholic church in New England is at Damariscotta Mills, Me., and was built more than 100 years ggo. It is still oc- cupied for religious purposes ore Sunday in cach month. The finlerior is said to be decorated and furnished.like a drawing room. It is s:1d that James Tissot of Paris, whose series of pictures on the life of Christ has been much talked abont, Is about to become & monk and devote his talents to the making of illuminated manuscr|pts. Methodist missions {n Corea date from 1885 and only a few yeuwrs after the country was in_some limited degree cpen to foreign- ers. Until the bregking out of the present war they wero considered to be in a fairly prosperous state. Théy sustain one theo- logical, two high and ‘ive Sabbath schools, with something less than a score of mis- sionaries, & considerable number of whom are skilled in the miedical art. Local hos- tility to the forelgnevengelist is less acute than In China, and whea the war abites the country will present one of the most promis- ing fields of missionary effort among those eastern peoples. Besides being a clergyman Rev. J. M. Springer of Belle Vernon, Pa., Is a justice of the peace, en undertaker and a furniture deales. He can also make an omelette and edit a paper better than the editor himself. The main church of the great monastery of San Francisco, in Mex'co, which since 1860 has been in Protestant hands, is to be restored to Catholic worship. The fore- closing of a mortgage which could not be paid off brought into the hands of a wealthy Catholic gentleman the building in which services were attended for three centuries by Spanish viceroys and in which the first To Deum of Mexican independence was cele- brated. state- as a in an article ow that, in its reading to p——— Oregon Kidney Tea cures backache. size, 25 cents. All drugglst Trial hastened | T REASONABLE, RATES DEFINED Fxplanation of the Meaning «f the Phrase by an Towa Commiss'oner, JUSTICE PRECLUDES DISCRIMINATION Commissioner Spencer Smith Writes on the Maximum Kute Question for the Bene- fit of Nebraska Readers-Logal Opinions Quoted. pargmonious; they are willing to pay ablé and just rates; they are willing to their fair proportion of the amount neces to keep the Towa lines in first class working condition. They want proper facilities good shipping accommodations and are willing that rates should be so adjusted as to afford these conditions, but they do not be forced to pay to make up the shorte Ings of the other fellow. Above all things the Towa shipper and producer wants stable rates and that rates may be maintained they protest against an advance of the present rates, as high rates’ always lead up to cut rates and discriminations Certainly no carrier has just grounds for complaint it rates are fixed for it by public authority at the standard of the average it roceives. The Towa producer, manufacturer and wholesale dealer, in order transact business and sell his must meet his competition, and in order to do this he wust be placed, so far as freight rates cerned, upon substantially an even keel with the manufacturer, jobber and producer from without the state, who ships in against him. This 1s substantially what Iowa has now and she simply asks that there may be no change of these conditions. It is the right of the public to have fair treatment in mat- ters of such public concern as railroad rates, want to to goods, are con- DISCRIMINATION IN RATES. The Interstate Commerce commission, on page 30 of its report for 1800, uses the following forcible language with reference to secret rates. Nothing can be more conclusive that the carrier (s by his regular rate sheets charging something more than reasonable prices for his service than the fact tbat, cither openly or secretly, he violates the law to accept from favored classes or from individuals a less compensation, or that he large sums for procuring business at the rates named, or that he so manages his business that parties who have no legitimate connoction with it are enabled to prey upon his patrons. In order to ascertain whether the rates of a carrier, as shown by its rate sheets, are or are not reasonable, it is the right of the public authorities to know what it actually imposes and collects, and to have access to its books for that pur- pose. On page 28 of the same report the commissioners say: There has been a great tendency toward an equelization of rates and toward the removal of anomalies whi made the rates oppressive wherever competition was but slight or nominal. rate sheets, however, have never, it is lieved, shown with entire accuracy what the real rates made by the railrcads were. A knowledge that the nominal rates were*not impartially maintained has been among the strongest reasons for governmental interfer- ence by law in the regulation of railroad management, and was especially influential in the adoption of the act to regulate com- merce. The authority is so eminent that no one can question the fact and its bearing upon the pretended rates set out in the hedules in the case now pending before the Iowa commissioners. MAXIMUM IS ELASTIC. Section 17 of chapter 28, acts of the twenly-second general assembly of Towa, fm- poses upon the railrgad commissioners of the state the onerous duty of making and promulgating freight rate schedules and classifications under which the entire ton- nage moved between stations local within the state is to be handled. Farther on in the same section it is provided that the schedules so made “shall be taken in all ts of this state as prima facie evidence t the rates therein fixed are reasonable and just maximum rates of charges for (he transportation of freight and cars upon the railroads for which said schedules may have been rtespectively prepared.'” It will be observed that the rate is not made absolute, but simply prima facie evi- dence that the rates so fixed are reasonable and just and operate to change the burden of proof on the common carrier who collects a greater rate to show that such higher rate is reasonable and just. Under the law the carrier is not confined to the maximum rate so fixed by law. A higher rate may be exactell, but the carrier ing such groater rate must be prepared to show, if such rate is challenged, that the same is not unreasonable and unjust, and failing to do s0 the offending railroad company must expect under said law severe penalties and humili- ating punishments. The rate so fixed and made prima facle evidence is not limited to a reasonable rate alone, but it must be a just rate. A rate very high but within reason would be regarded as reasonable and might be held by the courts as complying with the letter of the law, regardless of its relation to other rates and other rate condi- tions. While a just rate means the very right of it, justice is such an exact equality belween the parties that no one may be a gainer by another’s loss. DEFINITIONS OF TERMS. A rato which requires one shipper to pay more than the service is fairly worth to meet deficiencies caused by giving another shipper in another locality a rate below the value of the service rendered could not be sustained as a just rate, although it might be a fairly reasonable rate. A just rate- pre- cludes all discriminations of every kind whatsoever. Justice includes within itselt the whole circle of virtues and gives to every one his own. Possibly a comprehensive definition of a reasonable and just freight rate would be “a rate so adjusted as to bring about the largest possible interchang of the commodities of the country, keeping in view the value of the service to the pro- Qucer of the commodity, the shipper and the consumer and the cost of the service with some margin of profit to the common car- rier, making no rate so low as to impose a burden upon other traffic, nor so high as to prohibit the transportation of a commo- dity or product suitable for legitimate com merce." The Interstate Commerca commission, 5th vol. 363, in discuseing the rate question takes occasion to say “rates should mot b2 50 low as to impose a burden on other traffic; they should have reasonable relation to cost of producticn end the valie of (he trarspo: ta tion service to the producer and shipper. They are from 50 to 80 per cont higher in proportion than the rates east of the Mississippi river if estimated on a distance basis” This language was used in deciding the celebrated “food product 1o the seaboard™ cose, and stows how a rate may bs made burdensome and unjust to make up losses elsewhere. COMPLAINTS ON CORN RATES Further on in the same case Chairman Morrison enlarges upon the rate qu stion and say! “That the prices which agricultural pro- Auots now bring do not seem to the producer his equal share of the general prosperity is apparently not disputed. Transportation charges, reasonable or otherwise, always burdensome on heavy low priced com- modities, become more and more & matter of serious concern and apprehension as (he shipper 1s further removed from market lowa farmers make no impertinent inquiry when they ask why they should pay 7 cents a bushel more to market their corn than is paid by thelr Illinois neighbors—7 cents to them is more than $5,000,000 on the ycar's surplus—nor 1s it surprising that = corn | growers west of the Missourl should be urgent in demanding the reason which re- quires them to pay double as much as their neighbors In the corn states east of the Mistissippl to reach a market in which all must sell at one price. There is nothing in these very proper inquiries to justify any imputation that they imply menace to the property rights of investors in railroad property. There is nothing to show that thesa agricultural communities are wanting in consideration for the property rights of otbers, individual or corporate. Ther: is no such poverty in their sense of justice.” Further on in the opinion the able com- missloner says: “When the roads have for e ————————— | RULI 1dba shippers and Towa producers are not | ry | and | | should be actual considarable perfods In successive years carried corn from Kansas and Nebraska for 3, 4 and somellmes 6 cents less than exist- ing rates, and the officers of the roads testify that any reduction In wuch existing rales woull make them unréasonably low, some allowance is made by the corn grower and shipper for the possible bias of the wilness. .* * * When freight clinrges on agricultural products are demanded which will under all clrcumstances pay operating expenses, Iutercst on bonded debt and in ad ditlon a dividend on the capital stock, and the shipper may not question the extent and good faith of such debt, stock and obliga- tions, he does not rccognize the justice of the domand, nor fs his respect for such a rule of compensation increased by the fact that it may have high judiclal sanction.” WITIOUT PRACTICAL APPLIC, TION. Reforence s no doubt here made to the language used by Justice Brewer in th lowa injunction cases, in tha rule laid down by him as the standard for rate making a rule entirely indefensible when applied practically to the trafic conditions of the country at lar “Plain poople,” says Mr Morrison, “L that insofar as reasonable rates are by such fixed charges obligations railroad investments these nd in good faith. In the fourth Interstate Commerce commis sion report, on page 48, the following prin ciple {8 enunciated as properly orning in rate making and in determining the reasonableness of rates: “In the carriago of great st support an_enormous bu market value and actual cost tation among the cheapest commerce, rates yielding only moderate prefit 10 the carricr are both necessary and justi flable, and where the cairiers frequently put in foree and continue for considerable peri ods of time tariffs of rates and charges it | a fair inference that such and c arc profitable. * * ® The rate of 20 cents in corn from Chie and conts from St. Louis to New 4 4-10 mills per mile," comes reasonable, BASED ON WATERY Rates should not be based tion, and it the courts are universal ‘holdings that cs titled to but reasonable compenzation for their services and that the reasonableness of the charge must be based primarily ujon the amount of money actually invested in tho plant, the maintenance and operation of the same, then three-fourths of existing rates the country over are wholly unreazonable and unjust. It Is clearly apparent that reascn and equity play but miner parts in determining railway rates and tariffs. The railroad is a publc more than a pri vate property, and tho usulruct of the stock- holder therein Is a trust for the service of the public, for which service the compensa- tion returned shall be just and reasonable, and nothing more. The functions are public and must be performed in the public inter est. The supreme court of Massachusetts says that “‘a rallroad company is created by law primarily for the benefit of the puble and secondarily for the benefit of the stock holders,” and Justice Bradley of the supreme irt of the United Statos U. 8., 418, 5: Vhen a railroad company is char tered it is for the purpose of performing a duty which belengs to the state itselt. It is chartered as an agent of the state for furnishing public accommodat on. The state might build its railroads if it saw fit. It is its duty and prerogative to provide means of intercommunication between one part of its territory and ancther, and ths duly is devolved upon the legislative de partment. 1t the legislature commissions privato parties, whether corporations or in Qiv:duals, to perform this duty, it is its pre rogative to fix the fares and freights which they may charge for their servic RAILROAD'S SECRECY DENOUNCED. Thus it will be- seen that the law never contemplated and does not now contemplat that the one party in interest shall alonc possess the information as to the vaiue of the tervice rendered to the public by the public’s agent, and the refusal of the Iowa lines to Turnish the public, through the lowa commlssion, information required as to their Towa business places them where they have no moral right to challenge the reasonable ness of any rats fixed by legally constitutel authority. = A theory of rate making based upon the appraised pre.ent cash value of the propcity, cost of maintenance cof way and structural, operating and general ex yenses might be ccrrect in theory in the absence of competition and with full and a curate returns to the railroad commissioner: of the honor bright facts entering into the same. But before any amount is actually named for “fixed charges” the evaporation process sMould have a full day in court, that water may not have a prominent place in trancportation by land. ~ When raliroad managers in a few years are able to amass colossal fortunes it is difficult to persuade the average citizen that the laws looking in the direction of railroad control have been unduly oppressive and the freight rates there- under too low to be remunerative. It is difficult to persuade the common man whose lands have been taken by proce:s of law, who furnishes the traffic and provides the rovenue that he should have no voice in determining the justness of the rates charged and the manner and process by which the same is reached. It is a plain proposition for plain people and has no economic mysteries surrounding it which the common mind may not grasp. It is a question of right and justice and admits of but one answer, These rates are challenged on the broad ground that they do not afford a profitable return on the bonds and stock represinting this property. The question s, What is the actual value of the property, and not what mortgages does it float, and what slocks on top of the mortgages UNJUST BASIS FOR RATES Senator Edmunds, whose home is in New England, where the great railroad holdings of this country are largely centered, in an argument In the case of the Boston & Albany Railroad company vs the Boston & Lowell Railroad company, first volume Inter- slate Commerce commission reports, page 509, said: “Now, I submit with great respect, I think it will turn out to be o in the next tem ycars, not upon any supposed con- struction ‘of this law that you may make or on any too extended a construction of it, but as a fact in the social economies of this country, resting upon justice, which gives to every man his due and fair play to all, that every service that a railroad or any- body clse does for another under public regu- lations and of which he is not the master (as every man has a right to receive profits from his labor which he can sell at any price he oses to take or not) will be regulated meastired and les, which ud which in of transpor rticles of 8O York and by FICTION. on watery fic vight in thoir ers are en | cutaway accorling to the value to the serelce pors formed and not according to the particulas circumstances cf the person or the corporas tion who has to perform It. What right hes a miller, for illustration, to charge me 10 cents a bushel for grinding wheat because thera is a mortgage on his mil? What right has a railroad company like one out In Ohio managed by Mr. lves to put up s rates double because the amount of its stoelk has been fraudulently issued into inmocent hands? 1 will assume, and therefore to puy a profit, the rates must be ralsed and the public made to pay for it. What right has railroad to put up ils rates above & fair valuo for the torvice performed becauss the managoment has been extravagant of fortunate and got Itsclf into debt? ~1 deny the proposition,” sald this learned juris and eminent statesman, and well he may deny the proposition, for It is supromely, absurd, RAILROAI'S CLAIM The rallroads want v fixed charges, dividend ne es advane operating e n the stock may bo contend that rales are too low and offes tostimony to the «ffect ihat it costs § mille per ton por mile to carry low priced products, while the tariff sheots and expense bills show that they are carrying the samo produet for 5 mills por ton per il and even loss. The testimony of Mr. MeCullongh, traffle manages of the Chica & Northwestern Ratiroad comp is 00 file with the board of rails road commissioners of lowa, to the effect that his company gave him positive instrues tions to take no frelght at less than 47 mills pee ton por mile, while the interstate soft coal tarifs of this company show a muel wer rate on long hauls, and in the general @ of cost of carringe and receipts per ton per mile these very low rates are all figarad (n. For years the Chicago & Norths western Railway company tand for that matter the other Chicago-lowa lines as well) took as its proportion of (he corn rate from Missourl river to Chicago, 500 miles, 18 cents per 100, being but 4.8 mills per ton per mile, & commodity (hat rates several classes higher than coal, and at the same time and for a long period was carrying flour from Minneapolis to Chicago, 410 matles, for about 3 mills per ton per mile, about one-half of the average cost of transportas tion of that line. In the Ostorn cuse, 3 vme, United States Clreuit court of Aps als, page 247, the fact is admitted of anm il-cont rate on corn from Blair, Neb., to Ttocliell and Turner Junction, just out of Chicago, a 4.4 mill rate. The low st rate in lowa on corn for the longest haul in the 300 miles, is per 100, or 1% nills per ton per mile. For many years he open corn rate from Chlcago to New York has been 20 ccnts, or 4.4 mills p v ton per mile. You can find no such unp olustive rates in the lowa tarift and still they ard challenged as unreasonable and unjust, It 18 proposed to advance the lowa rates on an averags of 100 miles of 20 per cent, When it Is remembered that an advance of 1 mill per ton per mile on all the tor of the Chicago & Northwestern rail means an increased annual earnfug of ov ¢ $1,600,000 it is well to consider a little be. fore making so marked an advance as s asked for in Towa PENCER SMITH, UTED. d so that neos and & vided. They ——— FALL FASHIONS FOIR ME For formal use vests are cut from the same plece as the coat, and are made with fi or six buttons, notched collars and a liberal opening at the chest. The distinctive re brown, olive of green. The blue and red popular last among the Patent le new colors for day dress brown and deep shadss many variations of blue and mixtu which were s0 year, are no longer in vogue Jatrons of the swell tailors. her shoes are still fashionable, but they are not by any means in the lead of tho procession. The newest fad Is ens amelled grain leather. It is an English con- celt. It has the same finish as patent leather but is tougher and I8 proof against crack= ng. 'he plain bosom shirt, in both linen and percale, is the only style recognized among smart dressers. Both two and three eye- 1¢t bosoms are In good form, but the former {s the more favored. There is no option as to cuffs, the link style continuing to be he vogue. The double-breasted frock 1s here, as it has boen for two seasons past, and so are ths three-button cutaway frock and the fours jutton sack. The skirts of the re sloped gradually from aboye the fower vest button to a narrow point mot less than an inch, nor more than two inches below the knee. In collars the poke, with will lead all other styles for both day and cvening wear. A new ‘turndown” is also shown with deep points and wide spacing. It is the proper caper for conservative mem, who want to dress well and fashionably without going to extremes. There is more novelty in neckwear than in any article of men's wear this season. The Ascol is coming back into use, and so is the moderate-sized puff, Extremes of all kinds have been outlawed. The principal innoyation Is a stock rearf which can be tied into a flat bow, an Ascot, a flat, or a D> Joinville. It is the delight of the Johnoles. The fashionable fall topcoat is the Chester= fleld. It is considerably longer than in for= mer years and is wider and fuller at the bottom. The back is shaped rather closely to the lines of the body above the walst. The lapels of the collar are two inches wide and the roll should extend to the second of the five evenly spaced buttons In front. The most popular fabrics at the opening of the season are cheviots, vicunas and un= flnished worsteds. As the season advances, lowever, it is thought that clay worsteds will return to favor. The business suit par excellence 18 the four-button cutaway sack. The most stylish materials are cheviots and English plaid effects in woolley finish. The coat averages thirty-one inches in length, being a mite shorter than the sack which figured so prominently at the seaside resorts during the summer. Trousers, coat and vest are cut from the same piece, Time out of mind the tallors have been wrestling with the problem of how to make trousers that will not bag at the knees. At last they claim to have succeeded, by & simple trick in the cutting. All trousers this season will be made according (o the alleged new discovery. They will be large at the hips and will slope down with almost straight seams to the bottoms. If the widths are, say, nineteen Inches at the knees, they will be seventeen inches at the feet. Thia will enable the legs to fall in perpendicular Iines and will prevent the knees from bunch- ing. SUITS THAT WILL SHRINK (In price,) make a suit fo Omaha b. Beginning Monday,October 1st, we will, for a short time, to your measure, $25—$2g—or $30—made in our own Omaha tailors—in the most skillful manner—3500 styles of suitings to select from in the Merchant Tailoring Department | or 11z CONTINENT A L4 rioo, N. E. Corner 15th and Douglar Sts. wide spacing, . oyia