Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, April 25, 1902, Page 6

OMAHA DAILY THE OMAHA DAILY BEE E. ROSEWATER, — “ PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTIO. ally Bee (without Sund: ally Bee ana sunday, Unie Y iustrated nday Be-, turday Hee, ‘wentieth Century Farm DELIVERED BY CARRIER. ly Bee (without Sunday), ally Bee (without Bunday) ily Hee (Including Bunday per_week per week.lic Bunaay bee, per copy L Evening bee (without Sunagy), per week.1uc Evening bee (including Sunday, per week ... Vivdisegsivessssstiiesopvicoili Complaints of irregularities in dellvery shoula be uadressed to City Circulation De- partment OFFICES. maha—The Bee Bullding. outh Omana—CHy nail sullding, Twen- ty-nith ana M streets. Councll Blufis—10 Pearl Street Cnicago—isw Unity Bullding. hew York—Temple Court. Washington—wl Fourteenth Street. CORKESPONDENCE. Communications relating to news and itorfal matter shoula be addressed: mahs Bee, kditorial Lepartment. BUBINESS LETTERS, Business letters and remittances should addressed: The iee Publishing Com- pany, Umaha. REMITTANCES. Remit by draft, express or payale to Tho Bee Publishing Company. Only #-cent stamps accepted in payment of mail accounis. Personal checks, except on ©Omaha or eastern exchange, not accepted. THE BEE PUBLISHING" COMPANY. stal order, being _duly " Compan: Yotual_numper of full that the wetis & the month of March, 12, was as follows: 20,070 1. Net total sales. Net dally 20,2 GEO. B. TZSCHUCK. Bubscribed Bafors me this 3ist day of March: A b R GEORGE RASMUSHEN, i Notary Publie. The battle for tax reform has only Just begun. — Governor Savage Is heavy on reprieves with jughandle conditions. — The clubwomen have the right of way from Omaha to Los Angeles, Sp—— Indlana republicans have sounded the keynote for the next presidential cam- paign. — e——— Cuban potatoes are selling at $10 a barrel in Chicago. Can't congress re- peal the differentia — S Members of the Rea)] Estate exchange should remember the motto, “Keep your bead cool and your feet warm.” e——— Omaha still continues * to march proudly next to the head of the column among pork packing citles of America. e——— Money may make the mare go down Sn Mississippi, but it takes coln to move an electric motor car In the city of Washington. A United States senator who would engage in a scuffle with a street car conductor over a nickel ought to be rélegated to the back woods of Mis- sissippl for the balance of his days. Omaha's claims for the fusion state onvention were not pushed to any con- siderable degree. It would not have Deen safe, as Omaha is a stronghold of democracy, with a very, very slight sprinkling of populists. ————— Now that the supreme court h plearly defined the methods by which ghe value of a franchise can be ascer- tained for assessment purposes, the State Board of Equalization ought to bave no difficulty in arriving at a cor rect conclusion regarding the assessment »of railroad, telegraph and telephone com- panies. In the light of the supreme court de- klsion the assessiment of that part of the East Omaha bridge which is within the corporate limits of this ('It'y at the rate @&t which the structure would sell for scrapiron and firewood would seem a nnpendqn- farce. The bridge and ap- proach¢s were mortgaged some years Wgo at $2,000,000, but were turned in for Mssessment at something like $7,000 per saile. e New Yor® congressmen are awfully pensitive. The mere intimation from a New York paper that they are mere dummies has roused one of the repre- sentatives from the American metropo- Js to rise to a question of privilege mnd waste five minutes of the precious time of the house In self vigdication. A MNttle thing like that would scarcely Bave touched the cuticule of a member Crom. the wild and woplly, St Through a Het Springs hot air daily e learn that the most enthusiastic in- ferest of the self-styled National Edi- orial assoclation centered in its selec- tion of its place of meeting next year. The battle was a clean cut one, the rep- pesentatives from each of the coutending eities expressing their claims fu an im- preseive, strenuous manuer, but the two Bouth Omaha reporters who spoke for the press of Nebraska's metropolis car- ried the day triumphantly. One of the features of the trip to Omaha next year will be an extended trip through the Yellowstone National park. And this was all that the deadhead junketeers, who do not stand for a single first-class pewspaper in America, were striving for. Jt may be interesting also to know that they did not glve Owmaha preference until the general passenger agents had ielded to the importunities of these wallapt rough writers to extend their pxcursion privileges from Omaha to the Black Hills and Yellowstone, A MOST RIGHTEOUS DECISION. Tn granting the peremptory writ order- Ing the city council to revise its action in the equalization of the taxes of the franchised corporations of Omaha the state supreme court has rendered a righteous and far-reaching decision. The doctrine of taxation as enunciated by the supreme court is in accord with the letter and spirit of the constitutional provision that subjects the property and franchises of corporations to an equal share in the burdens of taxation that is imposed upon the property of individ- uals. By declaring vold and unconstitu. tlonal that part of sectioz 32 of the reve- nue act which requires the assessor to deduct the amount of corporate in- debtedness from the actual value of the taxable stock and real estate owned by corporations the supreme court has re- pudiated the iniquitous doctrine that the mortgages on public corporations own- ing franchises shall be deducted from the aggregate valuation of their prop. erty while the mortgages on the real es- tate of individuals and private corpora- tions are not considered as in any way diminishing the taxable value of their property. In declaring that the value of a fran- chise can be readily ascertained by add- ing together the bonds and stocks of the corporation at their market value and deducting therefrom the value of the real and personal property of the fran- chised corporation the supreme court has not only emphasized the provision of the constitution that franchises con- stitute a valuable asset of a corporation and are subject to taxation the same as I8 their real and personal property, but it has issued specific Instructions to as- sessors and boards of equalization how to figure out the value of a franchise. Equally, if not more important, 18 the ruling of the court that it is immaterial what the ratio of assessment is to the actual or market value of taxable prop- erty so long as it 1s uniformly applied to all classes of property. In other words, if the general assessment is at 40 per cent then all classes of tangible property and all franchises must pay taxes on 40 per cent of thelr actual or market value. Under the rullng of the court boards of equalization are in duty bound to level all assessments to the established standard without reference to the in- crease or decrease of revenue such ac- tion may produce. With the clear cut enunclation of the principles governing taxation In Nebraska, the way to equity in the distribution of tax burdens is clear, and no additional legislation or revision of the revenue laws could im- prove it. The beneficent effects of the declsion are by no means confined to the taxpayers of Omaha. They cover the entire state and should be halled with gratitude by every citizen Inter- ested in Its progress and prosperity. W—— PROTECTION AND RECIPROCITY. The republicans of Indiana adbere to protection and also favor reclprocity under such conditions as shall not in- terfere with home preduction. That is in accord with the policy defined by President McKinley. The Indiana plat- form further favors modifications of the tariff schedules as changing conditions may require, but such changes shall be in line with the fundamental principle of protection. This is the position taken by the republicans of Iowa in their last state platform and we think repre- sents the view of republicans very gen- erally. It will not be questioned that some of the tariff schedules could now he modified without doing violence to the principle of protection, but, there is a reasonable apprehension that to undertake a revision of the tariff at this time would more or less seriously disturb - business. As to reciprocity, there seems to be no probability of its receiving any atten- tion at the present session of congress, but it may be remarked in regard to the treatles negotiated under the Mec- Kinley administration and now in the senate that they were made with a view not to interrupting home production, the concessions in almost every Instance belng less than authorized by the Ding- ley law. ———— REPUBLICANS AND THE TRUSTS. The plank of the Indiana republican platform which will command most at tention and which will be approved by all republicans is that which declares opposition to trusts or combinations whose purpose or effort is to restrict business or control prices. This is in accord with the position of the repub- lican party since the trust issue became prominent in public attention. Four- teen years ago, in the national couven- tion of 1888, the party placed itself on record in opposition to all combinations of capital, organized in trusts or other- wise, to control arbitrarily the condl- tion of trade and recommended to con- gress and the legislatures of the states “such legislation as will prevent the execution of all schemes to oppress the people by undue charges on their sup- plies or by unjust rates for the trans- portation of their products to market.” In* response to this ‘a republican con- gress in 1800 enacted and a republican president approved the anti-trust law now in effect and which the administra- tion 1s taking steps to enforce. Everywhere republicans are opposed to combinations to restrict business or control prices and favor such legislation for their regulation and supervision as wlill prevent abuses. In the meantime they approve the effort of the adinin- istration to enforce the laws against illegal combinations and will approve the demand of the Indiana republicans “that admin tive officers, state and national, shall enforce the laws In the wost vigorous manuer, so that legiti- mate competition shall wot be embar- rassed or destroyed.” Republicans, how- ever, do not favor a rash and reckless policy of destruction in dealing with the combinations. As has been sald by President Roosevelt, “‘the mechanism of modern business is so delicate that ex- treme care must be taken not to inter- fere with it in a spirit of rashness or BEE: FRIDAY. APRIL tion, affecting all our industrial and commercial interests and far-reaching, demands careful and cautious consid- eration. Only ignorance that is inca- pable of apprehending consequences wil! counsel a policy of destruction. Wise and conservative men see the better way to be supervision and regulation, through which abuses may be prevented or remedied and the public properly protected. This Is the policy which the repub- lican administration proposes and which republicans generally concur fn. Exist- ing laws should be faithfully and vigor- ouely enforced and this the national administration is showing an earnest determination to do. Additional legis- lation should be provided giving the national government supervision and regulation of corporations engaged in interstate commerce and with this done there Is reason to belleve that most or all of the evils now complained of would disappear. Such leglslagion the people expect from the present congress and we confidently believe they will not be disappointed. THE STEAMSHIP COMBINATION. The combination of transatlantic steamship lines Is commanding quite as much attention in Europe as in this country and both official and newspaper expressions abroad show that it 1s re- garded with much serfous concern. The matter is being considered by the Brit- ish admiralty in respect to its bearing upon ship subsidies and it was an- nounced in the House of Commons yes- terday that an arrangement had been made with the British White Star line which precluded the possibility of any of its armed crulsers or merchant steamers belng transferred to a foreign flag without the consent of the admir- alty. It was intimated that the com- bination may necessitate a radical change in the subsidy arrangements. A London journal suggests that vital In- terests of the empire In time of war may be jeopardized by the new arrange- ment. German newspapers apprehend that the combination may exercise an omi- nous influence on European destiny and declare it to be the real American danger, saying that Germany cannot af- ford to be drawn into it. A Vienna paper describes it as the first world trust, says it is the most dangerous conceivable and that®the interests of the entire world are opposed to America monopolizing the whole shipping traffic of the world. Such is the profound ap- prehension that has been created abroad by this latest development of the “com- munity of interest” policy, yet the men who bave promoted it profess oply the most beneficent purposes. One of the most prominent of them says that “the object of the combination is to try to glve better transatlantic service at a decreased cost” and thelr promises are of a nature to almost persuade convic- tion that the combination may bring real benefits to shippers. It remains to be seen whether the combination, formidable as it appears, will be able to control the rates of transatlantic freights and passage. A number of strong and independent lines are not in the combination and may not enter it. Meanwhile the question whether it 1s a legal corporation Is being con- sidered, it is sald, by the Department of Justice and a high official of the de- partment s quoted as of the opinion that It may be found to be in viola- tion of the Sherman anti-trust law, which applles to combinations in re- straint of commerce with foreign na- tions as well as between the states. Mr. Morgan and his assoclates are not yet warranted in fellcitating themselves on the complete success of their scheme for controlling transatlantic commerce. St. Louis has also secured an I!dlln supply depot with a $10,000 appropria- tion to pay the salaries of a storekeeper, watchman and a few freight hustlers, but if the experience of Omaba is any criterion its Indian supply depot will prove of little advantage to its dealers in Indian supplies. If the bids for In. dlan supplies hereafter as heretofore are to be awarded on samples exhibited in Chicago, Philadelphia or New York, there is precious little to be gained for the jobbers by having a storage ware- house under the more pretentious name of depot. If Omaha jobbers have any advantage over Chicago in the delivery of canned goods and provisions it 18 be- cause they are nearer to and have better facilities for dellvering supplies at the Nebraska and South Dakota reserva- tions. For the same reason St. Louis has advantage over Omaha and Chicago in the delivery of supplies to the Indlans located in Oklahoma, Indian Territory and Texas. The location of the depot alone does not enhance these advantages or diminish the chances of Chicago in competing for the delivery of supplies to the Indlans located on Lake Superior or reservations in the far north. S Governor Savage has granted Willlam Rhea, who was under sentence to be hanged at the state penitentlary teday for the murder of Herman Zahn, a conditional reprieve until July 10, 1903, It 1s given out that the governor hopes that the next legislature will enact a law abolishing capital punishment. We ap- prebend, however, that the prospect for the abolition of capital punishment by the next legislature is not much better than the prospect of its repealing the law that makes embezzlement a peni- tentiary offence punishable by from one to twenty years. Baltimore American. Perhaps it would please our desk riors more If the commanding were selected from some collection of wax- f Live Stock. Portland Oregoniah. Within the year 1901 a total of 152,000 beet cattle were shipped from the Montans ranges, mostly to eastern mark In the same period 84,000 horses were taken out of the state, many of them for army purposes. This enormous movement of livestock from slogle Hocky moubtaly elats ludiuatos e vastness of the live stock interests on the great plateau over which less than half a century ago vast herde of buffalo roamed and grazed They Have a Kick Coming. Washington Star. Some of the western railroads have is- sued orders requiring baggage handlers to observe a certain amcunt of care. This may bring forth a protest from the trunk manufacturers. When the Wheels Are Greased. Minneapolls Times. The rivers and harbors bill, carrying $70,- 000,000 of appropriations, has gone through congress “‘as slick as grease.” Thers s nothing ltke judicious and well-distributed #0ps to the various local intereets to m=ke the path of an appropriation bill easy to travel. And Hogs Hedges, Too. Chicago News. Hogg of Texas, formerly one of the great- est of the Bryanites, has seen a light since be got rich in oll speculation. “I do mot belleve,” he sald in a recent interview, “that the state has the right to limit any man's capltal or income. There must be no interference there.” A Palpable Hit. Minneapolis Times. If Mr. Jefferson were called upon to solve the problems of this day and gen- eration he might hesitate a moment before announcing his policy, but it is easy to find an orator who can shut his eyes and let you tie both hands behind him and then tell exactly what Mr. Jefferson would do. Move the World. Chicago Chronicle, British journals clalm that the Rhodes {ll-gotten fortune bequeathed to support American and German students at Oxford will ipnaugurate ‘‘the most tremendous change the world has ever known.” Greater folly cannot be imagined. Of all possible great forces the university has always been the least. It is the contact of nations, the friction of mind upon mind, not contemplation in a closet, that moves the world. nge Indemnity Precedent. Portland Oregonlan. A bill was passed {a the senate a few days age to pay $5,000 to the widow of Judge 1. C. Parker for extraordinary service ren- dered by her husband as judge in the west- ern district of Arkansas. The bill was re- ported adversely by Senator Hoar, but he stated that as the case was absolutely “unique” he would vote for it. The coun- try has become accustomed to “precedent’* as an excuse for drawing money from the treasury, but this is the first time that a claim has been passed upen as ‘‘unique” and therefore deserving. Thus another precedent hi St Picturesque New York Tribune. That pleturesque and typical Texan, ex- Governor Hogg, talks with racy humor about his experiences abroad with capital- ists who have made investments in the ofl flelds of the Lone Star state. The ex-gov- ernor is delighttully humorous when he deciares that, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the mext president of the United States will be a democrat. How amus- 2 Ke_arney—Tricdi Kearney is the center and metropolis of the Nebraska alfalfa belt, the richest por tion of the state, with the greatest present promise of rapid development and the most perfect assurance of fincreasing values Kearney ia a compact and thriving city of —eay 6,000 people, even a trifle more Racked by the tempests of panic and financial depression, Kearney was far from wrecked. Beset by many trials, Kearney has most grandly triumphed. The dream of a manufacturing city has passed. Most of the manufactories that we had have gone, but the soll is still here and with it the water and the sunshine that make central Nebraska famous. But the soil! There is the foundation of our wealth. Drouth has no sting and the grave no victory, for alfalfa i# the “crowned head,” even though corn be king. The' soll is fitted for alfalfa and as a prop- osition for the agriculturist and stock- raiser that proposition simply surpasses the dreams of avarice. The alfalfa indus- try of this section started here and the alfalfa belt is drawn snug and tight about a block of counties in central Nebraska, none of them surpassing the county of Buf falo, none 8o well watered, none with such promising agricultural resources, for after alfalfa comes the sugar beet, and its home 18 here, The great celery industry of Liner Nebraska : Towns and Triumphant. Kearnoy will outrank Kalamazoo. The dairy Industry, revolutionized by the hand parator, i& lighting the lamp of Aladdin every farmstead. The stock industry is growing with leaps and bounds. Inevitably the great central creamery must come. If tariff tinkering doesn't apill the sugar, a beet sugar factory must follow. The cel- ery Industry is without limitations. So, for material wealth Buffalo county has a greater surety than the Rand or a Klon- dike. Kearney, the capital of this mag- nificent county, must prosper proportion- ately and with the development that is in- evitable the country tributary to Kearney will easily support a city of 20,000 people trom its agricultural resources alone. Kearney is a ecity of beautiful homes, well sustained churches and many schools —a graded publi school system, a normal and business college, a military academy and a young women's seminary, with splen- did public buildings, the finest opera house between Lincoln or Omaha and Denver, the Burlington and Union Pacific railways and Black Hills branch, altitude and at- mosphere incomparable for health and en- Joyment, water as clear as distilled dia. monds, sunshine and blue sky—Kearney of- fers all these, and who can offer more? M. A, BROWN, FOR THE STATE TICKET. Norfolk News: Among the numerous suggestions of candidates for etate office on the republican ticket {s the name of H. 8. Beck of Plerce. The Plainview Repub- lican thinks that Mr. Beck would fit into the state treasurer’s office nicely. Wayne Republican: Wayne county would certalnly join Stanton in a good, full delegation for a state treasurer of the Axen caliber. We don’t want to have to apologize for any one of the nominees this fall and with Axen on the ticket one of the two important places will be providea for. Count on twenty counties of this part of the state solid for Axen Wausa Eagle-Herald: S. Saunders of Bloomfleld has many friends in this part of the country who are urging him to be- come a candidate for the republican nom- ination of state treasurer. Mr. Saunders represented this district in the state sen- ate in the winter of 1895-6 and to say the least he done honor to himself and his con- stituents. Mr. Saunders will be a strong candidate and we should be pleased to see him receive the nomination. St. Paul Republican: The Burwell Tribune presents the name of Peter Mor- tensen of Ord for state treasurer. Mr. Mortensen made the race in 1898, running well with his ticket, but sharing the gen- eral defeat of republican candidates. He is well known to many Howard county Danish-Americans, with whom he shared the hardships of ploneer life, and is uni- versally esteemed by them as an honest, able man. His nomination would be in strict harmony with the general desire for a ticket composed of clean candidates. Pender Times: The Times belleves that ing it would be if Colonel Bryan's party should go to Texas for a candidate and nominate ex-Governor Hogg himself! It would then achleve the distinction of putting in the field the biggest and bulkiest politician How on view anywhere! Two Financial Facts. Minneapolis Times. The president of the United States has signed the bill repealing the taxes levied on account of the expenses attendant upon the Spanish-American war and at least $70,000,000 per annum will be added to the savings of the people and taken from the income of the government. Yesterday Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, the English chancellor of the English exche- quer, presented to the House of Commons budget which showed war charges of more than $225,000,000 and stated that it would be necessary, in order to make up a deficit of more than $185,000,000, to increase the income tax a penny in the pound and place a duty of 6 pence per hundred weight on meal and 8 pence per hundred weight on all imported grain. Again we are constrained to remark with the lbrettist that “war is a bountiful jade™ in the sense of lavish expenditure. The reverse of the medal might have for a motto, “Peace is & plentiful pearl.” —_—— NEW PHASE OF STATE RIGHTS. Water Rights of Interstate Before the Supreme Court. Chicago Po: The case of Kansas growing out of the dispute over the right to the waters of the Arkansas river, raises one of the most important questions that have ever come before the supreme court of the United States. It involves the rela- tions of state to state and of the states to the national government. It touches the foundation of the organic law. The trouble began when Colorado took to diverting the waters of the Arkansas for irrl- gation purposes. This river runs through 310 miles of a broad valley in Kansas, mak- ing 2,500,000 acres of land profitably arable and affecting the welfare of 100,000 persons. The rainfall throughout this valley is wholly inadequate to the growing of cultivated crops of any kind. The river is the only source of necessary molsture. Consequently, any diminution in the vol- ume of the Arkansas river must do dam- age to that part of Kansas through which it flows. The Kansans claimed that Colo- rado, by diverting this water was doing great damage to Kansas, and about a year ago they filed a bill In equity in the supreme court against Colorado, praying for a de- cree enjoining and restraining Colorado in every way from diverting the waters of the Arkansas beyond what it now does. To this bill Colorado demurred and the supreme court has just overruled the de- murrer. The case must, therefore, go to issue and proofs before final declsion. Kansas stands on the ground of the in- dividual riparian owner, and invokes the rule of the common law that owners of lands on the banks of a river are entitled to the continual flow of the stream. It co tends that Colorado is violating the fund mental principle that one must use his own s not to destroy the legal rights of an- other. Colorado contends that a soverelgn and independent state it is justified, if its geographical situation and material wel- fare demand it, in consuming for beneficl purposes all the waters within fts bound- aries, even to the extent of wholly depriv- ing Kansas of any use of or share in the waters of the Arkansas. Colorado claims that it and Kansas are toward each other s foreign states, and that Kansas possesses no sovereignty which entitles it to bring such a suit as that under discussion Quite naturally the supreme court asks at this juncture: “If a state of this union deprives another of its rights in & navigable stream, and congress has not regulated the subject, as no treaty can be made between them, how is the matter to be adjusted ™ Or in plain English, can one state of this union advance its own interests at the ex- pense of & sister state? The outcome of this case will be awaited with the keenest interest. It fnvolves, as Chief Justice Fuller has intimated, the ap- plication of federal law, state law and ia- the present state superintendent of pub- lic instruction, Mr. Willlam K. Fowler— yes, a republican—Iis the right man in the right place. He Is a thorough school man and seems to have the abllity to flll the responsible position he holds as did none of his immediate predecessors. It is a dis- grace that politics should enter into the selection of school officers, whether it be & member of the local board or the state superintendent. Men should get those posi- tions on their worth and not their abllity to corral votes. Stanton Picket: The Wayne Republican insists that Agge Axen Is a candidate for state treasurer. Perhaps he is. We have heard the statement made before, but have no direct knowledge of his being a candi- date. This is probably due to the fact, as alleged to have been stated by Mr. Axen shortly after his first election &s county treasurer, that he did not think much of newspaper notoriety and that “the Plcket did not elect him. I elected myself.” Let this be as it may. Mr. Axen made an ceptable county treasurer, is a home man, and for these reasons if for none other the Picket belleves the delegation from the county should be instructed to use all hon- orable means to secure his nomination. Osmond Republican: It is with great pleasure that we hear the name of Hon. H. 8. Beck of Plerce mentioned in connec- tion with the office of state treasurer. If the republican party of the state of Ne- braska desires a candidate for treasurer who can be elected and one who is entirely worthy of the honor it can do no wiser thing than name Mr. Beck as its cholce. Years of experience in practical banking and close study made Mr. Beck m roll of men able to perform the dutieff of any public office. We think Mr. Beck is pecullarly fitted for the high office and we feel assured that should his party name him as its candidate his campalgn would be a strong ove. His business abllity, coupled with his pleasant manner, would make him & popular can- didate. The Republican will gladly sup- port his candidacy. PERSONAL NOTES. The most famous criminal in New York is John Doe. Mulhall, the great statistician, devoted nearly thirty years to the preparation of his “Dietionary of Statistics.” Captain Fritz Honlg, the noted German writer on military affairs, is dead. His three best known books are “History of Oliver Cromwell,” “Two Brigades” and “War of Nations on the Lolre.” Governor Crane of Massachusetts has signed the bill awarding a medal to every man from his state who went out in re- sponse to President Lincoln's first call for troops. The pen with which he signed the bill has been presented to President Plerce of the “minute men of '61." ‘While visiting Goslar, in the Hartz moun- tains, recently the crewn prince of Ger- many was bombarded with snowdrops by & band of women and practically mobbed by school children. Before leaving the town the prince scattered a plenteous largess of sweets among his small admirers. Jerome Tyler Richter of Indianapolis and Napoleon Harrison Richter of Farmland, Ind., are belleved to be the only twins in the Grand Army of the Republic. They were in Company D, Fifty-seventh Indiana infantry, during the civil war and were born in Wayne county, that state, sixty-two years ago Already a movement has been started in South Carolina for the erection of a monu- ment to the late Wade Hampton. Several liberal subscriptions have been tendered There is & strong preference for an equestrian statue with the figure of the herolc Hampton as he appeared in comfed erate gray commanding the cavalry of the confederate army of northern Virginia. Senatorial elections will be beld in a num- ber of states this year and next, the terms expiring in Mareh, 1903, including those of “Billy" Mason of Illinols, Senators Platt of New York, Jones of Arkansas, Teller ot Colorado, Orville H. Platt of Connecticut, Fairbanks of Indlana, Allison of lowa, Gal linger of New Hampshire, Penrose of Penn- sylvanla, McLaurin of South Carolina and Bpocaer of Wisconsing | over | there is wide divergence between the crop BREAD SUPPLY FIGURES, Needlessly Alarming Speculations of Figure Sharps. Chicago Chronelle. People with an appetite for sensation are always looking for something to gratify it. A year or two ago Sir Willlam Crookes, an English statisticlan, startled everybody by declaring that the wheat crop would soon become inadequate to meet the demands of bread eaters, or, rather, that the demand would outrun the supply. In that case bread would be the rich man's food. The poor would have to look up something else. Mr. Fitzpatrick of our Treasury depart- ment decently undertook to refute Sir Willlam's conclusions. He admitted that the number of bread eaters has been in- creased enormously in recent years, swell- ing from about 400,000,000 in 1880 to nearly 540,000,000 a year ago. He pointed out, however, that not all avallable wheat lands are used for wheat and that any con- siderable rise in price would operate at once to increase the acreage so used Moreover, he says, that while we need now a little more than 2,300,000,000 bushels an- nually for bread purposes the average an- nual crop eince 1890 has been nearly 2,500,- 000,000, an annual surplus of 150,000,000, Recent figures indicate that he is con- siderably within the facts. He gives the | product of the United States at something 400,000,000 bushels annually, while somebody has recently pointed out that estimates apparently used by Mr. Fitz- patrick and the returns of crops In the census reports. The latter make our an- nual product something more than 700,- | 000,000 bushels. If this is correct the sur- | plus is greatly larger than Sir Willlam ori Mr. Fitzpatrick based their estimates on. | These gentlemen, all of them, seem to be indulging quite unnecessarily in needlessly alarming speculations. Local and tem- porary shortages of product there have been and doubtless will be again, but there 1s o sound sense {n alarmism of any kind. ' If wheat falls short permanently some- thing else will be found to fill its place. When the power of this old globe to sus- tain the population it produces begins to fall off seriously, if ever, it will be ages hence. Men who may live in that day will have ample warning outside the figures of speculating statisticians, These latter can have no effect now other than to play Into the hands of another class of speculators—those who manipulate mar- kete—and but little even In that regard. PASSING OF A SMILE-MAKER. The Good that Frank Stockton Did in the World of Letters, New York Sun. Mr. Stockton was within two years of three score and ten when he died at Wash- ington on Sunday last, but it seems as it one of the younger generation had passed away. His talent was unsoured to the end. His atories of every sort were set in a general atmosphere of friendliness and good faith, extending to beasts, insects and inanimate objects. He could not have depicted a villaln or a sombre or sordid transaction if he had ever tried. His burglars were amiable criminals, his canni- bals fine sympathetic mal and his ghosts and hobgoblins reasonable, well- affected beings. Everything, no matter how realistic the intention, proceeded in & so- clable, sunshiny way, even If it happened to be a midnight horror or a desperate naval encounter. The all-pervading friendliness of genlal fairy-tale was distinctive of Mr. Stockton's humor, and it was partly due to his art and method, but chlefly to per- sonal temperament and attitude toward men and things. Those who were juvenile in the '70s will remember him longest, per- haps, as the author of several of the most charming books for children that any Amer- fcan writer has produced. The same char- acteristics appeared in all he did after |, Pomona of Rudder Grange had commended him, twenty years and more ago, to an older, but hardly less affectionate audi- ence. He wrote industriously, but not too (4 When | wild_oats!” Not alone the pale the |And a Glores of Childhood's playtime, industriously novelties of doxes, His mind was inventive of situation, of para of exagge trained and of Ingenious perversions of the laws of nature and of human ility ¥ inborn reflnement kept him always on eafe side of the frontier, short of ¢ ness and burlesque A gentle spirit, a whimsical imaginat & delicate perception of the humor turviness, and an absolute free from malice or bitterness, were ties which made Frank Stockton one ot the most admirab and widely belovea of American entertainers durihg the fourth quarter of the last century, pleasant rations never ove re arses ot tops: om of soul the quali- AFTERMATH OF BRY ANISM, OMAHA, April 24.—To the Editor of The Bee: The Bee I entitied to the thanks of the people for its exposure of the senseless hue and cry about the latest myth of the soclalistic agltators, which they call the “Beef' trust.” 1t there is a beef trust it originates and alone exists among the farm- ers and cattle ralsers of this and other states. With steers on the hoef bringing In the open markets of Chicago and Omaha from 7 to § cents per pound, it is plain enough that the rich gains from the ad vance in the price of beof goes to the men who produce and sell steers and not to the packers. Beet Is high because fattened steers are scarce and corn and other cattle toods are high. But I wish to say in The Bee that the outcry about the Beet trust marks only one more phase of the aftermath of all those financial and economic fallacles and false teachings which may be grouped under the head of Bryanism. It shows, as mothing else could show, the malign Influence which Mr. Bryan's hare-brained declarations have wrought upon all financal, commercial and economic subjects. On the money question he was always wrong and mever right. Every prediction he ever made about the re lations of prices and values to the world's eound money standard has been overthrown and made ridiculous by events, and the cli- max of his absurdities as a leader of the party which he has well-nigh destroyed 18 seen In his acrobatic performance om the Spanish war and the treaty of Paris, in which he deliberately butchers every fssue upon which the natlonal democracy could make a consistent stand against a colonial GEORGE L. MILLER. Detroit Free Press: Mr. Slowpa: What kind of bread do you call t Harduppe? It seems very scarce. Mrs. Harduppe—Short cake. Philadelphia Press: “Well, I've lost the Job he gave me." " “Too bad. Isn't there anything for to, fall back on?" i oy “Not unless somebody digs a hole under me. I'm flat now." Chicago Tribune: *I wish T never had overworked my eyes!" sighed the fllustrious sage. “Your wish is granted,” sald his fairy godmother, suddenly appearing She her staff and van- ished tapped him with an {gnoramus again, and, lo, he wa Washington Star: Dy think a oes Miss Billlons reat deal of the nobleman she married?” sald one young woman. “Yes," answered the other; “she s as proud of him as she can be. 'She says he was such & bargain. 8 Baltimore American nounces the young man the door of the barroom, “Whoop!" an- ho careens from T am sowin’ my “Well, you may be' commented the hone: rustic, who views him with some interest, “but whoever did your plowin' for you must 'a’ set ye some crooked furrers. Chicago Record-Herald: “It seems to make Boaddington’s wits an - med as ' hornet every time he boasts that he began at the foot and worked his way up." “Well, he started in as a bootblack, you know." New York Sun: *I understand that they fought to_a dra: “Yes. Bach one of them drew about 000 in prize money and gate receipts.” Cleveland Plaln Dealer: “That bill to license cats was defeated in the Massa chusetts legislature.” “What will the cats do now?" “Everything that's in the old category, I suppose.’” DAFFODILS, Golden challces of gladness _Gleaming in the woodland ways, Exorcising winter's sadness, Pledge of promised golden days— Hope awakens, sweet daffodils, When ye shine upon the hills. Sure T am some spell {s hidden In thee, flower of lowly Dirth— Lifting thy glad face unbidden O'er_the yet scarce stirring earth Ere spring comes—a spell to move All that see thee, thee to love. fold raying Round the deep gold heart between, Nor thy slender form's soft swaying Midst thy bodyguard in green, Something in thee more than this Fills the gazer's heart with bliss, In_the tale swift iemory bringin Does thy fascin.ilon e, il How of old, amid their sin Poets loved to see thee nigh, And how they would faln rehearse Thy delights in deathless verse? He, in savage Devon dwelling, Beauly loving, poet-priest, Oft to thee quaint fancles telling— Of thy singers not the least— Smiled to greet thee by the way As he duly passed to pray. eater bard once wandering Thoughtful over vales and hills, Sudden ceased his pensive pondering As a_host of daffodils Flashed upon his sight a joy Time nor change could e‘er destroy, Many another has extolled thee, Daffodil, since earth was young, reat song enfold thee Favored theme of honeyed tonkue! Yet 'tis not the poet's art Gives thee power to touch the heart. Tis the subtle recollection Thou canst wake of Springs long past, outh’s affection, Joys foregone, with thee linked fast— These live ever; thou art here In the Springtide every year. Help them to help them- selves. 'What better deed? " Then why not tell your friend who is ill just what Ayer’s Sarsa- parilla has done for you? you see a person weak and pale, neryous and debili tated, just recommend our Sarsa- * parilla. If indoubt aboutthis,askyour doctor if he knows of anything better. “A neighbor of mine bad & child who had suffsed from scrafula for a long time, Having used for a great many years, and always with sal Ayer's Sarsaparilia io my own family results, I recom. mended it 1o my neighbor. The child was quickly cu'ed, and the parents were greatly delighted.” — N, K. Drax, $L88. Al Druggists. Spencer, Ind. 4 4.C.AVER CO., Lowell, Mass.