Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, December 27, 1902, Page 6

THE OMAHA DAILY BEE: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1902. THE OMAHA DALY BEE E. ROSEWATER, EDITOR. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. Daily Bee (without Sunday), One Y Daily Bee and Sunday, One Yea 1llustrated Bee, One Year Bunday Bee, One Year.. Saturday Bee, One Year. Twentleth Century Farmer, Orie Yea DELIVERED BY CARRIER. Daily Bee (without Sunday), per copy... 3¢ Dailly Bee (without Sunday), per week..lic Daily Bee (Inciuding Sunday), per week.1jc Sunday Bee, per copy.. 6o Evening Bee (withouf SBunday), pe Eveniug Bee (including Sunday week .. 100 Complaints of frreguiarities in deiivery Should be addressed to City Circulation De: partment OFFICES. Omaha—The Bee Bulldin sgum ‘Omaha—City Hall Buflding, Twen- ty-Afth and M Streets. Council Bluffa—10 Pear] Street. Chltlgo-—llw Unity Bullding. New York—228 Park Row ‘!ulldln'. Washington—601 Fourteenth Street. CORRESPONDENC Communications relating to news and itorial matter should be addressed: Omaha Bee, Editorial Department. .8 (3 2 1 1. STATEMENT OF CIRCULATION. BState of Nebratks, Douglas County, H George B. Tusiiuck, ‘secretary of The Bee Publiahiing Company, being Quly SWOFD. says that the actual number of full and gomplete coples of The Daily, Morning, Evening and Sunday Bee printed during the month of November, 102, was as follows: Net average sales GEORGE B. TZSCHUCK. Subscribed in my presence and sworn to before me this Mth day of November, A. D. al) Notary Public. e The fact that Jobhn L. Sullivan bas again signed the pledge is another sea- sonable indication. ] Mr. Senatorial Deadlock threatens to transfer his home, at least temporarily, trom Nebraska to Colorado. Em——— The first business in order for every Nebraska legislature is to repeal the bills passed by the preceding legislature. S It costs a big sum of money to stamp out the cattle foot and mouth disease, but it woyld cost far more not to stamp 1t out. S In biblical parlance, the burning up of the two big barns and 500 sheep at the Unfon stock yards at South Omaha was a Ohristmas burnt offering. ee——— Submarine cableé magnates manifest no anxiety over the specter of wireless com- petition, and the stock market reports in- ficate no panic on this score. e ] Prof, Eates’ dlscovery that thoughts have color has long been well known in the newspaper profession, at least with respect to one color of journalism. © S—————— The most varied assortmepnt of Santa Dlaus bric-a-brac is being unloaded upon the dead letter office at Washington for lack of proper directions to the postal carriers. eE——— If any member of the Douglas delega- tion has anything under his hat or up his sleeve he would confer a favor on his constituents by taking them into his ronfidence. SR The completion of the Pacific cable be- tween San Francisco and Hawall will relieve the country from the periodic press news from Honolulu by steamer ria Victorla, B. O. V" ———— The Commercial club has appointed a committee to formulate amendments to the city charter. The first question that naturally presents itself is “Will the tommittee ever meet?’ S—— The cattlemen would doubtless apper- clate the actual help of the Denver Hu- mane soclety in watering and sheltering the exposed cattle more than mere doc- umentary evidence of sympathy for the suffering brutes. S | No doubt is entertained among the well Informed at Salt Lake that Reed Smoot controls a good majority of the Utah legislature for the United States sena- torship, and whatever else his enemles Are saying against him no one charges that he is talking too much. e Ex-Secretary Olney has politely de- tlined an invitation to be the star guest of the forthcoming Jacksonian banquet in this city. If Mr. Olney is ever to be the democratic candidate for president the honor will have to be thrust upon him without waiting for his aid or consent, S One of the bills which the senate In- herited from the last congress is for an amended federal bankruptey law. It cures most of the defects which experi- ence has developed in the present law, and was so carefully drawn as to pass the house with very little opposition. It i3 In such shape that it might easily bave been disposed of by the senate be- fore the holiday adjournment. oo ———— Kansas City grain men complain that the Burlington railroad has declared an embargo agalust thelr town by refusing to furnish cars for Kansas City ship- ments from southern Nebraska towns, trom which pearly half the graln handled by Kansas City grain dealers smanates. Omabe graln men make no complaint. They have not been troubled in the least by the embargo on the south- arn Nebraska winter wheat belt, | to its jurisdiction.” WILL GO TO THE HAGUE COURT. The European governments have agreed to submit the Venezuelan dispute to The Hague tribunal and Venezuela is willing to have the claims against ber passed upon by that international court. Although not a signer of the arbitration convention, that agreement makes provision for the arbitration of controversies between signatory and non signatory powers. Article xxviof the convention says: “The iuternational bureau at The Hague is authorized to put its offices and its staff at the dis- posal of the signatory powers, fof the performance of the duties of any special tribunal of arbitration. The jurisdiction of the permanent court may be ex- tended, under conditions prescribed by its rules, to controversies existing be- tween non-signatory powers, or between signatory powers and non-signatory powers, If the parties agree to submit In urging that the Venezuelan dispute be submitted to this tribunal President Roosevelt acted in conformity with the spirit of the arbitra- tion convention, which made the inter- nntional court accessible to all countries rather than to those only which signed the convention. Created in the Interest of peace, The Hague tribunal is open to any government that may wish to have a controversy with another government submitted to arbitration. Our government having proposed that the Venezuelan dispute be taken to The Hague court, the acceptance by the Efiropean governments 1s ' particularly gratifying. It very greatly simplifies the situation and it 1s not probable that any new complications will arise. It is stated that the Monroe doctrine will not be involved in the arbitration and cer- tainly there Is no reason why it should be. The course of the European govern- ments in dealing with Venezuela has not been such as to call for the application of that doctrine and those governments have very explicitly declared that they had no intention to contravene it. On the other hand, our government has dis- tinctly sald that the doctrine cannot be invoked to shield a country that refuses to pay its just debts from such coereive meastires on the part of creditors to collect the debts as are held to be legitl- mate and which do not involve the taking of territory. This Is now fully understood and it s perfectly clear that the Monroe doctrine does not enter into the matter and has no bearing whatever upon the controversy. It is sald to be the feeling at Wash- ington that our government should insfst upon the blockade being called off while arbitration fs In progress. The Euro- pean governments will act wisely if they shall suspend the blockade without being asked to do so, as they could hardly find justifying reasons for main- taining it after having submitted thelr claims to arbitration. Manifestly under such circumstances it would be most un- Just to neutral countries to continue the blockade and besides nothing would be gained by doing 8o, but on the contrary it would be a-losing policy, since the effect would be to lessen Venezuela's abllity to pay, in the event of the award being against her. When the Buropean governments have taken thelr claims into court coercive measures should be abandoned and probably this will be done. EEE— THE OUAST DEFENSES. During the last fifteen years over $50,000,000 has been spent in carrying out the plan of coast defenses devised by a board of strategists of the army and navy. That plan has been strictly fol- lowed and with good results, but it ap- pears that In the judgment of officers of the army and navy it is time to re- vise the plan and provision is to be made in the fortifications appropriation bill for the appointment of a commission to modernize the present scheme for the coast defense of the country. The ne- cessity for this grows out of the condl- tion of our insular possessions. Terri- torfal expansion and the establishing of numerous coaling stations, which of course must have defenses, has created new requirements, ‘These must have proper consideration, but not at any sacrifice of the defenses on our home seacoasts. While these have beem very much improved, there are still points on the Atlantic coast that need attentlon and these should not be neglected in order to provide stations in the Philippines or elsewhere. Of course these must be cared for, but at the same time the the coast defenses of the United States must continue to be looked after and Improved and strengthened wher- ever required. This !s not less essen- tial to our security than is an adequate navy, which the country now realizes we must have and maintain. A thorough system of coast defenses together with an adequate navy constitute the best guaranty of peace. —_— HELPING THE PRILIPPINES. Unquestionably the proposed reauction of tariff duties on Philippine products coming into the United States would be very helpful to the archipelago. It would insure a greatly Increased trade with this country in what the island pro- duces and thus serve to stimulate and improve industrial conditions there. The value of this in the good effect it would have upon the Filipino people cannot easlly be overestimated. Nothing con- tributes more to the creation of mutual confidence than close commercial rela tions and the Filipino people, when they shall realize that the trade of their coun- try Is growing and that this is due to the favor of the United States, will as- suredly think better of Americans and of American government, There are some who advocate free trade with the Philippives, but this is clearly not practicable at present for the reason that the Philipplne government needs the revenue, all dutles collected in our custom houses on Philippine prod ucts belng pald into the Philippine treas- ury. The San Framcisco Chronicle fa- vors free trade with the islands becausc “while we govgrn the Filipinos it is our duty to do the best that can be done for them.” This may be admitted, yet duties one-fourth of the Dingley rates would not be a hardship to the Filipinos and it Is better to provide revenue in this way than by imposing additional internal taxation. Twenty-five percent of the Dingley duties will not be bur- densome and will probably supply more revenue than the Philippine government now gets, which will enable that govern- ment to do a great deal for the benefit of the islands and will avold the neces- sity which there would otherwise be of more heavily taxing the people. DEMUCRATIC FIGHT IN I0WA. There has been no doubt that a strenu- ous struggle would be carried on be- tween the Bryan and the conservative factions of the Iowa democracy for con- trol of its next state convention, but it has not been anticipated that its pre- liminaries would begin at so early a date. Nevertheless the Bryan leaders are already preparing and, It is under- stood, have agreed upon the issue, which is the reafirmation of the Kansas City platform, or Incidentally the same posi- tion they took In this year's contest. The followers of Mr. Bryan cannot get into the fight too early or‘prosecute it too vigorously, for they hold a far less ad- vantageous position in lowa for the com- ing year than was theirs at the opening of this year. The result of the state conventlon last June was the disastrous defeat of those who stood with Mr. Bryan for reaffirmation of the Kansas City platform, losing control of the state central committee and of the party organization in many of the congres- sional districts and counties where their influence had been dominant for six or elght years. But the most serlous re- sult of that defeat was the encourage- ment it gave to a vast number of demo- crats who from discontent with the Bryan leadership had elther silently voted the republican ticket or sullenly withdrawn from activity in the party. These opponents of the Bryan program are now far more formidable than they were. It will not be easy for Mr. Bryan to stand aloof from active participation in the Iowa fight. Many of his followers feel that if he had rendered timely as- sistance he could certainly have turned the scale in the last state convention, which was doubtful up to the very last, and they will demand something more than a waiting policy on his part till after the result {s decided and then a denunciation of the “cowardice” of the triumphant conservatives. Moreover, it can be safely predicted that the con- servatives, if they again win In Iowa in 1008, will have mno difficulty In win- ning In that state and in the national convention the next yea CUBAN RECIPROVITY. According to the most trustworthy in- formation from Washington the outlook for the Cuban rediprocity treaty is not favorable.’ The fact appears to be that the opposition to granting a tariff con- cession to Cuban sugar and tobacco is quite as strong now as at the last ses- sion of congress. So far as now seen there Is no reason to believe that the hostility to the propesition to admit Cuban products to the American mar- ket at a reduced tariff rate Is less pro- nounced than at the last session, when It was strong enough to prevent the passage by the senate of the bill pro- viding for a reduction to 25 per cent of the tariff on the products of the island of Cuba. It is definitely announced by the beet sugar interest of the United States that it proposes to continue its opposition to the proposed tariff concession on Cuban sugar, and there Is ne_question that it has a stronger position now than it had & year ago, for the reason that Cuba Is very much better off than when this question was first presented for consid- eration. As a matter of fact Cuba does not now need any help industrially or commerclally, the truth being that the new republic 1s getting along very nicely and with every prospect favor- able to its continued progress and ad- vancement. ‘The question of closer trade relations with Cuba, therefore, is not so much as to the benefits that might result to that country as it 1s to the advantages that would accrue to our own trade with the neighbor republic. We are now having a very considerable and profit- able commerce with Cuba. The ques- tion is whether we shall increase it, and the answer is to be found in the pend- ing treaty. SUGGESTIONS T0 THE COUNTY BOARD, The people of Douglas county are to be congratulated upon the announce- ment that the Board of County Commis- sloners has decided to turn over a new leaf with the opening of the new year There has been a great deal of room for reform in county management and the board, can, If it Is so disposed, save the taxpayers anywhere from $25,000 to $100,000 a year by lopping off sinecures and plugging up leaks. Much will de- pend upon th¢ manner In which the board goes about this business and the abllity of members to withstand the pressure from outside. Thoe fivst step in the line of reform will be an inventory of all the property be- longing to the county from every county officer and custodian. The next thing in order should be an overhauling of every office from sheriff down to storekeeper with a view to as- certalning how many employes are ac- tually needed for an eflicient discharge of the duties devolving upon each of the several departments and how many sine- cures are on the pay roll. Next in order should be the adoption of regulations in every department that will enforce accountability and insure efficlency in every department, coupled vith the adoption of stringent regula- tions concerning the disbursement of county funds. No money should be pald out of the county treasury except by resolution adopted by & majority of the board on a recorded vote before the service is ren- dered or the materials furnished are purchased. All road and bridge work should be done by contract, awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, and no payment for contract work should be made before the grading or bridge construction has been inspected and certified to by the county surveyor, The county hospital has been a source of extravagance and wastefulness in the past and the new 1903 broom should be vigorously applied to the abuses that infect that Institution. The city of Omaha is a corporation that owns more than $100,000,000 worth of property, whose stockholders are the taxpaying citizens. The supervision, management and control of this $100,- 000,000 corporation is vested In a di- rector general ealled mayor and a board of nine directors called councilmen, who disburse more than $1,000,000 a year and collect back that amount from the stock- holders through the lgvy of taxes. A new board of ‘directors for this great corporation is elected once every three years. The next eléction will take place the first Tuesday in March, 1903, and It behooves the stockholders, as a matter of self-interest and mutual protection, to size up the timber at their disposal or, in other words, pick out the men that are to manage the affalrs of the corpora- tion for the next three years. e ——— Down in Greater New York where the whole police department s under the direct control and supervision of a single police commissioner appointed by the mayor, some of the politicians have been trylng to Induce Governor Odell to offer his advice to Mayor Low in the selec- tion of a successor to the present incum- bent, who Is about to retire, but the gov- ernor refuses to mix In. - Governor Odell Is sald to have declared emphatically that he is a firm bellever in municipal home rule and that he does not believe it to be In the province of the governor of New York to Interfere In purely loeal matters unless the duties of his office required it.. Governer Odell has the right idea on this subject and his posi- tion could well be emulated by other governors. Baltimore American. Wireless telegraphy is a grand achieve- ment of the century, but it will never be complete until it results in poleless streets. Theories Rudely Shatter New York World. Trusts have pointed with pride to the Standard Ofl as an instance where monop- oly has lowered the price of a product. Now comes the squeeze, colncident with the op- portunity, —_— Bracing for a Lickt San Francisco Call. Colombla, free from fighting with itself, now wants to plok a quarrel with Nica- ragua and passibly gain control of both avallable isthmian eanal routes. Some of these days Colopbla may wake up and find itself off the mag, —— Liberality with a Lesson. Chicago Record-Herald. A Chicago man has given $40,000 to a Mil- waukee girl because she was kind to him when they met as strangers on a rallway train three years ago. After this it ought to be reasonably easy for & man to strike up an acquaintance with the woman who is traveling alone. —— The Way the Wind Blows, Boston Herald, The haste and unanimity with which both parties in congress tumble over each other to vote a half million dollars to prosecute the trusts denote a very lively appreciation on their part of the direction in which the wind is blowing just at pres- ent. Meanwhile the trustward tendency does not seem to abate appreciably. —_— Starty; Rear, Chicago Chronicle. The elrcumstance that a port held by the Venezuelan rebels is not blockaded by the allies seems to indicate that the bill col- lectors have formed an alllance with the tn- surgents. Whether these latter persons, if they be successtul, will prove any better pay than the present administration is & matter which Mr. Bull and his associates may do well to consider. Otherwise, the de- vice of harrying a debtor by encouraging his enemies looks to be of questionable value. s the Way, Philadelphia Record. Just mow the cry from Washington ls: “Important legislation will be taken up im- mediately after the Atter the re- cess the tune will be. Appropriation bills and other necessary routine legislation will have the right of way. Other important legislation will have to go over for the con- sideration of the next congress.” These are the usual “before recess” and “after re- cess” amnouncements. Routine bars the . It 18 the whip that the obstructionist stalwarts hold over the head of the strenu- ous Roosevelt. Intolerable Diserimination, Philadelphia Press. The Interstate Commerce commissign has been bringing out some startling facts in New York. It appears, for instance, that vulcanite cement is shipped from Antwerp, Belgium, or from Hamburg, Germany, to East St. Louis for 65 cents a barrel, while the rate from New Yogk City is 66 1-5 cents. Crockery, If imported, Is taken from New York to Chicago for 18 cents per 100 pounds, but the charge on the domestic product is 65 cents. Evidently the rallroad managers are seeking to reduce the tarifl. Such gross discrimination: pped for His Task. Boston Herald. Our Minister Bowen at Venezuela appears to be well equipped for the emergency. He has been in the consular and diplo- matic service for twelve years and is a son of the late Henry C. Bowen of the New York Independent. He was transferred to his present post from Spain, where as consul at Barcelona he got a good insight into Spauish character. Besides being a diplomat he s a poet, & fighter and a Italian and beside his native English. Born in New York, he wés educated in Germany, Italy and France before entering Yale and the law school of Columbia university. When he was a student at Yale he had & little dificulty with a tutor on matters scholarship and he was staduated somewhat prematurely, but quite likely both the tutor and Yale have forgiven him before this, now that he has achieved an homorable distinetion in the public service, besides writing & book on intervational law which is rated of stand- ard quality, NEW ERA IN TELEGRAPHY, Mareos Great Triumph and What New York Tribune. The Interchange of messages between the old world and the new now authoritatively announced, was definitely foreshadowed last February while Marcon! was on board the steamship Philadelphia. His previous experiments on Signal Hill, Newfound. land, last December, however convineing to him Individually, were unsatisfactory as a public demonstration. It s not cus- tomary to accept the amnouncement of a sclentific discovery or achievement on the strength of any one man's word. Self- deception 18 so common an experfonce among reputable inventors and Investiga- tors that corroboration is absolutely nee- essary. This was afforded by the self- registering instruments and the testimony of the ship's officers in Marconi's later tests while himself crossing the poean. The public was then fully justified in belleVing that messages had been recelved 1,660 miles from Poldhu and sign at a distance of 2,100. In order to attaln his recemt success Marcon! has overcome several obstacles, real or imaginary, which beset his earlier efforts. Neither high mountains nor the bulging of the earth’s surfac between stations interfere now with transmission. The paralyzing influence of daylight upon communication can be overcome by using more power at the sending statlon. Marked improvements, too, have been made in the recelver. Marconl's own magnetic detec- tor will handle could take only fifteen. It ie not certain how effectually he will deal with two other embarrassments. Some of the Poldhu mesesges which were addressed to Carlo Alberto last summer were picked up by people for whom they were not intended. Perhaps the sending instruments had not then been #tuned.” The virtues of the means which Marconl proposes to employ for insuring secrecy have not yet been fully ascertained. Nor does the public know how well he can protect his com- munication from malicious interruption and confusion. Still, his past progre: in- splres confidence concerning theso remain- ing defects In the system. It is not to be supposed that the methods and apparatus used during the last few days represent the highest stage of development in the art. Whatever be the imperfection in wireless telegraphy as now practiced, one cannot but admire the manner in which it has been brought to its present degree of perfection by Marconi. Others had thought vaguely of the same thing, and had even devised ap- | paratus having the same object in view. | But they either abandoned the idea tem- | porarily or failed to work out a solution of | the difficulties which they encountered. So far as practical results are concerned, Mar- cont {s really the ploneer in wireless teleg- | raphy. He has gone ahead where others | have halted, He has worked while others | talked. He has been pecullarly modest and reticent, rarely talking except when at- tacked. So far as the public can judge, he has borne himself in a manly fashion to- ward all rivals. To the sugkestion that the marquis of Solari has been unfairly dealt with there are several effactive an- swers. One ia furnished by the many hon- ors bestowed on Marconi by the king of Italy during the last few months, and an- other was afforded by the fact that Solari himself accompanied Marcont all last sum- mer and fall on board Carlo Alberto. As for “priority of invention,” it anyone has anticipated the young Anglo-Italian the courts will no doubt ascertain the fact in due time. Untll the world has new light on the subject it will regard, him as a gentle- man as well as a genius, and accord him the chief glory of making transoceanic wireless telegraphy possible. POLITICAL NOTES, i State capltals will soon be a feature of political date lines. They are all Jumping on Dave Hill, par- ticularly his political associates. But Dave isn't saying a word. He is too sore for utterance. The total vote cast for soclallat candi- dates at this yea election was heaviest in Massachusetts, in which the combined votes of the two socialist parties waa in excess of 36,000. General Charles Dick, who is an avowed candidate for the republican nomination for governor of Ohio, is now serving his third term in congress as representative from the Nineteenth district of the state and has been elected to the next congress. There is & proposition on foot in Ver- mont, which has recently experfenced a sort of political awakening, to change the capital from Montpelier to Burlington, the chiet commercial city of the Green Moun- THE OLD RELIABLE pova Absolutely Pure THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE OTHER LANDS THAN OURS. The national spirit of the Finns has not been crushed by the varlous adopted to effect their Russianization. Ri | ports have just leaked out of a meeting | that was held at Helsingfors in the middle | of November. Between 200 and 300 persons | were present, including a number of farm- | ers and representatives of the working | classes. Among other resolutions adopted was the following: “That this assembly | considers it imperative, for the maint | mance of our political and national exist ence, to continue everywhere, unswery- ingly, and until legal conditions are re- stored to the country, the passive resist- ance against all measures conflicting with, lculated to abolish, our fundamental What {s meant by passive resist- {ance the Russian authorities well know. It implies a dogged refusal to comply with any regulation which is held to confiict with the immemorial rights of the nation. One result of this attitude of the people was the failure of tbe attempt to carry into effect the new army edict at the army levy last spring, when about 60 per cent of the young men refused to present them- selves. It was predicted in the Russian press that the recent ordinances would quell resistance, but It is plain that they have had no such effect. The meeting also passed a vote of want of confidence against the Senate for their lack of firmness in withstanding Russification and their mis- placed zeal in furthering illegal measures. . While the news from South Africa does not go to the extent of a declaration of anarchy, all the indications point to a condition of affairs not far removed from it. Thousands of mechanics and others emigrated from Australi; many more who were in the army remained in Cape Town Instead of returning to England. The result is that the labor market is Lighly overstocked and must_continue to be for some time. There is much building to be done, but there is no material to do it with, Merchants reo- ognize an opportunity to go into manufac- turing, but there is no machinery. Mines are idle, because it is not known what stand the government is to take with re- gard to taxation. Farming 18 poor be- | cause the British army and the Boer rald- ers depleted or stampeded the”stock and worked general destruction., In short, the country is in a state of chaos, and the needed to straighten out matters. Rents are soaring, provisions are high and board or lodgings can only be procured by the man with the long purse. With a large class of men In South Africa it 18 not a question of beg or starve, even i begging would do #ny good. It s, since they can- not find work to do, either to steal or arve and they prefer the former to the alternative. With stealing naturally go assaults, and occasionally an assault re- sults in murder; hence at the present time South Africa 18 a good place to stay away trom. e The British admiralty Is really waking up, it such emergetic reformers as Ad- miral Henderson and Admiral Lord Cha. les tain state. Vermont will vote on the pro- posed new local license law to supersede the prohibition law early next year. Henry Watterson s searching for a ray of hope in the political outlook for 1902. Cleveland and Bryan he regards as impos- Dave Hill's aspirations are classed were eliminated by the result of the last election. “Who the unknown may be,” concludes the colonel, “remains a eecret to all except the Creat The e of Texas has pending just now a controversy as to its boundaries, the irregularity and uncertainty of which have ‘been in dispute before. Several southern states have like disputes pend- Ing and & few southern citles well. The long contention over the boundary line between Grayson and Carroll counties, Virginia, has recently been established by a survey. After an ipterval of many years Nevada will have, after March 4, a democratic senator The retirement of John P. Jones of that state will leave Willlam Allison of Iowa the senior senator, in unbroken service. He first took his seat on March 4, 1873, and by subsequent elections has served continuously since, a period of thirty years. His present term will mot expire untll March 4. Senator Allison is & native of Ohlo. He was a member of the house of representatives for four terms before his election to the senate. La Voz Del, a Mexican newspaper, dis- cussing the low price of silver, gives an instructive lesson on “free silver” and the an rous effect of a fluctuating curreacy. “At pr ' says the Mexican paper, “there exists in Mexico a surplus stock of silver to the amount of $180,000,000, and, consequently, when the price of silver Beresford may be belleved. The former #ald the other day at Plymouth that he thought that the lesson of the South Af- rican war had been taken to heart by the suthorities. There had been a change for the better already in the material, and the change In the personnel would come soon. Every officer and man who had to form the navy of the future must have a common entry, must have a common tralning, and must be prepared to take upon his shoul- ders every one of the multifarious duties which were connected with the control of the warship of the present day. Lord Charles Berestord also declares his con- viction that the scheme which the admir- alty has in hand will prove of the greatest possible benefit to the service, and he Inti- mates that it will prove to be one of the most drastic that could have been con- celved. Alread e says, the Mediterranean fleet has been strengthened, the coal supply Eas been Increased and plans have been formulated to regulate the action of the fleet In case of war. Special commitiees bave been formulated to regulate the action of manning the reserves.etc. Lord Charles vigorously denounced the habit of patching damaged bollers. Faulty bollers, he said, ought to be put on the scrap heap and replaced by new ones - Some of the London newspapers are printing details of the consequences of the prolonged drouth in Australia, chiefly in the provinces of New South Wales and Queenslend. It is estim; that the total wheat shortage in Australia is 13,000,000 bushels, of which New South Wales has lost 6,600,000. Families in parts of Queens- land are living on bran and treacle, bought originally as a makeshift food for sheep, It is oficially calculated that there are goes down 1 cent we lose $1,800,000, which 1s & permanent loss to the country and a great drain on the public wealth. Taxes and contributions to the government paid in sliver. The taxes and contributions amount to $100,000,000 annually, while the salaries paid to the varlous government employes amount to $5,000,000. The part of the government debt which is payable fn silver amounts to $300,000,000. The value of urban property amounts to $2560,000,000. To sum ‘The government loses §1,000 000, the employes of the government $50, 000, the creditors $3,000,000 and the own- ers of urban property $2,600.000 each time the value of the silver dollar fluctuates 1 cent. During the present year the value of sllver bas gone down nearly 10 cents. Morgan Agrees to Furnish Heat. NEW YORK, Dec. 26.—The sult against 3. P. M evelson, for the romised Mo n's agents t be an {mim supply of coal Mr. lhrould be odlal e Louse not 20,000,000 sheep left in New South Wales, as compared with 60,000,000 five years ago. Squatters bhave dismissed the bulk of thelr employes, retaining only a few hands necessary to burn the carcasses of sheep and cattle where they have dropped dead in the paddocks. One’ man who originally had 26,000 sheep preserved by artificial feeding saw the majority die, and lately, in consequence of the price of fodder, cut the throats of the survivors. Another claims that he spent £100,000 on fodder. within fifteen miles radius ot Marsden, New South Wales, since the latest shearing. One station in the nelghborhood lost 12,000 sheep within a week, another sheared $,200, but mustering them soon afterward found only 2,000. These were turned adrift on the rosd In the hope of their reaching Arass, but the latest accounts say that hundreds are dying on the journey. e Agitation prevails in England for the establishment of some kind of a royal com- mission to Investigate the question of what is there called “municipal treding” ‘Thirty thousand sheep have died | [ that 1s, the entering tnto varfous manutac- turing schemes, such as the manufacture of | £a8 by the municipality. The trouble seems to be that in some of these enterpriees there are profits, and they are applied, in part at least, to the payment of taxes Sir Edward Clarke, who recently made a speech in favor of the establishment of the commission, objécted to this by ask- |ing why ome man should be made to pay | more for his gas in order that taxes which another had to pay should be re- duced. This new jdea seeme to have made some impression, though the malm argu- ment against municipal trading is that [t fosters a menopoly. It is, however, pointed out by those opposed to the proposed com- mission that the real question is between public and private monopoly. FUTURE OF DIPLOMACY, Importance of the Professfon Dimin. ished by Newspapers. New York Evening Post. It was Henry Wotton who, in 1612, set down In a friend's autograph book the fol- lowing merry definition, as he called it: “An embassador is an honest man sent to lie abroad for the commonwealth.” But times have changed since then. It is mo longer necessary for a diplomatist to do violence to his conscience. He s now al- most entirely an ornamental personage. His principal duties are—to appear at formal functions, to be affable, to make gracetul after-dinner speeches, to pay the right sort of compliments, to unveil monu- mente, to accept honorary degrees from for- elgn universities and to spend more than his salary on entertaining. In the case of our representatives it is necessary further to endure the agony of appearing in evens ing dress in the daytime. A curious plece of testimony to the change that has come about In International relations was furnished the other day by Sir Edmund Moneon, the British ambas- sador to the French republic. Speaking at a dinner in Paris he sald that when be entered the service he realized that tho Ja doctrine that It was base to lle for ne’s self, venial to lle for one's friend, but a duty under some circumstances to lie for one's country had been exploded. At that ‘timé, however, he still belleved that ambassadors were {n the possession of a knowledge of real mysteries and had un influence on events to an extent that unsuspected by people at large. By d grees he came to the conclusion that this ! gwding hand of Mr. Chamberlain is sadly [MUSt be regarded as a fiction. The am- bassador was important in the old days when there was a scantiness of means of information about forelgn countries. But the railroad, the telegraph and, above all, e newspaper correspondent, had changed all that. Political secrets are no longer to be picked up in high soclety. The ambas- sador who sent nformation to his govern- ment found that it had been forestalled by those whose business it was to: collect the news and convey it to the world at large through their newspapers. To tie ccuracy and dispatch” of these corre- spondents King Edward's ambassador paid !a warm tribute. *Yes,” sald he, “it is to | the gentlemen of the press that a serious change In the character of diplomacy fs, | by no means in a slight degree, due. We ot compete with them in the daily transmiesion of local and ‘special intel- ligence. Many of these able men have still turther invaded the fleld of our functions, and tranemit by telegraph to the great which they represent thefr own ed comments upon current polit- nts or official utterances and — PASSING PLEASAXTRIES, Ohlo State Journal: Wi _ y,uns man puts salt and pepper on his ‘buckwheat cukes and doesn't notice his mistake you are perfectly justified in asking who the sirl s, Brooklyn Life: First M. D.—~What a lot !of things have been found in the vermi- | form appendix. Second M. D.—And look at the money that has been taken out of it. Boston _Transcript: Henry, 1 wonder 1 as you used to lovi Mrs. Mateland— ou love me as much me before we were married. You never say the ley things to me that you did in those days. Mr. Mateland—That's because 1 love you more than 1 did then, dear. I love you too much now to e to you, you know. “Madge says she is 20- 0dd years old."” “That makes her more than “How do you make that o “Count the even years, too. Town Topics: “Is he & well Informed man?"’ “I should #0. Why, his wife tells him everythin Washington Post: “How's your rheuma- tiz?" asked the neighbor. " 5 doln’ 1, “I'm the tin' the worst of it."” P S — “JUST AS IT USED T0 answered the ller that's get- " Towr and Country. 'T wish 1 were a boy again, That were but a dream, Th-l.t'!:‘lnn Wwould change from what they | To what they used to seem. il ot B, e hian | Cou ind that dear ol ry! Just as it used to be. ol | 1t_wishes only were & horse, How fast away I'd ride Across the plains of yesterday, Bold comrades by my i Once more I'd rescue captive maids; | Ah! doughty deeds you'd see, If T were but & hero bold, Just as I used to be. With Beanstalk Jack I'd To glants kill {ll:fl;l ‘-“, vt ts I'd stride aws; hore '] In _seven-legged To that enchanted sl ‘Where ogres dwell, In castles huge, And mermaids swarm the sea; Oh, how I'd love to find them &il Just as they used to be! My little boy says I'm all wrong— t nothing's changed at all, That he can show me ogres fie And glants mowe than tall; Then, clasping his dear hand in mine, e tes forth 1o see— iy eats drop as leaves; I'm youn, Just as 1 used to be. .