Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, April 5, 1909, Page 4

A Spite Bill, In the expiring hour of the session the legislature has passed a daylight saloon bill particularly ainted at Omaha as reprisal for the obmoxious performances of the law-mak sent down to lineoln with commissions to represent this city and county. The daylight saloon was not an issue of the campaign and the only motive behind the action of the legislature in this case is that of spite and revenge. Ostensibly the bill is in answer to a demand of the temperance element, voiced by the Anti-Baloon league, but el TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION 1y Bea (without Sund ). ar i Dally Bos and Bunoay one yoar. .. ¥ BLIVERED Bally ny (Includ m‘ ('Hhml all com delhon m cur aints of |mnl-mln n reulation Department. Dabs s ’:F'HC“ even here it concedes more than the a?,m"ogl.n'.':;r‘:.'nm. r:.h‘?ml N. ln:l-nlnoon people have h:en -;.::‘i LR g n the recent primary just held in ’(’Mc "“’I.“fi‘l:,!é‘-‘!f‘ Julu '3 Omaha the officers of the Anti-Saloon \ Iu—n-:”"' 1014102 No. M West | 1o0ue propounded questions to candi- R Tl Poarteenth Btrest, . W. | aaces for the ity sotinalls..that re- CORRESPONDENCE. lating to the closifig of salpons being: Wil you, if elected, vote for an ordinance closing saloons at 11 o'clock? In Omaha, therefore, the ultimate goal which the Anti-S8aloon league had hoped to reach for the présent was 11 o'clock closing and not. 8 o'clock closing, although, of course, it would doubtless prefer the latter as a little closer to total prohibition. Communications relating to news and edi- 3:'!-] luh" should be mddressed: Omaha orial Department. REMITTANCES. Remit by draft, E‘ able to Th ExXpress stal order, e Publishing Company . 2-cent stamy m:‘hu n;.' n‘.y’m:‘l’i‘l :! AcCe ec] C R Omnh. e cantern nan-nenzn not accepted STATEMENT OF WLATION Btate of Neb Publishing 'mm Nl that the actual ni uudeonwbt' The only way a bill legally passed o .,:“p:’“,"." am-::‘tr:“r:o b of | by the two houses of the legislature l{mh, 1000, was an follo! can be headed off after adjournment 18 by gubernatorial veto. Assuming that the daylight saloon bill has prop- erly gone through the Ilegisiative stages, of which there is much ques- tion, it devolves on the governor to say whether or not it shall be law with or without his signature, or whether he shall interpose his official disapproval, which would be final. —— The Insurgents’ Demands. The house republican insurgents have formulated a series of demands, and presented them to the ways and means ecommittee in the shape of amendments to the tariff bill, which they want submitted when the Payne bill comes up for action. To these de- mands the signatures of some thirty members have already been attached, with the prospects that they wfil be re- enforced altogether by firty or sixty members. \ The demands of the insurgents cover several points, including the coal and iron schedules and the restoration of a duty on hides, proposed to be put on the free lidt. If these items are submitted to separate votes, it is quite possible that the house may make a few changes in the bill, as agreed on by the ways and means committee, but the chances all are that the taritf bill will pass the house substantially unchanged and undergo’ whatever modification is in store after it reaches the senate. 5 To venture a prediction as to how the tariff bill will look after the sena- tors get through with it would be a rash undertaking. It is certain that the final form will have to be brought about by a compromise and reconcili- ation of conflicting interests through the conference committee. The demands of the house insurg- ents may do some good in focusing the fight at certailn points, but to make sure that anything they may gain now is not lost later, they should insist as well upon representation on the con- terence committee when it shall be ap- pointed. Total ........ Less unsold and MII ORGE Tre, Subscribed in my presence and sworn to before me this 1st' day of April, 1909. M. P. WALKER, (Seal) Notary Public. | Eaia e ———————————— R WHEN OUT OF TOWN. Sabscribers leaving the eity tem- porarily shonld have The Bee led to them. Address will be changed an often an reguested. To veto, or not to veto——that is the question that is up to Governor Shal- lenberger. For a man publicity, Mr. mighty well. e No brass band at the station when Douglas county's demo-pop u'-nu ers come sneaking home. who is trying to avold Roosevelt 18 succeeding 1f Nebraska has any hopes born in the glad.springtime, the late legisla- vure can plead an alibi, One can but marvel how Crazy Snake's parents sélected such an ap- propriate name for him. e e Now that the leglsiature has ad- journed, the Water board and its high- priced attorneys will again rest easier. e The wnou-Plerce 0il company wants a re-hearing. Those lawyers will never get tired of tapping the oil bar- rel. We suggest that Governor Shallen- berger read over each morning for the next few days that part of his inau- gural message about too many new laws. Worth Draws Its Tribute, Nothing that the American people have done in recent years is more to thelr credit than the high tributes they pald Admiral Cervera, who has just died in his Spanish home. In the midst of war, when passions ran high and the country was flushed with victory, it_ paused long enough in the jubila- tions to do homor to the defeated ‘ |leader of the enemy. Admiral Cervera Oxford has cleaned up Cambridge |bad taken the fighting. man's chance in the annual boat race. If It were Yale [#0d dld the best he could, but, even beating Harvard ‘here would be a in defeat, commanded respect. No jubilee celebration in the White childish whimperings, no exhibition of ' House. impotent rage, no idle vaporings, such h P e as characterized the brutal Weyler, but It is decidedly appropriate that the |8 courtly gentieman and a sailor, who Optimist club should have a dinner |did his fighting only when there was whenever it meets. A man is not in- |fighting to do. clined 'to be optimistic on an empty During bis detention in this country - stomach. as a nominal prisoner of war, he grew g % upon the country and when the time came for him to return home he left behind him many truc friends and ad- mirers. Since then he has so conducted himself as to heighten the regard in which he was there will be no more sincere mourn- ers In his own land than in this. Some characters are strong enough to rise superior to defeat, while others gener- ally esteemed great, display great lit- 1t is an i1l wind that plows nobody good, At least the telegraph companies are reaping their profit from the ac- tion of the legislature in putting the caylight saloon bill up to the governor. ————e Congressman Fitsgerald says Bryan does not kpow what he s talking about. It could not be expected that one who talks much as Bryan ’ should always know what he was talk- lnl nhout. Omohl s _s lllll the only city of its size dn the union on which the fire- men's double shift is imposed by statute, lll other words, the experi- ment in Omaha has not yet proved bilities as a naval com- mander probably only those trained in the service are capable of accurately judging. It was Cervera the man whom the world, and the American public in particular, honored. No technical tralning was necessary to detect these qualities in him. The Fitzgerald Incident. Mr. Pitsgerald pays his cowmpli- ments to Mr. Bryan in acknowiedg- ment of the excoriation given him in The Commoner, and pays Mr. Bryan back with some of his own coin. Mr. Fitzgerald not only revives the old question, “What is a democrat?” but insists that if he led the ignoble twenty-three in the tie-up with the Cannon forces for the organization of the house, he has just as much a right to call himself a democrat as has Mr. Bryi In tact, he does not hesitate to declare that he thinks a democrat who is elected by his constituents should bave more to say about it than another democrat who has been three times defeated. He further suggests An Ohlo man seeks a divorce be- cause his wife' piarched in a temper- ance .procession. Possibly the man k might help smooth over the matri- 4 monial difficulties if he would ride on the water wagon. Bk The refusal to extradite Jan Pour- | en a serves notice on foreign countries that political refugees can find a safe haven in the United States. The subterfuge of extradition on trumped up criminal charges will not suffice. Nebraska need not lose any sleep over that bill to require the states that shared In the $28,000,000 distributed by congress in 1836 to put it back. Nel did not even aspire to state- hood until thirty years after that fa- moys grab-bag was pulled off. . —_— The Baltimore clerk, who was dis- covered to be a defsulter to the ex- tent of $100,000, is said to have forty sulls and ten overcoats lo his ward- robe and mow he must go where he |that if Mr. Bryan does not think Mr. will not meed them for the state will [ Fitzgerald's brand of democracy is uriish him all the necessary clothing. | good enough to pass muster, he 0%, held and at his bler | tieness when shorn of the glamour of | should have let it be known last sum- mer when he was circulating some Fitzagerald speeches campaign doeu- ments to catch votes, This parting shot is along the same line the question which The Be ked a little while agc as to why, if Mr. Fitzgerald and the rest of the twenty-three were all that Mr. Bryan now says they are, he did not denounce them prior to election, knowing then that their corporation strings were, just as well as he knows them now. All of which furnishes convincing evidence in support of Mr, Bryan's as- sertion that the democratic party was never stronger and more harmonious than it is today and never had brighter prospects for a vietory in the next big fight. Revenues and Retrenchment. Recent intimations that the senate leaders propose to solve the govern- ment's perplexing fiscal problem by cutting down expenditures instead of levying new taxes Indicate a welcome reversion to ‘an old time honored policy. Always providing the senate carries its proposed reform into execu- tion. The first step toward that end has been taken by the creation of a new senate committee on public ex- penditures, whose duty will be to scrutinize carefully the estimates of the heads of the executive powers for guldance of the senate in making ap- propriations. If the new policy is carried out it will necessitate a decided reform in the senate customs. Under the eonsti- tution and practice all bills for raising revenue and paying out the proceeds originate in the house, but it has long been the custom for the senate to fix finally the amount of the appropria- tions. The record of the upper body for years is not an argument for con- servatism in the matter of spending money. According to the record, the house has been, in fact, the watch dog of the treasury and all appropriation bills have been enlarged and increased in the senate, after they have been passed by the house. In the last three sessions of congress alone the senate has added a total of $147,701,000 to the general appropriation bills ap- proved by the house. It has been the custom of the senate to add liberally to pension bils, river and harbor meas- ures, appropriations for public build- ings, and, in short, to all money carry- ing measures presented by the house. This plan has become so common that it has led to complaint among the house members, who have argued that no matter iow hard they have worked to reduce expenditures and make a record for economy their plans have been upset by the senate. If economy is to be the order of the day and the reformatory spirit is really abroad in the semate the problem of federal revenues may be soived by sav- ing the millions added by the senate to the appropriation bills as passed by the house. We are yearly spending a vast amount of money, not more than we can afford and not so much, per- heps, as might be intelligently used, but it is being spent without any defi- nite policy for the enterprises that are the blg absorbeérs of money. A nation with an income of about $2,000,000 a day should not have much dificulty in living within its means if a general plan were adopted by which all the money really needed may be appro- priated and a bar put against the ex- penditure of a penny for waste. To get a retirement pension an Omaha school teacher will have to show up & record of continuous service that would put her past the Oslerizing a But she is not required to tell how old she fs. This is the saving clause of the pension scheme. The anti-saloon preachers like to talk about thelr movement as a part of |a great moral uplift. What will they say about getting a bill through the legislature by doctoring the records? ‘Will they fall back on the excuse that the end justifies the means? e Congressman Fitzgerald thinks Mr. Bryan should be silent “out of obli- gation of gratitude to his party.” Con- gressman Fitzgerald does not know Mr. Bryan as well as another demo- cratic congressman or he would nét have mentioned gratitude The Waters-Plerce Oil company is asking that the $1,600,000 fine im- posed upon it by the Texas courts be set aside as excessive. This thing of pro- testing against fines running up into the millions is becoming chronic with | the oil companies. - —_ The daylight saloon was not in any platform put before the people of Ne- braska in the last campaign. Here is a chance to apply Mr. Bryan's rule of | interpretation that & platform is bind- ing as to what it omits as well as to what it contains Just because anyone in Omaha may run for police commissioner under the new dispensation is no good reason why everyone in Omaha should want to run for police commissioner, The chorus girl generally has a kick coming, but she canmot consistently complain of the proposed tariff on stockings—she gets something to show for her money The first of the mouth brought an unusual number of bills to Governor Shallenberger. By the time he has set- tled for them he will be politically bankrupt. Reporters at the White House. Boston Herald. Among the other good habits of the Taft administration 1s the admirsion of reporters by appointment, and after statement of the nature of information desired. The presi: dent Lrusis the mewspaper men not to THE OHAHA _DAILY 'BE MONDAY, abuse the '-rlv!l\otv and they confidence respect the Atrships an Targets. York Tribune. Count Zeppalin Nl need to Ko con: bly more than 6000 fest above the su era- ce of the earth to get out of the range of some of the Keupp guns designed to dam- Can he do so? age airships nted. Springfield Republican. When it comes to choosing federal judges President Taft makes it clear to senators and representatives that he must be per- mitted to suit himself, belng something of an expert In that fleld. There is nothing unreasonable about this. e Graft Within the Law. Boston Herald. The supreme court of the United States has decided as a inatter of law that a congresaman has np right to collect from the federal treasury any traveling expenses which he has not.incurred. The case re- es 10 the messions of 1908, when a special session continued until the date of the regular session in-December, and members bhad no time to return to their homes. This new agreement between law and ethies Is interesting. But the fact that a formal decision of the supreme court was required to determine the peint is even more sug- gostive. Two-Cent Fare Law W Well. Springfield Republican. It appears from the report of the Illinols Raliroad and Warehouse commission that the 3-cent fare law has helped and not burt the roads. Under this law their pas- senger revenue was $3,000,000 larger in the depressed year of 1908 than in the prosper- ous year of 1907, while freight revenue fell off heavily. Yet the companies are still threatening to take the law into the courts on the ground of being contiscatory. This 1s what the Missourt raliroads did with a similar law, and they won. But they have no Intention of putting ra of fare back to the old level of 3 cent Out for ¥ y AN the Time. Loulsville Courler-Journal. Representative Fordney of Michigan is to be commended at least for his conl Mr. Fordney Is in the lumber busine: he 18 in it for all he can get. Consequently he is a great believer in the lumber tariff, which enables him to get /a great deal more out of the lumber buyers than his lumber is worth. Of course he is opposed to any reduction of that tariff, and in- stead of joining the lumber lobby and moving upon congress to prevent such a reduction, he goes to CONETess as a mem- ber of that body, landg & place on the tariff committee, the ways and means, and stands up in the house and openly pleads for the retention of his precious lumber tariff, despite the efforts of his fegllow members of the committes to reduce Fordney 1s for Fordney, and he doesn't care who knows it. — e —— GOOD-BYE OR AU REVOIR? Withdrawal of Last American Troeps in Cuba. New York Sun. The American flag came down March 31 at Camp Columbia, the headquarters of the army of pacification for two years and & half. In bidding farewell to Major Gen- eral Thomas H. Barry at the palace in Ha- vans Presidbnt Gomes said: “I pray you, general, to express to your vallant soldiers the extreme gratitude and admiration which the government and the people of Cuba have for them.” If the Cubsn peéople are not grateful, if they have not adwiired the conduct and bearing of the American soldiers during the occupation, they must be abnormally ineensible to & spectacle of discipline and unobtrusive rviceableness such as, we believe, the world has never seen before under simiiar conditions. Ty YTy UNFORTUNATE CONSEQUENCES. Conspicuons States Glve Out Mislead- ing Impressions. Chicago Tribune. It will be difficult to convince innocent Buropeans that the west is not still in its one-time celebrated condition of being wild and woolly ¥ such carryings on as have agitated Oklahoma and Nebraska con- tinue. What becomes of the pleasant merriment enjoyed by Americans at the expense of gentlemen from abroad who expect to hunt bison in Illinols and who fear that their hair may not be safe in Kansas when Ohief Crasy Snake manages at this late date to plunge Okigzhoma into the horrors of Indlan war and a lone bandit holds up a passenger train a few miles out of the celebrated town of Lincoln, home of the Hon. Willlam Jennings Bryan, three thmes candidate for the presidency of the United States? It would not be so staggering if the one state were not that of the Hon. Charles Haskell and the other that of the Hon. Mr. Bryan. Europeans are apt to pause when they consider that the latter com- monwealth has aspired to give the nation its president and the former that presi- s ohlet adviser. One has an Indian war and the other an old-fashioned holdup. The nation gnust ask Oklahoma and Ne- braska to desist. These grpal states must be requested respectfully to consider the consequenges. We shall have the innocent Buropeans arming themselves again as soon as they come in sight of the statue of Liberty. BIRTH D DEATH RATES, etin Worthy Features of a C as of Considerat Philadelphia Record. The census office has lssued a bulletin on the decreasing size of families which will precipitate an considered remarks on race suicide and |the decadence of the present generation | Persons who are distressed over the empty cradle take no notice of the empty grave. Fewer births are accompanied by fewer | deaths. Whether a decreasing birth rate be due to the movement of populetion toward the cities or not, certain genyral facts are common to the clyllized world, They are not pecullar to the United Btates. The movement of population In all civilized countries, all industrial nations, is toward the ecitles. Agricultural industries are do: mant during & great part of the year; urbsa industries go on inuously, A very wparse population may subsist on and fishing. A lttle denser popu- lation is obliged to till the soll. A much denser population must work with ma- chinery to produce a subsistence. In all civilized countries the birth rate is decreasing. This is true of England as well as of France, and it is t though in a less degree, of Germany, and it is true of very sparsely settled Australla as well as of the United States, in large portions of which the conditions of living are a proximating to those of Burope. But In all these countries the death rate is de- creasing. The slaughter of the Innocents is ohecked. Not so many bables are born, but mere that are born have & chance to reach adult ysars, In a general way it is true of the European countries Lhat those which have the lowest birth rate have the lowest death rate, and, conversely, where the most bables wre born, there the most {bables die APRIL ditlonal flow of ill- | Wisworth B. Lounsbaugh of Sheridan, Wyo.. 'while in Washington last week, worked off on the local papers a boostful Interview for state and city. “Wyoming is looking forward to a great influx of people for the next year or two,” he sald “Not only have we wonderful natural re- | sources, but the federal government, by its irrigation, bas alded materially in the development of the state. The Shoshone dam, whieh has just been completed, will irrigate 100,000 acres of land that heretofore has been absolutely arid. Other irrigation works In process of construction will open up approximately an area of 610,000 acres, and this vast territory will prove a mag- net for many persons. We expect to make of Wyoming not a mere agrioultural and erazing country, but a busy Industrial state, “Sheridan undoubtedly is the best city in the state. Within a few miles of Sheri. dan are some of the most remarkable coal mines pn the continent. It is not necessary to g0 below the level to mine coal. All that his to be done is to dig into the hills. Recently I went inte one of these mines, and, looking up, 1 could see tons and tons of coal. The hills about the mine were nothing but coal. It Ia true, it Is not the best grade of coal. It is & lignite—geologists call 1t semibitumtnou coal—but It 1s & firet class domestic fuel, and the railroads use it in their engines. “Sheridan Is a city of about 12,000 people, set in the curve of a horseshoe formed by @ mountain range. It has an altitude of 3,500 feet, and the mountains surrounding it rise to a helght of 13,000 feet. The coun- try surrounding Sheridan is wagered by twenty-four streams, flowing d6wn from the mountainside, and the city itself Iles in & junction of two pf thess streams.’’ The preliminary stages of a movement projected by the executive department and the senate for greater national economy provokes discussion among observers on the spot. “Assuming that congress has the courage to cut deep,” writes the Washing- ton correspondent of the New York Sun, “where should the cuts be made. The pension bIll calls for $161,000,000. Milllons could and should be saved by the elimina tion of unworthy claims. Are there those who belleve such an elimination possible? What would the country say to a deep cut In $101,000,000 for the army, in $187,000,000 for the navy, $8,000,000 for fortifications and $2,600,000 for the Military academy? Leav- ing out the postal account, which includes interest on debt, ete., the appropriations for this year are approximately $550,000,000. ‘The pension, war and navy accounts-eall for about $416,000,000. The Department of Agriculture recelves $13,000,000. The diplo- matic and consular service costs $3,600,000. The Tndian bill s $10,634928. Announce that there will be no money for rivers and harbors, for public buildings, and the coun- try will announce its purpese to elect a congress that will be more liberal. ""With these accounts taken out of the conslderation there 1s not much left out of which to chop Imposing sums. The con- &ress is the agent of the people. Any effective economy can come only in re- sponse to a publlc demand for a halt or & reduction. The people demand, congress appropriates, and the people pay. If the people do not wish to pay, they must ceass or modify their demands. Congress is responsible for sundry millions of dollars ‘Wwhich go for what comes very near to political gra&ft, for the maintenance ot offices whieh are little short of sinecures, and for many quite needless purposes, yet it any heavy inroad were made In all or any of these the proceeding would excite a roar that would shake the capitol. Con- gress can and should save dimes, but the order to save dollars must come from the people.” After a silence of twelve years Congress- man Brownlow of Tennessee has told some self which s looked upon around the capi- tol corridors as the best thing that has been heard In es. Mr. Brownlow has broken the long silence only because his search for a certain telephone girl in Wash- ington has been unsuccessful and he wants assistance. He desires to get her a place in tle government service as a reward for the best exhibition of repartes he has ever heard. Mr./Brownlow {s a republican, but in the cloaing days of the Cleveland administra- tion he was pereona grata at the White House. There was-a federal job in Tennes- see which he wanted for a constituent. A democratic eolleague aiso wanted the place, and he had etarted for the White House one day to clinch matters. Brownlow heard of it. He knew he could not overtake his political enemy, so he endeavored to beat him to it on the telephone. He gave the White House number al times, but could not get a conneectis He finally lost his patience with the telephone operator and sald things which were not nice and in his anger got all mixed up. “Well, what is it you want, murmured the hello girl. “Give me some one who is my equal ln intelligence,” roared Brownlow. There was a pause, a click, then a pveet volce which sald: “Hello, what 1s i anyway?" “Who's this?" shouted Mr. Browniow, otil' out of patience. The answer came back: “St. Elizabeth's Insane asylum.” Ex-Senator T. M. Patterson of Colorado, interviewed in Wasl i gton, expresses the bellef that Mr. Bryen will never again be a candidate for the presidency. “Mr. Bryan was 4t my house In Denver a few waeks ago, and while the subject was not men- tioned, I am Inclined to believe that he would not permit himself to be placed in the attitude of even belng & receptive candi- dste. He will always be found ready to serve the party, however.” Mr. Putterson's evidence I8 far from conelusive. He hopes that Mr. Bryan will be chosen United States senator from Nebrasks. — Perils of Pole Hunt | New York World. The difficulties encountered by Lieut, Shackleton's party in the attempt to reach the Bouth Pole prove that in spite of doge, sledges, Siberian ponies, motor cars and all mechanical appliances for progress over polar ice, It 1s on the human legs that the explorer must depend in the end. Whatever a balloon or an aeroplane may accomplish in the final dash for the North Pole, it 1s not likely to be useful on’the bliszard-swept plateau at the South Pole. Bul legs are always the good old reliable mainstay Rebate Penalty. Philadelphla Record. . The New York Central has pleaded sulity to ten counts of rebating and pald $1,00 for each. The offenses were com- mitted some years ago. It is pretty safe to say ihat there is not much rebating at present, which means that the raliroads are getting their schedule rates instead of siving up considerable fractions thereof w0 the big shippers who threatsa to ship over some other Wy of his friends In congress a joke on hlwhJ Vale to the Bdgar Howard The legisiative session Is dying—dying to the dirges of sorrow chanted by common democrats who belleve In redeeming party pledges—dying to hot-time music of the corporation oreoks, Who are filled with glee while pointing to the wreck of demo- cratic hopes and democratic promises. So Tot it die. But be not too glad In your temporary triumph, ye corporation handits. Your joy shall not be for long. You have shown your hand In your latest triumph, and that hand will be known and recognised in the days to come. You have blasted the good names of men whom vou seduced trom the path of party virtue. You have placed upon the foreheads of some legislators a Legislature in Columbuy Telegram (Dem.) brand of shame, never to be effaced. WMn- Joy while you may the fruits of a vietory. There will be other legislatures in Ne- braska, and the people will elect to those legislatures men who will know In advance that a betrayal of a party pledge will be an invitation to return not agaln to the constituency which (s disgraced by & logis- lator who betrays » party pledge. Thes will elect men who will hold personal honor #0 high that they will regard the advances of a corporation lobbylst as A good man regards an invitation to burglarise his neighbor's home—and a legislature com- posed of that brand of men will regard & fellow member in the pay of the cerporn- tions just As a woman regards a snake. = ASKING TOO MUCH, Why the Co ™ His Way. St. Louls Tines, Probably the most effective vindication of Mr. Hartiman's theories is Mr. Harri- man's success. He and the men who ha accepted his financlal guidance have ac- auired, it is popularly belleved, some sub- stantial savings with which to tide over & rainy day. This (4 the main proof of the Harriman pudding. ‘When, therefore, one master railroad dl- rector announces startling general policles concerning rallway management, he is en- titled to wholly respectful and considerate attention. Mr. Harriman announces that 1t all the rallroada of the ocountry were under one control (and he asseverates that it would be a good thing for everybody If they were) they would immedintely be- #in to expend $800.000.000 or 80 in improve- ments, especially in standardising the weak lines. “This would be done openly,” declares the wizard of rallways, “but it should be done immediately. Yet we would all be put in prison, If we tried it." This concluding deduction probably is sound. Also If Mr. Harriman contrelied all the rallways it vractieally certain he would at once begin spending $600,000,000 dollars for betterments, His policies always have favored spending money for better- ments. Unlike his predecessor iIn Wall street and rallwaying. who also was known as the “Wimrd," Harriman 1§ not a wrecker; he is s builder. Some of the streaks of rust he has taken over in his time are now great properties in every phy- sieal respect. And when this $500,000,000 began to flow out the country would be immensely benefited. The steel Industry, for example, would leap to its feet. ‘Why not, then, call off the dogs, and let Mr. Harriman have his way without fear- Mr. Wickersham's police? Bimply because the man who becams the unquestioned dictator of all our rallways could in time become the overlord of all the rest of us, and ours, and we are not sufficlently convinced of the purity of purpose of any person now engaged in fortune bullding to put him on the job of dictating. EXBCUTIVE ECONOMY, Reve enues Closer Togeth ‘Pittsburg Dispatch. The announcement that President Taft hes Iald down for his administration the rule of co-operation betwesn the depart- ments to reduce expenditures and esti- mates, and to “bring about a responsible relationship between the expenditures and the revenues,” will be welcome to ths plain people. It is the overlocking of that late years. The much-needed change ernment. That theory, developed o8 royalty begun to call on the people to pay taxation for the government's support, was that as the people yield the support their repre- sentatives should have the exclusive right to suthorh and therefore to place a limit on taxation and expenditure. The purpose ‘was to maintain through the representative branch a check on royal lavishness or the waste of public funds on royal favorites. The principle of the people holding the purse strings is the foundation of all eon- stitutional power. Tt was the crucial (ssue between Parllament and Charles 1. and was the leverage by which republicanism overthrew the Bourbon monarchy. It was copled In our econstitutional enactments that taxing and expenditure measures must originate in the lower houss, and that no publie money ccn be expended except by authority of an appropriation. But in this century, with a growth of popular government hardly dreamed of in those days, we find the function shifted, The popular chamber hardly listens to even theoretic professions of economy. This devolves on the administration the necessity of caring for that principle. The present proposition is for observing it in the estimates of the coming flscal year. But that It can be carried to a more ef- fective degree ix manifest in the fact that there s no constitutional requirement for any administration to spend all the money appropristed for its use. TIFE INSURANOCE. ess In the Philadelphia Record. The annual compilation of life inlurlnm' tisties made by The New York Spec- tator shows te what an enormous extent | the people of this country protect them- | selves and their tamilles ageinst death and | other catastrophes by weskly or monthly nd annusl payments entitling themseives and thelr heirs to annuities or lump sums. | These figures are monumental evidence of | prudence and self-denial on so vast & scale | s 10 prove a national habit. This tabulation, however, does not show ome of the most interesting facts in life insurance, and that s the number of policy holders. The latest compllation at hand covering this item shows that at the beginning of 1008 there were in force very nearly 2,000,000 policies, including industrial insurance. There are not over 20,000,000 families in the country, so that there Is more then one policy to & family on an sverage. In 1908 there were 579296 or- dinary lite policies, averageing nearly §2,000, and 17,841,396 industrial policies. averaging & little loss thun $140. Turning new to the tables of The Bpec- tator, which are dated the first of this year, find the companies have assets of nearly $3,600,000.000; they received las! year more than 800,000,000, their payments to polieyholders were about $536.000.000, and the whole amount of insurance in force $11,832.614.661 In . ordinary companies and $2,687,387,087 (n industrial companies, The aseets of :the companies increased last year $370000000. but the inerease in 1907 was' comparatively small. In four yeers the assets have incressed $656.000,000 In the same period the insurance in force in the ordinary companies has inoreased $1.425,000,000, and it bas increased $682,000,000 in the industrial companies. The premiums received in 1908 were only $10,020,000 more than in 1907, but the payments to policy- holders Increased §30,000,00% Insurance & virtue, and the amount of it is highly creditabie to the nation i ntry Cannot Give lnnl-i ) That first. PERSONAL NOTES. A Philadelphia bride was presented with an automobile and & check for $100,000. Tha check will enable her to run the machine tor awhile. Former Representative Joseph ‘\' Bab- cock of Wisconsin s seriously 1t from an attack of liver trouble at his residence in Washington &nd his condition is causing ihu triends considerable anxiety. In the opinlon of an lowa congressman smokers are In the easy mark thinks forty million ~dollars tilched from them by the tobaceo trust in seven years, but they daldn’'t miss the money. President Frost of Berea college has in- vited President Taft to be at the Linesin farm, Lexington, Ky., May 3, to take part in the memorial services and plant & tree In homor of Lincoln, President Taft )r! the matter under consideration The mayor of Honolulu carries a goodly part of his family tree around with Kim He is using two eve teeth that belonged in her lifetime to his grandmother, wears a Leart watch charm made from the knee- cap of his grest-great-grandmother and the polished white buttons on his coat are from the bones of others of his ancestors. P. Hopkinson Smith, author, artist and lecturer, divides hie year among these tiree callings. For the last few months he has been lecturing. . He is alse occupied with an important plece of Hterary work. Toward the end of June he will sail for Europe, and for five months most of his iime will be devoted to sketching In the open. The death at Deeatur recently of Captain M. F. Kanan leaves but one survivor of the original members ot Post No. 1, Grand { Army of the Republic. That one survivor is Captain Christian Riebsome of Bloom- frgton, Ill., who in speaking of the initial post recalls that it was organized on April 6, 1806, the fourth anniversaty of the batie of Ehtioh. e GOOD POLICY TO PURSUE. t Life, Philadelphia Press. The Payne bill ought hot to tax 304 for !revenue, when the same revenus can he raised more easily and more equitably by & i tax on wealth In one shape or another. Tea has a tax of 8 cents a pound. Cof- fee, under a clause levying a duty here where an export tax (s lavied in the coun- try of origin, will pay 1% cents a pound, when coming from Brazil which taxes cof- t export. As most cqffee comes from Brazil and must come from Brasil, this is & tax of about a fifth of the value on Neo Neceasartes of Taxes on common-sense economy that has been the | importation. greatest weakness of our government of | Discussion shows a general opposition to both these taxes on tea and coffee. The to an older [ tax on tea protects nothing. The tax on fashion fs also remarkable in its shift from | coffee, If larger, might lead to the growth the original theory of representative gov-|of eoffee In our insular possessions, but it 1s not large enough for that. It would only ralse the price of coffee and bring no ben- efits from protection. Aftor m:r\x-mur years of fres tea and coftee it is Unwise to levy a revenue duty on food. The amount these dutles will raise In revenue can be better obtained by reviving some of the internal taxation levied at the time of the Spanish war. —e——— SPRINGTIME SMILES. “Which do you favor, protection or free trade?" ““Well,"" answered the orator, “it depends on the audience I am addressing. In most cases | find it advisable to:compromise on ax: humorous - anecdote.'—~Washington r. men to write horrid remarked the woman ““1 think it's me; Jokes about our hats the peach basket. 1 don't think so," 'Oh, responded the other, adjusting her coal scyttle trimmed with t oml hey hava to do something to buy te for thelr own wives prob- lbly (7 '—Phllldelvhll Ledger. “Let's see. You were to propose to Miss llur;nm last night. What was the re- it ha gave me the short and ufll. t No ' bieveland Plaip Dealer. “Was Bill much excited when he heard the news?" “Very much lo and they took a very o soothe his !lt.ot sald, “The manager selt! "'~ Baltimore Am.rlc-n 'H|l| collect your- Collector lnnruy;-vou know very well sir, that this blll has been running severai years. Now, I put dt up to you, what do you want me to do with it? Debtor—By George! I'd enter it In the next Marathon race If T were you.—Puck Dusty Rhodes—I wouldn't have to ask for help, byt I've & Jot of real estate on me hands that I can't get rid of. Mrs. Rurall-Try soft soap and bolling ~Life. wal “You look 8o pale and thin. Whats' got o0\ Work. From morn!nl to night and only a one-hour. rest.” “How long have you at e “I begin omonow. uéu-.' T “Isn't it too bad!" Lapsl! “I shall have to & m s again. another” tooth in my *hicage | : IF ONE LIVED m ENOUGH. cmeqo News If you and I could Uye 200 yoars or. Perhaps our cherisbed s we'd to outgrow; We might cultivate the while An ingratiating smile. For a scow! would surely bore us, With two centuries before us. P-rmu we'd be less eritical if quite as- red that wi Could gtill ¢ Yort around here i two-thous “sand-ning A. D. We might try to rake amends To our irritating frien We could treat their ll\l'll with levity, When we thought of our longevity. When we'd grown philosophical gnd bald and free from care, We'd have of sorrow even less than we should have of hair 80 we il could do our p\nu To kive peace ta grieving hea As thin, re suppose we try li— We'd be sure to pnm by it “Tis aald the compound. int'reat on 4. dollar would, In tweniy generstiong, put ua millions w8 wood 1 -houm like to With & dollar, But I don't know tart out now, Wi