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diff --git a/old/67877-0.txt b/old/67877-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ba85cea..0000000 --- a/old/67877-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,11420 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Tom Watson's Magazine, Vol. I, No. 4, -June 1905, by Various - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Tom Watson's Magazine, Vol. I, No. 4, June 1905 - -Author: Various - -Editor: Tom Watson - -Release Date: April 19, 2022 [eBook #67877] - -Language: English - -Produced by: hekula03 and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at - https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images - made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOM WATSON'S MAGAZINE, VOL. -I, NO. 4, JUNE 1905 *** - -Transcriber’s Notes: - - Underscores “_” before and after a word or phrase indicate _italics_ - in the original text. - Equal signs “=” before and after a word or phrase indicate =bold= - in the original text. - Small capitals have been converted to SOLID capitals. - Antiquated spellings have been preserved. - Typographical errors have been silently corrected. - - - - -=“TOM WATSON”= - is the one historian through whom we get the point of - view of the laborer, the mechanic, the plain man, in a - style that is bold, racy and unconventional. There is - no other who traces so vividly the life of a _people_ - from the time they were savages until they became the - most polite and cultured of European nations, as he - does in - -=THE STORY OF FRANCE= - - In two handsome volumes, dark red cloth, gilt tops, price $5.00. - - “It is well called a story, for it reads like a - fascinating romance.”—_Plaindealer_, Cleveland. - - “A most brilliant, vigorous, human-hearted story - this: so broad in its sympathies, so vigorous in - its presentations, so vital, so piquant, lively and - interesting. It will be read wherever the history of - France interests men, which is everywhere.”—_New York - Times’ Sat. Review._ - -=NAPOLEON= - =A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE, CHARACTER, STRUGGLES - AND ACHIEVEMENTS.= - - Illustrated with Portraits and Facsimiles. - Cloth, 8vo, $2.25 net. (Postage 20c.) - - “The Splendid Study of a Splendid Genius” is the - caption of a double-column editorial mention of this - book in _The New York American and Journal_ when it - first appeared. The comment urged every reader of that - paper to read the book and continued: - - “There does not live a man who will not be enlarged - in his thinking processes, there does not live a boy - who will not be made more ambitious by honest study of - Watson’s Napoleon * * * - - “If you want the best obtainable, most readable, most - intelligent, most genuinely American study of this - great character, read Watson’s history of Napoleon.” - -=“TOM WATSON”= - in these books does far more than make history as - readable as a novel of the best sort. He tells the - truth with fire and life, not only of events and - causes, but of their consequences to and their - influence on the great mass of people at large. They - are epoch-making books which every American should - read and own. - - Orders for the above books will be filled by - TOM WATSON’S MAGAZINE, 121 West 42nd Street, New York City. - - - - - TOM WATSON’S MAGAZINE - THE MAGAZINE WITH A PURPOSE BACK OF IT - =June, 1905= - - _Editorials_ _Thomas E. Watson_ 385 - _Our Creed—National Politics and Policies—Is It Paul Jones’s - Body?—Is the Black Man Superior to the White?—Amending - the Constitution—“Take the Children”—Paternalism—Planting - Corn—Not Parson Brownlow’s Son—Mr. President!—Did You - Know It?—Rural Free Delivery to Country People—Random - Paragraphs—The Gods We Worship._ - _Poverty_ _John H. Girdner, M.D._ 417 - _Tuck-of-Drum_ _Alfred Tressider Sheppard_ 420 - _The Southern Negro as a Property-Owner_ _Leonora Beck Ellis_ 428 - _A Japanese Populist_ _Thomas C. Hutten_ 434 - _The King’s Image_ _Walter E. Grogan_ 437 - _The Story of a Suppressed Populist Newspaper_ _Thos. H. Tibbles_ 446 - _Pole Baker_ (Chapters VII-IX) _Will N. Harben_ 451 - _A Phase of the Money Problem Bankers Dare Not - Discuss_ _Albert Griffin_ 463 - _A Leaf from a Protective Tariff Catechism_ _Joel Benton_ 467 - _Monopoly, The Power Behind The Trust_ _Joseph Dana Miller_ 472 - _The Heritage of Maxwell Fair_ (Conclusion) _Vincent Harper_ 479 - _Educational Department_ _Thomas E. Watson_ 497 - _The Track Walker_ _Theodore Dreiser_ 502 - _The House of Cards_ _Ruth Sterry_ 503 - _The Say of Other Editors_ 504 - _News Record_ 508 - - Application made for entry as Second-Class Matter at - New York (N. Y.) Post Office, March, 1905 - Copyright, 1905, in U. S. and Great Britain. - Published by TOM WATSON’S MAGAZINE, - 121 West 42d Street, N. Y. - - TERMS: $1.00 A YEAR; 10 CENTS A NUMBER - - - - - TOM WATSON’S MAGAZINE ADVERTISER - - - How to Overthrow Plutocracy - -Several million people in the United States are in substantial accord -with the demands of the People’s Party. A majority of all voters would -welcome Government Ownership of Railroads and other public utilities. The -recent great victory in Chicago for Municipal Ownership demonstrates this -fact. What Chicago has done locally can be accomplished in the nation—and -WILL be done as soon as the people overcome - - Political Inertia - -With many the voting habit becomes fixed after one or two elections. The -ordinary man keeps on “voting ’er straight” long after he has discovered -that his party’s actions are out of joint with his own views. Party -“regularity” commands the average man’s support long after he KNOWS his -party is headed wrong. Some really great men, even, have placed party -“regularity” before principle. - - A Great Light - -on the correct principle of organization is to be found in that admirable -work by George Gordon Hastings, - - The First American King - -A dashing romance, in which a scientist and a detective of today wake up -seventy-five years later to find His Majesty, Imperial and Royal, William -I, Emperor of the United States and King of the Empire State of New York, -ruling the land, with the real power in the hands of half a dozen huge -trusts. Automobiles have been replaced by phaërmobiles; air-ships sail -above the surface of the earth; there has been a successful war against -Russia; a social revolution is brewing. The book is both an enthralling -romance and a serious sociological study, which scourges unmercifully the -society and politics of the present time, many of whose brightest stars -reappear in the future under thinly disguised names. There are wit and -humor and sarcasm galore—a stirring tale of adventure and a charming love -story. - - Hon. Thomas E. Watson says: - -“I read ‘The First American King,’ and found it one of the most -interesting books I ever opened. Mr. Hastings has not only presented a -profound study of our social and economic conditions, but he has made the -story one of fascination. It reminds me at times of Bellamy’s ‘Looking -Backward,’ but the story is told with so much more human interest, the -situations themselves are so much more dramatic, that it impresses me -very much more favorably than any book of that kind I have ever known.” - -Interesting as the story is as a romance and as a critical sociological -study, one of its vitally important points is - - How to Organize - - =Mr. Hastings says:= - -“It has been suggested,” continued General Mainwarren, “that a wise -course for patriotic leaders of your day would have been to have -abandoned the hope of converting and securing the grown voters as -a body. It would have been best for them, at a given time, to have -said: ‘Beginning from today, we will pay no attention to any male who -is more than fifteen years of age and who is now, or within the next -six years will be, entitled to a vote. But we will direct all efforts -to an entirely new body of suffragists.’ They should then have turned -their attention to the _women of the land_, to the mothers of future -generations of voters. It has been said that ‘Every woman is at heart a -royalist.’ It could with equal truth be said: ‘Every woman is by nature -a politician.’ ... Look at the influence exerted politically by various -women of whom history speaks.” - - This Is the Key-Note of Success - -For fifteen years the People’s Party, in season and out of season, has -preached “Equal Rights to All, Special Privileges to None.” It has -persistently demanded that government shall attend to public matters, -and that private business shall be conducted by individuals with the -least possible interference—and absolutely no favoritism—by government. -It has continually demanded public ownership and government operation -of railroads and other public utilities. It has urged the initiative, -referendum and the recall; a scientific money system; the abolition -of monopoly in every form. Millions of voters—as the Chicago election -clearly indicates—are in accord with the People’s Party; but heretofore -the voting habit, the “vote ’er straight” political insanity, has kept -them in political slavery. - - Educate the Boys - -Let us train up a new generation of voters—without diminishing our -efforts to break up old party habits—who will have the courage of -conviction and correct ideas regarding politics and economics. Let us -interest the mothers, so we can have the boys taught to cast their first -votes on the side of Justice. Habit will then keep them voting right. - - Let Us Begin Now - -Mr. Hastings’s book is a thought-provoker. It combines romance with -sociology and teaches while entertaining. With “The First American King” -and TOM WATSON’S MAGAZINE in another 100,000 homes, our first great step -will be taken toward overcoming plutocracy. With this end in view, we -have made arrangements whereby we can offer a dollar book, 350 pages, and -a dollar magazine one year, 128 pages monthly, both for only $1.50. - - Tom Watson’s Magazine and The First American King $1.50 - -In order to treat all alike, the book will be sent postpaid to any -present subscriber of TOM WATSON’S MAGAZINE on receipt of 60 cents. No -person not a subscriber can buy “The First American King” of us for -a cent less than $1.00. If you have not already subscribed for the -magazine, send us $1.50 today for this attractive combination, and -expedite the work of building up the People’s Party of the future. - -Address all orders to - - TOM WATSON’S MAGAZINE, 121 West 42d Street, New York - - * * * * * - - _SOME POPULIST PRINCIPLES_ - -(1) Public Ownership of Public Utilities, including Railroads, -Telegraphs, Telephones, etc. - -(2) Direct Legislation by the people: the Initiative, Referendum and -Recall. - -(3) The election of all officers by the people. - -(4) Graduated Income Tax and Inheritance Tax. - -(5) National Currency created by the Government without the intervention -of National Banks; every dollar to be the equal of every other dollar. - -(6) Postal Savings Banks; the eight-hour day, regulation of Child Labor -in Factories, Sweat-shops and similar avocations. - -(7) Opposition to land monopoly. - -(8) Removal of Tariff burdens from the necessaries of life which the poor -must have to live. - -=Populism= seeks to put political power into the hands of the people and -to work out a system of =Equal and Exact Justice to all, without special -favors to any=. - - - - - =_TOM WATSON’S MAGAZINE_= - - VOL. I JUNE, 1905 No. 4 - - - - - _Editorials_ - - BY THOMAS E. WATSON - - - _Our Creed_ - -The People’s Party does not attempt the impossible, or seek the -unattainable. - -Our young men do not dream dreams; our old men do not see visions. We -are wedded to practical reforms which have been tried in civilized -communities, and which have vindicated themselves by results. - -We do not propose to re-create society, subvert law and order, confiscate -property, or substitute a new system of government for the old. - -We do not want to tear down the house in order to repair it. - -We do not hope to build a perfect state with imperfect human hands, but -we do intend to make the government as nearly perfect as possible, to the -end that it shall represent that conception of justice which deals with -all men alike, and allows to every child of Adam a fair chance in the -world which God created as a home for the human race. - - * * * * * - -We believe that the government should be clothed with all the attributes -of sovereignty; that _the government should govern_, and should _not -delegate to private citizens or corporations_ any part of its sovereign -power. - -The creation of a national currency has always been an attribute of -sovereignty—of royalty. - -In a system where the people rule the people succeed to the power of the -king; and that attribute of sovereignty which the king exercised and -did not delegate should be exercised by the people and should not be -delegated. - -Therefore, the Populists, successors to the old Greenbackers, have always -clung to it as an article of faith that the Federal Government should -exercise its constitutional right to create a currency, and should -not delegate that power to national banks or to private citizens or -corporations. - -The government should supply the country with a sufficient amount of -national money, every dollar of which should be equal to any other; every -dollar of which should be a full legal tender for all claims, public and -private, and _no dollar of which should be made redeemable in any other -dollar_. - - * * * * * - -We believe that those things which are essentially public in their nature -and their use should belong to the public, and should be equally enjoyed -by all. - -Just as the navigable rivers are public to the beggar and the millionaire -alike, just as the Bay and the Gulf and the Harbor and the navigable -Lakes are the common property of the rich and the poor, the high and low, -the black and white, so we believe that the roads should be common ground -upon which every citizen should be free to pass upon terms of equality, -and that the iron highways of today, which were taken from the people -by the exercise of the right of Eminent Domain, should be restored to -the public by the same law of Eminent Domain, a fair compensation having -been paid, and the property operated hereafter for the benefit of all the -people. - -So with the Telegraph and the Telephone and Express Companies. - -In every city and town we believe that the municipality, which is a -part of the state’s sovereignty, should take over to itself those -public utilities which in their very nature are monopolies, and, just -compensation having been paid, that these utilities should be used for -the benefit of the people, to whom they belong. - - * * * * * - -We believe that the government should be supported by a system of -taxation in which each citizen will pay taxes _in proportion to his -ability to pay_. - -We believe in a Tax on the Franchises enjoyed by private corporations. - -We believe that the Income Tax would be the fairest of all taxes, because -it would take for the support of the government, not the property of -the citizen, but a portion of the income which the citizen derives from -that property, or from his individual exertions, and the tax would be -proportioned to the income. - -That property or that salary could not be enjoyed without the protection -and the advantages which flow from government, and it is eminently -fair, where the government has protected me, or where it affords me -such opportunities, that I can receive a large income from any source -whatever, I should pay to the government, in return for its protection -and its advantages, a fair share of that which I could not have made -without that protection and those advantages. - -Under our present system a man like John D. Rockefeller pays no more -Tariff tax when he buys a hat than a doctor or lawyer or preacher pays -when he buys a hat. So with the shoes, the clothes, the crockery on the -table, the furniture in the house. Many a citizen whose income does not -amount to ten thousand dollars per year pays fully as much Tariff tax in -the purchasing of necessary articles of clothing, furniture and food as -John D. Rockefeller pays, whose income is counted monthly by the millions -of dollars. - -The same thing is true of Carnegie, Morgan, Hill, Harriman, Gould, -Cassatt, Vanderbilt. Many a farmer whose income from his farm may not do -more than give his family an actual support, after the operating expenses -are paid, contributes annually a greater sum in Tariff tax to the Federal -Government than is paid by the fabulously wealthy beneficiaries of class -legislation. - - * * * * * - -It has been said that the People’s Party dodges the Tariff issue. This is -not true. - -One of our earliest platforms, which has been repeatedly reindorsed, -declares: - -“_We demand the removal of the Tariff tax from the necessaries of life -which the poor must have to live._” - -This is precisely the principle announced by Thomas Jefferson, who -declared that the taxes should be so laid that the luxuries of life would -bear the burden of government, and that his ideal was a system in which -the poor would be entirely relieved from the crushing weight of taxation. - -Furthermore, we have said that legislation should not be so framed as to -build up one business at the expense of another. - -If the People’s Party platform were enacted into law, _there could be no -such thing as a Trust in the United States_. - -In order that the people should become the victims of such tyranny as -that exercised by the Trusts two things are necessary: _Foreign relief -must be made impossible, and domestic relief made impracticable_. - -The Tariff wall keeps the foreigner from interfering; the railroads and -the national banks supporting the Trusts make it impossible for domestic -dissatisfaction to assert itself effectively. - -_If the people should put upon the free list those articles which are -made the subject of the Trusts, the foreigner could at once invade the -market, and destroy the monopoly upon which the Trust is based._ - -If the Populist principles of finance and of transportation should be -carried into effect, the Government abolishing national banks and private -ownership of transportation lines, _the rebate would be impossible, -discriminations would cease, equality would prevail, and there would be -no collusion between the national banks and the railroads by which Trusts -are made invincible as they are now invincible_. - - * * * * * - -We believe in direct Legislation—putting the power of making laws and -choosing rulers back into the hands of those to whom it belongs—and the -election of all officers by the people. - -The people should not be made to await the pleasure of the Legislature -or of Congress. They should not be kept in ignorance of what the law is -until legislative acts become known through the newspapers. There should -be in every case the right to initiate those laws which they want, and to -veto, through the Referendum, any law which they do not like. - -When an officer whom they have elected shows by any vote or act that he -is not the man they took him to be, they should not have to wait till the -expiration of his term to get a better man. They should have the right to -recall the officer the moment he betrays his trust. - - * * * * * - -We believe in the eight-hour day for labor in Government works, in -factories, workshops and mines. - -We believe in the regulation of child labor in factories, workshops and -mines, to the end that children of tender age shall not be made to slave -out their lives in order that corporations shall have cheap labor and -large dividends. - -Saturn, the old fable tells us, devoured his own children: Christian -civilization does the same thing. - -As long as we permit children of ten and twelve years to labor from eight -to fourteen hours per day in our mills and workshops modern civilization -is another Saturn. _We are devouring our own children._ - - * * * * * - -We believe that the land, the common heritage of all the people, should -not be monopolized for speculative purposes, or by alien ownership, but -that legislation should be so shaped as to encourage to its full extent -the right of every man born into this world to till the soil and make a -living out of it. - -And one of the principal reasons why we favor a graduated income tax, -which increases by geometrical progression as the income increases, is -that it automatically keeps the wealth of the country in a constant sort -of redistribution, and acts as a check upon that excessive accumulation -which is recognized by all intelligent thinkers as one of the most -serious perils and intolerable evils of our present era of class -legislation. - -These are the most important articles of our faith. It is for these -principles that we have struggled ever since 1891—with never a doubt that -they were sound, that they would constantly gain converts, _that they -would ultimately win_. - -When I founded the _People’s Party Paper_ in Atlanta, Ga., in 1891 (which -paper lived and toiled for these principles until the fusion movement of -1896 killed it, as it killed twelve hundred other Populist papers), I -announced the same purpose which I announced in the prospectus of this -magazine. - -My faith was as firm in 1891 as it is today, and I had as little doubt -then as I have now that Populism is just as sure to triumph as the sun is -to continue to warm the world. - -The reforms will be effected _because the country needs them_. It cannot -stand much more of the present system. It will not accept Socialism. -Occupying the middle ground of radical, but practical reform, Populism is -inevitable. - - - _National Politics and Policies_ - -There is a saying that the difference between a wise man and a fool is -that the wise man never makes the same mistake twice, while the fool -continues to make it without limit. - -It is of supreme importance that those who will act as political leaders -during the next four years should think clearly in order that they may -act wisely. - -We have not, as yet, discovered any brighter lamp with which to guide our -footsteps than that which Patrick Henry named the Lamp of Experience. - -If I felt that our national leaders were about to repeat a disastrous -mistake and adopt a policy which seems the continuance of the reign of -class legislation and special privilege, I should be false to my own -sense of duty if I did not at this early day point out that error and -warn the Jeffersonians against it. - -I say Jeffersonians because, after all is said and done, there are but -two great differences of political thought in the United States—never -have been but two; never will be but two. - -On the one hand are those who believe that legislation should be dictated -by the interest of the few; that the powers and the benefits of good -government should be monopolized by the few; that the blessings and the -opportunities of life should be the heritage of the few; that wealth and -privilege and national initiative should perpetually be the legacy of the -few. - -On the other hand is the Jeffersonian idea that the human family are all -alike the children of God; that the earth and all it contains was created -for the benefit of this human family, and that any system of law and -government which gathers into the hands of the few an unjust proportion -of the common estate, to the exclusion of the vast majority, is an -infamous invasion of the natural rights of man. - -Now, what is it that endangers the cause of the Jeffersonians? - -What is it that seems to me to be so certain to insure the continuance of -the rule of the few over the many? - -It is the continued existence of the political alignment of the great -mass of the people in two political parties, each of which, in its heart -of hearts, is wedded to the rule of the few. - -Neither one of these parties wants any material change in our present -system of legislation or of administration. - -Both of them are absolutely dominated by the same interests. - -In the ranks of each of these parties are found the powerful railroad -kings, the irresistible trusts, the indispensable national banks, the -vastly influential insurance companies. - -As a matter of fact, nearly every board of management of every predatory -corporation against which the people are rising in revolt is made up half -and half of Democrats and Republicans, in order that, no matter which -party wins at the polls, the corporation will have influence at court. - -It is so clear to me that the only possible hope for the people is to -drive these two parties together while the people unite under another -standard. - -In vain does Judge Parker talk about the difference between his Democracy -and the Republicanism of Mr. Roosevelt. During the campaign he was unable -to state any difference, and there is, in fact, no difference. - -Between Belmont’s ideas of government and those of Mark Hanna there is -not the slightest difference. - -Between the Democratic corporation and the Republican corporation it is -absurd to claim that there is any difference. - -Between Democratic manufacturers and Republican manufacturers no human -being of intelligence will expect any difference or find any. - -In other words, the millionaire beneficiaries of class legislation -control both of the old parties, and the battle which they wage year -after year, decade after decade, is a mere sham battle. The strategy of -the corporations consists in keeping the people divided in order that the -corporations may rule. - -Believing this to be true, I am painfully impressed with the fact that -Mr. Bryan is making a huge mistake. - -The pity of it is, he has already made that mistake twice, and is now -making it for the third time. - -What is the mistake? - -It consists of the effort to get radical reform out of a party which has -always been dominated and always will be dominated by conservatives. When -the currency was contracted just after the Civil War and ruin brought -upon so many thousands of people in this country, it took the joint -action of both the old parties to do it. - -When the revenue taxes were taken off railroads, manufactures, insurance -companies, bank checks and express companies, soon after the close of the -Civil War, it took the joint action of both the old parties to do it. - -When the Income Tax was lifted from the burdened shoulders of the rich, -it took the joint action of both the old parties to do it. - -When Silver was struck down and the Gold Standard forced upon us, it took -the joint action of both the old parties to do it. - -When our National Bank System was enthroned, and that terribly unjust -system was chartered to prey upon the people, it required the joint -action of both the old parties to do it. - -When Congress, over the protest of Thaddeus Stevens and others, obeyed -the command of the Rothschilds (delivered at Washington personally by -August Belmont, the father of the present Boss of the Democratic Party), -and declared by legislative enactment that the banks should be paid in -gold while the soldier at the front should be paid in greenbacks, it -required the joint action of both the old parties to do it. - -There has never been a necessary act of Congress—necessary to the rule -of the few, necessary to carry out the Hamiltonian ideal—that did not -rest for support one foot on the Republican Party and the other on the -Democratic Party. - -The man who does not know this to be true is unfamiliar with official -records. - -The time has been when Mr. Bryan held the same opinions which I am -expressing now. The time has been when he declared, in speech and -writing, that there was no hope for reform in the Democratic Party. - -In 1896 Mr. Bryan, in the Omaha _World-Herald_, editorially asked: - -“_Can a National Convention harmonize the discordant elements of the -Democratic Party? Impossible._ - -“Suppose the advocates of bimetallism control the National Convention -and nominate a Free Silver Democrat upon a free coinage platform, will -Cleveland, Carlisle, Olney, Morton, _et al._ support the ticket? Of -course not. They say that the free coinage of silver means individual -dishonesty, commercial disaster and national dishonor, and if they -believe what they say they ought not to support the ticket, because -their duty to their country is higher than their duty to their party -organization. If, on the other hand, the convention nominates a Gold -Standard Democrat on a platform indorsing the gold standard, gold bonds -and national bank currency, should the nominee be supported by those who -believe the gold standard to be a conspiracy of the capitalistic classes -against the producers of wealth—a crime against mankind? Who says they -should? - -“If to continue Mr. Cleveland’s financial policy is to declare war -against the common people, what friend of the common people would be -willing to enlist in such a warfare, even at the command of his party? - -“The Democratic Party cannot serve God and Mammon; it cannot serve -plutocracy and at the same time defend the rights of the masses. - -“If it yields to the plutocracy it ought to lose, and it will lose, the -support of the masses; if it espouses the cause of the people, it cannot -expect either votes or contributions from the capitalistic classes and -from the great corporations.” - -In pursuance of this very correct line of reasoning, Mr. Bryan resolutely -declared that if the Democratic Party adopted the gold standard, “_I -promise you that I will go out and serve my country and my God under some -other name, even if I must go alone._” - -Again Mr. Bryan said, in his book called “The First Battle,” Chapter III, -page 124, “In that speech I took the position which I have announced -since on several occasions, namely, that I would not support for the -Presidency an advocate of the gold standard.” - -Again Mr. Bryan said: “Does the individual member of a party at all times -reserve the right to vote against the nominee of a party, and to abandon -his party entirely whenever in his judgment his duty to his country -requires it? He may abandon the party temporarily, as, for instance, -when an unfit candidate is nominated, or the voter may abandon his party -permanently, either when he himself changes his opinion upon a paramount -public question or when his party changes its position.” - -Now let the reader compare the present attitude of Mr. Bryan with the -political ethics expounded by him in his book. - -He was then the idol of the radicals; he was then the Tribune of the -People. - -He was the strong and stalwart foe of every plutocrat, every Wall Street -interest, every beneficiary of class legislation. - -The people hailed him with an enthusiasm which had not been known since -the days of Henry Clay. So great was their faith in him that he swept -into his movement in 1896 the Free Silver organization and the great bulk -of the Populist Party. - -Who is it that cannot see how loftily he held his flag in those days? Who -is it that does not realize how sadly it droops today? - -From the noble stand of 1893 and 1896, what a falling off is there! -Boldly he declared that he would never support for the Presidency an -advocate of the gold standard. Yet, when Judge Parker slapped his face -in public with the Gold Telegram of 1904, the dauntless Bryan turned the -other cheek, like a very meek Christian indeed. - -He had said that a Democrat might bolt his party _temporarily_ upon the -nomination of an unfit candidate; he had said that Judge Parker was an -unfit candidate, but he did not bolt the nomination, even _temporarily_. - -He had said that the voter might abandon his party _permanently_ when -that party changed its position upon a paramount public question; yet -when the Democratic Party, with extraordinary suddenness, changed its -position upon more than one paramount question in 1904, Mr. Bryan did not -bolt his party _permanently_. - -He had said that if the Democrats took up the Republican financial -policy, which meant the slavery of the debtors of this country and the -impoverishment of the people, he would go out and serve his country and -his God under some other name, even if he had to go alone. Yet when his -party did come over to the Republican financial policy, and came by -telegraph at that, _Mr. Bryan did not go out to serve either his country -or his God under some other name_. - -He had said to his brother Democrats: “If you are ready to go down -on your knees and apologize for what you have said” (abuse of the -Republicans and the gold standard), “you will go without me.” - -Yet when the Democratic Party, at the St. Louis Convention in 1904, went -down on its knees, in effect, to apologize for the abuse which they had -heaped upon the Republicans for eight years, they did not go without Mr. -Bryan. The knees of Mr. Bryan hit the floor in timely cadence with the -knees of all the others, and when he filed out of the convention hall the -dust was there to show it just as it was there to show it on the knees of -all the others. - -Bryan himself asked the question in 1896: “Can a National Convention -harmonize the discordant elements of the Democratic Party?” He answered -his own question in the comprehensive word, “_Impossible_.” - -The event of the campaign of 1896 showed that he was right, for the -Cleveland-Carlisle-Belmont element knifed him. - -In the campaign of 1900 they knifed him again. In the campaign of 1904, -when the convention nominated a gold standard Democrat on a platform -indorsing the gold standard, gold bonds and the gold bank currency, -the people refused to support the sell-out of the National Democratic -Party to Wall Street, just as Mr. Bryan, in 1896, prophesied that they -would, in spite of the fact that the prophet of 1896 had become the gold -standard nominee’s most earnest advocate in the campaign of 1904. - -In other words, the people had become so inoculated with the true gospel -of Bryan, the Tribune of 1893 and 1896, that they refused to follow the -change of heart and the change of conduct which came over Bryan, the -Parkerite of 1904. - -Will not Mr. Bryan reflect upon this and draw a lesson from it? He -himself has declared that he is attempting the impossible in trying to -harmonize the discordant elements of the Democratic Party. - -What is the real statesmanship demanded at this time? - -That those who believe in Jeffersonian ideals, whether they are now -in the Republican, Democratic, Populist or Socialist parties, should -come together without prejudice for party names, and should unite in -the common cause of driving from power the beneficiaries of class -legislation, no matter whether those beneficiaries are called Democrats -or Republicans. - -Let the Belmonts and Morgans get together in the same party so that we -can fight them both at the same time. - -As long as we cling to party differences and party names our efforts will -come to naught, as they did in 1896, 1900 and 1904. - -Mr. Bryan wants the reform movement to stop and wait for him, while for -four years he struggles to get the better of the plutocratic element of -his own party. If they were able to wrest control from him when he had so -much more advantage than he has now, how can we expect him to take that -control from their strong hands? - -But, suppose he does succeed in defeating the Belmont-Cleveland element -in the convention of 1908, does he not know that they will fulfil his -prediction again and knife him as they have done twice already? - -On the other hand, suppose they conquer him in 1908 as they did in 1904, -will he not submit tamely to kiss the hand that smote him as he did in -the last convention? Most assuredly he will. - -He lost his opportunity to fly the flag of revolt when he failed to -resent the Gold Telegram of 1904. That opportunity passed, never to -return. - -Absolutely the only hope of radical reform lies in a straight-out, -aggressive and fearless _fight upon both the old parties_, which in turn -have had control of the Government, and which have played into each -other’s hands in forging the chains of class legislation which now bind -and burden the Common People. - - - _Is It Paul Jones’s Body?_ - -Have they found the body of John Paul Jones? - -The experts say that they have. - -To the legal mind, the fact that _experts_ had to be called in to pass -upon the question of identity is sufficient to arouse suspicion and -provoke investigation. - -As stated in a former number, I was certain they would find Paul Jones—in -their minds—for that was what they were looking for. - -Whenever, for instance, the medical expert starts out to find arsenic in -the human stomach, arsenic generally shows up all right enough. - -In like manner French experts were called in to identify a certain corpse -as that of Paul Jones, and, after the most elaborate and beautifully -regular formalities, they solemnly pronounced the verdict which they knew -was expected and which they were predisposed to find. - -“This is Paul Jones, isn’t it?” asks General Porter, most suavely, not to -say persuasively. - -How could the politest experts of the politest people on earth say nay? - -The case was pitiful. - -The search for Paul Jones’s body had reached a crisis. Only four leaden -coffins had been found in the old graveyard, and one of these _had_ to be -Paul Jones, because he had been buried in such a coffin, and the other -three bore name-plates which showed they could not be his. - -The fourth bore no name-plate; therefore it _must_ be Jones’s coffin. - -The necessity of the situation required it. - -Consequently, polite French experts measure, compare, incubate, decide -and bring in the verdict desired. - -Looking at the matter as a lawyer, I should say that there is not -sufficient legal evidence offered, as yet, to establish the identity of -the dead body. - -The cemetery in which Commodore Paul Jones was buried was closed by law -in 1793. - -_A canal was afterward cut through it._ - -The great sea-fighter was buried, as Napoleon was, in uniform. - -In the Life of him—“Great Commanders’ Series”—by Cyrus Townsend Brady, -the statement is made that _Paul Jones was buried in the American -uniform_, and that _a sword and other articles were placed in the coffin_. - -The body which General Porter has found was _not_ clad in uniform. - -There was no sword, or other article, found in the coffin. - -Commodore Jones died of dropsy, which had swollen his body to such an -extent that he could not button his waistcoat. - -Yet the French experts declare that all the measurements tally exactly -with those of the living Jones. - - * * * * * - -_Should They Do So?_ - -Awful changes take place after death, and they are greater with some than -with others. - -Should the measurements of a corpse which had been entombed more than -a hundred years correspond _exactly_ with those of the same body when -alive? - -Most biographers put the _height_ of Admiral Jones at “about five feet -and eight inches.” - -Won’t you find a greater number of men—in France especially—whose height -is “about five feet eight inches” than you’ll find at any other figure? - -And will you not find more _corpses_ of about that length? - -Yet in these measurements consists the whole of the testimony which has -been offered to the American people to convince them that the body of -Paul Jones is at last to come home. - -Unless the matter of the uniform and the sword be cleared up, it is -impossible to accept the conclusion arrived at by the experts. - -This corpse may be, as already stated, a good enough Jones for that -$35,000, but it has not yet been shown to be John Paul Jones, the naval -hero of our War of Independence. - - - _Is the Black Man Superior to the White?_ - -With statistics one can prove many things—the conclusion arrived at -depending, in all cases, considerably upon the man behind the figures. - -This time the man behind the figures is Doctor Booker Washington—may his -shadow never grow less! - -In the course of a recent lecture, the learned Doctor laid down the -proposition that the black man is superior to the white, and he proved -it—proved it by statistics. - -He said that there is 85 per cent. of illiteracy among the Spaniards, -while there is only 54 per cent. of illiteracy among the negroes; -therefore the negroes are clearly more advanced in civilization than the -Spaniards. - -Poor old Spain! - -The learned Doctor further demonstrated that there is 65 per cent. of -illiteracy among the Italians; therefore the negroes are far ahead -of Italy. Russian illiteracy being 70 per cent. the black man takes -precedence of the land of Peter the Great, Skobelef, Gorky, Turgenef and -Tolstoy. South America, having an illiteracy of 80 per cent., falls far -to the rear of the negro—and Castro must add this additional kick to the -many he has already received from North America. - -Proud of his statistics, Doctor Booker Washington exclaims: “_The negro -race has developed more rapidly in the thirty years of its freedom than -the Latin race has in one thousand years of freedom._” - -That’s a bold statement, Doctor. - -To say nothing of its accuracy, may it not have been an unwise thing -for you to claim that the black man has risen during thirty years more -rapidly in the scale of civilization than the whites have risen in a -thousand? - -True, you confine yourself to the Italians, the Spaniards, the Russians -and the South Americans, but when you say the darkest of all the colored -races is superior to that great section of the white race named by you, -does it not occur to you that you may create a feeling of resentment -among _all_ the whites? - -You have thousands of true friends throughout the entire country—white -men who have most generously helped you in your work, helped you -with money, with moral support and with a certain amount of social -recognition. Your admirers refer to you as a great man. They allude to -your work as a great work. The South helps you with appropriations, just -as the North helps you with donations. We want to see you succeed in -building up your race. - -But have you a single white friend who will indorse your statement -that the black race is so superior to the whites that it can do in one -generation what it required the whites a thousand years to do? - -Do you imagine that your friends, President Roosevelt, Mr. Carnegie, Dr. -Hart, Bishop Potter, and others, will like you better when they hear you -putting forth a claim to race superiority? Doctor, you have overshot the -mark. - -_Whenever the North wakes up to the fact that you are teaching the blacks -that they are superior to the whites, you are going to feel the east -wind._ - -What do you mean by racial development, Doctor? - -Apparently your standard of measurement is illiteracy. That is to say, if -a greater number of negroes than of Spaniards can read, then the negro -has achieved a higher plane in civilization. - -Is that your idea? Does the ability to read constitute race development? - -According to that, a million negro children attend school twelve months -and become “civilized” because they have learned to spell “Baker” and to -read “Mary had a little lamb.” - -Does it not strike you, Doctor, that such a measure might be delusive? - -In making up your tables of illiteracy, why didn’t you include _all the -negroes_, as you included _all_ the Italians, _all_ the Spaniards, _all_ -the Russians? - -Why leave out your home folks in Africa, Doctor? - -Why omit Santo Domingo and Haiti? - -If you will number _all_ the negroes, Doctor, your percentage of -illiteracy _among the blacks_ may run up among the nineties, and knock -your calculation into a cocked hat. - - * * * * * - -In the West Indies God poured His blessings with lavish hand upon the -island of Haiti. The French went there and built up a civilization. The -Revolution of 1789 freed the negroes who were held in slavery by the -whites, and civil war soon followed. - -The blacks outnumbered the whites and the climate was their ally. Yellow -fever did for them what frost did for the Russians when Napoleon struck -at their liberties. They achieved freedom, and they have had it, not for -thirty years, but for a hundred years. - -_What have your people done with their freedom in Santo Domingo, -Doctor?_ Back, back into barbarism, voodooism, human sacrifice, social -and political anarchy they have plunged; and their history is one long -blood-stained record of backsliding from the standard which the French -had already established. Even now your black brethren in Santo Domingo -are beseeching the white man of the United States to do that which they -are unable to do—administer national affairs. In self-defense this -Government may have to treat Santo Domingo as Great Britain treats -Jamaica, both governments acting upon the demonstrated fact that the -blacks, _left to themselves_, are incapable of self-government and race -development. - - * * * * * - -But before entering into a comparison of racial progress, Doctor, it -is in order to note the fact that you accredit the negro with only -thirty years of freedom. Why, Doctor, _the negro race, as a race, has -enjoyed just as long a period of freedom as the Celts, the Latins, the -Anglo-Saxons and the Slavs_. - -The black race in Africa was as free as the Indian race in North America. - -During the thousand years in which the whites were painfully creating -the civilization which _you_ now enjoy, _your_ race, in its native home, -was doing pretty much the same things which the red race was doing in -North America. Your people were running about in the woods, naked, eating -raw meat, eternally at war—tribe with tribe—steeped in ignorance, vice -and superstition, with an occasional lapse into human sacrifice and -cannibalism. - -_Your race, as a race, is free now in Africa, as it has been since the -dawn of history:—where is the civilization which it worked out for -itself?_ It does not exist; it never did exist. - -The negro has been absolutely unable to develop as a race when left to -himself. Nowhere, at any time, has he developed a system of agriculture, -or commerce, or manufactures, made headway in mining or engineering, or -conceived a system of finance. Never has he produced a system of laws, -institutions of state, religious organization, or worked out a political -ideal. Never has he created a literature, or developed original capacity -for the fine arts. His foot has never even crossed the threshold of the -world of creative painting, sculpture, music, architecture Into the -realms of science, in the domain of original thought, in the higher -reaches of mental power where the human mind grapples with vast problems, -material and spiritual, the problems of time and eternity, the negro has -never entered. No word has ever fallen from his lips that was not the -echo of what some white man had already said. He has sometimes _put his -foot in the white man’s track_, but that is the best he has ever done. - - * * * * * - -Compare this imitative race with the great Latin stock—a stock from -which sprang Rienzi and Garibaldi, Cavour and Napoleon, Da Vinci and -Galileo, Savonarola and Leo the Tenth, Titian and Bellini, Raphael and -Michelangelo. - -The Latin race, whether in Spain, Italy or South America, has developed -systems of agriculture, finance, commerce, manufactures, education, -religion, government—has created literature, laws and institutions of -state, has evidenced capacity in science and art. - - * * * * * - -The negroes superior to the Latins? - -Heavens above! - -During the thousand years which Doctor Washington says that the Latins -have done less than the negroes have done in thirty, Spain rose into -world-power, dominated the European Continent, shook England’s throne to -its base, broke the Turkish scimiter in the great sea-fight of Lepanto, -evolved a splendid literature, reached the highest development in the -Fine Arts, launched Columbus upon his voyage into unknown seas to test -the suggestion of another Latin—Toscanelli—and thus took the first daring -step in that marvelous chapter of Discovery whose sober facts are grander -and stranger than Romance. - -Has the learned Doctor ever studied the history of Mexico—the Latin -country south of us? - -Since a foreign yoke was thrown off and Mexico “found herself,” what -country has made nobler progress? - -The negro in Santo Domingo has had a hundred years of freedom; Mexico -scarce half so many; _yet compare the Mexico of today with the Santo -Domingo of today._ Left to themselves, the Latins of Mexico have built up -a magnificent civilization. - -Left to themselves, the negroes of Santo Domingo have destroyed what the -French had already built. - -_In Mexico conditions get better, year after year._ - -_In Santo Domingo conditions grow worse, year after year._ - -If the learned Doctor wants to make a study in contrasts, let him first -read “Where Black Rules White,” by Hesketh Prichard, and then read “The -Awakening of a Nation,” by Charles F. Lummis, and I venture to say that -some of his cocky self-complacency as to the superiority of the negroes -over the whites will ooze out of him. - - * * * * * - -As to Italy—can it be that Italy has done less in a thousand years than -the negroes have done in thirty? - -The greatest man that ever lived was of Italian extraction. Taine says -that Napoleon was a true Italian in character and intellect. If that -be true, then _the two greatest men the world ever saw_ were Latins. -Wherever the civilized man lives today his environment, his thoughts, his -ideals, his achievements are more or less influenced by the life and work -of Cæsar and Napoleon. - -If any two men may be said to have created the material modern world -those two Latins did it. - -If modern Europe is any one man, it is Napoleon. His laws, -schools—social, political, financial, educational institutions—have wrung -from rulers ever since the homage of imitation. - -In literature how illustrious is Italy? - -It was Petrarch who was “the Columbus of a new spiritual atmosphere, the -discoverer of modern culture.” - -It was he who broke away from monkish medievalism, created the humanistic -impulse, treated “man as a rational being apart from theological -determination,” modernizing literature. - -The “short story” writers of fiction—Edgar Poe, Guy de Maupassant and -Kipling—had their teacher in Boccaccio and his _novella_. - -Modern history traces its methods, its spirit and its form to Villani, -Guicciardini, and that wonderful type of Latin genius, Machiavelli. - -_The whole world goes to school to the Latins!_ - -No painter hopes to excel Correggio, Paul Veronese, Antonio Allegro, -Tintoretto, Velasquez, Murillo. No sculptor expects to eclipse Niccola -Pisano, Orvieto, Orcagna or Luca della Robbia. - -No worker in gold, silver and bronze believes he can surpass Ghiberti, -Cellini and Donatello. - -Architects the world over despair of rivaling Alberti, Bramante, Giulo -Romano, Palladio. - -These masters were masters to their own generation, four and five hundred -years ago; they have been masters ever since; they are masters still. - -Wherever civilization extends its frontiers these deathless Latins are -in the van—teaching what Truth and Beauty are, refining the thoughts, -elevating the ideals, improving the methods, inspiring the efforts of man. - - * * * * * - -_The negroes have done more than this, and in thirty years?_ - -You had forgotten the Renaissance, hadn’t you, Doctor? - -Asia was decaying, Africa was in its normal state of savagery, Europe lay -torpid under the weight of ignorance and superstition. Where learning -existed at all its spirit was dull, its form heavy, its progress fettered -by ancient canons and cumbrous vestments. - -Suddenly the Angel of Light—her face a radiance, her presence an -inspiration—puts a silver trumpet to her lips and blows, blows, till all -the world of white men hears the thrilling notes. - -And lo! there is a resurrection! What was best in the learning of the -past becomes young again, and ministers to the minds of men. - -Literature springs to life, throws off antiquated dress, and takes -its graceful modern form. The fine arts flourish as never before; the -canvas, the marble, the precious metal, feel the subtle touch of the -eager artist, and give birth to beauty which is immortal. The heavy -prison-castle of the Frank, the Goth, the Norman, the Anglo-Saxon, -retires abashed before the elegant, airy, poetic palace of the -Renaissance. - -Nor does the revival of learning limit itself to literature, -architecture, painting, sculpture. It extends to law, to commerce, to -agriculture, to religion, to education. - -Whence came the Renaissance, Doctor Washington? Whence came that mighty -revival of intellectual splendor which still influences the world? From -the Latin race, which you affect to despise. From these Italians whom you -say are so inferior in development to the negro. - -Italy led the modern world in almost everything which we call -civilization—she is today one of the world’s most inspiring teachers, -nor will her power for good be gone till the Christian religion is -repudiated, the voice of music hushed, the wand of literature broken, the -force of law defied, the witchery of art lost to the minds, the hearts -and the souls of men. - -And yet Doctor Washington asserts, to one audience after another, -that those glorious achievements of the Latins, the Italians, these -imperishable and ever potent achievements of a thousand years, are -exceeded by what the negroes have done in thirty years! - -From the Latin England took her religious organization, as Germany and -Austria and France had done. Through the Latin the classic literature of -Greece and earlier Rome came into the modern world—an eternal debt which -we owe mainly to Petrarch. - -The Bourbon kings imported from Italy the architects, painters, -sculptors, landscape gardeners, who laid upon uncouth feudal France the -rich mantle of Italian beauty. - -It was the Latin who taught modern Europe how to farm, how to irrigate, -how to engrave, how to make paper from rags, how to bridge the rivers, -how to pave the streets, how to make canals. - -Some of Shakespeare’s plays are elaborations and dramatizations of -Italian _novellas_. Chaucer, the father of English poetry, frankly copied -from the Italian model. - -Milton had Dante for pioneer, Spenser had Ariosto, and Byron’s best work -is in the Italian form. - -I presume, Doctor, that at this season of the year you are copying the -style of the white man, and that you are wearing a straw hat. - -Well, the Latins taught us how to make straw hats. - -I presume that you recognize the value of _glass_—one of whose hundreds -of uses is to show you how you look. - -Well, the Latin taught us how to make glass. - -I presume you realize how much the modern world, during the last thousand -years, has been indebted to the modern ship. - -Well, the Latin taught the Anglo-Saxon how to build modern ships. - -I presume you appreciate good rice, Doctor. - -Well, the seed of the heavy upland rice which we have in this -country was brought out of Italy in the pockets of Thomas -Jefferson—gentleman-smuggler in that instance. - -I presume you will wear pink silk undergarments this season as usual, -won’t you, Doctor? - -Well, the Latin taught modern Europe how to make and use silk. - -And remember that the Latin took the clumsy musical instruments of the -ancient world and fashioned them into the perfect forms of the present -time; and that the Italians, whom you despise, had created the violin -while your race was “rattling the bones” and gradually climbing toward -the “cakewalk.” - - * * * * * - -What has the negro in these United States been doing for the last thirty -years, Doctor? - -_Copying the white man._ That’s all. - -He has simply been imitating, as best he could, the dress, the talk, the -manners, the methods, the work of the whites. - -The Latin whites _originated_ a civilization; the negroes are _copying_ -one. Is there no difference between the higher genius which conceives and -the lower talent which copies? - -It required the genius of Raphael to conceive and paint “The -Transfiguration.” Any ordinary artist can make a fair copy of it. But -does anyone compare the copyist with the original artist? It required -the genius of Sangallo and Michelangelo to rear St. Peter’s at Rome: any -well-educated architect of today might rear its duplicate. But would that -make the modern architect equal to the two Italian masters? - -Ten thousand negro men and women may be able to sit down at the piano and -render Verdi’s “Il Trovatore,” but does that entitle the negroes to class -themselves with the Italian composer? - -My thought is this—the negro, assisted in every possible way by the -whites, is copying the ways and learning the arts of the white man; _but -the fact that he can learn to read the white man’s book does not make -him the equal of the white race which produced the book._ The fact that -he may learn from us how to practice law or medicine does not make him -equal to the white race which _created_ the code of laws and the science -of medicine. It may have required a thousand years _for us to learn_ that -which we can _teach him in one year_, but the point is that the negro, -in his native home, had just as much time and opportunity to evolve a -civilization as we had, AND HE DID NOT DO IT. - -Let me repeat to you, Doctor, the unvarnished truth—for it may do you -good: - -The advance made by your race in America is _the reflection_ of the white -man’s civilization. Just that and nothing more. The negro lives in the -light of the white man’s civilization and _reflects a part of that light_. - -He imitates an example kept before his eyes; copies models never out of -his sight; echoes the words the white man utters; patterns after the -manners and the methods of the whites around him, and thus _reflects_ -our civilization. - -He has originated nothing, and if the copy, the pattern, the example were -taken away he would fall back as he did in Haiti. - -He has never either evolved nor sustained a civilization of his own. - -Fortunately for the _Afro-American_, he finds himself better situated -than his brethren elsewhere. In Africa and Haiti _they_ have to scuffle -_for themselves_. Result—barbarism. - -In America _he_ swells the ranks of civilization’s advancing army, and he -_has_ to go forward. We not only support him with aid of all sorts, we -not only give him daily precept and example, but we _compel_ him to live -a better life than he would live in Africa and Haiti. This compulsion -is of two kinds, the fear of punishment and the hope of reward—thus -enlisting two of the most powerful passions of the human being. - -It should be significant to Doctor Washington that the only portion of -his race which has ever made any development is that which has the vast -advantage of being sustained, encouraged, taught, led and _coerced_ by -the whites among whom they live. - -Not long ago a negro preacher whose self-appreciation was as great as -that of Doctor Washington went out to Liberia to subdue the heathen, in -the home of the negro race. - -The heathen were not subdued, but the preacher was. He threw off his -store clothes, gave a whoop, gathered up an armful of wives and broke for -the woods; the “Call of the Wild” was too much for his newly soldered -civilization. - -Now, I don’t mean to say that Doctor Washington would relapse, -under similar circumstances; but when I hear him call his new race -_Afro-Americans_ and listen while he soberly tells them that _they are -superior to the whites_, I beg that he will remember his kin across the -sea, his brethren in Santo Domingo, the decadents of Liberia, and the -tens of thousands of his race here in this country who devoutly believe -in witch doctors, in ghosts, in the conjure bag, and in the power of one -negro to undo another by the mysterious but invincible “Trick.” - -Remember this, Doctor, education is a good thing, but _it never did, and -never will, alter the essential character of a man or a race_. - -Of course, Doctor, if you think your race the equal of ours, you have the -right to say it. It’s a free country, you know. - -But, really, you ought not to “crowd the monkey” by putting in a claim -for superiority. - -_Such a claim does your race no good._ - -It _may_ do them harm. It may cultivate a spirit of truculent -self-assertion which even your warmest admirers, North and South, might -find it hard to tolerate. - -In the “History of Civilization,” Buckle says: - -“Above all this, there is a far higher movement; and as the tide rolls -on, now advancing, now receding, there is, amid its endless fluctuations, -one thing, and one alone, which endures forever. The actions of bad men -produce only temporary evil, the actions of good men only temporary good; -and eventually the good and the evil altogether subside, are neutralized -by subsequent generations, absorbed by the incessant movement of future -ages. But the discoveries of great men never leave us; they are immortal, -they contain those eternal truths which survive the shock of empires, -outlive the struggle of rival creeds and witness the decay of successive -religions. All _these_ have their different measures and their different -standards; one set of opinions for one age, another set for another. -_They_ pass away like a dream; they are as a fabric of a vision, which -leaves not a rack behind. _The discoveries of genius alone remain_: it -is to _them_ we owe all that we now have, _they_ are for all ages and -for all times; never young, and never old, _they_ bear the seeds of -their own life, they flow on in a perennial and undying stream; _they_ -are essentially cumulative, and giving birth to the additions which they -subsequently receive, _they thus influence the most distant posterity, -and after the lapse of centuries produce more effect than they were able -to do even at the moment of their promulgation._” - -Noble lines! - -And amid these “discoveries of genius” to which “we owe all that we now -have,” bearing the seeds of intellectual life and improvement to “the -most distant posterity” what treasures are richer than those which the -Latin brings? - -Architecture, Agriculture, Manufactures, Commerce, Civil Engineering, -Finance, Legislation, Religious Organization, Sculpture, Painting, Music, -Literature, Science, the wedding of the Fine Arts to Religion—in each and -every one of these fields _his_ genius has been creative and masterful. - -_Upon our civilization the Latin has imposed, as an everlasting blessing, -an imperishable Public Debt._ - -What does civilization owe to the negro? - -Nothing! - -_Nothing!!_ - -NOTHING!!! - - - _Amending the Constitution_ - -I am not one of those who believe that the Constitution of the United -States is a flawless piece of workmanship. - -It was not so considered by those who made it nor by those who adopted -it. It never would have been ratified had it not been that amendments -were promised and misrepresentation made as to the character of the -instrument. - -There has been a great deal of discussion recently about making a new -Constitution or amending the old. - -When the Constitution was adopted _a government was created_ of which the -Constitution is the supreme law, and _this cannot be changed except in -the manner prescribed in the instrument itself_. - -If two-thirds of the states composing the Union, acting through their -legislatures, shall apply to Congress for “a Constitutional convention -for proposing amendments,” and these amendments should be ratified by -three-fourths of the states, then a practically new Constitution might be -framed; but in no other legal way could the people alter the fundamental -law. - -Congress can take the initiative by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses, -and can propose amendments which, if adopted by three-fourths of the -states, would become a part of the Constitution; but it must occur to all -that this method of effecting reform is slow and cumbrous to the last -degree. - -_The framers of the Constitution meant that it should be so._ - -In a very able article in the last number of this magazine Mr. Frederick -Upham Adams discusses the necessity for amendments to the Constitution. - -He cites four changes that should be made. - -First.—The election of President and Vice-President should not be decided -by a majority of the states, but by a majority of the people. - -Second.—United States Senators should not be elected by legislatures, but -by direct vote of the people of the states. - -Third.—The states should be represented in the Senate according to -population. - -Fourth.—The powers and functions of the Federal Judiciary should be -enumerated and limited. - -I heartily concur with Mr. Adams in his view of the Federal Judiciary. It -has usurped functions and powers unprecedented in the history of judicial -tribunals. - -In order to change the character of the government at Athens from an -aristocracy to a democracy Solon gave the people control of the courts, -which _exercised the supreme power over laws and men_. Aristotle says -that by this method the people established a democracy where there had -previously been an aristocracy. The aristocrat controlled the lawmaking -power, but as the people controlled the judiciary a pure democracy -resulted. - -Alexander Hamilton used the same device _for the opposite purpose_. -He took away from the people and put into the hands of the aristocracy -_the supreme control over our laws and rulers_, and our judiciary, -thus controlled, has changed the United States, which under the old -Confederation was a democracy, into an aristocracy. - -It will require a Constitutional amendment to drive the usurpers from the -high place in which they are entrenched, but such an amendment cannot -possibly be passed through the _Upper House of Congress_ and through -the _Upper Houses of three-fourths of the states_ until a tremendous -revolution shall have taken place in public sentiment. - -If we should attempt to curtail the powers of the Federal Judges by -Constitutional amendment we should surely find “Jordan a hard road to -travel.” Most of us would be dead and forgotten before the purpose could -be reached by that route. - -What, then, can be done? - -_The swiftest remedy for the evil lies in the election of a President who -will_ ASSERT HIS EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY. - -The very essence of our system of government is the _Balance of Power_. -The Legislative function should not encroach upon the Judicial; the -Executive should not invade the Legislative, and the Judicial should not -usurp prerogatives belonging to the other two. - -_Inherent in each of these three departments of government lies the power -of self-defense._ - -Just as the Government, as a whole, has the inherent, inalienable right -of self-preservation against external or internal attack, so each of the -three separate departments of the Government has the inherent right of -self-preservation as against an attack from either one or both of the -other two. - -When John Marshall made the attempt to encroach upon the Executive, -during the administration of Mr. Jefferson, the President treated the -Court with contempt, and the Court was powerless to go forward. When the -same partisan Judge made a decision against the state of Georgia, which -President Andrew Jackson considered unjust, the Executive refused to -support the Judiciary, and the decision came to naught. - -When Chief-Justice Taney, during President Lincoln’s administration, -encroached, as the President thought, upon the Executive, the Judiciary -again came to grief. - -_Had Mr. Cleveland been at heart in favor of the Income tax of 1893, the -Supreme Court would never have dared to pronounce against it._ - -That law was based upon a principle which the Supreme Court had indorsed -for a hundred years, and the first deliverance of the Judges upon the act -of 1893 was favorable to it. - -That act was the outcome of the work of the Legislative department -acting within the scope of its authority. The Executive department had -sanctioned the act, and it had become LAW. - -Had Cleveland boldly announced his purpose to _execute that law, by -virtue of his inherent power as Chief Executive_, the Supreme Court would -never have made the second decision, which was a national scandal. - -By that decision the accumulated wealth of the millionaires is exempted -from taxation—relieved of the duty of contributing to the support of the -Government by whose unjust laws those millions were accumulated. - -But let the people really get in power; let them really elect a -President; let them place in authority another Andrew Jackson, who isn’t -afraid to show his friendship for the common man and his animosity to -the greedy corporation—_then_ you will see the Supreme Court draw in its -horns. - -Federal Judges are human like the rest of us, and they know with -considerable accuracy which side their bread is buttered on. - -_Get the right sort of man in the Executive Chair, get the right sort of -men in Congress, create the right sort of public opinion, and I venture -the prediction that the Federal Judiciary will not attempt the role of -Dame Partington without meeting with the same luck._ - - * * * * * - -I agree with Mr. Adams also that Senators should be elected by the direct -vote of the people in each state, but he is perhaps in error when he -says that the system of electing Senators by state legislatures is “the -fountain head of the corruption of American politics.” - -On the contrary, there never could have been a corrupt Senate until there -was a corrupt Legislature. When New Jersey sent to the Senate a man like -Jim Smith the Legislature of New Jersey had already become corrupt. -When Pennsylvania sent to the Senate a man like Quay the Legislature of -Pennsylvania had already become corrupt. Standard Oil had to buy the Ohio -Legislature before Henry B. Payne became United States Senator. - -In other words, the corrupt Senator is simply the fruit of the tree of -legislative corruption, and the corrupt Legislature has been too often -the result of corrupt elections. - -We might as well tell the truth, and the whole truth, while we are -discussing the question. _Every one of us knows that elections of almost -every sort, from the highest to the lowest—town, county, state and -national—have been influenced by money and whisky, fraudulent practices -of all sorts, the stuffed ballot-box, the doctored returns, and the God’s -truth about the matter is that the people themselves are, to a large -extent, responsible for the kind of men who get into the Legislature, -into the House of Representatives and into the Senate._ - -Too many of our honest men have shirked election duty, as they have -shirked jury duty; and just as ignorant or corrupt juries too often -decide questions in the court house, so the ignorant or corrupt -voters—pliant tools in the hands of unscrupulous politicians—decide -questions of legislation which require the best thought and the best -energies of our most intelligent and upright citizens. - -If direct legislation and the Recall should be put in practice, there -could not be such things as corrupt legislatures, and therefore there -would be no such thing as corrupt senatorial elections. - -The fountain having been purified, the stream would be pure. At present -the fountain itself is too often impure, and therefore the stream which -flows from it cannot be pure. - - * * * * * - -On the other two points made by Mr. Adams there will be greater -difference of opinion. His objections proceed upon the assumption -that the United States is a nation with a government national in all -particulars. Here he is at fault. - -Our Government is only partially national. It is Federal, also, in part. -It is not altogether the one nor altogether the other. - -Ours is a peculiar system. To the foreign world we present the aspect -of a sovereign nation. Among ourselves we are a collection of sovereign -states which, for purposes stated in the preamble of the Constitution, -have delegated to the central Government a portion of those powers which -once belonged entirely to those sovereign states. - -The state government existed before the Federal Government came into -being. If the Federal Government were abolished tomorrow, each one of -the states would still remain a sovereign state capable of conducting -government. - -The state of Connecticut, for instance, was an independent republic when -there was no such thing as the United States. - -Would Connecticut ever have gone into an “indissoluble union” if she had -not been assured that this union was to be composed of “indestructible -states”? The two propositions are linked together in Constitutional law. - -Among sovereigns all are, in law, equal, and each one of these states was -sovereign at the time the union of states was formed. - -Would either of those independent sovereign states have accepted a place -of inferiority in the Government? Assuredly not. - -Then how is the indestructibility of the states guaranteed in the -Constitution? By giving the state, as a state, its full power in the -United States Senate, and, in a smaller degree, in the election of Chief -Magistrate. - -The Constitution itself was modeled by delegates chosen, not by -citizens of the United States, _acting as individuals composing the -entire nation_, but by voters acting as _citizens composing distinct -and independent states to which they respectively belonged_. When the -completed Constitution was referred back to the people for adoption, it -was not acted upon by them as citizens of the entire nation, but it was -ratified by each state, acting as a state, separate and distinct from -every other state. _Therefore the Constitution itself is the result, not -of a national, but of a Federal act._ - -Mr. Madison himself took this ground in _The Federalist_. The facts all -prove it. - -In the exercise of its legislative powers the Federal Government is both -national and Federal. The House of Representatives is a national body, -because it is composed of members chosen according to population. The -Senate is a Federal body, because it is chosen by the states, acting as -states. - -The executive department of our Government also combines in itself both -the national and the Federal features. - -The Electoral College is composed of two messengers from each state, and -also of messengers equal in number to the members which the state has in -the House of Representatives. - -The two messengers first mentioned correspond with the two Senators, -and therefore represent the state in its Federal capacity. The other -messengers correspond with the Representatives of the state in the Lower -House, and as the Lower House is national, so those messengers are -national. - -If the people fail to elect a President, and the election is thrown into -the House of Representatives, _this House, which in its organization as -a legislative body is national, at once becomes Federal, because each -state has one vote, and the voice of Ohio or Pennsylvania is not more -potent than that of Rhode Island or Delaware_. - -It is only when our Government comes to put its laws into operation that -it is purely national. - -It is not strictly correct, politically or legally, to say that the -United States is a nation, for a nation does not properly exist when the -Government is one of limited power. That our Government is one of limited -power, absolute only within the sphere of action granted to it by the -states, cannot be denied. While secession has been forever decided as not -being among the reserved rights of the states, there are very many other -reserved rights which still belong to the states, and which always should -be retained. - -As the Washington _Post_ remarked some time since: “The United States -has not a single voter, and does not hold elections for any office. _All -elections are state elections._” - -Already there has been too much concentration of power in the central -Government. To take away from the states their power of selecting -Senators would be nothing short of revolution, and would lead to such a -consolidation of power as would entirely change the form and spirit of -our Government. - -If the principles of Populism grow strong enough to carry the large -states they will probably be found strong enough to carry the small -states. If they be found strong enough to control the state elections, -they will control national offices, because, as the Washington Post very -aptly points out, _the Federal Government holds no elections and has -no voters_: it is the state that holds the election and furnishes the -voters; it is the state that prescribes the limits of the franchise, -and says how, when, where and by whom these elections shall be held; -_and even the Federal Judiciary has not yet ventured to infringe in the -slightest degree upon that reserved right of the separate states_. - - * * * * * - -Speaking of the equal representation of the states in the Senate, Mr. -Adams says, “_This vicious compromise was made in the Constitutional -Convention as the price for the perpetuation of slavery._” - -This compromise he characterizes further as “_cowardly and unfair_.” And -he adds: “Now that the logic of events has made this a nation, despite -the restrictive clauses of the Constitution, the dual participation of -the unrepresentative Senate is so grotesque that its continuance is -fraught with a danger which at any time is likely to precipitate civil -war.” - -Is Mr. Adams quite sure that “this vicious compromise was the price of -the perpetuation of slavery”? - -Of course, I knew in a general way that slavery had been responsible -for pretty nearly every mean old thing that has ever happened to this -country; and it has always grieved me, with more or less poignancy, that -New England could not have _foreseen_ that she couldn’t make slavery -pay. We lost much precious time while she was discovering that she -couldn’t. When at length she _did_ discover that there was no money in -it for _her_, she thoughtfully sold most of her slaves, and went in for -Emancipation. - -_Then_, to be sure, the sacred “Cause of Freedom” advanced at a gallop; -but, as I said, we had lost a good deal of time waiting for New England -to make her experiment, and a good deal of unhappiness resulted. - -But while I knew all this, in a general way, I really was not aware -that the slave-owning states in the Constitutional Convention forced -Washington, Madison, Franklin and Randolph to act in the cowardly and -vicious manner described by Mr. Adams. - -The state of Virginia bitterly opposed the equal representation of the -states in the Senate. This was strange conduct in Virginia, if the -purpose of that compromise was the “perpetuation of slavery.” - -The state of New Jersey was the leader of those states in the convention -which demanded equal representation in the Senate. If that senatorial -equality was intended to perpetuate slavery, New Jersey’s attitude was -most peculiar. - -This compromise which Mr. Adams calls “vicious, cowardly and unfair” is -known to constitutional history as _the Connecticut Compromise_. The men -who championed it most ably were Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth. Were -these men actuated by a desire to perpetuate slavery? - -All the books which I have read upon the subject state that equal -representation in the Senate was a compromise which _the smaller states -wrung from the larger states, as the price of the union_, not the price -of the “perpetuation of slavery.” - -New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware were afraid to give up their -independent, sovereign existence as states and to go into a union -where the large states, like Pennsylvania and Virginia, would have so -much greater power than themselves, if that power should be based on -population. - -When New Jersey refused to consider any plan of union which did not -safeguard the interests of the small states, she was not thinking of -perpetuating slavery. When Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth made such a -determined fight to preserve, in part, the equality which then prevailed -among the states, they were not thinking of perpetuating slavery. _Their -motive was to protect Connecticut, the small state, against Virginia and -other large states._ - -When Benjamin Franklin finally proposed that the Convention adopt the -Connecticut idea, that aged philosopher and friend of human liberty was -not acting in the interest of the slave-owners. - -When Washington gave his consent, he was not guilty of cowardice and -unfairness for the purpose of protecting slavery. - -These men knew perfectly well that they were exceeding their authority in -making a _new_ Constitution. They were sent there _to amend_ the Articles -of Confederation; and when New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware took the -resolute position which was voiced by Patterson, Roger Sherman and Oliver -Ellsworth, Washington and Franklin both had sense enough to know that it -would be utter folly to go before the people, seeking a ratification of -_a new Constitution_, unless the difference between big states and little -states had been first adjusted in the Constitutional Convention. Indeed, -Rhode Island, another small state, was so jealous of her rights that she -refused to send delegates to the Convention. - -My authorities are Bancroft’s “History of the United States,” “The -Constitutional History” of Landon, McMaster’s “With the Fathers,” -Hildreth’s “History of the United States,” Schouler’s “History of the -United States.” - -The latter historian says expressly that the compromise under discussion -“_was secured through the determination of the smaller states not to -yield entirely the rule of representation which the larger states were -bent on invading_,” and, he adds, “_this compromise admirably preserves -the composite character of our system_.” - -The historian declares that the smaller states expressly committed to the -New Jersey plan which sought to retain the sovereignty of the states were -New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware. - -Hildreth, in his “History of the United States,” takes the same position, -and says: “The party of the smaller states, known also as the State -Rights Party, included the delegates from Connecticut, New Jersey, -Delaware and a majority of those from Maryland and New York. - -“The party of the larger states, or National Party, included not only -_the delegates from Virginia, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania_, but also -those from _the two Carolinas and Georgia_, states which anticipated a -very rapid increase of population.” - -(I could quote Woodrow Wilson to the same effect, only Woodrow isn’t -worth while.) - - * * * * * - -Now it must occur to Mr. Adams that these facts are at war with his -theory. - -Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, the two Carolinas and Georgia -would never have been found opposing the equality of representation of -the states in the Senate if the purpose of that senatorial equality was -the perpetuation of the institution of slavery. - -There _was_ a compromise which the slave-owners wrung as a concession -from the free states, but this compromise benefited them _in the lower -House, not in the Senate_. - -When the Constitution gave the slave states representation based upon -_three-fifths of the slaves_, the institution of slavery derived strength -from the _national idea_ of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Virginia—_not -from the State Rights idea_ of New Jersey, Delaware and Connecticut. - - - “_Take the Children_” - -In France the Privileged Classes had created a situation which pleased -them perfectly. - -A fifth of the soil belonged to 30,000 noble families; another fifth -belonged to the clergy; another fifth belonged to the king and city -governments; the remaining two-fifths belonged to all the other people, -middle class and peasants. - -To the support of the Government the clergy contributed nothing except as -a free gift; the nobility contributed pretty much what they pleased, and -they did not please to contribute a great deal. - -The king’s family spent $55,000,000 per year. Two brothers of the king -spent $2,000,000; and, to pay the debts of one princely bankrupt, King -Louis XVI took $3,000,000 out of the public funds. - -Two hundred and ninety-five cooks served in the king’s kitchen. Nearly -two thousand horses stood in his stables. A squad of soldiers escorted -his dinner to the table. A magnificent band furnished music while he -ate, and a dozen gallant lords, paid for the service, helped him to -undress and get to bed when the arduous do-nothing of the day had been -finished. - -Some 30,000,000 Frenchmen did not enter into this world of privilege. -The merchant, the lawyer, the doctor, the manufacturer, the farmer, the -laborer—all these stood outside the pearly gates, catching only a glimpse -of the radiance within, hearing only, as from a distance, the music of -this Eden, created by class legislation. - -The peasant neither owned his land absolutely nor _himself_ absolutely. -Over him and his was suspended the heavy sword of class privilege. - -The noble hunter of game, who enjoyed the exclusive privilege of killing -game, might trample down his grain with the utmost unconcern, at whatever -time the pleasure of the noble huntsman dictated. Mr. Peasant was not -allowed to protect his fields and crops by putting up any kind of -inclosure. - -Mr. Peasant must not kill the wild boar or the antlered stag, even though -those noble beasts, reserved for noble huntsmen, were destroying the crop -upon which he and his family were dependent for a living. - -He could not, under any conditions whatsoever, destroy the pigeons which -came sweeping down upon his grain, nor must he, during certain seasons, -manure his crop or hoe out the grass, lest he injure the flavor of the -young partridges, and deprive them of the shelter necessary for their -comfort and growth. - -He could not press his grapes save at the nobleman’s wine-press, nor -grind his wheat save at the nobleman’s mill, nor bake his bread elsewhere -than in the nobleman’s oven. - -These monopolies were peculiar to the lord, and the peasant must pay toll -lest the lord’s revenues decrease. - -The peasant could not vote, had really no civic existence, was not -considered in the government of the country; could be made to work -whether he wished to do so or not for the noble and the king. His horses -could be taken from the cart, or from the plow, if his superiors -demanded it. Neither for his labor nor his horse was he paid. He could -not put salt into his victuals without paying a high price for it, and he -was not allowed to eat his victuals unsalted. The law _compelled_ him to -buy a certain portion of salt every year at an exorbitant price. - -The church took from him one-tenth of all he made, besides which he must -pay fees for christenings, marriages, burials and pardons for sins—to say -nothing of prayers in behalf of the living, the dying and the dead. The -feudal lord took from him annually a certain part of all he made. - -The French historian Taine says that in some portions of France the -peasant paid in feudal dues, church tithes and royal taxes _more than -three-fourths of all that he made_. In other portions of France _the -entire net produce of the soil went to the church and state_, and so -great was the intolerable burden that _the peasants quit in despair, left -the land to become a desert waste, and flocked to the cities to swell the -army of The Wretched_. - -To throw off the shackles of this frightful system of misgovernment the -French Revolutionist roused the people. - -At first Great Britain rejoiced in the movement which Lafayette, -Mirabeau, Necker, Sieyès and Camille Desmoulins inaugurated. These -early revolutionists declared their purpose to set up a constitutional -government in France such as Great Britain enjoyed, but when these -moderate and constitutional reformers were thrown aside by the radical -democrats who were determined to establish a republic—when this democracy -had confiscated the lands held by the church, had issued paper money -and had taken for national uses the abandoned estates of the immigrant -nobles, the ruling powers of church and state in Great Britain became -greatly alarmed, and it was resolved that war to the death should be -waged against the principles of the French Revolution. - -Unless this were done, democracy might assert itself in Great Britain, -and those things which had been taken from the people under forms of -law might be restored in the same way to the original owners. Therefore -William Pitt, Prime Minister and actual ruler of Great Britain, declared -war upon France, blockaded her coasts, organized European kings into -confederacies against her, and for more than a dozen dreadful years -poured armed legions upon her. - -During this era of “blood and iron” men were torn from peaceful pursuits -throughout Great Britain to supply the navy and the army with food for -powder. - -As a necessary consequence, the demand for labor was greater than the -supply; and as England depends especially upon her manufactures, it was -there that the scarcity of labor was most injuriously felt. - -It is said that a deputation representing the manufacturers waited upon -the Prime Minister and laid their grievances before him, asking the -question, “_What must we do?_” - -Mr. Pitt is reported to have answered, “TAKE THE CHILDREN.” - -This story may not be true, but it is a fact that it represented -precisely the emergency, and the manner in which that emergency was met. -It also represents correctly the attitude of Mr. Pitt as defined in his -speeches in Parliament. - -A cruel, unjustifiable war had devoured the laborer who should have been -at his task. The laws had dragged him into the army and into the navy -whether he wished to go or not. Press-gangs had prowled about the lanes -and alleys clutching at every poor man who happened to be sound of limb, -and had carried him off by force into a battleship, where he might be -kept until the bride whom he had left at the church door had counted him -as dead, or until the family which he had left contented and happy had -been lost to the knowledge of men. - -_Having taken the father, the same remorseless class-greed demanded the -child, and took it._ - -Upon the altar of English lust for money has been sacrificed more -helpless men, women and children than ever fell before the ruthless -hordes of Tamerlane or Attila. - -“Within carefully guarded limits, child-labor is no more to be objected -to in manufactures than in agriculture, but in the early days of the -factory system these limits were utterly discarded. - -“In the infancy of the system it became the custom of the master -manufacturers to contract with the managers of workhouses throughout -England and of the charities of Scotland, to send their young children -to the factories of the great towns. _Many thousands of children between -the ages of six and ten_ were thus sent, absolutely uncared for and -unprotected, and left to the complete disposal of masters who often had -not a single thought except speedily to amass a fortune, and _who knew -that if the first supply of infant labor were used up there was still -much more to be obtained_. - -“Thousands of children at this early age might be found working in the -factories of England and Scotland, usually from twelve to fourteen, -sometimes even fifteen and sixteen hours a day, not unfrequently during -the greater part of the night. _Destitute or drunken or unnatural parents -made it a regular system to raise money by hiring out their children from -six, sometimes from five, years old, by written contracts and for long -periods. In one case brought before Parliament a gang of these children -was put up for sale among a bankrupt’s effects, and publicly advertised -as part of the property._ In another an agreement was disclosed between -a London parish and a Lancashire manufacturer in which it was stipulated -that _with every twenty sound children one idiot should be taken_.” - - * * * * * - -“Even as late as 1840, when the most important manufactures had been -regulated by law, Lord Ashley was able to show that _boys employed in the -carpet manufacture at Kidderminster were called up at three and four in -the morning, and kept working sixteen or eighteen hours_: that children -five years old were engaged in the unhealthy trade of pin-making, and -were kept at work from six in the morning to eight at night.” (Lecky, -“England in Eighteenth Century.”) - -In the coal mines and in the salt mines men, women and children were -literally beasts of burden—were chattels, and when the mines were -sold the human machines passed from one owner to another just as the -mechanical apparatus passed. - -There were women who in these coal mines, where the tunnels were too -narrow to allow them to stand upright, had to crawl back and forward on -their hands and knees for fourteen to sixteen hours a day, drawing after -them the trucks loaded with coal. - -_These trucks were securely fastened to the woman by means of a chain -which passed between her legs and was attached to a belt strapped round -her waist. The woman seldom wore any clothes except an old pair of -trousers made of sacking._ - -“Little children were forced to work underground from year to year. -Deep in the gloom of a night which had neither moonlight nor stars; -rarely ever seeing the face of nature and of day—lost to God’s glory of -sunlight, shady woods, silvery waters—lost to intelligence, happiness, -enjoyment, reduced to the helpless condition of beasts of burden.” - -What was true of the mines was also true of the factories. - -Men, women and children were forced to work for a number of hours -absolutely inconsistent with physical and moral development. - -In the year 1833 Lord Ashley led in the noble effort to redeem the -children from the clutches of unscrupulous commercialism, and to lighten -the burden of men and women by regulating the hours of labor and the -conditions of service. - -After a most stubborn resistance, in which the corporations urged -against the reform every reason which we hear urged in our day, England -did herself the immense credit of checking the tyranny of those who were -grinding the lives out of the poor in order that the rich should become -richer. - -In this country the cry of commercialism is the same as that which in -Great Britain said, “_Take the children_.” - -Corporations want cheap labor. If they can’t get the adult, they take the -child. - -In the Southern states the tendency to employ children has had alarming -development. In 1880 the total number of cotton factory employees was -16,740. Of these, 4,090 were children under sixteen years of age. In -the year 1900 the total number of employees had increased to 97,559. Of -these, 24,459 _were children under sixteen years of age_. - -In the states outside of the South there were, in 1880, 155,803 employees -in cotton factories. Of this number, 24,243 were children under sixteen -years of age. In the year 1900 the total number of cotton factory -employees in states outside of the South was 205,302. Of these, only -15,796 were children under sixteen years of age. - -In other words, within the Southern states the children under sixteen -years of age constitute now, as they did twenty years ago, _25 per cent. -of all the operatives employed_: whereas, _in the states outside the -South the children under sixteen number less than 8 per cent. of all -those employed_. Therefore the situation which was justly considered so -bad in Great Britain that it was reformed seventy years ago, and which -has been reformed in most of the states outside of the South, is three -times worse in the South than it is in any other portion of the Union, -_and is just as bad now as it was twenty years ago_. - -In _The Tradesman_, of Chattanooga, Tenn., August 15, 1902, the statement -is made that the number of children under sixteen years of age now at -work in the Southern mills approximated 50,000. - -The 50,000 little ones who troop to the mill every morning, breathe the -steam-heated, dust-laden, germ-infected atmosphere of the close rooms -throughout the entire day, who light, with lanterns, their way home -across the fields when darkness has fallen, are white children. During -the same hours that these white boys and girls are finding their way to -the factory where their energy and strength is offered up as a sacrifice -to mammon, 50,000 black children are singing merrily on their way to -school, _where they are gaining what the white children are losing_. - -Glance forward twenty years and ask yourselves what will be the relative -positions of the 50,000 white children and the 50,000 black children. _It -will be a miracle if most of those white children are not either in their -graves, or in the hospitals, or in the slums, or in the prisons, while -the 50,000 black children will be holding clerkships in some department -of the Federal Government._ - -The kind of civilization which we are going to have in the future -is being determined now. Race development and progress cannot be -extemporized or bought ready-made. It is a matter of preparing the soil, -planting the seed, cultivating the crop. - -We shall reap as we shall have sown. - -The most profoundly disgusting feature of the Southern political -situation today is that _the Democratic bosses who control our state -legislatures will not allow us to give our white children as good -treatment as the negro children are getting_. - -Almost universally the Southern mills are controlled by Northern -capitalists; but it is the Southern politician, officeholder, editor or -stockholder who rushes to the legislature saying that _child slavery must -continue because it is good for the child_. - -These Northern capitalists who own Southern mills are, to a large extent, -Republicans in politics. The unprincipled Southern men who put up a plea -in behalf of child slavery are almost exclusively Democratic. - -Just as J. P. Morgan, the Republican railroad king, uses the Southern -Democratic machine to rob the people through his railroads, so the -Northern Republican millowner uses the Southern Democratic politician to -rivet upon the Southern white child the chains of commercial serfdom, -_ruinous to the child and ominous to the future of the white race in the -South_. - -It was class-greed which first raised the cry, “_Take the children_.” It -is class-greed which _now_ says, “TAKE THE CHILDREN.” - - - _Paternalism_ - -One of the dreadfulest words that ever scared a mossback is “Paternalism.” - -He does not know what it means, and he does not want to know. He flees -from it as from something too blood-curdling to look upon. His leaders, -his orators, his editors, have all told him that no language could fully -describe the horrors of “Paternalism”; and therefore he feels that while -poverty, slavery, hunger and starvation are sometimes annoying incidents -in life, they bear no comparison to the pitiless rigors of “Paternalism.” - -He has got used to unmerciful taxes, to ill-paid labor, to squalid -surroundings, to empty pockets, and to the cry of children hungering -for bread. All these discomforts he can stand, because they have come -to him in the natural course of events under the rule of Democracy -and Republicanism. But the very idea of a new party springing up and -practicing “Paternalism” unnerves him. He fears he couldn’t stand it. - -We had this terror-stricken victim of Democratic bugabooism in mind today -when we read the decision of Cleveland’s Attorney-General, to the effect -that whisky in a bonded warehouse could not be reached by process from a -State Court. - -Under a law which has stealthily slipped upon the statute-book while the -people were not noticing, the producers of distilled liquors get the -privilege of storing their “firewater” in a government warehouse and -getting a certificate of deposit. - -The Government takes care of the whisky until the owner feels like paying -a tax upon it. - -Formerly, under an act passed by Republicans and Democrats, this -exemption from tax lasted three years. At the last session of Congress -the Democrats, out of tender consideration for the poor, downtrodden -Whisky Trust, extended this exemption to eight years. - -The great and good Government of the United States, therefore, steps -forward through its officers, and kindly says to the distiller: “Hand me -your whisky bottle: I’ll take care of it for you until you get ready to -pay your taxes.” - -Not only does our great and good Government say substantially these very -words to the distiller, but it guards his whisky bottle so jealously -that no writ or execution or other process from a State Court is allowed -to touch the liquor which is thus being held by the Government for the -benefit of the owner. - -Governor Tillman, of South Carolina, tried to bring his power as Chief -Magistrate of a sovereign state to bear on some of the whisky which Uncle -Sam was taking care of for the Whisky Trust, but the voice of our great -and good Government was promptly heard saying, “Keep off the Grass.” - -Brave Benjamin had to let the whisky alone. - -The certificate of deposit issued on the liquor by the Government to the -distiller becomes at once valuable commercial paper upon which he can get -any amount of money he wants. - -He can go to New York, borrow money on his certificate at 2 per cent., -and use it for eight years without difficulty, because the money-lenders -have the certificate which shows to them that the Government is taking -good care of the whisky all the time. - -Is this “Paternalism”? - -If so, please don’t mention it to the mossback whom we have described. -It might make him run away and tear the buggy up. - - - _Planting Corn_ - -The bluebird was out today; out in his glossiest plumage, his throat -gurgling with song. - -For the sunlight was warm and radiant in all the South, and the coming -spring had laid its benediction on every field and hedge and forest. - -The smell of newly plowed ground mingled with the subtle incense of the -yellow jasmine; and from every orchard a shower of the blossoms of peach -and apple and pear was wafted into the yard and hung lovingly on the -eaves and in the piazzas of the old homestead—the old and faded homestead. - -Was there a cloud in all the sky? Not one, not one. - -“Gee! Mule!!!” - -“Dad blast your hide, why don’t you gee-e-EE!!” - -Co-whack! goes the plowline on the back of the patient mule—the dignified -upholder of mortgages, “time price” accounts, and the family credit -generally. - -Down the furrow, and up the furrow; down to the woods, and up to the -fence—there they go, the sturdy plowman and his much-enduring but -indispensable mule. - -For the poplar leaves are now as big as squirrel-ears and it’s “time to -plant corn.” - -On moves the plowman, steady as a clock, silent and reflective. - -Right after him comes the corndropper, dropping corn. - -The grains faintly chink as the bare feet of the corndropper hurry past; -and before the corn has well cuddled itself into the shoe-heel of the -plowman’s track, down comes the hoe of the “coverer”—and then the seeds -pass into the portals of the great unknown; the unknown of burial, of -death and of life renewed. - -Peeping from the thicket, near at hand, the royal redbird makes note -of what is going on, nor is the thrush blind to the progress of the -corndropper. And seated with calm but watchful dignity on the highest -pine in the thicket sits the melancholy crow, sharpening his appetite -with all the anticipated pleasures of simple larceny. - -The mocking-bird circles and swoops from tree to tree, and in her -matchless bursts of varied song no cadence is wanting, no melody missed. - -The hum of the bees is in the air; white butterflies, like snowflakes, -fall down the light and lazily float away. - -The robin lingers about the China tree, and the bluejay, lifting his -plumed frontlet, picks a quarrel with every feathered acquaintance and -noisily asserts his grievances. - -The jo-ree has dived deeper into the thicket, and the festive sapsucker, -he of the scarlet crest, begins to come to the front, inquisitive as to -the location of bugs and worms. - -On such a day, such a cloudless, radiant, flower-sweetened day, the -horseman slackens the rein as he rides through lanes and quiet fields; -and he dares to dream that the children of God once loved each other. - -On such a day one may dream that the time might come when they would do -so again. - -Rein in and stop, here on this high hill! Look north, look east where -the sun rises, look south, look west where the sun sets—on all sides the -scene is the same. In every field the steady mule, the steady plowman and -the children dropping corn. - -Close the eye a moment and look at the picture fancy paints. Every field -in Georgia is there, every field in the South is there. And in each -the figures are the same—the steady mule and the steady man, and the -pattering feet of the children dropping corn. - -In these furrows lie the food of the republic; on these fields depend -life, and health and happiness. - -Halt those children—and see how the cheek of the world would blanch at -thought of famine! - -Paralyze that plowman—and see how national bankruptcy would shatter every -city in the Union. - -Dropping corn! A simple thing, you say. - -And yet, as those white seeds rattle down to the sod and hide away for a -season, it needs no peculiar strength of fancy to see a Jacob’s ladder -crowded with ascending blessings. - -Scornfully the railroad king would glance at these small teams in each -small field; yet check those corndroppers and his cars would rot on the -road and rust would devour the engines in the roundhouse. The banker -would ride through those fields thinking only of his hoarded millions, -nor would he ever startle himself with the thought that his millions -would melt away in mist were those tiny hands never more to be found -dropping corn. The bondholder, proud in all the security of the untaxed -receiver of other people’s taxes, would see in these fields merely the -industry from which he gathers tribute; it would never dawn on his mind -that without the opening of those furrows and the hurrying army of -children dropping corn his bond wouldn’t be worth the paper it is written -on. - -Yet it is literally so. - -Feed the world, and it can live, work, produce and march on. Starve it, -and what becomes of railroads, banks, mills, mines, notes, mortgages and -bonds? - -Great is the might of this republic!—great in its schools, churches, -courts, legislatures; great in its towns and cities; great in its -commerce, great in its manufactures, great in its colossal wealth. - -But sweep from under it all these worn and wasted fields, strike into -idleness or death the plowman, his wife and his child, and what becomes -of the gorgeous structure whose foundation is his field? - -Halt the food growers, and what becomes of your gold and its “intrinsic -value”? - -How much of your gold can you eat? - -How many of your diamonds will answer the need of a loaf? - -But enough. - -It is time to ride down the hill. The tinkle of the cow-bell follows the -sinking sun—both on the way home. - -So with many an unspoken thought I ride homeward, thinking of those who -plant the corn. - -And hard indeed would be the heart that, knowing what these people do and -bear and suffer, yet would not fashion this prayer to the favored of the -republic: “O rulers, lawmakers, soldiers, judges, bankers, merchants, -editors, lawyers, doctors, preachers, bondholders! _Be not so unmindful -of the toil and misery of those who feed you!_” - - - _Not Parson Brownlow’s Son_ - - KNOXVILLE, TENN., April 26, 1905. - - _Hon. Thomas E. Watson, Thomson, Ga._ - - DEAR SIR: In your article on “Politics and Economics” in TOM - WATSON’S MAGAZINE for May, you speak of the salary grab of - congressmen as follows: “Tennessee will not be shocked to - know that ‘Slippery Jim’ Richardson voted for the grab. - She may be shocked to know that Brownlow did the same - thing—Brownlow, the _son_ of the famous Parson.” - - You are entirely mistaken about Walter P. Brownlow, to - whom you refer, being a son of the “famous Parson.” Parson - Brownlow has only one son living, Colonel John Bell Brownlow, - who commanded the regiment in which I was an officer, the - Ninth Tennessee Cavalry Volunteers of the Union troops during - the Civil War, and who lives in this city and is not a member - of Congress now nor has he ever been. - - Please publish this in full in your issue for June and - greatly oblige me. - - Respectfully, - - W. R. MURPHY. - - P.S.—I am a constant reader of your magazine and am enjoying - your articles very much; and not only yours, but those of - Frederick Upham Adams. Many of the truths which you utter - through the medium of your great magazine will prove to - be precious seed sown in the rich soil of the national - conscience, and the fruitage will be invaluable.—W. R. M. - - - _Mr. President!_ - -Won’t you _please_ quiet down now and get to business? _Don’t_ you think -you can give us a rest on speeches and photographs? - -_Can’t_ you leave it to the women to do as they think best on the baby -question? - -If you will just sit still a while and attend to your own business, you -have no idea how many people will be thankfully appreciative. - -Why don’t you _concentrate your efforts_ and peg away until you -accomplish something? - -Why start up so much game which you never bag? - -You said you were going to compel the Cattle Kings to take their barbed -wire fences off the public lands—and you haven’t done it. - -Why don’t you give Colonel John Mosby free rein and let him cut the wire? - -You said you were going to discipline the Railroads and the Trusts—and -you haven’t done it. - -Why don’t you have your prosecuting officers take out warrants for such -men as Armour, the Rockefellers and Rogers? - -You _know_ they are law-breakers; _deal with them as law-breakers_. - -Don’t seine the pond for minnows when you can harpoon such whales as -these. - -Hit the big criminals—_hit them hard_—and eighty million people will -cheer you on! - -You led us to believe that you meant to revise the Tariff; why don’t you -follow it up? - -You _know_ that _the Trust exists because of the Railroad and the Tariff_. - -The Railroad gives the _special favor_; the Tariff _prevents foreign -Competition_—and there you are. _The Trust is born of these two Special -Favors_, one given by the Tariff and the other by private contracts -violative of law. - -To break any and all Trusts _remove the Tariff on the articles controlled -by the Trusts, and at the same time relentlessly prosecute as common -criminals every Railroad Official, however high and rich, who grants to -one shipper any sort of favor not granted to all_. - -There isn’t a Trust in the United States that you can’t bust in twelve -months if you go at it with these weapons. - -The Free List for trust-controlled articles; Criminal Warrants for the -Armours, Swifts, Harrimans, Rockefellers, Morgans, Belmonts—all who are -“in the game.” - -Here’s a work worthy of you, Mr. Roosevelt. - -_It needs you!_ - -It wants your pluck, your energy, your honesty, your tenacity; won’t you -buckle to the task? - -Let the baby question alone. There will always be plenty of babies. - -Don’t you fret about that. The women know what’s what. - -Turn your head another way. Put your attention on _your_ job. - -_A great man’s task invites you—demands you._ - -RISE TO IT LIKE A GREAT MAN! - - - _Did You Know It?_ - -Did you know that a private corporation got its clutch upon the -Monongahela River generations ago and shut off free navigation? - -Did you know that this private monopoly exercised the power of dictating -to every dollar’s worth of produce transported upon that highway the -terms upon which it should go to market? - -Did you know that _the people at large_, who were robbed by this gigantic -and unnatural monopoly, _complained vainly_ during all these long and -dreary years of corporation tyranny? - -Did you know that as soon as _the corporations which are working in coal -and iron_ got tired of said monopoly and began to complain, our great and -good Government at once had ears to hear and eyes that could see? - -Did you know that patriots of the Carnegie stripe, who had to pay -tribute to the Monongahela monopoly, were losing $425,000 per year to -said monopoly; _and that Carnegie and Company went to our great and good -Government and demanded that said Government buy out said Monongahela -monopoly_? - -Did you know that our great and good Government immediately harkened to -the wails of Carnegie and his Company _and appointed a commission to -assess the value of said Monongahela monopoly_? - -Did you know that said monopoly, being wise in its generation, realized -that its hour had come and that its best policy was to sell out at a high -price? - -_Did you know that the Commission appraised the monopoly franchise at -more than three and a half million dollars, and that our great and good -Government paid the money?_ - -Did you know that _your cash_ was thus lifted out of the Treasury _to pay -for a free river for Carnegie and his Company_; and that nobody thought -it worth while to say “Turkey” to you about it? - -This buying-off of the private monopoly which throttled the commerce of a -great section was a good thing to do. We are glad it was done. The people -can now navigate the Monongahela as freely as Carnegie can do it; but is -it not mortifying to reflect _that the PEOPLE were powerless against the -wrong until the coal and iron kings took the case in hand_? - -And isn’t it amazing to see how easily the doors of the Treasury fly -open, and the millions pour out, when the Privileged Corporations want it -done? - -When it became a matter of self-interest to the Privileged Corporations -to buy out the Monongahela monopoly the Constitution was not in the way -nor was the money lacking. - -Whenever it suits the same Privileged Classes to unload the Railroads on -to the Government at fancy prices it will be done. When that day comes -the Constitution will not be in the way nor will the means be lacking. - -Whenever the Privileged Classes want ANYTHING done the Constitution -approves and the cash box is full. - -It is only when the masses want anything done that our Constitution -becomes a fretful porcupine with quills erect and our cash box has a -hollow sound. - -If you want to have a jolly time with that gay old creature, the United -States Constitution, join the Privileged Corporations. - -If you want to frolic with the United States Treasury and pay for what -you want with public money, join the Privileged Corporations. - - - _Rural Free Delivery to Country People_ - - (Extract from the _People’s Party Paper_, March, 1893, Mr. - Watson’s paper, commenting upon the passage of the _first - appropriation_ for the R. F. D.) - -The annual appropriations for the free delivery of mails was, until the -present administration, confined to cities of over 10,000 inhabitants. At -the suggestion of Mr. Wanamaker, an experiment was made in smaller towns -enjoying daily mails, but as yet no country neighborhoods had obtained -the privilege. - -On Friday, February 17, 1893, when the annual appropriation was pending, -Mr. Watson proposed an amendment as follows: - - For free delivery service, including existing experimental - free delivery offices, $11,254,900, of which the sum of - $10,000 shall be applied, under the direction of the - Postmaster-General, to experimental free delivery in rural - communities other than towns and villages. - -Mr. Watson urged that the paragraph proposed to be amended “provides -for the expenditure of $11,254,943 for free delivery service. The -amendment reduced the amount of that expenditure and simply directed -that the Postmaster-General should apply $10,000 of the appropriation -to experimental free delivery in rural communities.” The following -discussion followed: - -_Mr. Watson_—“Mr. Chairman, the present law provides for an experimental -free delivery in rural communities; but as I understand it—and the -chairman of the committee, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. -Henderson), makes the same statement to the House—_the law has been -construed to mean cities, towns and villages_, and there are now in -operation experimental free deliveries in certain towns and villages. - -“The law expressly provides for ‘rural communities,’ and it seems to me -where the general laws make such provision there is no hardship in taking -a small amount from this appropriation, only $10,000, and appropriating -it for _experimental free delivery in absolutely rural communities_, that -is to say, _in the country pure and simple, among the farmers, in those -neighborhoods where they do not get their mail more than once in every -two weeks, and where these deserving people have settled in communities -one hundred years old and do not receive a newspaper that is not two -weeks behind the times_. - -“The amendment proposes not to increase the appropriation; it actually -diminishes it by a nominal amount, but takes $10,000 of it to be provided -for _experimental free delivery in absolutely rural communities, instead -of towns and villages, which the authorities construe to mean ‘rural -communities.’_ In other words, I think that part of the money ought to -be spent _in the country_, where the law provides it shall be spent, and -having made this statement, if we can have another division, and the -committee is against my amendment, I will yield to its will.” - -_Mr. Henderson, of North Carolina_—“Mr. Chairman, the only law on the -subject at all is in the very language used in this appropriation bill: - -“‘For free delivery service, including existing experimental free -delivery offices.’ - -“That is all the law now on the statute-books in regard to this question. - -“_I do not want the statement of the gentleman from Georgia in regard to -there being a law on the statutes as to rural free delivery to go without -correction._” - -_Mr. Watson_—“Mr. Chairman, _this delivery in the small towns and -villages is called ‘rural free delivery.’_” - -_Mr. Henderson, of North Carolina_—“But as a matter of fact _there is no -law_ except that stated here in this appropriation bill.” - -The amendment was adopted by the House. This opens up the way for the -farmers to secure services on an equal footing with the residents of -the towns and the cities. It is one of the first instances in which the -Government has put itself in daily touch with the citizen of the rural -community. If followed up by successive Congresses, this entering wedge -may cleave the way for a system of intercommunication that will remove a -great inconvenience and cause for dissatisfaction in country homes. As a -first step its importance cannot be overestimated. - - - _Random Paragraphs_ - -You may say what you please about Castro, but I glory in his spunk. - -President of Venezuela, he was sitting comfortably in his seat when, one -day, another Venezuelan who wanted the job cooked up an Insurrection. - -South American revolutions, like all other procedures in civilized -communities, have to be financed. - -The question with the leader of the Venezuelan insurrection was: - -“Who will finance _me_?” - -The Asphalt Trust stepped forward with necessary funds. - -No doubt the Trust was assured by Matos, the Insurgent leader, that in -the event his revolution succeeded the Trust was to have dominion over -Venezuela, like unto that which Standard Oil has over our own Eden of -Christian Civilization. - -At any rate, the Trust put up its money on Matos, who turned out to be -the wrong horse. - -Castro won. But the Trust continued to help Matos even after he had lost. -Died hard, you see, because death is not the law of Nature with Trusts. -Usually they live and the other fellow dies. - -The Asphalt Trust is composed, in part, of American experts in Frenzied -Finance. These marauders who were seeking new worlds to conquer planned -to catch Venezuela in the same net which holds _us_. - -Castro defied them, fought them in the Courts, whipped them, took away -the franchise for non-performance of contract, etc. - -Then they had the brazen audacity to demand that our Government coerce -Castro. - -The Trusts rule the United States—shall little Venezuela check their -career of conquest? - -Away with the feeble Castro! - -Said the Trust to Roosevelt: - -“Shake your big stick at this South American crank and make him -_Arbitrate_!” - -Says Roosevelt to Castro: - -“Arbitrate with the Asphalt Trust, or——” - -Says Castro to Roosevelt: - -“Arbitrate nothing! Hands off, or——” - -In other words, our Government, friendly always to Frenzied Finance, put -up a bluff on Castro. - -Whereupon Castro stood pat and “called” Roosevelt. - -And, all at once, Mr. Roosevelt went a-hunting, and left Taft—the portly, -handsome, self-complacent Taft—“sitting on the lid.” - -Bully for you, Castro! - -Evidently you are “some punkins.” - - * * * * * - -Would to heaven we had a Castro to smash the Beef Trust! - -Roosevelt and young Garfield don’t seem to know where to take hold. The -legal proceedings do not advance half so rapidly as does the price of -beef. - - * * * * * - -If you have never read Herbert Casson’s “Organized Self-Help,” do so. A -brighter, braver, stronger book is not picked up often. No matter how -much you may already know, your information will be greater when you -shall have mastered this little volume. - - * * * * * - -The reason why Sir Plausible Voluble, of Nebraska, is so mixed up on the -Railroad Question is that his talk-talk-talk commenced, as usual, before -he understood his subject. At first he advocated state ownership, which -would have given us forty-odd different systems. Now he has reached the -point where he wants the Nation to own national lines of transportation -while the states are to own “local lines.” _Wouldn’t_ we have a sweet -time deciding which roads are national and which are local? - - * * * * * - -Under the present system every line of transportation has a double -character, partly national and partly local, and _the traffic_ on every -line is partly state and partly inter-state. - -You can no more separate what is national from what is local in the -railroads than you can in the Post-Office. - -_Every_ postal route is at once local and national. A letter may come -five miles, five hundred or five thousand—the _system_ carries it to its -destination. - -So with freight and passengers. The so-called local railroad will carry -freight from the adjoining county, from the adjoining state, from the -remotest section of the Union, and from the lands beyond our borders. So -with passengers. - -Why, then, should anybody be talking tommyrot about “_local lines_”? - -Said Betsy Prig to Sairey Gamp, concerning the alleged existence of a -certain Mrs. Harris, “_I don’t believe there is no sich a person._” - -Says I to W. J. B., concerning the alleged “local lines of -transportation,” I don’t believe there is any such thing as a local line -of transportation. - - * * * * * - -The reasoning which sustains government ownership of a part of the -railroads inevitably leads to the ownership of all. - -At _such_ a cherry, why take two bites? - -Why have a system where there is certain to be a clash between state -management and national management? - -Why leave the gaps down for inequalities in rates? - -Why not insure _uniformity_ by unity of ownership and management? - -Why not learn a lesson from the German Empire, and avoid state ownership -altogether? - - * * * * * - -However, I am glad to see that our Nebraska friend is making progress. -Give him time, and he will arrive. - -For a convert who jumped on our platform of Government Ownership so -recently as last July, he does fairly well. But if he would use his -thinking apparatus a little more, and his organs of speech a little less, -he would get on faster. - -“Local lines” of transportation—_at this time_? - -He might as well say that the artery in his left hind leg is a “local -artery.” - - * * * * * - -The New York _World_ says: - -“If Judge Parker is a Democrat, Mr. Bryan is not. If Mr. Bryan is a -Democrat, Judge Parker is not. - -“No party-name is wide enough to blanket two such irreconcilable theories -of government.” - -That’s where the _World_ falls down. - -The Democratic party-name is wide enough to blanket anything and -everything, anybody and everybody. - -I’ve seen it cover the Prohibitionist and the Saloon-Keeper, the -Gold-Bug and the Free-Silverite, the corporation lobbyist and the -Bible-class expert, the Free Trader and the Protectionist, the Bank -men and the Anti-Bank men, the Income Tax men and the Anti-Income Tax -men, the Expansionists and the Imperialists, the Inflationists and the -Contractionists, strict Constructionists and those who sent the United -States Army to quell a local disturbance in Illinois over the protest of -a Democratic Governor. - -There is no earthly difference, antagonism, variance of creed, or policy, -or purpose, or persons that the Democratic party-name is not “wide enough -to blanket.” - - * * * * * - -The Democratic party-name not wide enough to blanket Judge Parker and W. -J. B.? - -Oh, yes, it is. - -It did so in 1904, and it will do so again. - -If Bryan whips Parker in the Convention of 1908, Parkerites will knife -Bryan as they did in 1896 and 1900. - -If Parker beats Bryan in the Convention, Bryan will “come across” in -1908, as he did in 1904. - -This play of politics is a very pretty game, and the politicians get a -good deal out of it. - -The people are kept interested and excited, but the people don’t get -anything out of it. - -It is not seriously intended that they should. - -Primarily, the game is played for the benefit of the players. - - * * * * * - -Tom Taggart, the gambling-hell man of Indiana, must feel very funny -when he looks back and sees the imposing lines of Democratic preachers, -Bible-class graduates, Amen-corner grunters and family-prayer -brethren who are meekly following _him_, Taggart, as he, the official -Commander-in-Chief of the Democratic Party, bravely leads his loyal hosts -upward and onward. - -If Tom T. has any sense of humor he must enjoy such a situation with -exquisite relish. - - - _The Gods We Worship_ - -The savage African, in the wilds of his native home, takes a few sticks -and some cloth and makes an idol which he calls Mumbo Jumbo, and before -which he falls prostrate, in devout worship. - -Whereat we civilized fools all laugh at said African, and call him a -barbarian—as indeed he is. - -Nevertheless, it is quite apparent that while we make no gods out of -sticks and calico, we worship Mumbo Jumbos of our own just the same. - -Take, for instance, the Gold Reserve. Nature did not produce it; it has -no life, no motion other than that which we lunatics give it. - -One day it occurred to John Sherman to stack up, in the Treasury, a cool -hundred million dollars, and keep it there, idle. - -He straightway created the _Gold Reserve_. - -Any law for this? No. - -Any necessity for it? No. - -Any popular demand for it? No. - -His excuse was that he wanted a Gold Reserve out of which to pay off the -$346,000,000 in Greenbacks “when presented for redemption.” - -Was anybody clamoring for the redemption of Greenbacks? No. - -Was there any law under which anybody had a right to go to the Treasury -and demand gold for Greenbacks? No. - -Was there any custom or policy which authorized this setting apart of -gold to redeem Greenbacks? No. - -But Sherman did it, just the same, and it soon appeared that he had made -us a Mumbo Jumbo which we all worshiped and before whose mysterious power -we all fell prostrate. - -As long as Sherman was Secretary of the Treasury the Gold Reserve was -sacred. Congress looked upon it with awe. The President did it reverence. -The newspapers bent to it in speechless adoration. The politicians rubbed -the skin off their stomachs groveling before it. The people—the great -inert mass within which is irresistible might if they but had courage and -co-operation—patiently padded their knees and, likewise, knelt in mute -submission. - -The Gold Reserve was a national institution—like the Washington -Monument—not to be desecrated, but recognized, supported, defended. - -Senators alluded to it as they would to Plymouth Rock or Mount Vernon. It -was a fixed fact which nobody disputed and all respected. - -Statutes referred to it, in passing, as they did to West Point or -Yellowstone Park—something that was permanent, national, inseparable from -the life of the Republic. - -There never was a law for the Gold Reserve, there never was a necessity -for it, there never was an antecedent discussion in regard to it, -and there never was a particle of financial sense in it. Nobody ever -presented Greenbacks for redemption until Mr. Carlisle made his infamous -ruling, and gold was paid out for paper and bonds issued to get the gold -back. - -The Gold Reserve was useless until it became, under Carlisle’s ruling, a -bait to set the bond trap with. - -To show that it has no influence upon the value of Greenbacks we need -only to point to the fact that although the size of the Gold Reserve -constantly fluctuated for about a year after Carlisle’s ruling, the value -of the Greenbacks has not varied at all. - -If the Greenbacks depended on the Gold Reserve, their value would have -risen and fallen with the Gold Reserve. - -The Greenbacks do not, and never did, depend on the Gold Reserve. -They depend on the credit of the Government, and the known fact that -the credit of the Government is based on $80,000,000,000 of national -wealth. Their legal tender quality, their usefulness as money, their -receivability for taxes and public dues, make them good in the eyes of -the people irrespective of any Gold Reserve. - -John Sherman had no more right to make a Gold Reserve than he had to make -a Silver Reserve. - -Greenbacks were no more redeemable in gold than they were in silver. -But why argue the case? The verdict is already made up in the minds -of the jury. Both the old parties pay their vows to the Gold Reserve. -Mumbo Jumbo is shrined in the hearts of both Democrats and Republicans. -Sherman’s god rules. - -We quake every time they tell us that anything bad has happened to the -Gold Reserve. We used to toss in our sleep, muttering distressfully, when -the news would come that the Gold Reserve “is dwindling.” - -What good does Mumbo Jumbo do the naked African? None. - -But then, you see, the African doesn’t know it. Therein he is a fool. - -What good does _our_ Mumbo Jumbo, the Gold Reserve, do _us_? None. - -But then, you see, we do not know it. - -Wherein _we are bigger fools than the African is_. - - - - - _Poverty_ - - BY JOHN H. GIRDNER, M.D. - - -I have just read Mr. Robert Hunter’s book entitled “Poverty.” It -contains much valuable information, mostly in the form of statistics and -references to other publications concerning the poor in different parts -of the United States and England. It is a good book of reference; but -to my mind its principal virtue is as a thought provoker. The question, -“What are you going to do about poverty?” stares the reader in the face -from between the lines on every page, and it haunts him after he has laid -the book aside. - -We of the United States are accustomed to boast of our material wealth -and prosperity. When the writer or the orator wishes to wring the hearts -of his audience and deceive them into the belief that ours, as conducted -at present, is the very best of all governments, he draws a harrowing -picture of the dreadful suffering of the poor of London; and then we pull -the Stars and Stripes a little more closely about us, and, as that other -Pharisee, we thank God that we are not like other men. Before we shed any -more tears over the poor of London let us see if we cannot find use for -our tears nearer home. - -Mr. Charles Booth made a thorough and exhaustive investigation into the -conditions of poverty in London in 1891. He found that 1,300,000, or -about 30 per cent. of the population of that city were unable to obtain -the necessaries of life. This 30 per cent. were “living in conditions, if -not of actual misery, at any rate bordering upon it.” - -Mr. B. S. Rountree made a similar investigation in the typical -provincial town of York, England. He found that about 28 per cent. -of the inhabitants of York were living in destitution. Mr. Rountree -adds: “We have been accustomed to look upon the poverty of London as -exceptional, but when the result of careful investigation shows that the -proportion of poverty in London is practically equaled in what may be -regarded as a typical provincial town, we are forced to the startling -probability that from 25 to 30 per cent. of the town populations of the -United Kingdom are living in poverty.” - -Let us turn from England to the United States, and see how much poverty -there is in our own country, among our own workmen, or producing class. - -The report of the State Board of Charities for New York State shows that -an average of about 26 per cent. of the population were aided, by both -private and public charities, during each of the three years 1897, 1898 -and 1899; and according to the report of the official statistician of the -city of Boston for 1903 more than 20 per cent. of the entire population -of that city were aided by the public authorities alone. This does not -include private charities. In fact, all statistics of charitable works -are defective, because they can never include the efforts to relieve -suffering and poverty made by those who do not let the left hand know -what the right hand is doing. - -Commenting on the above statistics from Boston and New York State, Mr. -Hunter says: “If the figures are correct as published, the persons in -New York State in distress in 1897, and in Boston in 1903, would equal -proportionately the number of those in poverty in London.” - -Here are other facts about poverty worth remembering: “In the face of -widespread poverty, there have not been for over half a century in -England so few paupers, either actually or proportionately, as there are -now. The population of England has increased from 18,000,000 persons in -1851 to 29,000,000 in 1889. During this period the number of paupers -actually fell off. London has lost in pauper population fifteen times as -fast as she has gained in general population.” - -On the other hand, the returns from the almshouses in the United States -show that the number of paupers increased almost as fast as population -during the decade from 1880 to 1890. In Hartford, Conn., which is said -to be the richest per capita city in the United States, the number of -paupers increased 50 per cent. during this same decade. - -Now, when you hear a Republican spellbinder draw harrowing word-pictures -of poverty among the English workmen, and paint glowing pictures of the -marvelous wealth and happy condition of the workmen in our own country, -and when you read editorials in subsidized protectionist newspapers about -the “miseries of the working classes” in free trade England and the great -prosperity among the highly protected workmen of the United States, -just remember that according to the best information obtainable about -twenty-five to thirty persons out of every hundred living in the towns -and cities _both in England and the United States_ suffer from poverty. -And for the past forty years poverty has steadily _decreased_ in England -and steadily and rapidly _increased_ in the United States. And no amount -of ranting by the spellbinder or misrepresentation by the editor can -alter these facts. - -Mr. Hunter is of the opinion that 70,000 New York children go to school -underfed. This statement caused astonishment and doubt in some quarters. -But I contend that any trained physician who will note the very large -percentage of anemic faces among the children as they issue from the -public schoolhouses of this city will agree with me that Mr. Hunter’s -estimate of 70,000 underfed children is most likely far below the mark. - -The Children’s Aid Society and other charitable organizations maintain a -number of industrial schools for poor children in this city. The total -daily average of children attending these schools is 10,707. Inspector -Lecktrecker recently made a thorough investigation into the condition -of these children. Mr. Lecktrecker’s report goes into great detail. -Summed up, the report shows that of the 10,707 children attending these -industrial schools 8,852 are actually underfed by reason of poverty -at home. It was found that the best breakfast that any of these 8,852 -children had was a piece of bread and a cup of tea or coffee. A diet not -only inadequate for nourishment, but actually destructive to a child’s -nervous system. - -A grown-up person only requires enough nourishment to repair the waste, -wear and tear incident to the daily activities of brain and muscle. A -child not only requires this, but it requires added nourishment for the -growth and development of all the tissues of its body. No wonder we are -raising up a class of people in this city which I have called in another -place “Newyorkitics.” No wonder there is an ever-increasing procession -of broken-down brains and nervous systems heading for the hospitals -for insane. No wonder that crime is on the increase. What better can -be expected from adults whose brains and nerves have been starved and -stunted from birth? - -But what exactly is poverty? Destitution of property; indigence; want -of convenient means of subsistence; need. That is what the dictionary -says poverty is. Want of convenient means of subsistence is the want -of some one or all of the five chemical substances called proximate -principles, which we take and must have to sustain animal life. The -continual absence of these chemical substances from the human stomach, -together with lack of clothing sufficient to protect the body against the -elements, causes physical pain or suffering with degeneration and final -death of the animal body. This is a literal scientific definition of the -word poverty as applied to the animal or material man. - -The adulteration of food which is carried on to such an alarming -extent in the United States is an important factor in this poverty or -underfeeding question. Even those who are able to buy a sufficient -_quantity_ of food have no assurance that the _quality_ is such as will -properly nourish their bodies. - -When you satisfy the cravings of hunger by putting into the human stomach -watered milk, or cheese which is part wax, or sugar mixed with plaster of -Paris, or chocolate which contains only a suggestion of the rich cacao -beans, or any of the adulterated articles of food for sale especially in -the poorer sections of the city, you not only tax the system to digest -and dispose of a quantity of useless and maybe poisonous material, but -every tissue in the body is thereby robbed of its proper nourishment. - -It is as much, or more, poverty and underfeeding to fill the stomach with -material which does not contain the five _proximate principles_, _i.e._, -nourishment, as not to fill it at all. The laws against substitution and -adulteration of human food and drink ought to be more stringent than -the laws against horse stealing. Yet, as I am informed, all efforts at -such legislation are invariably met with the cry that it will interfere -with the _business interests_ of the country. Here, as in so many -other instances, when an attempt is made to secure common justice and -protection for the lives and property and rights of the plain people, we -run up against the _business interests_. The curse of this country today -is that everything, even human life, must be sacrificed when necessary to -the BUSINESS INTERESTS. - -The industry captains are killing and maiming the people now just as the -military captains used to do, and for the same objects—to satisfy greed -and selfishness. - -The negro slave in the South in slavery days was further removed from -poverty and the fear of poverty than any man I have ever known. When his -day’s work was finished he came home from the field or the shop and he -found a substantial, well-cooked dinner awaiting him. After dinner he -went to his comfortable cabin and sat before a blazing log fire, or, in -warm weather, he sat out under the stars, fanned by the night winds. His -wife and children were nearly always around him, as were his companions, -the other slaves belonging to his master and the plantation. - -This man did not have a single care or responsibility on earth. He did -not have to meet a grinding landlord next day demanding rent. He did not -have to cudgel his brains to find a way to meet a note due next week. He -did not have to pay for food, clothes, light and heat for himself and -his family. That pang of anguish so familiar to us all when we think of -the possibility of our loved ones suffering from want and the fear of -want when we are gone never wrung the heart of that black man. Child -labor as it exists under the present system was unknown to the children -of the black slaves. “Over the hills to the poor-house,” when age and -decrepitude had made him no longer useful, had no terrors for the black -slave. The “system” of slavery made it perfectly certain that his owner -would provide food, clothes and shelter for him in his old days, and -for his children, no matter what happened. This black man, slave as he -was, had a better guarantee against poverty and the fear of poverty for -himself and family than any life insurance company can give. Even Mr. Tom -Lawson could not find fault with the security of this policy. - -Another thing the slave father did not have to worry about was sickness -in his family. When one of his children became ill an ambulance from a -charity hospital did not back up in front of the negro quarters, cart -the child off to become one patient more in Ward No. ——, and serve as -“material” for a clinical lecture while it lived, and as “material” -for the dissecting-table after it was dead. No, nothing of the kind -happened. When the slave became ill the best medical skill and nursing -were provided, and, if need be, the patient was taken to the “big house” -where the master lived so the mistress could superintend the treatment, -and in case of death the body was put in a neat coffin, and a procession -composed of all the blacks and whites on the plantation followed the -remains to the colored graveyard on the hill, burial services were read, -a hymn sung and the body lowered to its final resting-place. This is -a glimpse at the condition of the slave in life and death in slavery -days. I am not putting in a brief in favor of chattel slavery. I was -born an abolitionist. My father was a slave-owner and my early life was -spent in the midst of it, yet I abhorred the system as a child, and that -abhorrence has grown with years. But I am now writing about poverty, and -my point is: that chattel slavery as it existed in the South is the only -state of society I know of in which poverty and the fear of poverty among -the workers or producing class were absolutely abolished by law. - -Under the old system the negro was a slave, you say. So he was. But if I -read Mr. Hunter’s book aright, the laborer under the present industrial -system is also a slave. The laborer has a vote now and the slave did -not. Yes, but the slave had a full dinner-pail _all the time_ and the -white voting laborer has not. The comparative value between his vote and -a full dinner-pail in the mind of the white laborer under the present -system was demonstrated in the election of 1896 and 1900, when he gladly -gave his vote to the Republican Party for the _mere promise_ of a full -dinner-pail. - - - - - _Tuck-of-Drum_ - - BY ALFRED TRESIDDER SHEPPARD - (Copyright in Great Britain by A. T. Sheppard.) - - -At nine o’clock Josephine beat a vigorous reveille on the drum that had -led old troops into action. It was the second of December; the sun of -Austerlitz shone on the grass and trees in the little front white garden, -and was fast melting the delicate tracery of fern and frond on the oval -window of Monsieur Tuck-of-Drum’s bedroom. - -A curious name, Tuck-of-Drum; the echo of an ancient story told round -camp-fires long burned out; a scrap of wreckage floating, like its -owner, when the seas of years held so much that was forgotten. Dominique -Laplume was proud of the name; for even the village children, whispering -“Monsieur Tuck-of-Drum” behind his back, brought the flicker of a smile -to his grizzled face and the ghost of a flash to eyes dim and watery with -age. - -On Austerlitz day, for many years, the drum had roused him from his -slumbers. He had slept heavily, this old warrior; “a thousand thunders!” -he said sometimes in self-excuse, “when one has made one’s bed as often -on straw or the solid ground——” - -His son, growing from childhood to manhood, plied the drumsticks in -his time; he fell at Solferino. His son’s son held them in his turn; -the earth still lay bare and trampled over him at Gravelotte. They had -given much to France, these Laplumes. Now Josephine, with her black -sleeves rolled high on her thin white arms, and her dimpled face set into -desperate earnestness, took her dead father’s place, and thundered at the -parchment until the old man’s husky voice answered the summons. - -Her sabots clattered down the stairs. Coughing and grunting, Monsieur -Tuck-of-Drum began to dress. The clothes he had worn the day—and many -days—before hung from their pegs in a chintz-covered recess. On a -rush-bottomed chair near the bed, carefully brushed and pipeclayed, lay -coat, and belts, and breeches, and gaiters that had gathered mud, in -their time, from half the kingdoms of Europe. On the dressing-table the -cross of the Legion of Honor rested in its little leather case. - -At last his shaking fingers opened the door. The drum lay outside; the -drum, and, on the drum, the gigantic bearskin, bullet-bitten in old -fights, moth-marked during long, idle years. He came downstairs in full -regimentals. Madame Laplume was talking to the village postmaster at the -open door. She ran to meet him. Her eyes were misty, for she remembered -last year’s reveille; but there was a ring of gladness in her greeting. - -“Good morning, grandfather!” she cried, kissing him on both cheeks; “a -happy Austerlitz day. There is news, too——” - -“News?” Dying fires flamed up for a second in his old eyes. - -“D’Aurelles de Paladines is driving them back,” she said. “We -won everywhere yesterday—everywhere. Chanzy has forced the -Bavarians back on Orgères. We have taken Guillonville, Terminiers, -Monnerville—and—and—where else, Josephine?” - -“Goniers, Villepain, Faverolles,” little Josephine chimed in, repeating -the names glibly, like a well-conned lesson. - -“And they say the brave General Duerot has broken out of Paris, and is -marching to join the Army of the Loire!” - -“Good!” - -Monsieur Tuck-of-Drum sat down stiffly, the joints in his long limbs -cracking; he held the coffee-cup to his lips, but the coffee danced and -splashed out. He jerked the cup down quickly, and brushed a drop from his -mustache with an impatient hand. - -“It is just as I have said,” he cried suddenly and fiercely, springing -to his feet. “We have them like trapped rats! Did I not say so, Héloïse? -Even the little Josephine has heard me. Listen, Josephine. These Germans, -these enemies of our dear France, begin to pay for their folly. They -hated us because our great Emperor led us once to all their capitals—to -Stuttgart, to Dresden, to Munich, to Berlin—because their kings bowed -hats-in-hand before the soldiers of France; because we cut up their -country with our swords as I—look you!—cut this bread of mine.” And with -nervous hands he sliced white, crust-ringed circles from the roll. “But -now—ah, the Emperor, our great Emperor, is dead; and the Marshals and the -Grande Armée have marched away. They found us asleep, unready; like rats, -like locusts, they swarmed into our cornfields and our vineyards. But we -are awake at last! We are ready at last! The revenge begins!” - -“It begins,” echoed Madame Laplume. “But come, grandfather, your coffee -grows cold, and——” - -“The punishment begins!” he continued, his voice shrill as the neigh -of an old war-horse. “Look you!” He held up a gnarled hand. “Here is -Duerot, with the troops of Paris. Here”—he raised the other, its knotted -fingers stretched out—“are De Paladines, Chanzy, De Sonis, Jauréguiberry, -with the Army of the Loire. Now see; the Germans are between them.” He -snatched a morsel of the bread he had been cutting and brought his palms -together. “The Germans—the Germans——” - -“You have cut your hand, grandfather,” cried Josephine. - -He stopped, and looked dumbly at his palm. A splinter of crust had grazed -the skin. The bread rolled to the floor. - -“They are crushed,” he mumbled, bringing down his heel. “Miscreants! that -they should dare to enter France! But they will pay for their folly; ah, -they will pay well! I knew; I said it. ‘Wait,’ I said, when they came -to us with their long faces and their stories of defeat. ‘France has -slept; but she will shake herself and awake.’ _Mon Dieu_, yes. Why I—I -who speak, my little Josephine, put a hundred to flight when I was young, -with this little drum alone: that is why they call great-grandfather -Monsieur Tuck-of-Drum, my dear. See, it is the sun of Austerlitz that -shines on the white trees. Sixty-five long years ago—sixty-five long -years ago—the great Emperor pinned this cross on my breast; ‘Ah, this is -Monsieur Tuck-of-Drum,’ he said, pinching my ear, ‘who beat the charge in -the village, and put a hundred to flight.’ That was nothing; we did those -things. And again—today—the sun of Austerlitz——” - -He broke off suddenly as the door opened and a fat old man, with a large, -hairless, foolish face—the face of a great baby, still eying the world -with wonder—entered the room. He, too, wore the uniform of the Emperor’s -Guard. The veterans embraced. - -“You have heard the news?” cried Laplume. “Ah, it is arranged. Austerlitz -day—the day of Austerlitz—sees victory again for France, my dear -Hippolyte. Sit down, sit down. Héloïse mixes the salad. Héloïse! Here is -Monsieur Bergeret. It has been a struggle, my friend, but we have saved -a bottle and a snack for today; we have arranged it, I say.” He sniffed, -nudged his comrade and chuckled. A pleasant smell of cooking already -pervaded the sitting-room, floating in from the kitchen in the rear. - -Madame Laplume, who had vanished while Dominique was telling the child of -France and its ancient glories, reappeared, with bare and powdery arms; -Sergeant Hippolyte saluted, and passed a wavering hand over his foolish -chin. Monsieur Tuck-of-Drum, talking garrulously all the while, patted -his old comrade’s accoutrements into shape; fastened a button; untwisted -a red shoulder-knot; rearranged an ill-adjusted strap. Age was dulling -the Sergeant’s brain a little; “he does not wear as well as I,” thought -Tuck-of-Drum, with the pathetic pride of age. - -There was a metallic “tap-tap” and a clatter of sabots on the cobbles of -the village street. “Jacques Dufour arrives!” cried Dominique Laplume, -and flung the door open with a flourish. - -It was like the gathering of ghosts from the past. It _was_ a gathering -of ghosts from the past. These three, with their wrinkled cheeks, their -quavering voices, their scanty white hair, their battered uniforms -and weapons—these three were all that were left of that band of young -recruits who, in the great days of France, had marched down the village -street, shouting the songs of the Empire, blowing kisses to fair faces in -the windows and the roadsides, exchanging glances with bright eyes that -had grown dim at last and closed on earth and all its color and glitter. -Like spars, they floated still, scarred and encrusted by the waves of -time that had engulfed a generation so heroic, stupendous. - -Dufour, wrinkled, wizened, twisted with rheumatism, limped to his place. -His grandson carried his musket and placed it in a corner by Bergeret’s; -the old man had lost a limb at Quatre Bras and needed a stout stick to -aid the wooden leg. - -“I will come again at six, grandfather,” the boy piped shrilly in his -ear. “I say I will come again to fetch you at six.” - -“No, no; Pierre must stay,” interrupted Monsieur Laplume. “Eh? He must -stay, too, and hear the stories of the olden days—the days of the glories -of France.” The boy’s eyes lit up. “Come, we are ready. He shall sit by -the little Josephine.” - -By and bye Madame Laplume brought in the meal, steaming from the oven. -Bottles of red wine were ranged on the table. - -“There were five of us last year,” Dufour muttered. “Buffet and Deyrolles -have dismissed.” - -“Eight the year before,” said Bergeret, rubbing his hands and smiling -vacuously. - -“The ranks grow thin, comrades,” said Laplume. “Well, the first toast!” - -They rose, and drank in silence to the memory of that great man whom they -had fought and bled and suffered for long since—and still remembered and -adored. They drank to the old Marshals, to the Grande Armée, to village -comrades whose bones lay in the Peninsula, in Germany, in Belgium, in the -churchyards of France, but whose faces, dim and mournful, still looked -at them through the mists of years, and whose voices still echoed in -their memories. They lit cigars and pipes; but the room was full of the -smoke of ancient battles. They talked of Desaix, Bessières, Junot, Murat, -Lannes, Masséna, Ney—the old, unforgotten names. If they could come -again! Ah, if _he_ could come again—how the scattered remnants of his -lost legions would rally round him, and young France hurry to the eagles, -and the glorious days return! - -“But we are making an end; we are making an end,” cried Tuck-of-Drum -fiercely, bringing down his fist and making plates and bottles jump with -the vehemence of the blow. “Chanzy and Duerot have them in the trap at -last. I said so—did I not? Even the little Josephine remembers. On the -day of Austerlitz——” - -An ominous booming, distant, sullen, like an echo of old years of strife, -sounded in their ears. - -“It is thunder!” cried Pierre. Little Josephine clutched her mother’s arm. - -The veterans exchanged glances. “What the devil—” began Laplume. They -flung open the door and stepped into the village street. Two or three -people, white-faced, had stopped to listen. - -The distant guns roared again. What were they doing there—then—in that -direction? Tuck-of-Drum looked puzzled, doubtful. This day of all the -year, this great day of his life, was bound up with all his thoughts; -one hope, one conviction, possessed him, and had shone steadily through -all the gloom of the last few months. The day of Austerlitz would see -the eagle turn upon its foes; the sun of Austerlitz would look down upon -the invading army scattered like chaff before the wind—crushed, rather, -like grain between the two millstones, the armies of Paris and the Loire. -The previous day’s successes confirmed him. But what were the guns doing -there? The fighting should be far beyond Orgères by this time. He beat -down a flicker of uncertainty. - -“Bah, it goes well,” he muttered. “They make their last stand. Come, -comrades, let us drink to Chanzy and the Army of the Loire.” - -Poor, foolish Bergeret soon fell asleep, huddled in his chair; but the -wine put fire into the veins of his comrades. Pierre and Josephine -listened round-eyed as they talked of bivouacs and camp-fires; of ancient -comrades and conquered cities; of Austerlitz and the heights of Pratzen, -and the Menitz Lake. - -“Sixty-five years ago at this very hour”—so the talk went on. “Do you -remember? Have you forgotten?” They argued, they shouted, in their old -voices that broke from gruffness into shrill quavers, ludicrous under -other circumstances, but now pathetic. They moved bottles, glasses, -salt-cellars, to illustrate the disposition of troops; in the blue -smoke-clouds the children, drinking in their words, could almost catch -the glint of the Cuirassiers’ breastplates, the glittering gold-lacing -of the Hussars, the rise and fall of green epaulets as the voltigeurs -moved into line, the yellow facings of Oudinot’s Grenadiers, the -clamorous mêlée of horse and foot. They discussed the present fighting, -the mistakes of generals; and here Héloïse, eager as they for the success -of the cause which had cost her husband’s life, joined in with the names -and dates and figures at her tongue’s tip. In the distance the sullen -guns were booming. - -“If I were with them!” sighed Tuck-of-Drum. “They had no room for the old -soldier; yet I can beat a charge as well as ever! I—I who speak, could -fire a musket with the best of them!” - -“Grandfather volunteered,” piped Josephine. - -“Yes,” said Héloïse, eying the old man proudly; “but they wanted him -to take care of us. ‘You must look after the women and children for -us, Monsieur Laplume,’ said the officer. ‘You have done your share for -France in the field. You know what our great Emperor wrote, “It will -be sufficient for you to say, ‘I was at the battle of Austerlitz,’ to -authorize the reply, ‘Behold, a brave man.’”’” - -Dominique Laplume waved a hand in depreciation, as if to brush aside -the praise. “A brave man? Every Frenchman is brave. It is in the blood -of France. We need not be proud of what we cannot help. We have been -unfortunate, yes; badly led, yes; but the men—the men——” - -The door opened suddenly. The village postmaster stood again at the -entrance, his eyes starting, his face lemon-colored, his lips livid -under the straggling beard. “All is lost!” he cried. “We are betrayed, -defeated! Chanzy is driven back! The enemy advances!” - -The door rattled in the grasp of his shaking hand. He limped off to -spread the news of the disaster, which grew with his terror. Laplume, -Dufour, Madame Héloïse, started to their feet and looked at each other -blankly. The sudden, awe-struck silence woke Bergeret, who looked round -with wide, foolish eyes. Josephine’s mouth twitched and tears gathered. -Pierre clenched his brown fists. - -“Come,” cried Monsieur Tuck-of-Drum suddenly. He donned the great -bearskin, the others followed his example, Bergeret fumbling foolishly -with its heavy chain. His baby face expressed wonder rather than the -alarm, the bitter disappointment, the wrath, written on the faces of -Madame Héloïse and Laplume and Dufour. Tuck-of-Drum girded on his sword -and slung the straps of his drum over his old bent shoulders. He thrust -Bergeret’s musket into the Sergeant’s hand. Dufour motioned to Pierre, -and hobbled out; the boy followed him. Madame Héloïse Laplume ran to the -door to intercept them. “Where are you going, grandfather? Where are you -going?” she gasped. - -“Stand back, Héloïse. We go to call the village. Stay here; stay with the -little Josephine.” - -She paused irresolute. After all, though they could do no good, what harm -could they do—these three old men? They were going to call the village. -Yet there was a look on the ancient soldier’s face she had not seen since -the day of the first great reverse, when he had gone, with his head erect -and old fires flashing in his dim blue eyes, to offer his feeble services -to France. - -Suddenly, loud and distinct above the distant booming of the guns, his -drum sounded—beating an assembly in the quiet village street. She put her -hand to her breast and ran out. If the Germans were really coming—— - -She clutched his arm. - -“Are you mad, grandfather?” she gasped. “Come in; come in and finish your -wine and pipes together. There are only boys and women and old men in the -village. They can do nothing——” - -He shook her off. - -Well, even the enemy, cruel though they were, could never harm men so -old, so feeble and defenseless. They would ride through, laughing in -their beards, mouthing their uncouth jokes at the faded uniforms from -which their sires had once fled in terror; but—no, they would never harm -them. Josephine was crying softly within. She turned back to the house. - -Up the centre of the village street marched Tuck-of-Drum, drumming, -drumming with an energy surprising and pathetic, as though he could call -from their weed-grown graves the lads who had once jumped so smartly to -the rattle of the parchment. - -“_Rat-a-plan! rat-a-plan!_” sounded the summons; his hands had not lost -their cunning, though they ached and grew weary with the unwonted strain. -Behind him staggered Bergeret, his great bearskin toppling forward over -the fat, smooth, foolish face; Dufour hobbled in the rear, his stick and -wooden leg tapping the cobbles; little Pierre, beside him, dragged the -heavy musket. - -Pale faces, working in terror, peered from the café of the Boule d’Or. -Tuck-of-Drum burst open the door. On the little tables glasses of bock, -tiny glasses of spirits, stood half emptied. The men had all risen; -the tawdry, gilded mirrors, cracked and dusty, distorted their faces, -showing them more pallid, more unhealthy even than in life. Three or -four old men—not so old as the veterans by many years—three or four -washed-out-looking lads, rejected even by the army that had dragged -men in from the very highways and hedges to resist the invaders—turned -startled looks on the newcomers. - -“The enemy is coming!” said Tuck-of-Drum. “Comrades, let us march against -them, like the men of Dreux, of Châteauneuf! Look—the sun of Austerlitz -is going down! Today, all France must help——” - -They exchanged glances; they huddled together like sheep. - -“What is the use?” one muttered. - -“Aye, what is the use?” - -A youth sniggered vacuously. “You are sixty years too late, Monsieur -Tuck-of-Drum. If the great Emperor could come back now, if France had a -man—” The speaker shrugged his shoulders, spread out his hands with a -gesture of helplessness and looked round for assent. - -“If—if—if!” cried Dominique Laplume. “_We_ will lead you—we, of the -Grand Army! Today all France must rise. All must help. It is the great -effort. Today France conquers—or is conquered. ‘If’ never won a battle. -Come, I say! Jules Brienne, your grandfather carried an eagle at Marengo. -Monsieur Grenier, your uncle fell by our side, fighting bravely, on the -field of Austerlitz.” - -He argued, ordered, entreated; in vain. - -“Bah! Poltroons!” he muttered, and turned on his heel. - -Again the drum sounded. - -“Yes, go out and play with your toy, Papa Tuck-of-Drum,” cried young -Brienne after him. Laplume did not hear. They marched next to the Café de -l’Ecu. The village postmaster, shaking still and casting nervous looks -round him like a frightened horse, was telling his story to a similar -assembly. - -“Pah!” muttered old Dufour, twirling his thin mustache, “these villages -are the rubbish heaps of France. The men are all away.” Again the appeal -was made. A fat man, with fishy eyes and yellow, pendulous cheeks, -shrugged his shoulders and raised protesting hands. “What can we do? What -can we do?” - -“They would finish us all with a volley. We should be killed,” whined -another man. - -“Killed? And what then?” Laplume snorted with fierce contempt. - -“Let us be killed then!” broke in Dufour, crashing his stick down on the -sanded floor. “It would be worth it. A thousand times worth it! Let each -village in France raise a wall of dead against the invaders!” - -Bergeret nodded his foolish head again and again with emphasis. The fat -man began to talk fast, volubly, excitedly, pouring torrents of abuse -on the Emperor, generals, government, the enemy, waving his fat hands, -shrugging his fat shoulders. The curtained door of the café opened. He -stopped suddenly and lamely. A countryman burst in. - -“They are coming—they are coming!” he shrieked. “I have seen them in -the road. I ran through the woods. Hundreds of them! I have seen their -lances—the sun on their lances!” - -“Come!” cried Dominique Laplume in a voice of thunder. “In the name of -France!” - -No one stirred. He looked round, scorn in his old eyes. “We will -go, then—Bergeret, Dufour—my old comrades.” His voice choked with -bewilderment, disappointment, anger. - - * * * * * - -They went out. The air was sharp with frost. It was very still in the -village. The sun, a red ball of fire, still glowed on the frosted trees; -on the white and yellow walls of the cottages; on the white fields and -white-cowled windmills; on the powdered cobbles of the street. A segment -of moon, strangely like a pierrot head, thrust through curtains of cloud, -its mouth whimsically awry, peered down sideways at the earth—at the -white earth, where legions of tiny men, like ants, hurried to kill or -be killed in their bewildering quarrels. The distances were blue—the -shimmering steel-blue of winter distances. Here and there a column of -black smoke, shot through again and again with tongues of fire, went -up to heaven; the smoke of burning villages; little sacrifices France -offered for her folly to gods not yet appeased. - -“To the bridge,” said Tuck-of-Drum. They marched in silence. The drum was -silent. At the end of the long, straggling street a tiny bridge spanned a -frozen stream which the enemy must cross. By the side of it was a clump -of bushes, so thick that, even leafless, they formed a screen behind -which the veterans and the boy crouched down. - -“They might have broken down the bridge at least,” grumbled Dufour. -“Menitz was frozen, and the Emperor——” - -“They are coming!” whispered Pierre. - -His sharp ears, close to the ground, had caught the _clip-clop_ of -approaching hoofs. - -Tuck-of-Drum drew his sword and rested its hilt on the rough wooden -parapet of the bridge. “Fix bayonets!” he growled. - -Sergeant Bergeret should have given the word, but he carried out the -order placidly, drawing the sword from its scabbard and fixing it with -his fumbling fingers. “Put it in for me,” muttered Dufour, handing his -bayonet to Pierre. “Now give me the musket—so—and run home, good lad. -Embrace me and then run home.” - -He sat on the ground, his wooden leg stiff and straight in front of him, -and clutched the bayonet. Pierre’s lips tightened; he did not move. “Go -home, I say!” - -“Hush, they come!” whispered Tuck-of-Drum. - -Peering through the brushwood, they could see, on the road ahead, the -pennoned lances of German Uhlans, rising and falling with the jolting of -the horses. The hoofs clicked louder and louder on the frozen road. - -Suddenly Tuck-of-Drum sprang up. - -“The Guard will advance,” he growled, with a little hoarse laugh, the -faint echo of one that men now dead had heard and talked of, long since. -Joy, fierce, savage joy of fighting, dormant so long but not extinct, -flared up and flashed in his faded eyes. And yet, with the joy, a rage -terrible and righteous shook him as he saw the glitter of the steel, the -fluttering pennons, the casques and foreign uniforms—the foes of France, -violating the sacred soil of which the dust of his race had made. - -His trembling hands clutching the drumsticks, he advanced to the centre -of the bridge. Bergeret stood on his right, his bayonet extended. Dufour -grasped the parapet, dragged himself up, groaning in spite of clenched -teeth, planted his wooden leg firmly, and, leaning against the woodwork -of the bridge, rested the butt of his weapon on the ground, the tremulous -steel pointed toward the enemy. Pierre came to help him. “Go back! go -back!” he growled, pushing the boy aside with all his feeble strength. -Pierre slipped on the frozen earth and fell, clutching at the bushes. -Suddenly Dominique Laplume sounded the _pas de charge_. - -A strange, pitiful defiance this, echoing back through the deserted -village street, floating mournfully out to the white, empty fields, -sending its arrogant, useless challenge to the ribbon of white road -ahead. “_Rat-a-plan! rat-a-plan!_” The old drum, that had sent a hundred -men flocking like sheep before it—the old drum that Jules, who fell at -Solferino, that Dominique, who fell at Gravelotte, had beaten on winter -mornings of their boyhood—answered nobly to this last great effort, and -seemed a living, sentient thing, entering into the brave spirit of the -challenge. - -There was a startled shout, a clatter of stones, as the Uhlans reined in -their horses. - -“They fly!” shrieked Tuck-of-Drum; “they—ah!” - -Half a dozen carbines shot up and flashed fire. There was a hoarse cry in -German; an officer struck aside the stock of a man’s weapon. - -Dufour’s bayonet clattered down; he slid into the thicket, his wooden -leg scoring a long, jagged line in the frosty road. Bergeret was on his -knees, a light of strange intelligence dawning in his smooth, foolish -face; quite suddenly he fell sideways on to his fallen bearskin, matted -already with his blood. - -Tuck-of-Drum still stood in the centre of the bridge. The drumsticks -descended on a drum pierced and soundless—then dropped, one after the -other, slowly, from his nerveless grasp. The world swung around him. The -poplars down the roadway on which his glazing eyes were fixed marched, -doubled, moved into echelon and square. “_La Grande Armée! La Grande -Armée!_” - -Was it the cry of the Germans, in wonder, in derision, in pity? Or did -his quivering lips frame the words? Ghosts formed round him; the ghosts -of the old battalions who had marched, long back, into silence. They -swayed, they heaved, in countless numbers; file after file, rank after -rank, regiment after regiment, formed up, doubled into place, and passed -him by. He saw the flash of breastplates, the crimson fronts of the -Polish lancers, the red plumes of the line, the bearskins of the Guards, -the glittering eagles of France. - -“My comrades—O my comrades!” He staggered forward, with stretched-out -hands. A confused murmur buzzed in his ears; it swelled into a -tumult—“_and the shout of a king was among them_.” - -One hand sought the bearskin. Suddenly he fell face forward. - - * * * * * - -Under the wide sky, in the uniform of their dead Emperor, the three -veterans lay together; a young boy crouched near them, bleeding from an -unnoticed wound, and sobbing. - -A night wind crept over the frozen fields; a little wind, like a sigh -from France for her ruined homes, her smoking villages, her slain -children, her lost cause and faded glories. - -The sun of Austerlitz sank down behind the poplars. - - - - - _The Royal Road to Learning_ - - -FREDDIE—What’s an honorary degree, dad? - -JOHNSON—That’s a title a college confers on a man who would never be able -to get it if he had to pass an examination. - - * * * * * - -The hardest kind of work is looking for it. - - - - - _The Southern Negro as a Property-Owner_ - - BY LEONORA BECK ELLIS - - -Between the Southern negro as property and the Southern negro as -a property-owner worthy of account, American progress has set its -milestones thick and strongly marked. Yet, as mere years go, the time has -been short indeed for a transition of meanings so vast. - -The act of emancipation brought in its train several very serious -problems, and more than one of these must be acknowledged to have grown -graver with further-reaching complexities and involutions as the decades -have passed. But in the present article these are not under consideration. - -The point we desire to emphasize is that one of the most difficult -questions brought to issue in the emancipation of the negro has already -solved itself by what we are accustomed to call natural processes. - -When the epochal pen-stroke fell and $3,000,000,000 worth of Southern -property was suddenly obliterated as property, yet stood there in plain -world’s view, like the metamorphosed dragon’s teeth, as men with the -rights of men, there were masters of statecraft everywhere who faced one -another blankly, asking how such a situation was to resolve itself. Not -even the most sanguine saw any reason to hope that so complex an issue -as that involved in the relation of the freedmen to the land could be -brought to satisfactory or righteous solution until at least three or -four generations had mingled dust with dust. - -The relation of the freedmen to the soil! Here was the problem that must -have given pause to an older state, a European nation, say, upon the eve -of liberating at one stroke four millions of serfs. - -But young nations, like young individuals, often let their deep -convictions sweep them unprepared into strange conditions and perils, -from which only the magnificent vitality of youth rescues them without -disaster. - -The United States Government has, for half a dozen years past, recognized -it as a duty to compile and offer for public reading certain facts and -figures relating to the progress of the negro in acquiring education, -following different pursuits and trades, and accumulating property. Out -of the various reports upon these subjects issued from the Department of -Labor since 1897 it is probably the information set forth regarding the -property-holdings of the former slaves and slaves’ children in three or -four Southern states that will strike the greatest number of people with -surprise, even with that form of astonishment which borders on unbelief. -Yet this surprise is of the healthful type, and the unbelief passes when -a closer investigation is made into the matter. - -The closer investigation is undoubtedly worth while, and it will prove -profitable for a little while to exchange general statements and sweeping -surveys for definite figures, well verified data and typical cases within -a limited territory. - -Therefore, to illustrate clearly that particular phase of the negro’s -progress, the adjustment of his relations to the land and his steadily -advancing gains in real estate and other property-holdings, it will -serve best to take the state of Georgia and present certain comparative -data relating to the situation here. - -Our choice of the commonwealth of Georgia for the setting forth of -this matter, instead of some sister state, can be easily justified. -Although the youngest of the original thirteen states, and the only -one whose early constitution barred slavery from its boundaries, yet, -when the Civil War came on Georgia had long been a slave state of great -importance, and at once took a leading part in the struggle. Her people -suffered heavier losses from the war, it is authoritatively claimed, than -those of any other state except Virginia, the old order of things being -more utterly wrecked and old landmarks more completely effaced here than -elsewhere. - -There are other reasons for our choice less disputable even than these. -Georgia has the largest area of any state east of the Mississippi River, -and, in her great sweep of 59,475 square miles, from the Appalachian -Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, exhibits the greatest diversity of soil, -climate and physical features, all of which must be conceded to affect -negro life and industry. Lying largely in the so-called “Black Belt,” the -state still presents quite as marked a diversity of social conditions as -of physical, nor have any of the former slave-holding states been more -strongly affected than this by the industrial and educational movements -which have stirred the South within the last few years. It is only -fair to call attention, likewise, to the fact that, while Georgia is -recognized as the centre of some of the most radical thought and action -upon the negro question, yet this condition is counterbalanced by the -existence within its borders of a mass of white voters who seem more than -ordinarily swayed by an intense sense of justice to the black. Witness -the manner in which all bills tending toward negro disfranchisement meet -summary defeat before the Georgia Legislature, and, again, the defeat of -the last year’s movement to divide the state’s educational funds in such -a way as to allow to colored schools only the pro rata share representing -taxes on the property of the negro. - -Furthermore, it may be added here, that while the state has no Hampton -or Tuskeegee within her borders, still she has most excellent public -schools for negroes, and in several cities she is now giving them -admirable training in manual and industrial arts along with the academic -studies, as, notably, at Columbus; and she also has an important branch -of her state university devoted to the industrial, technical and manual -training of colored youths—that is, the Industrial College for Negroes at -Savannah, a high-grade institution wholly supported by public funds. - -If the selection of Georgia for a local study of the negro’s material -progress does not yet appear justified, then the last, and in itself -wholly adequate, reason may now be assigned, namely, that the state -has the largest negro population of any in the Union, her colored -people numbering 1,034,998, or a bare trifle under 50 per cent. of the -entire population. Observe that in this state are congregated more than -one-eighth as many blacks as are scattered throughout the remaining half -a hundred states and territories of the Union. - -New Year’s Day of 1863 saw 470,000 freedmen in Georgia, these in the -main having been ushered into liberty in quite as destitute a condition, -regarding land and other worldly possessions, as that in which they -were ushered into existence. The exceptions to this generally prevalent -destitution were favored slaves here and there whose former masters and -mistresses, too often nearly destitute themselves, had deeded them little -homesteads, or in some other way given them a start in independence. -Or, again, there were exceptions in the case of the few thousands upon -whom General Sherman and his associates had bestowed certain donatives -in the shape of wages, usually unearned, and bounty money or lands, all -distributed with the injudiciousness expected in such a situation. - -Today, barely one generation’s space removed from that hour of strange -and sorrowful conditions, these freedmen and their children pay taxes -on more than a million acres of Georgia land, not to mention houses, -household goods, stock, agricultural implements, merchandise and other -taxable properties. If the situation speaks well for American life and -opportunities, it also speaks well for the black man, and more eloquently -still for his chances in the South. - -The toilsome processes by which the Georgia negro has climbed from -destitution to his present state of comparative prosperity deserve more -than a passing glance. Do not think it was the same as if you or your -neighbor, or even Mr. Riis’s European, who is to be refashioned into an -American, should start today without money or lands, without friends -except those destitute as yourselves. We should know where to turn, what -work to take up, how to apply whatever of skill or energy or special -aptitudes might exist within us. Failing of skill or marked aptitudes -of our own, failing even of an ordinarily good education, we should at -least have within us inherited instincts to help us out of the difficult -situation. Above all, we should know what was in the world, what was -worth striving for, where to set our aims. - -But what of skill did the negro have, save in the rudimentary forms -of agriculture? Whither, save for restraining influences, would his -inherited instincts have led him? What did he know of life experientially -beyond the log square of a slave’s cabin, or by observation and hearsay -beyond the compass of the plantation lord’s domain? - -No; set it down that the new freedman was poorer than the poorest, and, -except in rare cases, more ignorant than can now be readily conceived of. -In such condition, with no higher aims to impel him to work than the bare -instinct of self-preservation, his work must of necessity be for many -years only a bread-meat-and-shelter matter. - -Yet, somehow—who can tell by what strange evolution?—working on blindly, -gropingly, toilsomely, he has still contrived to press forward, until -today, with a generation scarcely gone, he stands on a plane no one -counted on his reaching under a hundred years. And the best of all his -gains is that the most intelligent of his race have come to comprehend -what true progress means, and to compare the slight space traversed by -their people with the vast upward stretch reaching away in front of them. - -During one of the large conventions which recently met in a Georgia -city, a visitor from New England asked me, with genuine concern: “But -where do your better class negroes live? Or are there no blacks decently -housed, no places at least approximately clean and comfortable that they -can claim as homes? In various cities through your section I have found -only swarming and fetid negro quarters, the worst of slums, a menace to -municipal health, both physical and moral. Is there nothing more hopeful -than this to show for the race?” - -Admitting the general truth of his imputation, I was still able to -point out to him a few streets, or sections of streets, where the most -intelligent and prosperous of the blacks of the city had made themselves -real homes. Yet even these, he demurred, bordered too close upon those -same slums he had been fretting over. For in Southern cities the people -of this race keep together, it will be noted. - -But I told my guest to come with me to the country if he would see the -negro at his racial best. Agriculture, I assured him, had come very near -to spelling out salvation for this people. Instance the state conference -of colored farmers convening not so very long ago in Savannah. Nearly two -hundred delegates were present, and everyone owned his own home, many -being comparatively wealthy. One in particular was pointed out as worth -$50,000, made entirely from agriculture. - -In the country, then, we must still look for the best average of the -negro’s home, his domestic life and virtues, as well as his industry -and thrift. A brief investigation of conditions brought our New England -friend to the same conclusion, and he went away much better satisfied as -to the prospects of the race. - -Certain facts and figures which interested this intelligent student of -racial conditions will doubtless interest scores of others, and they are, -therefore, offered in the present paper. - -Georgia has 137 counties, each constituting a small commonwealth -in itself. Being settled at irregular periods and under diverse -circumstances, varying, moreover, in topography and character of the soil -and climate, these counties exhibit each a different ratio of the negroes -to the whites. - -A glance at the maps may aid in forming a clear idea of the movements and -growth of the black population in Georgia. In 1790, it will be observed, -the counties near the coast were the only ones settled, and if the black -folk were inconsiderable in numbers, so were the white. - -But by 1800 the slaves were showing a rapid increase, and were being -moved up the Savannah River, while from that time to 1840 the population, -both white and black, exhibited a marked tendency to seek the rich lands -of the interior, pushing westward and, a little later, southwestward. - -At the close of the year 1900 the blacks of the state had increased from -the few thousands of slaves of a century back, held chiefly on the coast, -to more than a million free people, fairly well dispersed through all but -the extreme mountain counties and paying taxes on many million dollars of -Georgia property. - -From the office of the comptroller-general of the state there is issued -annually a full report of the property-holdings of both blacks and -whites, set forth with exactness of detail county by county. From the -file of these reports it is easy to make a comparative study, in brief -or at length, of past changes, progress or retrogression, and the present -status in any or all of the Georgia counties. But the general reader will -be able to draw his conclusions from a glance at a few of these. - -Chatham County, the original seat of settlement, is perhaps the best -starting-point. It is located in Southeastern Georgia, washed by the -Savannah River and the tides of the Atlantic, has for its county seat -Savannah, the second city of the state, and comprises mainly a stretch -of marshland, low islands and flat, sandy tracts. In early days a brisk -slave trade brought many negroes to this county, and since the war -the city of Savannah has attracted the freedmen in great numbers. The -relations between whites and blacks have been more uniformly cordial -here than elsewhere, the former being in the main of the original -slave-holding class, and the latter largely house servants. The situation -is thus in direct contrast to that in Atlanta, for instance. By the year -1790 there were already 8,313 blacks in Chatham County, as against 2,456 -whites; while the census of a hundred years later shows an increase to -54,757 negroes and 22,966 whites. - -Sherman’s celebrated field order, issued immediately after his investment -of Savannah, gave hundreds of former slaves temporary possession of -valuable lands on the coast and sea islands of this county, as it did to -a lesser extent in certain other sections of the state. This tenure was -in some cases brief, but in many others became permanent. Hence, even -as early as 1875, we find the freedmen owning 1,491 acres of Chatham’s -land, valued at upward of $70,000, besides town and city realty worth -$152,760. Twenty-five years later they had multiplied these figures by -four, approximately. No bad showing, when all things are taken into -consideration. - -Another coast county, Liberty, is beyond doubt the most interesting in -its history of all the so-called “black counties.” This, too, is located -in the southeastern portion of Georgia, a neighbor of Chatham’s, with -much the same climate and topographical features, and was laid out in -1777. But the history of its first settlers deserves to be traced much -further back, for, in 1695, there had come to South Carolina a little -colony of New England Puritans, breaking off from the parent church -at Dorchester, Mass., and led by Joseph Soul, a Harvard graduate and -teacher. Their location in South Carolina having proved unhealthful, they -were attracted by Oglethorpe’s little Georgia settlement, and, having -secured a grant of 32,000 acres on the present site of Liberty County, -they removed thither in 1752, their colony then numbering 280 whites and -536 negro slaves! The county was laid off as Midway, but later changed -its name to Liberty. It should be remarked that when secession from the -Union became an issue this county voted solidly against it. - -After the Civil War the land here was thrown largely on the market, and -at several places, notably Woodville, Ogeechee and Belmont, numbers of -negroes united themselves into colonies and bought extensive tracts. -There are now in the county nearly ten thousand negroes, with half that -number of whites; and the former own more than 50,000 acres of land. - -Appling is a county also in the southeastern portion of the state, but -presenting a very different showing. It is a level county, inland, with -poor soil, and the tide of slaves poured around it without touching it. -In 1820 there were just eighty-six negroes within its borders. When -manumission came there were only about seven hundred Appling County -slaves to be set free. At the present time it is estimated that there are -3,000 negroes in the county, with more than twice that number of whites. -But from the comptroller-general’s latest report it appears that the -former own 17,946 acres of land, such land as it is! - -Now run up to Central Georgia. Here is found the flourishing city -of Macon, in the county of Bibb. The census of 1890 gave Macon a -population of 22,746, of whom one-half were negroes. The land in this -section is hilly, with soil mixed, good and bad. Twenty-five years ago -there were something over 11,000 negroes in the county, outnumbering -the whites by nearly two thousand, and they owned 2,611 acres of land. -Now the blacks have a trifle more than doubled in numbers, as well as -in property-holdings. Observe, too, the higher value of the negro’s -farm lands in this section. His 4,500 acres of Bibb County land is now -assessed at $413,300, which amount, added to his town and city realty and -other taxable properties, makes an aggregate value of $719,380 in this -county alone. - -A little to the northeast of Bibb County lies Baldwin, of which -Milledgeville, the former state capital, is the chief town. This was a -very wealthy ante-bellum section, with large holdings in slaves as well -as lands. When the Civil War began Baldwin County could muster 5,000 -slaves, although of the whites, rich and poor, there were only 4,000. -When the census of 1890 was taken the negroes had increased to 9,343, the -whites only to 5,262. Last year the negroes were paying taxes on 6,501 -acres of Baldwin County land, valued at $26,599, besides a large amount -of city and town property and other possessions, the whole aggregating -$104,592. - -Take another county in Middle Georgia, a county of good lands but without -a town of any size in it, therefore representing more nearly a plain -agricultural average. Any one of a score might be selected. Let us say -Butts, a small but prosperous county which was laid out in 1825 and at -the outbreak of the war had 3,082 slaves and 3,375 whites. A quarter of a -century ago its freedmen, numbering approximately 4,000 people, owned but -ninety-seven acres of land in the entire county and $350 worth of town -property. Have they climbed since 1875? In numbers they are now estimated -at 7,000, against a like number of whites, and last year these negroes -paid taxes on 1,613 acres of good average farming land, and on other -property which ran the total valuation in Butts up to $49,941. - -In the mountain counties of Georgia it has been different, the increase -in number of negroes as well as their possessions being slow and -uncertain, while the whites have maintained a steady progress in such -sections. This, however, is clearly accounted for by the lesser ratio -the agricultural interests bear to others in mountainous districts, and -the dependence of the negroes upon the former. Glance at Gilmer County, -with its sixty-nine blacks and almost 10,000 whites, the former paying -taxes on a few hundred acres of rocky hillsides, and their whole county -property aggregating, by the most recent returns, only $957, while the -latter show taxable possessions valued at $728,000. In Rabun, Towns, -Flannin and neighboring counties the situation shows much the same. - -This brief study of typical counties may be closed with certain -comparative data from Fulton, which contains the state’s capital, -Atlanta, a progressive and rapidly growing city distinctly of the “New -South” type. Fulton was not laid out until 1853, hence is relatively -young in the sisterhood of counties. Only about 2,000 slaves were set -free in this county. Compare the number with the 16,000 manumitted in -Chatham. But today there are more than 50,000 negroes in Fulton, and, -although they own but a thousand acres of land in the county, yet the -aggregate value of their whole property is a bare trifle below one -million dollars! - -To extract the most important meanings from such figures is not -difficult. In connection with them several facts should be kept in mind, -the first of which is that the negro’s land-holdings in Georgia as well -as in adjoining states are usually parceled out in very small individual -lots. In a canvass of fifty-six typical counties of the state, the -following table was established to show the average size of the farm -lots among negro proprietors: - - CLASSIFIED SIZE PER CENT. OF - TOTAL OWNERS - - Under 10 acres 30.50 - 10 or under 40 acres 27.00 - 40 or under 100 acres 21.85 - 100 or under 200 acres 12.80 - 200 or under 500 acres 6.89 - 500 acres or over .93 - -The fifty-six counties canvassed represent the majority of negro holdings -in the state, and the average here established may fairly be taken as -that of the state at large, or, indeed, of the agricultural South. The -fact that a very large proportion of the farms are so limited in size -as to amount only to gardens, or, in negro parlance, “patches,” augurs -well rather than ill, for it means many small proprietors instead of -merely a few large ones and the rest all renters or day laborers. Since -out of 369,265 black people in the state ten years of age or over who -are engaged in gainful occupations, almost two-thirds are employed in -some line of agricultural work, is it not well that the million acres -owned by negroes should be distributed in small holdings? It is easy to -deduce from this the manifest decline of the metayer, or tenant system -of farming. To be sure, these one-acre, or even ten-acre farms will -seldom support the owner, though he may have the smallest family, or none -at all. Such farms are largely instances of what may be called, in the -German phrase, _Parzellenbetriebe_—that is, farms not large enough to -occupy the labor of a family, but serving as sources of partial support -to those with supplementary occupations. Yet, in many cases, these little -plots of ground will grow to goodly farms within a few years. The same -story has been traced a thousand times in the past quarter of a century. - -It will be remarked, also, that the negro’s town and city property -is increasing greatly. In 1880 the assessed value of such property -was only $1,201,992, or 20 per cent. of their entire state property; -while in 1902 it is $4,389,422, which is close to 29 per cent. of the -state’s aggregate. Thus, while agriculture gave the freedman his start -in self-maintenance, and is still his chief dependence, yet paths of -employment and sources of revenue in cities are being discovered by him -more and more as the years go by and his education progresses. - -Before passing to the close, another point is worthy of especial note, -interesting both the economist and the sociologist. In 1875 the assessed -value of the household and kitchen furniture owned by all the negroes in -the state, then numbering between six and seven million souls, was only -$21,186, or something like three cents’ worth to each individual. But in -1902 the assessed value of the same class of property was $1,688,541, or -a trifle over the value of a dollar and a half to each colored man, woman -and child in the state. Upon this phase of development and progress no -comment is needed. - -In brief, then, the black people of Georgia paid taxes for 1902 on -1,175,291 acres of land, and upon an entire property aggregating -$15,188,069 in assessed value. This means, beyond the shadow of a doubt, -that the negroes of Georgia, or, broadly speaking, the South, are -accumulating property and acquiring homes. And since the negro with a -home is almost sure to stand for law, order and civic faithfulness, it -means, moreover, a reaching out toward higher standards of living, not -material living alone, but social life, mental and moral striving and -achievements. - -Comprehending the situation in its fulness, no man can deny that the race -is actually _started_ on the road to better things than their past might -have indicated that they were capable of attaining. - - - - - _A Japanese Populist_ - - BY THOMAS C. HUTTEN - _Author of “National Characteristics,” “The Farthest East”_ - - -Two years ago a prominent Russian patriot admitted a misgiving that -nothing but a miracle could shake the strongholds of Czarish despotism. -It does not impeach the correctness of his view that the miracle has been -accomplished. - -A giant has entered the political arena; a new world power has risen from -the dust of a Buddhist serf-kennel, and it is about time to recognize the -fact that the marvel of evolution has been effected by progress in the -direction of popular democracy. - -The memorable vote of the daimios was a renunciation of class privileges. -Of the forty amendments in the new constitution of the Japanese Empire, -twenty-six tend to reform the abuses of class legislation. The nation -controls two-thirds of its mines. Stockholders of a telegraph monopoly -have been forced to accept a time limit of their contract. Six hundred -and twenty miles of railroads are managed—and successfully managed—by -a national board of administration. The Government, in the name of the -nation, builds its own warships and welds its own armor-plates, instead -of farming out jobs to the highest briber. The Ways and Means Committee -of 1901 reduced direct taxation almost on the exact plan of the system -recommended by the reformer Bakunin—reserving building lots in new cities -and granting tenures from two to ten years at gradually increasing rates -of rent. - -Populist reforms have rendered the Government popular enough to make the -nation invincible. - -And the world-wide need of those reforms has been repeatedly urged by -Japanese travelers, and with the emphasis of strong personal conviction, -especially by a keen observer who visited Europe and North America in the -summer of 1903. - -Professor Yashinto Korioky, agent of a Tokio reform club, explored -the United States without the assistance of the guides trained by our -Star-spangled Uncle and with often remarkable results. - -“Surprises,” he says, “indeed, began before we had set foot on the soil -of the great moral Republic. Above the sea mist and above the gathering -clouds a fire gleamed like a meteor on the western horizon, and one of -the Chinese steerage passengers, venturing to inquire, ascertained that -it was a statue of liberty, furnishing light to the world. The next -moment a sailor struck him between the eyes, and he admitted that he saw -several starlike, luminous objects.” - - - A TEST OF RIGHTEOUSNESS - -“The next morning,” he continues, “I got my traveling scrip, but was -informed that our boat was moored on the wharf of an island, where -immigrants are assorted according to the degree of their rectitude. -Some pass the ordeal of scrutiny with ease, others with difficulty, for -reasons which I was not always able to discern. I noticed, however, that -the Government has coined shekels of silver with inscriptions expressing -sentiments of virtue—“In God we trust,” or similar words—and whenever -a traveler came provided with a goodly number of these tokens, his -righteousness seemed to be taken for granted.” - - - PATERNAL SOLICITUDE - -“The investigations of the learned officials in some cases extended to -articles of wearing apparel. One Canton trader had underlined his tunic -with eighty yards of fine silk, which, being discovered, were unwound and -confiscated to enforce a lesson of modesty in the matter of dress.” - - - WORLDLINESS SUPPRESSED - -“He was, however, allowed to proceed, more fortunate than two of his -countrymen who had crossed the ocean for the first time, and were sent -back at the expense of the Chinese contractors. Forty years ago these -worldly toilers were admitted as freely as other foreigners; but it was -noticed that they worked sixteen hours a day and seven days in the week, -thus disregarding the duty of providing leisure for spiritual exercises. -And as their lack of repentance was, moreover, aggravated by the rapid -accumulation of coin, it was finally decided to remove them for the -promotion of their higher interests.” - - - A SCHOOL OF PATIENCE - -“Animals that are most carefully excluded from the residence quarters -of Japanese towns enjoy the freedom of many American cities. Cats roam -at large and dogs are permitted to defile public monuments.... After -dark their clamor exceeds the vociferations of the East Indian jackals -and robs thousands of sleep; but it is perhaps necessary that taxpaying -citizens should be trained in lessons of self-denial.” - - - GOVERNMENT MAN-TRAPS - -“Knowing my reputation for veracity, be prompt, my brother, to intercede -if the unregenerate of your neighborhood should question the following -facts: In the course of each year some 80,000,000 ox-loads of grain are -manufactured into a health-destroying poison; ... coal stoves, pretty as -the vases of Nagasaki, radiate warmth in winter; fans, operated by unseen -forces, mitigate the heat of the summer season. Singers often warble with -the skill of the sirens. In the neighborhood of these seductive traps -the Government then posts its man-catchers and awaits results. It may -seem incredible. But I have been informed that in Southern China monkeys -are often captured by similar devices. When the poison begins to operate -they fall bewildered, and their awakening in a cage the next morning must -tend to mitigate the frivolity of their disposition.” - - - A THOUGHTFUL LANDLORD - -“The owner of the estate, we ascertained, was a timber merchant, as well -as a pillar of virtue, and a large number of trees in the rear of the -building had recently been felled—probably to give the neighborhood a -more unobstructed view of heaven.” - - - COMPENSATING LEGISLATION - -“Those stock gamblers, whose conspiracies had ruined thousands, were not -mistaken in their expectation that the law would protect them against the -risk of a riot. Children, gambling for peanuts, are promptly arrested. -The advantages of magisterial virtue cannot be overrated.” - - - FOUR-HANDED FILIPINOS - -“Apes, almost as dissolute as sparrows, are exhibited in the parks of -several American cities.... In the Philippine Islands a large number of -these animals has recently been captured and caged—probably to limit -their opportunity for worldly enjoyments.” - - - NEMESIS - -“But we learned that the steam launch scudding along the west shore of -the bay was a smuggler, and its pursuer a Government revenue tug. For -weeks—perhaps for months—the contrabandists, of Canadian origin, had been -selling meat at frivolous rates, and the avengers of sacrilege were now -at their heels.” - - - JUVENILE DEPRAVITY - -“From the window of one of these air-trains, a package came clattering -down on the sidewalk, scattering a shower of biscuits and hard-boiled -eggs which were seized and devoured by the children of poverty before the -guardians of law and order could interfere. One youngster of five or six -years captured a piece of fruit cake and took to his heels with whoops of -unregenerate glee, whereupon two older boys raced him down and deprived -him of his prize—probably to restrain his penchant for dietetic luxuries.” - - - MENDICANCY LIMITED - -“Two constables dragged along a shrieking girl, who every now and then -resisted progress by throwing herself on the ground.... Of what crime -could a child of her age possibly have been guilty? ... It appeared that -she had been begging in support of an invalid mother, thus tempting -taxpaying citizens to an expenditure of coin that should have been -reserved for other purposes.... - -“Begging, however, is not wholly prohibited. Politicians often solicit -millions in behalf of candidates who pledge themselves to protect the -associations of wealth and suppress the holiday amusements of the poor.” - - - WINGED REFUGEES - -“... saw nothing but a few crows and two kingfishers, flitting up -and down the rocky banks of the brook. Experience had made them -unapproachably shy, perhaps much to the regret of the neighboring saints, -since they had probably been guilty of fishing on Sunday.” - - - A FASTING-CURE VICTORY - -“Some forty families had been evicted to make room for a trainload of -meek immigrants, who agreed to subsist on potatoes and the promise of a -better hereafter.” - - - SKY LADDERS - -“Seclusion in the upper cavities of these brick mountains must entail -incredible hardships, ... but the landlords seem to hold that all these -discomforts are compensated by the advantage of dwelling nearer heaven.” - - - A CHEERING PROSPECT - -“In Oriental cities, with rare exceptions, everything suggesting the -thought of death is hidden out of view; no sculptor would venture -to exhibit an assortment of gravestones; but people to whom life -brings nothing but a roundabout of toil and tedium may find solace in -contemplating mementoes of the hour that will witness the end of their -doom.” - - * * * * * - -The philanthropic traveler left his native land with ideals presaging -a universal brotherhood of nations—perhaps under the leadership of -our great Republic—but admits that, under present circumstances, our -popular policy of expansion is, at best, only an attempt to widen the -ring-walls of our slave-pen, before its gates are closed by a syndicate -of bloodsuckers and boodle legislators. - - - - - _The King’s Image_ - - BY WALTER E. GROGAN - _Author of “The Dregs of Wrath,” “The King’s Sceptre,” “The - Curse of the Fultons,” etc._ - - -I knew him at once. He was grayer, he was grimmer, he was more than ever -like a man of granite, hard and immobile, but I knew him. The sight of -him gravely unfolding his table napkin and covering his thin knees at -luncheon in the little hotel set my thoughts back over ten years. I was -then a lad of sixteen. I had seen him constantly in the queer medieval -streets of Tsalburg, the little capital of Ertaria in the Balkans. Gray -and grim, he was then the General Commandant of the army, the iron right -hand of the Wolf King Peter XII. He was grayer and grimmer now, but -undoubtedly the man. For a while I racked my memory for his name. It came -suddenly. General Hartzel! Undoubtedly the man. - -The _Times_ supplied me with many conjectures. The senile old King -was dead; his heir, the Prince Paul, had lived his own life in Europe -incognito, and the heir was not forthcoming. Rumor said he was in Paris. - -For three days I watched the General. He knew no one at the hotel, he -spoke to no one, but I saw him more than once in earnest conversation -with a young man about my own age, about my own height, about my own -color, but—for the sake of my own vanity—alike in no other particular. -This was—the information was easily come by—the Comte de Troisétoilles, -a young Frenchman of position, now considerably taken with the beautiful -singer, Mlle. Aimée Bergeaux. That was the story noised about, and -in proof thereof her little steam yacht rode in the harbor, he was -constantly with her, and a rumor was essential to the place. A companion, -large, fat, unmistakably German and delightfully placid, cast a broad, -complacent smile of propriety over the romance. - -My General, I noted, snarled at the soprano for whose smiles princes -competed. He was thorough, was my General, dear man of stone. Venus -herself would have been baffled by him. But he spoke earnestly and -vehemently to the Count, he who was so taciturn. - -On the evening of the third day I met my General on the south cliff by -the absurd little fort. There was a streak of smoke on the horizon. He -was shaking a fist at it, a violent, tempestuous fist. - -I have been a prey to sudden impulses all my life. I had maintained an -Englishman’s reserve for three days. I broke it suddenly on the cliff. I -accosted the General in Ertarian. - -“You are disturbed, General Hartzel,” I said. - -He wheeled round surprisingly. His astonishment grew when he saw me, the -silent companion of his luncheons. - -“Monsieur speaks Ertarian,” he said. - -“A little,” I answered modestly, yet with inward elation. To surprise a -man of granite! Elation was surely pardonable. - -“As a native,” he continued. I bowed. “It is wonderful! Are you Ertarian?” - -“No,” I replied. - -“No,” he echoed with regret. “You are English. I saw you smoke a pipe. -But you know my real name? I am Captain Schneidlitz here.” - -I laughed. “Pardon me, General, I have been amusing myself with your -surprise. My father was British Minister at Tsalburg for many years. As a -boy I spent my holidays there. Hence my accent.” - -“Your name is—?” he demanded. - -“Havensea,” I answered. - -“Then your father is ——?” - -“Exactly. I am now the head of my family. It is a large family, General. -I have tens of aunts; my cousins are limitless. I pass an uneasy life -trying to evade them and my unnecessary title. It is difficult—please -respect my incognito as I respect yours, Captain Schneidlitz.” - -“You dislike your title?” he asked eagerly. - -“The coronet has given me a headache of the soul. You don’t know how -terrible a British title is. It is a mere lever for opening bazaars, a -free ticket to everybody’s dinners.” - -“You object to yourself?” His question, the question of the man of -granite, was tremulous with excitement. - -“Pardon me,” I answered; “not to myself—but to the impossibility of being -myself. I am an English peer. I have not even the picturesqueness of -poverty. You do not understand. In Ertaria they do not hold flower shows. -I do not object to myself—I object to Lord Havensea.” - -The General looked round anxiously. A wide-breeched soldier was walking -toward the fort; a white-stringed bonnet was going home. Seaward the -streak of smoke blackened the eye of the sun. The sight of that caused -the man of granite to swear solemnly in Ertarian—a language admitting a -wide choice of expression to a man oppressed with a sense of wrong. - -“I will reply to your first question,” he said. He spoke in a low voice. -He was under some strong emotion. “I am disturbed. That little streak of -smoke dissolving out there represents my hopes dissipated, evaporated. My -hopes are the hopes of Ertaria. We are a small country, but we are proud.” - -“A country’s pride invariably compensates for lack of acres.” - -“It is a jest to you,” he said sadly. I had expected him to be angry at -my flippant remark. The sadness of his voice slipped past my guard. Here -at last I had found a man who could feel. - -“Your pardon, General,” I said more soberly than I had previously spoken. -“The pride of Ertaria I know rests upon an unstained national honor.” - -“If you believed that!” he cried. - -“I do,” I answered stoutly. “Frankly, you are all absurd, but it is -a glorious absurdity. Small, hemmed in by enemies, you have kept an -independence, noble and untainted, for seven hundred years.” - -“You believe it! Why not?” he cried excitedly. “Your father, the dear -Lord Havensea, loved us. He was our friend. His representations at St. -James’s saved us once. You inherited his love. We are in peril now.” - -“Ah,” said I, “the lost heir.” - -“He is out there under that streak of smoke.” - -“He was the Comte de Troisétoilles?” - -“Yes. The French singer is Russian. You understand?” - -“Kidnapped! Scratch a French soprano and you will find a Russian. My -General!” I was indeed sorry for him. He was honest, was this man of -granite. He loved his country. And Prince Paul—“Royal robes should cover -men, not flattered fools.” - -“You understand. The great game is lost. I love Ertaria as I love nothing -else. I would pour out my blood willingly for her. That would be nothing. -I have been the guardian of her honor. That was everything. And now the -hand of the greedy Bear is stretched out for it. And it is lost. At least -five minutes ago I said it was lost. But now you—you can save it—the -great game, the honor of Ertaria, the independence, the life-blood!” - -“I! My dear General, I am a tired English peer recovering from a surfeit -of municipal and parochial addresses.” - -“You—only you. You are an Englishman, you speak Ertarian, you resemble -the Prince Paul somewhat; he is unknown in Ertaria. You are out of love -with your own identity; you long for something else, for some other -life——” - -“My dear General, speak out the whole of your madness.” - -“Come, Lord Havensea, and hold the throne!” - -I was staggered, astounded. For a moment I watched the smoke becoming -thinner and thinner. Suddenly it seemed to pop out. It was of course a -trick of the imagination. - -“You are an Englishman—therefore you have courage.” - -It was transcendent flattery. A throne! - -“It is madness, my General,” I said. His eyes sparkled. - -“It is the madness we love,” he said softly. “And it is for the country, -my country. The poor fool will come back. Don’t let it be too late. Keep -the throne for him—and for us, for the Ertarian children unborn that they -be not born the slaves of the Muscovite. You have read the history of -Poland?” - -“It is folly, but—” I commenced. - -“The train starts tonight, my Prince, at eleven. The West Station. I will -make all things ready.” The General looked out at the winking sun. The -real Prince was kidnapped, but in his dire need Fate had tossed him a -pseudo one. - -It was the wildest of folly, of course, but once seriously embarked upon, -it was remarkable how smoothly it ran. I returned to the hotel, paid my -bill, sent my valet home to England, and met the General at the station. -I entered the first-class compartment a private English gentleman—even -my poor little title left in the custody of my lawyers in Ely Place—and -across the Ertarian frontier I stepped out Paul V. - -We alighted at a small station. There were three or four anxious-looking -men on its slender platform. They were dressed in the frock coat of -ceremony. One man only was conspicuous in a gorgeous uniform. It reminded -me of my own Havensea livery. I was preparing to be royally gracious -to him when Hartzel whispered he was the station-master. It was a -brilliant morning; the sun lay on the white caps of the mountain pass -and glistened; big butterflies painted the field; the air was clear, -rarified. I was in excellent spirits. - -The General watched the absurd little engine puff its way onward. Then he -turned to me, took off his hat, knelt and kissed my hand. The spectacle -of my man of granite kneeling, his honest, ugly face figured by emotion, -struck me strangely. - -“To my God, my Country and my King are my life and my honor dedicated,” -he said, the quaint old formula of allegiance in Ertaria. The frock -coats went through the same performance. It lacked the earnestness of -the General and had a note of anxiety. They looked as though they -were expecting a troop of Cossacks over the edge of the pass and were -nervous. But the ceremony marked a step in the game. Until then I was -in a transition state. I was no longer Lord Havensea, but I had not yet -become King until I had stepped out of my uncomfortable compartment into -a kingdom. - -“Gentlemen,” I said in their own picturesque tongue, “you are the first -of my subjects to welcome me. Not as King will I speak to you now, but as -a fellow-worker, for my heart also is dedicated to God and Ertaria.” - -That struck some spark into their dull faces. - -“Seven centuries of liberty are in our hands,” said I. “The dead fathers -of Ertaria have given us this heritage. It is that which I come to -preserve—in peace if God wills, but if not, the history of Ertaria tells -us how to act.” - -Bombast if you will, but it brought life, valor, strength into their -faces. - -As for the man of granite, his eyes flashed. Ten minutes more and we were -galloping up the white ribbon of a road toward Tsalburg, embarked upon as -mad a mission as was ever enacted in this Balkan basin of mad missions. -Our frock-coated friends remained behind. I kissed each on his scrubby -cheek, and told him to guard our frontier. They swore to this with tears -in their eyes. - -“Well,” said I, “we have played the first act of the farce.” - -“You have done well,” my mentor replied. “But this is no farce. It is a -perilous game to play.” - -“You did not tell me so before, General. A spice of danger gives it a -zest.” - -“You speak like a soldier.” - -“I was a soldier—that was before I became a peer and was a personage. -Shall I pass muster? Will they perceive I am no King? Will the people be -with me?” - -“Keep a brave heart and that will carry you through. The Russian -Minister, of course, will know you are an impostor.” - -“The deuce he will!” - -“You must bluff him.” - -“And four weeks ago I received the freedom of an English town from a -successful grocer! Hartzel, my blood races! Here are romance, adventure! -I am your debtor for life!” - -“That debt may be liquidated at any moment,” he said grimly. For a minute -his old face softened, and then it was as hard as ever. I knew that some -touch of remorse had stabbed him. The game was nothing to me; he was -staking my life for a cause in which I had no concern. Then came the -thought of his country. No life mattered then. - -That night we lay in a small town, and I was shown secretly to a few of -the town’s chief men; and the next night we slept in the General’s house -at Tsalburg. The rumor of my coming circulated furiously. At eleven -o’clock, when I was preparing to rest, tired with my long journey, a -mob assembled in the square outside and sang the national anthem for an -hour or so. Hartzel harangued them from the balcony. I was fatigued. I -could not be disturbed, but on the morrow their King would meet them. -That was the purport of his speech. The national anthem broke out again, -and presently, with the poetical inspiration of the nation, they sang a -legendary serenade. - -Hartzel came to my room and sat on the edge of my bed. I was nearly dead -with fatigue, but he was inexorable. - -“Tomorrow will see the crucial test of our scheme, so you must listen. -There are two factions in Ertaria. In the late King’s reign I kept the -Tertourgkis in abeyance.” - -“The Tertourgkis!” I cried, memory stirring me. “They had some feud with -the reigning family and—and there was a daughter.” - -“You remember?” he said. “Prince Tertourgki is an old man. His wealth and -his lands go to this daughter, his only child. She is very beautiful.” - -“She was a beautiful child, dark and serene as night.” - -“The Prince has claims to the throne. He is the descendant of the -Tertourgkis, who reigned in the fifteenth century. They were despots, and -a revolution set the Borros on the throne. The Prince has never abrogated -his claim. There is a second cousin——” - -“My General, the rest is easy to decipher. The second cousin has -aspirations for the hand of the Princess Marie; he is the puppet of the -Russians; the Tertourgkis’ influence is great; we fear the loyalty of the -army; we must deal quickly with the second cousin.” - -“You are quick at guessing,” the General answered slowly. “You know——” - -“On my word, nothing—nothing but the name of the Princess Marie. When -the world was younger, General, there was a large garden and a young -schoolboy—he thought himself a man—and a little child and flowers. -Together they made a happy time. The sun was always shining. The little -child worshiped the big schoolboy—and he graciously permitted it.” - -“Your father’s house! Ah, well, you know something, but not all. As the -King lay dying I—I arranged a marriage between the Princess Marie and the -absent Paul.” - -I sat up in bed. - -“The Prince Paul!” I exclaimed. - -“The Prince Paul,” he assented stolidly. “He consented. The Prince looked -kindly upon it; the Princess would not give a definite answer. When the -Prince arrived, she said, she would give him her answer personally.” - -“This is your arrangement?” I asked. - -“It was a diplomatic stroke,” he said. - -“You took an unwarrantable liberty,” I cried warmly. “Why was I not told -of this before?” - -“Because you would not have come.” - -“And now?” - -“Now it is different. You are caught in the toils.” - -“It is an unwarrantable liberty! You have engaged me matrimonially -without any reference to my feelings.” - -“I have engaged Prince Paul.” - -“Who am I?” - -“Who you are for the present. My dear Havensea, you do not consider my -position.” - -“You have had precious little consideration for mine!” - -“It is not yours. You are an actor playing a role. In a short while you -will make a graceful bow and exit.” - -“I am not at all sure that it will be graceful.” - -“As you will. That does not matter at all. You play a part for a little -while. They will not dare to keep the real Prince a prisoner for long.” - -“I am to cheat this girl?” - -“What does it matter? It is a royal alliance—there are no considerations -but that of policy. I do not propose to marry you to her.” - -“Thanks. That is considerate.” - -“My dear Havensea, you are perturbed. The Princess is to marry the Crown. -She is piqued at the long delay of the Prince. There is no question of -sentiment.” - -“Suppose there were?” - -He looked at me curiously for a moment. - -“That is a proposition I will not entertain,” he answered. - -“I will not do it!” I cried angrily. - -“You will,” he replied quietly. “You have already impersonated the King. -Have you considered the consequences? I say nothing about you. You are -a brave man. But you have already compromised many honest men—and one -dishonest old man. We are only half civilized. That is part of our -charm—at least to you. The people would be very angry. You would be -killed!” - -“By Jove, you are a pleasant philosopher!” - -“To a brave man that may mean little—life is a mere stake. But the honest -men and the dishonest old man would die also. You could not have my death -upon your conscience!” - -“You deserve it, my General; you deserve it, on my honor!” - -“Possibly.” He waved it aside resolutely as a matter of small -consequence. “There is also Ertaria. Shall we grant that the Princess -may not be happy? Then there is one woman unhappy and a nation free. -Havensea, you do not understand the stake for which we play. It is not a -crown, nor a woman’s heart, but a nation’s freedom. The heel of Russia -bruises the very souls of men. Russia knouts a man’s soul. Where is -Poland today? It is a great game to save a nation from that curse.” - -The man of granite spoke soberly. There was no impassioned appeal. He -spoke of facts. As a boy I knew something of this terror of Russia. This -rugged, hard man was a hero. He played his life not for advancement, but -for the good of his country. My heart warmed to him. And, as he said, -there was also Ertaria. - -“I shall go through with it, General,” I said at length. Our hands closed -on that; in the winking light of a candle I saw his eyes glitter. He did -not speak for a full minute. Then he muttered in a low voice, “If you -were only a Borro!” - -“It would have been fatiguing,” I said. “I should have quarreled with -you. There is not room on the throne for two men.” - -He laughed abruptly at that. - -The next morning General Hartzel aroused me at an unearthly hour. He made -me dress in a steel-corseleted uniform. It was exceedingly gorgeous and -stiff with gold lace. - -“It is the uniform of the Colonel of the Royal Guards,” he told me. - -“Promotion is rapid in Ertaria,” I said. “I was an unconsidered subaltern -in our Blues.” - -“The army is reviewed today on the Plain of Liberty,” he said, “by Prince -Tertourgki. He is regent during your absence.” - -“And the second cousin?” - -“Is his aide-de-camp—Prince Otho. The Russian Minister will be there.” - -“And his august name?” I demanded. - -“Baron Ivaniski.” - -“My dear General!” I cried. “There is a saying, ‘The luck of the -Havenseas.’ The luck holds good. The Russian Bear shall dance, I promise -you!” - -“What does Your Majesty mean?” - -“His Majesty knows a story, General, a pretty, ornate and most scandalous -story. Ivaniski was an attaché at Berlin when my uncle was Ambassador. It -will be the only good turn Uncle John has ever done me.” - -For two mortal hours after a particularly disappointing breakfast—the -General betrayed but an indifferent regard to cuisine—I was gracious to -the peculiarly uninteresting big men of Tsalburg. I signed innumerable -papers, and at a hint from the General kissed those worthy of the honor. -It afforded them far more satisfaction than it did me. - -At noon I mounted a black charger, and, accompanied only by the -General, set out for the Plain of Liberty. Hartzel had misled—to use a -euphemism—the populace as to my movements, so that it was merely at odd -whiles that I was called upon to acknowledge shouts of greeting. - -The Plain of Liberty is a tableland upon the hill that rises above the -town. From it Tsalburg can be seen spread out in picturesque confusion. -It is a big plain, and its name is derived from the presence in its -centre of a huge column surmounted by a figure of Liberty. On the base -of this column are inscribed the names of the more or less traditional -heroes who are popularly supposed to have engineered the independence of -the country. This column has become a subject of sentimental worship with -the nation. - -On this plain were assembled the populace of Tsalburg to witness the -review of the major part of the troops of the country, some fifteen -thousand. Prince Tertourgki had selected a place near the column as a -saluting base, and the troops, when we arrived, were drawn up in review -order. The column stood, as it were, a huge, gray sentinel between the -Prince and the troops. - -“Some of the officers I could trust expect you!” the General cried. -“Spur on to the troops. Now is our crisis. The Baron has tampered with -some of the regiments, but to what extent I cannot say. If the troops -receive you Ertaria is saved.” - -“Your true gambler risks all on a single throw!” I shouted, clapping -spurs into my charger. It was a glorious gallop. My blood raced in my -veins. My horse was maddened by the touch of the spur. I thundered on -down the level turf. I saw the stir of surprise in the populace. I caught -a waver of ranks as the troops craned forward to see me come. Then a -flash of inspiration came to me. As I raced by the column I suddenly -drew rein, flinging my horse back on his haunches. For a moment he lay -crouched backward, and in that moment I had raised my sword in salute of -the column. Then the charger leaped forward, and I rode to the front of -the troops. - -Such a shout greeted me as I have never heard before. It roared about my -ears like thunder. “Long live the King!” they cried, and the populace -took up the words, “Long live the King!” - -I raised my hand and there was silence. - -“Comrades,” I shouted, “we all alike serve under Liberty. The statue of -our dead heroes watches over King and people.” Again the air was rent. - -I turned. General Hartzel, following me, had just cantered up. On his -grim, granite face was a smile like wintry sunshine. - -“General Hartzel,” I cried, “you will march the troops past in review -order!” Then I cantered over to the saluting base. I was King! - -An old man in uniform was fidgeting about on a gray horse. At his side -was a young officer, dark, almost swarthy, whispering eagerly. In a -landau at the back sat a frock-coated gentleman with an order in his -buttonhole. He had the broadness between the eyes of the Tartar. With him -was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Out of her big black eyes -shone the light of admiration. In a mist I saw again the small child in -the garden, her wondering worship and the big English schoolboy. - -“Prince,” I cried, “will you do me the honor of taking the salute?” -I spoke to him so as to force an answer. The unexpected compliment -flustered him. - -“Your Majesty,” he faltered, “my usefulness is over.” - -“No,” I replied, engineering my restive charger to the discomfiture of -the second cousin, “we will work together for Ertaria, Prince.” I held -out my hand, and in a moment the white-haired old fellow was off his -horse and kneeling, kissing my hand. How the populace roared aloud their -pleasure! The bands crashed out the national anthem, ladies fluttered -their scarfs, a whole forest of hats waved in the air. I was King, and -apparently popular. It was an exhilarating feeling. I thought of the real -Paul shut up in a satinwood cabin on board a kicking little steam yacht, -and smiled. - -The Prince and I took the salute; he reined in to a respectful distance. -Afterward I was conducted to the landau. The Prince stayed a moment to -speak to the second cousin. I rode up alone and dismounted. - -“Have you no welcome for the King, Princess Marie?” I asked. - -“You know me? My father told you?” Her voice was serene, low, like silver -bells on a summer evening. - -“No. The Prince has said nothing. But I knew that the Princess Marie was -the most beautiful woman in Ertaria.” She smiled at me. I met her smiling -eyes. It was then I regretted that I was merely playing a part. The small -child had grown into a wondrously beautiful woman. I know that from the -moment my eyes met hers in that long look I loved her. Hers were eloquent -also, so eloquent that she veiled them quickly with long, thick, black, -curling lashes, and the rich color mounted to her cheek. - -“But Your Majesty,” the Russian’s lips curled in a sneer, “has seen the -Princess’s photograph.” - -“One has no conception of sunlight from observation of the moon, Baron,” -I answered. - -“And you are really the King, Paul V.” His voice was challenging, his -eyes were gleaming with anger. The elaborate and desperate project of -kidnapping the Prince had failed at the very moment of its success. In -his pocket, I thought, were the particulars of Paul’s involuntary voyage, -and yet here was a king to thwart all his plans. - -“And you are really the Baron Ivaniski—of Berlin?” He grew white to the -lips at the concealed threat in my voice. - -“Of Berlin?” he faltered. “I have no connection with Berlin.” - -“Your memory is short, Baron. In November of ’84 you were surely in -Berlin. I believe, if I tried, I could persuade you of that. Lord -Derwenthurst was a friend of mine.” - -“Ah, yes, I had forgotten,” he muttered. I could have laughed at him, he -had become so craven and so cringing. Uncle John had told me of the Baron -and his gambling debts, and his attempt to sell a Russian secret to us. -Uncle John was too honest for a diplomat. He refused, and extracted from -the young attaché a signed declaration of his treason. The alternative -was that of forwarding the proposal to the Russian Ambassador. - -Riding to the palace with my granite General, he expressed approval of my -day’s work. - -“Ah, General,” said I, “the public enthusiasm is stimulating. Not all the -school children of my native town, bribed by oranges and buns, can shout -like your honest people.” - -“And the Princess?” he asked anxiously. - -“And the Princess is divine.” - -A week passed in a whirl of popular excitement. No one guessed; the -Russian dared not speak openly. In any case I hardly think Russia -would have avowed her kidnapping of the Prince. As it was, the Baron -had too great a fear of the document he believed I held. On the second -day the Princess gave me her answer. We were betrothed. Public joy -expressed itself in gala nights at the Opera, in fireworks, in torchlight -processions. And for me all the zest of the game I was playing departed. -As I listened to Marie, as I learned from her own lips that she loved -me, I realized bitterly the part I was playing. Not all the General’s -sophistries could disguise it from me. I was cheating her. And her trust -was perfect. I writhed under her praise, I was tortured by the possession -of her love, a possession which, come by honestly, I would have treasured -beyond all else. - -On the eighth day, the evening of the gala ball, my granite General came -to my private chamber. - -“The _Coquette_ entered Trieste last night,” he said harshly. I started. -_Coquette_ was the name of the soprano’s yacht. - -“Well?” I replied. We stared at each other. General Hartzel had been -growing brusk and ill-humored with me. I think he guessed at the romance. - -“The King will be here tomorrow night.” - -“Suppose I answer that by saying the King is here?” - -“You will not do that. Your honor is engaged.” - -“You have been teaching me to do without honor.” - -“I must tell her tonight.” - -I rose. “You will not. I will tell her.” - -“You will seek to dissuade her!” - -“I will tell her. It is my right, Hartzel.” - -“You promise——?” - -“I promise nothing. Man, do you think I will slink out of this like a -whipped cur? I have cheated. I will confess.” - -After the first ceremonial reception I slipped into the dark garden. My -brain was hot. I wanted to feel the soft coolness of the night. In an -avenue I stumbled upon the Prince Otho and the Russian Baron. They barred -my way. - -“Impostor!” cried the Prince. The news had leaked out. The Russian knew -and had told his friend. - -I took off my glove and struck him in the face. - -“After the fourth waltz,” I said. “There is a moon. In the walled garden. -And, gentlemen, whatever you may know, keep silence. Berlin will speak if -you do.” - -I sought Hartzel. He was not difficult to find. He was dogging my steps -like a spy. I told him of my meeting in the garden, and asked him to be -my second. - -“He is a good swordsman,” he said. I think he was sorry. - -“Then I sincerely hope the real Paul won’t miss his train. To have the -throne vacant again would be annoying.” - -“And you?” he asked. - -“My dear General,” I said, with a smile, “when a man is giving up a pearl -of infinite value he does not care much for the tarnished gold of his own -life.” - -The fourth waltz I danced with the Princess Marie. - -“I wish to speak to you soberly, seriously, sedately, Marie. May I? Come -to the little conservatory and sit out the thirteenth.” - -“It is an unlucky number.” - -“No number is unlucky that gives me your presence,” I said lightly. - - * * * * * - -In the moonlight we stripped to our shirts. It was nearly as light as day. - -“This is a mistake,” my granite General said. He was thinking of the risk -to his scheme and the ease with which both men could have been arrested. - -“No, General. This may be reparation,” I answered. - -Prince Otho was an excellent swordsman. That I knew at once. His wrist -was supple and strong as steel. We engaged and fought slowly, cautiously. -He had a dangerous, wicked riposte which I guarded twice, more by luck -than by skill. Undoubtedly he was my master. I smiled grimly at this. I -was sorry, because I wished to speak to Marie. And yet, perhaps, this -was a better way. Ah, a scratch! I had turned too late, and the sting in -my shoulder told me I was hit. - -“He is hit! It is enough!” cried General Hartzel. - -“A mere scratch!” I answered hotly, and we engaged again. It was evident -the Prince was waiting for an opening to kill. Two opportunities for -serious wounds he passed. Then suddenly he made a quick lunge over my -guard. I stepped back quickly; he could not recover his guard; he fell -back. Hartzel leaned over him. - -“That ends it,” he said complacently. “Four weeks, at least, in bed. This -is an accident, Baron.” - - * * * * * - -The thirteenth dance. The lights were very low. There was the heavy, -thick scent of gardenias. The Chinese lanterns swayed curiously. When I -pulled myself together they were still. The wound pricked unpleasantly. - -Marie came. - -“This is most unorthodox, Your Majesty,” she said mockingly. “Everyone is -asking for you.” - -“Will you sit down, dear?” I spoke very slowly. In truth the pain in my -arm was like a red-hot steel needle. She sobered quickly. I could not see -very well. I think she went white. She sat down meekly. I could see her -big eyes, only her eyes. - -“Paul!” she breathed. - -“I am not Paul,” I said. “I am not King. I am only the King’s image, a -poor counterfeit.” - -“Paul!” she said again. Then she checked herself. - -“He will be here tomorrow. My period of usefulness will be over. He—he -was kidnapped. I came—because I was bored, because there was some chance -of adventure, because an old man pleaded for his country. Now it is all -over—the King comes, the King’s image is wanted no longer.” - -“Paul, I want you,” she said in a low voice. - -“I am not Paul. And—and, Marie, there is duty! A nation may groan under -the tyranny of Russia unless—You understand, Marie. Our lives cannot -always be ministers to our desires. We—we are caught in the toils; we -can only obey, we can only do our duty, trusting that somehow it will be -found good.” - -“For us?” she asked. - -“For your people.” - -“You say that that is my duty, Paul?” - -“Yes.” - -“And you love me?” - -“And I love you,” I answered. The lanterns were swinging madly now. Over -their light was a new mist growing, growing. I bit my lip—but the throb -of the wound was agony. - -“I believe you, dear,” she said simply. “It—it seems hard that—that so -much should rest upon one poor girl. I think I know what—you mean. The -people shall be happy though the Queen’s heart break.” She rose and came -toward me. She caught me by my wounded shoulder and kissed me. And with -all the agony of it that kiss I hold in my heart always as a dear memory. - -When she went the lanterns whirled, the mist shut down on my eyes, and I -fell. General Hartzel found me. - -The next morning early, recovered of my swoon, I rode out of Tsalburg. -General Hartzel rode with me a little way. - -“If you had only been the real King,” he said, with more feeling than I -thought possible, “and not——” - -“And not the King’s image,” I filled in. “It is a pity when the clay -image has a living heart.” - - - - - _The Story of a Suppressed Populist Newspaper_ - - BY THOMAS H. TIBBLES - _People’s Party Candidate for Vice-President_ - - -At one time there were fifteen hundred weekly papers advocating the -principles of the Omaha platform. Some of them had large plants, some -only a few cases of type and a Washington press, but all were actuated -by one purpose—to make conditions easier for those who toiled on farms, -in shops, factories, mines and mills. Among those still fighting up to -the first of April of this year was the _Nebraska Independent_. Many -such papers were crushed by various devices, chief among which was that -the great advertisers of the land, all being allied with Wall Street, -refused to give them any business. Numerous instances could be cited -where Populist papers were refused advertisements given to plutocratic -papers not having one-tenth the circulation, and paid for at a higher -rate than the proprietors of the Populist papers would have taken. In -the files of the _Nebraska Independent_ may be found scores of letters -from advertising agents, who had been solicited for business, saying: -“If you will make your paper an exclusively agricultural journal we will -be glad to give you a good line of business, but we cannot patronize it -as long as it advocates Populism.” Every reform editor has had the same -experience. - -Thirteen years ago the agricultural papers everywhere were publishing -articles defending Populist principles. Then all at once such articles -were seen in their pages no more, and immediately the papers were -flooded with high-priced advertising. The religious press was caught in -the same trap. It is strange that the devout readers of those papers -never once had their suspicions aroused when they saw so many display -advertisements of trusts, banks and promotion schemes in their modest -little religious journals. Notwithstanding all such schemes, the -_Nebraska Independent_ lived and its circulation gradually extended into -every state and territory. It became evident that to get rid of it other -tactics would have to be employed. To destroy the paper was not the -objective. It was to destroy the People’s Party. With the _Independent_ -in hostile hands the political fortifications built up by it in Nebraska -and other states would be deserted and the Bryan, Belmont, Sheehan and -Tom Taggart Democratic Party could walk in and take possession. - -The main battle was fought in the Populist state convention August 10, -1904. The proposition to force a fusion with the Democrats under the lead -of the most disreputable end of Wall Street, fresh from its victory in -St. Louis, on the face of it was most absurd. But the doing of absurd -things never ruffles the placid countenance of Mr. Bryan. The idea that -there could be any real opposition to his imperial will in Nebraska, -aside from the Republican Party, never seemed to enter his mind. -Heretofore when Mr. Bryan entered a Democratic or Populist convention, -the Fusion Populists and Democrats immediately bowed and worshiped. The -only thing that convention had to do was to find out what Mr. Bryan -wished and then proceed to do it with all possible haste. It became -evident that this convention would have to be handled differently. Mr. -Bryan all the winter, spring and summer had been denouncing Judge Parker -as a “dishonest candidate, running on a dishonest platform,” and then he -had come home from St. Louis, sat down at his desk and the first words -that he wrote were: “I shall vote for Parker and Davis.” The Populists -remembered how for eight years he had been coming to their conventions, -and in his sweet and winning way telling them how noble they were to -put principle above party and vote for men of another party if they -thought they could advance reform by so doing. Many of them, who had -always supported Mr. Bryan since he first appeared on the battlefields -of politics, thought that the time had come when he should practice what -he preached. Mr. Bryan realized that there was trouble ahead, but it was -thought if the _Nebraska Independent_ would support the Bryan plan that -a fusion legislature could be elected that would send Mr. Bryan to the -United States Senate. - -The editor of the _Independent_ was obstreperous. He had had enough of -fusion with a party half of which was more disreputably plutocratic than -the Republican Party, and whose “irrevocable” rules were so rigid that -they required a man, upon a vote of a convention, to come out boldly -before the people and advocate a policy he had denounced by pen and -voice for eight years. All sorts of schemes were devised to bring this -obstreperous editor into subjection to the imperial will of Mr. Bryan. -The first was to send all the leading men of the state, from the Chief -Justice down, to use persuasion. That failed. Then Mr. Bryan’s personal -daily organ in the state tried a new deal. It poured out on Mr. Tibbles -the most fulsome flattery day after day. It said if he would only say -“fusion” every Populist in the state would obey his command. When all -that failed Mr. Bryan came himself. The proposition that he made was -that a fusion electoral ticket be put in the field composed of four -Populists and four Democrats, Mr. Bryan saying that, “in the event of -their election, each party could count the full vote as its own.” The -proposition was instantly rejected. Others followed. Mr. Bryan came to -the _Independent_ editorial-room four different times, using all his -eloquence and persuasive powers to get the editor to consent to and -advocate a fusion with a party that had nominated Parker, and whose -campaign was put into the hands of the most disreputable gang that ever -sought Wall Street favor. - -Mr. Bryan gave orders that everything visible, clear to the political -horizon, and other things invisible lying behind the floating clouds, -should be offered to the Populist convention providing that the Populists -would fuse. The battle was fought out on the convention floor. Many -Democrats had secured seats as delegates. One Democrat came over from -his own convention and answered to the call of Thurston County in the -Populist convention which had no delegates present, and voted the fifteen -votes that county was entitled to every time for fusion. Out of the -hell-broth brewed in that all-night session there floated upon the fusion -scum Bryan, Belmont, Sheehan, Tom Taggart and, remember this last name, -George W. Berge. - -Nearly the whole state ticket was given to the Populists—only three -unimportant offices being conceded to the Democrats, and Berge—George -Washington Berge—captured the prize infamy, the fusion nomination -for Governor. Bryan would allow no other name to be mentioned in the -Democratic convention, although there were two or three Democrats there -who had spent time and much money during the previous eight years -fighting Bryan’s battles for him, and who had expressed a desire to -receive a complimentary vote for that office. When Bryan speaks the -_Nebraska Democrat_ turns pale. - -The _Independent_ was still a thorn in the side of these fusionists. -The editor openly declared that he never would vote for or support a -Belmont-Bryan-Parker Democrat. Then it was that fusion itch for office -and Bryan diplomacy joined forces to destroy the _Independent_. The -plutocratic Republican attacks upon it had been of no avail, and week -after week it had proclaimed the doctrines of the People’s Party for ten -years. In an open fight against awful odds it had fought battle after -battle, sometimes victorious and sometimes defeated, but it fought on. It -took fusion treason, it took the work of men who constantly proclaimed -themselves Populists, who insisted upon attending Populist conventions -while their sole aim was to destroy the People’s Party, to do what all -the hosts of plutocracy had failed to do. - -As soon as the vote for fusion had been announced in the convention as -prevailing, more than half the delegates present—whole counties had been -voted for fusion when only one or two delegates were in the city—rose and -left. The next morning they hired a hall and discussed the proposition -of putting a straight Populist ticket in the field, but when it was -remembered that the fusionists had the legal organization and the ticket -would have to go on the ballot under some other name than People’s Party -the project was abandoned. The result was that 20,000 Populists voted -the Republican ticket, 30,000 stayed at home and refused to vote, and -a little over 20,000 voted the Populist national ticket. The Senate of -the Nebraska Legislature was solidly Republican; the House had only nine -fusionists in it. Mr. Bryan saw to it that they all cast their votes for -a straight Democrat for United States Senator. All that was necessary to -get the fusionists to do that, both those who called themselves Democrats -and those who called themselves Populists, was for them to imagine that -they heard a far-off rumble that sounded like the voice of Bryan saying: -“Vote for a Democrat.” - -When the conventions were over and the campaign committees appointed, -the fusionists found that it was a difficult thing to make a campaign -in Nebraska. Something must be done to get the _Independent_ to fight -the battle for them, but the _Independent_ still declared that it would -not support a Parker Democrat. Then, sad to relate, the editor of the -_Independent_ got taken in himself. - -The chairman of the Democratic State Committee, a brother-in-law to -Bryan, came to Mr. Tibbles declaring that he represented Mr. Bryan and -was speaking in Bryan’s name, and made the following proposition: - -If Mr. Tibbles would spend most of his time out of the state during the -campaign, and let the _Independent_ support the fusion ticket, all of -whose nominees except three were Populists, Mr. Bryan on his part would -agree to go to Arizona or Colorado and get sick. He would continue to -keep sick until the close of the campaign, so sick that he would not be -able to make any political speeches at all. An exception was made in -regard to Indiana. It was said that Mr. Bryan had promised to make three -speeches in Indiana in support of his old personal friend who was running -for Governor in that state, but it was further stipulated that these -three speeches should not be political speeches, but repetitions of Mr. -Bryan’s lecture on “Ideals.” - -Mr. Bryan went to Arizona and sent home a letter saying that he was -worse and would not be able to deliver any political speeches during the -campaign. That letter was printed in the Lincoln daily papers and was -shown to Mr. Tibbles as proof that Mr. Bryan was keeping his contract. - -The chairman of the Democratic State Committee went to New York, saw -Parker, Sheehan, Belmont, Tom Taggart and the rest of the band of -financial and political pirates. He came home with money for campaign -expenses. Then Mr. Bryan hired a special train and started out -speech-making in Nebraska and in other states. The surprising rapidity -with which his lung healed has never been equaled in all the history of -medicine. But when the votes were counted it was learned that wherever -Mr. Bryan spoke, whether from the rear end of his car, on a platform -by the railway side, or in theatre or hall, a tidal wave of Republican -votes followed him, although he pleaded with his Democratic hearers to -be “regular.” Hundreds of thousands of Democrats listened to this man, -who for eight years had been denouncing Wall Street and all its ways, -and was now consorting with the most disreputable part of Wall Street, -urging them to vote to keep it in power. Humiliated, sad at heart, -their idol carrying the banner of the enemy, in the enemy’s ranks, they -turned their backs in scorn upon Mr. Bryan, went to the polls and voted -the Republican ticket. If they were to have Wall Street and plutocracy, -they wanted the old, genuine article, not “something just as good.” The -fusionists declared that wherever Watson or Tibbles spoke they made votes -for Roosevelt. They did not make one Roosevelt vote where Bryan made a -thousand. - -Mr. Berge—George Washington Berge—received a large vote for Governor. -That was because Mickey, the Republican, who was running for re-election, -was cordially hated by the whole Republican Party. Thirty thousand -Republicans voted for Berge, and then he was defeated. But Berge is a -fusionist. He wants office, and especially the office of Governor of -Nebraska. - -It seemed necessary, if Mr. Bryan was to prove his undying love for the -Democratic Party, to convince all Eastern Democrats that he would forever -prove “regular” no matter who was nominated or what the platform was, -and it seemed to the fusionists, if they were to have any of the spoils -of victory when the national Government was captured, that the People’s -Party must be destroyed. It must never hold another state or national -convention. They all agreed that the party had done a wonderful work for -the nation, that its principles were being everywhere adopted, but it -must be crucified, officially pronounced dead and buried, and the first -step toward that object was the destruction of the _Nebraska Independent_. - -Mr. Berge is a lawyer. He never has had a day’s experience in a newspaper -office. He announced that he would start a paper in Lincoln in opposition -to the _Independent_. Then a proposition was made to the proprietor of -the _Independent_ to sell out. A very large price was offered. When the -proprietor faced these facts he began to get discouraged. He had grown -up in Lincoln. He had associated with these fusionists for years. The -fight which he saw in the near future with these men was an unpleasant -thing to contemplate. The cost of running a great newspaper plant is -large. When it was known that the home advertising would in part be lost, -and also a large share of the job work, the moment the editor defied -Bryan and the fusionists, the outlook was gloomy. To those whom the -_Independent_ had always fought in the city and state were to be added -hundreds of others who had passed as friends. And the proprietor became -discouraged. - -It _is_ somewhat discouraging to go to a convention ostensibly composed -of men of your own party and see the most active members of it engaged in -a scheme to destroy your party. These have been the conditions in every -Populist convention in the state of Nebraska since 1890. The only thing -that prevented the party from being destroyed sooner was the _Nebraska -Independent_. The fusionists became more and more convinced of that -fact, and the scheme was invented to publish a paper in opposition in -the same city, which, while claiming to be Populistic, would work for -the destruction of the party. Credit for the invention belongs to George -Washington Berge. The hope was entertained that when the People’s Party -was destroyed all the Populists would go into the Democratic Party, and -George Washington Berge would be Governor and W. J. Bryan United States -Senator. - -The proprietor of the _Independent_ was bound in the contract -transferring to George Washington Berge the title to the paper, not to -engage in the business of publishing a reform paper for five years, but -the fusionists found that it would be impossible to put any shackles on -the editor. He intends to fight on. Just as all the world is beginning to -accept Populist principles he does not propose to sheathe his sword and -stand by, a passive spectator. The greatest battle of the age is to be -fought. He “is going up against” that crowd again. - -The columns of the _Independent_ have been an open forum for any man who -thought he had something that would benefit humanity. In the columns of -the paper he could always voice his sentiments. Besides that, it has been -a journal of economics, sociology, philosophy, ethics, finance, single -tax, land, Government and all the decent news. Now it has gone into the -hands of an ordinary Western lawyer who never read a standard work of -authority on any one of these subjects. It is to be a personal organ -after the fashion of the one that W. J. Bryan publishes in the same town. -W. J. Bryan is the most accomplished orator of the day. He has personal -acquaintances in every state and territory. Millions have met and shaken -hands with him. George W. Berge has some acquaintances outside of -Lancaster County, Nebraska, and besides that, Berge is a Populist engaged -in destroying the Populist Party. These are his elements of success. - -The Populists of the different states and territories who have been -readers of the _Independent_ will in the near future have a place to -express their views and read discussions of the great problems that are -pressing for solution. We will be heard. For years not a great daily -would print a line in defense of the fundamental principles of Populism. -Now magazines are making fortunes for their proprietors who have admitted -some of these principles to their pages. Some of these magazines have -a greater circulation than was ever known before anywhere in the world -for monthly periodical literature. The People’s Party is not dead. The -_Nebraska Independent_ will rise from its ashes stronger and better -than ever before. The vilest, rottenest, worst smelling spot in all the -preserves of plutocracy is that place where the fusionist roams, seeking -to destroy the organization that gave him the only opportunities of his -life. - - - - - _Pole Baker_ - - BY WILL N. HARBEN - _Author of “The Georgians,” “Abner Daniel,” etc._ - - - SYNOPSIS OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS - - In a small Georgia town a friendship has grown up between - Pole Baker, reformed moonshiner and an unusual and likable - character, and young Nelson Floyd, who was left as a baby in - a mountain cabin by an unknown woman just before her death. - Floyd, in the face of many trials and temptations, has worked - his way up in the world and made a man of himself. Jeff Wade - appears at the store, in which Floyd has become a partner, - to avenge on him a rumored injustice to Wade’s sister. Pole - Baker’s tact prevents a duel by making Floyd see that the - unselfish course is for him to avoid a meeting. Cynthia - Porter comes to the store, alarmed for Floyd’s safety. On his - way home to his family Pole falls a victim to his besetting - sin of drink. Cynthia rejects the suit of the Rev. Jason - Hillhouse and refuses to act on his warnings against Floyd’s - attentions. At a corn-shucking given by Pole, Floyd wins - the right to kiss Cynthia, and on their way home claims his - privilege without actually asking to marry her and proposes - in vain that, since her mother dislikes him, she meet him at - times on signal in the grape-arbor. That night, while Cynthia - is regretting even her slight weakness, her suspicious and - tactless mother half accuses her and hints that the worry - over Cynthia and Floyd has caused her to fear an attack of - insanity. - - - CHAPTER VII - -On the following Saturday morning there was a considerable gathering of -farmers at Springtown. A heavy fall of rain during the night had rendered -the soil unfit for plowing, and it was a sort of enforced holiday. Many -of them stood around Mayhew & Floyd’s store. Several women and children -were seated between the two long counters, on boxes and the few available -chairs. Nelson Floyd was at the high desk in the rear, occupied with -business letters, when Pole Baker came in at the back door and stood near -him, closely scanning the long room. - -“Where’s the old man?” he asked when Floyd looked up and saw him. - -“Not down yet; dry up, Pole! I was making a calculation and you knocked -it hell-west and crooked.” - -“Well, I reckon that kin wait. I’ve got a note fer you.” Pole was taking -it from his coat pocket. - -“Miss Cynthia?” Floyd asked eagerly. - -“Not by a long shot,” said Pole. “I reckon maybe you’ll wish it was.” He -threw the missive on the desk and went on in quite a portentous tone: “I -come by Jeff Wade’s house, Nelson, on my way back from the mill. He was -inside with his wife and childern, an’ as I was passin’ one of the little -boys run out to the fence and called me in to whar he was. He’s a queer -fellow! I saw he was tryin’ to keep his wife in the dark, fer what you -reckon he said?” - -“How do I know?” The young merchant, with a serious expression of face, -had torn open the envelope but not yet unfolded the sheet of cheap, -blue-lined writing paper. - -“Why, he jest set thar in his chair before the fire, an’ as he handed it -up to me he sorter looked knowin’ an’ said, said he: ‘Pole, I’m owin’ -Mayhew & Floyd a little balance on my account, an’ they seem uneasy. I -wish you’d take this here note to young Floyd. He’s always stood to me -sorter, an’ I believe he’ll git old Mayhew to wait on me a little while.’” - -“Did he say that, Pole?” Floyd had opened the note, but was looking -straight into Baker’s eyes. - -“Yes, he said them words, Nelson, although he knowed I was on hand that -day when he paid off his bill in full. I couldn’t chip in thar before -his wife, an’ the Lord knows I couldn’t tell him I had an idea what was -in the note, so I rid on as fast as I could. I had a turn o’ meal under -me an’ I tuck it off an’ hid it in the thicket t’other side o’ Duncan’s -big spring. I wasn’t goin’ to carry a secret war message a-straddle o’ -two bushels o’ meal warm from the rocks. An’ I’d bet my hat that scrap o’ -paper means battle.” - -Floyd read the note. There was scarcely a change in the expression of his -face or a flicker of his eyelashes as he folded it with steady fingers -and held it in his hand. - -“Yes, he says he has got the whole story, Pole,” Floyd said. “He gives me -fair warning as a man of honor to arm myself. He will be here at twelve -o’clock to the minute.” - -“Great God!” Pole ejaculated. “You hain’t one chance in a million to -escape with yore life. You seed how he shot t’other day. He was excited -then—he was as calm as a rock mountain when I seed him a while ago, an’ -his ride to town will steady ’im more. He sorter drawed down his mouth at -one corner an’ cocked up his eye, same as to say: ‘You understand; thar -hain’t no use in upsettin’ women folks over a necessary matter o’ this -sort.’ Looky here, Nelson, old friend, some’n has got to be done, an’ -it’s got to be done in a hurry.” - -“It will have to be done at twelve o’clock, anyway,” Floyd said calmly, a -grim smile almost rising to his face. “That’s the hour he’s set.” - -“Do you mean to tell me you are a-goin’ to set thar like a knot on a log -an’ ’low that keen-eyed mountain sharpshooter to step up in that door an’ -peg away at you?” - -“No, I don’t mean that, exactly, Pole,” Floyd smiled coldly. “A man ought -not to insult even his antagonist that way. You see, that would be making -the offended party liable for wilful, cold-blooded murder before the law. -No, I’ve got my gun here in the drawer, and we’ll make a pretense at -fighting a duel, even if he downs me in the first round.” - -“You are a darn fool, that’s what you are!” Pole was angry without -knowing why. “Do you mean to tell me you are a-goin’ to put yore life up -like that to gratify a scamp like Jeff Wade?” - -“I’d deserve to be kicked off the face of the earth,” Floyd responded -with firmness, “if I turned tail and ran. He seems to think I may light -out; I judge that by his setting the time a couple of hours ahead, but -I’ll give him satisfaction. I’m built that way, Pole. There is no use -arguing about it.” - -“My God, my God!” Pole said under his breath. “Hush! Thar comes Mayhew. I -reckon you don’t want him to know about it!” - -“No, he’d be in for swearing out a peace warrant. For all you do, don’t -let him on to it, Pole. I want to write a letter or two, before Wade -comes. Don’t let the old man interrupt me.” - -“I’ll feel like I’m dancin’ on yore scaffold,” the farmer growled. “I -want my mind free to—to study. Thar! He’s stopped to talk to Joe Peters. -Say, Nelson, I see Mel Jones down thar talkin’ to a squad in front o’ the -door; they’ve got the’r heads packed together as close as sardines. I see -through it now. By God, I see through _that_!” - -“What is it you see through, Pole?” Floyd looked up from Wade’s note, his -brow furrowed. - -“Why, Mel’s Jeff Wade’s fust cousin; he’s on to what’s up, an’ he’s -confidin’ it to a few; it will be all over this town in five minutes, an’ -the women an’ childern will hide out to keep from bein’ hit. Thar they -come in at the front now, an’ they are around the old man like red ants -round the body of a black one. He’ll be on to it in a minute. Thar, see? -What did I tell you? He’s comin’ this way. You can tell by the old duck’s -walk that he’s excited.” - -Floyd muttered something that escaped Pole’s ears, and set to work -writing. Mayhew came on rapidly, tapping his heavy cane on the floor, his -eyes glued on the placid profile of his young partner. - -“What’s this I hear?” he panted. “Has Jeff Wade sent you word that he was -comin’ here to shoot you?” - -Pole laughed out merrily, and, stepping forward, slapped the old merchant -familiarly on the arm. “It’s a joke, Mr. Mayhew!” he said. “I put it -up on Mel Jones as we rid in town; he’s always makin’ fun o’ women fer -tattlin’, an’ said I to myse’f, said I, ‘I’ll see how deep that’s rooted -under yore hide, old chap,’ an’ so I made that up out o’ whole cloth. I -was jest tellin’ Nelson, here, that I’d bet a hoss to a ginger-cake that -Mel ’ud not be able to keep it, an’ he hain’t. Nelson, by George, the -triflin’ skunk let it out inside o’ ten minutes, although he swore to me -he’d keep his mouth shet. I’ll make ’im set up the drinks on that.” - -“Well, I don’t like such jokes!” Mayhew fumed. “Jokes like that and -what’s at the bottom of them don’t do a reputable house any good. And I -don’t want any more of them. Do you understand, sir?” - -“Oh, yes, I won’t do it ag’in,” answered Pole in an almost absent-minded -tone. His eyes were now on Floyd, and despite his assumed lightness of -manner the real condition of things was bearing heavily on him. Just then -a rough-looking farmer, in a suit of home-made jeans, straw hat and shoes -worn through at the bottom, came back to them. He held in his hand the -point of a plow and looked nervously about him. - -“Everybody’s busy down in front,” he said, “an’ I want to git a quarter’s -wuth o’ coffee.” His glance, full of curiosity, was now on Floyd’s face. -“I want to stay till Wade comes, _myself_, but my old woman’s almost got -a spasm. She says she seed enough bloodshed durin’ the war, an’ then she -always liked Mr. Floyd. She says she’d mighty nigh as soon see an own -brother laid out as him. Mr. Floyd sorter done us a favor two year back -when he stood fer us on our corn crop, an’, as fer me, why, of course, -I——” - -“Look here, Bill Champ,” Pole burst out in a spontaneous laugh. “I -thought you had more sense than to swallow a joke like that. Go tell yore -old woman that I started that tale jest fer pure fun. Nelson here an’ -Wade is good friends.” - -“Oh, well, ef that’s it, that’s different,” the farmer said. “But from -the way Mel Jones talked down thar a body would think you fellers was -back here takin’ Mr. Floyd’s measure fer his box. I’ll go quiet my wife. -She couldn’t talk of a thing all the way here this mornin’ but a new -dress she was goin’ to git an’ now she’s fer hurryin’ back without even -pickin’ out the cloth.” - -“No, I don’t like this sort o’ thing,” old Mayhew growled as the customer -moved away. “An’ I want you to remember that, Baker.” - -“Ah, you dry up, old man!” Pole retorted, with a mechanical laugh. “You’d -live longer an’ enjoy life better ef you’d joke more. Ef the marrow o’ my -bones was as sour as yourn is I’d cut my throat or go into the vinegar -business.” - -At this juncture Captain Duncan came in the store and walked back to the -trio. - -“Good morning,” he said cheerily. “Say, Floyd, I’ve heard the news, and -thought if you wanted to borrow a pair of real, good, old-fashioned -dueling pistols, why, I’ve got a pair my father owned. They were once -used by General——” - -“It’s all a joke, Captain,” Pole broke in, winking at the planter and -casting a look of warning at the now unobservant Mayhew. - -“Oh, is _that_ it?” Duncan was quick of perception. “To tell you the -truth, I thought so, boys. Yes, yes”—he was studying Floyd’s calm face -admiringly—“yes, it sounded to me like a prank somebody was playing. -Well, I thought I’d go fishing this evening, and came in to get some -hooks and lines. Fine weather, isn’t it? But the river’s muddy. I’ll go -down and pick out some tackle.” - -He had just gone when an old woman wearing a cheap breakfast shawl over -her gray head, a dress of dingy solid black calico and a pair of old, -heavy shoes approached from the door in the rear. - -“I got yore summons, Mr. Mayhew,” she said in a thin, shaky voice. -“Peter, my husband, was so downhearted that he wouldn’t come to town, an’ -so I had to do it. So you are goin’ to foreclose on us? The mule an’ cow -is all on earth we’ve got to make the crop on, and when they are gone we -will be plumb ruined.” - -The face of the old merchant was like carved stone. - -“You got the goods, didn’t you, Mrs. Stark?” he asked harshly. - -“Oh, yes, nobody hain’t disputin’ the account,” she answered plaintively. - -“And you agreed faithfully if you didn’t pay this spring that the mule -and cow would be our property?” - -“Oh, yes, of course! As I say, Mr. Mayhew, I’m not blamin’ you-uns. Thar -hain’t a thing for me an’ Peter to do but thrust ourselves on my daughter -and son-in-law over in Fannin, but I’d rather die than go. We won’t be -welcome; they are loaded down with childern too young to work. So it’s -settled, Mr. Mayhew—I mean ef we drive over the mule an’ cow thar won’t -be no lawsuit?” - -“No, there won’t be any suit. I’d let this pass and give you more time, -Mrs. Stark, but a thing like that can’t be kept quiet through the -country, an’ there are fifty customers of ours over your way who ’ud be -running here with some cock-and-bull story and we’d be left high and dry -with the goods to pay for in market and nothing to show for it. We make -our rules, Mrs. Stark, and they are clearly understood at the time the -papers are signed.” - -“Never you mind, Mrs. Stark, I’ll fix that all right.” It was Nelson -Floyd who was speaking, and with a face full of pity and tenderness he -had stepped forward and was offering to shake hands. - -The little woman, her lips twitching and drawn, gave him her trembly -hand, her eyes wide open in groping wonder. - -“I don’t understand, Nelson—Mr. Floyd. You mean——?” - -“I mean that I’ll have your entire account charged to me and you can take -your time about paying it—next fall or the next, or any time it suits -you. I’ll not press you for it, if you never pay it. I passed your place -the other day, and your crop looks very promising. You are sure to get -out of debt this coming fall.” - -“Oh, Nelson—I—I don’t know what to do about it. Mr. Mayhew says——” - -“But I say it’s all right,” Floyd broke in as he laid his hand softly on -her shoulder. “Go down in front and buy what you need to run on. I’ll -assume the risk, if there is any.” - -Mayhew turned suddenly; his face was white and his lip shook. - -“Do you mean to say that you are going to step in and——?” - -“Step in nothing,” Floyd said calmly. “I hope I won’t have to remind -you, sir, of our clearly written agreement of partnership in which it is -plainly stated that I may use my judgment in regard to customers whenever -I wish.” - -“You’ll ruin us—you’ll break us all to smash, if you do this sort of -thing,” Mayhew panted. “It will upset our whole system.” - -“I don’t agree with you, sir,” Floyd answered, “but we won’t argue about -it. If you don’t intend to abide by our agreement then say so and we will -part company.” - -Mayhew stared in alarm for a moment, then he said: - -“There’s no use talking about parting. I only want to kind of hold you in -check. You get your sympathies stirred up and make plunges sometimes when -you ought to act with a clear head. You say the crop looks well; then, -it’s all right. Go ahead, Mrs. Stark. Anything Nelson does is agreeable -to me.” - -“Well, it’s mighty good of you both,” the old woman said, wiping tears of -joy from her eyes. “No, I won’t buy anything today. I’ll ride out to the -farm as quick as I can and tell Peter the good news. He’s mighty nigh out -of his senses about it.” - -Mayhew followed her down into the store. It was as if he were ashamed to -meet the quizzical look which Pole Baker had fixed upon him. He had no -sooner turned his back than Pole faced Floyd and asked: “How does she -stand by your ticker?” - -Floyd looked at his watch. “It’s a quarter-past eleven,” he said. - -“The hell it is!” Pole went to the back door and looked out at the dreary -stable-yard and barn. He stood there for several minutes in deep thought. -Then he seemed to make up his mind on something that was troubling him, -for he suddenly thrust his hand into his hip-pocket and drew out a -revolver and rapidly twirled the cylinder with his heavy thumb. - -“Yes, I ’lowed I’d swore off from shootin’ scrapes,” he mused; “but I -shore have to git in this ’un. I’d never look Sally an’ the childern -in the face agin ef I was to stand still an’ let that dead shot kill -the best friend me an’ them ever had. No, Poley, old boy, you’ve got to -enlist this mornin’, an’ thar hain’t no two ways about it. I’d take a -drink on that, but a feller’s aim hain’t wuth a dang when he sees double.” - -His attention was suddenly attracted to Floyd, who had left his stool and -was putting a revolver into the pocket of his sack coat. Pole shoved his -own cautiously back into his pocket and went to his friend’s side. - -“What you goin’ to do now?” he asked. - -“I have just thought of something that ought to be attended to,” was -Floyd’s answer. “Is Mel Jones still down there?” - -“Yes; I see ’im now through the left-hand window,” said Pole. “Do you -want to see ’im?” - -“Yes.” Floyd moved in the direction indicated and Pole wonderingly -followed. Outside on the pavement at the corner of the store Mel Jones -stood talking to a group of eager listeners. He stopped when he saw -Floyd, and looked in the opposite direction, but in a calm voice the -young merchant called him. - -“Mel, may I see you a minute?” - -“Certainly.” The face of the gaunt farmer fell as he came forward, his -eyes shifting uneasily. - -“I got a message from Jeff Wade just now,” said Floyd. - -“Oh, did you? Is that so?” the fellow exclaimed. - -“Yes; he says he has a private matter to settle with me, and says he’ll -be here at the store at twelve. Now, as you see, there are a good many -people standing around—women and children, and somebody might get hurt or -frightened. You know where Price’s spring is, down behind the old brick -yard?” - -“Oh, yes; I know where it is, Floyd.” - -“Well, you will do me a favor if you will ride out to Wade’s and tell him -I’ll meet him there. He could reach it without coming through town, and -we’d escape a lot of prying people who would be in the way.” - -“That’s a good idea,” said Jones, his strong face lighting up. “Yes, I’ll -go tell ’im. I’m glad to see that you are a man o’ backbone, Floyd. Some -’lowed you’d throw up the sponge an’ leave fer parts unknown, but Jeff’s -got to tackle the rale stuff. I kin see that, Floyd. Minnie Wade raised a -lots o’ devilment, an’ my wife says whatever rumors spread about her was -her own fault. But Jeff cayn’t be expected to see it through a woman’s -eyes. I wish you was goin’ to meet a man that wasn’t sech a dead shot. I -seed Jeff knock a squirrel out of a high tree with his six-shooter that -three men had missed with rifles.” - -“I’ll try to take care of myself, Mel. But you’d better hurry up and get -to him before he starts to town.” - -“Oh, I’ll git ’im all right,” said the farmer, and he went out to the -hitching-rack, jumped on his horse and galloped away. - -The group Jones had been talking to now drew near, their eyes and mouths -open. - -“It’s all off, boys,” Pole said, with one of his inscrutable laughs. -“Explanations an’ apologies has been exchanged—no gore today. It was a -big mistake all round.” - -This version soon spread, and a sigh of relief went up from everybody. -Fifteen minutes passed. Pole was standing in the front door of the -store, cautiously watching Floyd, who had gone back to his desk to write -a letter. Suddenly Pole missed him from his place. - -“He’s tryin’ to give me the slip,” Pole said. “He’s gone out at the back -door and has made fer the spring. Well, he kin _think_ he’s throwed old -Pole off, but he hain’t by a jugful. I know now which road Jeff Wade will -come by, an’ I’ll see that skunk before Nelson does or no prayers hain’t -answered.” - -He went out to the hitching-rack, mounted, and, waving his hand to the -few bystanders who were eying him curiously, rode away, his long legs -swinging back and forth from the flanks of his horse. A quarter of a -mile outside of the village he came to a portion of the road leading to -Jeff Wade’s house that was densely shaded, and there he drew rein and -dismounted. - -“Thar hain’t no other way fer ’im to come,” he said, “an’ he’s my -meat—that is, unless the damn fool kin be fetched to reason.” - - - CHAPTER VIII - -There was a quilting party at Porter’s that day. Cynthia had invited -some of her friends to help her, and the quilt, a big square of colored -scraps, more or less artistically arranged in stars, crescents and floral -wreaths, occupied the centre of the sitting-room. It was stitched to a -frame of four smooth wooden bars, which were held together at the corners -by pegs driven into gimlet holes and which rested on the backs of four -chairs. The workers sat on two sides of it and stitched, with upward and -downward strokes, toward the centre, the quilt being rolled up as the -work progressed. - -Hattie Mayhew was there, Kitty Welborn and two or three others. As usual -they were teasing Cynthia about the young preacher. - -“I know she’s the apple of his eye,” laughed Kitty Welborn. “He really -can’t, as you said the other night, keep from looking at her during -preaching. I noticed it particularly one Sunday not long ago and told -Matt Digby that I’d be sure to get religion if a man bored it into me -with eyes like his.” - -“I certainly would go up to the mourners’ bench every time he called up -repentant sinners,” said Hattie Mayhew. “I went up once while he was -exhorting and he turned me over to Sister Perdue, that snaggle-toothed -old maid. He didn’t even offer his hand.” - -Cynthia said nothing, but she smiled good-naturedly as she rose from -her chair and went to the side of the quilt near the crudely screened -fireplace to see that the work was rolled evenly on the frame. While thus -engaged her father came into the room, vigorously fanning himself with -his old slouch hat. The girls knew he had been to the village, and all -asked eagerly if he had brought them any letters. - -“No, I clean forgot to go to the office,” he made slow answer as he threw -himself into a big armchair with a rawhide bottom, near a window on the -shaded side of the house. - -“Why, father,” his daughter chided him, “you promised the girls -faithfully to call at the office. I think that was very neglectful of you -when you knew they would be here to dinner.” - -“And he usually has a good memory,” spoke up Mrs. Porter, appearing in -the doorway leading to the dining-room and kitchen. She was rolling -flakes of dough from her lank hands and glanced at her husband -reprovingly. “Nathan, what _did_ you go and do that way for, when you -knew Cynthia was trying to make her friends pass a pleasant day?” - -“Well, I clean forgot it,” Porter said, quite undisturbed. “To tell -you the truth, thar was so much excitement on all hands, with this un -runnin’ in with fresh news, an’ that un sayin’ that maybe it was all a -false alarm, that the post-office plumb slipped out o’ my head. Huh, I -hain’t thought post-office once sence I left here! I don’t know whether -I could ’a’ got in thar anyway, fer the Postmaster hisse’f was runnin’ -round like a camp-meetin’ chicken with its head cut off. Besides, I -tell you, gals, I made up my mind to hit the grit. I never was much of a -hand to want to see wholesale bloodshed. Moreover, I’ve heard of many a -spectator a-gittin’ shot in the arms an’ legs or some vital spot. No, I -sorter thought I’d come on. Mandy, have you seen anything o’ my fly-flap? -When company comes you an’ Cynthia jest try yoreselves on seein’ how many -things you kin put out o’ place, an’ I’m gittin’ sick an’ tired o’——” - -“Nathan, what’s going on in town?” broke in Mrs. Porter. “What are you -talking about?” - -“I don’t know what’s goin’ on _now_,” Porter drawled out as he slapped -at a fly on his bald pate with an angry hand. “I say I don’t know what’s -goin’ on _now_; but I know what was jest gittin’ ready to go on. I reckon -the coroner’s goin’ on with the inquest ef he ain’t afeared of an ambush. -Jeff Wade—” Porter suddenly bethought himself of something, and he rose, -passed through the composite and palpable stare of the whole room and -went to the clock on the mantelpiece and opened it. “Thar!” he said -impatiently. “I wonder what hole or crack you-uns have stuck my chawin’ -tobacco in. I put it right in the corner of this clock, right under the -turpentine bottle.” - -“There’s your fool tobacco!” Mrs. Porter exclaimed, running forward and -taking the dark plug from beneath the clock. “Fill your mouth with it; -maybe it will unlock your jaw. What is the trouble at Springtown?” - -“I was jest startin’ to tell you,” said Porter, diving into his capacious -trousers pocket for his knife and slowly opening the blade with his long -thumbnail. “You see, Jeff Wade has at last got wind o’ all that gab about -Minnie an’ Nelson Floyd, an’ he sent a war-cry by Pole Baker on hossback -as fast as Pole could clip it to tell Floyd to arm an’ be ready at -exactly twelve o’clock sharp.” - -“I knew it would come,” said Mrs. Porter, a combination of finality and -resignation in her harsh voice. “I knew Jeff Wade wasn’t going to allow -that talk to go on.” She was looking at her daughter, who, white and -wide-eyed, stood motionless behind Hattie Mayhew’s chair. For a moment -no one spoke, though instinctively the general glance went to Cynthia, -who, feeling it, turned to the window looking out upon the porch, and -stood with her back to the room. Mrs. Porter broke the silence, her words -directed to her daughter. - -“Jeff Wade will kill that man if he was fool enough to wait and meet him. -Do you think Floyd waited, Nathan?” - -“No, he didn’t wait,” was Porter’s answer. “The plucky chap went ’im one -better; he sent word by Mel Jones to tell Wade that it would be indecent -to have a rumpus like that in town on a Saturday, when so many women an’ -childern was settin’ round in bullet-range, an’ so, if it was agreeable -he’d ruther have it in the open place at Price’s spring. Mel passed me -as he was goin’ to Jeff with that word. It’s nearly one o’clock now, an’ -it’s my candid opinion publicly expressed that Nelson Floyd has gone to -meet a higher Power. I didn’t want to be hauled up at court as a witness, -an’ so, as I say, I hit the grit. I’ve been tied up in other folks’s -matters before this, an’ the court don’t allow enough fer witness fees to -tempt me to set an’ listen to them long-winded lawyers talk fer a whole -week on a stretch.” - -“Poor fellow!” exclaimed Hattie Mayhew. “I’m right sorry for him. He was -so handsome and sweet-natured. He had faults, but they may have been due -to the hard life he had when he was a child. I must say I have always -been sorry for him; he had the saddest look out of the eyes of any human -being I ever saw.” - -“And he knew how to use his eyes, too,” was the sting Mrs. Porter added -to this charitable comment as her sharp gaze still rested on her daughter. - -There was a sound at the window. Cynthia, with unsteady hands, was trying -to raise the sash. She finally succeeded in doing this and placing the -wooden prop under it. There was a steely look in her eyes and her -features were set, her face pale. - -“It’s very warm in here!” they heard her say. “There isn’t a bit of -draught in the room. It’s that hot cook stove, mother; I will—I——” - -She had turned and walked from the room. - -Mrs. Porter sighed as she looked after the departing form. - -“Did you notice her face, girls?” she asked. “It was as white as death -itself. She looked as if she was about to faint. It’s all this talk about -Floyd. Well, they _were_ friends. I tried to get her to stop receiving -his attentions, but she thought she knew better. Well, he has got his -deserts, I reckon.” - -“And all on account of the talk about that silly Minnie Wade!” cried -Kitty Welborn, “when you know as well as I do, Mrs. Porter, that Thad -Pelham—” The speaker glanced at Nathan Porter and paused. - -“Oh, you needn’t let up on yore hen-cackle on my account,” that blunt -worthy made haste to say. “I’ll go out an’ look at my new hogs. You gals -are out fer a day o’ pleasure, an’ I wouldn’t interfere with the workin’ -of yore jaws fer a purty.” - -Mrs. Porter didn’t remain to hear Kitty Welborn finish her observation, -but followed her daughter. - -In the next room, which was the dining-room, an old woman sat at a -window. She was dressed in dingy black calico, her snowy hair brushed -smoothly down over a white wrinkled brow, and was fanning herself slowly -with a turkey-feather fan. She had Mrs. Porter’s features and thinness of -frame. - -“Mother,” Mrs. Porter said, pausing before her, “didn’t Cynthia come in -here just now?” - -“Yes, she did,” replied the old woman. “She _did_. And I just want to -know, Mandy, what you all have been saying to her? I want to know, I say?” - -“We haven’t been saying anything to her as I know of,” said the farmer’s -wife in slow, studious surprise. - -“I know you have, I say, I know you _have_!” The withered hand holding -the fan quivered in excitement. “I know you have, for I can always tell -when that poor child is worried. I heard a little of it, too, but not -all. I heard them mention Hillhouse’s name. I tell you, I am not going to -sit still and let a whole pack of addle-pated women tease as good a girl -as Cynthia is plumb to death.” - -“I don’t think they were troubling her,” Mrs. Porter said, her face drawn -in thought, her mind elsewhere. - -“I know they _were_,” the old woman insisted. “She may have hidden it -in there before you all, but when she came in here just now she stopped -right near me and looked me full in the face, and never since she was a -little baby have I seen such an odd look in her eyes. They looked like -they were about to burst with tears. She saw me looking at her, and she -come up behind me and laid her face down against my neck. She quivered -all over, and then she said, ‘Oh, Granny! Oh, Granny!’ and then she -straightened up and went right out at that door into the yard. I tell -you, it’s got to let up. She sha’n’t have the life deviled out of her. -If she don’t want to marry that preacher, she don’t have to. As for me, -I’d rather have married any sort of man on earth when I was young than a -long-legged, straight-faced preacher.” - -“You say she went out in the yard?” said Mrs. Porter absently. “I wonder -what she went out there for.” - -Mrs. Porter went to the door and looked out. There was a clothesline -stretched between two apple trees nearby, and Cynthia stood at it taking -down a tablecloth. She turned with it in her arms and came to her mother. - -“I just remembered,” she said, “that there isn’t a clean cloth for the -table. Mother, the iron is hot on the stove. You go back to the girls and -I’ll smooth this out and set the table.” - -The eyes of the two met. Mrs. Porter took a deep breath. “All right,” she -said. “I’ll go back to the company, but I’ve got something to say, and -then I’m done for good. I want to say that I’m glad a daughter of mine -has got the proper pride and spunk you have. I see you are not going to -make a goose of yourself before visitors, and I’m proud of you. You are -the right sort—especially after he’s acted in the scandalous way he has -and—and laid you, even as good a girl as you, liable to be talked about -for keeping company with him.” - -The girl’s eyes sank. Something seemed to rise and struggle up within -her, for her breast heaved and her shoulders quivered convulsively. - -“I’ll fix the cloth,” she said in a low, forced voice, “and then I’ll set -the table and call you.” - -“All right”; Mrs. Porter was turning away. “I’ll try to keep them -entertained till you come back.” - - - CHAPTER IX - -Beneath a big oak Pole stood holding his bridle-rein and waiting, his -earnest gaze on the long road leading to Jeff Wade’s farm. Suddenly he -descried a cloud of dust far ahead and he chuckled. - -“He’s certainly on time,” he mused. “He must ’a’ had his hoss ready out -in the thicket. Mel made good time, too. The dern devil is thirstin’ fer -bloodshed. Mel’s that sort. By gum, that hain’t Wade; it’s Mel hisse’f, -an’ he’s certainly layin’ the lash to his animal.” - -In a gallop Jones bore down on him, riding as wildly as a cowboy, his -broad hat in one hand, a heavy switch in the other. He drew rein when he -recognized Baker. - -“Did you deliver that message?” Pole questioned. - -“Oh, yes, I finally got him alone; his wife seems to suspicion some’n, -and she stuck to ’im like a leech. She’s a jealous woman, Pole, an’ I -don’t know but what she kinder thought Jeff was up to some o’ his old -shines. He was a sorter tough nut before he married, you know, an’ a man -like that will do to watch.” - -“Well, what did he say?” Pole asked. - -“Why, he said ‘all hunkydory.’ The spring plan ketched him jest right. -He said that one thing—o’ bloodyin’ up the main street in town—had -bothered him more than anything else. He admired it in Floyd, too. Jeff -said, ‘By gum! fer a town dude that feller’s got more backbone than I -expected. He’s a foe wuth meetin’, an’ I reckon killin’ ’im won’t be sech -a terrible disgrace as I was afeared it mought be.’” - -“But whar are you headin’ fer in sech a rush?” Pole asked. - -Jones laughed as he put his hat carefully on his shaggy head and pressed -the broad brims up on the sides and to a point in front. “Why, Pole,” he -answered, “to tell you the truth, I am headed fer that thar spring. I’m -goin’ to acknowledge to you that, as long as I’ve lived in this world, I -hain’t never been on hand at a shootin’ affair. Mighty nigh every man I -know has seed oodlin’s of ’em, but my luck’s been agin me. About the most -excitin’ thing I ever attended was a chicken fight, and so I determined -to see this un. I know a big rock jest above that spring, and I’m a-goin’ -to git thar in plenty o’ time. You let me git kivered all but my eyes, -an’ I’ll run the resk o’ gettin’ hit from thar up. Whar you makin’ fer, -Pole?” - -“Me? Oh, I’m on the way home, Mel. I seed the biggest rattlesnake run -across this road jest now I ever laid eyes on. I got down to settle his -hash, but I didn’t have anything to hit ’im with, an’ I’m done stompin’ -at them fellers sence Tobe Baker, my cousin, over at Hillbend, got -bliffed on the knee.” - -“Well, so long!” Mel laughed. “I’ll hunt rattlesnakes some other time. -Are you plumb shore you hain’t got the jimmies agin’, Pole? Take my -advice an’ don’t tell about seein’ snakes; it sets folks to thinkin’. -Why, I seed you once in broad daylight when you swore black spiders was -playin’ sweepstakes on yore shirt front.” - -“So long, Mel!” Pole smiled and waved his hand. He made a fair pretense -at getting ready to mount as Mel galloped away in a cloud of dust. The -horseman was scarcely out of sight when a pair of fine black horses -drawing a buggy came into view. The vehicle contained Captain Duncan and -his daughter Evelyn. She was a delicate, rather pretty girl of nineteen -or twenty, and she nodded pleasantly to Pole as her father stopped his -horses. - -“You are sure that thing’s off, are you, Baker?” the planter said, with a -genial smile. - -“Oh, yes, Captain.” Pole had his eyes on the young lady and had taken off -his hat, and stood awkwardly swinging it against the baggy knees of his -rough trousers. - -“Well, I’m very glad,” Duncan said. “I know you told some of the crowd -back at the store that it had been settled, but I didn’t know whether it -was reliable or not.” - -Pole’s glance shifted between plain truth and Evelyn Duncan’s refined -face for a moment, and then he nodded. “Oh, yes, it was all a mistake, -Captain. Reports get out, you know; and nothin’ hain’t as bad as gossip -is after it’s crawled through a hundred mouths an’ over a hundred -wigglin’ tongues.” - -“Well, I’m glad, as I say,” the planter said as he jerked his reins and -spoke to his horses. - -As he whirled away Pole growled. “Damned ef I hain’t a-makin’ a regular -signpost out o’ myself,” he mused, “an’ lyin’ to beat the Dutch. Ef that -dern fool don’t come on purty soon he’ll—but thar he is now, comin’ on -with a swoop—looks like his hoss is about to run from under ’im, his -dern legs is so long. Now, looky here, Pole Baker, Esquire, hog-thief -an’ liar, you are up agin about the most serious proposition you ever -tackled, an’ ef you don’t mind what you are about you’ll have cold feet -inside o’ ten minutes by the clock. You’ve set in to carry this thing -through or die in the attempt, an’ time’s precious. The fust thing is to -stop the blamed whelp; you cayn’t reason with a man that’s flyin’ through -the air like he’s shot out of a gun, an’ Jeff Wade’s a-goin’ to be the -devil to halt. He’s got the smell o’ blood, an’ that works on a mad man -jest like it does on a bloodhound—he’s a-goin’ to run down some’n. The -only thing in God’s world that’ll stop a man o’ that sort is to insult -’im, an’ I reckon I’ll have that to do in this case.” - -Jeff Wade was riding rapidly. Just before he reached Pole he drew out his -big silver open-faced watch and looked at it. He wore no coat and had on -a gray flannel shirt open at the neck. Round his waist he wore a wide -leather belt, from which, on his right side, protruded the glittering -butt of a revolver of unusual size and length of barrel. Suddenly Pole -led his own horse round, until the animal stood directly across the -narrow road, rendering it impossible for the approaching rider to pass at -the speed he was going. - -“Hold on thar, Jeff!” Pole held up his hand. “Whar away? The mail hack -hain’t in yet. I’ve jest left town.” - -“I hain’t goin’ after no mail!” Wade said, his lips tight, a fixed stare -in his big, earnest eyes. “I’m headed fer Price’s spring. I’m goin’ to -put a few holes in that thar Nelson Floyd, ef I git the drap on him ’fore -he does on me.” - -“Huh!” Pole ejaculated; “no, you hain’t a-goin’ to see him, nuther; that -is, not till me’n you’ve had a talk, Jeff Wade. You seem in a hurry, but -thar’s a matter betwixt me an’ you that’s got to be attended to.” - -“What the hell do you mean?” Wade demanded, a stare of irritated -astonishment dawning in his eyes. - -“Why, I mean that Nelson Floyd is a friend o’ mine, an’ he ain’t a-goin’ -to be shot down like a dog by a man that could hit a nickel a hundred -yards away nine times out o’ ten. You an’ me’s close together, an’ I -reckon chances ’ud be somewhar about equal. I hain’t a brag shot, but I -could hit a pouch as big as yourn is about as easy as you could me.” - -“You—you—by God, do you mean to take this matter up?” - -Jeff Wade slid off his horse and stood facing Pole. - -“Yes, I do, Jeff; that is, unless you’ll listen to common sense. That’s -what I’m here fer. I’m a-goin’ to stuff reason into you ef I have to make -a new hole to put it in at. You are a-goin’ entirely too fast to live in -an enlightened Christian age, an’ I’m here to call a halt. I’ve got some -things to tell you. They are a-goin’ to hurt like pullin’ eye-teeth, an’ -you may draw yore gun before I’m through, but I’m goin’ to make a try at -it.” - -“What the——?” - -“Hold on, hold on, hold on, Jeff!” Pole raised a warning hand. “Keep that -paw off’n that cannon in yore belt or thar’ll be a war right here before -you hear my proclamation of the terms we kin both live by. Jeff, I am -yore neighbor an’ friend. I love you mighty nigh like a brother, an’ I’m -here to tell you that, with all yore grit an’ good qualities, you are -makin’ a bellowin’ jackass o’ yoreself. An’ ef I let you put through yore -present plans, you’ll weep in repentance fer it till you are let down in -yore soggy grave. Thar’s two sides to every question, an’ you are lookin’ -only at yore side o’ this un. You cayn’t tell how sorry I am about havin’ -to take this step. I’ve been a friend to yore entire family—to yore -brothers, an’ yore old daddy when he was alive. I mighty nigh swore a -lie down in Atlanta to keep _him_ out o’ limbo when he was arrested fer -moonshinin’.” - -“I know all that!” growled Wade; “but God——” - -“Hold yore taters now, an’ listen! You mought as well take yore mind -off’n that spring. You hain’t a-goin’ to git at Nelson Floyd without you -walk over my dead body—an’ thar’s no efs an’ ands about that. You try -to mount that hoss, an’ I’ll kill you ef it’s in my power. I say I’ve -got some’n to tell you that you’ll wish you’d listened to. I know some’n -about Minnie that will put a new color on this whole nasty business; an’ -when you know it, ef you kill Nelson Floyd in cold blood, the law will -jerk that stiff neck o’ yourn—jerk it till it’s limber.” - -“You say you know some’n about Minnie?” The gaunt hand which till now -had hovered over the butt of the big revolver hung down straight. He -stood staring, his lip hanging loose, a sudden droop of indecision upon -him. - -“I know this much, Jeff,” Pole said, less sharply. “I know you are not -after the fust offender agin yore family honor, an’ when I prove _that_ -to you I don’t believe you’ll look at it the same.” - -“You say—you say——?” - -“Listen now, Jeff, an’ don’t fly off the handle at a well-wisher sayin’ -what he thinks has to be said in justice to all concerned. The truth is, -you never seed Minnie like other folks has all along. You seed ’er grow -up an’ she was yore pet. To you she was a regular angel; but other folks -has knowed all along, Jeff, that she was born with a sorter light nature. -Women folks, with the’r keen eyes, has knowed that ever since she got out -o’ short dresses. Even yore own wife has said behind yore back a heap on -this line that she was afeared to say to you. Not a soul has dared to -talk plain to you, an’ even _I_ wouldn’t do it except in this case o’ -life an’ death.” - -Wade shook back his long, coarse hair. He was panting like a tired dog. -“I don’t believe a damn word of what you are a-sayin’!” he muttered, “an’ -I’ll make you prove it, by God, or I’ll have yore life-blood!” - -“Listen to me, Jeff,” Pole said gently. “I’m not goin’ to threaten any -more. Believe me or not, _but listen_! You remember when Thad Pelham went -off to Mexico a year or so ago?” - -Wade made no reply, but there was a look of dawning comprehension in his -great, blearing eyes. - -“I see you remember that,” Pole went on. “Well, you know, too, that he -was goin’ with Minnie a lot about that time—takin’ her buggy-ridin’ an’ -to meetin’. He was a devil in pants; his whole family was bad. The men -in it wouldn’t go in the gate o’ heaven ef a woman was winkin’ at ’em on -the outside. Well, Thad started fer Mexico one day, an’ at the same time -Minnie went on a visit to yore brother Joe in Calhoun. - -“She went thar a year ago,” Wade said, “fer I bought ’er ticket at -Parley.” - -“She told _you_ she went to Calhoun.” Pole’s eyes were mercifully -averted. “I met her an’ Thad in Atlanta.” - -Wade caught his breath. He shook from head to foot as with a chill. - -“You say—Pole, you say——?” - -Pole pulled at his mustache and looked down. - -“Well, I reckon they wasn’t down thar to attend a Sunday-school -convention, Jeff—they didn’t have that look to me. But I was so worried -fer fear I mought be doin’ a woman injustice in my mind that, after they -left me—to make sure, I went in the office o’ the hotel an’ made sure.” - -Suddenly Wade put out his hand and laid it heavily on Pole’s shoulder. -“Looky here, Baker,” he said, “if you are lying to me, I——” - -“Hold on, _hold on_, Jeff Wade!” Pole broke in sternly. “Whenever you use -words like them you smile! So fer, this has been a friendly talk, as I -see it; but you begin to intimate that I’m a liar, an’ I’ll try my best -to make you chaw the statement. You’re excited, but you mustn’t go too -fur.” - -“Well, I want the truth, by God, I want the truth!” - -“Well, you are a-gittin’ it, with the measure runnin’ over,” Pole said, -“an’ that ought to satisfy any reasonable man.” - -“So you think then, that Nelson Floyd never done any—any o’ the things -folks says he did—that ’twas jest report?” - -“Well, I ain’t here to say that, nuther,” said Pole most diplomatically. -“But la me! what a stark, ravin’ fool you was about to make o’ yoreself, -Jeff!” Pole went on. “You started to do this thing today on yore sister’s -account, when by doin’ it you would bust up her home an’ make her life -miserable.” - -“You mean——?” - -“I mean that Joe Mitchell, that’s been dead stuck on Minnie sence she was -a little gal, set up to her an’ proposed marriage. They got engaged an’ -then every old snaggle-toothed busybody in these mountains set in to try -to bust it up by totin’ tales about Floyd an’ others to ’im. As fast as -one would come Minnie’d kill it, an’ show Joe what a foolish thing it was -to listen to gossip, an’ Joe finally told ’em all to go to thunder, an’ -they was married an’ moved on his farm in Texas. From all accounts they -are doin’ well an’ are happy; but la me; they wouldn’t be that a-way long -ef you’d ’a’ shot Nelson Floyd this mornin’.” - -“You say they wouldn’t, Pole?” - -“Huh, I reckon _you_ wouldn’t dance a jig an’ sing alleluia ef you was to -pick up a newspaper this mornin’ an’ read in type a foot long that yore -wife’s brother, in another state, had laid a man out stiff as a board fer -some’n that folks said had tuck place some time back betwixt the man an’ -her.” - -“Huh!” Wade’s glance was now on Pole’s face. “Huh, I reckon you are -right, Pole, I reckon you are right. I wasn’t thinkin’ about that.” - -“Thar was _another_ duty you wasn’t a-thinkin’ about, too,” Pole said. -“An’ that is yore duty to yore wife an’ childern that would be throwed -helpless on the world ef this thing had ’a’ come off today.” - -“Well, I don’t see _that_, anyway,” said Wade dejectedly. - -“Well, _I_ do, Jeff. You see, ef you’d ’a’ gone on an’ killed Floyd, -after I halted you, I’d ’a’ been a witness agin you, an’ I’d ’a’ had to -testify that I told you, in so many words, whar the _rale_ blame laid, -an’ no jury alive would ’a’ spared yore neck.” - -“I reckon that’s so,” Wade admitted. “Well, I guess I’ll go back, Pole. -I won’t go any further with it. I promise you not to molest that scamp. -I’ll not trade any more at his shebang, an’ I’ll avoid ’im all I kin, but -I’ll not kill ’im as I intended.” - -“Now, you’re a-talkin’ with a clear head an’ a clean tongue.” Pole drew a -breath of relief and stood silent as Wade drew his horse around, put his -foot into the heavy wooden stirrup and mounted. Pole said nothing until -Wade had ridden several paces homeward, then he called out to him, and -beckoned him back with his hand, going to meet him, leading his horse. - -“I just thought o’ some’n else, Jeff—some’n I want to say. I reckon I -wouldn’t sleep sound tonight, or think of anything the rest o’ the day, -ef I don’t git it off my mind.” - -“What’s that, Pole?” - -“Why, I don’t feel right about callin’ you to halt so rough jest now, an’ -talkin’ about shootin’ holes in you an’ the like, fer I hain’t nothin’ -agin you, Jeff. In fact, I’m yore friend now more than I ever was in my -life. I feel fer you _’way down inside o’ me_. The look on yore face cuts -me as keen as a knife. I—I reckon, Jeff, that you sorter feel like—like -yore little sister’s dead, don’t you?” - -The rough face looking down from the horse filled. “Like she was dead an’ -buried, Pole,” Wade answered. - -“Well, Jeff”—Pole’s voice was husky—“don’t you ever think o’ what I said -a while ago about shootin’. Jeff, I jest did that to git yore attention. -You mought ’a’ blazed away at me, but I’ll be derned ef I believe I could -’a’ cocked or pulled trigger on you to ’a’ saved my soul.” - -“Same here, old neighbor,” said Wade as he wiped his eyes on his shirt -sleeve. “I wouldn’t ’a’ tuck them words from no other man on the face o’ -God’s green globe.” - -When Wade had ridden slowly away Pole mounted his own horse. - -“Now, I’ll go tell Nelson that the danger is over,” he said. Suddenly he -reined his horse in and sat looking thoughtfully at the ground. - -“No, I won’t,” he finally decided. “He kin set thar an’ wonder what’s -up. I was in a hair’s breadth o’ the grave, about to leave a sweet wife -an’ kids to starvation jest beca’se of him. No, Nelsy, old boy, you look -death in the eye fer a while; it won’t do you no harm.” - -And Pole Baker rode to the thicket, where he had hidden his bag of -cornmeal that morning, and took it home. - - (_To be continued._) - - - - - _A Phase of the Money Problem Bankers Dare Not Discuss_ - - BY ALBERT GRIFFIN - _Author of “The Keynote: Substitute Honest Money for - Fictitious Credit,” “The Hocus Pocus Money Boon”_ - - -Because of limited space, this paper contains little more than -principles, facts and conclusions, without argument—and the subject is -considered from the practical man’s standpoint rather than that of the -theorizer. The one monetary proposition to which all schools agree is -that “money is the medium of exchange.” To be used as such is its one -and only universally admitted purpose—and no other characteristic is -essential. No matter of what it consists, whatever is _willingly_ used by -people as their medium of exchange is money, and should be so recognized -by everyone—but unfortunately, the greater part of it is not. - -There is honest money and dishonest money. None is strictly honest that -is not as good as the best—for exchange purposes. Ideal money has the -same exchange value at all times, and everywhere—and the best money -is that which is nearest the ideal. Without discussing what it should -consist of, I hold that the material ought to be more substantial than a -banker’s “confidence” that he will always be able to pay the most of his -debts with mere debits and credits. As business cannot be done without -money, and as each person needs enough of it to enable him to exchange -his services and products for the services and products of others, it -goes without saying that there ought to be enough to supply each and all -liberally—and that no man, or set of men, should be allowed to affect -materially this supply for selfish purposes. - -To most people, the soundness of the “quantitative theory” of money is -self-evident. Concisely stated, it is that, whenever the quantity of -money in circulation increases faster than the exchanges to be made with -it, commodities tend to rise in price—and _vice versa_—which is but the -application to money of the inexorable law of supply and demand. While -the soundness of this theory is generally admitted, every business -man knows that sometimes facts seem to disprove it. In 1890, when the -failure of Baring Brothers so nearly precipitated a panic throughout this -country, the quantity of visible money in circulation was increasing; -and the same fact was true in April, 1893, when the proceedings agreed -upon at the conference between Secretary Carlisle and prominent New York -bankers precipitated a fearful panic on the next business day—and yet, in -both of these cases, the apparent conflict resulted from the suppression -of a part of the facts. - -Now for the explanation: In comparing the size or weight of two masses -the whole of each must be contrasted with the whole of the other, and -in comparing two actively operating forces all of the factors of each -must be considered together, without regard to names. But, strange to -say, three-fourths of what is being used and paid for as money, and which -really does the work of money, and does nothing else, is denied the right -of being called money by some doctrinaires—and also by bankers, when -talking to the public. Although between May 1 and October 1, 1903, the -volume of metallic and paper money actually increased, this something -which had been doing the work of money was contracted $500,000,000 in -New York City alone—but as it was not called money its relation to the -results was not generally recognized. - -Deposit banks are little more than clearing-houses; and the laws permit -their owners to pay nine-tenths of their debts with money literally made -by themselves—out of nothing—which they coolly call “liquid capital,” -or “bank credit,” although it is neither capital nor credit. The real -nature and far-reaching effects of this modern practice are not clearly -understood by one in twenty even of the bankers themselves—and none of -them dares discuss it publicly. The most of those that do not fully -understand it _feel_ that there is something wrong about it; and those -that do understand it know that, if people once begin to study “the -system,” they will demand radical changes in it—or its entire abolition. - -Government reports for 1904 put the volume of metallic and paper money -then in existence at $2,829,273,316—or $31.16 per capita; and the -Comptroller’s report shows that the banks whose reports he consolidated -were earning interest on more than $6,278,000,000 of money that had no -existence—or $76.47 per capita. This stuff is what, for a dozen years, -I have called “hocus pocus money.” It consists of nothing but, in the -language of Professor Sidgwick, rows of figures on bank books; and yet -it affects business, prices and values, exactly as that amount of real -money would. Invisible, intangible and mythical, it is nevertheless very -real—filling the land with prosperity, joy and song today, and disaster, -tears and despair tomorrow, it is the most potent economic power ever -known. Business men gladly accept it as money. _The courts treat it as -money._ And, although, for technical reasons, most political economists -do not do so, I insist that, to all intents and purposes, it is money, -and should be so recognized. Indeed, until this shall be done, it will be -impossible to frame a monetary system that will always work equitably and -beneficently. - -Between 1896 and 1904, as officially reported, the increase in the volume -of visible money was, in millions, $1,322,000,000—or $9.75 per capita; -but the quantity of hocus pocus money in use increased $5,275,000,000—or -$43.42 per capita—the quantity of both kinds then actually in use being -$107.63 per capita. This shows that four-fifths of the increase in the -medium of exchange consists merely of the right given favored people to -draw checks on banks to pay which no real money has been deposited. - -In 1888, 5,866 bank reports showed that they were then collecting -interest on $3.41 for each dollar of their capital available for -“commercial loans”; but last year’s reports of the 13,772 national, state -and private banks and loan and trust companies show that their aggregate -capital (including surplus, undivided profits and bank-notes) amounted -to $2,927,000,000. This was everything their owners had put into their -business, and of it $2,743,000,000 had been paid out for bonds, stocks, -real estate, real estate mortgages, etc., leaving only $183,000,000 -available for “commercial loans.” And yet their “loans and discounts” -aggregated $6,431,000,000, or $35.07 of “commercial loans” for every -dollar of their not otherwise invested capital. If this is not “_getting -something for nothing_” on a stupendous scale, I should like to know what -would be so considered. - -Remember, that these figures include all of the reported banks. -Individual cases are incomparably worse. On December 2, 1899, the -National City Bank, of New York City (the principal of the several -hundred Standard Oil banks), had $6,709,216 of capital, surplus, etc.; -its investments of capital aggregated $27,270,738; its available capital -was therefore $20,561,519 _less than nothing_; and yet it was then -actually earning interest on $60,906,034 of “loans and discounts,” making -$81,467,553 of hocus pocus money. And remember further that, to make -people more dependent on banks for this kind of money with which to do -business, the volume of real money is kept as small as possible. This is -the real reason why bankers engineered the contraction of the currency -after the war and the demonetization of silver. But for them no class of -business men would have consented to either of those economic crimes. - -Here are a few more important facts: - -1. Interest has to be paid _to the banks_ on every dollar of hocus pocus -money as long as it lives. - -2. It lives, on an average, only about two months. - -3. Every payment of a note or draft extinguishes the hocus pocus money -involved in that transaction and contracts its volume that much, making -it the most constantly and wildly fluctuating money ever known. - -4. Whenever, for any reason, bankers fear a demand for an unusual amount -of real money they make fewer “loans” and “call in” some that are -outstanding, which destroys that part of the “liquid capital” that was in -actual use as a medium of exchange and cramps the money market. - -5. Bankers sometimes do these things unnecessarily, for the purpose of -making a “bear market”; but it is also true that business conditions -sometimes compel them to do so, as was the case in 1857 and 1873. - -6. If the banks had on hand as much money as they reported (which is not -always true), they, in 1888, owed $6.01 for every dollar they reported; -and last year the proportion was $9.98 to $1. The sixty-two national -banks in the central reserve cities are required to keep nearly 25 per -cent. of their deposits on hand in cash; the 285 in the other reserve -cities only 12½ per cent., and the 5,065 in non-reserve cities only 6 -per cent. State bank requirements vary greatly, private banks and loan -and trust companies are under few or no restrictions, and the loan and -trust companies keep only about 2 per cent. - -7. Less than one-tenth of the “deposits” in banks are real money—the -others being mere promises of the banks to pay money to those who -have bought (with notes) the right to draw checks against them—and it -is simply impossible to so regulate the system as to prevent it from -frequently working disastrously. - -8. Contracting the volume of any kind of money that is willingly accepted -by producers always causes suffering. Indeed, modern conditions require a -large annual increase in the volume of money; and, with an insufficient -supply of real money, it is not now possible to prevent the use of hocus -pocus money. - -9. It is well known that, when their interests seem to require it, great -bankers defy the laws made to restrain them. - -10. There ought to be places in which people can deposit money and know -it will remain there until checked out by themselves. - -For ten years I have called attention to the fact that there never has -been, in this or any other country, a widespread commercial panic that -was not caused _solely_ by the sudden contraction of the hocus pocus -money then being used by banks, and have challenged contradiction; but -this challenge has never been accepted. Hocus pocus money _is the one and -only seriously disturbing factor that has always and everywhere preceded_ -these catastrophes. Other causes aggravate them, but, with it eliminated, -panics would be impossible, because it is this sudden, absolute -destruction of the bank’s manufactured “liquid capital,” used by so many -as their medium of exchange, which paralyzes their business operations -and makes “the bottom drop out of the market,” as it were. - -No words are lurid enough to portray properly the terrible evils and -personal suffering that its use causes, and I submit that it is time -people should begin to consider earnestly the question, Had we not better -insist that some kind of real money shall be substituted for the unreal -now in use, and thus permanently remove the cause that so often produces -such baleful results? Conditions were never so favorable for doing this -as they are now. No election is pending; the two great parties are lazily -talking on similar platforms; all financial organs insist that the -country is prospering; and, although people are deeply stirred, they are -not excited. - -The use of hocus pocus money, and its evil results, have increased -steadily from the beginning of the deposit banking system. From time to -time methods change, but every change increases the power and profits -of the few—and the helplessness of the many. The gravest of these -changes began to be felt about a decade ago. Leading bankers had always -used some of their hocus pocus money for the promotion of their own -schemes, but from that time the Rockefellers, Morgans and others have -been systematically getting control of the principal deposit banking -institutions, and using, not only a rapidly increasing proportion of -their depositors’ real money, but also more of the hocus pocus money -made possible by those deposits. Mr. Lawson and others have shown how -this has been done on a gigantic scale, in specific cases, and of all -unfossilized, sober-minded people I ask, can 999 business men afford to -permit the thousandth man to continue appropriating to his own use the -hocus pocus money their own deposits have made possible—and, in addition, -help him to keep the volume of real money ruinously small? Indeed, would -it not be idiotic folly to do so? - -To me the problem appears to be: How can hocus pocus money be safely -eliminated—or so restricted as to be harmless—and the quantity of real -money so increased that all will, at all times, be able to exchange -their products and services; that commercial panics and long periods of -business depression will become impossible; and that a few men in each -community will no longer have the power to ruin all who refuse to obey -their orders? - -Space will not permit me to tell here how this can be done, but I will -say that, fortunately, this greatest and most overshadowing of the -economic problems that confront humanity is the easiest of all to solve; -that, as bankers are the controlling spirits in—or back of—nearly all -trusts and combines, settling the money problems will make the solution -of all the others easier; that it can be done without wronging anyone, or -imposing additional burdens on the people; and that economic and social -conditions would improve during the entire process. - -But suppose that some of my conclusions may not be correct, does not the -experience of the last hundred years prove, beyond controversy, that our -banking and financial systems must be radically unsound in some very -important particulars? And, if so, should we not insist upon their prompt -improvement—or the substitution of better ones? - -Every business man knows that, if the banks were required to keep larger -reserves always on hand, they would be safer places of deposit. And they -are equally well aware that the more real money there is in circulation -the more prosperous and happy are the people. And the vitally important -question is, not how far or how fast shall we go, but, shall we not begin -to move steadily and determinedly in the direction of less danger and -more permanent prosperity? - - - - - _A Leaf From a Protective Tariff Catechism_ - - (OVERHEARD IN A PROTECTIVE KINDERGARTEN) - - BY JOEL BENTON - - -Q. What is Protection? - -A. It is placing a duty upon foreign goods, of many kinds, to enable -American makers of similar goods who “plead the baby act” to get higher -prices for those goods than they otherwise would. It is compelling all -the people to pay taxes to a few of the people. - -Q. Why is this favor given to the few people? - -A. On account of the fact that they pay so much higher wages than foreign -manufacturers do and to compel them to pay still higher wages. - -Q. Is this necessary? - -A. It is very necessary to the Republican Party; for it gives it an issue -and its chief cause for existence. When it saw accomplished, by the -fortune of war, the freedom of the slave, what could be more natural and -glorious than its ready espousal of anti-freedom for commerce? - -Q. Are “protective” duties always just equal to the difference between -our wages and foreign wages? - -A. That is what our argument implies; and, if our argument is true, that -is all we can ask. But how is a noble army of patriots to be maintained, -and how can election expenses be met if we do not—in our tariff—treble -and more than quadruple this difference often? - -Q. Are high wages given by our manufacturers without an equivalent -advantage in return? - -A. It is true of wages, as of other things—that they are ordinarily worth -their price, so that our _high-priced_ labor is really labor of _low -cost_. But it is a mighty convenient subterfuge to keep this fact out of -sight and by this means hoodwink the poor laborer for his vote. - -Q. Do manufacturers keep a lobby at Washington for securing a tariff that -makes them pay _high_ wages and yet sell their goods at _low_ prices? - -A. That is what we very often say, substantially. - -Q. Can our manufacturers sell goods abroad? - -A. They do very largely over other tariff walls, and bear the expense -of transportation and insurance and secure handsome profits. But the -question is too delicate a one to enlarge upon. - -Q. Does Mexico have a protective tariff? - -A. She does. The plea for it there is that it is a defense against our -_high-priced_ labor. The Mexican peons work for very _low prices_ and at -a more than correspondingly _high cost_. It is one of the beauties of -Protection that, whether labor costs little or much, you can plead for it -for either reason. - -Q. Does Protection help Agriculture? - -A. It puts a tariff on hay, grain, potatoes, eggs, etc. Very little of -any of these commodities are imported by us. When they are imported to -any extent the farmers are the chief buyers, as they are of peas, beans -and other seeds for planting. By paying the duty on all these things -themselves they not only feel certain there is a duty, but they have the -satisfaction of knowing they are not forgotten in the great “protective” -scheme. - -Q. Why is Protection called the American System? - -A. This was the question Daniel Webster asked Henry Clay, who so named -it, when they were not in accord upon the tariff. Webster was puzzled -by the name, for he knew the system was European and medieval; but -“American” sounds well and makes us consistent in berating foreign things -and ideas. - -Q. How does Protection help commerce? - -A. Commerce is so foreign we don’t need to help it. So we let it go to -the miserable foreigners—what we permit to exist. It is really better to -pay the two hundred million dollars we pay them yearly to carry our goods -than to let that amount of money pervert our high and noble doctrine. - -Q. What is meant by having the tariff “revised by its friends”? - -A. That, as the English say, is a good “half-crown phrase.” But its real -meaning is to oppose revising the tariff in any way whatever. Several -elections have been carried by this plea, and we are still working it -for all it is worth. Of course no one goes to have his shoes mended to a -shoemaker who is in favor of their holes and lack of heels, and no one -selects depredators of hen-roosts to watch chicken thieves; but we must -not defer to ordinary rules when “the noble citadel of Protection” is in -danger. - -Q. Is it understood that to change the tariff injures business? - -A. We always say that, and charge to Free Trade the calamity that ensues. - -Q. Suppose someone tells us there has been no Free Trade, and if Free -Trade existed there would be no tariff to change, and therefore no injury -from tariff changes? - -A. Then is the time to look wise and say little. For our main object is -to make Protection the source of all good and Free Trade the cause of all -evil. - -Q. How did it happen that, when hides were freed from duty in 1872—and -even by the McKinley bill—they were taxed under the Dingley bill? - -A. Well—but—let’s see. Why shouldn’t hides enjoy prosperity? It’s certain -the big cattle dealers, who use the Government pastures without cost, -profit by the duty, while we can claim it helps the farmers. - -Q. Why are works of art tariff? - -A. Not because the artists ask for Protection. They’re such curious -people that they all oppose it. So we choose to be benevolent to them in -spite of their eccentric behavior. - -Q. What other peculiar tricks have our Protection wise men? - -A. A pretty good one is to say that we are not tied up to any present -or definite “schedules,” but to remember constantly that, if any change -is made in the tariff, it must be one that goes up and never one that -goes down. It was a great mistake for Garfield to say, “I believe in a -Protection that leads to Free Trade.” - -Q. What is Reciprocity? - -A. It is—well, suppose you should build a bonfire and then pour water on -it, or build a levee on the Mississippi and then punch holes through it. -It is a part of our consistent scheme. Blaine knew, and who can dispute -Blaine? - -Q. What is Free Trade? - -A. It is any scale of duties for any purpose that is the least bit lower -than the Dingley bill. Everything that preceded that “bravest tariff -ever made” is Free Trade. If some day Protection should climb to loftier -heights, those who should oppose it by the lower Dingley bill would be -Free Traders. - -Here a boy, who got surreptitiously into the class, asked this -unauthorized question: - -Q. But you say this country has prospered under almost unbroken -Protection. Now, since everything tariff-like before the Dingley bill is -either Free Trade or Free Tradish, why is not all our prosperity up to -the passage of that owing to Free Trade? - -A. A boy cannot be expected to understand the flexibility of our -nomenclature or the grandeur of a great principle. We are struggling to -help “American Industries.” Must so little a thing as mere consistency -stand between us and our friends? Boys should be seen and not heard. - -Q. What is meant by American Industries? - -A. Mainly manufactures. Of course these, and all protected interests, -represent only from 5 to 8 per cent. of the real and total industries of -the country. But they are the ones having large capital and power—the -ones that can hire attorneys and maintain a lobby, and that have abundant -“fat for frying” when important elections are at hand. Doesn’t “American -Industries” sound well, if you only mouth it right, and roll it from the -editorial pen and the platform often enough? - -Q. How about the industries that are left out, or get merely nominal -Protection? - -A. The question is quite irrelevant. What more can they ask than to live -in a “protected” country and be saved from Free Trade? - -Q. Why do we protect woolen goods, and then de-protect manufacturers by -“protecting” wool? - -A. For the same reason that the boy cuts off a shoestring on one end -and ties the cut-off piece on the other end. It amuses the boy and very -likely helps us to get rid sooner of a foreign shoestring. - -Q. Mention the value of Protection to American shipping. - -A. It doesn’t hurt it; for, by its aid and the help of our navigation -laws, there is none to hurt. The way to have ships is first to make it -impossible for us to build them, and then give enough subsidy to make -it possible. Now you see the little joker and now you don’t. Didn’t -President Harrison almost shed tears when he hauled up the American -flag on a steamer rescued from a foreign register? It isn’t possible to -have Protection and have everything, but isn’t it lovely to make things -impossible at much expense and then make them possible at more expense, -and at last call in a President and have a melodramatic time about it? -Besides all this, it employs money and promotes labor. - -Q. Does Protection make wages _high_ and goods manufactured _low_? - -A. That is what our philosophers maintain. Manufacturers are so anxious -to exist here, and it is so necessary that we should have them, that -they must pay high for their labor and sell its product low. To avoid -paying but a little for labor, and to be prevented from selling their -goods at high prices, they are even willing to maintain expensive lobbies -at Washington and contribute large sums for electing Protectionists to -Congress, to say nothing of “hypnotizing” doubtful or opposing senators. - -Q. Can the first part of the above answer be really so? - -A. It must be. A Protection journal had for its headlines on a Protection -article the other day the statement that for many years Protection had -done for manufacturers just this: It has made the wages they give _high_ -and the prices they get _low_, and so they would be splendidly off if it -were not for the shadow of that wicked Wilson bill. - -Q. Does prosperity then consist in enlarging your expenses and reducing -your income? - -A. It always does in Wonderland and Topsy-Turvydom, and under Protection. - -Q. But do not “protected” manufacturers import laborers? - -A. Manufacturers are held by us to be benevolent. Of course they import -laborers, in order that there may be more here to get the benefit of our -higher wages. - -Q. How about invention under Protection? - -A. It isn’t necessary. So long as you can run the old ramshackle -machinery, and be defended by the Government, you are saved the trouble -of inventing newer and better methods. Some way might possibly be found -if Yankee wit were once to be let loose, whereby we could compete with -other nations in our manufactures, so that everybody would admit it, and -then what would become of Protection? Remember constantly it isn’t the -welfare of the people that is paramount; it is Protection. - -Q. Protection being so much more necessary than free government, free -soil, free speech, and so cherubically philanthropic when compared with -the dreadfulness of British Free Trade, the question arises, How shall -we maintain its propaganda? - -A. We must first of all be very careful to say that Free Trade is -British. Of course Magna Charta, including trial by jury and many other -good things, are British too, but we mustn’t lose so good a stock -argument. It is true, also, that England has prospered far more under -Free Trade than she ever did under Protection. But the glorious Blaine -accounted for that by saying that Free Trade might be good for England, -but it must never come here. In other words, two and two make five or six -over there, but here they fail to make four. - -Q. What next must we do? - -A. As our country has been very prosperous from its commencement, and -we have had more or less Protection within that period, the best way is -to say that all this has happened “under Protection.” It has happened -_under_ other things, too, both good and evil, because it couldn’t -happen _over_ them. But never let us forget that it was all caused by -Protection. The very slight fact that our country was most prosperous -when we had very low revenue duties is purely accidental and irrelevant. -In Mr. Blaine’s history of his career in Congress he described the period -of our greatest prosperity. But there was no election in view then, and -he was careless enough to say that this period coincided with what is -called the period of the Free Trade tariff of 1846. It was a dreadful -mistake, because the statement was altogether too true, and Protection -has no use for that which is merely true. - -Q. There are other arguments, are there not? - -A. A very decisive one is to call Free Trade a theory. For it is a theory -of the Creator, who seemed to favor the idea of commerce along with -civilization. But He, of course, left something for men to find out. The -Chinese found out in the twelfth century that a big wall around their -country would keep off nations that were savage and hostile; but the -Republican Party have gone the Chinese one better and have walled off -trade. No doubt some college Free Trader will ask you ironically if it is -really the man who walks on his feet who is the theorist and innovator, -and if the one who walks on stilts, and who tries to get everyone else on -stilts, and who thinks it is a mistake that people were not born already -stilted—as nations should have been already walled—is not one. But levity -like this is what a great cause must not notice. - -Q. What more must be said? - -A. We must take pains to compare the United States with some foreign -country. As we have already shown that everything good that has occurred -here is wholly owing to Protection, we must take some foreign country and -charge all that is bad there, such as the costly armies, the despotic -or kingly rule, the dense population, the illiteracy, etcetera, to Free -Trade. There are no really Free Trade countries in Europe except England, -and possibly Belgium. They are protective in part. But they are foreign, -and that is sufficient for the argument. Only put the excess of our -benefits over theirs to the benefit of Protection, and all will be right. - -Q. What shall we say about cheapness and dearness? - -A. Didn’t the Apostle Paul say we must be all things to all men? If we -do seem to oppose somewhat the solidarity of humanity, we meet in our -arguments a variety of mental difficulties. Our Apostle Harrison went -for dearness by not wanting to find a cheap coat, for fear he should -find a cheap man under it. Another Apostle thought “cheap and nasty go -together.” At the final period of a Presidential election, however, it -is better to say that Protection makes things cheap, and our editors -almost always take that cue. To be sure, if cheapness were our intention, -Protection could not be established, and we could not cry out against -“cheap pauper labor.” The arguments must therefore be shuffled—and cheap -and dear must sometimes be taken and at other times denied. The question -is more or less of a crux, but it is the beauty of the noble doctrine -of Protection that all trivialities of this sort it majestically sweeps -away. Not being amenable to any of the laws of human reason, it is not -disturbed by such trifles as truth and consistency. - -Q. But can’t we say the foreigner pays the tax? - -A. We certainly can and we do. But this argument needs very cautious -handling. Sometimes duties are collected through the Post-Office, when -the cat is let out of the bag and the duty comes directly to the man -to whom the package is addressed. If he asks to have it charged to the -foreign country his goods came from, even a Republican postmaster will -sometimes laugh at him. Such perverse incidents as this are what Artemus -Ward might call “in-fe-lick-et-us”—very. - -Q. How was it when Congress removed the tax from sugar? - -A. Well—sugar isn’t everything. It won’t do to be too one-sided. We could -not resist telling the public then that we had removed a heavy burden -from _its_ shoulders. We really hated to tax the foreigners so much. - -Q. What can be argued about the terms Protection and Free Trade? - -A. Argument is superfluous here. The very word Protection is an -assumption that meets all our requirements. It forecloses argument and -shuts off dispute. Who doesn’t wish to be “protected”? And how charming -it sounds to say we are protected from burglars, from enemies and from -the horrors of trade—that is, trade with a foreigner. It must be always -understood that if you could stand near the Canada or Mexico boundary and -make a good bargain on the other side—say, the purchase of a horse for -fifty dollars less than you could purchase him in your own country—you -would inflict upon yourself and your country just so much loss. But if -you buy the horse here at a price higher by fifty dollars, or over a -tariff, with the fifty dollars added, you enrich both yourself and your -country. On this doctrine, which is our fundamental one, we must and can -stake everything, and against it the frothy waves of Free Trade will beat -in vain. - -Q. Why is not Free Trade also a felicitous term? - -A. Things that are in themselves good, and that are made free and -abundant, are, we must admit, generally to be approved. Abundant health -or abundant friendship or abundant money we have not yet thought it -wise to consider objectionable. But there are exceptions to all rules. -Abundant trade—or Free Trade—which is trade done voluntarily by shrewd -and sane men in order to procure abundant money, is different. To have -it otherwise would upset our whole system of philosophy. What was this -land of the free made for, if its main purpose were not to put shackles -on trade? What we want is to eat our own cake and have it too; to sell -everything we can to foreigners and buy nothing from them, and finally to -get fat by stewing in our own juice. - -The term Free Trade—to refer to the original question—is now so -asphyxiated by us, by our contempt of it, that it suggests a Pandora’s -box of horrors the moment we mention it. To speak of it in this -contemptuous way is really one of our strong arguments. What we want is -to scream it out as a horror, to make it a bugbear. It is like telling -children of some dreadful bogy lying in wait for them in the dark, or -like Dr. Johnson’s experiment with the fishwoman of Billingsgate, when -he called her a hypothenuse, a triangle, a parallelopipedon, and several -other mathematical things of which she had not the faintest knowledge and -which she consequently supposed were very bad. - -No, whatever else we do, let us stick to our insistent and persistent -screech against Free Trade. - - - - - _Monopoly; The Power Behind the Trust_ - - BY JOSEPH DANA MILLER - - -How comes it that a power in its unimpeded operations beneficent—namely, -the force or forces of combination or co-operation—becomes under certain -conditions so injurious to modern industry? Why is a union of two -factories or many factories, of two companies or many companies, a signal -to the community of anticipated extortion? And why should the development -of natural laws—those of combination and co-operation—provoke a public -demand for regulation, and those who avail themselves of these operations -be deemed amenable to punishment? - -We may grant that a perfected combination which should succeed in -forestalling any given commodity would be criminal. The law from its very -beginnings has so regarded all such attempts. It is conceivable that, -under certain conditions, a mere agreement between individuals might -perfect a combination clearly within the provision of the law compelling -its forcible dissolution. But this is not conceivable under modern -conditions where wide distribution of capital and free labor exists. Law, -indeed, may create such monopolies, which it may by popular demand be -called upon to destroy, undoing with one hand what it has done with the -other. State-created monopolies have existed often in history—as notably -in the reign of Queen Elizabeth—but because these have been created -by direct act they have been exceedingly unpopular. So, in periods of -greater public intelligence, and where the people exercise larger powers -of government, it became necessary to accomplish the same result by -indirect means, by putting into operation some general law under which -monopoly could find a shelter, and the secret sources of which could not -be so easily traced. - -For, contrary to the almost universal opinion, monopoly is weak. It -demands protection. And from what does it demand protection? From the -all-powerful natural law of competition. The curious Socialist notion -that competition leads to monopoly is true only in the sense that -monopoly, seeing how powerless it is when threatened by the forces of -competition, seeks the protection of such laws as it can secure, or which -already exist, for the suppression of competition. And this brings us to -the conclusion which is unavoidable that there are no monopolies save -law-created monopolies.[1] - -If this seem a novel proposition to the reader I will ask him not to grow -impatient, for the demonstration will grow upon him as he reflects. It -will seem novel, for if true all the laws and statutes for the regulation -of combinations are so much waste of time and paper and the hours of -legislatures and courts. In the acceptance of such explanation of the -trust problem must go the rejection of many proposed remedies, among -them the much-lauded one of “publicity.” While publicity is always to -be commended and sought for in public or semi-public matters, it does -not appear that laws enforcing publicity upon purely private industrial -combinations are founded upon equity. Nor is it likely that publicity -will assure us the possession of knowledge beyond what we already have -through the work of independent investigators. Nor is it probable that -enforced publicity will elicit impartial truth. This proposition is of a -piece with the punitive theory in the treatment of the problem, a theory -which has already led the people far astray. Men shrink instinctively -from such stringent regulation, and this is a true index of the moral -relation, if we may so speak, of this problem to legislation. But because -they will not think clearly they return to the proposition of legal -interposition. - -Along with the remedy of “publicity” must go all laws, existing or -proposed, limiting capitalization or stock watering. Beyond the fact -that such laws would often force capitalization below the earning -capacity—which is no unfair basis of capitalization—it must be said -that the evils of stock watering are largely imaginary. It is true -that over-capitalization may conceal from the public the real extent -of monopoly profits, and is for this purpose, if for no other, often -resorted to. But this of itself ought to constitute no valid reason -for drastic legislation. Investors ought to be left free to take their -own risks, and speculative ventures ought to be left free to fix their -own capitalization, for otherwise perfectly legitimate, if largely -speculative, business interests may be made to suffer injuriously to -the interests of the community. But laying aside for the time all -considerations of this kind, stock watering is only a symptom—a sign that -monopolistic powers, and not legitimate business interests, are being -capitalized.[2] - -High capitalization, it is sometimes said, tends to increase price. It -does offer temptation to increase of price, but nothing can put it -within the power of combinations to increase price save the forces of -monopoly. This power you do not increase or decrease by adding to the -numbers of the counters, the considerations governing which are purely -those of the stock-gambling fraternity. - -National licensing of corporations to do business—a remedy proposed by -Mr. Bryan and adopted by President Roosevelt—must also be dismissed. -Obviously if the state has endowed corporations and armed them with -letters of marque by authority of which they may prey upon commerce, -it is the height of absurdity to ignore this feature of the question -with talk about licensing them. In a very real sense they are already -licensed, for it must be repeated that combinations do not create the -monopoly, but merely avail themselves of the monopolistic powers created -by society through acts of Government. - -Of necessity all such laws must fail. This, it is scarcely necessary to -say, has been the universal experience. And from future legislation no -more is to be hoped than from past legislation, however well intentioned. - -The reason why all this anti-trust legislation is futile is because, -having created monopoly privileges, Government has appealed to the -natural instincts of all men to seek these opportunities and benefits. -Such laws are attempts to give effective form to the public’s foolish -anathemas against impulses shared by everybody, and are therefore as -futile as the Pope’s bull against the comet. When we understand that -these great trusts are monopolies that Government has made, we will -realize why it is that Government cannot unmake them by any other process -than by removing the causes of their creation.[3] Books prescribing -such anti-trust legislation may continue to cumber the libraries of our -lawyers, and streams of statutes may continue to pour from the lawmaking -bodies of states and Nation, but these will be either positively harmful -or wholly harmless, never effective. - -We are, indeed, “fooling” with natural laws, and we can do so only at our -peril. The law of competition and the law of co-operation or combination -are what they have often been called, the centripetal and centrifugal -forces of social economics. Competition is often a painful but really a -merciful process; it weeds out the useless and the inefficient; selects -unerringly its business leaders; destroys, but where it destroys builds -up; rescues from the mass the individuals and processes most fitted to -survive, and out of chaos brings order. It replaces obsolete with more -perfect organization, and where such organization becomes unwieldy it -replaces organization with individuals, reverting to the earlier type of -industry. Thus the country store is succeeded by the store in which is -sold but one line of goods, and this is succeeded by the mammoth type of -country store, the great city’s department store; and the development -of the last named type seems again to revert to the second—viz., a -congeries of stores in which each is distinct from the other, each -attaining a reputation for competitive excellence in one line of goods, -thus illustrating in the retail trade the interplay of the forces of -competition and combination. - -Just as there is a limit fixed to the bounds of competition, so there -is a limit to the bounds of combination. The maximum of combination -and the maximum of efficiency are not the same. There is a point in -the progress of combination beyond which it does not, or would not -naturally advance—and that is when it reaches the maximum of efficiency. -It seems very likely that the element of monopoly in society today forces -combination far beyond the point of the most efficient co-operation. - -These natural laws may not be “regulated.” Such laws are not for -regulation, but for obedience. We may impede, we may interrupt their -operation, but only to our injury. The most we can do is to regulate our -institution by these laws, as we trim a sail to the wind and tides; we do -not attempt to “regulate” wind and tides; and these laws of co-operation -and competition are of the same order—natural laws which to disobey is to -be destroyed. - -We hear much superficial talk about “the wastes of competition.” The -Socialists play into the hands of the trust apologists who defend them -on the ground that competition leads to waste. Beyond the fact that -competition has never yet been fully tried, that it has never yet been -wholly free, and that such waste as it entails is inseparable from -the natural process which weeds out the incompetent, the antedated -and the unskilled—a process of which the waste is but incidental to -the conservation—is that these combinations do not seek primarily to -escape the waste of competition so much as to avail themselves of those -artificial laws which prevent competition from doing its perfect work. - -The term expressing the opposite of competition is not combination, -but monopoly. Professor Jenks, in his work, “The Trust Problem,” falls -into this error when he speaks of combinations in the retail trade as -overcoming the “friction” of competition, instancing associations of -hardware dealers, druggists, etc. Here, he says, we have an element -of combination from which he assumes the element of competition has -been eliminated. But his error is in the analogy he seeks to establish -between such agreements from which the element of competition cannot be -expelled, and agreements which are based upon the control of some special -privilege created by law, and of which the great railroad and industrial -trusts are examples, and which people have in mind when they talk of the -“trust problem.” - -Clearly no monopoly exists nor can be made to exist in the retail trade. -Agreements may be made, but they will be broken; and the fact that they -can be broken by isolated individuals who can thus separate themselves -from the combination, and by their separation cause it to dissolve, is -proof that the monopoly element does not exist. For the monopoly element -in the possession of the great trusts is the potent weapon with which -the combinations can compel the recalcitrant member to return, or beat -him into starvation. From mere agreements in the retail trade, such -as Professor Jenks instances, the primary element of monopoly being -absent, desertions are fatal, and for this reason such combinations are -never effective as means for extortion, though they do often arrest the -sacrifices of keenly competing retailers. And the illicit intrusion of -such examples is a favorite trick of the trust apologist, who, when the -evils of the trust are pointed out, grows righteously indignant over -the right of men to combine—which nobody seriously disputes—or points -out with superfluous wealth of illustration how combination effects the -cheapening of production—which nobody ever really denies. For the same -reason labor unions cannot be considered as effective monopolies—though -the trust apologist does not forget them in his special pleas—for the -reason that they possess no effective legal privilege. - -But to avoid a possible misunderstanding let us now answer a query which -may have risen in the mind of the reader. Is competition or combination -the beneficent law of industry? Both; for one is the complement of the -other. They exist together, and together they effect the industrial -progress of the world. But monopoly is the negation of both, since -further combination or co-operation is no longer possible where monopoly -is complete. And where there is competition there will be combination, -healthy, rational, continuous, and competition will determine its -development and direction. The defense of the trust based upon the -economic benefits resulting from the elimination of the unskilled is a -defense of the principle of combination present under free competition, -and is in no sense a defense of monopoly of which what we know as the -“trust” is the manifestation. Such discussion, together with much talk of -the wastes of competition, which helps to swell so many pretentious works -on the trust problem, is so much irrelevant “padding.” - -That the trusts avail themselves of all possible economies in production -has often been urged in their defense. Certainly such economies are -not needed to secure a monopoly in possession, nor does it seem that -the greatest incentives to their adoption are present. The sacrifice -of inventions rather than their use by these great monopolies is proof -that they do much to prevent such economies. A monopoly can be induced -to accept only with difficulty improved devices which under the spur of -competition it would gladly avail itself of. Thus in the Post-Office, -which is a monopoly, though a Government monopoly, improvements are -introduced only with the greatest difficulty. - -If combination can of itself effect monopoly, why are huge sums set -aside by these great corporations to influence legislation? Why are -contributions made to the campaign funds of the two great parties? Is -it not because these combinations seek to perpetuate their monopolistic -privileges? It may be said that it is contributed to effect the defeat -of “strike bills.” But what would a business partnership, not in some -way dependent upon previously existing legislation, care about “strike -bills”? Why does the American Sugar Refining Company (according to the -testimony of Mr. Havemeyer) contribute in some states to the Republican -campaign fund, and in other states to the Democratic campaign fund? - -As an example of the kind of defense urged by the trust apologists here -is a work entitled, “The Trust; Its Book,” containing articles from -the pens of Charles R. Flint, James J. Hill, S. C. T. Dodd, Francis B. -Thurber, and others. It is a plea of “confession and avoidance.” The -authors fight shy of even the hated term monopoly, and content themselves -with defending the right of combination. Not one of them appears to -think that the popular outcry against trusts is founded on anything but -utter ignorance; and they therefore devote themselves to showing the -advantages of large scale production—as if that were the question. All -this seems purely disingenuous. It is hardly conceivable that men who -know so well the effects of monopoly, who know how potent has been the -use by combination of existing laws securing the possession of special -privileges, should write this way from any other motive than to becloud -the issue. We can acquit them of intentional deception far less readily -than the professors of political economy. The latter may be at once -exonerated, since it is incredible that men who have become involved in -the self-created subtleties of modern economics should retain sufficient -clearness of comprehension to see anything in its proper relation. - -If it be true that there are no monopolies save law-created monopolies, -it only remains for the state to undo the work it has done. The means by -which the state, consciously or unconsciously, has fostered monopolies -may be removed, and a new, and up to this time untried, method for -remedying the evils of trusts be set in motion. - -Before we can agree to this, however, we must understand what monopoly -is. Briefly stated, it is the power to charge more than a competitive -price for a commodity or service. This power can be permanently secured -by the favor of Government, and in no other way. An agreement between -individuals cannot accomplish it, since such agreements, even if they -include all individuals in interest, which is impossible, or at all -events inconceivable, would infallibly be broken. The only way such -agreements may be made effective is for Government to make powerless, or -nearly so, the potential competitive elements or individuals in interest. -This it does in several ways, or to be explicit, chiefly in three ways. - -By Land Laws, - -Tax Laws, - -Laws Regulating (or that fail to regulate) the use of the steam highways -of the country. - -I know of no other source of monopoly unless it be our patent laws. But -these being—originally at least—rewards of invention, the injury results -from their misuse.[4] Even the misuse of patent laws is not one of the -chief potent influences in the perpetuation of monopoly. But without, in -most cases, adding to the power of monopoly, which derives its strength -from other causes, it puts in the hands of the great combinations the -power to arrest progress. The value to society of an invention is in -its use. Under present misuse of patents, inventions are held out of -use and are often bought up and destroyed for the purpose of depriving -competitors of the use of like improvements, or because such inventions -would often reduce the machinery in present use to the value of old iron. -Clearly, if industrial progress is to be made to yield its full results, -some change in our patent laws is imperatively called for. Were the law -of competition allowed to work freely, the use of such inventions, -even under present patent laws, would be determined largely by the law -of self-preservation. For the sources we have indicated are also the -sources to a degree of the patent monopoly. In a competitive market for -the use of an invention the inventor would be less likely to part with -his invention, even under the present patent system. Where the bidding is -artificially restricted the inventor sells at a disadvantage. Monopoly -has the inventor at its mercy. But however this may be, nothing less than -the free use of an invention to everyone willing to pay a royalty to the -inventor for its use will do justice to the inventor and meet, at the -same time, the interests of the great public and the necessary demands of -industrial progress. - -Certain superficial economists, misled by recent manifestations in trust -building, have hastily concluded that the problem it presents is a new -one. For example, Collier, in his work on the subject, says: “The problem -of the trusts is a momentous one, yet it is unqualifiedly a new one.” -Of course it is not new. It is the same old problem of monopoly, and -the so-called trust problem is but a phase of it. It is the problem of -monopoly crystallized. The evils of the trust rivet the public attention, -not because they are more real than the evils of monopoly _per se_, but -because they are more obvious. In some respects the trust, by combining -certain elements of monopoly, tends to make monopoly more perfect and -its operations more harmful. But it simply avails itself of monopolistic -institutions—that is to say, it is built upon land, railroad or tax -monopoly; it takes to itself certain privileges which society has created -and which have hitherto been appropriated and exercised by individuals. -It therefore immediately makes these evils concrete. The trust is thus -a manifestation, and the people, with their customary thoughtlessness, -attack the manifestation rather than the thing itself—the fruit of -monopoly rather than the tree. - -The great combinations which suggest themselves when we think of the -trust problem—is there one of them which does not owe its existence to -some monopoly privilege? What would the Standard Oil Company be but for -its control of rights of way, sources of supply, railroad terminals and -the preferential benefits it is enabled to secure? What is the Steel -Trust but a network of artificial privilege? Has not Mr. Charles E. -Russell clearly shown, in his recent articles in _Everybody’s Magazine_, -that the Beef Trust draws its life-blood from its monopolization of -railroad privileges? What would the Sugar Trust be without the favors -it receives from the tariff in its control of the raw material? Could -the Tobacco Trust exist save for the power of taxation which strangles -competition? - -Those mentioned include nearly all the greater trusts. A more detailed -demonstration of the truth we are insisting upon could be given, but the -reader can himself carry this line of analysis further. He will find that -it explains the existence of every oppressive combination, and that it -leaves little unresolved or unexplained. It may happen that injurious -combinations will present themselves in which this element of monopoly -does not clearly appear. But these are by-monopolies, so to speak, and -their sources of power may be traced to indirect association with the -giant monopolies. - -Let us admit all the good there is in aggregated capital. Let us take the -trust advocates at their word that industry should be left free of all -meddling, repressive or restrictive legislation. Is there, then, a common -ground upon which we can meet? To think so is to delude ourselves. For -their objection is not so much to mischievous laws of this sort as to -interferences with things as they are. Their plea for _laissez faire_ is -hollow and insincere; true _laissez faire_ would render every combination -of capital innocuous for evil; there would be no mammoth aggregations of -wealth in the hands of single individuals and no plethoric incomes. - -The law of competition, let the Socialists prate as they will, gives -only to those who earn. But from the denial of this law (of competition) -flows all existing inequality in the distribution of wealth. There are, -it is true, great swollen fortunes, which seem unconnected with these -artificial laws of monopoly. Some of these, while clearly not the result -of greater enterprise or greater ability, seem to be due to cunningly -arranged devices independent of existing monopoly laws. But this is so -in appearance only. There are no such made-to-order arrangements of -industrial combination that can be used for extortion. Competition is -too keenly scrutinizing for such arrangements to go undetected. The -inevitable day when imitation shall overtake them can only be permanently -postponed by seeking the shelter of monopoly. - -Some of these gigantic fortunes are the result of stock speculation. But -these are incidental, and are the profits and losses of the gambling -fraternity—a game really played with the counters of monopoly, like -“chips” in a poker game, and the transference of which from one to -another enriches or depletes the finances only of those who play. They -do not concern the man who refrains from taking part in the game, and -whether it be played with railroad stocks or industrials is no great -matter. If these gamblers sometimes use the moneys on deposit in public -institutions—as Mr. Lawson has asserted they do—that also is another -question, though a momentous one. - -With the dissolving of these giant combinations which would result from -the removal of the laws of monopoly would disappear the great host of -gamblers and stock jugglers. The great fortunes that result from the -granting of legislative favors would also disappear, since there would be -no longer any legislative favors to grant. And so with many other unjust -possessions. And with them would be banished forever much that corrupts -our social and political life. - -[1] In his definition of a trust Mr. John Moody, author of the “Truth -About Trusts,” says: “When men form corporate organizations, or make -agreements, they do not form monopolies. They may take advantage of -monopoly in one way or another, but they do not create it. The monopoly -itself is a social product, which exists with the consent of society, -and men in business take advantage of it where found, just as they take -advantage of other factors for the purpose of achieving their ends.” - -[2] Charles M. Schwab, in his testimony before the Industrial Commission -at Washington in excuse of the apparently excessive capitalization of the -Steel Trust, estimated as the approximate valuation of plants, mills, -machinery and transportation properties the sum of $380,000,000, but the -value of the ore, coal, natural gas and limestone properties he put at -the enormous sum of $1,100,000,000. - -[3] This is vaguely recognized by the trust advocates and those who have -written on the subject. Professor Jenks, who is one of the most temperate -and discriminating, says: “So far as the industrial combinations are the -result of special advantages granted to individuals or corporations, -whether by the state or by others, it is probable that in most instances -the evil effects would be lessened, if not completely removed, by the -removal of such discriminating powers.” Which is barely more than an -involved method of stating that the removal of a cause will also result -in removing the effect. - -[4] Undoubtedly the control of patents is an effective source of monopoly -in very many instances. Some of the large combinations have succeeded in -obtaining control practically of all the patents used in certain lines of -manufacture. That this is a potent source of power one instance alone may -suffice to prove. Professor Jenks tells us that all of the barbed wire -made in this country at the present time, as well as the wire fencing, is -in the hands of the American Steel and Wire Company because that company -has all the valuable patents, with one or two exceptions, in those lines -of manufacturing. - - - - - _The Heritage of Maxwell Fair_ - - BY VINCENT HARPER - _Author of “A Mortgage on the Brain”_ - - (_Conclusion_) - - - SYNOPSIS OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS - - Maxwell Fair, an Englishman who has amassed a colossal - fortune on ’Change, inherits from his ancestors a remarkable - tendency to devote his life to some object, generally a - worthy, if peculiar one, which is extravagantly chivalrous. - The story opens with Fair and Mrs. Fair standing over the - body of a man who has just been shot in their house—a - foreigner, who had claimed to be an old friend of Mrs. Fair. - Fair sends her to her room, saying: “Leave everything to me.” - He hides the body in a chest, and decides to close the house - “for a trip on the Continent.” Fair tells the governess, Kate - Mettleby, that he loves her; that there is no dishonor in - his love, in spite of Mrs. Fair’s existence, and that, until - an hour ago, he thought he could marry her—could “break the - self-imposed conditions of his weird life-purpose.” They - are interrupted before Kate, who really loves him, is made - to understand. While the Fairs are entertaining a few old - friends at dinner, Kate, not knowing that it contains Mrs. - Fair’s blood-stained dress, is about to hide a parcel in the - chest when she is startled by the entrance of Samuel Ferret, - a detective from Scotland Yard. He tells her that he, with - other detectives, is shadowing the foreign gentleman who - came to the Fair house that day and has not yet left it. He - persuades Kate to promise that she will follow the suspect - when he leaves the house and then report at Scotland Yard. - As soon as Ferret is gone she lifts the lid off the chest, - drops the package into it, and, with a shriek, falls fainting - to the floor. Mr. and Mrs. Fair run to her aid. On being - revived Kate goes to Scotland Yard, where, in her anxiety to - shield Maxwell Fair from suspicion, she inadvertently leads - the detectives to think that a crime has been committed at - the Fair house. The two detectives are piecing together the - real facts from the clues she has given, when Ferret is - summoned to the telephone by his associate, Wilson, whom he - had left on guard in the home of the Fairs. Fair tells Sir - Nelson Poynter, at the latter’s country place, that he has - committed some crime, and explains that Mrs. Fair is not his - wife—that a Cuban scoundrel had married her, already having - a wife, and deserted her, and that he, Fair, had brought her - and her children to England, giving her his name before the - world, yet being her husband in name only. Sir Nelson and - Fair’s other friends, Allyne and Travers, begin to suspect - his sanity. - -“But what is the ridiculous idea that has turned your head? What sort of -idiotic crime would you ask us to believe that you have committed? Come, -sir, out with it—what’s the charge against this villainous man?” asked -Sir Nelson, with equal certainty and confidence. - -“Only a trifle,” answered Fair. “Just a quiet little—murder!” - -“That settles it,” shouted the good old fellow, thumping his knee with -his clenched fist. “That settles it, sir. Sir Porter will have you in a -straitjacket before night. Murder, eh? You burglar, forger, pirate—you!” - -Fair waited until Sir Nelson had had his laugh, and then said with -irritating persistency: “Quite another sort of jacket, I think, sir.” - -“We’ll see, we’ll see,” retorted Sir Nelson, and then, abruptly changing -the subject and his own expression, “but, I say, Fair, why have you never -married Janet? She was, of course, free?” - -“I don’t wonder at the question,” Fair replied, relieved at the change. -“That of course was the first question which presented itself to my -mind. But by the time that Janet came back into my life the old love had -passed away—or perhaps I should put it another way—the love I now found -myself bearing for her was of a different sort. I am a Fair, you know, -Sir Nelson, and destiny demanded that the passion of my life be not like -those of ordinary men. So Janet seemed to come to me not as a woman whom -I might think of as a wife, but as a holy, consecrated, crucifying Idea -which fate had destined should be the ‘Fair Folly’ of this generation. I -think you know that each generation in our family has had its ‘folly.’” - -“Yes,” answered Sir Nelson, shaking his head and letting his mind run -back to the follies of the two generations of Fairs that he had known. -“But your folly, my poor boy, has been so above the world’s standards -of rational conduct that it is madness in our earthly eyes—or, perhaps, -it is like the ‘foolishness of the saints,’ of which Saint Paul talks. -But now, old hero—or madman—for reason’s sake, tell me of this accursed -hallucination of yours—this blooming murder, you know. Have you killed -the Pope or the Czar of Russia or Napoleon Bonaparte?” - -“I appreciate your inability to accept the truth,” replied Fair. “But you -must do so when I have told you all. You see, I have murdered so seldom -that I was forgetting to tell you the details. Well, Sir Nelson, the -rascal whom I——” - -He was cut short by the sudden and alarming appearance of Kate Mettleby, -who came running upon the terrace in traveling dress and quite out -of breath. Both of the men rose and Sir Nelson watched Fair’s face -with ill-disguised concern, which rapidly increased as Fair’s usual -self-control gave place to evident uncontrollable nervousness and -feverish excitement. - -“Oh—Mr.—Fair,” gasped Kate, trying to get her breath; “thank God, you are -here! I was—afraid—that”—— - -“Miss Mettleby,” interrupted Fair, advancing to meet her, “I supposed -that you were halfway to Paris by this time. What has happened? You look -ill.” - -“Pardon me, sir,” answered Kate, “but—I’m out of breath—I ran.” - -“Do you mind letting me see this young lady alone, Sir Nelson?” asked -Fair, noticing that Sir Nelson stood, dazed and troubled, watching them. - -“No, no—by all means,” quickly responded the old man eagerly. “I just -wanted to see if she would not go in and refresh herself first. Allow me -to advise Lady Poynter. The poor girl seems regularly done.” - -“Oh, thank you, no, sir,” put in Kate, waving a protest; “I can stop only -a moment. I must return to town on the next train, sir.” - -“But you really can’t, you know,” said Sir Nelson. “You really must not -think of returning without luncheon—it’s about ready, you know. I shall -advise Lady Poynter that you are come,” and he hurried off. - -“Well?” asked Fair when Kate looked up at him. “Tell me, Kate—and tell -me quickly and without hesitation, for nothing can shock me now. So the -worst of it—all of it—at once!” - -“Where is Mrs. Fair?” Kate asked, with a look which begged piteously that -the reply to her question be what she hoped. “She is here? Say that she -is here!” - -“Here?” cried out Fair, now thoroughly alarmed, a certain suspicion that -had been gathering force shaping itself into something like certainty in -his mind. “Here. Did she not start for Paris with you and the children? -What can you mean?” - -Kate struggled with the dreadful fears that were choking her. - -“We all left the house together in the carriage and drove to the -railway station, but there Mrs. Fair said that she wished to drive to a -chemist’s shop, and we were to wait for her speedy return. She went off -accordingly, and about twenty minutes later the carriage came back and -John fetched this letter from Mrs. Fair to me. Take it and read it—it -says that she desired me to take the children to Mrs. Barrington’s, and -announced that she would communicate her change of plans to you. Oh, Mr. -Fair, what does it all mean? I can bear little more of this suspense!” - -“Poor old Janet!” groaned Fair, taking but not reading the letter which -Kate handed to him. He walked up and down for a few seconds, then coming -back to Kate said: “I see. I see it now. My God, what a woman! Wait here, -dear, until I consult Sir Nelson, for we’ve got to act with life for the -spur. This is a race, Kate—the maddest ever run!” - -“But, Mr. Fair—Maxwell,” complained Kate, “tell me what it all means! I -know about—that horror, you know, in the chest. I saw it. But no harm -shall come to you, Maxwell, for I told them at Scotland Yard that it was -not you—and they told me that they believed me.” - -Fair jumped forward and could not believe what he heard, but the triumph -on her poor little agonized face showed only too clearly that what she -said was true. - -“Scotland Yard?” he finally cried out. “Are you mad?” Then with a wild -hysterical laugh that chilled her, he added: “So you kindly assured them -that I was innocent, did you?” - -“Yes,” she answered, failing to note the irony in his laugh, and -conscious only of the loftiness of her motive. “Yes, for it would have -broken my heart had they even whispered your name. Tell me! tell me! What -is it? Whose body is that in the accursed chest? My mind is going—I can -bear no more! Maxwell, I love you—I love you!” - -“My poor little girl,” he said pityingly, looking down at her; “my Kate! -We will talk it all over on our way to town—for I shall go back with you. -Only you must be brave now. Remember that what I did with my hand I did -not do with my heart, will you? My hand killed him; not my mind nor my -will. Believe that, will you not, darling?” - -“I will believe neither,” she cried bitterly. “You did not! you did not!” - -“Hush!—they will hear you,” warned Fair, adding more gently: “Now wait -here and say nothing to anyone. I will return at once—and we will catch -the next train for town. Poor, poor Janet—good God, what work!” - -He dashed into the house, and Kate sat as if dreaming on the garden seat. -After trying to collect her thoughts and to fathom the deepening mystery -which was overwhelming her, she suddenly caught sight of the torn letter -which Mrs. March had dropped upon the seat. Acting mechanically and -scarcely knowing what she was doing or that she was doing anything at -all, she glanced at the piece of the letter which she had chanced to pick -up—and at once her mind was awake. There was a name—a name and an address -that startled her by their seeming incomprehensible coincidence with her -thoughts at the moment. Hearing voices approaching before she had fully -taken in the meaning of this new bit of perplexing tangle, she thrust -the scrap of paper into her pocket. The next instant she saw Fair coming -out of the door, carrying his portmanteau. At his side was Mrs. March. - -“I am so sorry,” Mrs. March was saying as they came up to her. “You have -your bag—which means that you are not waiting for luncheon. Must you -really rush off in this way? I wanted to speak to you ever so much.” - -“Yes,” Fair replied, putting down the bag and consulting a time-table; -“awfully sorry, but I have just heard that Mrs. Fair was unable to -proceed to Paris this morning, and, of course, I shall be very anxious -until I see her and learn the cause. I think you have met Miss Mettleby, -Mrs. March?” - -“Oh, how do you do?” smiled Mrs. March, giving Kate a warm hand grasp. - -“Good morning, Mrs. March,” responded Kate, and then to Fair: “I think, -if you don’t mind, sir, I’ll go along through the park by myself. We have -some time, I think, before the train is due. Good morning.” - -“Do,” urged Fair, and when Kate had disappeared he turned to Mrs. March -not very cheerfully: “You wished to confess something or other to me? -Do, if you love me, make it something uproariously funny—or else choose -another father confessor. I’m a bit edgy this morning, you know.” - -“Oh, I’m sure you will think it the merriest news,” replied Mrs. March, -with beaming good nature. “Maxwell—I’m married!” - -Fair looked at her, stupefied. One expression followed another on his -face, and then, when he had secured his usual genial expression, he said: -“Not really? Well, all I can say is—one man is happy. But explain.” - -“Wasn’t it just like me to slip over to Brussels and be married quietly? -You know I hate the regulation fuss. And heaven has given me the love of -a man whom I am sure you will love and respect when you know him. All -heart and soul and honor—a knight and a poet.” - -“Believe me, my dear friend,” answered Fair, “I wish you all the -happiness that your good heart deserves. When may we congratulate you in -a public manner? And what are we to call you henceforth?” - -“It will seem strange to call me by my new name, won’t it—and a foreign -name, too? My husband’s name is Don Pablo Mendes, formerly of Santiago de -Cuba,” said Mrs. March, with a flush of happiness which blanched out and -became the pallor of horror as she saw the effect on Fair. - -He dropped the portmanteau, which he had picked up, stared as if stunned -for a moment, and then with a tremendous effort to spare the wretched -woman as long as possible, he said huskily: “I beg your pardon—the fact -is, I am far from well—Good-bye!” - -“I’m so sorry,” returned Mrs. March, satisfied that his singular conduct -was really the result of a bad turn. “But tell me before you go, -Maxwell—do you know my dear Spanish boy?” - -“I can’t say that I do,” he stammered; “but really I shall miss my -train—good-bye,” and before she could ask him anything more he was -striding across the park. - -“What strange behavior!” she said to herself as she watched him. “Maxwell -of all men, too! The mirror of good form—and the one man who never fails -to say the right thing at the right time. Ah, here he comes back to make -the proper amends. Back so soon?” she asked as Fair rejoined her with his -hat in his hand. “Forget something—or did you, like a good fellow, come -back to say just one kind word?” - -“Mrs. March,” he began, speaking with strange dignity and pain. “I have -come back to implore your pardon. I lied to you. We shall never see each -other again, and it was dastardly in me to try to shield myself from the -horrible duty which as one of your oldest friends I owe you—the last -thing, also, that I can ever do for you. You are a true woman and a great -soul. Be great enough to face what I have now to tell you. I do know -Pablo Mendes—and if you have not told any of your friends about your -unspeakably deplorable marriage, for God’s sake do not tell them. You -will understand why I say this, and bless me for saying it soon—you will -thank me until your dying day. Your secret is, of course, sacred with me. -Mrs. March, brace yourself now—life is a battle for us all—and victory -is not for them that fight, but for them that bear—so hear me. You will -never see your husband again. Give me your hand—so—are you ill? Courage -now for a moment. Mendes is dead. I—Somebody, in there! Quick! Mrs. March -has fainted!” - -Not waiting to help carry her in, he bade Baggs tell Mr. Allyne and -Mr. Travers to join him in town at once, and seeing that servants were -already gone to fetch Lady Poynter, he sped along the avenue to overtake -Miss Mettleby, whose skirts he saw through the shrubbery at some distance -from the terrace. In ten minutes they were aboard the train. - - - CHAPTER XI - -At about eight o’clock that evening Fair, who had dined with Allyne and -Travers at the club, reached his own door and, letting himself in, waited -for their arrival in the small smoking-room on the first floor of the -deserted and gloomy mansion. As he opened the street door he thought -that he heard hasty footsteps on one of the upper stories, but soon he -was able to rid himself of the unpleasant fancy, and sat quietly reading -until his friends should come. - -This they did in a very few minutes—considerably to his relief—and the -three groped their way up the dark stairs and along the passage to -the library, which room Fair told them was to be the scene of their -conference. As they peered in at the door the black woodwork of the -library made the gloom seem greater than in the passage, and as they -hesitated Fair said: “Strike a match, will you, Travers?” - -“Right you are—if I don’t break my neck first,” answered Travers, -finally managing to get the match lighted and holding it high over his -head. - -“There we are,” said Fair. “Now I can find the electric light key.” - -He found it and turned on the current, flooding the room with light. -The sudden translation from total darkness to brilliant light, and the -general feeling of mystery and stealth with which the house seemed to be -filled, gave all of the men an uncomfortable sense of being engaged upon -uncanny business. - -“I feel like a cross between a burglar and a blooming ass,” said Allyne, -to break the unbearable silence. “By Jove, Fair, my wealth is at your -disposal, but I’ll be hanged if you can borrow much more of my nervous -energy! What’s the beastly game, anyhow?” - -“I do think,” added Travers, more seriously, “that we’ve followed you in -the dark about as long as a decent regard for our feelings—as well as for -your own interests—will permit. Seriously, old chap, I do not think we -should allow you to go on in this way. Elucidate, like a good fellow.” - -“On my honor, Dick,” replied Fair, speaking with great earnestness, “this -is no fool’s errand that I have asked you and Allyne to undertake. It -is the last favor that I shall ever ask you to do me. Sit down. I’ll go -downstairs and see if I can’t scare up something to drink.” - -“That’s the first rational thing you’ve said since yesterday,” said -Allyne. “Go, by all means, old man, and make it brandy and soda.” - -“Back in a moment,” answered Fair, disappearing. - -“Honestly, Travers, what do you make of it?” asked Allyne when they were -alone. “If it’s a joke he has carried it rather far. What is it?” - -“Oh, Lord, I don’t know,” replied Travers wearily and with very genuine -anxiety. “If it were any other man—but Fair is the coolest and sanest -devil I ever knew. I don’t like this turn of affairs on my word. Money -and women are the only two things that could bowl a chap over on his beam -ends in this way, and Fair can show a clean slate under both of those -heads—so I give it up. But I, for one, go no further.” - -“Unless I am mistaken, his father or grandfather was mad,” whispered -Allyne, pursing up his lips uncomfortingly; “but I never thought Maxwell -dippy—that is, you know, not unusually so. He is devilish queer.” - -“In England,” answered Travers, with a sneer, “everyone is thought mad -who manifests any trace of originality. In the city they think Fair a -bit off his head because he does everything that sacred British methods -decry—and grows rich at it. And in society they think him singular -because he has such a childish way of telling the truth. You and I know -that he makes friends in society just as he makes money in the city. No, -I don’t think Fair is mad—I wish to heaven I could think so.” - -Allyne was striding up and down the room by this time, and when he next -reached Travers he stopped and said: “Confound it, Travers, he can’t have -done anything so rum as all this melodramatic rot would make one think. -Give him credit for too good taste for that, at least.” - -“Oh, never fear,” replied Travers, rising; “I’ve made up my mind. I’ll -give him half an hour more. If he does not chuck this mystery and give -us the key in plain English, I’ll report the case to his solicitor and -medical man.” - -“Here, too,” grunted Allyne, with a nervous shrug of his shoulders. “What -a creepy, deuced idiotic thing to bring us up here tonight! The house -feels like a tomb! By George, I wouldn’t stop here alone for the world. -Did you see that man across the way when we came in? He watched us as if -we were a gang of coiners. Lord! If they were to— What was that?” - -Travers, also, had heard the noise, whatever it was, and both men turned -nervously toward the door and listened. It was repeated, but faintly. - -“It sounded like footsteps on the floor above,” said Travers. - -“But Fair said there is nobody in the house,” answered Allyne, adding, -with a return of his usual spirits: “I say, Travers, just run upstairs -and have a look round, will you, that’s a good fellow?” - -“You go,” replied Travers, smiling, but more in earnest than he would -have cared to admit. “You are younger than I, and—but here’s Fair.” - -Fair came in, carrying a tray on which were a number of decanters and -glasses, which he placed on the table before he saw with surprise that -the others were evidently acting under a strain of some sort. - -“I say, old man, were you upstairs a moment ago?” asked Travers, with a -disquietingly anxious look. - -“Upstairs?” asked Fair, with growing uneasiness. “Why, no. I was -below—ever since I left you. Why?” - -“Nothing,” answered Travers, trying to throw a careless tone into his -words. “Allyne thought he heard—There it is again!” - -All three had heard it this time—and all belied with their eyes the smile -which they forced to their lips. - -“Wind in the chimney,” muttered Fair, disavowing all belief in his own -words by going, not to the fireplace, but to the door to listen. “There -is nobody in the house, anyway,” he added, still listening at the door. - -“It sounded like bare feet—Ugh—give us a drop of brandy,” growled Allyne, -pretending to more alarm than he really felt. - -Fair returned to the table after closing the door into the passage, and -pouring a stiff drink for each of them, said, with a laugh: “Here you -go. That will hearten you up a bit, Allyne. Why, you look as though -you expected to see a ghost. Never fear, old chap. Something much more -substantial than spirits is at the bottom of this cheerful occasion.” - -“There was a beastly sly fellow over the way when we came in,” said -Allyne as he sat on the end of the table to drink. “Why the deuce did he -watch us like that?” - -“He probably wants me,” answered Fair seriously, “although he does not -yet know that it is I he wants. We can ask him to escort me to jail as we -go out of the house presently.” - -Travers put down his glass with a bang, spilling the liquor, jumped up -and swung around at Fair, thoroughly disgusted and exasperated. - -“Really, Fair,” he began, “I’ve had about enough of this. Aren’t you -pressing your little joke a bit too far? I was just saying to Allyne that -I would give you half an hour. At the end of that time I——” - -Again there was the sound of footsteps above their heads, and Travers -stopped and all three looked toward the door as the steps seemed to come -down the stairs. Fair was the first to regain composure. - -“You give me half an hour,” he said to Travers, “but I shall require only -ten minutes. Have a cigar, and—damn it, Allyne, let up, you know. Lock -the door if you like, but for heaven’s sake quit your funk.” - -“Thanks awfully,” retorted Allyne, locking the door so quickly that Fair -and Travers laughed genuinely this time. “There! Now we are cozy, aren’t -we just? A corpse and an undertaker and a hangman are all we want to -complete our merry little party.” - -“Shut up, Allyne!” shouted Travers, watching Fair’s face. “Now, Fair, for -the love of sanity—what’s the answer?” - -Fair poured out another drink for himself, and pushing the bottles toward -Travers, threw himself full length upon a lounge. Puffing slowly at his -fresh cigar, he began speaking with perfect composure: - -“You fellows remember a Cuban by the name of Mendes—the man of whom I -have often spoken to you, do you not? You know—Don Pablo Mendes—a great -chess player?” - -“Certainly—you spoke of him only yesterday. Friend of Lopez? Yes—well, -what of him?” asked Travers, and Fair turned his head toward Allyne, who -seemed to be listening for noises and not to him. - -“I saw you speak to him one night at the opera,” said Allyne, without -taking his eyes from the door. “Looked like a twin brother of the -devil—diamonds, yellow fingers, hair oil, et cetera. Proceed, to wit, go -on.” - -“Yes, that’s the man,” answered Fair, and then leaning over to flick the -ashes from his cigar into the hearth, he added, without the slightest -excitement or emotion: “Well—I murdered him yesterday, you know.” - -“You are drunk,” sweetly remarked Travers, with a look of infinite -relief, as of course Fair now was admitting that he had been twigging -them. - -“Murdered him, eh?” grunted Allyne, executing a series of maneuvres that -landed him on Fair’s chest. “Murdered a yellow cigarette twister, did -you? What of that? Why, I strangled my grandmother last night.” - -“By all that is holy,” Fair cried out hoarsely, “gentlemen, you sha’n’t -go on in this way. If you will only allow me to tell my story, you will -realize that I am a ruined man with death hanging over me, and, as my -friends, I ask you to stand by me, to see that I face my fate and end my -life in a way to prove that I was not altogether unworthy of two such -friends. Will you do this?” - -He turned his white, drawn face from one to the other beseechingly. - -“Fair,” cried Travers, clutching his hand and speaking fast and like one -who has passed beyond consternation into the very heart of abandonment, -“if you are not mad, what does this mean? If you are in earnest—if this -horrible thing is true—you know that Allyne and I would risk our lives to -save yours, but why——?” - -“Twenty times,” broke in Allyne, pushing Fair back into a seat. “We would -risk twenty lives for you, old man; but if you have really rid the world -of that unhung dog, why in the name of Mrs. Fair and the children, to -say nothing of us and common sense, don’t you get away until we can get -your defense in order? Forgive my fool tongue, old man, for, of course, I -could not believe that this was anything but some new sort of game. Did -the blackguard attack you? Don’t let the ugly business get on your nerves -too much to let you see that this is no murder at all.” - -“Yes,” put in Travers eagerly, groping through the dark to catch at any -straw of hope or light. “And for God’s sake leave the country until your -solicitor can prepare your case. Come, now, explain.” - -“It’s a simple story,” began Fair more calmly now that he had got them -to accept the situation. “The fool came here to extort blackmail—and -I killed him. Mrs. Fair saw me, and, Travers, you saw my pistol, you -remember—still warm and with one chamber discharged. The servants heard -the shot. The man’s body is still in the house, and nothing remains but -to give myself up to the police. Lopez knows the history of my relations -with his friend, and he will be only too glad to testify that I had -threatened to kill Mendes, against whom I had a long-standing grudge. -The case against me is complete, you see, so I prefer to end it all by -surrendering myself at once.” - -“Not if we can stop you,” shouted Travers fiercely. “And as for the -pistol—unless you go regularly off your head and tell them that I saw it, -they will never know it. And, of course, you know, your wife’s testimony -would not be taken against you, even if she should wish to give it.” - -“But she is not my wife,” groaned Fair, looking up at him. - -“What!” thundered Travers, significantly glancing at Allyne, who wheeled -around to Fair and exclaimed: “Cæsar’s ghost! Look here, Fair, you are -rubbing it in rather too deep, you know.” - -“Oh, it will be a pretty story when it is told in the papers,” muttered -Fair, his hands thrust deep in his pockets and his legs stretched out in -front of him. - -“Perhaps it will,” replied Travers, rising and going toward the door with -his hat on, “but I don’t propose to hear you tell it. My God, man, you -can’t expect us to hear it and then stand up and swear away your life! -You’re mad. My duty is clear. Good night. Allyne, ring me up at the club -in an hour. This is—” He did not finish the sentence, but hurried to the -door, which he had reached when Fair spoke. - -“All right, old man,” he said, without turning to Travers, “if you choose -to desert. I have faced tight places before. I’m game now.” - -“No, hang it, Fair,” answered Travers, coming back from the door and -confronting Fair, “you know that I will not leave you; but why must you -ask Allyne and me to learn all this—when we could otherwise swear to the -fact of your being what we have always known you to be—yes, know you to -be now—for, by gad, you can’t get me to believe you.” - -“Hang the swearing,” said Allyne, trying to laugh. “If they get me on the -witness stand, I’ll let them know what I think of greasy foreigners, and -my views as to sending them where they belong. Go on, Fair, and tell us -what they did next.” - -“Then sit down, Travers, and hear me out,” replied Fair, filling the -three glasses and regaining an air of quiet. - -“Blaze away,” answered Travers, dropping into a chair with resignation. -“At the bottom of a hole one can’t fall lower—so go on.” - -“Have a drink, both of you, and we’ll get on,” said Fair, and all three -sipped their drink in silence for some minutes. Then Fair said: - -“Many years ago the noble woman whom you know as Mrs. Fair was married -to the wretched man whom I killed yesterday. She afterward discovered -that he had a living wife, and she, of course, therefore, found herself -a nameless outcast. She appealed to me, and for two reasons I offered -her the protection of my name. I had loved her some years before, and I -inherited from my fathers a sort of morbid craving to sacrifice my life -to a cause or purpose which the reason and the prudence of all normally -minded men would discountenance.” - -“Surely wedding such a glorious woman as Mrs. Fair was scarcely what one -could look at as a sacrifice of one’s life,” protested Travers when Fair -paused for a moment. - -“She is indeed a queen, a priceless woman,” murmured Fair quietly, “but -her children are not my children—she never became my wife. She has been -a sacred vocation to me, and while men envied me the love of such a -wife, I was really living the life of a celibate because of a mad, but -inexorable, fixed idea. You fail to understand this? So do I. I only know -that nothing in heaven or earth could have deterred me from assuming -the position in which I have lived so long. This may be madness—but it -is of the very essence of my being. And then I came to love another -woman—and you may imagine what I suffered. But there was a satisfaction -in it all which, of course, you men will be unable to comprehend. But, -see the irony of fate. The only thing that made life possible has been -dashed away from me. I lived supported by the thought that Janet and her -children were saved from shame by my effacement, and now I must proclaim -that they are not my flesh and blood, to shield them from the disgrace of -being thought a murderer’s kin. Isn’t it horrible? But it is only fate’s -swift way of damning me for what I had just been so weak as to decide to -do. I was about to let my love—the gnawing hunger of a real life—have -way. I had decided, on this very day, to proclaim my love for— Fellows, -for God’s sake, never go back upon your destiny even if, as in my case, -it should mean lifelong torture. After all, there may not be a hell after -death, for there’s one on this side of the grave—and I am in it.” - -He dropped his head on the edge of the table. Allyne, whose heart was -like a child’s, could bear the sight of his agony no longer, and walked -to the end of the room. Travers came over to Fair’s side and laid his -hand on his head. - -“This is the most stupendous thing I ever heard of, Fair,” he said; “and -if there is such a thing as justice, you shall not suffer.” - -“There is a thing called justice,” replied Fair, looking up, “and -therefore I must die.” - -“Not if you will allow us to save you from yourself,” cried Allyne, -returning to them. “My soul, man, no case can be made out against you -unless you make it yourself. Do let us act for you. Counsel must be -secured at once. Come, come, I know the very man.” - -“Presently, presently,” answered Fair. “I telegraphed Marshall, my -solicitor, that we would call at his chambers tonight at ten. But before -we go I want you two to have the case in detail. I promise to be governed -by you and Marshall when you have all the facts. That’s reasonable.” - -“Then there will be no difficulty, I promise you,” replied Allyne, with -renewed good spirits. “Marshall has no romantic rubbish in his gray -matter. Maxwell, you’re a disembodied ghost of some crusader who hasn’t -heard that Adam and Eve left Paradise some time ago for good. I drink to -you, Sir Altruist.” - -“Thanks, old chap,” said Fair, with moistening eyes. - -“By Jove, I feel better,” exclaimed Travers, stretching his arms and -holding Fair by both shoulders. “I’d like to be worthy of you, Fair.” - -“Oh, come, I say, Dick,” protested Fair. “In a few weeks it will be -deucedly awkward to be asked if you were not a friend of mine.” - -“We’ll see about that,” retorted Travers defiantly. “Now, the details.” - -While they sat, Fair walked to and fro before them with folded arms. - -“Well,” he began, “for five years I was happy in seeing Janet and her two -boys safe under the shadow of my broken heart; but about a year ago Lopez -came to me and told me that some disreputable Cuban acquaintances of his -had learned poor Janet’s secret, and that a paltry hundred pounds would -keep them quiet. I, of course, sent him about his business and reported -the matter to the police. The Cubans quietly got hold of Janet—just how -I was never quite sure—and played upon her love for her children until -they extorted one sum after another from her without my knowledge. At -last they demanded a sum so vast that the poor girl was compelled to -appeal to me. I told her to ignore their letters, and had them shadowed -by detectives. We discovered that Mendes himself was at the head of a -gang whose plan was to get the secrets of rich families for blackmailing -purposes, his private fortune having been gambled away on the Continent. -More than once Lopez or Mendes has ruined a woman of standing, and while -pretending to remain a devoted lover, has told the other, who would at -once begin the extortion of hush money. Mendes came here yesterday—and I -shot him like a dog. Now Lopez will show that I was the paramour of my -victim’s wife, and that my crime followed naturally upon Mendes tracking -his wife to my house, and there learning that I had palmed her off as my -wife for years. Those are the facts. Complete, wouldn’t you say?” - -Allyne, always more susceptible to all emotions than Travers, frankly -looked the horror he felt as he began to realize the truly desperate -situation in which Fair now was; but Travers, after thinking for a few -moments in silence, spoke out bravely: “Confound it, man, isn’t it a -principle of law that a man is innocent until proven guilty? Who knows -that you killed the scoundrel? And if suspicion should be drawn toward -you, why, then let them prove the charge if they can. And, anyhow, -can’t you plead that you killed him while protecting Mrs. Fair? The -blackguard’s character will make it difficult for Lopez to prove Mendes’s -alleged relations with Janet. I’d be hanged if I’d be hanged just for the -fun of it.” - -“Ah, but my dear fellow,” returned Fair, arguing out his point in his -customary cool way, “you forget. It is known that he came to this house. -It is known that he did not leave it. His body, my dear friend—his -corpse, you know, is a nasty bit of evidence that we can’t get rid of.” - -“Do you mean to say,” answered Travers, face to face with the calm man, -“do you mean to tell us that the—that the chap’s corpse, you know, was in -the house last night while you and Janet were entertaining us? If you are -the man you are, surely no woman at any rate could have stood that.” - -“Ah, you don’t know her,” smiled Fair. “To save me—yes, to please me -even, that woman would do anything—bear anything.” - -“And she jolly well ought to,” put in Allyne, slapping Fair’s back, and -then with a nervous look about the room: “I say, what did you do with -the—with that infernal thing, you know?” - -“With the body?” asked Fair, with entire freedom from excitement. “It is -here yet.” - -“Here?” cried Allyne angrily and sick with perplexity. - -“In the house now?” asked Travers, scowling but not believing. - -“Certainly,” replied Fair quietly. “What could I have done with it last -night? You all came in within a few minutes of the deed. Yes, it is in -the house—it is in this room now.” - -“The devil you say!” exclaimed Allyne, facing about as if he feared that -the dreadful thing was back of him somewhere. - -“Rather a gruesome thing to joke about, isn’t it?” asked Travers sadly, -and still utterly unable to believe what he heard. - -“Horrible—but true,” answered Fair, with disconcerting calmness as he -walked slowly over toward the chest by the fireplace, while Allyne and -Travers watched him breathlessly. “It is here.” - -He seemed to take an eternity to do whatever it was that he intended to -do, but finally as he stood over the chest he said, looking from one to -the other: “If a man ever had a more terrible guest under his roof than -mine, I pity him. Look!” - -As he said this he suddenly stooped and raised the lid of the chest. The -two now thoroughly horrified men were standing on either side of him. -They all peered, shuddering, into the chest. _It was empty._ - -“Gone?” moaned Fair, for the first time betraying uncontrolled horror. - -“That settles it,” shouted Travers, delirious with joy. “You see, you -have been dreaming this whole cursed nightmare.” - -Meanwhile Allyne was running about the room, swinging a chair over his -head and shouting like a madman. Coming back to Fair he sang out with -hysterical laughter: “Rest and quiet—rest—and qui—et, sir—that’s what we -need. Ice on the head, hot water at the feet—and a month at sea. May I -have the pleasure?” Before Fair could stop him he had waltzed him around -the room. At last Fair broke away from him, and holding his hands to his -splitting head, he brought them back to a full realization of the awful -truth by the expression on his face. - -“Hush!” he cried to Allyne. “For God’s sake, Allyne, stop it. I swear -on my honor that I put it into this chest. It has been discovered by -somebody and removed today. I sat up all night in this room, so that it -must have been taken away today. Come. That’s the end. I might as well -surrender without delay.” - -“But wait, wait,” broke in Travers. “Who knew of it’s being here? Who -could have discovered it? Now don’t be rash. Let us think before we act. -How could it have been found? That is, if it ever was here.” - -“Oh, there are a thousand ways in which it might have been found,” -answered Fair, ignoring his unbelief. - -“Did Mrs. Fair know about it?” asked Allyne, and was startled by the -effect of his question. - -Fair sprang up, thought for a moment, and then exclaimed: “By heaven, -Allyne, that’s it. My God! Do you know what that means?” He clenched his -hands and glared at them, stupefied with grief. - -“It means,” said Travers, “that she has disposed of it. It means that -your chances are a thousand-fold better than before.” - -“No, no!” shrieked Fair. “It means—but no—she could not be so -unspeakably unkind to the children as to try to prove that she killed -him. No. I give it up, then. Come, come, I can’t bear this much longer. I -must get the relief of surrendering myself. Come.” - -“If you attempt to give yourself up, by gad, I’ll have you locked up for -a dangerous lunatic,” said Travers, with strange new determination as he -noticed how rapidly Fair was breaking. “I tell you, Fair, that— Hark! -That was that beastly footstep again. I’m not a coward, but this— Hark!” - -They listened with tense faces. Again the sound. And again. - -“That was certainly a footstep—upstairs, too,” whispered Travers. “Come -Fair, this is no place for you now. Allyne, if he refuses to come with -us, help me to force him out of this hole. Hear me? Now come.” - -Fair struggled away from their grasp and ran to the door, saying: “I will -go with you, but I am going upstairs first—alone.” - -“You are going to do nothing of the sort,” replied Travers, again -grasping his arm and pulling him back. - -“Don’t come with me, please,” pleaded Fair; “I’ll be only a minute.” - -“Never fear,” answered Allyne at his other arm; “I wouldn’t go up there -with anybody—but you are not going up, either. Out with him, Travers.” - -“Yes, come, old man,” begged Travers earnestly. “Notify the police that -thieves are in the house, call the fire brigade—anything, but don’t be a -fool and expose yourself to you don’t know what danger. Come!” - -They strained at him, and presently Fair gave in, saying: “Very well, it -is getting a bit on my nerves, I confess. Go to the top of the stairs -before I turn out the light. All ready? There.” - -He turned out the light and felt his way to the stairs, down which -Travers and Allyne preceded him, and the next moment they stepped out -into the blessed coolness and relief of the street. - -The instant that Fair turned out the light in the library a man stole -quickly in from the adjoining study and groped his way to the chest in -the total darkness. Just after the street door slammed two persons, who -had been listening on the floor above the library, began whispering as -they descended the stairs and approached that room. - - * * * * * - -Meanwhile Fair and his two friends called a cab and drove off eastward -and soon were set down in the Strand near the law courts, proposing to -make the remainder of their journey on foot. - - - CHAPTER XII - -At sixty Marshall, Maxwell Fair’s solicitor, found himself a bachelor, -a solicitor with an income of twenty thousand pounds and a very decided -attachment for his few wealthy clients and an aversion to new ones. Long -past the necessity of accepting new clients, Marshall, like so many old -Templars, asked for nothing but to be let alone among his books and -cronies in the Inner Temple, and allowed to spend his brief holidays at -his shooting-box by the Norfolk Broads. - -It was with no very good grace, therefore, that he returned to town on -that wet Sunday in response to an absurdly urgent telegram from Fair, -whose usual business was exactly to old Marshall’s taste, since it -consisted of drawing perfunctory documents having to do with real estate, -and never involving critical issues of any sort. - -But the snug thousands which Fair’s enormous interests brought to him -annually made it impolitic to ignore his most uncharacteristic bit of -hysterics. Accordingly, after dining in gloomy solitude at his quiet -little chop-house, Marshall surprised his laundress by turning up at -his chambers in the Inner Temple at nine o’clock on Sunday evening in a -crusty temper. Fair would arrive at ten, so Marshall settled down for an -hour with Browne’s “Religio Medici,” when to an irritating knock he sang -out a curt, “Come in! come in!” and a lady entered. - -“Mr. Marshall, I believe?” said the lady. - -“Yes, madam,” replied Marshall, rising; “but my business hours—In fact, I -am engaged—just leaving, you know—and, besides, I expect a gentleman by -appointment at any moment.” - -“I venture to think that, whatever his business may be, you will consider -my case the one requiring immediate attention,” quietly answered the -lady, seating herself, although the old solicitor had not suggested her -doing so. - -“Case? Case?” exclaimed Marshall. “Why, bless us all, I haven’t taken any -new cases in years. Couldn’t think of it, madam.” - -“But,” returned the lady vehemently, “a crime has been committed, and I——” - -“Crime, you say?” shouted Marshall as if he were being insulted. “Good -heavens, my good woman, do you imagine that I am interested in crime?” - -“But Mr. Fair has, I think, some claim upon your advice and counsel?” -replied the lady, with the assurance of one who trumps an ace. - -“Mr. Fair has certainly every claim upon me,” answered Marshall, sitting -down and becoming the cautious and alert barrister at once, “and I trust -you will appreciate my unwillingness to discuss anything concerning my -clients with strangers.” - -“Strangers?” cried the woman, with such eagerness that Marshall began to -fear all sorts of possible female entanglement. “Why, sir, I am his—I -mean, I know Mr. Fair very well.” - -“Really, madam,” protested the solicitor, now thoroughly certain that -this woman and the urgent telegram were unpleasantly related. “Really, -you know, I must beg you will call at some other time. Allow me to see -you to your carriage.” - -“It will be necessary for you to hear me,” replied the lady firmly. “I -see that you do not remember me, but we have met before. You were at Mr. -Fair’s place in Norfolk about five years ago. You were presented to Mrs. -Maxwell Fair. Well, I am she.” - -“Upon my word, dear madam,” exclaimed Marshall, jumping up, “I did, -indeed, fail to recognize you. That’s a sign I’m getting old, is it not? -This is an honor, really.” - -“Alas, sir, I fear that you will think it anything but that,” replied -Mrs. Fair nervously. “I desire to state before going into the matter -which brought me here that I am not the wife of Mr. Maxwell Fair—Mr. -Fair never married. I see that this fills you with amazement—pray, don’t -misjudge him. Believe me, Mr. Fair deserves your deepest regard and -admiration. My children are not his children. He has been a father, a -brother, a chivalrous protector—that is all.” - -“But, my dear madam, this is quite beyond belief,” stammered the -solicitor. - -“It is the truth, as you will learn presently from him. I came here -simply to tell you that, whatever Mr. Fair may say, my crime does not -involve him, as it would of course do if I were his wife. Now for my -story.” - -“I must remind you, Mrs. Fair,” interrupted Marshall sternly, “that if -your crime, as you choose to call it, is to the prejudice to Mr. Fair, -I must decline to hear your statement, as, in the event of any issue -arising, I must, of course, act on his and not on your behalf.” - -“But it is not a question as between Mr. Fair and me,” answered Mrs. -Fair. “The simple and horrible fact is I killed a man yesterday—a Cuban -named Pablo Mendes—a wretch who had blasted my life. He dared to pursue -me even into my protector’s house. He heaped the foulest insults upon Mr. -Fair and the children and me—so, in a mad access of frenzy and horror, I -shot and instantly killed him. I desire to give myself up to the police. -What shall I do, sir?” - -Marshall was walking up and down now with his hands clasped behind his -back, and for several moments he did not answer. Then he said as he stood -confronting her: “If there were no witnesses, and the man can be proved -to have been your traducer and persecutor, it would not be difficult -to set up a powerful defense. He invaded your house, demanded money, -threatened you—or, wait, wait—I have it! On failing to extort the money, -he attacked you, and you, having anticipated just such an assault, had -taken the precaution to be armed—and shot him down for the blackguard he -was. Why, my dear Mrs. Fair, a jury would acquit you without leaving the -courtroom.” - -“Ah, but the facts are not as you state them,” cried Mrs. Fair, rising -and grasping the old man’s hand feverishly. “There was no attack. And, -oh, sir, I did it! I did it! I say I! Take me to the police—and make -them believe that it was I—or—or—well, I can’t tell you now, but unless -you make them believe me, something most horrible will occur. Do this—do -this, Mr. Marshall, for God’s sake.” - -“But we must consider this from every side,” replied Marshall, getting -Mrs. Fair into a seat again and continuing his walk. “Give me a little -time to think it out. Could you manage to return early in the morning? -You are evidently very ill. Rest will refresh you—and, moreover, nothing -can be done wisely tonight.” - -“Very well—but tell me that you believe me—tell me that,” implored Mrs. -Fair, rising to go. She was indeed nearly at the end. - -“Of course I must accept your statement,” answered Marshall with much -gentleness. “Yet it by no means follows that the consequences need be -what you apprehend. Allow me to show you down to your carriage.” - -“Here is my statement,” she said as she placed a document on the table -and took the arm which the old solicitor offered her. “Act upon it, -sir—it is a woman’s last story—written in her blood and that of her -children. Act upon it, sir, act upon it—no matter what Mr. Fair says.” - -“I promise nothing, madam,” replied Marshall, leading her to the door. -“You are in no condition to take the best or the wisest view of this -most incredible affair. Depend upon it, I shall act only for your best -interest and that of Mr. Fair. Come.” - -He led her down to the street and, after seeing her safely to her -carriage, slowly retraced his steps into the quiet precincts of the -Temple. When about to enter the door at the foot of his worn stairs, two -men came walking quickly from the thoroughfare without, and one of them, -recognizing him, said: “This is my friend Allyne—Lord Linklater’s son, -you know, Mr. Marshall. May we have a few minutes of your time?—very -urgent matter!” - -“Travers?” said Marshall as he caught sight of his face under the gas -lamp. “What on earth brings you to this old graveyard at this time? I -know your honored father, Lord Linklater, Mr. Allyne. Come up, gentlemen.” - -Once more the solicitor entertained no very pleasant conjectures as to -the purpose of his visitors, whom he knew to be close personal friends of -Maxwell Fair’s. The whole departure was as upsetting as it was sudden. - -“Rather a beastly time to intrude upon you, Mr. Marshall,” said Travers -apologetically as they seated themselves in Marshall’s library. - -“And on the beastliest sort of business,” put in Allyne. - -Mr. Marshall, finding nothing particular to say, remained silent. - -“We were asked to come here this evening by Mr. Maxwell Fair,” said -Travers, explaining. “He will be here at ten o’clock.” - -“Yes?” softly remarked the imperturbable lawyer; “then we will wait.” - -“The deuce you say,” protested Allyne in spite of the signal from -Travers. “Why, we came ahead of him expressly.” - -“Shut up, Allyne,” broke in Travers. “Fair knows that we are here, Mr. -Marshall—in fact, we came rather at his suggestion. He gave us full -permission to speak to you.” - -“I shall, of course, be very glad to hear anything that you may deem it -desirable to tell me. Pray proceed,” said Marshall not very eagerly. - -“Well, then, sir, it is with the utmost sorrow that we have to tell you -that we are convinced poor Fair has become suddenly insane on a certain -dreadful subject,” went on Travers, irritated by Marshall’s manner. - -“Ah, there we shall have to move very slowly—very—slowly,” said Marshall -when Travers stopped. “Mr. Fair is thought to be of unsound mind on a -number of subjects by a number of persons. He is so successful, you -know—so original, that others who are merely British fail to understand -him. Moreover, Fair is unselfish, sympathetic, altruistic—and of course -appears mad to our smug, hoggish world.” - -“Damn it,” exclaimed Allyne, “that’s all, as you say, but the dear fellow -has gone clean off his head this time, you know. You just wait until -Travers gives you the details.” - -“I am waiting,” answered Marshall calmly. - -“Before we come to that,” said Travers in answer to Marshall’s look, “I -believe, Mr. Marshall, that you knew Fair’s father, did you not?” - -“Intimately—and his grandfather also. What of them?” - -“What sort were they?” - -“Very much like Fair—both were thought mad.” - -“In what way? They were men of tremendous will power and fixity of -purpose, were they not? I have reason for asking.” - -“Quite so. They were idealists, dreamers, monomaniacs—but why?” - -“I thought as much. The stuff martyrs are made of. Tell us about them, if -you don’t mind, Mr. Marshall,” said Travers, unaccountably insistent. - -“Very well,” began Marshall, really glad to be able thus to kill time -until Fair arrived. “His grandfather got it into his head that he -was bound in honor to extricate his publishers—he was an author, you -know—from their financial difficulties, although it was clearly proved in -court that they had only their own speculative folly to thank for their -failure. Well, poor old Fair lost his all and even mortgaged the Norfolk -estates. In spite of his solicitors, he pressed forward eagerly to ruin, -and died perfectly happy in the knowledge that he had lived up to his -ideal. Mad—stark mad!” - -“By Jove, it sounds like Fair all over again!” exclaimed Allyne. - -“Yes,” went on the old lawyer, warming to his favorite work of decrying -idealism of every sort. “Yes, gentlemen, and our Mr. Fair’s father was -no better than his grandfather. He spent the first half of his life in -freeing the estates from their heavy encumbrances—and the second half in -throwing away all that he had accumulated in the first. His specialty was -young geniuses—any kind of young genius, musical, literary, artistic. -Any chap who could not get an editor to print his stuff could count on -Fair bringing out an _édition de luxe_ at his own expense. And any young -woman had but to get her mother to tell him with tears in her eyes that -she had wonderful musical promise and away she would go to Germany to be -educated—of course at Fair’s expense. You probably know that he died in -lodgings in Mile End, where he had removed in order to live among those -whom he, poor old dreamer, imagined would appreciate his sympathy. He -left our Mr. Fair nothing but the estates heavily mortgaged again.” - -“And Maxwell is a chip of the old block,” commented Travers when the -solicitor stopped. “But Mr. Marshall, he has done more than either his -father or grandfather in the way of self-effacement. His life is one long -tragedy for an idea. That is bad enough. But now he proposes actually to -destroy himself for it. Unless we can prevent it, he will die.” - -“Good heavens,” cried Marshall, unable to treat the terrible intensity -on Travers’s face with his customary calmness. “It’s not quite so bad as -that. What, in the name of reason, is the man about now?” - -“Listen,” said Travers, glad to have at last roused the stoical man of -law from his leathery, noncommittal expression, “Fair declares that he -has committed a crime which will send him to the gallows— Why, what ails -you?” - -Travers stopped and stared at the lawyer, who was strangely delighted by -his last few words. Marshall’s acute mind had evidently been scouting. - -“Nothing,” replied Marshall, regaining his quiet manner; “I was thinking -of a similar case that once came to my notice. Go on.” - -“There is no evidence against him, and yet the wretched victim of his own -high-flown notions is determined to go ahead to destruction. For God’s -sake, sir, help us to prevent this, even by placing him in a madhouse.” -Travers saw that his words touched the old man, but that professional -caution and habitual reserve were restraining him from avowing his -purpose, whatever it might be. - -This angered Allyne, who broke in with the sneering comment: “The law -keeps no end of rascals from getting their richly deserved medicine. I -think it’s a jolly beastly outrage if it can’t prevent an innocent man -from hanging himself.” - -“The ways of the law,” answered Marshall, with cold judicial accent, -“the ways of the law, Mr. Allyne, are not as our ways. The law proceeds -without sentiment or bias, and must go straight to its object in the -light of fact.” - -“But, I tell you, the facts can’t be as Fair states them to be, don’t -you know,” retorted Allyne hotly, galled by the lawyer’s coolness and -formality. - -“Then Mr. Fair has nothing to fear,” quietly replied Marshall. “It is ten -o’clock. Fair is a punctual man—he will be here immediately. Suppose that -we allow him to explain himself.” - -“I’ll be hanged if I will let him go too far. Why, gentlemen, this is -monstrous! Do you mean to say, Marshall, that you——?” - -A knock interrupted Allyne, and immediately Fair came in, looking not at -all as though he could possibly be the subject of his friend’s anxiety. - -“I’m awfully sorry,” Fair began, “to learn from your laundress, -Marshall, that my telegram brought you back to town from the country. I -promise you it won’t happen again.” - -“Nonsense,” returned Marshall, studying Fair closely, “I was only too -glad of an excuse to come back to town. You know, we old Templars don’t -enjoy the country—been caged here too long for that. Sit down, dear -fellow. What can I get up for you—sherry?” - -“Thanks, nothing for me. Perhaps the others——” - -“Lord, no!” roared Allyne before Marshall could ask. - -“Well, then, to the point,” said Fair, seating himself calmly and -lighting a cigar with the air of a director of a company about to discuss -the treasurer’s report. “Travers has told you, Marshall?” - -“Nothing,” answered the solicitor. “We were discussing peculiarities of -temperament. I was just telling your friends what people used to say of -your father. You know, we are all mad on some subject.” - -“I see,” replied Fair, smiling. “Allyne has mentioned madness and -madhouses, I should say, about once every five minutes all day long.” - -“Yes, and we mean it,” thundered Allyne. “At it now. This is rum.” - -“I can put the facts before you in a word, Marshall,” said Fair. - -“Do so. I am all attention,” returned the lawyer, settling back into -his chair with a puzzling look, in which there was certainly a trace of -amusement not easily explained. - -“Some Cuban gentlemen have been extorting blackmail from certain -aristocratic families,” went on Fair in a monotone, “and they had, -without my knowledge, frightened Mrs. Fair into paying them considerable -sums. The leader of the gang, one Pablo Mendes, came to my house -yesterday, and finding him in the library with Mrs. Fair I killed him.” - -“Proceed,” said Marshall when Fair paused to note the effect of his -announcement, speaking with so much coolness that Fair jumped up and -went on fiercely: “I tell you, I shot him down like a dog—murdered him -in cold blood. The servants heard the report of the pistol. Travers came -in a moment after the shooting and saw the pistol still warm. I hid the -man’s body in a chest in the library, from which it was taken by somebody -today—so any effort on my part to delay the hand of justice would be -ridiculous. What shall I do?” - -“Nothing!” exclaimed Marshall. Then he added, as if regretting the -unguarded word: “That is, I can’t advise you until I know more. Go on.” - -“That’s the game, Marshall,” put in Allyne, pleased by the lawyer’s -manifest incredulity. “Fair, you idiot, do you fancy that everybody has -gone off his head just because you have?” - -“Oh, please, Mr. Allyne,” said Marshall deprecatingly. - -“You take this rather coolly, I must say, Marshall,” remarked Fair when -Travers had succeeded in pushing Allyne into a chair. - -“I find coolness conducive to clear thinking,” replied Marshall. - -“Well, then, I have nothing further to say. I have murdered a man. I -have neither the heart nor the wish to set up a defense. Were I to clear -myself by technicalities, it would become the duty of the police to try -to establish the guilt of someone else. Would you have me sit by quietly, -while they drew the net of skilfully devised circumstantial evidence -around some innocent person? And to whom else could suspicion point? My -servants—or, God help her, the woman who is known as my wife, and who is -the noblest soul I ever met? If you cannot meet my arguments, I shall go -at once to the police and surrender myself.” - -“There will be plenty of time for all that,” replied Marshall, showing so -little feeling that Allyne was on the point of breaking out again. “The -police would not believe your story, I fear. You see, my dear fellow, -your case is by no means unique. Only a very little while ago one very -much like it was brought to my attention. A murder—or at all events, a -death, had occurred. Suspicion pointed strongly to one of two persons—a -gentleman of eccentric character, and the woman whom he had loved in -early youth. Now mark the dramatic interest. Each of them confessed the -crime to save the other, but, of course, as they both could not have been -guilty, the court refused to entertain the charge against either. There -was no evidence except the bogus confession of the two. I mention this -case only to show you that too hasty action on your part now may spoil -everything—and you may not be allowed the luxury of hanging.” - -“But, Marshall,” said Fair, “the cases are not even remotely similar. -Others will testify that I had the most powerful motives for my crime, -and, unless I should be dastard enough to lie, nobody else can be -suspected. Lopez knows that Mendes was my enemy. Janet knows that I was -in the room when the murder was done. Travers knows that a pistol, which -he identified as mine, had been discharged a few minutes before he saw -me—at the very time that the servants heard the report in the library. -Moreover, somebody discovered the body of my victim where I had hid -it. On top of all this I confess the awful fact. What more can the law -possibly require? You believe what I tell you, do you not?” - -“Not one word of it!” fairly cried Marshall. - -“Marshall,” Fair replied with terrible earnestness, “you say you doubt my -word. Such a statement must be explained.” - -“Certainly,” returned Marshall, now thoroughly in control of his -feelings. “I will explain. I doubt your story because of its inherent -improbability. Further, I doubt it because I knew your father, because -I know yourself, and am aware that not even a shameful death on the -gibbet could deter you from any purpose which you had come to think your -destiny. Again, I doubt it because I know who the real murderer of Mendes -is.” - -The three men who heard these last slow, calm words sprang to their feet -together, Fair quivering with a nameless horror, and his two friends -delirious with joy. - -Fair steadied himself against the lawyer’s table and said: “Marshall, -this is not the time when you can play with me. I tell you to your face, -that when you say that you know who the murderer is, you lie.” - -The old man showed how deeply the insult cut into him, and facing the -young man with his own face as white as Fair’s, he retorted: “Your -father’s son can go very far with me, but no man can give me the lie. -Recall that word, Fair.” - -Travers looked imploringly at Fair as he replied. - -“I do recall it—and beg your pardon,” said Fair eagerly. “I also demand -an explanation of your singular conduct.” - -“If you will all sit down,” replied the solicitor, “I will prove that I -am right. But before I do so I want to say that in all my life I never -heard of such sublime devotion, such utterly disinterested heroism. -Gentlemen, nothing will ever be more of an honor to us than to be called -the friends of Maxwell Fair.” - -“Hear, hear!” shouted Allyne, but Travers said quietly to Marshall: “I -fear this is scarcely kind of you just now—look at his face.” - -The old lawyer looked at Fair, and going over to him grasped his hand. - -“Forgive me, boy,” he said, “but I meant each word. To end this dreadful -business I have merely to state that the unhappy creature who sent -the scoundrel to his doom came here not an hour ago and made a full -confession.” - -“And on my honor I swear that every word she said was false,” said Fair. - -“You, at least, believe me?” asked Marshall, turning to Travers. - -“Most assuredly,” replied Travers. - -Fair wheeled round at him, saying: “My God, are you men English gentlemen -and going to allow an innocent woman to be hanged in order to save me?” - -“I seem to hear your father speak in you,” remarked Marshall, “yet there -is this difference, Fair. He would have died for a great purpose, but -never for a lie or to defeat the ends of justice.” - -Fair winced at this, and Travers said: “That’s the line, Marshall.” - -“Not a word he has said can move me,” went on Fair, rising. “I want no -man’s forced friendship. I have decided on a course. You choose to allow -me to pursue it alone. Good-bye.” - -He spoke with such feeling, and moved toward the door with so much -majesty, that none of them attempted to stop him. - -Before he reached the door it was opened and a closely cropped head -appeared, and a soft, insinuating cockney voice said: “Beg pardon, I’m -sure. Ferret, gentlemen; Ferret, of Scotland Yard.” - -“You see, Marshall, others are not as incredulous as you. I am the man -you want, Mr. Ferret,” said Fair as the detective came in and sat down. - -“I’ll attend to you, sir, in a minute,” replied Ferret jauntily. “Perhaps -these gentlemen will try a cigar in the gardens for a few minutes.” - -“Oh, never mind them,” quickly returned Fair; “they know all. Proceed.” - -“But you see, sir, they _don’t_ know all,” replied Ferret. - -“I think, Fair, that we would better let this man speak to you alone,” -said Marshall, rising. - -Ferret interposed: “I shall ask you to stop, if you don’t mind, Mr. -Marshall.” - -“As you like,” answered Marshall. - -Travers and Allyne went downstairs after shaking Fair’s hand with very -much mixed feelings. - -Marshall and Fair turned to Ferret when the door was closed, and Fair -said sternly: “I see that you have been rather impudently examining that -sworn statement on the table there. It will save time if I tell you that -it is false. The lady wrote it under a nervous strain. It is totally -false.” - -“Sure. It’s just as false as your own statement, Mr. Fair,” replied -Ferret, winking knowingly at the solicitor, who failed to appreciate the -fellow’s humor and resented his apparently unconscionable impertinence. - -“What the devil do you mean?” asked Marshall angrily, yet with relief. - -“I mean,” answered the cool one, “that, thanks to my little chum, it -now becomes my painful duty to admit that I suspected Mr. Fair until -about two hours ago. I now know that Mrs. Fair’s statement is false—and -likewise Mr. Fair’s also. It’s the other gent’s statement that is the -true one.” - -“The other gentleman’s statement?” asked Fair fiercely. “Why, man, there -was no other man in the room when the shot was fired.” - -“Oh, I say, come now, Mr. Fair,” smilingly protested Ferret. “The gent -as fired the shot was there, you know. You see, Mr. Marshall, it was -this way. Mendes had threatened Mrs. Fair, and she went out and got the -pistol, and at that moment Mr. Fair came into the room. Mendes shot -himself, and Mr. Fair, hearing the shot and seeing the smoking pistol in -Mrs. Fair’s hand, snatched it away from her and declared that it was he -and not her that did the killing. She came here tonight and swore it was -her, and now he comes and swears it was him. But Mendes swore just as he -was dying that it was himself—and the priest will testify to that.” - -“But, my heavens, man, Mendes died at once. I hid his body in——” - -“In the chest,” interrupted the detective, grinning. “Yes, I know all -about that. But, you see, Mendes did not die. He came to while you were -at dinner. Our fellows followed him to his lodgings in Soho—and today my -chum got hold of a letter that gave her the address, and she and I were -with him when he died an hour ago—yes, and Mrs. Fair is there now.” - -While he was speaking Fair sank back into his chair, as if unconscious -of what was passing, but when Ferret paused he sprang up, crying, -“Marshall, did you ever hear of anything so unspeakably glorious as -Janet’s devotion?” - -“Yes—once,” answered Marshall, with streaming eyes. “Your own, Fair.” - -“But, Ferret,” went on Fair, when he had recovered his voice, “who is the -chum who so materially assisted you? And where is Mrs. Fair now?” - -“Mrs. Fair is by Mendes’s bedside. My chum is——” - -The door opened and Kate Mettleby came hurrying in, breathless and worn. -Ferret finished by saying: “My chum, gentlemen.” - -“Oh, Mr. Fair,” began Kate, after Fair had presented Marshall to her with -a word of explanation, “have you heard? Janet is with him—with Señor -Mendes—it was awful—it was unbearably touching.” - -“He is the father of her children, Kate,” said Fair gently, when Marshall -and Ferret quietly stole out, leaving them together. - -“Yes, I know—and—Maxwell—there is something—oh, how can I tell you? -She came in and knelt by his bed with his head in her arms when the -priest told her that he was dead. She knelt there half an hour, and -when it was time for us to start to come here to meet you—Maxwell, can -you bear it?—when I went and touched her shoulder and told her to come -away—she—was dead.” - -Kate’s head fell upon her folded arms on the table and her body shook -with the strain of the awful day’s events. Fair suffered her to cry -herself into a quieter state. Then he stooped and laying his hand on her -head, he said: “Kate, the children have no mother now.” - - THE END - - - - - _All Gain_ - - -TAPESON—How much did he make out of that stock company he formed? - -TICKERLY—All that was put into it. - - - - - Educational Department - - -There are thousands of boys and girls, some in the schools and colleges, -some not, who are anxious to learn to develop themselves and RISE. -Many, many things they yearn to know which the class-room teachers do -not teach. Many a subject they are eager to study, if somebody will but -show the way. Often there are speeches to be made, essays to be written, -debates to be prepared, and the boys and girls simply do not know how -to start about it. For instance, they are suddenly required to write -or speak on the question: “Should the Government own and operate the -railroads?” - -They have never read anything about it, perhaps. Therefore they inquire: -“Where can we get some literature on the subject?” These young people -do not want someone else to write their speeches or essays; they want -nothing more than to be told where to get the materials to work with—the -data upon which to construct their own argument. - -When I was a boy I felt the need of that kind of help very keenly. How -was I to know what books contained the information sought? Who could tell -me? I soon found that teachers did not love to be bored by inquiries of -that character, and therefore I had to browse around in the library at -random for what was wanted. If the book needed was there, I generally -found it, after wasting much time in the search. If it was not there, as -frequently happened, I was at my row’s end. I had to debate without the -full preparation which should have been made. - -To help out many a student who may be troubled as I used to be, I -am going to improvise and conduct in this Magazine a modest little -Educational Department. Primarily it is meant for the young people. But -the rule will be made as flexible as I feel like making it. Age limits -are not fair—no matter whether Osler was joking or not. It is not my plan -or purpose to write anybody’s speech or essay; but, where there is a -subject of real importance to be discussed by word or pen, I am willing -to direct the preparation of the student by telling him or her where the -necessary information can be had. It would, perhaps, not be improper for -me to suggest some general ideas on the subject to be discussed—these -ideas to be worked out and put in form by the student. Often I may render -good service to the boys and girls by telling them where the books they -need can be bought at the lowest price. It took me many years to learn -how to buy books, and it is a thing worth knowing—unless you have more -money than I ever had. - -The letters written to me in this department will be published as -written; but the names of the writers will be withheld. Therefore, no -correspondent need be embarrassed in making inquiries. My replies will be -given in the Magazine. - -Hereafter all letters asking for information—historical, literary, -political, economic—will be answered through the EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT. - - T. E. W. - - * * * * * - - UNIVERSITY SCHOOL, STONE MOUNTAIN, GA., - April 17, 1905. - - _Hon. Thos. E. Watson, Thomson, Ga._ - - DEAR SIR: Would you kindly contribute to your magazine an - article something like this: - - “Should a young man enter politics?” - - I have always had a strong desire to enter politics, and - have thought the matter over a long time, but have as yet - failed to reach a conclusion. If you can do me the very - great favor to advise me on this line you may feel assured - of my hearty appreciation. - - Faithfully your friend, - - C—— W——. - -It all depends on the motive. A young man who feels the inclination -to enter politics for the purpose of contributing his share to honest -administration should, by all means, do so. - -Government does not take care of itself any more than a cotton crop does. -Both require cultivation, management, head-work and hand-work. - -We can never have good government unless good men become interested in -politics. Perhaps there is not a nobler calling known to man than that -of working for the public welfare in matters governmental—and this is -politics. - -A high-minded, warm-hearted philanthropist, like Mr. J. G. Phelps-Stokes, -of New York, acts admirably when he ministers to the poor in the slums; -but his work is still more effective when he gives his thought and his -work to the removal of those abuses of government which produce the -greater part of the miseries of those slums. - -The grandest task which human intellect can set for itself today is -the redemption of the government from the usurpers who have used the -machinery of government to enrich themselves and to plunder their less -fortunate brothers. - -It is true that Henry Clay advised his sons, “Be dogs rather than -politicians,” but this exclamation was made when Mr. Clay was in a fury -of disappointment because he could not get to be President. - -It is true that John C. Calhoun and Daniel Webster died broken and -disappointed men, but Mr. Webster had also set his heart upon being -President, and Mr. Calhoun had devoted himself to an impossible program. - -If a young man enters politics for the mere sake of getting office or -personal advancement, his motives are sordid, and his life will be worth -nothing to his fellow-man and nothing creditable to himself; but, if in -conjunction with honorable ambition, he entertains the earnest desire to -be useful to the community in which he lives by exercising his energies -in political work, there is a glorious field for him. - -If this combination of motives inspires you, my young friend, by all -means yield to your inclination and “enter politics.” - - * * * * * - - DICKINSON COLLEGE, CARLISLE, PA., - April 1, 1905. - - _Mr. Thomas Watson, - 121 West Forty-second Street, New York City._ - - DEAR SIR: Being in the midst of preparations for a - scholastic debate to be held here on the —th, kindly permit - me to ask your views on the following: Our question is, - “_Resolved_, that the Government should own and control all - the railway lines.” - - What, in your opinion, are the strongest arguments to - sustain the affirmative side of this question? - - Thanking you for this favor, I remain, - - Very respectfully, - - E——. - -The strongest arguments in favor of government ownership of railroads -are: - -_First._ Under modern conditions, the railroads are simply the public -highways over which freight and passengers must pass, and public highways -should never be owned by private citizens. - -If freight and passengers go by water route, they must use navigable -rivers, bays, gulfs, oceans. These public waterways belong to the public, -and all men admit that they should. - -Under modern conditions, freight and passengers are compelled to go -by rail. We have to use the railroads whether we want to or not. In -traveling any distance, it is no longer possible for the public to -transact business by the use of the dirt roads, consequently the -transportation lines are public in their nature and their uses, and -should belong to the public. - -They were not built by private capital, as a rule. In almost every -case the railroads were paid for by public and private donations, and -the charters granted represented simply a license issued for a public -purpose; and of course that license can be revoked at any time, just -compensation for vested interests first having been paid. - -_Second._ As now operated, the railroads are ruinously oppressive in -their charges. Enormous sums of money are being wrung from the people to -pay dividends on watered stock—a fictitious value which has no existence -except in ink on paper. - -_Third._ Under the present system, the railroads have co-operated with -excessive tariff rates in building up the trust, which publicly says to -the people: “Pay my price for food, or starve”; “Pay my price for tools -to work with, or let your fields become deserts.” - -By the secret rebate, by discriminations of one kind or another, the -independent operator has been driven out of the field everywhere and the -tyranny of the trusts established. - -_Fourth._ It would remove the greater part of the corruption which is the -bane of our politics. - -Railroad corporations maintain their lobbyists at the capital of the -nation and at the capital of every state. They corrupt representatives, -judges, aldermen, editors, politicians. - -They finance national and local campaigns; their filthy finger-prints are -to be found on almost every page of our public record. - -The only possible way to get rid of this is to remove the motive. Put the -railroads where the Post-Office Department is, and there will be no more -motive for rebates, discriminations and wholesale bribery than there is -in the operation of the Post-Office Department. - -_Fifth._ Government ownership would make the service uniform, simplify it -in every way and save vast sums by the consolidation of all the various -lines into one great national system. - -It would not need so many high-priced presidents, high-priced lawyers and -high-priced lobbyists. - -One very intelligent writer upon this subject, C. Wood Davis, figures out -a saving of $160,000,000 on this item by consolidation. - -Government ownership would abolish deadheadism. - -Under our present system, the men who are most able to pay their way on -the railroad ride free. The man who is least able to pay, not only has to -pay for himself, but in the long run has to pay also for the deadheads -who ride free. This will become obvious to anybody who will think about -it for a moment. - -_Sixth._ It would take away the power of the railroads to destroy any -individual, any business or any community. It would save the thousands -of lives which are now lost every year for lack of double tracks, safety -appliances and reasonable hours of labor. - -It would enable the cotton grower of the South to exchange his products -with the corn grower of the West in such a way that the railroad would -not get more for hauling the corn than the man who raised it got for it -when he sold it. - -At present the Southern farmer pays seventy-five and eighty cents per -bushel, cash, for corn which the farmer of the West sold for thirty-five -cents. The transportation companies get the lion’s share of that enormous -difference. - -It would put an end to strikes, and would put into the hands of the -people a weapon with which they could destroy any combine among -capitalists in any article of commerce. - -Among other things, it would save the tremendous sum of $65,000,000 which -the Federal Government now pays to the railroads every year for the -carriage of the mails, and that saving could be applied to extending the -Rural Free Delivery to the remotest parts of the country. - -If the Government owned the railroads and carried its own mails in steel -cars, the Post-Office Department would show a profit instead of a loss, -and railway mail clerks would be able to insure their lives. At present -they cannot insure their lives, for the reason that the Government -allows them to be hauled around in flimsy dry-goods boxes, whose cost of -construction is less than the annual rent which our Government pays for -their use and which invariably get smashed to splinters whenever there is -a collision. - - * * * * * - - LOCUST GROVE, GA., - April 21, 1905. - - _Hon. Thomas E. Watson, - Thomson, Ga._ - - MY DEAR SIR: As affirmative debaters on the subject: - “_Resolved_, That the democratic principles of the United - States are in danger of being superseded by those of an - aristocracy,” we have secured very valuable help from your - articles in the April number of TOM WATSON’S MAGAZINE, - and knowing that you, being a student of political - economy, could give us some personal suggestions, we would - appreciate your sending us material on the subject at our - expense. - - Very respectfully yours, - - —— ——. - -A Democracy—it being the government of all by all and for the benefit of -all—cannot continue to be a true democracy unless the laws conform to the -democratic standard laid down by Thomas Jefferson—namely, “_Equal and -exact justice to all men, without special favors to any_.” - -An Aristocracy is a government in which the few make the laws for their -own benefit, and rule the country for their own good. - -Therefore it must be apparent to the most casual student that if we, -by law, confer special favors upon any class of our citizens, we are -building up an aristocracy and are departing from democratic principles. - -(1) For instance, the power to create money and to regulate the volume -thereof is a sovereign power belonging to the state. - -In countries ruled by kings that power has always been one of the -prerogatives of the crown, as was the power to make war and peace, to -negotiate treaties and to levy taxes. It was recognized that the king -could not continue in the full exercise of his kingly authority if he -parted with the tremendous power of creating money. - -Not until the English crown rested upon the head of the most dissolute -of the Stuarts, Charles II, and he had become the slave of an abandoned -woman—who was in turn the tool of a grasping corporation, the East India -Company—was the power to create money transferred from the king to a -corporation. - -Ever since that day Great Britain has suffered from this surrender of -sovereign power, and it was this mistake of the king which Alexander -Hamilton, either through mistake or by design, adopted when he came to -frame a financial system for the American people. - -It was his express purpose to create an aristocracy of wealth, and he -must have realized that when he took from the government the power to -create money and put it into the hands of a private corporation he was -creating an aristocracy of wealth. - -The national banks of today represent an aristocracy of wealth, supported -by the governmental function of creating currency. - -There are, in round numbers, 5,000 national bankers who have in -circulation $400,000,000 of their “promises to pay,” which the law -practically makes legal tender. - -In other words, their _“promises to pay” are used as money_. - -There are 80,000,000 natural persons in this country; there are 5,000 -corporations called national banks! The 80,000,000 natural persons may -sign promissory notes for five dollars each, and these notes are simply -commercial paper, having no circulation as money. The 5,000 national -banks sign their promissory notes to the same amount—$400,000,000—and -these notes constitute, for all practical purposes, a national currency—a -national money. - -_The law gives them the special privilege of getting rich on what -they owe._ They have also the more dangerous power of _enlarging and -contracting the volume of currency, thus unsettling values, destroying -markets and producing panics, as they did in 1893_. - -(2) The democratic principle of equal and exact justice to all men -requires that the government should derive its revenue from a system -of taxation which deals fairly with every citizen. Each man should -contribute to the support of the government in proportion to his ability. -And taxes should not be laid for the purpose of building up one man’s -business at the expense of another’s. - -Our tariff system, from which the government derives the greater part of -its revenue, violates democratic principles. - -Its purpose and result is to build up manufacturers at the expense of -everybody not engaged in manufacturing. It gives the manufacturer a price -which he could not get without the law which insures him the monopoly of -the home market. _All the world can compete with our laborers by sending -immigrants to our shores; all the world can compete with our farmers; -but nobody is allowed to compete with our manufacturers_, AND THE RESULT -IS THE TRUST, under which Americans combine to rob the helpless American -citizen, who is not allowed to buy his food or his clothing or tools to -work with from anyone except the American manufacturer. - -By this system, which lays the taxes on the things which man buys, a -citizen who is worth only a few hundred or a few thousand dollars pays -just as much to the support of the Federal Government as is paid by the -man who is worth tens of millions of dollars. - -Consequently the inevitable tendency of the tariff system is to create -a class which controls the government for its own enrichment; _in other -words, an aristocracy_. - -(3) Consider our corporation laws. Early in the history of our Government -Chief Justice John Marshall decided that a charter granted to a -corporation was a contract and could not be changed by the sovereign -power of the state. This decision was not good law, and no good lawyer -has ever considered it so. John Marshall had a great mind, but he -was one of the rankest partisans that ever lived. He stretched every -constitutional power in the effort to build up what Hamilton wanted—an -aristocracy of wealth. - -_Just as a natural person is born into a community and lives in it -subject to having his status changed by the will of the majority, -expressed in a legal way, so a corporation, born into a community through -its charter, should have been required to take the same chance of having -its status changed, in a legal way, by the will of the majority._ - -A railroad corporation comes to the legislature and procures a charter to -build a railroad; _but the state cannot compel the corporation to build -that railroad._ In other words, the state cannot compel the execution of -the powers granted under the charter; therefore _such a charter lacks the -very first element of a contract, because a contract is one in which each -party can be compelled to perform his part or pay consequent damages_. -But, in pursuance of the decision of John Marshall in the Dartmouth -College case, our state and national governments have erected a rule of -the corporations, and they are now more powerful than the governments -which created them. - -The great transportation companies exercise the power to tax, and the -people, who pay the taxes, have no representation in the councils of -those who levy the taxes. This surely constitutes an aristocracy of the -most powerful kind. - -The railroads have the power to tax the life out of any industry, out of -any section, out of any city or town; _with rebates and discriminations -they build up the Trusts which plunder the people_. - -By reason of the fact that they enjoy the privilege of taxing other -people, _they pay no Federal taxes to support the government_. Whatever -they may pay in the way of tariff on material which they use in the -construction of roadbeds and rolling stock, they simply charge up to -expense account and levy their rates so as to make the utmost possible -profit over and above what they have paid out. The public cannot escape -the freight rates and the passenger rates which the corporations levy. -The public cannot help itself. The public is made to pay, in those -freight and passenger rates, every dollar of tax which the railroads -have paid to the state and Federal governments. Therefore, as in the -case of the national banks and the manufacturers, we have a great class -of corporations given special powers by law which are exercised at the -expense of the masses of the people, and which escape all the burden -of supporting the national Government by reason of the immunities and -privileges which the law has made for their exclusive benefit. - -Here, then, we have a complete illustration of aristocracy—the government -of the few, by the few and for the few, instead of the ideal of Jefferson -and Lincoln, “government of the people, by the people and for the people.” - - * * * * * - -The man who makes a corner in wheat thinks he can relieve all the -suffering he caused by endowing a bed in a hospital. - - - - - _The Track Walker_ - - BY THEODORE DREISER - _Author of “Sister Carrie”_ - - - TRACK WALKER KILLED - - WESTFIELD, N. J., April 14.—John Long, a New Jersey Central - track walker, was killed by a train today. - -If you have nothing else to do some day when you are passing through -the vast network of tracks of, for example, the great railway running -northward out of New York, give a thought to the man who walks them for -you, the man on whom your safety, in this particular place, so much -depends. - -He is a peculiar individual. His work is so very exceptional, so very -different from your own. While you are sitting in your seat placidly -wondering whether you are going to have a pleasant evening at the theatre -or whether the business to which you are about to attend will be as -profitable as you desire, he is out on the long track over which you -are speeding, calmly examining the bolts that hold the shining metals -together. Neither rain nor sleet can deter him. The presence of intense -heat or intense cold has no effect on his labors. Day after day, at all -hours and in all sorts of weather, he may be seen placidly plodding these -iron highways, his wrench and sledge crossed over his shoulders, his eyes -riveted on the rails, carefully watching to see whether any bolts are -loose or any spikes sprung. Upward of two hundred cannon-ball flyers rush -by him on what might be called a four-track bowling alley each day, and -yet he dodges them all for perhaps as little as any laborer is paid. If -he were not watchful, if he did not perform his work carefully and well, -if he had a touch of malice or a feeling of vengefulness, he could wreck -your train, mangle your body and send you praying and screaming to your -Maker. There would be no sure way of detecting him. - -Death lurks in this tunnel. Here, if anywhere, it may be said to be -constantly watching. What with the noise, which is a perfect and -continuous uproar, the smoke, which hangs like a thick, gloomy pall over -everything, and the weak, ineffective lights which shine out on your near -approach like will-o’-the-wisps, the chances of hearing and seeing the -approach of any particular train are small. Side arches, or small pockets -in the walls, are provided for the protection of the men, but these are -not always to be reached in time when a train thunders out of the gloom. -If you look sharp you may sometimes see a figure crouching in one of -these as you scurry past. He is so close to the grinding wheels that the -dust and soot of them are flung into his very soul. - -And yet for all this the money that is paid these men is beggarly small. -The work that they do is not considered exceptionally valuable. Fifteen -cents an hour is all that they are paid, and this for ten to twelve -hours’ work every day. That their lives are in constant danger is not -of any point in the matter. They are supposed to work willingly for -this, and they do. Only when one is picked off and his body mangled by a -passing train is the grimness of the sacrifice emphasized, and then only -for a moment. The space which such accident gets in the public prints is -scarcely more than a line. - -And now what would you say of men who would do this work for fifteen -cents an hour? What estimate would you put on their mental capacity? -Would you say that they are only worth what they can be made to work -for? One of these men, an intelligent type of laborer, not a drinker, -and one who did not even smoke, attracted the writer’s attention by the -punctuality with which he crossed a given spot on his beat. He was a -middle-aged man, married, and had three children. Day after day, week -after week, he used to arrive at this particular spot, his eye alert, his -step quick, and when a train approached he seemed to become aware of it -as if by instinct. When finally asked by the writer why he did not get -something better to do he said, “I have no trade. Where could I get more?” - -This man was killed by a train. Sure as was his instinct and keen his -eye, he was nevertheless caught one evening, and at the very place where -he deemed himself most sure. His head was completely obliterated, and he -had to be identified by his clothes. When he was removed another eager -applicant was given his place, and now he is walking in the tunnel with a -half-dozen others. If you question these men they will all tell you the -same story. They do not want to do what they are doing, but it is better -than nothing. - - - - - _The House of Cards_ - - - So high I built it, high— - With love and tenderness to make it strong, - And thought me—foolish, blind— - That I should keep it all the ages long. - - So firm I built it, firm— - And joyed when raging storms around it blew - To see how stanch it stood, - My house of cards, in every part so true. - - So fair it was, so fair— - And how I loved it with its gables high - Piercing horizon’s rim, - And with the lark far to the quiet sky. - - So much I loved, so much— - I almost thought when close within its gate, - That Heaven had naught to give. - One dashed it down—and I am desolate. - - RUTH STERRY. - - - - - _Royal Road to Wealth_ - - -COBWIGGER—If you take advantage of your opportunities you will be in -comfortable circumstances. - -FREDDIE—What must you do in order to get rich, dad? - -COBWIGGER—Take advantage of other people’s opportunities. - - - - - _The Say of Other Editors_ - - - “A FREE BREAKFAST TABLE” - -The recent suggestion of a tariff tax on coffee, probably put out as a -feeler, is responsible for the resurrection and reintroduction of the -once familiar but never appropriate phrase at the head of this article. -It was never appropriate; it was always a sarcastic sneer, rather than a -statement of fact, because the memory of the most aged citizen runneth -not to the time when “a free breakfast table,” a breakfast table untaxed -as to itself, its equipment and the food and drink it bore, could be -found in any American home. At this time, under the tariff of 1897, what -could be more preposterously absurd than the notion that a tax on coffee -would be a decree of banishment for that alleged boon? - -The _Post_, being an advocate and defender of the policy of protection, -although a condemner and contemner of the outrages incident to the -stand-pat policy, is in no hurry to witness the advent of “a free -breakfast table”; but the _Post_ prefers that such a crass absurdity, -such a stinging satire as this old shibboleth, should be returned -forthwith to the dust and darkness from which it was dragged when the -coffee tax proposition appeared. - -The truth is, you go to breakfast clad in taxed garments, wearing no -single article that is not taxed in the tariff; you sit in a chair that -is taxed as to all the various materials that enter into it, and taxed -as a whole; the table itself is similarly taxed, and we can think of no -article on it that is free. Your tablecloth, your napkins and your napkin -rings are all in the tariff schedules. Your fish or meat, your vegetables -and fruit, your bread, your butter, your rolls, your griddle cakes, your -sugar and syrup, your salt, vinegar, pepper, mustard, olive oil and all -other condiments show up in the list of things taxed. So is it with your -china or other crockery, and your knives, forks and spoons. - -And your coffee is free only as to the raw bean. It is roasted over a -taxed fire and in a taxed roaster, is stored in taxed receptacles and -transported by taxed horses in taxed wagons; when retailed, it goes out -in taxed bags, to be deposited in other taxed vessels. Having been ground -in a taxed mill, your cook prepares it for the table by using a taxed -coffee pot. If you use cream in your “free” coffee you must use taxed -cream; if you use sugar in it you must use taxed sugar. - -This is the “free breakfast table” whose exit will come if a duty is -imposed on the raw coffee bean!—_Washington Post._ - - * * * * * - -That familiar old hymn, “In This Wheat By and Bye,” has lost its -attractions for Jawn W. Gates and his accomplices.—_New York American._ - - * * * * * - - FAR-SIGHTED CARLOS MORALES - -The United States is now in Santo Domingo; President Roosevelt, with a -stroke of the pen, has fixed Don Carlos Morales firmly in the saddle. -That cheerful and ingenious bandit begins to enjoy the unearned increment -of the “status quo.” He can read now with a smile of the erstwhile -terrible preparations of Jiminez and Barba. He can sit in his palace and -rake in 45 per cent. of the customs revenues of his republic, collected -for him and scrupulously accounted for. That was what Morales wanted, and -he is happy. Domestic malice, foreign levy—nothing can touch him further. - -If Cipriano Castro had one-tenth of the ingenuity of his brother bandit -of the black republic he would have seen long ago that his present -policy is foolish. Instead of making faces at the United States, Castro -should have been busy inducing the foreigners in his country to set up -a concurrent roar. He should have acknowledged the validity of claims -of any kind and to any amount, the bigger the better. Then, at the -psychological moment, he should have pointed to the imminent danger to -the Monroe Doctrine, and begged the United States to enter and preserve -order, collect his revenues and pay him a share of the proceeds. - -If there is any other Central or South American dictator who is shaky -on his pins, now is the time he should apply for relief. Let him take a -lesson from Morales and imitate that “prudent and far-seeing statesman.” -Forty-five per cent. of the revenues, in clean, hard coin, without work -or worry, is better than all the revenues with danger of revolution and -dismemberment. - -Step up, gentlemen! The United States has a big navy, and it has nothing -to do at home. Our duty is to protect our weak and struggling sister -republics, and now that the Senate is out of the way, we propose to do -it. We shall take right hold, and leave to the future the problem of how -to let go.—_Washington Post._ - - * * * * * - -A man was killed at Lancaster, Ontario, while trying to rob a bank. There -are still a few of the old-time robbers who have not learned that the -proper method of robbing a bank is to work from the inside.—_New York -American._ - - * * * * * - -A good sign of awakening conscience is evident by the protest from the -ministers against accepting Rockefeller’s money that has been wrested -from the people by indirection. The great success of the Standard Oil -robberies has spawned upon the country hundreds of such corporations that -plunder the public with even more skill than the Standard. If the church -accepts this donation it will be as fatal to it as the thirty pieces of -silver were to Judas. This protest against the gift by these ministers -is a most courageous act. The Standard Oil tactics may lose every one of -them their pulpits. The Standard Oil management will stoop to any kind -of dirty work to perpetuate the system. They are attempting now to ruin -Lawson, and, with all his astuteness and his millions of wealth to back -him, they may succeed in doing so. The people should stand by Lawson to a -man, and the congregations of these ministers that have dared to affront -Rockefeller should see that none of his poisoned arrows reach them.—_The -Forum, Denver, Col._ - - * * * * * - - CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION - -We hear much of Christian Civilization, but we do not see so much of it. -Let us consider briefly the Christian world: - -Russia—Anarchy, rapine, bloodshed, pauperism and starvation. - -Austro-Hungary—Disease, strife, strikes, poverty and pauperism of -millions. - -Italy—Overpopulation, dire poverty, with millions of the people actual -beggars, excessive taxation and a practically bankrupt treasury. - -England—Army of unemployed, a vast section of the population in a poverty -so appalling that it makes one’s heart bleed to read the details. - -Ireland—Practically a nation of paupers, not of their own volition -either, but as a result of evil laws and customs which have destroyed the -hopes of a gallant people. - -Spain—Once the proud leader of nations, reduced to the rags and sores of -Lazarus. - -United States—In the grasp of graft, the people being robbed of their -earnings at every turn by a lot of as conscienceless pirates as ever -scuttled a ship, and a government apparently impotent. - -Everywhere we find more or less the same evil conditions. - -Our so-called Christian Civilization is as much like the genuine article -as the Texas long-horn is like a thoroughbred Holstein.—_The Commonweal, -Atlanta, Ga._ - - * * * * * - -I interpret Dr. Osler to mean: Young man, get a move on you if you want -to amount to anything. If you are a failure at forty, you have missed -your vocation; your experience may serve you to good purpose, but if you -are dependent at sixty, why, “off with your head!”... - -Our President says it is very wicked for the mail-carriers to organize -and have a man lobby for them; still worse to organize and defeat a -Congressman who was blocking their efforts to get better wages and -conditions of employment. Why don’t the President call a halt on the -corporation lobby (some of them having known offices in Washington with -as many as ten clerks) who defeat men and measures. Let this be denied, -but we do know that corporations fix nominating conventions where -nominations are equivalent to election; especially naming those who say: -“I am in the hands of my friends.”—_Ohio Liberty Bell._ - - * * * * * - -The Government issues money and loans it to the national banks at -one-half of 1 per cent. per year. This is old party doctrine, for it -has prevailed under the rule of both old parties. The People’s Party -favors issuing the money direct to the people without the intervention of -banking corporations. On this question do you agree with the Populists or -old parties?—_Missouri World._ - - * * * * * - -Wouldn’t it be amusing if an individual owned the New York Post-Office, -paying sweatshop wages to letter-carriers, working them all hours, -discharging them without reason—putting girls in their places as much as -possible—and charging twenty-five cents for a letter halfway across the -continent? - -Wouldn’t it be beautiful if a J. P. Morgan or Mr. August Belmont of the -race-track _could_ own all the industries and real estate of New York? - -How nicely Mr. Morgan would capitalize such properties in Steel Trust -fashion! And what a nice time Mr. Belmont would have with the labor -unions! There would be plenty of work for strike-breakers. - -The American people believe in public ownership of all properties -actually created by the public—and public ownership they are going to -have.—_New York Evening Journal._ - - * * * * * - -The slave-owners of today do not realize that they own slaves. And the -slaves do not realize that they have owners. Formerly one man owned one, -a dozen or a hundred slaves. Occasionally even more than that. Now a -hundred thousand men each own a part of every slave. The great mass of -the people are slaves to unjust systems, and everyone who profits by -these systems is part owner of everyone who loses by them. If there -could be a partition suit and every slave owner be set apart his share, -the fact that there are slaves today, and millions of them, would be -quite plain. It would be found that this man owns fifty slaves, that man -a hundred and some as high as fifty thousand. Should the richest girl in -the United States be given white girls only as her share of the slaves, -she would have a thousand at least—a thousand white girl slaves. Some -persons are part slave and part free, because they get a little more -than the commonest kind of a living. Sixty million people in the United -States are either all or part slave, and the number who are all slave is -much greater than that of the black population in the days of chattel -slavery. This new slavery exists because the owners do not realize that -they are owners and the slaves do not realize that they are slaves. Years -ago Mrs. Emery, of Lansing, Mich., wrote a little book, entitled “The -Seven Financial Conspiracies Which Have Enslaved the American People.” -The way to freedom is financial legislation in the interest of the -people.—_Missouri World._ - - * * * * * - -The nation that prepares for war will sooner or later have war. We -get just anything we prepare for, and we get nothing else. Everything -that happens is a sequence; this happened today because you did that -yesterday.—_The Philistine._ - - * * * * * - -In 1896 Mr. Bryan had undisputed control of the organized Democracy and -was defeated. - -In 1900 he still had control, and was defeated worse than before. - -Now, let it be remembered that all the Western Populists, with their -newspaper press—including such strong and widely circulated papers as the -Nebraska _Independent_, supported him; and let it be further understood -that now and in the future he will get no support from Populists or the -Populist press; then figure out the lurid prospects Mr. Bryan has of -sweeping the country in 1908. - -Now, with this actual state of things confronting him, does anyone -believe that Mr. Bryan has any hope of reorganizing the shattered ranks -and disgraced leaders of the Democracy into a winning party in 1908? - -And, if he has no such hope—and in reason he cannot have—what is his -purpose putting so much into a cause that he knows is absolutely hopeless? - -We can see but one reason for Mr. Bryan’s course, and that is that he -intends to prevent the organization of a party that would unite the South -and West, and defeat the plutocracy, thus restoring the Government to the -original purpose of its great founders. - -Mr. Bryan will hold in party slavery a great many Democrats who do not -think—and unfortunately they are legion—and thus divide the men who -ought to stand together, as it is evident they must fall together, making -an easy victory for the Eastern money power.—_People’s Tribune, Prescott, -Ark._ - - * * * * * - -“On account of insufficient laws regulating the matter, and the utter -disregard of even these, hundreds of workmen, mostly foreigners, are -being killed each year in the steel mills, blast furnaces and coal mines.” - -Coroner Joseph G. Armstrong made this statement in addressing a jury in -the case of a man killed at the plant of the American Steel and Wire -Company. It was only a case of “another Hungarian killed in the mills,” -as the Coroner expressed it, but Adelbert Merle, the Austro-Hungarian -Consul-General in this city, backed by the Coroner, will appeal to the -state, and, if necessary, to the Federal authorities, to do something to -protect these men. - -“During the first month of my term,” said Coroner Armstrong, “one plant -alone, the Duquesne plant of the United States Steel Corporation, had -twelve separate fatalities. That was the number reported to this office. -How many more there were no one may ever know. I went to the officials of -the corporation and entered a complaint. Then an order was issued that -more care would have to be taken, and next month not a death was reported -from the Duquesne plant.” - -Said Consul-General Merle: - -“A very large number of the Hungarians employed in the mills are American -citizens, and some consideration should be given them on that account, if -not on the score of humanity. It is proposed to organize the Hungarians -and other foreigners who are voters and see if some action cannot be -secured in the legislature to compel the mill owners to give better -protection to the workmen.” - -“The number of fatalities which occur in the steel mills, the blast -furnaces and the coal mines in the Pittsburg district are never fully -reported,” said an attaché of the consulate. “Scarcely a month goes by -that we are not called upon to investigate the case of some workman who -is reported to us as having ‘disappeared.’ At present we are working on -two such cases. Both are identical as regards details. - -“The men were stationed at the top of blast furnaces owned by the United -States Steel Corporation to receive the cars of ore as they came up and -dump them. There is only a small bridge for them to stand on. One misstep -or awkward movement, and the man will follow the ore into the furnace. -The men are not missed until it is noticed that the cars are not being -dumped. No one knows what has become of them. Their coats and dinner -pails await them at the bottom of the elevator, but the men never come -to claim them. Then they are reported to have ‘disappeared.’ It is not -known positively that they have fallen into the furnace, but there can be -no other conclusion.” - -The officials of the steel mills say they will do anything in their power -to conduce to the safety of the men, and that the foremen in charge are -mainly responsible for any dereliction.—_New York World._ - - * * * * * - -If a man should loan money at one-half of 1 per cent., and borrow it back -at 8 per cent., and keep this up year after year, his family would have -no trouble in getting him put under guardianship. The people through -their Government are acting just as foolishly when they issue money to -national banks.... - -A billion and a half of taxes. Another billion and a half of railroad -charges. And a billion of interest, not counting the interest on public -and railroad debts. A total of four billion dollars. This is the sum the -people of the United States must pay each year whether money be scarce or -plentiful. Is it any wonder times get harder when money gets scarcer?... - -If the people could realize that their hard struggle to keep body and -soul together and at the same time lay by a little for old age—making -life a mere battle for existence—if they could realize that this struggle -is made necessary by the present systems, that prosperity is the natural -right of everyone who does his share of labor, they would be more easily -induced to vote against monopoly rule. Populists should endeavor to -dissatisfy the people with their present condition and show them that -they should be getting so much more out of life.—_Missouri World._ - - * * * * * - - LESE-MAJESTE - -Because a passing steamer did not regard it necessary to give a tow to -the _Sylph_ the other day some of the frenzied Republican newspapers of -the North seem to think there will be trouble with the skipper of the -afore-mentioned steamer when T. Roosevelt gets back to civilization. - -For the _Sylph_, they claim, is the President’s yacht, and certainly -there must be punishment, prompt and dire, for any rover of the high seas -who dares show lack of deep concern over her. - -Lèse-majesté with a vengeance! - -Of course, it does not occur to the frenzied Republican press that the -_Sylph_ is not the President’s yacht; that she is a vessel of the navy, -kept in commission at public expense, and should be used only for public -purposes; and that the President has no possible warrant in law for -keeping her at Washington or taking her out to sea for the personal -pleasure of himself or the members of his family. - -If the _Sylph_ is not needed in the active service of the country she -ought to be taken out of commission; if she is needed by the navy she -should be so used. In either event she is not the President’s yacht, nor -should she be utilized as such at public expense.—_Atlanta Constitution._ - - * * * * * - - AUTOMOBILE MANSLAUGHTER - -Within one week of the new season five persons have been killed by -automobiles in this city, not counting the young man who fell from the -“Seeing New York” omnibus. As many more have been very seriously hurt. - -The heartlessness of some speed-maddened votaries has been again -illustrated. There was the woman who in a Brooklyn street shrieked out: -“Go on quickly, Harry; the man is killed!” There is that young man of -the reckless rich class, whose autos are debited with two deaths and are -a terror to thousands living, caught again running at eighteen miles an -hour in the street. That “sports” might scorch to the Aqueduct races a -little girl in Elmhurst yielded up her young life. - -The man who drives his auto at dangerous speed is as responsible morally -for the death he thereby causes as one would be who should fire a -revolver at random down the same street and by “accident” kill a victim. - -Manslaughter by automobile will continue until it is punished as severely -as other manslaughter, and until the certain penalty of illegal speeding -is jail, not for the driver, but for the owner.—_New York World._ - - * * * * * - -Mr. Thomas Lawson has tumbled from his lofty pedestal. Multiplied -thousands of people in this goodly land of ours were venerating him, were -reverencing him—some of them just about beginning to worship him. But he -has proven himself to be only common clay. He was leading the van against -the iniquities of “frenzied finance,” exposing the chicanery, the fraud, -the swindling, the downright stealing every day perpetrated in the Stock -Exchange dealings, the manipulation of stocks and bonds and the fleecing -of the lambs. Now comes the news that in December last he made in stock -speculations, as a votary at the altar of “frenzied finance,” $1,500,000, -and in this mild and gentle month of April the comfortable figure of -$1,000,000. Alas, alas! and lackaday! He was only human after all. His -wings had not even begun to sprout. - - Imperious Cæsar, dead and turned to clay, - Might stop a hole to keep the wind away. - - —_Southern Mercury._ - - * * * * * - -If Bryan, Hearst and Dunne should succeed in raising the old hulk of -Democracy, Cleveland, Hill and Gorman will scuttle it again. Better come -out, boys, and take a new ship.... - -Dr. Washington Gladden is not going to let the Rockefeller gift rest. -He says it is the right and duty of every American citizen to sit in -judgment on Rockefeller and his methods.—_Forum, Denver._ - - * * * * * - -Judge A. B. Parker, in a speech in New York “Jefferson Day,” said the -“defeat of the Democratic Party was emphasized by the unprecedented -expenditure of money.” Everybody knows that there was not one-fifth as -much used by the Republicans to defeat him as there was to defeat Bryan. -Perhaps he meant the “unprecedented” use of money to secure him the -nomination. What else could he mean?—_The Jeffersonian, Thomson, Ga._ - - * * * * * - -Stand for the referendum in the management of the business of the -Farmers’ Union. By this means you will do away with the boss, especially -the political boss. Demand the right to settle your own affairs, and do -not leave it to self-constituted leaders.—_The Watchman, Cleburne, Tex._ - - - - - _News Record_ - - FROM APRIL 7 TO MAY 7, 1905 - - - _Government and Politics_ - -April 8.—President Roosevelt made the last speech of his present trip, -and left Texas for Oklahoma to hunt. - - The South and Central American governments allege to Secretary - Taft that discrimination in freight rates by the Panama - Railroad has restricted direct trade with the United States. - -April 9.—President Roosevelt reaches Oklahoma, where he will hunt wolves -for a few days. - -April 10.—Pension Commissioner Warner discovers a number of pensioners on -the rolls who have never served in the United States Army. - - Judge Edward F. Dunne is installed Mayor of Chicago. - - Commissioner of Corporations Garfield reaches Kansas to begin - an investigation of Standard Oil operations. - - The United States Marshal at Chicago seizes six trunks full of - records and accounts of the Etna Trading Company, which are - said to contain damaging evidence against the Beef Trust. - - The United States Supreme Court decides that the right of trial - by jury extends to Alaska. - -April 11.—The Legislative Investigation Committee, which is making an -investigation of the lighting plants of New York City, has subpœnaed -Mayor McClellan, Charles F. Murphy and other well-known politicians to -appear before the committee. - - President Castro refuses to withdraw the asphalt cases from the - Venezuelan courts, claiming that the courts of Venezuela have - jurisdiction over such matters. - - Secretary Shaw defends the “drawback” on Canadian wheat. - - United States Senator Mitchell, of Oregon, pleads not guilty to - indictments in connection with land frauds in that state. - -April 12.—The Executive Committee of the Panama Canal Commission holds -its first meeting in Washington, and decides to abolish preferential -freight rates on the Panama Railroad. - - Clarence E. Darrow is appointed special corporation counsel to - have charge of street railway litigation in Chicago. - -April 13.—Four employees of the Beef Trust indicted by the Federal Grand -Jury in Chicago for opposing a deputy marshal in serving subpœnas. - - Judge Alton B. Parker and Mayor McClellan are the principal - speakers at the New York Jefferson Day banquet. They both urge - harmony and conservatism. - - At the Chicago Jefferson dinner Mr. Bryan and Mayor Dunne urge - Government control of public utilities. - - Secretary Taft informs the South American Ministers that the - United States will maintain the open door in the Panama Canal - Zone. - - Senator Burton, of Kansas, again indicted for acting as - attorney for the Rialto Grain and Securities Company before the - Post-Office Department at Washington. - - President Roosevelt leaves Oklahoma for Colorado. - -April 16.—The Legislative Investigation Committee inspects the lighting -plants of New York City. - - National Congress of Women demands equality of the sexes. - - The United States agents who were to investigate the land - frauds in Utah have been relieved of duty, undue influence - being charged. - -April 17.—Secretary Taft formally takes over the Panama Railway Company -for the United States Government. - - The Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce begins a hearing on - railroad rates at Washington. - - The United States Supreme Court decides that the New York law - limiting the working hours of bakers to ten hours per day is - unconstitutional. - -April 18.—Sherman Bell, late Adjutant-General of Colorado, has been -offered the command of the army of Venezuela. - - V. L. Morawetz, general counsel for the Atchison, Topeka & - Santa Fé Railroad, testifies before the Interstate Commerce - Committee. - - The American Asphalt Company asks the United States to obtain - from Venezuela the restoration of its properties until the - courts can decide the question of title. - -April 19.—Mayor McClellan and Comptroller Grout appear before the New -York Legislative Investigation Committee and testify about the light -contracts for New York City. - - Mr. Hunter, the builder of the Manchester Canal, has been - selected as one of the consulting engineers by the Panama Canal - Board. - -April 20.—Charles F. Murphy denies that he has any interest in the -lighting contracts for the city of New York. - - Judge Grosscup makes permanent an order restraining the city of - Chicago from enforcing the interchangeable transfer ordinance. - -April 21.—The Legislative Committee ends its investigation in New York -City. No finding has been made public, though it is understood that there -will be a reduction of about 25 per cent. in the cost of lights. - - Secretary Hitchcock dismisses eight clerks from the Indian - warehouse in New York for misuse of Government funds. - - United States Cruiser _Tacoma_ goes to Santo Domingo to protect - American interests there. - - The Executive Committee of the Panama Canal Commission gives a - contract for twenty-four locomotives. - -April 22.—The Government summons several Chicago bank officials to -testify against the Beef Trust. - -April 23.—At a Prohibition meeting in Texas Congressman Pinckney is -killed and several others seriously wounded. - -April 24.—United States Supreme Court issues mandate for the removal of -George W. Bates to Washington for trial on postal fraud charges. - - Walter D. Heine makes an argument before the Interstate - Commerce Committee against the regulation of railroad rates by - the Government. - -April 25.—Beef Trust sends papers and books wanted by the Chicago Grand -Jury to Canada. - - Secretary Taft announces that the Government’s acquisition - of the Panama Railway was not for the purpose of affecting - railroad or ocean rates, but for the purpose of acquiring an - instrument with which to construct the canal. - - Eight thousand men are now employed on the Panama Canal, and - this force is being added to at the rate of 800 to 1,000 per - month. - - The Attorney-General holds that the agreement between the - Government and certain railroads for rebates is valid. - - It is believed in Washington that reductions must be made in - the present tariff schedules to meet the deficit in the Federal - Treasury. - -April 26.—Negotiations for an immigration treaty between the United -States and China have been abandoned. - - Postmaster-General Cortelyou notifies the Assistant Postmaster - at Louisville that he must resign as postmaster or as a member - of the State Republican Committee. - - Mr. Bowen, the American Minister to Venezuela, charges that - former Minister Loomis, now Assistant Secretary of State, - accepted a check from the American Asphalt Company for $10,000 - for services rendered. Mr. Bowen has made his charges in - writing to the President. - -April 27.—Minister Bowen will be ordered to return from Venezuela to -substantiate his charges against Assistant Secretary of State Loomis. - -April 29.—Mr. Loomis denies charges made by Mr. Bowen against him and -files charges against Mr. Bowen. - - W. W. Russell, American Minister to Colombia, succeeds Mr. - Bowen as Minister to Venezuela. - -May 3.—J. J. Hill testifies before the Senate interstate Commerce -Committee that Government control of railroad rates will be disastrous. - - Federal Grand Jury subpœnas thirty representatives of the - Traffic Departments of different railroads to testify in the - Beef Trust investigation. - -May 5.—The Federal Grand Jury for the District of New York begins an -investigation of the Tobacco Trust’s business methods. - - Attorney-General Moody holds that the Government can legally - regulate railroad rates. - - Governor-General Davis stricken with fever. Secretary Taft - orders him to leave Panama and return home. - -May 6.—President Roosevelt ends his hunting trip in Colorado and starts -for Washington. - - - _General Home News_ - -April 9.—After a fight covering twenty years and costing millions of -dollars, the Bell Telephone Company has been whipped by the rural lines -in Iowa and forced to connect with them. - - Several hundred sailors belonging to the North Atlantic - squadron desert at Pensacola. - -April 10.—J. H. Hyde and W. H. McIntyre, of the Equitable Insurance -Company, are seeking to intervene in the suit of Franklin B. Lord, a -stockholder, for an injunction to restrain the officers of the company -from carrying out the mutualization plan. - -April 11.—The Grand Jury of Franklin County, Ky., returns four hundred -true bills against the Standard Oil Company for failing to procure -peddlers’ license as required by the Kentucky statutes. - - The Prudential Committee of the American Board of Commissioners - for Foreign Missions formally accepts the gift of $100,000 - from John D. Rockefeller and issues a statement explaining its - action. - -April 13.—Father Schell, a young Catholic priest who has done much to -put a stop to dishonest land agents swindling the Winnebago Indians, is -assaulted and severely beaten. - -April 14.—“General” Jacob S. Coxey, of “Coxey’s Army,” declared a -bankrupt. - -April 15.—J. H. Hyde admits using Equitable funds for underwriting -purposes, but declares that President Alexander was a party to such -transactions. - -April 18.—Beef Trust again raises the prices of meats. - -April 19.—General Managers and Agents of the Equitable meet in New York -and ask Vice-President Hyde to withdraw from the society in the interest -of harmony. - -April 20.—Unloading 5,000,000 bushels of wheat on the Chicago market -breaks the corner, and John W. Gates is supposed to have lost $2,000,000. - - Mrs. Donald McLean, of New York, is elected President-General - of the Daughters of the American Revolution. - -April 21.—Eleven thousand nine hundred and fifty-five immigrants arrive -at Ellis Island in one day, establishing a new record. - - Hyde refuses agents’ request to resign from the Equitable. - - Policyholders in the Equitable ask the Circuit Court in Chicago - for a receiver and an accounting. - -April 24.—Frank Bigelow, President of the First National Bank of -Milwaukee, embezzles $2,400,000 of the bank’s funds. - -April 26.—D. Le Roy Dresser sues the promoters of the United States -Shipbuilding Company for $3,000,000, alleging fraud in its formation. - -April 27.—Andrew Carnegie gives $10,000,000 to pension retired college -professors. - -April 28.—The strike of the teamsters in Chicago has developed into the -worst since the famous Debs strike eleven years ago. - - Judge Kohlsaat, in the Federal Court, grants a temporary - injunction against the strikers on the request of the - Employers’ Teaming Association. - -April 29.—Laredo, Tex., wiped off the map by a cyclone. - -May 3.—The American Railway Appliance Exhibition is formally opened at -Washington. - - The strike in Chicago continues. - -May 4.—The Federal Grand Jury, at Jackson, Miss., indicts 300 for -whitecapping, the specific charges being the intimidation of Government -homesteaders. - - Police of Chicago ask the Sheriff of Cook County to aid them in - quelling riots. - - International congress of railways formally opened at - Washington by Vice-President Fairbanks. - -May 5.—On account of the teamsters’ strike, a food and fuel famine is -feared in Chicago. - -May 6.—Employers in Chicago accuse the police of siding with the union -men in the present strike. - - The largest floating drydock in the world is completed at the - Maryland Steel Works yards for the United States Government. - The dock will be towed to the Philippines after it is tested. - -May 7.—Twelve thousand and thirty-nine immigrants, chiefly Italians, -reach New York. - - - _Russo-Japanese War_ - -April 8.—The Russian Baltic fleet, in command of Admiral Rojestvensky, -reaches the China Sea. - -April 11.—A battle expected between the fleets of Rojestvensky and Togo. -Japan makes Formosa a naval base and closes the port of Kelung. - - Tokio reports that Japan expects to have 1,000,000 men in the - field before November. - -April 13.—The Russians strengthen Vladivostok and prepare for a long -siege. - -April 14.—The Russian hospital ship _Orel_, bearing the sick of -Rojestvensky’s fleet, after taking on board coal, provisions and medical -supplies, leaves Saigon, Cochin China. - - Eighteen vessels of the Russian Baltic fleet enter Kamranh Bay, - Cochin China. - -April 15.—Japanese say Togo will not attack the Russian fleet until he -is confident of being able to annihilate it. - -April 16.—Japan proclaims defense zones surrounding the Pescadore, -Okinawa, Oshima and Emi islands. - - Captured Japanese spies place the Japanese armies at 400,000 - and the losses in Mukden battles at 100,000. - -April 17.—The Russian fleet reported at Kamranh Bay taking on supplies. - -April 18.—The Russian fleet reported off the Philippines and the Japanese -near Sampaloc. - -April 19.—Japan makes vigorous protest to France against the use of -French ports by the Russians. - - Situation in Manchuria unchanged. Occasional light skirmishes. - Japs victorious in small engagements along the Yalu. - - Despatches from Harbin state that Chinese bandits have made - frequent attempts to cut the railroad. - -April 20.—France assures Japan that she will remain neutral. Czar orders -Rojestvensky to leave Kamranh Bay. - -April 21.—France instructs her agents in Indo-China to assure the -neutrality of France in Indo-Chinese waters. - - Russian fleet leaves Kamranh Bay. - -April 23.—The Russian Government places orders with the Krupps for 1,000 -guns. - -April 24.—The rainy season in Manchuria has increased the infectious -cases in the Russian army. - - The movements of both the Japanese and Russian fleets closely - guarded. - -April 25.— Admiral Nebogatoff, in command of the second Russian Pacific -squadron, reaches the China Sea to join forces with Rojestvensky. - - The Russian General Staff gives the losses in the battle of - Mukden, from February 19 to March 19, as two generals, 1,985 - staff and other officers, 87,677 men, of whom the greater - number were wounded; thirty-two guns and no siege artillery or - ammunition carts. - -April 26.—Rojestvensky cuts the Hainan cable to conceal his movements. - -April 27.—Rojestvensky’s fleet drawn up outside Kamranh Bay, awaiting the -arrival of Nebogatoff’s division of the Russian Pacific squadron. - -May 6.—Marshal Oyama extends his lines on the Russian right wing. - - Russian torpedo boat destroyers sink a Japanese sailing vessel. - - - _General Foreign News_ - -April 8.—Four hundred persons are killed or wounded by the collapse of a -reservoir in Madrid, Spain. - - The Newfoundland Lower House passes a bill to exclude American - vessels from Newfoundland fisheries. - -April 9.—The estimated number of lives lost in the earthquake in India is -15,000. - -April 10.—Joseph H. Choate, the American Ambassador to Great Britain, has -been elected a “Master of the Bench of the Middle Temple.” - -April 11.—Captain Volpert, of the French army, has been arrested, charged -with complicity in a military plot to overthrow the present regime. - - Baron de Constant makes a speech in the French Senate in favor - of international military and naval disarmament. - - Russian lawyers pass resolutions favoring a constitution and - universal suffrage. - -April 12.—A congress of lawyers held at St. Petersburg sets on foot a -movement to democratize the Russian Government. - - Under the terms of a commercial treaty being negotiated between - Germany and Morocco, it is said Germany will gain the most - favored nation guarantees in Morocco. - -April 13.—The Premier of Newfoundland inserts a clause in the -anti-American fishing bill reserving the power of suspension. This was -done on account of the pending Bond-Hay treaty. - - All but one nation have accepted President Roosevelt’s - invitation to a second peace conference. - -April 14.—The body of Admiral John Paul Jones is unearthed in Paris. - - Czar of Russia consents to consider a savings bank and land - purchase scheme for the peasants. - - The workers in the porcelain factories at Limoges, France, - have decided to strike. The factories are owned by Americans, - and they have raised the American flag over the factories to - protect their property. - -April 15.—The French Chamber of Deputies adopts final clause of second -section of bill separating state and church. - -April 16.—General strike on all railroads in Italy. - - Henry White, the new Ambassador to Italy, is received by King - Victor Emmanuel. - - Laborers on sugar plantations in Porto Rico strike. - -April 17.—Plans for the extension of zemstvo governments to Siberia and -Finland have been inaugurated by the Czar of Russia. - -April 18.—Negotiations begun for new treaty between Germany and China. - - Fights between strikers and soldiers at Limoges, France. Three - strikers killed and ninety-eight soldiers wounded. - - Troops fire on Italian railway strikers, killing three and - wounding many. - - Russian Government gives large order for American submarine - boats. - - Kaleieff, the assassin of Grand Duke Sergius, sentenced to - death. - - Among a band of Terrorists arrested in St. Petersburg is a - niece of Governor-General Trepoff. She recently fired two shots - at her uncle. - - Riot in San Juan, Porto Rico, between strikers and police. - -April 19.—Italian Chamber of Deputies adopts a bill providing for -government control of all railroads in Italy. - -April 21.—The Italian Government promises reforms in railroad management -and the strikers return to work. - -April 22.—The Emperor and Empress of Germany, on the imperial yacht -_Hohenzollern_, are cruising in the Adriatic. It is reported that the -Emperor is in very bad health. - -April 23.—Pope Pius X celebrates full mass before a large congregation. - - The Emperor of Germany delivers Easter sermon on the imperial - yacht. - -April 24.—On memorial of Wu Ting Fang, ex-Minister to United States, -imperial edict makes sweeping reforms in Chinese criminal code. - -April 25.—The Sultan’s troops have been defeated by the Arabs at Aden. - - At Barisoff 2,000 Russian soldiers mutiny, smashing Red Cross - cars and pillaging shops. - -April 26.—Charles M. Schwab is awarded contract to rebuild the Russian -navy. - - Many guns on British warships found to be worthless. - - Germany ready to begin negotiations with the United States for - a new commercial treaty based on reciprocity. - -April 27.—General Kolzoff appointed Governor-General of Moscow. - -April 28.—Encounter between insurgents and gendarmes in the province of -Kissamos excites Crete. - - In the Cuban Senate President Palma discloses the fact that the - United States had intervened in behalf of American firms with - whom contracts had been made for sanitary work on the island. - -May 3.—Trouble continues throughout Poland. - -May 4.—In Warsaw the Socialists enforce the observance of a day of -mourning for the victims of the May Day riots. - - Cossacks fire on people attending Roman Catholic Church at - Lodz, killing seven persons. - -May 5.—Mr. Choate, the American Ambassador to England, is given a -farewell dinner at the Mansion House in London. - - Zemstvo Congress opens in St. Petersburg. - -May 6.—A plot discovered in Madrid, Spain, to make an independent state -out of the territory of Cunani, Brazil. - - Police break up congress of engineers in St. Petersburg. - -May 7.—Tokio papers make bitter attack on France, alleging that France is -violating her pledges of neutrality. - - Despatch from Moscow states zemstvos have split over universal - suffrage. - - - _Obituary_ - -April 7.—Edward Floyd DeLancey, a New York lawyer and historian, dies, -aged 83. - - General Cullen A. Battle, of the Confederate army, aged 76. - -April 9.—Miss Sarah Chauncey Wadsworth (“Susan Coolidge”), aged 60. - - Chief-Justice Jesse Knight, of the Wyoming Supreme Court, aged - 55. - -April 10.—Judge Lawrence Weldon, of the United States Court of Claims, -aged 76. - -April 15.—General John Palmer, former Secretary of State of New York, -aged 63. - - Ex-Congressman Halbert E. Paine, of Wisconsin, aged 80. - -April 21.—Senator O. H. Platt, of Connecticut, aged 78. - -April 23.—Joseph Jefferson, one of the best known actors on the American -stage, aged 76. - -April 28.—General Fitzhugh Lee, soldier, statesman and diplomat, aged 68. - - - - - _The Paramount Issue_ - - -“Ar-har!” wrathfully ejaculated the honest agriculturist, who had -detected a gentleman of color in the act of embezzling sundry of his -hens at the dead hour of night. “So I’ve ketched you, you infernal black -rascal, have I? Well, now, what have you got to say for yerself?” - -“What I has to say fuh muhse’f,” replied the colored brother, with -overpowering dignity, “am a plenty, sah; and when I feels declined to say -it, I sho’ly says it loud and coa’se! I may be black, sah, as yo’se’f -has done specified, sah, and comin’ plumb down to the pinch I mought be -infernal, and all dat; but I neber was one ob dese yeah moufy pussons, -sah, dat am allus pow-powin’ about deirse’fs. Nussah! nussah! De question -dat am digitatin’ de American people at de present time ain’ whedder I’s -black or blue or green or yaller, sah, but what about de trusts?—dat’s de -burnin’ prognostication, sah, _what about de trusts?_” - - - - - TOM WATSON’S MAGAZINE ADVERTISER - - -$10500 in Prizes - -[Illustration] - -IT LOOKS EASY. CAN YOU DO IT? - -How Soon will the Hour, Minute and Second Hands Again Appear Equal -Distances Apart? - -To popularize the name of the Ingersoll Dollar Watch, to get it on every -tongue from ocean to ocean, it has been decided to offer 10,000 Ingersoll -Watches to 10,000 people who can send us the correct solution of this -problem before September 1, 1905. - -SAM LOYD’S _Ingersoll_ WATCH PROBLEM - -It is the latest and cleverest problem by Sam Loyd, the world’s greatest -puzzle genius, originator of “Pigs in Clover,” “How Old is Ann,” and -other brilliant brain-teasers. - -We hope through this widespread discussion to bring out the fact that the -Ingersoll Watch is a practical timepiece, adequate to every requirement -of nine-tenths of the American people because it is accurate and reliable. - -No entry conditions are imposed. Send your solution right in. - -The _full_ problem is stated above and no further information can be -given in fairness to all contestants. $500.00 in cash prizes in addition -is offered to owners of Ingersoll Watches. - -If you send 2c. stamp with solution you will receive acknowledgment of -your answer, and a formal entry blank and conditions; or for 10c. the -above and Sam Loyd’s book of celebrated puzzles. - -Awards will be made in accordance with the correct solution furnished by -Sam Loyd, which is locked in our safe, inaccessible to any one. - -Ingersoll Watches are sold by 50,000 dealers throughout the country, or -postpaid by us for =$1.00=. Booklet free. - -Insist on an INGERSOLL—the name is on dial. _Fully guaranteed._ - -ROBT. H. INGERSOLL & BRO., 43 Jewelers’ Court, New York, N. Y. - - * * * * * - -Have You Had My Free Lesson in Jiu-Jitsu? - -If you do not already know that Jiu-Jitsu is the most wonderful system of -physical training and self-defense in the world to-day I invite you to -write for my =FREE LESSON= and demonstrate this to your own satisfaction. - -[Illustration: YAE KICHI YABE, Late of the Ten-Shin Ryu School of Japan.] - -It is to the persistent practice of Jiu-Jitsu that the Japanese owe their -courage and success in battle, their almost superhuman strength and power -of endurance, their low death rate and their material progress. Surely a -system of physical training which has done so much for the Island Nation -will interest you. Jiu-Jitsu not only embodies the ideal principles of -attaining perfect health and perfect physical development, but as a means -of self-defense it is as potent at short range as the deadliest weapon. -A knowledge of its self-preserving principles renders a man or woman -impregnable to every form of vicious attack. - -Jealously Guarded Secrets Revealed. - -For over two thousand years the principles of Jiu-Jitsu have been -religiously guarded. By an imperial edict the teaching of the system -was forbidden outside of Japan. The friendly feeling, however, existing -between Japan and the United States has been instrumental in releasing -Jiu-Jitsu from its oath-bound secrecy, and I have been delegated to -teach, without reserve, all the secrets of this ancient art to Americans. - -I have just written an intensely interesting book which explains and -makes clear the principles of Jiu-Jitsu in a manner which will never be -approached by any American writer. So long as the edition lasts this -book, together with my first lesson in Jiu-Jitsu, will be sent free to -interested persons. The lesson is fully illustrated and teaches one of -the most effective methods known for disposing of a dangerous antagonist. - -If you desire to learn all the closely guarded secrets of this marvelous -science send your name and address, and you will receive the book and -specimen lesson by return mail, postage paid. - -Address YAE KICHI YABE, 192T Realty Bldg., Rochester, N. Y. - - * * * * * - -YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO MISS A SINGLE COPY OF - -THE ARENA - -An Illustrated Review of Twentieth Century Thought - -B. O. FLOWER, Editor - -While THE ARENA discusses the great questions of the day in the domains -of Ethics, Education, Religion, Philosophy, Science and Art, especial -attention is given to - -Political, Social and Economic Problems - -as they relate in a vital way to the fundamental principles and demands -of pure democracy. - -A Few Notable Features of the JUNE Issue: - -=Municipal Black Plague.= By RUDOLPH BLANKENBURG. The sixth of the series -of papers on the corruption of politics in Pennsylvania. - -=Our Commerce with Latin America.= By Prof. FREDERIC M. NOA. - -=In Prison and in Exile: Experiences of a Russian Student.= Edited by -WILLIAM LEE HOWARD, M.D. - -=Juggling with Facts and Figures about Transportation; or, How the -Railway Interests and their Special Pleaders are Seeking to Deceive the -People.= By W. G. JOERNS. - -=Rise, Mighty Anglo-Saxons!= By KATRINA TRASK (Mrs. Spencer Trask). - -=Beauty and Light.= By KENYON WEST. A plea for a sane and wholesome drama. - -=The Divorce Question: A Lawyer’s View.= By ERNEST DALE OWEN. - -=Frederic Opper: A Cartoonist of Democracy.= One of the series of -illustrated sketches of the leading cartoonists. By B. O. FLOWER. - -=The Building of the City Beautiful.= A serial by JOAQUIN MILLER. - -THE ARENA is one of the largest and handsomest original reviews of -opinion in the English-speaking world. Each issue contains a number -of full-page half-tones printed in sepia ink on India-tint paper. In -addition to the regular contributions, there are several popular special -departments, including Editorials, The Mirror of the Present, Book -Studies, and Reviews of the best books of the day. - -Place an order immediately with your newsdealer for a copy every month, -or enter your subscription at once. We have a few copies of the previous -issues on hand, and they may be ordered through your newsdealer or the -publisher. Don’t fail to attend to this matter NOW. - -25 Cents a Copy - -Subscriptions, $2.50 Net a Year (Foreign Subscriptions, 12s. 6d.) - -ALBERT BRANDT, Publisher - -TRENTON, N. J. - -BOSTON, MASS. - - * * * * * - -COSTS YOU NOTHING TO TRY - -We want _every_ smoker in the country to _know_ our FEDORA Panetela, the -finest cigar for the least money that any cigar factory ever produced. - -It has made so many satisfied customers for us, presents such a rare -bargain that we know that even the tens of thousands of smokers now -regularly using it are but a small part of those who would smoke this -cigar _right along_ if only they were acquainted with it. - -Therefore, we make you a _special proposition_ entirely different from -our regular plan, so that everyone may improve this exceptional chance -and do even better than SAVE HALF YOUR CIGAR MONEY. - -The FEDORA Panetela is made of fine, _pure_, clear _Havana_ filler, -wrapped in the highest grade _imported Sumatra_. - -Guaranteed equal to any ten-cent cigar at retail, or any -five-dollar-per-hundred cigar advertised. Let the cigars _themselves_ -prove all this. If they do not, the expense is _all_ ours. - -[Illustration: Photo of FEDORA Panetela. Exact Size.] - -OUR SPECIAL PROPOSITION.—For a limited time we will send =100= FEDORA -Panetelas, all Transportation Prepaid, to any responsible smoker sending -us his letter head or business card. Smoke ten cigars from _any_ part of -the box. If you don’t like them, you agree to send back the 90 at _our -expense_ within 10 days, or else remit =$4.50= within thirty days. - -Our beautiful catalogue, “Rolled Reveries,” sent free for the asking. - -=JOHN B. ROGERS & CO.=, “The Pioneers” - -874 Jarvis Street, BINGHAMTON, N. Y. - - * * * * * - -_⅓ the cost_ - -For Coal (even less in many cases) is the claim made for the -Peck-Williamson UNDERFEED Furnace. - -This claim is made by— - - Well known people— - Living in the coldest sections— - After the severest tests. - -A recent correspondent, referring to our UNDERFEED, stated: - -“_I have used it for the past two winters heating ten rooms and an upper -hall at a cost of $35 per annum._” - -Hundreds of such letters come to us. - -In the Peck-Williamson UNDERFEED Furnace a ton of cheapest grade of -coal is made to produce as much heat as a ton of the most costly grade; -the coal is fed from below and the fire is on top—the rational way; the -gases and smoke do not escape up the chimney as they do in ordinary -furnaces, but are consumed as they pass up through the fire; immunity -from gas, smoke and dirt; less ashes and no clinkers; simple and strong -in construction, easy to operate. - -Let us send you FREE our UNDERFEED Book and fac-simile voluntary letters -proving every claim we make. - -THE PECK-WILLIAMSON CO., 367 W. Fifth Street, Cincinnati, O. - -Dealers are invited to write for our very attractive proposition. - -[Illustration: The PECK-WILLIAMSON Co. UNDERFEED FURNACE] - - * * * * * - -I WOULD LIKE - -To meet those suffering with - -CANCER - -FACE TO FACE - -[Illustration] - -I would convince them that my method of treating cancer and tumor by -absorption (nature’s way) far excels the old method of the knife and -burning plasters. No pain or suffering as in the former method, but in -its place soothing, balmy oils. Consult me in person or by mail before -submitting to barbarous methods. Most cases are cured at home. My -illustrated book sent free, giving hundreds of testimonials from the best -people on earth. - -Address Dr. BENJ. F. BYE, 301 North Illinois St., Indianapolis, Ind. - -The above is my only office. All branches are closed. - - * * * * * - -CHASE’S MAGAZINE - -TO INTRODUCE CHASE’S MAGAZINE WE GIVE FOUNTAIN PEN, GOLD POINT, HARD -RUBBER FANCY CARVED BARREL. A PERFECT FLOW OF INK, OR REFUND MONEY. -ALL FOR - -=45 CENTS= - -[Illustration] - -=PEN and Magazine 3 Months= - -A STANDARD SIZE MAGAZINE. 150 PAGES OF STORIES. ILLUSTRATED ARTICLES. -ADDRESS: C. G. CHASE CO., No. 500, TERRE HAUTE, IND. - -CHASE’S is an illustrated monthly Magazine of the standard size, -containing current events and the best of short stories. - -The following is a partial list of contributors: - - GERTRUDE ATHERTON - A. E. MASON - C. R. ROBBINS - ADA WOODRUFF ANDERSON - HELEN STORMS - -Yearly Subscription, $1.00 per Year - -Sample Copies, 10 Cents - -_For sale by all newsdealers_ - -C. G. CHASE COMPANY - -500 Main Street TERRE HAUTE, IND. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: Inspiration Point] - -Colorado Utah AND THE Pacific Coast BEST REACHED VIA THE MISSOURI PACIFIC -RY. - -_OBSERVATION PARLOR CAFE DINING CARS, MEALS A LA CARTE, AND PULLMAN -SLEEPING CARS WITH ELECTRIC LIGHTS & FANS_ - -_DOUBLE DAILY SERVICE_ - -_NO CHANGE OF CARS TO CALIFORNIA_ - -_LOW EXCURSION RATES_ - -[Illustration: VIEW ON THE C.S. & C.E. SHORT LINE] - - * * * * * - -If BALDNESS and FALLING HAIR were caused by DISEASE - -physicians would have long ago found a remedy. Tonics and lotions -applied to the outside of the scalp do soften the hair—but that’s all. -By exercising the arms, we build up muscle—_not_ by outside applications -of medicine. The arms, the body and the lower limbs can be exercised at -will—but the _scalp_ requires mechanical aid. Exercise makes the blood -circulate, lack of exercise makes it stagnant. The Vacuum method is the -kind of exercise that makes the blood circulate. It gently draws the -rich blood to the scalp and feeds the shrunken hair roots. This causes -the hair to grow. It is the simple, common-sense principle of physical -culture applied to the scalp. - -Our Guarantee (backed by the Bank): - -We will send you, by prepaid express, an Evans Vacuum Cap, allowing you -ample time to prove its virtue, and all we ask of you is to deposit the -price of the appliance in the Jefferson Bank of St. Louis during the -trial period, subject to _your own order_. If you do not cultivate a -sufficient growth of hair to convince you that this method is effective, -simply notify the bank and they will return your deposit. - -A sixteen-page book, illustrated, will be sent you free. - -[Illustration] - -Evans Vacuum Cap Co. - -669 Fullerton Building - -St. Louis - - * * * * * - -EYEGLASSES NOT NECESSARY - -Eyesight Can Be Strengthened and All Forms of Diseased Eyes Cured Without -Cutting or Drugging. - -[Illustration] - -That the eyes can be strengthened so that eyeglasses can be dispensed -with in the great majority of cases has been proven beyond a doubt by the -testimony of thousands of people who have been cured by that wonderful -little instrument called “Actina.” Actina also cures sore and granulated -lids, Glaucoma, Iritis, &c., also removes Cataracts and Pterygiums, -without cutting or drugging. Over seventy thousand Actinas have been -sold, therefore it is not an experiment, but an absolute fact. The -following letters are but samples of those that are received daily:— - - Mrs. M. E. Champney, 242 West 135th st., New York City, - writes:—“The ‘Actina’ cured me of Iritis, after the doctors - said there was no cure outside an operation. I have been - entirely well for over four months, can see to read and sew - as well as before. I can honestly recommend ‘Actina’ for - all afflictions of the eye.” - - Emily Knapp, 920 Galina st., Milwaukee, Wis., writes:—“The - ‘Actina’ I purchased from you a year ago saved my brother’s - eyesight. My brother was near-sighted, wore number five and - six glasses, and now he can go to school and do all his - work and study without glasses.” - -E. R. Holdbrook, Deputy County Clerk, Fairfax, Va., writes:—“‘Actina’ -has cured my eyes so that I can do without glasses. I very seldom have -headache now, and can study up to eleven o’clock after a hard day’s work -at the office.” - -Actina is not a drug or a lotion, but a small pocket battery, which can -be used by old and young with perfect safety. It is impossible to do harm -with Actina. Every member of the family can use the one Actina for any -form of disease of the Eye, Ear, Throat or Head. Actina will last for -years, and is always ready for use. Actina will be sent on trial postpaid. - -If you send your name and address to the New York & London Electric -Association, Dept. 37N, 929 Walnut St., Kansas City, Mo., you will -receive absolutely FREE a valuable book—, Professor Wilson’s Treatise on -the Eye and on Diseases in General. You can rest assured that your eyes -can be cured, no matter how many doctors have failed. - - * * * * * - -Superfluous Hair Destroyed Forever - -_FREE to Any Lady._ - -[Illustration] - -If you are afflicted with a humiliating, disfiguring growth of hair, or -any other blemish on face, neck, arms or hands, write me at once and I -will tell you =FREE= how to =DESTROY IT= =FOREVER=. Many claim to REMOVE -the hair (temporarily). I enable you to absolutely kill it forever, in -your own home, privately, painlessly, without the slightest risk of bad -effects, and at the same time to secure a perfect complexion and =BE -BEAUTIFUL=. Don’t experiment with dangerous apparatus, lotions, liquids, -powders, etc. My method is indorsed by scientists and doctors, and is -=guaranteed= by me. ($100,000 assets back of my guarantee.) Write to-day -and be glad forever. Remember this offer is free. Simply write me. - -=D. J. MAHLER=, 3405 Pawtucket Ave., East Providence, R.I. - - * * * * * - -Don’t Be So Thin - -How To Get A FIGURE LIKE THIS - -[Illustration] - -A figure that is =real= and =permanent=, the figure of a physically -perfect woman. To prove that it is unnecessary for any lady to be thin or -scrawny, I will send you - -ABSOLUTELY FREE - -a trial treatment of =Dr. Whitney’s Nerve and Flesh= Builder sufficient -to convince you that you can get a well-developed bust, beautiful -neck, pretty arms, shapely shoulders, so that you can wear with pride -low-necked gowns or the tight tailor-made suits so fashionable now. This -remarkable remedy develops new flesh and fills out all hollow places, -not by false stimulation but by removing the =cause= of thinness. Write -to-day for =Free Treatment= and handsome booklet illustrated from life, -sent in sealed package. =THE C. L. JONES CO., 44-F Realty Bldg., Elmira, -N. Y.= - - * * * * * - -SANOZOL LOTION AND SOAP - -Positive Cure For All Skin Diseases - -THE WONDERFUL DISCOVERY OF THE FAMOUS SPECIALIST IN SKIN DISEASES, A. J. -FULTON, M. D., BROOKLYN, N. Y. - -SANOZOL TREATMENT IS EXTERNAL ONLY. - -SUFFERERS FROM ECZEMA, LUPUS, HERPES, RINGWORM, PRURIGO, SCROFULODERMA, -SKIN CANCER, PEDICULOSIS, PSORIASIS, ECTHYMA, LICHEN, SYCOSIS, AND -ALL OTHER FORMS OF ULCERATIVE, SCALY AND PARASITIC SKIN DISEASES FIND -IMMEDIATE RELIEF AND PERMANENT CURE BY THE USE OF SANOZOL. IT REMOVES -=PIMPLES= AND =BLACKHEADS= AND CURES SWEATY OR ACHING FEET. - -SOME OF THE NOW FAMOUS CURES BY SANOZOL TREATMENT WERE FULLY DESCRIBED IN -THE =NEW YORK WORLD= OF MARCH 9 AND THE =BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE= OF MARCH -29, 1904. - -THE SOAP HAS NO EQUAL. ITS DAILY USE WITHOUT LOTION WILL GIVE YOUR FACE -AND HANDS A PERFECT SKIN, RESTORING THE DEFUNCT RESPIRATORY CONDITIONS OF -YOUR SKIN TO ITS NORMAL HEALTH, PRODUCING THE FRESHNESS OF YOUTH AND =A -GLOW OF HEALTH AND BEAUTY=. TRY IT. - -SANOZOL SOAP FOR SHAVING (No barber’s itch.) - -Write for testimonials and full particulars of SANOZOL treatment (free -of charge). Treatment requires combined use of Lotion and Soap. Sent on -receipt of price or at druggists. - -Lotion, full pint, $1.00; soap, 25c. per cake or jar (3 cakes, 65c.). - -Address Sanozol Laboratory, Dept. B, 12. 100-102 Elton St., Brooklyn, N. -Y. - - * * * * * - -$7.98 DRESSES ANY MAN - -With an All-Wool Cheviot Made-to-Measure Suit - -EXTRA PAIR OF TROUSERS FREE - -[Illustration] - -To introduce our famous made-to-measure custom tailoring we make this -unequaled offer of a =Suit made to your measure=, in the latest English -Sack Style, well made and durably trimmed for only =$7.98=. 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Price, $35.00 per acre, one-half cash, and -balance, if desired, on time at 7 per cent. per annum. - -=ALVIN BENNETT, Buffalo, Wyo.= - - * * * * * - -_STOP USING MORPHINE._ - -[Illustration] - -To prove that the Harris Treatment cures forever ALL drug habits, we will -send - -_FREE_ - -a trial package in plain wrapper, upon request. If you don’t need it send -the name of a friend who does. =We especially desire cases where other -remedies have failed.= Letters in strict confidence. Write us freely of -your case. Our book (sealed) sent free. - -Harris Institute, Room 539, 400 W. 23d St., New York - - * * * * * - -NATURO - -[Illustration] - -=After 1,000 Years= are you one of those who still use the uncomfortable, -unhealthful, old-fashioned closet? After ten centuries of mistakes the - -NATURO - -the closet with the slant, is revolutionizing the world. 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It opens with the first Virginia -Charter of 1606 and closes with the Panama Canal Act of 1904, and -comprises all the important diplomatic treaties, official proclamations -and legislative acts in American history. - -Settle All Disputes Intelligently - -You can trace from the original sources the development of this country -as an independent power. Never before have these sources been brought -together for your benefit. The volume contains 504 pages and a complete -index enabling the reader to turn readily to any subject in which he may -be interested. Bound in an artistic green crash cloth, stamped in gold. -Printed in a plain, readable type on an opaque featherweight paper. - -_As a Special Offer to the readers of TOM WATSON’S MAGAZINE, we will send -this book postpaid for 80 cents._ Your order and remittance should be -sent direct to =TOM WATSON’S MAGAZINE, 121 W. 42d St. N. Y.= - -[Illustration] - - * * * * * - -“GEM” SAFETY RAZOR - -“IT’S A PLEASURE TO SHAVE NOW” - -[Illustration] - -Is Shaving A Pleasure to YOU? - -It is to every man who uses =“GEM” SAFETY RAZOR=, because a clean, close, -comfortable shave is always assured. Shave with a “=GEM=” on train or -boat, in the country, anywhere—it’s the quickest, easiest, simplest way. -There is but one way to grow rich—=SAVE=. Begin by stopping the “Barber -Habit.” You spend 50 cents to $1.00 per week getting shaved, or $26.00 -to $52.00 each year. Shave yourself, save the money and the time which -is money. Two minutes suffices for a shave with the “=GEM=”—can’t cut -yourself, and no fear of infection. Highest-grade materials, finest -finish, imported blades—best English cutlery steel, edged by experts. -Simple, durable, automatic, and built on scientific principles. 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