Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-01-03
IN CASE OF COERCION.


soon settle down.
Furthermore 10 has been hastily as
sumed that the Christians are incapable
or taking care Of themselves. 1t may be
confidently expected that the Armcnlans.
who are not naturally a warlike race.
would fight when they heard that their
hour or deliveance had arrived. but the
Armenians Of course. are not the only
Christians in the Sutans dominioms. The
/ Greeks VIII have TO be reckoucd with
and that they are formidable factor
may be Judged from the fact that there
are $4,000 of them iu C0nstautinople
alone. A well-informed correspondent OPP
portuncly reminds us that these Greeks
have long been prepared for the possible
cventuaiity of their turns following that
of the Armeniaus They are an well
armed, and it is their boast that every
male among them over 10 years Is an
adept I'm the use OF edged weapons"
The correspondent adds: AT the time
of the late Armenian massacre. the Hell
lenic element was fully prepared for am
attack, and persons who were able 10
form an opinion. declared that had they
been molested. they would have made Il
clean sweep Of the cowardly. blood
thirsty Turkish rabbe at Smyrna. The
Greek element IS so numerous and pow
erful that, in case Of popular Moslem
risings against the Christians, they would
seize and hold tho city"
MUNICIPAL SCANDAL.
English papers. which. from time TO
time obtain much qualification and mat
ter for moralizing from the police scan
dals in New York will probably give less
play 10 their virtuOus indignation on this
subject now that one of the chief cities
Of the British empire is found 20 be faint
cd I'm a similar manner Last Wednes-
day, William Bannistcr, Superintendent
OF the Manchester Police Force. was dis
missed with ignominy. and fined by a po-
lice magistrate for what is euphemlstical-
ly described on the charee-sheet as ne
gloct of duty.
The man ought TO have been charged
with pretty We'll every crime possible for
a trusted public officer 10 commit but
there was O general desire I'm Manches-
tor 10 keep the scandal within the mar
rOwCst bounds. so far as publicity was
concerned, and so Bannister has been let
off lightly. and other officers. who ought
20 have been prisoners i'm the dock with
him. escaped. with nothing more serious
than caution. The main trouble was
connected. as i'm New York. with disor-
derly houses but Bannister beat his
American prototypes an hollow He not
tine business. but was actually part
owner OF "a disordery house himself. and
tried 20 establish a monopoly for that
establishment I'm its own particular dis
trict. 10y porsistently raiding rival houses
within a specified radius The keepers -
these houses jim other districts. who could
not be regarded as rivals i'm business.
were regularly warned when raids were
contemplated; and. of course. had 10
pay for the information
Bannister was within nine months Of
completing twenty-five years service.
which would have entitled him to pen
son Of $1,000 year; and this, of course.
he has forfeited; but there is not the
least doubt that he had made plenty of
money by his nefarious operations, which
will enable him 10 live I'm comfort the
rest of his life
Immaculate Manchester is i'm state Of
much VirtuOus Indignation at these dis
closures, but the feeling is apparently not
strong enough 10 compel a searching in
vestigation by an impartial body into the
whole Of the question of their police Off
GERS illegal practices.
PRESS DECADENCE.
Mr. Henry Labouchere. I'm Truth. and
editor Palmer, of the Yorkshire Post an
influential provincial journal. call atten-
ton this week 10 a subject more than
once referred TO here-the bribing Of Eng
lish newspapers by means Of advertise
ments inserted Ostensibly r news. and by
payment fer the insertion Of prospectuses
of new companies on condition Of their
being puffed more or less directly. Neither
critic is sufficiently severe upon a state Of
things which is fast sapping the indie
pendonce Of the press of this country.
...T.
or third-rate newspapers are bribed,
which IS far from being the case Papers
with more than a local reputation. such
as the London Times, Morning Post and
Daily Telegraph habiuually insert per-
sonal notices for payment which are adj
vertisements. pure and simple, and not
always inspired by harmless vanity, and
their example is being very widely fol-
lowed
But the chief evil Of the system is the
pulling of the swindlng concerns of COM
pany-promoters and bucket-shop-keep
a glaring case I'm point was the adyer-
tisement of British motor syndicates an
impudent scheme for extracting three
millions sterling from the pockets of sim
pie investors. for the property is worth
less. The newspapers. from the Times
down TO the smallest evening sheet i'm a
tbird-rate town got this advertisement
al their own prices, and inserted it, two
columns long, with gratitude and joy, al
though 30 bore upon its face the full brand
Of dishonesty and the hallmark of swind-
ling promoters which every businessman
could plainly see and understand. Yet
with three or four honorable exceptions,
no newspaper criticised the false state
ments i'm the prospectus. much less warm
ed simple investors against its dangers.
The inherent rottenness OF the scheme
was sufficiently proved by the fact that
despite lavish advertising, upon scale
almost unparalleled the public subscribed.
not the millions as asked, but only . few
poor thousands which came entirely from
country people unacquainted with the
WAYS Of stock-eXchange sharks. Even
these few thousands are now being re-
turned to those who sent them. the pro-
motors not daring 10 so to allotment upon
them. in view of the threats Of legal pro-
ccedings.
Concurrently with this bribing by adj
vertisements. it is the custom of certain
Journals. more particularly the London
financial newspapers, TO charge for the
insertion Of reports Of the public meet
ings of mining and industrial companies.
SO that it is now almost impossible for
oven the souhdest concern TO obtain pub
ucitv for its proceedings without paying
for H. The financial newspapers do not
care a rap whether the company is
honest or swindie. provided so many
mounds per column is paid for the report
~ its meetings. which. often as not. are
oornosed merely of the seven share
bol8ers which the law says must be pre-
I'm, 10 constitute a legal meeting. and
tbose seven may be the actual promoters
~ the concern. The other day, one Of the
leading financial newspapers contained
a,.o,,t 0fty columns Of reports of company
meetings. and 10 may be safely estimated