The age-herald., 1898-03-02
CURRENT TOPICS.

Representative Pearce of Missouri has a bin before congress that Is creating good deal of interest in trade circles It is to prevent the collaboration of pure wheHt flour with lower and cheaper graaas The time has come when 1t is necessary for the government to interfere to protect the hon esty Of production, especially of those arr ticles that enter as largely as four does into our foreign exports. Since the nations of Europe have attacked many of our food products and have excluded some from thedr markets on the ground that they were unWhocesome such a measure as that of- fered by MT. Pearce is necessary to pro- fect American flour, which may at any time become the object of foreign criticism
 It Is only natural that such a bill should call out protects from the milling interests of the country, especially tflat portion that Is engaged in putting on the market flour adulterated with cormmeal At a joint meeting of the miisers and the ways and means committee of the house one of the representatives of a St. Louis milling con cern declared that flour adullterated with corn was not sold openly and above board in this country. MT. Grosvenor of Ohio de- clared that such was not the case and that over 100000 barrels of adulherated flour had been fraudulemtly sold to consumers of the southern, central and western states during the last year. The four was put into the trade at from 95 to S71s per cent of the
  production of the aduterated product was from 75 to So per cent of the cost of pure flour. This discount made the flour desir able to retail merchants whose trade would enable them to work it off for the pure article.
 How to prevent this imposition upon the public is not easy question. There is objection to the mixture of cornmeal with flour on sanitary grounds, burt a man has the right to know what he Is buying. line fnf af-tff n such way as to show wba5 1t is would be protective if the law could be enforced, or the adultsrated four might be made to pay a tax that would render the business of mixing it with cheaper grains unproft- able. But it is heard.y just nor honest to tax one industry out of existence simply to protect another There is, however, no dDube that some penalty will be devised that will prevent the exportation of adul- terated flour. for the agricultural interests as well as the great bulk of exporting trade of the country demand it.
 A rather interesting case involving the legal validity of boycott has been tried before the United States circuit court in Kansas, Judge Williams presiding. The facts in the case are quite simple. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad served notice on the Kansas City, Pitts- burg and Gulf railroad that upon and after a specified date it would neither receive rom nor QeilNer 10 tile ldlteI IOdu liCiSit from or to certain points. It is supposed, although it is not stated in the report of the case, that those certain places were competing points between the two roads.
 The Gulf road applied to the court for an order restraining the Santa Fe road from carrying out it's proposed boycott The judge denied the order on the ground that no harm had been done: that no federal statute had been violated and that the state law which prohibited such move ment was imperative and had nothing whatever to do with the matter What makes this decision the more important is the fact that the Santa Fe road is a mem Der of the Southwestern Traffic Bureau, composed of large number Of roads oDerating in that country, and that the Gulf road does not belong to the assocfa- ton. It seems also that this boycott is declared by the association and that all the roads forming that organization Will take the same course that inaugurateu by the Santa Fe.
 It has been supposed that railroads, be- ing common carriers, could not refuse to accept or deliver proper freight for trans portation from any one, but from the pub lished report of this case it could be in ferred that in the absence of a federal statute upon that subject, they had that privilege.
 The public schools of Minneapolis are in rather a. bad fix. The appropriation made for their support last year was so small that unless funds are advanced to carry them on they will be closed the last Of April causing loss to the pupils of some two months schooling.
 It has been proposed to raise fund to complete the work of the school year by small loans from the citizens, the trus- tees giving certificates of indebtedness drawing a small per cent. of interest and payable when money shall be appropriated for that purpose The objection to this plan is that there is no legal obligation to pay such loans and 1t Is doubtful whether enough could be realized to continue the schools The dilemma is the result Of niggardlv spasm of economy which mas proved to be one of the most expensive
 could ba dey.iSed