The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-01-01

Is the one man OF position in France
ready to enter the lists against the
army, the aristocracy and the rabbie
Of France in behalf OF a Jew unjustly
degraded and exiled.
The United States has produced dur
ing the year NJ figure OF such impress
sive moral grandeur as lola. the de-
fender OF Dreyfus. Perhaps there may
be a sign Of that spirit OF commercial
ism with which foreigners taunt US. in
tina the man in civil life most talked
OF In the last twelvemonth has been
Joseph Letter. the 'cornerer' OF wheat.
Mr.. Letter. by the practice OF methods
which he sometimes described as "mer-
ehandislng" and sometimes as taking
advantage Of natural conditions. ac-
quired some millions of bushels OF
wheat and undertook to fix the price
for all the remainder by standing ready
10 buy Il. IL was not a novel project.
this, that made Mr.. Letter famous. for
II had been tried before by the whole
sale gamblers of the Chicago wheat pit
and had usually ended In failure. Some
extraordinary features Of Mr.. Letters
''merchandising." however. gave his
corner special interest. His enemy.
phil Armour. was a more famous
man than himself. an older soldier. and.
as the event showed. a better. and the
struggle between the two soon took
on the proportions OF a battle of giants.
Millions were poured out like water.
The biggest games OF Monte Carlo were
eclipsed. Commercial Chicago, for that
matter the commercial circles OF the
world. stopped to see the combat. An
added element Of the picturesque was
found In the fact that while Letter was
forcing up the price OF bread the world
over. Italy and Spain were racked with
bread riots. But II the contest was I'M
usual the outcome was strictly in ac-
cord with precedent. The corner col
Iapsed. Mr.. Letter lost some millions
OF dollars, but retired with a fame such
as few young men of 80 years enjoy-or
suffer. MIR. Letter and Lieutenant
Richmond Pearson Hobson are. IL APP
pears, about of an age. How different
the uses men make OF their lives!
While democracy was showing so ABB
normal a product as Letter. despotic
Russia put forward the grandest pro-
feet for the advancement OF the moral
and Industrial interests of Europe that
the last decade has seen. The car.
by his appeal to the powers for a re-
duction of armed force and ultimate
/ ultdI ia TltuNF haE NJ "'h 49,
among the four most notable men of
the year. II was not from Russia. with
her enormous armament. that We had
looked for such a proposition to come.
Nor did the civilized world foresee that
when the first proposition for disarma-
ment should be offered England would
ofrer the loudest protest. Yet so II has
been. In the meantime. however, the
conference on disarmament to'which
Russia invited the nations Of Europe
Is to be held. for the Russian foreign
office notified the world last month tina,
all the European governments had ac-
cepted the invitation. The project
whatever its or however Disappointing
the outcome. makes the car distinctly
one OF the men of the year.
IL Lord Kitchener's achievement ir
the Soudan had not already engaged
our attention. he might properly b'
given the fourth place among the mer
most talked OF in 1895. In his place
England furnishes a less Admirably
character in the person of Ernest Teraf
: Hooley. the eminent millionaire ane
bankrupt. Mr.. Hooley. after coaxins
? dollars by the millions out Of the peck
cts OF British gudgeons. finally reached
the bankruptcy court. His operation
were colossal. but useless. except q
: himself or to some OF the shrewde
gamblers who played the game Will
: him. He never built a factory. ray
r employment TO new labor or set wheel
= I'm motion. His art was in converting
enterprises which were already profit
able into stock companies. overcapital
izing them and unloading the stock a
y an enormous profit on the public. Hi
temporary success Vas equally a criti
cism upon the intelligence OF the in
vesting public and upon that SISTER
l, which we speak of with awe as bushes
methods. Though briblng peers week
ly TO become directors Of his specula
u tive companies his shrewd gamble
c still had 50 great a reverence for IN
q titled classes that he bankrupted him
n seelf in a vain endeayor to climb {
O their level. In his bankruptcy proceed
A ings he has shocked British society b
revealing the price charged by a mob
earl or lord Cor acting as a decoy fC
Z humble Any. who has a few pound
to invest and thinks that Lord Diddls
n sex's name on a prospectus shows IL
Is be all right. Mr.. Hooley has dealt II
n aristocracy a far more fatal blow tina
n Zola has delivered upon milltarism
France. He Is an unwilling servitor
the cause OF democracy.
science. Art and Literature.
Doubtless the mind OF man has be-
as active in the year 1885 as durir
earlier eras. but the story OF intellec
= ual achievement the year has to 4
'e 10 the future is not impressive. Scisn
has made no startling advance. &c
D graphical discovery has Jagged. Lite
Ia allure has given Us nothing viii