Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1899-09-11

government thought Of scuttling out of
Hong Kong. and some colonial authors
ties said the best thing to do with the
island would be to get out Of 1t. Today
Hong Kong is the greatest clearing
house for the Asian trade About 49,
600 vessels visit II every year, carrying
over three million passengers and
freight valued at $3.50, 900, 0oo 1t has
helped England to gain control over a
larger volume OF trade in the Orient
than that Of all the rest of Europe. A
precisely similar cry is raised against
our retention of Manila. There was
some reason for the opposition to Hong
Kong, for it was nothing but the home
of a few native fishermen. living in
huts. while Manila is great and nat
urally prosperous city, with brilliant
prospects under our flag as trade CEN
ter rivalling Hong Kong and giving us
a commanding position as merchants in
the east. The future will confute the
prophecies OF evil in Manila and the
Philippines just as the Hong Kong of
today confounds the false prophets OF
half century ago.
We would call the attention Of our
critics to the fact that the various coun-
ties still persist In declaring on the sena-
torial issue just as we predicted in our
estimate OF Aug. S. Wapello instructed
for Gear on Saturday as we said it
would and Buchanan remains nom
commital SO far as any expression of
its convention or nominee is concerned.
We had placed 1t doubtful, although
there is an undoubted Gear sentiment
in the county.
The ministry of New South Wales is
experiencing embarrassment in the
shape of q parliamentary vote of lack
of confidence. II the Australian colonies
do not do something periodically to at
tract the public eye Great Britain might
come to forget all about them.
Advices from johannesburg are to the
effect that the railroads can not accom-
modate the people anxious to get out
of the country in anticipation of war.
We suppose these people are the lineal
successors of the enligrants to Canada
during the war of the rebellion in the
United States.
Talk about the scarcity of small
bills said Mr.. L. N. Archer, of Bir-
bingham, Ala, in Washington the other
night, why, down in my section of the
country we rarely ever know what a
one or two-dollar note looks like. We
never see anything less than a SIS bill.
Why. if the negroes get a bank note OF
a treasury note they Immediately rush
off and exchange 1t for coin, believing
that they haven't got any money unless
they can hear it jingle. Our people
have been brought up on silver. That
may be one of the reasons why they
favor the free coinage OF that metal.
Everything under SIS is silver, and peo-
| pie who are fortunate enough to have
any money carry that kind of coinage
around in big bags. Down in Alabama
we are quite prosperous just now. In
my own city, Birmingham, which lives
upon its large iron and coal industries,
| we are doing especially WELL The pro-
duct is bringing a better price than it
| has before for years. We are now put
ting up a million-dollar plant, which
will give employment to a large amount
of labor. Throughout the state there is
a tendency among the planters to raise
more cereals and vegetables than before
and less cotton. The planters who are
| following this method are prospecting.
| Cotton in many sections is becoming
| only a side issue. There is no money
| in cotton now; the price is too low, and
| then the planters have to nypothecate
/ their crop a season aheaa in order To
get money and provisions while the crop
| is growing. But wherever the people
have come to realize that cotton is not
the only thing that grows and are in
/ Producing other products they are max
4 ing a little more than an ordinary liv-
/ ing"
/ TRUST PRICES NOW AND THEN.
Editor Times Republican,: There Is
much said about high prices and the
TRUSTS" causing everything we use tl
! go up. / don't quite look at 1t In thai
way. In the spring of 1878 / commenced
to work by the month for B. r. Fore
man, three and one-half miles north
west of State Center. / received the
sum OF s14 month at that time. A
4 pair OF overalls cost then $1.25; today
the same would cost IS cents; socks
then were Is cents or two pair for q
cents; today the same are 10 cents Oh
three pairs for % cents. A Sunday sui
in those days cost SIS to $50; today
can buy a nicer and better made sui
for $40, and the farm hands are getting
800 to $26 per month. With less hour!
and more and better machinery to worl
with. Then another thing.
In the harvest of 1879 or 1880 Mr.
Foreman bought a Deering self-bindel
for which he paid Joe Schilling $3.50
today $3.50 will buy better one, still tn,
trust is here today and 1t was not il
1S79 or $780, Then about that time
built some wire fence for Mr.. Foreman
We used 500 pounds Of barbed wire a
IL cents pound. We mad no trus
then, but we have now. and yet tn,
same wire is less than 5 cents pc
pound. Then there was binding twin
at Is to % cents per pound and poor a
that. No trust then.
WELL" you will say, everything tn
farmer sold was higher" I don't thinl
SO. remember that Mr.. Foreman sol'