The labor world., 1900-01-13
NJ c'K1NLEY'S subserviency

flour and other food supplies, consign-
ed to Lourenco Marquee, the port OF
the Portuguese possessions at Delogoa
bay, South Africa, have been seized by
British cruisers for carrying contra
bard Of war
While the cargoes in question might
eventually reach the yTransvaal, no
proof to that effect is in existence.
Great Britain is also preparing to pa
troll the Atlantic coast with her war
ships to prevent any craft leaving
which is even remotely suspected OF
carrying supplies which may reach the
Transvaal.
If there was a truly American pres
|ident in the White House such affronts
would never have been offered to oul
government. s&
Our government has so far made no
protest against this seizure of neutral
goods bound for neutral port The
secretay of state has merely given the
shippers a -commital assurance
that he will have their complaints in
quired into. That is all the satisfac-
tion they are going to get until the
AAA1uA OAy VI COl1lOS W11Cll
Great Britain will have to account for
these seizures and good many other
things besides.
J One hundred years ago Great Brit
ain got into the habit of taking Amer
lean seamen off American vessels and
impressing them into the Britich navy.
She got her lesson then, but she seems
to have forgotten it. She is now seiz-
ing American goods in American ves-
sells absolutely without warrant lof law
or precedent. Mckinley has done a
hauls it down every time Great Brit
ain wants him to.
While it is true that there is no
proof that the particular cargo seized
by Great Britain was intended for the
Transvaal. yet it must be remember
ed that Delagoa Bay is the only neu-
trail territory adjoining the Transvaal,
and through it alone has it been pos
slble for outside supplies to reach the
Boers. Great Britain has clearly gone
outside Of the Paris Convention in at
tempting to seize food stuffs as contra
band Of war. If she tries to starve
out the Transvaal. President , Kruger
will probably retaliate and he probably
will. There are several thousand of
British prisoners at Pretoria, and there
will be 10000 more within a few weeks.
President Kruger may refuse to feed
these prisoners if Great Britain re-
fuses to lettfood supplies come in. The
Transvaal may be trusted to meet this
in a proper spirit.
American farmers and producers
should realize the danger of their inter
ests if Great Britain is to be allowed
to declare food supplies contraband of
war. About the only times in the last
twenty-five years {that our farmers
have got good prices for their products
have been when prices have gone up on
account of European wars. If that
market is to be absolutely cut off by
declarations of belligerency, American
interests will suffer hundreds of mill
ions of dollars loss. If Great Britain
can shut off American flour bound for
the neutral port of Lourenco Marquee
because she is fighting the Transvaai,
she could cut off provisions from this
country bound for France in case she
had a war with Russia. It is a dam
gerous precedent and pity that
the White House hasn't an occupant
with sufficient backbone to prevent it
being established. There will be
Democratic president i'm the White
House in about fifteen months, and
one of his first acts will be
to cut loose from Great Britain and
give her fair warning that the partner
ship severed in 1776 resurrected in 1899
is at an end.
While the Republicans are trying to
TOOL the public about the decision of the
supreme court in relation to the Ad-
lystone Pipe Trust, IT might be well
70 a point in the matter which has
1itherto mot been brought out. The
Standard Oil Trust buys a large guam
,ity of iron pipe for its various opera
lions. 1t does not manufacture this
pipe. When it comes TO buying iron
pipe the Standard Oil seriously OBJ
ects to paying trust prices. It wants
competition and an open market among
he manufacturers of this article. !,
having the Addystone Pipe Trust
smashed. In reality the Addystone
Pipe Trust was very tiny one. There
Ire none smaller. 1t was easy to find
t illegal. Just another case of the big
shark swallowing the little fish. The
Supreme court happened to be the
easiest instrument with which to
get rid of this annoying little trust
which stood in the way of the Standard
Dill juggernaut..
The Standard Oil company never
)verlooks a point. 1t has given the
Cooper Institute of New York warning
hat if ex-AttorneyM Monnett of Ohio,
should be permitted to lecture there
IN the Standard Oil Trust and it's Grim
nal violations of the law, the Standard
Dill contribution to the Institute will
De cancelled. So this supposed forum
Of free speech is hushed into silence
0y Standard Oil brbes.
The more Secretary Cages alliance
with the Standard Oil Trust is looked
into the worse it becomes. The City
National bank of New York is the
central financial representative of the
standard Oil company. This institu-
ton is the one which was given i'm
control of the Internal Rev
enue receipts of the government. TN
der the averse pressure of other Ma
tional banks. Secretary Gage has mod
fed his order SO as to let other Nation
la banks have I; share in the pie, but
the CITY National is still the biggest