Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1900-04-04

1t Is not even claimed that these Occur
d'Alene prisoners were guilty Of any
crime. L
The evidences of President AfcIxin-
ley's friendship for Great Britain nre'
more apparent every day. He for
warded the sturdy appeal of the Beers
to Lord Salisbury because he could
not refuse. But not word did he say
In commentator of these brave peo-
pie fighting for independence. In fact,
the administration wants 1t very clear
ly understood. that 1t did not offer to
mediate in the matter. 1t need have
no fear. That is understood. 1t is
said in administration circles that
President Mckinley feels that he has
now performed his full duty and that
he will decline to even transmit any
more messages from the Beers for fear
of embarrassing his good friend, Lord
Salisbury.
1t Is also understood that the admin
istration will decline to furnish the in
formation asked in Senator Aliens
resolution, as to what correspondence
passed between Secretary Hay and
Consul Hay, his son, in relation to this
appeal by the Beers.
AS the administration is engaged In
a war of subjugation in the Philip
pines, 1t perhaps can hardly appreciate
the brave struggle of the Beers. Let
tiers and appeals urging an expression
of sympathy for the Beers pour In
upon the Senators and Congressman
of both parties every day, showing how
strong is the public sentiment in that
direction. The Republican members
of the Senate, however, were afraid to
even discuss Senator Mason's resolu-
ton of sympathy except in executive
session, and then they concluded that
such resolution might in some way
offend Great Britain, so they dropped
the matter.
Charles II. Cramp, the well-known
Philadelphia ship-builder, is spending
some time in Washington In the inter-
est Of the Hanna Payne ship subsidy
bill. He is one of those people who
believe that an industry which is al
ready booming should be Subsidized"
at the rate of 100000 n year by the
government. He says. with the utmost
naivete. that his firm doesn't build
Russian ships, for instance, because 1t
can do the work cheaper than other
people, but because the Cramps are
friendly with the Russian admirals
and navy department officials"
The Parctic Industrial Commission.
Soon after the Industrial Commission
began its Investigations into trusts
with a view Of killing or curing them,
everybody discovered that it was idi-
otto in Its methods, but now that its full
report is IN, and its quack remedies
given the light Of criticism, 1t turns
out to be "paretic' commission and
Its recommendations to Congress utter
ly brainless. This is the opinion Of the
New York Journal, and there are many
others Of like opinion:
THE Industrial Commission, which
has as an excuse for its existence the
probing of evils growing out of trusts
and great aggregations of capital, has
no excuse whatever for Its paretic rec.
concentrations to Congress.
1.-THE commission recommends that
corporations be required to make reyu-
lar reports showing the condition Of
their business, and to allow their stock
holders to have access to their books
under proper regulations.
ut also recommends that no corpora
tion be allowed to obtain an advantage
over itf competitors by securing dis
examinations in freight rates.
at is easy enough to pass such laws,
but how shall they be enforced? No
matter how much power is given the
Interstate Commerce Commission, it
cannot prevent the railroad differentials
in favor of great corporations like the
Armour Packing Company and the
Standard Oil Company.
1.-THE railroads will violate the law in
the future, just as they have in the
past, by entering into secret freight
agreements with trusts. No law can
probe into or prevent these agreements.
If you agree to do similar piece of
work for two men for similar amount
of money and If you happen to be so
disposed, what law can prevent you
from secretly returning third or half
Of the amountto one of these men Such
a transaction need not appear openly
upon your books.
"So-called publicity will not even
scratch the surface Of trust evils. We
might quite MS well attempt to legis-
late publicity into the habits of the
ground hog or the chicken thief There
has been enough publicity already to
call for summary action against sew
cral of the trusts, but they continue to
flourish.
cit aas been demonstrated that the
cost of delivering gas to customers is
only 20 or 25 cents thousand. Every
body knows what the public pays for 1t.
ut has been publicly shown that the
Standard Oil Company received, and
probably still receives, rebates to the
extent OF many millions OF dollars a
year from the railroads. The system Of
rebates has been SO improved that at
present they are given and received in
secret.
"Thc only effective way to remedy
trust evils is for the people to take and
operate the railroads and such other
great national monopolies as are too
powerful to be. safely left in private
hands,"
Hawaii and Porto Rico.
While this Republican Congress is
treating the people Of Porto Rico, who
are mainly of n civilized, IL ignorant,
race, as strangers, 1t is adopting into
the family the Hawaiians, only few
thousands of whom are white, and
ninc-tenths Of them are. a conglomern-
ton the like of which can scarcely be
found within the same area in any
other quarter of the globe.
Hawaii, with its native leprous