The independent. [volume] (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907, 1903-08-13
NEWS OF THE WEEK


Large sums will have to be expended
in the Philippines in building new
prisons. The other day fifty 'ladrones'
were sentenced in one lot to long
terms of Imprisonment. the rumber
in the prisons constantly increases.
That is a nice sort of business for the
government of the United States to be
engaged In.
John F. CARMEL, clerk in the audi
tors Office of the postoffice department
St Washington, wss arrested for open
ing letters and appropriating their
contents. Every day new arrests are
made. The introduction OF Perry
Heath, Mark Hanna's particular
friend, into that department seems to
have resulted in making thieves OF the
whole gang.
Eckles is still talking about an "elas-
tic currency" an6 branch banks. AT
the meeting of the bankers associa-
ton Of Wisconsin last week both he
and Fowler were there and the asso-
citation passed some vague resolutions
favoring elastic currency" The In
dependent wishes to call the attention
of these gentlemen to the 'mucllagin-
GUS currency with which some mil
lions of business is transacted every
year. The banks have prevented the
passage of any bill enabling the peo-
lie to send small sums cheaply
through the mails and the people have
been forced to resort to postage
stamps. The mail order houses, the
newspapers and men in other lines of
business have had to handle this "mu-
cilaginous currency" for years, when
the postoffice department could have
just as well furnished postal note as
easily and cheaply obtained as post
age stamps. The republican party is
an old fogy party and never does any
thing for the people until it is forced
to do it.
Such more money" lunatics as Eek
les and Fowler should reflect that the
amount of money in circulation was
increased during July nearly $6,OOO,OO0
and $l21 ,412,361 during the year that
ended with July. That rate of in
crease is about double what it would
have been with the unlimited coinage
of silver at the ratio of Is to in 1896
based upon the production Of the
mines at that time. The republican
party claimed in that campaign that
the volume of money must be cur
tailed by the characterization of silver
or ruin would be the result. Then
they went to work and inflated the
currency as it had never been inflated
before. What makes The Independent
fighting mad" is that the democratic
press had not sense enough TO use
those facts in the last presidential
campaign.
The failures during July aggregated
$16,751, 245. being the largest for that
month since the days of the Cleveland
soup houses The increase comes from
all classes of business, including man
ufacturing establishments, trading
concerns, commerce and brokerage
The latter only amounted to $6,8O0,9S1
which shows that it has not been sim
ply a Wall street affair, as the grea
dailies would have use believe.
The people OF the Philippines are S;
prejudiced against anything American
that the government is finding grea
difficulty in getting its new silve
pesos to circulate. Taft called tn
bankers together for consultation AM
they promised to use their best en-
deavors to make the F'ilipinos use tn
money. Out in the provinces the
won't have the Yankee pesos" at all
Mr. w. C. Deering of Chicago, VIII
has recently returned from Manila, i
speaking of the constant uprisings an
f:libuStering expeditions in the Phil