The independent., 1903-11-26

iaKe, Just as The Independent has
said all the time 1t is really a debt
owed by the national banks to the
government and which it would be
impossible for them to pay without
producing panic worse than that of
'93. The plan is to hurry up this Pa
mama business and issue big lot
more of national bank notes. Senator
Foraker has already introduced bill
to allow national banks to use any
canal bonds that may be issued for
that purpose. We will see the repub-
lican party issuing more bonds while
there is an immense surplus, a thing
that no nation ever did before. Along
with this will be q whole lot OF leg
islation concerning national banks, all
of which is intended to- give them
greater profits.
Since 'the Standard Oil crowd" got
into steel, several things have hap
pened. The Morgan swindle called
conversion" that is, converting stock
into second mortgage bonds out of
which Morgan had made $1,000, 900,
has been sqnelched although the
prospective profits of syndicates were
very great If the thing had been al
lowed to continue.
At the recent meeting of the ma
tional grange a resolution was passed
indorsing woman suffrage. The wo-
man suffragists now have on their
side this great farmers organization,
the socialists and the labor unions.
Since the middle of October there
have been five railroad disasters, in
which ninety-nine persons have been
killed, 1876 severely and many others
slightly injured. On October II fif-
teen were killed and forty injured on
the Belvidere division of the Pennsyl-
vania road in New Jersey. On Octo-
Der 81 sixteen were killed and fifty
nine injured on the Big Four road at
indianapolis. On November IL seven
were killed and two injured on the
Louisville & Nashville road. On No
vember IA thirty were killed and eigh-
teen injured on the Illinois Central
road at KenWood, La. On November
19 thirty-one were killed and seven
teen injured on the Big Four road be-
tween Mackinaw and fremont, III.
The railroad authorities lay all the
blame on the employees, but it is hardly
likely that employees would recklessly
risk their own lives in the way the
managers say. The truth is, that these
men are often so overwor1ed that
their minds become dulled and slow
to act
Everywhere and in every depart
ment of the government service the
stealing goes on. A physician in San
Francisco reports that fortunes are
being made by buying army supplies
that have been condemned by the col
lusion of army officers. He has seen
a vast amount Of the most costly sur
gical instruments of the very latest
patterns in the junk and secondhand
shops, where they are sold at less
than half of their value. They had
been condemned by military. boards Of
survey.
The Independent last week told of
the losses to the breeders of short
horn cattle and the low prices such
cattle brought at the great annual
sale at Chicago. Now the great
Hereford breeder, T. S. b. Sotham, has
gone into bankruptcy. The cattle
breeders are finding that the dinner
pail is not as full as it was.
One day last week the general man
ayers of the Missouri Pacific were in
formed that there were between 1000
and 5000 miles OF track on which
there was not a section hand at work
except the foreman. At the head
quarters of the national union of rail-
way trackmen 1t was denied that any
strike had been ordered or any notice
of any strike contemplated. The men
had been notified of reduction in
wages and they had all quit OF their
own accord as they could get better
wages elsewhere. Offers were made
To the men 10 retain them at the old
wages. but they refused To come back.
saying that they could all get easier
work and better pay elsewhere. At
last accounts Il was said that the road
would raise the wages instead OF cut
ting them down and make reductions