The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-09-01
CURRENT COMMENT,

No Ildn ! "1oIC dS Dill al
wrote could have been other than Il
good man and a lovable man. AS Ma
Jor Smith was revealed in his delight
full and helpful philosophy, he was
dear to the hearts of hundreds Of
thousands of southerners. Peace 70
his as~hes,-Norfolk Landmark.
The new vagrant law of Georgia is
being strictly enforced. This is true
with respect to the country districts
certainly. for in Atlanta it is said that
many of the negroes who have been
couraged etaoln shrd aouOu aou AQUA
run out of the rural districts have con-
gregated in that city. But they are
not welcome there, and Will be made
70 60 to work or move on" This
law will stop tramping and lettering.
The man Who is without visible means
of support will be sent to Jail, but he
will not be allowed to live in idleness
there. If no employment can be
found for him in the prison he Will De
put to work upon the public roads.
Migrants and some other misdemean-
| ants and felony prisoners whose term
| of sentence does not exceed five years
| will be put to work together in read
| making. In this way Georgia expects
to improve her road system, and, What
is more. she relies upon the law to
eliminate from her population the
tramps. Migrants, idlers, suspicious
| characters, and other persons who lead
die and Improbable lives.-Times-
Our old friend, General NJ. c. Butler,
ex-senator from this state, seems TO
have picked up a chestnut burr with
! his bare hand. The ex-senator attack
ed Secretary Wilson the other day be-
| cause the latter referred to certain
cotton spectators as gamblers.
| General Butler said that these 'gamb-
lers" had lone more i nthree months
for the success of the south h the
| agricultural department had done for
them in the whole course of it's exist
ence. Secretary Wilson retortS that he
viii be quite willing to apologize to the
speculators and General Butler if the
present prices of cotton hold until the
| farmers can get the benefit of them
on the coming crop. We publish to-
day a dispatch from st. Georges an
n~ouncing the sale of the first bale Of
| the season there, not one of the usual
| lightweight first bales, but q real, big
| bale. weighing 115 pounds, at IL cents,
| making S77.55 for the one bale. The
| farmer who sold that bale certainly
got the benefit of the speculative rise
IN cotton. However, one swallow does
| not make a summer, and n bale Of
| cotton is not a crop. and we venture
the prediction that as the new crop
comes in the price Will go down al
most as rapidly as it went up. Ger
| tain it is that for whatever benefit the
1 FARMERS III L HISl vi III lllol ~
| with their cotton ma derive from the
| speculative prices, they owe no more
| thanks to the spectators than the hog
does to the oak tree whose dropped
| acorns he eats.-News and Courier.
The official announcement that
Governor Taft is to succeed Mr.. Roo.
as secretary of war will be most un-
welcome news in Manila. h Fill
| pinoS have come to regard Mr.. Taft
nc Thaj1. o,.nat Cafpo11rd AGAINST me
| constituencies American adventures
who seek to exploit the islands with
out regard to the "niggers.' The Am
orleans who have heaped abuse upon
Governor Taft for his bold declaration
that his administration was primarily
in the interest of the Fflipinos, will
rgreet the news with unconcealed JOY.
A great deal; will, therefore, depend
upon Mr.. Taft's successor in the Phil
ippines, and the extent to which he
follows in Mr.. Tdft'S footsteps. The
islands are PROSTATE and unhappy.
All observers report growing dissatis-
faction among the Filipinos. Recon
centration and sporadic fighting con-
tinue. though they are now in tE<
hands of the c~onstabulary. The gen
eral dislike and hatred of the Amer1-
cans grow day by day. Plainly one
so devoted to his duty as Governor
Taft could only have been prevailed
upon to change the scene of his offi-
cial activity by the assurance that he
can still largely control the destiny
of the Philippines from Washington
and tina a worthy successor is at
hand. Possibly his health demands
his return. How the army VIII accept
change of head remains to be seen
Most of it's officers in the islands W.
bitterly disliked the civilian governor
and have criticised his policy very Sc
verely. With Secretary Root the ser
-;4o uri11 mort ronSt ra1tIntan f1U -NPU
York Post.
The remarkable shrinkage which has
been going on in stocks during the
past six months is far more serious
than superficial observers might think
Whenever the ~shrinkage in the selling
price of securities is adverted to there
is a significant shrug of the shoulders
and a nonchalant remark that the
shrinkage is natural. Those who a d
vance his opinion are usually of THAI
class who think that nothing has suf-
fered but the highly inflated industrial
| securities which were put through q
b~allooning process during the bull car
nival of two years ago. Notions Xix
these are wrong. If the highly inflated
isesues were all that had suffered the
general position of the securities mar
ket would be in a greatly improved
state. Every market is stronger wher
the imitation is ripped off. 1t just sc
happens, though, thaI THIS SnrllhdSe
in value has been dlstressingly far
reaching. Not only have the bubble!
bursted, but the nucleus of solid sub
stance seems to- have by abrasion
Something has worn away a larg'
} proportion of recently established
: values. The industrial list has no
: been the sole loser. The standard rail
road list has likewise been severel,
tried, as is attested by the fact tina
Pennsylvania shares nave droppe'
from 165 to 121, New York Central ha
dropped from 10 to lis and st. Pau
has dropped from 1913 to 141. Thes
three are representative standard rail
road stocks. Their shrinkage is wonder
[ fully suggestive. 1t would be ba
| enough had the shriveling tendencie
/, stopped at that point. But they di
J not. The baneful influences, be the
what they may, reached out still furth
!, er and laid their ruinous hands on We
{ another line of securities. \ study {
| tho faotc will ShnU that tho hio crrOn