The Washington herald., 1906-11-03
HEARD AT HOTELS.

ing late scjourn in England. could not
help but come to the conclusion thar
Great Britain. II not a decadent power, IS
fast losing ground, and win at no distant
day relinQuish that Drimacy among the
nations she has so long enjoyed said
Col. Frank c. Zacherie, a highly respected
and able New Orleans lawyer, at the Ar
lington.
In every way it seemed 70 me (unless.
perhaps. IN big battle ships England is a
; century behind the United States. The
subjects Of King Edward nave retrograded
physically. rs was shown by the great re-
jections OF those who were wanted for
service in the BOer war The modern
Engiishman is puny. and evidently suffers
+ from lack Of good, n0urishing food The
( fact is that clouds seem 20 lower over
the whole British horizon. The way the
people are taxed is something horrible
Not only do they pay on incomes. fnhsri-
tance, ard all kinds Of personal belong
b ings, but the taxes on improved properly
are exorbi.9nt.
/ 1T is evident also 70 an American who
/ keeps his cars Open that the English have
/ out httle use for US. They are haunted
+ oy the idea that they viii have TO fight
I Germany at no distant day, and ] was
/ often asked in London ff the American
government would not help them against
/ the Kaiser OF course. ! could give them
I no assurance on this point. You may be
HeVe me or not, but il is my candid be
/ lIef That John Bull is approaching q crisis
+ in his des'i7y that is TIE prelude To his
downfall. He is, 10 use the language OF
the street, up against IT, and this pre-
monition a the handwriting on the WALL
j Is what led TO the expenditure Of S4a050.-
eco for ren-of-war. an expenditure that
may stave of but cannot avert the day
Of doom.
Mr.. Samuel Cook, Of Australia. who is
at the New Willard with his daughter
Miss Annie, IS the managing editor Of the
I Sydney Morning Herald. the principal
newspaper. rot only OF New South Wales.
but Of The entire country. Both 1Ir. Cook
and his intellectual daughter are seeing
the United States for the first time, ana
are enjoying their tour beyond their
most ardent expectations.
we went first 20 the old country" said
the former, "and made w our minds that
. Princess street in Edinburg has about the
finest and most attractive urban highway
IN the world On looking over Boston.
however, we changed cur opinion, and
voted that the preference should be given
Commonwealth avenue Now that We
have reached your Capital. we have un-
dergone another change Of mind, and
are ready 70 declare that Washington
. deserves the palm over all, II for nothing
else save that exquisite and matchIess
building, the Congressional Library.
which Is beyond anything In the old
f-nr g.
I lf,ed0 miles to see.
Australia. I am slsd to state. IS hay
ing what Americans cail a boom. This
/ year and the two preceding years were
marked by bOuntiful crops. The real
+ prosperity Of Australia dates from the
early 5Gs, when the news Of the great
gold strike set the world abl1Ze with ex-
element O-her great interests were
+ developed. notably agriculture and coal
mining, and Sydney and Melbourne be
gan 20 take rank as important trading
centers. The Sydney Mail, our great
+ weekly Journal. recently stated that the
( mineral wealth taken from Australian
soil in the past aggregated the vast to-
tai Of $s52.oooo)o, and we are stin Pre-
+ ducing it in ever-lncreasing quantity,
+ over S35,OOoCoo being taken from ths
( ground in -s95."
Politics" said ar Walter J. Stokes.
Of Philadelphia, al the Raleigh, makes
men 90 the most ridiculously inconsistent
thi.gs. Take our Mayor Weaver. for ex-
ample. He made a national reputation BY
turning on the rotten gang Of ringsters
and grsfters that have been the disgrace
Of Pennsylvania for years, and by helping
10 wrest the municipal government from
their hands.
But look at him to-day joining hands
with the 'organiza tion,' and doing his
best 10 thwaTt the efforts Of the people
| 70 overturn the bosses. In the last cleo
tiOn Mr.. Weaver, who was then for re-
form, refused 20 allow the police and
firemen 10 be bled for contributions TO the
/ Republican campaign fund. He told them
they could contribute or not. as they de-
sired, but now ne has not inteTp0sed ia
their behalf and they are 10 be held up
for contributions in the good old way
dear to the heart Of the gang"
Three prominent members Of the New
Orleans bar are at the Arlington-Messrs.
T. c. Zacheris, Charles R0sen, ana Gus
taye Lemly. Messrs. Lemly and Roseu
are associated in denying the validity Of
the State Inheritance tax law OF 1904.
while Col Zacherie represents the state
tax collector in upholding the statute,
the consdtuuonaIity of which was ar
| frmed by the Louisiana courts. Col.
Zacherie said:
This is a case of very great interest
not only 10 lawyers, but TO the general
public and a verdict Of the United States
Supreme Court. TO which appeal has been
taken. viii be eagerly awaited. The plain
TINS ia error Gllege that the law is a
violation of the fourteenth amendment 90
the Constitution of the United States by
depriving them Of their property without
due process Of law and by denying them
tie equal protection Of the laws.
The facts are that the deceased Ma
thias Levy died May IS, 1905, and his viii
was prob3ted May 81, 1904 BY his VIII
he constituted Tie plaintiffs In error his
universal iegatoes. leaving TO them all his
property. At that time there was no in
heritance tax levied in Louisiana. BY the
constitution o. IS1S OF that state. the leg
iSlatuTe had been given the power TO
pass such a law, and this power It exer-
cised on June 2S, 1S04. by passing the law
in question.
by the terms Of this law. il is made 90
apply not only 10 all future successions
thereafter opened, bUt 10 these then belnS
administered and not yet closed.
The plaintiffs in error claim that this IS
retroactive legislation that diverts their
vested rights, and, therefore, violates the
prohibitions contained IN the fourteenth
amendment to the Constitution Of the
United States
Mr. II. 3. Mitchell, Of Atlanta. who is
at the Shoreham with a beautiful young
bride. said 10 reporter OF The Herald.
.,Ona of thn hasi sicns Of The daNelnn-