Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1906-04-06
THE WEEK IN THE WORLD.


Congressman william H. Hearst Of New
York has unoarthed q great rebate scandal
affecting the trunk line railroads and the
sugar refining trust. lie has called the al
tention of the United States department OF
Justice 10 facts Of alleged lawlessness which
Attorney General Moody regards as making
up strong case against the roads ana the
trust, aud the latter has accordingly brought
the matter To the attention OF the federal
grand jury az New York aud thrown out
dragnet of snbpoenas which will bring be-
fore that body remarkable list OF men
high In the railroad world rs well Ms others
connected with the American sugar refining
company. The charges, In substance, are
that the sugar trust aud II. q. Hnyemeyer, It's
creator and manager, through subsidiary
dock company NJ New York and by various
devices, have been enjoying the beneht OF
rebates or secret reductions from the pub
lished freight rates at the hands Of various
trunk'lne railroads, to the injury OF com
pc,itors Of the trust and TO the monopoly adj
vantage Of the Ilavemeyer refining interest
Chief among the railroads mentioned as IN
alleged aud long continued violation OF the
law, are the New York Central, the Lack
awanna, the Erie. the Pennsylvania, the
Reading and the New Haven. II is charged
that by means Of secret advantages given the
trust by the railroads the trust has been en-
abled to drive the western beet'sugar com
petition out of the Mississippi valley mar
ket: has made difficult II not impossible the
establishment Of successful competition with
the trust In eastern sugar refining; and mas
likewise assisted the embarrassing branch
Of the sugar trust against outside competi'
ton. Indictments have been announced at
New York this week against the New York
Central 4 Hudson River railroad and the
g.n
bining to give the sugar company rebates in
various forms on all It's through westbound
freight, No individuals have so far been
indicted. The grand jury will now go into
the transactions between the trust and the
II other railroads named in the complaint.
Agreement ON all points was reached in the
conference on Moroccan affairs at Algeciras
Spain. Saturday. Spain will police two ports,
France four, aud French and Spanish mixed
police will be established at Casabiauca and
Tangier. France gets three shares Of the
state bank Of Morocco including those Of the
French syndicate, and other nations one
share The police agreement is 10 last five
years In the conference the position OF
Germany was that control Of the police must
be under international supervision, and all
the debates and crises have centered on this
point. The plan that finally secured the APP
proval Of all delegates was proposed by the
senior American delegate. Mr.. White. II
provides for frencf officials at four ports and
Spanish officials at the other four, with an
inspector general who shall report both to
the sultan of Morocco and TO the diplomatic
corps at Tangier which may order an in
vostigBtion on giving notice thereof to the
sultan The efforts Of the American dele
gates have all along been directed of max
ing sure OF some workable agreement, and.
this compromise. which has brought agree.
ment when all Europe had grown anxious
with the strain, has brought great credit 10
this country.
The Japanese diet has passed a tariff bill
and bill for the naturalization OF the rail
roads. The tariff bill imposes protective
and retalatory duties, the average rate be-
ing 10 per cent Foreign residents will suf-
fer most from the higher prices. The Amer
lean flour trade will probably not be affect
ed As finally passed, the railroad bill pro-
vdes for the issue of S220500,000 of state
bonds which are to pay for IL railroad lines,
at a price reckoned as 20 times their aver
age profits for the three years preceding the
war with Russia The time of purchase is
to extend over 10 years. and the debt is ex-
pected to be discharged by the end of IS
years Japans object in nationalzizng her
years Japan's object in Matchmaking her
is chiefly to secure better com
and consequent industrial de-
velopment. Great economies are also expect |
ed, and the advocates of the new law look |
for an ultimate profit to the government OF
S27 500, 900 annually. The first railway in
Japan, built in 1872, was constructed by |
the government owing TO lack of private CAPT |
tai. Building by private companies began in |
1880. Japans railroads earn about s250O0,'
600 annually and freight and passenger rates I
are barely half what American roads charge
The famine in Japan continues very severe,
with nearly n million persons in extreme
need Americans have contributed nearly |
$l50,00O, which has done great good.
The house at Washington has passed. in
amended form, the Annapolis anti hazing bill
passed by the senate. The law APP
plies to the naval academy only and its
main purpose is to make the punishment for
hazing less cumbersome rather than less Sc
we're The punishment may hereafter be pre-
scrbed by the head Of the academy instead
Of by court martial convened for the pur-
pose in each case In the debate on the
bill Col. Hepburn Of Iowa sharply attacked
the navy, declaring that discipline was lack
ing in its training and that this was ac'
ronntable Tor tne loss OF up"dru VI ~ YES
sells since the civil war. Mr.. Weeks of Mas
sachusetts, graduate OF the academy. APP
proved the opportunity which the bill gave
to discriminate between hazing that was ac-
ually salutary and that which was violent.
Mr.. Vreeland of New York, who was in
,harge Of the bill, defended Cadet Meri-
wether, who was indirectly the cause of the
leath of Cadet Branch, with whom he fought
md declared that boy who would not re-
sent the insults Meriwether had received was
not fit for the navy. This declaration was
received with applause.
Murder or Accident?