The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-06-05

pete with it. I do not believe the peo-
pie will ind any great benefit from this
bill. so far as the question of cheap
power is concerned. The manufactur-
ers may derive benefit from it-those
who make hats; those who want to
turn cotton into something resembling
silk: and q few manufacturers of other
articles. 1t will help them; but the
farmer-and We have heard a great deal
about the farmer of late in connection
with this measure to the effect that he
is demanding IT. think that they will
find that there is a far cheaper power
than alcohol. It may be electricity or
it may be something else.
AS denoting the fact that the so-called
Murdoch proposition IS not new, may be
cited the statement made by Senator
Teller in his remarks that for the last
rs years the. question has been before
the senate more or less In fact there
was an amendment, or provision, in the
Wilson tariff bill in 1894 concerning free
alcohol for the arts and Industries. Sen
ator Hoar also, during his service in
the senate. had the proposition up, one
time and another.
The statement has been made-it was
made with great frequency during the
tendency of the bill in the senate-that
Standard Oil was opposed to this meas
ure and would kill it, or choke it off,
or would put a Joker" or snake" into
the measure II it did become a law.
That rapaciOus corporation has many
things to stand for and Kansas has
enough grievance against it to be
charitable in connection with this free
alcohol measure which is claimed to be
such a god send to the Sunflower. state.
For Standard Oil did not impede the
progress of the bill in its successful and
triumphal march not one bit. The bill
pursued the usual course of a bill, in
the committee on finance Of the senate
the committee presided over by Nelson
w Aldrich, so-caIled congressional
apologist for Standard Oil in particular
and every sort and kind of corporation
in general. The bill was in that COM
mittee only a reasonable time. and few
changes made in it. Subjected to the
most microscOpicaI examination and
scrutiny by the friends Of the bill after
it came from such suspicious hands,
not one of is champions could discover
even the tail of the much-feared
snake" No Joker" innocent but eff
fective, could be discerned, even with
powerful glasses. Senator Aldrich
brought up the bill one day not long
since, and insisted on its disposition
without delay.
AS further bearing this out. is the
statement made by Senator Teller in
the debate. He said:
Mr.. President, there has been consid-
cradle said about the Standard Oil COM
pany being opposed to this bill. There
I have not heard anywhere else, the
slightest reason to suppose that the
Standard Oil company cares whether
this bill passes or does not pass do
not believe anybody particularly cares
about it. The only people who have
fled a vigorous protest are the people
who are making alcohol out of wood"
Good news to Kansas lies in the Ian
guage of a recent consular report from
a prominent American consul in Ger
many, who states that the export of
Portland cement from Germany and
other countries to United States is not
only falling off, but that American
Portland cement is finding its way into
Europe. Kansas is, one Of the largest
producers Of Portland cement; the gas
region being the headquarters of many
large plants.
In fifteen years the United States has
reduced the total imports of cement
about Sc per cent. Up to 1897. the
American export trade in cement
amounted to practically nothing. From
1897 to 1900 the average exports per
year amounted to 5000 barrels In
1905, over a million barrels went
abroad worth a million and half dol
lars. Cement production in the United
States has doubled since 1895, being
now in the neighborhood of thirty mil
lion barrels per year.
AS an indication of the way the