The independent., 1907-01-24
COMM MERcIAL

tomobile show last Saturday night the
year 1907 Is really begun. The show
was great study in mechanics; here
after the subject will be one of finance.
1t seems possible, to judge from de-
scrfptions of the new cars, that per-
son who treated his 1906 model well
may be permitted to use 1t In 1907
without being troubled by the street
gamin's derisive cry Of ice" for the
outlines Of the body Of the new cars
have not been radically changed.
Whether one can fare as well in social
standing is more Of question, for the
new cars are equipped with changes,
not to say improvements, that will tend
to keep back number out of the con-
versation. There are some new forms,
including a seven seated touring car
and runabout with special equipment
for lodging policemen. Then there are
the usual improvements in motors and
steering devices, schemes to save
cranking the motor and improved
brakes. Those to whom money Is a
burden will take no special notice Of
the fact. that automobile prices this
year are keeping well ahead of the
course of commodity prices in general.
Those who are not SO fortunate but are
trying to appear as If the opposite
were true will merely have to shut
their eyes a little tighter.
Life insurance will never be a strict
Jy- Legitimate business, insisted a. re-
former lately until the commission
paid agent is eliminated. The Massa-
chusetts legislature has taken up this
idea SO far as it applies to insurance
for wage workers. To devise a form of
I'M In Jct -ia ri n
that will avoid the making Of multi
millionaires out Of peoples penny saw
ings, as has been the case with Sena-
tor Dryden and his company, and that
will also save the great expense OF
solicitors and collectors, is the aim of
bills which are to be discussed there
this winter. 1t Is thought that a system
Of savings bank insurance may be
made a success, but it is all question
of human nature. People will always
buy clothing and bread without being
urged, but whether the value of life
insurance has come as yet to appeal
to them SO strongly as to make them
hunt up an insurance office and ask
for it is a question. Fire insurance has
become as staple as wheat, and yet the
old line company that tries to get bugi-
ness by making cheaper rates by elImi-
to come to the front
The general subject of convict labor,
and the question of the powers of con-
gress under the interstate commerce
clause of the constitution, come jointly
into interest in bill fathered by the
union labor interest which passed one
house of congress last week. The fctai
annual value of the convict made
goods sold in the entire country is
about $93, 100000 Approximately hall of
this amount is marketed in the state
where it is prJdaced, and the o.l. .,
half in other states. Now q state my
prohibit manufacture by convict labtr
within its own jurisdiction, thus Pro-
tecLi1g s-s labor from the competition
or its pvn convicts, hut 1t cannot pre-
veif the sale cf merchandise made
in the prisons of other states. Under
the supposed authority of the inter
state commerce clause the house OF
representatives last week passed q bill
providinx that convict IGade goods
irsne certed into auy state or territory
or remaining therein 1ol use, consump-
/ tut, sale or storage. shall be subject
TO the laws or the state governing that
class OF goods. This In effect gives tho
states the right TO prohibit the SAL
Of conyic. made goods from ether
states.