Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-29

AlclAlly uenleu, serves 10 snow the tense
rivalry for sea power existing between the
mistress Of the seas and Germany. Ger
many's naval program calls for an ex-
penditure of S1O00OO,OOO a year for five
years. end this fact doubtless inspired the
British project. How far the rivalry may
go to some extent depends on the resources
OF the two nations. Great Britain's finan-
cial condition is expressed In the lire Of the
lingo song. 1--WE have the men, we have
the ships, we have the money, too" but
Germany Is fully as well fixed for a pro-
longed campaign of naval expansion. Let
US consider their respective resources as
set out by the English writer. J. Ellis
Barker, author OF Modern Germany"
whose data and deductions are supported
by Richard CaIwer, the leading German
socialist statistician. Mr.. Barkers sta
tistics show that Germany is growing
richer and Great Britain poorer with every
decade, and that the former better meets
all the tests Of national wealth. Germany
has a population OF 100000 against Great
Britain's 100000 inhabitants, an excess
Of man-power of about 80 per cent in favor
Of Germany. Five per cent Of Britain's
skilled workers and from s to 10 per cent
of her unskilled workers-about 10000 In
all-are permanently out of work, while
unemployment is practically unknown In
the German empire. While Britain's popu-
lation Increases annually by only 100000,
Germany's annual growth is placed at
100000. Britain loses her annual increase
by emigration, while Germany's loss Is re-
latively small. Mr.. Barker emphasizes the
fact that since 1879 wages have virtually
doubled in Germany, and are now higher
on the average than in Great Britain.
Industrially, Great Britain's supremacy lies
in cotton manufacturing and ship building,
but in other Industries Germany is in the
lead. Her chemical and electrical in
dustries are the foremost in the world. In
steel production Germany points to an out
put Of IL, 1876, 900 tons in 1906, against Great
Britain's 6,462,OOO tons. In the last seven
years the Industrial horsepower Of Ger
many increased 50 per cent. The deduc-
tions of both statisticians outlined above
show in other tests the supremacy of Ger
many in population, productive Empower
and industrial expansion. over Great Brit
ain, and her ability to sustain financially a
prolonged contest for sea power.
The Young Turks party is cleaning out
the Augean stables Of the Ottoman empire
with conimendable speed. Quite a number
Of the officials and spies of the old regime
are in prison in Constantinople, others have
fled the country and many are in hiding.
For the present the energies of the reform
ers are directed toward recovering some Of
the vast sums of money stolen from the
public treasury. Official corruption and
graft has been open and notorious for
years, and was carried on so ruthlessly as
to leave the army without pay for months
and almost reduced to rags. Izzet Pasha.
the blue ribbon looter of the old system,
is in London with fully 100000 slowed
away in his strong box. Four of his asso-
ciates in prison solemnly insist thai they
are as poor as the beggars of Stamboul.
The fate of Sultan Abd-ul-Hamid perplexes
the new leaders. His continuance at the
head OF the government endangers the re-
form movement. Though processing loyalty
to the constitution Of today it is not for
gotten that he was equally enthusiastic for
the constitution of 1876, which he pigeon-
holed later on. Having reached the throne
by a conspiracy by which his elder brother
was overthrown, it is most unlikely he
will hesitate should the chance offer, to
send the Young Turks into that mysterious
prison from which very few, offensive
politicians return. when Hamid goes there
will" be a scattering OF 1000 palace re-
tafners and an income estimated at $4,000
a day will be reduced to a meager pension
or limited to funeral expenses. Back of
the patriotic zeal of the new party leaders
is a multitude anxious for the fleshpots
Of the empire, which are now monopolized
by the sultan's vast family.
go
King Leopold Of Belgium comes out of
the Congo deal with flying financial colors.
In turning over control of the territory to
Belgium the king safeguards his W as
well as the interests of his associates.
The conditions of the transfer relieves
him Of the worry, protects his share of the
business for life and guarantees him an
income of $40, OO0.O 600 a year as "a special
token of gratitude" for his services in
securing q good thing. 1t Is quite evident
that King Leopold did not permit his pro-
f~essions of philanthropy to obtrude it when
driving that bargain.
The final triumph of the sultan pre-
tender over the sultan, recognised by the
powers, in Morocco, preciptates some
questions of Importance to the signatories
of the Algeciras convention. Mulai Hafid,
the victor In the civil war, has never ac-
cepted that convention as binding; on the
contrary, he has drawn his chief strength
from the element in Morocco that OPP
poses foreign and Christian influence. The
opinion in London appears to be that, once
he gains the throne, the new sultan will
recognize the tutelary position of the
powers, as defined by the Algeciras treaty.
for the sake of their financial support,
zee
The annual report of an insane asylum in
England, recently published, revealed tho
circumstance that out of BIC patients sew
enty-four were housewives and thirty-five
were domestic servants. An inquiry into
the cause Of this tendency to mental nls
among household workers has been under
taken by a mental specialist. who is of the
opinion that lack of recreation and of exer-
else in the open air forms the root of the
trouble.
The postmaster general Of England
has Just Issued an order to HIS depart
ments' employees forbidding their spend
ing any time in attempting to decipher
puzzle addresses" devised by persons
who nave little to do, for the mystifica-
ton of the postal clerks. Where the
sender is discoverable the letter will be
returned. but otherwise It will quite JUS
tifiably be turned over to the dead letter
office. All possible care will continue
TO be exercised over addresses which are
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