Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-08


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To understand the situation developing
from day 20 day In Turkey II Is important
to keep In mind certain facts. The consti-
tuition proclaimed by the sultan under
compulsion on July % IL the same docu-
ment which Abdul Hamid consigned TO the
shelf thirty years ago and Is an enlarged
copy Of one put in circulation some sixty
years ago TO save the life OF Abdul Madjid.
About 20 per cent Of the inhabitants Of the
empire cannot read or write and would
not know a constitution from a tourist map
Of the Hartman lines. What they know
about constitutions is gathered from the
aggressive young Turks who have been ex-
cluded from the ruling class by the clique
of ancients surrounding the throne. Essen
TALLY it is a struggle of the outs against
the lns, Of the progressives against the
standpatters, Of the strenuous against the
mossbacks. Like most of his predecessors,
Hamtd is naturally a reactionary, a tyrant
by nature and association. responsive to
every suggestion of cruelty coming from
his advisers. Whenever opposition ap.
peated which was inconvenlent to exter-
inmate offhand promises Of reform stille1
the storm. No ruler of his time approached
Abdul Hands lavish output Of promises.
So many and varied are they that some
critics regard Turkey as the region paved
with good intentions. For the present the
paper promise OF liberty as Turkey under
stands liberty causes national JOY. 1t
promises freedom Of the press, freedom of
speech and two houses Of parliament, which
will begin business in November. Mean
while the young Turks are pressing their
advantage. They evidently intend to make
a complete sweep of the mossbacks. Tho
latter are on the run for cover. The sui
tan, while protesting happiness over the
change, cannot be as happy as he pro-
fesses, for there rises about him the MEM
DRY Of several hundred predecessors of
whom barely half a dozen died naturally.
II Abdul Hamid saves his neck in the
present struggle he will have made a rare
record for a sultan.
Coincident with the decision OF the cir
cult court of appeals setting aside the ia
nous Standard Oil fine comes a London
doctor with a crown for John d. Rockefel-
Ter as a guardian of human life. The doc
tor declares that the marked decrease in
the death record of the metropolis is due
to the great increase in the burning of
gasoline by autos and motor buses, the
pungent fumes acting as a superior disin-
~fectant, filling a lonS-felt want in clearing
~HS 80 " wins 0AAN AAAAb0A NAO AANAO
has been a campaign recently against
motor buses in London, the charges
against them being that they are driven
along the streets so as to endanger the
public safety; that they create a tremen-
dous noise and make the air reek with a
foul stencil. Those who object on the last
mentioned ground are now besought to re-
gard the buses as a blessing in disguise.
zee
A board of experts has recently made It's
report to the British government on the
Incorporate character of temperance drinks
sold In the United Kingdom. 1t finds that
many Of the most popular beverages COM
Ing under this category contain all the way
from 2 to IL per cent of alcohol. The Brit
ish taxation laws take no cognizance Of
beverages containing less than 2 per cent
of alcohol, but three-quarters of the sam
Piles of temperance drinks xamined by the
board far exceeded that proportion. Some
apparently innocent herb beers were found
to contain as much alcohol as claret or
Rhine wine. The English public has been
greatly surprised by this report and its
capacity for establishment is proof that
England has had no experience worth men
tioning with "stomachic bitters." Our gov>
eminent, on the other hand, as a result of
investigation some years ago, found that
gin by another name was drunk in quaint
ties that defrauded the internal revenue.
Old age pensions are now a provision of
law in Great Britain. THE act just passed
by Parliament, which becomes operative
January l, 1909, applies to persons 70 years
of age or over, who have been for twenty
years British subjects and resident in the
United Kingdom, who are not in receipt
of parochial aid, who are not under con-
vlction for crime and who have means not
In excess Of e26 5 shillings yearly. Such
persons may receive from the government,
to be paid out of the general revenues, 5
shillings a week, or 3 shillings, 8 pence
where two or more persons live In the
same house and are Of the reasonable age
and qualifications. The yearly cost Of the
act is problematical, but is estimated at
about SIS, 100000. 1t will not be long, now
ever, before the age limit is crowded down
to Go and then to 60, and then the cost
would become very great.
ssE
The mercantile expert of the Berlin
Tageblatt takes a rather pessimistic view
OF future commercial relations between the
United States and Germany, and declares
that il is hopeless to look for any improve
ment in the near future. He declares that
there has been overproduction in America.
The importers are awaiting the outcome of
the coming election, and count on a reduc-
ton OF duty, no matter. whether Taft or
Bryan be elected. Until then they will buy
nothing. The import of German glassware
and china by America has dwindled down
to almost nothing.