Omaha daily bee., 1908-07-25
OTHER LANDS THAN oURs.

the discouraEinR difficulties besetting con-
stitutional reform represented by the cleo
tive Duma. Autocracy and bureaucracy
are so closely allied that the interests OF
each one is upheld by the other. and both
make common cause In defense of the sys-
tenn. Against this united power, bulwarked
by law and custom. constitutional progress
is painfully slow. Some progress has been
made. however. The st. Petersburg cor
respondent Of the New York Evening Post
in a review Of the work Of the third
Duma, says that body showed rare judg-
ment and sagacity in maintaining friendly
relations with the car and his ministers,
approving many measures of ministerial
origin and selecting others and at the same
time driving home the wedge of legislative
cooperation in Russian affairs. That this
important fact is being recognized Is shown
by the refusal of the Duma to sanction
certain naval appropriations until the naval
bureau Is thoroughly r~eorganized. a con
dition agreed to by the naval bureau. In
other ways constitutional reform Is
gradually wearing down opposition. The
bureaucrats, according to the reviewer, are
limited in number, while the Duma Is
recruited from the whole nation. Hence
the conclusion is drawn that constitutional
ism will win in time. What friends Of the
cause fear most is a war, in the CONFUSION
OF which the bureaucracy, always dominant
in the army, would seriously retard II 1t
would not entirely crush out the cause OF
representative government.
The new law of Great Britain, which went
into effect July 1, presents a phase of gov
eminent regulation OF corporations that Will
interest lawmakers in the United States.
The law deals with company promotion
particularly, and is designed to protect
the gullible investor on the one hand and
compel the promoter to tell the truth
about the business put before the investing
public. The law divides companies into
three classes, those that issue prospectuses,
those that do not, and private companies.
The first named. which appeal TO the
public for investment, are now Obliged to
give the most complete and detailed In
formation in their prospectuses-the price
paid for the directors the names, descrip-
tions and addresses of the incorporators
and the directors, the compensation paid
to them and to the promoters, details of all
commissions paid within two years or to
be paid later, itemized lists of all expenses
incurred, all material contracts, and so
forth. In short, the most complete infor-
nation must be placed at the disposal of
the investor. Companies that do not use
the prospectus method must file similar
statements with the registrar of joint stock
companies. On the other hand, the widest
latitude is given for forming private COM
panies hat do not appeal to the public
for investment. Foreign corporations are
also put under strict regulation and are
3 required to file certain illuminating infor-
j nation with the registrar. Another ex-
cellent feature OF the law is that officers
{ of such organizations are held to strict
i responsibility. Auditors, for instance, are
| required to lay all the information they
e secure before all the shareholders, and the
r favorite plan of sending a confidential re.
e port to the directors is no longer tolerated
zee
Admiral Rojestvensky may enjoy the rare
experience of reading his own obituary
The accompanying details of his disastrous
battle in the Sea of japan will hardly ar
ford him pleasant mental diversion in mid
summer, but the knowledge that he is bet
ter off than a hundred dead admirali
should Yield some consolation. Though
dead one in an official sense, he is for
q tunate compared with his associate in mis-
fortune, Admiral Nebogatoff. who is per
y mitted to visit and converse with hi
re equally unfortunate army brother, Genera
Stoessel. in the st. Petersburg prison.
The almighty dollar is no more in
fluential in a business sense than the i'm
OF posing British guinea. Some time ago tn
IN British municipal council of Shanghai, cor
lr trary to the expressed wish of the BIRTHS
IT, government, refused to adopt a plan fc
&c the immediate suppression of oplum-smol
DIS ing in dens. The plan proposed to thel
ch only provided for the suppression of tn
'e. dens, not of the importation of opium, bI
ng the Shanghai councillors, besides denytr
or China's good faith in It's alleged desii
ed to rid itself of the opium curse, coul
as not see their way $50 they declared) to Il
loss of revenue involved by the closiI
~ Of the dens, and would only consent
.er the present closing of IS per cent of ther
mt 1t was significant that the chairman
he the council was the head of the gre
I'm British firm of Jardine, Matheson & c.
JUS the largest importers of Indian opiur
lie Now comes Hong Kong, a British colon
1of whose authorities the home goveTnme
Try has instructed to close the opium der
begging for time and urging that Il
revenue received from license-money fro
the opium dens cannot be dispensed wit
zee
MS HI Joy expressed by the queen OF She
"a when she viewed King Solomon 'in all I
glory" of whose %splendors the half h
not been told her before the dazzling spe
no. tacle burst upon her vision. is rivalled
the feelings OF London hatters as tn
en- observe masculine affection returning
The the plug hat. Though the revival beats
loving tattoo on the cash register, tn
are moved to greater acclaim by patrio
tot sentiment which holds the silk topper
~, an Englishman's badge OF distinction
No real statesman or undertaken can
ford to go without one. 81 know from I
reports from our wholesale wareroomi
lu- said a leading halter, growing confident
without disclosing names and figur
'ral that the increase in orders for silk h;
isn't confined to London. Scotland see
Ime to have caught the silk hat craze, and
ible are sending more there than ever befc
vel. in the history of the firm" Scotia's sc
the in tall hats? The vision of Soloman faC
away.
oh General Langlois, an officer OF
ing French army, has aroused much uneasin
oh among his countrymen by asserting II
the morals and discipline of the militi
forces Of France are In an alarming st
= Of degeneration. IAN the military