Omaha daily bee., 1908-10-03

registers a recession OF popular sentiment.
The recent election at Newcastle-O n-Tyne
does not differ in results from those pre-
ceding, and attempts Of party organs to
minimize the effect are distressing and
futile. A variety OF local issues enter into
these contests. the chief factor being dis
| appointment over promises unrealized and
opposition to liberal legislative measures.
In the Newcastle election. in which the
liberal candidate was routed, three ele-
ments were neutrality-suspicious. to the
pending liquor licensing bill III feeling
caused by the partial suppression Of the
Catholic procession in London, and the
socialistic tendencies Of the labor party,
The latter was in reality the determining
factor. The labor vote, allied with the
liberal party. at the general election, de-
serted their allies at Newcastle and gave
over 1900 votes to the socialistic labor
candidate. Had this vote stood an formerly
with the liberals, the party would have
won. The Unionists profited by the split.
The fact remains, however. that liberal
party strength, as shown at the general
election. Is steadily declining. The total
number OF votes at the last general cleo
ton constituencies which since then have
had by-elections was Liberals, 229,994;
Unionists, 1856. The figures In the same
districts at subsequent by-elections were;
Liberals. 1ss, 74S; Unionists. 2O1, 49,
sa
Evidence of modern progress in China
crops out In unexpected directions. The
custom of extorting confessions from ac-
cused persons, by administering what has
come to be known in this country as the
third degree" has been In vogue In
China for centuries, but the practice there
is torture. The North China Herald pub
fishes a decree from the ministry Of Justice
instructing court officials to discontinue the
practice. Any official found disobeying Is
to be cashiered and punished. The Herald
says: Magistrates unlawfully torture the
prisoner for the sake Of eliclting a confess
sion Of guilt or information concerning his
accompllces. and jailers illegally torture
him for the purpose of extorting money.
The kinds of torture used are now few, and
the torment caused is often excruciating
and revolving beyond description.
The ~well-known Turkish soldier and
statesman, Fuad Pasha, has experienced
strange vicissitudes OF fortune. Only a
few weeks ago he was in solitary ~confine-
ment at Damascus, now he is laden with
public honors. At Beirut he had an ex-
traordinary reception. The German en-
peror was welcomed by the most important
officials OF the empire and with all possible
military pomp. But Fuad was received by
the people. On the afternoon of his ar
rival they hurried in thousands TO the rail-
way station at the port and filled every
possible space within half a mile of the
train. Many carried flags and banners, and
songs of welcome were sung. AS the train
moved slowly in, hundreds clambered to
the roofs of the cars, while a sea Of heads
surged round them in every direction, every
one struggling to get a glimpse of the re-
turning exile and helping to well the shout
of Long live Fuad Pasha!"
The French government has at last de-
cided to take definite action against the
practice of opium-smoking, which appears
to have attained alarming proportions at
Toulon. The difficulty is to apply effec-
lively the law of 1s45 against the sale and
purchase of poisonous substances A de-
cree based upon this law has been drawn
up and will be issued very soon. Mean
while, the naval and police authorities at
Toulon are making such Investigations as
they can in suspected quarters, but, owing
to the ease with which the practice of
o~pium-smoking can be concealed, their task
has not been easy. The revelations made
in the case of the traitor Ullmo, who was
a confirmed opium-smoker, have directed
especial attention to the prevalence of this
habit, and the authorities are determined
to use every means in their power to sup
press 1t as a national evil.
Under the heading Seven More a
French newspaper recently published the
following from a Monte Carlo correspond
emit: There is a slight reduction in the
number of suicides for the current week.
OF the seven unhappy ones whom the ban
dts Of Monte Carlo have hurried to their
death after first robbing them, four have
hanged themselves in the garden and one
has hanged himself IN his room at the
Hotel de Paris. This last one was cut
down, nearly dead, and taken to the hos
pitaI at Monaco, where he Is being cared
for in the greatest secrecy. A woman also
has poisoned herself at Monaco, only a few
steps from the museum that was raised to
his own glory by Albert l. Still another.
a young man, 80 years old, shot himself
dead on Monday evening at o o'clock on
one of the benches fronting the great stair
case of the Casino. And yet among the
statesmen who meet regularly at The
Hague to combat the scourge of war, not a
single delegate has yet dreamed of suggest
ing the suppression Of the slaughter house
OF Monaco"
If the Italian newspapers are not ro-
mancers of our own yellow-jouFna type,
there has been an amazing automobile
tragedy near Albenga, a city not far from
Genoa. An engineer who was spending the
summer there returned recently from a
long walk. AS he approached his villa, his
6-yeaT-old son noticed him and hurried to
welcome his father. At that moment an
automobile containing a chauffeur and two
daughters of the Marquis Revedin, turned
a nearby corner at high speed. In vain the
engineer tried to warn the chauffeur of hts
ehild's danger. Without reducing his speed
the chauffeur drove on and struck and
killed the child, The crazed father, so runs
the story, then drew his revolver and his
second shot passed through the body of one
Of the girls and into the brain OF the chsuf-
feur. The automobile. deprived Of its
driver, dashed into the cliff along the road
fatally ~injuring the other sister.
Mildew has caused so great loss in the
vineyards of the Champagne district In
France that the land taxes have been re-
| mitted on every Mot affected Tho totoI