Omaha daily bee., 1909-06-26

Lord Rosebery presents a fine example
Of the American s%tsndpstter in English
environment. He is exceedingly we'll fixed
In q worldly way, and has at his command
the essentials for making life q round OF
comfort and serenity. Moreover. he occu-
pies q station in life in which privilege is
the keystone Of the arch. Hence, every
movement designed to disturb privilege is
annoying, revolutionary, socialistic. Thu
fact that the pending budget lands heavily
on the purse Of privilege and exacts an
increased percentage of the "unearned In
crement' Of wealth, ~irritAtes the lordly
stndpatter and gives him many hours of
anguish. The bill is progressing steadily
through the various routine stages of the
House Of Commons, supported in all es-
~sentials by an ample majority. that insures
final passage. Threats are made in un-
official quarters that the House Of Lords
may do the unprecedented thing and reject
a budget which It cannot alter or amend.
That such a course ls unlikely is indicated
by Lord Rosebery's frequent letters to the
press, by which means he provides am
munition for the opposition in the Com
mons and strives to draw away votes. In
his latest assault upon the measure Lord
Rosebery denounces his former associates
in the liberal party for sanctioning social
istic schemes without first submitting them
to a vote Of the people, and urges changes
in the British constitution which will
check "the despotism of majorities." 'The
absolute rule Of the party in power" he
writes. differs little from what we used
to call a despotism. II not, the nation
must have changed the character of its
former Jealous vigilance and regards its
liberties as replaced by an apathy which is
q sinister II not alarming symptom"
| Gee
Several violent earthquake shocks have
been felt during the first week in June in
the devastated section Of southern italy.
AS they required regularly every day, seis-
mologists were inclined to believe they
were not ordinary aftershoots and conse-
duently connected with the great earth
quake of December %, 1908, but signs of
new seismic disturbances. Naturally sew
eral correspondents wired the news to
their papers abroad, but the censor stopped
all the kilograms. No reason was given.
but It has leaked out that the society
whose object It is to attract tourists to
italy feared that the possibility of earth
duakes might keep foreigners away and
therefore caused the suppression OF the
kilograms. The Influence Of the society
on the censor is by no means limited to
earthquakes, but extends as well to the
temperature in summer In fact, a CORE
spondent OF an important London daily
newspaper who is instructed to send the
temperature in the principal Italian cities
invariably has the kilograms stopped on
very hot days.
Some remarkable performances by the
British navy were recorded last month
When the Portsmouth squadron of the
home fleet was sent to the maneuvers in
the North sea the great gray ships were
turned loose and told to make time. The
cruiser. Invincible made the trip at an
average speed OF % knots for the six hours,
and reeled off 29 knots during one hour.
while the Dreadnousht made an average
Of q knots. One OF the guners behind
a twelve-pounder on the destroyer Avon
made a fine record on the target range at
about the same time. With the httle YES
sci at full speed he fired twelve shots in
forty-five seconds at a target six by eight
feet, anchored 1000 yards away, and he hit
the thing exactly twelve times. The Amer
lean gunners will have to hustle to beat
this.
The struggle against increased taxation
is proceeding in the German Reichstag as
fiercely as in the British House Of Com
mons. Last week the contest turned upon
taxing the 'unearned increment In land"
-.U.W
would profit by sharing directly in the
rise OF land values. The plan does not
meet with favor as a source OF national
revenue, but has been officially endorsed
as a tax pre-eminently suited to municipal
finance. Several German cities already i'm
pose such taxes, notably Frankfort, where
the tax on increase in land values is col
lected whenever real estate is transferred
In ownership. The imperial governments
decision In this matter, however, does not
seem to advance the financial legislation
which It so ardentIy desires from the Reirh-
stag. Chancellor Won Buelow's speech did
not restore peace among the groups that
formerly composed the government ma
tority.
The cars visit TO Poltava on July 7 and
s will make notable the 2OOth anniversary
of the important battle OF that name. in
which Peter the Great finally broke the
power OF Charles XII of Sweden and there
by made sure OF territorial access to the
Baltic sea for the Russian empire, Poltava
was one of the most decisive battles in
modern history, since II made modern Rus
STA possible. Charles XII never recovered
from the blow. He fled to Turkey the
same year and died not long after he had
returned to Sweden. Never since then have
the swedes been able to revive the tradi-
lions OF Gustavus Adolphus and become a
first-class military power. But the people
have ~prospered in all the arts Of civiliza-
ton and peace far beyond the victors at
Poltsva. In that fact lies the essence of
true greatness.
Complaints nave recently been rife in
China as to the failure OF the authorities
TO provide proper protection to passengers
on the notwithstanding railway. II ap-
pears, says the Railway Magazine of Lon
don, that when some irresponsible China
man meets with an accident through tres
passing on the line, or not exercising
proper caution at a grade crossing, II is
customary for his fellow villagers to stop
the next train. lombard Il with stones, and