Omaha daily bee., 1909-09-11

liberal ministry stfll holds the right-of-way
in the British House Of Commons. with
Lioyd.Georre, the author. IN charge II
has been under consideration for three
months and Is likely to consume Septeni-
Der In coins through the committee stages,
Owing 20 the radical provisions Of the bin.
in many respects revoiutionlzing the fiscal
system and increasing taxAtlon IN all d.
r%ections, opposition has been formidable
and fierce. and many concessions and COM
promise have been mad to prevent Sc
rious disruption OF the liberal forces. These
concessions a not materially altered the
plan OF the budget. They have strength
ened the measure IN party lines, while the
debates have vastly increased its popular
ity with the electorate. No doubt OF is
passage by the Commons Is entertained.
The present delay in reaching a vote Is
due to parliamentary forms. What the
House OF Lords will DO 70 the budget con-
tinues a subject for speculative discussion.
The peers. who have attacked the measure
on the hastings and declared for rejection,
have not secured a formidable following
Conservatives are not united and lack the
aggressive spirit shown In rejecting other
liberal party measures. Precedent STANDS
out against the peers amending or reject
ing a ministerial budget. Fear OF the
charge Of national greed produces hesita-
tion and prevents union. The budget
strikes It's heaviest blows at the landed
gentry, twenty-seven Of whom control
100000 acres Of land, valued for tax pur-
poses at $1,000. 900, VIGOROUSLY an insignit-
cant valuation. But II is a specimen OF
the way in which and owners escape their
riehtfHl burden. The budget provides for
a retaliation Of oil land at public expense,
and the valuations OF a generation ago will
be brought up to date and taxed accord
inRly. Land owners and their allied In
terests fume and froth and threaten dire
things. Meanwhile the taxing policies en-
bodied in the budget are growing In popu-
lar favor. infusing The liberals with con-
fidence Of winning In a general election,
should the peers force an appeal to the
country.
Commander Vladimir Semenoff Of the
Russian navy. who fought at Port Arthur
and later accompanied the Inflated fleet
OF Admiral Rojestvensky to Its doom. has
issued In book form q review Of the causes
Of the successive Russian disasters. 1t
affirms and supplements other COM
manders, particularly General Kuropatkin.
revealed OF the Incompetence and unpre-
paredness of Russia, conditions which in
vited national disaster and humiliation.
Commander Semenoff pictures vividly the
ominous feeling Of many high Russian Of
ficers that disaster hung over Russia and
that its authorities had blinded themselves
to the inevitable; the depressing influence
Of viceroy Alexieff on the Russian forces
at Port Arthur and wherever his sphere Of
control extended; the utter ignorance OF
the Japanese plans on the part Of the Rus
sian information bureau; the crushing eff
fects OF the sinking OF Admiral Makaroff
with his ship; the distrust between the
army and the navy, and the utter de-
morallzatIon Of the Russian forces, with
only the outward forms of discipline pre-
served.
One cannot scan the work Of this brave
Russian naval officer without feeling that
the Russian forces felt they had more TO
fear from their leaders than from the
Japanese and that in this war they were
foreordained to the doom Of sure defeat.
God was against u.s. says Semenoff. IT
IL a terrible portrayal OF brave men drawn
helplessly into the vortex OF a hopeless
war by the criminal incompeteney of those
higher up.
In the August humble Of the Contem-
porary Review a correspondent tells OF a
curious law recently passed by Turkey in
order to attract foreign capital. Realizing
that special INDUCEMENTS are necessary to
lead foreign investors TO pour out their
dollars. pounds or marks bensath the Star
and Crescent, the Young Turkish Parlia-
ment has prohibited as criminal any strike
Of q labor union In enterprises carried on
by the state or by foreigners exploiting a
state concession or enjoying a state guar
antee. This is likely TO be received with
much dissatisfaction in SaloniBi (Thes-
salonlca), where the workingmen, in the
practice Of ST. Paul's adjuration to the
ancient inhabitants of the city TO prove
all things" nave already established flour
ishing unions, with a record of several sue
cessful strikes. The typioally Turkish
character Of the expedient needs no COM
ment.
DR.. e. ]. Dillon. the distinguished oorre-
spondent OF the London Telegraph at st.
Petersburg, in q recent review Of miiitar-
ism in the old world, finds every national
treasury except Germany's strained to the
utmost to provide the means for military
and naval defense on a scale undreamed OF
by former generations. Japan and Den
mark, Sweden and her ancient foe, Rus
sla; Austria-Hnnsary and En~gland-the
tale is the same In a time Of peace ma
tions are brought near the shelving edge
Of bankruptcy in preparing for the war
that does not come. DR.. Dillon makes no
bones Of prophesVins that the dissatisfac-
ton OF the masses, In view Of the great
burdens of taxation, will produce revolu-
tionRry changes in the direction OF social
ism II the present policy be persisted in.
A clever student of taxing methods in.
France stumbled on the idea that It would
be a grand, good thing for the wine makers
OF the nation II their product bore the
seal of the government as a guarantee OF
genuineness. Vast quantities OF spurious
wine bearing French labels are hawked
sold and drank the world over. With an
official seal on the real article, the wine
industry would prosper again. Happy
thought" exclaimed the wine makers in.
unison. Thereupon the government began
issuing the necessary stamps at 2 cents
each, one for each pint bottle. This
hitherto unworked source OF revenue will
bring in from 100000 TO sl5.O 900. 900 a year