The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-10-30
New Insurgent Leader Needed
 in Senate
GOSSIP IN WASHINGTON
President Finley Comments on Crops in Southeast-BananaI Industry Is Threatened-Immigr
 to Texas Enormous
By RALPH M. wH1TEsrDE

United States Senate who would be missed more than the late Jonathan P. Deliver of Iowa. Brilliant, aggressive, and of great ability, his long experience and personal popularity with men of all parties made him easily the most strik- ing and influential of the group of in- surgent senators. which will. unless all political signs fail, dominate the next Senate
 Washington Is eagerly discussing who will fill his place as the leader of the insurgents. LaFollette has all the at- tributes for leadership except the per sonal magnetism. He has made many bitter enemies, for whom be 1t said he wretched. The best opinion Is that the other Iowan, Senator Cummins. will be the insurgent leader. All he lacks is the experience in the upper house and this is not nearly so necessary as it was be- fore Ben Tillman began to shatter sena- torial customs.
 Almost synchronizing with the gather ing Of Congress, the national river and harbor congress will be held in Washing ton. The river and harbor sharps will get together December and will tell the United States Congress a lot it ought to know about the systematic improvement of rivers and harbors. It will be a nota- ble gathering and its deliberations will be followed with keen interest
 President Finley of the Southern Rail- way company, who has been looking into business conditions in the southeastern states, has made the following statement:
 "On the whole the conditions are en- couraging. In agriculture the present outlook Is particularly good. The cotton crop is later than usual and Is, there fore, more subject to future weather con- ditions than Is usual at this time of the year
 with ordinary favorable weather con- ditions until the crop is harvested the southeastern states will have the largest corn crop on record for that section The area planted is more than 1,5000o0 acres greater than last year, and the condition report issued on September 8, showed a better condition in Mississippi than in any other state in the United States, with Alabama a close second, and with good condition reported from each of the other southeastern states.
 'The increased corn crops of the south will have an important bearing on gen. eral trade conditions, for localities which have formerly brought considerable corn from other parts of the country are growing in some cases all and in other cases the greater part of what they will require this year, and will be in a posi- tion to buy other commodities on a larger scale."
 'If the present plans for reducing the tax rate in Minnesota are realized, there should be a big addition to the states population" says L. J. Baumgartner of Minneapolis.
 ''The railroads, the manufacturing firms and the mines of the state are making So much money that the citizens of the commonwealth, In all likelihood, will be relieved of about half of the small state tax that Is now required of them.
 The reports show that the state tax at the present rate will bring in half million more than is needed. The officials have made the flat statement that the levy will be reduced to h mill. Minneso- ta now derives its revenue from a tax of per cent on the gross earnings of the railroads. the earnings of other cor porations, and a direct levy of I mill on all taxable property, including the iron mines. The iron mines, or land contain ing these mines, are assessed on an ad valoren basis, to an amount of more than 32oO, 900 900. The income goes into what is known as the permanent trust funds for schools, the state university, and the reclamation of swamp lands. Only the interest on these funds can be used"
 How will 1t strike the householder If the banana industry is wiped out-if, in- stead of being able to get bananas" from the pushcart men and the corner fruit stands at 10 and Is cents a dozen, the humble and heretofore plentiful fruit scars to the dignity of luxury, to be bought wrapped in tin foil and tissue paper, from the high-class groceries at 10 cents apiece and take their place along with grapefruit and pomegranates as feature of the bill of fare in high class hotels7
 This does not absolutely have to hap pen, but there Is disease now wiping out the banana plantations of the West Indies and Central America which, If unchecked, will mean the total extinction of the industry. and there has 80 far been nothing done to check 1t. The blight is known to the world at large. because the world at large does not go where the banana grows. The consumer knows merely that bananas have been cheap for long time, and that, while not staple of life, like bread and meat they are nice and convenient to get whenever you want them, and almost every one wants them more or less.
 The blight Is disease that has not so far been satisfactorily explained by science. It starts where the crown of leaves springs from the trunk of the tree, turns the leaves yellow and finally kills the whole plant There are mani- festattons of it in the trunk and the leaves when sections are made of them, but what 1t is or whence it comes from Is a mystery. There are no conditions of soil or rainfall to account for 1t. Very wet weather or very dry weather seems to have no effect on 1t. Cutting and pruning does not stop 1t and fertilizing and cultivation seem to make it worse instead of better.
 "A stream of 100000 emigrants pours into the state of Texas every year." said Ben K. Burroughs of Houston, Tex. Nearly 300 persons a day come to the conclusion that they can make more money in Texas than elsewhere. The emigrant entering Texas and the emi- grant entering Ellis Island are not iden- tical. The fortune-seeker from across the sea has come from land barren of opportunity, and any part of the western continent Is promising to him. But the emigrant to Texas is generally an Amer ican who already knows prosperity. He has studied Texas, sold his farm in some state farther north, and goes where the vvvvvvvvvvvsvvvvvvsvvvvv.. vvvv..vsvyss.vwvvvwvw ! URlNARYl