Omaha daily bee., 1910-03-12

aH@ ~ 80 49,
possibilities Of loot in the confiscation Of
church property. The widest dreams Of
avarice have been realized, apparently.
Church loot, originally estimated at 500.
100000, dwindled to one-tenth Of that sum
The gross receipts thus far amount to
only Sl9,OO0,O0, and two-thirds Of the sum
went to the liquidators, the lawyers, and a
host OF lesser hunters of loot. M. Duez,
cons picuous as an advocate OF religious
liberty and as a llquidator, has a shortage
only 100000 and two-thlrds Of the sum
officials, high and low. are involved In
the scandalous affair, and Paris dispatches
Indicate that only the crust OF the ma
tlonal scandal has been touched. No other
result could ave been expected. The state
set the pace for individual looters.
sss
The Belgian Parliament is steadily prob
ms into the finRnci affairs OF the late
King Leopold. The deeper the probe goes
the greater Is the need of fumlgatlon. 1t
is charged that the king converted to his
own use Sc, GOO from the Congo funds,
and the charge Is strengthened by the fur
Their statement that the kings estate
amounts to $14,OOO,OO0 instead of $8,OOO,O0O
claimed at the time of his death. Two
parliamentary leaders admit an apparent
discrepancy in the Congo fund Of about
$5,00O, 900, which sum was distracted, It is
claimed. with judicial s~snotion or conniv-
ance, This is a polite way Of relieving the
present king of the odium Of parental en-
bezzlement. American defenders Of Leo
pold are entitled to the floor.
An English paper gives an impressive
illustration of the manner in which the
property qualification multiplies the votes
OF landlords owning property in different
election districts. Two brothers, ]. w. and
w. w. Walker, each owning property In
twenty-five election districts, and entitled
to that number OF votes, managed to record
thirteen and seventeen votes, respectively.
To achieve the record for voting, w. w.
Walker estimates he covered no less than
LBS miles by train, Travelled on sixty-five
different trains and 10 miles by motor
in twelve different cars, and it took seven
days to do it. Had the election officers
in other districts been posted on Mr..
Walkers political procIivities. he might
have voted his total Of twenty-five. AS
1t was, some offensive paTtisans by neglect
ing to put his name on the registry, robbed
him Of three more votes.
France is about to follow Prussia and
Great Britain with old age pensions, fash
Toned on the compulsory principal Of the
former country. A measure for that pur-
pose is under consideration in the French
senate and is likely to become a law in
April. The scheme as 1t stands is con-
tributory and compulsory, workmen and en-
ployers contributing an equal amount an
nually. Men are to pay $3.50. women $12O
and persons under Is 80 cents yearly until
their sixty-fifth year, when they will be-
come entitled to a pension, which will be
paid from the total contribution plus the
employers quota and a sum of $12 a year
paid by the state. The conditions for re-
ceiving the full pension are that the
worker shall have contributed to the fund
for thirty years, including in the case Of
men the two years OF military service.
Those who have contributed for more than
ten years and less than thirty will be en-
titled to a reduced pension. Forty years
hence, when the scheme is in full opera
ton, the pensioners will nave $S3 a year.
They will start the year after the bill is
passed with 5000 a year, the pension to
rise gradually during the interval.
The political pendulum swings around in
LOluOH "lbh ahidAhAB SNAtiSSS' III N"S
recent parliamentary elections the tories
scored heavily on the liberals. Last Sat
urday the situation was reversed. the lib
erals winning a decided triumph in the
county council election, gaining twenty-one
seats, and with their laborite allies wrest-
ing control from the tory element. The
new council will contain flfty-eight tories,
fifty-six liberals and three laborites. Three
years ago, after a strong campaign on the
socialistic issue, the moderates captured
the county council by a considerable ma
jority, in spite of the fact that the radical
forces of the kingdom had but a short time
before swept the country in the general
parliamentary elections.
Rss
An American desiring to tour Franc
with his family hired a motor car and a
chauffeur for $50 a day from an automo-
bile company in Paris, On the road to
Biarritz the steering gear broke. One man
had both legs broken. and the other tour
lists were all more or less injured. The
Philadelphia brought suit in the Paris
courts for $50, 600 damages against the com
pany from which he hired the car. The
court awarded $4,000 to the plaintiff for
personal injuries and reasonable sums to
the Others that were hurt. For the court
held that these indemnities were payable
by the defendant company, and not by the
makers Of the car; and it was Of the opin-
ion thai the accident was due to the care
lessness OF the driver in not looking after
the steering gear before starting.
SS
Boutros Pasha Ghall, who was assassi-
mated the other day, was the one native
born Egyptian who has been premier of
Egypt, and-with two significant exceptions
the only one who ever attained any posi-
ton OF Importance In the government of his
country. Boutros was an Egyptian cOpt,
a descendant of those native Egyptians who
at the time Of the Moslem invasion de-
clined to acknowledge the true prophet
and either from native obstinacy or con-
%viction, held fast to such Christian faith
as was in them, N were, therefore, for
long regarded as taboo" and only adj
mitted to subordinate positions in public
offices. Gradually, however, their un-
doubted superiority TO the ordinary fellah
asserted itself. For many years they have
been the mainstay not only Of all govern
ment offices, but of any native CONNER
cial enterprise, but they had never pro-
duced an Egyptian premier until now.
Stirred perhaps by the partial success