Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-03-25

! No prophecy Of recent times regarded
worthy of attention moves toward fulfill
ment clearly as the prediction that the
craze for ornaments leads to national
bankruptcy. 1t is the most civilized ma
tons that spend the most on ornaments"
observed Sir Edward Grey, British foreign
secretary, In a speech on the British naval
budget Great Britain, Germany, the
United States. France and other nations
are eagerly moving for greater sea power.
in most cases measuring their eaRerness
| by available resources. Great Britain ex-
Ipects to have thirty dreadnoughts and
super dreadnoughts ready for business by
the close Of 1914 Germanys total will be
ltwenty-one. The United States sticks to
the program Of two dreadnoughts q year.
France and Austria are moving at lesser
pace. At the present time the high-class
| battleship represents an investment OF
SIC, 100000. with an increasing ratio Of cost
as Improvements multiply and guns in
crease in size. The American budget for
the ensuing fiscal year increased by $780,
coo, that Of Great Britain by $19OO0,OgO.
The aggregate naval appropriations Of the
United States, Great Britain and Germany
for the coming fiscal year, covering con-
struction and maintenance, slightly ex-
1SNONS PuVVVvVtVvvs ilOW lDuE Can lle ma
tons stand the drain? Unless the mis-
chief is brought home to mems feelings
as well as to their minds" said Sir Ed
ward Grey in the speech before referred
! to, the growth Of armament must in the
long run break civilization down. Some
/ think 1t will end in war think more
likely it will end in international revolu-
! ton"
! The meRRer measure Of home rule pro-
posed for the Germanzed provinces Of AL
| SAGE and Lorraine is shelved for the pres
ent. IT was not much Of a concession to
the residents Of the French territory Nan-
nexed to Germany forty years ago, 50 It
will not be missed The plan proposed
two chambers, one Of thirty-six and one
Of sixty members the former appointive
and the latter elective. One-half Of the
members Of the smaller chamber were to
be appointed by the emperor on the prop
osition of the Prussian Federal Council
This was the rock on which the plan was
wrecked. Opposition in the Reichstag
against increasing imperial power became
strong enough to threaten the ministry
with an adverse vote and the measure
was withdrawn. A writer in the New
York Independent, describing a recent
visit to the conquered provinces, says the
! Germans have not made much Roadway
in all these forty years in making the
people contented with the change Of gov
eminent There has been a lack Of tact,
Iof sympathetic interest and cordially. In
stead the American observed q conspicu-
Gus showing Of the conqueror's authority,
surveillance of the Russian type, petty
annoyances and futile Attempts to trans
form popular sentiment by force. All sorts
n mil frpVR as,IgN
forced. IF some merry fellow gets the
band to play the French national anthem
the police bear down on him and he is
expelled from the country next day. II
some war veterans assemble together the
meeting Is broken up and the rifles that
they used in the campaign are taken from
them on the pretense that the firearm
licenses have not been paid" Police reg
ulation extends to the social as wei as
the business affairs of the people and
permits are necessary to enter or leave a
city All Of which reads like a chapter of
Irish history under coercion laws
The rising wave of crime in France is
becoming greater menance to the life of
the republic than it's political contentious
The Journal Official Of Paris, commenting
on the nations criminal statistics. says:
NAAS NIL OaSN VI GlliIl6 ~ one OF the most
urgent questions now occupying public
attention. Juvenile crime has reached
pitch which rouses the greatest appre-
hension. The evil has become so CRYING
that the official reports on criminal pro-
cedure have never been less optimistic
In the district of Paris the number of
murders is steadily on the increase" Ac- |
cording to the Paris Revue, the number
OF complaints and Indictments in Paris |
alone have Increased by more than 10000
in ten years. In France each year 49, GO !
crimes go unpublished and 1900 accused |
are arrested without evidence to convict |
them. Furthermore the Revue makes the /
astonishing assertion that there are 100000 |
highway robbers in France and 10000 vaga- |
bonds, deserters and tramps abroad in the |
country. The cause of the growing GRIMM |
atty is variousy accounted for. Each |
political division puts the blame on the |
opposition The more likely cause appears |
TO be the admitted decentralization Of the |
police departments, a steady weakening
of discipline due to politics, and the in
lection of revolutionary doctrines which !
breed contempt for law and government.
In the matter of preventing fire waste
at least one city in Europe affords an i'm
pressive lesson for the UDited States Amer
lean Consul Joseph l.. Britain at Prague, |
Bohemia, reports that the fire losses in !
that city, during the last three years, aver |
age little more than $4,000 annually. I
Prague has a population Of Z33,849. The |
reason for the citys immunity from fire is |
due to superior construction required by |
law, the careful habits OF the people and |
the responsibility that fire damage entails |
upon the owner of proprty. Most Of the /
buildings are built of brick or stone, with |
tiled roofs, the Railways are usually of
concrete and the stairs Of stone and the |
kitchen floors are built Of concrete with |
tile wainscOating. The erection of haz- |
ardous buildings is not permitted and when |
a man is so unfortunate as to have a fire, |
he is looked upon as an offender in the /
eyes Of the law and Is held respons- |
ible for any damage that may be done to
adjoining property. The per capita fire |
loss OF three dollars in American cities, |
compared with such a record as this, |
shows the enormous price this country |
is paying, both in life and property, for |