The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-24
Relief for Sufferers in the Mis-.
%sissippi Valley.

Notwithstanding the awfulness OF the
disaster to the Titantic, wherein nearly
two thousand lives were blotted out amid
the Ice flows off Cape Race, the great heart
of the nation Is rent with sorrow and pity
for the lives lost and in peril through the
foods in the Mississippi valley. Almost
simultaneously with the news OF the Titan
tics frightful end came the dread intelli-
gence that the Mississippi. higher thar
Bereau, wa still rising and that thousands
of lives were In imminent peril.
The government, through messages OF
the President and the pleas OF the Secre-
tary of War, has been rushing relief trains
to the inundated localities, supplying food
and shelter to the homeless and aiding
wherever possible, in strengthing the
levees along the course OF the mighty
river.
Senator-elect Joseph E. Ransdel!. OF
Louisiana, President Of the National RiV'
ers and Harbors Congress, whose home is
in the ~hood-covered district, near the Ar
kansas line, has for the past two weeks
been on the scene of the humiliation and
has kept the authorities in Wa 5hington adj
vised as to the necessities Of the situation
It is expected that just as o as possible
MIR. RHnsdell will return to Washington
and make an effort to increase the amount
carried in the river and harbor appropria'
ticn bill for levees and revetment work,
the necessity for such additional appro.
priations being universally conceded,
During the hearings the past week OF
river Improvement prospects the lakes to
the Gulf representatives extended an 1nvl.
tation to the Commerce Committee OF the
sipp' It this time, urging that the. object
lessr would be OF incalculable benefit to
the members and would give them a first
hand knowledge OF the needs OF the Mis-.
%sissippi that would be more valuable than
all the maps and reports In the world
For q time 1t seemed probable that the
Senators would make the trip, but so many
are the demands upon them just now, par.
ticularly from sections Of the country other
than the watershed Of the Mississippi
and its tributaries desiring hearings before
the committee that the visit was finally
but reluctantly given up.
It is an interesting side-lght on the
Dick-Henry patent CAGE recently decided
in the Supreme Court in favor Of the paten'
tee, that he has the right to safeguard his
patent to the extent Of STIMULATING What
material or other essential shall be used In
making his patent useful and perfect, TIC
know that the British patent law was the
outgrowth Of ; contest against m~onopolles
which, In many Of It's features, resembles
the contest going on today. 1t Is the Gus
tomary statement that Parliament IS en-.
titled to all the credit for having won trade
liberty for English-speaking people.
In g sense this Is true, but %curiously
enough 1t was Parl ament which original
ly was itself the representative OF monop'
olies because its members We're largely re.
cruited from the great town Guilds, that Il
the great trade Guilds Of England. 1t was
the endeavor OF Parliament to maintain
the monopoly of these trade guilds and tc
prevent the country people at large from
entering upon any OF these. trades except
through the restricted channels OF the
guild. 49,
Out Of the abuse of grants given the
their rights with the result that q contest
ensued between the crown and Parliament
resulting first in the interesting and re
markable proclamation Of Elizabeth II
1901 through her secretary, Lord Cecil
and In her Golden Speech" to the mem
beers OF the House of Commons in Noyem'
Der OF the same year. But after Elizabeth
came unfortunately James and Charles I
And the fight went on until finally Parlia'
ment succeeded in wrestling from James ir
1923 the great Statute OF MOnopolies which
provided for the introduction OF new
trades making exception to the first inven'
tors Of new manufactures.
In view Of the number OF men, whose
names, like that Of Abou Ben Adham "lec
all thu rest" who went to their graves In
the Atlantic on that awful night when the
Ttantic struck the iceberg, a big as 9
mountain" It Is interesting to know that
the Chinese, in their maritime regulations
insist upon saving the men first, the chill
'dren next and the women last, on theory
that the men are more useful to the State
than the women, ''for what would women
do without their husbands ?"