Omaha daily bee., 1912-03-30


than sufficient TO make up for idleness
even II continued for two months. What
ever additional wage Is granted at the
end. IT is certain to be doubled and
cheerfully passed to the consumer. AS
matter Of pounds and shillings the mine
owners could have granted the minimum
pittance at the outset without risk OF
loss and averted the widespread tragic
distress brought on the people. But that
Is not the way OF the employing Brit
lsher. ''In Britain" says the Toronto
Globe. there are hundreds Of thousands
of people who still regard the working
man as a sort Of necessary evil. TO be
tolerated merely because there are still
some things that automatic machinery
cannot accomplish. That the first charge
upon an industry ought 10 be the rate
OF wages TO the workingmen engaged in
1t seems a monstrous doctrine. IL any
one imagines this to be an exaggerated
statement of the case let him ponder
over the following letter received by the
chairman Of the London and Northwest
ern railway the other day from one OF
the stockholders to whom he had made
an appeal on behalf Of the railway benev-
olent institution: think 1t simply dis
gusting for you to send round this appeal
to your wretched shareholders. who are
receiving less dividends this year than
they ought to. owing. to the abominsble
way the men have behaved, and their
grasping avarice, to which you and other
directors have SO weakly yielded, and
which have thereby 50 seriously reduced
our incomes. Damn you. / say!
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Frances Empty Stocking.
F. Cunliffe- Owen, writing in Hampton's
Magazine, draws a gloomy picture OF the
increasing menace of poverty in the
French republic. The unsurpassed thrift
Of the people which enabled the govern
ment to provide the millions Of francs
exacted by the victorious Germans In
1871 has been undermined by the high
cost OF living, taxation and labor trou-
bles. So serious are conditions that the
government Is considering the advisa-
bility of fixing the price Of food by law.
The straitened conditions Of the people,
the writer asserts, is not due TO Siege
or war but to the extraordinarily high
price OF even the most ordinary and
ton Of tho labor market and OF trade
and industry. caused by labor troubles,
by uncertainty OF the future and finally
by excessive taxation. For there is no
country In the world that staggers under
so colossal a national debt as France.
or the people of which are more heavily
taxed. Thus, the national debt alone
amounts to some ss.oooooooo which
means a capital charge OF about si5o for
each man, woman and child, and an
annual tax Of between IS and ss per head
Of the entire population, added to which
there is the provincial debt Of the de-
partments, and the debt Of the COM
munes, amounting to another t.ooo. 100000.
which likewise constitutes q heavy annual
share per capita. In the way OF interest.
Besides all this, the unfortunate French
taxpayers have to provide another $780,
Oo0,00o OF annual revenue TO defray the
yearly cost Of the army, the navy and
the various forms Of government ad-
ministration, the civil end OF which alone
employs nearly 100000 officials Of one
kind or another"
Caring for the Unemployed.
Switzeriand's methods OF caring for the
unemployed are described by r. E Mans
field, American consui-generai at Zurich.
In a recent issue Of the Consular and
Trade reports. ''The Swiss" he says.
'.act upon the theory that a man who Is
unemployed Is, II left to himself. prone
to become unemployable. The
purpose 10 TO assist the unemployed TO
secure work. not only for the sake OF
the individual, but also In the interests
OF the state. - No liberation Is
shown TO the loafer. begging Is prohibited
by law. and vagrancy Is classified as a
crime. II the individual does not make
a serious effort to find work. II is found
for him. Once he has been given an
opportunity to earn his living. he is com
PEELED TO take advantage Of Il with the
alternative Of going 70 the workhouse
where military discipline Is enforced. A
fund Is maintained by each canton. out
Of which the needy unemployed are as
sisted. In some cities. notably Berne.
Basel and Geneva, the government subsf-
dies associations, union or otherwise.
which have employment Insurance funds
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wireless Around the world.
The British government contemplates q
wireless telegraph system connecting its
possessions around the world. Contracts
have been signed for six great wireless
stations, one each at London. Alexandria,
Alden, Bangalore. Singapore and Pretoria.
BangaIore, the only unfamiliar place, 10
situated in the center Of the southern end
Of the Hindustan peninsula Three other
stations, one in western Australia, one
In eastern Australia and third In New
Zealand. are protected to complete the
system, which thus unites all British pos
sessions in Europe. east and south AZ
rica, Asia and Australia
sss
Light on Tripoli.
While conflicting reports leaves the pub
lie in fog as regards the success OF
Italian arms In Tripoli. there Is no doubt
Of Italian success In Frightening the town
OF Tripoli. Three hundred and fifteen
electric lamps are to be installed and
operated there during March. The Ger
man government. which has not yet
taken its hands off Tripoli. has invited
German firms to study the lighting sltua-
ton. The many restaurants. cafes and
bars that have been opened during the
last two months have created large de-
mand for lights. Even private citizens
are doing away with the kerosene lamp
In their homes. Most Of the foreign
houses In Tripoh are seeking to exploit
their different lighting systems. but II
Is noticeable that the Italian agents who
have recently arrived are the most az
gressive