The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-06-06

Ben allure of seven years ago. From government sources there have come freouent assertions that relations with other countries are most peaceful and ami cable. If this he true, the peo- pie are wondering why the govern ment comes forward with a military budget which could not be much greater if the empire was on the. verge of war
 The sum asked by the minister of war is $1S6, ,OOO,O 900. The army wants $115, 900, while the navy will get along with 36,0Oo,0oO. The remain ing S35.0OO,0OO will be spent on the militia and reserve forces. Seven years ago the total budget for the three branches of service amounted to only $96, ,0OO, ,0OO, 9 sum considerably less than is now demanded for the ar my alone.
 The popular protest is that the ad- vance is utterly out of proportion to the normal increase in the natiorSs financial and commercial wealth, but the most disquieting feature is that the present budget contains no extra ordinary items, so there is no reason to expect that next years estimate will bring any relief.
 At the time of the war scares, dur Ing the annexation of Bosnia ill 19OSs and- during the more recent Balkan wars, the ministry of war took advan- tage of the situation to procure every l thing that was needed to bring the army up to a high state of efficiency, and enormous sums were spent on two mo bi Iizations The rate of spend ing then 4naugurated seems to have been kept up, and each succeeding budget has been larger than the one I before. Immense slir1s have been but into new guns. and technacal equipment for the engineers aid field forces
 While it is contended that the gen ] eraI increase in the cost of labor and materials has much to do with the in creasing budgets, the press has lately been discussing the influence exerted | by the ring of manufacturers of steel and armaments.
 Since Austria Hungary started to build ships of the Dreadnougnt type three years ago, the taxpayers have
 been astonished to hnd that these are | built by Germany and Great Britain. | The iron and steel and other materials 1 employed are all considerably dearer than in the other two countries nam ed. It is charged that the govern
 m ent 5is being held up by a ring of manufacturers Since 1t is the set tied policy of the various goyernm ent l departments not to buy anything out side the country if it can be obtained \ in Austria Hungary, it has been difn- I cult to find a remedy for the situa- ton
 Apparently the nanufacturers, ring \ constitutes avery powerful organiza- ton. The shareholders include many l Influential and exalted persons. The
 shares in one of the principal ship
 building concerns have risen in the
 past few. years from $80 to $1,840. an increase Of g2,SO0 per cent.
 Christianta,=The treatment of Nor
 wegfans at the immigration station at I Ellis Island New York, has been re-
 ceiving criticism in Parliament: Sev-
 eraI members of the Storthing have NJ made speeches in which they cited in-
 stances Of ilItreatment of Norwegian Il irnmi grants under detention there and
 the foreign minister was asked point edly what he intended to do about 1t.
 The discussion arose from the story
 recently published here of a 15-year-
 old boy, who was detained at Ellis IsI-
 and for a whole month before he was
 sent backsto Norway. It was assert ed that he was kept prisoner and that
 only one of several letters which he wrote ever reached it's destination,
 The protesting members in Parlia-
 ment did not criticize the immigra-
 ton laws of the United States, but 4 ed under these laws should be prop
 erIy treated.
 M. Thlen in answer to the interpe1- 1ations. quoted some of the most i'm
 portant sections of the American inn
 migration acts and said that too often
 the Norwegian enigrant failed to com lp1y with the regulations because of Ignorance. He agreed that there were
 cases of exceptional severity and cit I ed that of a Norwe gian woman and because the paper by which her fath-
 er-in-laW guaranteed that the family
 would not become a public charge
 was dated a year before their arrival
 She was allowed to enter while her
 case was on appeal after her rela- tives had raised $500 bail for each child, but in the meantime one of the children died in the hospital through
 careless treatment, according to charges to the Norwegian legation in Washington.
 The minister pointed out what diff hcult situation the United States had to facet with thousands of immigrants a great many of whom were Hitter
 ate constantly pouring into her gates He then agreed that the Foreign Office should get full Information about the 2 treatment of Norwegtans at Ellis Isl and which should be published, witt extracts from American immigration laws warning Norwegians of the rislz' theyn run in attempting to enter ths United States.
 Glasgow.-The birthplace of Rol
 Roy, the celebrated Highland free booter, the place where he died, ant
 his grave have been saved by a. de . cision of the House of Lords denying the city of Glasgow a right to draw water supply from Loch Voil anC Il Loch Doine. If Glasgow's reques had been granted it would have beer necessary, since these lakes are a par of the eastern watershed, to raise th' level of the lakes some 50 feet, wflicI would have submerged the Rob Ro. l landmarks. These sentimental consideration were laid before the House Of Lords il petition after petition, but the decis ion. of that body, sitting in it's judicia capacity, was not based upon any O V these points. The ancient riparian regulations read that water from al eastern watershed shall not be divert ed to western uses, and it was decided that Glasgow must forego it's wate V l-slInnlX for fte rrosaic rea son -tI1at tIa.