p. 20 | Current Mention

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 25, 1909

Current Mention

— Two Japanese war-ships left Yokohama on March 15 for Honolulu and San Francisco.

— Night riders have resumed their unlawful acts in Christian and Caldwell counties, Kentucky. Beds of tobacco plants belonging to independent farmers are being scraped by the night riders.

— President Taft's first message to Congress, dated March 16, is one of the shortest on record, containing just 324 words. Its brevity and terseness won for it a cordial reception from the congressmen.

— Twenty persons lost their lives by the collision of two steamers, the “Mascot” and the “Margaretha,” in the North Sea, near the Holland coast, on March 14. The latter vessel sank immediately with the larger portion of her crew.

— The municipality of Boston, Mass., is beginning an investigation into the charge that the city has been defrauded of about one million dollars in connection with the laying out and construction of certain streets in the Back Bay district of the city.

— A despatch from St. Petersburg, Russia, states that Persian soldiers are destroying villages on the frontier between Persia and Russia, and shooting down the people. Ten villages, four of them containing Russian subjects, are said to have been pillaged and burned, and many of the fleeing inhabitants killed.

— The latest reports from Europe indicate that there is less prospect of war between Austria and Servia than last week. Servia's reply to Austria is looked upon as removing any provocation of war between the two powers, and the nations of Europe have been bringing strong influence to bear upon both nations in the interests of peace.

— Mr. George T. Angell, “the friend of dumb animals,” and the leader of the humane educational movement in the United States, died at Boston, Mass., on March 16, at the age of eighty-six. He was president of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, also president of the American Humane Educational Association, and editor of Our Dumb Animals.

— The French nation is now in the throes of one of the most dangerous strikes ever experienced in that country. It began with the telegraphers, and has extended to the postal service and other branches of industry, so that at the present time the French nation is practically isolated from the rest of the world. As these public utilities are under the control of the government, the army has been called upon to furnish relief. Soldiers are being used in both the postal service and the telegraph service; but being unused to the work, telegrams and mail matter are piling up by the hundreds of thousands, and the general tie-up continues to spread. The government asked the Chamber of Deputies for a vote of confidence as to its handling of the matter and received it, but not by an overwhelming majority. This vote only served to increase the feeling of hostility on the part of the strikers toward the government. The generalization of the

strike throughout the whole of France is looked for. It is now general in Paris, Lyons, Marseilles, St. Etienne, Bourges, Grenoble, Lille, Nancy, Rouen, Havre, Limoges, and other large cities. The lack of food in Paris as a result of the impossibility of forwarding payments is beginning to make itself felt, and it is expected that famine conditions will soon prevail.

— The new Secretary of the Navy has ordered the commandant of the marine corps to prepare detachments of the marines for the battle-ships and armored cruisers. This order, following the action of Congress regarding the matter, completely reverses the action of President Roosevelt in ordering the marines to shore duty.

— The famous trial of the slayers of Senator Carmack, of Tennessee, has come to an end. D. B. Cooper and his son have been found guilty of murder in the second degree, and have been condemned to twenty years' imprisonment. An attempt will be made to have the trial declared a mistrial, and arguments upon this phase of the matter will begin this week.

— As a result of the combined influence of England, Germany, and the United States, the Russian government has yielded its position in the matter of the control of municipal affairs in the city of Harbin, Manchuria. It is understood that the new arrangement provides an open door for the commerce of the other countries, as well as recognizes the right of the Chinese government to the control of the territory for several years dominated by Russia.

— On March 16 an incipient rebellion broke out in Cuba. An officer of the rural guard, and a company of men, armed themselves, deserted from their post, and took the first steps toward a guerilla warfare. There were indications of a somewhat wide-spread conspiracy, and the government took active measures to quell the outbreak, throwing a cordon of troops around the infected territory, and bringing the insurgents to terms with very little difficulty.

— The ways and means committee of the House has reported a bill for the revision of the tariff, and general discussion upon the measure opened on Tuesday, March 23. The proposed measure reduces the tariff on barley fifty per cent, on timber fifty per cent, and puts on the free list wood-pulp, iron ore, hides, and coal. Coffee is to be admitted free from countries which do not charge an export duty, and a limited amount of sugar and tobacco is to be admitted free from the Philippines. The minority members have decided not to bring in a substitute bill, but to seek their object by means of amendments to the general bill.

— In the British Parliament, on March 16, during a debate on the navy, much uneasiness was expressed over the growing strength of the German navy, and the prospect that with the present program of the two nations, Germany would have one more “Dreadnaught” in 1912 than Great Britain will possess at that time. It was the fact that Germany was developing the capacity to build big battle-ships rapidly that so disconcerted the British statesmen. The effect of the debate was declared to be electrical, and those who had been in favor of decreasing England's proposed program for the building of battle-ships were won over, and are now in favor of making the proposed program the actual building program. Carrying out this program means an increase of nearly fifteen million dollars in the navy estimates. It means also that all the other powers will follow England's example, and increase rather than decrease their naval programs.

— Because of the unsettled condition of affairs in Central America, it has been decided to keep three United States war-vessels on the Pacific coast of the Central American States. The threat of intervention by the United States and Mexico in case of a breach of the peace there is said to have stirred the indignation of the inhabitants in those states. The presidents of four of the Central American States have been invited to meet in Mexico City to hold a conference over their grievances, out of which it is hoped such an arrangement will be perfected as will remove the danger of intervention by either Mexico or the United States.

— The number of those using the Esperanto language is now a million or more. Of organized societies and groups there are about 1,000, an increase of 30 per cent since the close of 1907. The countries leading in the movement are France, with 193 groups; the United Kingdom, 145; Spain, 84; Germany, 72; the United States, 66; Switzerland, 49; Austria, 46; Sweden, 39. There are now 90 special and professional Esperanto societies, including six women's clubs, artisans' unions, policemen's societies, temperance organizations, etc. Periodicals published in Esperanto numbered, July 1, 1908, 55. This is an increase of 11 during the preceding six months. Most of these journals are monthlies. The majority are for the purposes of propaganda. Some are for the international use of specialists, physicians, chemists, police, religious and secret organizations, etc. Public recognition of the language is steadily advancing. The postmaster-general of the United Kingdom has admitted Esperanto on the same footing as modern European languages for use in telegraphing; the committee of the Jubilee Exhibition at Prague issues its circulars in Esperanto, as in other languages; Count Hayashi, the Japanese minister of foreign affairs, has accepted the presidency of the Japanese Esperanto Association, and in a public letter has advised his countrymen to master the language. In Germany general attention is awakened to its value in connection with international trade. Various firms issue price-lists and catalogues in Esperanto. Much attention is being devoted to the standard translation of the Bible, intended particularly for missionary work. The section in charge of this feature reports that the Psalms are now in print, and that most of the New Testament is ready for the press. Short portions of the Old Testament have been published, but the greater portion of the translation is still to be accomplished, and is in the hands of scholars. In 1909 two international Esperanto congresses will be held, one at Barcelona, the other at Chautauqua, N. Y. A congress will be held in connection with the projected international expositions at Brussels in 1910, and at Tokyo in 1917.