Current Mention

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 2, 1908

— The lower house of the New Jersey Legislature, on March 17, defeated by a vote of 15 to 44 a local-option bill.

— Troops have been ordered from Fort Seward, at Haines, Alaska, to preserve order on Douglas Island, where 800 miners have gone on strike.

— Some disquieting news, the nature of which has not been made public, caused the dispatch of two more war-vessels to Hayti, on March 25.

— Nearly 300 of the passengers and crew of the “Matsu Maru” were lost when that steamer was sunk by another Japanese steamer, March 23, in a fog off the coast of Japan.

— The czar of Russia has confirmed the death sentence passed upon General Stoessel for prematurely surrendering Port Arthur to the Japanese. He also confirmed the recommendation of the court that the sentence be commuted to ten years’ imprisonment in a fortress.

— The emperor of China has given his sanction to a three-years’ experimental decrease in the importation of opium, with the purpose of determining the effect it will have upon the domestic cultivation and the use of opium. Great Britain has agreed to the regulation, which, if it proves successful, will be continued. The emperor has further ordered the regulation of the opium evil, and appeals to the nation at large to abandon its use entirely.

— Five days after publishing the plans for the movements of the battle-ship fleet after leaving San Francisco, the United States government received an invitation from the Japanese government that the fleet visit that country. The invitation was immediately accepted, as was also the invitation of China, which came a few days later. The fleet will also visit Australia, returning to the Atlantic via Suez. It is understood that all other invitations, should any be extended, will be declined, that the fleet may be back in the coast waters of this country by Feb. 22, 1909.

— On March 19 the senate of the Maryland Legislature passed a bill, without amendment as it came from the House, which will prevent Christian Scientists practising for fees in the State.

— Trouble was narrowly averted in Chicago the night of March 16, when, at the beginning of an address on anarchy, the police arrested Emma Goldman. There were 200 anarchists in the hall.

— Many letters threatening death by the “black hand” have lately been reported to the police of Philadelphia. Ten such letters to prominent citizens were reported in one day. The mayor, all the heads of the city government, and two priests have received such letters, and some of the officials are constantly attended by detectives.

— Soon after the release of the Japanese steamship “Tatsu Maru” by the Chinese, large meetings were held in Canton, in which resolutions were passed that the anniversary of the day of the release be observed as a day of mourning, and that a boycott be proclaimed on Japanese goods. Japan has asked China to prevent the boycott, and to put an end to the anti-Japanese agitation.

— In response to an appeal from the mayor of Paterson, N. J., that the socialistic publication, La Question Sociale, be excluded from the mails, President Roosevelt not only recommended that this be done, but has requested the Department of Justice to make every effort to prosecute criminally those responsible for its publication. On March 26, after a hearing granted the editor and business manager, Postmaster General Meyer ordered that the second-class mailing privileges of the publication be annulled, taking the position that “freedom of the press” does not mean freedom of the mails.

— At a special election held March 21, Worcester County, Md., voted for prohibition to become operative April 1. There was a large vote for prohibition cast by the colored voters. Worcester County was the last of the nine counties east of the Chesapeake to vote for prohibition. There are two other counties of the State also that prohibit the sale of intoxicants. On the same day the Maryland Senate passed the bill previously passed by the House, which gradually increases the cost of licenses for the city of Baltimore from the present price of $250 to $1,000 on and after May 1, 1910. While this is not all that might be hoped for, it will probably reduce the number of saloons in the city by 500.

— Because of the failure of the State authorities to search out the perpetrators of the outrages committed by the “night riders,” prominent citizens of Lexington and central Kentucky are circulating a petition asking President Roosevelt to interfere in that State. The petitioners know that the President can not interfere, unless so requested by the governor, but they hope by this means to get the two executives together in quelling the disorder.

— The emergency currency bill introduced into the Senate January 9 by Senator Aldrich, passed that body March 27, and at the present time the outlook seems favorable for it to pass the House. The main provision of this bill allows the national banks of the country to issue in times of stringency currency notes not to exceed in total $500,000,000, by depositing in the treasury of the United States as collateral United States bonds, state bonds, and bonds of certain counties and municipalities. These notes are to be subject to a progressive tax to insure their withdrawal when the emergency has passed.

— The report of the American consul, James A. Smith, in reference to the conditions imposed on the natives of the Kongo, depicts so many abuses that Secretary Root has made strong representations to King Leopold. The report of the consular agents sent to investigate have not been made public, but enough is known to warrant the statement that millions of these natives of Africa are kept in practical slavery, as the goods given in return for service are no adequate compensation. Taxes are also levied upon both men and women. Although the maximum time which may be required in service for the state is by law forty hours a month, by actual test under favorable conditions it was found that the average time spent in collecting the three kilograms of rubber required by the state was nineteen and one-half days.

— On March 21 there was introduced in the Senate a liquor bill for the District of Columbia, framed by the Antisaloon League, which contains a local-option provision, and some regulations. If the majority of the residents and property owners in any one or more squares petition the excise board for the removal of the saloons from its district, the Board will be compelled to revoke the licenses, which can not be renewed for three years. Applicants for wholesale or club licenses must each year obtain the consent of the majority of the residents and property owners of the three nearest squares, as well as the one in which the shop is located. The wholesale license allows the sale of not less than a gallon, instead of not less than a pint as at present. Saloons will be allowed to be open only from 7 A. M. to 7 P. M., and will not be allowed to use screens in the doors. The sale of liquor in buckets or similar receptacles is prohibited. The bill also provides for stricter regulations for the sale of liquor by druggists. While the provisions of this bill are satisfactory to some temperance workers, the W. C. T. U. and others are entirely opposed to any such compromise.