p. 21 | Current Mention

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 24, 1908

Current Mention

— A plan is now on foot in Maryland to disfranchise the negroes of that State.

— Gen. Antoine Simon, the leader of the recent successful revolution in Haiti, has been duly elected president by the Haitian legislature, and the United States government has already recognized the new administration.

— On December 17 the Argentine Chamber of Deputies passed a bill authorizing the expenditure of $75,000,000 for armaments. The bill provides for the construction of two large battleships, and a third if deemed necessary.

— The first parliament of Turkey was opened by the sultan in person on December 17. All creeds and races of the Turkish empire sent representatives. The sultan was warmly cheered at the conclusion of his address to the legislators, and there is much enthusiasm throughout the capital over the inauguration of the new system of government.

— Secretary of Agriculture Wilson, in his annual report just published, states that the farm value of the farm products of the United States during the year 1908 is $7,778,000,000. This, he states, is about four times the value of the products of the mines, including oils and precious metals, and is the largest amount yet reported in the history of the country.

— The federal government, while continuing to press its case against the Standard Oil trust, is also entering suit against the American Sugar Refining Company, known also as the sugar trust, to recover $3,624,121 in duties and forfeitures. It is alleged that the scales on which the incoming sugar was weighed had been so tampered with as to record less than the actual weight of the sugar.

— On December 18, representatives of the leading copper producers of the world met at New York, for the purpose, it is declared, of organizing an international association of copper producers, refiners, and manufacturers—in other words, a world trust in copper. It has just come to light that for several years a world trust in oil was actually carried on, and was only dissolved a few years ago.

— The portfolio of Secretary of State in the cabinet of President-Elect Taft has been offered to Hon. Philander C. Knox, of Pennsylvania, and has been accepted by him.

— President Roosevelt, in a message to Congress bearing date of December 17, urges Congress to take action opening the way for the appointment of a governor for the District of Columbia.

— On December 17 the American battle-ship fleet, which was then at Colombo, Ceylon, celebrated the anniversary of its departure from the harbor of Hampton Roads. On this occasion, officers of the American fleet and officials of Ceylon were entertained by the governor of Ceylon.

— Governor-Elect Shallenberger, of Nebraska, had his leg broken on the night of November 18 while being initiated into the lodge of Shriners. On the same night the pastor of the First Baptist church at Louisa, W. Va., had a shoulder dislocated and an arm broken while being initiated into the lodge of Masons.

— To illustrate how easily a hostile force equipped with air-ships could destroy a city, a California aeronaut, the night of December 17, dropped harmless bombs on the roofs of the city hall, the court-house, and other public buildings of the city of Los Angeles. In the darkness the whereabouts of the air craft could not be determined.

— It has been definitely decided that President-Elect Taft will leave Charleston, S. C., on January 25, for his last visit to the scene of operations in the Panama Canal Zone. In view of the fact that no provision exists in American law for supplying the place of a president-elect in case of his death before his inauguration, it has been decided to have a cruiser accompany the cruiser on which he sails.

— There is now being held in Washington, D. C., a convention, composed of delegates appointed by State governors, to take up the matter of uniformity in weights and measures throughout the nation. Delegates from several of the States declared they could give startling testimony as to some of the methods employed to defraud by the use of false weights and measures. The superintendent of the State of New York declared that the direct loss to the people of that State annually because of short weight was not less than $20,000,000, while the delegate from Massachusetts stated that the same conditions exist in that State.

— Reports from Venezuela indicate that a definite movement is now on to overturn the present government in the absence of President Castro. There have already been extensive demonstrations by the people against the absent president. The theory is now being advanced by the press in various parts of the world that President Castro was not in need of medical attention, that he does not intend to return to Venezuela, and that he has an immense fortune now on deposit in various European banks. Although Dutch war-ships have captured two Venezuelan government vessels, it is reported that they are not interfering with the importation of arms and ammunition for the insurgents, or with the vessels of other nations.