p. 21 | Current Mention

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Mar 16, 1905

Current Mention

—Twenty-nine persons were injured in a collision between trains in the new subway in New York City, March 7. The accident constitutes one feature of a strike of subway employees which began a few days before, new men being required as engineers.

—President Roosevelt will recommission all the members of his former cabinet, with the exception of Postmaster-general Wynne, whose position is now filled by Hon. George B. Cortelyou, late chairman of the Republican national committee and formerly private secretary to President McKinley.

—The Standard Oil trust has retaliated against the State of Kansas for its action against the trust, by an order through the Prairie Oil and Gas Company, the Kansas branch of the Standard Oil monopoly, to the effect that hereafter no Kansas oil testing below thirty degrees gravity will be bought by the company. This affects nearly two thirds of the Kansas production, the average of Kansas oil in degrees of gravity being only twenty-eight. The grand jury at Cynthiana, Ky., brought in two hundred indictments against the Standard Oil trust March 8.

—Serious rioting in Spain was reported by telegrams from Barcelona, dated March 8. It is stated that 40,000 unemployed workmen in Spain are starving, and meetings of the unemployed are held to protest against the holding of carnivals at such a time. At the meetings the cry is frequently raised, ‘Long live anarchy!’ There have been numerous conflicts between striking workmen and the police.

—In a ‘rescript’ issued March 3 the czar has promised the people the right of petition for a redress of grievances, which is considered in Russia a long step toward representative government, and has caused great rejoicing among the people generally, though there are some who are skeptical as to the realization of any greater measure of the long-sought blessings of liberty. In central Russia there is an uprising of the peasants against the land-owners, and the former are pillaging the villages and destroying property. The strike still continues in St. Petersburg, with little signs of improvement.

—President-elect Roosevelt and Vice-President-elect Fairbanks took the oath of office March 4, as the central figures of a display which in magnitude and magnificence eclipsed all like demonstrations in American history. As pertinent to the occasion the Literary Digest observes: “The biggest and most spectacular inaugural celebration in our history leads the newspapers again to remark upon the President’s tremendous popularity, and to voice the apprehension, plainly expressed in some editorials and hinted in others, that his alleged tendency to overstep his powers during his term as an ‘accidental’ president may develop to an even greater degree now that he is president by election to that office.” The number of visitors at the capital was far greater than has marked any previous inauguration.

—Governor Joseph W. Folk, of Missouri, who has risen to prominence as the opponent of “boodlers” and corruptionists in St. Louis, finds himself opposed by the race-track ring in Missouri, which boasts that it controls legislation in that State. A Jefferson City, Mo., telegram says: “The race-track gambling ring is boasting to-day [March 8] that it has control of the Missouri Senate. Not only this, but the ring has defied the governor, and served notice that unless he yields to the demand for a compromise racing bill to permit book making and pool selling, the anti-bribery and other bills which the administration favors will not be passed. One of the combine said to the governor to-day: ‘If you will agree to meet us half-way, we are willing to make your anti-bribery bill a law.’ Mr. Folk informed the senate missionary that he would not yield an inch, that compromise would neither be tolerated nor considered.”

—A determined effort is in progress, in Philadelphia, backed by a combination of the religious forces of the city, to deliver that municipality from the vice and corruption which have long been notoriously prevalent in Pennsylvania’s metropolis. A feature of this effort was the observance of a special day of prayer, February 28, by the clergy of the city, the W. C. T. U., and others, to the end that the city officials, particularly the mayor and the director of public safety, might be influenced to take a proper attitude toward the existing evils. Two hundred ministers met for prayer in Holy Trinity church, and about three hundred more observed the occasion in their respective churches, while at the same time about 1,000 women met for a like purpose in one of the Methodist churches. The religious leaders have appointed a committee to study the situation, collect evidence, and take such steps as will force the responsible officials to take such action as is possible under the law.

—In the greatest battle of the war thus far, and perhaps the greatest and most sanguinary in modern times, Field-Marshal Oyama, the Japanese commander-in-chief, has completely defeated the Russian General Kuropatkin, the Russian forces being put to utter rout, with tremendous loss of men, guns, stores and munitions in general. The Japanese forces occupy Mukden, the ancient Chinese capital, which has been the Russian base throughout the winter. To win this victory it was necessary for the Japanese to assault and carry positions which the Russians have been fortifying for months, and these assaults were made with a fanatical bravery and utter disregard of life which probably has never been surpassed in the annals of warfare. The line of battle extended twenty miles, and the effort of the Japanese commander was to outflank and encircle the Russian forces, and cut off their retreat northward from Mukden, in which aim he was largely successful, though Kuropatkin and a portion of his shattered army are said to have escaped to Tie Pass. The total number of men in the two armies is believed to have been about 700,000, and of these more than 150,000 are believed to have been killed or disabled. Meanwhile it is reported from St. Petersburg that General Kuropatkin has been recalled, and that he will be court-martialed for his defeat. The Russian government declares that it is unshaken in its intention to prosecute the war to a successful issue.

—Secretary Garfield, of the Department of Commerce and Labor, recently submitted to the President a report of his investigation of the beef trust, in which he stated that he found nothing to justify legal action against it as a violator of the law. This report being made public, the Kansas Legislature adopted a resolution, March 6, which challenges the correctness of its conclusions, citing in evidence (1) that there is an “enormous disparity between the price of beef on the hoof and beef on the block;” (2) that “the cattle industry of Kansas has been steadily declining for the past seven years, the price of cattle going lower;” (3) that “under the operations of this trust there is no longer any fixed relation between the price of beef and the price of corn;” (4) that the price of cattle in Kansas is now so low that “there is no longer any profit in feeding cattle for the market;” (5) that “at the same time the price of beef on the block is being constantly advanced to the consumer;” (6) that “the purchaser knows that there is but one market in which he can buy one of the necessaries of life, and that he must buy of the beef trust at whatsoever price it may fix;” in view of which the resolution characterizes the report as being “entitled to no credit, faith, or confidence, and made without sufficient care,” and proceeds: “Therefore be it resolved by the senate, the house concurring therein, That we request the President of the United States to reject this report, and appoint some man with experience, independence, and nerve that will qualify him for the task of investigating this gang of commercial highwaymen known as the beef trust, to the end that the public may be fully informed as to the sources of their enormous profits, the foundations of their colossal fortunes, and the means, instruments, and agreements by which for a generation they have robbed both the purchaser and the consumer, to the end that legislation protecting both may be intelligently devised, and that the light of publicity, that light that is destructive of all trusts and combinations, may be thrown upon the operations of this vicious and iniquitous conspiracy.” At Chicago, meanwhile, witnesses are being subpoenaed to appear before the federal grand jury, March 20, when an investigation of the beef trust will be begun by that body.