p. 9 | The Trusts

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 11, 1903

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 29, No. 10.

The Trusts

The Trusts.—It is stated by press correspondents that a group of English, Italian, and Brazilian capitalists is forming a trust to control the Brazilian coffee trade. Under the Federal Salt Company trust, which was recently enjoined by Judge Morrow of the United States District Court in San Francisco, the price of salt had been raised from $3.00 to $30 per ton. The trust controlled about all the salt produced west of the Mississippi River. A criminal indictment has also been issued against the officials doing business within the jurisdiction of the court. This is the second trust that has been successfully prosecuted, which implies that others might have been prosecuted had there been the official inclination to do so. But of course there remains the question of conviction. Sherman Law and Elkins Law to the contrary notwithstanding, the Washington Post says that the beef trust is pushing ahead, and unless something unforeseen arises, April 1 will see the official announcement of the incorporation of a company which may eventually control the meat trade of the world. Further railroad combinations are also announced. The Rock Island system has secured control of what is known as the Frisco system, making altogether a single control of 13,000 miles, in the West, Southwest, and far South. There is also a close connection between the new combine and the Santa Fé by an exchange of representation on the respective boards. It is also stated that the Central of Georgia and the Mexican Central are contemplated in the combine. Still another deal is the purchase by the Northwestern Railway of the Fremont, Elkhorn, and Missouri Valley company's lines in the States of Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota, which will hereafter be operated as a division of the Northwestern.

Flood and Storm.—The closing days of February were made memorable by disastrous gales adjacent to the British Isles, doing great damage to shipping. Along the south of Ireland the storm was exceedingly fierce. In this country, also, flood and storm have been doing disastrous work. At Pittsburg hundreds of families were driven from their homes near the river. Many of the mills in the low-lying region were flooded, and over 38,000 workmen were temporarily thrown out of employment. Many of the railroad tracks were under water, and had to be abandoned. Far up the Alleghany and Monongahela Rivers, as also along the whole length of the Ohio, was marked by more or less destruction of property and some loss of life. A Louisville despatch of February 28 says that the annual spring freshet, which yearly does damage to railroads and crops, and at times inflicts loss of life, has left this season's impression on many parts of the South, after tremendous two-day rains, with an accompaniment of high winds. Accidents last night and this morning, directly attributable to the elements, have resulted in the death of nine persons and injury to twenty-nine. The damage to railroad property is large, and the inconvenience to the public considerable. Cloud-bursts are reported in Kentucky and Tennessee, and it is feared there has been some loss of life in the affected regions. In Middlesboro, Ky., every house in the lower section of the place was flooded, and every merchant suffered damage to stock. The valley of Yellow Creek was flooded for several hours from mountain to mountain. Landslides occurred in two tunnels on the City Southern Railway near Harriman, Tenn. All streams are bank full, the Alabama River rising nineteen feet at Millstead, near Montgomery, during the night. Flood warnings were sent out by the Montgomery Weather Bureau. At the same time reports from points on the lower Mississippi record the water above the danger line. In the Northwestern States blizzards and snowstorms were the order during the same period. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Wyoming, and Western Kansas and Nebraska were the scenes of extreme cold and disastrous storms, resulting in great loss of stock and disaster to railroad traffic. From Newfoundland, also, we have news of severe snowstorms. A train out from St. Johns seventeen days only succeeded in getting half-way across the island. The passengers told thrilling tales of their experiences. Another express train came to a standstill, and the passengers walked over thirty miles of snow-fields to an open section of the line.

Among the Laborers.—A battle occurred at Staniford City, W. Va., on February 25, between officers and 100 men on one side and about 200 miners on the other. An attempt had been made to arrest some of the miners for violation of an injunction, and the miners drove the peace officers from the town. The officers were reinforced, and the battle followed, resulting in the death of four miners and the wounding of several others on both sides. Seventy-three were arrested. A lawless condition of affairs had continued there since the beginning of the strike in June. President John Mitchell, having failed to unionize the miners in Maryland and West Virginia, has decided to take strong measures to bring about his object. He proposes to make the operators of the mines in those States unionize their own plants for fear of the boycott which he proposes to bring to bear upon the products of their mines. He has therefore started a movement in Chicago against the use of any coal coming from the mines of Maryland or West Virginia, and will seek to extend this boycott until the mines are forced to unionize in self defense—and this, too, when the miners in those mines are not in favor of joining the union. All the quartz mills of Colorado City, Colo., are now tied up or threatened with a tie-up by a strike of the hands. The recent railroad strike in Belgium has caused the introduction of a number of bills in the Second Chamber of the States General for the prevention of the recurrence of such a condition as recently existed there. Imprisonment of from six months to four years is to be the penalty for striking or inducing others to strike who are in the public service. The strike of coal miners at Fernie, B. C., is to be settled by a commission appointed and paid by the government, as was the Pennsylvania strike.

In the Balkans.—During the week the outlook in the Balkan States has appeared a little less dangerous, altho the situation is not considered a peaceful one by any means. Bulgaria and Servia have both officially declared that they will not stir up any strife, but the official representatives of both governments have expressed sympathy with their oppressed countrymen in Macedonia; but it is a question how far the people themselves will allow the declaration of their officials to bind them when their friends across the border are suffering under the hand of the Turk. The people of Albania are now growing restless and threatening trouble. They object to the Russian consulate in their territory, and it is feared they will attack the consulate and thus provoke international trouble. Turkey has promised the reforms which Russia and Austria have demanded, but at the same time she is buying more guns and munitions of war. In Bulgaria popular meetings are being held to protest against the suppression of the Macedonian committee by the Bulgarian Government. The revolutionists are still active, and the leaders are traveling from one band to another to increase the agitation. Reports from Moscow indicate that Russia is actively preparing for a possible conflict; that all absent officers have been recalled to the regiments, and that arrangements have been completed for calling 260,000 men to the colors within two weeks of the time when the call is made. The Russians fear that the Turks will pursue bands of revolutionists across the Bulgarian frontier and thus precipitate a conflict.

Stormy Legislatures.—In the legislative assemblies of the United States, England, and Italy, stormy sessions have occurred during the week. The Italian Chamber of Deputies was compelled to suspend temporarily on February 24 because of disorderly scenes, and it is expected that a number of duels will result. The trouble in the British parliament was over the adoption of the war secretary's military program; and in the House of Representatives the trouble was occasioned by the unseating of a Democratic representative from Missouri. It was a case of contested election, and the House by a strict party vote decided in favor of the Republican contestant. The other party had given warning that if this were done, they would delay legislation in every possible way, and they have done so, very little being accomplished. Every block to legislation that could be used has been employed, and in consequence much bitter feeling has been engendered. In the Senate, Senator Morgan has prevented the ratification of the canal treaty by practically talking it out and refusing to agree to the setting of a time to vote. The admission of new States in the Southwest has also been found impossible, as was the ratification of the Cuban treaty. An extra session of the Senate has been called by the President, to convene March 5. This is for the purpose of taking action on the Cuban treaty and the canal treaty.

Accomplished by Congress.—The session of the 57th Congress is near an end, and some legislation of importance has been accomplished, tho more was expected by the country in general than has been done. The following is a partial summary of the legislation of this session: Creating the department of commerce and labor and adding another cabinet officer to the President's official family; the anti-rebate act to curtail the powers of railroads in the work of aiding trusts; a bill to expedite actions against trusts under the Sherman anti-trust law; the removal of the tariff on coal coming from all foreign countries; a staff corps has been provided for the army to plan for the defense of the country; the naval appropriation bill providing for an increase in the personnel of the navy, the appropriation of $3,000,000 to relieve distress in the Philippines; the provision of a currency system for the Philippines; a law authorizing the building of an isthmian canal; providing civil government for the Philippines; extending the Chinese exclusion laws; repealing the war taxes; extending the charters of national banks; creating a permanent census bureau; providing a system for the irrigation of the arid lands of the West; and providing a consular and diplomatic service for Cuba.

The Chinese Situation.—The revolutionary movement in South China is growing more serious. The Kwang-si rebels have defeated the imperial troops sent to subdue them, and are pillaging villages. The movement is spreading, and the government seems unable to hinder its advance. In Hong Kong the offices of the leading rebels were discovered and raided, and some arrests made. Hundreds of rifles have been captured by government officials; but so many arms are being imported, and the rebels are being so rapidly armed through the smuggling of war munitions, that the Russian Government has protested to the other powers. The United States has been asked to co-operate in suppressing the importation of arms into China. Belgium, Germany, England, and the United States are sending the largest quantities of such merchandise to the Chinese rebels. Russia fears the outbreak of a movement that will involve all China and result in an unsurpassed reign of terror. The plan of the rebels is to kill officials, burn and pillage, and overthrow the present government.

Rumors of war continue to come from the uneasy States in Central America, and some battles are said to have been fought. The dictator of Honduras has met with defeat at the hands of the newly elected president, who is being assisted by Salvador to secure control of the government. The revolution is spreading on the Pacific side of the isthmus, and all but the foreign element is being pressed into the military service. The Venezuela dispute is progressing slowly toward its destination at The Hague. Minister Bowen is signing protocols with the other interested nations who have claims against the government of Venezuela. He has proposed the czar of Russia as the one to select the judges for the arbitration court to decide this special case; but the allies have not definitely accepted the proposal, tho the belief seems general that they will.

The volcano of Colima, in the State of Jalisco, Mexico, about 80 miles south of Guadalajara, has been in violent activity since February 21. Streams of lava are pouring down the sides of the mountain, and heated rocks and ashes are falling over a large portion of that part of the State. A thick pall of smoke hangs over the country within a radius of fifty miles from the crater, so that the people are compelled to use lights in the daytime. Violent earthquake shocks accompanying the volcanic eruptions continue day and night. The inhabitants are camping in the open, and villages near the mountain have been deserted by their inhabitants. There is probably some connection between this disturbance and the earthquake reported in the island of Dominica, B. W. I., on February 27.

The Alaska Boundary.—The Senate has ratified the treaty with Canada for the settlement of the Alaska boundary dispute through a commission chosen by the two countries. The President has appointed as commissioners for the United States, Henry Cabot Lodge, Elihu Root, and George Turner. It is not seriously expected by the majority of people that this commission will be able to settle the question. The President's appointees are known to be men who have very decided opinions against yielding anything in the matter of this boundary, and there is little expectation of the Canadian commissioners coming to the conference with the idea of yielding Canada's demands.

Railroad Valuation.—The report of the Interstate Commerce Commission says that for the United States the total par value of railway securities is $11,724,035,829 and their market value $8,351,103,523. The capital stock is stated to be, par value, $6,021,364,502 and market value $3,250,144,596. The par value of the funded debt is stated to be $5,702,671,327 and the market value $5,100,958,927.