Religious Persecution in Prussian Schools
Shocking accounts have been telegraphed from Prussian Poland of the wholesale flogging of Polish school children by Prussian teachers because the children have refused to learn the catechism and prayers in German. The flogging was so general that the parents of the children assembled around the school-houses and denounced the authorities and teachers. This resulted in the parents being committed to prison for terms ranging from two months to two years. In permitting this outrage, or in requiring it, Prussia is permitting herself to act upon the most illiberal and unchristian policy of the Dark Ages. It is a long remove from Christianity, even tho the religion sought to be inculcated be called by that name. The gospel of force has no part nor lot in the field of true Christianity. It is one of the wicked anomalies of a church-and-state religion. The Colombian rebels have captured Colon, or Aspinwall, and have threatened Panama. The government troops are now moving for the recapture of Colon, and some hard fighting has taken place along the Panama railway. It is reported that 150 men were killed in the battle on November 25. United States war-ships have landed marines, who are now in control of the railway to prevent either party interfering with its operation. This action of the United States is in accordance with the treaty between Colombia and the United States, and altho European powers look upon the act suspiciously, it is not expected that they will interfere. The Colombian gunboat in the harbor of Colon threatens to bombard the place in order to assist in its recapture; but it is not thought that the bombardment will take place on account of the large interests there. Governor Jenks, of Alabama, has issued a proclamation announcing the ratification of the new constitution of that State, and declaring that the new instrument shall become effective on Thanksgiving day, November 28. By this constitution the right of suffrage is restricted to those who can read and write, or who own 40 acres of land in the State, or who have served in the army or navy of the United States, the Confederate States, or the State of Alabama in any of the wars; also the lawful descendants of persons who have served in the army or navy. One of the articles provides that those who exercise the right of suffrage must possess good character and understand the duties and obligations of citizenship under a republican form of government. What purports to be a verbatim report of the findings of the Nicaragua Canal Commission, has been published in the daily press. According to this report, the Nicaragua route has been chosen by the commission. The total cost of the canal construction is placed at $189,864,062. The cost of the Panama route, including the price at which the Panama Canal Company holds its property, is $253,374,858. The Nicaragua route from sea to sea is 186.66 miles; while the Panama route is 49.09 miles long. The mining interests of the country have been stirred during the past week over the claims put forth by Professor Wynn, of Denver, Colorado, that he has invented a new process of extracting gold from ore far superior to any process ever before known. Tests have been made upon ore worked by other processes, and wonderful results are claimed. Some prominent men have become interested in the new process, which it is claimed will greatly add to the stock of the world's gold. A despatch from Constantinople states that never has the Turkish Government been in such financial straits as at the present time. The Ottoman Bank refuses to make any more advances to the government, and in many of the provinces the troops are unpaid. There is much discontent in the army, and this is regarded as a real danger. Under the present conditions should rebellion break out, we might reasonably expect each of the powers to rush in for its share of the dismembered nation. The Greek cabinet has resigned on account of the recent riots in Athens. The cause of the riots is a peculiar one. It has been proposed to translate the Bible into modern Greek. To this the adherents of the Greek Catholic Church are strenuously opposed. They have seized certain buildings and defied even the military authorities. Several lives have been lost in the conflicts between the opposing forces. The Pacific Commercial Cable Company, recently organized in New York to lay a cable from San Francisco to the Philippines, is reported to have awarded the contract for the first section, from San Francisco to Honolulu, to an English company. This company expects to have the cable working by the first of September, 1902, between the last named places. The cost is placed at nearly $3,000,000. Professor Virchow, a well-known scientist, now comes forward with the declaration that the Neanderthal skull, which was supposed to be the skull of the missing link, can not be accepted as the type of a race, but must be considered as abnormal. Those who were not intoxicated with the evolution theory came to that conclusion when the skull was first brought to public attention. The new railroad which is now being constructed through Uganda, East Africa, has awarded to the American Bridge Company of Philadelphia, a contract for 20 steel bridges, which will cost nearly $1,000,000. Several English and continental firms entered bids; but were underbid by the American firm both as to price and length of time for construction. The population of France continues to decrease, and the premier has appointed a commission to study the course to be taken in order to arrest the depopulation of the nation. One of the causes of the decrease is said to be the baby farms. It is claimed that 80 per cent of the children committed to these institutions die at an early age. It is reported that the British Government is seeking to negotiate a treaty with Nicaragua which will enable the British to retire from all claim of jurisdiction over the Mosquito Coast, leaving Nicaragua in full sovereignty there, with Nicaragua guaranteeing the proper treatment of the Indians, who are now under British protection. The British steamer Monmouth, from Cape Town, South Africa, arrived at Norfolk, Va., on November 19, and reports the existence of over 800 cases of bubonic plague in Cape Town and vicinity at the time the vessel left. The captain reports that 380 deaths had occurred up to the time his steamer sailed. The German Colonial Council, in session at Berlin on November 21, declared that while the emancipation of the children of slaves might be practicable in Togoland and the Cameroons, yet the time had not arrived when it would be practicable to declare them free in German East Africa. And this is the year 1901! Aguinaldo recently made a request that he be allowed to come to the United States and lay before the American people the wishes of the Filipinos. The Secretary of War has ordered that he be kept a prisoner in Manila. The electric railway company of New Egypt, N. J., has brought suit against a Bohemian truck farmer of that place for the theft of electricity, which the farmer is said to have stolen by tapping the company's feed wire. The purpose of the theft was the stimulation of the growth of vegetables in the Bohemian's truck garden. By a network of wires the electricity was distributed through the soil of the garden, and the result was a marvelous growth in whatever vegetables the farmer planted; but the trolley company was barely able to operate its cars at the slowest pace with the greatest amount of power it could produce. It was the great loss of power which led to the detection of the theft. The comments of the British press during the week upon the canal treaty and the isthmian canal project have been very favorable as a rule, some even going so far as to assert that England should now give a formal statement of its acceptance of the principles of the Monroe Doctrine. A mob of 400 union miners attacked a non-union mine at Prospect Hill, near Vincennes, Indiana, on November 19, severely injuring the foreman of the mine, members of his family, and others. The mine was operated on the co-operative plan, and the union proposes to unionize it. Captain Charles F. Brouard, who has just returned from Alaska after a five-years' exploring tour in the northwestern part of that territory, reports finding a bed of bituminous coal extending from Kotzebue Sound to the Arctic Ocean, a distance of 300 miles. France, in endeavoring to reduce her large deficit, has placed a tax on gardens, wardrobes, and furniture, and is now proposing to place a tax on pianos, and on books printed or offered for sale in Paris. All the leading publishers are strongly opposing the book tax. Anxiety is now felt for the safety of the expedition under Captain Svedrup, which left Norway on June 24, 1898, in the Fram, Nansen's vessel, to explore the Arctic regions. Nothing has been heard of this expedition since leaving Norway. Great damage is reported to have been done by the storm which visited Long Island and vicinity on November 23 and 24. In some places many buildings were blown down. A considerable number lost their lives in wrecks on the Sound. It is reported that arrangements are now being made for the consolidation of all the railroads which are now under the Harriman syndicate management. This will form another railway trust similar to the railway trust of the Northwest. The most difficult part of the railroad over the Andes Mountains has been completed, and a trial train, carrying foreign visitors, has been run over the road. This is the line which is working its way from the coast to Quito. The Island of Samar in the Philippines is now being closely patrolled by gunboats, and it is reported that as a result the food supplies of the armed Filipinos is cut off, and that their army is in a starving condition. A collision occurred on the Santa Fe railroad, near Franconia, A. T., on November 20, in which seven employees of the road lost their lives. None of the passengers were killed altho several were injured. Student riots in Madrid have continued for several days, with considerable destruction of property. On November 19 the students attacked the street railways and attempted to set the cars on fire. The Hardwick Bill, providing for the disfranchisement of the negro in the State of Georgia, was defeated in the Georgia Legislature on November 19 by a decisive vote. In Europe the topic of combination against America is not permitted to rest. Luigi Luzzatti, a former minister of Italy, has now come out strongly for such a combination. There have been found in one of the royal tombs of ancient Egypt, gold bracelets worn by the wife of King Zer, the date of whose reign is placed as far back as 4700 B. C. The W. C. T. U., at its convention in Fort Worth, Texas, on November 19, re-elected Mrs. Lillian M. N. Stevens, of Maine, president for the coming year. Governor Van Sant, of Minnesota, and the State attorney-general continue preparations for the fight against the great railway trust of the Northwest. Drugs amounting in value to $150,000 were destroyed in a fire which consumed a wholesale drug store in Los Angeles on November 21. Italy's new ambassador to the United States, Signor Emayor des Planches, was formally received at the White House on November 19. A French engineer predicts that alcohol will before many years take the place of both coal and petroleum as a fuel. The Venezuelan Minister of War has been arrested, accused of conspiracy against the government. Miss Helen M. Stone, the captured missionary, is still in the hands of the brigands.