Superstition and American Commercialism
THE hold which superstition still has upon the minds of men and women at the present time was illustrated this week in the case of an inoffensive woman of Dubois County, Indiana, who has been driven from her home by neighbors on the charge of being a witch. The report states: “They have “accused her of having worked her evil charms to “their injury by causing the death of their horses, “cattle, and other live stock. Yesterday one of a “neighbor’s horses became unmanageable. He “accused Mrs. Ferry of having bewitched it, and in “his anger gave her a severe whipping. It appears “that this was the signal for an uprising in the “neighborhood generally against the woman; for “when she appealed to some of them for protection, “they turned against her, and the local magistrate “refused to interfere. It is charged that she has the “power of evoking evil spirits in man or beast, and “that she has caused the death of several persons.” How much this reads like the witch-burnings and witch-hangings of early New England. MR. POULTNEY BIGELOW, who recently delivered a course of lectures at Harvard University, gave out on his return to London, the following statement of his impressions in reference to things in America: “Commercialism is running riot in America. The “Americans are pouring their ideas and energies into “money. The trust builders are doing the rest. “These money kings necessarily exercise a blighting “influence on the morals of public servants. They “create all manner of temptations and breed all “manner of jobbery. In Washington I found cynical contempt for the Constitution. Corruption “stalks thru the government. It disgraces the halls “of Congress.” The eyes of the whole civilized world are being turned upon the present course of the United States, as it leaves the principles upon which it was built, and launches out into the domain of empire. There is a meaning in it all which none can with safety disregard. THE British and Boers have had several minor engagements during the week. At Reits, on June 6, an engagement occurred between General Elliot and a part of General De Wet’s command, in which the Boers had 17 killed and the British 20. A large amount of ammunition and cattle were captured from the Boers. On June 12, 250 British colonials were surprised, and only 52 escaped death or capture. At about the same time a British patrol of 29 men was captured. The Boers refuse to be drawn into a pitched battle, and there is little hope of a speedy close of the war. A LONDON despatch states that the English Government has decided to lay upon the mines of the Transvaal $250,000,000 of its war burden. A special commissioner has given much time to ascertaining the producing powers of the Transvaal mines, and in harmony with the intimation of the government some time ago, the mines will be made to shoulder one-half the burden of the war. THE Cuban Constitutional Convention has finally agreed to the terms of the United States, by adding the Platt Amendment to their Constitution as an appendix. The vote stood 16 to 11. It is now stated that in view of their acceptance of the amendment, their independence is assured; and still a large and influential body of the Cubans, as well as many Americans, hold that in accepting the amendment, they have really thrown away their independence. The earliest time yet named for the setting up of the Cuban Government is next autumn, and it is even hinted that American troops may remain in Cuba after the Cuban Government is established, to see whether the Cubans are able to govern themselves. STATISTICS issued by the War Department show that since the beginning of the war between the United States and the Filipinos, 31,315 of the latter have surrendered or been captured. Still others have surrendered since the statistics were issued, and now it is reported that the Filipino leader, General Cailles, has signed articles of capitulation. Governor-General MacArthur has announced his intention of sailing for the United States on July 1. Skirmishes between Americans and Filipinos continue. It is reported that Cardinal Gibbons will soon sail from Rome for America, bearing a letter from the pope to the President on the settlement of the question of the religious orders in the Philippines. A DESPATCH from Denver, Colorado, states that Judge Palmer of the Circuit Court has cited three ministers of that city to appear before him for contempt of court. These men, speaking from their pulpits, had criticized the judge’s rulings. If the law upholds the judge in this matter so that he and other judges are able to punish men for criticizing the ruling of the court, it will be another long step backward in the matter of the freedom of speech. MUCH bitter feeling has been stirred up in the vicinity of Shreveport, Louisiana, between the whites and the blacks, over the killing of a prominent planter by a negro. Armed posses have been hunting for the slayer, but he has not yet been found, and other negroes who were with him at the time are in custody. THE Amalgamated Society of Engineers of London has promised to aid the striking machinists of America in their struggle for shorter hours. The strike at the Newport News Ship-building Company’s yards has become serious, and there is a prospect that this big ship-building plant will be shut down entirely. A BRITISH expedition operating in Somaliland against a leader known as the Mad Mullah, reports a heavy engagement on May 28. The report states that 500 of the Somalis were killed and 5,000 head of cattle captured. The British lost ten killed and nine wounded. A PRELIMINARY report of the latest English census shows that 77 per cent. of the population of England is in the cities, leaving only 23 per cent. in the rural districts. In England, as well as in the United States, the tendency of the people is to crowd into the cities. THE American Manila Brewing Company is the name of a corporation recently started in the Philippines, the direct product of American occupation. This brewing plant which is being established in Manila is to have a capacity of 60,000 barrels of beer a year. THE survey has been completed for a railway line across western Alaska. The survey extends from Iliamna Bay to Bering Strait, a distance of about 800 miles. The surveyors state that eastern capitalists will soon begin the construction of the road. ABOUT 3,500 trackmen and bridge-builders on the Canadian Pacific Railway are now on strike for an increase in wages. The company has sworn in a large number of special constables, who are patrolling the road and guarding the bridges. TWO FERRY-BOATS collided in New York harbor on June 14, and one, the Northfield, went down with several hundred persons on board. It is thought that about 35 persons were drowned, tho the definite number could not be ascertained. THERE is reported to be great destitution among the Pima Indians of the Sacaton Reservation, Arizona. The government appropriation for their maintenance is entirely exhausted, and their crops for this year are a complete failure. THE battleship Oregon arrived in San Francisco harbor from Manila on June 12, nearly three years and three months from the day when she left the port of San Francisco to take part in the naval operations around Cuba. THE places of the striking machinists in the Moran Brothers’ shipyards at Seattle, Washington, have been taken by non-union men, and the shipyards are being carefully guarded by a strong force of heavily armed men. TROLLEY cars constructed in this country and propelled by electric apparatus of American make, are soon to be in operation in the historic city of Athens, Greece, and connecting it with Piraeus. THE new battleship Illinois was given her official trial on June 12, maintaining an average speed of 17.31 knots per hour. This new vessel is one of the fastest and best equipped of her class. ALL the great railroads of the West and Northwest are now to be practically under one general management with headquarters at Chicago.