NEWS WORTH REMEMBERING
News Worth Remembering HEAVY rains and floods in the Mississippi Valley and earthquakes in far-off Greece have been reported during the week. It seems that the unstable earth has settled upon...
...Additional electrification will be done on the West Shore line, which now has some sixty miles on which motor car service is installed, and electric cars will be placed on the line between Utica and Syracuse...
...Waterways should Carry more Traffic While these improvements are in progress in railroad transportation, water carriage of freight is not being overlooked...
...Shah Deposed in Persia Events in Persia during the week bear a close parallel to the Young Turk movement which was so successful in Turkey...
...On the 17th, shortly after the conferees met, a reduction of 5 per cent, in the Dingley rates on...
...This constitution was singed by the Shah when he ascended the throne, but from the first he showel little legislation to recognize it...
...But when the attorney for the company appeared before the state board at a subsequent meeting he showed that $36,000,000, which the company did not need in its business after paying dividends, had been invested in collateral trust bonds and therefore, he argued, should not be taxed...
...The steel trust, by this action, is deprived of the assistance of its sister concern in its fight against the union...
...Washington Herald...
...Open Shop is Hit In the face of these disturbances conies the news that the Republic Iron and Steel Company has signed the wTage scale of the Amalgamated Association...
...I am not," answered the tall man, candidly...
...Holding Company to Get Railroad On the 14th news despatches from Boston told of the formation of the Boston Railroad Holding company for the purpose of purchasing the stock of the Boston & Maine railroad company, now in the hands of John L. Billard,—109,938 shares in all...
...There was silence.—San Francisco Star...
...On the 15th there was serious rioting, with state troopers on the scene, and some of the men were injured...
...This change led to a revolt on the part of the employees of the company, and, with 2,000 men out, the entire plant closed down on the 14th...
...and that all his influence would be used in securing downward revision, and ending with his pronunciamento on the 16th that tariff revision must be downward in accordance with campaign promises, every report from Washington indicated that the power of the President was to be exerted on the side of a real lowering of the duties...
...All the defendants in the case pleaded not guilty, but it is reported that this plea may be changed to guilty if the government will only impose the minimum penalty...
...You are not interested in my reminiscences, friend...
...The change is regarded by the liberals as a long step toward ministerial responsibility to the Reichstag...
...Rumors have it that these outrages are incidents in a mighty war between two factions of gamblers, but the police have taken into custody two labor union men and are apparently working on the theory that the explosives were hurled by union agitators...
...The wet and unsettled weather in the wheat belt of the West gave rise to a flurry in the pit at Chicago that severely disturbed trade arrangements among millers, shippers and exporters...
...Chairman Payne's reported refusal to follow the leadership of Aldrich, and the encouragement he has received from standpat congressmen who have been hearing from home, has given rise to the prediction that the House will uphold the President...
...Civic societies in various states have taken the first steps in the movement to carry the measure...
...Railroads Making Innovations Passing' from these incidents in the strife between organizations of labor and vast aggregations of capital, we find that the week has brought forth other news of great importance to the industrial world as well as to the whole public...
...Express Company Involved in High Finance Corporations who want to know how to avoid a tax were given a lesson on the 8th by the Adams Express company that involves a great deal more than the mere a-b-c's of high finance...
...This is primarily due, says the Commissioner, to the lack of unity in our ^system of waterways...
...Singeing, facial massage and hair tonics had been offered vainly...
...A report has just been submitted to the President by Herbert Knox Smith, Commissioner of Corporations at Washington, in which it is pointed out that our waterways do not carry their proper share of the country's traffic...
...These reports recall to mind the progress made in recent years toward the complete electrification of the terminals in Chicago, the great railroad center of the Middle West, and suggest that the time may be near at hand when electricity will crowd out entirely the steam-power locomotives...
...Crushing a Barber The young man in the barber's chair had been annoyed by suggestions of the white-coated artist, although he had said clearly enough when he sat down that he wanted only a hair-cut and a shampoo...
...I could have bought the original telephone patents for eleven Mexican dollars and a brass watch," continued the fat man, "but I turned 'em down...
...Word comes from New York under date of the 16th that there is a possibility of the government letting the American Sugar Refining Company off by accepting a plea of guilty and imposing the lightest fine possible, which would be $5,000 on each count...
...A campaign to this end opened almost before the last vote was recorded in the House in favor of the resolution...
...Passing his hand over the young man's face, he said contemptuously: "Shave yourself, don't you...
...Now the fate of the income tax will hang entirely on the success of its advocates throughout the nation in securing favorable action on this resolution by three-fourths of the state legislatures...
...On the 15th reports came of a shaking in Greece that destroyed several villages and caused some loss of life...
...Taft Takes Hand in Tariff Fight Developments in the tariff contest reached an unusually interesting stage last week...
...The wierdness of the news reports of this and other recent events that have directed attention to Chicago may indicate that there is something significant behind them all...
...In answer to the protest of a New York firm of accountants, Attorney General Wickersham on the 17th issued a vigorous defense of this taxation measure, in which he states that the corporation tax is "applicable," and not impracticable, where the accounts of the corporations are just and true...
...von Bethmann-Hollweg to succeed von Bueiow...
...Present waterways are of different depths and operate under different conditions, which makes it impossible for vessels of certain types to pass freely from one route to another, even though they may be directly connected...
...This transaction, coming as it does on the heels of the Taft-Aldrich proposition to tax the net incomes of corporations, which, it will be remembered, exempts income from stock in the hands of holding companies, is regarded in some quarter as indicative of a movement to reorganize industrial and transportation enterprises so that their capitalization will be largley in the possession of holding companies and thus not subject to the new tax on corporation income...
...It was reported that the President does not regard the amount of the tax of so much importance as the effect it will have in giving publicity to corporation accounts...
...This led to an insurrecton as a re-sult of which on the 18th the old Shah was deposed and the new ruler, former Crown Prince Sultan Ahmed Mirza, placed on the throne...
...On the 14th the Kaiser appointed Dr...
...They did so because they were impressed by its excellent financial showing...
...Finally the barber perpetrated what is with barbers the crowning insult...
...Income Tax Submitted to States On the 12th, by a vote of 317 to 14, the House adopted the resolution submitting to the states the question of an income tax amendment to the Constitution...
...W. J. Bryan issued a statement urging the formation of income tax clubs, and suggested that governors should call an extra session of their legislatures to take immediate action...
...It was brought about by the defeat of von Buelow's finance measure, through a combination of conservatives and clericals, cooperating with the Polish members, who were opposed to the direct legacy tax feature of it...
...News dispatches from Washington indicate that the chances of a veto were dispelled by this action of President Taft...
...These events are regarded as fresh indications that the present movement toward democracy is worldwide and insistent...
...The state tax board of Indiana placed a high valuation for taxation on the property of that company...
...Billard subject to the approval of the Massachusetts railroad commission...
...Southern representatives telegraphed the governors of their respective states to get action from their legislatures as quickly as possible...
...This came on the 16th as a surprise, as it was reported sometime ago that the Republic company would stand by the steel trust in its effort to deal a death blow to unionized labor...
...In a struggle between the "nationalists" and the "royalists," during which Teheran was captured and the old Shah deposed, no atrocities were reported, and leaders of the nationalists guaranteed the lives and property of foreigners, stating that all that was asked of the Shah was a constitution...
...Senator La Follette, in an interview, said he was interested in a nationwide campaign to crystallize public sentiment so definitely that legislatures would not be likely to take adverse action in the face of it...
...Recently the Pressed Steel Car Company changed the plan of paying its men from regular wages to "pooling," a system which requires workmen to complete each piece of work before receiving payment...
...This method of disposing of vast .profits so as to place them out of reach of the taxing authorities may perhaps not be unusual, but it is at least significant, as explaining in a measure why the burdens of taxation fall so heavily upon farmers and others whose property cannot be so easily concealed from assessors...
...On the 13th it was officially announced that the New York Central ra-iread has made plans for improvements in operation that will entaii the expenditure of $21,488,755 during the current year...
...The price agreed upon was $140 a share and the offer will be made to Mr...
...Sure," said the young man...
...No response...
...It is significant that a large part of this sum will be spent in the electrification of the road...
...Letters and telegrams piled in upon him from every part of the country, approving his declaration...
...It seems that the unstable earth has settled upon Southern Europe as the victim of its disastrous tremblings, and the people of Fair Greece and Sunny Italy, since the Messina horror, have been living in constant fear that they will be visited by another destructive quake...
...He demands penalties amounting to $14,184,000...
...The President's ultimatum created consternation in the camp of the special interests, and gave joy to the insurgents...
...The President's statement had almost immediate effect...
...The outlook for the consumer has been brightened considerably by this change in the situation...
...Later a reduction was made in the wool schedule...
...Enough of the golden stream of wheat was carried down the Mississippi by the floods to send the market upwards, and James A. Patten, the "Wheat King," on the strength of this found his holdings of 5,000,000 bushels go up 7 cents a bushel overnight—making him $350,000 richer than he was the evening before...
...Searching for Bomb Throwers Chicago authorities are making a diligent search for the men responsible for throwing the thirty-one bombs which have shaken the Windy City during the last few months...
...Beginning with President Taft's declaration on the 12th that he was going to deal in specific duties, that it was his intention to talk directly to the members of the conference committee...
...They point out that the tight is now between the President and the House, standing together for downward revision, and the special interests in the Senate who want upward revision...
...The report demonstrates the necessity of dealing with the inland waterways problem under a broad and comprehensive plan rather than by localities...
...The tall passenger was silent...
...What it is can only be determined by the police, and until they succeed in solving the mysteries, the public will have to remain in the dark...
...This agreement affects some 25,000 men in the Pittsburgh and Ycungstown districts...
...It still remains to be seen, however, whether or not the paring of the schedules in conference will be apparent rather than real, or just enough to give the appearance of downward revision without materially benefitting the consumer...
...In this event, the responsibility of violating campaign promises will rest with the special interest senators and not with the President...
...Sized Up "Yes," remarked the fat man on the rear platform, "I once refused to buy the site of Chicago for four clam shells and a quart of rum...
...Is Sugar Case to be Dropped...
...You don't want any...
...Lumber Dealers in Trouble Attorney General J. B. Stirling of Mississippi has brought suit against the retail lumber dealers' association of the two states of Mississippi and Louisiana for alleged violation of the anti-trust law...
...and finally withdrew it...
...I'm selling air ship stock...
...Corporation Tax Reduced The tax on the net income of corporations, recommended by President Taft and used by Senator Aldrich as a weapon to defeat the income tax amendment to the tariff bill, will remain in the bill, despite the widespread protest against its adoption in its present form, although the rate has been reduced by agreement from two per cent, to one per cent...
...Strike at Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, recently characterized by Miss Ida M. Tarbell as "the tariff made city," and brought into national interest by the disclosures of the Pittsburgh Survey which revealed shocking conditions among workingmen, is in the throes of a strike...
...Owing to the size of each job—a complete railroad car—it is sometimes a whole month before a man gets his wages...
...women's and children's dress goods made of cotton warp was agreed to...
...New Chancellor For Germany In Germany, the recent trend of political affairs has led to the retirement of Chancellor von Bueiow, the first German chancellor to be compelled to leave office directly because of an adverse parliamentary majority...
...The movement grew out of a desire of the Persian people that the Shah govern the country under the constitution of January 1, 1907...
...It is charged that seventy-two retail lumber concerns entered into an agreement to fix prices, and that such agreement is a violation of the Sherman act, in that it effected a combination in restraint of trade...
...Simultaneously came reports that Harriman's tests over the Sierra Nevada mountains with electri-ally propelled cars were only in the nature of an experiment and that there was little likelihood of replacing steam with electric power on the Southern Pacific...
...Don't you...
Vol. 1 • July 1909 • No. 29
