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4 THE SEMI-WEEEY JOURNAL ATKAHTA, OA.' S NORTH POBSTTH ST. Entered at the Atlanta Poetofflce ae Mall Matter ot the Second Claes. JAMES B. OKAY, President and Editor. SUBSCRIPTION PBXOB Twelve months - • Six S 00 ^ Three months — s5 ° The Semi-Weekly Journal Is published on Tuesday and Friday, and Is mailed by the shortest routes lor early delivery. It contains news from all over the world, brought by special leased wires Into our office. It has a start of distinguished contributors, with strong department* of special value to the home and the farm. Agents warted ct every postoffice. Liberal com mission allowed. Outfit free. Write R. R- BRAD- LET, Circulation Manager. The only traveling representatives we have are J. A. Bryan. R. F. Bolton, C. C. Coyle, L. H. Kim brough and C. T. Tates. We will be responsible only for money paid to the above named traveling repre sentatives. NOTICE TO SUB SCAT* ENA. The label used for addressing your paper shows the time your subscription expires. By renewing at least two weeks before the date on this label, you Insure regular service. In ordering paper changed, be sure to mention your old, as well as your new address. If oa a route please give the route number. We cannot enter subscriptions to begin with back numbers. Remittances should be sent by postal order or registered mail. Address all orders and notices for this de partment to THE SEMI-WEEKLT JOURNAL. Atlanta, Ga. Free the Tariff Bill From the Cotton Tax. There are hopeful indications that the tariff bill as finally adopted by Congress will contain no ref erence to the subject of cotton futures. It is the reported opinion of President WPson, and of leading members in both Houses that, however important it may be to regulate cotton exchanges, this matter is not germane to the tariff, but shou'd he considered independently upon its own merits. If this wise judgment prevails, as it probably will, the tariff measure will be freed from the embarrassing Clarke amendment, taxing all cotton sold for future deliv ery at the rate of fifty cents a bale, and will he ratified without further delay. That is clearly the sensible course. The Clarke amendment, far from being in any wise pertinent to tariff reform, is really at variance with the spirit and purpose of that great cause. It proposes to levy a prohibitive tax on transactions which are thor oughly legitimate and which are necessary to the safe conduct of cotton merchandising, a tax which would inevitably concentrate the power of buying cotton In the hands of a few large Interests and thereby place the cotton grower at the mercy of a new and very dangerous monopoly. The very kind of evil which the Democratic Congress is seeking to curb and prevent by a removal of exorbitant tariff taxes, the Clarke amendment would foster and per petuate. No such scheme should blot the tariff bill about to become a law. The substitute plan offered by Senator Hoke mith and Congressman Lever would accomplish all the rightful aims of the Clarke amendment and. at the same time, avoid the follies and evils the latter would impose. In the House, at least, sentiment for this substitute appears to be uecicive. It is clear, however, that no device to regulate cotton exchanges suould be thrust upon the tariff hill, which was conceived and carried forward for an entirely dis tinct purpose. Whatever legislation Congress may see fit to enact with reference to cotton exchanges or any other exchanges should be considered as a particular measure. From The Journal’s Washington dispatches, It now seems that this is the direction the cotton tax Issue will be given. The Senate and the House hold divergent views as to the special means that should be adopted to effect true reform In this regard. The Conference committee has been unable to reach an agreement. A wise settlement of the question would doubtless require prolonged debate. The passage of the tariff bill should not thus be delayed; nor should any plan to regulate the exchanges be hastily estab lished. The logical thing to do, therefore, is to eliminate this subject from the tariff measure and give it due consideration when ..me and circum stance will permit. The Profits of Georgia Truck Farming. Experiments in asparagus growing have proved so successful in the country around Marshallville that planters are preparing to double their acreage for next season, A few years ago the production of this vegetable for market purposes was scarcely known in that or any other district of Georgia; indeed, all truck farming was regarded as a doubtful venture. But the idea of a hew agriculture and of diversified crops has been forging steadily forward, winning converts In every part of the State and always hold ing them. Some seasons ago a group of progressive farmers near Marshallville decided to try their for tune at asparagus. They began with a few beds and sold to a limited territory. Their profits outran expectation, so much so, indeed, that they determined to increase their output to a point where carload shipments to the east would be possible. As a re sult five hundred or more acres of asparagus were under cultivation this year in that one county; and by next year there will be a thousand acres. This Is but one among many examples of the en couraging progress of truck growing in Georgia. To matoes grown in the southern part of the State brought record prices in New York the past summer; and other table products found a ready and profitable market in distant sections. Wherever truck farm ing has been tried faithfully and Intelligently, it has yielded substantial, if not really wonderful, results. The increasing Interest in, this industry now ob servable throughout the State signifies much for Georgia’s development and prosperity. It means surer and richer returns from the soil, "a more inde pendent agriculture, a more adequate food supply, a broader variety of interests and of opportunity, a wider advertisement of the State’s natural resources. It means that we shall no longer be independent upon a single crop, the success and value of which are continually at hazard; but that we shall have plenteous and wealth-producing crops the twelve- month around. Many a woman can’t remember what her husband said when he proposed, because she did the pro posing. THE ATLANTA SEMT-WEEKLY JOURNAL, ATLANTA, GA., FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1913.’ Making Georgia Ready For Cattle Raising Industry. Newton and Oconee have been added to the honor roll of Georgia counties that are free from the cattle tick and officially released from quarantine. Their farmers are to be commended for the co-operative work through which they have secured this new advantage, and the State and federal authorities deserve particular thanks for the valuable aid they have jointly rendered. By ridding themselves of the cattle tick, these counties have taken a long stride forward in the live stock Industry and al30 in general agricultural interests. Their lands should be worth more, their business as well as farming enterprises should enjoy a larger measure of pros perity, and every fluid of their people’s common welfare should be enriched as a result of this one accomplishment. Keen observers of agricultural and commercial conditions in Georgia agree that one of the great needs of this State Is the production of more cattle. It has been estimated that Ge rgia now spends something like a hundred and seventy million dol lars a year in importing food products, among which meat is an especially important item, products which could be raised easily and cheaply at home. Iowa, whose area is practically the same as Geor gia’s, and whose soil and climate are no more advantageous, if as much so, is exporting each year over two hundred million dollars worth of animal products. Why is it that Georgia falls so far behind in an industry to which her natural resources are so invitingly adapted? The answer hangs upon several circumstances. Until recent years our farmers have for the most part limited themselves to a single crop, cotton, and have neglected their abundance of other opportunities. They have not produced corn enough for their Immediate needs. They have not produced hay and other forage necessary to cattle raising. Furthermore, they have not taken due pains to protect such cattle as they had against ruinous pests. Fortunately, however, each of these deficiencies is now being recognized and gradually remedied. Cotton no longer monopolizes the soil; at least there Is a hopeful tendency away from that old folly. The corn crop Is steadily increasing in quality and volume. Food crops of all kinds are receiving more generous and more competent attention. The pop ular emphasis now placed upon the raising of hay, oats, alfalfa and like product:, is evidenced by the fact that they are to be featured at nearly all the county fairs to be held this autumn and at the State fair at Macon. Somewhat slowly, perhaps, hut none the less surely, the difficulties that hitherto have stood in the way of cattle raising are being over come. Of particular importance in this regard is the steady elimination of the cattle tick. Until this work is well advanced, the State as a whole will have scant opportunity to realize its rich natural advan tages for the cattle Industry. The results thus far are encouraging, but they represent a mere frag ment of what remains to be done. It is to be hopod that the example of Newton and .Oconee counties will arouse all others that are still infested with the cattle tick to speedy and vigorous effort. Thus only can Georgia be fully prepared to enter upon the cattle raising industry which means so much to her agricultural and her every other interest. A Timely Plea for An Army Reserve. It is to be hoped that Congress will respond, as the thoughtful public has, to Secretary Garrison’s timely plea for an adequate army reserve. In his recent tour and on other appropriate occasions the Secretary has' urged with good effect the need of a more modern and far-sighted policy of national de fense. His views merit particular consideration for the reason that he is in no wise an alarmist but on the contrary a stanch advocate of peace and, indeed, opposed to the establishment of a great standing army. But he is open-minded and prudent enough to perceive the value of preparedness as a means to peace itself as well as to security In time of danger. “The need for an army,” he has said, “arises from the fact that it takes two parties to keep the peace, and at best any nation can control only one party, namely, itself.” In the same connection, he has said, “It seems inexcusable . neglect and blindness • not to provide in times of peace the proper method for augmenting the small standing army as It would need to he augmented in time of war.” The fact is there is but one way of reasonable escape from the burden of maintaining a large regular army in the United States, and that is through the development of an ample reser'-f force. One means to this end, thinks Secretary Garri son, Is to reduce the required term of army enlist ment to one or two years of service with the colors and to make army life more profitable and thereby more inviting. The shortened term of enlistment would attract many young men who recognize the value of soldierly discipline, but who are now un willing to bind themselves for a comparatively long period of years at the end of which they will return to ordinary pursuits, unequipped for any particular vocation. Enlistment for two years would make a man fair ly efficient In military discipline. He would at least be fitted for practical service in case his country needed him; and after his retirement he would be subject to call should an emergency arise. In this way the army could be held within conservative bounds as regards its size and at the same time it would be continually developing an, efficient body of trained soldiers. There would be little or no addi tional tax upon the Government, yet the national defense would be steadily growing stronger. Directly related to this plan Is that of making the army of < broader educational value. It is Sec retary Garrison’s idea to offer the enlisted men op portunities for practical training that will fit them for useful occupations as citizens. This is akin to Secretary Daniels’ conception as the navy which he has said should be in one of its aspects a great uni versity, beginning with primary departments and ending with what might be termed a post-graduate school, in which trades and professions could be acquired. Whatever the means may be, it Is certain that all the important end is to reinforce the present army with a numerous, well-prepared body of reserves; "to maintain our small army in peace time at maximum efficiency, with the most perfect organization and supplied with officers of the most advanced train ing.” “Only by so doing,” as Mr. Garrison declares, “can our present small army effectively act as a school of military instruction for the nation and as a nucleus for the expansion that will be necessary in time of war.” ...R-E-S-T... By Dr. Frank Crane We do not want “the saints' everlasting rest” nor that other saintly activity of a heaven Where congregations ne’er break up And Sabbaths have no end. When we say we would like to rest forever, or that we should love to be always busy, it i* but the extravagant over-statement of a mood. There is but one thing in this regard that we all want, and that Is a due and proper alterna tion. The true human need is rhythm. Human torment is lack of rhythm, the continuing of any thing too long. We live in a thus-organized universe, with its night and day. And in climes where there is no change' of seasons it is difficult for civilization to develop. We crave rest only after sur feit of activity; we crave exercise only after enough rest. One great problem of the world’s work is how to get the most efficiency out of the laborer. The higher the order of work, that is, the more it requires brain and nerve rather than mere muscle, the more it needs alteration. That is to say, you can write a better novel, or think out better a busi ness problem, by going away and coming back than by sticking to it. The extra hour you put in when you are fagged is not worth ten minutes in the morn ing when you are fresh. There has been much cursing of idleness. One of the great religious organizers wrote a note for his followers: AUP timely QME topics { r Com>OCTO WJlB&WKJrtLTW A STOBY OF THE WAR-TIME. A dear good Christian woman now in her eighty- fourth year told me today of her sad experiences dur ing the war, and because it was so sad pnd so heroic I decided to tell the readers of The Semi-Weekly some of these sad and heroic occurrences. The mother of six children, ranging from two years to thirteen, she was left a widow in 1863. Her hus band, a bravfe cavalry captain, was desperately wounded in an engagement in Virginia and died tne third day afterwards. She had a good home in Cass- ville, Ga., two-story house, plenty of provisions, cow and a pony for the thirteen-year-old boy, when Gen eral Joe Johnston issued his famous battle order at Cassville after the sharp fighting at Resaca. When the Confederate troops entered Cassville it became necessary for her to get out a mile or so, as she was told that the engagement would be general and the place most likely a bloody battlefield. With the six children (and nothing else) sue left her home and waited until the retreat (and not a battle) came cn. Her losses were great, sh e hurried back to find the yard and horse lots full of Yankees consuming her provisions, etc. This was- in May, 1864, and she was at the mercy of the Federal troops until the next fall, when General Hood decided to go into Tennessee nd Kentucky. Then the great dstruction took place, as the Federal army retreated. She was ordered out of her .ouse again, being told that the entire town was to be fired within twenty min utes. She and those six orphaned children huddled near the cemetery fence and saw their own home set on fire. “Never be uselessly or trlflingly employed.” And in school we learned the motto: “Give every idle moment something to keep in store.” We were ex horted to make every minute count. All of which shows how honest people are a little crazy. For a man’s life can be nothing but common place if he is tense and earnest every waking mo ment. Idleness is as necessary to good work as is activi ty. The man who can take hold hard and to some purpose is the man who knows how to let go. That body is strongest and fittest that can relax perfectly between efforts. That mind is likest “steel that bends and springs again,” that can dream and wander at times. After this life I do not look to sinking into end less rest, nor to go on in ceaseless vigor; but yonder I shall tire and wake again, according to the law of all life; I shall be : i endless pulsing, an endless rhythm, and not an endless note. Southward, Ho! It is a noteworthy and broadly suggestive fact that the tide of immigration which once poured from the United States into Canada is steadily falling. In the five months from April to September of thfc current year, according to a report of the Dominion government, the decrease was nearly twenty per cent under the record for the corresponding period of 1912. There were sixty-three thousand, seven hun dred and twenty-one immigrants from the United States during those months, while last year there were seventy-nine thousand, two hundred and nine. Divers causes for this interesting change might be ascribed but certainly onp of them, and one of the more important, is the fact that the South is now beckoning the home-seeker with unusual persuasive ness. The class of men and families who in quest of new opportunity once crossed the northern borders are evidently realizing that in this favored region of their own country richer soil, friendlier climate and riper chances :;wait them. They are discover ing that here land is comparatively cheaper, that all manner of crops can be produced the year around, that access to the large eastern markets is easy, that Southern industries are multiplying and offering employment to more and more men and that a Southern welcome is open to all good Americans. The fact is the South’s resources and opportun ities are impressing observant people in all parts of the ebuntry—investors in the east and middle west, manufacturers in both those sections and the rep resentatives of European capital as well. But the South is appealing particularly to the man who is looking for a good place to live in and to press his fortunes through agriculture. Railway companies testify to a steady inflow of home-seekers to Georgia and neighbor States. The Southward trend has fairly begun and from this time forward, as our rail ways and trade organizations increase their publicity efforts, it will become more and more pronounced. With kindling in hand, the vandals went upstairs, started a blaze in the middle of two rooms and tended the fire until it was under way before they descended to fire all the dwellings in the vicinity. This was late on a Saturday afternoon, and the homeless group passed the night near the cemetery fence. By drag ging a few planks from a barn shed and contriving a sort of shelter, with no help except what a boy of thirteen could afford, those six children passed the night on the b re ground except for some quilts the mother had parried out from the house. The mother and her wich>wed sister sat up all night and watched in .this dreadful time. Every dwelling house but two was in flames, and except the three wooden churches nothing else was left to show where the county town of a large and populous county nad been on the day before. The beautiful female college was in ruins, the hotels, court house, jail, everything else was fired and entirely destroyed. Tne town was full of other home less groups who had been ordered out of doors when the torches were set- The conflagration was general. Two houses alone were spared where some very sick people could not get up from the beds of suffering, and I suppose the soldiers bulked at cremating them in their desolated dwellings. Not one mouthful of food was spared to this home less widow with her six small children. Next day (Sunday) a raw, drizzling rain prevailed. A good-hearted country family sent word to this al most - rantic mother that she could get shelter in an empty cabin on their place, and there she lived until after the surrender, when her army brothers were sl- lowed to come home. She, a delicate woman, did all sorts of rough field work except plowing and grubbing stumps, and this hsroine said today: “I don’t know how we did manage to exist, but we did.” Sorghum and corn bread were the principal dependence for these hungry, growing children, and at one time her oppor tunities were so slim that she lived several months *n a good-sized hen house that had escaped vandal wreckage. As I looked at her aged face, full of char acter arid still remarkable for its fine intelligence, I said s to myself: “What a dreadful thing is war!” And the strife over slavery was all wrong! The price we paid was too heavy! The negro was not worth the awful sacrifice. Any tolerable compromise would have been better than this suffering, bereavement, poverty, cruelty, widowhood, orhanage and destruction of values! Those six children lost their father, their home, their chance for an education, and saw that brave moth er endure hardships that were wellnigh. intolerable to human life! Why did we fail in statesmanship at such a crisis? A PLAIN TALK ON SHEEP. I am not one of tnose who fear the* effects of free wool. In view of the fact that myself and family wear clothes, I am in favor of it- And to show that I believe in sheep, free wool or no free wool, I drove up the valley a few miles the other day to buy a small flock. Almost every farm needs sheep, no mat ter what the price of wool may be. My farm is In especial need of them. For years I have been chop ping and cutting and hacking at the sprouts and suck ers in our newly cleared fields until I have struck. This fall we are seeding down forty-six acres of this in rye and orchard grass, and shall sow clover in it in the spring as the frost comes out. Then we shall stock it with sheep and let them wrestle with the sprouts. I’m going to leave the killing off of the lo custs, redbuds, dogwoods, greenbrier, sassafras and the Wise Railroad Policy. • The Pennsylvania Railroad has shown a whole some public spirit in announcing its purpose to dispose voluntarily of its coal mine properties in keeping with a requirement of 3tate and federal law. The constitution of Pennsylvania forbids a common carrier to hold stock in a mining company, though this provision does not strictly apply to ownership established prior to »ts adoption. The Hepburn act, however, is conclusive on this point and makes it illegal for a railroad to be financially interested in the production of a commodity it must transport. The obvious design of the law is to pro tect public interest-- against monopoly and to assure free commerce. The noteworthy and commendable fact in the Pennsylvania’s policy is that it has not sought to resist or evade these statutes, and has not waited to be forced into compliance. “While the Govern ment has initiated proceedings to disassociate other railways from anthracite properties,” says the New York Herald, “it has taken no action against the Pennsylvania. In voluntarily taking action to place itself in accordance with the law, the Pennsylvania gives evidence of sagacious management and at the same time sets an example which might well be imitated by other corporations.” The attitude of this great railway system is that which all truly progressive public service companies are assuming. The railroads that have prospered most within the past few years, and that will con tinue .to thrive, are those which recognize the com munity’s rights and respect the community’s will, those which take their place among the country’s common interests, asking no special favors, seeking no undue influence, but striving competently to give the best possible service and to help themselves by helping the public. The representative railroads of the South today are doing much to develop agricul tural interests and to upbuild the section and they are finding this policy sound and profitable. These are the melancholy days, all right. The self-made man never quite gets the job fin ished. Some men have to marry for money or get some other kind of a job. rest to the Woolly Hired Man—-the hired man who will board himself on the sprouts he cuts, and turn them Into wool and mutton. So I drove up the valley to buy fifty sheep. And as I went along:, at every house was one or more dogs. I spoke to one or two men about the dog problem. "1 tell you,” said one, whose attitude was about the same as that of the others, “the worthless curs folks keep around are what makes It risky to keep sheep. The dog tax”—this Is in West Virginia—“Is 60 cents a year, and I pay mine. I wouldn’t pay it on my dog if he wasn’t such a good dog. He wouldn’t touch a sheep, and he's mighty good to the children. Why, If the children start eff anyhewere, that dog marches right along with ’em, and I’d like to see the varmint that could harm ’em. And he’s right smart of com pany for us all.” This “good dog” may have his teeth full of wool at this very moment for all I know—or his owner either. The dog problem lies right in that disposition of every man to believe In his own dog. It lies in the fact that a dog is kind to children, and guards them, and licks their hands, and is a friend to them. It lies in the centuries of companionship between the man and the dog. « dog is a lower sort of child of the fam ily. Every man, woman and child believes in his own dog, no matter how sneaking, mangy and worthless he is, just as every parent believes in his own child. I don’t blame people for this. I have felt my own eyes full of tears myself at the tragic death of a <log which had owned m e during his life. And he was just a plain worthless dog of doubtful pedigree and no vir tue except that of loving and serving me. The man of whom I bought the sheep told me that he has been, for the past year or so, troubled a great deal less by the depredations of dogs than formerly. He thinks that the 50-cent dog tax is doing some good. But that doesn't correspond with the experi ences of others. The dog question is a far more se rious thing for the farm flock of sheep than the tariff question. The sheep is needed on every farm. He is neeued to use up things which other animals will not consume. He fills In between other animals like peas in an appple barrel. A certain number of sheep can be kept without decreasing the supply of feed for the other stock. And he supplies meat as well as clothes for the world. I, therefore, impeach the dog of high crimes and misdemeanors, In that he kills thousands of sheep directly, and Indirectly he kills millions by so wearing out the patience of sheep owners that their flocks are sacrificed, and by keeping thousands of others from growing sheep. I Impeach the dog, there fore, of causing scarcity of meat in a hungry world, and scarcity of clothes in a shivering one. I impeach him of high treason in causing the waste of all those natural resources which would be utilized if it were not for dogs and the fear of dogs. And yet, when he comes wagging his tail and fawn ing on me, my compassion is his—for I love him— darn him!—Exchange. CROP FAILURES I.—THE EFFECT OF SHORT YIELDS. BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. The failure of the corn crop in the United States this year may not have as far-reaching effects as sim ilar shortages have had in years gone by, but at the same time it appears certain that it will be felt in no little degree. • • • When the American corn crop fails the principal crop of the nation is affected. The farmers of the United States annually plant a hundred million acres of land in corn. In other words, the American corn- lield is as big as all Japan, is larger than England, and is as great in extent as Italy and Greece together. It is more than twice as big as all the rest of the cornfields of the earth together, and it Is the most productive of all the earth’s cornfields, for, while it Is only twice as big as the others, it produces three times as much as all of them. The annual crop now ranges between 2,600,000,000 and 8,000,<000,000 bushels, usually approximating the latter figure. • > * Some Idea of how much corn this represents may be gathered from the statement that if all of it were put into a pyramidic pile with a bale a mile square, It would tower 400 feet into the air. Loaded in ordi nary grain cars it would require nearly 2,000,000 of them to carry It, more than a load for every box car In the United States And when we remember that our meat supply is partially the finished product of the corn crop, it will be seen how intimately the out come of the corn haivest touches every table. The extent of the effect of the yield of corn on the price of beef may be illustrated by citing the fact that the difference in the price of corn In Pennsylvania and in Iowa may make at least 810 difference in the cost of getting a steer ready for the block. The farmer who gets 60 cents lot his corn must make each bushel add ten pounds to the weight of his steer when call : bring 6 cents at the farm, or else he will find him self working for charity. The farmer does not always profit by bumper crops. Indeed, there have been many times when rec ord crops have been his undoing. For instance, in 1906 the corn crop showed a yield of 2,927,000,000 bushels, while the crop of 1909 amounted to only 2.772,- 000,000 bushels. Yet, according to the figures of the department of agriculture, the yield of 1909 was worth nearly 8600,000,000 more to the farmer than the crop of 1906. On the same principle that a fruit company may sometimes make money by dumping whole ship loads of bananas in the sea, in order to prevent a too plen tiful supply reaching the market and forcing down prices, so there are times wheh the farmer reaps a benefit from a crop failure. It was this idea that Andrew Carnegie had in mind when he said that a war between a European nation ano the United States could not last a great while- He asserts that the consequent stopping of the ex portation of foodstuffs from America to Europe would force up the price to such heights that a starving con tinent would demand peace in order that it might eat. After a certain point in food scarcity the price soars much more rapidly than the supply declines, until, at last, the point of prohibition is reached and the people must starve because they nave no money with which to buy. It has so happened in the United States that there has nearly always been either a very favorable or a very unfavorable crop condition In years of economic legislation. When specie payment was resumed after the panic of 1873 there were some bumper crops which permitted the sale of a very large surplus to foreign countries, and this brought In a supply of metallic money that was necessary to the success of resump tion. After the panic of 1907 it was the large crops that permitted an inflow of gold in sufficient amount to wipe out thf shortage and place the finances of ths country on a healthful basis -.gain. Likewise, ths crop lailures of th e middle 90’s had a very intimate and Important effect upon the financial situation of that day. It Is not a general shortage of food that seems re sponsible for the high prices of the present day. For instance, in 1880 there was a per capita yield of corn amounting to thirty-four bushels. In 1910 it was al most exactly the same, and yet the farm value of a bushel of corn on December 1, 1880, was 36 cents, and on t^ie same date thirty years later it was 48.8 cents. The corn crop of 1910 amounted to 848,000,000 bushels more than the crop of the year before, and yet it brought the farmer 8100,000,000 less than the crop of the year before. Just now the attempt to ascertain the real causes of the high cost of living is being made by every se rious economic student. Some say that crop failures and crop successes have a comparatively small share In causing the steady rise, although, at that, the tax a crop failure imposes is great enough. They point out that consumers’ prices keep high during fat as well as during lean years, and that consequently the crop situation cannot be in any large degree respon sible. One investigator has taken the case of the city of New York. He finds that it costs the people of that municipality 8150,000,000 a year to get Its provisions from the freight depots to their kitchens. In other words, they pay out nearly half a million dollars every working day to the people who handle their food be tween the steamboat and freight car and the back door of their kitchens. Just now there is much discussion among econo mists as to the American dollar. Has Its value depre ciated or has the value of food simply appreciated? Do commodities go up, or is it the dollar that goes down? The man who can answer that question in a way that carries conviction will write his name on the tablet of the immortals. Some contend that a dollar Is a dollar, heretofore, now, and hereafter, and that the whole thing is that commodities vary In value. Others contend that a plentiful gold supply makes money easy to get and, therefore, not worth as much. But it will be observed that prices of some commodi ties stand still while others fluctuate slightly, and still others extensively. For instance, the price of oats was over 2 cents a bushel higher in 1906 than in 1905, while the price of corn was a little more than a cent lower; at the same time wheat was 8 cents lower. It will be seen from thlr that the prices of these commodities could not be the result of a shrinkage or expanding value of the dollar, else it would show the same changes In them all. However all this may be, a study of the prices of the great crops of the United States during a term of years will reveal the fact that the price of wheat goes up when there is a shortage of a hundred million bushels, and rises in Increasing ratio as the shortage becomes more marked. Likewise, overproduction to the extent of a hundred million bushels forces the price down. In the case of corn It takes a half billion bushels variation to turn the balance of the price scale. Incomes of English Novelists Those who are acquainted with the record of Eng lish literary incomes since Chaucer was a court serv itor will not find It a particularly harrowing fact that, according to the London Daily Express, “not more than fifty British novelists make an average annual incomp of $5,000.” Indeed, some people will find It a ground for regret that Miss Corelli is said to have made $100,000 in a single year, and Hall Caine twice that. The other happy plutocrats of an average in come of $25,000 or more are, it is said, Wells, Kip ling, Garvice, Stacpoole, Conan Doyle and Mrs. Ward. Masefield and Noyes are said to flourish on poetry, and Trevelyan and Morley on biography; as to the dramatists, we are left to judge only from Shaw’s quarrels with the Income tax collectors. These esti mates, naturally, are inspired by that striking literary event, Hall Caine’s latest publication. Their one sig nificance is that every change affecting English book selling—sixpenny editions, the growth of the libraries, even social developments like the motor car and the week-end—has been in favor of the few big sellers and against the authors with a small, select audience; and similar causes are operating in a similar way i» America.—New York Evening Rost,