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homasmtle ®mcs- MAGAZINE SECTION. THOMASVILLE. GEORGIA, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1905. PAGES 1 TO 4. THE STATEHOOD QDESTION. LIKELIHOOD OF THE AD!i OF OKLAHOMA AND IND, TERRITORY. Disposition to Grant Them Statehood Irrespective of Arizona and New Mexico-New Congressional Align ment on Question. The assembling of congress will bring new blood In both the Boose ai)d Senate. There Is promise of a long and very Important session. New policies are to be discussed and material changes In existing economic conditions are to be proposed. Coming upon the eve of a congressional elec tion. the session will feel the effects, to a certain extent, of political conoid- c rations. The admission of new states to the Union will be one of the hold-oTer questions to occupy the attention of the new congress. It appears now that there will be a decided shifting of position on the statehood problem, some new lights having dawned since statehood was discussed at the last of Oklahoma and Indian Terrltoi Difference of opinion does exist as whether the two territories should be admitted as one state or whether they should be admitted as separate states, but on the main proposition— the preparedness of these two terri tories for statehood—there la little dissenting opinion. In fact, the pre vailing view Is that statehood has already been too long delayed In the case of Oklahoma and Indian Terri tory. It Is almost disgraceful, well- informed public men are saying, that these two progressive territories should be held back simply because of disagreement as to whether those unprepared territories, Arizona and New Mexico, should be admitted. It is high time, many men declare, for congress to cut loose from the Ari sons and New Mexico proposition, no matter what form It may take, and admit .Oklahoma and Indian Territory. To MAM TWAIN AT SBYEHTY, THE HUMORIST ENTERTAINS GROUPS OF AUTHORS AT BANQUbT. At Three Score and Ten He is Hale and Hearty-CIves Views on How to Live—Nevec Smokes or Drinks While Asleep. Msrk Twain, that prince of humor ists has reached the limitation of life as laid down by the Scriptures—three score years and ten. And yet he Is still able to give us gems of bumor and wit—such gems as attained fame for him years ago when Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer and Innocents It Is understood that the committees on territories of both Bouse and Sen- ate are Inclined to stand by the old program of creating two states out of the four territories, but It frill not be a surprise. If this program falls to meet the approval of a majority of the republican senators and representa tives. Since the question of state* hood for these four southwest terri tories' was brought Into congress many senators and representatives have personally Investigated tbe exist ing conditions In the territories, and the result Is that public sentiment among public men la crystallizing In favor of tbe plan of admitting Okla homa and Indian Territory to state hood and, if necessary, letting Arizo na and New Mexico watt There seems to be few dissenting Voices against tbe proposed admission The Royal Crown otEngland. . “Uneasy Is the head that weans tbe crown." The crown of England Is a costly toy and Is better to look upon than to wear. Around the circle there are twenty diamonds, worth $7,500 each, two large center diamond^ $10,- 000 each; fifty-four smaller ones at the angle of the former, $500 each; four crosses, each composed of twenty-five diamonds, $^u,000; four large dia monds at the top of the crosses, $20- 000; twelve diamonds contained In the fleur-de-lis, $50,000; eighteen smaller ones In same, $10,000; pearls, dia monds, etc., upon the arches and crosses, $50,000; also one hundred and forty-ono small diamonds, $25,000; twenty-six diamonds In thn upper cross, $15,000 and two circles of pearls about tbe rim, $15,000. Tbe cost of the precious stones alone Is nearly. half a million dollars. Here lies my wife’s nearest relative. All my tears cannot bring her back. Therefore I weep. MARK TWAIN, TODAY. Abroad were first given to us. On De cember 6th be was tlio guest of honor ut a dinner In New York, to celebrato his seventieth birthday. The guests were confined closely to writers of Imaginative literature, and about 170 authors were present, nearly hait of them women. Every guest received as a souvenir a bust of Mark Twain, half-life size. Naturally Mr. Clemens was the principal speaker; be took as his text, “How to get to bb seventy and not mind It." Ee said:— "Tho seventieth blrtbdayl It Is the time of life when you arrive at a new and awful dignity; when you may throw aside the decent reserves which have oppressed you for a generation, and stand unafraid and unabashed upon your seven-terraced summit and look down and teach—unrebuked. You can tell tbe world bow you got there. It Is what they all do. You shall never get tired of telling by what delicate arts and deep moralities you climbed up to that great place. You will ex plain the process and dwell on the par ticulars with senile rapture. I uave been anxious to explain my own sys tem for a long time, and now at last I have the right Regularly Irregular, ‘T have achieved my seventy years In the usual way—by sticking strictly to a scheme of my life which would kill anybody else, it sounds like an ex aggeration, but that Is really the com-, mon rule for attaining to old age. i We have no permanent habits until we are forty. Then they begin to har den, presently they petrify, then bust- i begins “ - • - Intend to take any. Exercise Is loath* some. And It cannot be any benefit when you are tired; I was always tired. “I have lived a severely moral life. But It would be a mistake for other people to try that, or for me to rec ommend It Very few would' succeed. You have to have a perfectly colossal stock of morals, and yon cannot get them on a margin; you have to have the whole thing and put them in your box. Morals are an acquirement—like music, like a foreign-language, like piety, poker, paralysis—no man Is bom with them. I wasn’t myself. I start ed poor. WHAT A STRIKE COST. Chicago Obliged to Divert Money Needed For Improvements Into Payments For Police Service. It will never he known definitely just what the recent strike of the teamsters cost the people of Chicago. That the total would run well Into the millions, however, Is a conserva tive estimate, judging from the single Item of the expense to the municipal ity for extra police protection. Some time ago It was discovered that the city could add $5,000,000 to Its bonded debt, and the people au thorized an Issue of bonds to this amount for specific public improve ments, The end of the teamsters' strike .found $2,000,000 of these bonds still unsold and an emergency strike debt of some $355,000. To pay this bill the council has retired the $2,000,000 of bonds and ordered their reissue In such form that they may be used for general iroorate dutdoscs. Thus $305,000—or the estimated cost of lowering the two river tun nels—goes to pay extra policemen for defending the lives of citizens and pro tecting their property while a supine city administration practically gave license to the striking tsamstsrs to make the ordinary business of peace- ful citizens fhU of turmoil and has- ard. Money that the people Intended to go Into sorely needed permanent im provements has been diverted to meet the cost of lawlessness that never should have gone to the extent it did. The cost of this one strike is the $365,000 tbe city pays for-extra police service, plus what the county has to pay for special deputy sheriffs, plus the loss to merchants, railways, man* ufacturcrs, etc., In business; plus lost assaults on citizens, of the killing of citizens. It Is a tremendously expensive thing to fight a labor war In a great city. • '4 Ring tor a Throne. Miss Josephine Strong, who was ;>rivate secretary at Washington for longressmsn Hawley, has a diamond ring that was once owned and worn by Louis Phillips, king of France. The ring has a peculiar history. It S ll be remembered that Phillips lived this country when he was an. axils. He lived one winter In Zanesville, Ohio, and spent another winter With AMERICAN LAND NONOPLY. IS BEING FOSTERED BY OUR PRES ENT SYSTEM OF LOOSE LAND LAWS. Homestead Commutation and Desert Land Act, Supposed to Encourage Settlement-Largely Utilised for Land Grabbing. Land monopoly is a black cloud of dread from which Ireland Is just emerging,'and we applaud England's act, while we may yet possibly be a little skeptical, In providing a plan whereby free Ireland may become a fact Yet we ourselves are as rapidly ap proaching land monopoly In America as it i« possible to do, considering vast extent of territory. Land mono oly brings with It more state evils than can be recounted In any single article. It retards every Internal de- vclopmcnt, it smothers Individual ef fort and enterprise and finally It transforms the stem and fiber of r Individual citizen from that of a s stantlal, self-reliant supporter of free government to a supine, Indifferent and passionless Individual, lacking In mental and moral poise and in those sturdy and heroic qualities which have made America the greatest name In history, . •■Land monopoly, did you sayt’*’ says tbe American land grabber. “Why, there la enough land for the ohlldren of the .nation for generations If not centuries to oome. The gov ernment owns In the West alone near half a billion acres and how can ere be any land monopoly when this vast area Is always open to free entry undecour various land lawst” Half Billion Acres Remaining. It Is true that there are valuable lands In the West yet remaining open to entry, or at least land which will be valuable when it shall have been furnished water for Irrigation, but what Is the general description of this halt billion acres yet remaining under Uncle Sam’s control T Is It reasonable to suppose thst the shrewd land oper ators, living on the ground, have not skimmed the cream of this land, and are not doing so today—the fertile valleys snd the rich plains, where water can be applied—and leaving the great bulk of the land to their pos terity, land composed of mountain tops and Impassable canyon sides wages to the strikers, plus a dozen which will probably forever remain In other items that It would be difficult tho hands of the government and at to enumerate. And Ahls' only em braces money cost It takes no ac count of Inconvenience to citizens, of government least can never support life. Glance at a physical map of Colorado, just for an Instance, and note the.vast preponderance of mountains. There are many fertile valleys In Colorado, for the map Is on a much reduced scale, but from Its appearance you would think the entire State was com posed of nothing but chain upon chain and range upon range of nntlllablo mountains. Denounced by Commission. This question of land monopoly In the West, as it Is fostered through the use of the commutation clause of the homestead act and tbe desert land act has been studied by the President’s Public Lands Commission, and t^elr report, the third installment of wf THE CHINESE MINISTERS DAUGHTER. Visitors to the Chinese Legation atrperlence. At home they would not dare. Washington have often been attracted to a tiny little figure perched at the head of the grand stairway. It 1s al ways there when a dinner party Is go ing on or when Sir Cbengtung Liang Cheng, the Chinese Minister, Is giving a reception. It never falls to appear, and the uninitiated have been beard to remark In undertone that It Is a queer little figure which guards tbe head of the stairway. However, it is a very animated some body after all, for It Is no other than the young daughter of the Minister, Miss Liang, who, though barred through the custom of her country and her youth from taking actual part In these entertainments. Is, nevertheless, determined to see as much of them as she possibly can. Perhaps her father, the Minister, does not know she Is there and perhaps be does, but nobody knows, for no mention of the fact has ever been made to him, and Miss T ’ continue! to enjoy these many affairs from afar. This dainty little Chinese maid has been in this country ever since-her fa ther was delegated to represent his emperor at Washington. She is just seventeen years old, and until she came to America she did not know what it was to be allowed to go out unat- tended. • Over In China the women never show their faces on the street, but with the appointment to Washington of Wu Tin? Dang, former Chinese Minister, members of tho legation, and especially the women, were given greater free dom and now they go about with never a thought as to the propriety of the ex- Soclety is eagerly awaiting the ex pected announcement that Mlss'Llang will be formally presented this season. She has learned to speak English ex ceedingly well and Is a familiar figure In a box . at . the theatres on Monday nights. When she wishes to go shop ping she 'does so unhesitatingly, and her carriage Is frequently seen stand ing In front of some of the fashionable “*10ps. Fewer girls; especially among those .who have not been presented to so ciety, are more popular than this charming daughter of the Chinese Min ister.. She has made friends with every girl In Washington society, snd her chief delight Is to jump In her car riage In the afternoons and drive about, calling on her young American friends. They are all delighted to see her, and no matter what Is on the pro gramme It must wait if the attractive little Miss Liang happens to calL She is so piquant, and appreciates an American joke as well as any of her American associates. .Miss Liang is the constant compan ion of her father and accompanies him on all his driven They are great friends and apparently enjoy every minute of their time together. The Minister is very proud of his daughter’s progress In learning American cus toms, and It Is not unlikely that before many more years are past the Chinese Legation will be enjoying even to a greater extent the American freedom In living which makes the assignment of Washington a diplomatic plum for which many hands are always ready. Since forty I have been regular about going to bed and getting up, and that is one of tbe main things. I have made It a rule to go to bed when there wasn’t anybody left to sit up with, and Lhave made It a rule to get up when I had to. This has result ed in an .unswerving regularity of Ir regularity. . “In tbe matter of diet—wbleh is another main thing—I have been per sistently strict In sticking to tbe-thlngs which didn’t agree with me until one or tbe other of us got the best of It Until lately I got the best of It myself. But last spring I stopped frolicking with mince pie after midnight; up to then I bad always believed It wasn't loaded. For thirty years I have taken coffee and bread at 8 In the morning and no bite nor sup until 7A0 In the evening. “I have made It a rule never to smoke more than onp cigar at a time. I have no otbor restriction as regards smoking. -1 do not know just when. I ' smoke;. I only know that It > s . lifetime, and that He passed from this life early In 1817, when I was a shade past eleven; ever since then I have smoked publicly. As an example to others, and not that I care for moder ation myself, It has always been my rule never to smoke when asleep, and never to refrain when awake. ’As for drinking, I have no rule about that. When, the others drltu I otherwise I rei main dry, and preference. This dry- hurt me, but. It could like by bal ness does fiot _ easily hurt. you, because you are different You let It alone. First Standard Oil Trust. ‘‘Stnee I was seven years old I have seldom taken a dose of medicine and have still more seldom needed one. But up to seven I lived exclusively on allopathic medicines. Not that I need ed them, for I don’t think I did; but It was for economy. My father took a drug store for a debt, and It made cod liver oil cbeaptr than the other break fast foods. I was the first Standard Oil Trust. I had It all.' By-tbe time tbe drug store was exhausted my health waB established, and there baa never been 1 much tbe matter with me I have never taken any exercise, ex cept Bleeping and resting, and I never A&OVPLE OP &tfoafmw the ^WE$T. Gen. Morgan Neville, a rich pioneer, and taught the district school. Hp had word from France that there wu a chance to regain the Bourbon throne There Is a class of people who have apparently lost sight of the fact that the federal land laws, from the home- stead law down, and even before the homestead law, were enacted for the g urpose of - fostering the making of omes for the nation; they seem to think, and It must be confessed that they have successfully put into prac tice their belief, that the laws are to be construed Into paulng on the title from the government Into, private hands with absolutely no regard to homemaking. They argue that when the public domain goes Into private ownership It becomes taxable property and this helps the country and the State, and the question Is Ignored as to whether men and women go upon that land and make homes and rear families. 'The following part of tHb report of the Public Lands Commission shows that the commutation clause at pres ent Is a farce and that land can be entered under it and almost Immedi ately added to already large individual holdings. The Commiulon recom mends that the period of residence be extended from fourteen months to three years and that the residence be actual and not constructive, as it Is at present With such a law strictly enforced the evils of the commuta tion clause would be largely obviated. It Is, however, highly Improbable that If a man:actually resided and im proved his homestead for three years. if he coul<r but get to Paris, but he had not money enough for tbe trip Gen. Neville lent the prince the money, something like $500, and the prince gave In pledge the ring that Miss Strong now wears. * Going to New Or leans by boat,' Phillips got to France and the rest Is history. Hb regained bis throne and the money lent by Gen Neville made It possible. The king sent back the amount of the loan, told thd general to keep the ring and asked him to visit him at tbe royal palace. The ring Is a pear shaped diamond, set In black enamel and Is naturally highly prized. Into the'Earth’B Bowels. At Bendigo, Australia, there Is a gold mine 3,900 feet deep, or only 60 ect short of threequarters of a mile. This Is . said to be the deepest gold mine in the world. Is published In these columns, com ments upon these two land laws. The commutation clause, originally provided that alter eight months of residence on a homestead claim a man could “commute” Uy paying to tho government $1.25 an acre and get Immediate title to his land. After a number of years of operation It was conceded that this clause had openr ” the door for much land acquiremc without settlement, and amid a great blare of trumpets, Congress, In a spasm of virtue, extended the time to fourteen months. What has .been the result of this amendment? The op ponents of the repeal of the commuta tlon clause have presented specific reasons why .this law should not be touchedr that the jentryman needs to “prove up” and get title to his land -so that he can mortgago his property and with the money buy groceries, tools, etc., with which to work his fhrm, which may sound well, but the fact seems to remain that the great bulk of the oommuted homesteads are not to-day homes. he would be unwilling to pay $L25 an acre for immediate title, when by an. additional two yearn’ residence, he could nave this amount The provisions of the desert land act and the recommendation for the amendment of which la Included lu the following report will be discussed In next week’* article. Commutation Clause of the Home stead Act. In the preceding report a state ment waa made that our Investiga tions respecting the operations of the commutation clause of tbe homestead law were still In progress. We were not at that time prepared to recom mend it* repeal. Investigations car ried on during the paat year have convinced us that prompt action should be taken In this direction and that, Itj tho Interest or settlement, the commutation clause should be great ly modified. A careful examination of tbe dis tricts where tho commutation clause Is put to the moat use shows th-t there has been a rapid Increase of the uso of this expedient for passing public lands Into the hands of cor porations or large landowners. Tbe object of tho homestead law was pri marily to give to each citizen, the bead of a family, an amount of laud up to 1G0 acres, agricultural In char acter so that homes would be created In the wilderness.. Tho commutation clause, added nt a later date, was uudoubtely Intended to assist the honest settler, but llko many other well-intended acta Its original intent has been gradually perverted until It la apparent that a great part of all commuted homesteads remains unin habited. In other words, under the commutation clause tbe number of patents furnishes no Index to the number of . new-homes. To prove. this statement It la only necessary to drive through a country where the* commutation clause baa been largely applied. Field after field Is passed without a sign of per manent habitation or Improvement other than fences. The homestead shanties of the commuters may bo (Continued on next page.) Do You Use Acetylene? if 60, We Want to Send Yoa A SAMPLE BURNER We bellere ire have tbe rwy beet end the cheapest line of Acetylene Burners* Our um^h pottage, and we will send you A Sample Burner W. M. CRANE COMPANY 1131-3? BROADWAY Boon 16 New York, N. Y.