Newspaper Page Text
The Georgia Record.
VOL. I.
MR. MACRUM’S STATEMENT
Former Consul to Pretoria flakes Sensational
Charges In Address to the Public.
HINTS AT AN ALLIANCE
Says English Censor at Durban
Opened and Inspected His
Official Documents.
A signed statement was given out
at NV ashington Wednesday night by
Charles E. Macrum, former United
States consul to Pretoria. In part it
was as follows:
“The situation in Pretoria was such
that, first, as an official I could not
remain there while my government at
home was apparently in the dark as to
the exact condition in South Africa.
“Second, as a man and citizen of
the United States, I could not remain
in Pretoria, sacrificing my own self
respect and that of the people of Pre
toria while the government at home
continued to leave me in the position
of a British consul and not an Ameri
can consul.
“I want to say right here that there
was not one single request made of me
through the department of state look
ing to the care of British interests in
Pretoria, which I did not fulfill and
report upon according to my orders.
On the other hand, American interests
in South Africa were in that condition
which demanded that ( he department
of state should be cognizant of them.
“I issued the statement received
from the state department that Ameri
cans must remain neutral. In the
face of this, Americans were contin
ually going to the front and taking up
arms in the cause of the Boers. I
could not help but know that many of
these were citizens of the United
States. I also know that many of
them, in their utter despair at the ap
parent attitude of our own govern
ment, were taking the oath of allegi
ance to the Transvaal republic.
“When affairs had reached that
state my vice consul, Mr. Van Amer
iagen, closed up his business, took the
oath of allegiance to the republic and
went to the front as a burgher, I
thought the time had come when I
should make a report of these condi
tions.
“It was over four weeks from the
time the war opened before I received
a single dispatch from my government
or a personal letter.
“The mail for the Transvaal had all
been stopped at Cape Town by order
of the high commissioner. When this
mail was finally forwarded to me after
Colonel Stowe, the consul general at
Cape Town, had secured its release,
I had the humiliation as the repre
sentative of the American government
of sitting in my office in Pretoria and
looking upon envelopes bearing the
official seal of the American govern
ment opened and officially sealed with
a sticker, notifying me that the con
tents had been read by the censor at
Durban.
“I looked up the law, but failed to
find anywhere that one military power
can use its own discretion as to for
warding the official dispatches of a
neutral government to its representa
tive in a beseiged country.
“The misrepresentation which had
been going on before the war and as
- ter it opened, were of such a serious
nature and would require such de
tailed explanation, that on the 6th of
November I filed a cable to the de
partment in code,stating that I wished
a leave of absence in order to visit the
states.
“I set forth in this cable thal my
vice consul had enlisted in the Boer
army; that Mr. Atterbury, an Ameri
can, whom I had known very favora
bly for more than a year, could take
charge of the office until my return.
“On the 4th of December I received
a reply from the department to a ca
blegram of the 14th, which I had been
informed two days previously had just
been forwarded. It read as follows:
“ ‘You may come home. Put Atter
bury temporarily in charge. Depart
ment will send man from here.’ This
was signed by ‘Hay.’ Thereupon I ca
bled the department as follows:
“ ‘Sail 18th by Naples.’
ATLANTA, GA.. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1900.
“I come home to find an attempt has
been made to tear down my personal
reputation. I wish to state right here
that when I accepted my post as con
sul, I know nothing of any secret alli
ance between America and Great Bri
tain, and that I had seen nothing in
the regulations which made the consul
of the American republic subject to
the whims and caprice of an English
military censor at Durban. I came to
America with a motive of which I am
not ashamed.
“I appreciate the seriousness of the
conditions in South Africa to the ex
tent that on my way to Washington,
believing that I was still the consul in
Pretoria, I refused to make any state
ment that would in any way involve
the department or embarrass it. My
one object was to lay the information
before the department as to the true
state of affairs in South Africa. If the
department thought these facts were
of a value sufficient to warrant the
expense of the trip I had taken. I
expected to be remunerated and to re
turn to Pretoria, leaving the depart
ment to act as it saw fit upon the facts
which I laid before it.
SECRET ALLIANCE HINTED.
“Instead of this, I find that Secre
retary Hay, whether acting upon the
reports in the newspapers, or upon
advice from the British government,
or some other motive, I do not know,
has seen fit to wait until I could pre
sent my reasons in person, and has
been a silent or conniving partner to
discrediting reports of my official
acts.”
ACROSS BOER FRONTIER.
Britons Succeed In Entering Or
ange Free State Under
General French.
Advices from London state that the
British army, for the first time since
the war began, is inside the Boer fron
tier.
Lord Roberts, with at least 40,000
infantry, 7,000 cavalry and 150 guns,
bas'turned the Magerfontein lines be
fore which the British forces have
been encamped for * ten weeks, and
with half of his corps, he is already
operating on Free State territory.
Large tactical advantages have been
gained. The relief of Kimberly is
within measurable reach, and the way
to Bloomfonteiu is appreciably easier.
The dispatches of Lord Roberts
sketch three days’ work. The forward
movement began on Sunday, Feb. 11th,
when Colonel Hanuay set out with a
brigade of mounted infantry for Ra
mah, on the Riet, eight miles from
Jacobsdal, one of the Boer supply
bases.
On Monday, February 12, General
French, with the cavalry division,
seized the crossing of the Riet river,
at Dekil’s drift, south of Jacobsdal
and eighteen miles east of Honey Nest
kloof. He skirmished with the Boers
and cleared the way for twenty thous
and infantry, who followed across.
On Tuesday, with his three cavalry
brigades and horse artillery, General
French rode to the Modder river, a
distance of twenty-five miles and took
three fords, with high ground beyond
the ri 'er and five Boer camps.
He had a few casualties in brushes
with the Boer horse. General French
has now fixed himself on General
Cronje’s main line of communication
with Bloemfontein, and 20,000 in
fantry with seventy-two guns are be
ing pushed up to support him there.
TEST VOTE TAKEN.
Senate Debate* on Financial Measure
Were Spirited.
Throughout its session Wednesday
the senate had the financial bill under
discussion.
At times the debate became spirited
and interesting. Late in the after
noon a test vote, indicating approxi
mately the majority on the passage of
the bill, was taken.
Mr. Chandler, of New Hampshire,
offered an amendment to authorize the
president to appoint commissioners to
any international bimetallic confer
ence that might be called and it was
defeated by a vote of 45 to 25.
A VIGOROUS PLATFORM
Adopted By the Anti -Trust League
At Conference Held In
Chicago. *
After a heated debate Thursday
night the resolution committee of the
anti-trust conference, in session at
Chicago, decided to report in favor of
government ownership of railroads and
for their seizure on payment of actual
value without payment for “watered
stock or other fictitious values.” The
committee also unanimously favored
direct popular legislation as a means
of obtaining the result.
President Lockwood, of the anti
trust league, said tha he regretted
that William J. Bryan’s name was
mentioned in the discussions and de
clared it was his intention to keep
politics out of the conference.
The platform unanimously adopted
by the committee declares for govern
ment ownership of all public utilities
and natural monopolies, government
money, the referendum and direct leg
islation and the withdrawal of all pro
tective" tariffs from all articles con
trolled by a trust. Among other things,
after urging the organization to de
prive trusts of their po-v r, it says:
We make no assault pon business
combination, for dimil i king produc
tive cost or augmenting oductive effi
ciency.. What we do as is combina
tions for coercing proc eers and les
sening production. It i such combi
nations that constitute lhe trust evil
and they we would ah sh, root and
branch.
When oppressive ti u ts are exam
ined they are found :o be combina
tions not for augm- n o g wealth, but
for hampering its _pr. |ct’m; not for
making things plenties and cheap,
but for making them ear- j and dear.
Their strength lies in a more intense
concentration of monopoly privileges.
The platform part cularly attacks
the Standard Oil trust :o which it says
monopoly engendering laws have com
mitted the regulation of tl e peoples’
needs and rights in one department of
industry. “Their needs aud rights in
another have been by similar laws
committed to the beef trust.” A num
ber of set speeches were heard at the
morning and afternoon sessions of the
conference.
The night session was in the form of
a mass meeting, which was held in the >
Auditorium and brought out some of
the strongest speakers among the del
egates, including John P. Altgeld, F.
S. Monnett, Samuel M. Jones, John
S. Crosby, George Fred Williams and
Tom L. Johnson.
Resolutions introduced by Judge
Fleming, of Kentucky, were adopted :
by a rising vote, strongly condemning
the currency bill before congress.
A committee to prepare a memorial
to the United States senate against the
bill was provided for and the people of
the country urged to gather at court
houses, school houses and other pub
lic places to protest against the meas
ure.
SOUTHERN' PROGRESS.
Liat of New Industries Established Dur- ‘
1 US' the Past Week.
Among the new industries reported
the past week, the more important are
an acetylene gas company and an au
tomobile manufactory in Virginia;
brick works iu Tennessee; bridge works
in Alabama; n canning factory in North
Carolina; coal mines in Arkansas aud
West Virginia; a cotton gin manufac
tory in Texas; cotton mills in Arkan
sas, Georgia, Kentucky, North Caro
lina, South Carolina, Tennessee; a
Cotton seed oil mill in North Carolina;
two electric light plants in Texas; an
electrics! supply company in Tenues
see; an electric switching device manu
factory in Kentucky; engine works in I
Virginia; flouring mills in Georgia and
South Carolina; foundry and machine
shop in Texas; two furniture factories
in North Carolina; ice factories in
Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee,
Texas; and irrigation company in
Texas; lumber mills in Florida, Geor
gia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas;
Virginia; a natural gas aud oil com
pany in West Virginia; phosphate
mines in Tennessee; a planing mill in
Mississippi; a shipbuilding and dry
dock company in Virginia; stave fac
tory in Georgia and Tennessee; tele
phone compauies in North Carolina
and Tennessee; a veneering factory in
Alabama; zinc mines in Virginia.— j
Tradesman (Chattanooga, Tenn).
SENATE PASSES I
FINANCIAL BILL
Goes Through On Straight Party
Lines By Vote of 46 to 29.
INTERNATIONAL BIMETALLISM
Provides For National Banks of
$25,000 Capital In Towns of
Not More Than 4,000.
A Washington special says: The
senate substitute for the house cur
, rency bill was passed by the senate
| Thursday by the decisive majority of
'46 to 29. Prior to the final passage of
the bill amendments wire considered
| under the ten minute rule. Only two
1 of these amendments were adopted.
! One offered by the .finance cominit
! tee keeping the door open to interna
-1 tional bimetallism and one by Mr.
1 Nelson, of Minnesota, providing for
: national banks with 325,000 capital in
I towns of not more than 4,000 iuhabit
' ants.
The votes taken on the various
‘ amendments offered were practically
along party lines. Mr. Chandler, Re
l publican, of New Hampshire, voted
} for the bimetallic amendment, but
against the bill. Mr. Caffery, Demo
; crat, of Louisiana, and Mr. Lindsay,
■ Democrat, of Kentucky, voted ngaiust
■ the committee amendment, but for the i
■ bill.
Mr. Kyle, of South Dakota, was the
1 only senator who did not vote and was
not paired. The free silver substitute
1 offered by Mr. Jones, the leader of the
| Democratic side, was defeated by a
I majority of 19, the vote being 47 to 28.
The bill as passed consists of ten
■ sections. It provides that the dollar
, of 25 8-10 grains of gold, 9-10 fine,
1 shall be the standard unit of value and
that all forms of United States money
shall be maintained at a parity with it;
that the treasury notes aud greenbacks
shall bo redeemable in gold.
The secretary of the treasury is to
set apart a fund of 85,000,000 in gold
for the redemption of these notes and
to maintain this fund at a figure not
below 8100,000,000 he is empowered
to sell bonds of the United States
bearing interest at not exceeding three
per cent.
THE PARITY PROVISIONS.
It shall also be the duty of the sec
retary of the treasury as fast as stand
ard silver dollars are coined to retire
equal amounts of treasury notes and
to issue silver certificates against the
silver coined. Under certain provis
ions, too, gold certificates shall be is
sued against the gold held in the
treasury. No United States notes or
treasury notes shall be issued in de
nominations of less than $lO and.no
silver certificates in denominations of
more than $lO.
The secretary of the treasury is also
authorized to refund the bonded debt
of the United States in
bonds bearing 2 per cent, the princi
pal and interest of these to be paid in
gold. The 2 per cent bonds shall be
issued at not less than par. Any na
tional bank, by depositing with the
United States bonds of this country,
shall be permitted to issue circulating
notes to the face value of the bonds
deposited, no bank being allowed to
issue circulating notes iu excess of the
amount of paid-in capital stock of the
bank.
GREED FOR PENSION'S
The Subject of Sensational Speech By
Sims, of Tennessee.
The feature of Wednesday in con
gress was a sensational pension speech
by Representative Sims, of Tennessee,
in which he charged the existence of
a vitiated and debauched public senti
ment in the north with regard to pen
sions.
The most sensational feature of his
address was a comparison of pension
legislation from the war with Spain
from the two lections, and the proof
by statistics that upon an average
there are five times as many applica
tions for pensions from the northern
and eastern states as from the south
for like numbers and similar services.
NO. 34.
FAMILY IS MURDERED
Aged Mother, Her Son and Daugh
ter, the Victims.
HORRIBLE TRAGEDY IN FLORIDA
Ax Was Deadly Instrument Used—No Clew
to Perpetrators of Dastardly Deed
Has Been Discovered.
One of the most horrible crimes
ever perpetrated in Florida was dis
covered Tuesday afternoon about
seven miles west of Jacksonville, when
the bodies of Mrs. Rosanna Roberts, a
widow, aged seventy-six; her son, G.
T. Roberts, a bachelor, aged fifty
three, and Miss Jennie Roberts, a
daughter, also unmarried, aged fifty
one years, were found murdered at
their home.
The body of the old lady was dis
covered in her bed, her head split
open with an ax. The body of the son
was found half out of the bed, as if he
had attempted to rise, and a shotgun
broken half in two by the side of the
bed, showed that he had attempted to
defend himself.
The body of the daughter was found
under the house, where she had run
from her assailants in the house. Evi
dences showed that she had been fol
lowed and struck two heavy blows
with the ax, which killed her.
The three composed the entire fami
ly, which has been wiped out of ex
istence, and were well-to-do and high
ly respected people.
The. nearest house was one mile and
a quarter from their home. The bodies
were discovered by a neighbor who
stopped to get a drink of water, and
seeing no life about, made an investi
gation with the result of discovering
the horrible crime.
Trunks and drawers were ransacked,
but what was taken has not been dis
covered, as money and other valuables
were found where the robbers and
murderers had worked. There is n“
trace to the perpetrators of the crime.
BRYAN AT RALEIGH.
Two Addresses Delivered to Tarjre Crowds
In Tarheel Capital.
Bryan arrived ih Raleigh, N. C., at
5 o’clock Tuesday afternoon over the
Seaboard Air-Line from Richmond.
He was met by a crowd of 10,000
people, headed by the local military
organizations and cadets and was im
mediately driven to a large tent erect
ed for the speaking.
He was introduced by State Chair
man Simmons and spoke for and hour
and a half mostly on familiar lines.
He devoted rather more time than usual
to a dis cussion of taxation, declaring
that an income tax would be a leading
feature in the campaign this fall. He
discussed trusts, free silver and im
perialism at some length on the usual
lines.
At night Mr. Bryan spoke in the
Academy of Music. Hundreds were
turned away, being unable to gain ad
mittance to the building. He devoted
much more of his time to imperialism
than in his afternoon speech.
Wednesday at noon Mr. Bryan lec
tured at the state university on '‘Pend
ing Problems.”
MAY RETURN TO FRANKFORT.
Democrats Consider Resolution To Meet
At State Capital.
A Louisville dispatch says: The
first sign of a break in the Democratic
lines was noticed Tuesday. It came
in the shape of a resolution offered by
Senator Triplett providing that upon
adjournment Thursday the legislature
name Frankfort*as its next meeting
place.
While no action upon the resolution
was taken during the session, it was
believed to foreshadow a return of the
Democratic legislators to the state
capitol soon.
UNFAVORABLE TO EWART.
Sub-Committee On Judiciary Decides
Aeainst North Corolina Man.
A Washington dispatch says: The
sub-committee on judiciary which has
been considering the nomination of
Judge Ewart, of North Carolina, to oe
United States district judge in that
state, has made a report to the full
committee adverse to Judge Ewart.