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2 Public Opinion Throughout the Union THE DAYS OF CAPTAIN KIDD. (New York World.) This all took place in the days of Captain Kidd. After a long and des perate chase the man-of-war overhaul ed the pirate craft and raked it fore and aft. The survivors of the crew were put in irons and taken into port to be tried for their crimes and mis demeanors. As might have been ex pected, Mr. Paul D. Cravath and Mr. John G. Milburn appeared as counsel for the defendants. “While it is admittedly true,” said Mr. Milburn, “that my clients here did cut throats, scuttle ships and ap propriate to themselves the treasure of many merchantmen, yet these acts were merely an indirect or incidental result of my clients being associated and banded together. We contend that the murder and piracy were only con sequential and incidental to the exer cise of an absolute and undoubted right which all men have to go down to the sea together in ships, and hence we ask the dismissal of these absurd charges against the defendants.” Then Mr. Cravath addressed the jury. “It is true,” he said, “that my clients here in the heat of a generous commercial rivalry did cut a few throats and appropriate certain goods and chattels. But you must remember that at one time in the history of society murder was an offense with which the general public had nothing to do, vengeance being left to the kin of the lately deceased. Moreover, the acts of these defendants must be re garded as typical of a class of trans actions which have been common in the past on the Spanish Main, and which were once regarded as entirely proper, as the gentlemen of the jury may ascertain for themselves by con sulting the works of the Greek histo rians.” Unfortunately the law at this time w’as looked upon rather more as a science than an art. So a none too intelligent jury promptly convicted the defendants, and a judge who was im patient to get to the tavern to dinner immediately sentenced them to be hanged by the neck until they were dead. SOCK THE SOCK TRUST. (Fort Worth Telegram.) The great American sock trust met a few days ago and decided upon an immediate advance of 15 per cent of all articles of hosiery, and this is an act that serves to show how utterly heartless these great combinations of capital can and do become. The Amer ican cotton crop for 1905 was less than 11,000,000 bales, and there was no ad vance in the price of socks. The cotton crop for 1906 is in excess of 13,000,000 bales, and the action taken by the trust represents an advance in the price in the face of an increased sup ply. Some years ago the French military establishment ordered that the rank and file of the French army should not wear socks, and later developments re flected the wisdom of the order in the improved health of the army. Back in the early history of Texas the men who hunted on the plains of Texas never wore socks even in cold weath er. Jerry Simpson, a product of Kan ias, was always successful as long as he eschewed socks, and his downfall followed the adoption of gay hosiery. Under such circumstances there ap pears but one thing to do, and that is to sock it to the sock trust by going sockless. It may be a little bit un- WATSON’S, "WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN. comfortable for the sockless during the early stages of the action, but we will grow accustomed to the innovation in time. And when the sock trust realizes that we have determined to become a sockless nation it will take the nec essary steps to go out of business. COLOR LINE IN THE NORTH. (The Columbia State.) But let no one be deceived. The color line is as real —and no more so— in Boston, in Philadelphia, in New York, in Springfield, in Washington, as it is anywhere in the south. We take up a recent issue of the Boston Transcript and note the caption of an article —“The Color Line in Boston.” A part of the same caption informs us that there is “race discrimination here as elsewhere,” that this race prejudice is cherished and practiced by hotels, theaters, and, alas! the churches; and that the feeling of the son of the abo litionist is not the same as his father’s.” Another issue of The Transcript contains an editorial on the “Color Line in the Treasury,” at Wash ington, under the very nose of the president, who, as is well known, is not “color” blind, though he could not see the negroes who “rescued” him on “San Juan Hill.” THE BANKS ARE “NEXT.” (The Omaha Investigator.) Mr. Ollie M. James of Kentucky, in a speech in congress which the pluto cratic papers took pains not to men tion, said: “The statement of the United States treasury issued on the 29th day of January, 1907, shows in national bank depositories of the Unit ed States $161,061,798.25. This won derful sum of the people’s money is in the national banks, without the pay ment of one single cent of interest, on which great sum of money they are charging from 6 to 10 per cent per year when they lend this money back to the people. I challenge the world for a greater or more vicious act of class legislation. I challenge anyone to present a scheme of spoli ation of graft to excel it.” And that money was handed over to the banks at the request of Wall street gamblers to “relieve the money market”! ERROR OF PRESIDENT’S FOES. (The Boston Transcript.) It seems to us that the president’s opponents have made a mistake in not coming out squarely and saying that they did hope to wrest the control of the party from his hands, by bring ing to pass in 1908 the nomination of a man more suited to their tastes. This would be a legitimate endeavor to which no reasonable person could take exception. It would be nothing for any man to apologize for. They might dissent from details which are doubt less exaggerated and fanciful, as was at once recognized, but their desire to shake the control of Mr. Roose velt should not have been denied. WILL HE WATER IT? (The Richmond Times-Dlspatch.) Now that he has become a duly qual ified member of the Ananias Society, It Is generally believed that Mr. Har riman will at once proceed to ac quire a majority of the stock. JUST A CHANGE OF NAME. (The Washington Post.) “Where are the dudes of yester day?” asks the New York World. Among the mollycoddles of today, of course. A NEW OCTOPUS. (Arizona Republican.) The report comes all the way from London that officials of the British and Foreign Bible Society have admitted that a great Scripture trust has been formed, and the conclusion that the principal purveyors of the Word of Life have been benefited by a virtual monopoly is being forced upon the English Bible-consuming public. The facts in the case, as brought out in an alleged interview with the secreta ry of the big London plant, are not calculated to remove the impression. It is only fair to the managers of the alleged Scripture trust to state that they explicitly deny that they have exclusive control of what Rev. Arthur Taylor calls the “raw material.” In other words, there is an abundant sup ply of crude heavenly manna, which is at the disposition of any consumer, or, for that matter, any intrepid in dependent dealer who may wish to mine for it, or bore for it, whichever method may be the most practicable. It is as if a combination of capitalists should combine for the purpose of con trolling the market for refined rock oil, or, as it is sometimes called, crude petroleum. In such an imaginary case it could be consistently claimed that while certain traffic arrangements had been made by which no sales were to be made in competition with members of the pool, any consumer could have access to the great storehouse of crude petroleum which nature has provided in the bowels of the earth. MEN AND THE CHURCH. (The Toronto Globe.) No other movement is more signifi cant than the awakening and organiz ing and directing of the lay forces in the various churches now going on both in Canada and in the United States. Representative conventions of laymen have been held in various American cities, which for power and prestige are seldom equaled by any thing of the sort ever witnessed in the political arena. Men of the very fore most rank in the callings to which they belong, men who have done things, and in whom is the vitality and vision of still larger achievement, meet together to confer over the church situation, its facts and its fu ture; and wuth the directness of train ed men of business, and the enthusi asm of men who believe, they are set ting about their business as men of the church with a purposefulness which means success. 808 TAYLOR ON MONEY. (The Clifton Mirror.) It is said that back in 1896 when the money issue came into prominence some one asked Bob Taylor how he stood on the question. His reply was very Tayloresque: “I am in favor of more gold, more silver, more green back and a better grade of counter feit.” Boiled down to its last anal ysis, the average hillbilly will sub scribe to this doctrine. INCREASED TLEGRAPH TOLLS. (The Washington Star.) It is always a questionable expedi ent to raise a toll when the returns from a business depend upon public patronage. To a certain extent the telegraph service is a necessity. But apart from the press dispatches, which are not affected by the new schedules, it as likely that the bulk of the business of the telegraph compa nies is of a character that will be un- favorably affected by the imposition of a higher tax. That is to say, most of the private messages are only of a semi-necessitous character, and under the new rate rules a great many form er users of the wire will eschew this service and rely upon the mails. This will require a readjustment of busi ness methods and the cultivation of a habit of foresight, but the premium of a material saving in cost is calcu lated to stimulate such methods. THE THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLS. (The Philadelphia Press.) A steady movement is apparent in both the training and work of clergy men away from languages and theolo gy and toward the study of social problems. This is wise, if it is done thoroughly. The real difficulty is that while a medical student does thrice the work he once did and a law stu dent twice, to enter on his profession, a future clergyman works no longer in time and does less work in study. The number of candidates also is diminish ing. Since 1900 the number of sin ners in the country has grown some 7,000,000; but the number of men studying to preach to them has fallen from 8,000 to 6,000, and grows less yearly. This is a more serious thing than abolishing Hebrew here and there. IT WORKED ALL RIGHT. (The Philadelphia Record.) “There was a howl over the adoption of two-cent postage when the rate was reduced from three cents. A deficit was prophesied; but an increased rev enue followed. Like results may flow from the adoption of two-cents-a-mile railway fares. More people will travel. Half-empty cars will be filled. Where the experiment has been fairly tested it has justified itself.” HIDEBOUND AS EVER. (Charleston News and Courier.) What the south wants and needs, and what the country needs also, is a Democratic president. There la no “southern Democrat” who can be elect ed president, although it is certain that without the support of the southern Democracy it will not be possible to elect any Democratic candidate pres ident. The southern Democrats will vote for the candidate of the party whoever he may be, and whether he comes from the west or the east or the south. THE COLOR PROBLEM. (The Omaha Bee.) The problem is a troublesome one, with small promise of solution so far as government employment is concern ed. The government is pledged by constitutional amendments to recog nize no race or color distinctions in American citizenship or rights, and so long as the negro can pass the civil service examinations the door of fed eral employment Is open to him. Prac tical demonstration of this fact may have the effect of curing some of the young men and women of the coun try of their deluded notion that a government clerkship is the most se lect of all positions open to those seek ing clerical employment. TARRED WITH THE SAME STICK. (The Richmond News-Leader.) So far as opposing Governor Hughes’ reform policy is concerned, the Demo crats and the Republicans in the New York senate seem to be tarred with the same stick.