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Alton B. Parker,-of New York, pre sided. President Parker, in his an nual address, said: ‘ i Now, he who surveys the action of the legislative and executive de partments of the state governments during the last few months cannot with truth say that they have been inactive during this period. Nor can he say that the federal Government has been more active or more drastic in its action than have the states. But it can be said, and therefore it should be said, that the Federal Gov ernment began the crusade. There in was to be found, it seems to me, the sole basis for the assumption that the Federal Government, had it pos sessed the power, would have done better than the states. That as sumption, considered in ’the light of the circumstances preceding and pos sibly inducing it, presents but a' fee ble argument in favor of taking away any authority now enjoyed by the States in order to confer it upon the National Government. “ Officials and others have suggest ed various schemes having for their object the bringing of railroads, oth er corporations and interests, under the exclusive control of thee Federal Government. To that end national incorporation has been proposed, as has also a Federal license system. “The object which their advocates have in view is undoubtedly laudable. But that is not enough, if in the ex ecution of their plans they violate the Federal Constitution and directly lead toward the destruction of our dual government. “Every power with which it was deemed necessary to endow the Na tional Government was given tu it and in the exercise of these it was made supreme. To prevent any pos sible assertion by the National Gov ernment of inherent powers, those as signed to it were carefully and ex pressly enumerated. “But to avoid even the possibility of a contrary claim, the constitution was at once amended by the addition of ten articles —every one of which operated as a restraint upon the Na tional Government. The last one, es tablishing beyond even the possibil ity of cavil that the National Govern ment is limited to the powers specified in the constitution creating it, reads: 4 The powers not delegated to the Un ited States by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively or to the people. ’ Other powers have since been granted, and. in the fu ture still others may be given, but the constitution as it now stands for bids the exercise of any powers oth er than those granted by it. It leaves no room for finding in the language of the constitution a claim that there are certain unmentioned and inher ent powers which the Federal Govern ment may exercise. 44 The recent claim for Federal in tervention in directions heretofore unheard of are based upon the Com merce and Post Road provisions of the constitution. As to the first, the con stitution says the Congress shall have, power 4 to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the sever al States and with the Indian tribes/ Is it within the spirit aud purpose of that provision that Congress may WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN. control the manufactures' and all oth er productive interests the States? whether controlled by individuals or corporations, the creations of the State? The answer of even a casual student of the constitution and the conditionsg y surrounding its makin must be in the negative. “The attempts on the part of the Government to despoil the States of the powers and functions belonging to them will not tend to smoothness in the working of our dual scheme of government. Already it has had its effect. The indignation of the governing forces of many of the States is already aroused. It is shown in the legislation of the year. It had not a little to do in my judg ment with the recent conflict of ju dicial authority in North Carolina.” Hughes Hailed as Next President. A big crowd gave Gov. Hughes a warm welcome at the Washington County Fair, at Glens Falls, N. Y. At the fair grounds the Governor was introduced as 4 4 The next President of the United States.” The crowd took up the cry and became very demon strative. The Governor dwelt on the importance of citizenship and the du ties of government. He said in part: “We have had legislation of great importance during the session touch ing the vital interests of the people of the State, believe that it would be hard to find a session of the Leg islature in which so much general legislation of great importance has been enacted. We have, for example, the great question of the control of the operation of our public service corporations. It is a question of great importance to all the people, to the farmers, to those engaged in manufacturing industries, to those en gaged in commerce—one of the great questions of the day. “Now, I believe that the way to deal with these matters is to under stand them; to have the Government and its administration supreme; to show the people of the State that there is no corporate power or finan cial power that has any strength to defy the will of the people; that they are going to have a fair understand ing of the facts and compel a just exercise of public franchises. Thai is what we stand for. We want to see a great extension of our trans portation facilities. We want bet ter stations, we want more cars, we want better power, we want to see our goods moved. We are bound to get it. “We are not going to be fooled by any of these people who tell us that they can’t do these things and live, under fair regulation. On the other hand we are not going to pre vent their doing these things by ab surd and impossible rules. The peo ple of this country are perfectly fair and square in this matter. 44 The great difficulty is that the problem is so Intricate in many of its phases that some say, ‘What is the use? You can never understand it.’ Now I say that the government is perfectly competent to find out the facte; to secure good treatment, io enforce the regulations under which these franchises should be conducted, and to see that every citizen of the JState in connection with our trans- portation problem gets good service at reasonable rates. 4 ’Let me say this in conclusion: You can’t do anything by multiply ing these efforts of the Administra tion unless you can get the men to run the machinery who can be de pended upon to take the State view against their own interests. What will you tolerate in public life? Whom do you allow to represent the people ? 4 4 Let us have it thoroughly under stood that a man walks to his polit ical doom who thinks of anything else but the public welfare in con nection with public office.” 200 Englishmen Coming to Cotton Conference. One hundred and seventy delegates representing Lancashire spinning and manufacturing companies have been selected to attend the conference of cotton growers and manufacturers at Atlanta, Ga.. Oct. 7-9. It is expect ed that the English delegation will number more than two hundred. Sixty Killed as St. Lawrence Bridge Falls. A section of the new bridge across the St. Lawrence River, five miles be low the city of Quebec, Canada, col lapsed, carrying <|pores of bridge workers and mechanics into the wa ter. It is estimated that the loss of life is at least sixty and may exceed that number bv twentv. The bridge was about a mile and a half long, and half of it, from the south shore to midstream, crumpled up and dropped into the water. Ninety men wore at work on this section of the structure and the whistle had just been blown at 5-30 for the men to quit work for the day when there came a grinding sound from the bridge at midstream. The men turned to see what had happened and an instant later the cry went up: “The bridge is falling!” The men made a rush shorevard. but the distance was too great for them to escape. The fallen section of the bridge dragged others after it, the snapping girders and cables booming like a crash of artillery. Terror lent fleetuess to the feet of the frightened workmen as they sped shoreward, but only a few reached safety before the last piece of iron work on the south shore was dragged into the rivbr. • Near the shore the wreckage of the bridge did not go below the surface of the and eight workmen who remained above water were rescued and taken to the hospital at Levis. Georgia Central Bondholders Fight Expressing indignation at the ac tion of the directors of the Central »f Georgia Railroad Company in passing the interest on the third income bonds and reducing the rate on the second incomes from 5 per cent to 3.729 per cent, bondholders of New York City resolved to combine with the Southern interests and fight for their rights in the courts, if neces sary. A protective committee com prising C. Altschul, of Lazard Freres; R. Walter Levy, of Mait- Groesbeck, of this city; Frederick William Scott of Richmond, Va., and J. F. Minis of Savannah, Ga., was appointed. The angry bondholders said that the company had more than earned the interest, but that since Oakleigh Thorne and Marsden J. Perry bought the road from the Southern Railway its financial policy had been changed. It is hinted that failure to declare the interest in full has grown out of the failure by the bondholders to accept a 5 per cent bond to run foi three years in lieu of the interest in full on all three classes of bonds. One of the bankers present at the meeting, on behalf of himself and the other dissatisfied security holders, said: ‘‘The earnings of the company for the last fiscal year show that interest on all three classes of income bonds was fully earned, but within the last month of the year, it appears, the company charged off a large amount for improvements and betterments, which we consider was excessive. “The railroad proper, for the last fiscal year, actually had about $840,- 000 .applicable to interest on the in come bonds, but this was written dow-n, leaving only about $480,000 available. ’ ’ Death Rings Down Curtain On Mans field. Richard Mansfield died at his sum mer residence, Seven Acres, New London, Conn., on Ocean ave., from cirrhosis of the liver, aggravated b\ complications. H e was fiftv years old. During the actor’s last moments he was in a condition of coma and did not recognize the loved ones at his bedside. There were present at the time of his death his wife, his broth er Felix, the physician and the nurses. The actor’s little son, Gibbs, was asleep in a room near by. The following were his leading roles : Humpy Logan in “Master and Man, Feb. 5, 1890; George Brum mel in “Beau Brummel,” May 17. 1890; Don Juan in “Don Juan,” May 18, 1891; Emperor Nero-in “Nero,” Sept. 21, 1891; Tittlebat Titmouse in “Ten Thousand a Year,” Feb. 23, 1892; Arthur Dimmersdale in “The Scarlet Letter,” Sept. 12, 1592; Shy lock in “The Merchant of Venice,” Oct. 23, 1893; Capt. Bluntschli in “Arms and the Man,” Sept. 17, 1894; Napoleon in “Scenes from the Life of Napoleon Bonaparte,” Nov. 26, 1894; Don Pedro XIV. in “The King of Peru,” May 8. 1895; Rodion in “The Story of Rodion, the Stu dent,” Dec. 3, 1895; Sir John Som bras in “Castle Sombras,” Nov 13, 1896; Dick Dudgeon in “The Devil’s Double,” Oct. 4, 1897; Eugene Cour voisier in “The First Violin,” April 18,1898; Cyrano de Bergerac in “Cy rano de Bergerac,” Oct. 3, 1898; King Harry in “King Henry V.,” Oct. 3, 1900; Monsieur Beaucaire in “Beaucaire,” Oct. 7, 1901; Brutus in “Julius Caesar,” Oct. 14, 1902; Prince Karl Heinrich in “Old Heid elberg,” Oct. 12, 1903; Czar Ivan in “Ivan the Terrible,” March 1, 1904; Alceste in “The Misanthrope,” in 1905; Don Carlos in “Don Carlos,” in 1906, and Peer Gynt in “Peer Gynt,” in 1907. G. N. PAGE FIVE