OUR AMERICAN LETTER.

Evening Star, Issue 10399, 21 August 1897, Page 1 (Supplement)

OUR AMERICAN LETTER.

Keokuk (lowa, U.S.A.), July 16.

THE ANNEXATION OF; HAWAII. In the provisional treaty which Secretly Sherman has negotiated with Messrs F. M. Hatch, L. A. Thurston, and W. A. Kinney, on behalf of the Republic of Hawaii,'it is enacted that the U. S. Congress shall enact special land laws for tho new Territory; that all proceeds of the sale thereof, outside of the cost of government, shall be devoted to the educational and other public purposes of the, islands ; that all existing treaties made by Hawaii as a kingdom shall, cease ; that the Customs laws of the United States shall extend to the islands; that the United States Government shall take over the public debt of Hawaii, but the liability therefor, shall not exceed one million sterling; and that five commissioners shall administer the internal affairs of the islands till they are formally.’ admitted as a Territory into the Union. An important clause of the Treaty reads : *

There _ shall be no_ further immigration of t/hinese into the Hawaiian islands, except on such conditions as are now or may hereafter be allowed by laws of the United States, and no Chinese by' reason of anything herein contained shall be allowed to enter the United States from tho Hawaiian islands.

In his Message forwarding the text of the treaty to Congress President M'Kicley said :

From 1820 to 1893, the course of the United States toward the Hawaiian islands has consistently favored their autonomous welfare with the exclusion of all foreign influence save our own, to the extent of upholding eventual annexation ns the necessary outcome of that policy. Not only is the union of the Hawaiian territory to the United States no new scheme, but it .is the inevitable consequence of the relation 'steadfastly maintained with that mid-Pacific domain for threequarters of a century. Its accomplishment, despitesuccessive denials and postponements, has been merely a question of time. While its failure in 1893 may _ not be a cause of congratulation, if is certainly a proof of the disinterestedness of the United States, the delay of four years having abundantly sufficed to establish the right and the ability of the Republic of Hawaii to enter as asovereign contractant upon a conventional union Ji™ the United States, thus realising a purpose: held by the Hawaiian people and proclaimed by successive Hawaiian Governments through some, seventy years of their virtual dependence upon the benevolent protection of the United States.' Under such circumstances annexation is not a. change ; it is a consummation. The organic and administrative details of Incorporation are necessarily left to the wisdom of the Congress, and I cannot doubt, when the function of the c.onstitistional treaty-making power shall have been accomplished, tho duty of the national Legislature in the case will be performed with the largest regard for the interests of this rich insular domain and for the welfare of the inhabitants thereof.

This treaty is substantially similar to that drawn up under the Harrison Administration and referred to the Senate. Pending the action of the latter body a general election took place, and Grover Cleveland was elected President, who, upon assuming office, promptly withdrew the treaty of annexation. The Republican party have not votes enough in the Senate to ratify this treaty as a party measure, a two-thirds vote being necessary. Hence there is a strong possibility that it will meet the fate of the arbitration treaty with Great Britain, Japan entered a formal protest against the ratification of this treaty of annexation on the ground that it would work a forfeiture of her treaty rights and privileges with Hawaii. Secretary Sherman has made a definite answer to this protest, and given the Japanese Government some much-needed information as to the effect of annexation upon treaties, and as to the rights which the subjects of one country may acquire in another under treaty or the law.of the land. He lays down the fundamental proposition of international usage; that the existing treaties of a State cease when that Scale is meiged into another. To enforce his point the Secretary cites numerous illustrations, such as the incorporation of Hanover into the Prussian Kingdom, the admission of Texas to the American Union as a State, the annexation of Madagascar by France, and the cession of Alsace and Lorraine by France to Germany. In each of these cases all existing treaties made by the annexed Slates were determined. And he adds : “It needs no stipulation in a formal annexation treaty to work this result, for it attends de facto annexation, however accomplished.” This should settle the matter, and end not only Japan’s bluster so far as this country is concerned, but its menaces to Hawaii.

THE WORK OF THE POSTAL CONGRESS. The fifth convention of the Universal Postal Congress, after deciding to hold its next meeting in Rome in February, 1903, adjourned. The closing sessions were devoted to the preparation of papers and the signing of the treaty which becomes operative in January, 1899. Every delegate signed these papers subject to the formal ratification of his Government. The originals of all the documents of the Congress will be placed in the archives of the State Department at Washington, and certified copies will be forwarded to all the Governments comprising the Postal Union. The following is given out as an official rmm6 of the work of the Congress The principal treaty, which Includes the entry of Corea into the Postal Union; the declaration of the Orange Free State (which failed to send a delegate to Washington) that it hoped soon to enter the Union; and the declaration of the Chinese Empire (which was represented in the Congress) that it will observe the regulations of the Union as soon as the organisation of its service permits. The conditions in which the countries of the Union will pay reciprocally the intermediary transit rates have been facilitated, and the tariff diminished quite materially on a graduated scale for the ensuing six years. Uniform colors have been projected foi postage stamps. Postal cards unpaid are subject to a double tax—that is, four cents in the place of the former tax, which was ten cents, the same as for unpaid letters. Circulars produced on a machine (typewritten) in quantities of twenty circulars, all cf the same character, are admitted to the international mails at the same rates as printed circulars. Samples of merchandise are admitted up. to 350 grams. Objects of natural history, animals, dried plants, or preserved geological specimens are admitted as samples. The question of the creation of a universal postage stamp was brought up, and the proposition defeated on account of the difficulties which would occur in putting into practice that important innovation, especially because of the diversity of currency standards. Special arrangements concerning packages of declared value, postal orders, books of identity, and subscriptions to journals have been thoroughly revised.

THE BUTTER AND CHEESE' MARKET; Mr James S. Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture in President M'Kinley’a Cabinet, is a practical farmer and a scholar. Ho has recently made some successful experiments in shipping butter and cheese for the English market, which means a great deal to the vast dairy interests of the middle and semiwestern States. One of the results of the experiments is the placing of an order by a London firm for the entire output of the lowa Agricultural College, which was one of the places from, which these experiments were made. These experiments convey practical suggestions to our producers and manufacturers, who recognise the necessity of finding new and larger markets for our plod nets. V Shortly after assuming control of the Department of Agriculture Mr Wilson learned that the Danes and Hollanders, who supplied the London market with a large proportion of its butter and cheese, imported a great, many American milch cows. It occurred to him that this butter, made from the milk of American cows, might just as well be shipped direct to London from the American creameries instead of the American manu-. factnrers being imitated, by preparing the products for the Home market end Home taste without any reference to the notions and tastes of foreign customers. Mr Wilson set about finding out, with results that were most gratifying, how the Danes and Hollanders prepared their butter and cheese for the London market, and then shipped the American product in packages designed expressly for that trade. If Mr Wilson can teach American dairymen that the acquirement and holding of a foreign market depend more upon intelligent and practical study of what foreigners want than upon Federal legislation, he will have rendered the American farming industry a great service. While doing this Secretary. Wilson promises to regain a market that the United States once controlled but has practically lost. Twenty years ago the United States shipped to the United Kingdom onehalf of its imported cheese. Canada has steadily and surely displaced our cheese, because the Canadian manufacturer found out what was wanted and made a business of supplying it. The loss of this one item of trade is enormous, for the reason that England imports now twice the amount of cheese that she: did in 1876.

The improvement.in butter-making and cheese-making machinery has been so rapid and the increase of creameries so great in

1 the. last few years _that the United States baa a large; and ever-increasing surplus of these products. Last year the surplus of butter placed within the reach of importers amounted to 20,000,0001b. New and larger markets are an imperative necessity to the prosperity of our dairy interests, and it seems as though Mr Secretary Wilson is about to find, them.

THE WAR IN-CUBA is still being waged with relentless barbaric cruelty on: the,-.one hand, and \\ich fortitude aud bravo determination oa the other. That negotiations are pending aud that matters are approaching a oiisis is believed by everybody. The new American Ambassador (Mr Stewart L, Woodford) is getting ready to leave for Madrid, and is posting himself.-There is but one solution that will be satisfactory to • the people of Cuba, and -that is the abandonment of the island by Spain.. Senator Mason says, with a fair rhetorical flourish : “ The burned aud bleeding child of the ocean knocking at the door of the big Republic for years is going to be, given an official smile from Uncle Sam very soon.” Mb Murat Halated,‘the newspaper friend of Cuba, goes more into detail, saying that there is “a project under consideration to pay Spam the sum of .150,000,000J0l in 4 per cent, boqds to -evacuate Cuba, the bonds to be secured by customs revenues collected under the supervision of the United States.” In the main these utterances agree with despatches sent out from Washington; yet they are but rumors. It is much easier to predict what the Uuited States will do, and what she ought to do, than it is to devise the means whereby Spain can be induced/or compelled to abandon her sovereignty, and for the erection of a dtceut, orderly, and iudepen’ent government on the island. The fate of, peacemakers is the sv.bject of a welli’aiown proverb, and the Government of the United States must proceed Cautiously, else they will receive all the blows and none of the tixpences in the end. We can heartily wish Cuba to be free, if that were all there was in it. President M‘Kinley must now Imeet the-dilemma bravely or abandon Cuba to annihilation of her Native population and utter destruction. Ho will not accept tho last alternative.' He must go forward diligently. That he will ultimately find the :>vay out with honor and peace there is no doubt. - THE PRESIDENT ON LABOR UNIONS. . The Anti-pooling Bill,- designed to restrain the operation of pools and trusts and .other largo aggregations of capital versus competition, gave serious concern to Mr Gompers,-who feared that the labor unions might be classed as pools or trusts, and that the penalties of the. Act might be applied to them rather than to the huge corporations against which it was aimed. A recent declaration of President M‘Kinley, made at an interview with Mr Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, voiced the sentiment of every fair-minded person. Mr M'Kinley said: “I regard the organisation of labor as the natural aud legitimate effort to secure its rights.” No oue who has thought upon the subject will dissent from this view of the President of the Uuited Slates. The encouragement of legitimate trade unionism is praiseworthy, because the fundamental idea of the organisations if properly carried out must exalt and dignify labor.

THE COAL MINERS’STRIKE. A few days ago about 150,000 or more coal miners in the States of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Colorado, aiid some other States quitted work for an indefinite length of time. A large majority of these men have families. They are not leaving work to take a holiday—an outing for rest because they have been prospering, and - have accumulated money which they want to spend. They are striking because of their poverty. They are determined to try the experiment ol living on nothing for an undetermined period because they have had so little to live upon for some time past. The miners claim that they ought to have more pay for their work, and believe that a strike will secure it for them. They argue thus: The signs of the times, as pointed out by the Press and by testimony of men versed in public affairs, are that business is reviving, that an upward tendency in prices of all commodities is apparent. In the general business revival and in-' mistrial improvement which are earnestly pro* claimed we ought to share, and if we do not attempt to share we shall be false to ourselves and those dependent upon ns, for remember that it has ever been “that they who would be free must strike the first blow themselves” and that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”

They have learned that it is better to strike on a rising than on a falling market. They left work once in 1894, when the market was falling. After a long struggle and much suffering they were compelled to admit that they bad chosen the wrong time to strike. The conditions now are certainly more favorable for the men than they were years ago. The price of coal is advancing, and the wages of the miners should be advanced with it. But the revival of business has not gone far enough to make a strike justifiable, especially at this season of the year, when there is comparatively no demand for coal. Domestic consumption is &b its lowest point. The supply needed for manufacturing purposes is not great; and is liable to be leas, because the glassworks and the great iron rolling mills are preparing to close down for the heated term. The moat of the mineowners have largo slocks on hand, for which they will get better prices when the stocks begin to be scarce. The strike will be money to the mine-owners if it does not last too long. The miners are not in a condition to'stand a long struggle. Tney have no surplus money either in their pockets or in their union treasuries. They will have to be carried on by the small tradesmen, from whom they procure the necessaries of life, or they may go to work at something else or depend upon charity. So the strike business, like all other questions, has twosides, and to each side the public should give a respectful hearing The coal operators say that under the. present condition of trade they cannot concede the miners’ demands; that while wages have gone down the price of coal has gone down with them. Lika all other branches of business, the coal trade was seriously affected by the financial disturbances which began four years ago, aud some of the losses were shifted on to the miners. This is the rule in all occupations in times of distress. Public sympathy will be,with the miners so long as they refrain from violating the law, notwithstanding their folly in starting a labor contest just at tnis time, when the chances are so overwhelmingly against them. Labor leaders never karn anything. The railroaders’ folly of 1877, the Missouri-Pacific madness of 1866, and the great crime of 1894 go for naught.

CO-OPERATION AND LABOR. * Miss Frances E. Willard has been investigating the tailors’ strike in Now York, and in order to learn their views she,.spont some time among them, going 1 into their homes, visiting their shops, and interviewing their leaders and the more intelligent rank and file. In expressing her opinion of the situation she declares: “ I believe in a common brotherhood, in a common ownership of the great-wealth-producing industries and interests of the country.” This is a sort of sentimentalism on the part of Miss Willard that she believes in Socialism, or at least in co-operation. Probably in connection with this investigation she has been reading a book written by Edward Bellamy, in which that optimist depicted a future commonwealth where all the men and women were angels, and were spending all their time in doing angelic acts of love and kindness for each other. Perhaps she imagines it possible for these tailors, for example, -to dispense with contrao'ors and employers and do all the work involved ‘ in the trade . themselves. Theoretically nothing could be more easy than this, but practically nothing could be more difficult. There is nothing to prevent these tailors or any class of workmen from combining and going into the. manufacturing, business on their own account. They could buy the raw material and work it up into clothing, dispose of the product, and reap all the profits. Assuming that in all these complex transactions everything ran smoothly, it is easy to see that.the,workers could get, perhaps, as much as 950 where they now get 900. By doing everything themselves they would have to divide the money that would have been the net profits of their employers if they were working under the usual contract system, and this sum would mean an addition of about 5c to every 900 previously earned. Bub the trouble with all these cooperative manufacturing enterprises, of which .there have been a thousand or more

during the century, is that they eventually go to pieces. They come to grief owing to the fact that the men bring into the cooperation so many diverse and wavering elements. The men do not have the same feeling, the same capacity for labor, or the same mental ability to devise, plan, and execute. The principal ingredient in the success of any business is that some one man governs, is at the head of it, attends to the buying and selling, and to the hiring and discharging. But in a co-operative concern the affairs are settled practically by a massmeeting process, which sharply defines the differences the men.' They will not agree long as to policy ; they clash over the division of labor, and again over, the division of the profits ; then a split, and a wind up. Msss Willard has been making a personal investigation of the affairs of these striking tailors, and her great, big, %’tn pathetic heart was touched by the sight of their distress and misery. She undoubtedly means well when she indulges in the dream of a successful co-operativo establishment, but it is only a dream. There can be no relief to any real or fancied wrongs of labor in either social or co-operative manufacturing. Great, good, benevolent, public-spirited aud philanthropic men are discussing this complex question.

IS MACHINERY A CURSE ? The adage that the, pulpits-preach what the pews demand seems to be thoroughly verified by the general way our clergy enter upon every issue, moral, civil, social, or economic, that comes before the public miod. A few years ago it was a rare thing to hear a minister deliver a labor sermon or to discuss any of the living practical questions of the day. But now the increasing tide of public interest, superinduced by cheap books, magazines, daily and weekly newspapers in every home, brings the clergy into tlnr stream, so i hat they feel that they must talk on politics, economics, social and ethical questions, enter" the field of literature and review the latest novel, give advice to statesmen, laborers, judges, capitalists, or be considered behind the times and fear being relegated to the ‘shelf as a back number of an old book. Ministers as a rule occupy a social position of great influence, and their moral responsibility is proportionate to their opportunities. They can do a great deal towards creating and leading public opinion in any direction. If they themselves chance to be on the wrong side of any .question discussed, they are liable to do a great deal of harm and to start the wheels of progress downhill. A forcible illustration of this dangerous tendency among clergymen who are not well rounded and well informed upon the subjfete they attempt to discuss—who assume the role of teachers before having performed the duties of students—is furnished by Bishop Potter, of the Anglicau Church of New York, who delivered a discourse recently before a body of organised laborers. The bishop is not ordinarily a careless talker; he is generally recognised as possessing in a largo degree “ common horse sense.” Yet when discussing social questions, in this instance he appears to have lost his balance and acted more like a Kansas Populist than a metropolitan bishop. One of the foolish things he said was that “ tho great causes of tho general ili-feeling and uneasiness among tho laboring classes in the Uuited States to-day may be divided into two classes—machinery and the manner in which the capitalists look .down upon the men who labor for them.” The chief of these two, he said, was machinery, which, he charged, is “doing away with intelligence in labor,” and “ turning the laboring man into a simple idiot,” In making such statements in such presence the good bishop misapprehended the whole trend of economic development, and showed supreme ignorance of matters pertaining to modern industrial life. This feeling, so prevalent among the ignorant, and so liberally used by the demagogue in politics, that the specialisation of labor tends to the degradation of the laborer, is fa se. , It has no foundation in reason or experience, but is controverted by the history of every decade since the factory system began. If there was any truth in that notion it would be a valid impsaohment of the whole trend of social and industrial development. No economic development can be justified which ultimately degrades the individual laborer, because that would lower the quality aud standard of citizenship aud turn back civilisation. Improved economic service can come only through cheapening wealth without cheapening or lowering the manhood of tho individual laborer. If the bishop’s charge ia true, that machinery “ turns tho laborer into an idiot,” then, machinery should be suppressed. Nothing om justify its existence; it is the unqualified enemy of mankind. Nothing’ can prevent the laborers from becoming idiots, if the bishop is right, except the destruction of machinery aud the return to hand-labor methods of production. The facts are, however, that tho economic, social, and individual improvement of the laboring classes ia directly increased with the development and progress of machineusing methods of industry. Before: the factory system began the working men were practically wards, whose wages were fixed by law and magisterial proclamations, eked out occasionally by pauper allowances. They had no voice ia making laws or even the choice of their religion. When the .factory system began they worked sixteen hours a day for 2s. With the increased use of machinery the working hours have been diminished, wages have been increased to three, four, and five times as much for a little over half the number of hours’ work. With this development the laborers can by industry and frugality secure their own homes, aud supply them with all comforts, conveniences, and attraction of modern civilisation. With this development their children are respected and given an equal chance for success in the race of life. They have gradually acquired social and political influence and power through their organisations, which at one time were treated as criminal conspiracies. The huge fallacy behind the whole class of anti-machinery assumption is the mistaken notion that the growth of intelligence and individuality of tho laborers depends upon the diversion of their workshop experience. Nothing can be more erroneous. It is a matter of common observation that the “ Jaok-of-al!-trades ” is neither more respected, does not command more wages, neither ia he more intelligent or the social superior of the specialised working man. Tho reverse is true ; tho specialised workman gets the highest wages, secures the cosiest home, and furnishes the best educational and social advantages to his children. The reason for this is obvious. The forces which increase intelligence, broaden the range of knowledge, and develop individual character and refinement are not of the shop, but of society. It is not contact with leather and hides, and cotton and wool, and wood and nails that develops manhood in a man, but contact with the constantly increasing variety of social and educational influences. It is by contact with his fellows in the interests and activities of social life—in the church, in the society, in the movement for social and. political improvement, and tho enlarged and purified home life—that individuality, intelligence, culture, and refinement are broadened and deepened. The opportunity for all the forces which expand and develop individual character to operate increases directly as the responsibility and drudgery of the workshop is diminished, and that is diminished as labor is specialised and quasiautomatic machinery is introduced. The sermons of tho Rev. Sam Jones have become the “yellow-covered literature” of pulpit utterance in America. r

ELECTRICITY ON RAILROADS. The New York, New Haven, and Hartford Companies recently equipped a portion of their road with a third rail. A test was made with electricity as the motive power a few days ago, and the result is said to have been eminently satisfactory. Railroad experts who witnessed the trial predict that the new system will revolutionise railroading in this country, and that within a few years the ponderous engines of the present may he used only on minor roads. President Clark, of the New Haven, is quoted as saying, after witnessing the experiment: “ Our locomotives may go into the scrap heap as the old stages had to go.” The third rail is laid on wooden blocks between the two ordinary rails. It is continuous, of course, the parts being united with copper wire. The electricity is supplied through this rail, ■ while the two running rails are utilised to return' the current. Instead of a trolly wheel there is a

ca fc-iron shoe running along the flat top of the third rail, and within the shoe are the copper points which pick up the fluid and carry it to the motor which ia in the trucks of the oar. The third rail is, of course, charged heavily with electricity, but it is not fatal unless the person or animal touchwg it touches at the same time one of the running rails thus completing the circuit. The railroads using this system must be securely fenced and the rule against trespassing rigidly enforced, else there will be serious.menace to human life. • i 'electricity in transmission by the third rail is said to be less than bv the overhead trolly system. As compared to steam in point of cost it is said to be 2 to 7 m favor of electricity—that is, it gels a g*ven amount of power out of two tons of coal that requires seven tons under the steam locomotive system now in vogue. In speed it is said to assure from sixty to sevenly-five miles an hour without smoke or cinders and very few of the inconveniences that attend travel by rail at the present .

A SOCIAL FACT. Some 30 000 members of the Young 1 copies Christian Endeavor Society of this country are holding their annual convention in San Francisco this week. The great railways have been taxed to their utmost to convey these young people from everywhere across the continent. This Christian Endeavor Society, as a social factor, represent both an organisation and a movement. The original society have an enrolled membership of more than 3,000,000 in this country alone in 50,747 local organisations. Besides these there are 4,500 similar societies in England, .2,925 ia Australia, 3.390 in Canada, 93 in Madagascar, 52 in Africa, 100 in Mexico. Hew^ Zealand is-not .these the Epworth League of the Methodist Church have a membership of over 2,000,000, and are in annual convention in the City -of Toronto, Dominion of Canada. The Baptist °P^ e ' s Union report a membership of 400,000. All this within sixteen years from the modest origin of the movement in a Congregational church in Portland, Maine, under the leadership of tho Rev. Francis E. Clarke. Five and a-half millions of young people, compactly organised and well officered, under a comprehensive movement of this character, at once educational and practical, must have some possibilities of commanding interest. The boys and girls of the nation are in preparation for coming responsibilities and opportunities affecting others as well as themselves, and are made to feel that they are upon the threshold of active citizenship in the Republic, but loyal subjects in the Kingdom of God. These great conventions are not merely phenomenal for their immense attendance as for tho enthusiasm, the instruction given, the zeal quickened, the faith strengthened, and the inspiration given to more loyal obedience, more activity, and more holy living. Many of tho best-known men aad women and the most eloquent of all denominations will be there to address them. Seeds will be sown in tbonsands of receptive young minds that arc bound to have a supremacy of influence in. the near future upon many of the grave soeial, political, aud religious problems that confront us.

MEMS. The United States Senate passed the Tariff BUI yesterday afternoon by a vote of 34 to 28. The measure will now go to a Conference Committee of the two Houifes of Congress. Contrary to _ general expectation, the Senates Committee are considering the Hawaiian Treaty, and a vote will be taken before the adjournment. The United States Supreme Court has made an example of a newspaper proprietor who persisted in publishing obscene advertisements. Joseph Dunlop, proprietor and editor of the Chicago ‘ Despatch,’ was convicted in the State Court of this offence, but carried an appeal to the Federal Court, where the conviction was upheld. Dunlop was. fined £4OO, and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.

The number of Americans in the Sandwich Islands is only 3,086, or considerably less than than of the other foreigners, who include 2,259 British subjects, 1,432 Germans, 37S Norwegians, 191 Portuguese, and 101 French, besides 24,407 Japanese, 21,616 Chinese, 455 Australasians, aud about 600 people whose nationality is not known. The Natives number 31,019, and the colored half-breeds 8,485. Apart from six or seven hundred Americana, all the foreigners seem adverse to the annexation. Ulysses.