SKETCHES FROM AMERICA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2785, 31 July 1907, Page 82

SKETCHES FROM AMERICA.

j By Maorilandx.

j <For the Witneea.) 1 There is a perfect storm in. a teacup at Jamesto-w-ri at present, where the interven-tion-of President Roosevelt is hourly expected. Every warship at the exposition would' ivithdraw- if" the sentiment in naval circles had its way, and as the naval display i 6 the greatest feature of the exhibition the general consternation ai- the^known sta.be of mind can- be'imagined. The^reaorwi is that £ party of American-sailors were . refused admittance' to certain grounds. A petty officer, -ander orders to make a test, then applied for admission. He, too-, was denied entrance, and on asking for J an explanation was told, that his uniform was objected to. If'he s'was determined^ to join trhe gay groups • within "other clothes" should be provided for the occasion. The insult to the uniform has infuriated all, especially so since, curiously enough, soldiers were not discriminated against. The apoSogy will have to be very humble before naval circles will accept it. All America paused to think for a momettt when the sews readied them tlhat Mrs M'Kinley (widow of the assassinated President) was dead 1. ' For thirty years past she has been an invalid', and at the time the President was murdered was in almost hourly danger; yet she has survived ham; By six years! The love the people had borne her husband was laid at her feet. Literally thousands visited the little home in Canton, Ohio, where she lay in state, and President Roosevelt, the vioe-Presi-<ler»-fey tt-s Oa-t>in.e.-k, axi^i many otli-er j>rominent officials assembled there for the funeral. Flags were lowered everywhere, street care stopped rimming in the vicinity, and places of business and amusement closed Sot t!he day. The whole town turned j out to show their respect for the dead woman and to do honour to her husband, for she was buried in the fame grave. So great wae the crowdl tifoait the police had to rope off a pathway for the funeral procession. The famous Haywood trial is still proceeding, or rather preparing to proceed, for though all have been struggling hard for the past three weeks the July is still eight short of the required number, despite the fact that special panels have been called and between two and three hundred men examined. 1 One difficulty i& that Boiee is a small place, and the surnounding district sparsely settled, hence it is impossible that such spectacular scenes as the murder of the Governor, by means of ft bomb, the fierce mining disturbances, and the further outrage of dynamiting the rail- ] way station, whidh resulted in the killing I and wounding of all upon it (most of whom ■ were non-un^om men), could Have been 1 enacted without those in the immediate 1 neighbourhood' acquiring strong opinions j upon the matter Again, President Koose- ( velt's "undesirable citizen." phrase applied I to tihft men noiv 1 001 trial fen* th© murder of I Governor Steuenbei'g hae complicated mat- ; ters, as it i 6 'held- that it may have influenced those summoned as possible jury- ' men Again, they have all read newspapers. 1 and even those not personally concerned I have fixed opinions, while a large proportion) belong to secret societies, which fact ousts them from the eligible list in the eyes of the prosecution. At times the end , seemed in sight, for there have been, as many ac eleven men in the box, but ultimately all except four have either acquired opinions during the delay, dliscovered that they disbelieved in tine death penalty, or would bang anarchists on sighit, and' have ; had' to be challenged or excused. Of 34 men (all examined to date) out of the last special panel of double thait number, only one was accepted. The sheriffs are at their wits' end, seeing that it will be necessary to round up another tv*> or three hundred 1. Idaho jurors receive 12s a day, free board andi lodging, and' permission to go to the circus wlhienever there ie one. Every few days there is a demonstration of some kind, showing the feeling concerning the trial, though for the most part business goes on quietly, and some seem to forget that tie Haywood drama, with all the force of labour in America behind! the men on trial, is going on in their midst. One of these demonstrations" was the dressing of all the children of the district in white and the marching of them in procession, carrying white flowers and banners, as a sign of their sysnpa&hy ■with tie 1 fourteen-year-old daughter of one of the men on trial. Others j are more revolutionary, and; carry red flags. Some sing revolutionary songs and display placards bearing such legends- as "I Am an Undesirable Citizen, but Teddy Roosevelt Wants My Vote," "If Moyer and ' Haywood Die 20,000,000 Working Men Will Know the Reason Why." There is some talk tihat th© whole- affair is a farce, as according to many the suspects have t been taken for judgment to a place supposedly hostile to tnem. When Alexander Dowie died! Voliva as- ■\ sumed bis mantle and the leadership of '» Zion City, despite a cleuse in Dowie's will 5, which appointed! a man named Lewis. Since *' then, there has been perpetual war between the parties, and the culminating point hae now been reached, for Voliva has been ordered' to yield up the tabernable. This is partly an act of revenge. Voliva. tried to draw church funds from. Zion Bank, and when bis cheque was refused threatened: to close the .institution, whereupon the city authorities, of whom the bank manager is .;..» leading spirit, united to oust the overbearing leader. If Voliva is really ejected be intends to told! his services in a tent, and will institute a free system of omni-i-buses to carry his congregation to and from I their homes, as well as a brass band as an ' especial "draw." Truly Voliva has in- {• herited Dowie's figihting qualities ! There are now claims from.. 5000 people, aggregating a million and a-half dollars, against i Zion City. \ The Christian Science Church is also in trouble^ though not from any loss of meai-

bership, for its adherents "are still mcreas- 1 ing. A suit has been filed against the trustees of Mrs Eddy's .property asking for an accounting, and -insisting that she was being unduly influenced. This has now been replied to by Mrs Eddy; who has filed an affidavit saying that the ] choice of trustees was made . on her own initiative, and that she Had given her property into theia* charge because her 40 years' management of business affairs had exhausted her, and "he wishel to be relieved of the burdei-. The suit, which was brought by her "nearest friends," she held to be quite unnecessary. The statement is clearly wordec l and personally signed. It shows iio evidence >f waning will power. Calvin Frye, accused by the jelatives of benefiting himself through close association with Mrs Eddy, has also filed an important sworn statement testifying that in the course of his 25 years' service lie has only saved- £2200. There is a considerable amount of feeling against this man, as he 3ntered Mrs Eddy's employment as a footman, and was ultimately promoted to the position of secretary and close attendant The law courts seem bnsy all ovi'r Ihe States, for while the Jaaywood trial occupies the attention of Idaho and California and Mrs Eddy's case is supreme in New Hampshire, a decision. ha6^ been handed out in Pennsylvania ordering exSenator Addicks, famous for his method of political bribery and his public assertion that he could buy a Legislature again if he wanted 1 it, as he had brought it before, to yield up to the State £178,000 he has illegally acquired, together with 6 per cent, interest on it for the paßt- 10 years. And in State after State the Standard Oil Company is being more and more closely pressed. Yet, again, down in California graft is being strenuously unveiled by means of the San Francisco courts, till all America is gaspin 2 at the audacity of those involved Six_ more mv'ionaires have now Keen indicted for bribery, each on 14 counts. The Mayor (Schmdrtz) has also beenr found guilty in* still another 14 instances, and Abraham Ruef in. 28. This means that the city holds in oonds for those on bail close on four million dollars. The indicted millionaires are furious, and declare that the whoi:* affau- is ti conspiracy on the part of Spreckels, the man wiho is financing the pro-i-ecurion, in order 15-at. by the overthrow of the municipal fathers, he may obtain control of the city. The farcical part of the thing is that the 16 supervisors, all of whom have made a? to the taking of bribes for such services aa keeping up the price of gas, granting monopolies, and permitting prize-fighting, are still in office, presided over by a mayor on trial for extortion. There is some talk that the Mayor, at least should be forced to resign, k\:t there seems no precedent for euch an a<:t, and each man asks his neighbour: "What if he should refuse? Important matters vouH be brought to a standstill !" So the curious position is allowed to continue, and da-v by day, before going to the City HaL, the Mayor wends his way to tha coniroom to listen to the wrangles over the selection of the jurymen, to try him! May 31.