SKETCHES FROM AMERICA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2808, 8 January 1908, Page 77

SKETCHES FROM AMERICA.

By Maorilanda.

(For the Witness.)

Compai atively little is heard about the financial crisis at present, but it is became people have grown accustomed to the situation. It is no longer a novelty to be short of cash, and the shops have learnt to accept cashiers' certificates without a murmur. So far none of the banks have opened for business again. It is said that there has been a decline of 75 per cent, m commercial activity in the cities of the Middle West since the beginning of tli-Q " ftwrrj~," In most sections of the country employees are quietly accepting the whole or part of their wages in cashiers' certificates or cheques. In one instance the men themselves have provided money for pay-roll purposes by handing, on their own initiative, all their savings to their employer, free of interest and until such time as the money situation was relieved. But the coal miners of Illinois 'are not so amenable. Six. thousand of them refused to continue to excavate when it was announced that currency payments would have to cease. It. has been suggested that a "local currency," good until this time of stress shall pass, should be issued without delay; but the legality of siich a scheme is doubted. The extraordinary suddenness of the disaster is what is puzzling ■ many. It is known that on August 1 of the present year there were almost "2,800,000,000,000 dollars in ■ circulation in actual cash in the United States- of America; to-day there is an ever-preserit sense of shortness. Can a group of the millionaire financiers have cornered the currency? some are beginning to ask. The White House secretaries have been woi*king hard in. the . somewhat hopeless endeavour of coping with the deluge of petitions requesting that an extra session of Congress be calkd to dea}' with the acute financial situation, while prominent men from eveTy district are urging caution on President Koosevelt in that section of his message to Congress that deals with money and financial affairs. His usual drastic methods and open speech are not appreciated by financiers and those who realise the somewhat panicky- state At length the telegraphers' strike -is officially ended. For two or three weeks past little inconvenience has. been suffered in this connection, but now the struggle has been entirely given up, and all the operators are hastening back to work after their 13 weeks' of enforced inaction. Even the r telegraph stations in the hotel lobbies are to be reopened. Only about one man in five voted for a continuation of _the battle ; the rest recognised their defeat and the necessity of returning to work as individuals. There is' general chaos among the union officials. Work is still proceeding at an increasing rate at Panama, 1,517,412 cubic yards being cut away in September — 300,000 cubic yards more than was accomplished in the previous month. It has been decided, too, that the canal must be widened. The locks as originally planned are not large enough to, accommodate the gigantic vessels now building. The Dreadnought measures 85ft in the beam. The Lusitania and her sister ship the Mauretania are even larger ; and' even greater vessels are within sight. The original width of the locks was to have been 100 ft. This measurement has now been increased by 10ft. It seems probable that by the time the Panama Canal is a fait accompli it will be only of use in specific cases. The, carrying out~of the Nicaraguan project will then appeal to some rival power.

Sentiment, ever latent in quantity in the bosoms jof the American people, ha 6 gained the day anew. There is an -incredible amount of feeling over the Cox case. Cox' is a young Irish lad who murdered a companion in excitement engendered by a wake. He escaped from Ireland, and* fled to America, where he is now. The British Government has asked for his, extradition, and until the dispute concerning him comes to an end or the newlyinstituted habeas corpus proceedings are successful, he is lodged for safe keeping in the county jail. ' What puzzles the Americans is why such a fuss should be made when '' only one murder was committed." The Irish Nationalists have taken the case up, ard if fire and fight can save him. Cox will certainly not be extradited. Collections are being made for him, and dances and card parties are beng organised solely to raise money for his cause. President Roosevelt himself has been dragged into the matter, a company of delegates travelling a thousand miles to lay the story before him. The " Fall Elections" have begun, together with "The Fa'l Bnrsrain Sales." On one day 12 States held elections ; six elected Governors, and the rest such minor officials es judges, sheriffs, justices, railroad commissioners and treasurers, etc. It is the opening of the battle of 1908, when the question of the' presidency must be settcd. In the present contest Maryland) has been the centre of interest, as for 20 years past it has shifted its politics perpetually, until it has come to be recognised as the most unreliable State in the Union. In this, instance, a. Democratic

Governor has been chosen. Other people to be elected simultaneously in Maryland itself were the controller ot the Treasury, the attorney judge, some associate judges of the Court of Appeals in two circuits, two other circuit judges, and two members of the Supreme Dench. of Baltimore city. A legislature had also to be chosen, which in turn will elect two United States senators. Surely this is " the most wholesale election the world has even known" ! Even fewer negro votes will be- 1 recorded than usuaP if- 'the 1 new'? ballot law passed 'by the Democratic legislature of 1904 acts as its framers expect. No party is designated upon the ballot sheets, and the names of the candidates are arranged . with a special view to the confusing of the illiterate ! In some States the battle with corruption is being made the chief issue, in others the temperance question, while yet' others seem -to care for nothing save the establishment of a three-cent fare. The battle cry of a few is "Down with party bosses !"

President Roosevelt's phrase, "Race suicide," i 6 apparently doomed to ■ perpetual life. Hardly a week passes without its being used in some section of the press or by the various societies and clubs. The latest innovation is the formation of an organisation for the purpose of paying £100 to the mother of every living child born in the circle of' members. 'The official name of this institution is the North American Parents' Benevolent Association, but it is really known as the "Anti-race Suicide Bureau." The entrance fee 'is a guinea, and the year's dues are 2dol (eight shillings). It is reckoned that this enm, put out at A pep cent., trill total A nice little amount by the time the child comes of age. There are already some 5000 members. These are -issessed when a birth occurs among them. Perhaps it is small wonder that such an effort should be made in a land where little hands are co powerful. Quite Recently a small manufacturing town co~nsisting of 300 families began agitating for a post officer Its request was refused, but when President Roosevelt learnt that there had been births in nine-tenths of the families since the place was established, and that 42 babips -had seen the light in that city within the previous week, he personally interested himself in the matter, with the result that a postmaster was appointed and. an office opened in an incredibly short space of time. ] The last days of the Tamestown Exposition are drawing to a close, and its accounts are being cast up, with the .result that it is forseen iha.t the Ices will bo even greater than was. originally expected. The liabilities are three > and a-half times greater than the- assets, and the United States loan is unpaid. An effort is to be made to induce the national Government to take over the loss. The total number of admissions is 1,271,673!; the receipts are under the million. At no time has there been a surplus. November 9, 1907.