February 8.—John A. McCall, former President of the New York Life Insurance Co., is seriously ill at Lakewood, N. J.
Richard A. McCurdy, former President of the Mutual Life Insurance Co., plans to leave the United States and make his home in Paris.
The New York Life Insurance Company’s “house cleaning” committee reveal that Judge Andrew Hamilton has received $1,347,382 from that company since 1892. This is $283,383 in excess of the total payments disclosed by the Armstrong Committee. The committee recommends legal action against John A. McCall for the recovery of the amount.
Senator La Follette, of Wisconsin, introduces a bill in the Senate making it an offense for any Government officer, official or employee to accept a railroad pass or franking privilege over telegraph lines.
By a vote of 346 to 7 the House of Representatives passes the Hepburn railroad rate regulation bill just as it came from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, and declared by Chairman Hepburn to be exactly in accordance with recommendations of President Roosevelt on the subject.
The House of Representatives passes the General Pension bill for the year ending June 30, 1907. The bill appropriates $140,245,000. Congressman Gardner, of Michigan, declares that when the last pensioner on account of the Civil War has disappeared from the rolls, $12,000,000,000 will have been expended.
February 9.—The Illinois coal operators decide to refuse the demands of the United Mine Workers for an increase in wages.
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passes a resolution directing the attorney general of that state to ascertain whether any railroad companies in Pennsylvania are engaged in the mining of coal, and if so, to proceed against them.
By reducing the rate of railroad fares to two cents a mile, it is estimated that the people of Ohio will be saved $4,000,000 a year, or a sum equal to almost all the taxes paid for the support of the state government.
The Senate Committee takes under consideration the Hepburn railroad rate bill.
The taking of testimony against Senator Reed Smoot, the Mormon, ends. Senator Smoot’s counsel will introduce testimony in his defense.
The House of Representatives passes 429 pension bills. The Judiciary Committee of the House begins an investigation to ascertain whether or not Congress has the power for Federal control of insurance.
Secretary Taft appears before the Senate Committee on the Philippines and says the United States will probably suffer no reduction in tariff income under the Philippine tariff bill passed by the House of Representatives.
Secretary Root proposes to reorganize the State Department and put it on a business basis.
Charles E. Magoon, governor of the Panama Canal Zone, appears before the Senate Committee on Interoceanic Canals. He declares the sanitary conditions good, the Supreme Court of Panama capable and impartial, and advises the coinage of silver money for use on the Isthmus.
The differences between President Dolan, of the United Mine Workers of the Pittsburg district, and the delegates to the convention are taken to the courts.
February 11.—Samuel Glasgow, manager of a milling company of Spokane, Washington, claims to have received Chinese papers from his representative in China, claiming that a recent speech of William J. Bryan to Chinese merchants had been used to stir up renewed antipathy to American goods.
John Mitchell, President of the United Mine Workers, reaches New York City to confer with the mine operators on the new scale of wages demanded by the miners.
President Baer, of the Reading Railroad, states that the Pennsylvania Legislature has not the power to interfere with the vested rights of coal-carrying railroads.
February 12.—The Senate passes the resolution introduced by Senator Tillman which directs the Interstate Commission to investigate the alleged discrimination by railroad companies in the matter of the transportation of coal and other commodities; as to whether the railroad companies own stock in coal companies or in other commodities carried by them; whether any of the railroad officers are interested in such commodities; whether there is any monopolizing combination or trust in which the railroads are interested, and whether any of the railroad companies control the output of coal or fix its price. The Commission also is directed to investigate the system of car distribution, and whether there is discrimination against shippers either in the matter of the distribution of cars or otherwise.
Senator Lodge, of Massachusetts, makes a speech in the Senate favoring a revision by the courts of all rates made by the Commission. This would practically kill the effectiveness of the Hepburn bill.
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives adopt a resolution that the Attorney General be instructed to inquire into the allegations that the Pennsylvania Railroad, the New York Central and the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg Railroad companies, and their leased lines, are directly or indirectly engaged in the mining of bituminous coal, and if it be found that they are engaged in this business that he proceed against them.
Leaders of the United Mine Workers reach New York to hold a conference with their President, John Mitchell.
February 13.—F. Augustus Heinze, defeated in the courts, sells his Montana copper mines to the trust, ending the great Montana copper war.
John Mitchell and the wage-scale committee of the Mine Workers are working on the schedule of demands which will be presented to the mine operators.
The committee to which Thomas W. Lawson has turned over all his proxies of the Mutual and New York Life Insurance Companies agree to employ counsel to aid them in their efforts to oust the new managements of the two companies. Five members of Lawson’s committee are governors of various states.
Attorney General Hadley, of Missouri, who is conducting the State’s case against the Standard Oil Co., goes to Iowa and gets testimony from former officers of the Standard’s subsidiary companies. He states that he has made out his case against the Standard.
George W. Beavers, of New York, former Chief of the Division of Salaries and Allowances of the Post Office Department, pleads guilty to a charge of conspiracy, and is sentenced to two years imprisonment. Machen and others have already been convicted and are serving sentences.
The Bituminous Coal Trade League, of Pennsylvania, sends Congressman Gillespie, of Texas, a petition stating that Senators Elkins, of West Virginia, and Gorman, of Maryland have caused violations of the anti-trust laws. Former Senator H. G. Davis, of West Virginia, father-in-law to Senator Elkins, cousin to Gorman, and Vice Presidential nominee of the Democratic party in 1904, is also accused of being a party to these violations.
February 14.—The “housecleaning” committee of the New York Life Insurance Co. submits a report to the trustees of the company, showing that $148,702.50 has been illegally contributed to campaign funds in the last three elections. The committee recommends that suits for the recovery of the same be brought against John A. McCall and all other officers who had anything to do with making the contributions.
John G. Brady, Governor of Alaska, resigns.
The House of Representatives passes the appropriation bill for fortifications. The total amount appropriated is $4,383,993, $600,000 of this to be spent in fortifying the Philippines and Hawaii.
The Senate passes the ship subsidy bill. If the bill becomes a law it is estimated that $26,000,000, will be taken from the United States Treasury and paid out in bounties to vessel owners during the next ten years.
The resolution of Representative Sulzer, of New York, calling for an inquiry regarding the sale of the old New York Custom House to the National City Bank, of New York, passes the House by a unanimous vote.
February 15.—John Mitchell presents the demands of the miners to the mine owners. Committees are appointed to represent both sides.
Congressman Longworth procures a license to marry Miss Alice Roosevelt. The President attends Mr. Longworth’s bachelor dinner.
James W. Alexander is again stricken with paralysis and is in a sanitarium at Deerfield, Mass.
Officers of the beef packers again testify that Commissioner Garfield promised that no evidence they gave would be used against them. The testimony brought out these facts: First, Commissioner Garfield apparently took the word of Armour & Co.’s general superintendent that the Armour Car Company, which has been declared the tap root of the Beef Trust, was not owned by Armour & Co., and had nothing to do with the fresh meat industry, and made no further attempt to get information concerning the private car line monopoly. Second, Swift & Co. gave information reluctantly to the Commissioner of Corporations, and only after consulting counsel. At this conference attorneys for the other packers in the trust were present. The secretary of Swift & Co. contributed the information that he sought this advice of counsel because he “wanted it.”
February 16.—James W. Alexander, former President of the Equitable Life Insurance Co., is operated on. The physicians refuse to tell the nature of the operation, but give hopes of Alexander’s recovery.
Reports from Memphis, Tenn., state that more than fifty per cent of the Southern peach crop has been killed and the other fifty per cent is commercially worthless.
State Senator James Minton, of New Jersey, invites Thomas W. Lawson, Ida Tarbell and Attorney-General Hadley, of Missouri, to attend a public hearing on his resolution calling on Attorney-General McCarter, of New Jersey, to bring proceedings to annul the charter of the Standard Oil Company.
Stuyvesant Fish, a member of the “housecleaning” committee of the Mutual Life Insurance Co., resigns because Standard Oil interests obstruct a thorough investigation of the company’s affairs.
On account of the illness of Senator Tillman, the Senate postpones the vote on the railroad rate bill until February 23.
February 17.—Miss Alice Roosevelt, the daughter of the President, is married, in the White House, to Congressman Nicholas Longworth, of Cincinnati.
Justice Rufus W. Peckham, of the United States Supreme Court, advises the “housecleaning” committee of the Mutual Life Insurance Co. to bring action against Richard A. McCurdy, ex-president of the company, before he leaves this country.
Fire destroys $1,000,000 worth of wheat at Duluth, Minnesota.
President Peabody, of the Mutual Life Insurance Co., refuses to give his consent for an investigation of the company’s board of trustees by the “housecleaning” committee.
February 18.—John A. McCall, late president of the New York Life Insurance Co., dies at Lakewood, N. J. His death was hastened by the recent insurance scandals. The New York World sums up the result of the insurance investigation as follows:
John A. McCall, dead, fortune shattered; J. W. Alexander, mental and physical wreck; James H. Hyde, self-expatriated in Paris; Robert A. McCurdy, preparing to follow Hyde; Robert H. McCurdy, preparing to follow his father; Judge Andy Hamilton, on the Riviera; Thomas D. Jordan, in seclusion; Andrew Fields, in seclusion; Louis Thebaud, going to Paris; W. H. McIntyre, in seclusion; George W. Perkins, reputation smirched; Chauncey M. Depew, damaged in reputation.
John B. Stetson, the millionaire hat manufacturer of Philadelphia, dies at Gillen, Florida.
John Mitchell and his associates, representing the anthracite miners, complete their demands to the coal operators. They will be presented in a day or two.
President Roosevelt prepares to have the frauds in connection with the Indian affairs in Indian Territory investigated.
February 19.—Eight suits are begun by the Mutual Life Insurance Co. against the McCurdys, Louis A. Thebaud, son-in-law of Richard A. McCurdy, and C. H. Raymond & Co., for restitution of moneys of the company illegally spent. This includes campaign contributions, illegal salaries, rebates and illegal commissions.
President Roosevelt recommends to Congress a lock canal of eighty-five foot level across the Isthmus of Panama. The lock canal was also favored by the Canal Commission and Secretary Taft. A majority of the Board of Consulting Engineers favored a sea level canal.
The United States Supreme Court decides that it is illegal for railroads to sell commodities which they transport as common carriers. The decision of the Court bears directly on railroads that own or operate coal mines.
Congressman E. Spencer Blackburn, of North Carolina, is accused of accepting a fee for using his influence to obtain action by an executive department. The offense is similar to the one committed by Senator Burton.
The trial of the beef packers continues at Chicago. E. Dana Durand, chief assistant to Commissioner Garfield, testifies that the Department of Commerce turned over certain data obtained from the packers to the Department of Justice.
Sixteen miners are killed by an explosion at Maitland, Colorado.
A sub-committee of the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce takes action on the Tillman, Gillespie and Campbell resolution to authorize the Interstate Commerce Committee to investigate the connection between railroads and coal and oil companies. All three of the resolutions will be embodied in one and sent back to the House for passage.
The Interstate Commerce Commission orders an investigation of the rates and practices of the railroad carriers engaged in transporting oil from Kansas and Indian Territory to interstate destinations.
Representative Campbell introduces a joint resolution to authorize the Interstate Commerce Commission to immediately investigate and report to Congress from time to time whether any interstate commerce carriers own or control any oil or other products which they ship as common carriers; whether the officers of such carriers charged with the distribution of cars and furnishing facilities for transportation are directly or indirectly owners of companies interested in oil products; whether a combination in restraint of trade exists between the carriers and the shippers of oil products, and whether the officers of oil companies are officers, agents or members of the directory of any common carrier.
Congressman Mann, of Illinois, introduces a bill to make insurance business interstate commerce.
Senator Tillman introduces a bill in the Senate to prohibit corporations from making money contributions in connection with political elections.
February 20.—The McCurdys prepare to fight the suits brought against them by the Mutual Life Insurance Co. for the restitution of money illegally taken from the company. The McCurdys and Raymond & Co. also charge that other officials and trustees of the Mutual received rebates on their own policies.
Opinions of prominent lawyers show that the Supreme Court’s decision against railroads owning commodities which they haul as common carriers will prevent railroads from operating if not from owning coal mines. Most of the big coal mines in the country are either owned, controlled or operated by the railroads.
Commissioner of Corporations James R. Garfield testifies in the case of the Government against the beef packers now being tried at Chicago. He denies that he promised the packers immunity from prosecution or that all information given him would be regarded as confidential.
Pittsburg, Pa., follows the example of other cities and throws off the yoke of boss rule. George W. Guthrie, a Democrat supported by the independent factions, defeats Alexander M. Jenkinson, the Republican candidate of the Frick-Mellon-Cassatt combination.
The House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce recommends a favorable report to the House on the bill for an investigation by the Interstate Commerce Commission of the relations between railroads and coal and oil companies. This is the resolution introduced in the Senate by Senator Tillman, with a few modifications of the Gillespie and Campbell resolutions substituted.
February 21.—President Roosevelt announces that he will not try to influence the Senate Committee’s action on the Hepburn railroad rate bill, but intimates that he will veto any bill that does not meet his approval.
John Mitchell declares there will be a coal strike in the bituminous coal fields.
The Senate passes a pure food bill by a vote of 63 to 4. The bill makes it a crime to ship from one state to another any article of food, drugs, medicines or liquors which is adulterated or misbranded, or which contains any poisonous or deleterious substances.
General Grosvenor, of Ohio, is defeated for re-nomination to Congress. Gen. Grosvenor has been in Congress twenty years.
The House of Representatives takes up the army appropriation bill. Chairman Hull, of Iowa, urges the need of preparing for an emergency, as there is fear of trouble with China.
John A. McCall is buried in New York City. McCall left no money and the suits for recovery of money illegally paid Hamilton will be dropped.
Because of his stand for an honest investigation of the Mutual Life Insurance Co., the trustees who fear exposure plan to oust Stuyvesant Fish from the presidency of the Illinois Central Railroad.
February 22.—John Mitchell, president of the United Mine Workers, has another conference with several mine operators on a new scale of wages to be paid after April 1.
Mrs. Minor Morris, who was forcibly ejected from the White House some time ago, issues a statement in which she denounces the President for her treatment.
Senator Knox, of Pennsylvania, introduces a railroad rate regulation bill giving the courts the right to review any order or action of the Interstate Commerce Commission. It is the intention of the railroad senators to add the court review clause of the Knox bill to the Hepburn bill.
In the report to the New York Legislature the Armstrong, or Insurance Investigating, Committee, makes the following recommendations.
Not only should stock corporations be permitted to give policy-holders the right to vote, but an opportunity should be afforded for conversion into purely mutual companies.
The law as to investments in securities should be amended so as to provide: That no investment in the stock of any corporation shall be permitted, except in public stocks of municipal corporations.
The statute should forbid all syndical participations, transactions for purchase and sale on joint account, and the making of any agreement providing that the company shall withhold from sale for any time or subject to the discretion of others any securities which it may own or acquire.
No officer or director should be pecuniarily interested in any purchase, sale or loan made by the corporation.
Contributions by insurance corporations for political purposes should be strictly forbidden.... Any officer, director or agent, making, authorizing or consenting to any such contribution should be guilty of a misdemeanor.
The company should be compelled to set forth in its annual statement to the Superintendent of Insurance all sums so disbursed (for lobbying), giving the names of the payees, the amounts paid and the specific purpose of the payment.
Limit the amount of new business; prohibit bonuses, prizes and awards; limit renewal commissions to four years and to, say, 10 per cent. of the first year’s premiums; prohibit loans and advances to agents; limit total expenses to the total “loadings” upon the premiums.
The companies should be required annually to file with the Superintendent of Insurance a gain and loss exhibit for the year in a prescribed form, showing the amount available for distribution, the amount of dividends declared and the method of calculation by which they have been determined.
Section 56 should be repealed and the matter should be left subject to the general provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure relating to actions against corporations.
In addition to requiring approval of the Superintendent of other than certain standard forms, provision should be made for the standardization of the new types of policies.... The issue of other policies than those thus provided for should be prohibited.
The committee recommends publicity of names and addresses of policy-holders and the giving them the right to verify statements and prosecute for falsity. The committee recommends requiring statements in elaborate detail covering all transactions, and favors giving the Superintendent of Insurance power to examine under oath.
February 23.—Stuyvesant Fish resigns as a trustee from the Mutual Life Insurance Co. and will head a committee of policy-holders to fight the present management.
Insurance men plan to fight the new laws recommended by the Armstrong Committee before the New York Legislature, and, if unsuccessful there, to carry the matter before the courts.
The Hepburn railroad rate regulation bill is reported by the Senate committee without any amendments. Through trickery of Senator Aldrich, the bill will be presented to the Senate by Senator Tillman as a Democratic measure.
The House of Representatives passes a resolution ordering an investigation of the relations between coal and oil carrying railroads and coal and oil companies.
Commissioner Garfield again testifies in the trial of the beef packers at Chicago. He admits that the Department of Commerce and Labor furnished the Department of Justice with evidence.
Johann Hoch, the noted bigamist, is hanged at Chicago.
February 24.—The House Committee on Immigration unanimously agrees on a bill to amend the immigration laws. The new bill will make naturalization uniform throughout the United States, and confines the issuance of citizenship papers to United States Circuit and District Courts, and to the highest court of original jurisdiction of each state. The bill further provides that an alien must be able to read, write and speak English before he can become a citizen.
Since Senator Aldrich’s trick of having Senator Tillman, of South Carolina, report the Hepburn railroad rate bill, which makes it a Democratic measure, Washington despatches state that the long standing feud between the President and Senator Tillman will end.
February 25.—C. Augustus Seton, who is under arrest in New York City, confesses to forging $4,300,000 worth of Norfolk and Western Railroad stock certificates.
Coal mine operators give out statements saying there will be a strike, as they will refuse to grant the miners’ requests. T. L. Lewis, vice-president of the United Mine Workers, declares there will be no strike and that the operators will grant the requests of the miners.
Harry Orchard, who assassinated the late Governor Steunenberg, of Idaho, confesses to taking part in 26 murders.
Ex-Speaker David B. Henderson dies at Dubuque, Iowa. Mr. Henderson served two terms as speaker, succeeding the late Thomas B. Reed. He was elected in 1883 and served continuously until the end of the Fifty-seventh Congress.
February 26.—The Missouri Supreme Court hands down a decision which it is believed will influence the Supreme Court of New York to order H. H. Rogers to answer the questions asked him in the Standard Oil investigation. At the time Attorney-General Hadley, of Missouri, was taking depositions in the case in New York City, Rogers was put on the witness stand. He refused to answer certain questions and expressed his contempt for Missouri Courts. Mr. Hadley went before Justice Gildersleeve, of the New York Supreme Court, and asked for an order forcing Rogers to answer or be held in contempt of court. The order was refused on the grounds that the questions involved had never been passed upon by the Missouri courts. Now comes the Missouri court with a strong decision which covers every point at issue.
President Roosevelt intervenes to prevent the threatened coal strike.
In accordance with a decision handed down by the Supreme Court of Texas, the Pacific, the United States, the American and Wells-Fargo Express Companies, and fifty of the principal railroads of the state, will have to pay $5,225,000 in penalties for violating the anti-trust law. The court holds that when a railroad company enters into an agreement with an express company which excludes other companies from doing a business on its lines, it restrains trade and stifles competition, which is prohibited by the anti-trust law.
The supposed shrewd trick of Senator Aldrich in having Senator Tillman report the Hepburn railroad rate bill now has the Republican Senators embarrassed. The Senate seems to be in favor of the bill and the Republicans dare not let it pass as a Democratic measure. Realizing that something must be done, they appeal to Senator Spooner to draft a rate bill that will suit all factions of the Republicans and be put through the Senate as a party measure.
William Nelson Cromwell, the New York lawyer who unloaded the Panama Canal property on the United States, and who has since acted as counsel to the President and Secretary Taft on Panama matters, appears before the Senate committee. He denies that he was the cause of ex-Chief Engineer Wallace’s resigning. When questioned as to his dealings with Secretary Taft he refused to answer.
February 27.—Steel Trust officials and George Gould order the bituminous coal mine operators to make peace with the miners and prevent a strike.
The Insurance Commissioners of Kentucky, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Tennessee and Nebraska ask the New York Insurance Department to co-operate with them in making an investigation of the Mutual Life Insurance Co.
William Nelson Cromwell again appears before the Senate Committee on Interoceanic Canals. He continues to refuse to answer questions as to his dealings with Secretary Taft and the amount of his fees. Senator Morgan, of Alabama, produced a copy of Cromwell’s contract with the French company, or Panama Canal Co., which gave Cromwell the power to organize companies, issue stock, bonds, etc., and finance any and all sorts of organizations to further the idea of selling the canal to the United States.
February 28.—It is reported from Pittsburg that the United States Steel Corporation, through President W. Ellis Corey, has demanded of the Pittsburg Coal Company, with which it has a twenty-five-year contract for coal, the minimum for each year being set at 8,000,000 tons, that there be no strike in the Pittsburg district. At the same time the Gould interests, so heavy in the West and Southwest, have ordered peace. As a result there will be no strike of the bituminous miners, who will receive a satisfactory advance.
It is reported from Springfield, Ohio, that local militia, called out to check a race riot caused by the shooting of M. M. Davis, a brakeman, by a negro, has been unable to stop the riot. An appeal has been made to the Governor to send more troops. Early this morning houses were burning in the negro quarter, and the authorities are powerless.
Yesterday the President signed the Urgent Deficiency Bill, which contains an appropriation of $118,000 for New York State to pay its claim for money to equip Government troops during the War of 1812.
Five hundred delegates of the Independence League, guests of William R. Hearst, appeared yesterday at Albany to plead before the Governor and the Legislature for the passage of measures in which the league is interested.
The Commissioners of Insurance in the states of Kentucky, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Tennessee and Nebraska have requested the Insurance Department of New York State to co-operate with them in an investigation of the Mutual Life Insurance Company.
It is reported from Little Rock, Ark., that Thomas E. Jordan, former Controller of the Equitable Life Insurance Company, and who could not be located during the Armstrong Investigation, is stopping with his wife at Hot Springs, Ark.
The debate in the Senate on the railroad rate question opens today with a speech by Senator Foraker, of Ohio.
Yesterday, before the Senate Committee on Interoceanic Canals, Senator Morgan, of Alabama, in his examination of William Nelson Cromwell, produced an agreement between the Panama Canal Commission and William Nelson Cromwell, showing that for a large compensation the Panama Canal Company contracted to pay William Nelson Cromwell a large compensation to Americanize the Panama project. Mr. Cromwell said the enterprise proposed in the document was abortive and died long ago. Senator Morgan tried to learn from Mr. Cromwell how much he had received in fees from the old or new Panama Company and by persistent questioning deduced the fact that the total payments to Mr. Cromwell did not exceed $200,000, extending over a term of years, and giving to him from $10,000 to $15,000 a year. Mr. Cromwell declined to say what service he had performed for these sums, admitting only that his clients were satisfied. The inquiry will be continued.
At a dinner yesterday at Washington the Republican members of Congress from New York proposed as the next nominee of the Republican Party for Governor of New York State, Charles E. Hughes, the inquisitor of the Armstrong Investigation Committee. The platform indicated was based on general reform and municipal ownership.
The Inter-State Commerce Commission at Washington yesterday announced its decision in the cases of the Fred G. Clark Company against the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company and the Waverley Oil Works against the Pennsylvania Company and others. In these cases the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company was the principal defendant. The commission holds that the combination rates on petroleum and its product from Cleveland and Pittsburg to points reached by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad result in unreasonable and unjust rates, and that the refusal of the railroad company to consent to participate in through rates is unjust and the situation is such as to favor greatly the Standard Oil. In its final conclusion the commission holds that the act to regulate commerce does not authorize it to compel the establishment of joint rates or the conditions of interchange in case the connecting carriers fail to agree in respect thereto; and it therefore concludes that notwithstanding that the combination rates are unjust and the general shipping situation is such as to work a practical monopoly in favor of the Standard Oil Company, the Commission is without authority to grant relief in these cases and the petitions are therefore dismissed.
Yesterday at Washington the House Committee of Agriculture decided by a vote of 8 to 7 not to recommend any appropriation to buy seeds for free distribution by the Department of Agriculture.
Special counsel for the State of Missouri will make application before the New York courts to compel Henry H. Rogers to answer questions in the inquiry the State of Missouri has been making into Standard Oil methods.
In the United States Circuit Court at Chicago yesterday, Judge Landis gave a decision that the Interstate Commerce Committee has the power to compel witnesses to answer questions in the hearing of Street’s Western Stable Car Line before the commission.
At Oklahoma City, Okla., yesterday, the assistant attorney-general began to take testimony in the ouster case against the Standard and other oil companies. A wholesale oil dealer testified that he had been instructed to get samples of oil shipped if he had to steal them; and also that there had never been any competition between the Standard Oil and the Waters-Pierce Company in Oklahoma.
At Albany yesterday, Senator Saxe’s bill to impose a tax on personal property wherever found, a measure designed to wipe out tax dodging by rich New Yorkers who establish their legal residence elsewhere, was passed in the Senate and goes to the Governor.
At Aiken, S. C., yesterday, Professor S. P. Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, died of paralysis.
March 1.—Senator Foraker in the Senate yesterday made a speech, lasting three hours, in which he attacked the Hepburn railroad rate bill.
For several hours last evening the city of Springfield, Ohio, was in the hands of a mob which burned two houses and partly destroyed a dozen others. All of these houses were inhabited by negroes. Hundreds of negroes have fled from the city.
The annual report of the Pennsylvania Railroad shows a net income for the year 1905 of more than $38,000,000, an increase of about $10,000,000 as compared with 1904. The operating expenses were reduced and traffic increased.
At the annual meeting of the Equitable Life Assurance Society yesterday the directors were informed that counsel of the society were definitely engaged in working out a plan of mutualization.
Richard A. McCurdy, former president of the Mutual Life Insurance Company sails for Europe today for an indefinite stay abroad.
William Nelson Cromwell reappeared yesterday before the Senate Committee of Interoceanic Canals and admitted that he drew the monetary agreement entered into between the Republic of Panama and Secretary of War Taft. This agreement caused criticism in the Senate recently because in fact it was a treaty made without consulting that body.
At Washington the Foreign Relations Committee finished its work on the Santo Domingo treaty and reported it to the Senate. The Republicans voted solidly for the report and the Democrats against it.
The Independence League of New York State has decided to perfect an organization in every assembly district in the State of New York. In William R. Hearst’s address at Albany he said: “The fundamental idea of the Independence League is independence of boss control, of corporate control and of any party subject to boss rule and corporation control.”
Yesterday the Senate in executive session ratified the treaty between the United States and Japan relating to copyrights of works of literature and art.
March 2.—It is reported from Washington that the President has been conferring with Senators, Representatives, members of the Interstate Commerce Commission and members of his Cabinet on the question of the Hepburn railroad rate bill, and he is willing to accept three or four amendments of the bill if they will strengthen it for trial before the courts.
At Springfield, Ohio, the state militia charged the mob and dispersed it. The members of the Commercial Club of that city met to take action for the enforcement of the law, and said in speeches that the present conditions were due to politicians catering to negroes and low whites, and lax police and court methods.
John F. Wallace, formerly chief engineer of the Panama Canal Commission, becomes an employee of the George Westinghouse Company at a salary of $50,000 per year. Mr. Wallace is to assist in building electric railways paralleling steam railways in many parts of the country.
It is reported from Washington that our Government takes a very serious and gloomy view of the situation at Algeciras, and would not be surprised to see the Moroccan conference end in a rupture.
The existence of a Mutual Life policy-holders’ movement of world-wide scope, at the head of which will undoubtedly be Stuyvesant Fish, became known yesterday through the exchange of telegrams between Lord Northcliffe, formerly Sir Alfred Harmsworth, and Mr. Fish. Lord Northcliffe is chairman of the British protection committee of the Mutual Life policy holders.
March 3.—John R. Walsh, president of the Chicago National Bank, which failed December 18, 1905, was arrested yesterday on a Federal warrant charging him with violation of the national banking laws in making false reports to the Controller of Currency and with conversion to his own use of bank funds amounting to $3,000,000. He was released after giving a bond of $50,000.
At Meridian, Miss., a tornado swept through the business centre of the town, destroying $5,000,000 of property and about thirteen lives.
Springfield, Ohio, is quiet after two nights of rioting and incendiary fires. The state militia is still on duty.
At Chicago, executives of all the Eastern railways in session failed to settle the differential rate controversy. On account of the attitude of the Erie Railroad it seems impossible to avert a rate war. Every line except the Erie voted for the arbitration of the question.
The Senate Committee of the Philippines voted to smother the Philippine tariff bill yesterday. It is said that efforts will be made to have the measure reconsidered or called before the Senate.
Commissioner of Public Works, J. M. Patterson, of Chicago, yesterday gave his resignation to Mayor Dunne. Mr. Patterson says he has become a convert to Socialism.
March 4.—A delegation representing practically all life insurance companies doing business in the United States will go to Albany on March 9, the day set for the hearing of the bills that the insurance investigation has presented, to state the case of the companies before the Legislature.
Ex-Governor James Stephen Hogg died yesterday at Houston, Tex. at the age of 55.
March 5.—It is reported that on the evening before his death the late Ex-Governor Hogg said: “I want no monument of stone, but let my children plant at the head of my grave a pecan tree, and at the foot a walnut tree, and when these trees shall bear, let the pecans and walnuts be given out among the plain people of Texas that they may plant them and make Texas a land of trees.”
At St. Augustine, Fla., yesterday, Lieutenant-General John M. Schofield, retired, died of cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 75.
March 6.—In the House of Representatives at Washington, John Sharp Williams attacked the President and the Attorney-General and introduced a resolution, which was passed by the House, inquiring whether the Department of Justice had instituted criminal prosecutions against any of the individuals or corporations adjudged by the Supreme Court of the United States in the Northern Securities case to have violated the anti-trust laws.
The Enterprise Transportation Company, carrying freight between New York and Fall River, Mass., appeared before the Interstate Commerce Commission in New York City, complaining that the trunk lines out of New York refused to make through freight rate arrangements with the Enterprise Transportation Company. Lawyers representing nearly all the big railroads were present.
March 7.—Andrew Hamilton, who was legislative agent for the New York Life Insurance Company at Albany, returned yesterday to New York. On the steamship he was registered as “H. A. Milton.”
The suit of the State of Kansas against the Standard Oil Company was dismissed by the Supreme Court of Kansas on March 5th. This ends, so far as present litigation is concerned, the movement begun a year ago by Kansas against the Standard Oil Company and re-establishes that corporation in the position it held previous to the effort made to exclude it from the state.
Yesterday District-Attorney Jerome of New York City appeared before the grand jury and asked that indictments be found against the despoilers of the life insurance companies.
In the 20th annual report of the Boston Chamber of Commerce, published yesterday, it is pointed out that Boston has become re-established as the second port of the country.
March 8.—W. H. Moore, Municipal Ownership candidate for Mayor of Seattle, was elected on a platform pledged to municipal ownership of public utilities.
All over the Dominion of Canada the banks are collecting American silver money and shipping it to Montreal, whence it is shipped to Washington and changed for gold. The removal of American silver from Canada will be a good thing for the banks and profitable for the government. The banks will be paid of ⅜ of one per cent for collecting it and the government will bear all transportation charges. It is estimated that the government will clear at least one-half of a million dollars.
It is reported that Andrew Hamilton, the legislative agent for the New York Life Insurance Company, who has just returned from Paris, consulted with District-Attorney Jerome before his return to find out just what his chances were with the law.
It has been learned that the National City Bank and the Hanover Bank were the only two New York Banks who received yesterday their allotment of a special deposit of $10,000,000 of government funds which Secretary Shaw last week announced. The news has caused much talk and criticism in banking circles.
In a special message to the Senate and the House the President said that the action of both houses in passing the resolution directing the Interstate Commerce Commission to investigate the subject of railroad rate discriminations and monopolies in coal and oil was hasty, ill-considered and ineffective.
February 9.—Mutiny is said to continue in the Russian Black Sea fleet. Admiral Chouknin is wounded by a woman at Sevastopol. Siberian plague has broken out among the Russian troops in Manchuria.
Professor Cattier, a prominent Belgian, publishes a book stating that King Leopold has received $15,000,000 graft from the rubber trade of the Congo Free State.
Passengers from Venezuela say President Castro is actively preparing for war with France. The people do not agree with the President’s views and a revolution may follow.
The negro inhabitants of the Transvaal and Orange River Colonies, South Africa, are demanding of England all the political rights enjoyed by the whites.
The Colonial Minister of France presents to the Council of Ministers, a plan for the political, administrative and economic reorganization of the French Congo.
Because of recent disorders, King Charles dissolves the Portuguese Parliament.
Fifty-five miners are drowned in a gold mine at Johannesburg, Transvaal.
The foreign representatives unite in demanding that the Shah investigate conditions in the Province of Shiraz, Southern Persia. Reports from other parts of Persia also show strong feeling against the Shah.
February 10.—A bomb kills four gendarmes at Warsaw. Assaults on police continue throughout Russian Poland.
The English garrison at Tibet is reported surrounded by hostile tribes.
The Irish members of Parliament again elect John Redmond chairman of the Irish Parliamentary party.
An armed expedition is sent against the religious fanatics of Natal.
February 12.—The general opinion at Algeciras is that France and Germany will reach an agreement on the Moroccan question.
General fear of another uprising and massacre in China is expressed by despatches from different parts of that country.
A proclamation is issued by the Governor-General at Odessa declaring the Russian Government will put to death any one found with deadly implements.
Ex-Premier Balfour, of England, declares his policy to be one to build up British industries by maintaining a larger foreign market for manufacturers.
The Imperial Protestant Federation sends a petition to King Edward, of England, asking him to refuse consent to the marriage of Princess Ena to King Alfonso of Spain.
The new railroad over the Andes Mountains between Santiago, Chili, and Buenos Ayres, Argentine Republic, begins operations.
February 13.—Another revolution is started in Santo Domingo.
St. Petersburg police save one of the Government banks from a mob of revolutionists. Another armed revolt is frustrated at Kharkoff, Russia. Many political prisoners are being sent to Siberia.
Reforms are being agitated in Persia which may result in that country’s being given a constitution.
Despatches from Algeciras state that the United States will finally settle the dispute between France and Germany over the Moroccan question.
Venezuela offers to arbitrate her differences with France.
The British Parliament meets preliminary to the formal opening on Feb. 19.
February 14.—Balfour and Chamberlain agree on a protective policy for England. This will have no effect at this time, as a new Parliament overwhelmingly in favor of free trade has just been elected.
Despatches from Algeciras indicate that the American delegates to the Moroccan conference are gradually bringing France and Germany to a settlement of their dispute.
The secret has leaked out that America, England and Japan have had a secret agreement concerning China since the close of the Russo-Japanese war.
A monument at El Caney in honor of the Americans who lost their lives during the siege of Santiago is unveiled.
February 15.—Fearing an outbreak in China, two of Admiral Sigsbee’s cruisers are sent to reinforce the American Far Eastern fleet.
St. Petersburg reports show that the Russian Terrorists hire boys to throw bombs.
The situation at Algeciras is unchanged.
February 17.—The Czar of Russia prevents a disruption of his Cabinet by bringing about peace between Premier Witte and Interior Minister Durnovo. General Linevitch turns over his command of the Russian troops in the far East to Gen. Grodekoff. St. Petersburg police arrest a band of Terrorists and discover enough poisons to kill half the population of St. Petersburg.
It is discovered that China has placed orders with German manufacturers for 1,000,000 small arms and 100 cannon.
Venezuela completes all preparations for war. The Venezuelan Government appoints Guzman Garbiras to succeed M. Veloz-Goiticoa as Minister to the United States.
February 18.—Clement Armand Fallières, recently elected President of the French Republic, assumes his duties.
The Russian Government orders the Governor General of East Siberia to prevent Capt. Einar Mikkelson from hoisting the American flag on any island which he may discover in the Arctic Ocean north of East Siberia and between Wrangel Land and the Parry Islands.
The body of the late King Christian IX of Denmark is entombed in Roskelde’s cathedral, Copenhagen.
A despatch from Shanghai, China, states that nothing is known there of conditions requiring the sending of United States troops to that Country. The Methodist Foreign Missionary Society receives reports from its head missionaries at different Chinese cities stating that there is no danger of disturbances. The Southern Baptist Missionary Board, through its secretary, cables its missionaries to take refuge in the nearest seaports, where they can be under the protection of foreign consulates.
The King of Hungary prepares to dissolve the Diet when it assembles today.
February 19.—The Hungarian Diet is dissolved by armed troops and police.
Another anti-Jewish riot occurs at Vietka, Russia. Most of the city is burned, but no deaths are reported.
The “General Memorandum” issued by Admiral Nelson to his captains at Trafalgar is found at Merton.
The mutineers of the Russian battleships Kniaz Potemkin, who were sentenced to death, have had their sentences commuted to imprisonment.
King Edward opens the newly elected English Parliament. In his speech the King expresses a desire that the government of the country shall be carried on in a spirit regardful of the wishes of the Irish people.
February 20.—Germany rejects the final proposal of France for a settlement of the Moroccan controversy. The points in dispute will now come before the delegates of all the Powers.
A company of British mounted infantry and three officers are massacred by fanatics in Sokoto, Northern Nigeria.
A despatch from Ekaterinodar, Ciscaucasia, states that a fight is in progress between a detachment of Russian soldiers and 600 mutinous Kuban Cossacks.
Members of the Hungarian Diet decide to accept the dissolution of that body without protest.
The British House of Commons records its determination to resist any proposals which will create any system of protection.
The Russian Government is trying many prisoners for participating in a movement to overthrow the Government. The political dissatisfaction throughout the Empire seems to be as great as at the beginning of the late revolution.
February 21.—Ambassador White, head of the American delegation to the Algeciras conference, expresses the opinion that France and Germany will reach an agreement on the Moroccan question.
Attacks upon Catholic missions are made by Chinese in several of the southeastern provinces of China.
The British House of Commons pledges a system of intelligent self-government for Ireland.
February 22.—German Reichstag passes a bill to extend reciprocal tariff rates to the United States until June 30, 1907.
Fear that the Algeciras conference will end without France and Germany reaching an agreement on the Moroccan question is expressed by the French press.
People returning from China declare that the situation is very critical and a revolution is feared. The feeling against the present government is strong and the boycott of American goods is rigidly enforced.
Religious fanatics destroy a French post in Sokoto, Central Africa.
February 23.—The American Minister to China states that he sees very little reason for apprehension over China’s affairs. Wu Ting Fang, former Minister to the United States, says China is passing through a crisis. He justifies the boycott of American goods. All missionaries are advised by Assistant Secretary of State Bacon to move to places where they can be protected.
Despatches from Algeciras state that the fear of war over Germany’s rejection of France’s proposals on the Moroccan question is growing less.
Bills providing for general suffrage are introduced in the Lower House of the Austrian Parliament.
Reports from St. Petersburg state that Count Witte has not resigned.
A revolt against the Turkish Government is reported to be spreading in Yemen, Turkish Arabia.
February 24.—W. K. Vanderbilt, Jr., is attacked by a mob near Pisa, Italy, after his automobile runs down and injures a boy.
Active preparations are being made at Manila for any trouble with China.
Director General Ivanoff, of the Vistula Railroad, is assassinated at Warsaw, Russia.
The Spanish Government distributes money in the famine stricken provinces to relieve the sufferings of the people and prevent disorders.
The German Foreign Office states that there is little danger of war between Germany and France over the Moroccan question. French despatches say about the same.
February 25.—More riots occur at Warsaw and Odessa, Russia. Six persons are killed and 15 wounded.
The customs war between Austria and Servia ends. Servia agrees to Austria’s demands.
Secretary Root says the United States has no right to interfere with conditions in the Congo Free State, Africa.
President Castro, of Venezuela, declares he will clear his country of all foreigners, break up the Monroe Doctrine and humble France.
Canada will appoint a commission to investigate life insurance business in Canada.
Two packages of dynamite are found at a gate of the Forbidden City, Peking, China.
February 26.—Despatches from Shanghai, China, tell of the murder of missionaries at Nan-Chang. Six Jesuits and two members of an English family are reported murdered. The remaining foreigners escaped to Kiu-Kiang in boats. Several missions at Nan-Chang and Kiang-se were destroyed, among them the American.
February 27.—The Americans who escaped the Nan-Chang, China, massacre are reported safe at Kiu-Kiang.
Cossacks knout several prisoners to death at Odessa, Russia.
Ex-Premier Balfour is elected to the British Parliament from London.
Duchess Sophie Charlotte, of Oldenburg, and Prince Eitel Frederick, second son of the Emperor of Germany, are married at Berlin. The Emperor also celebrates his silver wedding.
France asks the Czar of Russia to use his influence to get Germany to agree to France’s terms on the Moroccan question.
Premier Witte reopens negotiations to determine the extent of a proposed agreement with England.
Japanese officers assume control of the Imperial War College and the Trade and Commercial Schools at Canton, China. The United States English and French war vessels sail for different Chinese ports to protect foreigners.
February 28.—Duchess Sophia Charlotte Oldenburg, the daughter of the Grand Duke of Oldenburg and Prince Eitel Frederick, the second son of the Emperor of Germany, were married yesterday in the chapel of the palace at Berlin.
President Caceres, of Santo Domingo, in a message to his Congress, recommends the revision of the Constitution, of the import and export duties, the improvement of the ports and public roads, the enactment of laws benefiting agriculture, the free administration of justice and other improvements becoming a civilized nation. He recommends to Congress also the study of the treaty now before the United States Senate and declares that it is necessary to the welfare of his republic.
The leading papers of St. Petersburg evince no satisfaction over the announcement of the date of the meeting of the Duma. It is said that the Duma will be prorogued almost immediately until autumn.
Premier Witte has become an advocate of an Anglo-Russian understanding and it is reported that negotiations are about to be opened in London to determine the extent of a proposed agreement. If they are successful the new grouping of the Powers will check Germany’s ambition.
It is reported from St. Petersburg that Russia is using all her influence at Berlin to prevent a rupture between France and Germany.
The French officials at the Moroccan Conference at Algeciras do not look favorably upon the Berlin report that Germany will make concessions if France will also yield something. The French say that they have made concessions to which Germany has not responded.
It is reported from Manila that Japanese officers have assumed control of the imperial war college and the trade and commercial schools at Canton, China.
The battleship Ohio, flagship of the American fleet at the Asiatic station, has sailed for Hong Kong, where it will dock and make repairs, so as to be ready for possible emergencies.
A telegram from Odessa states that in the village of Ivanislaw, in the Province of Kherson, 50 Cossacks and 70 gunners appeared a few days ago under orders from a police official and knouted 13 peasants. One of these peasants went mad and others are dying. A schoolmaster became insane after witnessing the scene. The sole offense chargeable against the villagers was their re-election of communal representatives which was in conformity with the ukase of Dec. 24 last.
March 1.—The reactionary policy of Interior Minister Durnovo received a setback yesterday when the action of the St. Petersburg police in closing the central bureau of the Constitutional Democracy was disowned by the Government. Permission was given for the reopening of the bureau.
A dispatch from St. Petersburg says that the financial embarrassments of Russia are increased by the necessity of paying Japan for the maintenance of Russian prisoners.
The new general tariff and conventional tariffs between Russia and Germany, France, and Austria-Hungary go into effect today.
March 2.—It is reported from Shanghai that the Chinese Government has decided to instruct its ministers abroad to assure the Powers that there is no cause for uneasiness in the present situation in China and that there are no signs of an anti-foreign movement.
March 3.—As the result of a series of special councils composed of forty high dignitaries presided over by the Czar, the main guarantees of liberty have been granted to the Russian people and a manifesto is to be coded and incorporated in the laws of the empire.
March 4.—A terrific cyclone swept over the Society and Cook’s Islands in the Pacific Ocean on February 7 and 8. It is said 10,000 persons perished. The damage to property is estimated at a million dollars.
March 5.—At Tokio a bill was introduced in the Diet providing for the nationalization of the railways, and authorizing the government to compel companies to sell out to it at a price based on the cost of building plus twenty times the average profits for the last three years.
March 6.—It is reported that the Germans have refused any concessions at the Moroccan conference at Algeciras. Russia proposed that France and Spain control the policing of Morocco. France was willing to accept the proposition, which was indorsed by Spain, Portugal and England. Herr von Radowitz, chief German delegate, opposed the proposal.
The editor of a Barcelona (Spain) daily paper was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment for printing an insulting dispatch concerning King Alfonso.
March 7.—An imperial manifesto has been published setting forth the decisions of the imperial council with regard to the execution of the Czar’s manifesto of last October. The manifesto reveals the purpose of the government to keep a firm check on the Duma. The imperial veto is absolute. The Czar controls the upper house; and the ministers have power to legislate when the parliament is not sitting.
The Rouvier Ministry of France is defeated in the Chamber of Deputies by a combination against the Anti-Clericals and immediately resigns.
March 8.—Reported from Berlin, intense indignation and mortification are shown at Russia’s action in throwing off her reserve and standing by France in the proposition that the control of the police of Morocco shall be entrusted to France and Spain. It is said that no more concessions can be obtained and that Germany must now show her hand and back down; that Von Radowitz, representing Germany at Morocco, will be sacrificed. There is also talk of Von Buelow’s resignation.