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Taft Discusses Some Needed Legislation. SUGGESTS A COMMERCE COURT. Beferring to Annual Eeport of Inter state Commerce Commission, At tention is Called to Fact That Six teen Snits Had Been Brought to Set Aside Orders of the Commis sion Between July 1? 1908, and Close of That Year. ' Washington, D. C., Special.-Pres ident Taft's special message to Congress recommending amend . ments to the interstate commerce and anti-trust laws is here, in part, given: ? To the Senate and House of Repre-Jj sentatives : Ir I withheld from my annual mes-j| sage a discussion of needed legisla-! ! tion under the uuthority which Con-jj gress has to regulate commerce be-j ' tween the States and with foreign j} countries and said that I would brin| | this subject-matter to your attention ' later in the session. Accordingly, ff < beg to submit to you cetrain reconf* < mendations as to the amendments tP 1 the interstate commerce law and cef 11 tain considerations arising out o? t)|ej, ' operations of the anti-trust law; s;lS-| j ges*ing the wisdom of Federal inc?r1 j t oor?tion of industrial companies, ft I INTERSTATE COMMERCE LA)V] [ In the annual report of the Intflj*t j ' state Commerce Commission for / jh? j i year 1908 attention is called to ?^f fact that between July 1, 190S, 4nd > the close of that year sixteen s-f1^ j ' liad been begun to set aside order* *?f.} the commission (besides one <|?m~ ] menced before that date), and .i&at : lew order? ?f much consequencelhau ? < ?been permitted to go without pror^t; ) that the questions presented by,1 these various suits weer iuiaHf{?en" 1 these various suits werc^fu^Munen- t act itself was in issue, and ?nWt?ght : 1 of Con?rress to delegate to tiny tribu- i nal " authority to establish lan infer- s state rate was denied; but Lhat ?er- 1 i haps the most serious practical qpes- < tion raised concerned the c xtenjt of < the right of the courts to ri ?view*- the i orders of the commission f ar.<fl it 1 n-as pointed out that if thfc conten- J i of the carriers in til is ?atter i J Lit alone were sustained, but lit- ? ] pgr'.'ss ' had been mafte in the J tn act toward th<J| effective j < of interstate ^LnFjjprta- j < rcs. In twelve oifTO(t|[^?s_| $(909 the scven |1908 re ecided in '^United ses had to that dav?fs,7can werturn-Tlrt 'days, of patient inevsj very satisfactory result' pected. The railroad 1< by these proceedings, sin fail it can only be require lish the rate and to pay the difference between rate collected and the ra finally held to be reas point of fact. it usually cause it can seldom be return more than a frac excess charges collected.' ? In its report for the y commission .shows that c teen cases refercd to in i port, only one had been the Supreme Court of 1 States, although five othe been argued and submit tribunal in October, $>09. Of course, every carrler affected by an order of the comfyggio,, uas a constitutional right to jppgai t0 a Federal court to protect ?t rrom tne enforcement of an orde r -^kidi it may show to be prima fa cje confisca tory or unjustly discrimir. "torv in its effect; and as this app' jat??n may be made to a court in j My district of the United States, ntjP0QjY does delay result 'in the enf|rcement 0j the order, but great uifeertaiutv is caused by contrariety <,f amisi?n. The questions presented Dv fneye plications are too often technical in their character' and requ ?je a j>nowl edge of the business ai^j the mas tery of a great volume c f COnf ictin" evidence which is tedious? f0 examine and troublesome to com preoe?i I. It -would not be proper to attempt to deprive any corporatVon 0f the right to the review by a' court 0f any order or decree vi ?,icn> j ? un disturbed, would rob it ot- a r( ason able return upon its i^vestme it or would subject it to bu .jeos vhich would unjustly discrimi ate a< ;ainst i md in iavor of other -arriers sim i-ny situated. What Sf hov-ever, of supreme importance [3 ^a ; the decision of such questi^s 8?a U be as speedy as the nature 0f t?( cir cumstances will admitJ-and; ti at a uniformity of decision J- 8ecur, ?j so ~* to brinf "Nut au efig\ ? vste rnatie, ?nd scientific enrorcerjier t 0f the commerce law, ratler ^ian con flicting decisions and u?2ertaiat y 0f finn! result. . , A COURT OF C02?UERCK For this purpose I re! )mmeuc , the establishment of a court ,f tQe j jnit ed States composed of j ive jt ?gQS designated for such P'.pose rora among the circuit ju^eg 0f the United States, to be ^0wn as the "United States court o: conuneT ce>>> which court shall be 'lothed with exclusive original juri?,?icion 3ver the following classes of, tapS: (I) AJI cases for the|eiwrcen ient, otJhiT?1 t?an ?y adjudication and cw&Rm a forfeiture or penalty, Qi Kgft?liction of criminal puiush rninr*? any order of the Interstate Cima Pe Commission other than fa* thf payment of money. (2) f-1 cases brought to enjoin, set asde lunul or suspend any order or rejuirfuent ?^ the Interstate Com xuirce/Commission. (3) /All such cases as under sec tijn I of the act of February 19, ly^Jknown as the "Elkins Act," are Aphorized to be maintained in a circ?/ court of the United States. (4) All such mandamus proceed ings is under the provisions of sec tion 20 or section 23 of the inter statd'oommerce law are authorized to be jjaintained in a circuit court of the gaited States. this point the President'deals at ^me length on the testing and instigating of rates. e claim is very earnestly ad vanced by some large association of shicers that shippers of freight shcfld be empowered to direct the roje over which their shipments si Jud pass to destination, and in tho connection it has been urged th* the provisions of section 15 of thf interst?te commerce act, which ?Jr empowers the commission, after ing on complaint, to establish ugh routes and maximum joint es to be charged, etc., when1 no sonable or satisfactory through itc shall have been already estab hed, be amended so as to empower e commission to take such action, en when one existing reasonable d satisfactory route already ex i?ts, if it is possible to establish ad itional routes. This seems to me to e a reasonable provision. I know bf no reason why a shipper should aot have the right to elect between two or more established through routes to which the initial carrier may be a party, and require his shipment to be transported to des tination over such routes as he may designate for that purpose, subject, however, in the exercise of this right to such reasonable regulations is the Interstate Commerce Commis sion may prescribe. . ...*. TO PREVENT STOCK WATERING Such act should also provide for ?he approval by the Interstate Com merce Commission of the amount of stock and honda to be issued by any railroad company subject to this act ipon any reorganization, pursuant to judicial sale or other legal proceed rigs, in order to prevent the issue of stock and bonds to an amount in ex :ess of the fair value of the property aduchas the subject of such reorgan zation. L believe these suggested modifica ;ions in and amendments to the in :erstate commerce act would make it i complete and effective measure for securing reasonableness of rates and fairness of practice in the operation )f the interstate railroad lines, with out undue preference to any individ ?al or class over any others, and would prevent the recurrence of nairy of the practices which have riven rise in the past to so much public inconvenience and loss. By my direction the Attorney Gen eral has drafted a bill to carry out ;hese recommendations. Bills for both the foregoing pur causes have been several: First; it has rendered possible great economy; second, by a union of former com petitors it has reduced the probabil ity of excessive competition; aud, third, if the combination has been extensive enough, and certain meth ods in the treatment of competitors and customers have been adopted, the combiners have secured a mono poly and complete control of prices or rates. The increase in thc capital of a business for the purpose of reducing the cost of production and effecting economy in the management has be come as essential iii modern progress as the chaage from the hand to tool to the machine. When, theerfore, we come to construe the object of Congress in adopting the so-called "Sherman anti-trust act," in 1890, whereby in the first section every contract, combination in the form of a trust or otherwise, or conspiracy in restraint of interstate or foreign trade or commerce, is condemned as unlawful and made subject to indict ment and restraint by injunction; and whereby in the second section every monopoly or attempt to mon opolize, and every combination or conspiracy with other persons to monopolize any part of interstate trade or commerce, is denounced as illegal and made subject to similar punishment or restraint, we must in fer that the evil aimed at was not tSe mere bigness of the enterprise, but it was the aggregation of capital sod plants with the express or im ?d intent to restrain interstate or Breign commerce or to monopolize it in whole or in part. Monopoly destroys competition ut terly, and the restraint of the full and free operation of competition bas a tendency to restrain commerce and trade. A combination of per sons, formerly engaged in trade as partnership? or corporations or other wise of course, eliminates the compe tition that existed between them; but the incidental endinjr of that compe tition is not to be regarded as neces sarily a direct restraint of trade, un less of such an all-embracing char icter that the intention and effect to restrain trade are apparent from the jircumstances, or are expressly de bared to be the object of the com jination. A mere incidental re strait of trade and competition is lot within the inhibition of the act, hut it is where the combination or ?onspiracy or contract is inevitably ind directly a substantial restraint )f competition, and so a restraint of ;rade, that the statue is Violated. SUGAR TRUST CASE. _ The anti-trust statute was passed n 1R90 and nrosecutions were soon jegun under it. In the case of the Jnitcd States vs. Knight, known as the "sugar trust case.1 ' because of the narrow scope of the pleadings, the combination sought to be enjoin ed was held not to be included -with in the prohibition of the act, because the averments did not go beyond the mere acquisition of manufacturing plants for the refining of sugar, and did not include that of a direct and intended restraint upon trade and commerce in the sale and delivery of sugar across State boundaries and in foreign trade. The result of the sug ar trust case was not happy in that to have other companies and combin ations seeking a similar method of making profit by establishing an ab solute control and monopoly in a particular line of manufacture a sense of immunity against prosecu tions in the Federal jurisdiction; and where that jurisdiction is Barred in respect to a business which is nec essarily commensurate with the boundaries of the country, no State prosecution is able to supply the needed machinery for adequate re straint or punishment. Following the sugar trust decision, however, there have come along in the slow but cetrain course of judi cial disposition ' cases involving a construction of the anti-trust statute and its application until now they seem eo embrace every phase of that law which can be practically present ed to the American public and to the government for action. They show that the anti-trust act has a wide scope and applies to many combina tions in actual operation, rendering them unlawful an subject to indct ment and restraint. The Supreme Court in several of its decisions has declined to- read in to the statute the word "unreason able" before "restraint of trade," on the ground that the statute ar> plies to all restraints and does not intend to leave to the court the dis cretion to determine what is a reas onable restraint of trade. * . * WOULD ARBITRATE FIRST. It is the duty and the purpose of the Executive to direct an investi gation by the Department of Justice, through the grand jury or otherwise, into the history, organization, and purpose of all the industrial com panies with respect to which there is any reasonable ground for suspicion that they have been organized for a purpose, and are conducting business on a plan which is in violation of the anti-trust law. * * . Through all our consideration of this grave question, however, we must insist that the suppression of competition, the controlling of prices, and the monopoly or attempt of monopolize in inter-state com merce and business, ar not only un lawful, but contrary to the public a:ood, and that they must be restrain ed and punished until ended. URGES FEDERAL INCORPORA TION. I therefore recommend the enact ment hy Congress of a general law providing for the formation of cor porations to engage in trade and' tommerce amoug tue btates and wim foreign nations, protecting them from .indue interference by the States and with foreign nations, protecting them from undue interterence by the States and regulating their activities, so as to prevent the recurrence, un -iar_nat!cual auspices, of those s ' t o .ult, if not impossible, lur uu. ~r poration to comply with their re quirements so as to carry on business ai a number of different States. ? . * v TRYING TO DISSOLVE COMBI NATIONS. Let us consider these objections in '.heir order. The government is now frying to dissolve some of these coin jinations, and it is not the intention )f the government to desist in the ?east degree in its efforts to end those :ombinations which are today mo nopolizing the commerce of this ?ountry; that where it appears that ihe acquisition and concentration of property go > the extent of creat ,ng a monopoly or of substantially md directly restraining inter-State jommerce, it is not the intention of me government to permit this mono poly to exist under Federal incor poration or to transfer to the pro jecting wing of the Feedral govern ment a State corporation now violat ng the Sherman act. But it is not, md should not be, the policy of the government to prevent reasonable ioncentration of capital which is necessary to the economic develop nent of manufacture, trade, and jommerce: This country has shown a power of economical production ;hat has astonished the world, and las enabled us to compete with for eign manufacturers in many mar kets. The worst offenders will not ac cept Federal incorporation, is easily answered. The decrees of injunction recently adopted in prosecutions un ler the anti-trust law are so thorough md sweeping that the corporations lffected by them have but three ?ourses before them: First, they must resolve them selves into their component parts in the different States, with a conse quent loss to themselves of capital md effective organization and to thc eountry of concentrated energy, and mterprise; or Second, in defiance of law and un 3er some secret trust they must at tempt to continue their business in violation of the Federal statute, and thus incur the penalties of contempt and bring on an inevitable criminal prosecution of the individuals nam ed in the decree and their associates; Third, they must reorganize and accept in good faith the Federal sharter I suggest. WILLIAM H. TAFT. At all times be prepared for the disasters of life, philosophises the Florida Times-Union, yet never brood over the fact that they may be ap proaching;. j Condensed from Wide Heids, Domestic and Foreign. ?AS THEY ARE HAPPENING DAILY Suited to the Wants of Busy Beaders Seeking a Knowledge of What is ? Going on. Through inoculation of guinea pigs, which in turn infected other pigs, the pellagra germ that scien tists are trying to combat, has been isolated by two local physicians, it is claimed, at Durham. N. C. A fire in the business section of Lebanon, Tenn., destroyed property rained at $50,000. Several of the best business houses in the town were destroyed. . One of the oldest women in the ;ountry, and acknowledged to be the oldest person in the1 State of West Virginia, is Mrs. Elizabeth Kerns, af Capon Bridge, Hampshire county, who recently celebrated her one hun dred and sixth birthday by prepar ing for her funeral. Pate Smith, aged 20, shot and kill id his sweetheart, Miss Alice Rhodes, iged 19, and turned the -weapon him self, blowing out his brains, at the girl's home three milei below Calera, ila. * Fire at Galveston, Texas, desiroy ?d the north compartment of one of me concrete wharves on Pier No. 12, ?using damage estimated at $100,000. The principal loss is on cotton await ing shipment to Liverpool. About 2,800 bales of cotton was damaged ;o probably one-third , of its value. Mayor Gaynor, of New York, ap pointed Robert Adamson, a newspa per man, to the place of mayor's sec retary with a salary of $6,000 a year. Adamson is of Georgia, Rev. Father Francis A. Schmidt?., for many years prominent in Cath olicism cm work in North and South Carolina, but for seven years chap-1 iain at St. Vincent's hospital, Nor-I folk, Va., died at that institution i following a lingering illness. Father Schmidtz was a naiive of Germany iud was 62 years of age. Allen Broom, proprietor of a near beer saloon and small restaurant on Wnitaker street, Savannah, Ga., has j received a threatening letter which he has turned over to the United States postal, authorities for investi gation with the hope of finding the identity of the writer. Thomas Waggoner, bf Fort Worth, Texas, has just given each of his three children property valued at ?2,000,000 as Christmas gifts. I The head of a white man, evidently ' freshly cut from the body, was found in a trash bucket in the Pru-1 dential building, one,of the large of fice structures of Atlanta,. Ga. ! During the year .1909 Atlanta, Ga.'s street cai* system, operated by the Georgia Railway ) and Electric company, hauled 50,598,769 passen gers, including transfers; From 10 to 15 persons are thought K? Vin-im nft-r?chpd ifl ' _fhA cold in .1 belated unnsimaa gui? were uc stroyed in a $500,000 fire in the Adams Express Company warehouses in New York. A justice of ?he New York Su preme Couri. in an .pinion, declared that no public improvement was now carried out without rraft. At Bladen, Neb., after eating 10 bananas, John Clausen, 19 years of { age, became ill, and lied ?t his home here. It is said thit the fruit had been frozen. i Mrs. Russell Sase has offered to ! buy a park for $65Q000 and give it to Yale for a campva. The woman suffragists of Okla homa are waging an unceasing cam paign to secure i constitutional amendment giving tiem tue right toi vote. The plant of the Eennesaw Marble Company, located at Marietta, Ga., has been destroyed by fire. The loss is estimated at $15(.00, partly cov ered bv insurance. At Johnson City, Tenn., 3re destroy, od tile Armbrush-Smjth building en tailing a loss of probably $50,000. partially covered by insurance. Tlu Elks' home and maiyj offices were located in the Duildiig. Chicago's muricipai expenditure for 1910 will bc' the largest in thc history of the city] For schools libraries, water mreau and corporal purposes it will be in the neighbor hood of $55,000P00, which is $3,000, 000 in excess cf the largest appro oriation hereto?ro made. Atlanta's seond year of prohibi tion which clcsed at midnight Fri day, Doc. 31, shows on the docket.' I at police headquarters 3,620 case.? for drunkenness against 2.650 foi last year, an increase of 980 cases. After cuting the throat of Johr M. Jennings, a bookkeeper, in a roon in which trey had been living foi some time pst, Lizzie C. Crenshaw aged 28 years, hanged herself in i : cell at the police station at Nash ville, Tenn. Agnes Booh, the farmous actor o: two decades, is dead. An estate of the estimated value of $3,000,00' is disposed of by the terms of tb! will of Stoughton J. Fletcher, tie Indianapolis bankei who died a Gallatin, Tenn., Decem ber 25. The Pliladelphia (Pa.) Rapid Transit cenpany have decided to give $500.free insurance to each ol its employs and to give a pension of $20 a nonth to each employe 6c years old ind 25 years in its service A cable from Prilippopolis, Bul garia, sa? Eastern Rumclia has been sweft by thc most disastrous flood in ifty years, and the whole plain resmbles a vast lake. Many persons re reported drowned. ? SOUTHERN SPINNERS ARE TO BETTER CONDITIONS. Will Sell at Lowest Price and Cur tail When Market Slumps-Big At . tendance. Charlotte, N. C., Special-A very important meeting to the textile in dustry met in this city Tuesday. Several hundred manufacturers of soft and hard yarn were present, as well as numerous commission men of Northern cities. The meeting was called with an idea to reaching some plan of concerted action on the part of mill men to . boosting prces oh cotton goods on a parity with prices of the raw material. They claim that it is impossible to buy 16 cent cotton and sell goods at pres ent prices and make a profit, and accordingly this meeting adopted the following plan to bring about an improvement in the cotton goods market : "Resolved, That we recommend the adoption of the following sched ule of prices, and unless these prices can be obtained, then we urge im mediate curtailment. The minimum schedule is as follows: Hard Soft 8-1.24 24y2' 8-2 & 3.24y2 25 10-2 & 3 .25 25MJ 12-2 & 3 .2?y; 2G 14-2 & 3 .20 20y2 10-2 & 3 .20y2 27 20-2 & 3 .26i/? 27 24-2 & 3 .281/2 29 26-2 & 3 .29 291/0 30-2 A3 .30 30y3 36-2 & 3 .36 36 . 40-2 & 3 .39 50-2 & 3 .39 50-2 & 3 .44 60-2 & 3 .50 This resolution, after full and free discussion and enthusiastic endorse ment from those who urged a cam paign of . education among the spin ners of the Soutli tc count the cost before they fix their prices and then stand firm until the minimum (which is cost) is reached, was adopted unanimously. W. B. Anderson, of Macon, Ga., illustrated by a blackboard example the exact cost of production as fol lows : Raw material 16 cents a pound. Estimated waste 15 per cent. Calculation based on 20s yarn. Net cost of cotton, eleminating waste, 1.80 cents a pound. Cents a Pound IQ 10 I jfTeignr-. Discount for cash 3 per rent.. .75 Commission for selling 5 per cent. 1.25 Aggregate cost delivered .. 24.80 j The'meeting was presided over by Mr. D. A. Tompkins, as chairman, and T. W. Crews, as secretary. Many prominent mill men address- 1 ed the meeting along the above 1 lines. i RESUME WOBE. ( Congress Meets After Holiday Ee- ? cess-Increased Cost cf Living. Washington, D. C.. Special.-Con- 1 gress, after taking holiday recess, re- 1 convened Tuesday, but after brief | sessions of both houses adjourned j until Wednesday to the memory of j the late Senator McLaurin, of Mis- j sissippi. Represen I ative Mann intro- 1 duced a bill making sweeping jhanges 1 in the interstate commerce law; Rep- 1 resentative Humphrey also introduc ed a ship subsidy bili, whick has the ! approval of the President. . .The increased cost of living was , the subject of a concurrent resolution offered in the House by Representa tive Hull of (Tenn.) lt provides for ! a joint committee of seven members of the House and five members of the ? Senate to investigate conditions and ' report upon them and as to what remedies may be affected through leg islation. 1 French Aeronaut Killed. Bordeaux, Bv Cable.-Leon Dela- 1 grange, noted French aeronaut, was killed while making a fight. To Examine Cook's Records. 1 Washington, D. C., Special-Cook's < polar data is to be examined by the 1 National Geographical Society. The | documents' left Copenhagen, Dec. ? 21st. The society is lo report the ? Sndings this month. 1 Cotton School in Georgia. < Athens, Ga,, Special.-The colton j school at the State College of Agri- ; culture began Tuesday its third an nual session, lasting ten days. Tried to Save Groce and Cannon. Man?gua, Nicaragua. By Cable. Gen. Medina, of the government forces, says he and Gen. Toledo did all in their power lo prevent the ex ecute, nf Groce and Cannon, thc American-, ,; '.>rreed bv President Zelaya. Bang of the Gypsie I ad. Boston. Special.-P?V!'i>;: Stanley.' king of Hie powerful Stanley tribe of roamitrr f?<-ns:',s. M-!'O?,I. l'unie ha* been world-wide for 70 years, is dead News From the Nation in Passing fo FIH DOESN'T Gilli Washington, Special-"We havel already discovered that the farmer is not getting exorbitant profits out of the beef he raises," said Secretary Wilson, of the department of agricul ture, in discussing the price of food supplies. "I have no doubt in the world," he continued, "that the same con ditions will be found to prevail in most of the other lines of farm pro ducts. . "The department of gariculture has agents in every state and every county in the country and they have been ordered to report exhaustively on the cost of production and the re turns on sales of all sorts of food products. "Wo intend to bring out the truth, irrespective of whom it hurts or whom it benefits, I am convinced that the public is compelled to pay a great deal more for nearly every thing it eats than it should, and I believe the figures will bear me out. "There is ample excuse for some of the increase in the cost of living over what it was years ago. The farm area is not keeping pace with the demands for food-stuff. Thc cit ies seem to have mere attractions for the laboring men than do the rural communities. The horde of immigration, as well as the ever-in creasing native population, must be fed and the farm is expected to fur nish the food." Mills Bought Cotton. Washington, Special. - American cotton stocks at the end ,of Novem ber aggregated 1,505,968 bales, com pared with 1,795,690 and 1,214,791 bales reported on the same dates in 1908 and 1907, says the report of the bureau of statistics for November. Sight receipts of cotton during No vember totalled 1,141,139 bales with 2,595,097 bales during November, 1908, and 1,930,193 during Novem ber, 1907. The port receipts, 1, 323,224 bales, show a similar dec .ne from 1908 and 1907, figures of 1, 888,922 and 1,529,526 bales. The takings of American spinners for the three months of the present sea son, says the report, were 1,517,194 bales, only 171,000 less than for the corresponding period of the preced ing year. The decline in total tak ings is attributed exclusively to the curtailed demand of the Northern mills, the season's takings of. the Southern mills 696,973 bales, exceed ing the corresponding figures for the past season. Ruling on the New Tax Rate. Washington, Special.-"Where a corporation, through its books or otherwise, can ascertain its income' sufficiently for the officers to makt oath to the return as true, this will be regarded as equivalent to an in_ income, where such income cannot be '. ascertained without a physical in- j ven tory, this will have to be taken." . Deep Enough For Biggest Ship. Washington, Special.-That the dry dock at the Charelston Navy ! Yard is deep enough and broad enough to take in any ships that , may be built has just been develop- | ed here in the hearings of the naval , officers committee at the House. i Finds All Guiltless. ] Washington, Special. - Approval bas been given by officials of the < navy department to the report of j me court of inquiry into the collis- j on of the battleships Geoigia and j Nebraska off the Virginia capes dur- ] ng the recent tactical7 drill, which \ recommended that no disciplinary \ neasures be taken as a result of the j ?ccident. i 2,000 Cherry Trees Coining. ] Washington, Special.-Wox-d has neen received that the 2^000 Japan- i ;se cherry trees, the p. osent from the j jity of Tokio to the city of Wash- ] ngton, designed for the decoration i jf the Potomac driveway, have left ] Seattle, the port of entry, and are 1 me their way to the capital. The j ;rees are expected to bloom next t ipril. They will be planted in two i .ows 20 feet apart, covering a dis- t :ance of more than three miles. t rest Exa:*Jnations February 5th. ? Washington, Special. - Fifteen Hundred census enumerators are to j be employed for thc taking of the \ census in North Carolina, and those ( ?vho desire these positions must have ( heir applications on file with the ' j supervisors in the respective congres- j ? >ional districts by January 25. Only i ' residents of congressional districts in ' ? which- application is made will be \ diosen: The examination or "test";^ for enumerators will be held Febru- ! y irv 5th. || GOTO HAR LING Before insuring elsewhere O'l Line Companies. H J! RUfiiG ?Lt The Farmer? I al Capitol Briefly Noted r the Reader. H PIE 1 HIS Hf Washington, Special-Haif the meat eaten in the United States can be called uninspected and that a real and serious danger to the public ex ists as a result, is one of the con clusions reached by Dr. A. D. Melvin, chief of the United States bureau of animal industry, in his annual re port to the secretary of agriculture. Inefficiency of the"'?government 'in spection because of its lack of auth ority to reach business done entirely ?within a state, is given as one of the causes, and Dr. Melvin points out the great need of supplementing the government inspection of meats with state and municipal inspections. "One result of the federal inspec tion is to cause the diversion of dis eased and suspicious looking animals to the uninspected establishments where they are slaughtered for the local market," says the report.; "Many cities have an inspection service but very few have an ade quate force, and the inspection of-~ ten consists of merely examining the meat as offered for sale in the mar kets, when it is usually impossible to detect disease the evidence of which may have been removed with the viscera or organs," says Dr. Mel vin. "As a rule, sanitary conditions are very bad at uninspected slaughter houses and in order to provide real protection against diseased or un wholesome meat a competent veteri nary and sanitary inspection at the time of slaughter is essential." Road Presidents See Taft. Washington, Special. - President Taft bfdd a conference with six rail road presidents, who came to see him last Monday. None of the rail road officials would discuss their mis sion other than to say that they en tered a gen earl protest against all the proposed amendments to inter state commerce laws. Those attend ing were President Mellen, of the New York, New Haven and Baxt ford railroad; President McCrea, of the Pennsylvania railroad; Presi dent Lovett, of the Union Pacific railroad, and allied Harriman lines; President Finley, of the Southern railway, and .President Brown, of the New York Central. No state ment is as yet made of the results. Reprimanded For Adjustment Delay. Washington, Special.-In a decis ion by the interstate commerce com mission involving a claim of 20 cents in an overcharge on freight, made against the Asheboro Railway com pany, and other lines, railroads are generally severely reprimanded for their delay in adjusting claims where there has been a palpable overcharge. The case was that of a Wilkesbarre, Pa., firm, who alleged an overcharge of 20 cents on a ship ment of iron . wagon axles to_Carth ped with Morris tubes, be sent to bach of the naval militia armories throughout the country for training purposes. Armories in 23 States are affected by this step. No Bond Issue Until March. Washington, Special.-Unless some sxtraordinary situation supervenes, there will be no new issue of inter sst-bearing obligations by the Treas irv before March Death Rate Great Last Year. Washington, Special.-The average ieath rate from street car accidents ii the District of Columbia during ;he past fiscal year was the greatest n its history, according to the annual report of Health Officer Woodruff, rhe death rate was 5.9, while during :he previous year it was 5.9, and dur ng the five-year period, 1901-1905 it vac 2.6. Museum to Open in February. Washington, Special.-After hav ng been in the course of construction for four years, the new national nuseum of this city will be opened o the public by the middle of Feb .uary. One section of the mammoth juilding has been practically com pleted. It is in this building that he Roosevelt collection of African nammals will be exhibited. It will ake a year, however, to mount the rophies. robacco Trust Cases. Washington, Special. - Argument n the tobacco trust cases, which lave attracted much attention be muse of the possible effect of the ?ourt's decision on anti-trust legis ation, was begun last Fonday in ' ie iupreme court of the jnited States, rho court awarded 12 hours to conn ie] which is three times the usual ime given to a case in the court. Of his time, the government had five lours, counsel for the American To >acco company four and a half hours. SEE & BYRD , We^represent the Best & BYRD* Sank of Edgefield