Newspapers / The Roanoke beacon. / Feb. 7, 1908, edition 1 / Page 2
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5 ThelnheritanceTax M Ey Professor Charles J. Bullock, of Harvard" University. O Americans cf the last generation tho inheritance t?.x was a fiscal curiosity, but to-day it is found in not fewer than thirty-four states, and must be accepted as an. ac complished fact of American finance. The present inheritance taxes employed by the several states are levied clearly to raise revenue. But it is now proposed to introduce a federal inheri tance tax to reduce swollen fortunes. The proposal as sumes that there is in the United States an undue ccn- cntration of wealth. and power in a few hands, and it cannot be denied that aany thoughtful men have come to such a conclusion. But if the exis ence om such a tendency be admitted the inheritance tax is no remedy hcrefor. If excessive fortunes have been, made by reckless or dishonest rnaninu ation of corporations, the obvious remedy is to reform corporation laws uid to elevate the standards of business morals. New legislation may be aeeded at some points, but relentless enforcement of existing laws against conspiracy and theft would probably go far to accomplish the desired re .ult. Such remedies are simple and old fashioned, but they have a potency ir exceeding all schemes for social regeneration through act of Congress. If our federal government needs additional revenue, it can at any moment raise an additional hundred millions by restoring the tax on beer and tobacco to the figures enforced during the Spanish war. Our state and local govern ments have no such convenient resources. For financial reasons, therefore, an inheritance tax should be reserved to the several states. For economic and social reasons, its function should be to raise revenue, and not to reform the distribution of wealth. The Cruel Landlady $ Sho Smrnx Women Ladders and Bars Such s & zo Tstfre Pi mi Is. & r ' f - i 7 - f- h&&OV99Q HE Autocrat of the Breakfast Table is as nothing in com-. T parison with the autocrat who prevents young women from living in her rooms. The writer has seen how a Wellesley College teacher is scorned and flouted. She has been open ly insulted and driven out of the house like a criminal con victed of stealing spoons because, forsooth, she ventured to hint in a delicate way that she took a "few pupils." "Indeed, I would not have them in the house. Me run ning to the door bell! No, you can't have the room at any price." It was formerly the custom to fling the little girl babies into the Ganges. The New York landlady is the lineal descendant of those heathen mothers. She advertises for "gentlemen only." She looks out of the door coyly at the sight of petticoats. She avers that there are no rooms to be let, though ycu hold up the newspaper with her own advertisement in print. After five days actually counted in pursuit of a room in the 70s and 80s only, the writer, after pocketing all sorts of Insults and abuse, has settled as th8 attic philosopher under the roof of an imposing residence, where she is re ceived as tho "top floor." Only business women are wanted in New York. The rest may retire to their hillside farms and listen to the wind howling through the branches In Autumn. It is "scat cat" wheresoever one may ring, until the offender becomes apologetic for being a woman. In this house the "top floor" has no "matches" furnished. Judging from the dilapidated window shade, this is true in more senses than one. 1 told the autocrat that I did not smoke, but she was inexorable. The men wasted the matches, and she would not provide luxuries. And the landlord? What of him? He is invisible. In only one instance did he appear. Then he was suave and polished. Hence the conclusion that the New York landlady is a widow. She reigns triumphant, abusive, vain of her prowess in ousting unedsirable roomers. What is the resulting need? The hotel for women where at moderate pices meals may be had in the house. There should be rooms from $4 to $5 up. At the Martha Washington the lowrest rooms rent for $G, and one is obliged to wait sometimes several weeks for one of these to be vacant. in Business ny neroeri j. napguuu.. T HE successful general never puts his entire force into the field. He always has strength in reserve to meet an emer gency. In the battle for business success the wise employ er does likewise, and he has growing up in his establish ment at all times a force of young men who can step into places that may become vacant through death, sickness, the inroads of competitors or failure to "make good." the human part of a business machine is an uncertain quantity. Just when you least expect it, a man on whom you have been counting for important results and who has hitherto shown himself capable of securing them suddenly proves lacking and has to be replaced. How vitally important it is then to have. in reserve a force of men thoroughly trained in your own methods for use when' the need arises. Formerly, employers developed this reserve force from their office boys. That was in the days when men who began work very young and with limited education were considered the most capable; and about the highest form of praise that could be given a man was to call him "self made." Men are still "self made" and always will be, whether they finished their education in the grammar school or took degrees at a university. Education does not make the man it only develops him; but it almost invariably en ables the man of native ability to strike the gait more quickly. Within recent years, employers have come to realize this. Experience has taught that the test value is found in the young man who enters busi ness a little later in life, but with better educational training and more nature judgment, even though they are obliged to pay him four or live times the salary at which. they used to start since boys. riijph school and college graduates are the chief source of supSi for this reserve force which every progressive firm should be accumulating. It 3 with men from the colleges, universities and technical schools that this article will chiefly deal, but the advantages of those with only high school training should not be overlooked. Many of the large city high school In fact, give courses that are almost equal to those of the small colleges. The high Echool graduate of 190G often is fully as v.ell educated as his father who received a college degree in 18SG or thereabouts. In some branches of business, high school men are perhaps preferable to college men. This is likely to be true in clerical work, especially, as the high school graduate i3 usually a better penman and quicker at figures. On the other hand, it should be borne in mind that he Is almost always inferior in judgment, knowledge of human nature and other qualities which a man de velops as he grows cider. It Was Santa. "Anybody been in, Jack?" asked the fcuilding inspector. "Man with white whiskers wanted a permit to go down chimneys." "Woll, well! I hope you didn't charge him anything for it. Louis ville Courier-Journal. A Plain Baby. "Johnnie," said teacher, "I under stand you have a new baby up ai j your house. What is it, a boy or I girl?" "Neither," said Johnnie promptly "it's just a plala baby!" Washingtor Star. UP ON A SKYSCRAPER. Bill (watching the traffic below) Sketch. "Itlsky things, thein there motors.' Police Alarm. No one need now be in fear "of thieves and burglars, as a Boston man has devised a contrivance where by the police can be Instantly noti fied that intruders ar,e in the house and help is wanted at once. This is to be accomplished with the aid of the alarm tag shown in the illustra tion. The purpose of the device will be apparent at once. The tag, in scribed as shown, is placed where it can be conveniently reached when wanted. The occupant of the house on hearing suspicious noises in the house quietly pitches the missile out of the window. The presumption is that a policeman or other passefby will notice the tag, and help will be immediately forthcoming. Washing ton Star. A Little Tribute to a Tree. Many years ago a tiny ccttonwood deed settled itself between the wood work and the brick wall of the build ing opposite thi3 office, and as it hap pened to land in proximity to a leaky spout, it grew and expanded and spread out until it had grown to be quite a brush, writes Bent Murdock. Its roots crept into the interstices of the brick wall and in the good old summer time its branches, which had grown big and strong, put out the green leaves, under which the birds found shade and rest and peace. But Wednesday afternoon some bold bad men went to repair the cornice of the building, and the cottonwood tree was ruthlessly torn from the wall, thrown to the ground, and assigned to the ditch, where it was afterwards rescued and given a place in this office. It is gnarled and crooked, as it had not been given a fair chance to show what it could do, but then, it did the best it could and Is entitled to much consideration. Its birth was noticed in these columns, and from year to year it got better attention than was given to more important things, but it is no more in life, and this in memoriam brings a lump into our throat that chokes us. Itequies cat in pace, you blessed little cotton wood. Kansas City Journal. 3? J&V&3&i -rtW. V."... T,'H V- .' - Mi .IS 4 1 LEATHERSTOCKING AND HIS DOG Surmounting the Monument to J Fenimore Cooper at Cooperstown. An effort is being made in England to compel the use on automobiles of automatic speed controllers to pra vent a machine from running above a maximum rpeed on public roads. A GOOD START. - - - MM 'COME ON IN, THE WATEl IS FINE." Ji ' mm ifevwi mm I Clever Cartoon !n th9 New York Yorld, by C. R. Macauley. THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD OWN SKIP LINE Bristrvv, of Panama Railroad, Advises Pacific Coast Eoats- Thinks li Would Bo of Advantage In Transporting Supplies to the Canal Criticises Pacific Mell Co. Foxr Attempting to Monopolize Eiallroad. Fisherman "Ah! That s a good beginning, a frying-pan! I have only got to catch a fish now and 1 shall be all right." From Bon Vivant. Washington, D. C. J. L. Bristow, of Kansas, who was appointed a spe cial commissioner of the Panama Railroad last August, with instruc tions to report whether it was advis-r able to establish a Government steam ship line between Panama and Pa cific Coast ports of the United States, ha3 made a report to the Secretary of War, in which he says that "the weight of the argument is strong ly in favor of establishing this service." Mr. Bristow, who first came Into the public eye as Fourth Assistant Postmaster-General at the time of the postal scandals which he investi gated for President Roosevelt, had served under a previous appointment as a special commissioner of the Pan ama Railroad, with directions to in vestigate freight rates and trade ex isting between United States. South American, European and Panaman ports. As a result of bis inquiry at that time the Panama Railroad was continued as a commercial line un der the United States Government, the Panama Railroad Steamship Line, between New York and Colon, was re tained and operated by the Govern ment, and contracts of an exclusive character with the Pacific Mail Steam ship Company were annulled. Un der his second commission Mr. Bris tow was Instructed to investigate spe cifically the service rendered by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company "with a' view to advising whether or not the Isthmian Canal Commission, should purchase steamers and estab lish a service between Panama and the Pacific Coast ports ot the United States, to be operated in conjunction; with the steamers now running be tween New York and Colon." In his report Mr. Bristow criticises tho service of the Pacific Mail Steam ship Company to Panama. He thinka a Government line on the Pa cific coast would be desirable for tha transsportation of canal supplies and materials and canal employes, for keeping open and Improving the Isth mian route of commerce and for pro curing cargo for the Panama Rail road steamships homeward bound from Colon. Mr. Bristow represents General Manager Schwerin, of the Pacific; Mail Steamship Company, as com plaining against the action of the United States in permitting foreign lines to use the Isthmian Railway upon the same terms as American lines. Mr. Bristow argues that as the canal when completed is open to the use of all nations on equal terms there should be no discrimination now against foreign steamships. Mr. Bristow says that to perform the service required on the Pacific Coast wonld necessitate the purchase of from six to nine vessels. lis esti mates the cost of these vessels as from $3,500,000 to $6,000,000. REAR-ADMIRAL CAPPS ANSWERS CRITICS OF BATTLESHIPS Chit f of the Repair Bureau Defends the Freeboard Style of the American NavyHe Recommends a Change In the Hoists Greater Spe2d Gained in the Dreadnought Type. Washington, D. C. Rear-Admiral Washington Lee Capps, Chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair of the Navy Department, made an swer to the critics of the navy at a hearing before the House Committee on Naval Affairs. To the minds prac tically of all the members of the com mittee, Admiral Capps' statements were a complete refutation of the charges which have been made against certain features of the con struction of American battleships. Admiral Capps displayed no ani mosity or ill-feeling toward the chronic and scientific fault-finders, and discussed the subject of naval ar chitecture in a dispassionate way. While he riddled the Reuterdahl ar ticle in McClure's Magazine in its general features, still he gave credit to certain criticisms made. In partic ular he admitted the justice of the criticism of the ammunition hoists on battleships. He advocated a com plete change of hoists, and asked for an appropriation of $175,000 to this end. The Admiral discussed at length the question of high free boards and low free boards on battleships. He said that the general type of naval architecture which is followed by the Board of Construction is the same as has been followed since 1889. This style was adopted by Great Britain after the subject had been considered thoroughly and exhaustively by the leading naval architects and experts of the country, in fact, of the world. It Is the style generally followed to day by England in the building of her biggest ships. He said that If there was one na tion more .than any other which by reason of sea-fighting experience should be able to distinguish between the respective value of a high free I board and a low free board, thafna tion was Japan. He pointed out that Japan had fol lowed the plan of low free boards, while Russian ships had the high free boards. The Russian ships are now at the bottom of the sea, while Japanese ships are still floating. Since the Russian-Japanese war, the Japanese have been building their ships so that the free boards are still lower. It had been ascertained that the Russians, apparently realizing the error of their high free boards when going to battle in the Sea of Japan, had pumped water between their decks, and had even loaded coal in the staterooms of the officers in order to get their ships as close to the water as possible, and afford the least pos sible taget. American ships, he said, had a lit tle more free board than the Japan ese and a little less than the English ships of the Dreadnought type, the Er.slish, in order to get greater speed hiJfng been forced to allow a little more free board. The questions raised in the Reuter dahl article, he said, had afforded! subjects for argument, dispute, con troversy and discussion among naval architects since the construction of the modern navy began and doubt less always would do so. There wa3 always a fight between armor men and armament men, between steam engineering departments and other departments, but the result in the end had been the construction of ves sels which present the best knowledge of naval architects. No nation had followed the French style of naval construction. That was a distinctive class by itself, but in general there was similarity among the English, American and Japanese styles. THE CANAL SAFE IN TIME OF WAR Colonel Goethafs, In a Report at Washington, Says It Will Not Be Hard to Defend. Washington, D. C. At the hear ings of the Senate Committee on In teroceanic Canals, Colonel Goethals gave assurance that the Panama Canal, when completed, would be reasonably safe from military in vasion, and said that tho chances of the crippling of the canal by spies armed with dynamite will be small, provided that armed guards are main tained at Miraflores and Gatun locks. The Gatun lock is located seven miles from the Atlantic, and the Miraflores lock eight miles from the Pacific, Australia's Heat Wave Many Persons Troslrated. Melbourne, Australia. Tho heat wave in Victoria is ended, but it has left disastrous effects in its train. Vast bush fires raged in many parts destroying hundreds of homesteads and threatening many townships. The sufferings of horses and cattle havo been terrible, and the uttio have lost heavily in live stock. Over 100 death3 from sunstroke have been reported, and thoiiEands of persous are seriously ill from the effects of the heat. Dr. Flcxner's Serum Cures Meningitis Cases. Newport. R. I. Tho Tnfocf two. cases of spinal meningitis that ap peared among the apprentice seamen at the naval trai have been treated with success with J the new serai in, the discovery of Dr. Flexner, of the Rockefeller Institute. Tne cases were those of F. F. Craw ford, of Charlestown, 111., and R. B. Ilolloway, of Lipton, Tenn., new re cruits in the naval service, who were taken ill shortly after their arrival at ho station.
Feb. 7, 1908, edition 1
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