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mills, and a money payment in wages very disproportionate to the increased results.

The American contractor who put up the Westinghouse works in England found that American bricklayers were cheaper than English bricklayers at twice the daily wages. They laid three times as many bricks.

Taking the census report of American manufacturers, the per capita production is three times the average of European factories and the wages are less than twice as high.

Wages have a fixed limit. They cannot exceed the value of the articles produced or services rendered. But high wages by no means compel high prices. Not the amount of money paid in wages but the value of the product is the determining factor in the price of an article.

The wage cost of raising wheat in Russia with labor paid 30 to 40 cents a day is much higher than its cost in the Dakotas with harvesters paid $2 and more a day. Rather do high wages imply cheap production and low wages dearness.

The $6,800,000,000 crops of the current year would not have been produced in the United States by cheap labor. Cheap labor is neither skillful nor intelligent. It has no hopes and ambitions. It could never run a threshing machine or a steam plow or even a wheat drill. A hoe and a spade are the limits of its competent use. Therefore, since a hoe and a spade are costly tools with which to till, cheap labor is expensive.

In the iron and steel business an American workman produces more tonnage than in any other land. If his wages were based on the tonnage cost in England, he would be much better paid.

Prices are high in the United States today, not because of high wages but in spite of high wages. Compared with the price the consumer pays wages are very low-lower than in China or India. The results of the labor of American workingmen are milked on the way to the consumer by successive middlemen, by the trusts, the railroads, the many hands through which the products of industry pass until they reach their final use.

The riches which all these middlemen have amassed represent on one hand the difference between the wages that American workingmen receive and what they should receive, and on the other hand the difference between what American consumers pay and what they should pay.

This, however, is no argument for any American workingman to do less than he can do. Every man should do his best and produce to his utmost capacity. Whenever any individual or any trade

reduces the volume and the quality of his production they do not harm the middleman, but only themselves and their fellow consumers. The remedy for what injustices do exist is not in shirking work but in applying to the system of distribution the same intelligence and similar economies to those already highly developed in the American system of production.-New York World.

Pioneers of History.

BY REV. THOMAS B. GREGORY.

When George Washington was inaugurated the first time as President of the United States there was not, anywhere in the world, any faster means of land locomotion than that which was afforded by the stage coach.

The world went slowly those days! Distance meant a great deal, and a journey of any length was the event of a lifetime, something from which men figured-as the old Greeks did from their Olympiads!

Thanks to the implement maker James Watt, distance now counts for but little; is, in fact, practically annihilated, it making but little difference, so far as time is concerned, whether the contemplated journey is 300 miles or 3,000.

The steam engine made all things new, revolutionized trade, politics, political economy and pretty nearly everything else, and made possible, at once, the progress for which mankind had waited for thousands of years.

James Watt, the improver, we may almost say the creator, of this wonderful agent of civilization, was born at Greenock, January 19, 1736.

Engines in which steam was used were known long before Watt's day. The earliest of such engines was that known as Hero's 130 B. C.

The first really useful steam engine was that made by Thomas Savery, about the year 1698.

The engines in use in Watt's timemainly as a means of draining mineswere clumsy affairs. Their usefulness was greatly checked by the necessary waste of steam at each condensation, and from the expenditure of heat in again raising the required temperature before a fresh stroke of the piston was possible.

Both these obstacles were at once removed by the invention of Watt.

It was in the spring of 1765, midst the political turmoil which characterized the early reign of George III., that, as he strolled on a Sunday afternoon across the Glasgow Green, the great invention burst in upon him.

"I had gone," he says, "to take a walk on a fine Sunday afternoon. I had en

tered the Green and had passed the old washing house. I was thinking upon the engine at the time and had got as far as the herd's house, when the idea came into my mind that as steam was an elastic body it would rush into a vacuum, and that if a communication were made between the cylinder and an exhausted vessel it would rush into it and might there be condensed without cooling the cylinder. I had not walked farther than the golf house when the whole thing was arranged clearly in my mind."

And thus it came about that the employment of a separate condenser, with the entire discarding of any other force in the action save that of the steam itself, changed the whole condition of the steam engine, and made it at once the most powerful ally of civilization.

Where the magnitude of Watt's invention was fairly apparent - its almost boundless capacity for human servicethe world held its breath and stood for a time in a state of bewilderment!

There was an interregnum of several years between the invention and its serious application. It was an idea so big and powerful that men were afraid of it.

But Watt could wait. He did waitand it is pleasant to know that he lived long enough to see the fruits of his genius.

In 1802 William Symmington built the first steamboat and sent her whistling and puffing along the Forth and Clyde Canal, and in 1807 Robert Fulton's "Clermont" steamed up the beautiful Hudson at the speed of five miles an hour.

Men were not now so scared of the demon as they had been. They were beginning to see that the monster, if properly handled, was quite docile!

In 1819 the first steamship, the "Savannah," plowed her way across the great deep from America to England, in 26 days.

The wind might blow now from any quarter it pleased-Man, by the help of his demon, would keep straight on his course, defying wind and wave!

And hard after the steamship came the railroad-the "Iron Horse" snorting along his iron track, dragging after him with tireless speed his mighty load!

Watt had been dead but two years when-in 1821-the first railroad was inaugurated the "Stockton and Darlington;" and in 1830 Robert Stephenson sent his locomotive, the "Rocket,” a-thundering over the track of the "Liverpool and Manchester Railway," at the phenomenal speed of 29 miles an hour!

The Space-Devourer had come! Continents and oceans were no longer to separate the tribes and nations of mankind! The "Seven-League Boots" were at last a reality!

I once heard a clergyman-a good and

well-meaning man-pause in the midst of his sermon to severely scold a locomotive that had just gone puffing by his church, disturbing, no doubt, the thread of his discourse and the serenity of his congregation.

I wondered at the time if the minister realized the fact that that sooty, noisy locomotive was the greatest evangelist that the world ever saw, and that it had done more than any other single human agency to kill the ancient Hate and to bring in the feeling of Brotherhood between the peoples of the earth.

Isolation is ignorance; to be a stranger to other people is oftentimes to entertain wrong and hateful opinions of them; while an intelligent acquaintance inevitably tends toward fraternity and recip rocal good-will.

This acquaintance steam has made possible-and humanity is rapidly showing the benign results.

Ghostly Colonial Romance.

In 1648 Nicholas Hervey, a near relative of the Governor of Virginia of that name and a member of the general assembly of Maryland, received from London a land grant of 1000 acres lying on the south shore of the Patuxent, then in Calvert and now in St. Mary's county.

He was a bluff old soldier, who had fought in the wars in Flanders, writes Paul Beckwith, in the Baltimore Sun. He was commissioned by Lord Baltimore's captain to prevent the encroachment of the Indians upon the new settlements. He built himself a home in a beautiful cove at the mouth of Town creek, on a sloping hill overlooking the Patuxent river and Chesapeake bay. The bricks he used were imported as ballast from the mother country. Here he married and lived, respected by all for many years. He served the province in the general assembly, and at his house the courts met. He had one child, a daughter Frances, who, growing to womanhood, was wooed and won by a newcomer to the colony, George Beckwith, "gentleman and planter," as stated in the old records at Annapolis.

George Beckwith, who had emigrated to the province but shortly before, was the scion of one of the oldest and most prominent families of Yorkshire, England, It was a love match, and it was the custom of the lovers in the gloaming of the evening to sit beneath the spreading elm on the slope of the hill overlooking the bay. They had four children, a son and three daughters, whose descendants are to be found in Maryland and other States at the present time. Urgent business recalled Beckwith to Yorkshire in 1675, and

the family, friends, neighbors and workmen of the plantation all congregated at the landing place to bid the husband, father, friend and master godspeed when he sailed away.

The vessel, with sails ready set, lay at anchor in the offing. The small boat, manned by four robust slaves of the plantation, with oars raised, waited the last word. As the godspeeds were all said, the husband taking his wife in his arms said in a loud voice so that all could hear: Do not weep, sweetheart, for living or dead, I shall come back to you."

Months passed away and no word came from the husband and father. The disconsolate wife and mother at dusk each evening took her seat beneath the elm and expectantly waited the return of her beloved. As days passed a visible change took place, and gradually she became more frail, and at last was laid away in the little graveyard a few rods up the hill.

It was not long before a slight and misty figure was seen dressed all in somber black, seated beneath the elm on the lawn on moonlight nights gazing out into the dim distance of the bay, and as darkness drew on it would slowly vanish. Whence she came and whither she went none knew-possibly back to her resting place in the little graveyard on the hill. Months had rolled into two years when, on a bright moonlight night, the lights of a large ship were seen entering the Patuxent. More and more distinct became the form of a majestic ship of the sea, with every sail in place, of ghostly whiteness. The news soon spread from plantation to plantation, and many persons assembled at the landing place, expecting the sad homecoming of the husband and father. The ship came to anchor with all her sails still to the wind-so unseemly an act that a shudder passed over the onlookers. A small boat was seen to leave the vessel, but with only one figure, a tall man wrapped in a long mantle and his broadbrimmed hat, fastened with a single black feather, drawn upon his forehead. Motionless the cavalier stood, until approaching the landing place, the pale, handsome features of Beckwith were distinctly seen by all.

An awful stillness fell upon the visitors at the wharf. None was prepared to tell him of the death of his wife. A gentle wind from the direction of the mansion on the hill was felt, and all, involuntarily turning in that direction, saw approaching the figure of his wife. The figure of the husband and father sprang upon the landing and, clasping his ghostly wife in his arms, in a loud voice said: "As promised, sweetheart, living or dead, I have returned," and as the startled onlookers looked again, cavalier, lady, boat and

vessel had all disappeared. It was shortly afterward learned from an incoming vessel that George Beckwith had died in London the year before.

In the long 250 years that have followed the two figures of cavalier and lady have frequently been seen standing beneath the elm tree, always in somber black, their eyes always directed toward the pathway of incoming vessels.

The plantation passed into other hands and the old brick house, long since in ruins, was, about 1858, cleared away, and the then owner commenced to build a modern home upon the old foundations. Hardly had the framework been placed and weather-boarded than strange noises were heard. The building was abanded and the house is still empty. There is an old tradition in the family that never will the old plantation home be inhabited until a descendant of George and Frances Beck with becomes the owner. Then the manor house will be rebuilt and the old plantation will again bloom in oldtime style, taking its former place among the baronial manors of Maryland.-Plain Dealer.

Average Humanity.

What do we mean by a good man or a bad one, a good woman or a bad one? Most people, like the young man in the song, are "not very good, nor yet very bad."

We move about the pastures of life in huge herds, and all do the same things at the same times and for the same reasons. "Forty feeding like one." Are we mean? Well, we have done some mean things in our time. Are we generous? Occasionally we are. Were we good sons or dutiful daughters? We have both honored and dishonored our parents, who in their turn had done the same by theirs. Do we melt at the sight of misery? Indeed we do. Do we forget all about it when we have turned the corner? Frequently that is so. Do we expect to be put to open shame at the great day of judgment? We should be terribly frightened of this did we not cling to the hope that amid the shocking revelations then for the first time made public our little affairs may fail to attract much notice.

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Judged by the standards of humanity, few people are either good or bad. "I have not been a great sinner," said the dying Nelson; nor had he-he had only been made a great fool of by a woman. Mankind is all tarred with the brush, though some operated upon when the brush is fresh from the barrel get more than their share. The biography of a celebrated man reminds me of the outside of a coast guardsman's cottage-all tar and whitewash.-Essays of Augustine Birrell.

• Legal News

Express Messenger Not a Passenger.

The Federal courts (Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company v. O'Brien, 132 Federal Rep. 593) hold that an express messenger, riding in a car furnished by the railroad company to the express company, occupies a relation toward the railroad company analogous to that of one of its own employees, and in case of injury his right to recover must be determined by the ordinary rules applicable to master and servant, and not those governing cases of injuries to passengers.-Railway World.

Labor Union Boycott Justified.

In the District Supreme Court at Washington, D. C., Justice Stafford dismissed the temporary injunction against the Bakery and Confectionery Workers' International Union which had been granted to a baker who alleged that he was being harassed by a boycott and that his customers were being persuaded to trade elsewhere. The court held that while the existence of a combination was evident the defendants seemed to have combined to demonstrate to Bender that he cannot conduct a profitable business with non-union help and thereby compel him to employ union help. The court held that such a combination was lawful. So long as all parties concerned were left free to follow their own choice as they decided their self interest dictated, the court said there was no infringement on the personal liberty of any one.-Railroad Gazette.

Workmen May Refuse to Work.

Michigan Supreme Court recently gave the following decision of importance to all trade unions: "Workingmen have the right to fix a price upon their labor and refuse to work unless that price is obtained. Singly or in combination, they have this right. They may use persuasion to induce men to join their organization or refuse to work except for an established wage, They may present their cause to the public in the newspapers or circulars, in a peaceable way and with no attempt at coercion. If the effect in such a case is ruin to the employer it is damnum absque injuria, for they have only exercised their legal rights." -Artisan.

Pass No Bar to Liability.

That a railroad company is not immune from liability for damages to a person who is riding on a pass was declared in Chicago by the Appellate Court. The decision was given in a suit brought by George B. Purvis, an employee of the Pennsylvania Railroad, who was given a judgment of $3,000 in a suit against that company for injuries suffered while he was traveling on a pass. The

Appellate Court holds that a railroad company cannot by contract exempt itself from liability for negligence.-Railway World.

French Labor Laws.

In the Revue Scientifique M. Paul Razous gives a resume of the present state of the laws regulating labor in France. That country was the first to follow England in the restriction of the labor of children and women. Thus, by an act passed in 1841, it was provided that children between the ages of 8 and 12 should not work more than eight hours a day if employed in any factory making use of power or of continuously running furnaces. If between 12 and 16 years of age they might be worked 12 hours, but no child under 16 years of age was permitted to work between the hours of 9 p. m. and 5 a. m., nor on Sundays or public holidays. In 1848 a law was passed limiting the hours of labor in all factories to 12 hours per day; but this did not apply to railways, canals or warehouses.

In 1874 the law was altered so as to prohibit the employment in factories of children under 12 years of age, save in some special cases, when work might be commenced at 10 years of age, but in that case it must not be for more than eight hours a day. In 1892 this act was amended, and it was provided that children between 13 and 16 years of age must not be worked more than ten hours per day, and those between 16 and 18 years of age not more than eleven hours a day nor more than 60 honrs a week. Women were also not permitted to work more than eleven hours a day, but the weekly limit did not apply in their case. At the same time the legal limit for adult men was fixed at 12 hours a day save when less than 20 men were employed and no mechanical power made use of.

The last important act was passed in December, 1900, and came into force April 1, last. By its terms no men in factories where women and children are also employed must work more than ten hours per day. The employment of children of less than 13 years is prohibited unless certain educational standards are passed, and the child is physically fit, and then work may be commenced at 12 years of age. In no case, however, must the working day of women or children exceed ten hours, and these must not be consecutive, a rest of at least one hour being given. No night work for these is permitted, and they must have one day of complete rest a week. Further, the employment of women in certain dangerous trades is also prohibited. These restrictions as to hours and night work can, however, be abrogated either temporarily or permanently on due cause being shown.

The hours for adult males a: e restricted to 12 hours a day, save in the case cited above, when, if women and children are also employed, the working day must not exce.d ten hours. These rules and regulations do not apply to railways, but here other regulations provide that the hours shall not exceed, according to circumstances, 10 or 12 a day, and the employee must have one day free in seven or in ten -Engineering.

Erdman Law Again Declared Void.

In another suit brought by the Order of Railway Telegraphers against the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company on the ground of discrimination in the employment and discharge of telegraphers in violation of the Erdman law of congress a demurrer by the railroad company was sustained on November 17, by Judge Evans in the United States Court at Louisville. The effect of the decision is to throw the case out of court and to affirm a previous decision of the same court, on October 24, declaring the Erdman act unconstitutional. The decision holds: 1. That the Federal Court clearly has jurisdiction. 2. That section 10 of the act of Congress of June 1, 1896, under which this suit is brought is unconstitutional and void. 3. That even if the act is good, no proper construction of the act would entitle the plaintiff to the kind of relief sought, as the act provided for criminal prosecution and granted no right to civil redress. 4. That under the federal statutes no power existed to enjoin a person or corporation from committing a crime, even if the act complained of was a crime.-Railway Age.

New Decision Concerning the Safety
Appliance Law.

United States District Judge McPherson has just rendered an important decision at Des Moines, Ia., in one of the many cases recently brought by the department of justice to enforce the provision of the safety appliance law. The railroads have generally settled these cases by confessing judgment and paying the penalty, but in this instance the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway contested the matter. The government made a special effort to meet the contention of the railway company. Briefs were filed covering all the disputed points, and the attorney general appointed Mr. Luther M. Walter, the Interstate Commerce Commission's expert law officer in these matters, as special attorney to assist District Attorney Miles in the trial of the case. The result was that after listening to the evidence and considering the arguments on both sides Judge McPherson took the case from the jury and ordered a verdict for the government on all counts in the complaint.

The principal point decided is that due diligence in the inspection and repair of equipment will not avail as a defense to an action for the recovery of the penalty under this law. The contention that a carrier must have knowledge of defects in a car to be guilty of violating the law is no longer tenable. The same rule applies as in the question of intent under the revenue laws and of good faith in the handling of adulterated goods.

Another important point is that it is a violation of law to haul a car not equipped with couplers, as prescribed by the statute, for any distance, no matter how short. When a car is wrecked in transit or has its couplers pulled ont, it cannot be chained up and moved in that condition without violating the law. It must be repaired on the spot, or if it becomes necessary to move it a long dis

tance to a repair point it must be loaded on a flat car in order that such movement may be made. It is also held that the couplers on a car must be in perfect working condition in and of themselves, and a showing that the uncoupling could be done by using the lever on the opposite side of the train without the necessity of a man going between the cars will not avail as a defense. The constitutionality of the amended act of 1903, which makes the law apply to all the equipment of a carrier engaged in interstate commerce, is also upheld.Railway and Engineering Review.

Employer's Liability.

As a result of several conferences between attorneys of eastern and western railroads, an agreement has been reached to carry to the United States supreme court the first case brought by an injured employee of some road which involves the disputed points in the new law passed by the last congress entitled "an act relating to liability of common carriers engaged in commerce between the states and territories and foreign nations, to their employees," but commonly called the "employer's liability act," although confined to railroads. The plan of the railroad lawyers has been made known to the government and the attorney general has announced that he intends to ask leave to intervene in the first case brought under the law, to support the constitutionality, validity and interpretation of the act.—Railway Review.

JUDGE HOLT in the United States Circuit Court has imposed a fine of $18,000 upon the American Sugar Refining Company, which was recently convicted of accepting $26,000 in rebates from the New York Central. The defendant was given 60 days in which to prepare papers for an appeal.

Eight-Hour Law is Valid.

On February I Judge Fox, of the Missouri Su- • preme Court, in a decision declared the eighthour law for miners working under ground, passed in 1901, to be constitutional and valid.

Pullman Company Fined for Milkmen's Sin.

The Pullman Company has issued the following statement: "The cases brought against the Pullman Company by the health authorities of the state of Pennsylvania charging the sale of milk and cream containing formaldehyde were tried last week. It was not contended that the company acted otherwise than in good faith nor that it did not buy its milk and cream and use them in the belief that they were pure and free from all objectionable ingredients. Accordingly the minimum penalty was imposed, although the court found that the preservative was not put in by the defendant nor with its knowledge, but that the law required the punishment even in such a case in order to compel the exercise of the greater care in respect to the sources of supply."-Railway Age.

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