Jasper County Democrat, Volume 12, Number 67, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 December 1909 — FOOTBALL AGAIN. THE SUGAR TRUST SCANDAL. [ARTICLE]

FOOTBALL AGAIN.

THE SUGAR TRUST SCANDAL.

In a Thanksgiving Day address a man in Washington, the capital of the nation, said: “I hope I am not guilty of high treason, but we all know that President Taft is not the real president. He is but the associate president. We are ruled, not from Washington, but from Wall street ” It takes some people a long time to find anything out. The rest of the country has known about the Wall street matter for quite a spell. Armour & Co., one of the four big concerns that compose the beef trust, have ofliclally admitted that they made a net profit of 35 per cent for the years ending Oct. 23. The beef trust controls not only the price of meats of all kinds, but of fruits, vegetables, eggs and butter. It will be remembered that this trust was "investigated” by the Roosevelt administration and given a certificate oNssgpod character as to its profits. Is it any wonder that the cost of living is going higher all the time, when it is considered that the trusts have grown so powerful that they can fix prices of all necessaries to suit themselves? CONGRESS NEXT WEEK. Congress meets on next Monday, but it is not believed that there will be any legislation especially helpful to the country, but it is not so certain that there will be nothing injurious clone. This will depend largely, however, on whether the Republicans, despite their quarrels, can get together on the sibsidy graft, tiie central bank project and similar vicious trust and Wall street measures;. It appears at this time that the Cannon and anti-Cannon Republicans in the house will .fight out their differences early in the session, and Cannon is likely to win. The insurgents are not numerous enough to accomplish much by themselves, and the Democrats will hardly go to their support unless assistance can be secured for Democraitc measures. As to this, however, nothing is now definitely known, as the course to be followed by the Democrats will depend on later developments. It seems to be settled that if the Democrats rake any chestnuts they must have some of the benefits.

The frauds perpetrated by the sugar trust with the connivance of government officials during the past ten years are something stupendous. A New York paper says that many of the disclosures have been made by officials or ex-offlclals of the service who complain that their zeal in uncovering fraud has met with scant encouragement from their superiors. Thus one appraiser tells how, as far back as 1899, he laid detailed evidence of the trust’s wrongdoing before Lyman J. Gage, then secretary of the treasury, and received the following instructions: "I don't believe that my good /fiend Mr. Haremeyer (then president of the sugar trust) knows anything about this matter, and I want

you to give him my compliments and present the statement Which you have presented to me, and tell ‘him If anything like that exists it must be stopped." Nothing was done under Gage. Later some of the sugar iniquities were laid before President Roosevelt by George H. Earle, jr., at that time engaged in personal litigation with the trust, and were declared inadequate as a basis of prosecution by Attorney General Bonaparte. It is learned from the same paper above quoted that Leslie M- Shaw, who was secretary of the treasury under Roosevelt, estimates that during the time he was the head of the customs service the government lost SIOO,,000,000 a year from undervaluations and underweights, yet It does not appear that he made much of an effort to effect a change. Former Collector Fowler journeyed to Washington primed with information, yet came away without seemingly making any strenuous effort to reach the White House or even his close friend, George B. Cortelyou, then secretary of the treasury. Former Appraiser Wakeman had under him a sampler who turned over bribe money, yet practically did nothing toward following up the clue. According to these recitals, practically everyone, high or low, connected with customs administration was aware of what was going on, and except for perfunctory talk and mild protest was supine. Apd during all these years Mr. Roosevelt was not only president of the United States, but he was preaching from the housetops.

Now that the fatalities of the football season are in and we are duly appaled, there is a rising sentiment for the suppression of the game. People in Virginia are talking strongly of prohibiting it in that state, and efforts are making to prohibit it in the schools of New York. Two things so far seem plain: The attempts to reform it from within have not been successful, and it remains a game of great risks. Admittedly it must be so to some extent, and whether it can be changed so as to avoid fatalities is a question. As it stands it is essentially gladiatorial. The majority of people might not think so at first, but really it is more perilous than fist fighting or boxing. The chances are that amateur boxers of various colleges would emerge from a contest in the ring with leas risk of life and with less severe injury than football players now must face. There is much in the old saying "boys will be boys;” and baseball does not seem to satisfy, at present at least, the college idea of rivalry in physical prowess and skill. But. it must be admitted that we have gone too far with football, both as to the manner of the game and the idea of it. Both need modification. It will have to be made a contest that shall eliminate or reduce to a minimum the chances of fatal results, and it will nave to shrink to its proper proportions in the life of those that follow it. We can not hold out to the flower of youth an ideal that may at any time mean death or such injuries as are almost its equivalent. Clearly something more must be done in the case than has been done, and there is scant time to do it if the game ■hal! be preserved.—lndianapolis News.