One Davis and his wife have started on...

One Davis and his wife have started on an automobile to make a transcontinental trip. If the history of the trip is honestly and faithfully written up, it should raise the good roads question to the dignity oí a national issue. At last it begins to look as tbough there is to be no war after all between England and the Transvaal. The Boers are reported to yield certain pomts which will make a compromise possible. The Tarnsvaal auhorities uow appear to be ready to permit naturalization of {bona fide residsnts under restrictions similar to those which prevail iu the United States. This is wisdom on the part of the Boer .authorities, for the utterances of Colonial Secretary Chamberlain indicated that he was preparing Engiish -public opinión for war, by making war appear inevitable. The only hope for the Boer is to square himself jwith the demands of the progress of the age. Thanks to the wise statesmanship of -President Diaz, ot Mexico, onr sister repubhc has just refunded her debt of .109,000,000 at üve per cent. This is ;a totally new experieuce in Mexcian financering. Mexico has made remarkable progress during the reign of President Diaz, for that is parctically what bis administraron has been. Bnt it was what Mexico needed. Tho important question for the future there is ■what will come after Diaz. His adoninistrationhas not schooled the people án self government to any great extent md Mexico may not find the man to ftake bis place when he passes off the stage. Mexico has scarcely advanced noially and intellectually as she has wnaterially and there may be a reaction, ereiorer, when the strong band and .ron will of Diaz is removed from the 3ictation of affairs. Unless the citizens of Detroit come to ;eir own'relief, and that rigbtjquickly, these wbom they elceted toguard their interests will delirer them tied banc foot, for a halt century, to the enemies of their righs and tbeir higbest welfare. That they have beenbetrayed by -those who should have protectud them eems unquestioned. And in tbis betrayal the great friend of the people, Bazen S. Pingree, söttns to be a tooi. Tbe absolute unsafety of the leadership of a man with his lack of training and normous egotism is manifested in this "Sealas never before. Toin Johnson 's is iiie master hand wbich direats everytsbing. He knows bow to lubrícate tbe anachine and he has the lbriator. No 48-year franchises should be granted for any purpose and it is difficult tojunderstand on what grounds any intelligent representativa of the people can defeud sneh an action. Attorney-General Oren in a well digpsted opinión holds the beet sugar bounty law unconstitutional under tne provisión of the constitution forbidding ■ the use of state funds to aid private enterprises. The opinión contains tnnch good. sound horse sense. And if Úw reasoning is good, then it knocks She bottom out of beet sugar bounties. Under the opinión of the attorneygener;;l, there will be no more bounty paid unlcss the supreme court says it mast be paid. The auditor-general has refnsed to pay over what ia due the manufacturers provided the law is good law. This will compel them to go into court to test their righta. This will probably be done in the near future. The plea of the manufacturers will -no doubt, be the old one that the law in substance amounts to a contract with the manufacturers, that but for tbe iu-Jucements advanced by the law they ïwould not have embarked in the enterprise. But if thelegislature is forbidrlen by the constitution to make any : such law, hpw can it be held to codstitute a contract? If the state can be ; held responsible for what the legisla"inre may do wholly ourside ot its ccnntutional prerogatives, then there is no limit to the amount in which the state may bs mulcted for all sorts of schemes. Th8 mauufücturers are aupposed to kncw that the state had no authority to pay a gratuity to privatö ndividua3s and in going into the beet sngar buí-iuess, they simply took their chances. It seeras to be pretty well settkd that Detroit is to have a horneoptttbic college, and tbat next fall will see the actual iuitiation of the enterprise. Apart froiii its value to the school of medicine that has pined in loneliness so loug at Ann Arbor, this is one mere step in the directiou of the Detroit university wbioh we have loug believed will make its appearauce sooner or later. By a perfectly natural process of evolution the Detrrit university is slowly growng. In the coarse of tune sonie man of wealth ■will lay the foundation upou which all these now scattered interests will be brougbt together, and then Detroit will stand with Chicago, San Francisco and other cities in the possession of its great institution of leamiug. - NewsTribuue. At last the News-Tribuue appears to have a load moment on this question. [t is not quite sane enough, bowever to go on with its project without a stab at the university at Ann Arbor. Now let tJae New-Tribune show its faith by itsvorks and let the "tnan of wealth" behiud it build himself a monument by laying "the fonndation" of the proposed Detroit university. The consumation of suc-h a project would be more to the credit of the News-Tribune and its wealthy proprietor than 'vhat it has tried to do toward the disintegratation of the state university. Wnh an eye single to its project, it can accomplish more than by worrying its dear self over the "school of medicine that bas pined in loneliness so long at Ann Arbor." A permanent court of arbitration to which any of the powers may appeal, trat to whicn no power is to be obliged to resort, appears to be the limit that can be reached by the present Peace Conference at the Hague. V?e are tar from thinking this a barren outcome, particularly of a hrst attempt. When trial courts weie flrst invented, the conditions of using them were, donbtless, precisely similar. Men stood for themselves, their families, and their belongings; fought for them; perched their dwellings in places good for defense, and gave and took blows without recourse to the judgment of men outside the particular quarrel. It was a much later, much higher civilization which compelled men to settle grave disputes in ccrurt, and mi'ie it criminal to settle them by bodüy combat. Nations have bitherto preserveel the war corabat as the last resort in disputes which was the custom of the priiuitive man. To get one step beyend tbat; to créate a tribunal always ready to hear and arbítrate is, therefore, a distinct advance, and will ieac to better. - Criterion. President McKialey has shown better judgment in officering the 12 new regitnents which are to be forined for service in the Philippines thau he did in rnany of his selections on the outbreak of the war with Spain. Many persons were eommissioned at that time simply because they had the pull, wbile fur better men with military education and experience were set aside. Such is always the workings of spoils appointmeuts. Most of 'his recent ap pointments, however, are West Pointers or men who saw service in the civil war. Now, if the company officers are selecteci with the game care, these regiments will enter the service with many advantages over some otber volunteer regiments. It is surpirsing that in anation with the characteristics of the American, there shonld be such a pressure for military commissions, but at no point in the public service has it been greater. Men with no military training bring to bear all the forces of "politics" to secure these commissions. Snch appointments necessarily lower the efficiencuy of the service. Some "finds, " of course, deveJop into first clars officers but most ot the failures ia ourjmilitary history are attributable to officers appomted through political pull. Direct legislation with a property qualificatioa for voting on all matters involving the expenditure of money is probably the only way to avoid such conditions as exist in Detroit today on ibe street car qnestion. It has been demonstrated again and again in the larger municipalities of the country that the interests of the people are not cafe in the hands of a board of aldermen where questiocs involving large money considerations are in issue. Recently in Chicago the city council, bnt for the determined opposition of the people, would have given Yerkes a 50 year street car franchise. The fierce opposition of thecitizens whose rigñts were to be given away by a corrupt and venal souncil was the only mfluence that prevented the consumation of the steal. It was openly chargod that the aldermen were bought and the charge was undoubtedly tru?. Similar charges aremade against Detroit aldermen in the vote on the 48 year franchise. None but the unsophisticated doubt the truth of the charge. The people on the average are of course co better thaii their representativea. Mauy of those who hold no office, if in office, niight bo corrnpced do donbt, as easily as are those in office. In inany iustances donbtless :he ouly reason they Lave not yielded to such iLflnencRS is becanse they tiave uot beeu in position to have the temptation pot in their way. Vihat advautage wonld there be, therefore, in direct legisiation? This advantage, that it íp impossible to raake a wnolesale purchase of the people. This beiug the case the voters wonld iu large ineasnre at least vote their convictioiis on qnestiocs snbmitted for au expression of their will. Time was when the people looked upon the executive power as the ever present danger to their rights. But that questiou has been elimiuated from cousideratiou. The execntive power is in leadiug strings. [tjis no louger amenace. The dangers to the people's interests today are in legislative bodies. And appareutly the only way to control this power, especially in the smaller units of onr systera is the submission of all important qnsstions to a direct vote of the electorate. The'responsibilities of legislativa bodies to the peopla is so exceedingly light that it exerts little inflnence ou legisiators. Ouly when the people are thoroüghly aronsed by sorae ontrageons actiou of their legisiators is this responsibility feit. Direct legisiation within certaiu limits would argely iucreasethis responsibility and aoconntability.