[151]. If the case is not very serious the prosecuting attorney sometimes recommends that there be no further trial and the accused person is then freed.
[152]. For example, where the jury has disregarded the judge’s instructions on points of law or where the jurymen have reached their verdict in some improper way.
[153]. A prisoner was once charged with setting fire to his own home and burning it down, thus causing the death of his father and mother. The prosecuting attorney first put him on trial for the murder of his father; but the jury acquitted him. Another jury was then summoned and the attempt was made to place him on trial for the murder of his mother. The prisoner’s counsel argued that this was placing him on trial the second time (or in second jeopardy as it is called) for the same offence. The prosecuting attorney argued that it was a different offence, the murder of a different person. Which was right?
[154]. After the Revolution the different states claimed vast tracts of western lands but they ultimately surrendered these claims to the national government. The lands were surveyed and offered for sale at low prices. Many years later Congress adopted the homestead system by which actual settlers might get lands for almost nothing.
[155]. It is said that if all the available water power of the United States were put to use, it would take the place of all the coal that is now being used in supplying industries with power. “White coal” it is called, and there is an abundance of it.
[156]. In early days the slaughtering of cattle was done locally, but the use of refrigerator cars has led to the centralizing of the meat industry at a few great centers.
[157]. We have had a striking illustration of this in recent years. During the World War the prices of all agricultural products rose enormously and they continued high for a short time after the war came to an end. Then they dropped quickly to a low level and by so doing left the American farmer in a hard situation. Labor and supplies cost him nearly as much in 1921 as in 1919, while he received in some cases only half as much for the products of his land.
[158]. A large part of our nitrate supply comes from Chile, but owing to the lack of shipping during the war not much could be brought from that quarter. The United States government built a huge nitrate-making plant at Muscle Shoals, Ala., but it did not get into operation before the close of the war. It has now been offered for sale to private capitalists. There has been some discussion of the possibility of making nitrates by the electric fixation of the nitrogen which is in the air, using water power to generate the electric power cheaply. It is an interesting fact that certain types of bacteria gather nitrogen from the air at the roots of leguminous plants (peas, beans, alfalfa, etc.), and in order to ensure the presence of these bacteria the seed is frequently inoculated before planting.
[159]. An investigation of the exodus from Ohio farms a few years ago showed that as many as 60,000 men and boys left the rural districts in a single year, while fewer than 9000 went from the cities and towns to the farms.
[160]. There is a somewhat similar situation in Europe today. The various new states which were created at the close of the war all have their tariffs, their rivalries, and their jealousies.