Indianapolis Journal, Indianapolis, Marion County, 14 February 1889 — Page 4

THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1889.

THE DAILY JOURNAL .THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 14, 1889. WASHINGTON OFFICE 513 Fourteenth St. P. 8. Heath, Correspondent. KEW YORK OFFICE 101 Temple Court. Corner Beck man and Nassau street.

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H Ml V 1 Ml - """ -- Telephone Calls. Business Office 238 Editorial Booms 242 TnEEE is talk of holding a .public meeting to protest against the passage of the Curtis bill. With the Curtis and Bigham bills enacted into law, the government of the city of Indianapolis will bo vested in the Legislature. A large meeting of the Business Men's Association of Evansville, held Tuesday night, protested against the Curtis bill being applied to that city. The Curtis bill should bo entitled a bill to steal the city government of Indianapolis, to provide salaries for needy Democrats and to make the city reliably and permanently Democratic. Any day on which the legislative majority accomplishes little is sure to be followed by one of renewed partisan activity. The period of rest is spent in looking around for something more to grab. Hon. Robert Smalls's account of the way his majority was stolen from him in the Seventh South Carolina district is an argument in favor of a "vigorous Southern policy," such as the Southern Democrats do not enjoy. The Andrew election law, if passed, will not apply to municipal elections in this city. Probably the Democratic caucus thought that after the passage of the Curtis and Bigham bills city elections would not amount to anything. A surprisingly large number of distinguished gentlemen have declared, in substance, that they do not expect to receive valentines from General Harrison containing his love and invitation to the Cabinet. The probabilities are that the most of them will not bo disappointed. The Democratic majority is on record as refusing to investigate the affairs of the Insane Hospital, although there is every reason to believe its financial affairs are in had condition and that patients are subject to gross abuse. The people of the State will bear this in mind when another Legislature is to be elected. The apathy of the citizens of Indian- , apolis, in view of the impending passage I of the Curtis and Bigham bills, is re- ' markable. These bills go very far 'towards destroying local Belf-govern-iricnt in this city. There is not a city in England that would submit to 6uch a deprivation of popular rights without a struggle and protest. The spectacle of Prince Bismarck flying into a passion and threatening to kick a hole in the wall because he was forced - to wait a few minutes before gaining audience with the Emperor is an edifying one. "What a nice, amiable, magnetic candidate for the United States presidency he would make, and how graciously he would greet the army of office-seekers after his election! The national House of Representatives yesterday seated Elliott, of South Carolina, by a vote of 143 to 12G. The House stands 168 Democrats, 153 Republicans, and 4 independents. It is evident the vote ran very closely on party lines. Tho result was a foregone conclusion. Smalls, tho colored Republican contestor, was dearly entitled to the seat, and his exclusion is feimply the culmination of tho South Carolina plan. Speaking of "original Harrison men," Ihe Philadelphia Press rises to remark that "up to the present time 830 of him have arrived in Indianapolis and registered, and some of the back counties aro 'still to be heard from." Yes, and all tho while tho real original Jacob Townsend Harrison man has been a resident of Iniianapolis, and has amused himself by watching the procession go by. He lives in the house that had the Harrison lithograph in the window lait summer. The final count and canvass of tho electoral vote for President; and Vicepresident tookplaco yesterday, in accordance with the provisions of tho law on that subject. Tho proceeding was conducted in the presence of the two houses of Congress, and was impressive in its simplicity and compliance with constitutional forms. Its dignity was somewhat marred by somo awkward blunders on the part of tho tellers, which, it should seem, might have been avoided on such an occasion. It may now bo said with legal and constitutional strictness that Harrison and Morton are elected. The election of Ewiug m the ShelbyDecatur district is not a surprise, and his small ma jority is really a Democratic defeat Ho was only elected nt all by great efforts on the part of tho Democracy. The district was full of speakers from the time of the nomination till tho election, and Governor Gray and sev

eral of his henchmen worked day and night to get out the Democratic vote. Ewing fell away behind his party strength in both counties, and, from all accounts, his election was largely due to a free use of money. Ewing himself belongs to tho boodle school. During the last campaign he issued a circular, as chairman of tho Decatur county Democratic committee, containing suggestions similar to those made by Chairman "VVhittaker, of Morgan.

COHCERNHJQ THE CABINET. The suspense and speculation relative to General Harrison's Cabinet will soon be at an end. It is highly probable that his Cabinet is already completed in his own mind, and that nothing but the improbable event of a declination can break the slate as now determined upon. General Harrison is not a man to postpone important affairs of this kind to the last hour, or leave their settlement open to disturbing contingencies. As a conscientious and methodical worker it i3 his habit to bo fully prepared and equipped for every duty, and the country can rest assured he will not pick up any of his Cabinet en route to "Washington, or revise tho list after he arrives there. There has been no occasion for tho anxiety evinced on the subject during tho last few weeks, and still less for the friendly efforts to advise and assist General Harrison in the premises. Tho selection of a Cabinet is a matter that should be left almost exclusively to the President himself. . The relation is so close and confidential, so essentially personal, as to make any attempt to control or influence the President's action an extremely delicate matter. It is to bo supposed that a man who is fit to be President of the United States, and who has gone through the political ordeal of a nomination, a campaign and an election, also knows the organization of his party, and the character of its leading representatives in different, parts of the country well enough to select the limited number of those who are to constitute his immediate political family and executive aids without being overwhelmed with gratuitous suggestions or officious advice from every person who voted for him. Nothing in Gen. Harrison's character or antecedents, or his bearing during tho campaign could justify any apprehension that he was not fully equal to the task of forming his own Cabinet on a basis of the broadest Republican statesmanship. That ho has borne tho strain of these past months with such unfailing fortitude, and listened patiently and respectfully to tho pressing . importunities and innumerable suggestions as to how ho should meet and discharge a personal duty, is the highest possible tribute to his character. But we believe the country would think less of him, and from what we know of General Harrison wo are quite sure he would think less of himself, if all this voluntary advice and .interested solicitation should induce him to depart by so much as a hair's breadth from the lino of duty prescribed by his own superior intelligence and personal conviction. Further, we think it worthy of remark that General Harrison's absolute reticence under the persistent inquisition and steady fire of cross-questioning to which ho has been subjected is additional proof of his intellectual self-control and mental adequacy. During these months of universal conjecture and gossip, when almost every hour of every day has given birth to a fresh rumor and the political kaleidoscope has furnished a constant succession of new combinations, he has never so much as said yes or no to any suggestion. He has simply kept his own counsel and reminded his inquisitors that ho was not responsible for what other people said or for what tho newspapers printed. Happily ho is not. Tho result is he will be as free from entangling alliances or pledges in forming his Cabinet as he was in receiving his nomination, and the result, when known; ought to give as universal satisfaction among Republicans throughout tho country. One thing is certain, it will be General Harrison's Cabinet, as it ought to be. It is well known that Commissioner of Agriculture Colman has worked early and late ever since his induction into that office to raise his bureau to the dignity of a Cabinet position. His earnestness was possibly not without a tinge of self-seeking, since he doubtless believed, as a good Missouri Democrat should, that tho Cleveland regime was to continue four years more, and that, in such case, he, the faithful Colman, would be called up higher. That his hopes would havo been fulfilled had it not been for the fact that tho election went tho other way, was indicated by his appointment as Secretary of Agriculture the moment tho office was given a legal existence. Tho appointment was not for long; tho privilege of presiding over tho farming interests of thft country for three brief weeks could not advance tho science of agriculture to any noticeable extent, but, still, tho temporary promotion was in tho nature of a reward for his arduous labors. It showed tho President to bo capable of appreciating services that were meant to benefit his own party, although they turned out to be to tho advantage of the other. Governor Hovey's treatment of the school-book question in his inaugural address pointed the way to a necessary reform. He showed beyond any doubt that tho cost of school books under tho present system is a heavy burden on those least able to bear it, and that it was the duty of tho State to provide a remedy for tho evil. Ho showed how this could bo done and how it could not be done. He stated distinctly, as tho result of his investigation and correspondence on the subject, that tho plan of publishing school books by the Stato "has been condemned as impracticable and costly." This was sufficient to determine tho courso of tho Democrats. They promptly rejected the plan which the Governor recommended as the only practicable solution of the question, and . adopted with enthusiasm the one which he said had been condemned in other States as impracticable and costly. It would have been unlike tho Indiana De

mocracy to do anything else. If the

Governor had wanted them to adopt the right plan and reject the wrong one, he should have condemned the former and recommended the latter. Several of tho States furnish free text books, but none of them publish the books. This was attempted in California and proved a failure. It was found that the school books thus produced were very inferior in respect of literary merit and mechanical execution, and at the samo time were more costly than those furnished by the old system. The State publication system in California is a complete failure. The only plan that meets with any favor among educators, or that has tho approval of experience in other States, is tho State or district contract system. The State publication plan, as proposed by the Mullinix bill, is condemned by educators everywhere, is opposed to every principle of good government, and has been tried and condemned in other States. It only meets with favor hero from Democratic politicians as a means of creating a lot of new salaried offices for party pets. It would simply be a substitute of. one school-book ring for another, and our last state would bo worse than our first. The Mullinix scheme is a Democratic "good scheme." If the people of Indiana have any rights it is about time to assert them. There is every reason to believe that one of tho Stato charities, tho Insane Hospital, has been robbed by John E. Sullivan, the defaulting and fugitive clerk and Democratic boss of this county. The Democrats in tho Legislature refuse to permit an investigation of the hospital accounts, or even allow a resolution on tho subject to bo read. They deny a hearing to tho minority; let us see if they will deny a hearing to the people. Let us test the right of petition. Let petitions be started in every county in the State, asking for an examination of the hospital accounts, and let us see if the Democratic majority will dare to reject them. As fast as a respectable number of signatures are obtained, send tho petition to some member of the Legislature who will present it, and insist on its being read. Start the petitions. A funny feature of tho removal of Edgerton from the Civil-service Commission and the appointment of Thompson is the assertion by friends of the administration that President Cleveland desired that the incoming administration should find upon tho commission, as a representative of the Democratic party, a man who is an earnest advocate of civil-service reform. When it is remembered that Mr. Edgerton was appointed three years ago last November, and has, apparently, been acceptable to Mr. Cleveland until two weeks ago, tho anxiety of the latter to place a reformer on tho committee instead of a spoilsman is very remarkable and touching. It seems not to have occurred to the President that General Harrison may be a pretty fair judge of a genuine reformer himself. ' . Congressman Octhwaite, of Ohio; who is described as "one of the rising young Democrats of that State," made a speech in the House against the admission of Mr. Smalls, the colored contestant from South Carolina, in which ho took occasion to say that General Harrison owed his election to the preponderance of colored voters in tho United States. Of course this is not true, but if it were his title to tho office would be infinitely purer and better than that of the present incumbent, who owes his election to tho suppression of the colored vote in the South and to a fraudulent majority manufactured in the slums of New York city. ; ' The management of the elevator fire on Tuesday night is being used by the promoters of the public-works bill as an argument in favor of their scheme. It should not be so considered. In the first place it is unjust to condemn Mr. Dougherty off-, hand, and to accept the statements of ex cited by-standers and prejudiced persons as proof that he is responsible for the dis astrous results. The Journal did not ap prove of the appointment of Dougherty, or any untried man, believing that Chief Webster, who had proved faithful and efficient, and had tho advantage of years of experience, should havo been retained so long as he was able and willing to serve. It is not to be assumed, however, that Webster or any other man would have succeeded in controlling the conflagration on Tuesday. Only experts and men of cool and unbiased judgment can decide this matter. It certainly does not follow that the conditions would be better or property safer were the department placed in charge of men whose sole recommendation is that they are chosen by a corrupt legislative majority. If the city is in the frying-pan now, it is likely to be in tho fire then, in more senses than one. Says Mrs. Lucy Stone: "We shall never havo the churches full of men until the pulpits are filled by women." Mrs. Stone may be right, but when that time arrives, what is to become of the women who do not fill pulpits! Are they to be left in the outer darkness to which men aro now condemned by having only members of their own sex in tho ministerial profession. For "fine writing" read tho St. Louis papers. A woman, tired of life in that city, shot herself a day or two ago, and a reporter pathetically pictures her little child "dancing about the house as happily as she would if there were not the remnants of her mother lying on tho kitchen floor." If G. S. will send name and address, the information desired will be sent by mail. ABOUT PEOPLEAXD THINGS. Captain Zalinski's wife is of assistance to him in a great many 'vays. She docs not share the traditional timidity of her sex in regard to guns, and is quite capable of tiring a canon on occasion. A bronze statue of heroic size of Stonewall Jackson, to cost $30,000, has been ordered by the Jackson Memorial Association of Lexington, Va. It will bo completed in three years. The model is by the artist Valentine, of Richmond. Tiik first bank in the United States was tho Bank of North America, chartered by Congress at tho instance of Robert Morris, inlTbO, aud by the State of Pennsylvania in 1781, with a capital of 100,000. It is still in existence in Philadelphia. The Japaneso students now at Roanoke College are the first representativesof their nation to enter a Virginia college. ' These boys (Hidci Fukuoka and Toyoshiro Terashima) aro sons of distinguished officers of

their government Viscount TaTcachika Fukuoka, member of the imperial privy council and ex-minister of state for education, and Count Munenori Terashima. vice-president of the privy council and formerly minister to the United States. John A. McDonald, ticket-taker in a Boston dime museum at a salary of $8 a week, receives $100,0jp0 by the will of his uncle, the late Lieutenant-governor McDonald, of Michigan, who was. recently killed in a railroad accident. The custom of tolling the bells of steamboats while passing Grant's grave on the Hudson river has been adopted by a few boats, in imitation of ' the custom among steamboat men on the Potomac when passing Washington's grave at Mount Vernon. Miss Susanna Warfield, who resides near Sykesville, Carroll county, Maryland composed tho march played at the inaugural ball of "Tippecanoe" Harrison, and her friends want it plaved at the inauguration of his grandson, March 4. Miss Wartield, who is wealthy, is aged over ninety years. .Twenty-five years ago a couple wero married in Brockton, Mass., and lived together for five years. Then they separated, and for twenty years have not lived together, but have not been divorced. The odd thing about it is that every Sunday night he calls on his wife and spends tho evening with her. It is not generally known that Mme. Romero, wife of the Mexican representative at the capital, was a Chicago girl. She is small and fragile-looking, with fluffybrown hair, but her big blue eyes mako one think more of the dreamy beauty of Southern women than the vivacious types of her Western sisters. The Ked Trefoil will lead the great procession in Washington at the inauguration of President Harrison. The grand marshal is one-lcged Gen. Beaver, Governor of Pennsylvania, who went to the war as colonel of the One-nundred-and-f ort y-ei ghth Pennsylvania Volunteers, one of the best regiments in the famous Second corps. The Emperor of China has presented his bride-elect with two beautiful mirrors for her. attiring room. They are of massive foreign glass, over six feet long and five feet broad, set in rosewood, in frames nine feet high, with flowers carvedin relief. The pedestals for holding them are also a domed with figures of foliage, animals, birds, etc. Each mirror t and each frame took eight men to cany it, and they were conveyed from the palace to the house of tho bride's father. Queen Victoria is so fond of fresh air that she is in the habit of sleeping with open windows even in the dead of winter. The Empress Marie Theresa of Austria was more peculiar in this respect. Her writing table, even in winter, was close to tho open window, and the falling snow often drifted in and fell on the paper on which she wrote. It frequently happened that the hands of the hairdresser were partly frozen while attending to her Majesty's coiffure. A correspondent who recently interviewed Lady Haberton, the English champion of the "divided skirt," describes her as plain, almost masculine in form and feature, suggesting now Wilson Barrett and now George Eliot, with a distant reminiscences of Susan B. Anthony, while her simple and natural dignity of manner bespeaks the lady genuiue and refined throughout. A draped overskirt falling to the knees conceals from the casual observer the peculiar feature of her dress, which would not bo noticed as peculiar were she not known to be the Viscountess Haberton. ; The little Princess of the Netherlands, when she becomes Queen of Holland, will be one of tho richest sovereigns, if not the richest sovereign, in Europe. The civil list of Holland, which is secured on the revenues of Borneo, is very large 3,000,000 per annum, it is said. The duohv of .Luxembourg passes to the Grand Duke of Nassau, and then becomes a portion of the German empire; but the kingdom of Holland, not coming under the operations of the Salic law, descends to the King's little daughter. She is a bright, intelligent, clever child, with a good deal of character and determination. The marriage of the , King . and Queen, despite the disparity of age, nas been a very happy one. Written for the Indianapolis Journal. HER VALENTINE. ' I "Be my valentine,' she said; ;'. Ah, tender words and sweet: , How throbbed my heart, how whirled my head: I: I knelt before her feet. 'Nay, rise!" with wicked 6mile, said she, "I never can be thine; I only meant for you to be My comio valentine." L. 31. B.

COMMENT AXD OPINION. It has become a cant cry to speak of the waving of the bloody shirt. There will be no bloody shirt when the South' ceases to incarnadine it from the veins of those who are exercising their rights as American citizens. Omaha Kepublican. TnE mail service will probably he put under the rules in proper time, but, like other branches of the service, the people expect to see it purified and taken out of politics as much as possible, and not left as a stamping ground for Democratic poli ticians. Brooklyn Standard-Union. While it might be wise, in view of the number of laborers, to limit the hours of work so as to give all a chance, no man who is emulous of competence or fortune should ever haggle over his hours. If he would get ahead he must work and accumulate money, and then the money will help him in his work. Chicago Herald. A felon under arrest would he told of what crime or offense he was charged, but the ideal President of the mugwumps, who pharasaically pose as defenders and advocate j of civil-service reform, beheads an oilicial to make room for a partisan follower. There are no comments that the act itself does not overshadow. New York Graphic. If the South depends, as some of her representatives say, on a foreign war to more closely unite the two sections of our country she will depend in vain. All that she needs to do to secure perfect accord between the North and the South is to live up to the Constitution and laws, and to see that every citizen has the same right to a free ballot and an honest count that he has in the North. Peoria Transcript. The people ought to have tho opportunity to pronounce on the character ot the administration as often as once in four years. We take no stock in the argument that frequent elections are a national evil. It is an excellent and necessary thing that American citizens should be stirred up a often as they are now to a lively interest in the political issues of the time, and to a renewed sense of the blessings of free governmentNew York Sun. Not only in Brooklyn, but throughout the United States, the Grand Army has gained 6teadily in numbers. Its membership is greater than ever before. In every State multitudes of adherents gather round its camp-fires and rally to its roll-call. Its insignia are worn as a badge of honor, of self-respect. of soldierly renown. Upon present lines it is destined to grow until it embraces nearly every soldier who "kept step to the music of the Union" in the trying days from Sumter to Appomattox. Brooklyn Eagle. Indicate a Death Struggle. Illinois Stato Journal. In 18S5 it was supposed Illinois had produced about tho most revolutionary and rantankerous set of Democrats ever sent to a Legislature. That delusion is exploded now by the disorderly congregation in Indiana and West Virginia. The scenes at the capitals of those States aro provoking enough: but they turmsh this much con solation: They indicate the death struggles of Bourbonisin. Secretary Whitney's Great Wrong. Peoria Transcript. ; Secretary of the Navy Whitney is receiving a good deal of credit for his activity, of late, and is now talked of as a Demcoratic leader in 1892. Tho worst thing that Whitney ever did was the hounding of John Poach, the American ship-builder, to his death. Danger In Their Madness. reoria Transcript. The Arkansas Democrats are very indignant over the murdor of Clayton. And when the Arkansas Democrat gets mad he is a bad man. He is likely to go out and kill a few negroes.

THE -NATURALIZATION LAWS

Favorable Report by Congressman Oates on a Bill for Their Amendment, Existing Statutes Shown to Be Defective in Many Important Toints Mr. Mills's Report Against the Senate Tariff Bilk NATURALIZATION LAWS. Mr. Oates Presents a Report Savagely Attacking Existing Statutes. Washington, Feb. 13. Representative Oates, of Alabama, from the committee on judiciary, to-day reported favorably to the House a bill to amend the naturalization laws of tho United States. The report accompanying the bill treats tho existing naturalization laws in a critical spirit, and calls attention to abuses which havo sprung up under them. It says: "An alien may be a notorious thief, murderer, outlaw, an Anarchist, polygamist, a leper, or hardened criminal, and yet our law allows him, by making an affidavit of intention before a clerk of a court, all the benefits of citizenship within tho United States. He is allowed by the land laws of the United States to buy and own any quantity of real estate or other property, or to take a homestead on tho public domain, and thus receive a benefaction equal to the best young man of American birth; and at least one half of tho States of the Union allow such aliens to own and inherit real estate, and to vote at all elections the same as natives and naturalized citizens. In many of the State? an alien who has legally declared his intention to become a citizen is eligible to any ollico within the State. Ho may, by State law, be eligible to a scat in Congress, wlien the Constitution of tho United States denies to him such right until he has been a citizen for at least seven years. So deficient is the present law, and so careless is the practice of the ; udges, with but few exceptions, that it las become a matter of public notoriety hat they perform their duty in such a per- : unctory manner that any alien, however jad his character or beastly ignorant ho may be, can become a citizen of tho United States. There is nothing in the law to deny citizenship even to idiots, insane persons, paupers, criminals, or others who have come into the United States in flagrant violation of our immigration laws." The report concludes with a synopsis and explanation of the provisions 6f the bill, which are, in brief: A limitation of tho classes of foreigners who shall bo eligible to citizenship in the United States (including Indians adopting civilized life), a prescription of the lorm of application, a reauirement that the district attorney shall efend the government against improper applications, and that applications shall ho corroborated, upon the point of residence, a restriction Of jurisdiction to high State courts and federal courts, the preservation of the rights of aliens who have already declared their intention, an allowance of the right of bona fide applicants to mako homestead entries and to receive patents after naturalization, and a requirement of would-be . citizens that they shall havo. resided five years in the United' States, and bo able to read the Constitution in English. The Secretary of State has received a dispatch from Mr. Kaine, United States consul at Berlin, in regard to the measure now before the American Congress making important changes in our immigration laws. Ho says that the proposed measures are viewed with much concern in Berlin, in political as well as in national economic circles, as foreshadowing changes which eventually may lead to a total reform in the matter of European emigration to the United States. THE TARIFF BILL. Chairman Mills Presents the Majority Report Opposing the Measure Special to the Indianapolis Journal Washington, Feb. 13. Chairman Mills to-day placed in tho hands of tho Republican members of tho House committee on ways and means the report of the majority a gainst the Senate tariff bill. The minority have asked for time in which to examine the majority report, and prepare what they will have to 6ay upon tho subject. The minority report will probably be put into shape by next Monday, and will be laid before the full committee on ways and means on that day, or on Tuesday, when it is expected the bill will be reported back to tho House. The majority report was written by Chairman Mills. It occupies twenty-seven printed pages, regular executive document form, and by free-traders is regarded as "a lasting and exceeding strong argument" against tho Kepublican proposition on the tariff It attacks, viciously, tho Republican proposition to increase certain duties while lowering others, and characterizesthe Republican tariff principles as being in the interests of the monopolists and manufacturers. The bill, when it goes hack to the House, will contain about all of the essential elements of the original Mills bill. It will have in it free wool, the original Mills propositions regarding sugar, woolens, internal revenue, etc. It is believed the bill will be taken up for debate sometime next week, and it will be discussed whenever appropriation bills are not before the House. Inasmuch as the majority of tho committee on ways and means do not .recommend non-concurrence or ask for a conference committee, it is not at all probable that a conference will be ordered on the measure, or that a final vote will be taken upon it. The bill, in its amended .form, is to be simply reported back to the House, and the chances are to be taken for debate and final action. MINOR MATTERS. The Vote by Which the British Extradition Treaty Was Rejected. Washington, Feb. 13. The proceedings in the executive session of the Senate upon consideration of the British extradition treaty were given to the press to-day. The vote,upon the ratification, taken on the 1st inst,, was as follows: YEAS. Blackburn, Hampton, Cockrell, Hawley, Faulkner, Hoar, Frye. Jones of Ark., George, Pasco, NAYS. Allison, Farwcll, Bate, Gonnan, Bowen, Hale. Call, Hiscock, Chacc. Ingalls, Payne,, Ransom Sawyer, Shrrman, Walthali,-15. Reagan, f Riddlelerger; SauUbury, Stewart. Stoekbridge, . Chandler. Jones of Nev., Teller. Coke, Manderson, Turpie, Cullora, Mitchell, VestDavis, Morgan, Voorhecs, ' U.iwes, Paddock, Wilson, of la., Ku'jnunds, Plumb, Wilson, of Md., Kmuis, Pugh, - 38. Eviirts, Piatt, The following were paired: Yeas Gray, Morrill, Vance, Daniel, Butlerand Colquitt Nays Snooner, Harris, I'almer, Quay, Cameron and Gibson. Confirmations. Washington, Feb. 13. The Senate confirmed the following nominations: . Norman J. Colman, of Missouri, Secretary of Agriculture; Ira M. Kurtz, of Indianapolis, register of the land office, North Yakima, W. T. Postmasters Wm. M. Meyer, Leoti. Kan.; Mrs. Cora E. Clark, Whiteborough, Tex.; iRaac Connor. Ponca, Neb.; Win. J. Brennan. Sidney, Xeb.; John A. Turley, Athens, Tenn.; Sylvester S. Munger, Lampasas, Tex. Bond Purchases. Washington, Feb. 13. Boud offerings at the Treasury Department aggregated 81,437,500 to-day; 3,500 4 per cents, offered ali $1.29 1-2, were rejected, and $1.4,U,000 41-3 per cents, were offered at prices ranging from $1.09 to $1.09 $243,500 were accepted at $1.09 and $1,091-8, and the remainder were rejected. . - - Le Cartm's Army Record. Washington, Feb. 13. The Star, this evening, says: "Henry Le Caron, the British spy, who'has been doing so much swearing in the Paruell investigation, has a war record in America which is spread out on the records of the War Department. Before his name is marked 'Coward and mutineer.' He was a member of the famous Company B, -Fourteenth Pennsylva-

nia Cavalry, which was organized as a body guard to General Thomas, and part of whom mutinied when ordered into the fight at Murfrecsboro. He was one of tha five hundred mutineers who were confined in tho penitentiary, jail and work-house at Nashville. -ft M ; General Notes. Special to the Indianapolis Journal. Washington, Feb. 13. Rev. J. C.Cromer, of Fort Wayne, is here, the guest ot the Rev. C. H. Small, in Mount Pleasant, suburb of Washington. Representative Cheadle will have hit little daughter with him soon for medical treatment here. , TOE SUPREME COURT. A Lawyer Indicates the Kind of Relief Demanded by the Profession. To tho Editor ot the InlianaMiis Journal: There is no subject of legislation, at this time, of equal importance to tho reorganization of our Supreme Court. The business issadl behindhand. Justice to litigants is literally denied. Tho decisions of tho court are of ten held up to censure as tho productions of a single judge and not of the combined discretion of the court. Parties look in despair to the courts of justice for their rights, and make ruinous sacrifices and compromises, rather than contend for them. The profession of law is debased; the appeal to a higher tribunal is often seized upon by shysters to secure delas's, and the business of the people is demoralized by this unnatural and unjust system. We have a little, court, adequate to the business of 1S.7), when the present Constitution was adopted, but no more adequate to tho present business than would the four-horse wagons then used bo sufli-" cient to transport the freights that are now carried by rail. We need prompt decisions, not delays of

irom one to six years. e need a thorough canvass of each question by at least thres sound lawyers; and if there be then mattci of doubt, by a full bench of a dozen men of experience in the law. This system can readily bo had. Give us a constitutional amendment with enough of judtres to constitute at least three sections of three with a president, and instead of the work of one investigator, wo can have the work of three. When the decision is made the task of writing an opinion is light. Should there be any disagreement, then the whole bench may lie called upon to adjudicate . the question. This will secure, promptly, the judgment of ten Rood lawyers. There could hardly be a possibility of a blunder under such a system. How much better it is to have a court amply able to canvass, without delay, every case, that arises than the present awkward and insufficient system! e need more judges not more stenographers, or clerks, orcopyists. We need brains, culture, legal knowledge, professional skill and conscientious investigations upon sound principles. There is no virtue in five judges, of seven judges, over nine, or twelve, or fif teen, or twenty. Take an ample corps of able lawyers and the decisions will be made, not any more rapidly, but upon a higher plane will be the result of the com bined wisdom of the whole number. We hear men talk flippantly of a mob of law yers on the bench. Where, pray, does judicial wisdom end and mob-law begin? What is there in an assembly of fifteen or twenty first-class lawyers that belittles their characters, or capacities, or labors! This talk of a mob is a piece of insolent assertion indicative of a total incapacity to grasp the situation. A court composed of a large number of judges must necessarily work, in all ordinary cases, in sections; and when some t emergency arises, or some extraordinary question is broached, tho whole court can act with as sound a discretion and as wise a method as any section of four or five. A court composed of fifteen judges, divided into five sections, hnd a presiding chief, can do the business of five ordinary courte of four judges. So a court of ten judges, divided into three sections of three, with a presiding chief, can do tho work of three courts of four judges each. This will servo to clear up the docket and make the administration of justice a reality. The proposed constitutional amendment, as suggested by the bar meeting of the State, looks to a court of ten justices, to be 'divided, for ordinary Work, inti three sections, with a chief-justice, thus securing the judgment of four judges upon every question, . and, in cases oi disagreement, or upon the request of any two judtres, a resubmission tithe whole count. This ought to secure prcraptness and accuracy of decision. The amendment is to become self-operative without legislation. Tbs Governor, at once, is to fill the new vacancies, and at tho next election tho people fill them. Tho term of seven years is fixed for the purpose of avoiding political nominations and elections, placing the choosing of judges upon the merits of the candidates as men ami lawyers. This divorces tho selection of judicial delegates from the squabbles and complications incident to tho nominations of candidates for tho other Stato offices. The delegates to a purely judicial convention would be selected from a different class of men from the ordinary political delegates, and better able to select proper candidates. No doubt it is better to have these judges elected by all the voters of the State than by particular districts. They are State, not district officers, and a lawyer may have a little local following and get a nomination in a small district, who would fall far short of satisfying tho demands of the people of the whole State. It would seem, beyond question, that better men can be selected Dy State conventions, and elected by the people of the whole State than by districts. The number named in tho amendment, ten, is sufficient for present needs, and surely we can trust for the coming generation to select a proper number to meet the demands of increasing business and population. Illinois has now nineteen i udges of the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. We will soon need as many, but ten will suffice for the present. . J. , IxDUNAroLis, Feb. 13. Kelations of Outs and Ins. Burdette, In Brooklyn Eagle. "Young American" wants to know if tha retiring members of the Cabinet remain iq Washington anytime after the inauguration to show the new Cabinet officers th run of business. Oh. always, always, leas or not quite so much. That is what is known in diplomatic circles as corpi d'esprit or interregnum comity. The retiring Secretary of State teaches the new one how to apply the great Seal of North Carolina without letting it run down tha sidejof the bottle; the Secretary of t he Treasury shows the new man the trick of tho bell punch, and how to mako change so fast that the customer can't count it; tht Secretary of the Navy, retiring, helps the new Sir Joseph Portor to shiver his timben and splice the main brace, and for two weeks after his time is up and hi pay stopi tho ex-Postmaster-general stands outside the postoffice window and holds out bit tougue for the people to lick stamps on. Oh. yes; everything is very pleasantly and helpfully arranged between the setting and the rising suns. "Where They Don't Have Oat, The coalman carols with glee at last. And loudly his laughter rins:: His heart 19 warmed by the frigid blast. And this is the song he tinp: Ha-ha! He-he! Ho-ho! Hurrah for the ice and 6aow! i The. music of birds May be dulcet and fair. And songs without words May oft drive away care; But the blizzard's bn-nth 1 my favorite airOb, long mar the cold ave blotvi Ha-ha! He-he: Ho-ho!" -New YotX Journal. Off the Samo Piece. Terr nante Exprens. Tho Indiana Democrats aro a pood dea like their Southern brcthern. The latter aro given to much deprecation of political assassination, but they won't yield an iota of tho advantage gained thereby. Ths Indiana Democrats denounce Sullivan, but thej won't investigate his transaction with the Insane Hospital. Sat on Hewitt with the Usual Result. Philadelphia Inquirer. Another gentleman has tried to sit down upon ex-Mayor Hewitt, with the usual result. He got up quicker than the boy who sat dqwn on tho bent pin. Just Watch Them. Feoria Transcript. ' - Now stand back and see how thoss tariff reformers" in Congrths proceed t reduce tho revenues. . . . : . -