Indianapolis Journal, Indianapolis, Marion County, 30 March 1889 — Page 4

THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL, SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 1889.

TPIE DAILY JOURNAL SATURDAY, MARCH SO, 18S0. WASHINGTON OFFICE 5X3 Fourteenth St. P. S. ITEATH, Correspondent. KETT YORK OFFICE 201 Temple Court, Corner Beekman and Xasaaa Streets. TEILMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. DAILT. On year, without Fnnday fll.no Oneyear. with 8unday H.W Fix months, wlthoat Sunday .w Fix month, with Sunday 7.00 Three months, without Sunday 3.00 Three months, with Sunday 3..V) One month, withont Sunday 100 One month, with Sunday - 1-20 WEEKLY. Per year. tl.oo Reduced Rates to Clubs. BnDicrTbe with any of our numerous agents, or end subscriptions to THE JOURNAL NEWSPAPERCOMPANY, Indianapolis, I nix THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL Can be found at the following places: LONDON American Exchange In Europe,1 449 Strand. . PARIS American Exchange In Paris, 35 Boulevard des Capuclnes. NEW YORK Gilsey House and "Windsor HoteL PHILADELPHIA A. P. KemMe, 3735 Lancaster avenue. CHICAGO Palmer House. CINCINNATI J. P. Hawley A Co., 154 Vine street LOUISVILLE C T. Deerlng, northwest corner Third and Jefferson streets. - - ST. LOUIS-Unlon News Compaay, Union Depot and Southern HoteL WASHINGTON, D. C.-Rlggs House and Ebbltt House. Telephone Calls. Buisness Office 233 Editorial Rooms.---.. 242 Some folks will never forgive Judge Woods for allowing the law, the evidence, and a jury to convict Coy and Bernhamer.

With the opening of Oklahoma, on April 22, the occupation of the army will be gone. Unless some obstreperous Indians should bob up somewhere, 'the troops can picnic for the rest of the summer. TnE man who prepared the indictments in the election cases in the federal court either made them defective, with intention of embarassing his successor, in office, or ho was too ignorant to be aware of the errors. He was, "'in short, a rascal or a fool, and can take either horn of the dilemma. It seems to be the opinion of the great legal minds governing the partisan press of the city that Judge Woods should have insisted upon trying all the cases before his court in spite of the defective indictments. As yet, these brilliant advocates of law as she is practiced by Democratic district attorneys, have not cited any authorities in support of their position. It seems not to have occurred to the unprofessional censors of the United States Court that the persons who drew up the indictments are responsible for their defects, and not the judge before whom these cases are brought for trial. Suppose the indictments did cost the State $6,000 or $7,000. The moro shame, then, to the so-called attorney who drew them up that he did not make them perfect. The editors of mugwump papers pretend to think that the tender of a high government office is no honor to an editor, and that it is beneath the dignity 'of one to accept it. They are entirely safe in advancing such opinions now, when there is no hope for them; but just think how Mr. Godkin, Mr. Curtis, young Mr. Bowles and the rest would have tumbled over each other in the effort to "get there" if Mr. Cleveland bad held out two or three big foreign missions in their direction! It is possible that smaller plums, customs collectorships, or even postoffices, might have tempted them. But, alas! Cleveland never so much as looked their way. So far as politics are concerned Judge Woods could not have done a shrewder thing than to sustain the indictments in the election cases and let them come to trial. If the half is true of what is stated in the communities where the de!f endants live as to the flimsy pretexts on which they were indicted and the character of the evidence sustaining the charges, a trial of the cases would result in a complete exposure of the animus lhat prompted the indictments and bring disgrace on the officials who were Instrumental in finding them. If Judge Woods had been actuated by political aiotives, this was the course for him to liave pursued. But ho decided in . accordance with the law, as was his duty. The appointment of Hon. Robert T. Xincoln, as minister to England, is received with hearty approval throughout this country and with unusual favor abroad. The comments of the- London papers are more than friendly. The Daily News, Liberal organ, says: The new American minister to En eland ill be welcome if only for the sake of tho feame he bears. He is the son of that great President whom the Englishman, just gone to his rest, joined with the Daily News in teaching many of his countrymen to honor bef oro they had learned wisdom and justice. The wisest governments are those which recognize the imagination as an Important factor in human affairs. There is nothing so powerful ov endur-' Jng as a sentiment, and no sentiment in this country is more powerful and enduring than that which surrounds the name of Lincoln. ArROros of the dei:und in some quarters for the retention of Postmaster Pearson, of New York, a largo number of the clerks and employes of tho office have united in a request that ho be not ".reappointed. Mr. Pearson seems to be a "chronic issue. Four years ago the mugwumps made his retention n test case, and the country was given to understand that tho postoffice in the great city of New York would go to ruin if ho was removed. Ho was retained, and now the old fight is on again. The ancient Athenians grow tired of hearing Aristides styled "tho Just." Perhaps ho American people have grown tired of bearing that Mr. Pearson is the only man who can run the New York postoffice. As a matter of fact, some of his assistants and subordinates are moro competent than he. When a public official .reaches tho point of thinkinghe is indispensable to tho administration of the government his usefulness is ended, and it is timo ho should go. Mr. Pearson trill did some time, and then the New

York postoffice and the country will have to get along without him. Perhaps they had better learn to do so before ho dies. He has held the office eight years. Sometimes rotation proves beneficial, by introducing improved methods in business. The fact that a largo number of the employes have asked for a change shows they do not regard Mr. Pearson as indispensable.

CORRECT PRINCIPLES OP REFORM. Harper's Weekly advances the opinion that President Harrison's purpose of reform in tho civil service will be tried, like that of President Cleveland, at the beginning of his administration, by tho expiration of tho term of the postmaster in New York. His course in Mr. Pearson's case, it declares, will bo as crucial a test of his reform principles as it was of Mr. Cleveland's. With duo respect to this mugwump organ, the Journal ventures to say that it will be nothing of the sort. In the first place, Gen. Harrison has already established his reform principles by placing at the heads of the government departments men on whom he can rely to support the law, and also by refusing to remove minor officials merely ' because they are Democrats. Admitting that Sir. Cleveland, in reappointing Pearson,wasanimatedby reform motives and not by a desiro to make tho mugwumps "solid" it was the only crumb ho gave them, it will bo remembered it does not follow that Mr. Pearson obtained a perpetual lien on the office by the proceeding. It is no part of true civil-service reform to establish an office-holding class; even tho most ardent one-idea reformers will acknowledge this, and, also, that the only way to prevent it is by making occasioual judicious changes. In tho case of the New York postoffice, however, they assume that the present incumbent has a life lease; that, having held the place through two administrations, he should continue to hold it as long as ho pleases. This notion is all wrong. Doubtless Mr. Pearson has made an excellent official, but many another man in New York would prove equally competent. Viewing the matter from a nonpartisan, common-sense stand-point, Mr. Pearson has reason to congratulate himself on the recognition of his merits which has permitted him to occupy his lucrative position for eight years. Should he bo required to make way for another man, he will have no reason to complain either that his political services have not been duly recognized or that ho has not held office as long as one man should according to the wholesome, give-every-man-a-chance, American idea. The Journal has no information as to what President Harrison's intentions are in this matter, but should ho see fit to rotate the wheel sufficiently to give Mr. Pearson a competent successor, he will certainly be doing nothing to conflict with the best interests of the civil service and correct principles of reform. JUDGE W00DS'8 RULING. The Sentinel's attack on Judge Woods for his ruling in the election cases is as devoid of 6enso as it is of decency. We presume tho public understands the animus of the continued abuse of the Judgo and we do not suppose he cafes a fig for it, but a paper which follows vilification as a business should try and mingle a little intelligence with its malice. The latest attack on Judge Woods is based on his ruling on the indictments in somo of tho cases now pending in his court charging violation of tho election laws. The indictments are part of the result of the laborious drag-net proceedings instituted last fall by Bailey and Claypool, in which they exhausted themselves in trying to catch Republicans and let Democrats go free. In tho latter they succeeded perfectly. Numerous indictments were found against Republicans on the flimsiest pretexts, and upon evidence which there is reason to believe is wholly insufficient to sustain the charges. Tho indictments were for alleged illegal voting and swearing in votes at the last election. The cases came up on a motion to quash the indictments, and the court did quash them on tho ground that they failed to allege that the acts done by the accused had reference to the election of Congressmen. For this the Sentinel attacks Judge Woods in its usual vituperative style, charging him with being "a defender of crime and an ally of criminals," etc. The omission from the indictments of the allegation referred to was a fatal error, and tho Judge's ruling was right. The authorities compelled liim to rulo the way he did whether he wanted to or not. He could not have held differently without placing himself in direct conflct with a higher court. In a recent case in Missouri based on alleged violations of the same law, and involving precisely the same point as that presented by these indictments, Judge Brewer, of tho Eighth circuit, held exactly as Judge Woods did. In deciding the Missouri case Judge Brewer first drew tho lino of federal jurisdiction very clearly, and made it plain that the federal court only had jurisdiction where the act charged was one that did or might affect the election of Congressman. Then, as to the sufficiency of the indictment, he said: Obviously, there must be an affirmative and distinct charge in the indictment of an act which either does or may affect the election of a Congressman. It is a familiar rulo of criminal practice and pleading that nothing is taken by intendment. Tho fact must be charged, and charged distinctly. Wo cannot by inference till out an incomplete charge. There 6hould be a distinct, direct and affirmative allegation that the defendant did receive a ballot on which was tbo name of a Congressman. In the indictments quashed by Judge Woods this distinct, direct and affirmative allegation was wanting. In tho Missouri case District Judgo Thayer, concurring with Judge Brewer, said: In the natnre of things Congress has no authority to imposo penalties on a judge of election for receiving a fraudulent ballot, unless tho ballot is cast for a candidate for some federal office. It is the single fact that the ballot alleged to have been received by the defendant atlected the result of a congressional election that gives this court jurisdiction over the offense. Such being the law, it goes without saying that the indictment should show the character of the alleged fraudulent ballot, not by inference merely, but by plain and direct averment. Tho indictments quashed by Judgo Woods lacked this plain and direct averment. Its omission proves the in

capacity of tho person who drew tho in

dictments. It was not the duty of Judge Woods to try and patch up indictments

made fatally defective through the ignorance or blundering of Bailey or Claypool. In trying to establish a charge of in consistency against Judgo Woods, tho Sentinel asserts that he ruled differently in the Orango county cases, which involved the same point. He did rulo differently in those cases, stretching the jurisdiction of tho court to the utmost extreme, and was subsequently overruled by Judge Gresham. In the Orange county cases, by the way, the defendants were Republicans, and if Judge Woods's ruling had stood, they would have been brought to trial in his court as Coy and Bernhamer were. At that time Judge Brewer's decision had not been rendered, and Judgo Woods was evidently disposed to assert a broad er jurisdiction for his court in election cases than some other judges. The recent decision of Judge Brewer overrules him in the Orange county cases, and es tablishes beyond any question the essential requisites of an indictment in such cases. After all, however, Judgo Woods's ruling does not end the cases nor turn them out of court. Ho held, as he was obliged to, that certain counts of certain indictments were bad, but other counts hold good and some of the indictments remain intact. His action was in strict accordance with law and justice, as further proceedings of tho court in these cases will doubtless be. The indictments all had their origin in spite work, and those which are not bad in form will probably prove to be unsupported by evidence. But that is no reason why the district attorney should fail to investigate them carefully. If the law has been violated, it is his duty to see that its penalties aro enforced, and to that end we have no doubt tho court will heartily co-operate with him. Col. II. C. Parsons, of Rockbridge county, Virginia, who is classified as "a debt-paying Virginia Republican," has been visiting Washington and getting acquainted with tho administration. We do not remember to have heard of Colonel Parsons in connection with politics, but we like tho way ho talks. He thinks the work of the Republican party has just begun, and that President Harrison's administration will complete the disintegration of tho solid South. He characterizes Cleveland's administration as "a narrow strip of land between two seas." Of tho work of tho Democratic party ho says: "It has in twenty-eight, years not written a law or added or defined a human right. Its periodic appearance above tho surface has not made ripple enough for a tide-mark. Neither in war nor diplomacy has it framed a sword or a sentence. It has twice only proven its right to rule in tho New York riots, and the West Virginia revolution." Ho predicts that President Harrison's Southern appointments will be the best made by any Republican President, bringing to tho front tho best men in the party in that section. He says tho President's name, his character, his speeches, his protective tariff policy, and even his Presbvterianism will , com-" mend him to tho South. Finally, to V question as to what he thought the foreign policy of the administration would bo tho Colonel said he did not know, but ho offered a few suggestions as to what he hoped it would be. He said: There should be a trade congress in Washington, which should recommend our commercial laws and our coina go to the independent governments. There should b great steamship lines along both coasts. There should be a railroad from the Magdalena river to Buenos Ayres and beyond; swift steamers from Galveston to Carthagena, and cables and telegraph lines to all South American countries. The morning paper at Santiago should give the markets of Now York, ihe sensation at Ottawa and the speech of the .Chilian Senator at Washington. Pullman should ticket from Manitoba to Paraguay, including gulf ferriage. The arterial system once in pulsation would keep up the circulation. New York would be the commercial center of two hundred millions of people, Washington the commercial capital, and New England and the new South would compete for the workshop. Wo like that kind of talk. If old Virr ginia has many Republicans like Colonel Parsons, the steady decrease of the Democratic majority in that Stato is easily accounted for. Mr. Thuerixg, of Pittsburg, seems to have been a model husband, according to the feminine requirements. He had been married for many years, and had always turned over his weekly wages to his wife, retaining only 25 or 50 cents on each occasion for spending money. In addition to this he got his life insured for his wife's benefit. This was not enough, however, to insure the continuance of Mrs. Thuering's love and gratitude. After thinking the matter over, that matron evidently came to the conclusion that, as her husband was growing old, ho might not bo able to bring home the weekly stipend ,much longer, and that tho insurance money in hand was better than a possibly unprofitable husband in the house. Apparently, wo repeat, this was her thought, for she proceeded to hire a man for $20 to murder her spouse, and only failed of her purpose through betrayal by her accomplice. The moral of this incident seems to bo that it is better for the husband to keep his cash in his own posses sion. Come to think of it, though, a mer cenary wife might "remove" him, even under those circumstances, in order to get at tho surplus. What is the moral, any wayf President Harrisox enjoys a joke and has been known to make a pun. We havo no doubt ho smiled when he signed the commission of Orlando1 B. Happy as post master at Maytield, Ky., and perhaps mur mured "Orlando be happy." ABOUT PEOPLE AND THINGS. Mr. and Mrs. Cleveland are to occupy their Adirondack log cabin early in the summer. SrEAKiNG of abbreviations, the Boston Transcript suggests that a good abbrevia tion for Alaska would be L. S.. which, as every one knows, means the place of the seal. Walt Whitman is again confined to his house in Camden, and his indisposition is 60 great that he is unable to write at all. He is feeble and has but little appetite. His physician, however, says that he is in no immediate danger. Senator Stanford gives annually in Washington a dinner at which not only tho guests are from the other side of the Rockv mountains, but the wine, fruits. cheese, oil. and everything else that can be procured from Laluornia are on the table. Says Edmund Yates: ''There has been a great deal of stupid, malicious and igno rant gossip about the Duchess of Marl

borough's presentation to tho Queen. I am enabled to state that her Majesty has ex

pressed the opinion that there is nothing wnatcver to prevent tho Duchess lrom coming to court at the next drawing-room, or whenever she pleases." Prince Pierre Saltzkoff, who recently died in Paris, was a curious character. He was immensely wealthy, and spent his en tire fortune in collecting works of art or curiosities. Before he died he was obi iced to sell his collection in order to keep himsen irom starvation. It has been several times stated in vari ous newspapers that Miss Blanche Griffin, the sister of Mary Anderson, intends to go upon the stage. The statement is untrue and unfounded. Her mends sav that there never was the slightest ground for making it, or the least authority for it. Lincoln is the only President who ever secured a ratent. In 1849, when the future President thought to make a reputation as an inventor rather than a statesman, he took out letters patent on the model of a boat for lifting vessels over shoals. Tho model now occupies a prominent position in the Patent Office at Washington. A firm of great genius has offered the British government an immense sum for the use of the national postage stamp for ad vertising purposes. The advertisement is to be printed on the back of the stamp before the gum is put on, so that the purchaser of every stamp must see the announcement before he moistens the gum. This is an Australian idea. Mrs. Harrison denies that any discrimination has been made at the White House against colored domestics. She explains that the work of the laundresses did not suit her and that she replaced them by better workwomen. This change placc'd two white women in the service, but there has been no raid on the other colored servants. Most of them remain in their old places. In the neighborhood of Haberstadt there is a village named Strobeck, of which all the inhabitants are chess-players. Chess is regularly taught in the schools, and every year there is a public examination in tho game, a distribution of prizes in the shape of chess-boards, and a kind of chess tournament and festival at which the six best players in the locality are publicly feted and carried home in triumph. It is significant of the man that among the portraits on the walls in John Bright's study is one of Gladstone, one of Lincoln and one of Washington. He did much of his work with the reminders of congenial spirits around him. He recently gave evidence that the political separation between himself and Mr. Gladstone had not changed his confidence in the fundamental worth of the latter's character, though he had previously given way to, impatient utterances concerning his home-rule attitude. In the Elberton (Ga.) fire John Bailey lost over $1,400, including two $500 bills. Mr. Bailey collected the charred fragments and ashes of his money, and sent them to the United States treasury. Last week he received a check from the government for $020, with a statement that if ho would make an affidavit to his possession of the unredeemed $500 bill it could also be paid. He is happy over the recovery of goods that ho once supposed lost beyond redemption. The night of the fire he ottered his interest in this money for $500. The Pope is a very fine chess-player, and one priest in Rome has the especial honor of being his adversary over the board. This priest Father Giella has played chess with Leo Pecci for thirty-two years past. When Cardinal Pecci was raised to thepapacy. Father Giella, who was then in Florence, got an invitation to proceed to Rome and take up his quarters in the Vatican. Giella is hot-tempered, but tho Pope takes his temper good-naturedly, and is said to often improve the occasion by a homily on the virtues of resignation and meekness. Mrs. Ormiston Chant has been preaching in the pulpit of Rev. Robert Harley, at tho George-street Congregational . Church, Oxford. Mrs. Chant did not wear any covering on her head. It was, says a icontemporarya solemn; and most impress - lve time - and: marcs a new departure in Oxford, besides being tho baptism for many a young undergraduate into a more exalted notice of tho part women will havo to take in religious and theological teaching. The morning sermon was called "God's Hour," and the evening discourse was on tho "Ideal Life." TnE broad issue of Christian and Hebrew has been drawn in the Manh attan Club, New York. Recently Mr. Cleveland was made an honorary member of the club. The same night his minister to Turkey, Oscar S. Straus, of the big New York crockery firm, was black-balled. Many Hebrews, including two brothers of Mr. Straus, are members. Two adverse ballots constitute rejection, and it is believed they were cr.st in this case in sympathy with a reaction against the hitherto liberal policy governing admission, and is perhaps intended as a criticism upon the personality of certain members. The club is Democratic. Mr. Ross Winans was hauled over the coals at Edinburgh, last week, for trying to keep the Scotch farmers from crossing the f ord of his estate at Strathglass. The hardheaded Scots said that they had been allowed the privilege for generations, and saw no reason why they should be deprived thereof by Mr. Winans's petty spite, and consequently made him go to court on tho subject. Mr. Winans fought the process on the ground that the farmers had no right to sue him. The court thonght differently, sustained the farmers in their action, and allowed them to cross tho ford till the suit is disposed of. A very curious custom of the Vienna Hofburg was brought before the public by the death of Crown Prince Rudolph. On the day after his death a large undertaker at Vienna received the order for an oak coffin, to be delivered on the samo day. The man asked for a little more time, but tho order was that the coffiu must be delivered the same day, otherwise it would be of no use. What was the reasou for this haste? The Crown Prince lay already in his coffin, and no one else had died at the Hofburg. Presently, however, the reason was given that it is the custom to have always a coffin ready at the Imperial Palace. When the terrible news from Meyerling came to Vienna, the oak coffin which had been in readiness ever since the death of Archduke Franz Karl, the father of the present Emperor, was sent to Meyerling to receive the remains of the dead man, and according to tradition the imperial house must not bo without its empty coffin for twenty-four hours. COMMENT AND OPINION. The truth is that in this country tho woman suffrage movement has declined in serious importance during tho last twenty years. New York Sun. In the South solidity was insured through intimidation and fraud. Republicans and protectionists are willing at all times to abide the results of a contest freely and fairly conducted. They will gladly accent their chances in a conflict of opinion wholly divested of sectional bias and prejudice. Troy (N. Y.) Times. Even if successful strikes rarely pay, and frequent appeals to the system through a series of years has so weakened tho labor organizations that of late none of any magnitude have been successful. Strikes don't pay, and the sooner the workingmen pet that fact impressed upon their minds the better for themselves and their families. Philadelphia Inquirer. The entrance into Oklahoma and the settlement that will now rapidly follow. presages tho organization of what will probably form the last new Territory for many years. Not until the United States enlarges its domain are there likely to be any new Territories created after the Indian Territory shall havo been formally organized. Iowa State Register. President Harrison's support of the civil-service act will be to eliminate the abuses and imposture of t he Cleveland method, and to give it a just administration. But in tho considerable field in which experienced department clerks have been removed to ciako places for Democrats, and incapable partisans have been placed over expert clerks who had worked through all the examinings, and the railwav mail service has been deranced by blocks of remov als to give place to Democracts, it is not to bo supposed that ho will think -that tho

Cleveland civil rules bind him to the Cleveland derangement as a finality. Cincinnati Commercial Gazette.

This is a eovernment bv the people, not by legislatures, and the assumption of executive duties by law-makers wouiu. as the judgo noted in this decision, "lead to legislative despotism as absolute as that of the French National Assembly during the Reign of Terror." That the people must guard their rights even from the schemes of their own representatives is evident from this Hoosier complication New York Press. People of tolerant sentiment will not go into a Stato to raise up families where tho injustice prevails manifest in insistence upon representation ou the basis of all the voters in the State, while a majority, or at least a very largo class, of that voting population is refused a voice at the polls. In brief, political intolerance and solidity are barriers to industrial and commercial progress, and to the general development of any section. Sacramento Record-Union. The persistence of the South in its policy of violence, . duplicity and fraud must be met by decisive legislation to compel a free ballot. Con gres should not hesitate. The law should empower the administration to bring to bear all the power of the federal government in its enforcement. No shout of "bloody shirt" or sectionalism should di vert the Republican nartv from the duty it owes to itself, to the colored men it has enfranchised and to tho welfare of theNation. Albany Journal. The child of the foreign-born parent domiciled hero as a citizen is native-born. Two or three generations of native birth at most suffice to weld the original stock into tho solid framework of American life. Meanwhile race antipathies and religions rivalries soften into a common civil brotherhood. Our forefathers not so far back either were all foreisners. The Question is whether we are not all, essentially and ior an practical purposes, natives, u we uehave ourselves and are here to stavf Bos ton Globe. The State Press. Fourth-class postmasters will soon be in a position to uso their bandanas. Greencastle Banner. With charity to all and malice toward none, the present will be an out and out American administration. Richmond Palladium. Things in general seem to be moving very smoothly at Washington. Harrison must have oiled the machinery with a new lubricating fluid of his own manufacture, the secret of which ho has concealed. Rockville Republican. We doubt not that if the tax-payers of the State, irrespective of party, could wipe out what was done by tho last Legislature and have the money that body spent returned to the treasury, they would be glad to do it, almost unanimously. Attica Ledger. President Harrison has issued instructions that no official matters, unless of the most imperative importance and pressing nature, shall be brought before him on Sunday. He is a practical Christian, without being either fanatical or cranky. Paoli Republican. It will be seen in due time that President Harrison will enforce the civil-service law to its spirit and intent. There will be no false pretense about it with him. What he intends to do he will do, and what he don't intend to do he won't do. And the people can see and know what he is doing. Shelby Republican. For the first time in the history of tho Republican party, Indiana is receiving Justice at tho hands of the President. There is no State in tho Union where the Republicans have harder work or a more desperate and unscrupulous foe to light than here. The Kepublicans of the State should be rewarded liberally. It will give them courage to work in the future. Versailles Republican. If the efforts of Indianapolis citizens to give fuel gas free to all manufactories are successful the gas belt will havo an opposition to "buck" against which will prove very formidable. We can make fun of tho booming schemes of Huntington, Wabash and Peru, but when we turn to Indianapolis with her score of railroads and thousands of empty houses, we must acknowledge her facilities. Marion Chronicle. Indianapolis, heretofore on the conservation order in the matter of securing factories, has awakened up, and is now making 6tift'bids for such enterprises. During the winter months when their gas supply was inadequate to meet the demands of private consumers, but little attention was paid to their manufacturing interests. Now the enterprising citizens propose offering free gas to manufacturing concerns ns an inducement for them to locate at that place. Kokomo Gazette-Tribune. SUSPECTED AS A GERMAN SFT. Field Marshal ITalstead Tells His Experiences in the Franco-German War. New York Herald. Just after Harrison's inauguration there was some talk of Murat Halstead, editor of the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, being appointed our minister to France. When these rumors appeared in the Paris edition of the Herald, there was quite a scene in the Chamber of Deputies over the tirade of one of the members of that body, who said he would object to an exequatur being issued by the French government to the Buckeye field marshal, in the event of his being sent over as our . diplomatic representative. The objection made was on the ground that editor Halstead, while acting as correspondent for his paper during the Franco-Prussian war, was suspected of being a German spy. Mr. Halstead treated this exhibition with silence. I had a long talk with him a few days ago, when rumors of his being offered the mission to Berlin were started. Mr. Halstead laughed heartily over tho insinuations made against him. "I was suspected of being a spy," ho said, "and had a narrow escape of it, too. Of course, there was no foundation to the suspicion, and, as a matter of fact, I tried my best to go with tho French army, and had no idea whatever of having anything to do with the Germans." The belligerent Ohio editor then told mb the story of how all this came about in 60 interesting a manner that he alone could duplicate it. He said that at the beginning of hostilities he went to Paris, and through the late E. B. Washburne, then the United States minister to France, made application to accompany Marshal McMahon's army. Minister Washburne indorsed tho application, which was laid before the proper officials of the French War Office. After waiting some time he got impatient and went down to Metz. where Emperor Napoleon was in command in person While the American correspondent was trying to get off some of the dirt of travel at the hotel and within an hour after his arrival in Metz, he was placed under arrest as a suspect. Sheer luck, or perhaps forethought, only kept Mr. Halstead from being thrown into prison. Before leaving Paris ho had cautioned Minister Washburne to answer immediately any telegram that might bo received f rom'him. As soon as ho was arrested, Mr. Halstead teleJ graphed Mr. Washburne, inquiring what lad been done in the matter of his applicaion to go with flcMahon. A reply came ack promptly that it was on life in tho War Office, and it was expected that it would soon be acted upon. "That was exactly what I wanted," Mr. Halstead told me, "for I know that the military authorities would see tho message before I did and it might help my case. It did help me, but not to the extent that I wanted. I stayed in Metz a little while, but I knew, of course, that I was constant being watched. There was no uso in my staying there, for every avenue of information was closed to me. So I decided to go away." Next Mr. Halstead went to Strasbourg, whero McMahon's army was, and met with a similar reception to that in Metz. Tho War Office would not take any action in reference to giving him official permission to go with McMahon's forces, and the Marshal would not recognize his right unless he did get it. There was neither fun nor profit in being under a ban, and finally Mr. Malstead went over into the German fines. He could cet no standing as a correspondent with Kaiser Wilhelm's forces, and after having a pretty tough time of it he returned to Paris by way of Brussels. lie had seen enough to convince him that it was only a question of a very short time before the Germans got into Paris, and anticipated that the Parisians and everybody who was caught in the besieged city would fare not too well. Ho warned some of the Americans who were there of what was likely to happen, for nobody realized that the French capital was likely to fall. Even Minister Washburne himself did not send away his family until Mr. Halstead posted him. Among those whom the editor warned were a number of American ladies, uud as he put it they wero indiscreet enough to mention the source of their information.

That came near getting Mr. Halstead into serious difficnlt3 and. as he says, is nil the foundation there is to tho story that he was a German spy. While he was absent from his hotel, which was near the opera-house, a mob came there and demanded of tho landlord that he should hand over tho American to them. They mado dire threats of what they intended doing, and being a iorry looking crowd of villains, Mr. .Halstend says he has no doubt whatever but that they intended to take him out and either shoot or hang him. It so happened that he passed the crowd on the street, but although the spokesman and some of the others in the gang had known him when he was in Paris before they failed to recognize him. He looked more like a tramp than anything ele, for his clothes were in tatters, ho was bronzed and unshaven and altogether in a sad plight. The disguise saved him. thongh. On getting back to the hotel the landlord received him with open arms, and after assuring him of. his distinguished consideration, politely but firmly invited him to seek quarters elsewhere, lie did so. The "Parsee Merchant" Ajaln. If ew York Graphic. J. S. Moore, t he "ParsceMci chant." whoso free-trade articles and advocacy have mado him both famous and notorious, has broken out again. He is a professional free-trado agitator and a free-trade lobbyist at Washington. In appearance ho is a typical Frenchman, short and heavy, with flowing side whiskers and heavy mustache of tho fashion set by Emperor William of Grrmany and affected by French financiers of the solid order. Ho wears green gourdes which effectually cover his seiutiilant black eves. 1 saw him coming out of tho Windsor Hotel on Sunday. A coach, drawn by a span, of magnificent horses, with a driver in livery on tho box, was waiting for him, and as he stepped in the manner of his order to tho driver indicated that it was his own equipage. It is evident that free trade as an occupation pays tho Parsee. I am told he is a luxurious liver and.it Washington has the best of everything. Tho source of his income may be inferred from some of tho Cobden Club reports of expenditures for the dissemination ot free trade.

Mr. Child Did It. Philadelphia Prebs. Colonel Fred D. Grant, the new minister to Austria, and his wife, stopped for an hour or two in this citv, yesterday, tho guests of Mr. George V. Guilds. The Colonel announced his coming in a dispatch to Mr. Childs from Washington. He wan in tho best of health and eager to set out on his mission. Mr. Russell Harrison was also in the jolly party assembled in Mr. Childs's office shortly after noon. There was little talked about save the Colonel's good fortune, which ho frankly ascribes in largo part to the good offices of Mr. Childs. Mrs. Grant seemed charmed with the prospect of a four-years' residence in Vienna. Her eyes danced as she chatted about it. She eni'oys a speaking acquaintance with tho French tongue, and is glad of a chance to make use of her accomplishment. Tho Colonel said that ho expected to sail iu about four weeks, and that it is more than likely that his mother would make one of his family. 1 " j The Opposition to ILtUtead. Philadelphia Rocord (Dem.) It has been urged in opposition to the desire of the administration to give Mr. Mnrat Halstead an official position of honor and dignity that tho bitter things which Mr. Halstead has said and written at one timo or another about tho honorablo Senate of the United States would be usedtonrevent his confirmation by that body. It this be true, tho argument affects the advisability of continuing the senatorial supervision of executive appointment rather than Mr. Halstcad's qualifications as a public servant. Nobody thinks of disputing his intelligence, industry or patriotism, and tho country has not yet settled down to tho conviction that an appointee must be persona grata with the United States Senate to securo a post of importance in the federal service. Ilie people aro decidedly in favor of men of ability and integrity for office, even though they may at some timo have unduly ruffled the senatorial dignity. Civil-Service Rules to Be Enforced. Chicago Journal. A special Washington dispatch to the Indianapolis Journal should le read by all applicants for subordinate situations in the government departments at Washington. Applications are said to bo pouring in on the various delegations for these positions, but it is labor thrown away. All the departments are under tho civil-servico rules, and removals and appointments are made in every case under the rules of tho commission. Senators and Congressmen have absolutely no influence in thfl premises, no patronage to give away and no "pull" on the heads of departments, who are forced to select their clerks . from the lists of candidates certified over from the Civil-service Commission as having passed a high examination. So those desiring experience in Washington life through a department clerkship know how to get them if they are to get them at alL A Consular Snob. New York Graphic. A story comes up from Trinidad about United States Consnl Sawyer, which seems to demand the appointment ot an American citizen who has no English sympathies to fill his place. Sawyer is a Connecticut man who had some literary experience. He wroto a book some years ago in which there wero somo severe criticisms upon English snobbery, manners and affectations. Trinidad is in the British West Indies. When Sawyer was sent there by President Cleveland be presented one of his books, handsomely bound, to the local library. On tho page where his expressions against the English were most severe he wrote a note, signing his name, in which he declared that he had since modified theso opinions to 6uch an extent that ho was sorry they were ever written and published. Talk about snobbery! Mr. Lincoln Was Surprised. Chicago Mall, Mr. Lincoln strolled into his office this afternoon, after dining at the Chicago Club, and was met by a reporter. "You have heard of your appointment as minister to Great Bntain, of course!" he was asked. "Minister to Great Britain!" he exclaimed. "Yes, minister to England." "No, sir. I havo not heard of it, and I doubt if it is true." "Your name was among tho list sent to the Senate to-day, nevertheless." "Well, I can't believe it. I havo had no information, official or otherwise, in regard to it, and if it were true I certainly think I should have heard of it. I also would havo been consulted, I believe, if anything of the kind was to have been ofiercd me." -. Will Work Harmoniously. Cleveland Leader. It is becoming very apparent that tho name of tho President of the United States is Benjamin Harrison and that tho members of his Cabinet know their respectivo places and work harmoniously in them. The country was not at all disturbed by any of tho foolish talk to tho contrary, but now that it sees the correctness of its first impressions confirmed, it settles down in the comfortable conviction that this administration will be conducted in a way that will le mighty free from anything objectionable. m McDonald's Opinion. Washington Special. Ex-Senator McDonald is hero looking after his cases in tho Supreme Court, and says that Dan Voorhees will bo an easy winner in the next contest for the senatorial toga. Governor Gray will be Voorhees's opponent. Have Had Their Day. . Boa ton Ilerald. Scoffing outsiders who dwell somewhere about tho rim of the wheel observe that both Joseph Cook and John L. Sullivan have had their day in the hub of the universe. The coincidence is unfortunate, but it is probably correct. Where They Differ. Chicago Journal. Although President Harrison's appointments are surprising in somo cases, the appointees aro not new discoveries, like Minister Phelps and the Southern ex-rebel nobodies sent by Cleveland on missions to foreign powers. For the Good of the Whole Country. Baltimore American. This is not an offensive partisan administration, but ono for the good of the whole country.