Indianapolis Journal, Indianapolis, Marion County, 4 April 1889 — Page 4

THE INDIANAPOLIS JOUENAL, THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 1889.

THE DAILY JOURNAL THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 1889. WASHINGTON OFFICK 513 Fourteenth SU P. 8. II lath. Correspondent. KEW YORK OFFICE 204 Temple Court, Corner Beekman and Nassau Street.

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Klggs nouse and Ebbitt House. Telephone Calls. Business Office 238 Editorial Rooms ..242 Of the financial policy of the Indiana Democracy we honestly think that for people who like that kind of a policy it is jnst about the kind of a policy they would like. The Sentinel is having a very tough time of it these days. For a week it has been wrestling with one little idea, and a warped one at that. Some friend, in all kindness, ought to help it let go. WnERE were the women of Wichita when the prohibition light went out through the election of a wholesale liquor dealer as Mayor! Equal municipal suffrage doesn't make for righteousness and the millennium with the speed and directness its advocates predicted. What was the matter with D. K. Anthony, of Leavenworth, that all the women but sister Susan worked and voted against him? It seems a pity that after all her arduous labors in behalf of the cause, Susan cannot have her own candidate elected where equal suffrage does exist. TnE ostensible object of Stanley'slast expedition was to relievo Eniin.Pasha; but according to the letter from the explorer Em in was in no haste to be found and was not at all anxious to bo "relieved." Living, as he was, on the fat of the land, and accumulating wealth with great rapidity, ho apparently found life on the shore of Lake Nyanza very comfortable. The indignation of the Florida Legislature over the fact that Cleveland was not elected, although he had a majority of the votes cast, is the more edifying from the fact that Florida did her full share in suppressing Republican votes; If the "popular vote" had all been cast, or had been counted as cast, nothing would be heard about Cleveland's "majority," and the less said about it now the better sense will Southerners show. Misfortunes accumulate on General i Franz Sigel in his old age. In addition to the pension frauds committed by his son, which will consign him to the penitentiary, it is discovered that the father and his bondsmen will suffer heavy pecuniary loss from tho samo cause. There was a time when General SigePs name was a tower of strength to the Union cause, and his military services during tho war still entitle him to sympathy. He is now sixty-fivo years old, and will hardly recover from his present misfortunes. TnE character of John" E. Sullivan's rascality is very distinctly shown by the detailed statement of his shortage in the county clerk's office. Ho stole deliberately, knowing that widows and orphans vvero to be among the sufferers, and that some among his victims would bo deprived of all they possessed small though the individual sums might be. He left no trust funds, no judgments, no official fees untouched. This Democratic leader, this trusted depository of party secrets, this county clerk and purveyor to the Insane Hospital was the meanest , kind of a common thief. His friends who were victimized, his bondsmen tho "little birds" whom the serpent charmed deserve little sympathy, for they had due warning. Tho time to have saved themselves was by withdrawing their fcupport when tho man's character became known in tho tally-sheet cases, but it was not their belief then that a man who would forgo a tally-sheet would forge a check, that one who would steal a vote would 6teal a purse. They are wiser now, and sadder. There is an interesting movement on foot in tho South to secure the election of protectionists to Congress. Tho movement is not intended to inuro especially to the benefit of the Republican or Democratic parties further than making protection the paramount issue in Southern congressional elections. It is based on the idea that tho development of its natural resources and industries is essential to Southern prosperity, and that this can only bo accomplished by maintaining tho protective policy. It is proposed to hold a convention in Chattanooga in May for the organization of a Southern protective tariff league. Thirty-five congressional districts are named which no free-trader can of right represent, viz.: Four in "West Virginia, two in Maryland, six in Virginia, four in North Carolina, four in Tennessee, four in Kentucky, one in Georgia, two iu Alabama, fivo in Missouri, one in Arkansas, and two in Texas. The plan of organization is that in each of theso thirty-five Southern districts tho protectionists who call themselves Republicans and the protectionists who call themselves Democrats shall joiu hands to nominate and vote for a protectionist for Congress. In districts where tho Hublicans have a majority a Repub

lican protectionist will be nominated for Congress and supported by protection Democrats as well as Republicans. Where the Democrats have a majority a protection Democrat will be nominated. If rightly handled this movement may lead to important results, and help to obliterate the everlasting color lino and race issue in the South.

THE WHITE HAH US AFRICA. After all, civilization progresses slowly. The people of a peaceful and prosperous nation, absorbed in pursuits which shall surround them with even more refinements and luxuries than they now enjoy, find it difficult to realize that a great part of tho world is still in a state of barbarism. In a vague way they are aware that "heathen" exist whose salvation calls for tho sacrifice of a considerable portion of tho churchgoer's income; but these weekly contributions and the figures occasionally hurled at them from the pulpit convey no idea of tho benighted condition of a large portion of tho world's inhabitants. The facts need to be presented to them in a concrete form to bo fairly appreciated. When a Kennan describes tho barbarities and horrors of Russian and Siberian life, when mobs of Chinese savages murder all the foreigners within their reach, when an Ameer of Afghanistan orders the slaughter of a hundred prisoners in cold blood, then the public becomes impressed with tho truth that the missionary, tho schoolmaster and other advance guards of civilization have yet a great work to do before the barbarous millions of the earth's inhabitants are fitted to enjoy tho "modern improvements" of life. Stanley's letter brings into vivid light another vast region where the savage reigns supreme. Wo send missionaries to Africa who browse, so to speak, upon the outskirts; a traveler now and then visits the coast and reports that ho has seen Africa. Yet in the interior are great tribes of natives so ignorant that they have never heard of white men and regard them as supernatural beincs natives so primitive in savagery that they wear little or no clothing, and fight with poisoned arrows. Such of these savages as have come under Stanley influence aro represented as having many good traits and a considerable measure of intelligencetraits of like character, probably, to those that have made Africans in America such excellent citizens. But it is not likely that these people will ever reach such a point of civilization as their Afro-American brethren. Tho history of savages in modern times is not of their incorporation into the conquering races, but of their gradual extinction. When whito men begin to penetrate into tho interior of Africa in largo numbers they will bo in search of wealth; they will desire to possess the land, and tho fate of the American Indian teaches that they will possess it. Tho opposition to tho progress of Stanley and his men was the natural resistance to an unknown invader, but a prophetic instinct may also have moved tho native kings. The advent of the white men will bring civilization, but it will also deprive them of their power and their treasures, if not of their lives. DEMOCRATIC ITNAHCIEBIKO. At last the people of Indiana are brought to a realizing sense of tho disgraceful financial policy pursued by tho Democratic party in this State for years past. The act authorizing tho Governor and State officers to borrow $1,400,000 to carry on the State government for tho next two years is held by high legal authority to bo unconstitutional, and tho bankers to whom the loan was awarded decline to tako it. It is not likely they can bo compelled to do so, and still less likely that another bank will advance so large a sura of money on bonds issued under a law of doubtful validity. And if the reasoning that invalidates tho act is good it could not bo remedied even if the Legislature were called together again. The Constitution declares that tho State may incur a debt or borrow money only in a certain contingency. If that contingency did not exist when this act was passed it does not exist now, and could not bo created by the Legislature. It was tho duty of the Legislature to know whether it existed or not, and they showed their ignorance of tho Constitution by enacting a law they had no right to enact. If tho constitutional defect had not been discovered tho loan might have gone through as others have done and no question would ever have been raised as to the validity of the bonds or tho liability of the State. Rut the legal opinion as to the unconstitutionality of the act is fatal to the negotiation. Practically, therefore, the loan is a failure and the State is left without means to meet tho ordinary expenses of tho government for tho next two years. Tho situation is wholly and directly duo to Democratic financiering. Tho Democratic policy, for years past, has been to avoid increasing the tax-levy and to borrow money to pay interest and meet current expenses. They have persistently evaded tho duty and shirked tho responsibility of levying taxes because that was unpopular, and have gone on year after year borrowing money and piling up debt and interest. They knew the inevitable pay-day would come and that an increased tax-levy would havo to bo laid some time, but by'postponing it from year to year they hoped to throw upon tho Republicans this disagreeable and always unpopular duty. Then, trusting to the forgetfulness of tho people and their disposition to regard only present conditions, they would have attacked the Republicans for increasing taxesi Thus they have gone on, year after year, borrowing money and piling up debt and interest. Such a policy is disgraceful and dishonest, but eminently characteristic of tho Indiana Democracy. From a business stand-point it is beneath contempt. There is no suggestion of honest busi ness methods or sound financiering about it. It would bankrupt any busi ness man in the world, and in time would bankrupt even tho State of Indiana, with its unlimited resources and credit. A glauco at the reports of tho Auditor of Stato during the last few years will , show how this policy has operated. Tho

report of the Auditor for 1883 showed the cash in the treasury Oct. 31, 1882, was $'099,009. The total debt of tho State at that time, foreign and domestic, was $4,876,008. Under the Democratic "shinning" policy the balance in tho treasury was steadily reduced and finally wiped out, while the revenue of each ensuing year had to bo anticipated in tho way of advances by tho county treasurers. For tho year ending Oct. 31, 188C, such advances amounted to $440,804. -This mode of anticipating revenue was made necessary by the Democratic policy of failing to provide it. In pursuance of the 6amo policy loans were authorized and made in 1883 of $1,CS5,000, and in 1887 of $080,000, making the State debt, Oct. 31, 1888, $6,770,008, against $4,870,008 on the 31st of October, 1882, an increase of $1,894,000 in six years. A large part of the original debt in 1882 was due to tho same makeshift policy. As tho borrowing continued, tho interest account increased, until, as Governor Gray was compelled to admit in his last message, it amounted to $337,801 a year, or one-fourth of the entire revenue of the State. Yet in tho face of this situation, tho result of years of Democratic imbecility, the last Legislature made no provision for an increase of revenue nor for reducing expenses in any way. On the contrary, it was the most expensive and extravagant Legislature that ever convened in tho State, creating new offices, increasing salaries, making reckless appropriations, and squandering money right and left. Finally, to cap tho climax, they authorized another loan of $1,400,000 to defray current expenses, and, with an empty treasury, tho act is declared unconstitutional, and the money cannot be raised. Thus tho inevitable conclusion has been reached, and the miserable makeshift policy of making debts to pay debts has come to an end. It will bo astonishing indeed if the people do not see to it that the domination in State affairs of the party responsible for all this mischief is not also brought to an end.

It is sincerely to be hoped the rcporc that gold has been discovered in Boone county, West Virginia, may prove to be true. The State is sadly in need of new blood, and a gold craze would bring it in spite of the bad political odor now prevalent there. Pittsburg Chronicle. Gold discoveries in that region aro nothing new. It has been found inmany places along the Shenandoah and Allegheny mountain ranges, in Virginia and North Carolina. In tho latter Stato natives sometimes occupy themselves with washing the shining grains from the sands of the mountain streams, but hardly find the work profitable. In old Virginia, within fifty miles of Washington, gold mines have been operated from time to time for many years, Jhe ore is said to be rich, but is of such a peculiar character that tho cost of reducing it exceeds the profits. It is hardly likely that tho discovery in West Virginia will . prove a bonanza. Concerning the ways and means of office-seeking, a Washington paper 6ays: , If anv man wants to prejudice his case he can find no more satisfactory way of doing ' it than to attempt to talk to the 1'resident at a public reception. The chief execu-! a ' ! y . j it t II t live uas maue up ins ininu max. an lie uas to do at a public reception is to shake as many hands as possible at a regular rate of speed, and any break in the regular order meets with his displeasure. Of course, he is right; and it must bo a very importunate office-seeker who would think differently. Of the crowds who attend those public receptions a largo majority merely want to shake tho President's hand, look him in the eye and pass on. For an oflice-seckerto attempt to buzz him on such an occasion is to incommode hundreds of other people to tho unspeakable annoyance, no doubt, of the President. Any man lit to hold an office ought to know better. Go ask Toledo, in the clutch of the Standard Oil monopoly, what it is paying for gas. What is Pittsburg paying, which is in tho grasp of an octopus? No town has done so much within its ability to welcome outside investments as Indianapolis. Evening News. Nevertheless, the painful fact remains that outside capital is going to Toledo and Pittsburg, and is not coming here to any desirable extent. Possibly the foreign capitalists are discouraged by the treatment received by the few among them who have ventured to make investments here. No man likes to put his money in a town where ho is immediately assailed as a robber and would-be monopolist. Dr. Wolfe, a returned African explorer, advises white men who expect to make Africa their home to marry nativo women, and not expose tho women of temperate climates to the hardships and dangers of life in the torrid zone. This is very thoughtful and considerate in Dr. Wolfe, but yet it is to bo hoped that he means the white men to marry but one native woman each. According to Stanley, a number of Emin Tasha's followers, who may be white for anything stated to tho contrary, lost no timo in establishing harems at their temporary quarters near Lake Nyanza. There is one thing about the extensive accumulations of baggage and other possessions which Stanley and his men have Btored at various points in the interior of Africa. They will not be bothered in moving their goods by troublesome interstatecommerce rules and the difficulty of making rates with competing freight lines. ABOUT PEOPLE AND THINGS. Journalism is getting up in the social scale. George Alfred Townsend has a clear case of gout that would do credit to the direct descendants of kings. SIrs. Nellie Bailey, of Waukesha, I. T., took a walk with a young man, gave him a drink from a flask, and when he regained his senses several days later she claimed him as her husband. Miss Nellie Gould, tho "wizard's" eldest and favorite daughter, has the neat sum of 0,000,000 to her account. She is very charitable and is interested in several home's for sick babies and poor women. Herrmann plays a neat trick on dead beats who ask for a pass. Ho writes out a pass for them with great readiness, but when they examine it after a few minutes they discover that it is nothing but a blank card. Overland trains coming east are crowded now with wealthy San Francisco peoplo on their way to the Paris exposition. Such a rush abroad has not been known since tho great bonanza, when everyone had a fortune to speud. A London journal gives tho following definitions: An Irishman is not at peace unless he is quarreling. An Englishman Is not happy unless ho is complaining. A

Scotchman m is not at home unless he is among foreigners. Ah for an American, ho is only happy when he is abroad, when he is complaining and when he is quarreling. Roy Odenwkller, a "ten-year-old boy who lives in Brown county, Illinois, is a human almanac. Give him any date in any month of this year, last year or next year, and he can instantly tell you the day of the week upon which it falls or has fallen. The Prince Regent Luitnold, of Bavaria, who is a devout Catholic and a rigid nurist, will only allow the Oberammergau "Passion play" to be performed next year, on condition that the text is previously revised by the senior court chaplain at Munich. Hon. Carroll D. Wright, Commissioner of Labor, has been designated as a vicepresident of honor, and also as a member of the committee of patronage of the international congress on profit-sharing, to be held in Paris in July next, during the exposition. TnE Emperor of Germany, not content with getting up 5 a. m. and breakfasting at C:00 with his family, has now had a writingtable such as is used by invalids placed at the side of his bed, and it is his practice when he cannot sleep, which is frequently, to take pencil and paper and begin making notes of tho following day's work. It is not insomnia that keeps liim awake, but attacks of earache, which in severe weather are always troublesome." Senator Spooner's youngest son 6eems to have taken Jack Lincoln's place, and now it is "Phil Spooner with his pony" who is the fearless young rider. He is a delicate boy of nine years, with blonde hair and a girlish, pretty face. But he rides like a trooper, fearless and perfect master of the pony, a Shetland. "Phil Spooner and his pony" may be seen every line morning in company with his father, for a canter in the White lot, south of the White House. The late Aaron White, by whose will each county in Connecticut receives 1,000 for law library purposes, was known widely for his copper coin mania, which was first revealed when two men were sent to prison for stealing $100 from his hoard, but there was great astonishment after his death, when his administrator shipped three tons and eight hundred pounds from the village station. This was only a portion of the whole amount found in his possession. Dr. Dujardin-Beaumety states that for the last two years the average mortality among persons bitten by mad dogs and who were not treated according to the "Pasteur svstem" was from 14 to 16 per cent, whereas the average death rate among those who had been inoculated was only 1 per cent. In 1887, out of S06 persons who were "Pasteurized" only three died, while out of forty-four bitten persons who were not inoculated seven succumbed. In 18S8 385 persons were inoculated, and four died, while out of 105 bitten persons not treated at the Pasteur Institute fourteen died. Hannibal Hamlin has returnedto Maine and confirms the report that he bought and wore an overcoat while in Minnesota. He adds: "I did not buy the garment on

account of my feelings, but out of respect. for tho weather, when the thermometer runs down to forty degrees below zero I think the ordinary courtesies of the occasion would demand proper recognition of the presence of Boreas, the ice king. My friends were much amused at my surrender, but a Minnesota blizzard is not a meteorological condition to be treated with disrespect." The antiquity of tho family of Sir Julian Pauncefote, the new English minister to tho United States, is undoubted. There were Pauncefotes in England when the "Domesday Book" was written, and a Pauncefote sailed with Prince Edward to Tunis in 1270. Sir Julian was born m Munich in 1828, and educated at Paris and Geneva. He was intended for the navy, but accident threw him into diplomacy at an early ago. and ho showed such an aptitude for that branch of the government service that he was kept there. Lady Pauncefote and her daughter, it is believed, will be a great .acquisition to Washington society. Henri CnEVREUL, 6on of the French chemist, who is now 104 j'cars old, was buried last week, ine latner is still ignorant of the loss of his boy. When about a year ago the latter, then sixty-nine, went to Paris from Dijon for medical advice the elder Chevreul seemed to feel that he was personally insulted by tho fact that his son showed such fragility of constitution. The family physician tried to explain the matter to tne old scientist, but Chevreul was annoyed and said that he always felt that he would never be able to raise the child. Chevreul begins to show signs of approach ing death, and his son's demise has been kept from him. COMMENT AND OPINION. In the sober calm which follows calamity it should be easy to effect an equitable setU 1 A f .11 . A A IT .1 A xiemeni oi an international disputes. Albany Journal. Every act that tends to envelop the Sen ate in thepanoply of aristocratic exclusiveness, and arrogant conceit, miscalled dig nity, is a blow against the Senate itself. Iowa State Register. It is only when surrounded by industri ous and intelligent whites, aided and en couraged by the example they set, that the negroes of the South are able to make tho slightest advances in the arts of civiliza tion. Memphis Avalanche. Some papers aro saying that a great many unworthy men, not worth half the f resent salary, aro being sent to Congress, f that is so then it is the fault of the men who send them there, and the fact has no bearing on the office, or what should he the Lay of a man worthy of tho place. Salt ake City Tribune. There is no danger that mere descent from a distinguished ancestor will give a man undue advantage in the politics of this country; bnt certainly a man should not be disqualified from holding othce because his father or grandfather was an eminent citi zen and rendered valuable public services. Milwaukee Sentinel. Any government mav cro inst as far as it deems proper or expedient in the way of saying what protection it will afford to fugitives from beyond its borders, and tho extradition laws like all other legal enact ments will be subject to expansion and im provement as public opinion and the obvious public interests may demand. l'fiiladelphia Telegraph. TnE poverty, and ignorance and political enslavement of the colored race in the South prevent the whites of that region. and to some extent the whites of tho whole country, from enjoying a full measure of the blessings of that civilization which is the outcome of the American svstem of pro tection to home industries and to national elections. Chicago Tribune. The press cannot be muzzled by tho Senate. It must have the news or as near tho news as it can get. Throw open the doors of the executive session, and it will not ouly have tho news, hut always havo it correct: and Senators will no loncrer be an noyed, embarrassed or wronged by tho publication of that which is without au thority or of surreptitious origin. Washington Post. The protection wing of tho Democratic party is giving the free-trade wing and uouy oi inai pany a vast amount, oi trouble. Of course tho body can't enjoy smooth sailing unless the wings fiap together. Any old buzzard can swear to that. And lots of old buzzards are swearing because it is so. Tho protection wing, however, knows its business, and proposes to flap in the right direction hereafter or not nap at all. Detroit Tribune. The occupation and settlement of Okla homa will present a marked contrast tat he settling up of Kansas, for the reason that the element of disturbance and hostility which made Kansas such a dark and bloody ground is wantirg. No question of human I slavery can intervene to array brother against brother on the soil or Oklahoma, and there is no good reason why the lern torv should not flourish from its verv inception and come in time to be a great and - ... .. . . y r : prosperous oiaic oau x rauciscu .iiiri'm cle. The lord of battles sent his hurricanes and waves, and came to Mataafa's rescue, and tho poor savage, acting on his own golden rule, dashed to save the lives of his would-bo destroyers. And he seems to havo furnished the needed succor, for tho UJga was spared by the skilled aid of Mataafa's men. A e . don't suppose Bis-

marck cares a fig for the golden rule in diplomacy, but the rest of the world will .1 Y il 1

iuiuk mat ims poor, savage King is mucii better fitted for real Christian society than the powerful prince who tried to destroy him. New York Telegram. THE SERVICE PENSION. A Talk with CoL E. B. Loriog, the Origin ator of the Measure. New York Star. One of tho familiar faces about the Fifthavenue Hotel lately has been that of Col. E. B. Loring. of Boston, the originator of the service-pension idea. He first proposed it in his own post, No. 15, u. A. li., of 15oston, several years ago. Then the Mass a-' chusetts department adopted it. and it was subsequently brought up at the national encampment at Fortland, where petitions in its favor were offered from 2,000 posts and signed also by 300,000 citizens. It was brought up again at the national encampments at San Francisco and St. Louis. It was opposed at all three encampments by Corporal Tanner, the now Commissioner of Pensions. At St. Louis Colonel Loringwas prominent in tho organization of the Na tional Service-pension Association, of which ueneral liovey was elected tne first president. "General Hovey." the Colonel said last night, "introduced a bill in congress to carry out our purpose, but it was never re ported from the committee. It had the ap proval of 4,000 out of 6,000 urand Army posts. At tho national encampment at Columbns last year a resolution was passed which leaned 6tronglv toward a 1 cent a day service peniou. But the service pension when adopted will be an $8 a month pension, because that is the rate which has been recognized as proper since tho beginning of the Republic. Every man's discharge from the army, without reference to Ins disability, will be sufficient to secure him the pension. Two-thirds of those who are on the pension rolls now are on for less than ciS a month, and So.000 of them are on for $2. This latter is a r idiculous sum, for if a man is not entitled to more he is not entitled to anything. "1'n blic opinion has changed greatly on this subject in the past few years. It was thought at first what we aro asking lor was too much. The pension appropriation is now about $80,000,000, which seems a very large sum, but wo must bear in mind that there were over 2,200,000 in the army, and that the soldiers were not responsible for the size of the army or the proportions of the war. In four years fully two thousand battles were fought, and the strain on tho men was enormous. "I saw that from the wav the pension legislation was going it was being dictated by the claim agents, and that it was getting to bo so complicated and saddled with so many refinements that tho law was being defeated in its operations. There havo been, on an average, nearly 500,000 claims waiting to be reduced, lake the pension roil, the claimants who are waiting, and the few men whose necessities did not press them, and consequently would not apply for a pension, and they will cover about all the survivors of our army. The country is beginning to feel that the time has come for a service pension. It will be the best method for distributing the surplus, because it will sow it more widely among the people than any other method. It will be, in short, an act of justice and, although it sounds paradoxical to sav so, economical in the end, because under the present system we have a Russian bureauocracy in the rension Office, an aristocracy of claim agents, and the money is going to others than tho veterans. "What do I think of Corporal Tanners appointment as Commissioner of Pensions! lie has a chance now to do justice to his comrades to the extent of the law as it stands." y REPORTERS MUST HAVE PROOF. The Nature of Their Business Forbids Them to Accept a Man's Word as Evidence. New York Mail and Express. Newspaper men aro often forced by tho very nature of their business to go on the A A A A 1 A 1 1 supposition mat tne people wnn wnom they are talking professionally are telling them untruths. The public wants facts and not assertions, and if the reporters take the latter for the former, and aro deceived, their papers are made ridiculous. Sometimes this professional suspicion leads to queer situations. A few days ago it was announced in a dozen city papers that a lady living in Brooklyn had an heiress, or some other interesting creature, confined in her house. Lots of people had allegedly heard the screams of the captive, and with various nits oi coloring ana presumptive proot tne story was made quite alarming. Within six hours after the publication of the story a dozen reporters had descended on the house. The lady whose house was thus assailed and her daughter received the reporters. They were evidently peoplo of re finement, and their indignant denials of the story would have convinced anyone but a newspaperman, lsutat least nan ot the reporters who called wero.suniciently exacting to want absolute proof, and accordingly explained that if they might be allowed to go over the house they could deny the story of their own knowledge. So through tho house they were shown, the young lady acting as guide. No two of them t a 1 it A 1 A. ' J were at tne nouse at me same time, ana hence the young lady had to go the rounds of the rooms six or seven times. Each reporter looked into every room, opened every closet, examined the walls tor signs of staples to which the alleged heiress might nave been tied, and gravely stumbled around the cellar. After this search each one assured tho young lady of his complete conviction of the falsity of the published story. Some people would have resented the very request of the reporters to look over the house as an insult. Tho ladies in question were gifted with better sense and smilingly accepted, the newspaper man's apologies for the seeming intrusion into which their duty to their respective papers forced them. THE AMERICAN NAVY. It Is Manned by Foreigners and Lacks the Patriotism Necessary to Win Fights. New York Telegram. , . It has been well said that the only true basis for a strong national navy is a strong merchant marine. How true this is we shall never lind out till our sailors are brought face to face again with some one of the navies of first-class powers. In the late civil war it was a family strife, no proper gauge of relative lighting qualities. We ave not for over seventy years measured our prowess on the sea with any foreign antagonist. In the days of the intrepid sea dogs who gave the American navy a fighting reputation in tho world our vessels were manned and ollicered by American blood. The crews, almost to a man. fought for the flag because they loved it. Discipline! Yes, for that is half the battle on ship board, but with this was a patriotism that needed no prod but devotion to the cause. How are things now with the navy? Our merchant marine, which carried over 00 per cent, of the foreign cemmerce a generation ago, has slowly left the sea. It now carries about 5 per cent, and could be anchored in the Erie basin. American boys no longer follow the sea. They can't do it without sailing under alien colors. Their patriotism on the ocean is dead. Our villainous shipping laws have killed it. Not only this, but our coasting trade is manned by foreigners, chietly Swedes and Norwegians. Now for tho sequel. With a dead merchant marine, wo see seven-tenths of our lost sailors at Samoa of foreign nationality. Outside the officers, the patriotic personnel of our federal navy is gone. In the same breath wo learn that of the British vessel Calliope's crew of 450, all are British-born but seventeen. Do we expect to make Decaturs and John Paul Joneses out of seamen who fight only for pay! Harrison, Halford and Henderson. '. Washington Special. President Harrison is a great pedestrian. Nearly every evening he takes a long tramp, usually with the faithful Lige for a companion, and his long legs tako his short body along at a brisk rate. If Harrison was built in tho same proportion from his waist up as ho is from the line of demarcation down, he would not be so insignificant in stature. Tho other day he and Halford were strolling down New f York avenue, when Eb Henderson, the assistant collector of internal revenue, and tho heartiest Kood fellow who ever camo from Hoosierdom, met them. They are old friends personally, but the toughest sort of enemies politically. In 18SI Eb , helped carry Indiana for Cleveland, and when he camo on to Washington after the inauguration and presented his claims (1 rover said he couldn't appoint him because it would shock the sensibilities of the civil serviceites and his mugwump assistants to recognize such an offensive partisan. Eh went back home, and in the next State cam paigu worked just &s hard, but tho goodold

Democratic party was snowed under, and then Cleveland made him next in command in the Internal Revenue Bureau. Well, when Eb met Harrison and Halford ho greeted them cordiallv, and as they were separating he remarked: "Look here. General, j-on always said yoa had a noft spot for me. Suppose you tak as long to find out that I'm in office as it did Cleveland." Tho chances are Harrison will.

' An Awful State of Affairs. Boston Advertiser. It is still nearly a month before tho in auguration centennial exercises take plaeo at Now York, but already it has begun to overshadow in its importonce all other great events of the d;y. Tho President iraself is reported as about to lay aside all other questions of stato and devoto his time to ninonstrating with tho autocratic committee over its arrangements. Tho Stato of New York has for days been trem bling on the edge of horrid war, and one of its legislative branches has expressed a wish for gore. Gradually tho Stock Exchange is becoming quiet and deserted, and the merchant vessels are reported lying idly in the bay. The South is threatening to secede because autocrat McAllister has spurned its claims, and a feeling of gloom is settling down over the rest of tho country whose claims are ignored. Vague rumors of war are in the air. If the country safely weathers these troublous times it will only be through the sagacious guidance of the great McAllister, whose highest courage and noblest statesmanship alone can aver the crisis. The Truth of It. Washington Special. Mrs. Harrison is nearly well of her cold. Tho old, old story has been started about the unhealthy condition of the White Houset but it has no foundation. Tho house is old, but of late years its sanitary condition has been well attended to. In President Arthur's time tho cellars wer overhauled and newly bricked, and . every year it is thoroughly gone over. The fact that Mrs. Harrison has been ill may be traced to the same causes that produced Mrs. Grafield's illness soon after she went there; excessive fatigue for months preceding the inauguration, and a collapse to the first slight ailment as soon as she could spare the timo to be ill. Wanamaker's Man. Philadelphia Record. There is a whiff of breezy independence exhaled from the Postothco Department that may be an offense to tho nostrils of professional politicians, but is exceedingly f rateful to the sense of, the general public, f Mr. John Field should be appointed Postmaster of Philadelphia, in spite of intrigues against him by bosses both big and little, the event would be regarded as significant and inspiriting by every friend of good government Tho timely and needful lesson in politics at present is to teach political leaders and office-brokers that their demands must give way before tho imperious requirements of tho public good. Might Ilave Rejected Him on Other Grounds. Philadelphia Inquirer. The Senate might have rejected Mr. Halstead for minister to Germany on tho ground that he did not possess a diplomatic disposition. It would have had some ground for that. When -opposition to him was based upon his criticisms of the Senate, it was putting it on a level unworthy tho Senators, and taking a position against independence of thought and 'expression through the press which every newspaper is bound to resent. Several of the Refublican Senators have got even with Mr. lalstead, but it is at a terriblo sacrifice of their own dignity. Following the Advice. Chicago MaiL Immediately preceding and following his inauguration. General Harrison was inflicted with a good deal of gratuitous advice, to tho effect that the people wanted him to be a president and not a clerk; to have a mind of his own and use it. He has followed this advice to the letter, and as a reward is now jumped on by tho Senators whose wishes have been disreganted. Tho plan of giving offices to good men who havo not sought them is satisfactory to everybody but the politicians. The Senators may object, but tho country won't kick. The Surplus a Rlesslng. New York Tribune. The necessity for a liberal expenditure in building up a new navy is emphasized bv a l a . t 1? .a 11 m ' A me terriuio uisasier ana loss ot 6hipsot war at Apia. Following such a loss, with the necessity of repairing it staring the country in the face, there is considerable consolation in tho fact that there is a surplus in the treasury. Under such circumstances a surplus is an undoubted blessing. No Political Significance, Detroit Tribune, The murder of a negro in Arkansas who has been actively engaged in working up evidence in the Clayton assassination has no political significance, we are told. Of course not. He merely happened to bo tho victim, that's all. If necessary, we presume the man who shot him will swear tho caso out of politics entirely. Condemns It, Hut Wants It. Baltimore American. ' Thero is nothing the public so bitterly condemns in journalism as personalities. There is nothing the public so eagerly reads in journalism as personalities. There is nothing the public so universally admires as consistency. If tho public cannot arri vo at right conclusions on this train of thought it is idle to say more, as they will.,only continue on the rail. A One-Slded Opinion. Chicago Journal. ' - ' An Indiana Democratic newspaper says that it will be an awful responsibility for the Supreme Court to undertake to declare that an act of the Legislature is unconstitutional." But the same authority thinks that there was nothing at all "awful" in the act of the Legislature in passing unconstitutional bills by the score. . Should Be Disfranchised. ' .'' Chicago Journal. Judge Daniels, of Buffalo, N. Y., recently refused to give a man naturalization paEers because he, was a drunkard and wifeeater. This should bo a precedent for tho judiciary of the Nation. The country does not need such citizens, and those of tbo kind now in tho country 6hould bo disfranchised. Hard to Relieve. ' Washington Tost. r - ' Once in a while wo will accept such a story as that which was told by President Moil at t about tho robery of the Denver bank. We will oven' agree to believe uch a story once in a while. But we serve notice that we don't want to do it often. It tries our believery dreadfully. - Louisville's Natural-Gas Craze. ... Wheeling Intelligencer. Anything called natural gas stock Sells in Louisvillo now. Fifteen companies aro in the field with a capitalization of $1,000.000. If the people who have tho craze will come a little higher North they may bear of something to their advantage. r . IVliy Benedict Is Weary. ' Nebraska State Journal. The national Democratic campaign committer has not yet paid for those 600,003 campaign documents printed at the Government Printing office, and Mr. Benedict will have to pay for tho dtad horse. No wonder that the cares of office lay heavily upon him. m s Surely Bird After Writing This, . Peoria Transcript. ' Of course it is perfectly proper that ' Pat Eagan should havo a share of the Patronage. Chili maj' not know much about gambling, but she will stand Pat on such a hand as Uncle Sam gives her. 1 An Assignment Would Be Necessary, Detroit Tribune. When the free-trado Democrats get tht protection Democrats all out of their party it will be a good time for the party to take an invoice of stock and make an assignment Indiana Ha l'lenty of Attractions. Iowa Stat Keiclatcr. , The facility with which tho Indiana man seems to be getting there is likely to start a great immigration tn that State. i ,sfr m s ! r Derelict Tollce Officials, ; Boston llcra.d. Winter sat in the lap of spring all day yesterday. No arrests.

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