Indianapolis Journal, Indianapolis, Marion County, 5 October 1890 — Page 12

THJE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1890.

T HE'S UNDAY J 0 U RNAL SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1S0O. WASHINGTON OFFICE &13 Fourteenth tt. r. 8. IIsxTTi. Con jspondent. Telephone Calls. BcsiDtss CSce Editorial Rooms 2U TEioxs of subscription. DAILY BT MAIL. One Tfr. -without PnnJaj f 110O Cue year, -nitb 8nndy 14 00 flix Mouths, w ithout tanday - 6.00 Pis mcntlis, yslih suntlAy 7.00 Tine mint La, without t nclay 3.00 Three months rrlth ban day 3.50 One month, without Sunday 1.00 On rronth. vfllh MMulay 1-20 De iivered by carrier in city, 25 cent per week. WXI&I.Y. Per yex ILC0 Reduced Ilatet to Clubs. SuLtcribe "w 1th any of our numerous stents, or Mud ioncrlptions to the ; JOURNAL NEWSPAPER COMPANY, IXELIXAPCUJ, IXD. Persons sending tl.e Journal through the mails in the United States shonid put on an -irhl-pK paper aoNE-crT postage stamp; on a twelve or sixteenpt:e paper a iwcmtim Wage stamp. Foreign postage li usually double these rates. - All communications intended forpulllcatkm in tKipar must, in order to receive attention, be acCi,wjMinied by the name and address of the xcriter. THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL . Can be found at the following places: PA II 1 3 American Exchange in Paris, 38 Boulevard dts Capucinea. NEW YORK Cilsey Bouse and YTlnd3or HoteL PHILADELPHIA A. P. Xemble, 37 Lancaster svf-nae. CIIICAaO Palmer House. CINCINNATI-J. P. Hawlcy & Co., 151 Vine street Ti'TRVTT.r.T": r?. T. r rlT2t. northwest corner

I hlnl acd j eaerson stieets. BT. LOUIS Union Hews Company, Union Depot and feoathern Hotel. WASHINGTON, I. C. RIpgs House and Ebbitt House. J .The Sunday Journal has doable the circulation of any Sunday paper in Indiana. Price five cents. The', Governor of Oklahoma might semi across the lino and get a regiment of Indians to preserve the peace. , There will bo no opportunity to rise a pen or pencil in preparing a ballot under the new election law. The will of the voter is expressed by the stamp alone. I The monthly statement of tho Treasury Department of the changes in tho currency shows a net increase of circulation during September of $G2,009,7G7. Tho total money circulation of thocoun-' try is estimated at 1.493,1)72,709 an increase during the last twelve months of $9;,0.4,709. The citizens of Bishop ville, S. C, aro hard to suit in tho matter of a postmaster. The povernraent first appointed a colored man, whom they boycotted and persecuted, then a white man, whom they relused to recognize. Finding them implacable the Department closed tho office, and now Bishopville is without mail facilities. The United States authorities in Bos ton havo notified tho newspapers that all sorts of gift enterprises como under the provisions of tho anti-lottery law, and that papers containing such will not bo carried in the mails. But it is not understood that tho prohibition extends to tho guessing dodges which some papers have resorted to to increase their circulation. It is said that there is a feud, in the Liquor-dealers' Association between those in tho whisky business and those who make and sell beer, because the latter have posed as a better element before tho public . whoso purpose is to mitigato tho evils of whisky-drinking Itv riV;tif ntfnf rtfT ThA hppr.m.nlfAP as a champion of temperance may bo classed as a unique reformer. Each town in Massachusetts votes whether it will have prohibition or license at its annual meeting. If license is voted only a given number of licenses can be- issued, depending upon the population. Williamatown, the seat of Williams College, voted license, and its people wcro eutitled to two saloons. Some surprise was expressed because noplaces of rest and refreshment were open, and an investigation was made, only to find that ' President Carter, of tho college, owned Loth the licensers and owned them because he wanted no open saloons. Hon. J. R. G. Pitkin, of Louisiana, United States minister to the Argentine Republic, now in this country onieave of absence, - expresses regret that Congress urn not pass tne snipping ana sub sidy bills, lie says: "Our friends m South America are watching eagerly for the shipping and subsidy bills to pass, as an indication of what tho United States seriously intends to do to promote trado between North and South America. The one inquiry that their public otlicials are continually asking is whether this government will encourage ship ping The faithful and gratuitous servico which the Comto do Paris rendered tho Union cause during the war of the rebellion entitles him to all the honorable attention that will bo bestowed upon hiin. At a period when it was tho proper thing for all foreigners of royal blood or title to pose as tho enemies of the Kepublic, the Comte do Paris, iis uncle and his brother, not only espoused the Union cause, but served on the statf of the commander of the Army of the Potomac, and proved the most gallant of officers. His history of tho rebellion is a model of clearness and accuracy. It should bo added, however, that thoso who think well of him in this country for what ho has done for it in no manf ii er apologize for ius alleged hostility to f republic of Franco. Vkesident Eliot, of Harvard College, , ft will bo remembered, bitterly assailed ne reporters ot uiouosion press ioriacic of all tho elements which make reliable and decent men. The President spends hU summers on Mount Desert island, in Maine, which led him to write a paper entitled "Forgotten Millions," which was published in tho Century, in which ho. get forth tho primitive habits, the prosaic lives and ignorance of the people of the island, not forgetting to aim his story at tho protective tariff. Ono of the natives has recently replied to Harvard's president, contradicting one after another of his statements regardia tho povertr and customs of the peo-

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pie. Among other things the President said that Mount Desert people enjoyed few holidays beyond tho Fourth of July and Memorial day. To this the native replies that those days were reverently observed by the natives, and "if he wonld give his students some of the teaching the islanders enjoy on those occasions they would treat the statue of John Harvard with more respect," ref erring to the daubing of the memorial with red paint. If tho president of Harvard, after spending several summers on Mount Desert, could not obtain material for an accurate account of the condition and characteristics of the residents he can scarcely denounce reporters, who have little time for details, for inaccuracy. ' .

LABOR ORGANIZATIONS AND STRIKES. The current number of the Independent contains a symposium giving the views of 6everal representative writers on the recent strike on tho New York Central , railroad. Incidentally the writers give their views regarding strikes in general, and tho relations of capital and labor. It 13 a large subject, and one of unflagging interest. "Unsettled questions," it has been said, "have no pity for the repose of nations." The labor question is an unsettled one, and its correct solution is occupying many of.the brightest minds of the day. In the symposium referred to Mr. Samuel Gompers, president of tho American Federation of Labor, discusses the rights of labor at some length without reaching any very definite conclusion. The following seems to be a summing up of his views: . ' . - The wage-worker not only has the right to control his time, that is, the amount he will sell, hnt he has the right to his special skill or adaptability in the position he oc- , cupies in any given establishment or enterprise, lie has, by continuous employment for an employer, accumulated an equity, that is, an interest, that is lost to him, lost to the employer and the public, if he leaves that employer, except in rare cases when the change is purely voluntary; but it is nevertheless true that as they strike no'., against their employment but against its conditions, they hare an interest in equity in the past and future results of the joint etlbrt of the employers and themselves. The opportunity to labor in the position they occupied at the. time of the strike is their capital; it is their situation, their property. This is somewhat vague, and seems to take no note of the rights of employers. The drift of Mr. Gompers's paper seems to bo against the wisdom of strikes. . Dr. John Miller, of Princeton, N; J., ' writes from a different stand-point and takes more radical ground. After discussing tho law of supply and demand he comes to the question of working111 en's rights, and says: . .' In the first place, they have a right to resign. Of course, the same liberty with which they stepped in allows them to step out. In the second place, they have a right to combine. Whether for countenance or a mutual nurse while the3' are out of work, this must be conceded. Bot, thirdly, they have no right to conspire. To turn and wound the road that fed them, and to convulse commerce, for the very purpose of bringing terms, is a felony. " The last statement requires qualification. Injury or harm to an employer caused simply by a refusal to work is one thing, and malicious harm or deliberate damage is another. The right to quit work includes tho right to bring an employer to terms by that means, and that involves possible injury to business. Admitting the abstract right to strike, it could hardly be called a conspiracy, much less a felony, that the strikers contemplated and intended such an injury to business as would bring the employer to terms. The Hon. A. K. Goodwin, Commissioner of Industrial Statistics of Rhode , Island, thinks railroad strikes might be mitigated, if not prevented, by, a law requiring at least a week's notice to be given by employes of such intention. He does not regard the strike as a good method of redressing grievances. He says: . . . " ....... I know the working classes of this great country have grievances and just cause for complaint; but their condition will never be improved through strikes or organizations gotten up simply for that purpose. Organization and organizations are desirable to protect interests, but protection cn only be secured and conditions bettered in peaceful and lawful ways. This is rather too sweeping a statement. In some instances grievances have been ;cured and conditions bettered by strikes, though generally at bo great a cost as to. make it doubtful whether the net result was a gain or not. Tho Hon-Samuel. M. Hotchkiss, Commissioner of Labor Statistics in Connecticut, thinks the strike on the New York Central might have been averted by the exercise of a little more patience and tact on the part of its executive officer. He is confident that labor organizations are doing much . to improve tho intelligence of workingmen, causing them to study and discuss tho labor question, and thinks the strike is generally regarded by intelligent workingmen as a dangerous expedient, to be used only in cases of dire necessity. He adds: ; - Misapprehension is the basis on which most strikes begin. For more than three years the writer has closely watched the strikes which have taken place in Connecticut. With tho exception of those iu the interest of tho eight-hour movement, and in some of the strikes in the building trades he has not found one which might not have been avoided by the exercise of a little tact and a friendly conference at the beginning. , Mr. L. W. Bogers, editor of the Bailroad Trainmen's Journal, defends the right to strike and denies that violent and lawlessness have any proper place in a well-conducted strike. He says: The public is in error in associating lawlessness with strikes and in supposing that labor organizations ever desire either. The object of mora perfect organization is not to invite battle, but to avoid it. By balancing corporate power with that of united labor, wo hope to banish force and allow reason and diplomacy to take its place. No doubt itistruo that labor organizations, as such, never desire lawlessness or violence to be used in strikes, but some of their hot-headed members tend almost inevitably to' aiich acts, and experience, proves that in times of excitement the hot-heads are very hard to control, even if they do not rule the others. It is easier to begin a strike than it is to control it after it is started. The Hon. A. S. Bolles, chief of the Bureau of Industrial Statistics in Penn: sylvania, thinks a great point would be gained if all railroad employes were employed under a written contract, defining the rights and duties of both sides. Such a contract would tend to elevate labor, and lvould be more binding on both sides than any verbal arrangement.

Of labor organizations in general, Mr. Bolles says: . q Of course, there aro many evils entering

into labor organizations, especially among - the newer and less wisely conducted ones; but their history furnishes abundant hope that they will improve with age. The railroad companies and all employers should cease to regret the existence of such organizations; they should regard them as bavins a rightful existence until both employed and employer shall become partners in the same organization, when, their necessity having disappeared, they will pass away. The recent action of the Illinois Central Railroad Company shows how easily a joint stock corporation may, be converted into one in which the employed can have a more direct and equitable interest in the conduct and profits of the enterprise, to the obvious benefit of themselves, the company and the public The suggestion thrown out in the last sentence, that of enlisting employes in the service of the road by giving them an interest in the surplus earnings, is not altogether new, and Jias had the approval of some close thinkers. Mr. Charles Francis Adams advocated it in an able paper several years ago. in which he suggested the classification of employes into permanent and temporary, the latter to be a sort of probationary or apprenticeship service, promotions to be made from it to the permanent class, and those in the latter class to have a voice in the management of tho road. "No system," said Mr. Adams, "will succeed which does not recognize these rights. . In other words, it will be impossible to establish perfectly good faith and tho highest morale in the servico of the companies until the problem of giving this voice to employes, and giving it effectively, is solved. It can be solved in but one way; that is, by representation. To solve it may mean. industrial peace." 1 After all is said, tho fact remains that the great need is a better understanding between employers and employes, a franker recognition of mutual rights, and a better observance of the Golden Bule. With more patience, tact and courtesy on both sides, and more disposition on each side to recognize the just rights of the other, Btrikes would become unnecessary and obsolete. : ' "ITRST STEPS TOWARD NATIONALISM." Mr.' Edward Bellamy, who was astonished, a year ago, by being hailed as the head of a new economic and social . movement, because the impossible : and fantastic features of his novel were accepted as human probabilities, has an article in the current number of the Forum, in which he attempts to come down to practical things, and announces the first reforms which the Socialists, who call themselves Nationalists, will undertake to bring about. One looks through the article for something new, and reads the last words with disappointment if he expected any fresh revelation or even new plans for improving the condition of tho human race. Mr. Bellamy has nothing new to oiler. What he proposes was advocated yrs before he was. heard of, namely, ihe control of the telegraphs, telephones, railroads, tho coal mines, water and light in cities, etc., Jby the government. The government should own and manage the telegraph and telephone lines because Bellamy chooses to regard them as supplementary to tho postal service, because the Constitution confers upon Congress the power to establish postroads and postoffices. But he seems to loso sight of the fact that the govern'ment hover undertook to own the highways over which it established postal routes. To-day mails are carried over thousands of miles of roads which the government not only does not own, but employs contractors to perform the service. Tho government has never undertaken to purchase horses and wagons for the carriage of mails. It has assumed, and very properly, that private enterprise and private competition wi)l give the government a cheaper and tho people a better service than could be socured if it owned the transportation and managed it. Tho United States does not own a postal car in which its mails aro carried. Therefore, the precedent which Mr. Bellamy has discovered in the postal system for the proprietorship and management of telegraph and telephone does not exist. The postal Beryice was essential, when the Constitution was adopted, for the transmission of intelligence, and, so far as it relates to the masses of tho people, it has kept pace with the progress of the age in regard to transportation. Experience has taught tho government to havo as little to do with the carriage and delivery of the mails as possible, restricting its responsibility to tho reception and distribution of the matter. Anything like the ownership and construction of telegraph Hues is entirely foreign to what is attempted in tho postal service. Mr. Bellamy gives as a reason for government control of the telegraph lines the assumption that the patrons are compelled to pay high rates for service because the stock upon which dividends are paid and earnings based is three times the cost of the plant. If this is the case there is a simpler method for Congress to deal with exorbitant rates than to take control of tho lines. Under its. power to regulate commerce between the States it can establish telegraph tolls based upon the value of making a duplicate plant. The Supreme Court lias decided that the State has the right to establish rates of railroad transportation, to tho extent that they shall Jbe fair and reasonable, and not destructive of property. There is little doubt that the same power would bo confirmed over the charges of tho telegraph. Mr. Bellamy is certain that the government should own, or, at least, run the railroads, and should do all the railroad-building in the future. It tho struggle for securing public buildings is so sharp that a combination of members can be formed in Congress to carry through an omnibus public-building bill, what 6ort of a combination would be formed by localities demanding the construction of new roads! Mr. Bellamy tells us that governmentxontrol of railroads is successful in Germany. That may bo true, but Germany is not the United States. It is a compact and small territory, having few ihoro thousand miles of railroad than th$ United States has tens of thousands, jit is eo very near an absolute monarchy that tho official forco managing and working tho railroads cannot have political influence.

In 1889 704,743 persons, mostly men, were employed by , the railroads of the conntry. If the votes of tho railroad employes in close States could be rallied to support one candidate for tho presidency, they could insure his election. Of course, Mr. Bellamy beholds a beautiful system of non-partisan service working railroads and telegraphs which will take no part in politics. But Mr. Bellamy is mistaken. The railroads, under government control, would in all probability be a vast political machine, and tho nationalism it could establish wonld be the nationalism" of practical imperialism. Nor would the people be better off under government control of railroads, judging from Germany, where the rates of transportation per mile are much higher than in the United States. In fact, government has never been able to do any work at as low cost as private enterprise. Nearly all governments have their extensive public works built by contract. The defect, of the schemes of Mr. Bellamy and his followers is that they are impracticable with the human race as it now is. If they can devise some scheme by which human nature can be modified and human ignorance and viciousness be eliminated, their plans might be put into successful operation. But, unfortunately, the human race is as it is, and it Is not suited to the theories which the Nationalists proclaim. They seem to ignore this all-important fact. They are putting the cart before the horse.

A CASE OF DEFECTIVE DATA. Deductions made from insufficient data aro quite sure to be misleading. Statistics are the best possible data when one has those which cover the whole subject; they are the worst possible when they relate to but one side of a matter under consideration. For some time a class of writers have conceived that popular education, instead of diminishing crime, has actually increased it. For instance, it has been cited, to sustain this assumption, that 70 per cent, of the criminals who get into the penitentiary in Michigan are able to read and write. To those who present these statistics they are conclusive testimony to establish as a truth that education promotes crime. At. the recent Prison Congress, in Cincinnati, the United States Commissioner of Education, Professor Harris, exposed the fallacy of such a conclusion by introducing ' all the factors in the case which statistics can supply. It appears that 93 per, cent, of the population of Michigan are able to read and write. That is, 95 per cent, of the population that can read and writ furnishes 70 per cent, of tho criminals, . while the C per cent of illiterates furnish 30 per cent. TlnV gives eight times as many criminals for each thousand of illiterates as for each . thousand of thoso who are not illiterate. Pessimistic reformers have declared that society in our best States is gradually degenerating, and that crime is rapidly increasing, because the number of arrests has increased to an alarming extent in tho older communities, like Massachusetts. If one takes the bald totals he will be forced to that unwelcome conclusion, but a closer scrutiny into the causes of arrest reveals a very different state of affairs. As early as 18G0 very few, if , any, arrests were made for drunkenness and violation of liquor laws. Now these two causes, particularly the first, afford the majority of arrests.' Furthermore, when crimes against persons and property are compared in the two periods, 18C0 and 1685, iu Massachusetts, it is found that there has been a decrease of 41 per cent, on tho latter date, making, due allowance for the increase of population. All of the statistics in this case furnish data for conclusions that will rfct be welcome to thoso moral dyspeptics who will not be satisfied unless they can find assurances that the human family is" retrograding morally, intellectually and physically. The truth is that all carefully-culled statistics, covering every side and phase of tho subject, show conclusively that, as the world grows older and more intelligent, it grows better. ONE CHARGE AGAINST NEWSPAPERS. "Ycu can never believe anything you see in the newspapers," is a remark one hears every day, made half tho time by men and women who would feel that life was incomplete if they did not have the morning newspaper and the evening gossip to read or look over. Tho very man who complains about the unreliability of the newspapers will spend half his1 evening in reading them, and will be inclined to be a little snappish if any one is 60 inconsiderate as to ask him a question, or request him to give his attention to something else. The intelligent woman always consults the newspaper for the current town talk and to learn the movements of thoso she knows, as collected by the gatherer of society news. The fact is, the practices of the readers of newspapers utterly discredit their own belief in their charges against the general reliability of the newspaper, because, if their statements wcro such that no one - could believe them, these excellent accusers, who read a newspaper every day, would not only be inconsistent, but absurdly unwise. The real truth is that people do believe tho greater part they read in the papers as news; and there is no reason why they should not, since the sensible newspaper publisher knows that his success depends either upon the fullness and accuracy of his news or upon tho really sensational character of his paper. As the latter cannot be maintained except in tho centers of large populations and circulation, where papers which give the real news are numerous, their number is not large. There are small sensational papers, but thoy are so because they cannot purchase actual news, and must turn to sensationalism as a last resort. But it is for the interest of the average newspaper to aim at accuracy of its news from a business point of view. It can have nothing to gain in a reputation for inaccuracy, but much to lose. Consequently, the managers of papers who desire to stand well and to reap the benefits of

an influoneci founded on a reputation f or accuracyArill do their utmost to present accurate, information concerning current and passing events. The men who collect the news are usually young men who are ' ambitious to excel, and: consequently, know that carelessness and inaccuracy in collecting data and writing out" what they collect or hear will not only stand in the way of promot ion, but will-fasten upon them a reputation as inaccurate and unreliable men The men employed on the best papers, for the most part, have a pride in their work They aim to do the beet work, to make correct reports, and generally to do that which will secure for them the confidence of the people with whom they come in contact. W:lth the' utmost care the reports of events will sometimes contain inaccuracies in minor details, because the reporter must take the observations of other people who give their views of the occurrences. Different people 6ee the same things in a different light. Features which would be of importance to ono would fail to impress another. Interest comes in to color the accounts of an occurrence. Often but one side canibe reached, and the report must be made upon such data. It is said that in an pastern city a man who had no faith in newspapers carried in his pocketbook slips of reports from the different papers regarding his own character, one of which made him a very bad and the other a very good character. Instead of proving the inaccuracy of the reporters, these contradictory reports showed that the persons from whom they obtained their information got it from . widely different sources. The representative of the newspaper, as a rule, makes the best possible use of the information he can pick up, and if his reports are inaccurate it is duo chiefly to the faulty observation of the very readers of newspapers who furnish the data. If Mrs. A's dress is described' to be that of 'Mrs. B, and vice versa, it is because the . person who gave the information gave the wrong names to tho ladies. If C's conduct in an affair of public interest is not such as D believes it to have been it is usually because the reporter met E, who saw it in a different light and could not find D to get his version. The more attention people of intelligence give to the matter the less frequently they will complain that "one can't believe what the newspapers say,",but they will express surprise that, considering the great difficulty and the haste with which data are collected, reports and general statements are so nearly correct as they are.

ENDOWED NEWSPAPERS. In the current number of the Arena, Rev. W. H. H. Murray, better known as "Adirondack," 'suggests a plan, the adoption of which would, in his opinion, result in the vast improvement of daily newspapers. Mr. Murray, for reasons that may possibly havo a personal basis, regards the press as it now is with strong disapproval. He declares it to be unfair, inaccurate, untrustworthy and libelous, injudicious and offensive in the presentation of news, and that its editors are not free to express their honest convictions, but must write as they are commanded by the management that employs them. As a remedy for this state of things, Mr. Murray would' havo newspapers endowed as colleges are. Under this plan, he thinks, the proper discrimination could be used in tho selection of news, and greater liberty and intel-y lectual freedom in editorial discussion. In other words, the need of publishing news that will sell, that people are ready and anxious to buy, will no longer exist when the object is not to gain a big circulation for the pecuniary profit there is in it. The news then served up to the public will be such as tho editor considers suitable for perusal. If, for instance, he does not approve of horseracing, base-ball or the stage, accounts oi these amusements will be rigorously withheld, and good moral news substituted, regardless of the fact that a large number of newspaper readers are deeply interested in frivolous sports, and that, unless placed on a desert island without other literature, they cannot be induced to read the proceedings of u Christian Endeavor societies, civilservice reform clubs and other worthy organizations. Under the endowed plan, if tho President of the United States should elope with the Queen of England the discreet and judicious editor of the improved newspaper would not mention the circumstance, because don't you see!-! the matter is sensational and wholly, within the range of personal gossip. At least this is the way in which such paper would probably be edited, judging by the general plans and specifications laid down. One thing not made quite clear by Mr. Murray is tho proof of his assertion that an editor chosen as Mhe president of a college is chosen would be the independent boing he pictures and more unhampered in the expression of his genuine beliefs than is now thecase. He (Murray) wonld have Republican and Democratic wealth endow organs of the respective parties, but just why Jan editor selected by a boardof trustees and for the purpose of advocating the principles of a certain party is at greater liberty of speech than one employed for like purpose under the present system r it is difficult to 6ee. College presidents are free and independent only within limitations, and the same would be true of editors of endowed newspapers, , as it is also true of editors of church papers," which are practically operated on the system proposed. If tho editor of a Methodist Advocate, for example, has any convictions not in harmony with Methodist doctrine, he is exceedingly careful not to air them in his journal, and as for even church news in such organ, only that is published that is of a pleasing kind, and the public, which will have facts, is dependent upon the secular press for them in an unbiased state. If the editor of a Democratic endowed journal should become convinced of tho fallacy of the free-trade doctrine he would be requested to resign his "independence" anj step down and out upon the Crtt expression in favor of a protectfjrp tariff. The action of the trustees in such case

would not differ greatly from that of an

individual newspaper owner whose prof its were likely to be affected. As a matter of fact, Mr. Murray's strictures are unjust to a largo portion of tne press. There are newspapers and newspapers. . Some of them are sensational, untrustworthy, and a disgrace to their publishers, but by far the greater number of newspaper publishers are reputable men, who, even for money's sake, which Murray says is their god, will not pander to a low taste for sen sational literature, and who make every effort that publishers of endowed organs could to secure trustworthy information. So long as there is a taste in tho community for scandals, and slanders, and miscellaneous lies, somebody will cater to it; but in tho main the newspapers of tho country aro as clean and free from objectionable matter as tho doings of faulty humanity will permit them to be. La Liberie, a Parisian paj.-er, charges tho United States with base ingratitude toward Europe, which, it says, "has been the mother of modern America, and has created, nourished, enriched and peopled her by the enormous, perpetual movement of emigration." Warming with its subject, La Liberte declares that "There are no Americans in America. There aro only Europeans who have established themselves there, taking thither their arts, their labor, their resources and their industry." Well, if there are no Americans in this country there aro a good many . people here who think they are Americans, and are ready to fight for their opinion. Mr. George Meredith, the English novelist, has become a vegetarian, and, it ' ia said, intends to write a novel in support of his theory of living. At first thoviRht this seems an unmanageable theme for a work of fiction, and would undoubtedly prove 60 in American hands; but when it is remembered tha few English novels are free from gastronomic features a vegetarian romance from that quarter comes within the range of possibility. Instead of being coarse or gross, such a work may, if properly constructed, present an air of refinement that other novels in which there is much eating do not possess. For in English novels the ' personages have been hitKerto addicted to the consumption of meat in large quantities. Feeding is always the order of tho day, and the daintiest maiden never has anything less than a "joint" set before her from which to carve such portions as may satisfy her appetite. If it is not a 'joint it is a meat-pie, and not uncommonly both these substantial viands are accompanied by a roast fowl or a pair of birds. From Dickens to Rhoda Bronghton, the feast is an important element of English fiction, but the bill of fare is limited, American readers, at least, will be glad of a change to vary the monotony. Instead of the everlasting joint, Meredith can serve potatoes in all styles, and in place of meatpie he can set a dish of tasteless but nutritious rice before his heroine. As for beverages, perhaps it is too much to hope that the flood of tea which now inundates the English novel will be stayed by vegetarian reform, but for the sake of variety perhaps Meredith will permit his characters to quench their thirst now and then, with coffee or milk, or even water, commonly supposed to be so injurious to the system of Englishmen. In the novels, at least, it will hurt no one. It is open to the novelist to afiord deep relief to Amerioan readers of fiction. There is a college for young men in Bethlehem, Pa., and its students, after the manner of college students the world over, have long been accustomed to make themselves agreeable to the girls of the town. Relay after relay of young men, as the years went, have pursued this course, and one class after another has basked in the smiles of Bethlehem's fairest and most bine-blooded daughters. After the manner of students, too, the country over, they have smiled, and flirted, and made love, and have gone away, leaving blighted hopes behind them. The girls have not resented this, but have meekly permitted" the gay and festive youths to take the lead as society favorites, and have encouraged them in their fascinating but heart-breaking career.' It has remained for the resident young men of the town to put an obstruction in their track, a spoke in their wheel. These residents have had no chance when the students were by, and have submitted to snubs and cold shoulders until patience has ceased to be a virtue. They have been as worms beneath the feet of Bethlehem maidens, but the worms have turned. They have resolved to "get even," and have made a rock-ribbed and ironbound agreement to the effect that any lady who in any way recognized a student should be placed on a black list, and given the direct cut by the anti-student society. When the flirtatious yoiing women beard of this they sneered, but when they discovered ,that the "home boys" wero in earnest and that a boycott against themselves meant a lack of attentions in vacation and when students were not available, and also a possible loss of hnsbands, they, too, began to look askance at the college men, and are contemplating a black list of their own. It is a close corner for the' girls, and their experience will be observed with interest by the residents of other coUege towns who would be only too glad if vhey could enjoy the society of theirsweethcarts undisturbed by intruding and presumptuous 'students1 Among the pageants of the recent carnival in Louisville was a series ot illustrations from "Ben-Hur." The result was a great demand for the book. The CourierJournal says: "Those who had never read the book wanted to acquaint themselves with the story, and those who had read it were anxious to freshen their memories on the points that were likely to be produced. The sales in this city have amounted within tho last week to nearly eight hundred copies. A number of book-sellers were unable to supply the great demand, and turned scores of customers away." The lines of the country editor usually fall in pretty hard places, but here conies a special telegram from Logan, U. T-, that says: "Tho editor of tho Logan Jonrnal is almost daily visited by young ladies, who think him very hanasome, and request to be kissed. On Saturday four of the most respectable town girls went into his office to kiss him." Once in a long, long time the business of "hustling for the couuty printing7' has its compensations. The population of Cleveland. O., is officially announced as 1C1, WO, an increase of 101,400 in ten years. A very handsome showing, that. MAJOR McKlNLEY's competitor for Congress cannot make a speech, liis opening speech was only four lines long iu a new? paper column. An admirer has put itupJ

sixteen-page-pamphlet form with an elaborated title-page, four double-leaded lines on the next page and fifteen blank pages following. . At the annual Teabody Fund banquet ia New York, a few days ago, ex-Presidents Hayes and Cleveland were the only two guests who turned theix glasses downward as a sign that wine was not to be served to them. With Mr. Hayes it is habit, with Mr. Cleveland it ia diet

A Modern Marriage, Bhe was modest, sweet and pretty, rather cheerful and quite witty. And she had two ardent lovers, as has happened, oft before. Of whom one was young and debonair, with flashing eyes And ebon hair. While the t'other was her senior some two dorea years or more. And as it quite often happens, a most evident discrepancy Existed 'twixt the bank accounts of these boll suitors twain; While one was well supplied with cash, the other tried to earn his bah . By selling to the magazines the products of .his brain. Now, In course of time it came to pass, that this young, much-courted lass Saw lit to wed with one of them andbe hirownest own;" And if you ask me which one, I admit she took the rich one. And left the isau of poetry to struggle on alone. But ere you begin to blame her, or wonld undertake to shame her With receinber-May comparisons, and talk ot beauty sold. Just wait until Tve stated what I've not before related, Twas tho younger who was wealthy and the poor one that vras old. Kept Hack. Watts Isn't that ridiculous! I mean that girl across the way. I'll bet my hat she isn't a day under nineteen years of age, though she is dressed in fourtecn-y car-old stylo. Potts Well, I don't suppose it is her fault. 8he either has a big sifter, or &ho is the daughter of a -widow. A Warm Reception. You must have been given a rather warm reception," said the merchant to his demoralized collector. 1 "WelU rather. It was a combination of Cro and toe, soopeat BREAKFAST-TABLE CIIAT. Tolstoi has nine living children. ITs now favors celibacy. Mrs. Elliot F. Siiepard is building, at her own expense, a home for celf-supporting women in New York. Arciibisuop Kexrick ishe oldest Catholio prelate in the United States. He is eighty-four years old, and was consecrated inlML Because Senator Jones was put off of a street car for not having 5 cents car fare, his friends have given him a gold-headed cane which opens and will hold one hundred nickels. . Bisnop Huntington, of Syracuse, goes so far as to declare that more than half of the religious organizations, great or Email, are at present practical contradictions of the Sermon on the Mount. It is generally understood that Mrs. Pot ter Palmer will be chosen as presiding officer of the boardof lady managers of the world's fair. Should she not be willing to sarve it is said that Mrs. John A. Logan will be selected. The Rev. Dr. Liddon, brother of the lata Canon Liddon, says of him: "I have in my possession sermon, written when be was sixteen, in which tho great truths of Christianity aro as clearly stated as they havo been in his after life," The Sisters of Mercy Society In London, numbers among its members the daughters of Lord Petre, Lord Clifiord and Lord Mestyn. It is a decidedly aristocratic institution, but it is doing good and thus fulfills the purpose of life. Hon. Boxum Nye, who is ninety-five years old, is still the active treasurer of a savings bank in North Brookfield, Mass.. and recently gave a reception at his residence that lasted from 4 o'clock in the afternoon till 10 in the evening. The officials of Grace Methodist Church, Jersey City Heights, have notilied Mrs. Joseph Autonreith thit her two daughters, young ladies, chewed gum during tho service, and the smacking of their lips was a sound that disturbed those about them. Tub real name of Mrs. Alexander, the popular novelist, is Mrs, Hector. She gave up writing some years ago, says a contemporary paragrapher, to please her husband, who, ne says, "thought a writing woman an abomination." Since Mr. Hector's death, she has resumed her pen. "The Wooing O't" is her most famous work, and the ono which first brought her favorable notice. Mrs. Alexander lives in London, where, she says, she can always write better than anywhere else. Mrs. Mary Cleary Duncreux is not only president of the New York sere w manufactory, but a practical working mechanic, who inspects all the output of her establishment, ana who can turn out first-class cabinet screws, gun screws, watch screws and machine screws- She has been in the business for seventeen years, and maintains, as the result of her own experience, that girls have as much ingenuity and manual dexterity as boys. and. lack training only, and not capacity, to becomo as good mechanics. Apropos of Mr. Bancroft's ninetieth birthday, which his friends celebrated on Friday, the Washington Post says: "But for a muscular weakness, a gradual inevitable loss of muscular strength, and a very gradual fading of his powers of memory, Mr. Bancroft might 6eem a score or more years younger than he is. He still is an untiring reader, and ke?ps remarkably well up with the advanced thought of the times. His memory is gradually beginning to fail, not entirely, but noticeably by reason of its former excellence." Mrs. General Grant, while most fastidious about the style of her toilets, is indifierent to fashions in livery. She takes her morning airing in tho park seated in an old ramshackle of a enrrey, accompanied by a timid English maid. The horso is generally bareboned and downcast, and the driver but a ghost of his former glory. His buttons are worn with polish and his boxcloth as shiny as a mirror. Mrs. Grant wears a Grecian, border of gold running round her bonnet, which, with the splendor of her diamond ear-rings, makes herself and maid rise superior to the strangely grotesque outfit. Christine Nilsson, Countess of Miranda, is not fortunate in her recent railway experiences. Some time ago whenshe was leaving Paris for Lucerne nbe slipped between the carriage and the platform at the railway station and injured her foot so severely that she was obliged to abandon her journey. On her way to Aix-les-Bains. where she is now going through the "cure, she met with an accident which even more deeply distressed her. Stepping out from tha railway carriage at Dijon her pet dog fell out of her anus on the rails, and tho train moving on a few paces, it was killrd. Mme. Nilsson recovered the body and brought it sorrowing to Aix-les-Bains, where it now lies buried. The great and only P. T. Barnum is over eighty years of age, but he is still more lively than many young men. He now says that he is going to Colorado on tho 1st of next month to make investments. He already has large interrsts in that State, which be wishes to increase, says the Bridgeport Standard. The principal reason which he assigns for this is that, whenever he undertakes to erect buildings or make imnrovementshere.obstructioDS are thrown in his wav, the cry being, "Barnum is toing to build there, or run a new htreet there; stick it to him." The old showman.sa s he has had to tight "old fogies" here more than forty years; that whenever he opened new streets he has had to pay damage to those whoso land was thus improved and increased in value. He therefore throws up he spongsO.