Indianapolis Journal, Indianapolis, Marion County, 2 January 1895 — Page 4

T1TE JKDASA1H)LIS JOURNAL, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 18D5.

TH EDAILYJOU RN A L WEDNESDAY. JANUARY 2. 189o. Telephone Cnlls. BntDfB Office 23t I rtitorUl Rooms 242 teuTis ok sL'iiscmi'TiaxI DAILY BY MAO. ' Pally only, one mouth $ .70 Intly only, three mouths 2'W J)lly 01 ly. one year K00 I'ul'y. inolixliiiK Sunday, one year.............. lo on bumluy only, one year !i.00 WHEN FURNISHED BY AGESTS. Haily iicr week, by carrier 15 cts "unclay, sIiikIu copy 5 eta Iiaiiy uuil Sunday, pvr week, by currier 2o eta WfcLKLY. Per year $1.00 Reduced Rates to Clubs. Subscribe w th any of our numerous agents or send subscriptions to the JOURNAL NEWSPAPER COMPANY, Ibdlannpolls, Iv.d. rrrsons RpndlnK the Journal through the malls in the Uniteil states Hhoulil put on an eiitht-pate jiaper a ONE- ENT iiotitatce stamp: on a twelve or sixteenrtrn xai.er a two-cent poMtuea stamp. Foreign pontage is usually double these rates. r"All communications intended for publication in his pnper must, in order to receive attention, be acorn pun led by the name and addr s of tha writer. THE INDIAAPOLIS JOURNAL Cnii be found at the following places PA K IS American Exchange iu I'aris. 36 Boulevard fie Capticines. HEW YORK Gilsey House, Windsor Hotel and Astor House. PHILADELPHIA A. P. Kemble, cor. Lancaster ave.and Barlutr st. CHICAGO Palmer House. Auditorium Hotel and P. O. News Co., 01 Adams street. CINCiNNATI-J. B. Hawley & Co.. 154 Vine st LOUISVILLE C. T. Peering, northwest corner of Third and Jefferson its., and Louisville Book Co., 35 fourth ave. ' fcT LOU IU Union News Company, Union Depot. WASHING! ON, D. C. Kiggs House. Ebbltt House. Willard's Hotel and tho Washington News Exchange, 14th street, bet. Penu. avo. and F street. The King of Roby is kind enough to say that he will not try to coerce the Legislature. Perhaps he had better not try to. There is danger that if the next Legislature begins to turn the light on the dark transactions of its predecessors the supply of illuminating material may give out. One of the first, if not the fust, bill passed by the Legislature should be to reimburse the Governor the full amount, principal and interest, of the expenses assumed by him on account of the calling out of the militia last summer. The inability of the Governor to take measures for the suppression of White Cap crimes and Roby nuisances shows the necessity of further legislation in this regard. His responsibility.-for the enforcement of law should be accompanied with commensurate power. One could wish that the year 1895 might see a speedy end of the ridiculous, artificial and demoralizing attempt to invest Napoleon Bonaparte with attributes worthy of admiration or respect. No man that ever lived better deserved to pass unhindered into oblivion.

The bankers of St. Louis have formulated a currency plan which will be introduced in the House by Representative Cobbj of that city, who is a member of the committee on banking and currency. Its leading feature, the funding of the greenbacks in long-time, lowrate bonds, to be used as a basis for bank currency, has already been proposed by the Journal and should be incorporated in any plan that may be adopted. By the census of 18S0 the South had J80 cotton mills, with 660.000 spindles and 14,300 looms. The total capital invested was $21,900,000. By 1890 the number of mills had increased to 254, with 1,712,000 spindles and 39,000 looms and $61,000,000 capital. A recent estimate shows 405 mills, 2,700,000 spindles and 62,000 looms, and $97,000,000 invested capital. This enormous development of a single industry could never have taken place but for the abolition of slavery and a steady adherence to a protective policy, for both of which the South owes a debt of undying gratitude to the Republican ' party. Even the New York Times is forced to admit that Secretary Carlisle has made a dismal failure at the head of the Treasury Department. Its criticism is directed solely against his currency plan, but it might have included the tariff bill as well, for that is largely his. In view of his admitted failure the Times thinks "it would not be improper or imprudent for the President to consider in what way the Secretary is of value to the administration." If the President ehould press that inquiry Ije would run up agaiijst more than one of his secretaries, indeed, the opinion seems to be growing that the President himself is not of much value to the administration. The primary object of the suit instituted by the Attorney-general seems to be to discover the perpetrators of the fraudulent change in the fee and salary bill after it was passed which furnished the ground for the Supreme Court decision against its constitutionality. The Journal is not prepared to say what the result may be upon the fee and salary question, but it can hardly fail to be beneficial in emphasizing the necessity for more stringent legislation relative to the custody of legislative bills both before and after their final passage. It ought not to be within the power of a corrupt clerk of the Legislature or perhaps a , subordinate to prevent the passage of .bills by conniving at their disappearance or to make material changes in laws after their enactment without incurring a severe penalty. There has been too much of this kind of dark-lantern legislation in this State, and the quickened moral sense of the times demands that it be stopped. It is an interesting commentary on the tyranny of the Russian government that the recent proclamation of the Czar permitting exiled Russians now in other countries to return to Russia should be exploited as a wonderful exhibition of royal clemency. The proclamation was Issued In honor of the Czar's recent marriage and was evidently intended to be received as a most gracious act, and, in fact, it is so regarded by the exiles. Yet it t?os not carry any atonement for past wrongs and injustice or any assurance of futrre reform. There is no indemnity nor reparation for generations of cruelty and no promise that Russians will not be exiled hereafter as they have been heretofore. It is simply the whim of an arbitrary despot to revoke the sentence of exile as to those on whom it is now resting without any assurance that if they return to Russia it may not be imposed on their children or grandchildren, or even reimposed on them if they should happen again to incur the displeasure of the authorities. There Is little wonder that

nihilism should nourish under a government where such a proclamation as this is" hailed as an evidence of gracious clemency. The best possible use for such a government is to overthrow It. Till: PA ItT V OF IM1IECILITV.

A Washington special telegram in a Democratic paper gives a discouraging picture of government finances as they appear from an administration point of view. The dispatch says that "during the past six months the revenues of the government have been $28,500,000 less than the expenditures." As Secretary Carlisle's annual report showed an actual deficit during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1894. of $09,803,270. the deficit which has accrued during the last six months is in addition to that. The dispatch says "there is very little doubt but that under normal conditions the present tariff law would have produced sufficient revenue, but under the extraordinary conditions which exist it has proved inadequate." These extraordinary conditions have been created by the Democratic party and are likely to continue as long as it has the power of doing mischief. It is further admitted that "no revenue will be derived during the next six months from distilled spirits, while the receipts from the income tax are entirely problematical." Meanwhile, the gold balance is again approaching the danger line and the prospect of another issue of bonds is imminent. In this critical situation the Secretary of the Treasury "has been in conference with prominent Democratic statesmen discussing a plan by which the revenues of the government may be increased," and they have called in that most useless of all methods, a Democratic caucus. The dispatch says: There have been during the holiday recess several private consultations of the Democratic leaders to determine how immediate revenue can be secured without resorting to the sale of bonds. It has been discovered that the best practical course for immediate enlarging of the revenue isan increase of $1 per barrel upon beer and malt liquors. That increase would yield $31,000,000 of revenue per annum and it would be immediately available. This step it is argued, is the best solution of the problem and from what can be learned from official sources it is quite probable that Secretary Carlisle will recommend in a co-.n-munlcation to Congress shortly, an increase in this tax. All this makes a gloomy spectacle for the contemplation of patriotic Americans at the beginning of 1895. It is a spectacle in which the most prominent features are political imbecility and administrative impotence. The situation gives significance to a Washington special in another Democratic paper, which, after admitting the practical failure of the administration's financial policy, says: The simple principle advocated by Republicans that an excess of receipts over expenditures means the highest government credit and the greatest confidence in government currency is making some impression upon the Democrats, and the proposition to increase the national revenues is likely to prove a popular one. It is gratifying to know that Republican principles of finance, especially, the simple one that receipts should always exceed expenditures, are "making some impression upon the Democrats," but experience does not justify any faith in their ability to carry them out. GIBIIO.S AXD THE SEW WOMAX. Cardinal Gibbons, whose alleged views on the woman question appeared in yesterday's Journal, has probably been misrepresented, since the original publication was made by the New York World a paper totally untrustworthy and loving "sensations" far more than the truth. On other subjects of the day Gibbons has not shown himself especially illiberal or narrow, and while he has occasionally expressed himself in somewhat caustic terms concerning prevailing feminine foibles and has shown himself possessed of the common masculine theory that only the old-fashioned domestic woman with no outside interests but those of religion was worthy of admiration, he has not shown himself so far behind the times as his latest socalled interview indicates. But, assuming that even a part of his savage criti-., cisms on the modern woman are genuine utterances, they must be accepted with surprise, coming from such a source. Cardinal Gibbons is an intelligent man; he knows human nature, and, knowing it, he should be aware that whatever may be the difference between the women of this century and those of the one preceding, it is a difference that has come about in the natural progress of events; it is a development depending on the changed conditions of life, a process of evolution for which not the women, but circumstances are responsible. Given the modern conditions of existence, the dissemination of intelligence, the altered attitude of men in regard to educational and social progress, and the change In the position of women was as inevitable as any other social movement. It has not been hastened by ' argument and cannot be hindered by fulmlnations from ecclesiastical or other source. In denouncing women who have shown an interest in the world that lies outside of the home and the church, and who have even ventured to participate in affairs of this region unknown to them, the Cardinal merely proves his inability to keep pace with social evolution. He may not approve of the change; he may fancy . that the outcome will be disaster, but he should understand that he cannot prevent it, and that it would be wisdom on his part to accept the modern woman as she is and to adapt himself to the new require-, ments which are imposed upon those who would guide her in her new and not yet thoroughly safe paths. A man of his acumen ought also to know that whatever may be the exterior change in the life of man or woman, nature remains the same. Though women broaden their horizon of thought and their field of labor, there is no probability, no possibility that as a class they will think less highly of home and its ties or be less willing to devote themselves to husbands and children or be deficient in any of the womanly virtues. In assuming that such will be the case this distinguished prelate betrays his lack of insight into human nature and into the principles which underlie all social movements. The "new woman" is evidently crowding the Cardinal a little, and he must make haste lest she pass him by and his influence be lost. A special from this city to the Louisville Courier-Journal says that one object of the coming Democratic meeting in this city is to outline a plan for the reorganization of the party, and that in doing this an attempt will be made to imitate the general plan of the Lincoln League clubs. Of this Republican organization the correspondent says: It is regarded as possessing the essentials of subordinate organization, and it is a

recognized fact that much has been accomplished through It that otherwise mUht have gone undone for It has brought many young men into fellowship with active Republicans and thus fixed them in principles that they may have held lightly before such associations were formed and might have been susceptible to arguments which, when once they had become allied with the Lincoln League, could not reach them. :" .-. It is further admitted that the league clubs were a great help to the Republicans in the last campaign in securing a poll of voters which proved to be far more reliable than that which the Democratic managers had. and. in fact, very nearly correct. This admission of the good work that has been done by the. Lincoln League clubs and the fact that the Democracy are going to try and organize on the same plan should be an incentive to extend the organization and keep its working efficiency up to the highest point. The stamp put by the Boston postofflee on all letters mailed there formerly consisted of half a dozen straight black lines two Inches long. These were rather meaningless, and it occurred to some genius that anything emanating from Boston ought to represent an idea, so he made the lines wavy, put some stars in a white space in the northwest corner and, behold, an American flag! The postofflce adopted the new design, and now Boston is more proudly patriotic than ever. Mrs. Bloomer, whose attempt at dress Te-. form so many years ago gave the name to the now famous bloomer costume, must have looked with what the story writers call mingled emotions upon the Turkish trousers now worn so freely by bicycle girls and which excite so little comment. When she wore her reform garments rhe was a martyr to ridicule and abuse and gave them up for that reason. During the present year some important changes will take place in the personnel of the army. Major General McCook will retire on April 22, Paymaster General Smith, on March 26, . Brigadier General Casey, chief of engineers, on May 10, and Major General Schofield on Sept. 26. Nearly a dozen officers of lower rank will go on tne retired list. ' - People about the country are burning to death in their houses at night with disagreeable frequency. It can be said in favor of the unfortunates that their consciences must have been clear else they could not have slept soundly while the flames surrounded them. , . Strong is a good name for a reform mayor of New York. He will need to live up to It. BUBBLES IN THE AIR. Hard Line. "A feller don't know what to do," complained Tommy. "The kids that maw wants me to play with, their mother's don't want 'em to play with me." A Weak Brother. , Sing a song of sixpence, Bottle full of rye Left over after swearin off What's the use to try? -;

What He Wanted. ; "What do you think of this country?." asked the interviewer. ; "My deah fellow," replied the eminent foreigner, "I have only been here ten minutes." "That is just what I want to get at. I want to find out what you think, not what you know." . - ' jj Shameful. j "They say that fellow who is preaching what he calls a new religion is getting more than two thousand a year , from his dupes.". ; " ' '-,s "It is an outrageous swindle and' .ought to be stopped," said the Rev. Mr. poodpay, with warmth. "Why, I am only getting eight thousand a year myself." t SHREDS AND PATCHES. ; Mr. Breckinridge is sadly in need of some sort of quorum-counting device. Washington Post. Times continue hard. The only free thing In this community is salvation. Atlanta Constitution. Mr. Anthony Comstock is understood to say that he has no objections to the bare facts. Detroit Tribune. f This sort of atmosphere will be sure to drive the decollete woman, to the weather strip. Washington Post. ;? It would seem as if there was little left of the Cleveland administration, except the pie counter. The Capital. , - ' The muscular Christian is more often a pounder than an expounder of the scriptures. Boston Transcript. Colonel Breckinridge has thus far failed to count a quorum at any of his lectures. Cincinnati Commercial Gazette. . "Talk about the jaws of death," exclaimed a man who had a scolding wife, "I tell you they're nothing like the jaws of life." Low. ell Courier. A contemporary refers to the old year as "she." But If it . had been of that sex would It have ever become old? Louisville Courier Journal. To pass a Carlisle currency bill will be difficult almost as much so as it would be to pass Carlisle currency. Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Mrs. MoBride John, dear, why are some grocers called green grocers?. Mr. McBride. To distinguish them from cash grocers, darling. Vogue. Kissing a girl under the mistletoe is only a branch of the great principle of kissing her under any pretence that's available. Philadelphia Times. : ABOUT PEOPLE ASD THING. . Profespor Bailey, of Missorul, is said to have obtained more than 1,000 types of pumpkins by crossing the flowers of one kind with the pollen of another. ":- After Victor Hugo's death more than 10,000 isolated verses were found scattered about his room written on small slips of paper. He used to write incessantly. , even while dressing himself in the morning. . Mr. A. 5. Ward, of Eton College, has been elected to a scholarship at Ballol. He Is the only son of Mr. and Mrs. Humphry Ward.The many readers of "Robert Elsmere" will recall the beautiful description of Oxford and Baliol in that book. , . When-W. II. Rollins, night station master at a Washington police statfon, died a few nights ago the clock in the polie? station stopped at the very minute of his death. Just before that a large glass inkstand that stood on his office desk cracked squarely in two. Mary Ann Dalton, of Ashland, N. H.. is ninety-six years old, but is active enough to supply all her own wants. She spins, weaves and makes the cloth and clothes she wears, the rugs she walks on, and the sheets and blankets' she sleeps under, and molds the candles which she burns in her house. A movement started in Baltimore to present a testimonial to Dr. John S. Billings, surgeon of the United States army," and an advisory surgeon of the Johns Hopkins hospital, is well on foot. The testimonial is to be $10,000 subscribed by physicians and surgeons throughout the country and in appreciation of compiling the indexed catalogue of the surgeon general's office. For the greater honor of literature a memorial meeting for Robert Loui3 Stevenson will be held at Carnegie Hall, New York, oa Friday evening, under the auspices of the Uncut Leaves Society. Edmund C. St?dman will preside. Andrew Carnegie, Richard Henry Stoddard, George W. Cable. William Winter and others will make short addresses. David Christie Murray will deliver the principal address. Selections from Stevenson's ballads and stories will be read by Nelson Wheatcroft. Mrs. Henrietta M. King, of Corpus Christl, Tex. owns 1,875 square miles of land in Texas, or about a million and a quarter of acres. She Inherited this vast domain from her husband, Richard King, who was born In this State in 1825. After living an adventurous life, he bought what was then known as the Santa Gertrude's ranch in Texas.

and by shrewdness and ability became very wealthy. When he died, in 1885, all his property went to his wife, a daughter of tho Rev. Hiram Chamberlain, who built the first Presbyterian church on the Rio Grande. Mrs. King is about sixty years of age. and Is a woman of kindly instincts and admirable character. She lives very plainly and does not spend a tithe of her Income. Her land alone is now worth $5,000,000, and it will be worth much more when it is devoted to viticulture, for which it is said to be well adapted. "Through the efforts of Dr. Sheldon Jackson, who has had charge of the government schools in Alaska for many years, a herd of. over 100 reindeer has been transported from Siberia across the Bering Strait into Alaska, and they are reported to be doing "very welL More than 200 fawns were born last year. There used to be large herds of wild reindeer on the moss-covered tundra of Alaska, but they were all exterminated years ago, and the wal-us, whale and seal, which have since supplied the natives with food, clothing and fuel, are getting very scarce. A remarkable freak in moon phases was noted In the month of February, 186S, a month which has gone into astronomical annals as "the month, without a full moon." In that year January and "March each had two full moons, but February none. A writer in a leading astronomical journal uses the following language in describing it: "Do you realize what a rare thing in nature it was? It has not happened before since the beginning of the Christian era or probably since the creation of the world. It will not occur again, according to the computations of the astronomer royal of England for how long do you think? Not until after 2,500,000 years from 1866." Sew Year's with Tennyson. Many suns arise and set. Many a chance the years beget. "Miller's Daughter. Make Thou my spirit pure and clear As are the frosty skies. Or this first snowdrop of the year That in my bosom lies. "St. Agnes' Eve." Hope Smiles from the threshold of the year to come Whispering "it will be happier," and old faces Press round us, and warm hearts close with warm hands. "Foresters." i Dip down upon the northern shore, O sweet New Year delaying long; Thou doest expectant nature wrong; Delaying long, delay no more. "In Memorlam." Sing the New Year in under the blue. Last year you sang it as gladly. ."New, new, new!" Is it then so new That you should carol so madly? "The Throstle." There's a new foot on the floor, my friend, And a new face at the door, my friend, A new face at the door. "Death of the Old Year." 1 The night is starry and cold, my friend, And the New Year blithe and bold, my friend, Comes up to take his own. "Death of the Old Year." When wealth no more shall rest In mounded heaps, But smit with freer light shall slowly melt In many streams to fatten lower lands, And light shall spread, and man be liker man Thro' all the season of the golden year. "The Golden Year."

CHARGE OP THE LIGHT BRIGADE, Facts and Figures That Possess a Perennial Interest. Sir Evelyn Wood, in Fortnightly Review. Out of 673 of all ranks who rode down the valley, only 195 rode back. There were 130 killed, 134 wounded and 15 prisoners, the remainder being dismounted, for out of the 673 . horses, 475 .jvere killed and 42 wounded. The havoc and confusion wrought among the Russian troops are indescribable, and this accounts for the number of our dismounted men who escaped. Several individuals of the leading squadrons dashed on to the banks of the Tchernaya, one officer killing in succession, near the river, the wheel, center, and lead drivers of a gun which the Russians- were endeavoring to carry off. Lieut. Percy Smith, Thirteenth Light Dragoons, from an accident to his right hand, carried merely a dummy sword in the scabbar. While leading his men on the far side of the Russian battery, a Russian soldier, perceiving he had no sword, galloped up alongside and resting his carbine on the left arm, pressed the muzzle close to Smith's body as the two horsemen galloped, locked together. Smith presently, finding the suspense intolarable, struck at the Russian's face with the maimed hand, and, the carbine going off, the bullet passed over Smith's head, the Russian then leaving him alone. " Captain Morris, of the. Seventeenth Lancers, terribly wounded, gave up .ls sword to a Russian officer, who shortly afterward, being driven from his side, left Morris alone, and he nearly fell a victim t the cupidity of some Cossacks. From them and others, howaver, he escaped and eventually with great difficulty got back up the valley till he fell insensible close to, the dead body of his friend Nolan. Lieut, Sir William Gordon, who greatly distinguished himself in personal combats in Central India in 1858, is still an active man, although the doctors said, on the 25th of October, he was "their only patient with his head off," so terribly had he been hacked by a crowd of Russians into which he penetrated. He used to make little of his escape, but we learned that after being knocked out of the saddle he lay on his horse's neck, trying to keep the blood from his eyes. Eventually, without sword or pistol, he turned back and, unable to regain his stirrups, although a perfect horseman, rode at a walk up the valley. He found between himself and our heavy brigade a regiment of Russian cavalry facing up the valley. He. was now joined by tso or three men, and he made for the squadron, interval. The nearest Russian, hearing him approach, looked back, and by closing outward to bar his passage, left sufficient opening in the squadron, through which Gordon passed at a canter. He was followed and summoned to surrender and, refuging, would have been cut down had not his pursuer been shot. A ROLL OF HONOR. Defeat of Cleveland In Trying to Prove Wholesale Pension Fronds. Boston Advertiser. When the present administration began its work of hunting down the pension frauds the "special examiners' division" of the Pension Office was detailed to do the greater part of the work. The sum of $400,000 had been appropriated for the work of this division and about fifty-five special examiners were instructed to examine every case thoroughly for the purpose of discovering any suspicious circumstances in connection with the application for, the proof of, or the allotment of . a pension. The scrutiny seems to have been reasonably close and rigid. At all events nearly 5,000 cases, 4,765 to be exact, were picked out as justifying a suspicion of fraud of some kind. Even if all of these cases had been fraudulent, the fact would have remained that out of more than 1,250,000 pension cases these fifty-five examiners, with an appropriation of $400,000 to aid them in their work, discovered less than 4-10 of 1 per cent, of pension cases to be fraudulent. Considering the sweeping character of the charges made, the result would have been to show that the Indictment of the pensioners, while in some measure justifiable, was, at all events, somewhat exaggerated and unduly pessimistic. However, as it proved, most of the 4,765 cases selected by the examiners as likely to prove fraudulent justified no such suspicion. It was easy enough for the examiners to charge and to recommend the suspension of pension payments in such cases, but when a thorough investigation was made it was discovered that in -about every case there was little good reason to charge the pensioner or applicant with wrongdoing. This appears from ithe report of the Pension Office for the first fiscal year awl the statistics there given are worthy of the be3t attention of those who have denounced the pension system as a gigantic fraud. Out of the 4,765 cases selected as fraudulent by the pension examiners convictions resulted in less than 200, and of the persons convicted twenty were notaries and executing officers, thirty-two were attorneys and subagents. and thirty-seven were witnesses and other persons not pensioners. There were also found eighteen fraudulent impersonators of claimants and pensioners and eleven impostors. But of soldiers and widows, of pensioners or applicants for pensions, only thirty-nine were discovered to be guilty of fraud upon the government. Oi't of more than 1,250,000 pensioners or applicants for pensions less than fortv were convicted of fraud by this force of fifty-five special examiners aided by a liberal appropriation. If. as President Cleveland asserted, there are thousands of fraudulent pensioners; If, as other Democratic leaders insist, the pension system were a thing of mere spoil! and plunder, what will it cost to find out the remaining frauds, at the present cost of $10,000 each fraudulent pensioner discovered?

GEN. JOHN W. FOSTER

A MILITARY AND CIVIC CAREER -EQl'ALED IX THE IMTEI) STATES. Remarkable History of the Mnn Chosen by the Chinese Powers to Assist in the Peace Negotiations. Washington Post. Hon. John W. Foster, who is en route to Japan to meet the commissioners appointed by China to negotiate terms of peace with her victorious opponent in the war now raging in the Orient, has had an experience in the field of diplomacy which is unequaled in the annals of American history. John Quincy Adams is the only other native of tho United States whose record in that branch of public service in any sense may be said to rival his, and Mr. Adams did not approach him in the variety of the services performed. The Massachusetts statesman began his career at the early age of fourteen, when he was made an attache of the United States legation at SL Petersburg, where his father, John Adams, was minister from this country to Russia. From that subordinate position he was advanced until finally he held the post of minister to Great Britain and served a term as Secretary of State. It is interesting to not that the discussion of the lately much mooted question of the jurisdiction over the Bering sea first began when John Quincy Adams was Secretary of State, the letter of Mr. Adams to our minister to St. Petersburg expressing the .views of the United States government upon the edict of the Czar asserting Russia'3 dominion over the water being the earliest official paper on the subject quoted in the recent negotiations respecting that subject. Mr. Foster may -be said to be the only American; who has made diplomacy his profession. He is recognized as distinctively a diplomate, and although he goes to Japaji in. a purely private capacity his apr pointment is looked upon by the members of the diplomatic corps in Washington as Identifying him In an official sense as one of their number. Before he left Washington and after the publication of the - fact that he had been selected every embassador and minister located in the capital called and left their cards at his residence, as they would in the case of an appointment 'to a position similar to the one they hold. From the time when President Grant, in 1873, upon the request of air. Morton, appointed him Minister to Mexico every positon held by Mr. Foster has come to him unsought, and in one or two instances he knew nothing of his appointment until it had bean conrmed. When President Hayes in 1S80 transferred him to St. Petersburg from the City of Mexico the first intimation he had of the fact 'Was the announcement to him by the Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs, who had been advised of the appointment by Minister Romero immediately upon the nomination being made public. Mr. Foster did not hear from his own government until the next day after the nomination had been confirmed by the Senate. ACTED UPON QUICKLY. This recalls another fact which seems to have been characteristic of Mr. Foster's appointments. They have usually been settled upon and confirmed with remarkable celerity. Having resigned the Russian mission in 1881, he returned to Washington and entered upon the practice of his profession, the law, being engaged in international cases almost exclusively. One Tuesday in February, 1S83, President Arthur asked him to take the Spanish mission. After considering the matter twenty-four hours, he agreed to go; on Thursday the nomination was sent in, and on Friday it was confirmed by the Senate. The circumstances attending his appointment as Secretary of State in June, 1892, to succeed the late Secretary Blaine, were even more striking in this regard. His name had not been canvassed in connection with the office, and on the day the appointment was made a story was printed on the authority of a prominent Western editor and politician that Secretary Tracy would be transferred to the State Department, and ex-Gov. Cheney, of New Hampshire, succeed Tracy at the head oftbe Nrffy Department. Mr. Foster's nomination was sent to the Senate at about 1 o'clock in the afternoon, and in two hours and thirtyfive minutes he hd been confirmed, sworn in, held a reception in the diplomatic parlor in the State Department, and was at his desk signing the day's mail. Mr. Fosters ability to form accurate judgments upon questions presented to him, and his capacity for rapidly disposing of the matters when his mind was made up, -have been, important factors In his successful career. His capacity for work is something tremendous, but it is accomplished with the minimum of exertion, through his excellent methods, the result of training in the school of the lawyer and newspaper man, for it is upon the foundations laid while serving in these professions that the main structure of his life has been built. It may be well to mention that President Hayes would have made him Secretary of War in 1877 had it been possible for him to have reached Washington from the City of Mexico under twenty days. The President was compelled to act quickly and so Indiana was represented in the Cabinet by Hon. R. W. Thompson, as Secretary of the Navy, while Mr. Foster remained in Mexico. STORY OF HIS LIFE. John Watson Foster was born In Pike county, Indiana, March 2, 1836, the son of an English farmer who emigrated to this country in his youth and married an Indiana girl. He was able to give his son a good education and he graduated first from the Indiana State University at Eloomlngton and later from Harvard Law School. While at Bloomington the young student precipitated a conflict with the head of the Institution, a noted Methodist divine, which resulted in the latter's retirement from the institution. He was a public speaker of great force and attractiveness and his lectures were not only the pride of the college, but a source of much revenue and reputation. Mr. Foster, then a member of the senior class, detected a resemblance between the presidnt's most famous production and certain rather obscure Greek classics. Diligent research and the use of the "deadly parallel column" enabled the student to demonstrate the professor's plagiarism and an immense row was the result. The two were of opposite political faiths and the matter went not only Into educational, but political circles, and the whole State was aroused by it. The president,' left the university and has been forgotten. In ia56 Mr. Foster began the practice of law in Evansville, Ind., being associated with Conrad Baker, late Governor of the State, and afterwards the law partner of Vice President Hendricks, i He continued in the practice of his profession until the war broke out, when he promptly volunteered his services to Governor Morton, and was made major of the , Twenty-fifth Indiana Regiment. He was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy, and afterward to the command of the Sixty-fifth RegimentDisability caused his retirement, by resignation, on March 10, 1864, but, recovering his health, he re-entered the Bervice as colonel of the One-hundred-and-thirty-sixth Regiment, and remained until the close of the war. No man parades his military record less than General Foster, and yet few have a brighter or more creditable one. On that April Sunday in 1862, the first day of the battle of Shiloh, Major Foster rallied his regiment amid the confusion and disorder that existed by seizing the colors and planting them against a fallen tree, thus saving the regiment to fight again on Monday. In 18C3 he led the advance of Burnside's forces, being In command of a cavalry brigade, and captured Knoxville, being with the first 'to enter the city. Later, in command of the same brigade, he moved eastward from Knoxville, and proved himself to be so skillful, cool and resolute a commander that long after the war Gen. Burnside said: "If 1 had believed Foster, as I was inclined to do, i.here would have been no siege of Knoxville." General Sherman said: "I like Foster; he never loses his head." IN THE GROCERY BUSINESS. After the war General Foster, as he has since been called by those who knew hlra in those stirring times, settled in Cincinnati and engaged in the grocery business with hi brother, under the firm name of Foster Brothers. This venture was abandoned in ! a short -time, and he returned to Evansj ville. Purchasing an Interest In the Evans- ; vllle Journal, he conducted its affairs as managing editor until sent to Mexico by President Grant In 1S73. In the meantime he

had been appointed postmaster of . Evansville. and in 1S72 managed the Republican campaign in Indiana as chairman of the State central committee. . His subsequent career is so well known as not to need a recapitulation. While in Spain he nestot'ited a commercial 'tre'ty, whk'h was withdrawn from tha Senate by President Cleveland, who afterward sent him as special commissioner to the same coun'try to negotiate a new one. But the Sp:uiish authorities declined to entertain the proposition. In President Harrison's administration Mr. Foster was employed to negotiate the commercial arrangements -with the South American republics under the reciprocity clause of the McKinley bill. This occupied nearly two years, during which time his relations with th President and Secretary Blaine were most intimite. and cordial. When the latter resigned Mr. Foster was chosen to succeed h'.m and the selection was generally regarded as a most felicitous one. As Secretary of State, and later as agent of the United States, Mr. Foster had charge of the preparation of the case for this government before the Paris tribunal of arbitration upon the Bering sea, controversy, which was his last public service. At the adjournment of that tribunal Mr. Foster, accompanied by his wife and three friend? from Evansville, Ind., made a tour of Europe, Africa nd Asia, from whioli they returned but a few months ago. Whila in the far East Mr, Foster was received with courtesies and honors never 'before extended to any private traveler, except General Grant, while in India they were entertained by the Gaekwar of Baroda. who .set apart a palace for their stay, his cast preventing him from personally associating with them at meals; the Nyzitm of Hyderebad, and the Maharajah of Jeypore. HONORED IN CHINA. While in China the party were attended by an ambassadorial suite, furnished by the government, and the railroad to tha great Chinese wall was opened by a train which carried them to inspect that wonder. One of the most cherished souvenirs of .the trip i3 a brick from the wall, whlcti holds a prominent place among the many valuable and handsome curios in the Foster residence on I street. Chang, the former Minister to the United States, and one of the Chinese peace commissioners, invited the visitors to dine at his residence, an unprecedented courtesy to a foreigner, and a fact which aroused tne liveliest interest among the diplomats and other foreigners in the Chinese capital. In Japan a national guard of honor attended them everywhere, and the Mikado sent his band to their hotel to serenade them, an honor never before extended to any visitor to Tokio. Mr. . Foster is a man of simple tastea " and habits. He is devoted to his domestic life, and finds more enjoyment at home than anywhere else. Mrs. Foster, whom he met while at school, and married shortly after graduating from law school, is one of the most charming women of the national capital. She has accompanied Mr. Foster abroad on his various trips, and together they make their home one of ths most delightful that can be found. They have two children, bothi daughters, married, and residing in Watertown, N. Y. The youngest, Mrs. Lansing, and her husband, will spend the winter with her. If Mr. Foster does not return in the early spring, Mrs. Foster will join him. All his life Mr, Foster has been a consistent, : faithful, active member of th Presbyterian Church', and for thirty years, a ruling elder. He is connected with the session of the New York Avenue-church, and has lately been at the. head of tha ' committee charged with the duty of selecting a successor to the Rev. W. A. Bartlett, D. D., -who resigned the pastorate last month.

"SCIENTIFIC" ClinUEXCY PLAX. The One Offered by Prof. Common Not Likely to Prove Satisfactory. ' Louisville Courier Journal. Among the contributions to the currency disousslon is one from J. R. Commons, professor of economic and social science in Indiana University. If it serves no other purpose- it gives at least an insight into what is taught our boys in the name of science in some of tha institutions of learning. Prof. Commons, in recent article, reviews the Carlisle and Baltimore currency plans, and finds both defective; but as there is nothing novel in his objections we pass that part of . his article. Having demolished all other plans, the Professor proposes to redeem all our paper currency treasury notes, greenbacks and sliver cer- ' tiflcates in silver bullion, at its market value in gold. That is, the Professor proposes to adhere to the gold standard, but ho proposes to use silver as a redemption! agent. He puts the amount of paper currency to be redeemed at $830,000,000 and the silver In the treasury at $530,000,000 coining value, or $270,000,000 market value. He thinks this would be entirely adequate to support all our currency on a practically gold basis. He admits that the effect of this plan would be to t drive our $500,000,000 o gold to Europe and he contemplates that with equanimity. This, however, would leave us only $S30,000,000 of currency, and even less if any considerable part of it were redeemed hi silver bullion, which would not be available as money. It Is not clear how $S30,O3O,000 of paper could be redeemed in silver worth $270,000,000, so we must assume that Prot. Commons thinks there would be no general demand for redemption, which is quite conceivable so long 4s the volume of the currency did not excj But the Professor proposes Jh this currency by the issue offi leed $830,000,000. to supplement united states notes. To regulate the issui of these, ha wouia nave recourse to a monetary commission, with power to expand or contract the currency. To expand it, the commission should be empowered to purchase bullion, or simply Issue notes on the bullion already on hand, to be deposited on call with the banks. To contract the currency the commission could sell bullion or call in th notes deposited with tha banks. A commission of this kind, representing both, debtors and creditors, could, he thinks, make the currency elastic. As to the flight of our gold Prof. Commons thinks that would be a good thing. It would, he says, add 20 per-cent, to tha foreign stock and thereby retfuce its value; "it would break the gold spel!, would maka feasible an agreement with other debtor -nations and would relieve us of the Indian and ostrich method of appeal to our creditorEngland." If this is the best that "science" has to offer as a remedy for our financ ial ills, perhaps we shall have to worry along a good while with an inelastic currency. Mr. Commons would preserve the gold standard, but would redeem In silver at Its market value. He evidently means to treat the silver dollars in the treasury as bullion, or, perhaps, to have them melted and cast into bars. They would, if not melted, pass by weight and not by tale. The number of ounces of silver to be obtained for a $20 or $50-bill. would therefore vary from day to day, according to the market price of silver, which is fixed in the London market, and fluctuates greatly. This does not seem a good plan to get rid of the influences of England over our financial affairs. Under this "scientific" plan of currency reform the government would have a continually fluctuating stock of sliver bullion. It might pay to-day 100 ounces of silver for a note, and the next week reissue the same note for ninety or 110 ounces of bullion, as tha case might be. Under the purchase clause of the Sherman act the government sustained the loss of millions of dollars by the depreciation of silver. If Professor Commons's plan worked as he expects It to do, gil would be depreciated 20 per cent., and an debts would be scaled in like measure. If, however, the contraction resulting from the los3 of $500,000,000 in gold had tha effect which many financiers anticipate, It would reuuee prices still lower, and make debts harder to pay. Without any gold, the money of International commerce. We should be greatly embarrassed in settling international balances and foreign debts. In fact, however, all the gold would probably not go away; some of it would stay, and be sold at a premium to such persona as were obliged to have it. It seems rather superfluous to add that the loss of $500.000,0! of our gold would not add 0 per cent, to the gold of foreign countries. The world's stock of gold is about four thousand millions, of which 500,000,000 millions is only 12'i per cent. The production of gold for the year 1S94 is estimated to have been from $175,000.0;x to $l$2,00t,000. so that 500,000,000 would be less than three years' production at the present accelerating ratio. " For these and many other reasons Prof. Commons's plan will hardly commend itself to the -people of the United States. If doctrines as crude as his an extensively taught in the schools of the United States, it is not surprising that our pop!e generally are not competent to solve currency problems. The Sine Qua Son islands. Boston HeraJd. Mr. Edward Stanwood, in his address on "The Aroostook War." befotj nearly seventy members of tho Pine Tree State Club, who gathered at the Brunswick Hotel. Thursday evening, gave just one humorous Incident of the dispute about which ha spoke. He said he would have given more had' he been able to tind more. The incident he gave, he iid, was perhaps oil enough to be new to his hearers. Twr, Maine countrymen were discussing one or Webster's state papers in regard to the controversy when one of them asked what Webster meant by the three words, "Sine qui ikki." The other replied thtt he. waun't quit sure, but tho-.ijfht they were islaft'dj In Passamaquoddy bay.