Indianapolis Journal, Indianapolis, Marion County, 6 September 1896 — Page 2

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THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 15U15.

He money circuit ten again. And more than that, the cry al-eui 'the crime of 1873 reBounded in Ccr press and in the country. Then at last the 2K)-cent gold dollar had Its opportunity. Prices could no longer plead Ignorance. What happened? In 1)50 wheat rose above the price of 1S79, likewise corn, cotton and oats. In 1SS1 wheat rose again, also corn, oats and cotton. In 1S.S2 wheat and cotton declined, while com and oats rose. The reports here given are those of the New York market. They may vary somewhat from reports of farm prices, but they present the rises and declines of prices witii substantial correctness. AN ABSURD CONTENTION'. "These facts, prove conclusively to every sane mind, that for nine years after the act of 1873 six years before and three years after the resumption ofpecle payments the prices of the agricultural staples mentioned, being in most Instances considerably above 1SG0, show absolutely no trace of any such effect as would have been produced upon them had a great and sudden change In the purchasing power of the money of the country taken place; that it would be. childish to pretend that, but lor the act of 1S73, those prices would be 100, or 50, or 25, or 10 per cent, higher, and that, therefore, all this talk about the gold dollar having become a 200-cent dollar, or a 150-cent dollar, or a 125-cent dollar, is pardon the expression arrant nonsonse. Since 1882 the price of wheat has, indeed, .very much declined, although in 1S!"1 it reached once more in New York $1.09, while corn sold in 1SS1, 2, 3 and 4 cents h'gher than in 1879. But if the act of 1S73, which. -had it really enhanced the purchasing power of the dollar, would have done so promptly and uniformly, produced no such effect for nine years after its enactment. It would be absurd to say that it produces it twenty years after Its enactment. Is not this clear? , "If, however, there be somebody believing that In spite of these facts, the demonetisation of silver by the act of 1873 must in

runic m fttn iou; way ntxve uvjiic nuiiiiiiiii .3 . . v. . il : i . . . -J i i it i ii , ...... cally demonetized long before 1873. To judge irom me speecnes or our iree-eoinage orators, the American people must before 1S73 have fairly wallowed in silver dollars. What is the fact? President Jefferson stopped the coinage of silver dollars in 106. From 1783 to 1873, aside from fractional currency which since 1853 was only limited legal tender only about 8,001 000 of Silver dollars wa fnine.fl Tl-iv wtrp r .scarce that you would hardly ever see one except in a curiosity shop as a rare coin. There was constant trouble with the legal ratio between gold and silver, which could not be so fixed as to keep the two metals together in circulation. Once one of them would be driven out of the country and then the other. Meanwhile over 1,000,000,000 dollars of gold coin were coined, and since 1S53 gold was substantially the only full legal-tender money in actual circulation. And those were exceptionally prosperous times. Then the civil war came and swept all our metallic money out of tight. Paper money took its place, and In that condition we were in 1873, when the famous act of 1873 was passed." Mr. Schurz then discussed at length the alleifed "crime nf "7!?" anA '. r.fft nn u..jt . v ' iiHiL uti 1. 1 1 1 ; COUntrv. hlu arunment tcnHt mm a. uniuie oi prices tcouia - not; oe at4 pi Ki i tnil . v. . . . , ri . t , i i t v. .ui.t.M lu uku oti. vuiiiuiuing no saiu: "But what is it, then, that has caused the decline of prices? I appeal to your common sense. Do you think that when one man. aided hv m.npli(nt.rv oc mtih productive work as formerly tea or more did. and when our modern meins of transportation carry the product from the producer to the consumer with five times the ; speed, at one-fifth the cost, and when in the transmission of intelligence time is . quite and cost almost annihilated do you think that then the product of human lappr should not in due proportion become cheaper? If it did not, then modern civilization would, in one of its-most important and beneficent function, be a fiat 'allure Jor what Is the inventive geniu3 of the age that devotes itself to practical objects engaged in what else than in devising and developing means and methods by which the things required by mankind for the sustenance and comfort of life be made cheaper? mre easily attainable-that is, WHAT HAS MADE LOWER PRICES? ....... ... uiiuiru o lit it's wel comed the agricultural machinery which helps him in planting, raising and harvesting his crop. He welcomed the railroad. the steamboat, the low freights, the telegraph, "which shortened the distance between his farm and the 'market, and the banking arrangements required for moving and selling his product. But as nearly all our fanners had the same encouragement so it followed quite naturally that the wheat crop of this country increased from an annual average of 312.000.000 bushels beIiKa,V? ,188? to an anal average of 4. a.OOO. 000 bushels between 1890 and 1895 But iSm.re,Bn coHntries nad tne encouraging benefit: new wheat fields were opened in iif ia and?tlle Argentine Republic and elsewhere, and. according to Bradstreet's 5rynfCO,hPt'tent,?uthor' the wheat pro! duct of the world grew from 1SS9 -to 1894 SSJw?8 than 429-0.000 bushels, while the worlds consumption la estimated to increaFe only ia.otw.uoo to 16.UW.0UO bushels annually. When the increase of the worlds supply thus gains upon the increase of the world's demands, L It a wonaer that in the world s market which rules the price for all exporting countries that price should have declined? Is not ttan nfV" Hnltny more. rat'"al explana;L n 5 th? decline n prices than to ascribe tlon law1 n"fei& tho-called demoneuiaitl?Pd nnthii Wh,ch Practically demonetized nothing, but was actually followed by an Increase of our currency, nearly trebling its Volume and making the oe? ZJf?r- 'ar-hrTher than it ever had befor?' and higher than it is in any other country except one? You might as Sef oCfri?sll,?Ur c war to the Treat The speaker next attacked the statements cf Bryan and other Popocrats that free silver would benefit the country. On this point, among other things, he said: nKm,?.tl,ne aso read among the published utterances of various persons on the silver question the following from a Streetcar, conductor: I am for Bryan and free si ver.' said he. 'If he is elected? monly will be plenty and circulate more, and thin we ll get some of it.' The poor fellow Let us suppose, then. Mr. Bryan elected.' We are happily on the silver basis. The dollar 5hJT,t""'n?J!ent8, WOr,th 0f eoods. or there!: about. The wages of our street-car conductor are. say, $2 a day. His wife-noor TJITT0 to tn,e grocer and finds that everything she used to buy for 10 cents now costs 20 She Plaintively remonstrates cannot help that," says the grocer. -You pay me in silver, 50 cents on the dollar I have to use this money in buying my stock and need twice as many dollars as I did before. So my customers must pay twice as much or I must close my store."' There Is nothing more to be said. It is the same Sk e to tne butcher, the baker, the shoemaker, and so on Our SnhX conductor finds that while he and his family could, with strict economy live on ll a day, they are fearfully pinched when the $2 buys only as much as formerly one. He consults with his friends, and a committee of them apply to the president ?r. tt!e st railway for higher wages. Higner wages:' says he. 'I have been thinking that a reduction of wages will be necessary. For all our supplies and material we have now to pav $2 where we formerly paid Jl. But we get only our 5 cents fare, which is really now 2U cents And besides, our bonds are payable, principal and interest, in gold, and we have to buy that gold at the rate of 2 in silver for one gold dollar. Haw are we to make both ends meet? I really do not know whether we can continue to pay you even J2 a day The committeemen growl and speak of striking. 'Strike?" says the president. 'Why the streets are full of laboring men thrown out of work by the closing of shops since we are on the silver basis. There are thousands of them, men with families, who will jump at the chance of earning even less than 52 a day.' The committee look at one another. They know that it is all true The beauty of higher prices on the silver basis begins to dawn upon them, and they withdraw, wiser, but much sadder menand the conductor's care-burdened wife asks him whether it was reallv a smart thing to vote for Bryan and "plenty of money. EFFECT ON RAILWAYS. "The same will happen to the hundreds of thousands of employes of the railroads in the United. States. There Is hardly one of those railroads that will not be prevented, cither by law, or by other powerful Influences from raising its passenger fares or freight ratio to meet the depreciation of the money they receive, and 60 per cent, of their bonded indebtedness is contracted to be paid, principal and interest, in gold. Bankruptcy will stare them in the face, and even those of them that may manage to escape it will hardly be able to make good to their employes the damage they suffer through the depreciation of their wages through the silver dollar. "How stands the cane of the wage earners whose product can be raised in priej proportionate to the debasement of the dolyiar? An the dollar falls in value the manufacturer or the merchant marks uu hi

goods. The workingman or the clerk, finding himself hard pressed by the rise in price of the necessaries of life, applies for a corresponding increase of wages. The head of the factory or the mercantile establishment admits that some increase is called for. 'But.' says he. 'you are not the only person in trouble. The value of our money is fluctuating. We hardly know what it is to-day. Vv e surely do npt know what it will be next week. Profits are excessively close anyhow. We make a sale or a purchase to-day and think if is at a profit. To-morrow we may find that it was at a loss. We hardly venture to make a contract to be filled at a future time, because we can make no safe calculations. We can increase your wages a little, but not much. For that you will have to wait until things get more settled. Besides, this silver free coinage has thrown all business into dreadful confusion, and there are plenty of people out of employment who would do your work for less than you get now.' And so the wage earner has to be satisfied with a little increase of pay and wait for more while the advanced prices of necessaries prey upon him. "Is this mere conjecture? It is the experience of every country that has been cursed by a rise of prices through money of fluctuating value. I defy any one to show me in the whole history of the world a single exception. Have we not during our civil war witnessed it with our own eyes? In 1S62. when our irredeemable paper currency had begun to depreciate, the average wages of labor rose only 3 per cen?., while average prices rose 18; in IS'jS, when wages had risen lO1, per cent., average prices were 49 per cent, higher; in 18G4 wages had risen 25 per cent, and prices SQVi; in 1865 wages had advanced 43 per cent, and prices 117 above what wages and prices had been in cold in 186J. In other words the laboring man's wages had lost in purchasing power

more man w cents in every dollar, livery country laboring under similar conditions tells the same story. What reason in the world is there to assume that this universal rule will not operate in the case of free coinage? "And what have the apostles of free-silver coinage to say to this? Hear Mr. Bryan himself in his famous New York oration: 'While a gold standard raises the purchasing power of the dollar, it also makes it more difficult to obtain possession of tho dollar employment s less permanent, loss of work more probable, and reemployment less certain.' Is that all? Yes, all. Does not Mr. Bryan know that under what was practically the gold standard we had in the fifties one of the most active and prosperous periods this country has ever seen.? Does he not know that more recently, at the time of the return to specie payments, we had, under the gold standard, years of signal prosperity, with all hands at work? And does he wish to learn what has been the trouble since and what is the trouble now? Let him ask the employers of labor, and with almost one voice they will tell him that not the existing gold standard, but the growing danger of its overthrow, that the growing aggressivenets of the free-coinage movement, tiliing the minds of men with anxious apprehensions as to dark future uncertainties, has served to paralyze that spirit of enterprise which sets the laboring man to work. Let him study the history of the crisis of 1893. Not the gold standard, but distrust of silver, destroyed the confidence that employs labor. This is the truth, and Mr. Bryan will in vain try to deny it. A DECEPTIVE APPEAL. "I must confess, of all the deceptive appeals resorted to by the silver orators, that addressed to the wage-earners seems to me the most heartless and damnable. And of all the instances of reckless credulity we witness, that of the wage-earners who actually permit themselves to be persuaded that free-silver coinage will be a blessing to them is the most incomprehensible and the saddest. There is something pathetic in their delusion. Of all things human labor is the one that has, during the last fifty years in this country largely and almost steadily risen In price. Average wages have nearly , doubled since 1840, and have risen more than 60 per cent, since 1800. The steady rise has been owing partly to organization, in ' greater part to the larger average productiveness of human labor in connection with .machinery in one word, to the progress of civilization. As civilization has served to multiply and cheapen labor's products, it ha3 at the same time served to enhance labor's earnings. It has thus secured to the laboring man, especially in this Republic, a double advantage; a greater-number of dollars by way of wages, and for every dollar more of the things which the laboring man has to buy for the necessities and enjoyments of himself and his family. "This is one of the createst achievements of our age, at which every true friend of humanity will heartily rejoice, but which more than all others the workingman himself should appreciate. That the workingmen should be called upon, by the exercise of their right as voters, to aid in despoiling themselves of this combined blessing, looks like a satanic mockery. And when we see pretended labor leaders Join the silver-mine millionaires, the silver politicians, and the nebulous silver philosophers in the eftert to seduce the workingmen in an act of self-destruction so supremely foolish, there is good reason for warning these of treason in their camp. If there is anybody in the wide world who should fight to the last gasp for a money of true value that does not lie to him, and who should curse and spurn as his worst enemy the demagogue seeking beguile him with deceitful currency juggles, it is the man who earns his bread by the sweat of his brow. This is emphatically the wage earner's battle. Alas, for him, if he should desert his own cause! 'The free-coinage men profess especial solicitude for those whom they call . 'the debtor class.' Who are the debtor class? Our silver friends speak as if, as a rule, the rich people were creditors and the poor were debtors. Is this correct? In my household I am the debtor to the cook, and the chambermaid, and the washerwoman. two or three weeks in the month, and thay are mv creditors. Nor are they likely to-be debtors to anybody else, while I may be, for they have little, if any, credit, while I, perhaps, have some. I am, therefore, the only debtor in my house. The relations between the large employer of labor , and the employes are substantially the bame. Ordinarily the employer, the rich man, is1 apt to be the only debtor among them. The employes are, as a rule, only creditors, and as they lay up savings, they are'apt to become creditors in a larger tfense. They deposit their money in savings banks or invest it in building associations, in mutual benefit societies, in loan companies, or in life insurance policies, and become capitalists In a small way. The amount deposited by people of small means in.. the savings banks of the Cniyd States eia at present something over $1,800.000.(W, that invested in building associations about ?S00,000.000. in mutual benefit societies SoHS.UijO.O'JO, and in life insurance many hundred millions more. "The number of such creditors belonging to .hat our silver friends often call 'the toiling masses' is therefore very large. Together with their dependents it may. for aught we know, amount to fifteen or twenty millions. Who are the debtors of these creditors? The savings banks had. according to the reports of 1894. loaned out about one-half of the money deposited with them on real estate mortages, and invested the other half in United States bonds, State county and municipal bonds, and railroad and other bonds and stocks. The investments of the life insurance companies were about proportionately the same. The investments in real estate mortages are always preferable in large belonging to comparatively wealthy persons, or to business corjorations. Thus the debtors to these creditors beionging to the toiling masses are the United States. States and municipalities, railroad and other corporations, and persons very much richer than the creditors. Here we have then rich debtors owing to many millions of poor creditors thousands of millions of dollars. WILL BLEED THE POOR. "The silver orators pretend that they have the toiling masses greatly at heart and that free coinage is to be introduced mainly for their benefit. How do they take care of the toiling masses in this case? By bringing us down upon the silver basis they simply cut down thousands of millions of invested savings of poor people to about 50 cents on the dollar. And for whose benefit is this done? For the benefit of the debtors of these poor people, who will gain about 50 cents on the dollar. And who are they? Aside from the United States, and the States and municipalities, those debtors are ra Iroad and other corporations and mora or less rich men. whom our silver friends profess to abhor very much as belonging to the 'monev power ' Thus will the silver standard bleed the poor creditor for the benefit of the rich debtor. May not the toiling maise pray heaven to deliver them of the f ree-coinajre friends?' Mr. Schurz spoke at length on the effects of Bryan's theories if put into practice, and concluded as follows: "They (the Popocrats) seek to excite the people of the West against the Ea.-n, because, aa Mr. Bryan said Jn the Chicago conventior the East injuriously interferes with the business of tho West. Aye, the East has .'nterfcred with Western business, but how? in helping to build Western railroads, to dig Western canals, to set-up Western telegruphs, to establish Western factories, to build up Western towns, to move Western crops, to allay Western distress, cawed by lire. Hood or drought. Has

this served to enrich the East? Yes, and so it has enriched the West. Their wealth and greatness has been mutually buiit up by the harmonious co-operation of their brawn, and brain, and money, just as the blood of the East and the West mingled on the common battlefields of the Republic. And now comes this young man. as if we had not suffered enough from sectional strife, and talks of 'enemy's country.' "They seek to excite what they call 'the poor' against what they call "the rich' In this land of great opportunities for all, where, now as ever, so many of the poof of yesterday are among the rich of to-day, and so many of the rich of to-day may be among the poor of to-morrow. Their candidate for the presidency presented a characteristic spectacle when, some time ago, he was kindly shown over the farm of the Governor of New York, who is himself an example of the poor country boy risen by able and honest effort to affluence and distinction; and v?hen that candidate then straightway in a public speech drew invidious comparisons between the elegant houses on the Hudson and the poor cabins in the West teaching not the true American lesson of success won by honest industry, thrift and enterprise, but the lesson that those who have succeeded less should hate and fight those who have succeeded more a lesson utterly un-American, unpatriotic and abominable. "They tell the farmer most cruel deceptionthat he must and will be made independent of the world abroad, while year after year from $500,000,000 to $700,000,000 worth of our agricultural products must seek the foreign market to find purchasers, and while nothing will hurt the farmer more than a serious impairment of the great home market by a business crisis. "They proclaim themselves the s-pecia! chamuions of the toiling masses, while their policy would rob the laboring man of half of his savings and grievously curtail the value of his wages. Am I asked if the silver standard will relatively reduce wages, why so many employers of labor are opposed to it? The reason Is obvious: because, aside from all considerations of sentiment, the prudent employers of labor know that they would lose vastly more through the disastrous disturbance of business sure to be caused by a fee-coinage victory than they could possibly gain by the cheapening of labor. And would not the toiling masses suffer most from that disturbance of business? He is a traitor to he laboring man who tells him that ne can profit by the ruin of his employer.

THE REAL USURERS. "They pretend to be enemies of plutocracy, and advocate a policy which, if I were a selfish, unscrupulous money shark, I should welcome as my finest opportunity. Am I asked, if a free-coinage victory would play into the hands of the money power, why the bankers and capitalists are generally against it? The answer is simple. No doubt there are those among the rich .of the country who will not scruple at any means to increase their wealth; who will crush their competitors with a rude and lawless hand, and take any advantage of the embarrassments of the unfortunate. They are the men who will thrive most In general ruin. But the vast majority of our bankers and business potentates are honorable men who are proud of their good name: who treat honestly and fairly those with whom they deal; who do not see their Interest in the ruin of their customers, and who know that their own prosperity is safest in the prosperity of all. Therefore they are against free coinage. It is not these, but the worst element of the 'money power,' that free coinage will serve.' The real pitiless bloodsuckers in the West and South are their own village usurers, their own sharpers around the courthouses, not the legitimate banker or Eastern capitalist. "The agitators denounce the gold standard as the device of monarchs and aristocrats, while the history of the world teaches that from time immemorial it v as a favorite trick of unscrupulous cospota to fieeco their subjects by debasing t:ie coin of the realm, and that those vlio out of the monetary . confusion evolved fixed standards of values and money that wouid not cheat, have always been ranked among the most meritorious benefactors cf mankind, and especially of the poor rnd weak. "They seek to inflame the Vanity of the American people by telling them that we are great and strong enough to maintain any monetary system we like and to keep up the value of our money without regard to all the world abroad while our own history teaches us that a. century ago the American people were strong e.iough to shake off the yoke of Great Britain, but not strong enough to save their .ontmentat money from declining in value to nothing; that in recent times '.he American people were strong enough to subdue a i;:gaiitic rebellion, but not atrong enough to fceep an indefinite issue of greenbacks at par, and that this Republic may be able to conquer the world, but it will not be able to make twico two flve,-or to make itself richer by watering its currency. "They speak of the silver dollar as the money of the Constitution, while they must know that there is not one single word in the Constitution which, honestly interpreted, could justify such a claim. "They invoke for their cause the names of Jefftrson and Jackson, while every reader of history knows that Jefferson and Jackson would have stood aghast at their wild scheme of creating by law a false value, and would have kicked out of their presence as a public nuisance any one seriously advocating it. "Such things the free-coinage agitators tell the American people, assuming them to be without intelligence. Far worse are tho appeals they address to them, assuming them to be without moral sense. "They have been teaching the people that because the prices of wheat and ether things have fallen about one-half since the so-called demonetization year, 1S73 I have shown why those prices have fallen it is not equitable that debtors should be held to pay more than half the amount of their debts In gold, that they should be released in correspondence with the decline of prices and that it would therefore be right to reduce by free-silver coinage the value of the debt-paying money by one-half. WOULD DESTROY ALL CONFIDENCE. ; "If this were right as a general principle, how would it apply to our debts? Of our government bonds there are very few that do not bear date long after 1S73. Many of them were sold for the express purpose of bringing gold into the treasury. Our corporation bonds are, as a rule, also quite young. But all these obligations are a mere trifle compared with the immense sums of debt contracted in the daily transactions of business. The average life of a real estate mortgage is only five years. But probably nine-tenths of all our debts are those between firm and firm or between man and man in the "form of notes, bills of exchange, wage bills and open accounts, the amount of which is incalculable. How old are these? From one hour to six months. How would tfie principle apply to them? Would there be any equity, or any shadow, or pretense, or quibble of equity In scaling them down 50 per cent., by a sudden drop from the gold to the silver basis? . "Subject the principle itself to a simple te?t. When 1 contract a debt, I owe what it is mutually understood that I am to pay. Our whole business life and social fabric, all human intercourse, rests upon the binding force of such understandings. Unless it be expressly understood, has the debtor the slightest right or reason to demand that the creditor shall be satisfied with a less amount in payment if wheat or cotton or something else had meanwhile declined in price? If so. would not the creditor also have the right to demand that the debtor should pay more in proportion if wheat Ar cotton or something else meanwhile had risen in price? If neither of them had thought of proposing or of accepting so adventurous a contract, how can such claims be justified if based upon a mere secret mental reservation or an arbitrary afterthought? It is not monstrous that such an assumption should be taken as a warrant for the reduction at one sweep of all debts by a debasement of the standard of value? "You recognize such a principle and carry it into general practice, and there will be the end of all confidence between man and man. the cessation of all credit and trust, the utter subversion of the moral rules governing human intercourse, an unbridled rein of fraudulent pretense and unscrupulous greed in one word, the - overthrow of civilized life. "And yet he who has watched the freecoinage agitation knows that just this appeal to debtors, is one of its main allurements. Listen to their speeches, read their literature, and you meet ever-recurring, now in soft-spoken circumlocution, now in sly suggestion, now in the language of brazen cynicism, the promise that free coinage will enable the debtor to get rid of his obligations by paying only a part of them. It is a scheme of wanton repudiation of private as well as public debts, not as if we could not pay in full, but because we would prefer not to pay in full the practice resorted to by the fraudulent bankrupt and this sanctioned by law, as a part of our national policy. "Fellow-citizens, think this out. It is a crave matter a matter of vital import to the existence of this Nation. The father who teaches such moral principles to his children educates them for fraud, dishonor and the penitentiary. The public men who teach such moral principles to the people educate the people for the .--ontempt and abhorrence of mankind. The nation that accepts such moral principles cannot live. It will rot to death in the loathsome stew of its own corruption. If the nation accepting such moral principles be this Republic, it will deal a blow to the credit of democratic institutions from which the cause of free government will not recover for centuries."

CflPT. ALBERT DREYFUS

HIS ALLEGED" ESCAPE RECALLS A SEXSATIOXAL INCIDENT. Ills Trial and Degradation on the Charge of Selling Secret of the FrertcU Government. PARIS, Sept. 5. Although it has been semi-officialiy denied that Capt. Albert Dreyfus, formerly of the French army and an attache of the War Ministry, who was publicly degraded and sentenced to life imprisonment in aortress upon conviction or having sold to a foreign government Wrar Department secrets, has escaped from Grand Salut island, many people here believe the report. His wife, who is said to have aided him to escape, is a woman of courage and has never lost faith in her husband's innocence. The story of the conviction, sentence and degradation of Captain Dreyfus, who was accused of betraying his country for a price paid by Germany or some other member of the triple alliance, was one of the most remarkable known to modern military annals. Suspicion fell upon him at first only because he visited a resort frequented by known spies. He was tried in secret and convicted on circumstantial evidence that, as far as made public, was not conclusive. He was the victim of a most widespread popular resentment from the time that he was arrested, and he was sentenced at the last to be publicly degraded and imprisoned for life in a fortress, although the extreme penalty provided by law was death, and the nublic clamored for the extreme penalty. That the Germans received valuable Information aoout France's fortresses and plans of action in case of war is not doubted. Precise information as to the movement and concentration of French troops after a declaration of war; the movement of trains on all the railways following that event; the location of store houses en route and the character of the supplies In them all these were obtained by the enemy. Suspicion was first fastened on Dreyfus about. a year before his arrest. There were clubs in Paris to which the foreign element, and especially the Germans, resorted. So to them were sent numbers of War Department spies. One of the spies found Dreyfus at one of the most noted German resorts. It is alleged that Dreyfus explained his presence there by saying he was there to practice the German language. This was deemed suspicious because Dreyfus was a Jew and spoke German perfectly. The fact that he was a Jew and found people of his own religion at the club, instead of relieving him of suspicion, had tne reverse effect. He was watched carefully, and in October, 1894, was arrested. It was asserted that the proof of his guilt which caused his arrest consisted chiefly of copies of documents r which he had furnished the enemy, and which were in his handwriting, though unsigned. It was when this statement was made public that the people of France became wlldlv indignant against the accused. His assertion that the incriminating documents had been written in imitation of his style of penmanship In order to screen the real criminal was derided. About this time the foreign representatives notably those of Germany and Italy denied receiving any such documents from the accused or any other person, but In reply to that came the startling Information that the documents on which the government relied to convict the accused had actually been stolen from the desk of the German military attache in his office in the German embassy in Paris. The next thing that happened inflamed the public more than ever. It appeared that Germany had protested, under threat of abandoning all diplomatic relations with France, against using documents obtained by violating the riphts of the embassy. The; people thought. jiat Germany was interfering to save tc traitor who had benefited her. and tfce ucry- for the head of Dreyfus was almost incessant, while along with this arose tmch denunciations of Germany as threatened war within a brief peri p. 3. The condition of public sentiment on one, side and the attitude of Germany on the other seriously embarrassed the French government, and the state of affairs was the worse for the reason that the Cabinet were not unanimous in their belief in the guilt of the accused. However, the trial was brought on in secret, so that it should not publicly appear that the stolen documents were used against the accused,, Dreyfus denied his guilt and brought experts to combat the testimony of those who swore the documents were In his iwriting, but without avail. The court, when the case was ended, retired for an hour and then came back to the place of trial and unanimously declared that the accused was guilty "of having given to a foreign power documents concerning the national defense." The public had been admitted to hear the verdict, although Dreyfus was not present, and when it was pronounced there were loud cries of "Vive Patrie!" Then the president of the court said: "The sentence is that Captain Dreyfus be imprisoned for life in a fortified place." Dreyfus heard both the verdict and the sentence In the court yard, after the populace had been sent to the streets. It was then night, and he was taken to the center of a hollow square formed by the guards. He listened in silence, but with tears running down his face., This was on Dec. 22, 1S94. But imprisonment for life was not all of his punishment. On the morning of Jan. 5, 195. Captain Dreyfus was taken to the Eeole Militaire. Beginning before daylight on that day detachments of troops had been sent thither from every garrison about Paris veterans, new recruits, and men of all ranks and grades in the service until 5,000 men under arms had assembled. These were formed in a square on the parade ground. It was a bitterly cold morning, but with the troops came the hosts from the Paris streets to gather about the soldiers and climb up on every available resting place that would give a view within the square even to pay a dollar each for the privilege of standing on a step'adder. At 9 o'clock precisely Dreyfus, escorted by a quad of soldiers, marched to the center of the square and halted before the commanding general. He was in full uniform, and bore his naked sword in his hand, but the sword had been filed almost in two, wHlf the ornaments on his uniform and the inslna of rank had been ripped off and then replaced with a stitch here and there in anticipation of the theatrical dispiay that was to be made. , WThpn ready an adjutant read the verdict of the court-martial. The prisoner flushed red but othewise made no move. Then the general said: "Dreyfus, you are unworthy to carry arms. In the name of the people of France we degrade you." Thereat the adjutant took the sword of Dreyfus, and, with a flourish, broke it across his own knee, and, following this, ripped the gold lace from the prisoner's uniform and threw it to the ground. At this Dreyfus shouted in a loud voice: "Vive la France! You have degraded an innocent man. I swear I am innocent!" He would have spoken further, but a roll of drums overwhelmed his voice, while the populace without the square screamed: "A morte le traitre!" Dreyfus wras then marched around the interior of the square, "le parade de I'execution." The scene was so Impressive that some of the younger soldiers turned away their heads. Dreyfus marched with a firm tread, and when he reacned the delegation of officers raised his hand and said: "Tell the whole of France that I am innocent! I declare that I am innocent!". It is said that he heard only: "Down with the Judas!" "Silence, traitor!" in return. Dreyfus was afterward " taken to the "Prison de la Santa." where he again protested his innocence and his belief that "Providence in its own time will reveal the real culprit." From this prison he was transferred to Grand Salut ls!and. It was said in print at the time that this island was selected and his wife was allowed to go along in order that he might easily escape, because officials high in authority, who had been unwilling to face the public clamor for the punishment of Dreyfus, were convinced of his innocence. IS LIXACY CONTAGIOIS? Delnnlona May, at Least, Affect Lnrtce Numbers of Men. New York Commercial Advertiser. The alleged discovery that rheumatism is contagious is entirely in line with the tendency cf medical science, if anything so empirical may be rated among the sciences. Since the establishment of the germ theory by the conclusive experiments of Pasteur and other bacteriologists, the effort has been to find a germ origin in the case of every disease, and. consequently, to find proof of eomagion or infection. Before that the profession was blind to the most positive indications of the propagation , of diseases by contagion. Typhoid fever con-

tlnued to decimate communities long after there was reason to believe its germs polluted the water supply. Laymen susueeted the contagiousness of consumption before the doctors reluctantly decided to consider the question. Now, however, the disposition to bring diseases under the head of contagious or infectious is so general that It would hardly Invite ridicule to suggest that lunacy may be acquired by contact with the insane. In favor of this is the close relation of mind and body, as discovered by the modern physiologist, and the inference that both mind aiid 'body may be affected by a common cause. The organic source of insanity is now generally accepted. Instead of the belief that the insane person is possessed of demons, there is now a firm belief that in every case the brain itself Is the subject of structural change. That somebody will eventually suggest that certain forms of Insanity are due to germs is not improbable, and the theory of its contagiousness must follow. Instances in which both man and wife have been afflicted with the same delusion are reported by Maudsley and other writers, and it is known that attendants of the Insane have themselves' crossed the borderland into rank lunacy. It is not. however, such positive disease of the brain with its obstinate resistance of medical treatment and calling for seclusion within the walls of an asylum, that is of most interest, but the momentary suspension of the faculty of reason and judgment affecting large numbers of men. The history of popular delusions shows that at times almost the entire public has lost its reason and engaged in amazing and ruinous follies. For example, the absurd and impossible Mississippi scheme of John Law carried madness to masses of people, many of whom were noted for sound business sense. The story is almost incredible of

hov statesmen, practical business men, women of fashion, and so on, fought at the doors of the exchanges for a chance to put their good money into the hands of the surprised schemers in return for worthless stock. When the bubble burst and the epidemic of folly came to an end. the victims were unable to account for the senseless mania that wrecked their fortunes. SPEED OF STEAMSHIPS LORD COLLVILLE SAYS THE BIG LINERS GO TOO FAST. Attention of the British Admiralty Culled to the MatterMataueleB Still on the AVarinth. (Copyright. 1896, by the Associated Press.) LONDON, Sept. 5. A letter which appeared in the London Times on Wednesday last, written by Lord Colville. of Sulross, remonstrating against the alleged excessive speed of modern transatlantic steamships, attracted and continues to attract considerable attention. It is stated that the attention of the Admiralty has been brought to the letter and that their lordships intend to take immediate measures to regulate the speed of steamships in the Solent, and, according to a writer in the Scotsman, owing to representations from that locality the Admiralty a couple of years ago induced the German steamers to go slow through Cowes roads owing to the risk incurred by the bathers and small craft. It Is now alleged that the American liners go at full speed through Cowes roads, and a member .of the Cowes urban council asserts that the wash of one of the American steamers broke across the esplanade at Cowes, invading a hotel facing the sea, and he adds that frequent complaints have been made on the subject to the local authorities, who claim that the requisite safety could be insured without adding more than a quarter of an hour to the length of the transatlantic voyage. Inquiries made at tMe office here of the American line and tne German lines show these statements to be utterly unfounded and evidently based on opposition to the foreign steamships themselves and not to their speed. At all the offices it was distinctly slated that the Atlantic steamers never go at full speed through Cowes roads. In spite of the official statements to the effect that the visit of the Secretary of the Colonies, Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, to the United States is a purely personal trip, it is learned that he will make a point of seeing Secretary Olney. The British embassador at Washington, Sir Julian Pauncefote, is still in England, and therefore there is nothing to prevent Mr. Chamberlain from personally settling the Venezuelan question with Mr. Oiney. The deputy of the late Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Chickine, who, on the death of Prince Lobanoff-Rostovsky was made acting Minister for Foreign Affairs and is -now with the Czar, will, it is said, possibly be his permanent successor. M. Chickine is an experienced diplomat, and a former Russian minister at Washington. In other quarters, however, it is said that the Czar selected General Count Von Schouvaloff, the Governor-general of Russian Poland, who suffered from a paralytic stroke almost immediately afterwards. The General's Illness is regarded by the superstitious as another proof that nothing but Ul luck will follow the Czar as a result of the terrible disaster at Moscow during the coronation, when several thousand people were crushed to death during a pnic on the Hodynsky plain. The news from Matabeland is less satisfactory now than was expec.el last week. It appears that several chiefs in the Matoppo hills are still determined to fight, e.nd several more conflicts have occurred, in which the rebels suffered very little loss. On the other hand, eight h-.o-Jye-l M&tabeles recently surprised t. loyal giai.i patrol, consisting of five whites aha seventy friendly natives. All the whites succeeded in escaping, but the "frienllies" and a number of women and children were captured. To make matters worse, a rebel impi, consisting of 2,000 men, has assembled ten miles northwest of Buluwayo. But it is not considered likely that they wrill venture to attack the town. Advices received here from Spain indicate that there Is considerable anxiety there at the attitude which the Carlists have assumed. Their Deputies have withdrawn from the Chamber, ostensibly as a protest against the adoption of the subsidies to the Spanish railroads, but it is believed that something much more serious is looming tip in the background. The Carlists throughout the country, it Is known, have received secret instructions from the Marquis Cerralbo, the principal agent of the pretender to the Spanish throne, tnd the Carlist Senators and Deputies openly stated in the lobbies of the House that Uiey retired from the Chamber in order to avoid any responsibility for the events and dis-. asters which they foresaw were arising from the railroad subsidies. In addition, the Carlist Deputies informed several persons about the Chamber that they rould not guarantee that the Carlist massen would not again take to the hills in Catalonia. Navarre and elsewhere. Deputy Zana stated that the direction of the Carlists would soon pass into the hands of their military leaders, and he further boasted that the Carlists are now perfectly organized in almost every province, and that they will take advantage of every tavorable opportunity. CITY NEWS NOTES. Coroner Castor returned from Chicago last night, where he has been for ten days. The annual reunion of the Sixty-seventh Indiana Volunteers will be held here Sept. 15. Meetings will be held in Agricultural Hall. Room 12, Statehouse, 2 p. m. and 7:30 p. m. Sunday services will be resumed at Plymouth Church to-day. The eveninar service will be under the auspices of the AlcCuIloch Club. The p.ddres3 by Mr. Dewhurst will be on "Benedict Arnold and Nathan Hale, or True and False Patriotism." Students who have not been members of the Industrial Training School heretofore and who wish to enter the school in September, will make their application at the principal s omee in tne Penooi building on any day of the coming week between j and 11 a. m., in order to avoid delay after the opening of the school. Antonio Maceo SnlU to Be Ded, HAVANA. Sept. 5. The military Governor of Candelaria, province of Pinar del Rio, has notified Captain General Weyier that he has been assured .by several countrymen that Antonio Maceo. the insurgent leader died, recently, as the result of wounds which he received in the attack made on the military train in the vicinity of Taco Taco. Efforts are being made to ascertain It his information is correct.

MAY BECOME A SOLON

DR. Y. SEWARD WEBB M AY SI CCEED SENATOR J. C. MORRILL. He Has Beep Elected to the Vermont Legislature III Romantic Marriage to Mi Vanderbilt. NEW YORK, Sept. 5. In his election last Tuesday to the' Legislature cf Vermont Dr. W. Seward Webb makes his political bow to the American public. This fact is of importance chiefly for the reason that it Is a step toward higher honors for the millionaire railroad and palace-car magnate. It is already said that Dr. Webb's friends are shaping his affairs in order to send him to the Senate of the United States from Vermont. His friends in New York predict a brilliant career for him in national politics, and his neighbors In Vrmont are pleased to find a man of Dr.. Webi-'s great financial importance taking an interst In practical government. The complaint h3s ever been that the railroad magnate and money king dislikes to turn statesman. In Lf . Webb's election to the Vermont Legislature and his more than probable election to the United States Senate this complaint is unanswerably laid. Never was the story of Aladdin';! lamp "o perfectly reduced to the concrete as in thslife and adventures of Dr. Webb. At one coup he was lifted from the position of a penniless interne in a hospital to that of the husband of one of the richest of the Vanderbilt heiresses. The magic of the Vanderbilt millions touched him and he bloomed into a director of the New York Central railroad, the president of the Wagner Palace-car Company and one of the leading powers in the Nation's world of wealth. This story of his rise and greatness is prettier than any romance of the loves of the sons and daughters of New York's millionaire families. In 1SS0 he' was attached to the Vanderbilt clinic in St. Luke's Hospital and was in charge of the surgical patients of that institution. To this clinic Miss Lila Vanderbilt; the youngest daughter of William H. Vanderbilt, was a constant visitor. One day a little girl was brought into the hospital with a broken leg. The Interne had a soft heart and a sympathetic nature and the sweet face of tne c-niid attracted him. lie was always by her bedside and watched the case with a solicitude that touched the child heart of the patient. The gild began to love him ana spoke or him to Altss vandermit in terms of extravagance that aroused the young woman's Interest. So, too, had she spoken to the Doctor df the "kind young lady" who had so often visited her. One day the little patient relapsed. The case was critical, and the Doctor, alarmed for her life, watched at her bedside for hours. While the Doctor was thus engaged Miss Vanderbilt entered the. room and approached the bed. She saw the handsome young man and looked Inquiringly toward the little girl. The patient smilea. "This is the kind doctor," sne explained, "and this is the kind young lady." Miss Vanderbilt extended her hand and clasped the hand of the man who was to become her husband. Thus it was that a kind heart opened the door of honor, fortune and golden success to Seward Webb. He did not long remain an interne in the hospital. To be one of the Vanderbilts means to be a part of the great railroad system owned by tho family. Webb had studied medicine. He must now study railroading, for Miss Vanderbilt loved him. A firm Worden & Webb was created for him and opened business in Wall street. The match was a happy one, and was approved by Mr. Vanderbilt. How substantially it was approved was made known when, on the day of the wedding, the couple were presented with the stately house at 680 Fifth avenue. When the older Vanderbilt died Mrs. Webb inherited $15,000.000. Meanwhile, the young doctor, preferring railroads to medicine, had progressed in the craft of Wall street, and had stepped into the position which his wife's wealth entitled him to. The Doctor's personality and family history were pleasing to the Vanderbilts. His father was James WTatson Webb, proprietor of the Courier and Journal, of Tarrytown, and an Important man In his day. When Seward was a boy his father was made United States minister to Brazil, and it was there the Doctor received his early education. Deciding to adopt medicine as a profession, the young man went to Paris, and there was graduated in the art. The elder Webb's father, or the Doctor's grandfather, was General Webb, who figured conspicuously in the war of the revolution as the aid-de-camp of Washington. He at one time was commander of famous old Fcrt Dearborn, on the present site of the city of Chicago. Some years after his acquisition of the Vanderbilt millions Dr. Webb decided to have the finest private estate In the world. This property Is now the pride of Vermonters. Shelbourne Farms Is the equal of any estate in England, Germany or France. It consists of 3,010 acres of roiling land, lying on an average of 300 feet above the level of Lake Champlain. Woods and orchards cover about GOO acres. The rest is given up to the finest stock farm In America. One of the features of this princely estate 13 Dr. Webb's mansion. It Is located on a sloping plateau right on the lake front, commanding an entrancing view of the Adirondacks. The mansion Is a Queen Anne structure, designed entirely for comfort, but of exceedingly tasteful architecture. Dr. Webb is fond of hunting and fishing. To this end he has a preserve in Herkimer and Hamilton counties. New York, comprising more than 200,000 acres of mountain and forest. Its lake and streams teem with lish and Its woodlands are ranged by deer, bear and other four-footed beasts dear to the heart of the hunter. Some years ago Dr. Webb made a tour of the world with his family. He visited almost every country on the face of the globe. On the American continent he traveled with two special trains, which were the amazement of the humble people, who consider themselves lodged like a king when they buy one of Mr. Webb's $2 berths in one of his sleepers. The fruit of this trip was a book on California and the Pacific coast. This is the man whom Vermonters have elected to their Legislature, and they are naturally proud of the fact that such a great power in the world as one of the Vanderbilts has consented to take part in the commonplace functions of citizenship. Mr. Webb says he became a citizen of Vermont because it is an ideal summer climate and more than pleasant as a place of winter residence. Above all. he says, he places the patriotism and the strong national feeling which spring forever fresh and pure in the hearts of the citizens cf the old Green Mountain State. DEPENDED ON THE BRAKES, But They Failed to AVorlc and a Wreck Reunited. Passenger train No. 21, on the Panhandle, crashed Into a cut of freight cars yesterday at the intersection of East street and the Union railroad tracks, but though two of the freight cars were wrecked, no one was injured. Engineer Olds, who was at the throttle of the passenger engine, was running at about eight miles an hour, while tne freight train, which was attached to a switch engine, was going at a slower r?te-,.The Passenger train was approaching the Union Station and the freight train was on the same track approaching the passenger train, but was to switch off before reaching it. Engineer Olds knew this and allowed his train to run as near as possible to the freight Ik fore applying the brakes. At the last moment the brakes were turned on, but failed to operate properly, and as a result, the two rear cars of the freight train were still upon the main track wiien the .passenger engine reached the switch. The engine struck the second from the last car and turned It completely over, smashing it into kindling wood. The rear car was broken loose from the rest of the train by the engine and after lx-ing pushed up the track lor about one hundred feet it was also derailed, though not overturned. When the crow of the freight train saw what was bound to occur they jumped and thus saved their lives. Fireman Miller, of the passenger engine, also leaped frcm the cab, but Engineer Olds stayed at his post of duty. Altherr Exonerates Brnee. William Altherr. the proprietor of the pony track at Fairvlew Park, whose pocket was picked at Bellevuo recently, for which offense Tlilie Rust was arrested. Is of the opinion that the newspaper Accounts of the ease reflected too severely upon Bert Bruce, who was with, him at the time he vv.i-t robbed. Altherr says that several persons besides Mr. Bruce knew that he had the money in his coat pocKet. and the woman could have found out from .hem wh?re. it was. Bruce has been employed by Altherr for a long time, and Altherr says no suspicion whatever should attach to Bruce.

A woman's noblest work is helping a baby into life and health. She is oommittinfr a crime when she helps a sickly baby into the world. It is a crime because it is wholly within her power to make the baby stronjp and healthy. She can do it by the proper preparation by taking proper care of herself during the period of gestation. Many babies die early, or at birth, or are sickly all their lives because of their mothers' ignorance or neglect. Neither is excusable. Every woman may be strong and well, and so insure the health of her baby. If she will take Dr. Pierce's Favorite Prescription during the period of gestation, she will find that she will have none of the discomforts incident to this condition, and that parturition will be free from danger, and comparatively free from suffering. This medicine in the greatest remedy in the world for all the forms of weakness or disease peculiar to women. It is the only medicine of its kind prepared by a regularly graduated, experienced and skilled specialist in the treatment of diseases of women. It is the only medicine in the world that will make the coming of baby safe and easy. You can get it at the drug stores. If you want to know all about it, address Dr. R. V. Pierce, chief consulting physician to the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute, Buffalo, N. Y. All those who suffer from biliousness, headaches, heart-burn, flatulence, palpitation of the heart, and a generally sluggish action of the digestive organs should take Dr. Pierce's Pleasant Pellets. They are tiny, sugar-coated granules. Forty in a little vial. One ' Pellet " is a gentle laxative ; two a mild cathartic. By druggisU. , Notice ... Where cross streets are being Improved, mains will bs laid If residents will give tirasly notice. Indianapolis Water Co. CIRCUS IN TOWN. Rlnxlinfc Bros. 111k Show Tenta Are Spread on Went Wnahlnston Street. Rlngllng Bros.' big show Is In town. The trains which ' this combination requires to transport It from place to place arrived Jn the city early this morning, and the work of going into Sunday quarters at the Wist Washington-stree't grounds at once began. This to the circus people 13 a great day for, while it Is anything but a day of rest, aa the ordinary citizen looks upon the day, it is a day of only 1 alf labor and relaxation to a small extent. The acres of tents which are required to accommodate tho show and the people who go to see it have only to be stretched, but the more serious work of pulling down and packing up for the move to the next stand does not have to be done. The busy morning is succeeded by ft listless afternoon, with the crowds to entertain tfie show people, so long themselves accustomed to entertaining the crowds. Thousands of people, will doubt Ies3 visit the show grounds to-day, as usually occurs when a circus makes this a Sunday point. This is only the second vUil of Rlngllng Bros, to this city, but from their first visit the people of the city learned that they would not only be tolerated as visitors to the sh6w ground on Sunday, put that they would be made welcome as such visitors. It has been said of Ringling Bros., of whom there are five, that they are as thorough gentlemen as ever engaged in any business. They have proved themselves, during the time they have been engaged in the business, among the most popular in their line of business, simply by the courteous mannor in which they require all their employes to treat their patrons. It was looked upon by some people as a novelty to find officers stationed inside a show tent to preserve tho strictest order, but when Ringling Bros, give a performance it Is always with this precaution, and people may always know that they may go to witness the performance with perfect confidence that everything will be clone to conduce to their comfort and enjovment. Every employe down to the canvas men, are under the most rigid Instructions to treat everybody with the respect that is due to patron. The least word of disrespect from an employe or the smallest omission of duty which results in an injustice or Injury to a single patron has only to be reported to the management and a new man will take the place of the negligent employe. This was somewhat of a new idea in the circus business. People had been accustomed to go to such an entertainment prepared to push their way through crowds of disorderly people and to submit to the roughest sort of treatment from the employes, who seemed to look upon the patrons of the circus as so marty objects of their sport. But Ringling Bros, sought to change the order of things and the manner In which they succeeded made them exceedingly popular throughout the Wen, where they confined their travels largely until the past few years. They have attendants whose duty It is to see that people are properly taken care of, that they secure seats, and that they are made as comfortably in every way as possible. They are Instructed especially to look after ladies and children who attend without male escort. The management has found that such a course pays in many ways. The day at the show grounds will be a busy one, though it will be one of comparative rest for the employes. There, are between four and five hundred horses which have to be fed and carefully groomed. It requires a large squad of men to tak caro of this line of work alone, for the hore are of the finest strains if blood and much care is given them. Then there are hundreds of wild animals for which food has to be prepared. There are among this vast collection of beast. animals whose food must be more carefully prepared than for the most fastidious human being. Tnken from their native haunts and deprived of their natural foods, many of them would starve rather than to touch an article of food that did not exactly conform to their Idea of what it should be. For some of' these the natural food is Imported at great expense and carried with the show for them. The feeding of the animals is a sight almost as interesting as the performances. There are also many things to be ilono on Sunday which have to be done on that day for the reason that It is the only day in the week that the fchow is not either busy with its performance or on the road. There will be the hundreds of Employes going about their work or their pleasure, as the case may be, In the most systematic order, and the thousands of visitors, all anxious to get a petp ut the big aggregation in advance of the treat which is not given until to-morrow. To-morrow morning will occur the street parade. It will leave the grounds at i:'M and follow this route: East on Washington street to Capitol avenue, south to Georgia street, east to Illinois street, north to Wash'.ngtoi stret, east to Alabama street, north to Market street, west to Monument place, around the Circle to Meridian, north to Ohio street, west to Illinois street, south to Washington street and west to show grounds. Two performances will re given to-morrow. To l)ny of Sparrow Mi on ting. The fourth annual IndiannpoMs sparrow tournament will be held at the Capital City Cycle Club grounds next Wednesday and Thursday. There will be eight events each day. the shooting beginning promptly at 9 o'clock each morning. Wednesday will bo championship day, and the shooter making the best average in all the events will receive a gold medal, emblematic of the sparrow championship of the Cnited States for ls"0. These matches have heretofore attracted a large crowd of good shooter! from a distance, und it is expected this ona will bring even more thr.n the others. It is an event that brings the crack shooter from a. dozen States. In all the niatchc' the Rose system of dividing the purses ta used, which places all on u fair footing.