Indianapolis Journal, Volume 49, Number 23, Indianapolis, Marion County, 23 January 1899 — Page 4

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THE DAILY JOURNAL MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 18W. Washington Office—lso3 Pennsylvania Avenue Telephone ( alls. Business Office 23S | Editorial Rooms' 86 TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. DAILY BY MAIL. Doily only, one month I .70 Daily only, three months S.M Daily only, one year X.OO Daily, Including Sunday, or.e year 10.08 Sunday only, one year 2.00 WHEN FURNISHED BY AGENTS. Daily, per week, by carrier 15 ets Sunday, single copy 5 cts Daily und Sunday, iter week, by carrier 20 cis WEEKLY. Per year SI.OO Reduced Rates to t'lnlis. Subscribe with any of our numerous agents or Send subscriptions to the JOURNAL NEWSPAPER COMPANY, Indianapolis, Inti. persons sending the Journal through the mails In the United States should put on an eight-page !>ai>er a O.NE-CENT postage stamp: on a twelve of sixteen-page jiaper a TWCM'EXT postage stamp. Foreign postage is usually double these rates. All communications Intended for publication In this paper must, in order to receive attention, be accompanied by the name and address of the writer. a=v 1 rrs THE INDIANAPOLIS JOIRHAL Can be found at the following places: NEW YORK— Astor House. CHICAGO—PaImer House, P. O. News Cos., 217 Dearborn street. Great Northern Hotel and Grand Pacific Hotel. CINCINNATI—J. R. Hawley & Cos.. 154 Vine •treet. LOUISVILLE—C. T. Deering. northwest comer of Third and Jefferson streets, and Louisville Book Cos., 256 Fourth avenue. BT. LOUlS—Union News Company, Union Depot. WASHINGTON. D. C.— Riggs House. Ebbitt House and Willard’s Hotel. Repnhlienn Editors. The annual meeting of the Indiana Republican Editorial Association will be held at the Denison Hotel Thursday evening and Friday, Jan. 28 and 27. The annual dinner will be at 8 o'clock Thursday evening. The business sessions will be Friday. JULIAN D. HOGATE, President. A. W. HOWARD, Secretary. On the whole, last week was not a happy one in the Indiana Legislature for these whose vocation is tax-eating. Opponents of expansion w r ho are demanding that we sell or trade off the Philippines forget that we cannot make any title to them until after the treaty is ratified. All that the township and county reform hills do is to make governments therein conform to the restrictions which have been found to be necessary in federal and state governments. The session of the Legislature thus far has developed a number of members who possess the faculty of saying something to the point on a pending measure in five or ten minutes. The Bank of England having reduced its rate of discount from 4 to 3% per cent., it is predicted that the^s7s,ooo,ooo of floating indebtedness of Europe to this country will come home, causing an increase of gold imports. The proposed Nicaragua canal will shorten the present route of 14,850 miles from New York to San Francisco fey way of Cape Horn to 4,928 miles across the isthmus. The wonder is that a work of such national importance was not constructed long ago. The Kansas City Times (Dem.) says that Mr. Bryan will not do for 1000, and Chairman Wall, of Wisconsin, the most influential Democrat In that State, says the party must abandon 16 to 1. On the other hand, not a convert is mentioned to the cause of free silver.

The Springfield (Mass.) Republican suggests that the export of silver bullion should be carried In official and other reports as is other merchandise. The Republican Is right. The treasury reports of exports and imports should not cause it to appear that ■liver bullion is different from iron or wheat. It now appears that the secret of the Keely motor was fraud, an apparatus to Compress air having been found under the machine. Air, however, is boundless, and ■when it becomes the great motor, by compression, as many predict it will, it may be regarded as the next thing to perpetual motion. Representative Scott, of Montgomery, when he told the House on Saturday that it was there to consider the interests of Indiana and not to indulge in political buncombe like the trust instructions to the next Republican national convention, was right. If the Legislature can devise a law which will prevent combinations from cutting wages it will accomplish something practical. That is not religion which causes a •woman to remain in public in a trance fortyeight hours and bark like a dog, mow like a cat and hiss like a serpent. It may be temporary aberration, hysteria or something of that sort, but it is rot religion, much less worship. The wonder is that people in a State like Indiana can mistake any such manipulation as having pny connection with the Christian religion. Kansas papers applaud the House for rejecting an amendment to the postal appropriation bill appropriating $25,000 for a fast mail from Kansas City to a point in Kansas because it was designed to carry Kansas City daily papers and nothing else. It appears that Jerry Simpson was the sponsor for the scheme. There are other fast mails which exist for no other purpose than to carry the newspapers of the larger cities. The popular feeling against trusts and the demand for their suppression by law are very strong, but tlio fact should be recognized that It Is a difficult matter to deal with. Trusts, like corporations and other combinations of capital, aro a national evolution of business, due largely to the fierce competition of modern trade, and how to prevent them without interfering with personal rights and with business is a very difficult uuestlon. A communication relative to local government, printed on another page, misrepresents the position of the Journal on the subject. In all it has said regarding the need of reform In local government, the Journal has emphasized the fact that it believed a majority of the county commissioners and township trustees were honest. It has attacked the system, and has cited individual instances only to prove Its defects. Our corr< Hpondor t himself recognizes one of these toy suggesting a plan by which the people may know better "what the county business is and how it is being conducted.” This is one of the main objects of reform in local government. No honest official can object to the adoption of better methods of transacting public business. The resolution of Mr. Neal, of Hamilton, commending the leaflets on plant life which have been issued by the agricultural department of Purdue and directing the Board of

Education to have those and others treating of plant and animal life on farms, with simple treatises on soils, introduced in the schools, seems to be a practical hle-a. The leaflets referred to are very popular, and no doubt the scientific teachers at Purdue can extend them sc* as to cover elementary Instruction in practical botany and agricultural chemistry. A CTHRENCY REFORM BILL. The friends of sound money and currency reform are to lie congratulated on the decision of the house committee on coinage, weights and measures to report favorably the Hill bill, which Is the Indianapolis monetary commission's bill, with some alterations. As the bill relates chiefly to banking and currency it would naturally be reported from that committee, but thereby evidently hangs a tale, showing the shrewd and effective work done by Mr. H. H. Hanna. The house committee on banking and currency has for its chairman Representative Walker, of Massachusetts, who is wedded to his own plan of currency reform and opposed to every other, and other members of the committee, notably Mr Johnson, of this State, are also opposed to the plan of the monetary commission. As it had become evident that this committee would show no favor to the commission’s plan Mr. Hanna decided to get the measure before the House by a different line. He had it introduced by Mr. Hill, of Connecticut, of the committee on coinage, weights and measures, and referred to that committee. That committee consists of thirteen members, seven Republicans and six Democrats, with Representative Stone, of Pennsylvania, chairman. As the bill relates to coinage and. the gold standard as well as to banking and currency it was not improperly referred to this committee. The change of reference rescued it from the pigeonhole to which the committee on banking and currency had consigned it and will secure for it a favorable report to the House. It will now come before the House with the indorsement of a committee for discussion and such action as the House may see fit to take. The bill contains some important provisions, and while it will doubtless undergo some amendment its main features are pretty sure to be adopted. It is substantially the bill prepared by the Indianapolis monetary commission amended in some respects to meet the views of Secretary Gage and embodying a recommendation of the President. Perhaps its most important provision is the one which declares that “the standard unit of value shall, as now, be the dollar, and shall consist of twenty-five and eighttenths grains of gold, nine-tenths fine, or twenty-three and twenty-two-hundredths grains of pure gold.” This is intended to give the gold standard the sanction of law 1 , and is at once a legislative affirmation of an existing fact, and of the purpose of the government to maintain it. It is an important provision and should be adopted by thi9 Congress or the next, either in the Hill bill or some other. In order to further close the door against the free and unlimited coinage of silver at any ratio, the bill provides that hereafter there .shall be no coinage of silver dollars except from the silver bullion now in the treasury. As the last treasury statement showed $92,000,009 worth of silver bullion now in the treasury there is enough on hand to keep the mints busy coining silver dollars and silver change for many years to come.

The next most important provisions in the bill are those relating to the retirement of greenbacks. On this point the recommendation of President McKinley is adopted verbatim that “United States notes, or treasury notes once redeemed in gold shall not be paid out again except for gold coin.” This will result in the permanent retirement of a considerable portion of the greenbacks and in fortifying the parity of those that remain outstanding. The permanent retirement of the entire amount is secured by a section Which provides that at the expiration of five years from the passage of the latv the greenbacks then outstanding shall be redeemed in gold and canceled at a rate not exceeding one-fifth each year, and at the expiration of ten years they shall cease to be legal tender for all debts public and private, except for dues to the United States. These provisions would undoubtedly result in the gradual and easy retirement of the entire volume of greenbacks within a few years and the permanent elimination of that dangerous and disturbing feature in our financial system. Whatever contraction of the currency might possibly result from the retirement of the greenbacks is provided against by the authorization of national banks of small capital in small towns, and also of branch national banks in parts of the country where currency is needed. Other provisions of the bill relate to tho maintenance of a gold reserve in the treasury, tho exchangeability of silver dollars for, gold, thereby insuring their equality with gold at all times, and to regulating the issue of national bank notes. The provisions of the monetary commission's bill relating to state banks and banking on assets are all stricken out, thereby removing what some bankers and business men regarded as an objectionable feature. The reporting of this measure by a Republican House will be an important step towards redeeming the party pledges on the money question and will have a wholesome effect in political and business circles. Os course, there is no possibility of the bill passing the present Senate, but it should be voted on and passed by the House for the sake of the record if nothing else. A favorable vote of the House this session would put the Republican party right before tho country and leave the matter in good shape to be taken up by the next Congress. The bill as it will be reported by the committee is so important in its main provisions and so free from objectionable features that it ought to be passed by the House within a short time after it is reported. If financial cranks and obstructionists attempt to prevent its passage they should be suppressed with the previous question. THE INSTRUCTING OF SENATORS. The question relative to the duty of a senator to obey the instructions of a Legislature has often been ra.ised, and, in the nature of things, it has never been decided. It is now being discussed by newspapers because of the declaration of the senators of California, whose legislature has instructed them to vote for the ratification of the Spanish treaty. Senator White, Democrat, whose term expires March 4, declares emphatically that he will not heed the instructions of the Legislature. He holds that the Constitution confers no authority to instruct, and that his oath binds him to discharge his duties as senator to the best of his ability. In his judgment it will bo very unwise to adopt the treaty which commits the Nation to the rule of the Philippines. He is very outspoken about the matter. His colleague, Senator Perkins, who is opposed to the annexation of the Philippines, announces that he will heed the instructions of the Legislature and will vote

THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL, MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 1899.

to ratify the treaty, in the expectation that the policy which will follow will not Involve such a permanent occupation of the islands as annexation implies. Senator Hale, of Maine, has just been re-elected by a Legislature the House of which, numbering fourfifths of the entire body, has unanimously declared in favor of ratification of the treaty. Its resolution is not in the form of an instruction, or even of a request. The Philadelphia Times tells Senator Hale that it is his duty to comply with the practical instructions if the Legislature which elected him. On the other hand, other papers applaud Senator White, criticise Senator Perkins and advise Mr. Hale to follow the dictates of his judgment. It may seem at first thought that the senator should obey the instructions of the Legislature, whose members may speak for the State, and in the event he fails to do so that he is no longer representing the popular sentiment. If that idea should become an unwritten law, the senator becomes simply the spokesman of the Legislature of the State from which he hails. If its instructions should be mandatory regarding one measure, they should he on another, so that before voting he should await instructions, and before debating a measure he should say that he would not speak until he shall have heard from the Legislature ol' his State. The outcome of the validity of an instruction would be that there should be no debate in the Senate, but treaties and all other important measures should be discussed by Legislatures and their decisions sent to the senators, who would be simply voting machines. In view of such conditions, most people will come to the conclusion that it will be better for the senator to act upon his own judgment and to accept the responsibility. The great senators have proceeded upon the theory that they have been elected to act upon their own convictions of what is wisest for the country, because there is no implication in the Constitution that they are to listen to advisers. In comparatively recent years Senator Lamar, of Mississippi, said to the Legislature of that State that he could not accept its instruction upon an imporant national question, because, in his judgment, what was requested was unwise, and to act differently from what he believed to be for the best interests of the country would be to violate his oath of office. His view seems to be the correct one.

A DEMAGOGUE'S DEFENSE. In the course of an editorial in a Republican paper which is one of the three or four in the State which has not heartily sustained the movement to secure a more responsible and economical system of township government, the following extract appears: It is asserted that a> township trustee has a wider discretion in the matter of expenditures than the President of the United States. Where did he get it? The same power which created so vast an authority can certainly curtail it without destroying the trustee or creating anew board to watch him. In early days there were two systems of local government, one, which may be called the New England, in which official responsibility was divided and all appropriations were voted by the people in open town meeting. The other system Is an outgrowth of the method of colonies planted in Virginia and other colonies, in which the rule of local affairs was vested in one man, elected by freeholders. His duties were few, and those were of an executive character. That system came to Indiana through Kentucky with the early settlers. It was suitable then, when the local government was simple compared with the many duties which make it a complicated responsibility at the present time. The State has long since outgrown such a system. A township trustee in many townships has new more duties and responsibilities than the officers in any county years ago. When charters were first given cities a council was created for the purpose of legislation. Even in the early charters the mayor had judicial powers and the council's committees on streets, fire department, etc., were given something of executive authority. In the latGst charters, like that of Indianapolis, the powers of the executive, legislative and judicial departments are strictly defined. That is, the tendency of local government all over the country is to a division of power such as prevails in state and federal government. It is because it has been proved to be unwise to give the men who have the power to levy taxes the authority to expend the money. The further statement in the paragraph quoted, that the proposed board is to watch the trustee, is a bit of demagogy or a display of gross ignorance on the part of the writer. The council is not to “watch over the trustee;” it is to vote the money which he is to expend and to adopt the measures the trustee shall carry out. The council is to the township what the board of aldermen is to the city. The plan is to put the government of the township trustee in harmony with the system of government established for the United States, the States and the cities. Now the trustee can levy as much as he sees fit for schools, roads and other purposes. When he lias enough money on hand to meet the reasonable expenditures of the township, he can make a levy and use the money collected for his own purposes while he holds office. Scores of trustees do this, and, because of wastefulness incident to a system of one-man power so abhorrent to the genius of popular government, it is proposed to divide this power. It is no reflection upon the general character of township trustees this movement to make the township system conform to the theory of popular government, but a purpose to abolish a pernicious system and put another in its place which conforms to the American idea of popular government. THE BEEF INVESTIGATION. The army beef investigation seems to have shifted its ground somewhat. The following is an extract from the report of General Miles’s testimony before the commission, given Dec. 21: He characterized the refrigerator beef, of which there was .127 tons sent, as “embalmed beef," and said the canned fresh beef, of which 198.900 pounds had been shipped there, was condemned by officers whose commands used it. “Who fixed the beef as an army ration?” "You'll have to ask someone here in Washington. You had better ask the secretary of war or the commissary general. It was sent as food. If they had not taken that they would have had to go hungry. If they had sent paymasters down there, as I asked, we could have bought food, but they did not do that.” General Miles suggested that the food was sent to his large army under pretense of an experiment. It is possible that General Miles’s plan of sending paymasters to Porto Rico and supplying the army with native beef might have succeeded, but it would have been a doubtful experiment, involving much delay and many risks. As his charge embraced both canned and refrigerator beef the investigation has properly attempted to cover both. The evidence regarding canned beef was conclusive that it was properly canned and shipped in good condition, and that if it tie-

came tainted the result was due to bad handling or neglect in a tropical climate. There has not been the slightest evidence to sustain the charge of "embalmed beef” or the use of chemicals so far as canned beef is concerned. As for refrigerator beef, which the commission is now investigating, the case is different. There seems to lie evidence that this beef was artificially treated to prevent decomposition. On the 30th of December last the commission gave out a statement of Maj. W. If. Daly, chief surgeon at Tampa, addressed to the assistant adjutant general of the army, under date of Sept. 21, in which he said: While on duty at the headquarters of the army at Tampa, at the time of the embarkation of the “Shafter expedition,” Col. Weston, chief commissary, showed me a quarter of beef that had already as a test been sixty hours in the sun without being perceptibly tainted, so far as the sense of smell could detect. It is impossible to keep fresh beef so long untainted in the sun in that climate without-the use of deleterious preservatives, such as boric acid, salicylic acid or nitrate of potash injected into it in quantities likely to be hurtful to the health of the consumer. At Ponce, Porto Rico, much of the beef 1 examined arriving on the transports from the United States was also of the same character, being apparently preserved by injected chemicals to aid in efficient cold storage. Where efficient cold storage is impossible, transporting beef alive is the method that should receive the fullest consideration by the government as being safest for tho health of the consumer. When detailed to take charge of the transport Panama for conveying convalescents to the United States I obtained 2,X)0 pounds of fresh beef from the commissary at Ponce. It looked well, but had an odor similar to that of a dead human body after being injected with preservatives, and tasted, when first cooked, like decomposed boric acid, while after standing a day for further inspection it became so hitter, nauseous and unpalatable as to he quite impossible for use. I was, therefore, obliged, owing to its condition and the just complaints of the sick about it, and the disgustingly sickening odor it emitted when being cooked, and the safety of the patients (255 convalescent patients being on board), to organize a board of survey, condemn and throw 3.500 pounds, an we had, overboard. * * * Believing that the commissary department has been imposed on by the misdirected commercial spirit of persons furnishing fresh beef. 1 respectfully recommend that the matter be investigated by experts, making quantitive, qualitative chemical analyses of the several preservatives suspected to he used in getting samples of beef furnished for export to Cuba and Porto Rico. A statement of that kind should have been investigated,“although it looks a little like an attempt to bolster up General Miles’s theory in favor of furnishing native beef to tho troops in Porto Rico. The evidence elicited during the last few days tends to show that boracic and salicylic acids were used in preparing the meat for shipment. These chemicals, in moderate quantities, are not injurious, though their use in army food is not. defensible. The whole investigation receives a more sordid aspect from the fact that it now seems to turn on the point whether the government shall pay for 309,000 pounds of refrigerator beef ordered of a Chicago firm and rejected by General Miles at Ponce, Porto Rico, and subsequently thrown overboard. The matter never should have become a subject of public investigation. It appears that a few of the inmates of the State Soldiers’ Home at Lafayette have petitioned the Legislature to make an investigation or change some of the officers. This is to be expected. We are not all happy, and some mortals are so constituted that unless thoroughly regenerated they will complain of the accommodations furnished in the house v/ith many mansions. Some of the complaints made by these men, particularly those relating to the taking of their pensions, are false, while the complaint that they are required to work is both false and frivolous. Those who are well are required to work an hour or two a day to keep the grounds clean. They also complain that the water is impure; but the water comes from driven wells nearly four hundred feet deep. The truth is the home is a carefully managed institution. The trustees are business men of experience, and the officers are competent. A man who has seen better days, said recently: “I could not ask for better treatment than I receive at the home; the food Is good and abundant, and the quarters are nice and comfortable.” The Legislature should not heed a few chronic grumblers, but the managers should dismiss those inmates who are obnoxious and make room for men who will appreciate the privileges of the State Soldiers’ Home.

In connection with the early retirement of Mr. Turpie from the United States Senate, it is worthy of remark that the voice of Indiana will never again be heard in that body against sound money, currency reform or the Nicaraguan canal. Opposition to these measures belongs to an era which passes with the retirement of Senator Turpie. Aside from other considerations, the war with 4t Spain is likely to prove all it cost in tlie broadening of American ideas and the expanding cf American statesmanship. It is seen quite clearly now that a nation which aspires to world power or even to maintaining its prestige on one side of the world, must adopt the world’s standard of value and avail itself of every possible means of interoceanic and international communication. The days of one-sided patriots and hemispherical statesmen like Mr. Turpie are passed. So far as Indiana is concerned, his retirement will mark the beginning of anew era, and this applies in largo degree to the entire country. A war that has compelled the United States Senate to recognize the necessity of an interoceanic canal must be counted a great educational force. The information supplied by the state statistician is almost wholly unreliable, and every person who knows the source from which the. information is complied knows that there is little or no truth in it. We refer particularly to that portion gathered by township assessors. Os course, that which the statistician compiles from the reports of county auditors is measurably correct, but even in these reports errors creep in or items are so placed as to be difficult to understand. Consequently the information furnished by the statistician is in the main unreliable. —Muneie News. If the township trustees are not able to furnish a state officer with such correct information as the laws of the State require them to give, then there should be a better system of township management, or rather of township accounting, so that the foregoing statement is one of the best arguments for the change. So far as the statistician is concerned, no mistakes have been detected which can he charged to his use of the reports sent by county and township officers. They have been questioned by several officials, but when they have examined the returns which they made they admit that the mistake, if one exists, was made by them. The annual report of the Commissioner of Taxes and Corporations in Massachusetts shows the same tendency toward increased expense of local government there that exists elsewhere. The net debt has increased in 128 towns, or as we say in Indiana, townships The aggregate net debt of the cities and towns in the State is $121,385,139, which is larger than ever before. List year it was $115,7(8,889, which was the largest up to that time. Assuming that the average rate of interest is 4 per cent., then the municipalities which are carrying the above debt raise $6,712,457 for interest every year. This is a heavy drain on the people. The

rfcport shows that the aggregate local assessment of taxes was $-13,792,378, of which 80 per cent, was for the cities and towns and 11 per cent, for the counties and State. The State tax was only $1,500,000. This shows that in Massachusetts, as in Indiana, the cost of local government is many times greater than that of State government. It shows that, tax reform must begin at home. The sentiment of the people of this State with reference to the local government reform measure or a better one as a substitute. is expressed in the hackneyed phrase, “If not, why not?” The members of the State General Assembly are in a position where they must act favorably on : lie pending bill or show good reason for not doing so. Bryan has undergone a change of stock expressions. This versatility of his is a gratifying matter, and one that leaves room for a faint hope that some day the characteristic may extend itself to his political belief long enough to permit him to change his political views and lose that feeiing of loneliness that has almost been the ruin of the man. He no longer says anything about “crucifying mankind on a cross of gold,’’ hut speaks instead of the terrible tendency of t lie expansionists "to muffle the tones of the Liberty Bell.” In reading of Richard Harding Davis’s illness, it should be taken into consideration that that learned gentleman is much given to “roasting” even when his temperature is normal. HiBOLES IN THE AIR. The Kiss, of I.ove. Mater—lsn't there something scorching? Pater—l guess it is only Laura and her young man saying good-night. Pretty Strong. “Then I told him what 1 thought of him.” “In good, plain language, I presume?” “Well, yes. In fact, some of my expressions were positively military," Particulars Wanted. Hungry Higgins—How would you like to be one of them swell dudes an’ have you alcohol bathe every day? Weary Watkins—lnside, er outside? The Etheria! Plan. “Cloves,” said he, “were known to the Greeks.” “They must have been, in the nature of things,” said she. “For did they not have both theaters and married couples in those days?” Which goes to show that the workings of the Great Plan were just about the same in the days of the ancients. STATE PRESS OPINION. The issuance of railroad passes to legislators may not be constructive bribery, but it looks that way.—Muncie News. If the present Legislature is inclined to let well enough alone, the metropolitan police law will remain on the statute bcoks, It is working very well ana r.e measure that is proposed in its stead would do better. —Anderson Herald. The Review is of ilie opinion that the metropolitan police law aught to be modified to the extent of p; rmiUlng cities to control their own forces, and it is based the experience Elkhart l as had in the appointment of boards.--Elkhart Review. The Legislature acted wisely we think in killing the bill proposing the introduction of agriculture in the public schools. The brief time that a teacher could devote to the subject would be inconsequential in its results, and the addition of another branch to the already overcrowded list would be a detriment to the schools.—Frankfort News.

The Republicans of Spencer county have made their nominations for office by primary elections for several years, and find that the plan works well. The primary is not without its imperfections, but is infinitelj' preferable to any other plan. Let the people go to the polls and select their own candidates by ballot, and then if mistakes are made they will have no one but themselves to blame.—Roekport Journal. The difficulties of framing a trust law' which will cure the evils of combinations ccn trolling the manufacture of a particular article are facing the Legislature. The tinplate business of the United States is now ow'ned by a few people. A syndicate bought all the mills and is now operating them. The former owners either accepted money or stock for their properties and its mills are working on orders received from a central office. Can this he prevented. It seems to us that it cannot. —Marion Chronicle. If th’e present session of the Legislature will pass an effective anti-trust law and then if the Governor will see that it is enforced the members can rest assured that they will have the plaudits of all the people of the State. The large number of trusts that are in existence have become a serious menace to the welfare of all people. In many lines there is no such a thing as competition. Some trust controls the output, regulates the price that people shall pay and at the same time fixes the price of labor. In this manner the entire public is robbed, while labor is deprived of its just share of wages.—Morristown Argus. Bridge builders, courthouse contractors and firms who deal in township supplies are all working hard to defeat any legislation looking to reform in the management of county and township affairs. This is evidence that the present arrangement is very satisfactory to those who sell to the representatives of the people, and it further evidences the fact the people need protection. It is the people who have to pay, and they should be protected by law from extravagance, dishonesty and incompetency. No valid objection has yet been urged against the reform measures now pending before the Legislature, and it would be well for Allen county to watch the votes of their representatives as these measures come up for decision.—Fort Wayne Gazette. The effort will be made this winter to have the Legislature pass a law to reorganize the State Board of Education in conformity with the laws of other States and "take it out of the hands of the ring that has run it for the last thirty years. As the board is now constituted it is entirely out of the reach of the people, or even the Governor of the State. They get enormous appropriations and make no report of the expenditures like all other state boards do. They have built up a lobby that until two years ago ruled the roost. The camel’s hack was broken by the last feather, and so was that of the state board two years ago. It perhaps has not found it out yet, but will likely do so before the grass grows again.—Peru Republican. One thing which the Indiana Legislature should not fall to do during the present session is to give a black eye to the corporations engaged in pumping gas into pipe lines which feed Chicago and other cities outside the State. The gas belt is being injured not so much from local consumption of gas as by having the supply drained by foreign pipe lines. When the pumping station at Redkey was blown up a few weeks ago. the pressure in every well within a radius of ten miles was materially increased. As stain as the pumping station was again in working order the pressure was decreased. Indiana gas will not last always but if the gas is used mainly at home, the supply is good for more than another decade.—Gas City Weekly. When fresh meat and other perishable rations had to be furnished in great quantities in double quick time; when they couldn’t be procured near whore they were wanted, but had to be collected in the North and shipped a long distance into a hot <Timaie, it is not surprising that some of them spoiled. Wormy meat and other damaged foods were a common thing during the war of ihe rebellion, and soldiers of that period never thought of blaming the President nor the secretary of war for them. This racket about stinking meat makes old veterans tired, for they know that soldiering means privation and hardship, and making the lu st of manv things that would be regarded as intolerable at home.—Angola Magnet. Children ought to be taught the common branches of learning in the public schools and the teacher ought not to take up his or her timo in teaching fads of which the most of them will know but little. The practical agriculture that the farmer will teach his children in the garden and In the field is. In our judgment, worth a good deal more to them than the theoretical agriculture taught by the teacher who as a rule wIH know nothing about the subject prac-

tically. * * • We believe that writing and spelling, two very important branches of study in the common schools, are largely neglected. It is very uncommon to find a good penman or a good speller among school children now-a-days. It seems to us also that there is n lack of thoroughness in other branches such as mathematics. It Is true that more pupils study algebra than formerly, but we believe that fewer understand arithmetic.—Columbus Repi 'an. The action of the House on tin iding proposition for township reform * not bind the House to the commission’s nill in all of its details, but rather places the matter in position for proper amendment when the bill comes up on second reading, and it is understood that several compromise alterations will be made when action is taken on the bill in that stage. The *hing the Courier desires most to corome id is the inclination of the Republican members to reason together, as has been repeatedly urged as the best means of avoiding any semblance of party differences, and caucus sentiment has developed that members of the party have greater regard for the fulfillment of party pledges than for the success of the individual's contention.-The reform proposition is effectively forming, and the hope is that whatever shall be enacted will be to the interest of the people. * * * It is a pleasure to note the give and take inclination of members with respect to the bill, as from this disposition is i.xely to come the greatest good to the greatest rumber.—Lafayette Courier. That county and township government has become too expensive and burdensome goes without question, and tha‘ certain reforms are needed is equally certain. Just what these reforms should consist of is a matter for the Legislature to determine after counselling with those of the people who have made the subject a special study. The aim and purpose of reform should he to reduce the cost of government without in any way impairing its efficiency. * * * We do not believe it good policy or even a good kind of reform to set four or five men over each township trustee to see that he does his duty correctly and honestly. The Legislature cannot afford to pass this question by without action. The people demand relief from burdens which present laws permit unscrupulous officers to impose. Such safeguards must be placed about our local governments as will reduce their cost and make them more effective in accomplishing that for which they arc intended- the peace, the comfort, the intelligence and the welfare of the people. It will not do to turn the whole question down because perchance its most earnest advocates are outside of legislative halls. It is well for even legislators to listen to and often heed the voice of the people.' They very frequently know what they want and what is beneficial to the general public.—Middletown News. Some members of the Legislature are inclined to excuse their opposition to the proposed county and township reform legislation on the ground that too many offices are created by it. Such claims constitute a ruse only. In form new offices are created, the positions being made offices in form because the Constitution provides that a citizen cannot be required to serve without remuneration. While the proposed legislation meets that requirement, at the same time it permits these advisory members of county and township boards to vote themselves the salaries of $5 or $lO a year or to refuse to do so. In effect, therefore, new officers are not created, but several citizens are designated to advise with the county commissioners and township trustees and to have equal authority with said officers in regulating the affairs of the county and township. There are five good men in every township in the county who would gladly give three or four days each year to the affairs cf the township without pay. There are also six to nine men in every county who would be glad to give a week each year to the county’s business without pay. The wastefulness of some county and township officers would be checked sufficiently lo more than pay the expense of these men, under the proposed law, resulting in both a net saving to the county and township, in many instances, and in improved efficiency of government in almost all instances. —Martinsville Republican.

POLITICS IN THE SENATE. Game of Strategry, with the Peace Treaty as the Great Stake. Washington Special to Chicago Record. There is a good deSl of politics going on in the Senate just now. A game of strategy that will be played within the next six weeks, with the peace treaty as the great stake and the increase of the army as a side issue, will be worth the study of political economists and statesmen. Every Senator and member of the House is directly or indirectly interested in mustering out some regiment of volunteers. The secretary of war has decided that the strength of the army cannot be reduced any further until the peace treaty is ratified. Then the war will be legally over and the volunteers will have a right to return to their homes, but they cannot be released until Congress gives the President an adequate military force to maintain order. That means the passage of the army bill, to which the “aunties” are very much opposed. Everybody who has ever been to the Philippine islands; everybody who has ever lived in the East: everybody who knows anything about the Philippines, their resources and commercial advantages, is an expansionist, and just now the members of the Senate are receiving from a great variety of sources letters and documents, newspaper articles and pamphlets discussing one or another side of the question. “I found in my mail this morning.” said a Western senator, "forty-four letters and twenty-two pamphlets, magazine articles or newspaper clippings concerning the retention of the Philippines. Nine of the letters were from persons who have been in the Philippine islands or in China, and every one of them urged me to vote for the ratification of the treaty and a colonial policy. Four of the letters were from religious and missionary societies to the same purport. “Six letters were from old friends in private life, who believe that the government should not undertake the responsibility of governing people outside of our own hemisphere. Three commended Senator Hoar’s speech and five criticised. Seven, including the three who approved Senator Hoar’s speech, took the ground that we ought not to impose a government upon the Filipinos unless they ask for it. Two gentlemen who have been in the Philippine islands more or less on business wrote me to urge the President not to yield an inch to Aguinaklo, because if he and his associate insurgents are allowed to control the country there will be a reign of terror. One of these letters was from New York and the other from San Francisco. One is from an importer of hemp fiber and the other from a tobacco dealer. Both said that the property owners and the business element of the Philippines were almost without exception in favor of annexation or a protectorate from the United States.” All an Experiment. Philadelphia Inquirer. General Eagan has resented the suggestion that he was making an experiment with the "embalmed beef.” But, as a matter of fact, the whole business of furnishing fresh beef to our troof>s in the tropics was an experiment. The volunteer troops, their friends at home, correspondents, like Richard Harding Davis, and the newspapers which took their cue from these correspondents complained so loudly of the salt pork used at Tampa, although salt pork was good enough in Florida and Louisiana during the civil war, that an effort was made to provide a different diet for the troops in Cuba. Instead of being loaded in refrigerator cars at the stock yards and delivered at the butchers’ refrigerators in the East, this soldiers’ meat was unavoidably subjected to repeated handlings under a hot sun and unfavorable conditions. No doubt large quantities of it spoiled or partly spoiled, as would be inevitable under the circumstances. >!r. Beveridge. New York Evening Post. Mr. Beveridge is accused of being "a spread-eagle orator,” and Tnere is no doubt that he has a tendency to “hifaiutin.” But nobody can read such an address as that on “The Vitality of the American Constitution,” which lie delivered before the Allegheny County (Pennsylvania) Bar Association a year ago, without realizing that he is also a man of genuine ability, who should outgrow his youthful faults of exuberant oratory and develop with greater age higher standards of style. His character is beyond criticism, his desire to render good serve-- to the public seems deep and strong, and altogether ihe promise of his entrance upon a national career is great. It is a sign of hope which Indiana thus raises before the country, and it will be heartily welcomed. The Only One. Springfield Republican. General Grant lias hoen dead over thirteen years, and it is time that his son and namesake he railed V. S. Grant, without the "jr.” appendage. The only V. S. Grant oil earth is the man running for United States senator in California on his wife’s money. I nftiir Comparison. Kansas City Journal. “The buffalo is extinct in Kansas, and it is thought the Populist is going the same way,” observes the Cleveland Leader. This is an unfair association of names. The Kansas buffalo was a resoeetable and inoffensive beast.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS. OarMnv) In Ilc War with Spaln—Soin* Civil War Letters. The object of this work is to give, within convenient limits, a truthful account of those events in the recent war with Spain in which our navy had a part. Operations of the army are only referred to incidentally. The author, John It. Spears, was educated at the United States Naval Academy, is a trained writer end had exceptional opportunities for informing himself regarding the of the navy during the war. Preliminary to the main narrative he gives a brief sketch of events preceding the war, the development of our navy in recent years and the situation of affairs at the beginning of the war. Two chapters are devoted to describing in detail the strength of the navy at the beginning of the war, and arother to its rapid augmentation after the passage of the $50,000,000 national defense bill. The movements of our ships before the breaking out of hostilities are related, and the opening scenes of the war are graphically portrayed. Succeeding chapters describe Dewey's exploit at Manila, Sampson's first search for Cervera’s fleet, the Oregon's famous run, Schley’s cruise to Santiago, the blockade of Santiago, the work of the marines at Guantanamo, the destruction of Cervera’s squadron, the capture of Guam and Manila and the part borne by the navy in the capture of Santiago. The closing chapter is devoted' to our new naval programme and the probable future of our navy. As the author had free access to official reports and documents and made a close study of the best contemporaneous and eyewitness reports, his statements of facts are full and accurate and his professional knowledge gives his descriptions of naval operations and events especial Interest. Notwithstanding some surplusage and a slight disposition to advance personal opinions the work is a very graphic account of the operations of our navy during the war and has distinct historical value. It is liberally illustrated. Charles Scribner’s Sons. Thompson on Building; Associations. Callaghan & Cos., law book publishers of Chicago, have just issued the second edition of “Thompson on Building Association.” In it is a comprehensive treatment of the origin, theory and types of associations; preliminary organization; charter; members, their duties, liabilities and rights; by-laws, their construction, amendment, and requisites; government, officers, agents and their duties; powers of every kind; fines, their reasonableness and regulation; usury; express and implied power to nor row; dissolution and settlement from whatever cause; contracts; foreign associations and taxation. The author of this book fTas brought to bear in its preparation a ripe experience acquired in years of active participation hi the practical workings in these important and useful institutions. The text is replete with and enriched by a wealth of suggestion as to the wisest procedure and correct theory. He has especially illumined some of the subjects about which hitherto there has been uncertainty. This is notably true of that class of subjects brought to the front in the last few years through legislation, experiment, and the financial stringency incident to the panic of 1892. The question now most often pressed upon the attention of the lawyer in connection with building associations are those relating to the power to levy assessments on stock; preferential stock; basis of repayment of loans; insolvent associations; amounts of repayment on fixed number of installments; fixed premiums; mortgages; right to borrow money; to have receiver appointed; to collect rents and profits; material men and mechanic’s liens; usury; dissolution and settlement; foreign associations and taxation. These subjects have all been exhaustively treated and all the decisions of courts carefully gathered and their proper bearing and relation ascertained. The text is constantly fortified by the decisions and copious foot notes. The last few years have witnessed more changes, experiments and more or less radical innovations and departures trom the theretofore fundamental principles than any similar period in the history of building associations. This work treats of all these and must have an important eftect upon their future. The appendix presents valuable forms of preliminary agreement for incorporation, articles of incorporation, their amendment, by-laws, notes, bonds, mortgages, rules governing the binding of loans, the manner of making payment to builders, official bonds, and foreclosure. I he work is in one volume, containing .about nlnehundred pages, and will be a valuable addition, to every lawyer’s library. It is indispensable to attorneys whose practice has to do with this class of corporation business.

Tle Old Adam und the New Eve. This story is a translation from the Gorman of Rudolf Golm, a comparatively new writer, and there is an endeavor to give it importance by means of an introduction by Edmund Gosse and another by the author himself. While it affects to approve to a certain degree of the endeavor the modern woman is making even in Germany to assert her individuality outside of the domestic circle, it is really a revelation of the attitude of the German mind toward woman as a creature meant chiefly to minister to the grosser needs of man. It also demonstrates afresh that the German woman Is half a century behind her English and American sisters in development. It is an unpleasant story throughout; the heroine herself though meant as an agreeable character, is not sufficiently well drawn to so impress readers of the tale, and when she comes to grief does not win sympathy. She is dominated throughout by her father and husband, two exceedingly coarse, selfish and tyrannical men. If intended by the author as typical Germans, he does his country no service by portraying them. Ihe moral of the storv is that in Germany the woman who would enjoy freedom of thought and opinion must give up the idea of marr!lage. Published by George H. Richmond <x. Son, New York. _______ The New God. “The New God” is a translation from the German of Richard Voss, by Mary A. Robinson. It Is another of the romances which have as their central thought the story of Christ. "The New God” is vigorous and interesting. and there are many very beautiful features in it. Among the characters introduced are the Emperor Tiberius, Pontius Pilate Marv Magdalene and other historical folk, velosianus, the king of priests, becomes intensely disgusted with everything —his life, his world, his gods and all—and sets forth to seek a living God. He meets the daughter of Jairus—the maiden who was raised from the dead, and together they go to Jerusalem, reaching there just after the crueltixion. There is a very strong chapter descriptive of Pontius Pilate’s sentence of Christ and of his visit to Christ’s tomb. There are also some wonderful descriptions of the pagan revels under Tiberius and Caligula. The story Is told in brilllnnV'Style —yet in a sturdy, strong fashion. The translator has succeeded in retaining the strength of the original German and adding to it much gracefulness in English. Harper & Brothers, publishers. Letters* of n Wnr Correspondent. The correspondence of a tirst-class newspaper during the civil war was a valuable and instructive record of events. Some of the men who were correspondents at that time afterwards became famous in journalism. One of the best, though he died less than ton years after the close of the war and before his career had culminated, was Charles A. Page, correspondent of the New York Tribune. A native of Illinois and largely self-educated, with an instinct for news and full of energy and patriotism, he became one of the best correspondents of that historic period. His letters to the tribune written from the front and almost from the firing line, contained very graphic accounts of the movements and battles or the Army of the Potomac. Interesting as they were at the time they are even more so now on account of their historic value. They have been collected and published in a volume entitled, ’’Letters of a War Correspondent.” The letters are InteUteent ly edited and annotated by James R. Gilmore, and with their accompanying maps they make a valuable contribution to civil war literature. Boston: L. C. Page & Cos. Wlio'n Who. This annual biographical dictionary, edited by Douglas Sladen, was first issued as a record of English and other European living celebrities, but the volume for IS9D contains several hundred American names. The information given, so far as examined, seems more accurate than is usual in such chronicles, and, though brevity is the rule, the important facts of each individual's life arc given, together with some that are less Important to "the public, as the character of his recreations. The "Hon. Col." John Hay. for example, is set down us a member of Wlnon’s Point Shooting Club and of the Vernon Duck Club. Gen. Lew Wallace Is i (.presented as having a house and a steam-