Indiana State Sentinel, Indianapolis, Marion County, 4 March 1891 — Page 4

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XHE INDIANA STATE SENTINEL, WEDNESDAY MORNING. MARCH 4, 1S91 TWELVE PAGES

INDIANA STATE SENTINEL BY THE INDIANAPOLIS SENTINEL CO. S. E. MORSS. President.

Ustered at th Postofltce at Indianapolis aa Moral class tratter. TERMS PEU TEAR: Rifle eofT (Invariably in Advance.) ,,. W 00 We ark democrats to bear Id mind and select their turn state paper Then they com to take subscrip. ticrtatid make up clubs. .A rents mkin$r up clubs send for anv Information ccired. Add TUE 1MA AFOLi's SENTINEL Indianapolis, tod. "WEDNESDAY. MARCH 4. 1891. Twelve pages. Kel'orm In the Benevolent Institutions. The editor of The Sentinel haa received congratulations, both in person and ,ty letter, from many leading democrats of Indiana upon the article published in last week's issue regarding the defeat of the Magee bill in the senate. Among the 'letters received is one from a prominent -democrat of Frankfort a man who has always been active in the service of his par.y, spending Lis time and money freely in its behalf. This letter was not intended for publication, but we take the liberty of printing the main portions of it: I want to take you by both hands as an expression ol the cordiality with which I indorsed your editorial expressions in today's Skxtinel, especially on the Magee "bill. Your advice to the legislature has been timely, and had it been fol.owed would have saved ttie deroocii'tio party the chagrin and Lumiiation of future explanations and apooiiea. Can't romething be done to have the Magee bill reconsidered? For the good of the party, for the pood of the state, let something be done next week by the legislature to save it fn.m shame. I don't deal in flattery, but 1 mean all 1 say when I write that you have proven youre f a patriot, and therefore, in the broadest sonse, a good democrat by your courageous course in The Sentinel. I may not have approved of all your editorial sentiment!, but you have proven my ideal of what a file leader in the democratic party should be. A good mauy li-Ciutei i ot the legislature act as though they thought the people did not read and think, in this they deceive themselves. This is a progressive age, and if the derr.ocratic party expects to absord the votes of tue.yoan men of push, it must in action aa wei. as name be democratic. The carte of the party has always been its political barnacles. VV must cleanse the ' Luh of our gallant old vessel of them, else tureiy will be distanced in the race for popuiar lavor. The actions of our legislature Diay have a potent effect on the national campaign of ''J2, and it is exasperating in the extreme that it t-hould thus put in jeopardy the democratic party of the who. e country. Commending you again for your courage, as well as your tound judgment, I remain yours sincerely. Another Indiana democrat of eminence a man who has voted the democratic ticket and woiked for the democratic party more than fifty years writes The Sentinel lamenting the defeat of the Mage bill. He dec. ares that a continuance of the existing system, with all of its evils and f.buses, "ought to be enough to bring down the vengeance of God upon the state and people who Buffer it." He adds that if tins legislature "does not do something in the line of the Mazee bill it must not claim to be honest in iis professions of reform." He continues: Merely pretending to da a great reform work by cutting down the salaries of public officers wil. not .atiti'y the demands of humanity and Christian charity. The Sentinel has shown its wiUingnesa to do a good work in this direction heretofore, and I hope it will not quit now. Our venerable democratic friend need have no apprehensions on this 6core. Tub Sentinel i not a quitter. It is not 'built that way." One swallow does not make a stimmtr, and the defeat of the Magee bill is merely an incident in the atrugglo for reform in the benevolent infetitunons. We believe, as we have frequently said, that these institutions, with one exception, are today as well managed as it is possible for them to be under the existing system. Whatever abuses exist in them are the fault of the eystem and not of the men who are in charge of the institutions. That syetem will have to go sooner or later. The reform contemplated by the Magee bill haa been postponed; it has not been defeated. It has been established in all the eastern end middle states and in several of the western statt s. Two years hence it will be introduced in Indiana, and by the democratic party the on!y party which has ever given the people of this state any valuable reform in legislation or administration. The ICevenue Hill. The railway corporations are to be conpTatu'ated over the defeat of the proposition to make them support the state government, as they do in several other states, and as they ought, in fairness, to doin Iudiana. They are several millbns of dollars ahead because of the action taken yesterday. However, various considerations had weight with the legislature against this proposition. All the able railroad attorneys, in and out of the legislature, were entirely convinced of the unconstitutionality of the proposed legislation, and, under the circumstances, it was perhaps the eafest plan to abandon it. Upon this branch of the queetion, however, there is this to be said : If n ystem of taxation which has yielded euch good results in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Massachusetts, is not constitutional in Indiana, it ought to be. It is our constitution, and not this system of taxation, which is at fault. The protests of the people of several counties who had been led to be ieve that the proposed change would do them an injury bad much influence with the legislature. We do not believe the OppenLeiin bill would have worked such a hardship to these counties as they apprehended, but it was impoih!e to convince them that they were not to be badly hurt. Of course it was not desired to do them tho alighteet injustice, and their protests proved availing. Instead of obtaining the required lninereaso of revenues from the railroad companies, therefore, it must come from an increase of the taxes on all property. The increase will not be large, however, and will not bear seriously upon the people. The state tax in Indiana has been, for many yeai, very low, and not euCcient to meet the necessities of the tata. The proposed increase of eight cents cn the $100 for the benevolent insti

tutions will be satisfactory to the people. The revenue bill, as it will be passed, will establish many needed reforms in the assessment of property and the equalization of values, and will, we have no doubt, work a great improvement in our revenue system. Tho Proposed Revenue System. The revenue bill was bronght up in the house on Saturday and, as might have been expected, men who have been advocating all'sorte of visionary and buncombe schemes in a'leged opposition to corporations were at once found arrayed against this genuine reform measure. In charity, their opposition may be r.ttriouted to want of comprehension of the intent and eSoct oi th bill, bnt it is certain that the arguments they use had their origin with the railroad lobby which is lighting the bill. There are two evils to be remedied by this ineaeure: (1) The state reeds more revenue. ('2) The railroads are not paying their fair share of taxes. Kailroads are taxed as other property, but while other property is assessed for taxation, on the average, at 50 cents on each dollar of its true value, railroads are aseessed at about 25 cents on the dollar. This bill is intended to correct both evils, and it does correct them. As a matter of fact the amount of taxes collected from railroads in this state at present (aside from town and city taxes) is almost exactly equal to the amount collected for state revenue from the general property tux. Tiic fir3t proposition of the bill is to exchange these turn the 12 cent state revenue tax over to the counties for county purposes, and turn the railroads over to the state for state purposes, as is now done in several of the most progressive states in the union. The next tep is to increase the appraisement of railroad property to an equality with other property, which is si iiple justice to every one concerned. The result will necessarily be that the state will get the benefit of the increased taxation of railroads, the counties will not be harmed, and the railroads will be made to bear their equitable portion of taxation. Now what are the objections made? It is said that the bill is unconstitutional because the constitution provides that assessment and taxation shall be "uniform and equal." If so the present tax law i3 unconstitutional, and all former, laws were unconstitutional, because the taxes are to be collected under the bill precisely as they now are, and as they have always been. The only difference is that there is opportunity given to make the assessment uniform and equal instead of leaving the present outrageous discrimination in favor of railroads. The law affects only the distribution of the money raised by taxation. It may be claimed that the new board of tax commissioners' will not assess railroad property anv more honestly than the old state board of equalization. The bill gives them every facility for doing so, and they will make honest assessments or they will retire to private life very rapidly. The people will not tolerate the contiuuance of the existing wrong. It is claimed that the bill releases the reilroads irom the present 12 cent state revenue tax. It does nothing of the kind, exespt as it releases all other property. The counties have the privilege of continuing this tax for county purposes, and if they do so it will be levied on railroad property as on r.ny other property. If the counties do not need the 12 cent tax it will be discontinued as to all property alike. This is even and exact justice. No honest mau wants railroad property taxed any higher than any other property. All that is asked is to have it pay the same as other properly. That is the central object of the bill. This objection is pecu-iarly silly when offered to a bill whose chief purpose is to increase railroad taxes to an equality with other taxes. It is claimed that the bill will work a hardship on counties that have large amounts of railroad property in comparison with other property. There are only a few counties of this kind, and let us see how it will affect them. Take for example Starke couuty, which is the extreme instance the railroad property there being nearly one half in assessed value of the total taxable property. We have said that the assessment of railroads should and would be substantially doubled, and this ia true of Starke county as of other counties. Take the Monon and examine its true an I assessed value: Bond-10,G00,000 (lowest premium in lrl, I2i). tll.225,000 Stock-15,000,000 (average valna in 15o9, 40L-. 2.C0O.O0O

Total market value fl3.2C5.000 Averaee per mile owned (510 mi lei).. J 26,000 Coi of road and equipment 15.1Ho7 Average per mil 21,670 Net earn io if s per mile, lfy... 1,771.61 Value per mile on 6 per cent eara log basis 29.630 The assessed value of this road is as follows: Main track, per mile .....$,0f.'0 Rolling stock, per mile. 2.100 Sidings (average) per mile 3oo Improvement!, per mile .. 130 Total per mile.......... ..................... ...$S,50 By similar inquiry it will be found that other roads parsing through Starke county are in much the same condition. The C, St. I &. F. is assessed at $14,200 per mile, but it is worth on the market $48,000, and earned 6 per cent, on $32,000 per mile in 18S0. The I Ft, W. A C. id asses-ed at $33,r00, but it is worth on the market $140,000, and earned 6 per cent, on $138,C00 in leSa. The N. Y.t C. & SL L. is assessed at $16,000, but is worth ou the market $ 1,000, and earned 6 per cent. on$23, 992 in 18&9. And so with other roads. It is fair to presume that the valuation of railroad property w ill be doubled by an honest assessment, and it is provided by the bill that when the amount raised by tax on railroads exceeds 20 cents on $100 of all the taxablo property in the county the excess shall go into the county treasury. The present tax statistics of fcftarkc county aa furnished by the auditor, It. H. I)E.vitK, aro as follows: L Total tax collected from railroads..... $ 21,600 lotal value of railroad property - 1,140,090 Total value of all property 2,Z9H.')nO Add for increase f railroads..... 1,U0,';(0 Total new value.'. $ 3,53VX0 Twesty-eent liruit .............$ 7.076 Increased railroad tax 21.G00 Nat gain to Starke county ' 1,524 Average annual payment from Starke coauty for eiaie revenue . 2..VX) Net yaia to lUtt 4,576 Hence, inbte&d of losing anything, Stnrke county will receive about $41,000 a year from railroad taxes instead of $24,000, and the stats will almost . treble its in come from Starke county. This u accom

plished by compelling railroad property to pay the same taxes as other property. If any change is made in the bill it should be by raising the li;iit below which the state receives th6 railroad taxes. If it were increased from 20 cents to 50 cents Starke county would etill profit about $7,000, and this matter should be equalized as nearly as practicable, because in counties having little or no railroa 1 property tho state will lose by the exchange. Aside from this feature of the bill, it contains provisions for returning assessments that will unquestionably bring under taxation a great derl of personal and corporate property that is now escaping taxation entirely. The measure has received a great deal of consideration, and is altogether euch an enormous improvement oa our present tax etem that it will receie the eupport of every member who is capable of understanding a tax system. We predict that it will be the greatest achievement of this legislature and a permanent credit to the democratic party. Republican Ilypcrlsy. A very edifying exhibition of republican hypocrisy and demaogism was given in the house on Tuesday, when the Curtis legislative apportionment bill was under consideration. The republican leaders IIcs-s IIiggixs and others began to howl about "gerrymanders" and "partisan infamies," etc., etc., tho very moment th bill was called up, but were very effectually met by the democratic speakers, who showed that, if the proposed apportionment was subject to any criticism whatever, it could not come with any grace or decency from an Indiana republican. Mr. Glsxer recalled the republican gerrymander of 1S72, which was crowded through the legislature under the gag law. The democrats were not given aa opportunity to speak a word regarding the measure, nor even to explain thir votes. Mr. Gi.essner, who was a member of the house at that time, asked five minutes for that purpose, but was refused. The democratic majority on Tuesday allowed the republicans plenty of time to "cuss and discuss" the pending bill. Mr. Hess devoted fifteen minutes to an onslaught upon the measure, only to be confounded at the end, when he was confronted with a map showing tho republican gerrymander of 1S72. The Wabash statesman didn't seem to take much interest in the subsequent proceedings. It is quite true that two wrongs do not make one right either in politics cr anything else. But it ia equally true that the democrats of Indiana have never gerrymandered nor attempted to gerrymander the state with so little regard for fairness, justice or decency as the republicans have exhibited in every enterprise of this kind they have undertaken. Tho apportionment now proposed to bo made may not be an ideal one, but it is a miracle of fairness compared with past republican gerrymanders in. thi3 stato and existing republican gerrymanders in other stater;. It should not be forgotten that Indiana is a democratic state. The Australian system of election makes it permanently so. It will be admitted that under the Curtis bill the democrats are pretty certain to have a good eized majority in the next legislature. Of course this does not please IIe$, Haggard, and the remaining members of the small republican contingent in the house. But they forget that it is not the fault of the bid, but of the voters of Indiana, a majority of whom will persist in voting the democratic ticket. When the republican party abandons McKinleyism, and force bills, and subsidies, ard land grabs, and boodleism, and jobbery, and stealing when it reforms and makes itself respectable when, in short, it becomes a republican party in fact as well as in name it may possibly eecure a majority of the voter of Indi ina, even under the Australian system. And when it gets a fair, square majority of the votes it will also get the legidature, but not until then. No doubt Mr. Hess and Mr. Haggard and Mr. Claypool and the other republican patriots of the house would like to have the state so g3 rymandered that, notwithstanding the democratic majority, the republicans could carry the legislature. But of course thej' cannot be accommodated. They will have to be satisfied with the very fair apportionment which this democratic legislature will make, and meantime, if their zeal for reform is too Etrong to be repressed, they can profitably expend i. in laboring with their republican brethren in New York, Connecticut and ether states in which reliable democratic majorities are partially disfranchised, and havo been for many years, by gerrymanders which violate every requirement of justice and fairness and even of common decency. When they succeed in reforming the gerrymanders in these states, any criticisms they have to make upon the arrangement of congressional and legislative districtsin Iadiana will be entitled to respectful consideration. But until then, these criticisms will have to pass for what they are worth to-wit, nothing. Illinois Iiatlronds. According to the annual report of the state railroad and warehouse commission of Illinois there aro 10,163 miles of main track in that 6tate, 925 miles of second, third and fourth tracks and 2,928 miles of sidings, & total of 14,010 miles of track. The commissioners say the capital invested in the railroads of the state is as follows :

Capital stock.... llond 8-t7,438,29G 1.44'J,5e5 hquipuieiit oUligaiiuus Total tl,76a,62U,-6J A more shameful exaggeration was never put ia print. It demonstrates that in matters relating to the cost of railroads (cash cost) total depravity in estimates ha been reached and that figures are made U play the rolo of Ananias to perfection. There is no state in the union J where building railroads is attended with : such small expenditure as in Illinois and yet we havo the astounding statement that the roads of Illinois, putting "sidings, second, third and fourth" main tracks on a par with the cost of main tracks, cost at the r&to of $120,257 a mile. The commissioners say the capital invested in the Illinois roads amounts to $1,769,62:,862. If we place the cost of the roads, including all tracks and sidings, at $39,000 a mile, we find the capital invested to be $ 120,1 SO.0C0, showing the enormous diL'erence of 1, 340,1 19,302. The Question arises: Are cot euch ex

hibits of vital consequence to the people? Are they not of such importance to railroad employes as to prompt them to study the subject with ever increasing interest? Does not the average legislator see that euch statements are based on colossal frauds that where there is a grain of truth there iR a ton of falsehood? The commissioners say the Illinois roads paid dividends for the year 1S00 amounting to $36.10.3,747, which is 2.01 per cent, on ?1, 769,629,802. Now, assuming that the honest investment in the roads of Illinois is for mileage of all tracks and 6;dings $30,000 per mile, as we have stated, the investment would be $420,4S0,C00. The dividends pai l, being $33,105,747, would be at the rate of 8.5 per cent. This filching of earnings to pay dividends on wo for is the cclo??nl infamy of the times. It is robbery without one redeeming incident, and it is robbery under the sanction of law, or in defiance of all law, and in part, at least, accounts for the mil.ionaire plutocracy which threatens the permanence of free institutions. Take the water out of stocks and bonds, eliminate the element of fraud which is in the warp and woof of nearly every corporate enterprise in this land, and the grievances of workingmen would be hushed forever. In that event railroads could pay liberally for labor; labor would be contented and prosperous. The improvement of the condition of road-beds, bridges and equipment would steadily proceed and the public welfare would be greatly promoted. As matters now stand, not only in Illinois but in every otherstate, the railroads are required to pay dividends on water, and these dividends go to increase the fortunes of the few at the expense of the many, and especially the wage earners. In the February Artna Mr. C. Woor Davis discusses the question of wafer in railroad stocks and bonds in a way well calculated to arouse the attention cf the country. Mr. Davis places the actual cost of buiWing railroads in the United States at $3u,00J pr iuil8 and says: Available data does not admit of going back of 18.4 When 69,273 miles were in operation, the cost of which, at S30.G00 per mils, being credited to the builders; and adopting the net (traffic) earnings as S!ijwn by Fooe we find that in 1S74. crediting each" $30,0 0 w ith its proportion of such earnings pro rata and adopting the capitalists theory that t;ie water in the capital is eutitled to the same revenue as the money part thereof the earnings of the wate r ir the capitalization of that year amounted to $91,957,829, being equ'il to the cost of 3,065 miles of railway. Continuing euch computations for fourteen years and crediting the railway users with the income of so much of the railway mileage as was from year to year buiit from the tol s collected on the capitalization ia excess of $30,000 per mile, it appears that the users have within fifteen years been tnnlcte 1, in the shape of tolls based wholly on wtr, in the sum of $2,422,58,455, from which those in possession have constructed S9,752 miles of new railway, leaving but 2,901 mile, costing $37,030,000, to have ben built in the same period from fundaMJPpliedby those claiming to own all the railways. So far as our observation extends no one attempts to controvert the facts as set forth by Mr. Davis. On tho contrary, they are admitted to be approximately correct. Is it a matter of surprise that the people aro. -beouminij. restive under such a policy of plunder? Is it not rather a matter of profound bionishment that the stupendous wrong has been borne so long and so patiently by the people? "Wo see railroad corporations collecting dividends upi n water; we see them in arms whenever any legislation is proposed requiring them to deal fairly by the public and by their employes, and we fcee them fighting with unconquerable zeal any proposition requiring a fair assessment of their property for taxation. With franchises granted by lhs people, they thrust the peop'e aside on all occasions and defy legislatures. The situation in Illinois is an object lesson, and the facts are well calculated to bring into deserved prominence the grievances upon which, the farmers' alliance bases hopes of success. Tho Crowning Outrage. The closing days of the Fifty-Sr6t congress will be marked by a carnival of jobbery. The hou?o declines to consider the Butterworth option bill and the various pension measures which are pending, for 'want of time," but u taking the time to consider the shipping subsidy bi 1, which will be brought to a vote at 5 o'clock thte afternoon and will doubtless be passed. This thing is a naked steal. It proposes an absolute gift of millions of dollars, wrung from the people by unnectssary taxation, to Jay Goui.d, Hcntingtox and other multi-mil ionaires who own the Pacific Mail and other lines of steamers. It is being supported by the same men who denounce the farmers alliance Bub-treasury scheme as class legis'ation and unconstitutional. Yet there is not an argument to be made in behalf of this subsidy steal which cannot be urged with much mere frrce in support of the sub-treasury and other eimilar projects which are advocated by the farmers' organizations. If these projects are unconstitutional so is the subsidy shipping bill. If they are class legislation eo is this measure, the only difference being that the class to be benefited by the latter is the class of millionaires and plutocrats, while tlio class toufhl to be benff ied by tho former embrace the hard-worked and underpaid farmers of the land. The passage of this Gould-Huntington job will be a fitting climax to the carser of the most profligate and corrupt concress in our history of a body which has piled burdensome taxes Upon the people for the benefit of a small class which has only been prevented from destroying local selfgovernment by such an awakening of public sentiment ns the United States have not experienced for a generation, and which has been' repudiated by the American people with an emphasis euch as they never before gave to their verdict at the polls. Paa It at Once. In the house on Saturday Mr. Ccllop introduced a bill providing for the employment of legal experts to investigate the relations of the old Terre Haute &. Indianapolis railroad company to the etatc, with a view to the prosecution of the claim held against th company by the 6tate, if the experts shall, report that it is valid. The bib was referred to the committee on education with instructions to report tomorrow (Tuesday). This bill ought to pass at once. We are assured by genthinen who aro authorized

to speak for the railroad company that it has no objections to the measure. This being the case, we suppose the enterprising corporation attorneys who are in control of the senate will kindly allow the bill to pass that body without unnecessary d.lay and without amendment. The people are for the bid, and if the railroad company is also for it, as its representatives say, the corporation senators can surely afford to allow it to pa&s just as it 6tands. The bill doesn't require any amendment. Any amendment that may be proposed may be safely set down as an attack upon the measure. The thing for the legislature to do is to pass the bill as introduced. If the bill becomes a law Governor Hovey will of cour.-e be expected to appoint lawycra of unquestioned ability and integrity to act with the attorney general in the proposed investigation. We have no doubt that he will da this. The railroad company, we understand, makes the plea of res aljii'Vcata. It believes, or professes to, that any legal experts who may investigate the question will report that it has been adjudicated, and that the state is without a remedy. However this may be, it is the duty of the legis'ature to have the matter investigated, and the least that it can doin the premises is to pass tho Cullop bill, of which we print tho full text elsewhere. Passage of the Appellate Court Bill. By an overwhelming vote the house Wednesday approved Senator Howard's appellate court bill, and it i now a law. Tin's result should causa universal rejoicing throughout the state. It secures a refom for which our citizens have been 6trugling fcr years. Speedy justice may now be counted on. The bullying and coercion practiced by the "me.ia rich" and the corporations generally ought henceforth to be considered a thing of the past. The "law's delay" is to no longer figure in the every day transactions of the people. The Sextixel feels that the general assembly has greatly honored itself in the enactment of this law, and, believing that its own persistent and earne3t advocacy of the measure has been somewhat, at least, instrumental in effecting the result, it tenders its grateful acknowledgments to the senators and members who so cheerfully and faithfully took up and carried through this most promising reform in the judicial eystem of the state. The Journal says that the republican legislative gerrymander of 1873 was fair, because, at the first electien after it was mcde, the democrats carried the house and at the second election captured the senate, while at tho third election (1S7S) they carried both houses of the legislature. Then, sa3Ts the Journal, they (the democrats) "passed a gerrymander of their own." According to the Journal's own reasoning this must have been eminently fair, because, at the first election after it was made (1SS0), the republicans got the legislature on joint ballot and put Bsx IIaf.risox into the U. S. senate. The Journal also denounces the existing congressional apportionment, although the next year sfter it was made the republicans elected seven out of the thirteen congressmen. The JourwVi argument is entirc'y in favor of the apportionments heretofore made by the Indiana democrats for legislative and congressional purposes. The fact of the ma ter is that the people have a habit of upsetting unf.iir partisan gerrymanders by v homsoevermade unless they areeo firmly intrenched behind constitutional or ether ddf -nses, as in New York and Connecticut, that nothing less than a great popular revolution will suffice to overturn them. If the apportionment bills passed by this legislature are so grossly unfair as th Journal pretends to believe, they will not be sustained by the people. But we have no fears on that score. The Columbus IleraH, which is opposed to any refrom in the system of selecting employes for the benevolent institutions, in fcpeaking of the last suspicious death at the Richmond hospital, eays: The attendants who lied to shield themselves from a charge not made 6hou!d be sent adrift, for they are not reliable men to have around an institution of that kind. Splitting rails or chopping cord wood is the employment that would about fit them. These employes were promptly "set adrift" when they were caught in falsehood. But the question is: How came they to be employed? Was any inquiry made in regard to their character or fitness before they were employed? What kind of records did they hnve? Who recommended them, and for what were they recommended? How many votes has ihe democratic party made out of their employment at the hospital? Doc3 peanut politics in tho management of these institutions pay any how ? The ptivate mail of the editor of The Sextixel Tuesday brought a number of euch letters as tho following from an exstate officer, and one of the most distinguished democrats in the state: Confidentially, but nevertheless enthusiastically, permit me to congratulate you on your Ih d and msguidcent defense of the honor of the democratic party before the p- ople. It was the partisan legislation as well as class favoritism continually thrust to tho fore that brought the republican party to destruction. But one o(theui08t aggravating things to men of independent and bigu character, believers in fair dealing, was what is now aptlv described as "peanut politics." Democrats werrt legislated out ot oilicu where they con Ul not be beaten at the polls. Tiie bame course will easily beat tho democracy in this county and state, I am sure, unl ss a wistr policy can be compelled against the opposition of self-con-stitutcd guardians of the party's interest, which now eeetna to have control.

Trie appointment of John 1). Miller to fill the vacancy on the supreme bench created by the death of Judge Bkkshire is an excellent one. Mr. Mn.LEit is an able lawyer and will make a good judge. He is, of course, a republican the Governor Hovey would not have considered him for this position but he is not au "oilensive partisan," and wo feel confident that he will do as he ought to do leave his party politics behind him when he mounts the bench. The Sentinel is the mst talked about, the most admired, the best hated and the most widely read newspaper in Indiana. It Is recognized by everybo ly as an enterprising, agreedvo and fearless newspaper. That's the kind of a newspaper the people like and will have.

WHY ROYAL Baking Powder is Best " The Royal Baking Powder is absolutely pure, for I have so found it in many tests made both for that company and the United States Government. " I will go still further and state that, because of the facilities that company have for obtaining perfectly pure cream of tartar, and fcr other reasons dependent upon the proper proportions of the same, and the method of its preparation, "the Royal Baking Powder is undoubtedly the Purest and most reliable baking powder offered to the public. "HENRY A. MOTT, Ph. D." A Laic United StiUs Government Cheviot,

FEES AND SALARIES. The Ttewa oT th II 'i. Chn-lea Kelllion cf M irnh.ill Ciiif y. To the Editok .?: On tho 13th cf this month I wrote a rid mailed acornrnunication to TnE Sentinel in reference to several important measures pending in the legislature of thin ftate, and d3ted that letter on the day it was written ml mailed, naicc'y, on the 1-lth of February. It was net published until the irth iust., six days after it was writteu and dated, and the date of the article w as, inadvertently or otherwise, changed by The Sentin fl from the loth to the 17th of th month. . The date of a letter sometimes is important, and this is particularly true ia the present case. Had this comm-inica-tion been published as of the date intended, tbs writer would have nothing to complain of or correct. At the time the letter was actually written tbe fee and salary bill was being considered in committee of the whole house. When thd letter was published that committee had linishe t its work cn the bid, and. as the writer understands, it had been referred to a special committee cf the house and that special committee had reported H to the house w ith anew section, which provided that the bid should not apply to officers elected at the last general election. The publication of my letter, after the bill had been thus amended and otherwise changed, placed me in a inlse position and might and probably did have the effect to cause thoa wno read the communication to be ieve that the writer favored the measure in i's then emasculated condition. Nothing could have been farther than this from his thoughts. The bill as thus changed is a bare-faced political fraud nn l an insult to every intelligent democrat in Indiana. If any republican orator cr paper had asserted, during the late campaign in this 6tate, that the last democratic state p'atform on the subject of fees and salaries meant that the democratic prtywas in favor of fee and salary legis ation that should not fully go into effect until U-vVj when 15 per cent, of the voters and tax payers ot 1800 were in their graves -every democratic paper end speaker would have pronounced it a wicked and malicious republican campaign lie. And it would have been such, for there is not a sane man in the etate that believes that the thirteen hundred or more representative democrats that composed that convention ever had such an understanding of the p'atform adopted by them. More than this, if any democratic speaker had stood before the people last year end given such construction to that platiorm his reception would have ben decidedly chilly among the democratic inassi ?, for there wns nothing in that platform of principles th:t met with the beany approval of the agricultural and industrial clases of our people so much as did the ho d and rnigir.g a ords in which the democratic party demanded fee and salary reform at the hands of this general assembly. But we are now told by certain democratic leaders that the drmocnitic party was not in favor of reform in lS'JO! VA e are iuformeil that the platform meant that it would be in favor of reform nome future time, to wit: In lf02 or 1804 if it lived that long atid did not change its mind! Any man who can be persuaded to accept such drivel as that for argument, ought to be committed to the asymui for feeble minded. The statesmanship that commits a groat political party to euch a policy is more contemptible and ludicrous than thst of Sancho Panza in the government of the island of Ba rat aria. It the writer owed the devil a million fraud?, and he would not take the political sophists, who are" givinir the platform uch a construction, in discharge of the debt, he would believe that his eatanic majesty was losing his reputed good sense aul business threwdncss. The writer believes that he expresses the sentiment of more than 95 per cer.i cf the democrat of this county when he sy s that the democracy of this section expected a reform that was to be inaugurated in the near future, anil not the empty promiso of a reform that will never be realized under the proposed mea-mre. If the bill is enacted into law in its present form it could not possibly effect anything until after the general election of 10 If the next legislature shoo id bo a republican body the law would probably be repealed before it goes into ellect, and in that event tue people would be farther away from the desired leform than they now are. The remarkable statesmanship that can project its far-seeing vision into the shadowy mists of futurity and seethe fruits of euch a mockery of reform, must be possessed of as much patience and lolly as that which characterized the celebrated philosopher of the island of La put a, who laiorioui-ly and confidently cndu tcd a eenep of "scientific investigations for even long y-am, in the vain endeavor to extract sunbeams from cucuinbvrs. If the democratic party expects to retain its present rrestie in Indiana, in the name of the fathers and founders of democracy, let us have no more of this cucumber statesmanship. Charles Kellison. Plymouth, Iud., Feb. -5. Tumi LH In 1 IokL. IPuck. Life is a lottery, and the man who takes no chances in it can never wiu anything. "What it cots" must be carefn'ly considered by the great majority of people, in (lift combines positive economy with gr a, medicinal power. It is th on j . medicine of w hich can truly be ea d "110 ; Pats Oua Dollar."

POOR ANNA CICKINSON

i-c-.it to a Md Soui, Temporarily tol 1 ritatment, WiKETiATiRE, Pa., Feb. 25. The rumoi that Anna ri:kinson's mind had becomt dc-r?.ried and that friends had found it necessary to remove her to the Danville inscr.e atrium created quite a sensation hero lat'i this af.ernoon. The gifted lady has resided for years with her sleter, usn E. Lickinson.inthe quiet little village of V.'est Pittston. For some time past her hea'th hasbtenina precarious condi ion and she has been com-tantly under the eyes of her physician, vho treated her for insomnia. Tidsdisease b: s be en undermining her vitality for some time, and although she has iesn careful y nursed by her devoted sister no i.n.rcvemt nt was perceptible. A consultation of physicians was held yesterday and it was decided that a chanea of scene and absolute quiet furnish the only hope for her complete recoverv. Accordingly she was removed quietly frm her home this afternoon, bvt whe-e she h:is been taken is a mystery that her friends detline to unravel. They emphatiral y deny, however, that she has been taken to an insane asylum or that her mind is unbalanced. Miss Susan E. Dickinson, in conversation with an Asociited Press representative tonight, sai l that her 6ister was simply suffering from nervous exhaustion brought on by an acute attack of insomnia ami that there was co truth whatever in the story that she had lost her mind. "I will publish i state-cent cf the cirenmstances in a day cr two," erud Miss Dickinson, "that will eiiectua ly refute the idle rumors that have pained us 60 much withm the past few days." Loth Udies are exceedingly popular here and their nv;det cottage in West Pifston was besiegM all day with friends anxionsiy inquiring the trro facts in the case and olft-ring their sympathy. It is believed by Mins I'c kir.son's iti nds that her prostration is due to overwork. It is be'ievel that the attack is only temporary and that in a short time she will have completely recovered. f Anna Liizabth Dickinson was born in Philadeipluo, P.. Oct. 25, 1S42. Her parent wer queers, and tbs was educated in the free tchuols cf tl'.at di nomination. Ia lSo" she ma le her fmt venture ai a speaker b-ore ths raember of a booety ot "Progressive Friends." who wer" Intsres'ed in the aati-slitvery movement. 8l.o also became an ardent advocate of tempera'ice and spolie at many of tfceir tiieiiigs. In Jio?-60 sts taucht school in Berks county, Pennsylvania, nnd in 161. for abont rice months, r.s explored at th U. 8. mint in Philadelphia. Atter that time the lectured in pubiio on political questions tefer the people in different parts ot her natire Hit. This she did with so much acceptation that in 1562 she was inviied to deliver an oration at .Vus.o hail, in Boston, unur the aapices ot the Xew tut' and leaders of the a rti Vavery caiiEe. r rom there she went to New Hampshire and Connecticut, ecefkine in th ia ereet of the republican party, and latter she drew lsrjje attendances in Cooper Union, New Yore City, and et the Academy ci Muie, PhiUdelyliia, uixJer the pdlronae of the Union ltajoa clubs of the two cities. In tho autumn of 1S63 Miss Dickinson turned hr attention to e e tioneenoe in ttie Pennsylvania cool regions ia favor ot Governor Curtiu, an t on Jan. 15, 1ST4, she spoke in the capitol at W&shinirtou on tha issues of the civd war, :he also addressed the soldiers in camps and hospitals on many occasions lu a way that stirred them to increased Patriotism. A't.-r tbe close of the war she appeared mostly as a lecturer cn the platform of literary socie'.iee. Amoi.tr her addresses were '"Woman's Work aud Wases," "Whited sepulcherti." "Demagogues and Workingmen." In 1876 M ti DickiiiBoa found hmelf racing in attractiveness an a speaker, and having told all she hud to say, determined to devote her attention to dramatic periortnances. Sre mads her debut in a play of her own composition, entitled A Crown ot Thorns," which was followed by impersooaiions of several ofjsiakespt are's her-.incs. IJjt fcer theatrical venture wss unsuccessful, ard after having given readings from her M.S. play, "Aurelian,' aad lecluri'jg on "Platform and Stage' she retired to private life. tue wrote an UDDuhlisheJ play, "The American Girl." Her publications ar: "What Answer. a noTel (Boston. let3i; "A Payinc InvestuK'iit," (1370), and "A Kajxed Reciter cf People, Places and Opinions." Miss Dickinson returned to the tuiup in ISsS, tricking speeches for Harrison and Morton, the wr.g finally forced to sue the republican naUonaJ committee (or her pay. MILLER APPOINTED. Boot One Suereerta the Lat Jnd;s Berkshire Hl H ali Sti-nd nc It is done Judge John D. Miller of the supreme court of Indiana, was appointed by the governor about 2o'cloek Wednesday afternoon to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge John G. Berkshire. Later in the da.i the new judge took the oath of cilice, was properly commissioned and m ill enter upon his oiliial duties at once. Judge Miller ernes from Decalur county, where he has lived most of his lift, lie whs born there, on a farm, Dec. 2, 1S-1Q. Ilia early life was paedon the farm, but as a youth was n:ibiiionn and to secure a good common school education went to Hanover college in 1S5U, but never craJuated, for he left college in IS 51 and enlieted in the Seventh regiment, Indiana volunteers. He served until the expiration of his term cf rtihstment in ISrtt, when he was honnr.ibly di-charged. He returned home and began tbe tdudy of Jaw in the ornce of Overvtre-t tt Hunter at Franklin, Ind. He was admitted to ttie bar w bile Gen. Ohurn was circuit judgs of that district in April. 1S61. lie encage I in the practice of law at once in Greentburg, being junior partner in the firm of Cumback, JJonner fc Miller. He afterward formed a partnership with Col. Gaven, and after his death with Mr. Frank Gaven, the eon of his deceased partner. The only offices he has ever tilled were those ot prosecuting attorney and member of the legislature ia th special eeion of 1S72-3. There is a great popular outcry for S&1 vttion Oil, the great pain annihi.'ator. 25 cents.