People's Pilot, Volume 2, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 March 1893 — Page 3

LOVE WORKS WONDERS. We read a legend of a monk, who painted In an oid convent cell in days by-gone Pictures of martyrs and virgins sainted, And the sweet-faced Christ with the crown at thorn. Poor danbsl not fit to be a chapel’s treasure! Pull many a taunting word upon them fell; But the good abbot let him for his pleasure Adorn with them his solitary cell One night the poor monk mused: “Could I but render Honor to Christ as other painters do, Were but my skill as great as is the tender Love that inspires me when His cross I view! “But no—'tis vain I toll and strive in sorrow; What man so scorns still less can he admire; Hy life’s work is all valueless; to-morrow Til cast my ill-wrought pictures in the fire.” He raised his eyes, within his cell-O, wonder! There Btood a visitor—thorn-crowned was He, And a sweet voice the silence rent asunder: “I’ll scorn no work that's done for love of me. ” And round the walls the paintings shone resplendent With lights and colors to this world unknown; A perfect beauty and a hue transcendent That never yet on mortal canvas shone. There is a meaning in this strange old story— Let none dare judge his brother’s worth or need; The pure Intent gives to the act its glory, The noblest purpose makes the noblest deed. —The Christian Million.

ALITTLE COMEDY OF ERRORS

By SSMORTON.

a JO OBJ [Copyrighted, 1891, by S. S. Morton, and published by special arrangement.] CHAPTER II. — Continued. “Don't try to make anything of me, my amiable friend;” murmured North under his breath as he proceeded up the street, “and then you’ll not have a crushing failure to stagger under. It is indeed a cruel fate which compels me to enter upon my career in X with such damaging suspicions afloat concerning my sanity, or my moral character, they seem to be about equally involved in doubt. However, my triumphant vindication must come in the natural course of events. When the colonel has had full opportunity to observe the poetic beauty and innocence of my daily life, he will doubtless acknowledge that he has done me a cruel injustice. Let me see now, where am I? This is probably Main street; they usually bestow that name upon the most insignificant thoroughfare in the city. ‘Ten blocks beyond the courthouse;’ that ought to be a good landmark. W r hy in the name of the city fathers don’t they have the names of the streets on the lamp posts? Under the impression, no doubt, that everyone whose convenience is worth considering was born and brought up in X , and, consequently, is well up in the geography of the place. No policemen, either, so far as I have been able to observe. How is a stranger to get anywhere, or to know it when he does get there? Verily, X is the city of magnificent disadvantages!” There was one thing that especially impressed North during his first public appearance in X : his own unmistakable popularity. Almost everyone on the street seemed to know him, and he received the most enthusiastic greetings on every side. He responded to them all with a suppressed hilarity, the cause of which was known only to himself, entering with reckless enjoy- ‘ ment into the masquerade which evidently no one else suspected. “Really, I have a host of friends in X , a city in which I never set foot before! I wonder if this well-fitting mantle of ready-made popularity is warranted not to fade nor shrink?” he mused, as, having traversed the ten squares beyond the courthouse, he turned into a beautiful wide street at his left and then halted on the corner with the calm deliberation of one that views the landscape o’er. “Well, here I am; but where? Ah, that is the question! I wonder, now, if that ragged little urchin whom I see approaching will recognize me? Oh, he’s a newsboy; I might buy a paper from him, and then —” “Paper, sir?” inquired the diminutive tatterdemalion, drawing near and thrusting a large local sheet into North’s face with unblushing confidence; then

“PAPER, SIR?"

«s he scanned the gentleman’s features more closely, he added with a grin of recognition: “Yer’ll take a Times, won’t yer, Mr. North? Yer alwers does!” “By Jove!” thought North, “even the newsboys and ragamuffins are mine own familiar acquaintances! Who ami, that I should thus be public property?” He mechanically accepted the paper that was thrust into his hand and addressed the urchin in a sweet persuasive tone: “My boy, is this Delaplaine street?” The newsboy stared at him in openmouthed astonishment, and did not answer until the question had been repeated with a perceptible diminution of the persuasive sweetness and a corresponding accession of authoritative sharpness. “Yes, sir, it’s Delaplaine street,” he then said, with.a grin; and North, after bestowing a handful of nickels on his small interlocutor, turned away and started slowly in the direction that the

numbers on the houses indicated that he should take. The newsboy gazed after him for a moment, fully expecting to see him reel along the pavement or run into one of the many shade trees or lamp posts. Disappointed in this cherished hope, aa the gentleman rontinued calmly on his way with no perceptible indecision of step, no difficulty in maintaining his equilibrium, no misunderstanding with the surrounding inanimate objects, the boy pursued his way soliloquizing audibly: “My eye! If that ’ere Mr. North ain’t a queer chap!” “Very fine street,” ran North’s soliloqnoy, as he sauntered down the broad pavement of flagstones bounded by smoothly-cut grass and tall shade trees on one side and ornamental iron fences, small parterres and stately residences _on the other. “My friend Mrs. Maynard is undoubtedly something of an aristocrat, judging from her surroundings. By the way, wbat does she want with me?” He stopped short here, as the fact suddenly occurred to him that the lady in question did not want anything of him. He laughed aloud in his amusement at the thought. “Could I become involved in serious consequences by this masqkerading?” %e presently asked himself. “No, I don’t believe I’m liable. How can I be? I might be charged with false pretenses; and yet, what false pretenses have I made? By all the traditions of my family I’m Allan North, and that is all that I’ve yet claimed to be. Peopleall call me by my name as if they never doubted my right to be thus designated. If there is any man in X or elsewhere who has a better right to that name than I have let him bring forward his claim, with vouchers thereof, without delay! True, I never was in X , never saw one of these people before in my life, but what does all this amount to? I am driven back to my original resolutions. I will drift a little longer. lam sure to come out somewhere, if only on the rocks of destruction. Mrs. Maynard is my present hope. We shall see whether she will set matters straight or complicate them still further.”

He walked on slowly for a few moments, glancing up at the mumbers on the houses until he came to thirtythree. Pausing with his gloved hand resting on the iron gate in front of the residence bearing that number, he swept a hasty but critical glance over the place. It was a small detached villa, evidently the abode of wealth. The mansion, a picturesque structure of brown stone, with balconies and bay windows half buried in ivy, stood back with a stately exclusive air in the midst of towering elms. A straight, .wide pavement of flagstones led directly from the gate to the terraced steps; on either side lay a velvety lawn ornamented with trees and shrubbery and fountains. • “ ‘No. 33 Delaplaine street,’ and here it is,” reflected North, as he lingered unaccountably at the gate. “Let me see!” He drew out his watch and glanced hastily at it. “Two, exactly. lam punctual to the second. I wonder if such rare promptitude is one of the shining virtues of the individual whom lam so strangely personating? Nonsense! I believe lam growing nervous. It will never do to show the white feather now. Having undertaken to make this call, I will persevere to the end!” He had entered the gate, walked up the wide pavement, ascended the steps of terrace and veranda, and rung the bell, by the time he had finished these reflections. He just had time to smooth his gloves and settle his snowy cuffs, adjust his coat, stroke his mustache affectionately and compose his features into an agreeable smile, when the door swung noiselessly open and a deferential old footman stood bowing low before him.

“Is Mrs. Maynard at home?” inquired North, with the calm, assured air of a friend of the family., “She is, sir. Will you please walk in, sir?” North walked in, as a matter of course. That was a recognized part of his programme. He was conducted through a dim, elegantly appointed hall, and ushered into a still more dim, elegantly appointed drawing-room, and there left to the tender mercies of the darkness and the furniture with the cheering information that Mrs. Maynard was expecting him and would be down soon. “Confoundedly dark place!” grumbled North, as he groped his way to the nearest chair. “If daylight is too expense a luxury here, why don’t they ligho the gas? I’ve a great mind to suggest it to my friend, Mrs. Maynard, only I’m afraid she might not receive the suggestion in the same kindly spirit in which it was offered. Oh, I don’t exactly enjoy this, after all! It lookg like carrying the thing too far. I believe I’ll conduct myself with a certain degree of eccentricity, so that in case of detection I can plead emotional insanity as my excuse. ‘Singular Freak of an Insane Man.’ ‘Harmless Vagaries of a Lunatic.’ That’s the way the reporters would write up the affair. Heigh-ho! here she comes.”

CHAPTER 111. Ant. S. : Known unto these, and to myself disguised! I’ll say ns they say,—and persevere so. And in this ifiist at ail adventures go! —Comedy of Errors. The soft rustle of silken garments announced the approach of Mrs. Maynard. It drew nearer, and with noiseless step the lady herself swept into the drawing-room. v North, whose eyes had by this time become accustomed to the dim twilight, rose at once with a formal bow. To his surprise he found that his nerves were a little unsteady, his pulses beating a little more rapidly than usual. Could it be that he was excited? The critical moment had come. He knew that within the next% few seconds his decision must be made. If he were to retreat from the reckless course that he had meditated, it must be in the very moment of greeting Mrs. Maynard; but, granting that he made this choice, what acceptable excuse could he offer lor reading a note which he was morally

certain was not intended for his perusal, and accepting an invitation which it was equally certain had never been extended to him? This question which, strange to say, occurred to him now quite for the first time, produced a most paralyzing effect upon him, and for the moment deprived him of the power of speech or action. It might almost be argued in his defense that he was not responsible for what immediately followed, for as he stood there in this state of fascinated indecision Mrs. Maynard unconsciously turned the wavering scale, in which, nicely balanced, his line of action lay, by uttering his name in tones of welcome and holding out her hand to hjm cordially. It was a small white hand with % solitaire ring sparkling on one finger—he noticed that in a vague sort of way—and it rested in his hand as lightly as a snowflake. North realized then that in his moment of hesitation he was lost; he therefore gave himself up to an interesting study of Mrs. Maynard and a panicstricken wonder how best to adapt his manner and conversation to the peculiar situation in which he had placed himself. The first consideration was easily dis posed of. Accustomed to arriving swiftly at conclusions, he summed up Mrs. Maynard in one rapid glance. Age uncertain, something between twenty-five and thirty; height a little above the medium; figure graceful and willowy; hair pale golden, exquisitely fine and wavy; eyes large, dark and brilliant; features regular and delicately colorless; manner vivacious and slightly imperious. A little spoiled and willful, perhaps, but only delightfully so. Her gown was of black silk, with a profusion of fine white lace about the corsage, which relieved the somber effect and seemed to give a peculiar brilliancy to her eyes. That faint exquisite perfume like hot house roses, which he had noticed when he read her note, hung about her like an intangible presence. There was an indescribable daintiness about her that gave a peculiar charm to her beauty; yet with all this softness and beauty one could not

“HOW VERY KIND IN YOU, MR. NORTH.”

fail to perceive that she possessed some strong and decided points of character. Invincible pride and force of will—these two traits were plainly revealed beneath all the charm of a sweet and gracious exterior. • Had North been very susceptible to feminine attractions he might have lost his heart to Mrs. Maynard at first sight, as others had so often done. But a certain cold, flippant cynicism which he had been cultivating for the past few years, with considerable success, saved him from this fate. He had once loved a beautiful girl with all the strength and fervor of his soul, had believed in her with his whole heart, and had been trifled with—deceived. There was no danger that his heart would ever be captured again. Still Mrs. Maynard interested him, under the circumstances, and he therefore subjected her to his unobtrusive but critical observation. Their eyes met directly for an instant after their first salutations, and during that instant North fancied that he could perceive a swift and subtile change come over her. He could not have defined the change any more than he could have accounted for it. He only knew that a sudden little shadow flitted over her face, a sudden little chill came into her manner, a curious mingling of surprise, annoyance and perplexity took the place of the frank cordiality with which she at first greeted him. She seemed to lose her self-possession for a moment, and her first words, though evidently intended to be light and careless, were spoken with a nervous rapidity that quite betrayed her. “How very kind in you, Mr. North, to be so punctual!” she exclaimed, as she sank gracefully into a low easy-chair and waved him back to his seat. “I reaUy have not a moment this afternoon that I can call my own, but I thought I must see you if only to say two words. The ladies’ guild, of which I am so unfortunate as to be president, is to meet with me for a special session of closed doors, and already several of the members have arrived, so you see I shall have just five minutes to devote to you—or rather, I shall detain you only for that time. You understand, of course, why I sent for you?” with a swift, questioning glance at him, a slight trace of anxiety in her manner. North gravely assented and endeavored to look wise. “Of course,” he said to himself, with his usual facility for quieting his own conscience, “she sent for me because she wanted to see me. Isn’t that clear enough? Anyone might understand that!” “1 mean,” added Mrs. Maynard, with a curious effect of measuring her words with difficulty because of her usual habit of speaking impulsively and unguardedly, “you understand my—anxiety?” She hesitated again and seemed to be waiting for him to speak. As he could do nothing, however, but assent to her remarks with a wise, non-committal air, she resumed with sudden vivacity: “Were you very much disappointed last evening, Mr. North? I was so provoked when Williams told me that you had called. What is that very impor-

tant communication that you wished to make? I assure you I have been in a perfect flutter of curiosity ever since Williams gave me your message." Here was swift retribution, truly! North frantically regretted that moment of indecision that had been his undoing. Everything danced before his eyes for an instant as he dizzily sought in the recesses of his mind for some plausible means of extricating himself from this embarrassing dilemma. He had. gone altogether too far now to think of retreating precipitately and acknowledging the daring personation that he had attempted; there was positively no alternative but to face the situation coolly and make the best of it. “Oh, really, Mrs. Maynard,” he said, affecting great negligence, “Williams must have drawn upon his imagination a little, I think. To be sore, he may have fancied that my errand was very pressing, but, in fact don’t you know, it is nothing of importance, after all. I am sorry to disappoint you, Mrs. Maynard, but reaUy, I gave Williams no special message at all.” “Oh! Indeed. Then he probably misunderstood,” the lady rejoined, with a thoughtful air; but North nervously fancied that she was by no means satisfied in her own mind that he was telling her the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. “I was so confident,” she went on presently, “that you had received some important word from New York. Have you really heard nothing, Mr. North?” “Not one syllable,” declared North, solemnly, thankful for the ability to keep at least within the letter of the truth without compromising his safety. “That is very strange, indeed!” exclaimed Mrs. Maynard; then, after a thoughtful little pause, lasting perhaps five seconds, she added, gayly: “However, I shall not repine until I have greater cause than this. lam certainly learning all the bitterness of hope deferred; but what else can I expect, pray? You lawyers are such a tedious set, with your ‘red tape’ and ‘legal process,’ and strange and mysterious adjournments, and your thousand-and-one ingenious inventions to cause delay; really, to an uninitiated person like myself, it is simply marvelous how long a case can be dragged out after it once gets into the courts! No, Mr. North, don’t begin an eloquent defense of your professional guild; they don’t deserve it, and I have no time to listen, if they did. I had two distinct objects, aside from my natural curiosity about that very important communication which you now evince such a perverse determination to withhold from me, in asking you to call on me this afternoon. In the first place, I wish to remind you of the expediency of keeping from the major all knowledge of these new investigations that we are about to institute. You know the poor dear major’s peculiarities?” This with an inquiring elevation of the delicate brows, a deprecating curve of the delicate lips. North assented with two or three grave and comprehending nods, as if to say: “This is between ourselves and is perfectly understood. No further words are necessary.” [to be continued.]

WOKE THE SENTRIES UP.

A Spaniel Which Refuted to Recognize a Soldier In Civilian Attire. “Speaking of queer dogs,” said Mr. Lawrence, manager of the post trader’s store at Snelling, to a Pioneer Press man, “there was one at Fort Sully that aroused the interest and wonder of everybody in the post. He belonged to no one. He was not a bad-looking water spaniel, but appeared to know a thing or two. Every member of every company treated him royally, and he was continually around them. The minute any of his friends appeared in citizen’s dress the dog refused to recognize him, and no amount of persuasion could induce him to make up. It was often tried by the men for fun, but in every single instance the dog showed his teeth and trotted away. He seemed to have a particular affinity for the boys of Company A, and many a one has he saved from trouble. There was a certain guard post in the fort that was not looked upon as being particularly important, but you know how strict regular army officers are, and should a guard be caught napping it would go hard with him. At this post the dog would be found every night as regular as clockwork. He stayed right with the sentinel, and his presence often gave the soldiers an opportunity to catch a little rest. They could go to sleep during the late hours of the night, but the minute the old dog heard the least sound of footsteps he would scratch the guard roughly on the shoulder and wake him up in time to meet the intruder, be he officer or otherwise. Ido not know of a single instance where a sentinel on this post was caught napping, though the officers tried it time and time again. The sentinels on other posts did not fare half so well. Company A could not do too much for that animal and is caring for him yet, though I believe it is required that he be locked up at night. This was a sad blow to the men, for they were seldom very much fatigued from guard duty when the dog was with them.”

The Difference.

“Whoa there, I say, whoa, you brute!” The man jerked his horse savagely, pulliug him right and left for the simple reason that when he had left the poor animal a moment it had moved towards a spot of grass, which it began to nibble, when it was reined up by its angry master. At the same moment another man who had stopped his team opposite was lifting a dozen jolly boys and girls from his truck and dropping them gently on the grass. “Thank you, mister,” they chorused as, smiling, he drove away. Out of the goodness of his hearths had treated them to a ride. His neighbor vented his bad temper on his horse. The conditions of the men were parallels, but their souls we're as far apart as the poles. Smiles and scowl* indicate the moral temperature.— Detroit Free Press.

THE CURSE OF USURY.

I It Will Impoverish and Enslave Any People With Whom It Comes Into Contact. The widow’s mite spoken of by our , Saviour is supposed to have been a half* | penny. If that half-penny had been j put out at interest at 0 per cent and j compounded from the commencement of the Christian era until the present { time it would have amounted to the j sum of $51,200, 000,000,000,000,000,000,i 000,000,000,000,000,000,00 a The above j amount if in pure gold would make | fourteen solid globes of gold as large as ! this earth. From these illustrations it must be I perfectly apparent that usury or interest If tolerated and persisted in for any considerable length of time must destroy the present civilization and bankrupt the world. The question to be determined is, is it right to collect interest for the use of money? Is that one of the purposes for which money is created? If it is, and if the general welfare of the community will be promoted by the continuance of the present system of usury or interest then it ought not to be interfered with. But if it is not right, and if the general welfare of the people would be promoted by the abolishment of interest then it should be abolished, no matter how long it may have been practiced, or who may suffer individual inconvenience by its abolishment The pirate may have invested all his money in the construction of a vessel in which he proposes to carry on the business of piracy, but when we capture him we do not allow the fact that his all is so invested, and that he has no other way of making a living to influence our conduct in dealing with him. We know that piracyJls wrong and we not only inhibit further acts of piracy by him but we confiscate the vessel. Usury is condemned by the Bible. The word usury as used in the Bible means interest, it means increase, it means anything paid for the use of money. The distinction between interest and usury is a modern invention, an improvement by bankers and brokers on the law of God. The Bible is full of inhibitions against usury. I will quote a few of them. “If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as a usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. ” —Exodus, 22d chapter, 25. “If thy brother be waxen poor and fallen in decay with thee, then shalt thou relieve him. Yea though he be a stranger and a sojourner; that he may live with thee. Take thou no usury of him, or increase but fear thy God that thy brother, may live with thee. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury or lend him thy victuals for inI crease.”—Leviticus, 25th chapter, 85-80-87.

In the fifth chapter of Nehemiah it is recorded that certain of the Jews informed the prophet that their brethren had been charging them usury, that they had obtained mortgages upon ; their lands, their houses, their vinej yards and their olive orchards by virtue ; of which many had been dispossessed of their homes. Nehemiah called the usurers together and addressed them as follows: "I pray you let us leave off this usury. Restore I pray you to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive yards and their homes, also the hundreth part of the money, and of the corn, and the wine oil that ye exacted of them. Then said they we will restore them and will require nothing of them.” “Lord who shall abide in thy tabernacles, who shall dwell in thy holy hills? He that putteth not out his money to usury nor taketh reward agains the innocent.’’—Psalms 15,1-5. “He that hath not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from inequity, hath executed true judgment between man and man, hath walked in my statutes and hath kept my judgments to deal truly; he is just; he shall Burely live, saith the Lord God. He that hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath lifted up his eyes to the idolß,hath committed abomination, hath given forth upon usury, hath taken increase; shall he then live? He shall not live. He hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.”—Ezekiel 18, 8-9-12-18. The only time Christ ever manifested anger was when he found the money changers in the temple. He made a scourge of small cords, drove them out of the temple and overthrew their tables. From foregoing quotations it must be perfectly apparent that usury is condemned by the Holy Writ Not only was usury prohibited among the Jews, but to prevent the concentration of wealth in the bands of a few a law was promulgated by Divine command which provided that every fiftieth year there should be a year of jubilee, in which all debts should be wiped out, all lands that had been seized by the creditor should be restored to the former owner, all slaves should be set at liberty and every body given a fair and even start in the world again. Our modern bankers and money kings have managed to have this law, given by God to Moses, repealed, not by a new revelation, but by congress and legislatures controlled by them We will look in vain for a year of jubilee so long as the legislation of the country is controlled by bankers and broken. Instead of lending to their poor brethren without usury or increase their rule is, the poorer the brother the greater the interest demanded. That his necessity is their opportunity. Kitto, in his Cyclopedia of Bibical Literature, voL 2, page 802, in speaking of the inhibition against usury, says: “The Israelites were, however, permitted to take usury from strangers, .from the Canaanites, and other people devoted to subjugation. This was one of the many means they adopted for oppressing and ruining the Canaanites who remained in the land. After the return of the Jews from captivity they were required by Nehemiah to ‘leave off this usury,’ and restore to their brethren what they had extorted from them” In the early days of the Christian church, in fact until a comparatively recent period, usury was condemned by the church. It was not until a worldly

j and sordid interest became dominant in j the church that usury was tolerated. For the purpose of showing the position of the church on the subject of usury I quote from Schaff-Herzog’s Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, voL 3, page 2788, the following: “The fathers unanimously condemned the taking of interest Turtillion: Adversus Marcionem, 4-17; Cyprian: De lapsis; Ambrose: De bono mortis, 12; Augustine: Contra Faustum, 19-25; Jerome: Ezech, 6-18. The popes followed the track of the fathers; the canon law forbade, first the clergy, and afterwards every member of the church to take interest The penalty was for the clergy suspension; for the laity excommunication. Interest paid could be reclaimed not only from him who received it but also from his heirs. An oath never to reclaim back interest was not binding.” The private, municipal and corporate debt in the United States is over SBO,000,000,000. The interest on this debt at 6 per cent amounts to $1,800,000,000 per annum. This amount of money is taken from the wealth producers of this country every year under our present money system and handed over to the bankers, brokers and money kings for interest Unless interest can be abolished or materially reduced no power on earth can save the middle classes from bankruptcy and ruin. If interest could be abolished or transferred to the government, which would amount to nearly the same thing, this $1,800,000,000 would remain in the hands of those who produced it; it would soon enable them to pay their debts and redeem their homes from mortgage; it would soon lift them from indigence and want and make them prosperous and happy. But with a constantly increasing volume of debt, and a constantly diminishing volume of money there is no hope for the people. Then let us reform our money system. Let the government issue the money direct to the people, without the intervention of banks, and at a rate of interest not to exceed 2 per cent Let enough money be issued to enable the people to do business on a cash basis. Let us abolish interest in all cases, except to the governmebt on government loans and let the maximum of such interest be 2 per cent. With such a money system tramps would disappear from the land, debts would b? wiped out, want and destitution would be known no more forever, and the people would become prosperous and happy.— A. J. Utley, in California Farmer.

A PALLIATIVE ONLY.

Nothing lint Nattonnllam Can Cure the Evils Under Which the People Groan. Those persons who cry out “paternalism," whenever the people strike a blow in self-defense, are likely to feel badly over the McMahon bill for regulating the price of coal which has just passed to its third reading in the New York senate. The bill is presented as the outcome of an investigation by a committee into the Reading deal and possible remedies. The committee finds that federal legislation alone can deal with the matter effectively, covering as it does several states, but meanwhile it is thought New York can dosomething. The McMahon bill will require all persons engaged in the transportation of anthracite coal to be used in the state and all coal dealers in the state, to take out licenses, without which they are forbidden to do businesa The carrier’s license shall fix a maximum rate per mile to be charged for railroad transportation and the dealer’s license a maximum rate per ton to be charged for coal at retail, exclusive of charge for delivery. The board of railroad commissioners, which is to issue the licenses, will fix the maximum rates and revise them every three months. Not over $4.50 per ton is under any circumstances to be charged in New York city or Brooklyn. Fines, with revocation of licenses, are provided for breaches of the law. The coal people say that the bill is unconstitutional, and we should not be surprised if it were so. The state constitutions are drawn so strongly in the Interest of “vested interests,” that there is always a good likelihood that any measure for the relief of the people will be found unconstitutional. Considerable constitution tinkering of a radical sort is going to be necessary to prepare the way for nationalism. Meanwhile thn McMahon bill suggests certain reflections. Its drastic way of going at the trouble as if it meant to help the people without much regard to who got hurt, is in cheerful contrast with the average anti-trust law. At the same time the method is the wrong one. Instead of a system to check the extortions of private coal dealers while leaving them a monopoly of the business, municipal coal yards should be established to sell at cost, a necessary result of which would be that private coal dealers would go out of business. This distinction between attempted public regulation of businesses left in private hands and the direct public assumption of such businesses, represents precisely the difference between the empirical and Symptomatic remedies of the superficial reformer and the scientific radicalism of the nationalistic method which deals with diseases of the body politic by a constitutional treatment going to the root of the eviL The root of the evil in this matter of the coal supply extortion is private greed. The McMahon bill proposes a system of checks and balance to hinder and modify this evil principle while leaving it in force; the nationalist plan of municipal coal yards, supplemented as soon as possible by national management of coal mining, proposes to eliminate altogether the motive of greed by making the business a public one.—New Nation. —The ring politicians of both old parties are beginning to wonder “where they are at.” They were astonished beyond measure when Harrison appointed Jackson, of Tennessee, a rockribbed democrat, to the supreme bench; and completely paralyzed when Clevedecided to make Judge Gresham bis secretary of state. The populists simply smile at such things and remark: “We told you so There’s no difference between ’em. They’re twina”— Lincoln (Neb.) Alliance Independent i