Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 September 1886 — Page 3

DEMOCRACY’S BAD RECORD.

Senator Harrison’s Review of the Administration’s Blundering Course. Arraignment of the Party Which Has Demonstrated Its Inability to Do Anything Right Speech of Hon. Ben Harrison, of Indiana, Delivered at Indianapolis, Wednesday, Sept. 15.

Fellow Citizens—This is what we are wont to call an “oft year" in politics. It is taken for granted by many that because neither a President nor a Governor is to be elected, the election and its results are of small importance. This is not true. The House of Representatives of the Fiftieth Congress is to be chosen, and the Fifty-fifth General Assembly of the State of Indiana. The men who are to be the administrators of those vast sums of money collected from the people for local and State uses are also to be selected. The interests involved are great, and should enlist the active and intelligent interests of every voter. An off year, indeed, has this advantage—it is favorable to ouiet discussion and free thought—local interests and issues are not overshadowed. The voter is not stampeded by brass bands, bonfires, and torchlight processions. What I shall say to-night and throughout the campaign will be addressed to the judgment, and not to the passions, of men.;' What I shall say of individuals will have rela-> tion solely to their public acts; what I shall say upon public questions will be spoken in a spirit of toleration toward those who hold other views. In the brief remarks submitted by me at our recent State convention, I said that for twentyfive years the Democratic party has in national affairs been a party of promises and pretensions, of criticism and obstruction. It has appealed to the country, not upon the basis of things done —it begged for oblivion as to these I —but of things to be done. For the first time, since the weak and affrighted Buchanan laid down executive control, we are in a position to contrast Democratic promises with Democratic performances in the executive branch of the Government. In the campaign of 1884 it was charged by Democratic leaders that the Republican party had become corrupt, and had, in certain important particulars, mismanaged public affairs. DEMOCRATIC PROMISES. Ido not think we can open this campaign more profitably than by carefully comparing the Democratic professions and promises of the last campaign with the performances of President Cleveland and the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives. On the Ist day of September, 1884, the Democratic campaign was opened at Indianapolis by a speech from Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks, the candidate of his Sarty for the Vice Presidency He has since een laid to rest in our beautiful cemetery, with imposing honors. Itis party mourn in his death an acknowledged leader. His utterances, therefore, may be accepted as an authoriative expression of the complaints urged against Republican administration, and of the reforms to which his party stood pledged. Mr. Hendricks said: “In a speech recently made at Richmond Mr. Calkins, the candidate for Governor, boasting of the achievements of his party, made the statement, which I adopt without examination, that the Republican party found an empty Treasury, and now it has a surplus of four hundred millions. ‘That,’ said Mr. Hendricks, ‘is an enormous sum of money—more, I believe, than half the paper currency of the country. Estimating our population at fifty millions, it is 38 for each man, woman, and child. That great sum of money lies idle in the Treasury. If it had been left with the people it would become the willing and active servant of labor; it would stimulate and strengthen old, and develoi> new industries ;it would restore to the merchant his market, and give the farmer good prices, again.’ ” Of course, it is not true that Major Calkins ever stated, or meant" to state, that there was a surplus in the treasury of four hundred millions. He Spoke in round nuinbors of all the funds in the treasury. But I appeal to friends in both parties whether the most potential charge against the Republican party in that campaign ,s%as not that there had been accumulated in the treasury a large and needless surplus, the hoarding of which exercised a depressing influence upon the business of the country. The suggestion that this so-called surplus amounted to 38 per capita of our population was so cunningly used by some unscrupulous orators as to excite the expectation that a distribution upon that basis would be promptly made the moment the treasury passed under Democratic control. If ever apa ty was distinctly and solemnly pledged to any public duty, if ever a trust was accepted upon condition, the Democratic party was pledged by its leaders in the West to reduce the surplus in the treasiiry. On the 4th day of March 1885, Grover Cleveland, himself a New-Yorker and imbued with the most extreme New York views of finance, appointed as his Secretary of the Treasury Hon. Daniel Manning, and as Treasurer Hon. Thos. Jordan, both, also, of New York. Both of these gentlemen camo to the exercise of their public duties from, behind the counters of national banks. Ido not say this to their prejudice, but much has been said by Indiana Democrats, and is already being repeated in this campaign, about Republican ‘‘subserviency to the money power,” and yet the latest platform expression of that party indorses the administration. I must supiiose they like this feature of it, and I mention it for their edification; The low hi foxce when I’reaideut- Cleveland was inaugurated, and still in force, relating to the surplus was Section 2, of the act of March 3, 1881, ana reads as follows : 1 ' “The Secretary of the Treasury may at any time apply the surplus money in the Treasury ,_ not otherwise appropriated, or so much thereof as he may consider proper, to the purchase or redemption of the United States bonds.” Under this law the Treasury had been administered by Republican Secretaries. It will be noted that the discretion vested in the Secretary is unrestricted. Secretary Manning was therefore at liberty at once, by large and repeated bond calls, to pay out and put into the channels of trade and commerce every surplus dollar iii the Treasury. It is certain that the Democrats ,of Indiana and of the entire West regarded the administration as pledged to this duty. I must believe that they still think that the policy of hoarding a large surplus, not needed to meet th * current obligations of the Government, or to preserve its credit, is a bad policy, and one that tends to cripple the industries of the country. And yet the policy of this administration has been steadily and very largely to increase this surplus, and the Democratic leaders of Indiana have in their platform this year asked the honest and thinking voters of the State to- - indorse that policy. Is it possible that these leaders suppose that the people have forgotten their pledge to distribute this surplus, made only two years ago? In 1881, a Republican Secretary of the Treasury called and paid §121,000,003 of Government bonds; in 1882, 3173,000,000; in 1883, 386,000,rex', and in 1881, over 370,000, whereas, in the first sixteen months of President Cleveland’s administration onlv 358,131,000 of the public debt was paid. The average payment for the last four years by Republican Secretaries of the Treasury was 3153,000.000 every sixteen months, as against 358,000,000 paid in the same time by Secretary Manning. The Treasury statement shows that on July 1, 1886, the total cash in the Treasury was 3402,917,173 34, or nearly 3100,000,000 more than the amount assumed by Mr Hendricks to be in the Treasury in September, 1884. The form of the monthly Treasury statement was changed by Mr.’Jordan, and comparison with the former statements cannot be made without understanding two or three things, iln the now form of statement the fractional silver, now nearly §30,000,000, is not counted, as formerly, us a port of the available cash on hand, and the daily interest .upon the whole debt is charged up each" day ag admit. the cash on hand, which was not done belora. It must also be remembered that the surpdfiSf is to he ascertained by first deducting all funds held tor. specific uses. The Morrison resolution expressly recognized that, in addition to the. other large sums held for such uses, 3100,000,000 was to be held as a redemption fund for the greenbacks. Now, upon this basis the surplus in the Treasury available for the payment of bonds was, on . Dec. 1, 1884—the first statement after Mr. Cleveland's election—Blo,ooo,ooo. Not desiring to embarrass the incoming administration, the surplus was allowed by President Arthur to increase. and when Mr. Cleveland was inaugurated had reached $20,060,000. But this, surplus was not thought by SecretoryMannfng to be enough. Bund calls were suspended until December, 1885, when a Call for 310,000,000, payable in February. 1886, was made. At that time the surplus in the Treasury had increased to 880,000,000, and on Aug. 1 last this enormous suplus was still maintained—the bond calls made not being sufficient to make any inroad upon it. Mr. Warner, of Onio, a Democrat, said in the House that from March 31,1885, to June 30,1886, the surplus, in the Treasury had been increased „ nearly 362,000,000. My Democratic friends, when you voted in November, 1884, a Want of confidence in the Republican party upon this question, there was a surplus of 310,000,000

to give a vote of confidence to Mr. Cleveland, who is obstinately holding a surplus of $80,000,000. Do your platform-makers carry your consciences? This policy of hoarding was accepted by the Democrats in Uongress as the settled policy of the administration. So slow to pay out the Treasury surplus, so greedy to hoard, so fearful of the silver coinage act, was the Secretary that an attempt was made by Democratic leaders in the House to take from him that discretion which a Democratic House had never attempted to deny to Republican Beeretaries. On the 14th day of July, 1886, the following resolution, introduced by Mr. Morrison, of Illinois, passed the House of Representatives; Ketolved, etc., That whenever the surplus or balance in the Treasury, including amount held for redemption of United States notes, shall exceed the sum of $1)0,090,060, it shall be, and is hereby made, the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to apply, suph excess, in sums not less than ten millions per month, during the existence of any such surplus or excess, to the payment of the interest-bearing indebtedness of the United States, payable at the option of the Government. The surplus or balance herein referred to shall be the available surplus, ascertained according to the form of statement of the United States Treasurer, of the assets and liabilities of the Treasury of the United States employed on June 30,1886. This was a direct, emphatic denunciation of President Cleveland’s administration in its most distinct and prominent policy. It said: We cannot trust you with the discretion wo have safely confided to Republican administrations; we must put the constraint of law upon you, and leave you no discretion When this resolution came to the Senate, Mr. Fairchild, Acting Secretary of the Treasury, in the absence of Secretary Manning, was called before the Committee on Finance of the Senate to give his views upon it. He said: . “ Congress has always heretofore permitted the Secretary of the Treasury to decide at what times and for what amount bond calls should be made. * * * It has been left to the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, he being always on the watch and in a position daily to get information to guide him in the exercise of this discretion. I am not aware that this custom has been harmful to the country under former administrations, some mistakes may have been made, but on the. whole the country has been benefited. Of the exercise of this discretion Under this administration and by the present Secretary of the Treasury, I prefer not to speak. * ♦ ♦ Its only effect as to him [the Secretary] is to take from him a discretion which has always been his; hence the fundamental idea of this resolution, so far as the Secretary of the Treasury is concerned, is that his judgment is not considered worthy of trust. ” The Committee on Finance of the Senate amended the resolution so as to allow the Secretary of the Treasury, if he thought it necessary,to keep on hand a working balance of $20,000,000, in addition to the 3100,000,000 referred to in the resolution, and to allow him a discretion in an extraordinary emergency, not now existing, to suspend the bond calls, reporting his reasons therefore at once to Congress. The resolution, as finally adopted by both houses, was as follows r “Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives, etc., That whenever the surplus or balance in the Treasury, including amount held for redemption of United States notes, shall exceed the sum of 8100,000,000, it shall be, and is hereby made, the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to apply such excess, in sums not less thou ton millions per month, during the existence of any such surplus or excess, to the payment of the interest-bearing indebtedness of the United States payable at the option of the Government. The surplus or balance herein referred to shall be the available surplus, ascertained according to the form of statement of the United States Treasurer, of the assets and liabilities of the Treasury of the United States employed on June 30,1886. Provided, That no ball shall be made under the provisions of this, resolution until a sum equal to the call is in the treasury over and above the reserve herein mentioned. And provided further, That the Secretary of the Treasury, in his discretion, may have in the treasury, over and above the foregoing sums, a working balance not exceeding 320,000,000; and whenever, in the case of any extraordinary emergency not now existing, and when, because thereof, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Treasury, the public interests shall require it, ho may, by written order, postpone the further call for the , payment of such indebtedness for such period of time as shall be necessary to maintain the public credit unimpaired; and that Buch postponement, and the reasons therefor, shall be reported to Congress within ten days after its next meeting, or immediately, if Congress be in session.” In the House more than two-thirds voted in favor of the resolution as amended. It went to the President for his approval on the 4th day of August, 1886. His attention had already been called to the discussion upon the resolution, and he had ample time to have returned it if he had been so mindbd. Since the adjournment of Congress he has filed with the Secretary of State his objections to the resolution in the following words: “This resolution involves so much, and is of such serious import, that I do not deem it best to discuss it at this time. It is not approved, because I do not believe it to be necessary, and because I am by no means convinced that its mere passage and approval at this time may not endanger and embarrass the successful and usefuloperiitions of the Treasury Department and impair the confidence which the people should have in the management of the finances of the Government.” It is thus made clear that if Congress had remained in session long enough to compel the President to return the resolution to the House it would have come back with a veto message. If the resolution, as finally passed—giving, as it did, to a Democratic Secretary of the Treasury some small part of the full discretion that Republican Secretaries had possessed—met President Cleveland’s disapproval, it is clear that the original resolution, which left him no discretion, would have been vetoed. And yet Gov. Gray, in his recent speech at Logansport; said of resolution : "The Republican party, true to its servility to the money power, emasculated it of all its jefficient feature.-, so as to make it useless for the purposes it was intended.” Whose “servility to the money power” was it that hoarded this surplus and held It with a death grip? A Democratic President—a Democratic Secretary of the Treasury did that. They do not pay it out because they will not, though the present law suggests and authorizes it. And yet the platform indorses and commends them. Governor Gray’s assault upon the Senate passes over that body—his charge of “ servility to the money power” rests at the White House and at the Treasury. Indiana Democrats who believed with Mr. Hendricks that a large surplus in the Treasury was hurtful to alfpublic and private interests are asked in this campaign to indorse the policy of President Cleveland, which in this respect, as in almost every other, was out of harmony with the teachings of that State leader whom they so much loved and so implicitly trusted. If Mr. Hendricks was right in saying that a distribution of the Treasury surplus would bring fair prices for farm products and good wages to the laborer, we can fix the responsibility for 75-cent wheat and the hard times which have come upon our workingmen. But our Democratic friends, in 1884, supplemented their complaint that we had too much money in the Treasury with the further suggestion, apparently a little paradoxical, that there was not enough—that some of it had been made away with. Slanderous and vague imputations Afponthe integrity of those who were disbursing public money as a class were freely indulged. They did not know who, but somebody—they did not know where, but somewhere. They professed their inability to give a bill of particulars until the books were turned over to them. Well, the books have been turned over, and the cash has been counted. The balances have been verified, and the result has been an unwilling but magnificent tribute to the integrity and intelligence with which the public affairs have been managed. The malicious charges against the integrity of Republican officials have been disproved. The instances of defalcations have been rare, and the per cent, of loss exceedingly small—smaller than under any Democratic administration. An attempt has been mode, in a recent publication issued by the Democratic congressional committee, to support the slanders of the last campaign. It is only the propping of one lie against another. All of the balances against public officers, as shown by the Treasury books, : nne 1861, are aggregated, and are called defalcati'-<«• Now, a very large part of these balance* represent an honest difference of opinion betaken the disbursing officer and the accounting officdS-<ff Treasury. The officer has paid out the money for ifyublie use, believing that the law authorized the Auditor or Comptroller decides otherwise,'ftpd will not allow the credit, and the payment Is stopped. There has been no stealing, no corrupt motive in these cases. No responsible officer of the Treasury has said or will say so. But without attempting to separate this class of balances from those which involve edrruptton, and taking the aggregate of $12,800,000 lines 1804", "as stated in this "campaign document, the loss is only about one-tenth of 1 per cent, of the money collected and disbursed. But it must not be forgotten that Andrew Johnson, though elected as a Republican, did not remain such.—did not select his appointees from that party. If we deduct the losses during his term, the loss is only about 90 cents on the 31,000, while during President Jackson's administration the losses were $7.52 on the $1,0.0, during Polk's $4.08, and under Buchanan $3.81. I am not one of those who believe that the line which divides the honest men from the dishonest is a political line, but I do take great satisfaction that the average

faithfulness, integrity and efficiency of the civU service has been so high under our administration of public affairs. It will be time enough to reproach us when the Democracy have given us one with as small a per cent, of loss. But as long as it continues true that the aggregate losses of the nation in twenty-five years, as stated by our adversaries, is less than one-third as much as was stolon from the city of New York in three years by a Democratic ring, the Republican party will still insist that the turning put of Republicans and the putting in of Democrats is not necessarily, or even probably, an elevation of the standard of official integrity. Tne Indianapolis Sentinel, on the 26th day of January, 188), said of the men who were receiving official recognition from the party in Indiana: “With due respect, we would suggest to the powers at Washington, and all others concerned therein, that the time has fully come when a halt should bo called in the business of appointing unworthy characters to office in this State. “In our opinion, the seeming attempt to rival the Republican party in making and maintaining bad appointments to office is an unworthy ambition, and the sooner it is abandoned the better. “The honest Democratic masses of the State have already been sufficiently humiliated—the grand old party of the people damaged quite enough, surely,’ for a halt. “With becoming modesty, wo would venture to suggest to the forces inspiring and control- ’ ling appointments here that there is no lack of honest, competent Democrats in our State. In view of this fact, we confess to our inability to make out any sufficient reason for the selection and appointment of thieves, highwaymen, bribers, dead-beats, and the like. Give honest, competent Democrats a chance.” I do not believe that any honest, candid Democrat in Marion County would say that man for man, or in the aggregate, the changes in the official list here have resulted in securing a higher standard of intelligence or integrity. I do not believe that there is one such who will say that the public is better served. I know that many are saying that in one great department the service is execrable. Next in the schedule of Democratic complaints was the charge of extravagance. They pledged themselves to reduce expenses and to inaugurate an era of economy and simplicity. In the course of the speech from which I have quoted, Mr. Hendricks said: “During the period I have mentioned the receipts and expenditures aggregated a sum so enormous that I find myself unable to express them in words qr figures within ordinary comprehension. I will take, for illustration, the year ending June 30, 1883. The receipts into the Treasury were above 3398,000,000, and the ordinary expenditures were above $265,000,000. ” No doubt Mr. Hendricks believed that the pledge of economy made by him to the people of Indiana would be redeemed by the administration of which he was to become an honorable but not an active or influential part. At the beginning of every session of Congress a a book of estimates is submitted by the Treasury Department, showing the amount which, in the opinion of the heads of departments, it will be necessary to appropriate in order to conduct the public business for the coming fiscal year. The estimates for the year ending June 30, 188 >, submitted by Secretary Mannino showed the total appropriations asked for by Aio administration to be $406,583,447.24. But Congress did not give all that was asked. Instead of appropriating $406,000,000, as it was requested to do by this re-,, form administration, it appropriated $383,915,676.11, or $118,000,000 more than the startling sum which so excited the criticism, and even the suspicion, of Mr. Hendricks in the expenditures for 1883. Senator Allison, of lowa, who has been for many years the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, and whose accurate knowledge of such matters is known to all his associates, in a recent speech said: “Appropriations of public money are not a sure index to the public expenditures. If they were, a comparison of the last few years would make a most favorable showing for the Republican party. The total aunual appropriations for 1883-4 were, in round numbers, 3232,000,000; for 1884-5, $235,000,000; for IB<s-6, $219,000,000; and by the Congress just adjourned, for the current year, $265,000,000, in round numbers. So that the appropriations for this year are $30,000,000 more than the highest sums appropriated by the Government for ordinary operations of the Government during the last four years, and $45,009,000 more than the appropriations made for the last fiscal year. It has been stated that the ordinary expendituresof the last fiscal year were, In round numbers, 318,000,000 less than they were for the fiscal year ending June 30, 188). This is true, but is easily accounted for by a few items of expenditure of an extraordinary character made in 1885, and entirely omitted from the expenditures of last year. Of this sum, $3,000,000 was expended for rivers and harbors, there being no appropriation for rivers and harbors last year; $1,000,000 for the repayment of deposits made by individuals for surveying public lands; $3,500,000 for Alabama claims judgments ; $1,500,000 on account of the sinking fund to the Pacific railroads; $1,090,090 to the New Orleans Exposition; and $1,500,000 on account of repayment to importers. So that, of this $19,500,000, no portion of it can be credited to economies introduced by the new administration into the public service. The expenditures for every purpose for 1885, including the items I have named, and including indefinite and permanent appropriations and the sinking fund, amount to $351,000,009 in round numbers, whilst the expenditures of 1886 of every kind, including the sinking fund, amount to $330,000,000 in round numbers, or a reduction of $21,000,000, which I have already accounted for, except $1,500,000 which was a reduction of the amount of the sinking fund for 1886, as compared with the amount of that fund in 1885. This is the state of the account comparing the last year of Ptesident Arthur’s administration with the first year of Mr. Cleveland’s administration. The appropriations for this year are $54,000,000 in excess of the expenditures of the last year. This, in brief, is the net result of the experiment of an economical Democratic administration of public expenditures as disclosed by eighteen months’ experience, $31,000,000 more than was expended in 1885, and $54,000,000 more than was expended in 1886. I make this comparison, not for the purpose of showing that this administration has been guilty of profligate and wasteful expenditure of public money, nor for the purpose of showing that their extraordinary demands made upon Congress for ihcreased appropriations this year were intended to put in their hands public money to be used for improper and wasteful purposes, but more to show either the ignorance or malignity with which they pursued the Republican party through all the years of the past, with reference to its methods of expending the public money. But it may be said that this increase of appropriations is in part accounted for by the river and harbor- bill, and by the increase in pension appropriations, but if both of these items are deducted, the appropriations this year for the expenses of the Government are $15,000,000 in excess of the appropriations for last year. A table showing the items of increase and decreasq was presented by Senator Allison to the Senate*, and I give it here. Increase over ReductionTitle of bill. 1886. from 1886. Agricultural......... $68,925.00 Army $260,995.29 Diplomatic and consular 121,140.00 District of Columbia 98,367.79 Fortifications 725,000.00 Indian: 216,249.86 Legislative..., 722,362.33 Military Academy 12,216.61 Navy..,. .... 2,086,936.75 Pension 16,075,209.00 Postoffice..- 664,823.25 River and harbetf... 14,473,900.00 Sundry civil .... 4,421,746.91 Deficiencies .T;.... 9,034,025.07 *540,536,431.11 *57,439,501.70 Miscellaneous 2,822,351.80 Alabama claims... 5,769,015.28 * ~. Increase of naval \X establishment.... 3,500,000.00 T0ta1552,627,798.19 $7,439, .501.79 ♦Net Increase above, $33,096,929.33. Net increase made by appropriations tor 1887 over 1886, $45,188,296.41. It is worth while, perhaps, to mention in this connection that the Secretary of the Treasury, inhis annual report to "Congress, estimated the revenue for 1887 at 8315,000,000, to which is to be added the estimated postal revenue for the year, $47,542,252.64, making the total estimated revenue for the year $362,542,252 64, which is, in round numbers, $44,090,000 less than the appropriations asked for the expenses of the Govern-ment-during the same year. A CHANGE WANTED. s But among the specious pleas put forward by our adversaries in the last campaign none was perhaps more alluring than the demand for a chilhCe'-*ites£lesS»fi a Biß an American characteristic. Well, thecMfi«£ cam ®' and ‘ outside of the favored few who *" x r eeded . in getting their hands into the public crib, 1 J 8 man who has found relief from anywftiJ’J supposed trouble? Has work been more piemJyL or wages better? Have farm products broueht better prices ? You know the contrary is true. The year nas been full of business disturb- 1 ances and labor troubles. Money that would,, as Mr. Hendricks said, have stimulated trade has been hoarded, and the threat of tariff changes has hung like a cloud over our industrial enterprises Our Democratic friends are now inclined to withdraw the suggestion that a change is a good thing; but I beHeve the people, in view of broken pledges and disa<>pointed hopes, will make at least once more. But if the hopes of individual benefit from the election of Mr. Cleveland have been disappointed, has any gain come to the nation?

Has its honor or its credit been lifted up? Have we any more reason to be proud that we are Americans? He* our diplomacy gained us increased respect? Has patriotism and loyalty been recrowned ? No, my countrymen. The flag has dropped to halfmast in honor of a man who was not only disgracefully unfaithful to a civil trust before the war, and a rebel during the war, but who, from a safe haven in Canada, sought by his hired emissaries to give our peaceful cities to the flames. An rebel was named to represent this country at the court of St. Petersburg, unmindful of the fact that the Czar was on our side during the rebellion. The courts of Europe are canvassed to find a place for a man who had declared the Government he was to represent “a bloody usurpation.” Our fishermen are badgered In Canadian waters, while the peaceful retaliatory powers confided by law to the President are unused. Bo general has been the condemnation of our diplomatic dealings with Mexico that our distinguished Secretary of State is said to believe that the whole country has entered into a conspiracy against him, while the Jocky Club in Mexico has debauched his special envoy. The dying appeal of Mr. Tilden was not enough to arouse the patriotism of a Democratic majority in the House to make an appropriation for our coast defenses. The modest bill for new war ships—carrying s6,soo,ooo—was, by decree of the Democratic steering committee, reduced to $3,500,00), under a threat that it should not otherwise have consideration. Wounded and deserving soldiers have been expelled from public office upon secret charges, and their appeals to know the character of the charges have been treated by an arrogant head of department with contemptuous silence. Civil service, a reform inaugurated under a Republican administration, was confided by the votes of its special champions to Democratic care. It has not thrived. The law has in many of the public offices been shamefully evaded and set at naught. The reform is in the rapids. Its great danger is that those who claim to have its destinydfi charge will stamp as genuine the article which this administration has put before the country. If the system of removal upon secret charges is civil-service reform, then the country will have none of it. Governor Gray speaks of this policy as a mistake—it was a crime. It is a hopeful sign that in’ our own State our civil-service friends still know the genuine article and have the courage to expose this base imitation. The reform can be saved if its special champions are not more anxious to justify their choice in 1884 than they are to save it. Mr. Cleveland has won greateminence—l will not say fame—by his extraordinary exercise of the veto power. He has vetoed more bills than all of his predecessors, from Washington down. I must defer to another time a discussion of this feature of his administration. But as we have been challenged to examine his vetoes of pri- } vate pension bills, I will refer to one. Bailie Ann Bradley was the widow of Thomas J. Bradley, who served ass a private in Company D, Twenty-fourth Regiment Ohio Volunteers, from June 13,1861, to Oct. 19, 1865. He was pensioned on account of a shell wound in the back, received at Murfreesbore, Tenn., Jan. 2, 1862, and died Oct, 21,1882. The Commissioner of Pensions decided that his death was not “entirely attributable to his military service, and that his widow could not secure a pension under existing law. She was seventy years of age, as helpless as an infant, without means of support, or friends able to assist her. Four Of her sons followed their father to the war. ' Two of tfiem were killed upon the battlefield, and the Other two returned, one with the loss of an eye, the other of an arm. The bill gave her a widow’s pension, sl2 a month. In his veto of this bill Mr. Cleveland said: “No'cause is given of the sol-, dier’s death, but it is not claimed that it resulted from his military service, her pension being asked for entirely because of her needs and the faithful service of her husband and her sons. This presents the question whether a gift, in such cases, is a proper disposition of money appropriated for the purpose of paying pensions. The passage of this law would, in my opinion, establish a precedent so far-reach-ing, and open the door to such a vast multitude of claims not on principle within our present pension laws, that I am constrained to disapprove thb bill under consideration." Does this case need any comment? Would the question have been raised in any other mind whether what the President was pleased to call a gift was proper in such a case? A gift of sl2 per month, and in exchange for what? What gift had she made to her country? Two sons that she had nursed at her breast lying in unknown graves upon distant battle-flolds. Two more, her only ones, came back from the war maimed in limb and crippled in their ability to maintain the mother that bore them. A husband upon whom she had leaned for support returned to her no longer the stalwart helper and defender he had been, and is called before her to the grave. She is alone. Cannot a great, rich Government like ours take care of this patriotic woman? Must she go to the poor-house or die of want? May not a nation do out of its great resources what an individual, not lost to a sense of justice, would do under like circumstances? Our President seems to think that only, a policeman's cJiiU or a fire engine stands related to the public safety and the substantial welfare of the people. Those finer spiritual influences, patriotism, courage, heroism, he would probably call sentimental and not substantial. Patriotism saved this country from ar revolt that the policeman’s club could not quell; it extinguished in blood a flame that water could not quench; and the nation can afford to honor it,, and relieve the burdens it brought upon its heroes and their families.

A Geometrical Proposition.

There was quite a group of men at the Palmer Hous£ gathered about a portly, puffed-up arrival from Alaska a few nights since. He held his audience silent and fascinated. No one had ever been to Alaska, and as he bad he could.fie all be liked about it, and no one dared gainsay him. It was after he had bored his friends to death for over an hour, when a slab-sided, sharp-eyed tramp sidled into the rotunda, with a hungry eye to a stray dime or nickel. The Alaska arrival, much to his disgust, held the attention of the crowd, and it nettled him. “I’ll fix him,” he muttered finally, after listening to the wonderful recital of far northern wonders for a few minutes. The tramp walked abruptly up to the Alaskian. . me, my friend,” he said, “you seem to be pretty well posted.” —Alaska smiled complacently, - “I should remark so. I’ve traveled enough.” “Exactly. Well, how are you on mathematics?” “I am fully read, sir, on any branch of learning.” . “Ah, you are! Well, will you answer me a little geometrical problem?” The crowd was breathless now; the tramp looked vicious; Alaska a trifle flushed. “Certainly,” replied the latter. “Very well. Now, then, suppose you wanted to build a doorway that was eight feet high, four fe*et wide, an,<l ten feet four inches from the base of the floor to thfe top of the oval frame, how would , yon determine the radius of the arc of the circle?” Alaska hemmed, flushed, and looked uncomfortable. The crowd believed him downed, and hoped "to see him squelched. “Well,” he said finally, jangling a pocket full of coins with cool assurance. “I’d hire some carpenter to build it and let him find out.” . “Oh, you would. Well, I wouldn’t. I d ‘divide the base by the sectional cireumference of the width, estimate the diameter of the doorway proper, and subtract the radius of the top fiom the hypothenuse of The are of tire circle. ” Andas the tramp coolly walked off. the Alaskian sneaked softly away, the crowd murmured something about “a natural geometrician,” and not one of them realized that the tramp’s old chestnut was a ridiculous and impossible proposition in mathematics. So wise is the world! And “the hycoterion revolves around its own non-consistency,” as the tramp chuckled as he sped on his way. It was one of the genus knocked at the door o£ a a kindly looking w ßC^^ne JW hungry. I W/bb:.,-" iiothing*v<l<*a week back.” ’ IVW poor soul." said the geod woman, moment, ami I ll fiml somHhing And she gave him an old porous closed the door before he had thanking her. Felt goods, if you sit down on theni—bent pins and carpet tacks. Principal tools about a modem news-' paper office—the ho-ax.

POPULAR SCIEBCE.

In nine years oaken piles at Mierea, Spain, have take on the appearance of stone coal. j The flatness of Denmark is somtthing remarkable, a recent geographical discussion having shown that the loftiest mountain of the country is only 085 feet high. Two human vertebra found at Sarasota Bay are regarded by Prof. Heilprin as conclusively proving the existence of prehistoric man in Florida at a very remote period. A spring balance for measuring terrestrial gravity was exhibited at a late meeting of the Royal Society at Edinburgh by Sir W. Thomson. The apparatus is so sensitive that it will indicate a variation of a 40,000 th part in the force of gravity. The tensile strength of ice at fiftythree degrees F. is given by Herr Friehling, of Konigsberg, as between 145 and 233 pounds per square inch. Its compressive strength, found by cubes of over two inches at the same temperatare, varied between sixty-one and 204.8 pounds, a mean being 148 pounds per square inch. A recent photograph of the Pleiades shows 1,421 stars, while a carefullydrawn chart, prepared with about the same instrumental power, gives only 825. Many small objects seen in the photograph do not appear in direct-eye observations. The importance of the accurate photographic method of starmapping -is indicated by the fact that the hand-drawn chart gives ten stars which have no existence. It is a well-known fact thaWhe zero point on thermometers gradually alters, so that the instrument in time is liable to become inaccurate. Prof. R. Weber finds that the readily fusible alkalilime glasses are best suited for making thermometer tubes. Pure potash glass with a high content of silica gives the best results. It is a curious fact that when the glass contains nearly equal amounts of potash and soda, the zero point varies much more than when one of the alkalies is present in decided excess. Astronomical text books place the sun’s density at a little more than that of water, but in a recent lecture Mr. J. Norman Lockyer, the English astronomer, expressed the opinion that the sun really has not more than one-eighth the density of water. If this view be correct, the sun is simply an enormous globe of glowing gas, possibly liquid at the center in consequence of the enormous pressure existing at that part. Solar temperature is a matter at which men can only guess as yet, and scientific estimates range from 3,000 to 18,000,000 degrees. The ancient prejudice against eating just before going to bed is strongly and justly condemned by modern science, lexperience having shown it to be unfounded. There are exceptions to the rule, but few people are injured and many positively benefited by a slight repast before retiring. A glass of milk and a biscuit or cracker is better than any hypnotic drug to put one to sleep, and in most cases may be taken without fear of “nightmare” or any other form of distress. Going to bed “on an empty stomach” ia a good way to invite sleeplessness and ultimate derangement of the digestive organs and general health. Pretty Women and Serpents. An absolutely lovely woman is seldom seen, but this pleasure came to me the other day, and I regard it as a sort of reward for my loyalty to the King and the Faith. She looked like a flower—and she was beautifully dressed. She dazed me so that, like a man, her gown seemed to me to be green and white—the one the shade of the lily leaf, the other the pure white of the lily. Something on her head was of lilies of the valley; it is fair to suppose it was a bonnet, but to my delighted eyes it appeared a crown. It was rather commonplace to see my divinity drink claret cup, but when it is remembered that it might have been ale, there is a sigh of thankfulness. A beautiful woman ought to get down on her knees twice a day and give thanks for her loveliness, for, excepting a baby, she is the only thing in the world which can give pure, absolute pleasure merely by existing. Beauty in woman makes me remember the sensuous description of the beauty of Salammbo—that book has caused a revival of the serpent fever, and the direction to a modiste to fit a satin frock skin - tight and cover the body with jet scales forces conviction that numbers are innoculated with the remarkable desire to appear as one of the first families of the world. For it is probable that the serpent was a family man ; they generally are. The news- , papers say that Alma Tadema is going to paint Mary Anderson as Salammbo. Can an artist use a wax candle as a model for the sun? Mary Anderson as Salammbo! Who could be Salammbo ? Ten years ago Bernhardt could have been, for, even if she lacked the beauty, she was capable of the feeling. Our Mary is charming to point a moral, but as Salammbo she could scarcely be the ideal of Falubert. Read the book, if you are fond of fine descriptions, buj| the tragedy condensed in the chapter is so awful that you shiver horror nt the cruelties that plauded and practiced by inei), wliich even little delight in seeing an tortured. The room with

INDIANA STATE NEWS.

—Fort Wayne was recently visited by » severe wind-storm, accompanied by a most terrific fall of rain and hail. The hail stones were the largest ever known to have fallen in that vicinity- The damage to window glass was extensive, it being estimated that over five thousand panes were broken. The rain-fall was so great that the sewers could not cany away the water, and in several portions of the city they burst, tearing up the streets. The Wall of the new St. Mary Catholic Church was undermined, and will have to be pulled down. The severe gale which accompanied the rain did not do any damage other than twist off a few shade trees. —An Indianapolis barber, who went to Lafayette six months ago, dropped into a saloon during the recent encampment, where he found the bartenders asleep. Thinking that somebody might rob the place, he concluded to take charge of the cash-drawer and deliver it to the proprietor himself, and at the same time play a capital joke on the liquor dispensers. Unfortunately for him the bartender awoke just as he was leaving the door, and spoiled his fun by having him arrested, and now a jury with n<j sense qf humor, has given him a year m the penitentiary. —Until the recent rain in the Northern part of the State, many of the marshes, heretofore covered with one to four feet of water, had become dry, and were taken possession of by innumerable rattlesnakes, vipers, and other poisonous reptiles. In some sections they were so plenty that hunters could not reach their favorite shooting-grounds without incurring great risk. It is also said that the snakes have eaten nearly all the young waterfowl, as fast as hatched, and that none of the native birds are left for the fall sportsman. —Three young fellows of Centerville got drunk last week and concluded to have a little fun with one of their number. A mock trial was held and he was sentenced to be hanged,which they proceeded to do by putting a cord around his neck, throwing one end over the limb of a . tree, and then swinging him off. The cord was expected to break, but didn’t, and as his companions were too drank to release him, he came very near strangling to death before sober assistance arrived and cut the string. —A man employed on a farm twelve miles from Evansville, got up during the night in his sleep, went to the barn and attempted to commit suicide by hanging, but through mistake tied a rope around his feet instead of his neck, and then jumped from the loft. The sudden stopping at the end of the rope awoke him, leaving little breath in his body and almost scaring him to death. His cries aroused the household and he was rescued. He has been a somnambulist for years, and suicide is always a hobby, but not when awake. —A negro minister who has been preaching at New Paris and Palestine for several months, has gone, under a cloud. His wife discovered some letters from another woman of Palestine, couched in most endearing terms and referring to their proposed elopement. Going to Palestine, where afie was officiating, she exposed him . to the congregation, which at once denounced him, and he and the girl disappeared the next morning. —Wm. H. Brown, of Allen County, is the banner convict in the northern prison. He has just been returned to that institution for the seventh time, after a vacation of six months, and is said to be one of the most incorrigible criminals in the State. He rarely stays out of prison longer than the interim between the session of court, and always commits an offense entitling him to "a sentence of from one to three years. —Some time ago a human skeleton, with a fractured skull, was discovered under a tree in the vicinity of Hoover’s Station, Fulton County, and now the place* is said Ltozbe haunted by the fanner tenant of the skeleton, Some of the wiseacres of the neighborhood are trying to couple the story ~ of the mysterious disappearance of a bookagent several years ago y'ith .That of the newly-found bones. v/ • —A Knox County man was out at work with a clover-huller for a few days, and on his return his house was empty, wife, children, household goods, and a team of mules gone. He found a brief note from j his wife informing him that she had “gone 1 with another fellow; you may look out so« ‘Hilles, let his wife go. |||||| —A man has discovered on his faHH| near Paoli, a ledge of very tine yeilo« ’* : peiiitW building purposes. It is said to be texture than the Bedford stone, /Vi little harder. It can be , a>id is quarried. •J • * Jha