Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 April 1890 — Page 7

FOR THE PEOPLE.

Republican tariff bill report SN THE HOUSE, raMII ' . * . Equitable Revision.—Tl»e interests of |lHthe Wage-Earner, the Manufacturer and BHrariner Protected.—Sugrur and Hides on ■the Free Hist Silk Industry to be En. A Reduction of *71,000,000, ■■The reports of the majority and minority the ways and means committee on the |Hriff bill were presented to the House on IHie 16th. The majority report begins with of the financial situation, and that the surplus at the end of Hie fiscal year will be $91,000,000, and after IHeducting the sum required to make pay|Hients on the sinking fund the net surplus |H receipts over expenditures will be $43,The estimated surplus of the next |Hscal year $43,569,523, which, with the of cash on hand and available, Wmt the revenue in the sum contemplated by bill, which is reported to be $60,936,936, payably more from customs, and $lO,*37,878 from internal revenue, or a total of ■71,264,414. H The majority report says: “The exact upon the revenues of the governs Hnent of the proposed bill is difficult of asThat there will be a subreduction, as we will show, ads Hnits of no doubt. It is not believed that H;he increase 6f duties upon wools and Rvoolen goods, and upon glassware, will Hiave the effect of increasing the revenues. ■That would, of course, follow if the imHjortations of the last fiscal year were ■lereafter to be maintained, which, howHsver, is altogether improbable. ■The result will be that importr■ticms will be decreased, and, therefore, the Hamountofrever.ua collected from these ■sources will bo diminished. In every case Hos increased duty, except that imposed Hupontiu plate, which does not go into ■effect until Julyl, 1891, and upon linen ■fabrics, the effect will bo to reduce, rather ■than enlarge, the revenues, because im■portations will fall off. It was the aim of ■the committee to fix the duties upon that ■class of manufactured goods aud farm ■produots which can be supplied at home, ■so as to discourage the use of like foreign ■ products and secure to our own people and ■ our own producers the homo market, be- ■ lieving that competition among ourselves ■ will secure reasonable prices to consumers ■in the future as it has invariably done in ■ the past. We seek by the increased duties ■ recommended not only to maintain, but to I enlarge our own manufacturing plants and ■ check those supplies from abroad which ■ can be profitably produced at home. The I general policy of the bill is to foster and I promote American products and diversifi- ■ cation of American industry. We have ■ not been so much concerned about the I prices of the articles we consume as we I have been to encourage a system of home I production that shall give fair remunera- ■ tion to domestic producers and fair wages I to American workmen, and by increased I production and home competition insure I fair prices to consumers.” I The committee admits that free trade or I revenue duties would temporarily diminish I prices, but argue that it would be at the I expense of the domestic products, which would be displaced, aud then prices would again advance and the country be left at the mercy of foreign syndicates and manufacturers. The report says: “Cheaper products from abroad to the American consumers mean cheaper labor at borne and lower rewards to the domestic pro ducer, with no permanent benefits to the consumers. Neither condition would prove a blessing to the United States. That country —is the least prosperous where low prices and low wages prevail. One of the chief complaints now prevalent among our farmers is that they can get no prices for their crops at all commensurate to the labor and capital invested in their production. Those who differ from us must believe that even further agricultural depression is deplorable, for no other consequence can result from their economic theories. They advocate cheap prices as the chief object of the industrial policy they commend to the country. This means permanently low prices for agricultural products as well as for manufactured goods. This bill is framed in the interests of the people of the United States ._ It is for tne better defense of American homes and American industries. “Ample revenues for the wants of the government are provided by this bill, and every reasonable encouragement is givdn to productive enterprises and to the labor employed therein. The committee believes that, inasmuch as nearly $400,000,000 are annually required to meet the expenses of the government, it is wiser to tax those • foreign products which seek a market here in competition with our own than to tax our domestic products or the noneompeting foreign products. “The committee, responding, as it believes, to the sentiment of the country and the recommendations of the President, submit what they consider to be a just and equitable revision of the tariff, which, while preserving that measure of protection required for our industrial independence, will secure a reduction of the revenue both from customs and internal revenue sources. We have not looked alone to reduction of the revenue, but have kept steadily in view the interests of our producing classes, and have been ever mindful of that which is due to our political condition, our labor and the character of our citizenship. We have realized that a reduction of duties below the difference between the cost of labor and production in competing countries and our own would result either in the abandonment of much of our manufacturing here or in the depression of our labor. Either result would bring disaster, the extent of which no one can measure. We have recommended no duty above the point of difference between the normal cost of production here, including labor and the cost of like production in the countries which seek our markets, nor have we hesitated to give this measure of duty, even though it involved an increase over present rates and showed an advance of percentages and ad valorem equivalents. We have not sought to make a uniform rate of duty Upon all imported articles. This would have been manifestly UDjust and inequitable.” The committee closes its argument upon the tari ff by a quotation from the 1 ast annual message of the President, and then pro coeds to discuss the details of the bill,' taking up first the general provisions intended to prevent frauds, such as the limitation of exemption from duty of

wearing apparel to the extent of 1500, the omission of the present provision for free entry of goods, wherein the price paid included the duty, and the protective clause relating in registered trade marks. The report next treats of the changes that have been made in tbe duty imposed on schedules of the existing law. Of chemicals it says that many not produced in the United States are placed on the free list to benefit the consumers—mainly manufacturers. The result is a remission of SS7O,OO!>. Earthen and chinaware remain without material change, but an Increase has been recommended on glasswaro to compensate for the high labor cost, and to prevent destructive foreign competition.

WOOL ANP WOOLEN SCHEDULES. In the case of wool the report cites Aril vs »ti evidence of the alarming decline I t production, and says that an advance of duties has been recommended* which, it is believed, will afford ample protection to wool fe im'iusr farmers. While the Senate bill li ved the duty on third class wool at 4 cents, the o imraittec places it at oents, an inir noon the belief that with the reioh *r>Tcflnilions and classifications, atitl the a idition of port chargw recom Lpvrdwl bv the bill, the difference will he Mly com pen sa tod. The committee be-

lieves that the United States should produce ail of the wool it consumes and that With adequate defensive legislation it will do so. The annual consumption is 600,000,000 pounds, and,with the protection afforded by the bill, the farmers of the United States will, at an early day. be able to supply this demand, by the addition of of 100 per cent, or 100,000,000 sheep to the present number. The bill seeks to stop the frauds which have been so shamelessly practiced in the past by importing wools ready for the loom under new names and forms to avoid legal duty. The report gives the increase of the duty on wool and the consumption given to the worsted clause of the existing law as a reason for increasing the duties on woolen goods to protect manufacturers. It says: “The necessity of this increase is apparent in view of the fact already stated that during the last fiscal year there were imports of manufactures of wool of the foreign value of $52,681,483 as shown by the undervalued invoices, and the real value in our market of nearly $90,000,000 —fully onefourth of our entire home consumption —equivalent to an import of at least 160,000,000 pounds of wool in the form of manufactured goods.” Exist ing law gives, it is said, a protection of 35 to 45 per cent. The bill gives a range of 30 to 50 percent. The Mills bill gave a uniform rate of 40 per cent.—more than was required on low grades and less than was required for fine grades. The advance in these fine grades will, it is believed, diminish importations and thereby reduce instead of increase the revenue, and transfer to the country the manufacture of from $15,000,000 to $30,000,000 of - woolen goods now made abroad. The average rate of the woolen goods schedule proposed, including the specific duty on the wool used and the manufacturers’ duty is 01.78 percent. The average rate at present is 67.15 per cent., but if the worsted decision had been made at the beginning of the year it would have been increased 10 per cent., and 15 per cent more would have been added if worsted yards had paid the rate they should. If these manifest errors in constructions of law bad been earlier corrected, the average rate last year would have been nearly 80 per cent. Of lumber the report says that any reduction of the light duties would have discouraged the proper care of our timber lands and have inured to the benefit of Canada without diminishing market ■prlcasr ' : ■ —■

PIG-IRON AND TIN. Of the metal schedules, the report says that no reduction can bo made in pig-iron or ore duties without detriment to existing industries, and the commiitce has not felt justified in interfering with the further development of our iron ore resourceSj now so promising in the Southern States. With regard to pig-iron it may be said that it is in no sense a raw material. It is a product of the highest skill, requiring for its manufacture large and expensive plants, the capital invested in which in our country to-day more than equals that which is invested in any other branch of our iron and steel industries. Pig-iron is made in twenty-five States in the Union. Itsmanufacture is increasing rapidly in many States, largely as the result of the protective duty, which has long given encouragement to its production. It has had a marvelously rapid growth in the Southern and Western States in the last ten years, and it is to-day the leading manufacturing industry south of the Potomac and Ohio rivers. It has been the most potent of all influences in the industrial rehabilitation of the South. The .‘report strongly sustains the increased duty recommended on tin-plate. FREE SUGAR - BOUNTY FOR HOME-MADE. Of sugar the report says: “The committee recommend that sugar up to and including No. 16 Dutch standard of color, and molasses, be placed on the free list, with a duty of 1 cent per pound on refined sugar above No. 16, and that a bounty of 3 cents per pound be paid from the treasury, for a period of fifteen years, for all sugar polarizing at least 85 percent., made in this country from cane, beets or sorgham produced in the United States. “In 1888 the consumption of sugar in the United States was 1,469,997 tons, or 53.1 pounds per inhabitant. Of this only 189,814 tons were produced in the United States, and 1,280,183 tons, or seven eights of our consumption, were imported. So large a proportion of our sugar is imported that the home production of sugar does not materially affect the price, and the duty is therefore, a tax, which is added to the price not only of the imported but domestic product, which is not true of duties imposed on articles produced or duties collected on imported sugar and molasses amounted to $55,975,610. Add to this the increase of price of domestic sugar arising from the duty, and it is clear that the cost of sugar and molasses consumed by the people of this country is at least $64,000,000,0r about $1 for each man,woman and child in the United States more than it would have been if no such duties had been levied, and the domestic product had remained the same. Even on the assumption that with proper encouragement we shall eventually be able to produce all, or nearly all the sugar required by our people, an assumption which your committee believe to be sustained by many facts, notwithstanding the slow progress made thus far in sugar culture in this country—this encouragement can be given much more economically and effectually by a bounty of 2 cents per pound, involving the expenditure of but a little more than $7,000,000 per annum, with the present production of sugar in this country, than by the imposition of a duty involving the collection of $55,975,610 in duties in the last fiscal year, not to mention the amount indirectly involved. When it is considered that this increase in cost, due to the duty, falls on an article of prime necessity as food, your committee are persuaded that justice as well as good policy requires that such an unnecessary burden in the way of a direct tax should be removed from sugar, and that the encouragement required to induce the production of sugar in the United Statesjshould be given through a bounty rather than by an import duty. “In prodding that not only raw sugar, but, also, sugar up to and including No. 16, shall be admitted free of duty, an opportunity is given for the free introduction of yellow sugars suited for family use —an arrangement which will secure to our people sugar at the lowest prices existing in the markets of the world, while even imported white refined sugar will be subject to a duty of only 1 cent per pound.”

AGRICULTURAL AND KINDRED PRODUCTS. Coming to agricultural products, the report says the committee has given months of investigation to the existing conditions of agricultural and kindred matters. It says: “That there is wide spread depression in this industry to-day cannot be doubled. Every remedy within the scope of practical legislation known to your committee has been recommended in tbe proposed measure to meet the urgent requirements of the situation. The enemies of tbe protective system have no word of criticism for the real causes of agricultural depression, no suggestion of relief from the real burdens which are weighing it down to-day; but, seizing the present as a favorable time, they solemnly charge that the decline in our market is solely due to the tariff. They ate pleased to ignore the fact that one of the purposes of a protective tariff is to hinder a still larger importation of foreign protluce, and thus save the market from still greater depression. But your committee, sensible to the importance of this industry, prompted by the'single motive to lift it to the highest level of profitable employment, believe that they offer in t(ie bill ail toe relief which tariff legislation can give to it A critical examination of tho subject will show that agriculture is suffering chiefly from a most damaging foreign competition in our home market. The increase in importations of agricultural product* sitae 1650 has been

enormous, amounting from $40,000,009 to more than $356,000,000 in 1889. The ‘world’s market,’ to which the advocates of ‘tariff for revenue only’ inyite the farmers of this country, is to-day crowded with the products of the cheapest human labor the earth affords. All over the old world there is a rush of their surplus to that market, and it is such a contest as this that free trade would allure American agriculture. With the foreign grain market under the sway of such oppressive competition, with the foreign cattle and pork market depressed and obstructed by various ruinous measures of restriction, with foreign agricultural products crowding our home market, your committee have recommended an increase upon agricultural products.” With a view to increasing the number of gainful occupations open to the farmer the committee has recommended a bounty to the growers of silk. Reference is made in the report to the successful experiments in silk culture of the Department of Agriculture, which, it is said, fully warrant the belief that the industry is entirely practicable in many of the States. As a duty of $1 a pound would be required to protect the American silk reeler, the committee has decided that so high a duty would embarrass the silk weaving interests without sufficient reason and to secure the industry as speedily as possible, offers the necessary differential or a bounty of $1 per pound, or about 20 per cent.protectioiron reeled silk. The report says: “To produce our annual importations of reeled silk will require 14,000 basins, and give work to over 20,000 persons in the different branches of the industry. To produce tithe cocoons necessary to supply this silk will give temporary but remunerative employment to thp families of half a million farmers every season.” To encourage the production of cocoons and give direct encouragement to the producers the committee has also provided a bounty of 7 cents a pound on fresh cocoons r and these bounties are—to continue, for ten years. This „ bounty, based on last year’s production, would have amounted to but $3,000 on cocoons, and less than one twelfth that sum on silk.

Of the internal revenue sections the committee, after reciting them, says that it-has recommended the repeal of all stat utes imposing restrictions upon farmers and growers of tobacco, so that they will sell with freedom. In conclusion, the report says that the advance of duties on agricultural products would increase the revenues if the imports continue to be as large as during the last year. But as they are for the most part articles which this country can produce to the extent of our wants, the increased duty will reduce importations so that the revenues will not be increased, and our farmers will hold their own markets. The same result will follow in other cases of increase, and, where the revenne is in special cases increased, the increase will be far less than is indicated by a computation based on the theory tnat the importations will continue as large as under lower duties.

SUPERFICIAL SURVEY.

A paper in Canton estimates that 75,000 people die in China every year by Are and flood. A wash of equal parts of glycerine and lactic acid will remove moth and freckles from the face. Colonel Ingersoll says “epithets are so cheap that you can make money on lies at fifteen cents a hundred.” The Indianapolis News: “It is only a question of time when the wisest of us will make a foolish break.” - The steamship Savannah made the firs! ocean voyage in July, 3519, sailing from New York to Liverpool in twenty-six days. Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson Butler, the artist, will paint an eviction scene. She has gone to Ireland to study the surroundings. When one is fatigued and sore from much walking, it is very refreshing to bathe the feet in warm water and rub with extract of arnic& The Alexandrian Library was in Alexandria, Egypt It is said to have contained 100,003 valuable books (manuscripts.) It was burned A. D> 610. There are a dozen factories In Amsterdam kept busy night (and day making genuine old spoons, knives and forks for idiotic American tourists. Andrew Carnegie having foOgdedJVgCuU* braries in all the places he made his money, has started- to build a mammoth hotel at Braddock, to be occupied solely by his employes and their families A silk handkerchief, so often recommended for wiping spectacles or eyeglasses, is not good for this purpose, as it makes the glasses electrical, and causes the dust to adhere to them. The Russian government has ordered the planned great railway line across Siberia to be begun. When the line is completed it is estimated that ’.the tour of the world in fifty days will be feasible The Russian government will attempt, to lift two English steamers which, were sunk off Balaclava during the Crimean war. it is believed that in one of the vessels is a chest containing 9300,000. King Leopold, of Belgium, speaks and writes English with ease and accuracy. He never lets a Sunday pass without writing an autograph letter to his friend and ally. Queen Victoria. Whenever he travels he takes with him his confidential English attendant, Mr. Charles Murray, who has been in his service nearly ft quarter of a century. It is related of Bishop Potter that he was once taken to task by a few of bis denominational brethren on the charge of exhibiting a conceit of himself at varianoe with the spirit of humil'ty. “It is not conceit,” said the bishop, with that ponderous bearing that silenced opposition, “it is not conceit, brethren; it is the consciousness ol superiority.” The advent of a lot of ballet girls of Barnum and Baity’s circus in Bridgeport, Conn., has caused two corset factory girls to loose their situation a Desirous of emulating the high kickers they practiced during lunoh hours and were surprised by

the shocked foreman. He dismissed the offenders with the remark that “no kickers wane wanted them" Sir Juliah Pauncefote and Secretary Blaine have become warm friends. Tb y liked each other from their first meeting and further Intercourse has strengthened their regard for one another. Sir Julian haa even gone so far as to read Blaine*! “Twenty Years of Congress.” Whatever may come between them diplomatically they will always be wen disposed toward each other. There are allowed at the United Naval Academy at Annapolis one naval cadst foi each member or delegate of tbe Uiited States house of representatives, ore for Uh District of Columbia and ten at large. Thi president appoints the ten at large ard IL one for the District of CoiumMu Ttu course of naval cadets Is six years, the la>: two sf Which must bo spent at roe. Can fiidutes must be between fourteen ant eighteen years of age, physically sound, well fo.mad and of rooust wustitudoe The pay of a naval cadet is SBOO a yet !.

WASHINGTON.

Ex-Secretary Whitney will be pushed for the Democratic nomination for President. \ Sbme time ago Treasurer Huston caused an experiment to be made. He secured the services of a man to commit amateur burglary. In seventeen seconds the man drilled a hole in the vault containing the $250,009,000 of paper money, and in exactly sixteen minutes he had a hole made large enough to admit his body. This exhibit scared the appropriations committee, and in about five minutes a bill drafted by Huston, making an appropriation for the building of new vaults, was approved.

| The tariff bill was reported to the House on the 16th, and referred to the Committee of the Whole. Again hides have been iplaeed on the free list and so has sugar, but in the latter case the committee has adopted a provision looking to othe payment of a bounty of two cents per pound on the domestic product. These changes have been communicated to the Democratic minority members, and oas -corrections (are necessary in the report the document, lit is said, will be delayed in their presentation to the House until late Thursday {afternoon. It is understood that the sugar [men have little confidence in the continuity of the bounty, and they therefore proJtest against the change. The duty on sugars above and including 16 cent t duties standard, it is said, is fixed at two-fifths of a cent a pound; grades below that are td be admitted free; This satisfies neither the sugar cane nor beet-sugar producing States. Representative Martin, of Indiana, on behalf of the minority of the committee on {invalid pensions, submitted a report on the {Morrill pension bill on the 16th. The report (Criticises the age qualification of the bill, as being neither responsive to public de mand nor in compliance with the requests ■of the veterans. It seems, says the report, that the bill is simply the outgrowth of •some real or supposed necessity to give iwhat is not asked by the survivors of the jwar, instead of granting them what they have asked for and expect. The minority urges that the bill be amended to conform to the popular wishes of the-Union veterans ; that the age qualification be eliminated iand the limit of service be made not to jexceed sixty days. Senator Cameron has introduced a service pension bill which {has been approved by the Pennsylvania Service Pension Association. It provides, that all persons who served in the late war ishail receive a service pension of $8 a 1 month, and in addition a per diem pension of 1 cent for every day’s service. Widows! of these persons shall be entitled to a pen- : sion of sl2 a month. !

The Senate and House Conference Committees could not agree on how silver certificates shall be redeemed. It is more than probable that two bills will be reported. The House Committee on Rivers and Harbors, Thursday, completed the river and harbor appropriation bill. The total appropriation is a little over $20,000,000. Among the items for harbors are Michigan City, Ind., $50,000; Calumet, HI., $20,000; Chicago, $100,000; Waukegan, Hi., $35,000. For the Ohio river, $20,000 may be used for the harbor at Madison, Ind.; for the futu of the Ohio river, $60,000, and for the Indi ana chute, $15,000; Wabash river, below Vincennes, continuing work on lock and dam at Grand Rapids, near ML Carmel 111., $60,000; Calumet river, $50,000; Illinois j river, $190,000; Kaskasia river, SIO,OOO. For the construction of the Illinois and Mississippi canal, to connect the Ilfi. nois river at a print near the town of Hennepin, with the Mississippi river at the mouth of Rock river, together with a branch canal, or feeder, from said Rock river to the main line of said canal, to be constructed on the route located by the Secretary of War, and to be eighty feet wide at the water line and seven feet deep, the locks 170 feet in length and thirty feet in width, and to have a capacity for vessels of at least 2,800 tons’ burden.

FIVE SOLDIERS WOUNDED.

Deadly Encounter In Harlan Comity, Ky., j With Outlaws. A special from' Harlan Court House, Friday, says: A deadly fight occurred this morning at 1:20 o’clock, seventeen miles east of here up in the Black mount' ains, between a detail of the State troops, consisting of sixteen privates; Lieutenant Milton and Sergeant Pullian, and about thirty outlaws, who were fortified in an old barn. Five of the soldiers were wounded. It is not known how many of the: outlaws were killed, as they still have possession of ‘he barn. Corporal Blanton was sent in after reinforcements and> knows but pittie, as he left immediately after the firing began. The troops have the barn surrounded, and it will be impossible for those on the inside to make their escape, and the only two roads which lead from the place of section are cut off by pickets, who are Instructed to allow no one to pass toward: town, as it was thought best to keep tba news of the conflict from the people about here until after the reinforcements had reached the place. I ■ e A great fight is in progress between Jtbe Knighte of Labor and the Federation of Trades, which must culminate in ar short time in a complete disruption of the two labor organizations here unless a compromise preached. The Federation of Trades insists on the adoption of the card system end the Knighte aa bitterly oppose this plan. Already strikes have been inaugurated by the workers on buildings where Knights of Labor are employed, and a remarkable spectacle is presented of K. of L. men and non-union men working against the Trades. Every anion man has notified the contractors that the card jsy stem will be inforced by May 1, when the two great organizations will lock horns. The Federation is much the ostronger, numerically now, hot the Knighte of Labor claim to have the better discipline. Jnet new all heading trade la paialyaod.

EDUCATIONAL.

The Best Arrangement for an Ideal Conns of Study—Specific Training for Special Pursuits. - ~—*——— Opinions on Educational Topics by Educators and Teachers In all Sections of the Conntry. The Coming School. The future can be predicted only from the progressions of the past and the visible tendencies of the present. The history of educational thoughl ' furnishes us all the foundation principles for the coming school, and all possible edneationai ideals to choose ot build our own from. It also yields u? examples, in abundance, of bad ot good methods, or short-lived and enduring institutions. It has given us, in Jroebel’s work, the beginnings of a philosophical training by the state; in Pestalozzi’s, some splendid suggestions for the next stage of public education: in the work of specialists, the means of systematically continuing the subjects commencing in the course of previous mind-training; in the schools of Athens, types of the final processes in general schooling; in the professional and trade schools of later times, a means of special training for pursuits. This completes an ideal course of study. It is arranged as follows: ——— 1. The kindergarten, providing a comprehensive rudimentary training for all the elements of character. j 2. The primary school, Continuing this training; establishing clear concepts of all familiar objects; exercising the more complex mental powers; connecting related things in memory; fixing habits of study, and teaching the three “R’s.”

3. The secondary school, gathering correlated facts into their several departments of science; cultivating the special gifts of individuals; teaching, with each science and art, the literature that belongs to it; necessarily conducted by specialists. , 4. The tertiary school, for the deeper study of the classics, arts, and sciences, and the higher cultivation of the logical, critical and rhetorical powers. 5. The special school, in which some i profession or other industrial occupa- ; tion shall be thoroughly learned. If it is true that the whole boy goes to school, moral and manual training must accompany mental trailing in all ! schools. If it is true that the mind is a 1 unit, the same conclusion follows. If it is true that we act from motives, I moral training is a school necessity. If it is true that all knowledge is related, ! all the powers through which knowledge is acquired must work together. The educational thought of the present is developing a true notion of j the importance in mental growth of ! the individual concrete concept. It occupies a central place in thought, being the product of sense-action and the basis of mind-action. It cau safely become our next fetich, since of such are the stepping-stones to even true progress. In its worship the teacher need not lose sight of anything good, for all lines oi| growth lead to it or from it. Even physical exercise, manual training, and ethical culture may be included in the processes of concept building, which is the chief legitimate work of the primary school.

The most formidable obstruction ip the way of the coming school is our habit of placing young and inexperienced teachers in charge of primary classes, where breadth of thought, definiteness of plan, and skill in execution are infinitely more needed than in the subsequent work. To make one’s self thorough in a single branch of study, with sufficient general intelligence to see and show the dependence jof that br' ch upon others, is the task | of the specialist in the secondary school proposed. It is indeed a difficult task, requiring the patience and devotion of genius. But most every human being has a natural genius for some one thing; and. given the requisite training, there would be no lack of specialist teachers. Far higher in the scale of genius is his who can, while planning a day’s work for a little child, have and hold in view the whole of that child’s character and destiny; and, if to plan is easier than to fulfill, what shall be said of the skill that shall faithfully carry out in daily, hourly detail, aims so broad and deep and high? With inexperienced young girls in our lower classes, it is quite impossible to condnct education in accordance with any known law. Even in the higher classes, under the tuition of competent teachers, true principle cannot be applied, because there is no fonndation, or a very poor one, unless the pupil has received some training at home. This is the secret of the “cram” so complained of. To continue the practice of placing the weakest teachers where tne strongest are needed is the greatest pedagogical error of our day. —Journal of'Education.

Educational Notes. Intellectual athletics are needed daily. No teacher has all the wisdom of the profession. A new setting for old methods is always welcome. Do not ask the same of slow children as of the quick. The world never needed a good thing more than now. Do not delnge yonr school with information on any subject in which yoo are a specialist. There will be prose enough in the life of every child rs you pat into it all the poetry yon can.' Edward Rowland Hill: If in any case the salary of a teacher seems too high, it is not the fanlt of the salary. Give a business turn to all vonr arithmetic work in the way of writing numbers, as well as in the way of combining them. Prof. N. S. Shaler. 'Harvard University: Teachers mnst frequently be turned awav from their calling for the refreshment which they need. None of the great theories are adapted to the work of any teacher without special modification. In the nature of the case thev are general, while fdl good teaching is specific. Boston herald: School gardens, — L'e.. gardens for practical instruction in rearing trees, vegetables, and fruits, are being added to nearly.all the publlo nod private schools of Austria. There

are now already 7,769 such In existence in the Austrian monarchy alone, Hungary not included. They also comprise botanical museums and appliances ; for beekeeping. s R. W. Stevenson. Columbus, O.: Every course of study for a public school should be constructed to meet in thcary and in practice tbe requirements for right and useful living. Supt. J. B, Monlnx, Hastings, Neb* In order to secure a genuine nationality, we must have a national system of education, based on the broad ground of experience and good sense. Eva D. Kellogg. Sionx City, Iowa: Let us improve the numberless opportunities to bring the outside world into the schoolroom; to flavor every day’s work with the woodsy taste of outside life. State Supt. A. S. Draper. New York: If there is any one thing that the school work of this country needs, it is that no person shall be permitted to teaeh -who has not received som&practical training. Mary E. Burt, Cook Connty Normal School: The theory that textbook literature is all-sufficientin the education of .children is more mischievons than that textbooks should be entirely dispensed with. r~ James Mac Alister, Philadelphia, Pa.: No thinking mind, no intelligent instructor, can withstand the witness which the kindergarten bears against formalism and tradition, and in favor of freedom and progress in education. The teacher’s tone of voice and inflection in the ordinary work of the schoolroom has" tnore influence upon the elocutionary style of the pupils than the direct teaching of reading. The schoolroom tone forms the habit rather than the reading lesson tone. Ohio teacher: What effect does teaching have on you? ...JPtoag_.it make you selfish? Does it make you domineering and dictatorial? Are you sorry when school opens and glad when ft closes? If you feel so you had better stop. You have likely missed your calling. Prof. N. S. Shaler, Harvard University: After each vacation the child returns to his work with a mind disused to the tasks of the schoolroom. Indulgence in the half-intellectual existence of vacation destroys the habits of study which it has cost so much pains to inculcate. Joshua H. Davis, Somerville, Mass.: Childen never conceal their joys, but are often reticent concerning matters that mar their happiness, and are inclined to eudure in silence much that overshadows their lives. Hence the liability to overestimate the pleasures of childhood, and to forget that sorrows also are incident to that period. Supt. J M. Berkey, Somerset County, Pa.: Let us retain the veterans in the teaching service so long as they stand ? n the front rank of progress and keep pace with the spirit and needs of our schools; but if they are not successful, not willing to advance in the profession and to increase their efficiency from year to year, then let them step down and out. r Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, Boston: Never before has there been witnessed so prevailing an interest throughout our whole land, in every variety of education,—common, industrial, and collegiate,—as during the last few years. But history, discussion, and elaborate addresses have yet accomplished the needful results. A dense cloud of illiteracy overshadows large parts of our land. We hardly dare tQ anticipate the extent of illiteracy which! the census of the next year may* reveal. Supt. A. C. Goodwin, Owensboro, Ky.: Looking into the desk of some of the teachers, the most conspicuous thing is disorder, and extending the observation to the pupils’ desks, rags, papers, apple cores, aod confused piles of books, will frequently be seen. In other rooms we see no ink-stained desks, ho old dirty rags, do apple cores, no scattered pieces of paper, no confused heaps of books ready to tumble out at the slightest jostle. Here "‘we find work neatly and expeditiously done, without hesitation and without erasure. SupL J. B. Monlnx, Hastings, Neb.: Not until our graded and high schools are governed by the finest ability that our normal schools and colleges can furnish, and our conntry schools are controlled by those who have enjoyed special training, not less than may* be afforded by our high schools; not until our common school, the connecting link between the home and the state, receives the attention demanded by its importance as the foundation of onr educational system, and until that interest is manifested in providing teachers who appreciate the importance of their work, will the state realize the full fruition of her labor, in nobility of character and general intelligence of her children.

Rehabilitation of the Buffalo.

“Buffalo” Jones of Garden City, Kas., is debating whether to run lot Congress or to give all his attention to the restoration of the buffalo.' He now has a herd of about 100 animals. His plan is to secure from tbe Government a large track for a range in No Man’s • Land, where he may engage undisturbed in the work of recreating the American bison. In ten he estimates that the animals will Damber 2,000, and in ten more years 25,000. If j, the gentleman can restore to the world the buffalo it will pay him to give up his political aspirations and devote all his time to bis herd. The fame of the man who saved tbe buffalo from extinction will be lasting, while a Congressman is known only while be can send out seeds and pamphlets from Washington, postage free.— Linceln Journal.

The Italian Army.

During the last two years the Italian army has been increased by 30,000 men, 200 field guns, and 6,000 cavalry. Never was the army so numerous or powerfully organized as at present under the attempt to keep up with Germany's jnilitary step. Bey. Thomas R. Bacon, sou of the late Leonard Bacon, has become a Professor in tbe University of Gaft* font!*.