Rensselaer Republican, Volume 24, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 August 1892 — TOPICS OF THE TIMES. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

TOPICS OF THE TIMES.

The State Debt From 1872 to 1891 Which the Democrats Created. > £ The Report of the Senate Committee on TV*x*e and Living Shows McKlnleyiem to Be a Good Thing and Other Timely Topics Discussed. DEMOCRATIC FINANCIERING. £ The Exhibit it Makes on the State Debt Daring the Past Twenty Years. Indianapolis Journal. The following shows the indebtedness of the State of Indiana from 1872 to 1891, inclusive, and the increase of the same during the years specified: Fiscal year ending Oct. 31, 1873. Foreign debtkWi...» 173:896.12 Domestic debt. .. 3.722.016:15 Total debt Oct. 31. 1878. .$3.10 >'906.2: Foreign debt Oct. 31.1873..L........$ 9W,'J30.12 Domestic debt Oct. 31, 1873. 3.904.78122 Total debt Oct. 31, 1873 $4. 398,813.34 Foreign debt Oct 31. 1874«. .11,172.755.12 Domestic debt Oct *L 1874 3.904.783.22 Total debt Oct et 1874 853777.533.34 Foreign debt Oct Si. 1875.81,(93.755.12 Domestic debt Oct 34, 1875........4... 3,904.783.22 Total debt Oct 31, 1875 t 5.003.563.34 Foreign debt Oct 31. 187011.097.755.12 Domestic debt Oct 31, 1874 Total debt Oct 31, 187855,002,538.34 Debt 0ct31.1877 ~ 1 ~— Remains 5ame55,002,538.34 Foreign debt Oct 31. 1878„.81,093,396.12 Domestic debt Oct 31,. 1878. 3.904,783.22 Total debt Oct 31, 1878......... ..14,998.178,34 Debt Oct. 31. IS 9 r \ Remains 5ame*:........54,998,178.34 Debt for 1880 remains 5ame54,198,178.34 Foreign debt for the fiscal year end- ■' ingOct 31. 1881$ 971,8iJ5.12 Domestic debt.-..i.... 3.904,783.22 ' Total debt Oct. 31.' 18811t874,408.34 Debt of 1882 remains 5ame,54,876,408.34 Foreign debt 1883..-.$ 607,825.12 Domestic debt 4,244.783.22 Total debt 188354,852,608.34 ./Foreign-debt 1®4.-.,........™.^. U ..$ 607,55>,12 D0me5tic...*4,944,783.28 Total State debt Oct. 31, 185454,876,608.34 Foreign debt Oct 31. 1885.... .sl-.t(8.535.12 Domestic debt Oct 31, 1885 4,804.783.22 Total State debt 18®........?.7J.r;\56?0Af05.34 There was added to the public delit <rf the State during the year ending Oct. 31, .1885, the sum op $1,160,000as follows: New temporary loalf.. 8600,000 New State-house temporary 10an... 500,000 Total. 11.160.C00 Foreign debt '8651,701,825.12 Domestic debt.... 4,304,783.22 Total debt Oct 31, ’8658,006,60834 Foreign debt 1887, $2,041,825 12 Domestic debt 4,388,783.22 Total debt '87... .J.;. . .$6,430,608.34 Foreign debt ’BB 2.381,825.12 Domestic debt..-. 4,388,783.22 Total State <m>t.-$6, 770,608.34 Foreign debt ’89..58,046,615.12 Domestic 484,000.00 TotSkl ...,.«8,540,615,12 The increase in the foreign debt of $3,905,000 and the decrease in the domestic debt of $3,904,783.32 was caused by the non-negotiable school fund bonds 1 to 5 being refunded and the proceeds oMhe same distributed to the several counties in the State, in ■ccordance with act passed by the Legislature. Not increase in ’B9 „«...$1,770,000.00 In ID the debt remained the same.. 98.540.6t5.12 In ’9l the foreign debt wa558,346,615.12 - Dowifctic—-

T0ta1...,•8,830,615. 13 In 1887 it became necessary to borrow $340,000 with which to pay interest on public indebtedness, due April 1, bonds due April 1, 1892. were Issued for that amount bearing 3 per cent, interests In 1888 a similar loan was again _.negotiated ($340,000) with which to pay interest, which falls dye April 1, 1893. ' In 1889 bonds for the same purpose (370,000) were issued (temporary interest loan), which becomes due April 1, 1894. ' . In 1891 a similar loan (temporary interest loan) of $300,000 was again made, with which to pay interest on rblic indebtedness fallingdue March 1896. This loan was made tlie same year in which the State received from the United States Government the direct tax refunded of $719,144.03 — making thus an actual increase of $1,019,144.03. It will be seen that the entire indebtedness of the State, both foreign and domestic, in 1882, amounted tO 84,876,608.34 And that within nine .years, towit: On October 31, 1891, the indebtedness has increased to the enormous sum of f •#,830,615.12. Or very naar four million dollars. The annual interest on the indebtedness of the State at this date is as follows: > — ■ Tie interest o* foreign debt... ’„..5M0.125 Interest on domestic debt.... 34.9U0 Total annual Interest •384,335. The foilowing exhibit shows amount of interest paid on the State's bonded indebtedness for ten years, from 1882 to 1891, inclusive: - MM «290.865.34 MB— . 391.01846 MM 385,114.99 M85—.... 8M.873.44 MMA, 196.02.00 MW ... 1 5439.4 M 58 I*BB™.-... 346.2 M 19 MM. 377,1.-'4.09 MN 274,074.68 M9l , „ 279.129.91 Total amount paid In ten year5...•3,062,971.68. And the debt is increasing. M'KINLEYISM is a good thing. ttlaaarea Increase of Salary and Cheaper Goods Washington Special. t Attention has been called to the report of the Finance Committee of the Senate on the relations of the McKinley act to cost of living and to wages. That report, when completed, w'll be an important factor in the campaign, and deserves more

than the slight notice it has received. In March. 1891, the Senate Committee on Finance undertook an investigation's to the effect of the .McKinley tariff upon retail prices and wages. The committee desired that there should be no reAson to question the integrity of the facts which should be presented as the result of this long and expensive investigation Accordingly, while there was no expectation that the members of the committee representing different parties would agree upon the pftljtical, or even economic bearings of the faets ascertained, all were desirous that the foots should be beyond dispute. The task of superintending the work of collecting and tabulating tins 'great mass of statistics was placed in the hands of Corrpll D. Wright, the Commissioner of Labor, while Dr. Roland C. Falkner, professor of statistics in the University of Pennsylvania, was selected at the statistician of the committee. /To him was given entire charge of The work of analyzing the statistics Collected and the ascertainment of results.—These results are of a most character, The Democratic

members of the committee will proJjably undertake, jn a minority re(dport, to make some deductions which will be to their noli ~— committee has chosen to present the facts collected by the experts stripped of all partisan coloring. These results are of themselves sufficiently striking to prove what Republicans and protectionists have always maintained, that, when the facts can be accurately ascertained, it will be shown that the protective system increases the wages of labor and at the same the cost* of living. « SOME OF THE RESULTS, The results are certainly made clear by this report. - The maih body of the work has been completed, so that nothing which remains can in any way affect the conclusions which have been reached. The second part of |he work which has yet to be eom ; pleted is a collection of data relating. to the course of wholesale prices and wages during the yeare from 1840 to 1891. The following in - brief are some of the results which the experts of the Finance Committee present for ThVcbTi&TderatroH' statistics represent the cost of living of the great mass of the people of the country—those whose incomes vary from SSOO to SI,OOO. The list of products, the price of which has been ascertained, has been divided into seven classes, namely: Food, clothes and clothing, fuel and lighting,house furnishing goods, drugs and chemicals, metals and implements, lumber and building materials. The summary for September#!, 1891, shews a decline in retail prices of 214 selected articles at .64 of 1 per cent. It appears that as the result, as shown by all the statistics collected, the cost of living of families of ordinary circumstances was .44 of 1 per cent, less at the end of the period included in the investigation September 1, 1891. than it was at the beginning of March, 1891. In other words the cost of living of the average American family was decreased by that much after the passage of the McKinley tariff act. The committee also for a period of twentyeight months investigated the retail prices in the three cities, Fall River, Mass., Chicago, 111., and Dubuque, lowa, of 215 articles included in their regular list. -.The result of this latter inquiry showed a further decline in the cost of living in May, 1892, as compared with September, 1891, of 2.1. and that compared with June r July and August, 1889, of 3.04. Thia supplementary inquiry discloses the fact that the tendracy to lower prices and to lower the cost of living still continues.

DECLINE IN WHOLESALE PRICES. A similar result is shown as to the decline in wholesale prices. The decline in wholesale prices of the articles selected by the committee for twenty-eight months included in the investigation was .33 of 1 per cent., substantially the same rate of decline as that shown in retail prices. On the other hand, it appears that the farmers were benefited by an increase in the price of agricultural products. The general result of all the statistics taken as to the prices of agricultural products for each month from June, 1889, to September, 1891, was that the average prices of all the agricultural products except flaxseed included in the list wheu given their proper relative importance were 18.67 per cent, higher in September, 1891, than at the initial period. Ip other words, while the cost of living was decreased .44 of 1 per cent* the coat and prices of farm products of the farmer were 18.67 per cent higher for the' same period.! It appears, also, that there was a

general increase for that period In the rate of wages. It appears from the report of the statistician that Ip the fifteen general occupations selected by the committee, wages were three fourths of 1 per cent, higher m‘ September^ in the three months selected as a basis in 1889 and the wages in the special industries selected were .30 of 1 per cent, higher than at the beginning of that period. The committee at the same time, through experts, conducted a parallel investigation: ibto the English prices and wages; The resultsare remarkable, and decidedly in favor of the United States.

COMPARED WITH GREAT BRITAIN. It appears that applying the same formula which is used in the figures selected for the United States, the cost of liying increased in Great Britain in the time named 1.9 per cent. By comparison of the rates of wages current in September, 1891,in the United States and in Great Britain in the same occupation, it appears that wages in the United States in these occupations averaged 77 per cent, greater than in Great Britain. The greatest fall in prices is found in sugar, which has decreased in price 40.61 per cent. This reduction would disappear if the doctrine of the Democratic National platform could prevail and the McKinley bill, which caused a reduction in the price of sugar, should be repealed as the Democrats universally recommend. The statements of the Democratic platform that wages of labor in this country have been reduced as a..consequence of the McKinley tariff act are not sustained by the investigations of these experts. One of the most interesting comparisons which the committee has made is that of English and American wages. It will be seen from the subjoined table that the relative English wages range all the way from 42 to 76 per cen t. of the a verage American wages, the averagebeing 56} per eent. The following is the table bf comparisons submitted, w;th the committee report:

T"”' 7■ ' ~ . r- [Percent OCC-PATTON Pprind Amer- Engl’h In favor occupation. uerioa c , nl . ate rate of Amer . lean. Bakers Week $12.50 $7,250 59.26 Blaeksmitas -- - Day 2.200 —MO4 -76.U8Cab’net mak's Day 2.417 1.038 42.95 Carpenters.. .. —Day Laborer com.. Day 1.710 . 883 51.64 Machinists Day 2.714 l,5?0 55.46 Molders.iron.. Day 2.650 1.052 62.34 Painters Day 2.825 1.488 52.67 Plumbers Day 3.487 1.700 48.75 T0ta1..L,'9,508.64 Average 56.52 FACTS AND PLATFORMS. “Since the McKinley bill went into operation," says the National platform of the Democratic party, “there have been ten reductions of the wages of laboring men to one increase.” We quote from that eminently Democratic journal, the New York World: 1 Fall IRiver. Mass., July 13.-**The Cotton Manufacturers’ Association voted to pay all day help emplojed in the mills.for ' fifty-eight houns’s work the same wages heretofore paid for sixty hours. All the operators employed on piece work were advanced 3f per cent. The new list will go into effect from July 11. From the same issue of the World we also quote: , Otis Brothers, elevator manufacturers. signed an agreement yesterday with the Elevatdr Constructors’ Union granting thfe’ shorter workday from August 1. The men will receive the same pay for eight hours that has been given for nine, and double pay for overtime. Here are two very recent cases of increased wages, “since the passage of the McKinley bill.” Will some member of the Demqcratic committee on resolutions, or some newspaper that approves the resolutions, mention twenty reductions of wages to offset these two increases? Can even two parallel reductions be mentioned? ■ '' ■ - The platform already is tumbling to pieces by reason of the rottenness of its timbers.

The Democratic platform this year declares protection unconstitutional. This is nothing new, as Democratic platforms have alwaysdeclared some thing unconstitutional. In 1861 it was unconstitutional to send relief to the garrison in Fort Sumter. In the same year it was unconstitutional to try to break down the secession fence, and it was unconstitutional for United States troops to march through Baltimore on their way to Washintoh. In 1862 it was unconstitutional for President Lincoln to emancipate the slaves. In 1863 ££„ £jas unconstitutional to suppress the copperhead newspapers. In 1864 everything the government did was unconstitutional and the war was a failure. In 1879 resumption of specie payment was unconstitutional It was unconstitutional to amend the donStitution. But the government went ahead and did all these things and the Democracy accepted them. The party had to declare something unconstitutional this year, and the McKinley bill, which had been passed upon by the Supreme Court, was the victim. After it has been fully indorsed by the people in November the Democrats will claim that was what they wanted. It now appears that Alcaes Hooper, of Baltimore, is the person who gave $250,000 for a woman’s college at Johns Hopkins Universaty a few days ago. At the time the gift was announced his name was withheld from the public. Cardinal Gibbons starts this week for a month’s outing in Nova Scotia. Unlike most clergymen who go to that region in summer time he will take no rod with him, not even a pastoral staff.

THE LADIES.

Baroness Burdett-Coutts, despite her burden of eighty years expects to come to the Columbian Exposition at the head of the Philanthropic section. Mrs. John Drew, who has retired from the management of 1 the Arch Street Theater, Philadelphia, has been manageress there fot* thirty years. .. , Among the twelve women artists who have found favor with the jury of the Salon in the Champs ESysees four have received medals and the remaining eight have been honorably The first international club for wo? men has been founded: The incorporators are a group of American, French and German women in reste deuce in Nice. ; Five* Thousand women belong tp< the Order of DeaconeSses in Gerdevoted to work among the poor, nursing, attending at the creches, teaching and visiting. One of the distinctive features of a recent flower fete in Rome was the appearance of the women students of the Roman University, wearing the colored cape of their college, like their brother students. ■ A peculiar regulation concerning medical women prevails in Russia. In many parts of the country where physicians are scarce the regular : practitioners are allowed to employ women as associate .physicians, but I the women are not allowed to practice independently.

A Eliza Gordon Browning has been elected librarian of the large circulating library of Indianapolis, with a full corps of assistants as her subordinates. Miss Browning has masTeremTalT "the"'d6p'artnients" of- the work, which is one particularly appropriate and congenial for women, and in which women are making rapid progress. The women of Barnard College have been treated very ungraciously by the school of political science, who has returned from. Europe and refuses to attach a “female seminary” to his department of the university. Women with degrees indicating qualifications for advanced study are turned away as “females” by the President of this school, who has made it a personal matter between himself and his professors. Cincinnati has an institution, founded by women for women, which rejoices in the double distinction of being the only Presbyterian hospital, woman's medical college, and free dispensary combined, and the ohly One in the -States^founded, managed, and controlled by women, special provision is made tor prepar* ing young women for work in medical missions.

The Chautauqua assemblies are beginning to have I ‘suffrage days,” and in England, by a two-thirds vote, a woman’s suffrage plank has been incorporated in the platform of the British Romen’s Temperance Association, of which Lady Henry Somerset is president. The woik of this association is well organized in departments, a school of methods has been arranged, and a weekly paper established under the management of Lady Henry herself. At the recent Bryn Mawr commencement Margarite Lunt of Al bany received the degree of Doctor of“ Philosophy, Jane Brown Haines was made M. A., upon sixteen young women the faculty conferred the degree of A. 8., and to seven more fellowships were awarded for various achievements. The chief inter* est centered in the European fellowship, which is awarded for' the highest in each class, which waa given to Annie C. Emery, of Maine. The pri'e offered by Geo. W:' Childs in the form of a gold watch U> the best English essayists in each class was awarded to Abby Kirk of Philadelphia. A mysterious singer among the nuns of a church in Rome has been attracting crowds of people to the services by the wonderful beauty of her voice. On a recent so groat was the enthusiasm of the au-

dience that, forgetting the sacredness of the services, they shouted ‘•viva!" until the police had,to interfere and disperse the crowd, It is rumored that the singer is the cele brated soprano, Bianco Dotiadio, who has retired to a convent, 1 The Order of King’s Daughters has formed a chapter teroted to tenement house work along lines of ? work not covered by any mission or charity The work was commenced two years ago in cooperation with the summer corps of doctors sent out by the Board of Health, and so important have been its results that mors commodious quarters and r more comprehensive plan of (Opera lion have been found necessary. The headquarters of the mission, at 79 Madison street, occupy the first floor and- basement of a wide, oldfashioned house, with a yard at the back for the “fresh air" children. This illustration pictures a yery stylish make up-for an tume in woolen material. The basques are sewed on to the waist

and are made with pleats, but not gathered at the waiste: They flare at the back and show the fplda-of the skirt. The corsage fronts cross -as~ indicated.. The corselet may be of surah, or bengaline in a lighter shade. It is set off with a butterfly knot. In all Spanish theaters one of the galleries is reserved for ladies alone, and not even an Arch-" bishop or a Dictator can gain admission to its sacred precincts.®- The Spanish beauties are escorted thftiher by husbands, fatherland brothers who leave them at the door and spend the evening elsewhere or in the men’s gallery,._out always return at the close of the performance to see their . ladiesLsafely home But the mistaken notions of seclusion, handed dow-a„frqm the Mooris anr cessors, surrounding the high-bred dames and maidens are productive of much romance and flirtation, particularly in the sacred gallery. There is no chance to extend the flirtation beyond the point of meeteye§ and telegraphic communications by means of fans and flowers, but the gallant follows at respectful distance _his fair enslaver to her home, thenceforth to sigh beneath her window and become her shadow when she walks abroad.

a stamped Foulard. Three Ruffles on the Skirt and the Usual Ribbon Belt. Nothing can be prettier than t stamped foulard for a young person, and nothing more appropriate foi summer wear. My illustration to day pictures such a ’gown. The skirt has three ruffles made of bias stripes. The charming little guipure figaro is outlined with ribbon set off with a double bow, as indicated. It is exactly the same at tht back. There is also a ribbon belt, the sleeves carrying out the scheme of garniture. The Eton jacket has developed into one of the rages of the moment

but verv few of these garments a»i Eton except in name. The true Eton has small close sleeves, and should invariably be worn with a sleveless vest, for if you make its sleeves large enough to go over an ordinary gown, you have no longer and Eton coat. The true Eton has tailor made turn-down collar and lapels. Nor should it ever be made use of as a wrap for muffling up purposes. This is rediculous, The correct summer girl never makes such a mistake. Her Eton coat is merely a seperated bodice which she wears over different vests run in different materials. The coat must fit the figute snugly. To do this, the vests should have long openings for the straps to pass through. ] The cost of makings onedollai bill is about 3.2 mills.

BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE.

NELLIE GRANT, DAUGHTER OF JESSIE GRANT, AT WEST POINT.