Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 60, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 March 1899 — WASHINGTON GOSSIP [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WASHINGTON GOSSIP

Mormonism has met a foe at last that will test all its prowess. The women of Jamestown, N. Y., have passed strong resolutions against Mormon elders who have been doing missionary work in that place and a fight to which the fair combatants will give no quarter is being waged. To cultured women the religion founded by Joseph Smith and practiced by Brigham Young is particularly repugnant. It matters not that the law of the land has declared against the polygamous feature of Mormonism or that some elders in the Church of Latter Day Saints may have spoken against polygamy; the fact remains that, according to popular belief, the creed which made it right for men to transgress one of the most profound elements of the strongest human passion has in no way been altered. Woman was the greatest sufferer through the fullest exercise of that creed and it is not surprising that she should be the bitterest enemy Of those who would seek to make converts to it A religion which has aroused the antagonism of women is sooner or later bound to become moribund. We are likely to have a statue of Washington as well as of Lafayette to unveil in Paris on the 4th of July, 1900, for the association of American women which has been engaged for several years in raising funds to present one to the people of France in exchange for the Lafayette statue which stands in Jackson park in Washington has made .a contract with Daniel C. French, the well-known sculptor, to make an equestrian figure of heroic size, with the understanding that it shall be completed and ready for unveiling on the day named. Mrs. Field, wife of the associate justice of the Supreme Court; Mrs. Hobart, Wife of the VicePresident; Mrs. McMillan, wife of the Senator from Michigan, and Mrs. Phoebe A. Hearst are the committee in, charge, and have the co-operation of many prominent women in different parts of the country. A large portion of the funds has already been raised, but $15,000 more is needed, and an appeal will soon be made for contributions from the patriotic women of America. There has been an enormous falling off both in the number and the value of draft animals in this country since those faithful friends have had to compete with the bicycle and the electric motor. According to the statistics of the Agricultural Department on Jan. 1, 1893, there were 16,238,000 horses in the United States, representing a value of $1,007,593,636, which was'an average of about S6O each. On Jan. 1, 1899, there were only 13,961,000 horses, valued at $478,362,000, or an average of $34 a head. On Jan. 1, 1893, we owned 2,315,000 mules, valued at $175,000,000, and last January only 2,190,282, valued at $96,100,000, the decrease in the value per head in six years being from $75 to $44. Texas owns the largest number of mules and New York the largest number of horses. Pennsylvania, because of the coal and mining industries, has more than ten times as many mules as New York. Illinois comes second in the list of horses and Missouri second in the list of mules. All the volunteers in the Philippines are armed with the Springfield rifle. All the regulars now there and the re-enforce-ments now en route have the Krag-Jor-gensens. The volunteers use the Springfields because the military commanders consider it the more effective rifle in their hands. They are using smokeless powder and the effective range of the Springfield is almost as great as the Mauser, which is being used by sharpshooters among the rebels. The complex mechanism of the modern rifle is difficult to care for and to use, while the Springfield will stand any amount of rough handling. This reason, more than any other, influenced the experienced army officers to recommend their use by the volunteers. The destructiveness of the Springfield 45-caliber ball is far greater than the Mauser, as it is almost sure to kill, whereas the latter only wounds. The mechanism of the modern rifle would scarcely become familiar to the volunteers during their term of enlistment. -:—:-

As the bill for the establishment of a bureau of domestic sciences in the Department of Agriculture failed in Congress, Secretary Wilson has consented to take the matter up and encourage such instruction in the agricultural colleges and such investigations at the experimental stations as will carry out the object of the National Domestic Science Association in seeking this legislation? The State granges and farmers’ institutes will also encourage the movement, and it is hoped that at the next Congress authority may be given for the Secretary of Agriculture to disseminate information that will make farmers’ homes happier and farmers’ wives more competent in feeding their families as the farmer is now enabled by the aid of the Government in feeding his cattle and sheep. Since the approval of the war revenue act on June 15,1898, the collections under it have been $62,012,191.25. There have also been collected an additional tax on. tobacco of $778,487 and on fermented liquors stored in warehouses $164,927.62, making a total of $62,955,605.87 derived from the war revenue act from the time of Its passage up to the Ist of February. The largest part of this sum, $26,383,440, comes from the sale of documentary and proprietary stamps, $20,084,450 from the increase in the tax on beer, $8,162,621 represents the increase in the tax on snuff and tobacco and $2,503,058 on cigars and cigarettes. From legacies $253,951 has been realized. The Japanese minister has semi-offldal-ly notified the newspapers here that “the published statement that Japan is discussing a plan to adopt Christianity as its state religion is not true, and there is no possibility of this being done. Unlike Russia, England and other European countries, the Japanese Government has no state religion, but according to the constitution of the country every religion is given the liberty to exercise its functions so long as it does not interfere with or disturb the peace, order and morals of society.”