St. Joseph County Independent, Volume 20, Number 32, Walkerton, St. Joseph County, 2 March 1895 — Page 2

THE COUNTRY’S LOSS. EFFECT OF THE LOW PRICE OF FARM PRODUCTS. In 1894 Uncle Sam Gained $20,000,000 Over 1893 on Cattle and Provisions, and Lost $31,000,000 on Breadstuffs.

Farmers Suffer Most. How much has tho country Jost by the low prices of farm products? In speaking of prices, a gentleman remarked a few days since: “1 pay now just the same for a five-rib roast of beef that I do for a barrel of flour.” His statement was substantially correct, as twenty pounds of choice beef are selling for about the same price as a barrel of the best family flour. The incident is only important as serving to point out and accentu- | ate tho fact that provisions have held theit prices fairly well, while many products of the farm, such as wheat, cotton and wool, have declined very heavily. It is partly owing to this condition of affairs, too. that on the exports of 1894 the United States gained $20,000,000 over .1893 on cattle and provisions, and lost $16,000,000 on breadstuffs.

take the sau,e authority which f years, tho ^Wawetr STrttes AgricuTrwwr Bureau, for the Crop estimates of 1894. we find that if tho three great crops of wheat, corn and cotton could have been laid down in New York on the Ist of January, 1,895, their aggregate value would have been $1,178,256,938, against a valuation of $1,253,187,716 for the crops of 1893, and sl,544,749,724 for the crops of 1892. This is, of course, an arbitrary standard, but it is probable that the New York price is, upon the whole, s good a standard by which to judge of the relative value of tbs year's crops as any other that can be adopted. First, as to prices: The following table, compiled from the reports of the statistical bureau of the Department of Agriculture, will give a record of the average prices for various staples received on farms and plantations since 1888, compiled from the rates ruling on or about Dec. 1 of the respective years: Prices of Products on Farms Dec. 1. 188 S. 1890. 1892. 1894. Cts. Cts. Cts. Cts.

Wheat, bm. . .92.6 83.8 62.4 4’9.8 Rye, bu 59.1 62.9 54.8 50.5 Oats, bu 27.8 42.4 31.7 32.9 Barley, bu... .59.6 61.8 47.2 44.3 Corn, bu 34.1 50.6 39.4 45.6 Cotton, 1b... . 8.5 8.6 8.4 4.9 The corn price, 45.6 cents per bushel, is 6.3 cents higher than the average price for the decade 1880-89, ami is 4 cents higher than the average of the last four years. The wheat price, 49. S cents, is the lowest for twenty-five years, and is 33.9 cents lower than the average for the decade 1880-89, and 22.1 cents less than the average for the last four years. The price of cotton, it will be noticed, is at its very minimum. Discarding for

the moment- all other elements which enter into the problem—such as the total yield of the crop or the comparative^^^. 189a was also a year of unusual depression), it appears that, with the exception of corn and oats, prices have declined 20, ' 30, and even 40 per cent. That startling variations exist in vari- j ous estimates of the wheat crop of 1894 we are well aware. The United States Government's last estimate is 460.000.00 t) bushels, but, in view of tho fact that this is 30,000,000 in excess of the Government's preliminary estimate, and that the United States official estimate for last ! year’s crop is believed to have been widely erroneous, we may discard these figures in favor of some of the trade estimates, which run as follows: W. M. Grosvenor, 530,000,000: Liverpool Corn Trade News, 520,000,000; Cincinnati Price Current, 515,000,000; Statistician Thoman, 503,000,000. Assuming the estimates of the Corn Trade News for 1592 ami 1893, and the conservative figures of Mr. Thoman for 1894, further assuming all wheat of a uniform grade, and all sold on farms about Dec. 1 at the prices quoted in the Government's farm price list, we have the following: Aggregate Year, Crop (bu.) value on farm. 1892 580,000,000 $361.920,000 1893 475,000,000 247.475.000 1894 503.000.000 250,494,000 This would indicate that, while the aggregate money yield from wheat for 1894 Is approximately equal to that for 1593, •the loss in money, compared with 1892, is over $100,000,000; or, more exactly, the loss on the 1894 crop, as compared with that of 1892, is $111,126,000. Assuming the United States official statement of the 1894 wheat crop—namely, $225,900,000, the lose, as reckoned on this comparative basis, would be $136,020,000. Gain in the Price of Corn. As a partial offset to this loss there apw. on ■» ex ♦, x 1 (1 ir ex ixx x»x 11m xtj » x .. t" .

pears to be a gam in the item of corn, where the high price per bushel would seem to net an aggregate sum in excess of that obtained for the crop of 1893. The following table is made on the basis of Mr. Thoman's estimate of the 1891 corn crop and the United States official estimates for 1892 and 1893. and combines ' with them the Government’s farm prices’. ; Total value Year. Crop in bu. on farm. 1892 1 ,628,464,000 $641.614,816 1893 1,619,496,131 591,116,087 3894 1.496.943,000 682,606,008 If the Government’s doubtful figures for the crop of 1894 be taken (viz., 1,212,770,000 bushels), the farm value is only $554,719,000. The excess in the total market value of last year's crop over that of the previous year appears, according to Mr. Thoman's figures, to amount to over $80,000,000; or, •Compared with the,yield of two years ago, io over $10,000,000. The Government's figures would turn these estimated gains Into losses of $45,900,000 and $87,000,000, respectively. It is worthy of remark, however, that the probable total gain on this item has been very unevenly distributed among the various agricultural sections. In the South the corn crop lias been heavier than in 1593. ami has partially offset the loss on cotton, while in some sections of the West, especially Nebraska and Kansas, the corn crop has been an almost total failure, with little compensation from other crops. Terrible Koss of Life. The Rio News of Jan. 8, received in the latest mail, gives the particulars of

a terrible calamity in the Bay of Rio Janeiro. It says: “About 7:15 Sunday evening, the 6th inst., a fire broke out on the ferryboat Terceira. The boat left Rio de Janeiro with from eighty to 300 passengers, the greater part of whom disembarked at San Domingas. It is generally estimated that there were from 100 to 150 persons on board at the time of tho disaster. Although the Terceira was barely 300 meters from land when the fire appeared, nothing effective appears to have been

done to save the passengers except tho forethought of the engineers in opening the safety valves of the boilers to prevent an explosion. There was apparently but few life-saving appliances on board. The lire burned with such rapidity that, tho passengers wore driven overboard and many were drowned. The ferryboat Quinta had just left the Nietheroy slip when the fire broke out, and the master promptly hurried to the scene. On approaching the burning vessel he was sud- | denly surrounded by an excited crowd of passengers, some with revolvers in theit hands, who threatened his life if he ventured near tho burning boat. He was therefore compelled to turn away and leave the passengers of the Terceira to their fate. Before doing so, however, he had all the benches and other means of saving life thrown overboard for those struggling in the water.”

• BORNIN SLAVERY. I Career of Frederick Don« Noted Freidinnn <>■ Frederick Douglass, the noted freedman, orator and diplomat, who died Wednesday night at his residence in Anacostia, a suburb of Washington, D. C., of heart failure, was born a slave at Tuckahoe, Md., in February, 1817. His mother was a full-blooded African woman: his father a white man, presumably the owner of his mother. He learned to read and write through the favor of a relative of his master-father, and at the age of 15 was permitted to hire his own time, paying $3 a week, retaining and saving the balance of his earnings with the intention of ultimately purchasing his freedom. His progress was slow, however, and in 1838 he ran away, reaching New Bedford, Mass, in September of that year. He married and lived there for two or three years, supporting himself by day labor on the wharves and in various work shops. While there he changed his name to Douglass. He had previously ’ ' i

_ । ei FREDERICK DOUGLASS. interest in tho young fugitive, and assisted him in procuring a higher education. | He soon developed great talent as an ora- ! tor, and attracted the attention of leading ■ members of the American Anti-Slavery j Society. They employed him as one of their lecturers, and he delivered a course throughout the Northern States, portraying in vivid and forceful language the injustice of American slavery and the Afi rican slave trade. In 1845 he wi nt to England, where his j eloquence attracted large audiences and ' brought him to the notice of many of the prominent anti-slavery agitators of that country. His friends in England raised a purse of £l5O, which was sent to his former owner, and he received in return his manumission papers, which on more than one occasion in after life served him in good stead when threatened with arrest as a fugitive slave. During the civil war Douglass was one of President Lincoln's advisers relative to the status belli of the slaves, and early advised that they be invited to join the Union army against the slave power. Mr. Douglass was twice married, his first wife being colored. His second marriage was to Miss Helen Pitts, a white woman ' clerk in one of the departments at Wash- ' ington. He accumulated a competency ' i from the proceeds of his lectures and | from the fees of the several offices he I held. RUSH FOR NEW BONDS. I Sale Closed in 20 Minutes in New York and Two Hours in London. J. Pierpont Morgan, acting for himself and August Belmont, managers of the new government loan syndicate, took just twenty minutes "Wednesday to receive and close the bids for the-$62,500,000 new 4 per cent, bonds, says a New York dia-

patch. The amount allotted to American investors will not be made known for several days. There is, however, good authority for the statement that, in view of the heavy oversubscription in London, a comparatively small portion of the issue will be allotted in this country, as it will ■ suit the purposes of the syndicate to dis- ; pose of the bulk of the loan abroad in the interest of the agreement with the government to maintain the cash gold reserve. A premium of 16% was bid for the new bonds in this market. Under the terms of the agreement between the bond syndicate and the government, some $32,500,000 was to have been deposited with the treasury for the home account, the rest of the gold required to pay for the bonds having to come from abroad. That amount of gold had been deposited with the treasury Wednesday morning. In the afternoon Mr. Morgan made a deposit of $1,123,000 gold at the sub-treasury, taking in exchange therefor legal tenders. This action was probably taken to further instill confidence in the financial stability of the treasury, and is in line with 1 the policy of the syndicate to hold the gold reserve at the full limit. In London, N. M. Rothschild & Son said that the new American loan had proved a colossal success. The amount of the loan allotted to Europe was covered 1 many times over in two hours, both with 1 them and with J. I’. Morgan & Co. Alexander Gruden, the compiler of the Bible Concordance, was regarded ! by all his acquaintance as a harmless f though somewhat troublesome lusjatlc.

CONGRESS OF A SIGNIFICANT GATHERI^’ THE NATION'S CAPITA^ ’N Women from All Spheres, of ligions and with All Beliefs If Reble in Thousands in a Great (B^semtion—lts Objects and Aims. Agree on but One Poin^S Washington correspondence: J A national government of, for I the women of the United States-fcnd by j ate, a House of Representatives, Senident and possibly a cabinet —su^W Pres scope of the plan of several mil® is the women of America, who sent repwOhs of fives to the second triennial conl^mntaof the National Council of Wo® eH lion America, which commenced its set 1 ’”- 1 of Washington last week. This gov<^* on ln is to be organized, not to legisl» aint ‘ nl Io deliberate upon national niattwß ing its pointers from Congress alj' ’ ing to indirectly influence that M O{ jv m its legislation. This woman's govA-ument purposes also to be a school foAromen against the time when they a —— ' " I MAY WRIGHT SEWALL, President. hand with men in the nation's re il business; to illustrate to womankind t he true meaning of national deliberation, legislation ami administration. To this the greatest gathering of women ' ——

A ; v' J ' AmL R \y-'-z J /-^r tiisiL W< >MAN | 1 Lu., 11 ’ > , ■ X i THE CONGRESSIONAL LIONs IN THEIR DENS. which the world hasT%er strnnJbag. ...

representatives from come ' from every religion and every belief life, every part of the country. Thv'f, and Protestants ami < ‘atholics, Jews anna are , tiles. Mormons and Agnostics. VI Gentors and anti-Vivisectionists. ThtivisecKepublieans. Democrats, Populistre tire cialists, Tillmanites, Free Silv^. SoFarmers’ Alliamers, Grangers, Strifes, Taxers, Nationalists and Prohibit^ingleScarcely any two delegates agree ijmists. ly excepting upon one point, and yfectthe elevation and amelioration of kind. Nearly fifty different socieUwa’^q^go c seated, including 1 h -w f a nati such as the National M omen s Lmperame I nion, and those ^B ■'o' societies t!m< r prooii'. ■ 9 :i-o . tati’.n is pr^MBB ■■rc of mill's pa i t erneJ|Mlo the national government of the ka^^r States, is one of the questions "'^'^nited conn' up before this session of t^ tional Council, which will continri N;l weeks. It will simply be a rearE ment of the National Council as i-l n g e iis at I FRANCES E. BAGLEY, Vice President. ill | present. Its objects are set fovthW_ • lows; “We, women of the VuitMjO'f.jp 1 Btes,

sincerely believing that the best good of our homes and nation will be advanced by our own greater unity of thought, synipathy and purpose, and that an organized movement of women will best conserve the highest good of the family and the state, do hereby Land ourselves together /xT7 - " w?/ FRANCES E. WILLARD. in a confederation of workers committed to the overthrow of all forms of ignorance ami injustice, and to tin- application of the golden rule to society, custom am! law.” The Ofiicers of the Council. The president of the National Council is the same Mrs. May Wright Sewall . " ils moving spirit of the Women’s : “» Hre World’s Fair, assisted bv the other officers of the council. Mrs. 1' rances E. Bagley, the vice-president, is a rich and prominent society leader of Detroit. Mrs. Isabella Charles Davis, the recording secretary, is the best-known of the council’s officers, for she is the business manager and one of the founders of the International Order of the King's Daughters and Sons, which has a strength of more than 3.>o.tk)fl. The treasurer of the council is Lillian M. N. Stevens, of Stroud.water. Me., and has become prominent through her work for the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. One of the most interesting of the council's officers is Mrs. Rachael Foster Avery, the corresponding secretary. She had a prominent pait in the organization of the Women’s Congress at the World's Fair, and in many other ways her name has become well known. Behind the Beard of Officers come tho four great standing committees, who are supposed to represent the four most importint fields of modern feminine thought. 1 he first is on dress, of which Frances E. Russell, of St. Paul, Minn., is chairman, I and which also includes the New York

I favorite, Anna Jenness Miller. The sec- [ ond committee is on equal pay for equal work, and consists of three members. ; of whom Mrs. Leland Stanford and Mary j Desha are the best known. The Commit- ■ toe on Divorce Reform consists of throe J.APY HENRY SOMERSET. members, all of whom are well known. They are Mrs. Ellen Batelle Dietrick, ! Mary A. Livermore and Fannie B. Ames. I The Committee on Patriotic Instruction ■ is composed of six members, of whom I Eliza D. Keith, better known as “Di Vernon,” a California poet and litterateur’. Frances E. Willard. Mrs. Isabella C. Davis and Mrs. Caroline E. Merrick are very widely known. The National Council, while the largest of all the national organizations of women of the country, is one of the newest. It is logically the result rather than the outgrowth of the National Suffrage Association and the American Association for tin' Advancement of Women. In ISSS and 1889, they began an agitation looking toward a new organization, built upon a much broader basis. This culminated in the first session of the body, which took place in 1891, which was a very remarkable success. Tin- second triennial should have been held in 1894, but as nearly all the members had met in Chicago at the World's Fair, and especially at the World's Congress, and had transacted much of the business which usually comes before the council, they deemed it advisable to postpone the second triennial , to the present year, and in the meantime

to extend the ramifications of the central body. Many women of national and even international reputation are in attendance. Some of them are the Countess of Aberdeen, Lady Henry Somerset, Mrs. Russel Sage, Miss Susan B. Anthony, Mrs. Eliza both B. Grannis, well known in connection with the social purity crusade in Nevs York city; Dr. Jennie de la M. Lozier, thf New York physician; Mrs. Laura C. Bui lard, of Brooklyn, the millionaire; the fe male minister of the gospel. Rev. Anna Shaw; Miss Frances E. "Willard, Mrs 1' rench Sheldon, tho African explorer, and Mme. Albert, the Delsartist. Organizations of women in Germany, France, Eng land, Canada and elsewhere are also present. "The greatest value of the council,” says President Sewall, “is in bringing together women wl.ose lives are in different avenues and whose interests are in different lines of work.”

HIS TOMB DESERTED. Work on the Grant Monument Has Been Stopped for the Winter. The work of building the Grant monument in New York has been stopped for tho winter, and the unfinished tomb looks as dreary and deserted as the temporary mausoleum near by. The cold, gray pile is covered with snow, and it is impossible to continue setting the great blocks of granite until the spring weather again drives the frost from the ground/ It

i rTUT Wrt ? 1 yHL PRESENT CONDITION OF THE MONUMENT. ■was intended to put in place the double row of detached columns in front and to complete the porch before the work was suspended, but tho cold weather came ear lier than was expected and the men were laid off before this was done. The monument, however, has progressed well and is much further on toward completion than is generally supposed. I he foundations, which are sunk down twenty-seven feet in the ground. Lave been finished, and the main structure has

been built up forty-five feet from the ground. The completed dome, however, will rise 165 feet above the ground. It will be seen, therefore, that there is a good deal yet to be done. When work was suspended for the winter the first cornice had been reached and a few of the blocks on the next course of granite were laid. The square part of the monument will rise twenty-seven feet above the first cornice, before the circular part of the structure begins. All of the twelve attached columns that ornament the sides and back of the lower part have been put in place, and most of the ten detached pillars which form the colonnade in front of the porch are also set. d-WM ^lllO ' BENEFIT. Bill Reviving the Grade of Lieutenant General Has Been Signed. The bill passed by Congress for the benefit of Gen. Schofield and which revives the grade of lieutenant-general of the army, has been signed by President Cleveland. General Schofield is now 64 years of age. He graduated from West Point with Sheridan, McPherson and others mho afterward distinguished themselves in the civil war. He served two years with the First Artillery and five years as assistant professor of natural philosophy at West Point and then left the army ami became professor of physics at Washington University, St. Louis. With the beginning of the civil war. however, he re joined his old regiment and in IS6I was made its captain. A brave and brilliant soldier, he participated in many engagements, was rapidly promoted, ami in 1864 was assigned to the command of the Army of the Ohio. In 1868 he was bre voter major-general United States Army, for meritorious services in the battle of Franklin, Tcnm, in 1876 appointed sup erintendent military academy, V> « q Point, and August 24, 1888, assigned q the command of the army of the I nitil States. Gen. Schofield was married in 1891 to Miss Georgia Kilbourne, of Keokuk, lowa. The Standard Oil Company is drilling for oil in Kentucky. If it will work mt near as possible to distilleries it will find plenty of the illuminating fluid for which Kentucky is famous throughout the coutiueut.

PvLsfSt^ Fred Douglass. The negro has lost an able champion.— Cincinnati Gazette. I o his influence is due much of the- progress which so many colored people have achieved.—lndianapolis Journal. He was one of those self-made characters that have made America's history illustrious.— Rochester Democrat. ’ a commei tary is the career of Frederick Douglass upon the institution I of slavery I—New York Advertiser. The death of I- rederick Dougless re-

moves from the stage one of the most picturesque figures of his day.—Memphis Commercial. .Born a negro slave, he won freedom, distinction am! widespread influence ' y his own efforts and his own abilities.— New York World. We do not recall that the honesty of his motives was ever doubted, or that Ie ever failed of any task assumed or any duty imposed upon him.—lndianapolis News. If a list were to be made of 'he Americans who have done the greatest service to large numbers of their fellow^ irizAT.4 the name of Frederick Douglas? wor’d -‘are a lu e h p l ac , L . llpon if.—ButTalo press.

IVaiser Willieliji’s Poems. Perhaps the translator has not been able to bring out the btauties of Emperor William's c< mpositions.—St. Louis I'ost-Dispatch. Emperor \\ illiam has taken to writing poetry. He has what the vulgar would call a “cinch" on the publishers.—Cleveland Plain Dealer. Emperor William, Germany's erst war lord, having turned poet and composer, illustrates anew the power of music to soo'h the savage breast.—New York Telegram. Kaiser W illiam ;s not going to let Premier Crispi <!o all the phrasing. The Italian skeptic halving called the people to tim defense of '"God. King, and Country. the Prussian calls his nobles to the defense of "Religion, Morality and Or'><‘i. It is probable that the German war lord. Berlin style, understands by the first the acceptance of the theory of divini‘ right: by second, military obedience; by the third, absolute trust in the great and only “Me.”—New York Evening Sun. V. ork of the Legislatures. Ihe little Delaware Legislature con- | tinues to ballot fruitlessly fur United States Senator. Delaware is a very wee State, but her statesmen are very big and obstinate and the contest is likely to run through spring and summer.—Minneapolis Journal. Ihe New Jersey Legislature has been in session more than six weeks and has enacted only a dozen laws. The excellence of the work of a legislature, like that in a game of baseball, can usually be estimated on the inverse ratio of the . ~r scores made.- rs<. ram vnobe. Tiie Kansas Legislature is right—a bill to suppress the butteriue industry is not only unwise but it is uneonstitutional. It is not only unconstitutional in Kansas, but it is unconstitutional in any State where it would be unconstitutional to legislate buttermaking, wheat growing or an.v otlmr useful industry out of existence. Kansas City J > mia!. Thumbscrew Civilization. W'hat makes the affair particularly loathsome is the pretensions of the inquisitors to Joftv Christianity.—Chicago Post. The young republic of Hawaii is starting off w. 41. If the story of the barbarous tortures its agents have inflicted in order to extort confessions are true, it is the imperative duty of the United States to look after the interests of its citizens there. Davenport Democrat. 1 iie San Francisco Call’s story of the torture of ;; itnesses iu Honolulu is revolting in the extreme —so revolting that it will have to be fully confirmed before it is believed. It ought to be both incredible and untrue that the descendants of American missionaries could string a prisoner up by the thumbs to make him confess.—New York World. The Women in Washington. The Nationai t'oum il of Women that is in Washington is a body that will compare very favorably with Congress.—Boston Globe. Dear, dear, what a time there will be down there if that Woman's Congress all gets to talking at once!—Philadelphia Inquirer. There will be some soreness as a result of the Women's Congress in Washington, for its session will not be long enough to give a tenth of the delegates a chance to talk. -Pittsburg Dispatch. The v. <uuen in Vt :ishiu-w»w arwnuJBBBB the National <'ouncn 17av4"<Wfi eleg^„<. chance to point to the present situation of affairs of the United States Government as an illustration of the horrible mess the men make of running things. Could the tvomen do worse? It is hard to believe it. —Springfield Republican. Li Restored to Power. Li Hung Chai g is getting his innings again.—M i n nea p di s Journal. Li Hung Chang now has permission to keep his three-eyed peacock feather—unless Japan happens to take a fancy to St.Washington Star. "With Li Hung ('hang's yellow jacket ami peacock feather restored, and the Chinese commanders committing suicide, the affairs of China may presently begin to look up.—St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Emperor has returned to Li Hung Chang his yellow jacket and his peacock feather. From the Chinese weather reports one would be led to judge that a nice cap with car tabs would be very acceptable to Li just now. - Cleveland Plain ; >i ah r. The Napoleonk Revival. One of the f ids of the end of the century is a general revival of interest in some historical figure. At present we are in the throes of a Napoleonic craze. - Baltimore American. I >ne of the results of the Napoleonic revival in literature in New York city is a "Napoleonic tea" given by fashionable ladies. At least it gave them something to think about and perhaps taught them incidentally some facts in history—for instance, who Napoleon was and what ho did.—lndianapolis Journal.