B ' ' • - • * , • " ' ' • Trmrtiiwrintfii'in' 1 1 i.L _ , ms ' 1. BLAISE'S SPEECH , fly | f { FULL TEXT OF THAT MDCH QUOTED Pf | AND DISCUSSED DOCUMENT. I' ' It fctJaW * liE WAS FOR SOUND MONEY HwVfltrV ' * Wa' Delivered In tlie United Statef HlL-CCJ I ' Ecnate February 7 , 1K7H , and Was BKXr j \ Agaltut tlio Free Coinage of b'U * " ver at 10 to 1 The Ameri can Follvy Powerfully uud Clearly Stated. The .following is the much quoted I Speech in full delivered by James G. ' I Blaine in the United States Senate I \ .February 7. IS7" < , in opposition to a I House bill for the free and unlimited coinage of silver at 20 to 1. The com * xnercial value of silver at that time was 92 cents per ounce : Air. President : The discussion on > the question of remonctizing silver has been prolonged and exhaustive. I may not expect to add much to iti . Talue. but 1 promise not to add much j to its lenjrth. I shall endeavor to con sider facts rather than theories , to slate conclusions rather than argu ments. 1 believe gold and silver coin to bo > the money of the constitution indeed , \ the money of the American people A anterior to the constitution , money " "which the organic law of the republic recognized as independent of its own existence. No power was conferred on Congress to declare that either metal should not be money. Congress lias , therefore , in my judgment , no l more power to demonetize silver than . to demonetize gold ; no more power to 1 demonetize either than to demonetize both. In this statement 1 am but re peating the weighty dictum of the liist of constitutional lawyers. "I am I certainly of the opinion , " s.aid Mr. v Webster , "that gold and silver , at • rates lixed by Congress , constitute the legal standard of value in this coun try , and that neither Congress nor any ctnte has authority to establish an } ' other standard or to displace this i standard. " Few persons can be found , I apprehend , who will main tain thavCongress has the power to demonetize both gold and silver , or f that Congress could be justified in prohibiting the coinage of both ; and yet in logic and legal construction it would be difficult to show where and \ why the power of Congress ever silver is greater than over gold greater over eitner than over both. If , there fore , silver has been demonetized , 1 ; am in favor of remonetizig it. If its coinage has been prohibited I am in favor of ordering it to be resumed. If it has been restricted , lam in favor of ordering it to be enlarged. What power , then , has Congress over gold and silver ? Ithas the ex- \ * elusive power to coin them , the exclusive - ! sive power to legulate their value ) < ver- great , very wise , very necessary ; , power , for the discreet exercise of which a critical occasion has now arisen. However men may differ about causes and processes , all will admit that within a few years a great disturbance has taken place in the relative value of gold and silver , and that silver is worth less or gold is worth more in the money markets of the world in 1S7S than in 1873 , when the further coinage of silver dollars was prohibited in this country. To remonetize it now as though essential conditions had not changed , is will fully and blindly to deceive ourselves. j Rjfcf If our demonetization were the only lM j/ ! { cause for the decline in the value of Rlu ( silver , then remonetization would be R wn its proper and effectual cure. Hut B T other causes , beyond our control , J P i } ' i have been far more potentially opera- * Wti ' $ & % tiye than the simple fact that Con- .SjsVr gress prohibited its further coinage. jSS | b * As legislators we are bound to take w | 'M ' ) cognizance of these causes. The de- 'S& t roonetization of silver in the German IBSj llj empire and the consequent partial , Jj | { 8)j or well nigh complete , suspension of Sfvffv coinage in the Latin union , have been K pfey' the leading causes for the rapid de- S& > > i\tf \ cline in the value of silver. I do not WM.-/Mt think the over supply of silver has rnkj ff , had in comparison with these other * RReJ P/ causes , an appreciable influence in ISHBtoyI the decline of its value , because its mS foVN over supply with respect to gold in HPwiM 1 these latter years , has not been so BfcffiffiUl 1 g' - 'u t as was the over supply of gold iBpfSkl with respect to silver for many years MS VWj after the mines of California and Aus- HL { (0 ( v tralia were opened ; and the over sup- Fit 'Vnjl ply of gold from these rich sources * did not affect the relative tK positions jfcgtl f * - and uses of the two metals in any I MtStX ) European cun'7. r BJ8iJ ? Frco Coinage Alone Impossible. UH v- . I believe , the a , if Germany were to RSwtiifs 1 remonetize silver and the kingdoms K ramH nd states of the Latin Union were to IfUlff reopen its mints , silver would at once USD * ! resume its former relation with gold. EPs The European countries , when driven * PjHrh to full remonetization , as I believe WMp JlA they will be in the end , must of neces- HH ntf * sity adopt theiv old ratio of 15 } of HBpiV silver to 1 of gold , and we shall then | re&Mo he compelled to adopt the same in- B ppy stead of our former ratio of 1(3 to 1. KK % If we fail to do this we shall , as be- B H F1 fore , lose our silver , which , like all H Wmim $ things else , seeks the highest market ; B HBOpl and ' ' tcen aQd a half ounces of B HKj ? silver in Europe will buy as much gold B yg in Europe as sixteen ounces 111 Amer- Et 'ca' lie S1'ver > ° * course , will go to H BBr ? Europe. But our line of policy in a Kryk joint movement with other nations to /&ESg/ } remonetize is simple and direct. The B/fglpT difficult problem is what we shall do B ( when wc aim to ; e-estabhsh silver fc JjSSrP without the co-operation of European B Slpowers , and really as an advance - ' - S movement to coerce these powers into jL S5i the same policy. Evidently the first Hr"\d % dictate of prudence is to coin such a f | Rs ( dollar as will not only do justice B ® Bf \ among our citizens at home , but will B7 'i mr prove a protection an absolute barri- BA JsK cade against the gold monomotalists Hb "Ssbm ° ' Europe , who , whenever the oppor- HC 9ft tunity offers , will quickly draw from m" % % Bm "s the SICO.000,000 of gold coin which feP ( S\ Tve now 'lo1 ' - we co'n a siver B3c dollar of full legal tender , obviously SfT'Wt ? \ below the current value of the gold ' ; VBt\ dollar , we arc simply opening our I I " " ' ' " ' Kr "I l l " ' J r i i im niii 1 < ' ) ' " . ' 1 . ' ' " ' " ' ir"n doors and inriting Europe to take onr I gold. With oar gold flowing out from J us we shall be forced to the single standard and onr relations with the leading commercial countries of the world will not only be embarrassed , but crippled. The question before Congress then sharply defined in the pending House bill is , whether it is now safe .and expedient to offer free coinage to the silver dollar of 4 2f grains , with the mints of the Latin union closed and Germany not permitting silver to be coined as money. At current rates of silver , the free coinage of a dollar containing 412,54 grains , worth in gold about 92 cents , gives an illegitimate profit to the owner of the bullion , en abling him to take 'J2 cents' worth of it to the mint and get it stamped as coin and force his neighbor to take it for a full dollar. This is an unfair advantage which the government has no right to give to the owner of sil ver bullion , and which defrauds the man who is forced to take the dollar. It assuredly follows that if we give tree coinage to the dollar of inferior value , and put it in circulation , wc dose so at the expense of our better coin age in gold ; and unless we expect the invariable experience of other nations to be in some mysterious way sus pended Tor our peculiar benefit , we inevitably lose our gold coin. It will flow out from us with the certainty and with the force of the tides. Gold ha.3 indeed remained with us in con siderable amount during the circula tion of the inferior currency of the legal tender , but that was because there were two great uses reserved by law for gold the collection of cus toms and the payment of interest on the public debt. But if the inferior silver coin is also to be used for these two reserved purposes , then gold has no tie to bind it to us. What gain , therefore , should we make for the circulating medium , if on opening the gate for silver to flow in , we open a still wider gate for gold to flow out ? If I were to venture upon a dictum on the silver question , I should declare that i-ntil Europe remonetizes silver we cannot afford to coin a dollar as low as 4l2 } < grains. After Europe re- monetizes on the old standard , we cannot afford to coin a dollar above COD grains. If we coin too low a dollar lar before general remonetization. our gold will leave us. If we coin too high a dollar after general remoneui- zation , our silver will leave us. It is only an equated value before and after general remonetization that will preserve both gold and silver to us. Gold and Silver Must Be Kept Equal- Consider further what injustice would be done to every holder of a legal tender 01 national bank note. The large volume of paper money in excess of § 700,000OCO is now worth between ninety-eight and ninety-nine cents on the dollar in gold coin. The holders of it , who are indeed our entire population , from the poorest to the richest , have been promised from the hour of its issue that their paper money would one day be as good as gold. To pay silver for the greenback is a full compliance with this promise and this obligation , providing the sil ver is made as it always has been here tofore , as good as gold. To make our silver coin even three per cent less val uable than gold inflicts at once a loss of more than S2OO00U00 on the hold ers of our paper money. ! lo make a silver dollar worth but ninety-two cents precipitates on the same class a loss of nearly S6'J,000,000. For whatever the value of the silver dollar is , the whole paper issue of the country will sink to its staudard when its coinage is authorized and its circulation be comes general in the channels of trade. Some one in conversation with Commodore Vanderbilt , during one of the many freight competitions of the trunk knes , said : "It cannot be that the Canadian railroad has suf ficient carrying capacity to compete with your great line ? ' * "That is true , " replied the Commodore , ' "but they can fix a' rate and force tis down to it" Were congress to pass a law to-day declaring that every legal ten der note and every national bank note shall hereafter pass for only ninety- six or ninetj'-seven cents on the dollar , there is not a constituency in the United States that would re-elect a man who supported it And in many districts the representative would be lucky if he escaped merely with de feat at the polls. Yet it is almost mathematically de monstrable that the same effect will follow from the coinage of an inferior silver dollar. Assurances from em pirics and scientists in finance that remonetization of the former dollar will at once and permanently advance its value to par with gold , are worth little in the face of opposing and con trolling facts. The fi-st effect of is suing any silver dollar that will pay custom dues and interest on the public debt will undoubtedly be to raise it to a practical equality with gold , but that condition wtil last only until the amount needful for customs shall fill the channels of its use ; and the over flow going into general circulation will rapidly settle to its normal and actual value , and then the discount will come on'the volume of the paper currency , which wili sink pari passu with the silver dollar in which it is made redeemable. That remonetiza tion will have a considerable effect in advancing the value of the silver dollar lar is very probable , but not enough to overcome the difference now exist ing a difference resulting from causes independent of our control in the United States. General Remonetization. The responsibility of .re-establish ing silver in its ancient and honor able place as money in Europe and America devolves really upon the Con gress of the United States. If we act here with wisdom and firmness , we shall not only successfully remonetize silver , and bring it into general use as money in our own country , but the influence of our example will be po tential among European nations , with the possible exception of England. Indeed , our national indebtedness to Europe is so great that , if we have the right to pay it in silver , % ve neces sarily coerce those nations by the strongest of all forces , self interest , to aid us in upholding the value of silver as money. But if we attempt the remonetization on a basis which is obviously below the fair standard of value as it now exist , we incur ail the evil consequences of failure at home and the certainty of successful 1 opposition abroad. We are , and shall be , the greatest producers of silver in the world , and wo hare a larger stake in its complete remonetization than any other lountry. The difference to the United Statesbetween the general acceptance and the general destruc tion of silver as money in the com mercial world , will possibly within the next half century equal the entire bonded debt of the nation. But , to gain this advantage , we most make it actual money , the accepted equal of gold in the markets of the world. Bemonetization here , followed by general remonetization in Europe , will secure to the United States the most stable basis for its currency that we have enjoyed , and will effect ually aid in solving all the problems by which our financial situation is surrounded. Bimetallic and Mono-Metallic Standard * . On the much-vexed and long-mooted question of bimetallic and monometal lic standard , my own views are suf ficiently indicated in the remarks I have made. . I believe the struggle now going on in this country and in other countries , for a single gold standard , would , if successful , pro duce disaster in the end throughout the commercial world. The destruc tion of silver as money , and the estab lishment of gold as the sole unit of value , must have a ruinous effect on all forms of property except those in vestments which yield a fixed return in money. These would be enormous ly enhanced in value , and would gain a disproportionate , and therefore unfair , advantage over every other spscies of property. If , as the most reliable statistics affirm , thare are nearly seven biilionsof comer bullion in the world , not very unequally divided between gold and silver , it is impossible to strike silver out of exist ence as money without results which will prove distressing to millions and utterly disastrous to tens of thous ands. Alexander Hamilton , in his able and invaluable report in 1791 on the establishment of a mint , declared that * 'to annul the use of either gold or silver as money , is to abridge the quantity of the circulation medium , and is liable to all the objections which arise from a comparison of the benefits of a full circulation with the evils of a scanty circulation. " ' 1 take no risks in saying that the benefits of a full circulation , and the evils of a scanty circulation , are both immeas urably greater to-day than they were when Mr. Hamilton uttered these weighty words , always provided that the circulation is one of actual money and not of depreciated "promises to pay. " - TVhat Hamilton Said. In the report from which I have al ready quoted , Mr. Hamilton argues at length in favor of a double standard , and all the subsequent experience of ninety years has brought out no clearer statement of the case , or de veloped a more complete comprehen sion of this subtle and difficult subject "On the whole , " says Mr. Hamilton , "it seems most advisable not to attach the unit exclusively to either of the metals , because this cannot be done effectually without destroying the office and character of one of them as money , and reducing it to the situa tion of mere merchandise. " Mr. Ham ilton wisely concludes that this reduc tion of either of the metals to mere merchandise ( I again quote his exact words ) , "would probably be a greater evil than occasional variations in the unit from the fluctuations in the rela tive value of the metals , especially if care be taken to regulate the proportion tion between them , with an eye to their average commercial value. " I do not think that ths country , hold ing so vast a proportion of the world's supply of silver in its mountains and its mines , can afford to reduce the metal to the "situation of mere mer chandise. " If silver ceases to be used as money in Europe and America , the mines of the Pacific slope will be closed and dead. Mining enterprises of the gigantic scale existing in this country cannot be carried on to pro vide backs for mirrors , and to manu facture cream pitchers and sugar bowls. A source of incalculable wealth to this entire country is destroyed the moment silver is permanently disused as money. It is for us to check that tendency , and bring the continent of Europe back to the full recognition of the value of the metal as a medium of exchange. Evil of Inferior Dollars. The question of beginning anew the coinage of silver dollars has aroused much discussion as to its effect on the public credit The senator - - ator from Ohio ( Mr. Matthews ) placed this phase of the subject in the very forefront of the debate insisting , prematurely and illogically , I think , on a sort of judicial construction in advance , by a concurrent resolution , of a certain law in case that law should happen to be passed by Con gress. My own view on this question can be stated very briefly. I believe the public creditor can afford to be paid in any silver dollar that the United States can afford to coin and circulate. We have S4C,000,000,000 of property in this country , and a wise self-interest will not permit us to overturn its relations by seeking for an inferior dollar wherewith to settle the honest demands of any creditor. The question might be different from a merely selfish point of view if , on paying the dollar to the public credit or , it would disappear after perform- inrr that function. But the trouble is that the inferior dollar you pay the public creditor remains in circulation , to the exclusion of the better dollar. That which you pay at home will stay here ; that which you send abroad will come back. The interest of the pub lic creditor is indissolubly bound up with the interest of the whole people. "Whatever effects him affects us all , and the evil that we might inflict upon him by paying an inferior dollar would recoil upon us with a vengeance as manifold as the aggregate wealth of the Republic transcends the com paratively small limits of our bonded debt. Remember that our aggregate wealth is always increasing and our bonded debt steadily growing less. If paid in a good silver dollar the bondholder has nothing to complain of. If paid in an inferior dollar , he has the same grievance that will be uitered still more plaintively by the holder of the legal tender notes and of the national bank bill , by the pen sioner , by the day laborer , and by the countless host of poor , whom we have : with' us always , and on whom the most distressing effect of inferior money will bo ultimately precipitated. Germany Destroyed Silver. But I mnst say , Mr. President , that the specific demand for the payment of our bonds in gold coin , and in noth ing else , comes with an ill grace from , certain quarters. European criticism is leveled against us , and hard names are hurled at us across the ocean , for simply daring to state that the letter of our laws declares the bonds to bo payable in standard coin of July 14 , 1870 ; explicitly declared so , and de clared so in the interest of the public creditor , and the declaration inserted in the very body of the 5300,000,000 of bonds that have been issued since that date. Beyond' ail doubt , the silver dollar was included in the standard coins of that public act Payment at that time would have been acceptable and as undisputable in silver as in gold dollars , for both were equally valuable in the European as in the American market Seven-eighths of all our bonds owned out of the coun try are held in Germany and Holland. Germany has been forced thereby to suspend its coinage , since the subjects of both powers purchased securities. The German empire , the verv year after we made our specific declaration for paying our bonds in coin , passed a law destroying , so far as lay in its power , the value of silver as money. I do not say that it was specially aimed at this currency , but it was passed regardless of its effects upon us , and was followed according to public and undenied statement by a large investment in our bonds , with a view , it was understood , of holding them as a coin reserve for drawing gold from us to aid in estab lishing their new gold standard at home Thus , by one move the German government destroyed , as far as lay in its power , the then existing value of silver as money , enhanced consequently the value of gold , and then got into position to draw gold from us at the moment of their need , which would also be the moment of our own sorest distress. I do not say that the German government , in these successive steps , did a single thing which it did not have a perfect right to do , but I do say that the sub jects of that empire have no reason to complain of our government for the initial step which has impaired the value of one of our standard coins. The German government , by joining with us in the remonetization of sil ver , can place that standard coin in its old position , and make it as easy for this government to pay and as profitable for their subjects to receive the one metal as the other. The Public Credit When we pledged the public cred itor in 1870 that our obligations should be paid in the standard coin of that date , silver bullion was worth in the London market a fraction over sixty pence per ounce ; its average for the past eight months has been about fifty-four pence ; the price reckoned in gold in both cases. But the large dif ference is due in part to the rise of gold as well as to the fall of silver Allowing for both causes and dividing the difference , it will be found in the judgment of many of the wisest men in the countrj- , perfectly safe to issue a dollar of 42-5 grains standard silver ; as one that , anticipating the full and legitimate influence of remonetiza tion , will equate itself with the gold dollar , and effectual - guard against the drain of our gold during the time necessary for international confer ence in regard to the general re-hsiab- lishment of silver as money. When that general re-establishment shall bo effected with the coinage of fewer grains the dollar which I am now ad vocating will not cause loss or embar rassment to any one. The miner of the ore , the owner of the bullion , the holder of the coin and the govern ment that issues it , will all in turn be benefitted. It will yield profit on re- coinage and will bo advantageously employed in our commercial relations with foreign countries. Meanwhile it will insure to our laborers at home a full dollar's pay for a dollar's worth of tvork. The American Laborer. I think we owe this to the American laborer. Ever since we demonetized the old dollar we have been running our mints at full speed , coining a new- silver dollar for the use of the Chinese coolie and the Indian pariah a dollar containing 420 grains of standard sil ver , with its superiority over our an- eient dollar ostentatiously engraved on its reverse side. To those "out side barbarians" we send this su perior dollar , bearing all our national emblems , our patriotic devices , our pious inscriptions , our goddess of liberty , our defiant eagle , our federal unity , our trust in God. This dollar contains 1\i grains more silver than the famous "dollar of the fathers , " proposed to be recoined by the pending bill , and more than four times as many of these new dollars lars have already been coined as ever were coined of all other silver dollars in the United States. In the excep tional and abnormal condition of the silver market now existing throughout the world we have felt compelled to increase the weight of the dollar with which we carry on trade with the heathen nations of Asia. Shall we do less ior the American laborer at home ? Nay , shall we not do a little better and a little more for those of our own blood and our own fireside ? If you remone tize the dollar of the fathersyour mints will be at once put to work on two dif ferent dollars different weights , dif ferent values , different in prestige , different in their reputation and cur rency thoughout t he commercial world It will read strangely in history that the weightier and more valuable of these dollars is made for an ignorant class of heathen laborers m China and India , and that the lighter and less valuable is made for the intelligent and educated laboring man who is a citizen of the United States. Charity , the adage says , begins at home. Charity , the independent American laborer scorns to ask , but he has the right to demand that justice should begin at home. In his nameand ia- the name or common sense and com mon honesty , I ask that the American congress will not force \ipon the American laborer an inferior dollar % ' . ; - -j&St'db- - . - - , , . = . . . „ _ _ . - which the naked and famished labor 1 ers 1 of India and China rcfuso to ac cept 1 The bill which I now offer as a sub stitute for the house bill contain/ three very simple provisions : Off era a Subntttnta. 1. That the dollar shall contain 425 grains of standard silver , shall have | unlimited coinage , and be an unlim ited : legal tender. 2. That all the profits of coinage shall go to the government , and not to the operator in silver bullion. 3. That silver dollars or silver bul lion , assayed and mint-stamped , may be deposited , with the assistant treas urer at New York , for which coin cer tificates may be issued , the same in denomination as United States notes , ' not below $10 , and that thesa shall be redeemable on demand in coin or bul lion. We shall thus secure a paper circulation based on an actual deposit of precious metal , giving us notes as valuable as those of the Bank of Eng land and doing away at once with the dreaded inconvenience of silver on ac count of bulk and weight I do not fail , Mr. President , to rec ognize that the committals and avow als of Senators on this question pre clude the hope of my substitute being adopted. I do not indeed fail to recognize that on this question I am not in line with either extreme with those w ho believe in the single gold standard or with those who by premature - mature and unwise action , as I must regard it , would force us to the single silver standard. Either will be found , in my judg ment , a great misfortune to our country. We need both gold and silver , and we can have both only by making each the equal of the other. It wonid not be difficult to show that in the nations where both have been fully recognized and most widely dif fused , the steadiest and most continu ous prosperity has been enjoyed that true form of prosperity which reached all classes , but which begins with the day laborer whose toil laj's the founda tion of the whole superstructure of wealth. The exclusively gold nation like England may show the most mas sive fortunes in the ruling classes , but it shows also the most helpless and hopeless poverty iri the humbler walks of life. The gold and silver nation like France can exhibit no such indi vidual fortunes as abound in a gold nation like England , but it has a peas antry whose silver savings can pay a war indemnity that would have beg gared the gold bankers of Londonand to which the peasantry of England could not have contributed a pound sterling in gold or even a shilling iq silver. Against Cheap Money. The effect of paying the labor of this country in silver coin of full val ue , as compared with irredeemable j paper , or as compared even with silver of inferior value , will make itself felt even in a single generation to the extent of tens of millions , perhaps hundreds of millionsin , the aggregate savings which represent consoli dated capital. It is the instinct of man ffom the savage to the scholar developed in childhood and remaining with age to value the metals which in all lands arc counted "precious. " Excessive paper money leads to extravagance , to waste , to want , as we painfully wit ness to-day. With abounding proof of its demoralizing and destructive effect , we hear it proclaimed in the halls of Congress that "the people de mand cheap money. " 1 deny it I declare such a phrase to be a total misapprehension a total misinter pretation of tne popular wish. The peepie do not demand cheap money. They demand an abundance of good money , which is an entirely different thing. They do not want a sin gle gold standard that will exclude silver and benefit those already rich. They do not want an inferior silver standard that will drive out gold and not help those already poor. They want both metals , in full value , in equal honor , in whatever abundance the bountiful earth will yield them to the searching eye of science and to the hara hand of labor. The two metals have existed side by side in harmonious , honorable com- nanionship as money , ever since intel ligent trade was known among men. It is well nigh forty centuries since "Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth , four hundred shekels of silver , current money with the merchant" Since that time nations have risen and fallen , races have dis appeared , dialects and languages have been forgotten , arts have been lost , treasures have perished , continents have been discovered , islands have been sunk in the sea , and through all these changes silver and gold have reigned supreme as the rep resentatives of values as the media of exchange. The dethronement of each has been attempted in turn , and sometimesthedethronement of both , but always in vain. And we are here to-day deliberating anewover the problem which comes down to us from Abraham's time the -\-eight of the silver that shall be "current money with the merchant" CUBAN HISTORY IN BRIEF. Spain colonized the Island in 1511. In 1534 and again in 1554 Havana was destroyed by the French. Matanzas was the first city to fall Into the hands of the insurgents. Cruelty and Injustice to the natives has always been the creed of the Span iards. The present revolution began Feb. 24 , 1895 , when the republic was pro claimed by Marti. The revolution of 1S6S lasted ten years before Spain aucceeded In com promising by promising reforms. The constitution of Cuba , modeled on that of the United States , was adopt ed Sept 23 , 1895. A triangular blue union , having a single star and five stripes , three of red and two of white. Is the flag of th republic. STTiucksport ( Me. ) fisherman pulled Op a monBter sea crab the other day , and on one side of the creature was fastened a pair of smoked eye-glassea. How they oame there Is now the qua- J 1 tlos. J I 2,500 perish : m. japan ; M Millions of. Italian * ' Worth , ut Property H Destroyed. H Sax Fhancisco , Sept Z-k The City H of Kobe , Japan , was. recently wiped M out by a disastrous conflagration. H On August 20 floods , , storms and M earthquakes caused the-loss of 3,500 H lives and. the-destruction of millions H of dollars worth of property in North- | crn Japan. H To make tho-fate-of Kobe worse , a M fire broke out late in the evening and , H fanned'by the high wind , spread over H the entire city. One thousand nine M hundred blocks , including 2,200 H houses-and twelve go-downs were de- | stroye'i totally , and ten houses , two M police boxes , one Are brigade station , M four temples and one theater. The H burnt area comprises ten streets. The H total damage by fire was 1,01)0,000 ) yen. H POPULISTS CONFER. M Sir. Wation and Other Notable * Hold a H Secret Meeting In St. Loal * . H St. Louis , Ma , Sept 23. Thomas M E. Watson of Georgia , Populist nominee - H nee for Vice President , George W. H Washburne of Massachusetts , who has j H charge of Populist Western national H headquarters at Chicago , EL W. Reed , H Populist national committeeman for H Georgia , Paul Vandervoort , chairman H of the Populist finance committee , and H A. Rozelle , chairman of the Populist M State committee of Missouri , held a H sect et conference here to-day , but it ia H impossible to find out what was done. H Mr. Watson flatly declined to discuss - H cuss the question of the retirement of H either Mr. Sewall or himself and H others would not state what was dons M at the conference. H NO ANTI-SEWALL DEMAND. M National Chairman Butler Correct * a H Current Fopullnt llamor. H Washington , Sept 24. Referring ; M to reports current in the West that' M the Populists had made a formal demand - M mand upon the Democrats for the H withdrawal of Mr. Sewail in the in- M tersst of Mr. Watson , Chairman Butler - M ler of the Populist committee said M last night that no such demand had M been made. Mr. Butler declined to M say just what had been done or might H be done , but he intimated that while M friendly efforts would be continued in M Mr. Watson's behalf no step so extreme - M treme as to further complicate matters - H ters would be taken by the Populist M leaders. | H VIRTUAL MARTIAL LAW. M Governor Mdntlre Give * thn Militia M Sweeping Powers at Leadvllle. . . M Denver , Colo. , Sept. 24. At 1 H o'olock this morning Governor Mcln- M tire sent a telecram giving to General fl Brooks at Leadville full power to act | as his _ representative in suppressing H riots in that city and district , and H specifically instructing him to permit H no interference fromany source whatever - H ever , and to act with or without the H co-operation of the local authorities. H MurderoJ for Her Money. B Kenosha , Wis. , Sept 2 $ . . Mrs. H Katharine Moore was found dead in H her home in the town of Somers , with H a cord around her throat , one end of H tae cord being attached to a door- H knob. The fact that S25 in money is H missing leads to the belief that she H was murdered. Her body was found H by her son , who had been to the city , H Appointments by the Frealdenc M Washington , Sept 24. The Prcsi- | dent has made the following appoint * H ments : James'A. Keaton of Oklahoma , H associate justice of the Supreme court H of Oklahoma ; Robert A. Habersham. H survtyor general of Oregon ; John G , H Cowie of Pennsylvania , marshal oi H the United States consular court at H Tie * Tsin , China. LIVE STOCKAXD 1'JtODL'CK 3IAKKETS M Quotations From New York. Chicago , St. * . | Louis , Omaha and hlsetrhere. li H OMAHA. M Butter Creamery separator. . H ® IS H Butter Choice fancy country 12 © it ; H Epgs Fresh 32 < B 12i M Poultry Livehens.perE > 6 © r'i M Sprin ? Chickens 8 6c 9 H Lemons Choice Messinas 5 25 © GOO B Honey Fancy White 13 ( m 14 Onions New „ 20 * e 25 Potatoes New 20 © 25 H | Oranpes Per box 5 00 @ 6 60 Hay Upland , per ton 4 50 © 5 00 BJ Potatoes New 20 © 25 Applea-Perbbl 150 © 2 00 M SOUTH OMAHA STOCK MARKET. Ilors Light Mixed 2 SO © 2 R5 H Hops Heavy Weights 2 75 & 2 Si M Beef Steers a 20 © i 00 M Bulls 175 © 2'0 Milkers and springers 20 00 &V V ) 1 Stass 2 . " 0 © .100 M Galves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 T5 © 5 * ' 5 H Cows 1 Co © 2 GO H Heifers 2 40 © 2 70 M Ftockers and Feeders 2 fiO © 3 40 M Cattle- Westerns 1 0 > fesi'i H Sheep Native Feeders 2 e5 © 2 70 Sheep Iambs 3 00 © 5 10 CHICAOO. Wheat No. 2 Spring 2 © G21' B Corn Per bu „ 21 © tri'j Oats Per bu 15 © IE , M Pork 5 ro © con V Lard 3 50 © 3 00 Cattle Western rangers 2 0 © 3 SO Western Feeders 2 fO © 3 25 Hogs Medium mixed 2 90 © 3 * 0 Sheep Lambs 3:0 © 4 25 Sheep Western ranee. 175 © 3 o1 H NEW YORK. 9 Wheat No. 2 , Red Winter G7 © G7'f Corn No. 2. 2fi © 2fi3i Oats No.2 , 20 © CO'J Pork - 7 75 © 5 .vt Lard „ 3 S2 • © 4 00 ST. LOU Li I Wheat No. 2 red , cash K © c ; Corn Perbu 19 © w. . Oate Per bu. „ „ . 17 © 17 * . ; " Hogs Mixed packing 2 fO © 3 20 1 Cattle Native Ship'ng Steers. 3 70 © 4 73 ' I KANSAa CILY. I Wheat No. 2 hard rC © 5 J I Corn No.2. „ 19 © 19j 1 Oats No.2 ISf ® 15 I Cattlf Stockersana feeders. . 2 CO © 3 65 1 Hbgs Mixed. 2 55 © 2 K I Sheep Lambs 2 50 dz.H0 Sheep Muttons 175 © 2 50 Kansas Gold Elector Filed. Topkka , Kan. , Sept. 23. The Na tional Democracy's electoral ticket waa completed to-day and filed this < afternoon. The electors nominated , all of whom have accepted , are : At larg-e , S. S. Reynolds of Grainfield , C. 1 B. Mason of Ottawa , and J. EL Lowell - j ell of Holton. First district , F. H. Ij Mills of Leavenworth ; Second , Charles - • & E. Hulett of Fort Scott ; Third , P. H. ' Albrijrht of Winfield ; Fourth , William Crotty of Burlington ; Fifth , J. 0 A. Sheldon of Manhattan ; Sixth , Grover "Walker of Hosie ; Seventh , J. V. Brinkman of Great Bend.