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About Plattsmouth weekly journal. (Plattsmouth, Neb.) 1881-1901 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 1894)
STRIKE .NEWS. The Situation at Chicago and Elsewhere. IBIood Is Shed mt La Salle, III. Mobs Omaha-Chicagci't Striking: Switch men Find Their Places Filled The A. K. IT. Resolutions. TWO PEFUTIES WOUNDED. La Salle. 111., Aug-. 9. Inattempt ine to arrest a Polish miner named Joseph Schurman, a desperate charac ter, two deputy sheriffs were wounaeu with saber thrusts and Schurman was fatally shot. Deputy Sheriffs Thomas Hanley, A. A. Col'iey, MachaelBrennan and Thom as Brennan started out to capture Schurman, who, with his wife, occupies rooms in his parents' home. At 4 o'clock Wednesday morning- the dep ties risited his home and surrounded the house. Upon an attempt being1 made to arrest Schurman a desperate fight took place between the deputies and the enraged members of Schur- man's family, which resulted in the wounding' seriously of A. A. Colley, of Streator, and the wounding slight ly of T. F. Hanley, of Ottawa, deputy sheriffs, and the killing- of Jo seph Schurman. A riot seemed immi nent and the deputies were in a des perate situation when rescued by the militia, which had been telephoned for. Great excitement prevails among the miners. Fully 100 of the riotous leaders of the strike have been black listed by the coal operators, and re fused work in all the shafts. Klot in Omaha. Omaha, Neb.. Aug-. 10. Riots were in full vogue at South Omaha Wednesday night between the strikers and the men who have taken their places. When the men, who quit work at 5 o'clock, passed out of the works, the majority organized themselves in squads for mutual protection. With one hand in their pockets, holding- a revolver ready for action, they passed up the street and past crowds of strikers, but were allowed to pass without being molested. Later, however, when a few single men left the works they were assaulted and in many instances seriously injured. Looking for Work. Chicago, Aug. 7. On all roads except the Santa Fe and Eastern Illinois striking- emploj-es presented them selves Monday as applicants for rein statement. The great majority found that their places had been filled and were told that there was no work for them. Aliout 2.000 men applying- for work at the stock j-ards were sent away Monday. The Switchmen's associa tion took charge of the switch engines in use about the yards, the old men being- placed over the new ones to give instructions to the latter. Troop All Called In. Chicago, Aug-. 8. Gov. Altgeld has ordered the troops at Chicago relieved from duty. The troops re lieved are three companies of the First infantry, on duty at Pullman, and four companies of the Second in fantry, on duty at stock yards. This order eods the strike services of the Illinois national guards. Tollman Rents Not to Re Remitted. " Vice President Wickes, of the Pull man company, sa3s that the company will not entertain the proposition from the strikers to return to work if the company will remit the past due rents of houses in Pullman. Pnlliuan Works Are Running. Chicago. Aug. 11. Steam waslet into the cylinders of the big Corliss engine at Pullman and the immense fly-wheel revolved for the first time since the great strike was inaugurated. At 7 a. m. Thursday 1.197 men reported for work. Six hundred of these were as signed to the repair department. The others were distributed throughout the various shops, and all departments were open for business except the freight and street car shops. Off at 8t. Paul. St. Paul, Aug. 7. At a meeting of the local organization of the Ameri can Railway union the strike on the Ht. Paul & Duluth, Omaha, Burlington and Milwaukee systems at this point was formally declared off. Declared Off. Chicago, Aug. 7. With the excep tion of the unions on the Santa Feand the Chicago & Eastern Illinois rail roads the local organization of the American Railway union, through their delegates in I'hlich's hall Sunday afternoon, declared the strike off as far as Chicago was concerned. In a report issued at the same meeting- it was declared no effort was made to destroy the older brotherhood, but to bring- about a more perfect union. A large part of the document is occu pied in scoring- the federal authorities, and in an appeal to the people to de sert old political parties and unite in support of a party which bears the name of the sovereign people. After reviewing the prosecution of the officers of the union for conspiracy and contempt of court the report takes up the Santa Fe road and maintains that the authorities are so busy punishing- workmen that they have no time to attend to the Santa Fe case. The decision to declare the strike off was in harmony with the action of the convention on Friday, which declared that it had no authority either to order a strike ordeclare one off that had been ordered under the laws of the organi zation, which specifically say that no strike shall be ordered excepting- by a majority vote of the members of the union on the system on which the strike is to take place. Wilt Continue the Strike. Srnixo Valley, 111., Aug. 7. A inai meeting of miners was held near hero and it was unimously decided to con tinue the strike for last year's scale. A. It. V. Resolutions. Chicago, Aug:. The report of the special committee on resolutions of the American Railway union which was submitted to the convention last Fri day, ami which was referred to the board of directors and the lawyers of the organization for revision, was completed Saturday evening and given to the public: Here follows a description of the town of Pullman and the conditions under which the workmen are said to be employed. It Is sull that while wages were reduced the price of rent remained the same, and that at the time the strike of the Pullman employes began they were indebted to the company in tho sum oX $70.10 for rents. -Thus the worklnjunen," Kays he resolutions, "found themselves in worse condition than did the workinirroen In chattel slavery, inasmuch as they did not receive their board and clothes for their labor, but found themselves in debt to their employer after faithfully laboring for him." On the subject of violence the report soys that it is the belief of the railroad men that these acts were committed by persons mental ly irresponsible or else at tho dictation of those who were the enemies of the working men. It is said that the only ones who could profit by such acts were the railroad com panies. AN AWFUL RECORD. Murders and Suicides Reported from Va rious Places. St. Louis. Aug. 10. Henry Baker, aged 50 years, committed suicide Tues day by jumping- head first from the window of his room on the second floor at the corner of Ninth and Mor gan. He had been sick of consumption for a long" time and it is supposed ha had wearied of existence. Clad only in his underclothes. Baker plunged from the window, alighting on the crowded sidewalk full on his head. His skull was split wide open and his brains al most scattered over passers-by. St. Louis, Aug. 9. Fred Kane, a farmer living- just outside of East Carondelet, 111.. was murdered Tuesday night about 10 o'clock by his wife, Annie, and her paramour, George C. Entre. who worked for the mur dered man. Shortly before 10 o'clock several persons heard cries and pistol shots. At a turn of the road, about 300 yards from his home, they found Kane in a pool of blood and evidence that a horrible struggle had occurred. Across a cornfield the struggle had been carried on until the blow over the head with a two-pound blacksmith hammer had been dealt. Several bul let wounds also were enough to kill the man. The weapons and bloody clothing- of the g-uilty pair were found hidden near the place where the man was murdered. The man and Kane's wife were captured. Ottvmwa, la., Aug. 9. One of the bloodiest tragedies ever known in this part of the state took place Wednesday at Chariton and as a result one vic tim and the murderer are dead and two victims are dying. W. D. Jen kins, baggagemaster aad special po liceman for the Chicago, Burlington & tjuincy road at Chariton, at noon walked over to his former boarding place, the home of Mrs. Julia Mur phy, shot her daughter Julia, his sweetheart, Julia's sister .Tosie, her mother and then sent a bullet through his own brain. No one will ever know the incidents leading up to the trage dy nor the immediate cause, for when the neighbors rushed in after hearing the pistol shots .Tosie Murphy and Jen kins were dead and the other vietims were unconscious, lying- in pools of blood. Jenkins was desperately in love with Julia and was viciously jealous. While he was ordinarily affable and even tempered his jealousy was so disagree able that Mrs. Murphy was compelled to request him to change his boarding house several weeks ago. Since then, however, he was allowed to pay his at tentions to the young- woman and no one dreamed of such au outcome. Philadelphia, Aug. 9. A suicide and probable double murder oc curred at 1214 Montgomery avenue Wednesday morning-. William Evans, aged 29 years, shot and killed Loll is Hecht, of the same age, put a bullet into his own wife, Eva, and then com mitted suicide. The woman is seri ously wounded. Evans and his wife had been separated for eonie time and the latter had leen living with Hecht at the place where the shooting oc curred. Tulsa. I. T., Aug. 10. At the scene of the Shawnee war dance, which has been running for five days on Hominy creek, 11 miles north of here, Frank Sennit, a business man of Sennit, O. T. , and Lon Kennedy, of Oolagah, Cherokee nation, quarreled. Kennedy fired two shots at Sennit, both of which went through his heart, but be fore he fell from his horse, dead, he cocked his Winchester and, with a well-directed shot; killed Kennedy, who is supposed to have been a whisky peddler. Scottdale. Fa., Aug. 11. Lizzie Dan iels, aged 14 years, of Bridgeport, Pa., shot and instantly killed Mary Weaver, 16 years of age, Wednesday evening. The girls got into a quarrel about a swing and the Daniels girl became so enraged that she pulled a 82-caliber revolver and fired, the ball entering the Weaver girl's brain above the right eye. The Daniels girl has been ar rested and placed in jail. Chicago, Aug. 10. A young woman known as May Hastings, occupying- a room in the Great Northern hotel, committed suicide by taking morphine. She was recently deserted by her lover, who is said to be a prosperous book maker, and this it is believed caused her to commit self-murder. t aught In Chicago. Chicago, Aug. 9. James H. Strat ton. the original Kid McMunn, one of the most dangerous criminals in the country, was arrested Tuesday on Jackson street near State by two de tectives of the central station. He made an effort to escape arrest and had drawn his revolver when over powered. Stratton escaped from the penitentiary at Canon City, Col., on the night of September 17, 1S93, while serving- a twenty-one-year sentence for robbing- mail boxes. The postoffice department offered a reward of 500 and the prison authorities S200 for his return to the penitentiary from which he escaped. Itlown Into the River. Camdex, N. J., Aug-. 9. On Tues day the boiler of the dredger Philadel phia, at work in the Delaware river, exploded, and five men were badly in jured and one is missing. He is sup posed to have been blown into the river and drowned. PERISHED BY FIRE. Vitalities Reported frm Various Point Benator Daniel'! Hon Killed. Wim.mak, Minn., Aug. 7. The farm house of S. O. Ostcnsoti, of the town of Dover, about !3 milesnorth of here, was burned to the ground nt 'J o'clock a. in. Mr. Ontensou and four chil dren lost their lives in tho flames. Mrs. Ostenson narrowly escaped cre mation, but is crazed over the awful event. No one knows how the fire originated, but it is believed lightning was the cause and a tierce wind fanned the flames. Lis wood. Ark., Aug. 7. Peter Wil liams and his wife left their two chil dren locked in their house while the parents attended church, and upon their return found the house a heap of ashes with the charred remains of the children therein. Mascoutaii, 111., Aug. 7. Henry Lutz, a well-known farmer residing near Georgetown, was instantly killed by being- caught under a traction en-, gine, which ran off a bridge and crushed him. Sprinofikld, 111., Aug. 7. A trac tion engine belonging to Deinlein. Bros., it Hudson fell through a bridge on the Clear Lake road at the crossing of Sugar creek, about 5 miles east, Monday morning. The engineer, Charles K. Hudson, aged 27, and Wil liam Deinlein, aged 23, one of the crew, were instantly killed. The en gine fell to the river bed, 20 feet be low, pinioning both men under the wheels and crushing out their lives. Accidental death was the verdict of the coroner's jury. Both men were unmarried. Princeton", 111., Aug. 1: Chetis An derson and Oscar Hokenson, sons of farmers, were run down by a freight train of the Chicago. Burlington & Quincy railroad Sunday night. Ander son was killed instantly and HoUen sou is 3-ct unconscious, with no hopes of his recovery. They awaited the passing- of the east-bound train and starting- across the tracks were struck by a west-bound train. The train did not stop and the remains were found b3 a tramp, who notified a number of the citizens. The coroner's jury exonerated the railroad company. Lynchburg, Va., Aug. 8. William Patton Daniel, the iS-3'ear-old son of United States Senator John Daniel, was frightfully bruised and fatally in jured Sunday afternoon by being dragged about suspended from the stirrups by a frightened horse. Elkhorn, Wis., Aug-. 11. By the burning of the summer cottage of Mr. Charles E. Hollenbeck. of Rockford, at Lauderdale lakes, 0 miles north of here, a servant girl named Sadie Fallon, of Rockford, was burned to death. Mrs. Hollenbeck was severe' burned and her spine in jured. Her mother, Mrs. Browu, had her hip and ankle broken and may die from her injuries. The fire was caused by the falling of a hanging lamp, the flames spreading so quicklj- the in mates only escaped hy jumping from the windows. JAPAN AGAIN WINS. The Chinese Defeated at Seikoan with Heavy Loss -Other ws. Yokohama, Aug. 9. Additional bat tles have been fought between Japan ese and Chinese and the latter have been defeated. Seikoan has been taken by the Japanese with trifling loss. The Chinese in this engagement lost 500 killed. The enem' fled in the direction of Koshiu. The Japanese are in possession of Yashan. An imperial ordinance just issued permits Chinese to reside in Japan on condition that the3T engage in peaceful pursuits. The greatest excitement pre vails here at Tokio and at o.her large towns as a result of the victo.-ies of the Japanese troops. Rumors, how ever, are current here that the Jap anese naval forces have been defeated in au engagement with Chinese war ships. Shanghai. Aug. 8. It is officially re ported from Tien Tsin that the efforts of Great Britain and Russia to bring about a peaceful settlement of the dis putes between China and Japan have failed. China is willing to pay an in demnit3", but she refuses to surrender her suzerainty over Corea. The Chi nese government has closed the Amp ing anl Takao lighthouses on the island of Formosa. TARSNEY'S FOES. Confession of One of the Participants la the Outrage. Denver, Col., Aug. 8. Joe R. Wil sou, the deput3" sheriff of El Paso county who was captured in Missouri, has made a full confession, implicating a number of other men whom he claims assisted him in tarring and feathering Adjt.-Gen. Tarsne3' at Colorado Springs several weeks ago He is now here in the county jail. His confession was made on the train en route to this city. Every detail of the tar and feathers affair is now in possession of the Den ver officers, and however high a posi tion the offenders may hold, they will ultimately be brought to justice. Wil son's confession clearly illustrates one point. That is that the crime wrs committed by the political enemies of Gen. Tarsney and that the criminals were not the outcasts of the Bull Hill army, but men of higher standing in the community. Wi'-son says that it is true that a murderer out of the El Paso county jail was allowed to put tar and fc-i.th-ers on the adjutant general, and thut among the main movers in the move ment were Sheriff Bowers, Deputy Sheriff J. B. Wilson, Deputy Bob Mul lins, Capt Saxton, of Troop A. Sherman Crumley, Walton Crumley, William Bancroft, of troop A, and others. The Coliseum Horned. Minneapolis, Minn., Aug. 11. The coliseum, a large frame structure erected ten years ago at a cost of $40, 000, and connected with and standing upon the campus of the state univer sity, was wholly destroyed by fire Thursday evening. Much valuable United States government and state property was stored in the building. Loss on building and contents about $30,000; insurance, 320,000. FRIGHTFUL RAILWAY WRECK. A Rock Island Express Gori Over a High Trestle Eight Already Dead. Omaiia, Neb., Aug. 11. The limited Oklahoma and Texas express on the Rock Island main line, east bound, jumped from a high trestle 6 miles south of Lincoln at 10 o'clock Thurs day night, resulting in the death of eight persons, and the injury of four and perhaps more. The known list of killed is as fol lows: C D. Standard, conductor, St. Joseph: Ike Pepew, engineer. Council IMufTs; William Craig, fireman, Fairbury; three traveling men, names unknown, burned to death In wreck; two farmers, names unknown, burned to death in wreck. The injured are: F. F. Scott, express man; C. D. Sherer, mail clerk; I. S. Bell, of Lincoln, and a traveling man, name unknown. About twelve others were injured, but their names are not yet known. The train was composed of express, baggage, day car, chair coach and three sleepers for Chicago. An obstruction on the track at the point where it passes a ravine high over the tracks of the Union Pacific caused the wreck. The train was running at a high rate of speed and crushsd through the trestle to the ground be low in an instant, carrying every wheel from the track. The flames began to envelop the wreck within a few mo ments after the train went down, start ing from the lamps in the baggage car and igniting the debris. The passengers in the rear of the train who were not injured in the wreck at once went to work to serve their less fortunate companions. The alarm was carried to the surrounding farmhouses, and shortly the entire community was present aiding in the work of rescue. This was attended with the greatest difficulty, as t result of the terrible manner in which the cars were thrown together and twist ed into a tangled mass that was not only difficult to penetrate, but was ap proached at greatest risk of rescuers' lives. Maii3 of those who were lifted from the windows and gaping holes in the burning cars chopped by the res cuers were suffering from the effect of the flames as well as injuries from the tumbling of the train into the ditch. In a short time medical assistance was on the ground from Lincoln and the work of caring for those most se riously injured was begun in a system atic manner. A hospital was estab lished in a neighboring field, and by the light of the burning coaches the groaning victims of the terrible affair were brought and laid in rows on the ground. Some of those taken from the wreck breathed their last while in the hands of their rescuers. For an hour those passengers who escaped death or in jur' iu the dreadful plunge were led in the efforts of rescue by the county people who were attracted by the flames and flocked to the scene in crowds. Walter Seidell, who lives near the crossing and was the first 011 the scene, saj-s that the fishplate and the bar with which it had been wrenched loose were found near by after the wreck. When the engine struck the broken rail she jumped the track and bounded along over the ties for 100 feet, reeled to one side and plunged down on the Union Pacific tracks be low, followed by the other three cars. Chicago, Aug. 10. According to the reports received b3' the Rock Island train dispatcher in Chicago the disas ter near Lincoln was the work of train wreckers. He said at 3 o'clock this morning a crow bar was found where the train left the track and spikes had been pulled from the rails. RECOGNIZE THE REPUBLIC. The President Has Sustained Minister Willis iu the Hawaiian Question. New York, Aug. 9. A World dis patch from Washington says: ."The republic of Hawaii has been formally recognized by the United States throueh the president and the secretary of state. The pro visional government, proclaimed January. 1893. when the queen was dethroned, was succeeded on July 4. a little more than a month ago. by a republican form of government. On the day following Minister Willis' extended recog nition, so far as it was within his power, to tho new republic. The action taken by the minis ter was reported to the state department in dispatches received on July 30. which were im mediately transmitted 10 congress." Mr. Willis' action has been discussed at several cabinet meetings, but no decision was reached until Wednes day, when Secretary Gresham, under the direction of the president, sent a formal note to the minister approving his course. Washington, Aug. 11. A letter of congratulation and greeting from President Cleveland in the name of the United States is on the way from Washington to President Dole, of the Hawaiian republic. The recognition of the new republic was finally decided upon this week and the message was framed and mailed Wednesday through the regular channels. THE GREAT RELAY RACE. Reports of the Message on Its Way from Washington to Denver. Washington, Aug. 8. Promptly at noon Monday Chief Consul G. B. French and Ronsaville, of the District of Columbia division of the League of American Wheelmen, started from the white house on the great bicycle relay race from Washing ton to Denver, to be run m conjunction with the forthcoming L. A. W. meet at Denver. The two wheelmen bore a letter from Private Secretary Thur ber to Gov. Waite, which is to be passed from bicyclist to bicyclist till it reaches its destination. Indianapolis, Ind., Aug. 0. The Washington-Denver bicycle rela3' left here at 1:42 p. m. in charge of Tom Roe and Frank Clemens, 16 hours and 15 minutes ahead of schedule. Danville, 111., Aug. 10. The bicycle relay message arrived here at 9:45 Wednesday evening, seventeen hours and ten minutes ahead of time. Burlington, la., Aug. 11. Burling ton, the half-way house in the Wash-jngton-Denver bicj-cle relay, was reached at 7:45 Thursday. The mes sage arrived twenty-two hours and one minute ahead of schedule time. TRUST AND TARIFF. now the Sugar Combine Is Favored by the McKinley Law. There is nothing plainer than the relations of the sugar trust to present and pending congressional legislation. The McKinley law presents the trust annually with thirty million dollars of the public funds. The president and treasurer of the trust have both sworn to this fact. When it became apparent that this bill would be repealed, the trust exerted itself to save as much of the plunder as possible. In the course of this endeavor it kicked up such a row as created the hope that the Mc Kinley bill might be permitted to re main on the statute books, and the flow of the golden stream from the treasury of the United States to the strong box of the trust would thus bo continued. The sugar trust prefers the senate bill to the house measure, for the rea son that the senate bill affords it inci dental protection, while the house bill doesn't give it any comfort. But the trust isn't bothering its head about the house bill. Its concern is between the senate bill and the McKinley law, and its hope is that the senate bill will be defeated, in order that the Mc Kinley law may be continued. The passage of the senate bill would cutoff half of the sugar trust's gratuity That is why the trust objects to its passage. Moreover, it would guarantee exemp tion from an impending treasury deficit. But neither the republicans nor the trust care about that. Their only concern i the protection of favor ites and the looting of the treasury. If, on the other hand, the senate bill is defeated, the trust will continue to draw its thirty million dollars annual ly, and a treasury deficit is practically certain to spread humiliation over the whole people. Every true democrat is opposed to trusts, and nearl- every democratic senator is true to his party. But there are enough protectionists among them to make complete tariff reform legisla tion impossible. It is likely that among those who are most emphatic in their demands for the Wilson bill are some who would vote against it if it was reported b3" the conferrecs. Senator Hill is in evidence on this point. He is paroxysmal in his de mand that the senate conferrecs re cede, and if they did recede he would vote against the report. This is odc of the troubles against which the tariff reformers are compelled to contend. It is agreed among real tariff reform ers that the purposes they must keep in view are the decrease of the burdens of the people and the increase of the revenues. Both these conditions are essential. If the sugar trust is en abled to extract some advantage from a measure that subserves these purposes that can't be helped. Ever3 import duty helps some interest. But that is no reason why imposts should be aban doned, to the prejudice of the public service and the destruction of the pub lic credit. Great men are not swerved from duty by clamor. If they were, the rogues would have things their own way, for the can make the most noise. The tiriff reformers must do the best the- can, without regard to what the rogues and the rabble sa-. Kansas City Times. PERFECTLY PLAIN. The President's Views on the Vexatious Sugar Oucstion. The organs of the sugar trust have found some comfort in that part of the president's letter to Chairman Wilson which deals with the sugar question. It is regretted that there should be any room for doubt as to the president's meaning. What he said was this: Under our fa rty platform and in accordance with our declared party purposes, sugar is a legitimate und logical article of revenue taxa tion. Unfortunately, however, incidents have accompanied iei tia stgoi of the legislation which will be submitted to the confere nce that have aroused in connection with this subject a natural democratic animosity to the methods and manipulation! of trusts aud combinations. I confess to snarir.g in this foelinj. and yet it seems to mo v.'c oushl. if possible, to sufficient ly frte ourtolves from prejudice t.j enablo us coolly to weigh the considerations which in formulating tariff legislation ou;:!it to guide our treatment of suar as a taxable article. While uo tenderness should bo entcrtain-jd for trusts, and while I am decidedly opposed to granting them under the KuUe ot taritf taxa tion any opportunity to farther their peculiar methods, I suggest that we outiht not to be driven away from the democratic principle and policy which lead to the taxation of suv,-iir by the fear quite likely exag gerated, that in carrying out this principle and policy we may indirectly and Inordinately encourage a combination of sugar-retluing in terests. I know that in present conditions this is a delicate subject, and I appreciate tho depth and strength of the feeling which its treatment has aroused. I do not believe that we should do evil that eood may come, but it seems to me that we should not forget that our aim is the completion of a tariff bill, and that in taxing sugar for proper purposes and within reasonable bounds, whatever eise may be said of our action, we are in no danger of running counter u democratic principle." A fair interpretation of this para graph is that sugar, being an article of which we import almost ten times as much as we produce, may be sub jected to a duty by a political party which holds that a tariff should be levied for revenue only. Although a certain amount of the total tax goes to the sugar planter, it is so small that it may be neglected, especially in a case where the needs of the govern ment for renue are pressing. The next question touched upon by the president is whether the democratic part3 ought to be driven away from the policy of a revenue tax on sugar by the fear of indirectly encouraging and favoring the sugar trust. While expressing decided opposition to any scheme favoring the trust, he says that consideration ought not to be the governing one. N. Y. Post. Trusts can never be crushed so long as the log-rolliDg system of bar tering favors here for favors there is maintained. In such a contest the strong alwa3-s get what they neither need nor deserve, and the weak are apt to go to the wall. The lesson of re cent tariff legislation is plain enough. It teaches that the whole protective system must be swept away, root and branch, and be succeeded by a tariff for revenue only. Louisville Courier-Journal REPUCLICAN HUM3UG. Th Nation's Kxpenstvo Trial of lllffh-Tai-IfT Protection. The republican platform of 1SSS, adopted at a time when there was a Burplus in tho treasury, declared ia favor of a tariff high enough to check importations as a means of reducing the surplus. The McKinley law was declnred to be iu accord with this plat forn, but for a time imports increased instead of decreased. In the course of a few years, however, with the aid of oth-jr republican legislation, the de sired decrease of dutiable imports was brought about. For the fiscal year ended June 39, 1894, our imports amounted to 054, 835,873, against SSOO.400,922 for the year 1S93. a decrease of S-212,000,000. On the other hand, our exports in creased from S47,000,000 to SSiW.OOO, 000. Last j'ear the balance of trade was against us, as the phrase is, by S19,000,C00. This year it is 5237,000,000 in our favor that is, our exports ex ceed our imports by that amount. It will be noted that the last fiscal year was eminently a republican 3-ear. We do not now refer to the circum stance that the elections went in fa vor of the republicans, but to the fact that economic conditions were in ac cordance with their policy. They be lieve in checking imports, and they were certainly checked in the last fis cal year. They believe in increasing our exports, and they were increased. They believe in a large balance of trade, that is, an excess of export over imports, and the balance last year was exceedingly large. Accord ing to the republican theory, the fis cal year 1S93-4 was an ideal year. It marked the complete success of the McKinle3r bill in checking importa tions, and it happened, besides, that exports were not decreased. Still the republicans are not happy. Instead of pointing with pride to the fact that the McKinley bill had at last accomplished the purpose for which it was intended, they have the temerity to say that the condition of our trade is the result of our having a democratic administration. They know when the' S3jr this that the tariff has not been changed, and that there has beea no tariff for revenue only before the present congress. They ought to hail the existing conditions as the result of the legislation which they passed in furtherance of the condition which now confronts us. It would be uncandid, however, if we did not admit that in one point our foreign trade last 3-ear failed to corre spond with republican theories. It is always maintained by them in tariff discussion that trade balances are in stantaneously sctxled in gold, 'if we buy SI, 000 worth of goods in Eng land," they say, "we get SI. 000 worth of goods and England SI, 000 in gold; if we buy SI. 000 worth of goods at home, we have both the goods and the gold.' According to this logic we should have imported during the last fiscal 3ear S-37,000,000 more gold than we ex ported. Instead of that we exported a few millions more than we imported. There is evidently something wrong about this gold theor'. There is also something radically wrong in the no tion that cheeking importations, even if there be no decrease in exports, is an infallable sign of prosperity. Brushing aside the humbug that has been thrown around the subject of foreign trade, we may discern without much difficulty the true principles that underlie it. In normal conditions ex ports are exchanged for imports, and the large volume of each is indicative of prosperity, because it makes an ex change of products profitable to both parties. But last 3-ear's conditions were abnormal. Our imports fell off because we were compelled to use more than one-fourth of our exports to pay debts incurred during the artificial prosperity of previous 3'ears. Our im ports, therefore, were small, and indi cated not prosperit-, but our want of ab'lity to buy. We were paying for the grand debauch into which repub lican legislation plunged the country. Louisville Courier-Journal. NOTES AND COMMENTS. All the republican conventions this 3ear are enthus.astic in their in dorsements of James G. Blaine and reciprocit3'. Mr. McKinley evidentl stands in need of protection. St. Louis Republic Senator Sherman took occasion to remark, while visiting in New York the other day, that the republican party was too big to have a boss. This made Thomas B. Piatt smile right out loud. Boston Herald. The list of heavy taxpayers the lists of people whose estates going to be soid for unpaid taxes making interesting reading in New Enc-land papers now. The and are are the tax sale lists are a good deal longer than visual, as one result of the workings of the McKinley law. Boston Globe. If the battle for tariff reform must be fought over again the demo crats throughout all the country are ready to buckle on their armor. On no other issue can they be so thoroughly and so effectively united. They are prepared to grapple with the McKin ley trusts aud highly protected combi nations and carry the fight to a finish. Buffalo Courier. The republicans have acted with such consummate folly on this sugar question that if the democrats fail at the next election to receive the vote of everv honest man in the United States it will be their own fault- The repub licans have admitttid in thissugar fight that every assertion ever made by them in favor of protection (save one) was a lie; more than that, they have proved it to be a lie. Six years ago. when this fight opened, they denounced as "traitors bought with British gold" the men who dared say that the protec tion of the refiners of S33.60 par ton, which they then enjo3-ed. was a tax on the people for their private benefit. To-day they not only admit that pro tection of S.SO per ton is a tax on tho people for their private benefit, but they denounce it as "robbery that, would justify revolution." N. Y. World. jr I v s I 1 V J
