MY POPULIST FRIEND DOMESTIC DISCUSSION CON CERNING LABOR STRIKES. HI* Wife Draws » Contrast Hs-twoen Condition* of Use Labor Market Today and Those Which Lxlsted Coder free Tariff Tinkering;. “There la some of your boasted Mc Kinley prosperity," said my Populist friend, as he came into the house, sat down upon the couch and threw his hat upon the stand. "I saw great gobs of it hanging around the street cor ners. Men, idle men, miners not working, on a strike—ail they had to do was to vote for the advance agent of prosperity and everything would be lovely, plenty of work, wages would go up—beautiful, beautiful, beau-tl ful. Strikes! You can read of them just any time you want to. Every miner in Burlingame is out. Why don't you talk? Why don't you say something, eh?" ‘‘Did you order your corn harvester when in town today?" meekly asked the Bttle wife. "Corn harvester! Corn harvester! Pumpkins and squash! That's it.” ho exclaimed. ‘‘That's it; eternally try ing to change the subject when you’re cornered. Strikes are touchy subjects with you Republicans. I don't won der, for you have so many of them. It's a sore spot.” ‘‘The men of the mines in town have quit, have they?” she asked. "Quit!” ejaculated my Populist friend, “I should say so. They are out In every town in the county. Y’ou could see them hanging around on rock pile and street corners. I sup pose they were dilating on the beau ties of a protective tariff for the bene fit of the wage earners. “I suppose, then, that you will not buy that corn harvester?” she sug gested. “Come, stick to the subject,” he an swered Impatiently. Don’t be always flying the track when you are getting the worst of it.” The patient little woman only smiled as she asked: “Many Idle miners been along here hunting a Job of corn cutting this fall?” “N-n-o-o; none,” he replied. “Oh, I only remember hearing you eay,“ she asserted, "that if they were as plenty this year as they were four or five years ago, you would give them a job cutting the big corn crop and would not buy a harvester, so I thought that as they are idle now you’d probably change your mind as to the harvester and let them do the work.” “Now what are you getting at, any way?” he asked. “You are the hard est woman to understand.” “Oh, I think not,” she answered, good naturedly. “Four or five years ago, when we were under Cleveland’s blessed policy of buying many manu factured goods abroad, mills were closed, factories idle, transportation light, demand for coal slack, mining dull, times hard, and how often we used to see the miners from town along here hunting corn-cutting Jobs? Haven’t seen any of it this fall, have you?” “No, but we have strikes,” he re torted. “Didn't have any then,” she an swered. ’It was pitiful. It was all the same; strike or no strike, there ,iwe« at J HE WILL BE AN EASY WINNER. /r’J . -sT# > - - PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES. Artlve in Tlielr Hatred of Protection and Tlielr Frlrndtlilp for Agulimldo. In its search Tor light on the trust question the Civic Federation of Chi cago lately sent out lcttera to a large number of writers and thinkers, with out regard to their party predilections, inviting an expression of their views as to the most effective manner of dealing with capitalistic combinations in the United States. Here was the American Free-Trader’s chance. Ono would have thought that our domestic Cobdenites, who never cease to worry over the wrongs suffered by foreign producers, would have tumbled over each other In their haste to take ad vantage of such an opportunity to ventilate tlielr pet theory that the more money a country sends abroad for the purchase of foreign commodi ties and the less money it spends for articles produced at home, the richer that country will become. But they did not spring to the front with anything like common accord. Far from it. Out of 155 letters re ceived by the Chicago Civic Federation only three prescribed the removal of protective duties as the proper way of dealing with trusts. Why only three? Is the American Free-Trader growing scared at the effect already produced by the proposed abolition of defensive duties at a time when the beneficent effects of the prevailing economic pol icy are so vividly impressed upon the public mind? There is, to be sure, seme reason for the exercise of cau tion. In the presence of phenomenal prosperity of a tariff system which furnishes abundant revenues while at the same time piling up huge trade balances which threaten the world’s financial equilibrium by transferring the financial center from Europe to America, the American Free-Trader may properly pause in bis assaults upon the general welfare of his coun trymen. Has he paused, and will he stay paused? Probably not. Certainly the New England Free-Trade league shows no such signs. It is still lu the saddle, booted and spurred. One of Its most warlike members, Mr. William Lloyd Garrison, has just been firing himself off to the following effect: “Each tariff must be more drastic than its predecessor, calling for in creased stimulant. Its purpose is con stantly neutralized by the active law of freedom, which it disregards. The Dingley tariff, the latest and most out rageous of the despotic acts of a democracy, early develops signs of failure, and a foreign war was pre cipitated largely to cover high tarifT shortcomings and Justify new edicts for revenue. But the higher the tariff wall, the more internal monopolies are fostered." "The active law of freedom" is not a happy phrase in this connection. Formerly it had a vastly different sig nificance. .an ancestor of this same Garrison used it to some purpose In his warfare against free trade in hu man flesh and blood. Then the princi ple was invoked in the noble effort to strike from LOOO.OOO blacks the shack les of slavery. Now w* find a degener ate scion advocating “the active law of freedom" as a means of placing shackles upon 20.000.tHM) of American wage earners. Times have Indeed changed when a man bearing the name of William Lloyd Garrison divides bis time about equally In shouting for free trade and Aguinaldo—for Industrial slavery at home and for the uncurbed revolt of semi-barbariane In the Philip pines. However, it must tie confessed that the combination Is homogeneous The two things go together extremely well. I Mielauer* I sStnlssil. Mr. Klverton K Chapman. of the prom inent stock exchange grin of Moore A tt« hley, who has recently re turned from Europe, report* that there has been a decided improvement dur ing the laat twelve maath* In the sen timent in Englan d In rrgard to A inert enn Investments "The Investing pub lic in England." he aaye. “is again looking to this country for safe and proAtnblv Investment of capital ‘ Aa illustrative of this Mr t'hapmaa tells of a looker on tha London Ipk h E* change who showed him bis memoran dum booh of the day s trah*»< tio«< on A kaage He bad ei»* ute.1 over thirty eiders I v A met teas vtek* VWVWrVtWWWVVW/WWiWA The increasing confidence shown by foreign investors In the value of Amer ican securities is merely a reflection of the great industrial prosperity of this country. The American people don’t need any information as to the confi dence of foreigners in American stocks to tell them that we are in the midst of great national prosperity. Every one in this country has had personal experience of prosperity since the pas sage of the Dingley law. But the in vestment of foreign capital in Ameri can securities is a not unwelcome in dication that our prosperity is so ex tensive ami of such a character that even the conservative British public lias confidence in its stability and in its lasting qualities. Free-trade fanat ics may talk of making a winner of the free-trade issue, but men who deal in the practical affairs of life, either here or abroad, don't have much idea that the American people will throw away prosperity again as they did in 1892, Democratic Campaign Failure*. The Democratic campaign in Ohio, Iowa and Nebraska lias fallen fiat. In 1892, when there had been thirty years of prosperity with scarcely a break, It was easy to delude people with the idea that they were not as prosperous as they ought to be, and by promises that free trade would benefit them, to get them to vote the Democratic ticket. The free-trade plea was a very plausi ble one. It was not hard to make peo ple believe that wherever a tariff was imposed on any article the consumer had to pay it. It was apparently be yond a doubt that such was the case. It was more difficult to show the in fluence of home competition, the ef fect of increased work on wages and prices, and so the play “went.” The cry “the tariff is a tax” won the elec tion of 1892. A Democratic tariff was tried, and every one knows what a magnificent failure it was. Its failure thoroughly convinced the people, for a generation at least, that a calamity cry was sim ply an election dodge, and it will not work again. The attempt to convince the people that the country is on the verge of dissolution because there is a Philippine war, or because the United States is enlarging its border, is worse than useless. Iowa, Ohio and Nebras ka will all give good Republican ma jorities this fall.—Moline (111.) Dis patch. Typical Coliimlih. We should not be surprised to And that the American superiority lies la the natiooal mastery of detail, which is their note also in manufactures.— London Daily News, Oct. 21, 1899. This is a British newspaper's com ment on the victory of a Yankee boat over a British boat in the International yacht race which ended Oct. 20, 1899. "National mastery of detail" is only another way of saying "national su premacy in mechanical arts,” the prod uct, as the British free-traders now ac knowledge, of the American policy of high wages. Steady and constantly in creasing employment at what foreign ers have called an extravagant rate of compensation has developed in tha United States a degree of skill and efficiency fur beyond anything to he found in the Old World. We show it In everything we produce, front a steel rail to a $350,000 sailing yacht. The "Columbia" is a true type of the laud whose name she bears and whose Aug she tloats. Wklt Itroiight II Aboat. A lake steamer that eoat $210,000 to hutld last year i a mint be duplleated now for less than $200,000, Hut there is no trust in the shipyards of the Orest Lakes. The difference In rust Is due to the scarcity of materials snd the general advance In wages. The rale per ton for freight has about doubled alnce the beginning of the season and veaar! owners are prosper ou*. Neither the tariff nor trusts cut any Agure, but Hipublienn "prosper ity" has brought It about. Warren iOhlot Chronicle. What !»«♦« IbM lisamt ' livery wool grower of the country should ash bis «"agreesntan «r sena tor whether the c u-turns authort|l-*e throughout the country are eoileetlag ! the duty on wool as ittteti led h/ the j (tingley tariff ' This Is tbs elatewen*. i mt a reliable authority In rtwse touch ! with d«me-tie Wool laureate, haal d4 «a It m« cat I DETAILS OF ZEPPELIN AIRSHIP For many months visitor* to Lake Constance, on the German side, nave wondered at a huge and curiously shaped building which has floated About one half mile from the shore olf Frledrlchshafen. The structure 1 over 500 feet Ion?, 75 feet wide and 0"* feet high. In the front the queer building comes to a sharp point like the wedgp.shaped ends of the locomo tive' that have been built recently to att-iri high speeds by being formed so that there shall be little res'scince to the air. l’he building has been guarded night amt day and none was allowed to ap proach it. Whenever the doors were open for any length of time the en trances have been covered with heavy curtains, so that even the most curious of the Inhabitants of the surrounding towns have failed utterly to find out what was going on in the mysterious place. The only thing that could h" guessed was that some government matter was concealed in the floating house, for what little communication there was with the mainland was by means of government vessels. A correspondent for the Sunday Press lias discovered what has been under way in this building. Jt is the mammoth dirigible airship of Count von Zeppelin, which is being construct ed under the supervision of the Ger man government. This is the great balloon to which Major Baden-Powell, brother of Col. Baden-Powell, the Brit A^WVWVWWVWWWWWW<^^. perur William lias been enthusiastic over the matter, and Count vou Zep pelin has had ample and ready aid in the last two years during will'll the miloon has been under way. The idea of building the airship in a floating building wa° adopted for many reasons. One was that It made se crecy easy. Another, the more im pel tant one, is that it will enable li e makers to launch the balloon readily and to make trial trips with it at will. Therefore, the building was erected on ninety-five exceedingly buoyant pon toons, and so anchored that it can swing with the wind, always turning its»rear end to the breeze. It will be possible, therefore, to launch the bal loon in the direction of the wind at any given time. In addition, the building Is so arranged that the part which holds the airship can he hauled out like the drawer of a deck, and when it is so hauled out it floats on separate pontoons. This will give to the bal loon a free start at any time, and will make It ea-y to return it to the build ing. Phe balloon is 37.1 feet long, shaped like a torpedo, and its diameter is 30 feet. The skeleton is of aluminum, and its base consists of sixteen ribs of aluminum shaped as polygons, with 24 angles. They arc fixed and braced in their positions with aluminum wires, which radiate from common centers like the spokes of a wheel. This skel eton is separated into seventeen sec >As^A benxiue. This has been seta ted. despite its Inflammatory qualities, be • ause it was fottud that even the best of electric accumulator* were loo heavy. The engines fur utilising the naphtha are wonderfully light, being built of aluminum bronie. and they are designed so that practically It will he Impossible for lire to reach the ha I long la addition the airship la to be dressed with non •< om bust ltd* ma terial. The angle** and Ih# ptsseagsrs will be carried la two aluminum gondolas. »a«> a'Ktui thirt) foot long which will be suspended under tee body ef the balloon with Arm aluminum girders The two gondolas will he r.iuaelrd with a swinging platform of aluminum aelHag The tlve Is to consist of lir Meg. t'«uhi von Seppelln, in n mmandt l*9 u wealthy bachelor had been paying assiduous attention. After worrying her a good deal about how mauy young men had been in love with her, and how many she had been attached to, he asked her to marry him. adding "Now let there he perfect confident*' between us. Keep nothing concealed from me” "Certainly,” replied the giddy girl; "let us have no conceal meant*." and. jumping up.she snatched the wig he wore from his head and danced around the room with it. In spite of this levity, the couple mar ried, and. from all account*, are living very happily, more particularly as, by mean* of using crude petroleum, a nice little crop of soft brown hair is grow ing all over the husbands head. The man had never heard of crude petro leum a* a hair tonic until hi wife told him about It. so If the had Bed ess forced his conSeleBce he would still ha bald. tv* i »«•*«» Newspaper Man I should like to tel egraph home that the eiiutiuaadittg general la an Idiot? Censor I regret to infterm you that we ran permit the transmission of no military secrets — Ufa. Mte Am«*4w»eet. Ikr - Ho you 4im with the stall' men' th*t * weiiiiate >« a* old 4* ah loohs? The Crusty Bsrbelor I should Ihaert "at least before ’e* raid. Tuck.