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"The World is Governed Too Much." HEnRY . BIOSSAT, Buiness Manager. ALEXANDRIA, LOUISIANA, WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 1891. \ VOL. XLVI.-NO. 19. THE NEW BABY. Grandma Destroys the Demon Jealousy in Its Incipiency. week babe was a-setten in my • J.J lap, and I was tellin' her a sto ry. I had jest got to the thrill in' part of it when the good little boy, who always minded i his ma, had a hull pail of red Sapples gin to him. And babe Swvas a lookin' up into my face ' with her big, bluc-gray eyes a shinin', and her golden-yellow hair a-fallin' back from her little, eager, happy, up turned face. When all of a sudden the kitchen door opened and Miss Pixley came in, and, before she had been there some time, she says to babe, a-winkin' to me at the same timne: "Your nos! is broke now, young lady!" Babe put her little lingers up to'her nose and felt of it. And I winked to 3.iss Pixley to not say no more, for I knew what she meant; I knew she meant that Thomas c.Jefferson's little new baby would crowd babe, our T'ir zeh Ann's little daughter, out of our hearts. But Miss P'ixley went right on. She lean old maiden, and has had five dis appointments. and some say seven, and they have embitt'red her. And says she to babe: "Little Snow, the new baby will take your place now, in grandma's heart." Babe looked troubled; on her smooth little brow I could see fall the first faint shadow of that great black shape that we call jealousy. 1cr big, sweet eyes looked as if they was cloudin' up nicely for tears. And I wunk severer and more vigel et winks than I had wunk before at Miss Pislcy to stop! If ever a wink spoke. them did, to stop immegidly! But she kept right on. Poor creeter, I spoe them disappointments was the the cause on't. She kep right on, and us she: "You won't be g'andma's baby any more now: she has got somebody else to love now." And then the cloud did break into a rainfall of tears. Babe jest bust out a cryin', andsnnggled down into my arms, and laid her wet cheeks on my bosom, through the force of old custom, and, anon! (how much like human creeters aceordin' to her size), she drew her head away as if sayin': "I can't lay my head there any more; if the love has gone out of the heart it won't rest me nor comfort me no more tolay there.". And pride woke up in her; she was tooproud to make a fuss, or beg for love. How much, how much like big children! So she sot up kinder straight in my lap, with her pretty lips a quiver in', an the tears a-runnin' down her cheeks. And I riz right up with babe in my arms and went out of the room pretty quick, but not vigelent. Josiah was there. I wouldn't misuse Miss Pixley owin' to the six or seven things mentioned by me prior and be fore this. But I felt that I must make it right with babe that very minute. I knew how she felt-wounded love, and pride, and jealousy, etc., etc., etc. I knew that a few syllables of about the hardest lessons of life had come to labe, and [must help her spell 'em; I must help her with her lesson. So I took her right into the parlor and set down with her in the big chair, and never said a word for a minute or two, only held her clost to me, and Idiaod the shinin' hair that lay up against my cheek. She a-strugglin' at first, jealousy and pride a-naggin' her, and she at first a lot bein' able to l~r any voices only jest them of jealousy and pride-jest like older children exactly. But after awhile I held her so warm and stiddy, with my cheek a-layin' on t pretty head, the stiddy, firm clasp and contact sort o' calmed her, and dil PUC IER LITTLE FINGERS UPON HEIR NOSE. aEhnon she drew one little arm up my neck, and anon the other one, Il looked down deep into her eyes t into the little true soul, and that Strue soul saw the truth in mine. ords couldn't have convinced babe 1 a that look that she had learnt ove has a langh age that though may _sa't be exactly parsed and anal yet it can be understood exactly, Thyunderstood, and babe see that d then was the time that that littleereeter put upher arms and l me, and I says, sort o' low like, tery tender: eetheart, you know jest how Slove you, don't you?" Ithen I kissed her severaltimes droPs places on her face, every one anweet places. And then I went on talked dretful good to babe about Iew bab. I confided in her, told bUt how the little new soul had - l.,nown to itself, here into a Itijait world. how helpless it jW Weak, and how we .int .q help it, and try to make it feel itself at home amongst us. And 1 tried to explain it to.her, how ' that as she had come first, she owed a courtesy to the newcomer, and that she must be ready and willin' to neighbor with her. I didn't use jest those words, but them was my idees. I told her how blind the little creeter was, and babe, if only out of polite ness, must try to see for her, lead her straight over ways she knew nothin' about, and keep her from harmin' her- f self. I How baby Snow couldn't talk for herself at all now, and babe must talk for her; good talk, that little Snow I could learn of her bimeby. How she couldn't walk, and babe must go ahead I o' her and make a good path for her to follow when she got big enough. I told her jest how hard it was for the little creeter to be put here in the midst of sorrow, and trouble, and dan gers, and how we must all of us be jest as good to her as we could out of pity for the dear little lonesome creeter. So I roused up babe's pity for her, .( and she was all animated about helpin' i of her; and then I told her the baby 1 had come to be a great blessin' and comfort to her, if she was only patient and good to her. 1 And don't you see the very fact of 1 babe havin' to do a kindness to Snow, havin' to do good things for her, was the surest way of makin' her love her, 1 for it is a great fact in our human na- i ture that you can't love 'em that you I have injured in any way. And at the same time, if you have ever been good i to anybody, you always feel softer to wards 'em ever afterwards, and more mellerer. Curius, ain't it? But it is a fact. And I spoze the reason of it is thait you have sort o' lowered yourself in your own estimation by doing a mean, unkind act, and so, in order to satisfy your mental criticism o' yerself,to make I it right with your own soul, you lay t /14 IT WAB LOVELY TO SEE THEM. hold and bring up all the faults you can of that person, to justify your own act. And so you keep on that mental nag gin' at 'em; that uncomfortable sort of a feelin' towards 'em makes you rest less and uneasy, and you feel glad and relieved every time you stand justified to your consciousness by ketchin' 'em in a bad act. Hain't it so? Now, hon estly, hain't it? Why, I know it is, and so I made sure that babe should begin right. For if you do a good, helpful thing for a person, your hull soul feels com fortable, and you bring up unconscious mental reasonin's why you did it; it was because they were so good, sc smart, etc'., etc. And so you keep on a feelin' good and comfortable, and you keep on a provin' up to your own self, till you get fairly in love with 'em. Bless you if you don't!. A very curius thing. But the way I do, when I get holt of a strange fact or truth, I don't expect to explain it full to myself before I act on't. No, I grasp holt of it and use it for my own then, and afterwards wonder at it to my heart's content. So babe got to thinkin' she was nec essary to little Snow's happiness, and that tickled her little self-esteem, jest es if she was a older child, only accord in' to her weight. She got to thinkin' she must watch over her or she would get hurt, which called out all the good protector's moth erly impulses of her little soul which was in her--still accordin' to her weight, forty pounds more or less. And da y by day babe's love for the little creeter grew till it was fairly beautiful to see 'em to)gether, and so Josiah said, and Thomas J. said so, and Tirzeh Ann and Maggie and Whit field. And as for Miss Pixley, I thought to myself, disappointments or not, I have got to give her a talkin' to, and the very next time I see her. She had gone when babe and I went out of the parlor-the babe with hap py, bright eyes, and I with kinder, thoughtful, pitying ones, and all four on em kinder wet. But the next time I see Miss Pixley alone, I tackled her, and she as good as promised me that she wouldn't ever say to any woman's child what she had said to babe. And I don't believe she will either, for she's got good in her. She hain't such a. bad creeter after all, and good lande what can you ex pect?-seven, right along, one after the other?-Josiah Allen's Wife, in Ladies" Home Journal A Youne Philosopher. A boy sat on the dock at the D. & M depot yesterday with a fishline in the water and the ice cakes swirling Saround it. A man who saw him stopped to ask: "Are you fishing?" "Yep." "Catching anything?" "Noap." a"Don't you know that you don't p stand one chance in a thousand of catching a fish?" t "Yep." S"Then what are you here for?" 1 "To get used to not catching a blamed thing!" replied the boy as he b hauled up the hait to spit on it.--De Strot Free Press, MURILLO'S MULATTO. A Boy Artist Who Found Out by Accident A That He had Talent. The famous Spanish painter Murillo had a little mulatto boy named Sebas- p tian, the son of Gomez, a negro slave. b The little fellow was employed in the n workroom in which the pupils of the a master carried on their studies, and had tl to grind the colors, clean the palettes fi and wait on the youths, who often a treated him with ridicule, but some- g thingoccurred in the studio which soon b engrossed all their attention. P One morning one of the students v found part of his work completed v which he had left unfinished the I previous day; and the amazement c' of the young men increased when ti day after dcay they found ad- a ditions, and sometimes corrections, a made on their canvases. They accused o each other of tampering with their c work in their absence, but this was f strenuously denied,and matters reached t] a climax when one of them, who had c .commenced a picture of the Descent 1 from the Cross, on going to his work in tl the morning, found the head of the Ma- g donna painted in! how it got there ' they could not imagine, as it was better n than they could have painted it; so they I told the master of the mysterious cir- ti cumstance, and showed him the head. n He was surprised at its excellence, and v thinking Sebastian must know about Si it, as he slept in the room every night, 1 he told the boy that unless he found h out the unknown artist by the follow- a ing morning he should be severely ti whipped. The poor little mulatto was in an t agony of terror, for he himself was the I mysterious painter. having a natural f genius and intense love for the art, he t' had all this time been secretly studying ti and practising painting on the canvases R of the students before they came in the c' morning, and listening earnestly to the d master whilst he was giving them in structions, and being but a slave and in o dread of the scourge he thought that if ti he. confessed it were he it would only It subject him to still worse punishment v for his presumption, so he resolved to e: expunge the Madonna's head and never 1 paint any more. t But when he rose early in the morn- o ing to carry out his intention, and a looked at the beautiful face, he had not " the heart to rub it out, but to work to finish it instead. And so absorbed tl was he as the time went by that it was n only on hearing a rustle behind him fi that he turned his head and beheld the ti student, with the master himself, look- 1l ing on in admiration. u The poor little slave fell on his knees, I imploring pardon, but Murillo; kindly e raising him up, asked him what reward P he should give him for his skill and in- i dustry. Sebastian only asked for his a father's freedom, which Murillo at once a granted, and giving him his own liberty c also, received him among his pupils. n He soon distinguished himself and be- y came a celebrated painter, but he was I better known as Murillo's mulattto p than by his proper name of Sebastian U Gomez. lie died in 1690, having sur vived his master but a few years. His I principal works may still be seen in v Seville.-N. Y. World. e VENEERING MILK WITH CREAM. s One of Life's Golden Illusions Dispeled by Getting Up Too Early. I can never, never-no, not if I live to the age of Methusaleh-forgive the man who invented early rising, lie has done t me irreparable injury. He has destroyed one of the fondest illusions of my life time. I I had such a good milkman. lie was one of the sealed-bottle breed. He had i the loveliest kind of a red wagon, and t he brought our lacteals in beautifully branded glass jars, with the name of I the farm and-I was almost going to say r the hour of delivery-stamped in the I glass. How I praised the fellow to my friends! r I have no doubt that at times I made a r perfect nuisance of myself. At the din ner table, if I had company there, I - would have Clarissa bring in a bottle of I milk so that I could make a display of t the yellow rim of cream at the top. This was a grievous fault, I own. Let him who is without similar sin cast the 1 first stone at me. SAt any rate, the milking stool was the - hobby I bestrode, and I rode it almost h to death. r But one morning I was forced to get up early in order to do a piece of work e for the Herald. Alack the day! I set Y the alarm clock, little thinking that it 0 was to ring a knell toone of my fondest f hopes. I groped my way into the Shabilaments of day, and with sleepy eyes launched forth into the frosty and 0 lonesome street. e Just around the corner, I heard the e musical sounds of tin implements strik ing against each other-the city man's t nearest approach to that loveliest of Sdiscords the tintinnabulation of the cowbell's clangor-and looking up be r held the little red wagon of my own pet milkman drawn up close to the curb. Y He was bending over some work, in a which he seemed to be deeply absorbed, Y and as I drew near I had a chance to d see what its nature was before he caught sight.of me. r, And oh, what do you think the rogue was doing? It chokes me so that I can a scarcely speak the sentence. He was "- topping off" milk bottles from the e cream can. He was putting that final Sand convincing head of gold upon the surface of the fluid which I had been taught to believe was "bottled at the dairy." The same old forehead of brass and Sfeet of clay! I turned aside and wept. SIt matters to me no longer what the fluid underneath really was; whether it ever saw a cow; paid tribute to the churn or come in the first place from the pump or hydraut. My bottle of milk was a cream topped fraud, and I had Sbeen paying worship to a false and hol low idol. Henceforth I forswear milk as a bev erage, and will confine myself to worm. wood and gall. Milkman spare that oan, Touch not a single drop; 1 thought I had a cinch, But t wap all on top. --T. Y. HTeral DEADHEADING IT. A Man's Experience Traveling with a Troupe Without Money. a "I once took a company of fifteen t - people six hundred miles for nothing, but it was before the interstate com- > merce law went into effect," remarked f a a theatrical manager to a reporter for I the News. "I had started west looking t a for something at which I could make a dollar. I got ,to Pittsburgh, had I good clothes, a good reputation in the i business, and five dollars in cash. At Pittsburgh I found a brother manager s who had secured a theater at Nash 1 ville for two weeks during the races. a He had engaged the Pittsburgh stock t company, but had no money to take them to Nashville. From my appear ance and reputation he thought I had money; he offered me a good .big share 1 of the profits at Nashville if I would be- g r come the financial backer of the venture s and get the troupe to Nashville to fill 3 the date. I accepted, and went to the l captain of a steamboat advertised to t t leave Pittsburg for Nashville. I told h a the captain of the boat that the- mana- I ger of the show had gone ahead to a Nashville and had left the money with v r me to bring the company to Nashville. h V I had tried to break a faro bank, and ii there I was with fifteen people who G must get to Nashville. If the captain 3 would carry us the money would be o t sure on the arrival of the boat at a Nashville. Besides, I. would give into r 3 his charge the trunks of the company - as security. He said: 'All right; get y them aboard in the morning.' g "I paid two dollars of my five dollars 1 a to have the baggage hauled to the boat. t e It was an eight-day trip by river h i from Pittsburgh to Nashville; fare a twenty dollars. I owed the captain of that boat three hundred dollars. On the s way the people of the company would e come to me for a dollar or two. 'What t I do you want with money?' I woul.· say. _ 'Well, we must have a drink and a cigar 1 once in awhile,' they would say.- 'Go to 0 p the bar and have it charged,' was my F y instruction, and when we got to Nash t ville there was a bar bill of twenty- o o eight dollars, in addition to the three j r hundred dollars for fares against the trunks of the. company, every member . of which thought the fares were Paid t and that I had loads of money in my b t inside pocket. k "'When we got to Nashville I went to n d the proprietor of the Maxwell house, s who had a reputation as being a good t n fellow, a friend of the show people. I e told him that the manager got left in h Pittsburgh and the boat had- brought f us on our trunks; if he would kindly 1 9, advance me three hundred and twenty y eight dollars I would bring the d people and the trunks up to the t r- Maxwell house, and when the man a ager arrived he would pay him the : money. lie said he would like to ac- d y commodate me, but he did not have the Q s. money; 'but,' said he, 'I will introduce you to a gambler; he is a good fel- h n low and is stuck on theatrical peo o ple. I think he will advance you the Y .n money. r- "The gambler said: "Well, old fel- 9 is low, I have got just fifteen dollars. I n will go play it against faro, and if I win enough money to help you out I will do it.' I went with him to a faro bank and i 1. sat there all night watching him play. He would win and lose again and again ' win and lose. About daylight his last t chip was raked into the insatiable maw l of that hungry faro bank, and we were I both broke. I went back to the boat and took a sleep. When I got up I took t the captain of the boat into the state room and told him the whole sick- . ening truth; that I had lied to him, and threw myself on his mercy. He took I d me to the agent of the steamboat line. To him I. stated just what I thought 1 Y could do during the races, and if he would help me out of the hole I would I let him have charge of the ticket-selling I le at the theater; he should take the money I Sas fast as it came in until he was pain. I ie accepted my proposition, arranged I a the rent for the theater and-nade us all I Sright at the hotel. We played to a big of business. I left Nashville with over of five hundred dollars for my share of the two-weeks' engagement, and not a mem. b her of the company ever knew at any Sstage of the game but what I had more money than a mule could pack."-In e dianapolis News. Short-Hand Writing. et "Through persistent push," says a rk late writer, "almost anything can be accomplished," and the earnestness of t Peter Bales, born in 1547, is a fine ex ample. It is recorded of this man that he was one of the first to present a sys tem of short-hand writing, and very certain it is that unusual skill was ate n tained by him in his special line of work. In 1575 he accomplished a won derful feat of handicraft, arranging within the circle of a single penny the Lord's prayer, the Creed, Decalogue and two brief prayers in Latin; alsohis own name, a motto, the day of the e- month, year of the Lord, and reign of the queen, to whom he presented it at in Hampton equrt. This remarkable fa Scility of penwork received a quaint set ' ting; it was encased in a ring, with borders of gold, and was protected by a he crystal; so accurately traced was every word as to be plainly legible. No mar -e vel that it was greatly prized by her an majesty Queen Bess, so eminently fond he was she of rare and curious additions to her stock of treasures; and of this of he fering to her royal highness by "her humble subject," we are assured that Sshe expressed decidedpleasure.-Har* per's B3azar. Gd reat Capacity for Rest. e He was about twelve years old, and it very- black. He was hired to work in he the garden. by the day, but the moles e and frogs in the ground, the birds in ilk the trees; the stray cats and dogs out. side the fence, and the passing stream ol- of acquaintances, offered so many di versions that work lagged. His mistress watched him in despair. "Josiah," she pleaded, "why don't you do your work? It wears met out hav ingto sit here to watch you." Hlie looked up, his wizen. face expres sionless. "Why," he dra wrled, "I could sit roun' all day an' watch you work, 1I a' nevah itird."u-Hayrwys e' B PITH AND POINT. s --"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars." They lay all the blame on T the manager.-Puck. --Cloves are responsible for the first L breath .of suspicion in many happy families.-Du Bois Courier. -The difficulty in this cold world is i that too. many fellows want to stand a with their backs. to the fire.--Bradford R Record. " -"Never play at any game of q chance." The man who hides four aces n in his sleeve observes this rule.-Texas s1 Siftings. c] -Woman hath this resemblance to o: sugar, too, that the more refined she is g the harder it is to detect the sand.-N. V Y. Herald. 01 -The young man who can write "a g good hand" hasn't half the chance in life W with the youth who can hold one.- P Washington Post. L -What a shock it is to find out that the man whose conversation you have f' been admiring is not worth a dollar.- j Indianapolis Journal. -If a man is neither very good nor very bad it is very good evidence that v he has never at any time been greatly influenced by any woman.-Atchison n Globe. -Cross-eyed Advice.-In the rdatter n of chirography, if you dot your "i's" and cross your "t's"'you can ignore the a rest of the letters. They are not in it. s -Elmira Gazette. f -How it Turns Out.-Living only to iý get riches generally turns out like the j boy got the hornets' nest. Just as he t thought he had it he found out that it a had him.-Ram's Horn. t' -When He Doesn't Kill Them?-Isn't S Lb strange that the doctor who insists T upon his rich patients going to Florida a can cure the poor ones witha few bot- I ties of nasty medicine?--Brooklyn Ea- o gle. Ii -A Slippery Opinion.-Amateur Act. I or-"Well, what did you think of my c Hamlet?" Candid Friend-"Er-um-; d well, to tell the truth, if I'd been the a old man's ghost I'd ha' spanked youl" Judge. -His Only Reason.-"I'd like to know t why you hired a young woman for a typewriter?" demanded Mrs. Hilow of her husband. "So I could have some' one to dictate to," replied the unhappy man.-N. Y. Sun. C -A Pessimist.-"On the Rhine and the Moselle they are sincere-they say plainly 'Rhine wine' and 'Moselle wine,' 1 but in other places they never tell one from which they take their water."- r Fliegende Blatter. -Man is only an atom in the realiza tion of the great cosmic plan, but he does not feel so at' all when his new boots persist in squeaking as he walks down the broad aisle a little late to. his pew in church.-Somerville Journal. -His Specialty. -Dentist-"I shall 1 have to chprge you twerty-five dollars for that job." Victim---"Mr. Yankem, you have mistaken your profession. You can pull a man's leg better than you can pull his teetb."-Chicago Saturn lay Herald. I SQUEAKS LIKE SHRIEKS. I The Appallingot Groans of WVooden-Axled I Bullock Carts in the Azores. Passing through the villages in the s t harvest time is frequently a matter of I picking one's way daintily among large linen sheets spread with the maize grm t ýr beans which it is the habitof the I I agers to dry out in front of the1 houses, writes bicyclist Osbert How- '1 arth, describing his trip to the Azores. i The task is further complicated by the x presence of stray babies, fowls and dogs ad infinitum. 1 In the midst of his efforts to steer. a clear of all these, the rider's ears will d be greeted now and again with the ap g palling shrieks and groans.of some bul y lock cart loaded to the skies with rip I. ened maize. Huge wooden axles run Sf ning in wooden bearings without lubri 1 cation, create a din which is often audi g ble for miles, and at close quarters is r absolutely stunning. e I inquired into this theory of friction Swith some curiosity, and was informed y that the familiar tune is so soothing to e the bovine ear that the animals ould I. decline to work without it. Neverthe less, it is suppressed by law in passing through the towns where grease is de rigueur. a The bullocks are harnessed with a o frightfully burdensome yoke of timber ,f on the neck, and are commonly driven c- four-in-hand, if one can use the tenrm Lt where the steering apparatus consists of s- a rope round the horn of the leader. y A very brief experience shows that t- abundant time must be given to effect a )f safe passage of such a team in narrow q- quarters, for the bullock (not to men g tion his driver) will commonly stare Le with mute surprise until one's pilot ie wheel is under his nose before it occurs is to him to make way.-Outing. S GREENLAND ICE SAILING. t 1ow Dr. Nansen Traveled with Sledges 8- and Snow-Shoes Over Inland Ice. Dr. Nansen, the intrepid explorer, in Shis account of his adventurous journey a across Greenland, tells how his party 7 carried all their stores on two light - sledges drawn by hand. Each sledge er with its load weighed about two hun Id dred poundas to On theinland icfee, when the wind was ,f favorable, they could, by rigging up er sails for the sledges out of the wall at pieces and roofs of their tents, get their " loads transported without labor, and sometimes with great swiftnesas. The explorer speaks with much en thusiasm of the Norwegian "skis," ad which hewore on all his snow journeys. in The "ski" is a wooden footgear, 8 es feet long, 3% inches wide at its broadest in part, curving upward toward the front. It The "skilober" puts his toes into a m leather receptacle like the fore part ouf a boot, and buckles a strap round the back of the heel, allowing the heel to r. rise freely. on With a pair of "skis" he can skid over Lv- moderately firm snow at the speed of seven, eight or nine miles an hour on es- level ground, and fears not to rush down ld steep hills with amazing swiftness or *1r, tot ppfpin awmuha¶ legj/-aZs. Y:. J SIN(iLI TAX DEPAR'TMENT. w Isl THE SINGLE TAX BEFORE THE n ILLINOIS LEGISLATURE. go ha Letter of Warren Worth Bailey In The e Standard. 0 The expediency of adopting the single to tax will be investigated by a committee ga I of the Illinois legislature. This much of Iwe are sure of as the result of our trip th to Springfield on Tuesday, when the ids I question of appointing a special comrn- sp a mittee to inquire into the subject was th a set for a hearing in the house. Our th club sent a delegation of five, consisting dig of Messrs. John Z. White, Edward Os- m: good Brown, Hlerbert Darlington, Frank be W. Irwin and W. W. Bailey. Several si, others had intended to go, but could not go get away. The single tax delegation Bi was.reinforced by Mr. John C. Harding, ra president of the Illinois Federation of TI Labor, the whole crowd going down at Monday night on the legislative train m from this city. At Springfield they were pc joined by Messrs. Hill and Buchner, of m the Peoria club, and a number of the pc local friends, who treated the visitors th very kindly during their short stay. cii The resolution calling for the appoint- th ment of the desired committee was in- of troduced by Hon.. John T. Norsworthy. er editor of the Carmi Partisan, and the matter was in his hands. lie had suc- ro ceeded in having it made a special order tic and it was arranged that the house re should go into committee of the whole for its consideration. This was done sa 3 immediately after the reading of the N journal, on Mr. Norsworthy's motion, ax the republicans voting solidly against it, fo Sas they did when the questson was on gi the adoption of the resolution itself. be t Valuable assistance was lent to Mr. te s Norsworthy by Representatives May o0 i and O'Donnell of Cook and Gehr of tb - Peoria,' and Speaker Crafts was obvi- m - ously inclined in our favor. When the tl house went into committee of the whole vs SRepresentative Craig was called to the th r chair, and then we were invited to ad- be dress the house in behalf of the matter F i under consideration. hi John Z. White was the first speaker. in When he began his argument I noticed in " that at least a third of the members tI were engaged in anything but listening. in f Some of them were reading, others an were writing, still others were chatting pi with neighbors or moving about the an chamber. But Mr. White's first sen- to i tences and the voice in which he de- al livered them, very quickly commanded ai attention. The gentlemen who were to looking over their mail laid it aside, I1 newspapers were folded up, writing T was suspended and conversations were aI stopped abruptly. The faces of the ti scornful took on first a look of curiosity N and then one of thoughtful interest. In cc a little while nearly the whole body m was intently listening, and I particular- re s ly observed that none were more ab is sorbed in following Mr. White than the pc 1 legislators who wore upon them the air in s of the farm. t" Mr. White in opening his remarks ex plained that we were not there to ad- T vocate the single tax, but to ask the ap pointment of a committee to investi gate and report the facts from which dý might be drawn a conclusion as to the vi merit of the single tax system as com a pared with the present. Chicago's val- $ nation, Mr. White declared, four years li e after the fire was $806,000,000, in 1884 & f $203,000,000, and last year $190, t0,0. . e This, the speaker maintained, uld ri a indicate that Chicago was growing d . steadily poorer, something that was manifestly absurd. It was patent that i the wealthy of this city were escaping b ;. 'taxation for obvious reasons. If a per e son went into any of the large houses "s and tried to justly levy an assessment g the word of the owner or his hirelings t ;r. was all that could be secured. It was t Il different with the farmer. His proper- c ,. ty could not be secreted and all his r i. neighbors were taxed with some show t ,. of fairness. Mr. White showed in the . local valuation in the sixmostpopulous i. counties in the state, Cook, Peoria, St. i. Clair, Kane, McLean and Adams,-that is but 15 per cent. was personalty, where as in the six least populois the person n alty amounted to 20 per cent. Mr. t SWhite contended that the repeal of the Spersonalty taxes would relieve six d rural counties of 20 per cent. and six e urban counties of but 15 per cent. of g thei' present~ burdenas. The single tax le advocates would also like to have the committee of investigation report in fa a vor of local option in the matter of tax er ation, allowing each town to raise rev- 1 n enue for its own expenses in such man m ner as might be deemed best. With of .this much accomplished the single taxers would undertake to secure a trial at of their plans, and' in this way demon strate their truth or fallacy. He cited uwo cities-Aurora and Elgin--by way a of illustration, and held that if the for re mer adheres to the present system and ot the latter relieves all industries of pub ra lic burdens Elgin would be preferred by manufacturers. "If this is true," inquired Mr. White in conclusion, "isit not an admission that the present sys tem is a hindrance to production, and :e that our proposed system would encour Sage manufactures to the same extent? SDo you wish to encourage or retard ey the development of the various en t3 terprises in which our citizens are en ht gaged?" ge Mr. White was followed by President m- Harding, on behalf of the Federation of Labor, which, after a full discussion, Shad asked for the specal committee, up not because it was prepared to accept the single tax, but because it was ready ar to receive light from any and every ad source. "I can not say that I fully be lieve in.single tax," said Mr. Harding, n- "but I can say that I believe it would be a great improvement upon the sys y tern now in vogue. No man will deny Sthat taxes now fall heaviest on those est least able to bear them, nor will any ot ne maintain that these taxes do not Sa hamper, discourage and retard industry. of The single tax promises relief from ob the vious and terrible evils, andI am there to fore here to urge upon the legislature the duty oL giving the new method the er fairest and fullest investigation." Mr. Brown closed the argument in on favor of the appointment of the cornm wn mittee in an admirable speech thatheld or the attention of the house. He said he tIPhoujht ug more important queston woula u ouuimt Oe presented o the Leg islature than the most expedient and just method of raising the revenues for governmental purposes. Government . had but two duties-to raise sufieient revenue, and to spend it for proper pur poses. The single taxers simply desired to have a legislative committee investi gate the best means of performing one of these duties. They were not asking the legislature to-day to indorse their ideas, but only to name a special committee, before, which they would promise to present their reasons for believing as they did. Such a committee was being de. manded by the Illinois federation of la. bor. It was being petitioned for by the single tax men of the state from Chica go to Cairo, and the single tax men, Mr. Brown assured the legislators, were a rapidly-growingclass in the community. That something was wrong was undeni able and undenied. The burden rested most heavily with the consumer in pro- . portion to his consumption. This was making the rich richer and the poor poorer. It was ruining the farmer and the agricultural districts. The wealthy citizens of the great cities concealed their personal property and evaded most of their taxes, but the farmer and labor er paid more than their share. When the committee of the whole rose it recommended that the resolu tions be referred to the committee on revenue. "That gives yofi fellows a black eye," said the representative of the Chicago News when the result was announced, and so we felt at first. We had asked for a special committee, but instead of giving us that the whole matter had been referred to the revenue commit tee, "and there it will sleep," was the opinion of my journalistic friend. But this happened prior to the announce ment of the house committees. When this came our disappointment quickly vanished, for we found at the head of * the committee to which our petition hads been referred no less a personage than Farmer James Cockrell, who made haste to assure us that he would do all in his power to meet our wishes for an investigation. "I have been studying - the single tax for four years," he said in his hearty and earnest way, "and I am anxious to learn more about it The present system of taxation is as rotten as hell and it ought to be wiped out al together, You must supply me with all the information at your command, and as soon as possible I will arrange to have you present your case in full. y If it can be done I hope you will get Thomas G. Shearman to come out here and address us on the subject of taxa- , tion. He could do great good." As Mr. Norsworthy is also a member of the committee we feel that the able gentle man who moved to have the question referred as it was rather-than to a spec ial committee has been hoist of his own petard. In any event we will get the most that we expected, a hearing, and that is enough just at present. The Decadence of the Roman Empire. The idea of absolute individual prop erty in land, which modern civilization derived from Rome, reached its full de velopment there in historic times. When the future mistress of the world first looms up, each citizen had his little homestead plot, which was in alienable, and the general domain- "the corn-land which was of public right"--was subject to common use, doubtless under regulations or customs which secured equality, as in the Ten tonic mark and Swiss allmend. It was from this public domain, constantly ex tended by conquest, that the pitriciana- " . s families succeeded in carving .ieir, t great estates. These great estates by the power with which the great at - tracts the less, in spite of temporary ` checks by legal limitation and recur - ring divisions, finally crushed out all the small proprietors; adding their lit tie patrimonies to the latifundia of the , enormously rich, while they themselves were forced into the slave gangs, be came rent-paying colonil, or else were driven into the freshly conquored r' foreign provices, where land was given Sto the veterans of the legions; or to the e metropolis, to swell' the ranks of the proletariat who had nothing to sell but - Stheir votes.-Progress and Poverty. . a The Natural Source of Revenue. In a rude state of society where there t is no need for common expenditure, Sthere is no value attaching to land. The p only value which attaches there is to h things produced by labor. But as civil e ization goes on, as a division of labor takes place, as men come into centers, Sso do the common wants increase, and d so does the necessity for public revenue arise. And so on in that value which att~aches to land, not by reason of any & thing which the individual does, but by reason of the growth of the commu d nity, is a provision intended-we may , safely say intended-to meet thatasocial it want. s- THE duke of Bedford, who died recent, Ld ly, owned 118 acres of land in the very r- heart of London, and over 156 square t? miles, or 100,000 acres of agricultural ]d lands. His income from both sources a- was said to be over $4,000,000 a year. n- On his London estates his tenants had erected some 80,000 buildings of every at description, and a large number of of these had, by expiration of leases, be n, come the property of the duke. Sothat e, he was probably the largest house own pt er in England. The famous Covent ly Garden market was on the duke's prop ry erty, and the ownership of this carried e with it the right to levy tolls on every g, cart approaching within a quarter of a Id mil of the market, as well as the pro r- duce sold in the market. From these y tolls he derived an income of over $100, ee 000 a year. As a manhe was reserved ny and eccentric, and took no part in pub ot lie affairs. The man who succeedshim. *. the present Lord Travistock, is not >b- much better. The old duke did-as re- much to make landlordism nodious as . ' re probably any land oiwner in the world. he He was rapacious and grasplfag "to t .he last degree, and took every advantage in that law allowed him to take; but, i- while his tenants suffered, the comn id munity at large have gained in having he so conspicunoli5 "bad .tgmple" of Lo . p.1di '..