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4
OLNEY ON THE TAX.
The Government's View
on the Petition for a
Rehearing.
IS IT A DIRECT IMPOST?
Vast Import of the Stand
Taken by the Chief
Justice.
PROPERTY ILLEGALLY TAXED.
Under the New Exposition of the
Constitution Vast Sums Should
Be Refunded.
WASHINGTON. D. C, April 17.— The
Attorney-General to-day tiled in the
United States Supreme Court a memoran
dum for the consideration of the Justices.
giving the Government's view on the peti
tion for a rehearing of the income tax
question tiled by the opponents of the law.
The memorandum is as follows:
Charles Pollock, appellant, vs. the Farm
ers 1 Loan and Trust Company et a!.;
Lewis H. Hyde, appellant, vs. the Conti
nental Trust Company of the city of New
York et al. ; on petition for rehearng.
The United States respectfully repre
sents that if a hearing is granted in the
above entitled case the rehearing should
cover all of the legal and constitutional
questions involved, and not merely those
as to which the court is equally divided.
First- -Whether the tax on incomes gen
erally, inclusive of rents and interests or
dividends from investments of all kinds, is
or is not a direct tax within the meaning
of the Federal constitution, is a matter
■upon which, in the original question,
the Government has really never been
heard. Its position at the time of
argument was that the question had been
settled by an exposition of the constitu
tion practically contemporaneous with its
adoption: by a Milscquent unbroken line i
of judicial precedents; by concurring and j
repeated action of all departments of the j
Government, and by the consensus of all
text writers and authorities by whom the
subject heretofore has been considered.
Second— The importance to the Govern
ment of the new views on its taxing power
announced in the opinion of the Chief Jus
tice can hardly be exaggerated. First,
pushed to their logical conclusion, they
practically exclude from direct operation
all the real estate of the country and all
its invested personal property. They ex
clude it because if realty and personalty
are taxed only by rules of apportionment,
the inevitable inequalities resulting from
such a plan of taxation are so gross and
flagrant as to absolutely debar any resort
to it.
That such inequalities must result is
practically admitted, the only suggestion
in reply being that the power directly tax
ing realty and personal property was not
meant for use as an ordinary, every-day
power; that the United States was ex
pected to rely for its customary revenues
upon duties, imposts and excises; and
tnat it was meant that it should
impose direct taxes only in extraor
dinary emergencies, and as a sort of
final resort. It is admitted that the con
stitution on a question of such vital im
portance in itself, and requiring for its sup
port an imputation to its framers of specific
purposes which nothing in the text of the
constitution has any tendency to reveal,
cannot oe too carefully considered before
being finally adopted.
Secondly, though of minor importance,
it is certainly relevant to point out that if
this new exposition of the constitution re
ferred to is to prevail the United States
has, under previous income-tax law?, col
lected vast sums of money which, on every
principle of justice, it ought to refund, and
■which it must be assumed Congress will
deem itself bound to make provision for
refunding by appropriate legislation. Re
spectfully submitted,
Richard Olxey, Attorney-General.
TO BBIXG SAILORS lIOIIE.
The Tars Whose Time lias Expired Will
He lirouijlit Front China.
WASHINGTON, I>. C, April 17.— The
Chino-Japanese war having ended it is
said at the Navy Department that a naval
ship will be dispatched to the Asiatic sta
tion to bring back the enlisted men of that
squadron whose terms of service have ex
pired. The department is considering
Which Teasel to send. If the Marion does
not go the Philadelphia, now at Honolulu,
will be sent to the Asiatic station, after
being relieved by the Olympia, and the
Baltimore will bring these men back. Navy
Department officials say that notwith
standing the cessation of warfare between
China and Japan the United States will not
only maintain its squadron in Chinese
waters, but will add to it as the various
ships now under construction are com
pleted and placed in commission.
Lieutenant Haipine is detached from the
Wabash and assigned to the Ranger, re
lieving Lieutenant Rogers, who is granted
three mouths' leave.
taCOMX TAX MUDDLE.
Internal Revenue Officials Can Make So
Statement for the Returns.
WASHINGTON, D. C, April 17.-The
Internal Revenue officials positively de
cline to make public any statement m re
gard to the income tax returns or to an
swer any question relating thereto. It is
learned the real cause of this retic
ence is the great number of blunders made
by the collectors in their telegraphic re
ports received yesterday and to-day. Some
of them contained only the number of re
turns received last Monday, while others
included all that had been received from
the beginning, included those below the
$4000 exemption, while still others in
cluded returns on which no tax is payable.
ho is blamable for this state of things is
not stated, but the result is that from what
has been received no intelligent statement
can be given of the number or amount of
returns filed with the ' collectors. It is un
doubtedly true that a large number of
persons subject to the law have made no
returns at all and in consequence the
officials see ahead of them a vast amount
of litigation and trouble.
LOOK ISO AFTER WALLER.
The State Department Will Seek the Re
leas* of the Consul. '
WASHINGTON, D. C., April 17.— The
State Department has by no means aban
doned the case of ex-Consul Waller, who
is now imprisoned in Madagascar under
sentence of a French court-martial, and as
soon as it has completed .the preparation
«l data .supplied t>y the United States Con-.
suls at Tamatave and Port Louis the case
will be brought to the attention of the
French Government by Embassador Eus
tis, the release of the prisoner will be re
quested and an explanation sought. The
facts which the department expects to
prove as a basis for this action are:
First, that Waller is an American citizen ;
second, that he was not guilty of improper
interference between the French and the
Hovas; third, that even if he were he had
not been accorded the fair trial to which
he was entitled, the -court-martial proceed
ings being obnoxious in every respect; and
lastly, that Waller has been harshly treated
and has been the object of persecution,
because he stood in the way of other
holders of concessions.
♦
HAWAII'S ARMY COMMANDER.
JB. H. XcLean Receives the Appointment
Without Solicitation.
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 17.— R. H.
McLean, an ex-naval officer, has been ap
pointed to command the army of Hawaii
with the rank, pay and allowauces of a
colonel in the United States army. He
graduated from the United States Naval
Academy in 1872, and honorably resigned
after an excellent record in 1888 to co into
business with his brother in Paris. He
was adjutant general of the Naval
Brigade at the Grant funeral exercises in
New York, and was for some time instruc
tor at a military school near Philadelphia.
His present appointment came to him un
sought, and when received he was prepar
ing to take charge of the solar meter on the
Kaiser Wilhelm 11, at the Kiel canal cele
bration, he having recently navigated the
ship by its aid from New York to Europe,
SCARCITY OF THE CATTLE.
Investigation Into the Recent
Rise in the Price of
Beef.
Why the Embargo on Mexican Cattle
Is Raised by the Agricultural
Department.
WASHINGTON, D. C, April 17.— The
officials at the Department of Agriculture
are pursuing their investigation into the
recent big rise in the price of beef, and it is
more than likely they will have something
definite to say within the next week with
reference to the cause of the matter and
the probable outcome. The action of the
department in raising the embargo on
Mexican cattle is expected to have the
effect of keeping the price of beef from go
ing up higher even if it does not cause a
decline, Dr. Salmon, chief of the bureau
of animal industry, said to-day there was
an undoubted scarcity of cattle in the
West, sufficient to account in part for the
increased price of dressed meats.
"The only question," said he, "is whether
this scarcity is sufficient to account for it
altogether, or whether the few big men
who control the beef market have not, to a
certain extent at least, anticipated the
effect of this scarcity; in other words,
whether the effect has not come before the
cause. "What we arc anxious to know is
whether the price of cattle has gone up in
proportion to the price of beef. It is not
any easy matter to settle and our agents
are meeting some difficulty in getting at
the facts in the matter, but their reports
are beginning to come in.
"For some time past," continued Dr.
Salmon, "cattle have been getting scarcer
and scarcer in the "West and especially in
the Southwest. The condition of the grass
has been so poor cattle have well nigh dis
appeared entirely. In Southwestern Texas,
for example, where there used to be tre
mendous herds, there are practically none
to-day. There has been a great improve
ment in the grass this year in Texas and
other "Western States, but the cattle are not
there to take advantage of it. That is one
reason that influenced the department in
its decision to raise the embargo on cattle
from Mexico. Mexican cattle have been
looked upon with disfavor for the reason
that Texas fever is known to exist on the
other side of the border and a quarantine
has been kept up in the summer. The
action of the packers in raising the price of
beef to such an extent resulted in the de
partment raising the embargo. The de
partment has increased its force of in
spectors and all incoming cattle will be
rigidly examined. Furthermore, the Mex
ican cattle seem to be in an unusually good
condition this year."
BESTBAIXIXV ORDER ASKED.
Belva Lochicood Hants Secretary Carlisle
to Withhold a Treasury Draft.
WASHINGTON, D. C, April 17.— Belva
A. Lockwood of this city and James Taylor
of Indian Territory, both attorneys-at-law,
have asked the Supreme Court of the Dis
trict of Columbia to issue an order restrain
ing Secretary Carlisle from paying and
Bdgax M. Marble of New York, George C.
Hazelton and Lyman A. Newell of this
city from receiving payment of a treasury
draft for $10,000 issued to James J. Newell.
The case arises out of a dispute over a fee
in what was Known as the "Old Settler"
or Western Cherokee claim.
\irnragua's -Veto Cabinet.
WASHINGTON, D. C, April 17.—Minis
ter Baker at Managua has informed the
State Department of the formation of a
new Cabinet in Nicaragua on April 1. The
composition is as follows: Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Senor Manuel Caronel
Matusi ; Minister of War, Marine and Pub
lic Works, General Ruben Alonzo; Minis
ter of the Interior, Francisco Cobailadares
Teran; Minister of Finance and Public
Credit, Senor Esantiago Callejas.
Working Vp Sound-Money Sentiment.
WASHINGTON, D. C, April 17.— Kepre
sentative Josiah Patterson of Memphis,
Term., is in Washington in the interest of
the sound-money convention to be held in
Memphis, May 23. The President will be
invited to attend the Memphis convention,
but no assurances have been given as to his
acceptance or whether he will write a letter
similar to his recent one. Secretary Car
lisle, however, will attend the convention
and deliver the principal address.
Army Promotions.
WASHINGTON, D. C, April 17.— The
retirement of Colonel James R.^mith as
surgeon-general, which occurs to-morrow,
wiil promote Lieutenant-Colonel Dallas
Bach to be colonel. Major D. L. Huntington
to be lieutenant-colonel, Captain Louis W.
Shannon to be major. Captain Shannon is
second on the list of captains. Captain
Lewis Crampton, the first on the list, is to
be jumped.
Vlaeed on the Retired List.
WASHINGTON, D. C, April 17.-Lieu
tenant Ransom of Portland, who was re
cently appointed to a lieutenantcy in the
army under a special act of Congress, has
been placed on the retired list. Lieutenant
Foster, U. S. N., has been found physically
disabled and recommended to the Presi
dent for retirement.
Cnnh. in the Treasury.
WASHINGTON, D. C, : April 17.-To
day's treasury statement: Available cash
balance, $183,829,273; gold reserve, $90,304,
--3Q6. ■ "... - .
THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 3 895.
PREPARING FOR WAR.
Armenians Propose to
Fight for Liberty
in May.
HAVE HIDDEN WEAPONS.
Leaders Promise an Attack
Upon Constantinople as
the Chief Event.
BUTCHERY IS LOOKED TOE.
Their Plans Are Being Kept Secret,
but the People Are Aroused
to a High Pitch.
LONDON, Esc, April 17.— The corre
spondent of the Associated Press writing
from Armenia, under date of March 17,
says:
"I have traveled many hundreds of miles
in Russia and Persia and have visited Ar
menian colonies as far east as the Caspians
and as far south as the city of Teheran,
and have learned, after the most careful
investigation and verification of the facts,
that the Armenian question will soon reach
an acute and painful crisis. In fact Ar
menia is preparing for war. The revolu
tionary party has now both money and
guns. During the past eight weeks money
has poured into the revolutionary treasury
in a steady stream from the Armenian
colonies in Butoum, Tiflis, Baku, Erivan,
Etchmiadzin and other places in Russia,
and from Eescht, Kazvin, Teheran, Tebriz,
Khoia and other cities in Persia. The
central idea of the plan of campaign is a
general uprising of Armenians through
out the Turkish empire some time during
the month of May. The leaders promised
the people in the eastern part of Armenia
that the chief attack will be made in the
city of Constantinople itself, and that the
brunt of the fighting will be done by the
Armenian residents therein, but this may
only be a subterfuge to encourage the faint
hearted at Van, Bitlis and Moush.
The Armenians have at least 4000 Martini-
Henry rifles hidden in secret places in the
mountains not a great distance from Lake
Van. For a handful of untrained Ar
menians to deliberately begin a fight with
the 300,000 regular troops of the Turkish
empire would seem to be folly too colossal
for human conception; yet the purpose is
not to bring Turkey to terms in a fair
fipht but to settle the quarrel by interven
tion of the European powers. Before the
revolution is three months old the powers,
it is believed, will be compelled to take a
hand in the conflict, for the cruelty,
atrocity, the outrage, the blood and
butchery of the struggle will be so un
thinkably horrible that Christian hu
manity will interfere. Armenia, it is then
booed, may get her freedom.
For the most part the revolutionary lead
ers are of the younger generation of Ar
menians, who argue it is no worse that a
few thousand Armenians should be killed
separately during a period of a few months
or years.
To what extent the plans of the revolu
tionary leaders are approved by the Ar
menian people at large it is diflicult to
tell. I seriously doubt if those plans are
known in detail to more than five per cent
of the Armenians. Still there are genuine
patriots who believe that to free Armenia
from the dreadful depth to which she is
sunk they must surrender some of their
fellow-countrymen to torture, outrage and
death.
There is a belief in Europe that Russia
desires to make the Armenians Russian
subjects by annexing the eastern end of
Turkey. Curiously enough, this belief is
not snared by the Russians of the Cau
casian region. The Georgians certainly
would resent any further increase in the
Armenian population. The business
methods of the Armenians are not gene
rally approved by Georgians and Rus
sians. It is therefore believed it is likely
that Russia wants the Armenians, but
whether or not she wants the Turkish
territory which the Armenians inhabit is
quite another matter. For the most part,
the average Armenian is anxious to have
some other man fight his battles, and he
is willing to believe England and Russia
are only waiting for a chance to come In
and dismember the Turkish empire.
The Armenian newspapers in Russia and
Persia contain no hint, however remote,
of their preparations, but contain only de
nunciations of Turkish tyranny, and de
mands for the enforcement of the sixty
first article of the* Berlin treaty. The lower
classes are less discreet. In Tirlis especially
they rill themselves up with vodka and go
about the streets clamoring for an Ar
menian king. As the time for the revo
lutionary uprising approaches, the words
of the Armenian Catholic, Monsignor
Ghrimiran, have an added significance:
"Armenia is in sore distress, but her
sufferings ■will soon be at an end."
NATIVES DEFEATED.
British Troops Rout an Opposing force
With Great Loss.
SIMLA, India. April 17. — The force com
manded by Keller, numbering 000 men,
who are hastening to the relief of Chitral,
reached Samoghar on April 12. They
found that the enemy had constructed
stone breastworks on the side of a ravine
250 feet in height, through which the ex
pedition had to pass. The natives were
armed with Martini and Snyder rifles.
Two of the British mounted guns were
employed in bombarding the works.
While the pioneers attacked their breast
works in front a detached party crept up
the side of the hill and took the natives on
the flank, driving them out of their de
fenses. The British loss in the engage
ment was six killed and fifteen wounded.
The enemy left behind them fifty dead and
carried away a large number of wounded.
FIGHT A. DUEL WITH B WORDS.
Two Well-Known Writers Meet on the
Fteld of Honor.
PARIS, France, April 17.— A duel with
swords was fought to-day between two
well-known writers, Jules Huret and Ca
tulle Mender, arising from the fact that
the former connected the latter's name
with that of Oscar Wilde. Mender was
slightly wounded. Mender is a well-known
French author and dramatist. He wrote
many novels and several dramatic works,
including the comic opera, "Le Capitainc
Fracasse."
Jtismarek's Talk to Labor.
FRIEDRICHSRUHE, Germany, April
17.— Prince Bismarck in spite of the sensa
tional statements to the contrary, circu
lated in the United States by a news
agency, continues to enjoy good health.
The Prince. to-day received a deputation of
5000 persons, representing the trades i
unions and guilds. Replying to an ad- i
dress the Prince eulogized labor and called |
for cheers for wage-earners. He also ex- j
pressed the wish that God would bless all j
honorable toil.
ELECTIONS IX CAXAOA.
The Manitoba School Question Pre-emi
nently the Issue.
MONTREAL, Quebec, April 17.-Elec
tions were held to till vacancies in Quebec
constituencies to-day. In Vercheres, a
French-Canadian and Roman Catholic con
stituency, the issue was pre-eminently the
Manitoba school question, and the Govern- j
ment hoped to redeem a life-long Liberal
seat on their pledge of remedial legislation
to the Manitoba Catholic minority. The
result was disappointing to them, as C. A.
Coffion, Liberal, defeated P. J. Bissaleon,
Ministerialist, by a majority of 251. In
the general election of 1891 the Liberal
majority was 148.
In Quebec, West, the situation was dif
ferent. Thomas McGreevy, who was im
prisoned for defrauding the Government
in connection with the Quebec harbor
works contract, stood for the seat which
he lost on account of a scandal. Hon.
J. H. Hearn, who succeeded .him, was a
Conservative, and his death has made the
vacancy.
Mr. McGreevy was opposed by R. R.
Dobel, who defeated him by seven votes.
Dobel is a supporter of the Liberal trade
policy of tariff for revenue, but it is under
stood he will give the Government sup
port on other questions.
TORONTO, Ontario, April 17.— The elec
tion which took place in Haldimand to fill
a vacancy in the Dominion Parliament
was more important than is usual with a
by election, from the fact that it is the
first time that an Ontario constituency has
spoken since the order was issued from
Ottawa suggesting relief for the Roman
Catholic minority in Manitoba. Dr. Mon
tague, who takes the portfolio of Secretary
! of State, represented the Dominion Gov
! ernment, and Jeffery McCarthy, equal
| righter, solicited the Orange vote as a pro
test against interference .with provincial
rights.
In the election last held Montague had a
j majority of 98. To-day the figures stand:
Montague 873, McCarthy 226. Montague's
majority, 647.
A PREHISTORIC RACE.
It la Said to Have Existed 3000 Tears
lie fore Christ.
LONDON, Bto., April 17.— The Edin
burgh correspondent of the Times says
that, in a lecture delivered before the
Edinburgh Royal Society, Professor W.
Flinders Petrie, the distinguished Egyptian
geologist, declares that recent excavations
made in the district thirty miles north of
Thebes, pointed to the existence 3000 years
before Christ of a race quite distinct lrom
the Egyptians.
This raco was probably the people who
overthrew Egyptian civilization at the
close of the old kingdom. Who they were
and whence they came was uncertain, but
the indications suggested that they were a
branch of the same eastward migration of
Libyans which founded the Amorite race
in Syria.
The Times comments editorially on the
importance of Professor Petrie's discovery
in transforming Egyptian history and in
encouraging the excavators in Greece and
elsewhere.
Cmittf iidi* the Tyler Management.
LONDON, Eva., April 17. — The com
mittee of stockholders of the Grand Trunk
Railway of Canada has issued a report
cased upon the report recently made by
Melbacker, who was appointed to investi
gate the company's affairs, virtually con
demning the management of Sir Henry
Tyler, the president of the company, and
asking proxies in favor of inviting Sir
Charles Rivers Wilson to accept the presi
dency.
Losses in India.
CALCUTTA, India, April 17.— A dis
patch from Simla to-day says that Umra
Khan has informed Sir Robert Low, com
mander of the British expedition advancing
on Chitral, that if the British advance any
farther he intends to flee from the country.
The British loss in righting on the Panj
kora River was four killed and twenty-one
wounded.
Submitted for Approval.
GUATEMALA, April 17.— The settle
ment arranged between Guatemalan En
voy de Leon and Mexican Minister of
Foreign Affairs Mariscal was submitted to
the Legislative Assembly here yesterday
for approval
AMERICAXS J.V GUATEMALA.
It Is Claimed That They Have Been
Subjected to Indignities.
WASHINGTON, D. C, April 17.— There
was much complaint during the past year
of the abuse of Americans in Guatemala in
cases like that of Heury J. Stibbs. Officers
of American ships were seized in Guate
malan ports and forced into military
service.
American workmen peacefully engaged
in labors were imprisoned and maltreated.
Some were subjected to the indignity of
lashings upon their bare backs. The De
partment of State has called for explana
tions from the Guatemalan Government
and directed investigations through con
sular officers, upon which to base demands
for indemnity.
THE BALL WILL ROLL.
Prrparationa to Open the liaseball Cham
pionship Season.
NEW YORK, N. V., April 17.-The
opening of the championship season at
the polo grounds to-morrow promises to
be an auspicious event in the league
series. The grounds are in fine condition
and have been greatly beautified during
the past few weeks.
The makVup of the Giants will be as last
year, with the exception that Stafford will
occupy second base instead of Ward. Rus
sie and Farrell will be the battery. The
Brooklyn team will be weakened by the
absence of Lachance. who was injured in
the foot by a foul ball on Monday and
wr.ose place on first will be taken by Foutz.
Kennedy and Grom will handle the ball,
barring accident.
Bicyclist Johnson Suspended.
PHILADELPHIA, Pa., April 17.— John
S. Johnson, the bicyclist, was suspended
from the L. A. W. to-day by otder of
Chairman Gideon, who refused to state
what the charges were. Johnson will be
given thirty days in which to answer the
charges. It is generally understood that
the charge upon which the well-known
rider has been dropped is professionalism.
Eck, Johnson's trainer, is also included
in the suspension. He declares they can
clear themselves of the charges, and they
will go ahead with their training.
The Smith- Itynn Contest.
CHICAGO, 111., April 17.— Par?on
Davies has signed and forwarded to Billy
Smith's manager an agreement calling for
a twenty-five, or more, round contest be
tween Smith and Tommy Ryan to take
place on May 27 before the Seaside or the
Atlantic Club at Coney Island. The men
are to weigh 142 pounds at 3 o'clock on the
afternoon of the contest. i
CHINA TO PAY CASH.
Japan Will Get Three
Hundred Millions
in Coin.
ALSO VAST TERRITORY.
Port Arthur and Its Substan
tial Forts Included in the
Agreement.
THE LIKEN TAX REMOVED.
This Opens the Channels of Trade,
but Will Work Hardships Upon
the Government.
WASHINGTON, D. C, April 17.— The
Chinese imperial edict sent by the Asso
ciated Press last night from Tientsin is
accepted among the officials and diplomats
here as setting at rest conflicting reports as
to the final terms of peace. An indemnity
of 200,000,000 taels is the compromise.
Japan first demanded 300,000,000 taels,
but on solicitation of Prince Li threw off
100,000,000. At the Chinese legation it is
stated that a tael varies in value, but the
present value of the customs or treasury
tael, in which undoubtedly the payment
will be made, is $1 50 in Mexican silver, or
about 75 cents in gold.
This would make the indemnity equiva
lent to $300,000,000 in Mexican silver dol
lars, or $150,000,000 in gold. The Mexican
trade dollar is the current coin of China
and the basis of calculation, so that the be
lief is very strong, though intormation on
the subject is lacking, that the payment
may be in silver.
The edict that Japan is to occupy Liao
Tung Peninsula up to the fortieth degree
of latitude settles the important point that
she will have a great fortress at Port Arthur
and the immediate surrounding territory,
as foreshadowed in the dispatches.
Liao Tung Peninsula is a small point of
i land jutting southward, into the Gulf of
Pechili, with Port Arthur at its extreme
point. The fortieth degree of latitude cuts
across the mainland where the little penin
sula broadens into the mainland of Man
churia. This lower peninsula has the shape
of a sword, and is known as the "Regent's
sword." t \ \.. • .: . ... .
The edict does not state' whether Japan
gets the acquisition permanently or until
j the indemnity is paid. She has contended
for having it permanently. If the occu
pancy is temporary it will give Japan a
military command over China as long as
the occupation lasts. The permanent oc
cupancy of the island of Formosa has been
settled for some time. The opening of
Peking and four new ports of commerce
marks the introduction of modern methods
in the interior of China.
Japan has pained the privilege of estab
lishing her cotton and other factories in
China, but it remains to be seen whether
Japanese capital* will invest in these enter
prises or the Chinese buy these modern
fabrics.
' The edict makes a significant omission
as to the reported Japan-China alliance,
offensive and defensive, which, if consum
mated, would have given the "Orient to
the Orientals." Japanese and Chinese
officials in "Washington have never credited
the report of this alliance.
REMOTES THE " LIKEy" TAX.
All Nations May lie Favored by the
Treaty of Peace.
WASHINGTON, D. C, April 17.— United
States Minister Dun at Tokio has been
heard from in an announcement of the
conclusion of the treaty of peace between
China and Japan, but he apparently does
not know upon what terms this treaty has
been signed. The Chinese legation and
the Japanese legation here are also in
ignorance as to the exact conditions. It
is believed here that the Japanese have
secured the abolition of the "liken" tax,
by which is meant the tax imposed on
goods transported from one point in China
to another. •
This has been the object of all occidental
diplomats accredited to China for months,
and the officials of the State Department
feel that all civilized nations will owe a
debt of gratitude to Japan for thus re
moving this burden on their commerce
with China, for it is not believed this con
cession would have been made in the in
terest of Japan alone. Should Japan,
however, be the only beneficiary as re
gards this tax, it is fully expected that a
strong protest will be made by the powers,
which would be greatly handicapped in
the competition with Japan for Chinese
trade unless they could claim the same
privilege of exemption under the favored
nation clauses of their treaties.
The loss of the "liken" tax will be very
severely felt by China. It averages about
twelve million taels per annum, and China
will supply the deficit in revenue with
great difficulty. The total revenues of the
country were estimated by a competent
British consular officer in 1888 at 65,000,000
taels per annum, and as the custom taxes
are limited by treaty to 5 per cent it is a
matter of much speculation as to how the
country will raise the large indemnity de
manded Dy Japan. - r
GOISG TO THE ORIENT.
China and Japan Looked Upon as the
Coming Countries.
WASHINGTON, D. C, April 17 — E.
Curtis, the Washington correspondent of
the Chicago Record, will leave here Satur
day and sail from San Francisco for Hong
kong on May 4. He goes to write a series
of letters and to secure material for a book
which shall show the possibilities of trade
and commerce with China and Japan and
Korea under conditions that will follow
the restoration of peace between China and
Japan.
It is his belief that these countries of the
far East are just upon the verge of an era
of material prosperity and commercial de
velopment, and that for the next decade
at least the attention of speculators and in
vestors will be turned toward them.
The advance guard of these from the
United States has ; already begun. One of
the first was General .George B. Williams,
who goes in the" interest of the ship-build
ing firm of Charles Cramp's Sons of Phila
delphia. It has been announced that
Japan intends to expend the whole of the
money for indemnity received from China
in the extension of her military and naval
establishments and , ; it may be that the
United States will furnish . her part of her
ships and military stores.
Another departure this week is that of
Chester A. Hoicomb, for many years secre
tary of . the United States legation at Peking
and author a* * receat iM»k «atttls& "¥&» ,
i Scat Cbmasi&iu" Mr..H»i3om& is not only I
familiar with the Chinese people.but speaks
their language. He goes as the represent
ative of a wealthy syndicate to investigate
the conditions and prospects of the coun
try with a view to the establishment of
banking-houses, which it is believed will
be demanded by the increase of business.
OSM LESSOX OF THE WAR.
Japan Taught the Value of Improved
Repeating Rifles.
WASHINGTON, D. C, April 17.—Com
mander Myaoka.an attache of the Japa
nese legation, referring to the military
operations of the Japan-China war just
closed, said:
"It has afforded a wide field of observa
tion on modern methods of warfare, as it
has been the first great conflict since the
Franco-German war, when the implements
of war were far less advanced than they
are now. At the outset the Japanese sol
diers were armed with old-style rifles and
the battle of Ping Yang was fought with
single-fire guns. Among the guns cap
tured from the Chinese, it was found that
they had a very few superior repeating
ritles, although the bulk of their arms were
found primitive and useless. Japan has
since undertaken to rearm all soldiers with
repeating rifles of the latest type. Already
one-third of the troops have this new arm
and the Government arsenals are hard at
work turning out the,guns for a complete
equipment. /
"The war footing of the Japanese army
is now up to 180,000 men ; their peace foot
ing wa3 60,000 distributed in six garrisons.
Now that the war is over it is not likely
that an immediate reduction will be made
back to the peace basis, for if the final
terms of peace include cessions of territory
permanent or temporary, there will have
to be forces for these localities, besides
equipping the six home garrisons."
IA Hung Chang to Go Home.
SHIMOXESKI, Japax, April 17.— Li
Hung Chang will embark for China to-day
on board the Kung Yi.
American Xaval Movements.
WASHINGTON, D. C, April 17.— The
Yorktown has arrived at Shanghai. The
San Francisco has sailed from Smyrna for
Alexandria and the Concord from Shang
hai for Nagasaki.
FOR THE BENSLEY COIN
The New Claimant Says He
Can Prove His Rela
tionship.
The Attorneys Claim to Have
Enough Evidence to Win
the Suit
The romantic story of Mary L. Ingles,
better known as Mrs. John Bensley, pub
lished yesterday, reveals for the first time
much that was. shrouded in mystery. Dur
ing the famous struggle of Chandos and
his sisters to secure Mrs. Bensley's estate
the public occasionally caught a glimpse
of what was behind the scenes, but the
actors in the drama had schooled them
selves so perfectly that when the case
ended the mystery was all the darker for
the fitful gleam of light that flashed across
its surface.
It reveals, according to the evidence now
in the possession of Mr. Tripp, years of
scheming on the part of a brother and sis
ter to defraud an old man out of his for
tune, and the final accomplishment of that
vile conception. Through all this the
brother and sister were hand in glove, be
coming Mr. and Mrs. de Tarente when the
occasion demanded, though they always
sought strange places when double-dealing
was needed.
The man who poses as B. G. Chandos, it
is indicated, is no other than Zachariah
Ingles, and following out the line so long
pursued by the deceased Mrs. Bensley and
himself, he connived with others to de
fraud the son of his sister and co-worker in
crime out of property valued at something
over $300,000, which reverted to him on the
death of his mother. Mr. Tripp says he
has evidence to show all this to be the
truth.
Probably the most important document
that will lie offered in evidence is the sworn
statement of Mrs. Mary Ingles, mother of
Mrs. Bensley, of Chandos, jnd of the three
pisters who secured a portion of the estate.
This statement was made twenty years
ago, and it was only after weeks of diligent
search in one of the big Eastern cities that
Mr. Tripp was able to locate the notary be
fore whom the paper was signed, and ob
tain a certified copy of the same.
After describing the early and wayward
life of her daughter, Mrs. Bensley, Mrs.
Ingles says:
'•The child, E. A. Macmahon, was given
that name because one of my daughters,
now Mrs. Hardesty, had married a Mac
mahon, and that seemed the most ex
pedient means of concealing the child's
identity should the English husband,
Greville, or Grething, ever put in a claim
for him. Greville did call later to see the
child, but was told that he had died when
only a few weeks old. Greville then left,
and all trace of him has been lost. One of
my daughters in a fit of anger one day at
tempted to smother the infant by wrap
ping his head in a shawl, though she said
she was only teasing him. Fearing for
Edward's life, I carried him to another
place, where he remained until sent for by
his mother."
There is said to be no want of proof
relative to Macmahon being the son of
Mrs. Bensley.
Macmahon is in Kansas City, but it is
understood that he will come to San Fran
cisco within the next few weeks. In a
statement in the possession of Mr. Tripp
among other things Macmahon says :
"Within the last ninety days I have dis
covered evidence proving that 1 am the
son of Mrs. Bensley and not her nephew,
as I have always believed. I recall that
after the death of my mother the proprie
tor of the hotel at Las Vegas said that Mrs.
Bensley remarked in his presence, 'Edward
Macmahon is my son.' I did not notice it
at the time, because I had always been
taught to call her aunt. Prior to the death
of my mother I had always addressed Mrs.
Hardesty as aunt, but after that event I
was told to call her 'mother.'
"After the death of my grandmother I
I lived with Mrs. Hardesty nine months in
Pittsburg and never lived with her over
twenty-one months all told. She always
introduced me as her nephew, and in Bir
mingham and Kansas City, Mq., the peo
ple believe that I bear that relation to her.
I feel that a great wrong has been done
me, and intentionally, too, by my aunts
and uncle, and the object of this suit is to
right that wrong."
B. G. Chandos, who figures as one of the
principals in the suit tiled Tuesday, is
living in Centralia, Wis. It is the ihten
iton of the attorneys in charge of the case,
Mr. Tripp says, to file an action to-day at
Centralia, tying up the property owned
and controlled by him there. In this con
nection it is not inappropriate to remark
that Chandos swore in open court that he
did not know either Marian de Tarente or
James de Tarente. Documents are on file
which prove that Chandos masqueraded as
James de Tarente and that Mrs. Bensley
represented herself to be Marian de Tarente.
HADN'T SEEN PAPEB MONEY.
How an Immigrant Couple Were
Swindled.
Bridget "Williamson was brought before
Justice Taintor, in the \ Jefferson Market
Court,charged;with having passed a $50 Con
federate bill on John Hughes, a bart|f-»iss
' m tS9 riisn, 300 »pn*g »week Mrs. Wil
liamson was arrested by Court Officer i
Hunt on a warrant, says the New York
Times.
Accompanied by her husband, James,
and her 13-year-old son, John Henry, she
came to this city last week from Mansville,
Jefferson County, N. Y. They had sold
their property there, consisting of two
cows and a pig. They took rooms at the
Spring-street address, and last Friday Mrs.
Williamson gave Hughes the $50 bill in
question to pay her room rent. Hughes
gave the woman $41 change. He did not
know that the money was Confederate un
til he had taken it to the bank.
When Mrs. Williamson was brought to
court she at once admitted that she had
given the bill to Hughes. She said that it
had been given to her by her husband, who
had received it from the man to whom he
sold the cows and the pur. Justice Taintor
told the woman to send for her husband.
She turned to her boy, lohn Henry, who
had come to court with her, and said:
"John Henry!" Then followed some words
in a tongue never before heard in the Jef
ferson Market Court. The lad answered
in the same tongue, while an old police
man ejaculated :
"Bless my soul, the lad's talking Gaelic."
So he w;is. The family hag been in this
country only three years, haying come
from the west coast of 1 reland. When the
husband appeared he corroborated in
every way the story told by his wife. He
added that this was the first paper money
he and his wife had ever seen. He had
never heard of Confederate money.
Justice Tainter held Mrs. Williamson in
$500 bonds for examination on Monday.
Amos Markham of Memphis, Term., is
fond of moving. Since bis marriage, in
18(30, he has moved fifteen times. His
twelve children were born in twelve differ
ent States.
Yale's
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youth and elasticity to the
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Beware of substitutes and
counterfeits. Yale's Origi-
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and $3. At all drugstores.
HME. M. TALE, Health and com-
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146 State street, Chicago.
KEDIXGTOX & CO., Wholesale Drug-
gists, San Francisco, are supplying tb«
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-
