The Indianapolis journal. [volume], February 17, 1890, Page 4, Image 4

About The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904

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THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1890.
4
THE DAILYJOURNAL
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1S0O.
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WASHINGTON.
House.
D. C iiigS House and Ebbltt
With grass-burning and explaining
his attempt to stigmatize pension bills,
it seems that our Bynum has an uk com
monly busy season beforo him.
One of theso days the Democratic or
gans will ceaso repeating the statement
that Speaker Reed was "snubbed" by
his party when it was voted to devote
three days to discussion of the rules. But
not yet.
Ocr Bynum should be cudgeling his
brains for an explanation of his attempt
to have the rules of the House so changed
that pension bills may be loaded down
with a proviso laying a tax for their
payment. The veterans are hot about
the matter.
Democratic papers are commenting
on the fact that the cannera' convention,
recently held in this city, adopted reso
lutions opposing any increase of the
duty on tin-plate. No such resolutions
were adopted or introduced in the con
vention. "Who can ever forget my friend from
Indiana," said Mr. Allen, of Michi
gan, in the House, "as with clenched
lists and 'form like old Goliath tall,' he
moved down the aisle with arms akimbo,
like a Dutch windmill, threatening diro
disaster to the man who occupied the
chair." That was our Bynum.
In a side remark at the meeting of the
paper trade in Boston, Hon.' Warner
Miller said that if New York had had
the Australian ballot law in 1888, ho
"would not bo there." In . other words,
he would be Governor of that State
Doubtless Governor Hill i3 of the same
opinion, and for that reason he wants no
Australian ballot law.
Western editors have at last solved
the great problem for the farmers of
Kansas and Nebraska. Let them but
store their corn for six months or more
and better prices aro sure to come.
Now, if the tran3mississippi newspa
pers will only furnish the $100,000,000 or
so required to meet the farmers' every
day necessities in the meantime, their
suggestion will doubtless be acted upon.
It looks now as if Wyoming would
certainly be admitted as a State at this
session of Congress. The House com
mittee has unanimously agreed to report
the bill favorably and the Senate com
mittee is known to favor it. Wyoming
will come in with a clean record and a
Constitution which in some important
respects is said to be better than that of
any of the new States.
For years past the "independent"
papers have been repeating the demand
for business men and business methods
in office, instead of lawyers, politicians,
and professional statesmen. Yet no
man in public life during tho past ten
years has been more slurred, sneered at
and lied about than Mr. Wanamaker,
the most thoroughly representative, con
scientious and business-like man of the
mercantile class that has ever beqn ap
pointed to high oflico.
A Washington special to tho New
York Press says that at an "oyster
roast" given to Mr. Waticrson, a few
evenings since, ex-Congressman Jack
Adams, of New York, declared that he
was willing to bet a good pile that, were
an election held to-morrow,. President
Harrison would not only be re-elected,but
would poll at least 115,000 votes in New
York city. Ho added that his appoint
ments have been fortunate; that no
President within tho past twenty-five
years had filled tho foreign missions
with such able and exemplary men, and
that tho business interests of tho coun
try would heartily support his candi
dacy. Mr. Adams is a Democrat, but
nevertheless ho predicted in 1863 that
General Harrison would bo elected, that
he would carry tho State of New York,
and would poll 105,000 votes in that city,
apd ho won considerable money on his
predictions. The dispatch says that Mr,
Watterson expressed tho fear that Mr.
Adams s forecast might bo verified if
the tariff 6hould be rovised by the pres
ent Congress.
Governor Hill, of New York, in his
annual message urged the importance of
better country roads, and suggested that
the State construct a system that would
givi each county two roads traversing
the county from north to south and from
cast to west, and bisecting each other, as
nearly as practicable, in tho center of
the county. These roads, ho suggested,
snouiu oe constructed in tiie ocu man
ner, under the supervision of the State,
and maintained as free roads at public
expense. Such a system as thi., or any
system that would give every county in
Indiana its quota and the entire State a
connecting network of good country
roads, would bo of inestimable value to
tho State. It would yield a largo money
return on tho cost every year in the in
creased value of farm lands and facili
ties for marketing products, not , to
speak of the saving in time, wear and
tear, and tho superior comfort of
good roads. Governor Hovey made
some excellent recommendations on the
subject in his inaugural message, but
the Legislature paid no attention to
them.
DEMOCBATIO CEHBOESHIP OF THE MAILS.
The proposition to exclude the Louisi
ana lottery from tho use of the mails has
elicited from certain State-rights Demo
crats a vigorous protest against the right
of Congress to enact such a law. They
are very jealous of the sacredness of tho
mails and of tho constitutional right of
all citizens to use them. Democrats
were not always so jealous of theso
rights. The most determined effort ever
made to control the mails was made by
the Democratic party in the interest of
slavery. This attempted censorship of
the mails was a notable incident of tho
long struggle of tho Democratic party to
make slavery national and freedom sec
tional. It is still instructive as an illus
tration of tho methods used to maintain
the solid South during the long period
of slavery agitation before tho war.
On tho 29th of July, im, a crowd of
tho "best citizens" of Charleston, S. C,
assembled on tho public square, and,
aided and assisted by tho post
master, mado a bon-firo of a quan
tity of Northern newspapers, which
had been addressed to persons at
that oflico and which tho postmaster had
refused to deliver. On tho morning of
that day tho postmaster had written to
Hon. Amos Kendall, President Andrew
Jackson's Postmaster-general, asking
for instructions in regard to tho disposi
tion of the papers, but later in the day,
anticipating tho Postmaster-general's
reply, it was decided to burn them.
They were regarded as incendiary. On
tho 4th of August following tho Postmaster-general
wrote tho Charleston
postmaster a letter, in which he said:
Upon a careful examination of tho law, I
am satisfied that the Postmaster-general
has no legal authority to exclude news
papers from tbe mail, nor prohibit their
carriage or delivery on account of their
character or tendency, real or supposed.
But I am not prepared to direct you to for
ward or deliver tho papors of which you
speak. The Postofiice Department was
created to serve the people of each and all
of the United States, and not to bo used as
the instrument of their destruction.
None of tho papers detained have
been forwarded to me; but you in
form me they are, in character,
'the most inflammatory and incendiary,
and insurrectionary in the highest
degree." By no act or direction of mine,
official or private, could I be induced to aid
knowingly in giving circulation to papers
of this description, directly or indirectly.
Wo owe an obligation to the laws, but a
higher one to the comrannity in which we
live; and if the former be perverted to de
stroy the latter it is patriotism to disregard
them. Entertaining'these views, I cannot
sanction and will not condemn the step you
nave taken.
: Imagine Postmaster-general Wana
maker writing such a letter concerning
the non-delivery or destruction of news
papers deemed objectionablo by a post
master! The letter is interesting as
showing tho sophistries resorted to in
those days to justify slavery on "higher
law" grounds. It was published and ap
proved by administration papers of that
day.
On the 20th of the same month the
Postmaster-general wroto another let
ter on the same subject to some
citizens at Petersburg, Va., in which,
while declining to issue an order
prohibiting the transmission of North
ern newspapers in Southern mails,
he said: "For the present tho only
means of relief was in responsibilities
voluntarily assumed by tho postmas
ters.7? Ho also expressed the hone that
Congress would, at the next session, put
a stop to the evil, and pledged his exer
tions to secure tho passage of suchalaw.
On the 24th of tho samo month he wroto
an official letter to tho postmaster at
New York advising him to detain anti-
slavery papers, and arguing that such
action was necessary to the public wel
fare. Acting on theso letters of tho
Postmaster-general, Democratic post
masters in the North, as well as in tho
South, used their own discretion in re
gard to forwarding or delivering obnox
ious newspapers. A few weeks later
Hon. James G. Birney, a leader
of tho anti-slavery movement of
that day, and one of tho ablest and
purest men of his time, wroto to a friend
in tho North: "I have just been in
formed that our postmaster has deter
mined to become my intellectual caterer!
lie is beginning to withhold my papers."
This was at Danville, Ky., where Mr.
Birney then lived.' To his indignant
remonstrance tho postmaster replied
that he would cheerfully obey any in
structions the Postmaster-general might
give. Mr. Birney wroto the Postmaster
general several letters, but received no
reply. From that timo until ho moved
out of his native State into Ohio, Mr.
Birney did not receive any Northern
newspapers through the mails. The
Democratic postmaster at Danville con
tinued to be his intellectual caterer.
Thus, every postmaster was mado a
censor of the press, as well as guardian
of tho sanctity of tho mails. During
the next winter most of the South
ern legislatures passed resolutions ask
ing Congress to take tho matter
in hand, and also asking tho Northern
States to enact prohibitory laws on tho
subject. President Jackson, in his an
nual message in December, 18&5, in
vited the attention of Congress to "the
painful excitement produced in tho
South" by attempts to circulate anti
slavery papers through the mails, and
recommended the passage of a 6tringent
law on the subject. He also expressed a
hope that tho legislatures of Northern
States would co-operate to the same end.
Thus the entire Democratic party was
to bo made solid in favor of the sanctity
of tho mails. This part of Jackson's
message was referred to a select coin
iuittco of five, of which John C. Calhoun
was chairman, and which reported tho
following bill:
Be it enacted, etc.. that it shall not be
lawful for any postmaster in any State,
Territory or District of the United States
knowingly to deliver to any person
whatsoever any pamphlet, newspaper,
baud-bill or other paper, or pictorial
representation touching the subject of
slavery, where, by the laws of said
State. Territory or District their cir
culation is prohibited; and any post
mpstcr who shall be guilty thereof shall be
forthwith removed from ofiice.
In that way the fathers aimed to lay
the foundation of the Democratic: party
broad and deep. This crusade against
free mails was a necessary part of tho
crusade against free speech, which was
so prominent a feature of the old Demo
cratic regime involving the mobbing
and murdering of anti-slavery men, tho
destruction of printing presses, tho offering-
of large rewards for the bodies of
Abolitionists, dead or alive, etc. Tho
party that attempted to exercise this
censorship of the mails fifty odd years
ago is not a whit more liberal to-day
than it was then, and its methods of
maintaining a solid South are no better.
A ONE-SIDED DEBATE.
Those who have read tho official de
bate in the House over the rules, last
week, cannot fail to see that from start
to finish the Republicans havo had very
much the best of it. They have suc
ceeded in strengthening their case from
the outset; and if party leaders were
looking for a campaign document that
would be most effective, they could find
none better than one which would give
tho whole debate. More than half of tho
Democratic oratory on tho subject has
been abuso of Speaker Reed and windy
declamations about tho "one-man pow
er." Hon. "Alf" Taylor of Tennessee
read the correspondence between Messrs.
Randall, Henderson and Wise with
Speaker Carlisle, in February, 1887, in
which they formally besought Mr. Car
lisle to "recognizo" 6omo Democrat the
next Monday in order that ho might ask
for a suspension of the rules to introduce
a bill to repeal the tax on tobacco. Tho
correspondence continued through Feb
ruary of that year. In a letter in reply
to ono from Speaker Carlisle refusing to
accede to their request, these gentlemen,
all Democrats, say:
Yonr refnaal to give this recognitionto
gether with your letter of the 7th inst,
deserves more than passing notice. If two
thirds or more of the House are in favor of
such repeal, it was a grave responsibility
for you to oppose such a largo majority of
the representatives of the people.
Tho abovo was written by Mr. Ran
dall, but it had no effect upon the
Speaker. Ho positively refused to
"recognize" a Democrat to ask for a
suspension of tho rules, because he
knew that to do so would bo to secure
tho two-thirds vote that would repeal
the tobacco tax. That historical inci
dent was rather a damper on thoso who
wero howling about "tho one-man
power."
No less effective was tho point mado
by Mr. Allen of Michigan, to the effect
that the rules of Democratic houses, in
cluding tho last, authorized the Speaker
to ascertain if a quorum was present by
counting. The rule referred to reads as
follows:
A call of the House shall not be in order
after the previous question is ordered, un
less it shall appear upon actual count by
the Speaker that a quorum is not present.
Tho comment of tho Digest of tho
Rules upon tho above clauso'is as fol
lows: The practice of counting the House by
tho Speaker of late years has frequently
been resorted to to ascertain the presence
of a quorum, and is a more expeditious
method than calling the roll.
All of the speeches of the Republic
ans have emphasized the great fact
that a change of the rules is an impera
tive necessity to enable the majority to
proceed with legislation, while the fili
bustering of the Democrats has proved
to the country that the claim of the Re
publicans is Iwell grounded. In fact,
tho drunkard whom the temperance lect
urer was wont to exhibit as an awful cx
amplo was a no more vivid illustration of
the evils of intemperance than tho Dem
ocratic minority has been of the impos
sibility of tho majority to legislate under
rules which gave the minority control of
the time of the House. Every additional
day's experience and debate has proved
to intelligent people tho wisdom and
tho necessity for tho adoption of tho
now rules. Tho debate and tho action
of the Republicans havo strengthened
the party throughout the country.
"WHOLESALE FRAUDS.
It is said that when Governor Abbett
was declaring to the New Jersey Legis
lature in favor of tho Australian ballot
system, a leading Democrat, who was
listening, remarked that under such a
law. the majority for his friend Abbett
would shrink from 13,510 in Hudson
county to 3,510, or even less for the
Democratic ticket. Tho aggregate vote
of Hudson county last November was
42,310, of which Governor Abbett had
27,822, and a plurality of 13,510. Abbett's
voto was 213 moro than that of Mr.
Cleveland in 1888, and his plurality 5,347
moro than Mr. Cleveland's. His plurality
over tho Republican candidate in tho
State was 14,253, or only 737 outside of
Hudson county, which contains tho cities
which are tho refuges of tho criminal
classes of New York city. Tho investi
gation which has disclosed the astound
ing frauds was instituted by the Sen
ate, which is Republican, over
a contest between Spuhr (Inde
pendent Democrat and Republican)
against McDonald (Democrat). Tho
vote as returned stood: Spuhr, 10,582;
McDonald, 24,922. As a largo number of
Democrats voted for Spuhr, tho size of
McDonald's plurality drew attention to
tho extent of tho frauds. The word
"extent" is used because it has been
known by both parties that an impor
tant election has not occurred for years
in this stronghold of Democracy and
the grog-shop that has not been tainted
with frauds. The present investigation
is conducted openly by a Senate commit
tee, which inspects and counts the votes
in every box. . Thus far tho boxes of.
only one of the ten assembly districts in
the county have been investigated. , In
tho box of every precinct frauds wero
discovered. In these boxes 524 "joker"
tickets straight Democratic which no
body claims to be otherwise than fraud
ulent, wero found. In every precinct
irregularities of every conceivable char
acter were discovered. Tho return for
tho Democratic candidate was too
large, and for the independent too
small. Correcting tho evident mistakes
and rejecting tho joker tickets,
the Democratic majority in this
one precinct is reduced from 1,010, tho
official returns, to 034, or about 43 per
cent. For the present the investigation
will bo confined to the boxes, and after
wards testimony will be presented to
show that Republican votes wero taken
out of the boxes and the jokers substi
tuted. All of the election officers wero
Democrats, and these officers counted (
these bogus ballots, knowing that they
were such. Thus far no official has at
tempted any explanation, and tho press
reports add that "no one seems sur
prised at the developments," as Hudson
county has always been expected to-
turnout an artificial Democratic majority
sufficiently large to make the State
safely Democratic. Governor Abbett's
friends were e viden tly a good deal fright-
ened, and consequently so overdid tho
artificial majority business as to attract
general attention. Further develop
ments will be watched with interest,
but the present discoveries will servo to
remind the people that frauds in elec
tions aro a natural result of Democratic
control in Democratic strongholds in
cities. The bummer grog-shop criminal
element controls the machinery.
A DEMOCRATIC IN3TITUTI0H,
Tho Louisiana Lottery, of which so
much has been said of late, is a Demo
cratic institution. It has always been a
Democratic institution, and it has grown
up in a Democratic State. It has con
trolled tho politics of Louisiana at times
because it is a Democratic institution.
One of its wealthy . members, who is a
defendant in a case now pending in the
United States Court in New York, re
cently confessed that he had realized
$15,000,000 from it during the past ten
years. The suit which brings him into
court is based upon tho claim that ho
has defrauded one of his associates in
the nefarious business out of $2,000,000.
In passing it may be added that ex-President
Cleveland is his counsel.
It noTsr turns out that those who wero
most active in the attempt to fasten tho
lottery business upon North Dakota
were not Republicans. It appears that
every Democrat in tho North Dakota
Legislature but one advocated tho lot
tery charter, and that those who op
posed it with vehemence wero Repub
licans, tho Republican Governor allow-
mg it to De understood tnatnewouiu
veto the lottery bill if it should pass.
More than this, it appears that Presi
dent Harrison promptly recalled tho ap
pointment of a marshal who had worked
for the bill, and let it be understood
that men favoring the lottery scheme
could not expect recognition by the ad
ministration. It is even charged that
the division of Dakota into two States
was favored by the Democratic congres
sional committee because it was under
stood that the lottery company would
make North Dakota Democratic, and,
as an eminent Dakota Democrat recent
ly said, "bring dollars and Democrats
into tho State." Republican sentiment
has saved tho State from the disgrace of
this Democratic institution.
The States, a Democratic paper pub
lished at -New Orleans, contains an edi
torial on General Chalmers's contest, in
which, after abusing him at some length,
it says:
The people of Mississippi do not steal or
rob ballot-boxes, as General Chalmers has
charged, but they do suppress the negro
vote, and this fact they make no effort to
conceaL If they did otherwise the control
of the State government would pass into
the hands of ignorant and irresponsible ne
'groes, led by depraved and vicious white
men, and all progress and prosperity would
end.- The attempt to enforce the lif teenth
amendment in the South failed, and the
federal election law, if it is enacted by Con-
ii . i j .
gress, win aiso ran ox us purpose.
This has tho merit of being frank and
honest. It looks a little as if Southern
Democrats had concluded to throw off
all disguises and admit what they have
long denied, viz., the systematic sup
pression of the Republican vote. If
they do it will be because they havo con
cluded that with the backing of their
Northern allies they can defy Congress
and nullify tho Constitution with im
punity. "
"Ballot reform is right, and . that is
why I believe it should bo adopted,"
says tho ponderous Mr. Cleveland. He
had a different opinion, evidently, when
ho allowed Appointment Clerk Eugene
Higgins to go to Baltimore and "work"
tho election in the interest of the Demo
cratic party. A man may change his
mind, however; but if Mr. Cleveland
has reformed, ho ought to havo an op
portunity to show his faith by his works.
How would it do to engage his assist
ance in prosecuting the Democratic
ballot-box stuffcrs in Hudson county,
New Jersey?
Briefly stated, tho three essential
features in tho new rules of the House
are: First, the right of the Speaker to
count a quorum if members are present
in sufficient numbers to constitute one;
second, the right of tho Speaker to re
fuse to entertain dilatory motions;
third, tho right of tho majority to call
up any measure for consideration re
gardless of its position on the calendar.
In other words, the new rules enable tho
majority to do business, and deprive a
handful of filibusters of the power to
prevent action.
A Missouri Democrat, writing to tho
New York Sun to oppose Mr. Cleveland, -
says:
Missouri Senatois are not protectionists
except for our zinc; Keutuckians are not
except for their hemp: Lonisianians not
except for. their sugar; and nobody else
except for his own interests. This makes
tho question embarrassing.
So it does; and it must embarrass thoso
publishers who are always filling their
magazines with free-trade theories to be
asking for tho sweeping protection of a
copyright law. j"
The gang of criminals in Jersey City
who 6tulled the ballot-boxes and falsified
the returns of the last election are looking
to Sheriff Davis, tho "boss" of the iHudson
county ring, to nave them from tne conse
quences of their crimes, at leafet for a
while. New York Times (Mug.)
Go slow. It was the samp "iaug
criminals" that gave New Jersey
of
to
Cleveland in 1SS1 and in 1888. Butfor
similar -gangs in Now York anil other
cities, tho party to which tho Ti jnes has
allied itself would get but few electoral
votes.
Our exchanges from all parts
country show that our Byuu
tho
has
am
achieved creater notoriety by 1
bitious leading of tho conspiracy! to 6tig
matizo pension legislation than ho has
hitherto attained in Congress. He should
havo remembered the fate of Mr. Morri
son, of Illinois, who dug his political
grave by advocating a similar proposi
tion. And, Morrison was intellectually
several sizes larger than Mr. Bynum.
The Republicans in the House have
won the admiration of tho Republican
voters by their sturdy and united pur
pose and their high courage.
The Journal has tho unenviable mo
nopoly of rejoicing at tbe city's misfortune.
Evening News.
The Journal did not and is not likely to
rejoice over the election of the ticket sup
ported by the News. On tho contrary, it
did and docs regard tho success of the
Democracy as a misfortune. The Journal,
however, is not losing sleep because of the
discomfiture of the self-righteous, all-sufficient
afternoon organ of Democracy, which
daily invites the publio to fall down and
worship its infinite wisdom and superior
hontint.
"Music hath charms'' is the fragmentary
quotation with which a New York paper,
nameless here forevermore. opens what it
evidently intends as a complimentary par
agraph concerning the coming marriage of
Walter Damrosch to Miss Blaine, and of
Theodore Thomas to Miss Fay, of Chicago.
If the prospective brides were not "savage"
beforo they will be justified in becoming
so if the unhappy editor of that paper vent
ures into their presence.
The clay model for the equestrian statue
of General Grant, to be placed in Lincoln
Park, Chicago, has been completed and the
plaster model for the tail of the horse has
already been 6ent to the foundry. The
Grant monument committee in New York
have not got so far along yet as the tail of
tho horse, but they are making gradual ap
proaches from the rear.
Communism,' looked at from a purely
financial point of view, seems to have been
a handsome success with the Eeonomites.
of Pennsylvania. They have property val
ued at over S25.000.000. and their vows of
celibacy bnng the tontine principle into
such rapid operation that there are but few
of them left to control the great fortune.
No sooner had Columbus, O., boasted of
a widow fourteen years old than Indianap
olis came to the front with a girl of twenty
who had been twice divorced. We do not
propose to be outdone by a one-horso cap
ital like Columbus, even in the matter of
youthful matrimonial freaks.
A Kentucky poet lias .written somo
verses entitled "I Love Thee Still" This
is superfluous information. The still is a
Kentucky institution, and of course he
loves it.
The Sentinel announces that it is for the city
first. Evening New a.
It is a chronological fact, however,- that
the Sentinel first announced that it was
for Bailey.
To tbe Editor of the Indianapolis Journalx
To obtain an appointment as letter-carrier In
Indianapolis, must the applicant be a resident
olthecityl If so, now long! T. c. s.
He must be a bona fide resident, and have
been so at least long enough to have ac
quired a reasonable degree of acquaintance
with the city.
To the Kdltor of the Indianapolis Journal:
Please give the names of the Democratic and
Republican Representatives elected In South
Dakota. Reader.
Tho Republican Representatives are Gif-
ford and Pickler. No Democrat elected. .
To the' editor of the ledi&napolia Journal:
Please state Jwhen real estate has to
praised for taxation, and how often.
be ap-
Uallaudet, Ind. . . Thomas Schoolet.
Appraisements are made every six years.
The next will be made in 1692.
To the Editor of the Indiananolls Journal:
Has Confess the constitutional power to
enact a prohibitory law In the District of Co
lumbia!. . ' - J. IX. v.
Franklix, Ind.
Probably it has.
ABOUT PEOPLE AND THINGS.
The Prince of Wales is a large man and
has a firm understanding. He wears a No.
10 boot.
It is said that Bismarck was once offered
Si a word for all that he might contribute
to an American Magazine.
The Prince of Wales is still anxious to
come to this country in the spring. His
physicians have advised the trip.
The Prince of Naples, heir to the throne
of Italy, is not quite twenty-one, but bis
Toyal father lately appointed him to be a
Senator of the kingdom.
The Duke of Cambridge, according to
the Naval and Military Argus, of London,
has intimated a desire to be relieved from
his post as commander-in-chief of the army.
Leo XIII is said to be actively engaged
designing his own tomb-stone. The statue
of the Pope is to be placed over a sepul
chral urn, and on either side of it two co
lossal statues representing Religion aud
Justice.
Queen Natalie, who. is furnishing a
house at Belgrade, has ordered all tho
furniture, 500,000 francs' worth, from Rus
sia. It is taken as an indication of strong
Kussian proclivities on her part, inasmuch
as the Russians havo the reputation of
being the worst upholsterers in Europe.
Antonio de Nevarro, Mary Anderson's
fiance, is of medium height, rather slender
of build, and his hair and small mustache
are black. His eyes are black, too, and ho
gives one the impression of a serious stu
ent He is a partner with his father and
brother Alfonso in tho real-estate business.
Attention has recently been called to
the fact that most of the briq-a-brac and
other goods of Gladstone were left by him
stored in the Prime Minister's official resi
dence in Downing street, when he left it in
1SSC. and have remained there undisturbed
ever since, apparently with the idea. that
thevwill probably be needed there again
by Mr. Gladstone.
"If Wilkie Collins had lived," says Lou
don Truth, "and retained . his health
through another summer and autumn, he
would havo carried ont his long-meditated
intention of enriebiug nearly every page of
his three-volnme edition of I orsters 'Lifeof
Dickens' with annotations. Some idea of
how valuable those notes would have been
mav bo eathered from tho half-dozen criti-
'cisms which had been hastily Jotted down
several years ago when no nrst reaa tne
book."
Mr. Burxeit, the Lyon king-at-arms.
who died at Edinburgh recently, was one of
tho most eminent antiquaries in Great
Britain. Many years ago he wrote a book
on pedigree-making, in which he exposed
a number of fictitious descents which had
been published. He had a very thorough
knowledgo of Scotch history, aud was a re
nowned authority on all questions of pedi
gree and heraldry, lie had been engaced
for many years in editing the Scottish Ex
chequer Rolls, and had nearly completed
tbe work, twelve volumes having been is
sued. The mental and physical condition of
Mrs. II. B. Stowe is said to be far less se
rious than would be inferred from tho ac
counts that havo been printed recently.
Mrs. Stowo takes daily exercise and. an
active interest in what is going on about
her. She coutinues her correspondence
with her friends, and her letters which
are not, as has been said, dictated to her
show all the characteristics of . the excep
tioually clever letter-writer she has always
been known to be. She correspond regu
larly with friends abroad, among them tho
Duke of Argyll, who has just written her
most appreciatively of her biography by
her. sou, tho Kov, Charles E. Stowe. Mr.
Gladstone, in acknowledging to Mr. Stow
the receipt of a copy of the book, eavs: "I
think it a great honor to have been selected
as one of those to receive from the author
copies of tho life of Mr. Beechcr Stowr.
Mrs. Stowo has grown old amidst tho ad
miration of her country and of the world,
and has been blessed with a period of peace
in which to look 4 before and after.' May
she reap the full fruits of that great bless
ing, and carry them with her, when the
time arrives, into the land where it shall
be perfected."
The Empress of Russia has just received
a Circassian national costume as a gift from
the wealthy Princess Gussarowa. This
magnificent dress consists of a pointed cap
of black velvet, shot with gold and edged
with a broad herder of silver embroidery.
Over this is spread a white gauze veil
speckled with gold stars., Tho robe is of
garnet-colored velvet, with short sleeves,
and lined with lilao silk. It is heavily
embroidered with gold, and both sides of
tho bodice, edged wilh gold borders, a r
ornamented with a row of star-shaped
silver buttons, from which hang gold
tassels.
P. T. Barnum relates that when Mr.
Gladstone visited his circus he said to him:
"Mr; Gladstone, there is one thing we Amer
icans would all wish you to do. and there
is no reason why you should not. I have
done it at eighty years of age: why cannot
youT Make the trip across the Atlantic,
if you did so you would set the whole of
the United States ablaze with enthusiasm:
there is nothing tho Americans would not
do to show their appreciation.' . lie just
turned and looked at the stage. 'What is
that Roman doing?' he asked, and I saw at
once it was no use flattering that man ha
could not take any flattery. O he is a truly
great old mn."
THE MYSTERY OF A LIFE.
Singular Story of the Career of Stephen De
catur Dross, of Illinois.
Chicago JournaL
. "William Bross, ex-Lieutenant-governor
of Illinois, who died the other day." said a
resident of Sussex county, where the Bross
family came fron "had a younger brother,
about whoso life thero was a strange ro
mance. His name was Stephen Decatur
Bross. He was finely educated, and he
married into one of the best families ot
Sussex county. In 1S54 ho was teaching
school in that county. He then bad several
children. One day in that year ho told his
wife that he had business in New York city.
He went away. His wifo never saw or
heard of him ngsln, and until 1873 he was
given up by his family as dead. In that
year William Bross heard that a man
named Stephen Decatur, who lived in the.
mining districts of Colorado, resembled
him almost as if ho was a twin brother,
and Bross, believing that this man was his
brother, went to Colorado to bnnt him
up. He learned that Stephen Do:atir,
who was familiarly and widely known as
Commodore Decatur, had been prominent
in Colorado politics, at one time represent
ing a constituency in the Legislature. Gov
ernor Bross found Decatur's ranch in a wild
part of the State, far interior. Decatur
was living there with an Indian wife and
his and her children. The instant Govern
or Bross saw tho man ho recognized him as
his brother Stephen, but Decatur persisted
that ho had never heard of a Bross family
before. A deep, red, peculiarly-shaped sea r
which Stephen Decatur Bross had on his
arm, between the wrist and elbow, was on
the arm of tho ranch-owner, and ho coolly
and unhesitating showed Governor Bross
other marks upon his person which Bross
said had been on the person of his missing
brother, but Decatur declared that ho had
never had any name but Decatur, and that
the name Bross was then heard by him for
the first time. Governor Bross returned to
Chicago disappointed, but as sure that De
catur was his brother Stephen as he was
that ho lived.
"In 1ST0 Stephen Decatur visited Gov.
Bross in Chicago and spent several daya
with his family. While there a sister and
two brothers of Stephen Decatur Bross
recognized the long-missing man in De
catur. Children of Stephen Bross, living
in Chicago, begged of Decatur to acknowl
edge his identity, but ho stoutly and firmly
declared that all were mistaken; that he
was not Stephen Decatur Bross, and knew
nothing of the Bross family except what
ho had learned from those in Chicago; De
catur had been appointed a commissioner
-to represent Colorado at the Philadelphia
Centennial Exposition, and was on his way
to that city. While in that city many of
Stephen Decatur Bross's former intimates
in Sussex county. Pike county and Orange
county met Decatur and invariablv in
sisted that he was Stephen Bross. Deca
tur always had the same denial, and never
by any word ox act did ho betray himself.
That he was tho missing man there was no
possible doubt Why he should persist in
denying his identity was his secret, and he
died in the arms of his Indian wife in 1SSS,
taking his secret with him."
- REFORM AND PRACTICAL POLITICS.
A Criticism That Bears Hard on the Indiana
Law Needs of the Democracy.
Philadelphia Inquirer.
Ex-President Cleveland, while protesting
that any possible political damage to tho
Democratic party would not make him give
up his advocacy of tho Australian ballot, at
the samo time suggests a device to help the
Democratic party and rob the Australian
system of a largo part of -tbe merit which
has been claimed for it Mr. Cleveland's
suggestion will arouse the suspicion that
he is still intont upon playing his old game
of rnnning with the hare and hunting with
the hounds.
Mr. Cleveland's plan is to print in sepa
rate columns on one ticket the names of
tho candidates of the different parties.
The democratic voter is to find out which
is tho Democratic ticket by-means of tho
particular color in which it is printed. It
will occur to most people that this is a
round-about and stupid way of telling a
man how to vote. But wo assumo that Mr.
Cleveland is familiar with the needs of his
party. In order that no Democrat may
make the mistake of voting independently
or for a Republican candidate Mr. Cleve
land would have one mark made at the top
of the list of names suffice to indicato that
the voter meant to vote tho whole ticket
It has been claimed for tho Australian
ballot that it would encourage the inde
pendent voter. Here aro the names of all
the candidates before him. He need not
fear that any one will know that ho has cut
his ticket. All ho has to do is to tick oil tho
names that he wants to vot. for. ' But Mr.
Cleveland doesn't approve of ,tbis. Ho
thinks ono mark enough, and his evident
fear is not that tho Democratic voter will
cut bis ticket intentionally, bnt that he
will vote a split ticket without knowing it.
To those who bear in mind how the Cleve
land administration turned "the rascals
out" of tho postoffices where that policy
would strengthen his party and played the
civil-service-reform act in States that wero
hopelessly Republican, his modification of
the Australian ballot plan will appear like
another ellort to combine the credit of a
reformer with the benefit of practical
policies at the samo time.
Hjnum't Thrust at PcnRlotriglslation.
Terre naute Express.
Mr. Bynum, in his aspiration to become a
State leader of the Democracy, has attacked
tho pensions of the soldiers. Mr. Bj'num
came to the conclusion, no doubt, that, as
the efforts of Indiana Democrats to pose as
the soldier's friends had been such misera
ble failures politically, it were better
policy to take the honest Democratic posi
tion of being their enemy. Mr. Matson and
Mr. Voorhecs failed in their endeavors to
get soldier votes by masquerading as the
friends of thomen who fought for the Union,
and Mr. Bynurn. who is consumed with
political ambition, having burned the grass
behind him in his warfare on majority mlo
in the House, now desperately attacks the
old soldier
Character Study in a Street Car.
Jlitauke Sentinel.
A St Louis lady says whenever Ishe teen
a particularly gallant act or finds a man
giving up his seat in a car to a woman she
knows that man is either a Southerner, an
actor, an artist or a newspaper man. It can
bo mado still more definite. If he squirts
tobacco-juice on the iloor ho is a South
erner: if be ogles the women he is an actor;
if bis hair is long he is an artist, and if his
pants bag at tho knees ho is a newspaper
man.
Thank to Yoorhee.
phiUU-li'hl. Prc-ss.
If Daniel Webster Voorhees is within
bearing we beg his attention to tho fact
jat ono of "the Caruegies," whom he would
angif ho had his way. has justgiv.n
4l.0uo.OU0 to found a great fn- library in
l'sttsburg. The people of Pittsburg owe
Voorhees a vote of thanks for not carrying
his horrid threat into execution. .