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The Semi-Weekly Tribune CUAS. D. I’AJLKK. rKX.It B. MASON. PARKS a rtASON, EDITOR* ANU PIIOI’KIKTOIIS- LA JUNTA. COI/VifcAlX). There is danger tbit in a *iiort time the 4 will become an obsolete Quantity in New York's **400." The objection of a West Virginia representative to the civil service sys tem la that Is makes it less possible for a poor man to go to congress be cause he can no longer pay his politi cal debts with patronage. When the representative has had experience he will learn that for every debt he pays with an office he makos ten or twenty enemies or other aspirants, and may revise his judgment. By no stretch of the doctrine of grat itude can It be claimed that the gov ernment owes clerks and other em ployes anything beyond the remunera tion which It paid with a certainty and a regularity that cannot be de pended upon in any commercial or other buslneaa pursuit. It is, there fore. not only un-American In prin ciple to establish a civil pension—and that is a logical outgrowth of the “merit system"—but it is an outrage upon the taxpayers. There arc no trusts in England such as we have In this country. Combina tions of capital over there are con ducted In away that Is not over op pressive to the consumers. There are no periodical meetings of directors for the purpose of restricting output and raising prices. There is no bypocrltl cal cant about "supply and demand" — after the supply has been restricted. In the nature of thiugs. and outside the ; English law, there could not be. How could one of our trusts exist under such circumstances? The recent attack of the commission er of pensions on the pension attorney, followed up by some efforts to bring the worst specimens to account, is u circumstance that ia notable enough ta deserve attention. The pension abuse, however, is not to ho abated by attack ing the pension attorneys. No doubt many of them are much to blutne, and when they have committed frauds they should be hdd to a severe accountabili ty. Hut. after all. it is Just as well to rccognlze*the fact that congress has often been the chief offender. Some men have a most distressing habit of carrying their business home with them in the evening and lying awake at night to think about It. This Is a bad habit which anyone with any sort of control over himself can break up. The conclusion of the whole mat ter is that man walketh in a vain sha dow and dlsquteteth himself in vain, and the most unhappy man is the one who thinks everything is wrong, and it Is his especial calling to set It right. Fretting causes our food to remain un digested. It whitens our locks and makes wrinkles and imparts the bi cycle face. » The tendency of young men born and reared on farms to leave the coun try for towns and cities Is certainly an unhealthy movement in a large cense and unprofitable to many of those who embark In It. Properly and steadily followed, there is no safer business than farming, nor any more certain to yield satisfactory results. In very many instances they who abandon it for city life live to regret the change. The farmers' institutes and farmers themselves ought to be able to develop a higher interest in the occupation and more of a certain sort of esprit du corps among those who follow it. A Boston physician who formerly oc cupied the two positions of medical ex aminer for pensions and for positions In the Boston police and fire depart ments was called upon to examine an applicant for appointment to the police force. The applicant testified that he was able-bodied In every respect and had never had a sick day In hts life. Subsequently the same man appeared before the board of medical examiners for pensions as an applicant for an in crease of his pension, nnd he testified that he was a physical wreck and in capacitated for work on account of his physical infirmities resulting from his services in the war. Those Amerlcun Judges who decide divorce cases with Indecent haste might well learn a lesson from the life of the late Baron Pollock of England. Ills pale and wearied look was noticed, and the baron explained: “I have had to be up almost ail night: for to sen tence some, especially the young young men and boys—ls such an awful responsibility. You must think care fully what Is right, what Is best for their souls. You need go much thought and prayer." Is it not an **«Wful responsibility." also, to decide to break up a household? Were some judges to give‘more thoughtful nnd conscientious consideration to these cuaee. our coart records would be free from some entries which are nothing short of n disgrace. An exchange says It la tired of the frequent pictures of Gladstone, with those of bta near and distant relatives at various periods of their existence pat the exchange must admit that QSndstqns has been neglected to some extent In behalf of Martin Thorn. Mrs. Meek, nnd our old friend Bismarck. Diamond drops ornament the ears of ikflTpdf cni of n woman of Bt. Louis: hid t*»rrow we shall bear of a ChJ MO CSt that ban diamond rings on her iJB mb and a eouple on her charm m** TELEGRAPHIC BREVITIES. Influenza is prevailing in Berlin. Yellow fever lm» atruiu broken out at Edwards. Mississippi. President Dole of Hawaii was given n big reception at CbictfO. Anti-Hebrew rh»ts of a serious char acter continue at Algiers. France. The censorship over foreign new spa* Iters ut Havana has lxs*n abolished. The lowa Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of the anti-cigarette law. The President of ltrnr.ll lit expected to •*oon make u lour through the United State*. President McKinley on the -2nd nom inated Governor Griggs of New Jersey for attorney general. Austria will have to import *100.000.- noo worth of breadstuff* this year, ow ing to short crops in IMI7. Fifty Ikm IWk Imre Imm-ii taken from * mine at Tngourtiß. ICu—la. In which a Ran exjiloMlou recently occurred. A lilir Jnimnene w*nndil|i wan launch cl at Phllaih-liihln on the 30th nnd an other at San Franclwo on the 22nd- A .Inti mill to rout *400.000. nnd to employ 1.000 men. lit to Ik- liullt by tne Illlnoin Steel Company at South cm on go. Fares from Seattle to I)yea and Skngunv. Alankn. have been advanced *lO to SSO, und freight from *lO to fid I>er ton. The Italian government has caused to be presents! to the United States government a proposal for a treaty of commerce. Kev. John Hull has withdrawn his resignation and will continue as pastor of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. New York. The Democratic Mate central com mittee nf MlftMourl linn decided to unite thin year with the Silver Depute , licans nnd Populist*. A large number of Im«su» railroad i passe* have conic upon the market at Chicago. A number of ticket brokers : are likely to be arrested. Senator Bacon has Introduced nn amendment to the annexation treaty providing that it must first l»o ratified by a vote of the people «if Hawaii. The committee of the Ohio legisla ture which is Investigating charge* of j bribery in connection with Hanna's election has found many witnesses who * refused to testify. The bubonic plague Is terribly ravag ing Poonnh. Bombay and the Deccan. I Thousand* have fled from Poonali and i Bombay, lu each of which cities the • mortality Is 500 to GOO weekly. The National Bank of Pnola, Kansas, suspend)*! business on the "4th. No statement of asset* or liabilities Is made, but it is stated that the deposit*, which are small, will lx* paid In full. It Is rumored that Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria will shortly an nounce the lM‘thr<>thnl of the Archduch ess Elizabeth, daughter of the late Crown Prince Itudolpli. to the King of Spain. The executive committee of the Lon don engineer* lias l»soe<l a circular ad vising the men to accept the employ ers’ terms. A let Hot of the men will be taken, nnd It Is probable that work will be resumed. The next meeting of the Eisteddfod, the great Welsh musical organization of the United States, will lx* held In Milwaukee on January 11,18W*. Cleve land expected to entertain the next gathering, but tlielr great music ball was destroyed by fire. Russia Is about to present a note to Turkey demanding payment of the whole balance of the indemnity of the Russo-Turklsb war. amounting to £28,- 000.000 (*140.000.000). With a view of making tlic Sultan more docile In the settlement of the Cretan question. In consequence of the police prohibi tion of the wearing of party badges nnd elub uniforms, the Senate of the German university at Prague has re signed nnd the students have decided to attend tio more lectures. The whole university lias thus gone on a strike. The national guard of Missouri will collect money to aid in relieving suffer ing In Cuba. Adjutant General Bell has appointed a committee from the N. O. M. ami Issued nn appeal to the people for subscriptions. General Mil ton Moore of Kansas City will receive all subscriptions. The new Democratic congressional committee Ims elected ns chairman Senator White of California. As to the secretaryship. It Is generally conceded that Lawrence Gardner, the incumbent will retire. The most prominent candi date l»eforc the organization commit tee Is James Kerr, former clerk of the 11 Ouse. The announcement of the Prussian minister of finance. Dr. Miquel, In tue Diet. that, notwithstanding the in creased tax receipts and the large sur plus, now Prussian loans are necessary, has created a sensation. It is under stood the new loans wll be largely* used In Improving the rolling stock of the roads. Joseph Loiter has been offered a 0 per cent, advance for 7.750,000 bushels of th# wheat W’hich he now holds by the Paris house of Dreyfus & Co. This would mean a profit to Loiter of $450,- 000. but he has refused the offer, which Is said to linve been made in behalf of the Rothschilds. The latter are said to contemplate an unexampled corner in wheat. The New York weekly bank state ment show's the following changes: Surplus reserve. Increase. *5.300,425; loans. Increase. $12,477,500; specie. In crease, $2,008,000: legal tenders. In crease, $9,012,000: deposits, increase, *22.850.000; circulation, decrease. *497,- 700. The banka now hold $31,275,200 In excess of the requirements of tlie 25 per cent. rule. A strong tribute to the merits of the German accident Insurance system is rendered in a report to the State De- Srtment from United States Conan! onohan at Cbemnltx, published In the Daily Consular Reports. He shown that the workmen wounded by accident In Germany bare been paid in the last eteren years over and above their wages nearly $1204100.000, and the claim la made that the employers »ny '.Demons MBit defrayed la tbfi way. DEAD LINE PASSED. REVENUES IN EXCESS OP EX PENDITURES. Import* llcgin to Kr*an* Nor mutt l*rm j portlvu*. mod tt*o LMoglay Tariff I* Vindicated —Alik* a* to CtMtomta lU r«lpU and Protection to Uommtlc Industrie*. } In the matter of the complete vindl- I cation of the Dlngl y law as furnished I by the record of revenues collected dur | !ng the month of December. 1897. the | American Economist claims an espe tial right to say: "We told you so!" Strenuously, in reason end out of sea son, the Economist has insisted thr.l with the return of anything like nor mal conditions as to imports, the law would yield ample revenue. In fact, the explicit prediction has been made lu these column - that w*ith the month of December the dead line of com pari son between the Wilson and the Ding ley laws would be passed. The dead line was passed In Decern ber. the revenue for that month being more than $2,000,000 in excess of the revenue for December of the previous year. The revenue rccelpta for the first five months of the Dingley law and for the corresponding months of 1894 under the Wilson law are aa fol lows: Wilson law. Dingley law. 1896. 1897. August *25.562,000 $19,193,000 September 24,584,000 22.302.000 October 26.282,000 23.890,000 November 25,210.000 24.970,000 December 25.857.000 •27.931,000 •Exclusive of *31.000.000 received from rhe sale of the Union Pacific rail road. The fact of enormous advance impor tations of merchandise under the no j duties or the low duties of the Wllaon 1 law and their effect in diminishing cus- < toms revenue until these large antici- j patory stock* should be exhausted is too well known to need recapitulation at this lime. The heavy failing off of I revenues for August. September, Oc- i tober and November. 1897. tells its i own story In that regard. During De- \ ceinber imports of sugar and wool be gan to resume something like their na tural proportions, though still below the volume they will reech when the anticipatory stocks shall be wholly used up. A* will be seen Ijv the statement cf Chairman Dingley In another column, the revenue for December shows a pos itive surplus without counting the money received from the Union Pacific railroad sale. For the present month the Economist confidently expects that the Wilson law figures of January, 1897, will be ex ceeded by more than $3,000,000 In cus toms receipts alone, while the excess from all sources will not fall below $5,000,000 as compared with last Janu ary. Owing to the heavy demands up on the treasury in the shape of inter est payments a surplus for January is not anticipated, but it is safe to look for an actual surplus In February and March. One thing is certain: The danger period has passed, and the problem of future revenue under the Dingley tar iff may be set down as definitely solved. The law of 1897 is vindicated alike in the matter of revenue and of protec tion. It has already stopped the mouths of the deficit shouters and calamity croak ers, none of whom has had a word to say since the treasury record for De cember was made public. It has kept at home in the past five months many milllona of American money hitherto sent abroad for foreign goods, and at the same time it has shown that under conditions of aug mented prosperity America will buy in the world's markets enough to keep the peace commercially with the rest of mankind, besides furnishing abun dant revenue for the needs of the gov ernment This Is what the Dingley law Is do ing. and will do. It is a good law. Nor* Propl® Wear Horn—<i. A marked Increase ‘o the Importa tion of diamonds and i~eclous stones, is one of the interesting results of the Dingley tariff. Uncut stones are now admitted free of duty, and cut stones bear a duty of 10 per cent, whereas nift ier the Wilson law the duty on cut btone3 was 25 per cent and on uncut stones 10 per cent. The increase In imports and in the amount of revenue derived therefrom demonstrates the wisdom of lowering the duty to the present rate. Doubtless the lucre*** In in the value of the imports is in some j measure due to the generally Improved j business conditions. In November. 1896. cut and uncut diamonds and precious stone* of the value of $231,928 were entered at the port of New York, while for Novem ber, 1897. the total was $809,899. For the three months euded with October, 1896. the imports were in value $1,123.- 645. and for the corresponding period of 1897 $5,019,671; and the duties col lected for the two periods, respective ly. were $199,926 and $350,905, an In crease of $150,979. Under the Wilson law the importations of cut and un cut stones were nearly equal, but un der the Dingley law the importation of cut gems far exceeds that of un cut. A S*4ara u» normal Pn»s»ritf. In the showing of business failures for 1897 there Is made plain a marked reduction In the percentage of the com mercial death rate as compared with every year since and including 1893. Comment to this effect Is made by Bradstreet s In its review of the rec ord of financial disasters for the year Just closed. There is a heavy falling off, alike in number and in liabilities, of those individuals, firms or corpora tions succumbing to the pressure of un favorable circumstances, primarily in dicating a return of prosperous condi tions in general business. The returns show for the year 1897 a total of 13.090 failures, against 15,112 in 1896 and 15.560 in 1893. This was a decrease of more than 2.000. or 13.3 per cent, from 1896. The comparison is also made with the panic year 1893, and with 1891, a year when business was generally very prosperous. By comparison with 1893. the failures th!z year were less by 15 per cent, and with 1891 by 2.2 per cent. The statement ic also made that the liabilities of the firms that failed this year were less than they have been in four years. No more conclusive clemonstratlac is possible of a return to the normal condition of prosperity which prevailed OUR GUARD up to 1893, when the advent to national power of the party of free trade was followed by the most prolonged and severe industrial and financial depres sion ever known in the history of the United States. The Holiday Barometer. A holiday trade unprecedented in variety and volume is reported from every part of the United States. Hardly, without exception, the retail merchants of the cities, towns and vil lages tell of a trade that surpasses that of the holiday period of 1896 by 15 to 30 per cent, and all are agreed in say ing that the percentage of cash sales to the total was never before so large. There la no more reliable trade bar ometer than this. This year the mer cury of holiday shopping has risen high In the tube, and there is no mis taking its Indications. Not only are times easier, but money is more plen; tJful and more generally apportioned In ths pockets of the masses than at any time in the past four years of free trade stringency. Increasing bank clearances show thaat this Is the case. Money is not being hoarded in nervous dread and anticipation of hard times ahead, but is being freely spent by ail aorta and conditions of men. The purchasing power of wage earn ers has greatly increased since protec tion and prosperity made their appear ance together, and the immense vol ume of the holiday trade shows how widely and evenly the Improved con ditions arc distributed among the peo ple. Mart nmmm fee lb* Slag. We want this money at home. We want our own ships. We want more shipyards. We want more Stars and Stripes on the seas. This Is the time for n revival. Congress should face the naures sad act. —Jackson (Mich.) Pa triot. ' The Democratic lenders are serious ly considering the adoption of the "government by Injunction” cry as the chief feature of their campaigns of tggg and ItOfi. in view of the fact that thf free coinage proposition Is being refected by the people. REPUBLICAN OPINION. Laat year William McKinley »a!d that in his judgment it was better to open the mills of the United States to home labor than to open the mints of this country to the silver of the world. There are many others who didn’t think to then but who have since reached the same conclusion. The latest announcement of nation al importance is that Mr. Bryan, the candidate of the dear people and of "Vote for Bryan, and Humanity” fame, l« wearing diamonds. It would seem eminently proper and tasteful for any ordinary man and politician to wear diamonds, but the Idea that Mr. Bryan, who stumped the country from the rear end of a baggage car in shirt-sleeves, or with a $3 dollar al paca coat, should now wear diamonds. It all goes to show the return of pros perity. The gold Democrats of the country are attracting a good deal of atten tion by the vigorous work which they are doing in opposition to that wing of the party which went off on the free-silver tangent. In view of the recent tumbles which silver has taken, and the growing disfavor with which, the 16-to-l proposition Is viewed alike by all political leaders, it would seem as though the gold men of the party would soon be in a position to dic tate terms to the silverket. Every few days bring announce ment# of another shipment of British gold to the United States, and appeals are made for its acceptance by the treasury, which now has more of the yellow metal than It needs. Are the 'Britishers and gold power still schem ing against the silver theory even to this extent? The Wilson law found the ware houses and docks of the country filled with foreign goods waiting to come in under and swell its receipts, and the Dingley law found the country al ready filled with foreign goods which had paid duty before it came into operation. Yet the Dingley law In Its second month came within three million dollars of meeting current e\- penses. while the Wilson law in its second month fell thirteen millions short of the expenditures. “Twenty «» On*" Is Impracticable. Senator Wolcott of Colorado an nounced yesterday he is going to re tire from the International Bimetallic commission. At the same time he thinks an international bimetallic agreement is feasible, but be has no hopes of seeing it tried at the prepos terous ratio of 16 to 1 as long as an ounce of gold is commercially worth more than 30 to 1 of silver. He thinks that a ratio something like 20 to 1 might be made to work. That is an impossible ratio, and if Senator Wolcott would reflect serious ly he could not help seeing It. A free silver dollar coined on the basis of 20 to 1 would contain only 56 cents’ worth of silver at present prices of the metal. If the United States and Eu ropean nations were to accept free coinage on those terms they would all go to the silver standard In a hurry. If Senator Wolcott had proposed the ratio of 30 to 1 he would have talked perhaps w’itbln the measure of pos sibility. A commercial ratio of 30 to 1 means silver at more than a dollar an ounce. The present selling price is between 57 and 58 cents per ounce, j An International agreement on the 30 to 1 basts might raise the value of silver to 90 cents or more in a dollar of that weight. But an advance In price of only 8 per cent, as he proposes, would be followed by a considerably increased production of silver bullion from the mines. The effect of that would be to reduce the price of the metal. The silver money, notwithstanding Its in creased weight, would become less valuable than the gold money, and the latter would go out of circulation fn countries which had become parties to the agreement. The moment any European coun try which had joined the agreement saw that silver was going to fall be low 30 to 1 It would repudiate the agreement to avoid going to a silver monometallic basis and losing its gold. The United States would be left in the lurch, as the Populists are anxious to happen, so that they can cheat their creditors with cheap sil ver for debts contracted on the gold basis. —Ex. Lav* »f Frtofh PftrMb, French parents are perhaps the mos; affectionate in the world. The Inter ests and welfare of their children are their first consideration, and wonder ful sacrifices of their own pleasure and enjoyment are made in favor of their sons and daughters by the most world ly men and women. These are taken as a matter of course: no one thinks of doing otherwise, or of seeing any merit in such acts. The mothers, es pecially. are unequaled; nothing will stand in the way of a Frenchwomen where her children’s interests are con cerned. This love is so engrossing that It swallows up every other; they are more mothers than wives, and if Called upon to choose between allow ing a husband to go alone on a foreign mission or leaving their children they would not hesitate. ’’Mes enfants avant tout.”—The Century. Peg’s Ismb. A teacher of children totally detX from birth, having explained to hjs class how- a dog expresses Joy by wag ging Its tail, told them to trpress the lesson on their slates. One slats con tained this pises of information: “My dog hurrahs Pith btt Phg."-PhHa. ddphla Times. Thr r««aj Glm to Chare* Collection*. Edward W. Bok makes an earnest pica, in the February Ladles’ Home Journal, for a more liberal giving to rhurch collections. It is an Insult to •jod anil to Ills church, be contends, to surreptitiously drop a penny in ibe col lection basket, when one can readily j ilford to give more. People, he says, take literally the teaching that religion is free, when—in fact. I: costa money to have free religion. He suggests even hat clergymen announce from their pulpit* that no pennies are wanted, and be shows how the money for church work could be greatly Increased if those who now give pennies would make a nickel their minimum contri bution. This, of course, does not in clude the very poor, whose penny is In deed the “widow’s mite.” “Tour extemporaneous talk on art waa fraud. Mias Goggles.” “Well, it ought t« >e; 1 pat in three solid weeks getting It up.’* My doctor said I would die. but Piso’s Core for Consumption cured me.—Amos Kelner. Cherry Valley. Ills.. Nov. 23. IWb. “Btebblns* wife I* going to make him go la for geology." “What’s that for?” “She ran’t make him keep himself tidy, and she thinks if he Is scientific It won’t be noticed." »—onto Tear Bowels With Cosmrato. Chndj Cathartic, cure constipation forever. tOc-ttc. If C. C. C. fail, druggists refund money. "Don’t you love a bright ovnshlny day in win ter 7“ “No: it makes my wife talk about toouae-c leaning.’* Always Delicate •ut Mood's SarooporUlo Moo Made Mer Strong and Ruggftd. “My little girl bos always been very delicate, and has been using Hood’s Sarsa parilla. She has token severs! bottles of this medicine end is s ragged child now. Wo believe Hood’s Sarsaparilla bos done whet bo other medicine ooald do.** B. 8. CiKB, 1216 Grand Are., Racine, Wls. Hood’s Sarsaparilla Is the best—tn fact the One True Blood Purifier. Hood’S Rills cure all liver ills. 25 oents. E— for Estey. F»ve-F«nger Exercise, No. ». 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