The Saint Paul globe., February 25, 1900, Page 6, Image 6

About The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905

Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

                
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THE QLOBHJ CO.. PUBLISHERS.
t=
Entered at Postofflce at St Paul. Minn..
M Second-Class Matter.
CITY SUBSCRIPTIONS.
By Carrier. 11 mo | < moa |12 mos
3ally only I "40 1 *2.S 14.00
[>aily and Sunday.. .SO I 2.76 6.00
Sunday ( .11 ( .76 1.60
COUNTRY SUBSCRIPTIONS. _
' By^Mall. "11 mo | < moa | 12 mos
Daily only 85 ».«0 $3.00
Dally and Sunday.. .85 2.00 4.00
Sunday ... .75 1.60
Semi-Weekly .60 1-00
BRANCH OFFICES.
New York, 10 Spruce St.. Chas. H, Eddy
In Charge.
Chicago, No. 87 Washington SL, Harry
Fralick, Mgr.. Williams & Lawrence in
Charge.
WEATHER FOR TODAY.
Minnesota—lncreasing cloudiness and
warmer Sunday; northwesterly winds,
becoming variable.; rain or snow Monday.
lowa—lncreasing cloudiness and warm
|r Sunday; northwesterly winds, becom
ing variable; rain or snow Monday.
North Dakota—Rain or snow and warm
er Sunday; clearing and colder Monday-;
southerly winds shifting to northwest
erly.
South Dakota—Rain or snow and warm
er Sunday; clearing and colder Monday;
southerly winds shifting to northwest
erly.
Wisconsin—lncreasing cloudiness and
warmer Sunday; rain or snow and warm,
er Monday; fresh northwesterly winds,
becoming variable.
Montana—Partly cloudy Sunday, with
warmer in extreme eastern portion;
Monday cloudy and colder; brisk west
erly winds.
ST. PAUL.
Yesterday's observations, taken by the
United States weather bureau, St. Paul,
P. F. Lyons observer, for the twenty
four hours ended at 7 o'clock last night.
Barometer corrected, for temperature
and elevation.
Highest temperature 4
Lowest temperature - —13
Average temperature —4
Daily range 17
Barometer 30.04
Humidity 89
Precipitation 0
7 p. m., temperature 2
7 p. tn., wind, northwest; weather, clear.
YESTERDAYS TEMPERATURES.
*BpmHigh *BpmHlgh
Bismarck ... 2 2 Marquette . 8 8
Buffalo 18 40 Montreal ... 38 38
Boston 44 48 New York.. 46 48
Cheyenne ...38 44 Omaha 10 12
Chicago —6 —2! Philadelphia 50 5(5
Cincinnati .. 8 26 Pittsburgh .. 12 52
Denver 46 50; Pueblo 52 56
Duluth 0 4|St. Louis ..12 16
Helena 44 50,5. St. Marie 0 24
Jacksonville 54 661 Winnipeg ..—l2 6
•Washington time (7 p. m. St. Paul).
—Below zero.
. SUNDAY. FEBRUARY 25, 1900.
WHAT TO DO "WITH THEM.
The address delivered a few days since
>y Dr. Helen Bissell, of this city, before
Ihe Woman's Civic league should give all
Jood people of both sexes cause for
thought. We are sunk in barbarism in
our current methods of disposing of de
linquent women, and, for that matter, of
delinquent men as well.
We may assume that the present sys
tem of committing girls under sixteen
to the reform school is commendable in
itself. It certainly operates better than
any scheme which is known to the public
to preserve the self-respect and the fu
ture usefulness of the foolish girls who,
ignorant of everything in life, take the
step, voluntarily or otherwise, which ren
ders them outcasts from decent society.
But the class of girls who may be thus
disposed of is comparatively small. They
are often perhaps amenable to home in
fluence, and may afterwards become good
women without the intervention of the
state If the home Influence and the steps
taken immediately to stop their down
ward career are what they should be.
But when a girl passes the age of six
teen without having cast herself wholly
upon a life of folry or crime, if her asso
ciations are yet such as do not neces
sarily lead to the destruction of her fu
ture life, what is it the state or the mu
nicipality does with her when she comes
Within its jurisdiction?
At present in St. Paul the only thing to
do with such a girl is to commit her to
the workhouse. Think of it. The work
house! How much of self-respect or pos
sibility of redemption is there left to such
a girl after that? She must, and usually
does, live In the society of those who
know her mishap. What will they think
of her? How will they treat her? What
prospect in life is before her? These are
questions which every mother can find
the answer for in her own heart, let her
be as Ignorant as she may be of the crime
and folly of this criminal and foolish
world of ours. It is of course a happy
circumstance that the administration of
our local workhouse is such that any girl
sent there is certain of the most consid
erate treatment, and, if she does not show
that she has gone beyond the point of
possible redemption, is certain to have
bestowed on her by Supt. Fitzgerald and
those around him as gentle and as
thoughtful treatment as she could find
outside Her own home, if she is fortunate
enough to possess a home. But "that is a
mere incident, and does not in any way
affect the ruin that is almost certain to
follow such a girl alter she has returned
to the outside world.
We once had the House of the Good
Shepherd, to which any young woman who
showed the possibility of reformation
might be sent by the committing magis
trate or by her parents before she had
entered on the course which leads to
abiding sorrow. But a few mischievous
and irresponsible bigots have succeeded
in crippling that excellent Institution in
Its most beneficial uses, and now render
it impossible for a committing magistrate
to avair himself of it as a place of pro
tection for the girls who are brought
before him. Subsisting on private benefi
cence alone, the House of the Good Shep
herd still opens Its doors to the Magda
lens of society; but It has been robbed of
much of its value as a public reformatory
institution.
The picture which Mrs. Bissell has
drawn is true to life. Our local police sta
tions, as well as our local jail, which are
necessarily the temporary abiding places
of such girls while awaiting final dispo
sition, are sinks of abomination. The
woman who enters their precincts must
Indeed be sound at heart if her experi
ence does not help to push her many
Bteps lower than she had been before en
• tering any of them. But what Is to be
done?
Mrs. Bissell says start a woman's state
reformatory. That is an undertaking
which does not seem now within the do
main of the practicable. No mere abid
ing place for abandoned women should
be maintained at the public expense. Do
our cities turn out enough young girls
of the kind In question to warrant the
experiment? There Is such an institution
In Massachusetts. Yes. But Massachu
setts has many big cities, which we have
not, and the social conditions attending
the lives of poorer girls are there much
more dangerous than those which pre
vail with us. But something ought to be
done. It !s for our public officials to de
vise the best line of action. Until some
thing is definitely determined on the St.
CLuud reformatory ought to be made
available. The establishment of a wom
an's department In that institution, prop
erly managed, ought, it seems to us, to
meet the most urgent requirements of the
situation, at leat-t until some definite plan
of action is determined on.
THE ARMY CANTEEN.
A Kansas member of congress,. who Is
blessed In the name of Bowersock, has
introduced a bill In the house of represen
tatives to abolish the army canteen. The
proposition Is not new to the public or
to congress, though it may be novel to
Mr. Bowersock, and it is probable It will
be disposed of by congress as have sim
ilar propositions in the past.
To temperance people who regard the
sale of liquor at army canteens as an
unmixed evil, and the countenancing of
liquor selling thereat by the government
as derogatory to the dignity of the gov
ernment and against good morals, the
army canteen must continue to be an ofc
ject of aversion and reprobation. But
there are many features connected with
this question which these good temper
ance people overlook. For instance, be
cause a man enlists and consents to serve
his country as a soldier he does not re
linquish any of his rights as a citizen.
If the lawa of the country permit the sale
of liquor, a soldier has as much right as
a civilian to buy liquor, and is held to ac
count for any misconduct resulting from
the consumption of liquor as is the civil
ian. A certain proportion, perhaps a
large majority, of the enlisted men are
in the habit of taking and consuming
more or less intoxicating liquors, Just as
are civilians. If the enlisted men cannot
obtain the liquor they want in their post
canteen, they wlirgo outside the post or
barracks to obtain it. The post canteen is
under the supervision and control of the
commanding officer, who can absolutely
regulate the sale of liquor, and vfho can
prevent excesses and does do so. But if
the men get down into town, frequenting
low saloons, they are for the time beyond
his jurisdiction, and with the knowledge
that there is no liquor obtainable at the
post canteen 4.hey will utilize their liberty
to "fill up," and indulge in a spree that"
too often ends in the guardhouse or leads
to desertion.
A commanding officer can not only reg
ulate the consumption of liquor at the
canteen, but he can regulate the quality,
which is a matter of much importance
when troops are on foreign service, and
with this control much that to many peo
ple 13 highly objectionable In the use of
Intoxicants is removed.
Of course there- la a certain number of
the enlisted men who do not use liquor
or favor Its use, and if there Is any re
form of the army canteen required it lies
in the amendment of the regulations in
their favor. Under the present regula
tions, It is understood, the practice is to
detail men for service in the canteen the
same as for other "fatigue" duties. It Is
quite possible that such service may be
objectionable to the men who do not
drink at all, and it might be advisable to
relieve them of this duty, and confine
the service to the men who do drink and
who could have no valid objection.
m
NON-SUFFRAGIST WOMEN.
Among the many movements of a po
litical or social character which pre
vail, without having at least the open
sanction of even a fair minority of this
people, that of female suffrage easily
occupies a front rank. While the move
ment has been essayed aa an experiment
In a few of the younger states its ac
ceptance as a desirable policy Is con
fined to a very small proportion of think
ing people. But it should be said to
the credit of those who advocate it,
mostly members" of the sex which does
not possess the privilege, that they show
a degree of energy and devotion which
has won for them a much larger share
of public attention than many believe
the inherent merits of their propaganda
entitle it to.
While the women suffragists are Inde
fatigable in their advocacy and succeed
in having constant public attention be
stowed on their efforts, there is anothet
class of women whose operations in the
opposite direction do not succeed in at
tracting the degree of attention which
they have entitled themselves to. They
are" the members of the anti-woman suf
frage movement. They include many
women of high reputation In the domain
of public usefulness, and their efforts,
while hot attended by the same amount
of nols© which distinguishes their sisters,
are at least thus far attended by much
more substantial success.
During the present month a delegation
of the ladies opposed to woman suffrage
appeared in Washington, to protest
against any change in the constitution
giving women equal rights with men.
That protest was made by the state or
ganizations of the anti-suffragists and
was read before the house judiciary com
mittee and before the senate committee
on woman suffrage. The main question
taken by those ladies is well worthy ot
commendation. They insist that there
shall be no interference by the general
government -with the reserved powers of
the several states. This position is a
strong one, and should, as we say, re
ceive general commendation, If the suf
frage is to be extended to women It must
and should come from the state govern*
ments. Under our constitutional system
that is a right as clearly reserved to
the states as any right involving the
rights of person or property which has
not been expressly relinquished to the
general government. Whatever the mer
its of the claims of the woman suffragists
may be, they are doing their cause mors
hurt than help by directing their appeal*
to congress.
The protest thus made declares that
there is no demand for the legislation
THE ST. PAUL GLOBS,. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1900.
asked for, and embodies an expression of
the belief that If the proposition to en*
large the suffrage were submitted to the
women of the United States It would be
rejected by an overwhelming majority.
It concludes with the following para
graph :
"We feel that the exemption of women
from the performance of suffrage is a
privilege which they are not prepared to
surrender, and which has been conferred
upon them as a compensation for limita
tions and duties imposed upon them by
their sex, and which cannot by any pos
sibility be transferred to the domain of
masculine service."
On the occasion of the entering of this
protest the ladies who advocate the suf
frage extension, led by Miss Anthony,
also had a hearing. The nature of one
of the pleas tnade by those ladies seem*
to some extent at least to carry out ths
claims of their opponents that the de
mand being made on congress is in an.
tagonism to the reserved rights of the
several states. For Instance, a Mrs. Avery
read a paper before the senate commit
tee prepared by a woman who had been
twice elected mayor of a Kansas town.
The letter describes In detail what had
been accomplished in the way of mu
nicipal reform in Kansas, women In that
state being eligible to vote and hold mu
nicipal office. It indicated that there had
been a purification of municipal affairs
since suffrage had been granted to
women.
This, of course, may be all true. In
deed it is impossible of understanding by
anyone who keeps In sight the relative
functions of federal and state govern*
ment hc*v any such consideration could
be expected to operate as an argument
with men versed In constitutional rights
and limitations as senators are under
stood to be.
If ever woman suffrage is to become
an accomplished fact In the United.
States it must so become through the ac
tion of the several state governments. No
person, however deeply impressed he or v
she may be with the justice of the de
mands of the woman suffragists and who
desires to preserve the existing constitu
tional relation ' between the state and
the national government, will readily give
adhesion to any movement which looks
to the amendment of the federal constitu
tion for any such purpose, especially
when all that is sought can be effected
through the action of they people in their
character of citizens of the several
states.
-•-
HIS OWN EXECUTOR.
To the members of a happy social cir
cle there is nothing which appears at
once more distressing and Incomprehen
sible than the enmities among the mem
bers of the same household which spring
from the very coffin. Hardly have tho
eyes been closed in death before the
kindred, often the very children, of the
dead engage themselves in brutal war
fare over the remains. All the veneer of
love and reverence disappears, and a
scramble for money reveals the wild
beast of greed in the human heart.
Within a few days the press reports
told the story of the Chicago millionaire
whose son is contesting his will on th»«
ground that he was insane when he mad*
it. The son's test of sanity or insanity
is of course his understanding of his doad
father's liberality. There were no imme
diate kindred to fight over the millions
of the millionaire Stewart, of New York.
But his bones had not been consigned
to Mother Earth before blackmailers
sprang up on all sides and tried to selz»
some share of the money prey he left
behind. And they succeeded too. Jay
Gould and his millions were the media of
giving the public glimpses of the same
disposition, and but a few weeks have
elapsed since a woman seeking to estab
lish that all his children were born out of
wedlock was placed on trial for black
mail. The Vanderbilts have had the same
family story underlying their deaths.
Samuel J. Tilden, philanthropist and
great lawyer as he was, failed to give to
the people, whom he loved, the benefit of
his money accumulations. Those who
neither loved nor regarded him In hla
life too successfully asserted the acci
dent of family relationship.
Is it not wonderful that men who read
of such things will go down to their
graves burdened with money, and leave
the disposition of that money to all th»
mischances which they every day se«
exemplified in the case of other men like
themselves who leave to others aftei
their death the duty which they shirk hi
life of disposing of the bulk of such
wealth on the lines most acceptable to
them, whether for the benefit of the pub
lic, or of their children or friends? And
yet, most men who accumulate property
do just this. Many of them recognize In
their wills, too, -their feeling that ther»
may be trouble,- by ordaining that thosa
of the legatees who contest the provi
sions made for them must go without.
It is pleasant, in view of this sud record,
to observe a man here and there whom
neither greed of possession nor cowardice
npr Indifference can control, and who ha»
sense enough to dispose of his wealth as
he nears the grave as he would wish to
sco it disposed of after his death. Such
a man is there in Chicago, of all places
on earth. His name is Dr. D. K. Peai
sons. He is a man of large fortune, and
a good portion of that fortune he had
already disposed of according to his own
preference. Ha has already dispensed
something like $2,500,000 in public bey
quests. The remainder of his fortune
amounts to $1,500,000, and he has ma.ie
his will regarding it. His will, however,
is to be executed while he 13 above,
rather than while he is under, ground.
For the maintenance of himself and his
wife while they live he exacts 2 per cent
on the bequests which he will hereafter
make. This will give him an Income of
$30,000, which will cease only after both
himself and wife are dead.
How sensibly this man talks about his
purposes. He says: "I do not propose
to leave to others to do what I can do
myself, as I wish to do it. I propose to
act as my own executor, and to see
some of the good, at least, that may
spring from what I try to do. I am as
sured of a sufficient income while my
wife and I live, and there is none who
will or can gainsay my right to do what
I please with my own while I am alive.
What mistakes I may make I can try to
mend. I could not If I were dead."
Andrew Carnegie 3ays no man ought to
die rich. He Is right Right in more
than one sense. Ha may live rich if l»e
will; but generally he is anything but
wise if he dies rich, to leave his dissatis
fied descendants possibly to bring dis
grace on his memory. This man Dr.
Pearsons is now eighty years of age. But
he didn't wait for' his eighty years to
overtake him before u^ing his money for
his own enjoyment during life, for that
is really what It".amount* to. He dot*
all the good he can while he lives, and
does it the way he wants to, so that
after he Is gone hia spirit may not be
disturbed by the, cries of those who
loved him for what he had rather than
for what he was or wfiat he did.
-iti*f
MA.RRI.M4E.
Prof. William Graham Sumner holds
the chair of social and political science
in the Yale university. He has recently
delivered a lecture on' marriage before
his class, which must have occasioned
surprise to many of the 300 or more young
bachelors who heard it. Among the
other unusual and unexpected things
which the lecturer said about marriage
was the declaration that only about 10
per cent of married people, looking back
at their married life, can truthfully say
that they have realized their ideals of
happiness. According 1 to him vicissitudes
act on and change the married pair, and
therefore marriage in the strictest sense
Is an ideal that has never been realized.
Like all human institutions, marriage
is of. course more or les3 of a failure.
Men, and especially women, enter upon It
on an entirely false understanding of its
duties and obligations. It is hard to ask
young folks who are In love to look at
the serious side of the proposition, but
usually before they have traveled very
far on the matrimonial journey they are
brought up, often with a sharp turn, to
the realities of the marriage existence.
Prof. Sumner says that marriage is
baaed on the struggle for existence.
Originally, he adds. It was co-operation
by a man and a woma<n against the ne
cessity of sustaining life. Together a
man and a woman could fight better
against a common antagonist than each
of them, separately, against the same an
tagonist. This i 3 certainly not a very in
spiring view of marriage, but no doubt it
represents the essence., of the compact
among primitive peoples. In such a view
those who are disposed to simplify the
marriage ceremonies ajyl who insist on
treating outwardly and in the legal sense
marriage as a mere civil contract do
what they can to reduce the matter of
matrimonial relation to; its original ele
ments.
The idealization of rajarriage has been
one of the most powerful influences work
ing toward human • refinement. The
poetry and romance which have been
woven about the relation have lifted it
up to a plane of reverence and sanctity
which Its supreme Importance in the so
cial state entitles It to occupy. The
Catholic church has always treated the
marriage as Its importance to society
merits. She holds it a divine institution.
Making it a sacrament, she removes the
popular conception of it far above the
grossness which conceives of it only as
a matter of worldly convenience. Except
to the scholar, it matters very little
whether the marriage ceremony was in
stituted, as Prof; Sumner Insists, in the
sixteenth century, or whether it was or
dained at the very outset.of the Christian
era. The fact remains, which no student
of social conditions win deny, that: the
marriage ceremony in itself Is a good
thing, and that where it is observed fewer
marriages end in speedy disruption than
Where it la dispensed with.
"The poetry of the marriage ideal too
often ends with the ceremony. Nowa
days too many yourig men marry because
they think they should; because they
think it Is time for them to marry. ManY
times they fall to marry their ideals; too
often they fail to-'realize their ideals in
the married life. Nowadays, I think, the
very marriage ceremony is very much a
matter of show," said .Prof. Sumner to
his students. This may all be;'l>ut the
importance of the declaration is not very
plain. "Would the professor wholly dis
pense with the ceremony? And, if so,
what good results.does he believe might
follow? Would he have-young men defer
marriage indefinitely, or until they could
secure some infallible assurance that
they had met their ideals and that the
poetry of the marriage relation would
end only with the grave?
Not even a professor of social science
can argue marriage out of court. There
it is, and there it will remain, and the
prime duty of all who set themselves to
its direction or regulation is to perpetu
ate it and do what they can to render its
continuance as little of a burden as possi
ble to those who enter upon it. It is the
great bond which holds Christian society
together. Everything that is said or
done to divest it of all the sacredness,
the poetry, the spirituality, which the
Catholic church, of all the forces of our
age,- surrounds It with, merely helps to
bring it down to the level of animal as
sociation. With such a tendency, sup
plemented by the moral influence of
the divorce court, the era of social
disintegration and marital promis
cuity may not be actually in sight,
but It assuredly is not as far off as the
millennium by any means.
The man who made the complaint
against Olga Nethersole's play, "Sapho,"
admits that he attended the performance
twice. It is not a long shot to wager
that he will not again get past the box
office if the peopWinside' recognize him.
And the celebration of Washington's
birthday was held-amid "the glare of elec
tric lights, within- easy reach of a tele
phone, while a phonograph could have
been adjusted to frepeafe* his farewell ad
dress to the country. ■
Admiral Dewey is reported, to be the
finest small swordsman in the American
navy, and Lord Methu,en the best pistol
shot in the British army. And there are
others. ri -i
It is a great satisfaction to jump Into
a few columns of war news from South
Africa with a full knowledge that there
is no rule for the pronunciation of propei
names.
Perhaps Mrs. Langtry is now casting
envious eyes at Olga Nethersole and ad
mitting that in the dialogue of "The
Degenerates" she has overlooked some
bets.
Mr. McKinley will make quite a re
spectable showing at the polls if all the
people now dodging the vice presidential
nomination vote for him.
The jewel of consistency is again ex
emplified in the fact that when a girl
is wedded to music she invariably thumps
the piano.
The relief of I.adysmith is not the only
piece of warlike femininity. It will be
remembered that In the Franco-Prussian
war Nancy was revictualed.
From a Republican point of view the
United States has possession of a wide
extent of territory lying outside the con
stitution.
So far no Republican has been auda
cious enough to mention Russell A. Alger
as a Republican candidate for vice presi
dent.
Senator Depew continues to do the or
namental word painting, and Senator
Platt deals out the New York patronage.
If Spain really owns Sulu, the loss of
that $10,000 per annum will prove a crush
ing blow to the sultan and his harem.
As it is popularly understood Mr. Frick
seriously objects to contributing to Mr.
Carnegie's library funds.
One of the great questions of momen
tous Interest is this: Has Philadelphia
dug up that $100,000 yet?
The automobile is far more dangerous
than the horse. It can run away back
wards.
How can "trade follow the flag" to
Puerto Rico over a 25 per cent tariit
wall?
As Matt Quay is not yet seated It is
more than possible that he is standing
pat.
Proverb for Mr. Quay: "He also serves
who only stands and waits."
ij Warm Comer \
j ... For Men 0n1y... i[
If the women o£ St. Paul could only
become as much enthused over scm«
scheme by which St. Paul merchants
would benefit as they have recently be
come over a Minneapolis trick, it would
be well for us. This smart little plan has
taken like wildfire here, and even some
of the members of the Civic league are
now engaged in the pious work of swell
ing the receipts of a Minneapolis firm of
skirt makers. It is a lovely scheme. Mrs.
Brown buys a book of five coupons from
the Minneapolis firm, for which she pays
so much in cash. She, In turn, sells these
coupons to her friends —or her enemies—
in order to get her money back. Each
one buying pledges herself to sell five
coupons on the endless chain system.
When the first woman has sold her five
coupons, she is sent a silk skirt, said to
be worth about $5, and for which the foxy
Minneapolis firm has received $6.25, and
the woman receiving it ha 3 only paid
for it 25 cents, but, incidentally, has lost
all her friends. St. Paul money is now
pouring into the other twin In an alarm
ing way, because St. Paul women prefer
to encourage Minneapolis gall to helping
on the legitimate industries of their own
city. What we want is a home mission
ary society.
• • •
The editor of a small paper in St. Louis
recently announced the death of his wife
in a notice heavily black-bordered, and in
Which he stated that he is so unnerved
by the calamity that he must take a week
or two off. As long as that?
• * *
Life, of New Tork, offers a prlza of
$50 in gold for an article on the meanest
city in the United States, and the rea
sons why. Circumstances are constantly
giving Minneapolis the center of the
stage.
• • •
Fargo has a club which, it Is safe to
say, is unique in clubdom. It is the ap
pendicitis club, and the condition of mem
bership is a lack of the appendix, in oth
er words, a surgeon's certificate that he
removed the useless little sac from the
body of the applicant. Before very long
persons who retain the appendix will not
be able to get into society. In Minneapo
lis no one can get In who has not been In
a runaway on Nlcollet avenue.
• • •
There is more truth than poetry in the
following: Call a girl a chick and she
smiles, call a woman a hen and she
howls. Call a young woman a witch and
she Ts pleased; cal lan old woman a witch
and she is indignant. Call a girl a kit
ten and she rather likes It; call a woman
a cat and she hates you. Women are
queer. If you call a man a gay dog, it
will flatter him. Call him a pup, a hound
or a cur, and he will try to alter th» map
of your face. He don't mind being call
ed a bull or a bear, yet he will object to
being mentioned as a calf or a cub. M«n
are queer too.
• • •
A justice of the peace in Indianapolis
recently mixed things up in a way that
seldom happens. A French couple ap
peared before him to be married, bring
ing an interpreter in the shape of a pretty
girl. When the ceremony was concluded
it was discovered that the justice had
firmly tied the young man to the inter
preter, so with the consent of all con
cerned he did It over again and married
the right ones. The Interpreter is prob
ably asking herself how she stands to
the world.*
• • •
A Brooklyn revivalist recently told his
hearers that he loved a crowd and ex
pected "to live and move and speak to
the crowds in heaven. The crowd is to be
clothed In white robes and will carry
palms." This did not appeal to his hear
ers with the force that he evidently
thought it would, as going to heaven in
crowds and being again "harangued by a
revivalist was not exactly their idea of
heavenly diversion. It Is always the
privilege of persons who feel their elec
tion sure to consider themselves one of
a setect few, so the revivalist queered
himself and was obliged to change the
subject.
• • •
When a play is condemned by the New
York Journal the police think it must be
time to interfere. So Miss Olga Nether
sole has been arrested for presenting
"Sapho." In beautiful contrast to this is
the pious citizens of St. Paul falling over
each other to see "The Sign of the Cross."
We hape to see the day when the East
will be as moral as the West.
• • •
What in the world the governors of the
Minnesota club want to ruin It for is the
question many men are asking them
se'rves. It was the one spot in the city
that was sacred to Man, and now -the
rustle of silken petticoats is to be heard
in the halls. The Commercial club went
the way of all ilesh long ago, but the de
fection of the Minnesota is a sad blow.
Especially Is it so to the fellows who
have made an evening "at the club"
cover a multitude of outings not in the
orders of the day; now they can take
their wives. We predict the result will
be the formation of a club as is a club.
• * •
A Yale professor made a sensation the
other day by declaring that 90 per cent
of all marriages here were unhappy.
Whereupon the few people in the coun
try who are not divorced said it was an
awful statement and not true. But a New
York man said in print that there was
only one trouble with the professor's fig
ures. They were too low, and that by
actual computation 99% per cent of mar-
I riages were unhappy. —Reggie.
Chat tf tht Capital dtp. I
Amendments to the Commerce Law Now Pending.
Trade Conditions In the Far East.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24.—(Special.)—It
Is stated here that if the Cullom bill now
pending before the United States senate,
and which was recently Indorsed by the
National Board of
Bill by Trade, is adopted. It
Mr. Cullom. will give the Inter-
state commerce
commission considerable more authority
than is now possessed by that body. The
principal amendment proposed Is to give
the interstate commerce commission sp^
cial authority, when a rate complained
of has been found unreasonable or rela
tively unjust upon investigation, after k
full hearing of all parties interested, to
declare what in its Judgment is a just
and reasonable rate in the particuia:
cn?e in question, and to enforce the adop
tion of such a rate, subject to appeal to
the courts; its decision, however, to be
effective until reversed by the courts.
Other amendments proposed make the
requirements of the "long and short
haul" clause absolute by striking out th»
term "under substantially similar cir
cumstances and conditions," making th*.
suspension of the operation of thai
clause in particular cases subject wholl>
to the discretion of the commission upon
investigation and full hearing; also re
move penalties of imprisonment, substi
tuting heavy fines in case of any viola
tion of the law, to which individual offi
cers of the companies are liable, as welt
as the companies themselves; also ie
quire sixty days' notice of any change in
rates before they shall become effective.
An additional amendment recommend
ed" by the National Board of Trade, at
its annual session In Washington, gtvea
the railroad companies authority to
maintain associations for the purpose or
agreeing upon uniform rates not in con*
filet with the "anti-pooling" clause ot
the prepent law.
The bill is still under consideration by
the interstate commerce committee of th»
senate. A hearing was held in Washing
ton immediately after the session of the
I National Board of Trade, at which rep.
resentatlves of various commercial or
ganizations throughout the country ap«
peared and earnestly urged the adoption
of the proposed amendments. It Is ex
pected that the bill will be reported tt»
the senate shortly, and its passage Is
looked for at this session. The general
impression seems to be that when ii
! reaches the house It will also pass that
| body.
The proposition for the appointment of a
commission to study the commercial con
ditions in China and Japan, embodied in
sundry bills now before congress, ia
along lines similar
to those already I rade
adopted by several in the Orient.
of the active com
mercial nations of Europe. The* docu
ment recently Issued by the treasury
bureau of statistics, "Commercial China
in 1899,' shows that experiments made by
other nations in son-ling commissions ti
the Orient have been very satisfactory.
The British commission, or "commercial
commission," as it was called, spent a
part of the years 1896 and 181)7 In China
alone, devoting eight months to a trip
from Shanghai up the Yangtze river lo
the head of navigation, thence southward
to the head of the West river, by which
they returned to the seaboard, reaching
Canton and Hong Kong after eight
months' travel and study, and giving to
the British public a very elaborate and
extremely valuable report on the want*,
consuming power, and general conditions
of the people of Central and Southern
China, their trip having carried them
through the most densely populated part
of that country. The French mission was?
absent from France nearly two years,
returning in-October, 1897, after a thoi
ough investigation of agricultural, indus
trial and commercial conditions, which Is
not to be made public, but recorded for
the use of the several chambers of com
merce which shared in the expedition.
The French are somewhat wary of tne
publication of the report of this com
mission, since a commission sent to cmn«
in 1543 for the purpose of discovering
means of extending French trade pub
lished an elaborate report^ which is said
to have become more P^'V"l^;
land than to France. The Germans,
profiting by this example, have also
omitted to give to the general public the
cult of the work of their commercial
mission which returned to Germany _ r
1899 after fifteen months' study of China
and other Eastern Asiatic countries.
This German commission was especlall>
thorough in Its work, collecting arge
numbers of samples of the goods reqiilred
and used by the people of the countries
which they visited, and creating from
them an exhibit which Is onty °P«n
those persons actually interested in tne
trades concerned and to members o.
chambers of commerce and certain of
ficials, no other persons being admitted,
while copies of the report-are only pub
lished for Private circulation. The Nord
Deutsche Zeitung of April 20, IMB. states
thac the exhibit includes over 00.000 sam
ples which show that the collection is
the result of close study of competent,
men who thoroughly understand their
™crk and that the exhibits show first
what European and American goods are
Exported to Eastern Asia, and second,
what goods can be purchased there.
The pending measures as introduced
provide only that the commission shall
visit China and Japan, whose imports
form but about one-third of those of the.
Orient whose trade the United States
may be expected to command. American
Products are finding a rapidly enlarging
market in all of the countries of the
East, and especially in Asiatic Russta,
Manchuria. Korea. Siam. and Austra la
while the enormous market offered by the
British and Dutch East Indies is also
worthy of attention.
The following table, prepared by he
treasury bureau of statistics from the
latest available data, shows the value of
ne imports and exports of the -territory
in auction ar.d the share of the United
States theremj _
Per Cent. Per Cent.
from to
Imports U. S. Exports. U. S.
Britlßh East Indies ..... $221,562,305 2.0 $365,217,000 4.6
British Australasia 277,879,000 5.8 278,708,000 4.6
China 146,077,000 5.6 110,84!).O00 8.4
Japan 138,751,000 12.4 82,877,000 32.1
Straits Settlements 109,956,000 .... 97,822,000
Dutch East Indies 66,458,000 1.7 80,081,000 9.6
Russia. Asiatic 21,579.000 .7 29,456,000 1.2
Slam 19,384,000 .... 25,280,000 .... *-
Philippine Islands 14,300,000 1.1 16,550,000 30.1 •
Hawaiian Islands 7,165,000 76.2 15,436,000 99.7
Mauritius 15,910,000 1.9 16,652,000 5.6 •
Persia 26,476,000 .... 15,054,000
Ceylon 20,722,000 .2 14,641,000 5.7
♦Hong Kong t 20,000,000 30.0 10,000,000 ».l
French East Indies 790,696 8.7 3,088,000
Korea 8,088,000 2,482,000
Totals $1,114,087,000 5.3 $1,10,198,000 8.6
•Ksilmate: Statesman's Year Book.
"This recent scramble for the census
office printing." said a government offi
cial, "recalls to my mind the experience
of our friend, Maj. Shaw, so well and
favorably known
Census in newspaper cir
fcramble. des. It was many
years ago, when
Minnesota was made a state, that Shaw
rounded up out there. He was a printer
as well as a fairly good newspaper man.
The lawmakers were at work, and the
man who conducted the little printing of
fice was sorely out- of patience trying to
get printers. Maj. Shaw took in the sit
uation and soon struck up a trade with
the proprietor of the printing joint.
There was a scarcity of material in tha
office, and the bills had to be printed ac
cording to the regulations; that is, with
what printers call bed slats between tin
lines. About the first thing Shaw did
was to go down to a saw mill and get a
lot of strips, which he proceeded ta
whittle out into the right sized slats. J
may say that he soon had an abundance,
and the matter that he turned out waj
'phat' enough to satisfy any hungK1
printer. Well, bills were turned out In a
hurry, and the proprietor soon discovered
that }n the major he had a gem of tha
first water. Of course the more work
turned out by tha major the moie money
was paid Into the office. The major had
an eye to business, and when the bi!!s
didn't come in fast enough he simply de
voted his spare time to preparing bills on
various and sundry questions, which ha
would hand to some member anil request
that they be Introduced. Of course they
were always introduced, and the extra
money made by the printing of thesa
bills so ingeniously drafted by the major
more than compensated him for the time
devoted to writing them and the few
dollars spent In giving the members a
good time. I suppose that was about tlia
greatest cinch the major ever enjoyed,
and when he came away from there hg
had a !ar«e and wealthy bank account.
He worked that situation for all ther«
was in it, and it was done to the queeni
taste, too. The major deserves all th«.
good luck he ever had."
• • •
It is a pretty .string of thoroughbred^
Representative William Astor Chnnler,
of New York, has brought to Washing
ton for his private use. He is very fond
of driving and han-
Story dies the reins to
On Chanler. perfection, and la
also a good horse
man in every sense of the word. A good
story Is told on his secretary, a Mr. Me-
Cann. a plain, unassuming gentleman
from the South, who does not go
much on style and "rapid" things in gen
eral. It is stated that a few evening*
ago Mr. Chanler drove by his offlca
(nearly all congressmen now have a
down town office) and asked his secre
tary if he wouldn't like to go for a drive
Mr. McCann said he would, and soon h«
was shooting out Connecticut avenuo
like a meteor, behind a pair of high,
stoppers, wilh Mr. Chanler holding th«
reins. When McCann came back from
hia ride he gave a sigh of relief and re.
marked to a newspaper friend:
"Oh, yes. I like to ride, but I'll bt
dad blamed if those horses were mlm
I'd have them hooked to a plow for aboul
two weeks before I'd trust myself be
hind them in a cart. They are too pep,
pery for me by a right smart. Street can
are swift enough for me."
• • •
Justice *Haflan l of the supreme court. \\
fot>d of out door exercise of every char,
acter, and cold weather <loes not pha*«
him the least bit—in fact the colder it I*
big over-grown, happy go-lucky countrr
the better he ap
poars to enjoy hta Justice
outings. lie re- an Athlete.
minds one of a great
boy, out for a good time, and doesn\
care who knows it. He can put on a golf
suit and hold himself with the best. In
fact he is known as one of the best golf
ers in the district. It is one of his great
est hobbies to see matters of every char
acter running without friction, and this
fact, was forcefully illustrated during Hie
blizzard last winter, when he took a hand
in assisting a street car conductor to
maintain order on his car. The justice
was on a car going out. Connecticut ave
nue. The passengers were as pleasant as
could have been expected under the un
fa v-orable cJrcnpVttftitcofl. There was one.
however, who was tanked up on under
takers' delight, and persisted In using
profane language, notwithstanding the
conductor repeatedly asked him to desist.
The fellow was well dressed and looked
like a man who might be of some conse
**«ence. Something had gone wrong with
him and he proceeded to make things as
unpleasant a.s possible. Justice Harlan
finally grew tired of such language, ana,
requesting the conductor to stop the car,
he grabbed the fellow by the back of tht
neck, lifted him from the car bodily and
landing him in a bank of snow, gave hie
head several digs into it and with tno
romark that he was a "dirty brute for
cursing In the presence of ladles In st
public conveyance," stepped back on tho
car. The conductor did not know who
Justice Harlan was, and looked on witD
amusement as well as Joy. When Mr.
Harlan was safely in his seat he calkj'
tho conductor to him and said:
"I realize that you were afraid of get
ting into trouble with the company, so 1
took your part. If there Is anything
further about this you can call upon me.
I alone am responsible for the ejection of
tha dirty rascal," and with this he hai.d
ed the conductor his card.
• • •
Representative 'fate, of Georgia, has a
son who is about, the. only person who
ever got the best of him in politics 01
finances. Tate is an easy-going, careful
man, not given to
Told making "splurges,"
of Mr. Tate. as the people of his
section say when
one tries to put on style. Tate says the
matter may be a joke, but he Calls to
tee It. It was this way: Three years
ago his son received an appointment as»
a page In the senate, and the father tola
him that Washington was a powerfui
swift place for boys to spend money. Ha
made a trade with him that if he would
not spend his salary as page he would
allow him $2 a week for car fare and
pin money, as well as pay all his neces
sary expenses. Young Tate realized at
a Jump that he had a cinch, and in thu
presence of his mother the trade was
ir.ade. With the greatest clock-like regu
larity young Tate would go to his father
every week and collect his stipend' ot
|2, while with the same regularity his
money received as page went into the
bank. Mr. Tate was asked about the
truthfulness of the story, and he said.
"If it was anybody else's boy but mlno
1 would say that it was something de
serving of credit, but as It was my boy
1 don't care to talk about It, except to
say that my son carried out religiously
every part of his agreement with me and
eairied homa with him more cash money
than I expect to. He cared nothing
about going to the theater and such
amusements as tempt most boys. Ha
was satisfied with being with his mother,
with me, or with his books. I permitted
him to select the college he wished to
attend and he chose the State Uni
versity of Athens. 1 endeavored to im
press upon him that the colleges here
offered superior advantages, but he said
he preferred the university of his native
state."
Perhaps this is the only case on record
where a page In the senate or house
saved every cent for three years, and
while Representative Tate says, laugh
ingly, that his boy came near making a
bankrupt of him while here and that ho
la glad it is over with, It Is plainly evi
dent that the father misses sorely tha
son who was almost his constant com
panion. —J. S. Van Antwerp.
WHAT STATE PRESS SAYS.
Annandale Advocate: The St. Paul po
lice force is the most amusing thing on
earth, but a stranger better keep out ot
the city. He is liable to be arrested for
arson if he simply wears a red neck
tie.
Delano Eagle: It is a curious anomaly
when you come to think of It. Several
towns In the southern part of the state
are trying to compel the railroads to give
as low freight rates as are given by the
Great Northern.
"Alexandria Post-News: Moses Clapp
is said to be about to declare himself a
candidate for governor. It Is to be hoped
he will not. He ha» done many fool
things In the past that if a candUat*
would come back to haunt him.