DUTY OF THE PEOPLE They Should Look Closely Into Rec ords of Congressmen. In Wo Other Way Con the Nation Se cure an Ab*olutely I'ure and Equitable AdmlnUlrnllott of Tibllo Affair*. [Special Washington Letter ] THE people of this government are proud of their government, but they know very little about it, The public schools ought to give in structions concerning municipal, coun ty, state and federal governments. As it is, even the school teachers them selves know very little concerning the government; and not more than one tenth of them could even tell you how a member of the national senate is elected. Not only are the people in compara tive ignorance about their govern ment; but, strange as it may seem, the average member of the house of representatives knows very little about national legislation. The people are •careless, and, to be plain about it. thev .are shamefully careless, about the se lection of their congressmen anil other office holders. On this account the government for many years has been partly in the hands of politicians who care nothing for the people, but seek only their own glory and enrichment. In your own congressional district you do not know 20 men who are per sonally acquainted with your member of congress, unless you happen to mingle with politicians, and the aver age readers of newspapers will not be found mixing with politicians. In a gov ernment of the people, by the people and for the people every citizen ought to kno\ all about his government, and all about the man or men who seek offi cial position. If every citizen would take such an interest in public affairs us he ought to do our government would be purer, and it would be more economical. The people have no idea how many millions of dollars are taken from them in taxation and expended recklessly. It is their own fault when they are over-governed, because thev are unmindful of their duty to them selves, by being careless concerning the details of government. When you hear a man making a fervid stump speech on the questions of the day, just bear in mind that the average public speaker is looking for <lupes, and that he wants you to be one of his victims. lie is making speeches, not for his health, nor solely for the good of his count ry. lie is do ing it for his own benefit, and he ex pects you to support him on account of his "gift of gab." That will be a new way of looking at it, to some read ers; but it is a gospel truth. The writer has been associated with poli ticians for more than a quarter of a •century, and as the years have gone gliding into history his regard for pro fessional politicians has grown less and less; because of increasing acquaint ance with their motives and their man ner of living. When you elect a member of congress you give him a position paying $.5,0(10 a year, for two years. Naturally, you expect him to work hard for that big salary, but the average congressman does not, work at all. The government gives him a private secretary, with a UNCLE SAM ENJOYS IT. (Little Shower of Extravagance Does Not Displease 111 m.) salary of SIOO a month; and the pri vate secretary does all of the neces sary work. The congressman signs letters to his constituents which tin private secretary has written, and that is the hardest work that the average congressman does for his people. There are 357 members of the na tional house of representatives, anil not more than 25 or 30 of them have anything to do with legislation. 'Hie others are mere followers. Wherever their party leaders tell them to go they go. They do not initiate legisla tion of any kind. They leave all things to committees appointed by the speak er, and they vote as they are told to vote on the passage of bills. IJeeause of this condition of affairs the govern ment has been growing less worthy dur ing the last quarter of a century, and extravagance has grown until it, has become reprehensible. It is not an ex travagant statement that hundreds of million', oi money have been taken from the people by taxation, and ap propriated unwisely. It would not be fail' to say that the government has grown corrupt because of its unwise appropriations of the people's money. Samuel .T. Randall, of Pennsylvania, was for many years the leading demo cratic member of the national house of representatives. Hi" was chairman of the committee on appropriations, la that x N cfcUion he wielded sc oucli pow#r that he was able to prevent tar iff legislation; and he did preventth« party from enacting free trade meas ures several times, although lie wan one of a small minority of that party. In order to take from Mr. Randall that power, the committee on appropria tions was deprived of control over the appropriations for pensions, the army, the navy, rivers and Tiarbors, public buildings and grounds, and other im portant government affairs. The bills making appropriations for these va rious purposes were given to separate committees, and there began the era of extravagance in appropriations. So long as all appropriations were controlled by one committee the total expenditures of the government were kept down to about $300,000,000 annual ly, because t he committee kept "the to tal" before them all the time. 15ut when separate committees were given power to make appropriations, each committee looked at its own work as of excessive importance, and immedi ately the total appropriations began to increase. With this example of ex travagance before them the senators divided their great committee on ap propriations in like manner only a few years ago. and thin, added to the folly of the house of representatives, TOO MUCH FOR YOUR UNCLE. (But a Deluge of Waste-fulness Dl=jju*t» the Old Man.) instead of curtailing the total annual expenditures for the government. The ! appropriations made for the coining j fiscal year are as follows: Agriculture J 6.208,960 Army 98,386,186 j Diplomatic affair> 1.1X17.926 District of Columbia 7.900,000 j KurtMirations 7,.^; Indians 9,2t7.!t02 | Military academy 2,t>:.'7,32.1 , legislative and executive ex penses Ift.liWl.iWl ' Navy 77. *119.933 lVnslor.s i::y,542.2;» I'Oft offices 138,11ti,598 Rivers and harbors (including con tracts for future) 70,000,000 i Sundry civil expanses 6ti.:«il,9(M Urgent deficiencies 50,684,433 Public buildings 25,000,000 Total $679.902, 551 > That is more than double the amount required for the expenses of our government ten or 12 years ago, ! and the actual requirements of the government have not so increased, i The population of the country has J not doubled, nor has its wealth. The ' responsibilities of the government have increased and the wealth of the country lias increased during the past , few years, but the appropriations which the congress continues to ; make tire manifestly greater than should be made. The river and harbor bill, which takes an average of $20,000,000. from the treasury every two years, litis in the past ~'o years taken well-nigh ; $200,000,000; and everybody in Wash- J ington speaks of that bill as "a steal" j which cannot be disguised in this city, although the people seed? to know nothing about it. Then the habit of j voting money frmn the treasury for j public buildings and grounds has so increased that almost every commu nity is clamoring for a public build- j ing; and the men who want to be j custodians and janitors of the pro posed buildings are urging their con- j gressmen to foster this extravagance. | The people who have the right to j reward the faithful public servants by re-electing them, and to punish j the unfaithful by not re-electing them, are responsible for existing j conditions. Uncle Sam is rich and j can afford some luxuries, but prodi- j f gality and wastefulness arc little les* than criminal in governments as well as in individuals. Uncle Hani can stand a little summer shower of ex travag*wice while the bank account i;s in good condition, but a deluge or wastefulness disgusts him, and his wrath arises. The people must not place the blame for these conditions upon tiny political party. The writer has seen democrats, republicans, greenbaekers, and even populists in congress mak ing frantic grabs at the treasury for a part of the surplus. The first ad ministration of (trover Cleveland was one of the most honorable and com mendable that this country has ever had, and the second was regarded as most profligate, 'i'lte administration of Benjamin Harrison was not alto gether blameless, nor was the .Me- Kinley administration absolutely frse from abuses of power. J'eople narrow in tiie extreme who imagine that any one political party can ba perfect. What the people ought to do is to nominate only good men whom they know to be honorable; and to elect only those who will pledge them selves to economy in government ex penses, and keep those pledges. The fault lies not with parties, but with the plain people themselves. They cannot shift the blame. It must rest upon their own shoulders. They must look more closely into the polit ical affairs of tliejr country. S-UiTIL 1) FliY. CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 1902. THE GREAT STRIKE Anthracite Miners Still Stand ing Firm. A Sympathy Strike Tie* T'p a Larue Lace Factory at \\ I Iknatiarre, Fa. Itellef Work In Behalf ol' Iteatltute Striker* liaa lieuun. Wilkesbarre, Pa., June IS. —Because the general manager would not discharge five girls whose relatives are still at work in the mines, the plant of the Wilkesbarre Lace Manu facturing Co., the largest in the Uni ted States, was compelled to shut down yesterday. There is a persistent rumor afloat that non-union men will be brought into the coal fields to mine coal. This cannot be done because practically all the anthracite miners in the coun try are located in this region and all are on strike. New men cannot take their places, because under the laws of Pennsyl vania no man can be employed as a miner without first having obtained a certificate showing that he has had two years' experience at anthracits mining. Relief work among the striking miners has been started in several sections of the region, but to what extent cannot be definitely learned. Indianapolis. June 19. —An official call for a national convention of the United Mine Workers of America was issued Wednesday from the national headquarters in this city by Sec retary-Treasurer Wilson. The con vention will meet here July 17 to de termine whether the soft coal miners of the country shall go out on a strike to assist the striking anthra cite miners of Pennsylvania. Clearfield, Pa., June 19. —The sub district presidents of District No. 2, United Mine Workers, met here Wed nesday and issued an order directed to tin* local union checkweighmen and miners of northern central Penn sylvania which will reduce the out | put of bituminous coal in this region ! one-third. The order restricts the J working days to four each week. All j miners are required to suspend work on Wednesdays and Saturdays of each j week at all operations where no coke ! ovens are worked. The order will go into effect June 25. The purpose of the order to re strict the output and thus, to some ! extent, prevent the operators filling I orders for bituminous coal to be sent to points where anthracite coal was used prior to the anthracite j miners' strike. Clarksburg, W. Va., June 20. —The ! strikers are centering their forces here for working in this part of the Fairmont-Clarksburg region. Mar -1 shal Elliott arrived with deputies ! from Monongah last night, also armed with a new injunction issued by Judge Jackson, restraining the strikers from interfering with the i operation of the mines of the Clarks | burg Fuel Co. This injunction is more stringent than the others, prohibit ing the strikers from camping or con gregating near enough to the mines to influence the workers of the oom | pany. Wilkesbarre, Pa., June 21.—Eleven coal and iron policemen employed by the Susquehanna Coal Co. ill their No. 5 colliery at Nantieoke, were arrested Friday by the chief of police of the borough on the charge of firing re volvers and rifles in the built up por i tion of the borough without provo ! cation. Three of them were dis- I charged and the other eight were fined $3.50 each. Wilkesbarre. Pa., June 21.—The wife | of John Snyder, a fireman employed in the Dorrance colliery of the l.e --i high Valley Coal Co., at North Wilkes j barre, has reported to the officials of i the company that her home and eon j tents were destroyed by fire Friday, j Her husband, on account of annoy j ance that he lias undergone, lives in I the colliery. The wife said she has | been so annoyed by her neighbors | that she decided to move from North | Wilkesbarre to Stanton Hill. While J her goods were being removed to the i new house, a number of men upset the wagon and damaged the ftirni j ture. The goods were finally landed I in the house, but afterward the house i was burned. Clarksburg, W. Va., June 21. I Thomas Haggerty, Bernard Rice and ! eight or ten other organizers and dis : charged miners, were arrested at a | miners' mass meeting here Friday for j violating Judge Jackson's injunction. Mother Jones, the labor organizer, spoke for some time, but was not i molested. Indianapolis, June 21.—1t. is esti mated by W. P>. Wilson, secretary and treasurer of the Mine Workers of America, that the present supply of I bituminous and anthracite coal above | ground would be exhausted in less j than three months, if there should be | a general suspension of work in the i mines. Five People llrowned. La Porte, Intl., June 21.—A tele | griini was received at Wanatah yes l terday conveying the intelligence of j the drowning of the family of Nelson N. Reynolds, of this county, in a flood in Tennessee. A daughter was the ! only survivor. The husband, wife 1 and three children were caught in the i whirlpool of water and were drowned j before assistance could reach them. A FamotiN Kciiimctit'M It e mil on. St. Paul. Minn., June 21.—The First | (Minnesota regiment, which was one 'of the first to respond to Lincoln's 1 call for volunteers, and which made the famous charge on the second day at ticttysburg, celebrated its forty-first anniversary Friday. One hundred and thirteen survivors participated. The reunion was marked by a gift of SI,OOO from J. J. Hill, president of the Great Northern Railroad Co., and the entertainment of the veterans inciud j ing ii luncheon at the lliil residence. A prett\ ceremony was the trooping | of colors at the Capitol. BY A MAJORITY OF 8 The Senate Decides that Pan ama Koute Is the Best. United SUtKt Will Pay 4 anal «'om pany 940,000,000 II the Tltlo la ( lour All I**ue of #i:iO,» 000,000 In 2 Per Cent. Honda. Washington, June 20. —-An isthmian canal, while not yet absolutely as sured, is nearer to construction than it ever has been. The senate yester day by a majority of eight votes adopted the Spooner substitute for the Hepburn Nicaragua canal bill, the vote on the substitute being 42 to 34. After two amendments to the meas ure had been adopted, one providing for a commission to supervise the construction of the canal and the other providing for the issuance of $130,000,000 of 2 per cent, gold bonds to raise money with which to con struct the waterway, it was passed by a vote of 67 to (i. I c Js ° MAP OF PANAMA CANAL ROUTE. It has been evident for several days that the Spooner substitute, which provides that the president shall se lect the Panama route if he can ob tain a clear title to the Panama Canal Co.'s property, but, otherwise, he shall adopt the Nicaragua route, would command the votes of a ma jority of the senate. The Panama route was considered more desirable by tin* senate than the Nicaragua route. The only question left open is the title to the property, and that the president, shall determine, if the house should adopt the senate amend ment to its bill. Mr. Morgan, of Alabama, closed the debate with an earnest appeal for the adoption of the Nicaragua route, lie had been preceded by Mr. Clark, of ■Montana, in support of the Nica ragua route, and Mr. Allison, of lowa, in support of the Spooner proposition. Only minor amendments, except those indicated, were adopted, all others being voted down. The Spooner amendment provides that the president, through the law officers of the government, shall de termine whether a clear title can be obtained to the Panama Co.'s proper ty, rights and concessions. If he shall be satisfied that such title can be obtained, he shall purchase the property, rights and concessions for $40,000,000. If, in his opinion, a clear title cannot be obtained, he shall pro eed to construct an isthmian canal by the Niearagunn route. The bill further provides that a commisison of seven shall be appoint ed by the president to supervise the work and to make arrangements for all the details of it. POWDER MILL BLEW UP. Four itloil Killed and I'lK Other* In jured nt So ward, Fa. Johnstown, Pa., June 20. —The coin ing mill of the Cambria Powder Co.'s plant at Seward, 19 miles from Johns town, blew up Thursday afternoon, instantly killing three men and in juring five others, one of whom has since died. Two others ure fatally hurt. The dead are: J. B. Smith, of Seward, aged 40 years, married and leaves a large "family. John Rhodes, of Seward, aged' 38 years, married and leaves a largo family. Charles Drover, of Wapwallopen, Luzerne county, aged 35 years and unmarried. W. F. Bracken, of Seward, married, three children. The injured: Frank Wakefield, of Seward, married, seriously burned, will die. Thomas Gordon, unmarried, seri ously burned, will die. John 15. McCullough, of Seward, slightly burned about the hands #nd feet. Seymour Allison, of Seward, slight ly burned about the extremities. The explosion occurred as the men were loading a pot of powder on a I wagon driven by Rhodes. Suddenly there was an explosion and the flames flew in every direction. The powder adhering to the clothing of the men ignited, burning into the flesh of the victims. A strange feature of the ac cident was the fact that Drover was able to walk 300 yards from the scene of thi' explosion before he fell dead from his terrible burns. His flesh, like that of the other victims, was burned to a crisp. The shanty in which the coining mill is located was ignited by the ex plosion of the powder and was burned to the ground, but the finan cial loss is slight. illont Pclee Again Erupt*. Fort <le France, Martinique, .Tune 20. The river which flows by Basse Pointe has risen suddenly four times since Wednesday afid as a result .iO houses at Basse Pointe have been car ried out to sea. The first flood was signalized by the appearance in the valley of the river of a torrent of muddy water 40 metres wide and live i metres high, which advanced with frightful rapidity. Torrential rains are falling in tiie northern part ol the island. Mont Pelee continues tc vomit a thick column of cinders which the wind blows to the north. AN OFFiCIAL STATEMENT. Sefrntarj Ilout Show* tliat War tn tb« Philippine* Ha* < o*t 0170,000,000. 'Washington, June 20. —Secretary lioot. has made answer to the senate resolution of April 17 calling for in formation as to the cost of the war ill the Philippines. It is shown that $50,000 was advanced for the expenses, of the Philippine commission original ly from the United States treasury, but this amount afterwards was re imbursed out of the Philippine treas ury. For transportation of troops and. supplies to and from"the Philippines since the peace treaty was ratified the cost has been $4,803,448. Reports from the various bureau officers are submitted to show the cost of the Philippine war, including outstanding obligations, showing that the total up to date is $170,326,586. Secretary Hoot concludes with the following explanation: "Attention is Invited to the fact that large quanti ties of valuable property, such as ships, lighters, horses and mules, wagons, harness, clothing, ordnance, medical, signal and engineers strp plies, the cost of which is included in the foreging statement, still remain on hand n the Philippine islands for use. Parts of these supplies are al ready being reshipped to this country. "It should also be observed that a large part of the expense during the past year should not properly be treated as occasioned by military operations in the Philippines, for the reason that it consists of pay and maintenance of troops whom we would have had to pay and maintain, whether they were in the Philippines or not, in order to keep up the mini mum number of regular troops re quired by law as a safeguard against future contingencies. The minimum at which the regular army is required to be maintained by the act of Febru ary 2, 1901, is 59,057 men, and the maximum is 100,000. We have now less than 10,000 in excess of the minimum number. The cost of that excess only is properly to be treated as occa sioned by operations in the Philip pines. "The present scale of expense in the Philippines is of course greatly reduced from that shown in the fore going statement, because of the con tinuous reduction of the army, made possible by the restoration of peace ful conditions. Thus in the middle of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1901, there were about 70,000 American soldiers in the islands. That number is now reduced to about 23,000." SENSATIONAL RACING. & Heart Ill*ea*c Flnlnti at Harlem- New Yorker* Make a "KHUni;" on a 50 to 1 Sliot. Chicago, June 20.—While two lengths in the lead. 100 yards from the wire in the Austin stakes at Har lem yesterday, Jockey Helgeson, ap parently believing that victory was t»is, eased up his mount, Ethel Wheat, and lost a $3,000 purse. Hermencia came with an unexpected rush and won. Cob urn brought Hermencia to the front with such suddenness that Hermencia was a length in the lead before 'Helgeson realized what was : taking place. Hermencia was tenth j tit the strentch and looked like a 100 | to l shot, but Coburn's desperate ef | forts landed him winner. The second race furnished a big sur prise and was the medium for heavy j winnings by several New Yorkers who I came here to attend the American j derby. The race was a seven fur | longs event for 3-year-olds, with 11 starters. Gonfalo was the top choice at 3 to 2. Luke Ward opened at 20 to 1, but was unnoticed, and his price receded to 50 to 1. When that figure was reached the Xew Yorkers began to pour their money into the betting ring and pounded the price down to 25 to 1 at post time. Luke Ward led from start to finish. _ MURDER IN A CAR. A Tragedy ou u Frelnlit Train In iWtcllllfuii. Bridgeman, Mich., June 20.—> A reign of crime prevails throughout this county, caused by an invasion of tramps. As a result the life of Charles Parks, of Troy, X. Y., a paper maker by trade, was taken late Wed nesday night. Parks, accompanied by M. Kelley and John Mays, boarded a southbound freight train. Fearing rain they sought shelter in an open box car, which was occupied by two negroes. No sooner had the white men been seated in the car when the negroes drew revolvers and demand ed their money. Kelly aud .Mays were soon relieved of their cash, amount ing to less than $5. An instant later the negroes walked over to where l'arks was standing near the open door. lie had thrown up both hands, but the colored highwaymen began shooting and Parks sank to the floor dead. They then rifled the dead man's pockets, securing less than a dollar. The murder was committed while the train was journeying from St. I Joseph to Livingston, where the mur | derers leaped from the moving train | and escaped. Two men were later arrested near New Buffalo who are suspected of the crime. llat Factory lluriied. New York, June 20.—Fire last night destroyed Berg's hat factory at Orange, N. J. The loss is estimated at $225,000. Employes to the number j of Too will be thrown out of work. : The factory was one of the largest ! plants of the kind in the United j States. No Crime to TranifriS^naup*. Springfield, 111., June 20.—According to a supreme court decision rendered Thursday, persons who ride on oth ers' passes on railroads cannot be prosecuted criminally. The decision declares invalid the statute of 1597 providing for such prosecution. The court says there is no requirement of law compelling railroad companies to place a provision on their passes mak ing them non-transferable, and hence, by their own volition, may make buy ing and selling of passes criminal or not, as they may see fit, by merely placing thereon, "transferable," or | declining to do so. A JUDGE'S DECISION lie Declares Illinois Anti-Trust Law Unconstitutional. The Sulla Brought by Slate Ofltelnla Coder Tula Law to Collect Large Sum* from Corpora lions Will Not be Successful. Chicago, June 21.—1n a decision pi veil yesterday Judge Elbridgs lianeey, of the state circuit court, held that the Illinois anti-trust law of 1891 is unconstitutional and void In all its parts. By Judge Hanecy's decision practi cally all that was left of the anti trust statutes of Illinois is declared to be a nullity. In 53 other cases, similar to the one passed upon by the court, a like finding was entered, pur suant to a stipulation among the at torneys in the case. The prosecution based its case principally upon the provisions of Section 1 of the act of 1891, which provides for the tiling of affidavits- by corporations annually with the secretary of state, showing that they are not a party to any pool, combination or trust. In passing opinion upon the merits of the case. Judge Hanecy held that the law of 1897 amended the law of 1891 and that the supreme court of the United States has decided that the law of 1897 is unconstitutional. The decision has a direct bearing upon a large number of cases that have been begun against manufactur ing concerns, to collect tines for non compliance with the provisions of the anti-trust law in regard to the filing of affidavits. In 1898, Attorney Gen eral Aiken, for the state of Illinois, and States Attorney Ceneen, of Cook county, began 1,200 suits in the courts of Cook county to recover $8,050 from each defendant, or a total of nearly .$10,000,000. The trust statutes pro vide that on September 1 of each year the secretary of state shall address a letter to every corporation demand ing an answer under oath as to whether the corporation is a party to any pool, combination or trust. It was to recover a penalty for non compliance with this statute that the suits were instituted. DUN'S REVIEW OF TRADE. ElTcc! or Labor Troubles In Kelt 111 lite ■Cast—Condition of other likl umtrles. New York, June 21.—11. (i. Dun & Co.'s Weekly lieview of Trade says: Trade at the east is more quiet ow ing to the advancing season and the bad effect of prolonged labor contro versies is being felt in certain lines. Ileports from the interior and the far west are more encouraging; bountiful harvests are being expected, while the light stocks carried over from the previous season assure profitable prices. The best indication of con tinued prosperity is the fact that quotations do not recede, even in the lines where at present there is only a moderate degree of activity. Uncertainty regarding their ability to secure pig iron at reasonable prices is making producers of steel cautious in accepting contracts that call for delivery at even remote dates. Raw material is undoubtedly in light supply, and the anthracite coal strike has suspended work at a number of furnaces. Coke production is attaining new records each week in the endeavor to supply all re quirements, and better railway facili ties are making unprecedented ship ments from the Connellsville region. Soft coal is beginning to show the ef fect of an abnormal demand. t)uiet conditions prevail in easterti dry goods and footwear markets. Buying of woolens is also limited. Prices in all textile lines are firmly held, despite the slow movement. Shoe shops in New England have more orders, yet most factories only oper ate part time, and some are entirely idle. Failures for the week numbered 194 in the United States, against 193 last year, and 19 in Canada against 14 a year ago. FIERCE FOREST FIRES. Town* In Washington are Threat ened with Destruction. Tacomn, Wash., June 21. —The tire department of this city has sent men, engines and hose on a special train, to 'Buckley, in this county, which is threatened with complete destruction by forest fires, raging between that town and Enumclaw, King county. A great cloud of smoke hangs over Ta coma, 33 miles from Buckley. The Mountain mill, two miles east of Buckley, was burned Friday. I'n doubtedly many lives of mountain campers and loggers have been lost. Enumclaw is threatened with de struction by forest fires. The whole population is fighting the flames, but the water works has been burned and the work is difficult. The wind is blowing a gale and much farm prop erly lias been already destroyed. A dispatch from Enumclaw says the damage to timber and buildings in the town is more than SIOO,OOO. About 40 women *hl children are shut off by lire from reaching the town. Five Killed, Injured. St. Paul, Minn., June 21. Five killed and 29 injured are given in the list of casualties resulting from a collision between two passenger trains on the Northern Pacific near Staples early Friday morning. Cliolera's Itiavasjes. Manila, June 21.—The spread of cholera is increasing. There were 35 cases and 2S deaths from that disease here Thursday. The totals to date are: Manila, 1.490 cases and 1,197 deaths; provinces, 6,959 cases and 5,098 deaths. A Hank Closes. Newport, R. 1., June 21. 'Anthony S. Sherman, cashier of the Merchants* bank of this city, shot himself in the head Thursday night. It is believed the wound is mortal. Yesterday the bank, which is a private institution, was closed. 3
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers