BY PP. GRAY MEE
<.
Ink Slings.
--It has been discovered that bad
Indians haven’t been made good by be-
ing starved.
—CAMERON’S and QUAY’s flunk on
the Force Bill question last Monday
looked as if the bosses had been bossed.
— After WILSON'S escape it was time
for Sheriff Coor & to following his exam-
plein getting out of jail, which he did
on Monday.
—It is said that the millionaires will
soon be supplanted in financial impor-
stance by billionaires, This is a bilious
prospect for the country.
—The county offices have resumed
their old Democratic aspect and the peo-
ple can be assured of a return to econ-
omical and honest methods.
—Did JoENNY DAVENPORT ever ex-
pect to see the day when he would be
turned out of his job ? But JomsNy
must go with the Force Bill.
—It is sad, very sad, that Mr, HARRI-
Sox has given his word that he wouldn't
be a candidate for re-election if the
Force Bill shouldn’t be passed.
—It is suspected that James B.
Braing’s fine Roman hand is quietly at
work pulling the wires in the fight
against Senator J. DoNALD CAMERON.
--In the Behring Sea business there
is reason to believe that Mr. BLAINE is
less solicitous about the sealskins than
he is anxious to twist the British lion's
tail for political effect.
—Ifsome one should follow up the
wire that is being pulled in the Camer-
on senatorial contest he would have no
reason to be surprised to find BENJAM-
IN HARRISON tugging at the end of it.
—The Force Bill has been side-track-
ed, a temporary expedient to save it
from a collision with the train of public
condemnation that is rushing down the
main track.
-~The recent Republican candidate
for Governor in this stat2 has the double
and doubtful distinction of being the
most complete political and financial
wreck of this disastrous year.
—The new county officers took charge
of the county affairs on Monday and
thus put an end to a three years’ admin-
istration that was neither creditable nor
ornamental.
—-An instrument has been construct-
ed that is capable of measuring the mil-
lionth of an inch. Probably it is intend-
ed to measure HARRISON'S chance of a
re-election.
—The overslaughing of the Force
Bill by the new Silver Bill on Monday
killed it as effectually as if a dynamite
bomb had been exploded under it “and
its funeral’s to-morrow.”
—It is scarcely necessary to become
alarmed about the difficulty with Eng-
land which the Secretary of State is
seeming to stir up. There will be
no guns fired. He only wants to fire
the Irish heart.
—The wife of Senator DoLPH, of Ore-
gon, is said to be a farmer’s daughter
and to have been a dairymaid in her
youth. Has DowLrH started this report
with the design of making himself
solid with the Grangers for a Presiden-
tial nomination ?
—Senator CAMERON is not known to
have any music in his soul, but if he
should give musical expression to his
feelings at this juncture the refrain of
his song no doubt would be, “They’re
after me, they're atter me.”
—The present congress wouldn't be
true to its traditions and to the natural
instinct of its leaders if it shouldn’t
pass a fat Subsidy Bill whereby the
pockets of party favorites and campaign
contributors shall be well lined.” ’
—There is no doabt that Camrrox
will go to the Senate for another term
of six years, yet the conditions under
which he will be re-elected are in mark-
ed contrast to what they were when old
Simon handed the Senatorial toga over
to his son as a family heirloom without
a murmur of dissent from the party.
—What should be the occasion for
this Republican uprising against the
senior Senator ? He is no worse now
than he has been at any time since his
ais father put him into the Senate, and
he party has’ been accustomed to tum-
te heels over head in its zealous re-
syonse to his bidding,
—The vote of the new Senators from
Iho against the pet measure of the
Alministration that juggled the pock-
ethorough States into the Union, was
theunkindest cut of all. It was, under
the circumstances, positively brutal.
Horr might well indulge in the clas-
sicd exclamation, “Bt tu, Brute!”
—If it be true that IexaTIUS DoON-
NEILY was elected President of the
Miinesota Farmers’ Alliance on ac-
cout of his-zealous support of Bacon
in tie controversy about the author-
shipof Shakespeare’s plays, it will great-
ly encourage JAMES G. BLAINE who
is adroilly working barrels of pork into
his Presdential boom.
VOL. 36.
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION.
BELLEFONTE, PA., JANUARY 9, 1891.
Mg¢Kinley’s New Year’s Gifts.
With the advent of the New Year
everybody should be happy, and this
universal happiness should be aug
mented among the wage-earners by
the circumstance that they are in the
enjoyment of a tariff that was said to
have been especially designed to in-
crease their felicity by increasing their
wages. But what has the McKinley
Christmas tree borne them and what
fruit does it offer to gladden their new
year? Let us examine it and see what
it offers that is calculated to make the
‘wage-earners happy :
Since the McKinley bill went into
operation we find the following: A
carpet factory in Hartford, Coan., re-
duced wages 10 per cent; a 20 per cent
cut in some of the Paterson, N. J., silk
mills; a reduction of wages in a plush
mill at Catasauqua, Pa.; 25 cents a
week taken off the wages of the girls
in the Valley Falls, R. I., woolen
mills; about $3 a week taken oft the
wages of men employed in a canning
establishment in Indianapolis; two
and a halfcents an hour taken off the
wages of carpenters in Cleveland, Ouio;
15 cents a day taken offthe wages of
spoolers in the Merrimac mills, Lowell,
Mass. ; reduction of wages of armature
winders in the Thompson-Houston
works, Lynn, Mass.; a shave on the
the wages of 70 girls in Ashland, Pa.;
cotton weavers at Landsdaie, R. I.,
have 15 cents a cut taken off their
wages and the cuts increased five yards;
20 per cent taken off the wages of car-
pet tack makers in Birmingham, Conn.,
and 15 per cent off the wages of women
employed in an underwear factory in
the same town; a reduction of wages
of mule spinners in the Merrimac Mills,
Lowell, Mass., and cuts of 10 to 20 per
cent in the wages of potters in Trenton,
N. J.; a general average of 10 per cent
knocked off the wages of 1500 employ-
es in the Pullman Car works; a reduc-
tion of 10 per cent in the wages of 2000 |
employes of CARNEGIE'S steel works,
exasperating the imported Hungarians
to such an extent that they threatened |
to burn down the plant; and the
Crarks, for whose benefit there is a
high duty on thread, are importing
yarns spun in Scotland in order to
break down the organization of their
American laborers.
These were some of the prety things
that adorned the McKinley Christmas
tree. These are the New Year's pre-
sents offered to protected working peo-
ple. They are accompanied by increas-
ed prices of the necessaries of life, as
every householder and shopping wo-
man has had ample occasion to dis-
cover. Between decreased wages and
increased cost of living McKINLEY
hasn't furnished material for a Happy
New Year. Yet he is sure the people
will like his bill when they get used
to it.
‘As Sly as Ever.
Whether James G. Bruaing will be a
candidate for President in 1892 is a
question of public interest. It is cer-
tainly a question of great political in-
terest. But Mr. BLAINE is as sly as
ever and at this date no fellow can
fina out what heis going to do two years
hence. Bat a Mr. MoNTGoMERY, of
Portiand, Oregoy, professed to a Chi-
cago reporter the other day that he
knew what the great Premier's inten-
tions are. He had just come from his
presence and was told by him positive-
ly that he would not be in the Presi-
dential race, but would devote himself
after the expiration of his present of-
ficial term to his reciprocity scheme.
His ambition is to introduce into the
markets of South America, on terms
of reciprocal commerce, the millions of
barrels of flour and pork which we are
so abundantly able to supply, but
which the South Americans are not
now receiviag from us. !
We infer from this that Mr. Brave
intends to keep his Presidential boom
under cover until Mr. HARRISON'S
boom has suffered irreparably from the
inclemency of the weather, and he will
then bring it out in the early spring of
1892 in all its pristine loveliness, with
a neat but not gaudy decoration, con-
, sisting of a barrel of flour on one end
and a barrel of pork on the other.
——
In 1840 there were 40 cities in
the United States with a population of
10,000 or over. In 1880 this number
had increased to 286, and now there
are 440 cities of that size, 32 of which
are in Pennsylvania.
What Free Silver Coinage Means.
The San Francisco Bulletin, in an ar-
ticle on the Free Coinage of Silver,
what it means, and its effect, says,
among other things:
There has been a great deal said on the
“Free Coinage of Silver” by persons who are
not masters of the subject. There have been
a great many resolutions adopted in its favor
by associations and meetings which plainly
enough only understood one side of it. If we
take the quotations of silver as a commence-
ment in the effort to gain a proper idea of it, a
solid grip on the proposition may be secured.
The price of the metal in London, which usual-
ly controls the market, yesterday was 484
pence for an ounce 925 fine—that is to say, the
Englishstandard. At this rate the American
standard dollar, 31214 grains, 900;fine, is worth
81.8 cents. Under the existing law a man pos-
sessed of 81.8 of silver bullion, assuming so
small an amount would be accepted, can obtain
just that sum for it at the mint. The govern-
ment, however,will take his 81.8 cents of silver,
convert it into a standard dollar and pay it out
for 100 cents. If it do not do that it can issue a
paper certificate for a dollar based on it.
The government on the face of the transac-
tion makes the difference between the 81.8
cents which it gives for the silver out of which
it makes a standard dollar and the 100 cents at
which it pays itout. Butitwould be powerless
tomake it “go” at $1 if it did not hold itself in
readiness to give a dollar in gold for 81.8 cents
silver dollar, whenever it is presented in cer-
tain specified sums. It only makes the differ-
ence, therefore, theoretically. If silver should
advanee to the old parity with gold, it would
lose the difference. But Free Coinage of Sil-
verabout which we hear so much, makesa vio-
lent change in the business. Under it the
owner of silver bullion maikes the difference,
without any obligation as in the case of the
government to keep up the price. In this case
| the man owning 81 8 cents worth of silver bul-
| lion, the price being 484d per ounce, takes it
| to the mint and gets therefore 81.8 cents, stamp-
ed by the government, which he at once passes
offon the community at 160 cents.
Free coinage would invite a shower
of silver from all parts of the world, and
would ‘be flooded with
How long would it
be belore a discount on silver dollars
would set In a short time they
would! he worth hut seventy-five cents,
tien seventy, and possibly down to fifty
This would lead to inflation,
for, as the value of money goes down,
Inflation would send up
the price of everything. Men would
| get more for what they have to sell, but
would have to pay more, in proportion,
for what they have to buy. After a
while the general crash would come,
which always follows a period of great
inflation. A few would come ont of it
rich, but the great majority would be
| the losers, and many would lose all
they are worth. Free coinage of sil-
ver is one of the wildest financial pro-
jects ever suggested; and ruin and
desolation would follow it. We hope
to see the country saved from this in-
fliction,
| the country
standard dollars.
in?
C2nts,
prices go up.
There is a horde of pension
lawyers in Washington who get from
$150,000 to $375,000 every week from
the soldiers, widows and children
whose pensiofis they draw. Of course
it is to be said that if people will in-
sist on being ignorant fools they must
expect to be fleeced, but certainly
the government, the newspapers, and
everybody ought to take pains to scat-
ter the information abroad constantly
that no lawyer's help is necessary to
secure a pension. Blanks are ready at
the pensions bureau at Washington,
and anybody who can write can fill
them out.
Will He Employ Americans ?
Mr. ANDREW CARNEGIE has been re-
cently having a rough experience with
the imported Hungarians employed at
his celebrated Steel Works. They
broke out into a riotous demonstration
and threatened to destroy the valuable
establishment where the great apostle
of protection has made so much of his
vast wealth, and he has announced
that henceforth no more of that class
ot labor shall be employed at his works.
These people were brought over to take
the places of American workmen who
wanted more pay than Mr. CARNEGIE
was willing to give. Their demand
was not unreasonable, and was fully
justified by the theory that the tariff was
intended to protect the wages of work-
ingmen. Hungarians were used to
supply their places, but Mr. CarNgeciz
would have found these cheap work-
men very dear, as a matter of cost, if
they had succeeded in destroying his
works. He is now scared by the nun-
ruly and dangerous Huns and says he
will have nothing more to do with
them, hut does he really intend to em-
ploy American workmen in their places
and pay them such wages as they
should have if there is anything in the
claith that tariffs are intended for the
benefit of the working people ?
NO. 1.
—Failures in the woolen trade
continue and the more woolen manu-
facturers go into bankruptey the fewer
customers there are for domestic wool.
The failure of R. W. Lewis & Son,
manufacturers of woolen goods, Bir-
mingham, Coun., proves to be of more
consequence than at first reported. The
liabilities are now placed at $70,000
and the assets only $1,600. EBERT
BARTLETT, the trustee named in the as-
signment, has declined to serve.
Is There to Be More Naval Jobbery ?
Secretary Tracey has gained some
credit for having shown a disposition
to follow on the lines laid down by his
predecessor, Secretary WaITNEY, in
the improvement of the Navy. But
there is an appearance that he is about
to make a departure which will be a
step toward restoring the jobbery and
scandals that prevailed in the Depart
ment under a number of former Repub-
lican Secretaries of the Navy.
The Bethlehem Iron Company has
made extensive preparations to furnish
the steel plates required for the new
ships. These were not produced in
this country until Secretary Witney
called for bids for their production,
moved by a desire that they should be
of American make. The Bethlehem
Company was the only one that offered
to undertake the work, and, upon the
encouragement of the Department,
made an enormous expenditure for
machinery of a size and power never
before set in operation in the United
States. In his last report Secretary
Tracey finds fault with the Bethlehem
Company for the alleged reason that it
is backward in delivering the plates,
although he well knows that the Com-
pany has been preparing as rapidly as
possible.
But #he reason for this fault finding
appears in the fact that Mr. Tracey has
entered in an arrangement with Mr.
BraiNe's friend, ANDREW CARNEGIE,
to go into the armor making business,
This matter has attracted no atten-
tion, but it deserves to be brought be-
fore the American people. We do
not know which is the more discred- |
itable, the effort to discredit the excel-
lent business scheme ot the Democratic
administration of the Navy, or the at-
tempt to favor a Republican plutocrat
at the expense of the public.
brought back to the jobbing methods
of the old Republican regime the peo-
ple ought to know it. Mr. WHITNEY
elevated the naval work above such
jobbery and conducted it on true busi-
ness principles. He was roundly abus-
ed when he insisted upon contracts be-
ing honestly carried out, and was charg-
ed with having persecuted poor (?) Jorn
Roach.
The Democrats will have control of
the next House and it will devolve up-
or them to furnish the appropriations
for the new navy. If assured that
Tracey intends to convert our naval
construction once more into a system
of partisanship and plunder, they
should withhold the money.
Still in Control.
An incident occurred in Philadelphia
last week which went to show that
bossism among Pennsylvania Republi-
cans is by no means dead, notwith-
standing their disastrous experience at
the last election, and that Quax is still
recognized as holding the reins. Mag-
istrate RoBerT R. SMITH died last week
in that city and although the office
made vacant by his decease is purely
local, yet as soon as the breath was out
of him there commenced a struggle to
secure QuaY's influence in the appoint-
ment of a successor to the defunct mag-
strate. The vacancy was to be filled
by anappointee of Governor BrAvER,
and when Quay came to the city last
Friday the Continental Hotel was ab-
solutely besieged by the friends of the
aspirants for the vacant office who want-
ed to be ahead in getting the influence
of the Boss in securing the appointment,
This was virtually an admission by the
party 'vorkers that the leader whom
the people sat down on so hard in No-
vember is still in control of the party
machine.
re c——
—“The Old Slavery Spirit Ram-
pant,” is a startling bloody-shirt head-
line 1n the Press. But it would appear
from that paper's revolt against the
Cameron bondage that the <laves a'
so are capable of *
Proposed Reforms by the State Legis-
lature.
Dispatches from Harrisburg state
that plans are afloat for the introduc-
tion of bills, at the present session of
the Legislature, for ballot reform,
Treasury reform, and an amendment
to the Brooks liquor Jaw. On the two
first questions there is hardly a dif-
ference of opinion among fair-minded
men, but there is not the same unani-
mity as regards the third. We doubt
the possibility of devising a proper
system of ballot reform without the
calling of a State convention. The
abuses are so flagant under the present
system of voting and so many barriers
stand between the ballot box and an
honest expression of opinion at the
polls, that any plan that will prevent this
will be gladly welcomed. To meet the
demand the ballot must be secret, a
dishonest count or return must be
made impossible, and padded lists an
equal impossibility. Anything short
of this will not satisfy the demand of
the people. Can this all be accom-
plished without a constitutional con-
vention ? ‘We doubt it. Treasury re-
form is equally needed. Recent events,
we need not name, show thata new
and better method of keeping and dis-
bursing the State's money is demand-
ed by every consideration of justice to
the State and to the Treasurer. Men
will differ as to just what the details of
this change should be. Tt will be hard
to pass any reform Treasury bill that
will prevent politicians and their
banks from fingering the public money
in some way.
In this connection the Legislature
should take some action that will com-
pel a better observance of the law in
{ regard to the Sinking Fund balance
| kkept on hand. Instead of going up in-
[to the millions, it should be kept
down as low as possible. In the
| matter of keeping and disbursing the
| State money, no system can be adopted
| that is superior to that of the United
| States, known as the sub-treasury sys-
ye
tem. It has been so successful in the
half century it has been’ in operation,
that no one thinks of going back to the
old plan, which allowed the banks to
handle and make gain out of the pub-
lic money. Pennsylvania needs a sys-
tem of this kind. The Legislature
should be careful how it fools with the
Brooks law. While it has its defects
it is generally approved. The liquor
question.is ong of the most important
ones our legislators have to dealjwith,.
and is one in which the people take a
deep interest. Whatever action be
taken should be conservative, and of a
character that will act asa check to
the growing evil of intemperance ;
that is, so far as the Legislature has
the right to go in that direction.
The price of potatoes has. gone
up and if this were attributable to the
McKinley tariff bill the tariff reform-
ers would have to admit that the
farmers had derived somejbenefit from
that measure. But the fact is that the
advance in the price of potatoes is due
to a short crop, sothat the farmers have
no occasion for gratitude to Mr. Me-
Kintey. We have frequently said,
and recent events have proved the
truth of our assertion, that while the
McKinley bill would raise the prices
of things the farmer had to buy, nt
could not raise the price of what he
had to sell. Tt those prices rose, the
fact would be due to some other canse
than the tariff.
— A dispatch from the City of
Mexico, December 27, says : “Troops
and officials marched through the
streets of this city to-day and officially
posted the notice that re-election to the
presidency of the republic is now per-
mitted by law.” If the Force Bill be-
comes a law troops and Federial offi-
cials will march through our cities
proclaiming that only Republican bal-
lots are legal and none others will be
counted.
It is believed that the motive
for the Philadelphia Press's attack on
Cameron with the object of defeating
his re-election to the Senate, may be
found in the fact that the editor of that
paper, Mr. Cuarnes Emory Swim,
holds a prominent official position un-
der President Harrizon who does not
‘tain a friendly feeling for Came.
Tf she Novy Dipariment 1s be | license buzz-saw as provided for in the:
Spawls from the Keystone,
— Bear meat is very cheapat Scranton.
—A mahogany tree grows in Lancaster.
—Big game is plentiful in the northern part
of the State. *
—DMeasles are decimating Readings infantile
population.
—~Ice is being gathered by torchlight near
West Chester.
—In Berks county last year 940 marriage
licenses were issued.
—Norristown trap shooters use Sparrows now
in lieu of pigeons.
—Incendiaries are burning Fayette county
sehool-houses.
—A West Chester girl gave away fifty-seven
Christmas presents.
—The removal of snow from Pittsburg
streets wiil cost the city $15,000.
—A West Chester baker sent a Christmas
cake to President Harrison.
—Street-car travel at Scranton was abandon-
ed because of the heavy snows.
Chester county jurymen drew pay amount-
ing to over $9000 during the past year.
—The streams in the vicinity of Pottsyille
are to be made richer by 100,000 trout,
—The Sheriff of Montgomery held 100 sales
during last year and sold 75 tracts of land.
—While a Shippack farmer was attending
church his horse froze to death outside.
—A lad at York with a pair of skates strap.
ped on his bare feet attracted much comment.
—It is said that the Governor has fixed the
date for the execution of the Nicely brothers.
—A Hummelstown farmer has invented a
trap which caught seventy-eight rats in ten
hours. *
—A lad at Lititz, just before dying; sang all
the carols he had learned for the Ehristmas
celebration.
—Patrick Cassidy, of Pittsburg, is missing,
and his friends think he Las been buried. in a
snow: drift.
—Berks county farmers are killimg their
hogs rather than feed thems because of the
high price of corm:
—Judge Pershing is in faver of the liguor-
license businesa being takem away from the
Courts.
—The entire baggage of a party of forty-two
Hungarians which arrived at Norristown a few
days ago could have “een putin a small trunk.
—Nerrly $100,000 ha. “een spent by Mont-
gomery county farmers in the last ‘five: years
in freeing bridges and turnpikes and improved
roads.
—After a week's absence a fime Maltese cat
belonging to Charles Willis, of West Chester,
was found down the well alive but too weak to
walk.
—W. C. Freeman, owner of Donaghmore
Furnace, Lebanon county, has issued orders
to have the furnace blown out for an indefinite
period.
—John M. Hall, ex-Sheriff of Delaware coun®
| ty, who held office twenty five years ago, fell
on the ice at Media and broke his hip. He is
82 years old. 1
—A daughter of Isane Emore, of Birdsboro,
while skating on a milldam disappeared
through an air-hole; bat Aminon Albrigitt
heard her cry for help and rescued her.
—Several charges of libel have been brought
against Secretary Hoff, of the Merchants’ Pro-
tective Union of Reading, who compiled a
blacklist of delinquent dealers o {the city.
—A skeleton found in the Mahoning Meun-
tains, near Bloomingdale, is thought to be
that of Hugh Harkins, who was last seen three
years ago when he wasichased by a posse: for
stealing a team,
—Part of the abutment wall of a bridge in
Pottsgrove township was torn away and econ-
siderable damage done by rabbit hunters who
were after a white cotton tail which kad. taken
refuge under it.
—Thirteen of the young men engaged in
the Calithumpian serenade atthe Korst-Cassel
wedding, near Lebanon, on Christmas eve,
when a sister of the bride was shoé, have been
arrested for riot.
—Courtney Kenealy, of Lackawaxen, shot a
chicken hawk as it was flying a few days ago,
and when it dropped to the ground he found a
three-foot rattlesnake in its talons,. which he
also dispatched.
—Last week the pupils in the sehool at Frog
Hollow, taught by Chester Hurling; aged about
18 years, tried to run.the school, and on Satur-
day Hurling committed suicide in a limekiln
near Bloomfield. y
—Harry Lattimer’s gambling rooms at
Wilkes-Barre were raided by the poiice, and
the proprietor and thirteen citizens arrested.
Lattimer was fined: $100 and tha" others from
| 820 to $50 each.
—Chief of Police Hoodmucher, off Weatherly
and three officers had a battle with a gang of
tramps. Hoodmacher was wounded in the
arm and Officer Weiss in the wrist. Fourteen
tramps were captured.
—Mrs. Margaret Bucher, 70 years old, was fa-
tally burnt, on Monday, at Laneaster, by her
elothing catching fire from a piece of paper
thrown into the coal bucket by her husband
after he had:lighted his pipe.
—A crevice an inch loag was found on the-
inside foundation wall of the First Presbyter:
ian Church-at Easton, and the removal of the
steeple and bell was at once commenced to
prevent them from falling outward.
—The assignees of Delamater & Co., have
filed their statement of the assets of the firm,
It shows. the total assets of the bank and: of
individual members of the firm to be $301,000;
The total liabilities are estimated at $1,040,000.
—Justice Torn, at Doylestown, has given
William: Robinson, of Solebury township, a
verdict for $12 against Butcher Lewis Haga-
man, of Rush Valley. The Plaintiff sold $84
worth of hogs to Hagaman, who found them
spoiled and refused to pay. The verdict re-
presents their value for soap fat.
~Israel Gibble was hitching a horse to a
vehicle at Mastersonville, Lancaster county,
when the animal kicked him on the head,
killing him instantly, and his brother Abra-
ham, who witnessed the occurrence, was so
shocked that he suffered a stroke of paralysis
and lies in a eritical condition
—Henry F. Schmidt and his wife, Caroline,
charged with murdering the latter's sisters
Emma Eitze mmyer, in. Chester, on Dec. 4,
were given a hearing at Media on a writ of
habeas corpus. The taking of the evidenhe of
the Commonwealth was completed, and coun-
sel will argue the case on Friday.
—Five young men, of Cumberland county
got a lot of whisky and drank it. Harry Stanf
fer, aged 17, has died from the effects of intox~
ication and exposure, and Samuel Weaver,
another of the party, was so badly frozen that
both legs will have to be amputated. The
man who furnished the liquor has been are
rested.