£l)c Centre fflnn curat.
SHUGKRT A FORSTER, Editor*.
VOL. I.
She Centre
Term* tI.AO per Annum, In Advance.
S. T. BHUQERT and R. H. FORSTER, Editor..
Thursday Morning, Angust 28, 1879.
Democratic State Ticket.
STATIC TKKAHI'RKR.
DANIEL O. It Alt K. Allegheny county.
WHEN the Rev. Theodore Cuyler,
of Brooklyn, speaks of Mr. Hayes as a
"God-fearing President," we take it
for granted he means that CJod abhors
u fraud, aud that Rutherford does vwll
to fear aud tremble.
SECRETARY SHERMAN is economis
ing the compaigu fund of his party,
by circulating his campaign speeches
under the official stamp of the Treasu
ry Department. It does not matter to
John that this is in violation of law,
which limits the use of these stamps
to the official business of the depart
ment.
READ the charge, of Judge Pear
son to the grand jury of Duuphiu
county. It is an able exposition of
the law agaiust the crime of official
bribery, and if the jury does its duty
under the law as laid down by the
court, some of the rogues who tried to
debauch the Legislature last winter
may yet come to justice.
F IT appears that the health of the
Hon. Warren J. Woodward, of the
Supreme Court, is still precarious, and
at our last reports very little hoje
was entertained of his recovery. The
death of this accomplished jurist would
be a serious h* to the |>eopleof Penn
sylvania, and we hope the unfavorable
reports may he exaggerated.
PERHAPS Mr. Justice Miller, of the
Supreme Court of the United .States
aud one of the infamous eight of the
eight to seven electoral commission,
may think that "an honest confession
is good for the soul," at least he has
lately admitted that the vote of Loui
ana belonged to Mr. Tilden, by a ma
jority of from eight to ten thou-aml
votes. Mr. Justice Miller should have
thought of this when he voted to over
ride the will of the people as express
ed at the election in 187*>, and place a
man in the Presidential chair who was
defeated at th^polls.
THE Democratic County Conven
tion of Clinton county met last week
and placed in nomination the follow
ing excellent ticket: Prothonotary,G.
W. Batcbeler ; Register and Record
er, James W. Clark ; Coroner, Dr.
Mader; Jury Commissioner, A. C.
Chatham. Messrs. Bateheler and
Clark at present hold the offices for
which they are nominated. Both arc
excellent officials, and well deserved
the compliment of a re-nomination.
Of their election there can lie no doubt.
Col. William A. Himpson was made
chairman of the County Committee.
Col. Himpson has the ability, experi
ence and energy to make a moat effi- ,
cicnt chairman. . Under his manage
ment the Democracy of Clinton will
not fail to make a good record.
"Dots any sane man think this ad
ministration capable of sending the sol
dier to the ballot box to overawe the
freedom of the elector T"— .John Sherman
tn hit SteubenvilU tptfeh.
If this Administration is incapable
of "sending the soldier to the ballot
box to overawe the elector," why in
sist upon the power to do no? Why
veto an appropriation hill for the sole
reason that it contained a clause re
pealing the power of "this administra
tion" to so use the soldier? When-;
ever and wherever the soldien appears
at the ballot box his presence is an in
sult and a menace to the freedom
of the elector, and Oily Gammon
Hherman's innocent (?) platitudes
about what "this Administration" is
capable or incapable of doing are en
tirely "too thin" to be accepted as an
answer to the Democratic position
upon this issue.
" Kyr AI, AND KX ACT JISTICS TO ALL ME.N, OF WIIATEVKH HTAT KOH FKRMUAHION, RELIGIOUS OR POLITICAL.
HKLLKFONTK, PA., TItUKSDAV, AIK H ST 28, 1870.
To such of our contemporaries, says
the Record, as find in the Yazoo (Mis.
sissippi) affuir further reason for Fed
eral interference with elections we would
point out that when the purity of elec
tions must depend upon the efficiency
of the central authority at Washing
ton as n regulating force, representative
institutions in this country will he far
on the road to decay. Whatever of
good character as an index of the peo
ple's will elections have thus far sus
tained has been solely due to the force
and strength of the local institutions.
When these shall have lost their vi
tality there will be nothing left for the
strong government to rest upon, unless
a foundation of bayonets lie erected as
a sustaining force. Much has been
written of the strength of the General
Government as evinced by the su|>-
pression of the rebellion, hut while
dwelling upon the restraining influ
| enee of Seward's little bell we should
, not forget that the force which most
I contributed to the victory for the Un
| ion was the influence of the Northern
! States at State *. It is safe to say that
under the circumstances which existed
in 18<!1, in rcsjiect to the absence of a
regularly-organized army, etc., a cen
tral authority, though clothed with a
despotic power, could not have brought
to bear successfully the fighting strength
of the loyal portion of the country. It
was by means of the compact State
Governments at the North that men
and means were quickly brought into
service and the national authority
placed u JHUI a war footing. What was
true in relation to war and its horrors
is now true of political corruption and
its insidious dangers. If the nation is
to live it must gain renewed life
through the strength of local institu
tions. If the ballot box is put to base
use* it will not be saved by the deputy
marshals. The North American can
only fiud in the Dixon murder "a con
vincing proof of the necessity for con
tinuing the supervision of the Federal
Government over the Federal elec
tions." An unbiased mind should be
able to perceive that the mere fact that
the whites of Mississippi arc quarreling
among themselves over the negro's
vote is an auspicious sign, for which
the country should be thankful. This,
of course, does not lesson the heinous- 1
ness of the crime committed in taking ■
the life of Dixon, hut it shows conclu- j
sively that when bulldoser* fall out
the colored men are in a fair way to
secure protectors vastly more servicea
ble than scores of regiments of carpet
bag deputy marshals.
AT a Republican county meeting
last week in West Chester, the Hon.
Hamucl Butler, the Republican candi
date for State Treasurer, among other
things said," Thero are no Htate issues
to-day." It would be very convenient
to Mr. Butler, certainly, to hide from
view the record of his party, nay, his
own record, in connection with the
shameless plunder of the Common
wealth, attempted and perpetrated, by
the unchallenged lisence given to
fraud and debauchery in the public
doings of that party. "No Htate is
sue," indeed ! Why, the question of
having "honest men in office," was
made a direct issue in the Convention
that nominated Mr. Butler, by Wolfe's
resolution, and it was rejected as a
thing not to be encouraged in a Re
publican convention. Is not " honest
men in office" a subject worthy of be
ing classed as a " Htate issue," in view
of the the proceedings in that conven
tion? Arc not such matters as the at
tempt to rob the Htate of $4,000,000,
in the interest of the lobby, which
measure obtained the votes of a large
majority of the Republican members
of the House, and on which measure
Mr. Butler so far compromised him
self as to vote against the expulsion of
the notorious Pctroff— the wanton ap
propriation of the public funds to fur
nish display for Republican officials—
the general debauchery aud pecula
tion which marked the career of the
last Legislature, and its employes, in
mt extended and unnecessary session
of fivo months duration at a cost of
many thousands —are uot records
such as these, with many others which
might be referred to, worthy the atten
tion of the people when considering
the claims of the Republican party for
a continued lease of its power in the
Htate, by the election ,of one of its
trusted leaders to the office of State
I Treasurer?
i Tho Wallace Oommittoo in Rhode
Island.
The committee of tho United States
Senate, appointed under the Blaine
i resolution to ascertain " whether the
right of suffrage was denied or
| abridged in any State," and of which
our able and distinguished I'ennsylva
) nia Senator, Mr. Wallace, is now
j chairman, has lately given its atten
tion to the Republican strongholds of
, Rhode Islam! and Massachusetts. Our
i second page will lie found to contain
a full and comprehensive review of
the work of the committee in the
little State first named. It should
command the attention of the reader.
Rhode Island is the only State in the
i Union in which foreign l*>rn citizens
arc required by a constitutional pro
vision to posses* a certain amount of
real estate In-fore they can exercise
the elective franchise, and "the evi
dence taken by the Wallace commit
tee discloses how persistently and how
successfully the Republican party has
resisted every effort to re|nal this illib
eral and anti-Democratic feature of
the State constitution. It gives
instauccs of how men of foreign birth
are deprived of the right to vote
though they have served in the armies
of the United States and shed their
blood to defend and protect the gov
ernment of their adoption. One ven
erable man, seventy-five years old, a
manufacturing jeweler by trade, testi
fies that he has liven a naturalized cit
izen for twenty-five years, and that in
his rlavs of prosperity he had been a
member of both branches of the State
Legislature, and in 1H53-4 a member
of Congress. Failing in business he
was obliged to turn his projierty over
to an assignee, and with it went his
right to the elective franchise. These
instances might be multiplied, but
repetition is unnecessary. The facts
are patent.
The evidence also discloses the fact
that intimidation of employes is an
other feature of Rhode Island politics
now fastened down by proof that can
not be doubted or controverted. At
every election the large mauufaetur- j
ing mono|)o]ic* of the State arc the
controlling power, and employes are
obliged to vote according to order* at
the risk of loss of employment if they
refuse to do so. Bribery is also com
mon, and it is by mewns like these—
disfranchisement of foreigners, intimi
datiou of workmen and open hribery
—that the Ktatc is kept secure in its ■
place in the Republican household.
Senator Wallace, and the majority of
his committee, deserve the thanks of the
country for the thoroughness) of their
work. They have heretofore shown j
the character of the deputy-marshals
ami the base uses to which they have !
been put in Philadelphia ami New
York, and in other cities of the coun
try, and now that they have exposed
the manner in which elections arc car
ried " down Kant," where a higher
state of civilization is supposed to pre
vail than elsewhere in the world, it
will lie necessary for our Republican
friends to extend the scope of their
vision. Localities other than the
" bull-dozed Houth" will demand their
attention.
Henator Wade 11 ami-ton has ex
pressed a preference for Senator Bay
ard, of Delaware, as the Democratic
candidate for President. It is a credi
table choice. With such incn as Bay
ard, Hendricks, Thurman, Hancock,
and Tilden from whom to make choice,
tho Democracy cannot err much In
selecting a worthy champion to lead
them to victory in 1880.
AFTER TIIE KOOKTEKH.
JUDGE I'B ARSONS* INSTRUCTIONS TO TIIK
GRAND Jt'RV.
A Tnif llill Rtquirttl in the Case of Every
J'erton Shown to Have Corruptly
Solicited or Received a UriLc
in the Riot hoists Matter.
llarkikiii ru, J'a. August, 2.5.—As the
trial of Kenible, Salter, l.cisimring,
Crawford and others, accused of attemp
ted bribery in connection with the bill
to reimburse persons who lost property
by the Pittsburg riots, approaches the
intercut incrorue*. Tlhto wa a large
crowd in the Court House to 'lay to bear
Judge Pearson's charge on the riot brib j
ery subject. The Judge appeared very t
earnest, and convinced all within boar- I
j ing of bis voice that be was in hearty
sympathy with the movement to punish
| bribery in the Legislature.
I'he Judge said that bribery was high |
ly injurious to society and dangerous to ;
i public morals and to the general admin ;
| nitration of the Government of tin- j
; country. "I speak of it, gentlemen," j
said he, "as a crime which strikes a!- j
| most at the foundations of society, la-- j
' cause if, instead of having fair, honest, j
I proper legislation, according to the best
discretion and judgment of the legisla
tors, we are to have them laiught over
to vote for measures or vote against
measures which the public requires, or
which are injurious to the public, either j
the one or the other, then 1 say it is
dangerous to society at Urge, ami w<- j
should most carefully guard against
anything of that kind. It is not mere
ly a person soliciting, but the pernor
agreeing to receive or actually receiving,
that ought to be held up to public scorn
and contempt by le-ing indicted in the
• 'rinunal Court.''
The Judge then quoted the Constitu
tional provisions against bribery and
the law in pursuance thereof, and Said :
"Any open address, persuasion or coax
ing would not come within the act, but
tbe moment any office, moneys article
of value, or promise of advantages, is of
fered it brings the act witbin the tat
ute. Ir. order to make the offence
charged here you have only to inquire
was there an offer or endeavor to in
fluence any member of the Legislature
by offering or promising them money,
promising them anything of value,
; promising them any advantages of any
office, any advantage of any kind ? Was
that done? If so, it would be an at
tempt to solicit them to do what is il
legal, mid is an attempt to btitie and
unlawful solicitation. All that is nec
essary to be proved is that the accused
solicited members of the legislature to
vote in a particular way, under prom
ise of procuring money for thetn or of
fering to givo them money, telling them
where money could te ; rocun-U, or that
they could have money by doing so and
so. Bribery has long been prohibited
in Penn*> Irania, and yet, to the scan
dal of ©ur Slate—l hope it is false, 1
hope it is only scAiidal—it has been
urged, and said hundreds and hundred*
of times, that such and such a bill was
procured by bribery. It demean* our
State, it brings ur into contempt with
our sister States, causes u* to be belit- i
tied abroad, to bo belittled at home :
injure* tho legislative body with the
\ community. The very suspicion that j
they take brihoa is an injury
an injury to society in genei
they are led to distrust the
such a legislature passes and to disre
Sard them entirely. Therefore it is a
igh offence against society, and one
that should be most carefully guarded
against by Courts and juries, punished
inflexibly and without any hesitation." i
Judge Pearson also instructed the !
Grand Jury to proceed against mein- I
l>er* in whose cases no indictments
haTo leen frames!, but whom the evi
dence submitted to the Jury implicates
in corrupt solicitation of the member*
of the Legislature or of accepting or
agreeing to accept a bribe. "In thif
way," he said, "neither the persons
charged in the indictments nor the ,
members of the legislature themselves
oan escape punishment. You cannot ,
act upon newspaper reports. You have
no right to act upon resolutions of the
Legislature. You act upon the evidence
produced before you, and that alone ;
and if that makea out a caae of either '
btibery or receiving a bribe against the
person wh<f is charged, find a true hill. . J
If it ia against others who are not charg- j
ed, make a presentment of them to the !
Histrict Attorney so that' the whole 1
matter shall be properly and fully in- i
vestigated in Court, so that we may get j
to the bottom of these things. Some- '
times committees of the legislature ex- j <
amine auch subjects. They have no i 1
the same |ower the Courts have in <
compelling the attendance and teetimo- 1
ny of witnesses. Sometimes they ate !
not very anxious to find out what baa
been done; sometimes they are not |
very willing to ex|*oee whether they
have been guilty of receiving bribes, j
They (font want to tell anything that i
takes place. But we want to find out j <
everything about it. We want to get ' i
to the the truth of the matter, and get |
to the bottom of it, and see who is guil
ty and who is not guilty, or whether |
any person is guilty, or whether it is a (
mere general slander. If the common
wealth produces witnesses to show the
truth of the allegations made in the in- ,
dictmenta, find true bills, without the ,
least regard to whom it will strike; ,
without the least regard to the charao- (
ter of the persons accused."
(
A fire broke out in a rag warehouse |
in the rear of the Cleveland (0„) Pa|er i
Company's establishment at Cleveland |
on Saturday night. It partially com
municated to the main building. The
loss will probably reach 130,000.
GENERAL NEWS.
'I ho steamer France from Ifavro
brought SBOO,OOO in gold bars to New
York Thursday last.
Lrnina Fisk, of Colcville, McKean
county, gave an infant Lover's powders
by mistake, and it died within a short
time.
Efforts are in progress to secure the
establishment of an extensive barrel
factory ut Curwinsville, in Clearfield
county.
Alice Vail, a young girl in Kayre,
Bradford county, attempted to light a
I lire witii coal oil on Thursday afternoon,
; and was burned to death,
j Steel rail* are being laid on the
Philadelphia and Kii- railroad. By the
first of September the work Will be
completed between Sunbury and l.e-
I novo.
Mrs. Chisholm has gone down to
j Kemper county, Mississippi, to attend
the trial 01, the slayer of her husband.
; Gen. Stewart L. Woodford goes along us
escort.
A needle, with along thread attached,
was picked out of a Ixiy's back, in loin
cast) r, on Saturday. It is supposed to
have entered some portion of his body
when he was an infant.
An Kdenhurg paper stales that some
j of the felt roofing from the Barker tank
j explosion was picked up between that
place and Shippenvillc, eighteen miles
from the starting point.
The steamship ixird '"live, sailed for
Liverpool on Saturday last with a cargo
valued at $183,445, consisting in part of
4 I**l bushels of corn, lN,<Wti bushels of
w heat, 4,11s sacks of flour and 130 head
of cat lie,
'I he Lancaster New Era has informa
tion that Mr. John C. Groll, of Mount
Joy, that county, I masts of stalks of to
bacco in his )iutch that have eighteen
leave*, some of which measure 51 j
inches in length.
Senator Matt 11. Carpenter has Wen
visiting Judg<AJeremiah Black, and bis
visit is *up;>o*ed to have reference to
the approaching bribery trials at liar
risburg, i-peciaily as lawyer Irwin, of
Harrisburg, is also there.
At Tuscola, 111., George Clark was fa
tally shot by bis step-son, Hugh Mc-
Guire, who told him that he had come
all the way from Kansas to kill him for
de-erling ins MrGmre's) rnedfler. Mc-
Guire gave himself up to the authorities.
I'at. Collin*, of lloutzdale, Clearfield
county, attacked John Loonelly on
Wednesday night of fast week with an
iron peg remover, inflicting wounda
which will probably prove fatal. Collini
who is a well known Mollie Maguire. es
caped.
At Tioga last Saturday Freddy Hughes,
a ten year old loy, while playing with a
younger brother, snap|>ed a rusty army
musket at him, when the weapon was
exploded, the charge passing into bis
little brother's ln-ad, killing bun almost
instantly.
At a in ass meeting of weavers, two
thirds of whom were women, at Fall
Kiver, Mass.. on JGqdav lmU. it
was resci 1
ges of 15 per^M^|^H|BHH^B^BH
weavers will
Inanyanti4.su
-JPor rit T. Rl-i
fig destroyed twenty
four buimingssnd burned out twenty
two The main business part of
the city • in ruins. Tbe fire is believ
ed to be incendiary. Total loss about
SIOO,OOO.
The will of Harvey I>. Talmer, of the
firm of Jarret A Palmer, was filed for
probate last Thursday. After the be
quests of S2OO in cash and SSOO a year
for life to bis mother ami S2OO a year to
his aunt he leaves the rest of his real
and personal estate to bis wife, who is
appointed sole executrix.
A private despatch received in New
Bedford, Mass., on Saturday evening,
announced the loss in Hudson Bay of -
the whaling brig A.Boas. The vessel
sailed from New Bedford on May 15,
1878. It was owned there and valued
at $20,000. The insurance is light. The
c ptain and crew were saved.
Geo. 11. Eddy, treasurer of the Flint
Mill at Fall ltiver. Mass., has stepped i
down and out. He has been specula
ting in cotton futures, resulting in a
loss to the mill of $15,000. No criminal
intent is imputed to him. Ilia conduct
was disapproved and he resigned.
Mr. John W. Forney, having accept
ed the invitation of tbe original settlers
of Kansas, at Lawrenoe, in that state,
has been formally invited to deliver the
adilress commemorative of the early
settlement of Kansas, on the 15th of
September, 1879.
The United States Indian Agent at i
the Cheyenne and Arapahoe agency,
Indian Territory, under date of August
1.5, reports that about the Bth inst., two
white horse thieves rounded up and ran
off with forty-nine head of Cheyenne
nonies. All but two were recovered,
nut the thieves escaped.
Evangelist Uwight L. Moody has been
largely instrumental in establishing a
school for girls at NortMield, Mas*. The
corner stone was laid on Thursday,
Evangelists Moody, Pentecost. Hankey
and Kimball being present. "First and
foremost, the school must be a Christian
institution,'' said Mr. Moody, in the
course of his remarks.
At*Middletown, Pa., on Friday night,
an attempt was made to rob Jacob
Hteel, Collector of the Pennsylvania
Ganal Company. After striking him
several blows about the bead with a
blunt instrument, the thieves became
alarmed and left without accomplishing
their otyect.
TKRMN: %\JA) jmt Annum, In Advance.
NO.
The Krnanus furnace, on the Kant
I Pennsylvania lUilru.ui, i* to he Marled
i up within a few day*. The Reading
| /tirpatch *ay* that it will not he long b
| fore every furnace in the Schuylkill and
I Lehigh Valley* will he in operation.
, ; Work i* going steadily on at the Kutx
town furnace*, with a view to slatting
ihetn in a few week*.
The Secretary of War ha* ordered
that the harrack* at Carlisle be turned
over to the Interior Department, to he
u*ed a* a school for the education of
Indian youth*. The institution which i*
modelled after the Hampton (Va.) Nor
mal Institute, and will be under the
charge of Captain It. I'ratt. who ha* had
considerable experience a* a trainer of
Indian* at St. Augustine and Hampton.
At Weissport. eighteen mile* above
Allcntown, on Wednesday afternoon, a
| little daughter of Alfred Wbittenhard
m-r, aged five or six years, Cell into the
Lehigh canal while picking 1 ernes, and
a young lady named Kllen Matten, aged
sixteen year*, jumped in to save her.
' Moth were drowned. The bodies were
found ahout two hour* after. The fath
er of the little girl wa* the former Reg
iater and Recorder of Carbon county.
' A remarkable case of resuscitation from
drowning occurred at I'ittston last week.
Kddy Joyce, a small boy, fell into the
• canal and his companion, after he had
sunk twice, finding that he oould not
save him, called for help, when the
i ; father came, and, after the body had
sunk the last time and been at the bot
. tout at least eight minutes, brought it
, up. The body wa* rolled on a barrel
I eight minute* and fully resuscitated.
! A tory i* told at the expense of a Ja
maica l'lain* (Mass) sexton, who buys
i the communion wine lor hi* church.
W hen he made hi* last purchase be also
bought some whiskey for himself. The
two demijohn* got mixed, and on tho
following Sunday the communicant* re
ceived whiskey instead of wine, and
some of the ladies were badly choked
, by the strong liquid.
, i Rev. Mr. Harden, who ha* been in
, jail in Connecticut for a year, charged
with the murder of Mary stannard,
r will probably he tried in (>ctofer. It m
re|>orted that under microscopical in
vestigation of the body of the dead girL
some important testimony ha* been de
veloped. In the flesh of the neck
where she was slabbed a fine point of
steel has been found, which fit* into a
i nick in the edge of the pastor's bloody
( knife.
A shsrp shock of earthquake wa* felt
1 . at St. Catherine's, OnU, on last Friday
morning at 2.5K o'clock, and at Niagara
' at 3. At I'ort Italhouaie, <>nt., and
Lockport, N. Y., the shock wa* violent,
i and accompanied by a loud clap, simi
lar to a discharge of cannon, which
shook solid brick building* The shock
and renort also starthnl the people at
Thorold. Welland, Allanshurg.
ville, Tort Robinson and other
tin- JtM
The New York
tral committee met at N
ami ador^^^Hjj^^H^H^^H
the
Flushing, who
Ix>ng Island, celebrated her one hun- ~
j dresi and tenth birthday on Friday of
i last week receiving the congratulations
|of a large number of visitor*. Nhe was
born in the County of Roscommon, Ire
| land, on the l.'ith day of August. 17G9,
| and has lived in Flushing for over 25
years. In reading she does not need
glasses, as she ha* had her second sight
for a number of year*. Nhe spends a
considerable portion of her time in
knitting,
Martha Rogers, who died a few days
ago at Middlctown, Conn., for fifty years
' possessed a fortune : hut she i|pa con
stantly dreading poverty, and regularly
spent a part of her time sathering rags
and other discarded things in the
streeta. A room in her house was filled
with such rubbish. Yet the gave money
i liberally for charitable and religious
purpose* while she lived, and by her
will left 125,000 to various institutions.
A new vein has been discovered in
the lehigh Zinc Company's mine, near
Friedensville. The company is taking
out a very peculiar kind of ore, which is
capable of being used when worked up
into braes for purposes foi which ordi
nary sines are not available—among
others, that of making metallic car
fridges. The mine, a* state*!, is now
j being actively worked, and the ore is
] furnished in large quantities to the
j spelter works. The sine rolling mill also,
| after being stopped for a long while,
is now again at work with a full force.
The Sunday question continues to
agitate Raltimore The latest develop
ment is a proposition to enforce the
law in the case of the newspapers, and
their proprietors have been notified
that hereafter their employes will not
be permitted to labor on Sunday after
noon and night in the preparation of
their Monday morning issues. The
Gazrtt* accepts the situation and an
nounces that it will hereafter keep its
offices closed from Saturday night at
12 o'clock until the same hour on Sun
day night. It expects, by doing some
extra work on Saturday evening and
putting a strong force at work as soon as
Sunday has expired, to be able to pro
dune as good a paper as usual on Monday
morning. The other morning papers
will have to follow suit, but tne mm
day P*pts will suffer a good deal if the
law is impartially enforced,