©wte gfwarai
BELLEFONTE, PA.
The Largest, Cheapest and Beat Paper
PUBLISHED IN CENTRE COUNTY.
Internal-Revenue Taxation.
STEECH OF
HON. ANDREW G. CURTIN,
OF PENNSYLVANIA,
IN THE IIOUHE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Tuesday, June 27, 1882.
The House being in Committeo of the Whole on the
Htale of the Union, uiui having under consideration
the bill (H. K. No. 561)8) to reduce internal-re venue
taxation—
Mr. Curtin said :
Mr. Speaker: If this Congress at its
assemblage had approached an empty
Treasury 1 cannot out feel that its ac
tion might have met with the much
more hearty approbation of the people
who sent us here. We would have been
compelled to legislate in the direction ol
economy, and would have endeavored
to originate measures by which the
Treasury would have been supplied so
as to maintain the national faith and
pay the necessary expenses of the Gov
ernment. It would, no doubt, have
been the general sentiment as well as
the disposition of the members of the
House to have so legislated in the inter
est of economy as to reduce the expen
ses of the Government; and, really, it
seems to me that it would he better for
the country and its future, and more
creditable in the legislative action of
Congress, for us to ecdaavor, aB far as
possible, to retrench and lighten the
burdens now resting upoa a lax-paying
people.
We have legislated lavishly from a
full Treasury. We have provided for
the erection of court-houses and post
offices where such conveniences may
have been needed, but I fear they were
in many instances pas;ed by combina
tions in this House, where there was no
actual necessity for them. We have
been liberal, and it might not be unjust
to say lavish in appropriations for the
improvement of river navigation to
facilitate internal commerce and the
improvement of harbors for the better
accommodation of our foreign commerce
We were invited to a full Treasury when
we came here, and we seem by our ac
tions to have accepted the invitation.
WHAT REI.IEF IS OFFERED TO INDUSTRY ?
When the session commenced it was
expected by the people that a large re
duction would he made to relieve the
people from the burdens of internal
taxation, and thus afford a measure of
relief to the productive interests and
industries of the country. In the hill
presented to the House from the Com
mittee on Ways and Means I now ask
what measure of relief is afforded to
those who produced ? I presume the
bill under consideration is to pass as it
comes from the committee under tje
inexorable will of the majority, trainee,
disciplined, and ready for action, it was
certainly anticipated before the intro
duction of this bill, and it is even not
unjust to say that it was promised that
there would be actual relief to the in
dustrial interests of tire country and to
the pursuits of productive labor.
The bill now about to become a law
has offered a broad field for discussion
in this House, and no doubt many of
the speeches made were intended for
home consumption, and will find their
way into districts represented Ly gen
tlemen on this floor. The Democrats
stoutly contend for large reductions,
and many of them for the repeal of all
the war taxes, the entire abrogation of
the internal-revenue system and with it
the four or five thousand public oflicers
who find their means of support in the
continuance of the system. The hill on
passage does afford relief to the poeple
in relieving them from tho tax on
matches that nobody seriously felt and
which is scarcely appreciable, for, as
was repeatedly stated on this floor, es
pecially by the distinguished gentleman
who stands at the head of the Ways and
Means Committee, that relief was to bo
afforded to the producer, and as the tax
on matches is the only relief which is
offered by the bill; not much in that di
rection has been accomplished.
ARBITRARY AND OI'I'RESSIVE TAX I.Att'S.
Early in the session the gentleman
from Missouri [Mr. Hatch| introduced a
bill to relieve tho onerous taxation from
which the tobacco interests of his con
stituents suffered. He represented that
the law as it then existed rested op
pressively upon a large portion of his
constituency, and ' is presentation was
so clear and the justice of his demand
so impressed the House that he came
within seven votes of the two-thirds
necessary to have the bill taken up out
of order and passed ; and yet of the
number of amendments offered to this
bill, directed to the relief of that inter
est by that gentleman and others, not
one of them was accepted by the ma
jority.
Gentlemen had changed their views
and political considerations had affec
ted their judgement and their consci
ence and the force of discipline made
the majority solid in the /louse with
very rare exceptions. I voted for every
amendment offered to the bill to give
relief from that oppressive tax and the
manner of its collection, and I cannot
but be of opinion that this bill when
passed will afford no relief to that indus
try without that provision in it.
I will not pretend to offer to this
House the various acts of Congress on
the taxation of tobacco and its means of
collection that have been reiterated over
and over again and are well understood,
but will confine myself to a presenta
tion of the various laws and their op
pressive features as briefly as possible.
The dealer in tobacco who is licensed
pays an annual fee of $25. The farmer
who produces the tobacco can sell to
him, out only by the hale or hogshead.
There is a fictitious retail dealer in leaf
tobacco, so called, but there is none in
fact, and the proviso of the statute is a
delusion, for tho very conclusive reason
that the law which pretends to license
him to deal in leaf-tobacco by retail
jfixea the tax and license he is required
to pay so High that it is impossible for
-any one to follow the business. For ex
ample, be is required to pay a license of
SSOO, and for every dollar's worth of to
bacco he deals in over SI,OOO he is re
quired to pay fifty cents to the Govern
ment. Of course no one can afford to
follow a business in which he is requir
ed to pay one-half of its proceeds as a
tax, and it follows asa logical sequence
that there are no retail dealers in leaf
tobacco; and therefore no one of that
class fixed by the law to whom the pro
ducer can sell in quaintities less than a
hogshead. ,
This must necessarily prove oppress
ive to small farmers who do not raise a
hogshead of tobacco. There is a pre
tense in the bill now under considera
tion that the small producer may lie re
lieved by a reduction of the license of
the dealer in leaf-tobacco to $250, and
requiring him to pay thirty cents on
every dollar's worth of tobacco he sells
over $1,000; but this of course is quite
as much a prohibition to retail dealers
as the provision in the law it is intend
ed to repeal, for no one can afford to
pay a license of $250 and then pay thir
ty cents on each dollar of the proceeds
of his business for all he sells above
SI,OOO worth. So in this respect the
bill is simply a deception, unworthy of
our Government, and was drawn in ig
norance of the law or was designed for
the continued oppression of that class of
the people of the United States who are
producers of tobacco in small quanti
ties.
THE TAVCATUERER AND THE TOBACCO TAX 1
I notice that in June, 1880, Congress
passed a law permitting putties who
paid a license of $5 to buy leal-tobacco
by retail to the amount of 25,000 pounds
per annum, and to such licensed deal
ers the farmer was allowed to sell his
tabacco in any quantity provided he
raised it on his farm or received it as
, rent from tenants, but even this trifling
boon to the small farmers and produ
cers is taken away by the bill under
consideration.
Mr. Speaker, 1 will present a case
which might readily occur, and it shall
not be located in the South, where the
production of iobacco is one of the great
staple industries, nor will 1 draw this
question geographically. 1 suppose that
a farmer in Lancaster county, Pennsyl
vania, where the tobacco crop this year
is estimated at $4,000,000, may choose to
cultivate four acres of ground which he
owns and where he lives. From one
acre he may produce potatoes, from
another turnips, from a third corn, and
from the fourth tobacco. Jhe sweat ot
his lace falls upon all alike from the
I time he puts the seed in theground until
] his crop is matured and mother earth
renders back to him the reward of his
labor, The crop raised by this man,
except that upon one acre, is as free as
the air he breathes.
Beneficent Providence gives to all
alike the earlier and th later rains,with
tha warmth necessary \to give produc
tive earth ull the stimulants which will
reward his labor. All tlfie employments
of nature, the applianc ?s, care, atten
tion, and work, come to till that he has
placed in the earth in full! confidence of
return. The man is no iloubt a good
citizen—for the people | o f Lancaster
county are generally law-abiding and
industrious—and pays all'bis dues to
ho Government and honestly disciinr
gesjill other personal and I relative ob
ligations. He takes the prvjduct of the
three ao.'es in corn and jiitatoes and
turnips anJ sells them he can get
the best ma*, -ct the pro
ceeds to the support <>V r '®iself umi his
dependants, hut the '/jßduct of the
acre of tobacco he dare At sell except
to the licensed agents of this Govern
ment. -•*
The Federal power of this great peo
ple, having its seat in this capital, with
all its appliances and appointments,
watches that tobacco as it grows and
unfolds its leaves and is prepared for
the harvest in its maturity, and through
its agencies, its collectors, its licensed
dealers, its privileged class declares that
as to that production he is not a free
man, and that he shall sell ami sell on
ly where this central Government di
rects, and by and through the agents
it has licensed. can conceive of no
reason why the iron hand of this Gov
ernment should belaid upon that acre
and its production while it does not rest
upon the other three; nor why, accord- i
ding to our great living policy of right
and equality he should not be at liberty
to cultivate and sell the product of the
soil where he pleases. And as our Gov
ernment, which is an emanation lrom
the people, should le parental, we dis
turb this harmony and that generous
quality by an espionage searching as are
the laws to which I have alluded, and
the citizen who discharges the duties
imposed by such laws becomes as dis
tasteful and odious tut was the tithe
gatherer in England, the gaugor, ex
cise man, and agent in Ireland, and tl 0
oppressive exactions made by the far
mers of the revenue from the Christian
people of the provinces of Europe dom
inated by the Turk.
IS VICE l-RUAMZRD IN IHIH.IC REVENUE?
It is said that tobacco is a luxury.
That is no reason for discrimination and
for an unjust and odious tax. There are
thousands of luxuries that are not tax
ed. The cereals and meat maintain life,
and that is about all that • is given to
labor. Wealth can purchase luxuries,
and most of the luxuries can only be
enjoyed by the wealthy who can pur
chase them. There can certainly be no
seriuus objection to the purchase or the
use ot the luxuries of life in addition to
the necessities which sustain it, provid
ed you do not interfere with the
growth and progress of the country;
and the man who raices his acre of to
bacco and the man who toila from morn
ing till evening has a right to scface
himself at the close of the day with
the use of tobacco as those who have
means have thoright to the enjoyment
of the luxuries which they purchase
where they please, produce at their
pleasure, and buy and sell without the
interposition by this Government of a
middle man, or being subjected to im
position of licensed agencies of tho
Government. Many productions of the
earth may be considered luxuries quite
as much if not more than tobacoo, and
all these remain without taxation or the
intervention of the Government or its
agencies.
Mr. Cox, of New York. Perfumery,
Mr. Curtm. Ah, yes ; I believe the
lax is taken off perfumery in this bill.
1 do not know whether the Committee
of Ways and Means, tlial incubated so
long before proposing this bill, compos
ed of so tunny of the leading and expe
rienced members of this body, would
consider peffumery a luxury, and I
would therefore leave that to the credit
of the committee: but, sir, suppose to
bacco should be considered a luxury
and not a necessary of life, and for the
present we take whisky and malt beve
rages as luxuries. If their use is a vice
and immoral and tending to corrupt
and debase all who use them, is it any
reason why this Government should re
lievo such immorality or cure such vices
by the imposition of unjust and discrim
inating taxation, and thus raise money
to defray the expenses of the Govern
ment and afford opportunities for lavish
appropriations from a plethoric Treasu
ry, and fail to tax otlipr vices quite as
common ami more injurious and de
moralizing in their practices?
It is not in harmony with our history
and traditions ; it is not consistent with
the principles of equality which under
lie our structure of government; it is
legislation lor a class;-it is affording
special privileges; it is favoring monopo
ly ; it is unjust, discriminating, and
unequal in its operation, and it employs
bonis of public olliceis who could be
dispensed with if the tax on tlie.se ar
ticles were equal. It is a department of
the Government from its great funda
mental principles. It is an abnegation
of the great sentimt n of equality wbic 1
prevai'ed when our Government was
formed, and enters into all its actions
when it makes demands from tiie pco
pie for its support,
si i 111f. i> orriirssioN in section.*i. laws.
Tobacco is a staple production in n
large portion of thin country; and I
presented it ca<; winch might occur and
no doubt does occur in Lancaster coun
ty s-o a9 to be north of the belt and so
that it might be made clear to mv friend
the distinguised gentleman who so ably
represents the Lancaster constituency.
The law, so unjust, so discriminating
and partial,Jhas not been administered in
Pennsylvania. The freemen of that State
are not accustomed to such rigid exac
tions. Faithful to the Government,
they desire above all blessings just laws
, equally administered, unmanacled free
dom of person. The less the tax-gath
erer and agents oi the Government the
better; and it the many, the very many
painful instances of oppression and
I wrong practiced south ol tlie belt in the
I collection of the tobacco tax should be
transferred or attempted to he trans
ferred to Pennsylvania, I would scarce
ly expect them to forget their natural
rights, their training in life, their fideli
ty to the Government and obedience to
its laws, to reason them into passive
submission.
It would certainly bo a painful expe
rience to the freeman of my State, and
would cause him to be restive from the
time he put the seed in the ground un
til it grew to maturity, and after all his
toil to feel, as it unfolded and generous
nature giving it her assistance, that it
was constantly watched hy officers of
the Federal Government, and thut he
I was restrained in the sale ol the produc
tion of the soil; that Federal officials
and agencies surrounded him ; that the
tax-gatherers were also after him; that
he would he arrested for the sale of the
smallest particle excep , in the direction
that the Government indicated; ami
that lie would he dragged from his
home to the Federal courts, perhaps
far distant and visited with pains and
penalties and the expenditure ofmoney
for the sale of the production of the soil
which he was trained to believe was as
free as the labor of his life.
Gentlemen from the South and
West who represent constituencies
largely interested and occupied in the
production of this staple have oli'ered
to this House in the long discussion to
which this bill has been subjected in
stances of wrong and oppression which
it is not improper to denounce as cases
of wrong and oppression, il not tyranny,
from which they should he relieved. Jl
may be that these taxes were necessary
when the Government was in need and
the Treasury empty. It is possible that
the Governmeht may have been wrong
in the supposition that those who pro
duce tobacco are alone to be watched,
but there was no rational excuse, no
apology bearing the semblance of just
ice that warranted the studied inven
tion of inost arbitrary and oppressive
laws to punish or control the political
action ot a large clement of Southern
industry. 1 simply repeat the truth of
history when 1 say that this wantonly
oppressive law was conceived and long
administered in the South mainly to
coerce the political action of the help
less citizen, and it has left a record of
vindictive oppression by corrupt or
reckless partisan officers that is an in
effaceable reproach upon the boasted
Republic of the world.
J>uring the discussion on this floor the
distinguished gentleman from New
York | Mr. Hewitt) at every phase of
that discussion asked that alcohol used
in mechanical industries, in the arte,
and in medicines should be relieved
from the burden of taxation ; and he
brought to the advocacy of his amend
rnents unanswerable arguments, but,
like all the amendments for oppressed
industries, they were rejected by the
majority of thjs House. Can it be pos
sible, Mr. Speaker, that this is one of
the remnants of that terrible war
through which we passed ? Can there
still linger with the majority of this
House a disposition to punish and to
inflict that punishment by the exercise
of the power of taxation? If so, it is
inconsistent with our recent history
and not in harmony with the Govern
ment or institutions of fhe country. If
it is not so, why is it that the mnjority
of this House so stubbornly adheres to
the unjust and oppressive legislation
which w.a now (Attempt to repeal or
modify.
TIIE SACRED OBLIGATION TO PA* IfttNglOVS.
As I understand it, the relief afforded
to the people of the United States in
the hill now about to pass is about $17,-
000.000, and it ip admitted that the sur
plus revenue for this year will be about
$135,000,000, or an average of £)} un
necessarily wrung from each adult ma|o
citizen in the country, already heavily
burdened by municipal, county, and
State taxation. This is a small reduc
tion. It is not the reduotion that was
anticipated or expected or demanded
I y the people. We stand still in the
I resence of a great danger to the future
of this country. We excite a desire to
take from tlio public Treasury. If we
leave this amount of money unappro
priated, appropriations are demanded.
We have given liberally to all those who
have made demands without inquiring
too closely into their justice.' We have
given $100,000,000 to pensions, but that,
sir, could not he refused. The Forty
fifth Congress, by solemn enactment,
acknowledged a debt duo to the sol
diers of the Republic and accompanied
it with u promise to pay.
The amount has been ascertained
this year, and this Congress did no
more than to accept the obligation and
redeem the promise made by the United
States; and as the mew to whom the
promise was made are growing old and
are most of them poor, and as the debt
lias been due a long time, it is our duty
to pay it as promptly as possible and to
give ali the necessary appliances tor the
speedy settlement of their claims. It
is too lute toqiieslion the wisdom or the
justice of that law. It is on our statute
books, tho debt is acknowledged, and
you might as well go before the Ameri
can people and attempt to repeal the
fourteenth and fifteenth amendments
to the Constitution of the United
•States, which contains the lessons ar.d
logic of the war, or you might a;; well
expect the passage of a bill to restore
the wages of* the members ol this House,
either of which would be quite impossi
ble.
The legislation of this Government
must be in ttie spirit of even-handed
justice to all interests; labor demands
nothing more; it will be. content with
nothing loss; ami we are offering it a
stone by this bill wjien it asks us for
j bread. We should legislate ( rtl e uni
ty of all interests, for all legitimate
pursuits and interests are in harmony ;
and that is what this body has persist
ently refu-ed to do by rejecting all
amendments designed to ailord lelief
to the most important but b-u-t favored
industrial class. Not being a member
of any committee charged with t'ae
I preparation ot business lor the conside
ration of the 11r.u.-e, I have waited lor
j seven months the action ol the Com
; niittee of Ways anil Means with the ex
pectation that a bill would be offered
j giving reasonable and just relief to all
j interests now oppressively taxed and
j that would largely reduce the surplus
jin the Treasury ; hut the measure now
before us caused me no little surpii e
] because of its failure to meet the most
pressing necessities of the eountiy.
I have been connected all my life
with the indu-tiial interests of the
people of my State, and at times, in the
discharge of official duties, have had
somewhat to do with the promotion ol
the prosperity and happiness of our
great producing population ; and I mu t
say that this measure will be justly and
greatly disappointing to the intelligent
people of all pursuits, and must di-turb
rather than trunquiiize existing cias
disputes. Recognizing the k-w meri
torious features of the hill, I sec them
unjustly overbalanced by errors of
omission and coinmi-ion, and the meas
ure as a whole being an unjust dici imi
nation against the producing interests
-f the country, I must oppose it.- piss
age.
RELIEVING CAI'ITAI., NOT INUl'sTliV.
This bill reduces the income of the
Government, as I hare said, about sl7-
OtHJJHK). True, the tax on matches is,
taken oil', whatever it amounts to. The
bill removes the tax on patent medi
cines, and 1 am not sure that in reach
ing for luxuries thai injure and in tax
ing those which please the appetite the
poor man might not, in many instance.-,
be as well off if this tax were retained,
for patent med.cincs as otten injure as
they give relief. The hill takes the tax
off bank checks, banking capital, and
bank deposits, perfumery, Ac. I am
not here to question the wis.lon ol this,
nor am I here to complain ol any relief
that may be given to any of tin- inter
ests or business pursuits ol the people
of this country ; hut 1 do say, sir, as it
is just and right to declare, that there
is no substantial change or modification
of existing laws in the bill now upon
passage which oilers any relief to the
producers or to the labor of this country.
If we are to reduce the income of tlis
Government so as to compel its econom
ical administration, then we should
make our relief fall upon all classes
alike. There should be no partiality
in our legislation; there should be no
discrimination against the industries of
any c|aep of our people. We should as
far as possible, reduce the expenses of
the Government, and take special care
to reduce the revenues of the Govern
ment in such manner as to afford the
greatest measure of relief to the one
great fountain of our wealth, the indus
trial classes. Removing taxes on bank
checks, bank deposits, perfumery, Ac.,
does not relieve industry. It does afford
needed relief to capital, for some of the
war taxes on capital are needlessly op
pressive now, but the supreme want of
the country to-day is tiie utmost relief
from taxation on the necessaries of life,
or the luxuries which have become nec
essaires hy habits, which enter into the
daily consumption of our industries .
The whole wealth, the honor, the hope
of the Republic are in the producing
classes. They are the source of our
prosperity in peace and our safety in
war, and the first duty of the Govern
ment is to be generously just to our in
dustrieii j|i the reduction of needless
taxes.
OCR DANGEROUS f.ENVR4I.UCP IVE4I.TIJ.
It must not be forgotten, Mr. Speak
or, tliut the centralized wealth and the
money power, the incorporated capital
of the country, with vast ppr-cial privi
leges, cannot he contemplated without
grave apprehensions for the future.
That powerful class, and the immense in
terest they represent, are ever heard on
this floor, and it has required the most
stubborn struggles between the law
makers of the people and the law-mak
ers of privileged plasses to gain any
measure of justice for the Government.
They are ever present in and about the
department of authority. They are felt
in the executive, the judicial, and the
'egislative channels of power, while the
industrial classes are unheard and un
felt snye as brave men plead their cause
in the face of Rggreaaive, organized, and
often vindictive combination! 0 almost
boundless wealth.
Nor are these influences any more
nearly equal in the choice of our rulers I
and law-makers. The first legislative '
office of tho nation is rapidly becoming
n position that only the successful cap
italist can attain, and our popular elect
ions have become ton great degree sub
ject to the baleful control of capita), re
gardless of the merits of men and meas
ures. The struggle for that absolute
equality of legislation for all classes,
rich and poor, great and small, that is
demanded by the Government has been
going on actively during the last score of
years, and the growing power of the
profiting classes over the industrial class
| es is creating profound fretlulness, as is
I now visible in every section of land. I
am not hero to reflect in the least de-
I gree the views of the aggrieved.
The honest industry ol the country
J rejects and abhors the destructive doc
trines ol the commune, but it does de
i mawd even-handed justice, absolute
equality in the laws which impose the
burdens of government, and the bill
before the House is shamefully defect
ive in its refusal ot relief to the produc
ing classes. It is a false pretense of les
sening the exactions upon one industry ;
it will be accepted as another step in
special legislation for the benefit ol Un
privileged class that represents capital,
and it must provoke deeper unrest and
intensified opposition from the now se
verely suffering laborof the land. J.ook
out over the nation and learn what the
gradual growth and almost insensible
acceptance of this policy of legislation
has produced, and you will not be amaz
ed to hear the murmurs ol the people
S coining up from every centre ot indus
try. Never before in the more than
hundred years of the Republic lias
wealth been so vastly centralized as it is
now.
We can all remember when the mill-
I ionaire was one ol the rarest creations ol
j our Iree institutions; now they are coun
j ted by scores in all our great financial
j circles, and private fortunes are counted
: not merely by millions, but by tens and
| scores,and even by hundreds of milions.
j liiis rapid and general centiahzation ol
j wealth has not been created by product
ive indus ry. It is very largely the crea
tion ol reckless and unscrupulous cun
rung alike in business and politics;
I alike 10 demoralizing legitimate bus
iness and demoralizing public legislation
to serve the ends ol lieartless specula
lion. Tne whole market values ot tbe
country are to-day at the im-rcy ot cen
tralized wealth: it can enlarge or re
duce values at pleasure, and it does so
tiy sudden convulsions in the channels
ol speculation as often it can profit
thereby. Let us not torget that here,
as el-ewhere, where|wealth accumulates
men decay, and the decay of industry
must date the decline of all the power
and grandeur of the Republic.
.11 ST I.AIVS FOR I.AIiOR AM) CAI'ITAI.
There must be just laws for labor aud
capital, and mv earnest '-rote-i against
t'i sb i 11, s foandi don it: fai ure to reduce
the revenues enough, ami its almost ut
ter failure to relieve industry with cap
ital. And this disappointment is
thrown upon our industrial people at
a time when the harmony between la
la r and capital that is absolutely cssi n
tial to the prosperity of both is sadlv in
j terruj led l.y strikes ami estrangruents
|in many sections of the land. Labor
; ha as a rule been obedient to law in its
\ contest tor increased compensation to
i meet the increased co-t of living, and it
I respects and obeys tl.e law because it
i looks for just laws atl'ecting its interests,
j It dem mils no favoritism, no class leg
islation, no special privileges, but it
wants the necessaries of life first reliev
ed of oppressive taxation ami luxuries
afterwards.
A Slar Route Failure.
| run (IRANI) JLRV I>() NUT KIND AN INDICT
MENT LION TIIK NEW EVIDENCE.
Washington, July 14.
The pioceedings in the regular Star
route cases to-day were of a dull and
unimportant character. Some more
evidence was taken and more papers
submitted concerning the route liom
Saguache to Lake City, Colorado, and
then the court adjourned until Monday.
The feature of the day was the entrance
ot the grand jury anil their announce
ment lb >t they had found no indict
merit upon the new evidence presented
to them. The Court seemed greatly
surprised at the announcement. The
grand jury was then discharged until
()ctober 9.
When questioned relative to the ac
tion of the grand jury upon the new
evidence presented to then, Mr. Bliss
said that his official position prevented
him from giving any information upon
that subject, lie had faithfully present
ed the evidence in its best light, exam
ining and cross-examining Mr. Walsh at
length, and while he did not feel dis
posed to criticise the motives which in
tluenced thejury, in his opinion the
evidence was amply sufficient to found a
presentment upon, ltwasonly natural
that wlu-re a United .States Senator was
concerned thejury should require the
most convincing proof before bringing in
a presentment. He understood that the
jury was largely Democratic iu its com
position. From other sources it is re
ported that thejury was thoroughly fa
miliar with the connection between Sen
ator Kellogg and Walsh, as shown in the
testimony taken before theCongresional
investigating committee before-any evi
cence had been presented to tjiem.
This is regarded as a peculiar circum
stance, although it may perhaps he ex
plained by the fact that at least two of
tlye jurors were gentlemen of snnio pn
litical notoriety and supposed to be well
informed upon such matters. It is also
understood that nineteeen ol the twen
ty-three jurors were opnosed to a pre
sentment upon the evidence upon the
final vote.
The failure of the grand jury to pre
sent anybody tor indictmeut on the al
leged new testimony causes much un
favorable comment. By some mysteri
ous means, it is said, the grand jury
room presented an array of information
on the part of some of the jurors that
quite astonished the government prose
cutor and showed some judicious cram
ntiug.
— , m
Two Indiana farmers quarreled about
a wrench, and went to law. The costs
of court and counsel fees have reached
$1,700, both litigan's have mortgagi d
t leir propei ty to taise the money, ar.d
the case is tontinr d.
Sound Views.
UottCoH Coutdliipfn Plica Bdeccii.
J here is much in tiio present condi
tion of the country to mak" men think
together, act togeth together, a
to general and public matters; to bring
ntcn toward e ich other who have
thought apart in the ye*rs and data
that are gone. Old party issue* have
largely passed away—parsed away at
least as dividing party lines. We are in
a period of peace and prosperity. But
let us never forget that p wperity often
tests and tries the wisdom of nations
arid men more, even, than adversit.
The tendency i H to spending largely.
The tendency in government is to pro
fuse, perhaps lavish, appropriations of
the public money. In the all'sirs of gov
ernment and in the affairs of business,
unless I greatly mistake the lesson, the
need and the admonition of the hour is
frugality, foresight and care. We have
more need of the break than .steam in
a good many ways just now.
An "Almost" Shedding of bore.
Wanliington C>rr<-|>otideiicc ltepiibllrrn.
Nobody knew at the time how near
we came to having bloodshed on the
Door ol the House last week, Kobeson
now says that he should have shot
V hittliorne had he struck him. "I
should have killed him if he had hit
rne, he is reported as saying to Joe
Jdackhurn. Lverybody expected to see
Whitthorne strike Kobeson, as he
stode toward him and charged him With
lying. Had the space ov-r wiiich he
was obliged to walk to reach Kobeson
been shorter, he might not have been
able to contiol his passion. Kobeson
was aimed. He went to the House pre
pared to befend himself. He knew
Whitthorne's pas.-ionate nature, and hs
knew that lie should kindle the passion.
What woo d have happened bad Kobe
son shot Whitthorne down there in the
I area, before the whole House, we can
I only conjeelure; Put there would have
been more than one exchange of shots.
A ci mot's irea£ ot lightning occurred
j at the house ol Alexander Avery, Con
terville, Ala. None ol the inmates
were killed, hut the shoes o! each were
destroyed Toe stroke foil on Miss
•losie Avery's neck, and passing down
the body threw the shoe from one loot
with terrific force a great distance.
Ihe shoes on the h*et of her mother
were cut to pieces, while Mr. Logan, a
guest, iiad his shoest ings torn com
pletely out, the sole of one shoe
wrenched oil and a hole torn in the
other.
IT is reported that the well known
castor-oil plant, now generally u-ed in
ornamental gardening, is fatal to in
sect life. A single specimen placed in
a io:'ii infested t.y thes is said to have
! caused tlie tormenting insects to disap
pear with reniarkul'ie rapidity, their
corpses being atterward tound 011 the
floor.
+
A lawyer is about the ouiy man that
ever niad any thing by opposing a wo
man's w ill.
Xew . f drcrfiscnienls.
Bellefonte Enterprises
i* t
the Xrw V,ar Rvl/efonb
I i I promises to develop Into the must
prosperous of our in/mid tonus—enter
i prise ajter enterprise is being started
by the capital of our public spirited
citizens. The C'AK WORKS are run
nier/ to their full capacity, our (Ji.tss
W OITKS ore opening with every show of
succe-s, the STEM, WORKS will give on
ploymcnt to 100 men, the NAII, WORKS,
for whose success Gen. Hearer vouches,
will shortly offer employment to hun
dreds of people—all these public < nler
prises will pid Bellefonte. In the van
of prosperous ami wide-awake towns.
Here, then, is room and place for lively,
spirited and active young men. A mono
the bcsl and mod successful business
enterprises organized recently is the
LAUGH AXL WELL FILL LI)
FURNITURE ROOMS of R. R.
SPA XGLER& CO., opposite the
Rush House—nothing like it in the
County. Jj visitors to Jlellefoutc will
only take the trouble to call ut our Store,
they will be surprised at the quality,
style and prices of first-class Furniture.
He are aiming to buy all goods direct
ly from the manufacturers without the
intervention if agents, so us to offer
goods at bottom figures. ORE profit
is sufficient. He propose to fill your
homes with Parlor Suits, Bed Room
Suits, Sofus, Odd Chairs, Tables, any-
thing and everything in Furniture at |
prices lower than yon can get in this
County. We mean just what we say.
Wc a/so offer the public the services
of Mr. HENRY SWART/,, who has a
thorough knowledge of the UNI)ERi
fA KIXQ business, and who will keep
on hand COf FINS, TRJMMIXGS,
<fco., together with a first class HEARSE,
Fair prices only will he charged. Give
us a trial.
R. B. SPANGLER & CO.
17-8 m