8 THE SCRANTOK TRIBUNB-SATURDAT MOBNIN-O, APRIL i?7f 1895. .Which" Kind of Moeey Is the Safest Ktad? The Instructive Argument of Charles Jieber . Clark In Favor of Bimetallism. In response to the Interest which has lately been awakened In the financial questtun; and In order that the average reader may understand the views of eminent men representing all shades of belief, concerning this question. The Tribune will, from Saturday to Satur day, present, either verbatim or In sub stance, the expressed opinions of our leading publicists regarding It. Inas much as the discussion of the "silver question" in this state was formally opened at Htirrlsburg, April 9, by Charles Heber Clark, secretary of the Manufacturers' club, of Philadelphia, we deem It fair to let his speech on that occasion head our llHt. Next Sat urday we shall print Hon. Charles Emory Smith's reply. We Invite com ment from our readers on these speeches. Let the Important topic be thoroughly dlspussqd. Mr. Clary's Address. After some preliminary remarks, Mr. Clark said: The most Btartllng phen omenon of our times Is the persistent decline of the prices of commodities. This fall has been In operation for twenty years, and It has resulted In a shrinkage of values and a consequent extermination of wealth which cannot be contemplated by Judicious men with out alarm. Two years ago wheat was worth about 73 cents a bushel: In Oc tober last It was worth but 63 cents. Cotton was worth' 8V4 cents a pound; lately It was sold as low as 6 centB. Silver was worth 82 cents an ounce; recently it could be bought for 62 cents. In 1S73 the value of one acre's product of wheat, cotton, corn, oats and hay was $15.65; In 1S93 It was worth $8.15 a decline of nearly 48 per oent. and the decline was continued through this year. Pennsylvania produced 18,000,000 bushels of wheat In 1S77, and the pro duct sold for $24,750,000. Eighteen mil lion bushels this year would bring but a trifle more than $9,000,000 a loss of nearly $15,750,000 In one state on one crop. If American farm products had sold In 1893 for the prices of 1873 they would have brought $1,500,000,000 more. Is It any wonder that our westwn farm ers, In despair, rush Into the extrava gances of Populism? It Is not claimed that the decline has been absolutely uninterrupted. The usual influences have put prices up and down, but over and above those Influences some one great influence, operating generally and all over the world, has compelled the ultimate de cline of values. Distinction must be made between fall of prices and fall of values. If a loom Is Invented which will weave three yards of cloth In the time and with the labor heretofore required to weave one yard, the price will go down, but the world will ' be richer. If conditions be provided which compel a farmer to give three bushels of wheat In payment for a debt which could have been paid with one bushel when the debt was contracted, the world will be poorer. In the former case less effort produces more wealth. In the latter, more effort produces less wealth. Business can never thrive while prices continuously decline The Enlargement of Debts. Moreover, the fall of prices means the enlargement of all fixed obligations. The whole world Is In debt. In our own country. In 1890, the state, nationnl, city and school debts amounted In round numbers to $2,000,000,000, or $30 per head of the population. The mort gage debt upon real estate reached the sum of $6,000,000,000. . Besides, there are the railroad debts and the personal and other debts. These debts, In fact, are owed by the people, for the people have h pay them. No man can say that he Is out of debt. Each bond is an order for commodities produced by human toll. The debts aire paid finally in the articles which men produce. Thus, as prices fall, more and more of such articles must be given to meet the requirements of fixed obligations. Just how this has operated to Increase the burdens of the people may be per ceived upon examination of -these figures: The National Debt. Years. 1866 It was $2,000,000,000 Paid, principal, interest and premium 4,350,000,000 1S94 Rnlance due, In dollars, about 900.000.000 Bales. 1866 Could have been paid in cotton 14,184,000 Paid principal, Interest, etc., In cotton 94,690.000 1894 Balance due. In cotton, at 5 cents 51.000,000 Bushels. . 1866 Could have been paid In wheat 1,007,000,000 Paid principal, Interest, etc., in wheat 6,022,000,000 1894 Balance due In wheat 2,054,900,000 Thus, after paying In cotton nearly even times the original amount of the national debt, the American people still owe, in cotton, nearly four times the original deb; and In cotton, wheat and similar materials this debt and all other debts are, as a matter of fact, paid. What Causes Tills Shrinkage? It Is of the first Importance to ascer tain what Is the cause of this astonish-, ing shrinkage of values. There Is but one key to the riddle. It Is found in the fact that gold Is constantly advanc ing. No other completely satisfactory explanation of the problem can be sup plied. It is a common mistake that the value of gold never changes, and because people hold fast to this error they fall to comprehend this question. Gold, like every other commodity, Is In fluenced by the relation of supply to demand. Just now an artificially large demand Is produced by the demonetiza tion of silver. The fall of general prices began In 173, when silver was formally deprived of the money function. Prices had been rising through a long period prior to 1873. As soon as sliver was demonetized they started upon a down ward course, which they have ever since followed. This must necessarily have ensued upon the rejection of sil ver. For thousands of years the two metals have been employed together. In 1873 one was thrown aside and the whole stress of the demand for metallic money had been diminished one-half. Forbid the use of beef and mutton will become dearer. Prohibit woolen cloth ing and cotton will advance In price. When silver was denied Its place among money metals, gold began to go up. This Is an Indisputable fact.. The rise of gold might have been foresu'Mi and it was predicted. You have often heard the present standard silver dollar alluded to as a "50-cent dollar" and a "light-weight dollar." , You may be surprised to learn that it contains Just the same quantity of silver that the American standard dollar has always contained no more, no less. The gold In the gold dollar has been twice changed; the sliver In the silver dollar never. It is said that a gold dollar melted down will be worth its weight In coin, while the silver dol lar melted down will be worth but 60 cents. Fifty cents in what?. That' shape less mass of stiver will buy Just as much cotton, wool, wheat; 1 petroleum and other things as it ever, would. It holds precisety-the same relation to the products of human toll as It ever held. It will not buy so much of one thing It will not buy so much gold. Why? -Because gold haa gone up. Here is proof of the fact that the change has been not in silver, but in sold. We have no BO-cent silver dollar, but we have a gold dollar worth about fl.35. Demonetize gold, and silver will go up Just as gold has done. The fault lies not with the metal, but with the acts of legislation whljh discriminate against one metal In faor of the other. T ho Theory of Overproduction. An attempt has been made to,account for the fall of prices upon the theory that there Is overproduction. It is un reasonable .to ask us to believe that there has been overproduction all along the line for twenty years, and the fact that millions of men have not enough food or clothing Is sulliolent to demon strate that the theory is absurd. Take wheat, for example. The belief Is gen eral that this country constantly ex pands Its wheat-growing area. In truth, we had 2,000,000 ucres less In wheat In 1890 than we had In 1880. The wheat crops of the world are not excessive. They do not Increase as fast as the re quirements of the population demand. Here are the figures for ten yeavs: WHEAT CROP OK TUB VOHI.I. Years. . Bushels. 1SN4 2,00(1, (J77.C97 lSNii 2,0ti3.r2,9:!5 lMstf 2,lKI.!i97.000 1SS7 2,227,415.1100 1SK8 2,212,813.000 1K!9 2,085,505,0110 WJ0 2.170,123.010 1NH 2,359,294,0110 1W2 2,392.727.0lK) 2,359.030,000 It Is urged that Russia and India are pouring out wheat in extraordinary quantities. In truth the exports of Rus sian wheat, last year, were less than In 1890 and 1891. India b?gau to export wheat only aftur 1873. She does bo be cause her great annual tribute to Kng land, like ours, Is paid In commodities; and, as prices fall, a greater quantity of material is required to pay the same amount of debt. India and Russia are famine countries. Thi people have no surplus food for export. When they do export food, they do so because they must, not at all because they have more than they can eat. It Is also said that there Is overpro duction of sliver. The mint report for 1893 Bhows that the world's stock of sil ver Is but eighty odd millions larger than the world's stock of gold. Three quarters of the people of the earth use sliver alone. Those who use gold also use silver. Thus, the demnnd for silver exceeds the demand for gold, and yet the supply Is little greater. The over production of silver Is not a fact but a delusion. low Silver Was Demonetized. Why and how was silver demonetized? The purpose was to Increase the debts of the people. This country, for ex ample. Is enormously in debt to Kng land. England produces not wheat enough to feed her people, she grows no cotton for her mills, she has no silver mines. Would it not be a good thing for her to arrange that we should pay our great debt to her In wheat, cotton and sllvtr, at half or one-third price? Where greed Is apparent It Is not worth while, in such cases, to look for any other motive. Gold monometallism, like free trade, Is a British Invention; It is a device of the creditor for the Injury of the debtor. Monometallism as a de vice for oppressing creditors is not a novelty. Holland and Germany both demonetized gold after the California gold deposits were discovered, because silver was more valuable. The East India company forced India upon a silver basis for the same reason. How was silver demonetized? "Silently" says President Andrews, In his history of the United States. The American peo ple never voted upon the question. The deed was done in 1873, without the knowledge of many of the men who are alleged to have voted for It In congress. The speaker here read extracts from the Congressional Record, showing that men like the late Judge Kelley, Sena tors Allison, Beck, Ingalls, Thurman, Hereford and Bogy and Representa tives Holman, Cannon, Burchard and others repudiated all knowledge of the fact that silver was demonetized by the act of. 1873, for which they voted. What Is Honest Money? The gold doirar thus set up as the standard dollar Is continually alluded to as "honest" money; the Implication being that the silver dollar is dishonest money. But It is honest money that grows more valuable day by day? Is It honest money that records a debt of ten bushels of wheat nnd compels pay ment of twenty bushels? Is It honest money that makes our national debt far larger. In terms of wheat or cotton, than It was originally, after more than half the debt, in teri.ht of dollars, has been paid? The only honest-money is stable money. As Right Hon. A. J. Balfour puts It, "Money should be a fair and permanent record of obligation over long periods of time." The money which does not change In value, In its rela tion to commodities, and that alone. Is honest money. Melt down ten silver dollars, and the raw bullion will buy as much wheat or cotton or petroleum as It ever would. The relative values have not changed. Is not silver indeed really the honest money? Which Is the Host Monc? The claim Is also made for gold that It Is the. "best" money. Clearly, how ever, the best money is that which will give the most varied and effective ser vice. It would be a great loss to the world to have gold no longer used as money; but the world could do without it. But finally withdraw silver, and the commerce of mankind would suffer par alysis. Not only Is silver the sole money of three-fourths ofthe human race, but It Is Imperatively required by the gold standard nations for the perform ance of small transactions, which make all the wholesale business and without which, wholesale trade would Bhrlve) up and disappear. It is not true, as often assorted, that 95 per cent, of exchanges are made by checks through the clear ing houses. In, fifteen states there are fio clearing houses. It may be doubted If more than 10 per cent, of the Amer ican people keep bank accounts, and of those who do every one must draw small money dally for his retail pur chases. Dollars and sub-dlvlslons of dollars are absolutely necessary to the smaller commerce, which Is the source of all commerce. But, If It were true that checks are the most common In struments of exchange, why not check silver? Don't Vou see. how the gold monometalllsts, in arguing against silver- because it is too heavy, destroy their own argument by claiming that checks do the work? Depend upon It that 'an abundance of actual mon?y Is a positive essential of prosperity. Money is a tool. If there are -not enough tools for the workmen some work w!IP be left undone, some men will be compelled to remain Idle. It Is asserted that creditors will be Injured by a return to bimetallism be cause it 'Will scale down debts. But the creditor is entitled only to the normal condition of things, and no man can claim that conditions are normal which have been produced by gold monometal lism which the country knew nothing of until It was, by stealth, thrust upon us twenty years ago. , .. . Is lllmctalliatn Practicable? Can gold and. sliver Indeed be kept together by legislative action? Is the double standard 'a practicable thing? The double standard Is not, as some persons seem to think, two standards. The whole body of metallic currency to gether measures the value of other kinds of property. The average fluc tuation of the- value of two thjngs Is likely to be, smaller than that of the value of one thing, Under the double standard a man has the option 'to pay in either gold or silver. If silver shall go up he will pay in gold. The demand being taken off of sliver and falling upon gold, silver will come down, gold will go up and there will be a continu ous tendency toward ah equilibrium. Observe these figures. World's Product of Gold and Silver. Year. Oold. Bllver. 1792-1848 $800,000,000 $1,600,000,000 1849-1862 1,450,000,000 574.0UO.O0O 1802-1878 1,300,000,000 600,000,000 1873-1892 1,200,000,000 1,600,000,000 In the first period twice as much sil ver as gold was produced. In the sec ond period nearly three times as much gold as Bllver. In the third period twice as much gold as silver was produced. And yet, despite these variations and disproportions, the two - metals . re mained practically at par under the double standard. In the last period only one-fourth more silver than gold was produced. Who can- believe that, with the production of the two metals so little different, they could not have been maintained at par had silver not been demonetized? The best and final answer to the assertion that the double standard will not work Is that It has worked. It was In successful operation when the demonetizing act of 1873 wns passed. It was Introduced Into our system by Alexander flamllton with the cordial approval of Thomas Jeffer son. It was overturned apparently at the Instigation of our British creditors. Can Government (ilve Value? It Is said that "the government can not give value." If a luw should be passed forbidding any one to make n tin roof, the price of tin would fall. If a law should be passed forbidding any one to use anything but tin for roofing purposes the price of tin would go up. When the government took from silver the money function, the most Important of all Its functions, Bllver declined. Re store that function to it by law, and Bllver will regain the value that It lost. Will (iold llo Driven (flit? It has been declared that the result of un attempt to restore the coinage of silver will be to drive nway our gold nnd to induce a flood of foreign silver to pour Into this country. The fact Is that we have more than doubled our stock of gold since we began to reeoin sliver. Here are the figures: Cold in the United States. Jan. 1, 1879 $278,000,0(10 July 1, 1893 598,00,000 Which nation has the largest stock of gold? Is It Germany, Great Britain or the United States, the gold monometal lic nations? No; It is France, which holds fast to bimetallism. Thus France, the country which has the most silver, has also most gold. What haa been the effect upon the American stock of gold of repeal 'of the sliver purchase law, which was sild to drive out gold? We made a net loss of gold In the first nine months of 1S94, after repeal of the law, Just seven times greater than that made In the first nine months of 1893, when the sliver pur chase law was In operation. Under a system of bimetallism gold will flow Into the country because nobody will care to hoard It or to corner It If there shall be silver enough to do all the work that gold will do. Are we likely to be flooded with for eign silver? Where will It come from? Europe has no silver, but silver money which circulates at par with gold, as our silver dollar does. To send that money here would be to Involve a loss of 3 per cent., plus the cost of transpor tation, for the European silver is coined upon a ratio of 15 to 1, while ours Is upon a ratio of 16 to 1, Not a dollar of .European sliver will ever come to this country under suph conditions. But, if the peril was Indeed great, why should It not be averted by the simple expedient of placing a duty upon foreign silver? . , Our Trade with Europe. Complaint is made that If we shall try to restore silver, and gold shall dis appear, we cannot conduct our trade with Europe. If we should Indeed go upon a silver basis there would still be no difficulty In conducting commercial operations with gold standard coun tries. India and Mexico, sliver coun tries, trade easily with England. We trade with nations having different kinds of money and different weights and measures. But nobody desires that we shall part with gold. The blmet alllst wants both gold and Bllver and he Is sure that we can retain both. If gold be necessary to trade with Europe, so is silver necessary that we may tratle with Asia and Southern America. We face Asia on the west as we face Europe on the east, and we have in this hemisphere a string of silver UBing na tions reaching down from the Rio Grande to Terra del Fuego. And mark this! While there Is hardly an article for which we are dependent upon the gold using countries, we are depend ent for multitudes of the necessaries of life upon tha silver using nations. Shut us off from buying in Europe and still we should thrive. Shut us off from Asia and Southern America and Incalculable injury would be done to the nation. The question of the best and safest means for obtaining the restoration of bimetallism is one of great difficulty. The conditions are wholly new. There are no precedents. Never before since the world was made were men so fool ish as to discard one of the precious metals. Therefore any movement toward restoration must be In a degree attended with uncertainty. The man who positively declares that free coin age attempted by ourselves will pro duce hurtful consequences has no bet ter ground for the assertion than the man who, with equal posltiveness, de clares that It will be perfectly safe. I should say that there Is at least a fair reasonable possibility that we could perform the feat single-handed; but, If the assistance of foreign nations be needed, then our self-respect requires that we shall not solicit It but com mand It. A promising method of doing that was indicated last summer by Hon. Thomas B. Reed. It was that we should give tariff-favors to the nations which will consent to act with us. If, however, the choice lie between going back to bimetallism by our own ef forts or not going back at all, or If it lie between independent action on our part and waiting long for foreign help, the opinion of the American people will probably be that we should act without foreign help. The Duty of the Hour. '.' We are disposed to believe that the perils which once menaced the republic, the perils that are past, ore the great est that can menace It. But it Is not so. The Btruggle for existence is per petual with the nation as with the In dividual. The forces which tend to break down, disintegrate and destroy are as Incessant In their activity as those that build up and maintain. Each generation has its own hard problems to solve and these problems come to It In unlocked for shapes, from unex pected quarters. The generation that preceded ours had to deal with slavery. That was hideous and formidable, but It wag visible, tangible, openly aggres Blve and plainly antagonistic to the prnlclples of our Institutions. At the last it came upon us in the full tumult of war. But the evil which now assails us Is subtle, Invisible, insidious, even mys terious. Men suffer and do not dis cern why. Like a hidden disease It as sails the vitals and It will destroy us upless we conquer It. Shall we -conquer It ourselves or suffer still more while we wait for help that may never come? V ...... v This Is a question which you can help to answer and I trust that you will be Impelled to send to this nation some message that the great commonwealth that has always been in the very front a the champion of American protec tion as against British free trade will till hold that place In the contest be tween British gold monometallism and .that bimetallism which was introduced to our political system by the great men who set up the pillars of the re public. . THE FINANCIAL QUESTION. Short end Pithy Letters on This Subject Are Welcome. Editor of The Tribune. - Sir: We understand that money is something with which we can go into the markets and buy, making; Immedi ate payment. Now, any substance of convenient form and size, and suffi ciently durable in its nature, to per form money's functions; that Is, to bear the friction of exchange, and having a recognized value, whether it haa an In trinsic value or not, I submit would answer all purposes for which money is required. Now then, as to what will give to any money a recognized value. Is It not confidence? If it Is confidence, it is o.nly necessary that a contract of recognition be entered Into and kept in good faith by those mutually inter ested. The way this contract is made is by chosen representatives decreeing what shall be a recognized medium of exchange. The old cry against, flat money Is, and was, absurd and foolish, the gold dollar of Uncle Sam and the unit of value of every other country nre flat money Just as much as a green back to those who have not agreed to receive the coin or note at Its face value. The question next arises. What Is the best system of currency? Suppose that we take gold as a basis of redemption, and concede that no other substance can be fixed upon as a standard of com mercial value and see where this will lead us. It Is not claimed that the American product of gold, that is, what is produced in th? United States, is sulliclent, even though It were all coined Into money, to stand ready at call to redeem what currency is re quired for a free and full interchange of. commodities. Then what must we da? Either manufacture and sell our goods In foreign markets at a price lower than they themselves can sell, even with their cheap labor, or else pur sue the course the present administra tion has pursued, borrow gold to pay the Interest on the debt we already owe and thereby Increase the Interest bear ing debt to be paid In gold. This policy will reduce us either to a race of slaves, working at the command and prices of foreign capitalists, or to the other alter native, bankruptcy. Recognizing still the theory that a stable substance should be held as a redeeming fund, let us, with fairness, say that there Is not gold enough for the requirements of this great nation of ours. Then what Is the next best thing for us to consider? The human mind would naturally turn to the past and learn Its lessons. Suppose that gold Is the best and most precious of metals. If we have not gold enough, shall we enter voluntarily Into eternal bondage, and make of our nation and people, not the kaders in civilization and freedom we have been considered, but the bond-servants of aristocratic money centers? We claim to have the best market In the world. We claim to have the best paid labor of the world. Cannot the one sustain the other? Suppose that congress shall say that silver and gold coined on a ratio of 16 to 1, or CO to 1, I care not which, and stamped by the government of this land, shall consti tute the basis of our currency; that coin bearing certificates may be re deemed in either: that for all purposes of exchange and Interchange certifi cates redeemable In gold or silver, shall be a legal tender. Suppose further that foreign countries will not take our silver In exchange for the products of their manufactories? Is not this the best protection possible to our Indus tries? Would not gold accumulate If It were not needed? Would not gold be cheaper If silver took Its place In part? The only argument that can be made against the free coinage of the silver of the United States is that, to the man who sits In idleness, watching his In animate money accumulate and swell by the growing demand for more cur rency in a country whose population Is rapidly increasing, and whose money Is being cornered with Just as much rapidity, It means the placing of one's money Into active work and not out at usury. In this way we can pay our Indebtedness without repudiation. In this way wages will advance and so will the price of every useful article. Gold will not be required where her twin Bister can do the work. Try It and let the masses be benefited al though a few may Imagine they' are temporarily Injured. L. P. Wedeman; Forest City, April 22. CURRENCY AND PROSPERITY. Editor of The Tribune. Sir: "The free coinage of silver;" what does It mean? Does It mean what the words imply, that If any per son takes silver bullion to the mint he can have It converted Into coin free of cost? Or does It mean that if a man takes $1,000 worth of silver to the mint he can have It coined into $2,000, or thereabouts, as the market value of the metal will allow as compared with the Intrinsic value of the coin? Or does it mean that if a man takes $1,000 worth of silver to the mint and gets $1,000 In coin, the mint Is to retain the balance to pay the cost of minting? No gov ernment would be foolish enough to convert fifty ioents' worth ' of silver into a silver dollar for the benefit of the man who owned the silver. There fore, the talk of free coinage of silver In the literal sense of the word. Is lim ply absurd; unless a fixed and perman ent value can be placed on silver and a dollar's worth of the metal made Into coin of the value of one dollar. I can not see how any sane man, oth er than the owners of silver or silver mines, can advocate the free coinage of silver, or any further coinage at jail, for that matter, In view of the fact that there are millions upon millions of silver coin stored In the treasuries and vaults, which cannot be put Into circulation. There are 60,000,000 silver dollars In the Philadelphia Bub-treasury alone. The government Is already overburdened with silver and had to build more vaults to store It In. Con gress was "hoodooed" once by the sti ver men Into passing a law to purchase more silver every month than the gov ernment had any use for. That law is wiped out and not likely to be repeat ed. How the coinage of more silver Js going to benefit the country I am un able to see. Nor have I seen any state ment how the benefits claimed are to be brought about. Surely the country has all the bimetallism it wants Just now," Sliver circulates as freely as any other money, and there Is as much of it In circulation as can be circulated, unless wage-earners have mora work and get more pay. The only way to circulate money Is to loan It out or pay it out in exchange for something else. How can any new law "on finance change the condition of business af fairs? How can the government es tablish a fixed value for silver any more than It can place a certain and permanent value on cv.ppef or pig iron? The law of supply and demand and the work of speculators 'fix the prices upon all products of the earth. As for bimetallism, it Is a name for an Impossibility, so far as the relative Intrinsic value is concerned. For. the reason, in the first place, that a certain quantity of gold Is said to be worth a dollar, the government puts a stamp on it and makes It money. Then, In the second place, the government takes fifty cents' worth of silver, gauged by the gold dollar, and Btamps it one dol lar also. Now that fifty-cent silver dol lar circulates as freely as the gold dollar or the paper dollar, with the gov ernment stamp on it, simply because they all have the government stamp, and the people trust the government. TheBe three kinds of money are the medium of exchange, in which every body has confidence. But the. silver dollar Is not the equal of the gold dollar intrinsically, and 1b purely a flat money to the extent of the difference In value. If It should happen that an excessive amount of silver should be coined, some combination of speculative or dishon est men might raise a hue and cry, and a scare against sliver money, and cause It. to depreciate the same as was done with the trade dollar, once in circula tion; the people were fleeced out of fif teen cents on the dollar. Bimetallism Is an Impossibility while silver is so plentiful, and its production on the in crease. There can be but one stand ard (or money, and that is either gold or Bllver. For bimetallism you meas ure the silver by the gold, consequently the gold Is the real standard after all, and silver 1b subsidiary to the gold, and Is simply an Illusion. As for the Increase In the value of money or the decrease In the value of products, those conditions affect only the debtor class, and every one con tracting a debt must take his chances. Sometimes the price of products ad vances, as Is Just now the case with beef and petroleum and wheat. No body wants to' have his greenbacks re deemed In gold but monled men who find profit In It, or money sharks who want to fleece the government. Every body, is satisfied with the money we have In circulation, except that there are too many silver dollars to be handled by bankers and trades people. I cannot see how the currency can be Improved. Only I would prefer all the paper money alike, and only green backs. The currency will have to be let alone for the present. But the country Is "going to the dogs," all the same, getting into debt to Europe all the time, and the balance of trade largely against us. Times will not be restored to their best condition eo long as the people are so unpatriotic as to prefer foreign-made goods to home products to the extent of Im porting more than we export, and run ning in debt to the old world, which debts must be paid in gold or bonds. As a country, we are the most prosper ous when the balance of trade is largely In our favor, and we are growing richer instead of poorer. Before the civil war, when the country was politically In the hands of the Democratic party, the bal ance of trade was against us nearly every year, and the country never knew prosperity that would In any way com pare with the prosperity It has ex perienced since the war, and until It was known that Democracy was again coming into power. Even the blight of 1873 was not nearly as bad as some periods before the war. Respectfully, H . B. Van Benthuysen. Scranton, Pa., April 23. DRAMATIC NOTES. Lena Mervllle has Joined the "Brownies Ed Harrlgan and his company are play ing in Boston. Otis Skinner closed' his season at Corn ing last Saturday. Daniel Frohman has gone to Europe to look for new plays. Richard Mansfield Is writing a biogra phy of David Garrick. Ada Rehan and Stuart Robson are In Washington this week. , This Is the lest week of the Kendal's en gagement In New York. Tragedian Ward will aid Falstaff in Henry IV to his reportolre. E. A. Southern will play Clyde Fitch's "Major Andre" next season. Beerbohm Tree has purchased the dra matic rights of "Trilby" for England. Mme. Janauschek and Kate Claxton are playing "The Two Orphans" In Buffalo. Ada Rehan will not appear In New York until next November. Bhe will act In Boston next week. George Alexander and his St. James theater company of London will make a tour of this country next year. The ' new theater In Brooklyn, to be called the Montauk, will be located in Fulton street near Hanover Place. Miss Adelaide Prince, the well-known actress, has been married to Creston Clarke, actor, a nephew of Edwin Booth. Shakespeare's birthday was observed this week by a series of performances at the memorial theater at Stratford-on-Avon. Minnie Landers, who replaced Eleanor Mayo in Willard Spencer's "Princess Bon nie," has become a great favorite In Phila delphia. Richard Mansfield's' new Garrick theater (formerly Harrlgan's) was opened this week with Bernard Shaw's play, "Arms and the Man." It is Anally settled that the Actor's Fund benefit, which will witness the pro duction of Estelle Clayton's comic opera "The Viking,' shall occur Thursday after noon. May s. Alexander Salvlnl Is to produce "The Outlaw'" on May 31 at the Hollls street theater In Boston. ThlB is the play In which the elder Salvlnl made one of his best successes. Eleanora Duse signed a contract In Paris on Monday last with Harry Miner of New York for a tour of the United States which will begin In November next at the Fifth avenue theater. New York city. Slgnora Duse will be supported by her own company. William H. Thompson, the character ac tor, has in his possession thirty-two differ ent wigs ranging from the curly blonde hirsute covering of the dude to the thin white locks that cover the head of the nonagenerlan. "I have a collection of Wigs which Is good," said he the other day, "but my collection of voice is equally good. A voice goes with each wig." The benefit for C. W. Couldock will be given at the Fifth avenue theater on Fri day, May 31. "The Rivals" will be played by . cast including Joseph Jefferson, as bod Acres, w. s. crane as Sir Anthony Absolute, Nat C Goodwin as Sir Luolus O'Trigger, Thomas W. Keene as Faulkner, De Woir Hopper as David. Mrs. John Drew as Mrs. Malaprop, Miss Viola Allen as Lydla Languish and Miss Nellie Mc- Henry as Lucy. i ' ' . - Clay Not of Legal 'Ago. ' The constitution of the United States says: "No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained the age of $0 years." Henry Clay was appointed to fill a vacancy and took hie seat Deo, 29, 1800. He was born April 12, 1777, and consequent ly was In his 80th year, but had not "at tained the age f 40 years." No question on this ground was raised when he was sworn In, and It Is probable that he did not give the matter much thought. In strictness he was not of legal age. This small difficulty was soon cured, however. and he lived to serve his country long and honorably. ' Gathered lira Melody. A PROMISING COMPOSER: He was born half a century after Mozart, On the very same day of the year; And this singular fact was a source of great Joy' To the Press, which exclaimed: "A good omen the boy Will most certainly make a career!" At the great age of four he could play all the tunes Which he heard on the organ, by ear. And at ten he composed such a beautiful song That they said: "We must praise, for surely ere long '. He will make an unheard-of career 1" At twenty, a symphony whteh he com posed With delight drove musicians quite wild; Bo the Press took him up: "The work shows signs of haste, But It promises well, and we've not the bad taste To discourage this talented child." At thirty an opera oame from his pen. And to hear It all Londoners ran; Again were the critics most kind: "Wo are glad To be able to state the work's really not bad, He's a promising, rising young man!" At forty, at fifty, at sixty, more works Were produced with enormous success. And they gained for him every where money and fame; "We are so pleased to see that he's mak ing a name For himself by degrees," said the Freaj. At seventy one more great work he com posed, . And It took the whole world by surprise; Tho critics were now quite enraptured: "In truth He will do something yet, will this prom ising youth. If thus fast be continues to rise." At eighty he died; then with sorrow they spoke Of the Iobs which all Europe befell. And expressed themselves thus: "It Is sad we must say That a talent so great should be taken away At a time when it promised so well." Warner's Magazine. W. Von Sachs writes to the New York Sun that Joaef Hoffmann, now a man of , 18, has developed as a pianist, under the Instruction of the late Anton Rubinstein and of Moszkowskt, Into one of the three greatest living masters of the keyboard, his only rival being d' Albert and PaderewBkl. He continues: "Josef Hoffmann's first appearance in Vienna was effected at one of the Phil harmonic concerts under Hans Rlchter, who had heard him last summer In England, and forthwith engaged him to appear here this winter. That he could not be a pianist of a mean order was evident from the invitation Itself, which Is a signal honor that no artist, however great, is likely to undervalue; but who he was and what he had done were at the time of his debut unknown to most.Vlennese. However, It needed but a few bars of the Rubinstein D minor concerto to convince his hearer that a player of the first rank was before them. His first public appear ance In the most critical of musical oitlos won. a jomKlt triumph far the young artist, which his subsequent two recitals only confirmed. It is not often that such scenes of enthusiasm are witnessed as at the conclusions of these two memorable occasions in the old Bozendorfer Saal, where every one who is distinguished in the tone world and has visited Vienna has been heard at one time or another. The audience positively rose as a body, cheering loudly, and refusing to leave the hall till a servant came in to close the piano and all the lights were turned out. Since Rubinstein's last appearance and the farewell of Alice Barbl'the like had not been witnessed." V ' THE TRIANGLE: . Ye countless stars, both great and small, The poetic sky who spangle, Not one of you, that I recall, Has hymned the sweet triangle! With lyre and lute too long , too much, Ye've thrld love's mazy tangle, Yet unresponsive to your touch Have left the sweet triangle. ' And so the Muse commissions me A lay to newly fangle I play the Instrument you see In praise of my triangle. No tambourine, no minstrel bones Give forth what Hilda Wangel . Would cull BUCh "frightfully thrilling tones" As those of my triangle. No self-respecting band may try To play 'twould simply mangle Good music, unassisted by The silver-tongued triangle. In vain does Strephon with a lute Round Phyllis always dangle; She'd have him. If he urged his suit With passionate triangle. Full brave may bray the loud trombone, Full sweet the cymbals Jangle, The bagpipes till they burst mey drone. So I have my triangle. The stately cold piano may All depth of feeling strangle; To rouse deep feeling I essay. Nor fail, on my triangle! O'er rival claims of violin And 'cello some may wrangle ' For pure expression nothing's In The hunt with my triangle. The diamond bracelet must exceed In worth the silver bangle No Instrument, string, wind, or reed Compares with my triangle I . Punoh. V "People sometimes complain," writes Mme. .Melba in Llpplnoott's, "that the opera Is expensive. Why should it not be? Paintings by Daubigny, Rous seau, Vlbert. Cazln, Jean Beraud, Dettl, etc., are expensive, because they are ex cellent, and the possessors of the tech nique required to produce them are few In, number and know their own value. There. are very, few composers who are able to produce really1 great operas, and they must be well paid. Then how many vocal artists arc there ,n the known world who are competent to Interpret music? Do we appreciate the enormous expenditure of time and effort, the long, laborious.uninterrupted training which the . singers must go through with, before audiences will lis ten to them? This species of training, too.demands the sternest and most con scientious personal sacrifices. There must be often a Spartan regimen, great forfeitures of social pleasures, dally and unceasing study and practice, no matter at what cost of weariness and often irksome labor. All this must be accomplished whtle the golden hours of youth are fleeting, and without the sure promise of ultimate success as an In centive. The attainment of renown as the Interesting Notes About Famous Musicians at Home and Abroad. f a singer Is like the high prize In a lot tery, and after all the aspirant may draw a blank. Even when fame la achieved, and In the great cities of both hemispheres the brow of the singer is crowned with laurels, and opulent managers outbid each other In order to secure engagements, some unfore seen accident may at once destroy the entire fabric of availability so carefully constructed, of genius, musical skill and capacity, dramatlo fervor, and conscientious devotion to art. Then the voice Is silenced forever, and the singer lives only in memory, while the Income stops. Even at the best the career of the vocalist is brief. The great lawyer or physician often touches his zenith at threescore, or perhaps threescore and ten; a Gladstone retlreB only from choice at 65; a Bismarck Is never greater than In old age; but what of the singer when Inexorable time attacks the vocal organs? V It Is expected that the Royal Welsh Ladles' choir, under the directorship of, the celebrated Madame Clara Novello Davles, will pay a visit to Scranton during the month of July. Their for mer visit to this city la well within the recollection of those who heard the de lightful music in the Frothlngham. Since they won the first prize at the World's fair, Chicago, their successses have been constant and steady. The choir comprises thirty-one ladles, who have been selected for the purity of their voices and ability to read and ren der music, and It Is no exaggeration to state that they represent the talent of the semi-professional musical ability of Wales. Recently they have made a triumphal tour through England and the musical critics of the Times, the World, the Lady, and other newspapers, have after a critical analysis of their perform ances passed glowing tributes upon, the fair singers. The following excerpt from the London Times will be read with Interest: "Madame Clara Novello Davles, leader of the 'Welsh Ladles' choir,' has received from the queen a handsome gold brooch In commemora tion of the recent concert given by the choir before her majesty, at Osborne palace. The brooch is In the form of a monogram 'V. R. I.' In gold, laid over with ruby enamel, and studded with sixteen diamonds, the whole being sur mounted by a gold crown, small pieces of enamel representing the different colored velvets. V One of the features of the visit of Governor Hastings to the city this week was the rendition for the first time in public byBauer'sorchestraof the "Gov ernor Hastings March," a composition of Thomas Kershaw, musical director at Davis' theater. The Hastings March is a tuneful, spirited quIckBtep of the character of "Liberty Bell," and con tains elements that should make It equally popular. The march Is pub lished for piano by the Lyric Muslo company of Scarnton, represented by George N. Rockwell and Fred C. Hand. Professor B. E. Pitts, who has been the leader of the Mozart orchestra In Carbondale during the winter months. win vc that oir May i tar Sylvan Beach, N. Y., where he will conduct an orchestra In one of the leading summer hotels. V MUSICAL NOTES: Dr. Antonln Dvorak has gone to Europe. Calve won a great success in St. Peters burg. Josef Wlenlawskl is giving concerts in Berlin. Albert Niemaun, the veteran tenor, is 111 In Berlin. Faderewskl gave a concert In Paris last Thursday evening. Adele Aus der Ohe has given up her New York recitals owing to lHnese. Camllle d'Arvllle will appear In a new opera, "Marlon," in New York, next month, A performance of "Tannhauser" In pan tomime Is the latest craze in Geneva, Switzerland. Miss Eleanor Mayo was married last Wednesday to James Everion, Jr. Thiy will go abroad for the summer. Myron W. Whitney, Jr., a son of the famous basso, who Is still a student In Harvard, made his debut as a singer In Boston last week. Edward Strauss, the composer's younger brother, le to revisit England this Bum mer with his celebrated band, and to play cmeny ine aance muaic cumpuaeu vy vari ous members of the Strauss family. A Brooklyn newspaper writer calls at tention to the numerous Emmas In the field of music. He mentions Emma Ab bott, Emma Calve, Emma Thursby, Em ma Eamee, Emma Albanl, Emma Howe, Emma Heckle, Emma Juch, Emma Win ant, Emma Nevada and Emma Materna, Literal, From the Chicago Inter-Ooean. "How does Fanny stand in her classes? Well?" Flossie. Oh, no; Just awful pigeon-toed, . ' MUCH IN LITTLE. California shepherds use bicycles. When flying at its highest speed the house fly makes 600 strokes of Its wings per second, and the dragon fly 1,600.' The sound of a bell can be heard through the water at a distance of 45,200 feet. Through the air it can be heard at- a dis tance of only 466 feet. It Is said that dew will not form on some colors. While a yellow board will be cov ered with dew, a red or black one beside It will be perfectly dry. Th Japanese begin building their houses, at the top. The roof Is first built and ele vated on a skeleton frame. Then' it af fords shelter for workman from storms. The brain Is not affected by the move ments of the body, even though these are sometimes very violent, because it rests on a basis of soft cushions between bones of the spine. It Is a well-known fact that the milk maids In SwIUerlaad whs can sing get better pay than those who cannot sing. The reason Is that a tuneful maid Who sings at her work coaxes one-fourth more milk from a cow than a songless milker can extract. A Paris doctor who has been studying the effect of liquors on the voice states that none of the great singers have ever been teetotalers. Wine taken in modera tion, he believes. Is useful for the voice; but beer thickens it and makes It gut tural Mallbran used to drink Maderls. The starfish kills the oyster by envelop ing It closely in its arms, then placing bis Jects a very acrid and venemoue Juice within. The poor oyster, disgusted by the poison, opens his shell to admit water and so rid himself of It, and thus falls prey to the destroyer. The sea gaUey in tropical seas Is very dangerous to bathers. One of these crea ture fastened to the body causes a pain so Intense that swimmers have been known to faint ere they could reach the shore. "The pain has been compared to that of a very acute attack of. Inflamma tory rheumatism.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers