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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (May 17, 1900)
THE MORNING OftEGONTAN, THURSDAY, MAY 17, 1900. Cired at the PcetoOce at Portland. Oregoa. its Kcond-cl&u matter. TELEPHOXKS. tentorial Roosifl....lC0 I BualDcca Oface....C67 REVISED SUBSCRIPTION KATES. Br lla.il tpoetage prepaid), la Advance Dally. withSunday. jer month ....JO 5 Dally. Sunday excepted, per year.. ... 7 50 XaUy, with Sunday, per year. 9 00 Sunday, per year ........-.. 00 The Weekly, per Tear 1 CO The Weekly. 3 month..... ........ ... GO To City Subscribers Dally, per week, delivered. Sundays excepted.l3e Dally. jxr -week, delivered. Sundays lncluded.20a News or discussion Intended for publication ta Th Oregonlan should be addressed invariably "Editor The Oresonlan." not to the name of any Individual. Letters relating to advertising. cubscrlpUons or to any business matter should be addressed simply "The Oregonlan." The Oregonlan does not buy poems or stories from Individuals, and cannot undertake to re turn any manuscripts sent to It -without solicita tion. Jio stamps should he Inclosed tor this Purpose. Paget Sound Bureau Captain A. Thompson, cmca at 1111 Pacific avenu. Tacomi. Box 9i Tacoma postofflce. Eastern Business Office The Tribune build ing. New Tork city; "The Rookery." Chicago: thoS. C. Beckwtth special agency. New York. For sale In San Francisco by J. K. Cooper. T6 Market street, near the Palace hotel, and at Goldsmith Bros.. 236 Sutter street. For sale in Chicago by the P. O. News Co 817 Dearborn street. TODAY'S WEATHER.-Fa!r and warmer; winds mostly northwest. PORTLAND, THURSDAY, MAY IT. The rule under which the School Board denies access to pupils on the part of solicitors for various schemes is highly commendable, and should be rigidly enforced. But the reason why there are wise exceptions to all rules Is that a rule is only a means to an end, and when Its enforcement hinders rather than advances that end, the sa gacious administrator holds it in abey ance. An exception to the rule in ques tion may very well be made in the case of the application for employment of the children in sale of monument but tons to the small number of half the number of pupils in each room. There Is no compulsion, such act on tho part of the children will be optional with them and their parents. In the produc tion of good citizens, at which the schools are aiming, practical patriotism is a prominent element. In childhood is the best time to learn that tho man who enlists under his country's flag in time of danger Is a hero and his grave a sacred place that should be held in reverence and honor. To oppose this project with the admirable rule adopted for exclusion of extraneous matters Xrom the attention of the pupils Is sim ply to exalt the letter of the law above Us spirit. The legal basis of objection to Clark will doubtless lie in the view that the Legislature failed to elect; hence the appointment falls under the ban estab lished in the Corbett and Quay cases. A fraudulent act is no act, and its per formance leaves everything as If It had not occurred. Having failed to choose a Senator, then fore, the Montana Leg islature has the Lisk still to perform. The Supreme Court of the State of Washington has served notice on out side capital that It Is again safe to venture within the confines of that state. Sibson & Kerr, a Portland firm, advanced a large amount of money on warehouse property in that state, tak ing a mortgage on the warehouse sys "ti as 'security. Their money being fully due, they attempted to foreclose. Resistance was offered, and the case came before a Populist Judge in Whit man County. A referee was agreed on, and after weeks of research and the expenditure of considerable money, the referee decided in favor of the Port land firm. The Judge, who is quite fa mous in a small way as a producer of Populist literature and the author of unsound decisions, promptly overruled the referee's findings, and compelled the Portlanders to put up bonds of over ?20,000 In order to carry it to a higher court. That court, In session at Olym pla Tuesday, administered a proper re buke to Populist methods of legal pro cedure by reversing the lower court's decision and instructing that judgment bo entered in accordance with the ref eree's findings. It is not every firm that is dragged Into legal troubles that can furnish a good bond for $200,000. Had the Portlanders been unable to do so, the decision of the Populist Judge would have meant financial ruin to them, Just as it would to many a man In a similar predicament who might happen to be the victim of such a biased and peculiar interpretation of the law. Justice has been done the Portland investors by the Supreme Court, but they will never be recom pensed for the Injustice they suffered at the hands of the "Whitman County Judge, who floated Into office on the Populist wave which overspread Wash ington a few years ago. The optimistic, editor of the Walla Walla Statesman writes homo from a brief sojourn in Oregon that If the Democrats had put "a full state and county ticket in the field, their success would have been beyond peradven ture." The inference is that he thinks the Fusion ticket will land somewhere in the rear of peradventure. This still leaves us in doubt as to how near peradventure Is to the goal. It would be galling to the worthy Fuslonlsts to get so far as that and still be out of sight of the offices. In beginning an editorial on the al leged decadence of the Republican party, the Roseburg Review somewhat ungrammatically yet truthfully states: v Tlmo was when the affairs of Government, as administered by Republicans, was largely for the Interests of the people, and was given their honest support. This is rather a tardy admission of the virtues of the Republican party. How comes It that, when the party was administering affairs in the interests of the people, the Review was oppos ing It as bitterly as it does today? wis the Review against the people then, or is It simply "forninst the Gov ernmlnt, regardlis"? If Dr. Daly's extreme sense of cour tesy to Congressman Tongue compels him to stay off the stump, it would seem that the same delicacy would re quire him to stay at his Lake County home during the campaign. It makes no difference to Mr. Tongue whether his opponent proclaims his merits along the highways or goes sliding around through alleys and back yards In order to reach the Congressional goal. It Is not probable that wherever the free rural postal delivery system has been established the people will ever consent to its abandonment. The ex perimental routes In Oregon have given, such general satisfaction and so accus tomed the rnral districts where they are operated to the conveniences of household delivery of mail, that the people would now rather pay for the cost of the service than have it dis continued. It will not be many years before the gray uniform of the post man will be a familiar sight on every traveled road In the United States. REFORM, AND BOGUS REFORMERS. The "Citizens" Legislative ticket. In that ridiculous platform, containing a pretentious declaration of bogus prin ciples, explicitly ab'solves itself from "previous party affiliations," although the several signatories mildly declare that they do not thereby change "our individual views on the great National issues of the day." So, then, there are great National Issues? But these can didates profess to think so little of them, and of their relation to them, if they are elected, that they proceed in this modest fashion: We conceive that our election or our own de feat at the polls will In no sense affect the de cision of those Issues by the American people, but that, on the other hand. If we arc elected, we can aid In securing to the citizens of this country local legislation that will afford relief from existing evils. This Is paltry shuffling, pitiful and hypocritical misstatement of the real purposes for which these eighteen Leg islative candidates were nominated. They were all named with specific ref erence to their attitude on one ques tion that has a pivotal bearing on great National Issues, and that Is the United States Senatorshlp; and, furthermore, they were selected as the result of a direct bargain between the leaders and bosses of various parties that had as its basis the succession to Senator Mc Bride and of Senator Simon, two years hence. There was no other important consideration; there is no other com mon tie but the joint interest of all to defeat the regular Republican nomi nees, eighteen of whom shall have a voice in the naming of one Senator, and five In the naming of two. And because five Republicans are to be hold-overs, the fire of both Mitchell McBrlde factionists and their Demo cratic allies is especially aimed at them. Declaring openly that the main pur pose for which they hope to be elected is of no consequence, and that they, and therefore the people they repre sent, have no real concern in National issues or the National destiny, this as sociated happy family of candidates declares that It stands for reform. By Inference we are to suppose that the Republican candidates do not. Through some obvious oversight they neglected to say so. They demand primary re form, tax reform, and charter reform. We had charter reform a year ago to correct some of the abuses and put be yond the chance of repetition tho out rages Imposed on this unfortunate city by a Democratic Mayor. The record o the Republican Legislative candi dates who are up for re-eiection ought to satisfy even these virtuous and dis interested friends of the taxpayer that there are other advocates of tax reform besides themselves. As to primary re form well, there's a difference of hon est opinion about the proposed Bing ham law. There is none about the de sirability and genuine need of a prac tical primary election law, and a Re publican Legislature is quite as likely to give it as a Democratic. More likely, if the past Is a criterion for judgment. Let the public cast its eye at the notable record of the last Legislature a Republican Legislature. It enacted a registration law. It en acted a new apportionment law against determined opposition largely Populist and Democratic by which Multnomah gets seventeen members of the Legislature and two joint members. If this law had not been enacted through systematic endeavor of the Re publican majority, Multnomah would have failed to secure even an approxi mation of her undeniable deserts, and the Democratlc-"Citizens" machine would be striving to elect only twelve, and not eighteen, members. The new charter provides for the funding of our bonded debt at a lower rate of interest, and for the abolition and reduction of salaries. The District Attorney for Multnomah was put on salary, and in famous, liigh-handed extortion of the taxpayers of this city and county, practiced for years by a leading light in the forces supporting the "Citizens" ticket, and upheld largely by the Mc-Brlde-Mitchell "push," was at last ended. Are these things In the line of practical, substantial reform, genuinely beneficial to the public, or are they not? The Republican Legislative ticket Is pledged to the support of all Judicious measures of retrenchment and reform. If , elected, the Legislators will keep their pledges. That Is the usual prac tice of Republicans, who stand for real reform, and not the bogus article. CEXTEXMAL OF LOUISIANA PUR CHASE. ThQ proposal to hold in St. Louis In 1903 a celebration in commemoration of the centennial of the Louisiana pur chase is before a special committee of Congress in the shape of a measure asking an appropriation from the Na tional Treasury of $5,000,000 for that purpose. Accompanying the proposi tion Is the stipulation that the money is to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, and that no part of It shall be available until after the people of St. Louis and Missouri shall have raised and expend ed for the purpose designated $10,000, 003. The Louisiana purchase was one of tho most notable and fortunate events In our history. It was expan sion of the most extended character and the most approved type. By it parts of Alabama and Mississippi, the whole of the present States of Louis iana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Ne braska and the Daltotas, Minnesota west of the Mississippi; nearly all of Kansas; the whole of Indian Territory, and parts of Wyoming, Colorado and Montana lying east of the Rocky Mountains came under the jurisdiction of the United States. Some authori ties hold that the French rights to which we succeeded under the pur chase gave us dominion extending to the Pacific Our -title to what was known as the Oregon country has, however, been deduced from other sourced, and Its inclusion within tht territory of the Louisiana purchase is disputed, if not disproved. This great empire, including half of the United States, then peopled only by Indians, but now the homes of millions of loyal citizens, was bought for the sum,of $15,000,000. Whether as a saga clous stroke of finance, the peaceful acquisition of empire, or a piece of far- sighted statesmanship that shut a Eu ropean power out of our vast interior, the Louisiana purchase was a National event, the centennial of which may well be celebrated In an Imposing manner. Congress may not see fit to appropriate the sum asked, or any other sum for this purpose. But It Is safe to say that St. Louis, having started the ball rolling, will compass the means where by a celebration of a magnitude com mensurate with .the Importance of the event will be held. OUR CHANCE AT TURKEY. The Imperial treasury of Turkey Is always empty because of the great number of highly paid officials In Con stantinople. The Grand Vizier draws a salary four times as large as that of Lord Cromer In Egypt, twice as large as that of Lord Salisbury. By the lat est official returns there are no less than forty-four Marshals in the Turk ish Army. There are also forty-six Viziers with the rank and pay of Mar shal, and eighty members of the Coun cil of State as many as in France and Germany put together. Military offi cers, moreover, invade the diplomatic corps, and receive, in addition to their army pay, the stipend of Minister, or Ambassador. The trained diplomats do not complain when they are crowd ed out of office by the soldiers because they are then granted larger salaries than when in active service. In case our Government should de cide to proceed to collect the claim due from Turkey and acknowledged by the Sultan, a correspondent of the New Tork Sun observes that an "American squadron might take possession of the Island of Lemnos, off the mouth of the Dardanelles, and declare a blockade, in or out, against every vessel under the Ottoman flag, merchant or war ma rine. If that did not produce Immedi ate results, which I believe it would, then there is the Island of Rhodes, the custom-house of which should in a short time furnish the amount of the Indemnity." This is all very plausible, but suppose Turkey, secretly backed by some great European power, should treat this proceeding as an act of war; it would be very bad for the mission aries, both at present and in the future. President Angell, of Ann Arbor Col legtf, our ex-MInlster to Turkey, In his recent address points out that it would be utterly fatal to the future work and Influence of our American missionaries to resort to warlike force. The mo ment that It was known that our Gov ernment had resorted to military force to collect the damages awarded the missionaries, the spiritual Influence of the missionaries would receive a shock from which It would not soon recover. In other words, If we should collect the missionary damages by threat of resort to military force, the missionaries would get their money, but their occu pation in Turkey for tho future would be gone. They would probably have to get out and stay out. BRYAN'S POSSIBLE CAINS. McKInley was elected President in 189C by a majority of 95 electoral votes, receiving 271 against 17C for Bryan. General Grosvenor, of Ohio, now pre dicts the re-election of the President by an electoral college majority of at least 73, and possibly 90. General Gros venor concedes to Bryan the vote of Maryland (S) and Kentucky (13), two states which gave McKInley 20 votes in 1S9C, which would increase Bryan's vote to 197. General Grosvenor takes away from the Bryan column South Dakota (4 votes), Washington (4 votes), Wyoming (3 votes) and the one Cali fornia vote which went to McKInley; that is, a total of 12 votes to be sub tracted from the 197, leaving Bryan a vote of 185, and making McKInley a majority of 77. General Grosvenor classes Kansas, which gave Bryan 10 votes, as doubtful, and Delaware also, which gave McKInley 3 votes." If Mc KInley should carry Kansas and lose Delaware, his electoral college major ity would be 91 receiving 269 votes to 17S for Bryan. General Grosvenor seems to feel no apprehension of Republican defeat In New York. Indiana, Michigan, Rllnols or Wisconsin. With a united party, New York Is Democratic, but with Bryan it Is doubtless Republican. But In Indiana, which gave McKInley but 18,000 plurality In 1S96, Bryan has a good fighting chance. Ohio is doubt less safely Republican, but if Gover nor Plngree supports Bryan, the Demo cratic ticket in Michigan would have a fighting chance of success. The German vote can turn the scale in Wisconsin, but It is an honest-money vote, and, while against " "imperialism," would probably refuse to vote for Bryan. In Illinois Bryan has a fighting chance, for It was carried by Cleveland In 1S92 and the Republican party has been greatly weakened by Governor Tanner's ad ministration and the factional fights growing cut of it. Labor disturbances in Chicago have come to unsettle the situation, even as the Buffalo car strike and the Homestead trouble helped Cleveland to victor in 1S92. It may not be fairly denied that Bryan has a fighting chance in Illinois. Portland will extend its annual wel come to the good cheer of its abound ing hospitality to the pioneers next month. Those against whose familiar names not yet The fatal asterisk of death Is sat will recall names that have been added to the memorial list within the past year, representing friends and neighbors who have walked close to them in the vanished years, and with pulses quickened by the memory they will draw closer together for the brief period of the annual reunion. The pathos of these meetings Is to some extent overcome by kind nature in the gladness and good cheer that attends them. It may be hoped that every state-builder man or woman Who Is physically able to make the journey from his or her home to Portland dur ing the midweek of June will join the fast-thinning ranks of the pioneers at that time in Jubilant memory of the days when the "Oregon country" was a beautiful wilderness, and later when the State of Oregon was but a name in the Eastern civilization from which the sturdy foundation stones of a Pa cific Coast civilization were drawn. The plea of Mr. Clark, of Montana, In which he vaunted his integrity, treated with fine scorn the charge or assumption that he had purchased the seat which he claimed in the United States Senate, and declared it to be his highest purpose in life to leave an un tarnished name to his children, as It would seem, touched the hearts of his colleagues In that body and caused them to crowd around him for the priv ilege of grasping his honest hand. Gov ernor Smith, as he hurried home by lightning express to undo If possible the mischief wrought by his Lieutenant-Governor, through collusion with tho Clark element In Montana, In his absence, will probably read the touch ing address of Mr. Clark without shar ing the admiration of the Senators. The purpose of so palpable a political trick boldly played cannot be mistaken though baptized in tears. One part of the venal crew that schemes and plans in the political centers of Montana may rejoice and the other faction gnash its teeth In rage over the coup made pos sible by the brief absence of the Gov ernor from the state, but to suppose that any citizen of Montana is deceived by Its pretense of honor and sincerity is to impugn his intelligence, and in deed to discount his common sense. The moral sense of a community must be cleared rather than obscured by so audacious an attempt to blind it with sophistry. The standing army of Great Britain Is very small compared with those of Continental Europe, but, despite that fact, that power has sent 200,000 men to South Africa 6000 miles by sea, with out stripping the home country of Its defense. It is said that neither France nor Germany could send so large a force abroad without dislocating and impairing the efficiency of the home defense. Nor have cither France or Germany the splendid troopships to send that number of men, even if they could spare them. Count Sternberg, of Austria, who has Just returned from service in the Boer army, says that there is no Continental power which could have armed and sent so many troops such a great distance from home as England has dispatched to South Af rica, The action of England is a reas suring object-lesson to the United States. The sea protects us as it does England from invasion, and we can get along, as England does, without a huge standing army, and can depend, as England does, on the people for a large volunteer force to rally around the nu cleus of our comparatively small stand ing army, and, like England, our latent military resources are immense. Tho needs of the Madison-Street bridge seem to be insatiable. After throwing enough good money after bad to build a new and substantial bridge, the taxpayers will be called upon to put up for a structure that will stand the pressure of travel required of a bridge across the river at that point. The new patch on the old .garment de stroys what It was intended to strengthen, whether the article sub jected to this process is a bridge or a pair of trousers. Tho economy that continues to apply patches to a struc ture never too strong Is at best of doubtful character, though in this case it Is held to be a matter of necessity. So long as time shall last there will always be plausible reasons for not passing a Nicaragua Canal bill at that particular time offered by the enemies of the measure, whenever It comes up for consideration, and the bill will never be passed until its friends utterly ignore all reasons urged for delay and Insist upon immediate construction of the canal. It is one of the things the people of the United States want, and something they will never have until they demand it and hold all those who advance plausible reasons for delay as its enemies and treat them accordingly. 'Lieutenant-Governor Dannels is now a Democrat. He Isn't much of a Dem ocrat, because there Isn't much of Dan nels; but he's sufficient to go to the Spokane convention, whoop it up for silver, denounce the trusts, view im perialism with alarm, and declare for Bryan and Lewis. Perhaps this serv ice In behalf of the downtrodden peo ple will be enough to yield another nomination for Dannelst but probably not. Lightning never strikes the same mushroom twice, for obvious reasons. "I was not born in the County As sessor's office, and I do not expect to die there," remarked Candidate Mc Donell at a Republican meeting the other night. Aptly put. No person ought to have a life cinch on office. When he begins to think he has, it Is high time to turn him out. Spain would like to sell the guns on the fortifications of Havana to the United States, asking for them the nice little sum of 52,000,000. If any other power had taken possession of Cuba through the fortunes of war, the guns would have gone along with the forts as a matter of course. ' Governor Smith Is eloquently mourn ful over the great wrong done during his absence from Montana. He fears he cannot undo it by returning. Too bad. In Montana the bad men always go wrong, and In great financial crises the good men go away. Naturally, that Republican County Convention In Montana voted down the resolution to censure the Republican member of the Legislature who voted for Clark. Put yourself In his place, is the platform of the wise and thrifty Montana Republicans. Clark's feat of prestidigitation, whereby he seeks to transpose in stantly a Senatorial rotten egg Into a sound one, will give us an opportunity to see whether the Senate detects the same old odor in the new shell. Reports generally throughout the state are to the effect that fruit will be plentiful but not abundant. This is much more discouraging to consumers than to producers. New Pension Lnir. Brooklyn Times. Congress has just passed a pension bill, which, although it w.ll add, according to the estimate of Commissioner Evans, of the Pension Bureau, a yearly addition of at least $2,000,0)3, seems to be an en tirely worthy one. That It had merit is proved by the passage of the bill with out the usual party division, several Dem ocrats voting for It. It had already passed the Senate, and now only needs executive approval to become a law. It appeara the present law provides that honorably discharged soldiers or eailors, incapacitated for manual labor, shall re ceive a pension of not more .an $12 a month end not less than $S. The Com missioner of Pensions ruled that, where a pensioner was suffering from two or more Infirmities, he was to receive the pension which his most esrlous ailment would en title him to. The act just passed pro vides that the ratings for all disabilities shall be aggregated, and that the pens.on er shall receive thle aggregate allowance, but not to exceed $12 per month. Widows are also benefited, as by the old law a widow having no means of support except by manual labor received a month ly pension of fS.- This was construed by the Pension Commissioner that where th income of a widow from sources outside of her dally labor was greater than. the. amount of the pension allowed, sbo was to receive no pension. The. new law will allow the pension to widows having an in come of less than $230 a year. The new law is the result "of the efforts of the Grand Army of the Republic, and seems to be entirely Just in Its provisions. A DEMOCRATIC SAINT. Suck Has Lincoln Become in the Lat ter Days. Denver Republican. "And thus the whirligig of Time brings rin his revenges." The Democratic orators and editors of the country are dally mani- festing an Increasing dlsposl Ion to can- Ionize Abraham Lincoln, and If they keep on wesholl not be surplsed to find In the near future that they have placed him side by side with Thomas Jefferson and And rew Jackson, the patron saints of the party. To bo sure, the chief use they now make of the great emancipator's memory is as an awful contrast to the record of living Republican leaders. "Lincoln wou d not have done this," and "Lincoln would not have done that," is the burden of their lay. but If they continue, we susp?ct that they will soon be praising Lincoln on J , .,., " .v. .ict nr. uw una a-.-uuuk uo uitc ui iiic n;jfc best of American statesmen. And yet, when Lincoln was in the fiesh j and In the white House, these same Dem ocratic editors and orators who now pro fess to adore his memory., could find no language strong enough to express their hatred of the man and their abhorrence of the party that made him Prcs.dent. Manj of them strove for four years wi h arm3 to destroy the Union In order to get rldof him, while others wandered about In what TTAnrv TVnttprsnn tho rthr inv n!e- turesquely described as "the bogs and fogs j of Copperheadlsm." raising a barbaric i yawp incessantly against tho great "rail splitter." No President hss ever been more malig nantly assailed and misrepresented by the opposition than Lincoln was during his public career, and If ho were alive today and at the head of the party which he did so much to create, we have no doubt that the abuse poured down, upon his de voted head by the Democratic leaders who now vie with Republicans In sound ng his praises would be as malignant as ever. Tho truth is that, in the opinion of most Democratic editors and orators, the only good Republican is a dead Republican. Like Lincoln, Sumner, Seward and Gar field, and scores of other Republican lead ers who have passed over to the silent ma jority, are often mentioned nowadays with commendation In contrast with their successors In the leadership of their party, by the mouthpieces of the opposition, who never failed to misrepresent and condemn their every utterance and action while liv ing, and it Is most probable that a future generation of Democratic critics will pur sue a like course In dealing with the mem ory of some of their foremost opponents of the present time. Fortunately, the Intelligent people of this country have a pretty clear understand ing of the tricks of politicians, and also have their own way of reaching conclu sions regarding the relative merits and de merits of parties and public men. Lin coln's devotion to duty and patriotic statesmanship were recognized and sus tained by a large majority of hi fellow citizens throughout the troublesome period of his public career, despite the savago onslaughts upon his character and acts by some of tho opposition leaders who now profess to worship his memory, and we believe that every President who serves tho people faithfully and capably will be similarly honored, no matter how bitterly he may be assailed by the orators and or gans of the opposition. THE MISSING $400,000,000. Prosperity Has Put Some of It in the People's Pockets. Boston Herald. That Is a very shallow mare's nest for which the Treasury officials are search ing high and low in regard to the mys terious disappearance of $400,000,000 gold. "We made," says Secretary Gage, "a search of the country lately to find what sort of a gold balance could be struck. It required only a crude calculation to show that there should be In the Treas ury, the Subtreasuries and tho banks of tho country $1,000,000,000 of gold. We were somewhat astonfshed to find that $400,000, 000 In gold has disappeared." If Mr. Gage could look into the pockets of the people he would find the bulk of the missing coin. Does he imagine that all the gold in the country is held by tho Treasury and the banks, and can be brought into sight by an examination? Does he think that this could be done in England or in France or In Germany? If he cherishes such an idea, he Is greatly mistaken. According to the latest Treasury state ment of circulation, the gold in the coun try amounted to $1,043,625,117 on May 1. against $1,034,203,613 on April 1 and $1,025, 825,162 on March L We will take the March return for analysis, because the abstract of the reports of the National banks, aa made up on February 13 last, enables us to give the amount of gold held by these Institutions at a date fairly near to March L The calculation results as follows: Gold in tho United States on March 1, 1S0O $l,025,82o,162 Gold belonging to the Government... $232,225,336 Gold In tho National banks 289,351,232 521.603,568 Leaving gold outside of the Treasury and the National banks $ 504.21S.594 From this $504,000,000 Is to be deducted all the gold held by state banks and sav ings banks and trust companies, as well as by private bankers, life Insurance com panies and other large holders. We have no means of reaching even an approxi mate estimate for this aggregate, but If we put it at $100,000,000 there would remain $400,000,000 for tho gold held in the pockets of the people. Sonrce of Cnbnn Scandal. Boston Herald. It Is proper to point out to President McKInley that this disgrace is a direct consequence of the reinstitutlon of the spoils system of appointments In the postoffice department. The responslblll Ity rests directly upon the administration of that department. In his annual report the Secretary of War committed himself to the opinion that "It Is necessary," in cases where Americana are employed In the civil 'service in the new possessions, that "a system of civil service examina tion should be provided." It was pre sumed that he meant what Postmaster General Smith, with the suspicion of a sneer, designates "an academic examina tion." The President has suffered the postoffice department to appoint men on the personal knowledge of politicians. The President's deposition, at the insti gation of politicians, who hate reform, and crave the control of all minor offices as perquisites for personal and partisan services, to relax the stringency of civil service rules, we have regarded as un fotunate and dangerous, more now than before we had undertaken the government of peoples less vigilant to discover and resent corrupt practices than our citizens at home, and. perhaps, more tolerant of corruption, because they have been trained to expect and endure it. Brynnlsm Is MeKUnley's Hope. Naw York Evening Post. Indiana has swung from Republicanism to Democracy and back again with perfect regularity for 30 years, and It would be the turn of the Democrats to carry It this time. The opposition have great advan tages In the widespread feeling of disgust toward McKInley on the part of thousands who voted for him In 1S9C, and In the pro found dissatisfaction with the imperialistic policy of the Administration, especially as exemplified In the Porto Rico legislation. Other conditions equally favor the Dem ocratic party if the party only were In ISO) what It was In 1S32. But Bryanism over shadows the prospect for the opposition, and gives the Republicans a hopefulness that they would not otherwise feel. THE SITUATION IN IDAHO. The Republican party In Idaho Is more nearly united than it has been for years. The Silver RepubLcans have largely re turned to the fold and have been received without criticism and with cordiality. A Silver Republican, ex-Attorney-General Parsons, was chairman of the State Re publican Convention at Lewlston last week, and' another was sent as delegate to the Philadelphia convention. The Re publicans have been a minority party for so long that they realize the only way to win is to receive recruits from the fuslon lsts, and therefore no mourners bench Is provided for repentant Silver Republicans; it Is enough that they agree to support the principles and candidates of the party. The confidence of Republican leaders that they will carry the state this Fall Is considerable. Evidence of the growing strength and general harmony of the party Is found In the multitude of candidates for places on the state ticket, and In the violent dissensions among the fuslonlsts growing out of Governor Steunenberg's ...... ....,y.i t. course in the Coeur dAlene troubles. In 1S96 the vote for Pres.dent was: Bryan. 23,132. and McKInley, CC24, a plurality of 1G.S63. A remarkable change occurred In two years, for in 1S9S the Democratic candidate for Governor received 19,407; Re publican. 13.734: and Populist. 5371. There ' was no fusion with the Populists by the I Democrats and Silver Republicans. It will be seen that the Republ.can vote more I than doubled, and that the combined silver vote showed but slight increase. In 1S3C not a single county in the state went for McKInley. InlS33, the Important counties of Ada. in which is located Boise; 'Latah, containing the Important town of Mos cow, and Nez Perces, of which the county seat is Lewlston, gave substantial Re publican majorities. In 1S9S, W. B. Hey burn, a brilliant speaker and a fine law yer, accepted the Republican nomination for Congress against Edgar Wilson, Fu slonlst, and was defeated by -4500 votes. The notable feature of the campaign of 1S3S was Heyburn's powerful and convinc ing exposition of tho money question, and his bold arraignment of the free-silver fal lacyan attitude that required high cour age In a silver state like Idaho. It was Heyburn's missionary work that prepared the soil for unreserved Republican ac ceptance of the attitude of the party on National issues in 1S00. Judge Heyburn is now said to be a candidate for United States Senator against Senator Shoup. The record of the latter was Indorsed by the recent Lewlston convention, and the Shoup partisans are now claiming that it was tantamount to a declaration for his re-election. But this appears to be a somewhat extravagant assertion, charac terized by the Boise Statesman as fol lows: It Is customary for a convention to express approval of the records of falthfut representa tives belonging- to the party holding the conven tion. It would be gross Ingratitude on the part of the Republicans of this state not to express appreciation of the work done by Senator Shoup. He deserves every resolution adopted in the state, and the Republicans would have acted an unworthy part If they had failed to extend such recognition. But this action of tho convention Is not a nomination of tho Sen ator for re-election. Nevertheless Senator Shoup appears to have the great advantage over his oppo nent. The last Idaho legislature, which elected Heltfeld, and turned down the Ir repressible Fred Dubois, had 37 Demo Pops, 12 Silver Republicans and 21 Repub licans. Tho former, therefore, had a clean majority of four over all, or, Joined with the 10 Silver Republicans, a majority over the Republicans of 2S. Since the Silver Republicans have practically dis appeared, the Republicans count reliantly on making gains In that special direction, and they feel reasonably well assured that the enormous general change In sentiment, growing out of expansion, prosperity and loss of Interest In silver, will further com plete the conversion of the Legislature, as well as the state. That they are Justi fied In feeling hopeful may be judged by the example of Washington. In the Leg islature of 1897 the Peoples party had 84 members; republicans, 23; in the Legisla ture of 1S99 there was a complete reversal, the Republicans having 85, and the oppo sition 27. A landslide brought it all about. Why not a similar event in Idaho? Governor Steunenberg is a candidate for Senator. It is said by some that he will endeavor to be re-elcted Governor, and from thence step Into the Senatorshlp. But, In any avent. It Is known that he Is after Shoup's seat. He will be opposed by Fred Dubois, who hopes to take ad vantage of the Democratic division over the Governor's stand In the Coeur d'Aleno troubles and secure a Democratic indorse ment. The three silver state conventions meet, at Pocatello, July 17, and an effort will be made to bring the question before them. Dubois has the moral support of Senator Heltfeld, who Is a Populist Sulzer, and who Introduced the resolution at the Sioux Falls convention condemning the Governor. But Steunenberg has warm partisans In his own party, who uphold law and order, and denounce anarchy. For example, the Lewlston Tribune, the other day supported him In a column ed itorial, saying, among other things: The next Governor of Idaho Is going to be a law-and-order man. The party that Is going to furnish the next Governor Is the party that stands for law and order and has demonstrated Its ability to maintain peace and security by lt3 Incumbency of the Government. The Demo cratic party has taken such a stand and dem onstrated its ability to maintain that stand. As long as the Democratic party of Idaho stays where It Is now that is, jthat it will ex ecute tho laws, preserve the peace and punish the guilty It cannot be beaten at the polls. The only way It can be beaten In Idaho Is to Jugsle with its principles and barter the re spect and confidence of the citizens of all par ties and creeds to curry favor with a treacher ous element that Is as noisy as it Is small. Tho Issue In Idaho will be largely Steun enberg's forcible repression of anarchy and his firm backing up of the military authorities at Wardner. The anti-Steun-enbergltes make the loudest clamor over the permits Issued by the military author ities authorizing-miners to go to work, and tho fact that hundreds of men were kept In the Wardner bullpen without trial for months. They do not dare uphold the criminal methods of the lawless and furi ous band, who thought the most effective way to redress their alleged grievances was by dynamite. A Parallel. New York Tribune. It comes clearly to mind that for years before the Suez Canal was constructed eminent authorities the world over were decrying the folly of such an undertaking, and demonstrating mathematically, log ically and by quantitative and qualitative analysis the absolute impossibility of its ever beginning to pay anything like Inter est on the cost of construction. In brief, they talked, argued and declaimed for all the world as the Interested opponents of the Nicaragua Canal have been doing and are today doing. And when Frederick Greenwood put Disraeli up to buying the Khedive's shares of canal sto;k for the British Government, there was even at that date plenty to deplore such pouring of the British taxpayers' money into a rat hole; just as the men now lament the financial ruin that would overtake the Na tion if the Government should undertake the construction of the Nicaragua. Canal NOTE AND COMMENT. Mayor Storey is not a candidate fer Vice-President. We must have lost a month somewhere. This Is surely April. Financial item from Turkey: Money to scarce and collections are, slow. Is this candidacy of Mark Twain's seri ous, or was Mrs. Clemens only Joking? St. Louis and Chicago are calling ead other the abiding place of strikes aad riot. That appointment of Clark's is likely to turn out a disappointment before he gU through with it. Storey's friends oughtn't to worry about him so much. He'll bo Mayor as coa as Bryan is President. Horace Greeley did not set a limit at tfee Pacific Ocean when he said: "Go Wt, young man, go West." Why should candidates feel uneasy when any heeler in the North End will guarantee to elect them for $100. Ex-President Harrison Is beginning to take Interest In golf. He has evidently gt tired of being the Ice man. This thing of having Aguinaldo for . running mate for Bryan Is absurd. Ha who runs should be able to read. The Kansas City convention could nt find Web Davis. Gracious! Had the del egates no ears? Couldn't he be heard? Tom Jordan Is also running. Wo have h!a own word for it, sounding .through the highways and byways. Otherwise, w shouldn't have believed it. If It were not for the dally telegraphic assurance that the game "is going ahead In the East, people out here would be In clined to classify baseball among the loat arts. "Which, our language Is plain, And we wish to remark; That for things that are vain. And for ways that are daric, - A man In Montana's a daisy. And he spells his name William A. Clark. We do not care to appear too anxious about It, but it Is proper to call attention to the unaccountable fact that Potato Pingree'a regular monthly bolt of tho Republican party is several days overdue. A Republican convention meets. It in dorses McKInley, and so Instructs its del egates. It adjourns. A Democratic con vention meets. It indorses Bryan, and so Instructs Its delegates. It adjourns. Fu ture historians muet record that the year 1900 marks the supreme achievements of political monotony and party docility. Forty-five states have nothing to do but "point with pride" or "view with alarm." Melancholy campaign days are ahead of us. Dr. Samuel Dixon, the president of the Pennsylvania Academy of Natural Scien ces, in Philadelphia, has a large aquarium containing goldfish and marine creatures which he Is In the habit of feeding every mornlng. During the "Winter he wore dark-colored clothing, and as soon as ha approached the glass tank all the fish came to the surface of the water looking for crumbs. Changing his clothes to light-colored fabrics the 1st of May, the fish faik-d to recognize him, and went without food for two days. At last, how ever, they began to recognize his face as he approached the aquarium, and rose to the surface for their .food from his hands. His friends; who know the tenderness of his heart, assert that he had ordered an extra black serge suit to please the fish, when they gave in and allowed him to ap pear in gray. PLEASANTRIES OF PARAGRAPHERS Worse Yet. Mrs Flatter (reading) "A bed of quicksand Is tho moat treacherous and deadly thing on earth." Mr. Flatter Guess the chump who wrote that never saw our fold ing bed! Puck. Iron-like. 'There is a suit, my friendt." said the dealer, "that will wear like Iron." "1 guess that feller was no liar," said tho victim, two weeks after. "The dash-blnged suit is rusty already." Indianapolis Press. In a meeting at the St. George's Catholta Club In London last week a young Irishman declared that the Irish were "a grand race, and it risted wl thlm to see that tho nobla traditions were handed down to the fower fathers." St. James's Gazette. His View of It. "I should think a. man would feel very proud to sit In tho United States Senate." said the enthusiastic young woman, "Tho mere fact that he Is there is aa assurance of his superiority." "Oh, I don't know," answered Senator Sorghum. "It ain't as exclusive as it might be. Every once In a while somebody gets In who Isn't so very rich." Washington Star. Rapid Development. "You are In business in Montana?" asked the passenger In the skull cap. "Yes," said the passenger In the smoking lacket. "Is business good out there?" "YesL f In the last two years our plant ha3 Increased in size more than 1000 per cent." "Great Scott! What was the size of your plant originally?" "It consisted of a pair of Belgian rabbits." Chicago Tribune. Her Plaintive Wail. A bicycle had Just ar rived at the house one bicycle, and there wers two little girls. They were to share It be tween them, but each one was of tho opinion that she would want to ride it continuously from breakfast until supper. They will know better later. However, It was a novel toy to them, and they stood looking at it admiringly. Finally the elder spoke. "Don't you wish, Ella," she said In a wistful way, "that you were an only child?" Chicago Evening Post. England's Trnst. Baltimore American. ("Wo cannot trust Ireland." Lord Salisbury.) "Ye cannot throat ould Olreland?" Thin Goa save England's fame, Fr dlvll th" list av wounded an kilt that has no Olrlsh name, Caseys. McFaddens an" Emmets, flghtln. b&- gob3, where they're slnt; Dugans an' Burkes an' Kellys enough t Oil up a rlglmint. Flannlgans. Dooleys. O'Briens; Sweeneys, wld peat on their clogs; Sheas, wld a face lolke th' ould sod's map; Murphys right out av th bogs; Folghtln an' chasln an cheerln', an shwear- ln betolmes. th' rogues; Slngln your "Rule Britannia" In richest av tarrler brogues. Ye thrust a boonch fr"m Galway, an many a Tyrone lad Laid down his lolfe fr ye. Little enough but all th't th' poor b'y had. Many a mother's heart In Cork, In Sllgo an County Clare Is bruk Tr th' b'ys ye thrnsted ye buried him, somewhere. There's w'avers huts In Antrim th't has a si lent loom, Th w'aver's gone, fr England called she had t have more room. There's Olrlsh bones on Asia's hills theyr wholte an dhry an grim. "Yo cannot thrust In Olreland?" Plaze God. did ye thrust in thlm? "Ye cannot thrust ould Olreland?" Me La-ard, ye thrust her mln Ye're thrustin' thlm In Roberta raid t go throo thick an' thin; Ye thrust th't th' 01ri3b, as usual, wld glad ness will be kilt: ' Ye've faith th't th' blood av th" Olrlsh most freely, will be split. Ye're waltln an hopln' an watchln' ye'res longin frm sun t' sun T hear some news av th' gallant deeds th Olrlsh b'ys have done. They're shtarvin, folghtln' an dyln', there la th' Thransvaal dust. "Ye cannot thrust ould Olreland?" No? Tola phwat is this ye thrust?" li