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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 29, 1900)
THE MORNING OREGOJETCAN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1900. fte eSteegomosi Satered at the PeeteSee at Portland. Oregon. &s secead-eiais matter. TELEPHONES. Editorial Roema....ld8 1 Business Office. ...667 REVISED SCBSCR1PTION RATES. Br Mall postage prepaid). In Advance Dally. with Sunday, per month $0 S3 Dally, Sunday excepted, per year v. " W) Dally, with Suaday. per year 8 00 Sunday, per year 2 00 The Weekly, per year 1 M The 'Weekly, Z nv.nths w To City Subscribers Dallj, per week, delivered, SHBdays excepted.l5c Dally, per week, delivered, Sundays lncluded.20o POSTAGE RATES. United States, Canada and Mexico: 10 to 16-page paper lc le to 22-page paper 2c Foreign rate double. Kews or discussion Intended for publication In The Oregontaa should be addressed Invaria bly "Editor The Oregonlan," not to the name of any individual. Letters relating to advertis ing, subscriptions or to any business matter should bo 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 solici tation. No stamps should be inclosed for this purpose. Puget Sound Bureau Captain A. Thompson. Offlce at. 1111 Pacific avenue, Tacoma, Box 955, STBcoma Poetoffiee. Eastern Btaes Office The Tribune build ing. New Tork City; "The Rookery," Chicago; the S C Bcckwlth special agency. New York. For sal in San Francisco by J. K. Cooper, T46 Market street. nar the Palace Hotel; Gold smith Bros., 236 Sutter street; F. W. Pitts, 1003 Market street; Foster & Orear, Ferry News stand. For sole is Los Angeles by B. F. Gardner, 259 So. Spring street, and Oliver & Haines, 108 Bo. Spring street. For sale In Ckicaro by the P. O. News Co., 217 Dearborn street. For sale In Omaha by II. C. Shears. 105 N. Sixteenth street, and Barkalow Bros., 1012 Farnam street. For sale la Salt Lake by the Salt Lake News ,Oo., 77 W. Second Smith street. For eale la New Orleans by Ernest Si Co., 115 Royal street. On file In Washington, D. C with A. W. Junn, 508 14th N. W. For sale In Denver, Colo., by Hamilton & Kendrick, 906-912 Seventh street. i TODAY'S WEATHER. Cloudy and threat ening, with occasional rain; winds mostly outherly. f ' PORTLAXD, THURSDAY, XOV. 30 The proposed shipping subsidy is pri marily a benefaction to the builder and owner of ships. Oh, yes, say its advo cates, but indirectly the whole people ore the gainers, because from increased facilities of transportation we shall have cheaper rates of carriage for our products and consequently better prices for wheat, and in the prosperity of the farmer all classes will ultimately be benefited. If this principle is cor rect, why not extend it to other de partments of Industry? Take the busi ness of wheat-growing. Let a sum be withdrawn from taxation and applied to payment of subsidies to every per son raising and marketing 100 bushels of wheat, In this way the farmer will be benefited, and. in his increased pros perity all will Indirectly share. Iron production is in an important sense the basis of all manufacturing industries. Let, then, Congress appropriate annu ally out of the Federal Treasury $10, 000,000 to be given to the producers of pig Iron. It would easily be possible in this way to bring about a reduction In the price of iron and the whole country might be Indirectly benefited. It ought to be clear that if the subsidy principle be once admitted as a rule of action, there is no point where its extension may logically be stopped. Examina tion shows, however, that the Indirect benefits assumed for these benefactions are not realized in experience. Subsi dized vessels, scouting the harbors of the world for trade, make charters and hire seamen in open competition with all mankind. The farmers, laborers and taxpayers of the subsidizing na tions derive no benefit In Its recognition of the limitations of crusades against vice. The Orego nlan would not be understood as depre cating all proper methods of reducing the social evil to a minimum, or as In different to the labor of philanthropy in, rescuing the fallen and saving the Innocent from danger. The great diffi culty appears to be that enforcement of law and moral effort are too often ln narmoniously and disastrously mixed. The task of punishing crime Is the state's, the reformation of character Is coclety's. Failure to recognize this dis tinction is doubtless what makes us confuse the possibilities of law with the opportunities of philanthropy. Be cause the law cannot prevent immoral ity, rescue the fallen and save the In nocent, we are apt to think that our duty is dene when we recognize the limitations of the police pow-r. This is as great a mistake as the c or of ex pecting law to do everything. Man's inhumanity to woman is something no citizen should regard with indifference, though he is not called upon to rebuke it at the ballot-box. The duty here is a social one, aud involves discredit upon the rake and rouo, sympathy and aid for the unhappy outcast, and all possi ble effort to -Instil the Instinot of self preservation in girls. Society is as re sponsible for its morals and manners as for Its laws. The two duties are to be discharged i in different ways, but each is urgent The penalties at hand for social offenses are as grievous as the sentences of the police oourt. If they were righteously inflicted, we should hear less complaint that police men do not make us more moral. That "terrible North Coast" has claimed another victim in the fine steel bark Polt&lioch. The master expresses faith that his ship can be floated, but the experience of dozens of other ves sels which have left their bones along the Washington coast hardly warrants the beMef that this will prove one of the rare exceptions. A strong north erly current sets In along the coast from tiie mouth of the Columbia to Cape Flattery, and In drifting around in a fog a vessel invariably loses hex position, and, if she is approaching the land, soon drifts into danger. Whether or not the absence of tne Columbia River lightship from her station has anything to do with the disaster to the Poltalloch, the fact remains that the danger of similar accidents nearer the snouth of the Columbia is very great, so long as the lightship is oft her sta tion. There will be more wrecks, and probably losi of life, on the North Coast, unless the Government replaces the stranded lightship with a substi tute during the shipping season. It has probably often occurred to ob servers of local tax problems that a perpetual menace to public honesty and tranquillity would be dispelled if the state were permitted to look to each county for a certain specific amount of revenue, and the county were permit ted to raise its quota on such valua- tions and rate as it should choose. Something of this sort Is behind the opinion of local authorities that the state's requisition upon counties should be made on a "per capita" basis. But It is probably a futile dream. To begin with, there is the stumbling block of 5 mills for state school tax. Somebody will want equalization, so-called, of val uations for that. Then the stubborn fact remains that if you can demon strate a per capita division to be fair, then you have effectually established Its non-availability in . country eyes. The last thing the rest of the state wants for Multnomah County Is a fair deal. The only just and honorable way to raise the state's revenue is to cinch Portland for all that can be squeezed out of it. Divide the taxes on a per capita basis, indeed! Does not your Legislator and Assessor know that Portland's 100,000 population consists entirely of millionaires, whose sole ob ject of pursuit is escape from the bur dens of property-owning? We take it as the most improbable thing in the world that Assesor Greenleaf's sugges tion will receive approbation from the other counties of the state. SILVER AGAIISST SILVER. The price of silver bars in San Fran cisco two years ago was 59 cents an ounce. Today it is 644 cents. This in crease in value has been accompanied by the continued denial to silver of its old monetary status in the United States; by the adoption of the gold standard by a number of smaller na tions, and by active forward measures on the part of many powers in pursuit of gold-standard programmes already announced. Silver has fared better un der the positive gold-standard rule than it did with the silver standard in India and under the equivocal regime of the Bland-Allison and Sherman laws, when the United States was. yearly making heavy purchases of silver in a vain attempt to bolster up the price. How much of this rise in silver is due to increased production of gold and how much to the impetus given all in dustry by the stable basis of the gold standard, it is impossible to, determine and doubtless idle to speculate. Gold production is increasing so rapidly as to afford one of the most impressive phenomena in modern Industrial his tory. Director Roberts, of the United States Mint, predicts that 1901 will show the greatest gold production the world ever saw. He estimates that pro duction at $365,000,000, and assigns $94, 000,000 of it to the United States, which places it at the head of all gold-producing countries. Every year of the last decade ending with and including 1900 shows a considerable increase in gold production except this, the closing year, when the South African produc tion was arrested by the Boer War, or reduced from some $80,000,000 to $5,000, 000, as the following table shows: 1651 ?130.C50,000180G $202,250,000 1892 140,300,00011897 238,810.000 1693 157,500,000 1893 237,425,000 1894 181,000,0001800 30U.500.OJO 1895 108,7CO,OOO10OO 257,000.000 This foots up $2,106,195,000 for the dec ade, or double that of the preceding ten years. The gold record of the century is interesting. It is marked by consid erable fluctuations in the volume of production In decennial periods, but shows a stupendous increase over the earlier decades of the century. This is the record: 1801-1000 .$2,103,105,0001841-1850.. $ 303,928,000 1881-1890. l,O53,NI2,000 1831-1840.. 134,841.000 1S71-18S0. 1,150,854,000 1801-1870. 1,203,015,000 1821-1830.. 94,479,000 1811-1820.. 76,003,000 1601-1810.. 118,152,000 1351-18G0. 1,332,U81,00U Of this vast production of 100 years ($7,700,000,000), $6,937,000,000, or nine tenths of the whole, belongs to the last half of the century. The amount of gold money existent in the world ap pears to be about $5,000,000,000, and is annually increasing by about $250,000, 000. ' The same class of speculative enthu siasts who but now were lamenting the cruel appreciation of" gold have already begun to anticipate with perturbation its depreciation through excess sup ply; but there is as yet no proof that it is true, or proof that, if true, its effect would be serious. On the one hand, Increase of gold multiplies its withdrawal into mechanical arts, and on the other hand national treasuries everywhere strain for its accumulation. Each of these processes operates against any tendency to cheapen it. It is obvious, alBO, that a rise in silver would have to be accompanied by uni form rise In other crude commodities before any general deduction could be formed. Another element in silver's strength is the increasing demand for it, not only for additional subsidiary currency, needed by expanding busi ness in India and elsewhere, but in the arts, prospering under the stable conditions afforded by the gold stand ard. If we can keep the free-coinage agitation down, this process of amelior ation may go on Indefinitely. Paradox though It may seem, the most deadly enemy of the white metal Is the sacred cause of silver. THANKSGIVIXG MAXXERS. Thanksgiving as a National holiday is an evolution. It Is true that the first New England Thanksgiving, as cele brated by the founders of the Plymouth Colony, was a day of feast and hilar ity, for which Massasoit furnished the wild ducks and other game while Gov ernor Bradford contributed the gin, but this was not the typical Thanksgiving day of Puritan New England. The early Thanksgiving days of Puritan New England were days of fasting and prayer. The rulers of the colony of Massachusetts Bay were so austere nnd grim that they were laughed at by the English settlers of New York. The original Dutch settlers of Manhattan were convivial, and so were the Eng lish, who succeeded them, but the New England Puritan, while not a total ab stainer from alcohol, was a morose drinker, never a cheerful, convivial, mirthful creature. He was not con vivial because he was dyspeptic in mind and body. He forbade horse-racing, yet legalized lotteries and human slavery, and under law burned negroes at the stake as late as 175S. Ancient New England was an aus tere, gloomy and barbarous commu nity outside of "the Pilgrim" settlers of Plymouth Colony, who had been humanized by their long residence in Holland. The National Thanksgiving day is an evolution, just as humane New England of today is an evolution from the brutal New England that exe cuted witches, exiled Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson, and hanged the Quaker, Mary Dyer. New England finally humanized her old-time somber Thanksgiving Into a day of genuine family joy and reunion. Thanksgiving became- a National holiday only through our Civil War. It is true that President George Washington pro claimed days of National thanksgiving, but Thanksgiving as a National holi day dates from our Civil War, when President Lincoln proclaimed a day of National Thanksgiving for the victory of Chattanooga, won by Grant Novem ber 25, 1863, which Xincoln rightly Judged to be decisive for tho ultimate triumph of the Union. Of course, there ought not be any sordid strain in our thankfulness to the "Great Father of Lights," in Franklin's phrase, yet the mass of mankind today are probably glad, be cause of something they cannot carry out of the world with them. Neverthe less, let us believe that there are also a great many people who thank God today not because they are richer or happier than their neighbors, but be cause .they are morally and spiritually better than they were a year ago, or because somebody else is happier and less forlorn because of them. TRUE MEASURE OF ARMY'S SIZE.. The most Imperative duty before Con gress when it meets on Monday next Is to provide for the reorganization of the Army of the United .States on a perma nent basis of at lea'st 50,000 men, with ways and means for the easy extension of the regular Army td double that number In case of need. Under the ex isting law the first day of July will find our Government in command of only 27,000 soldiers, a force entirely In adequate to the military responsibili ties devolving upon the Administra tion. The Miles bill contemplates an Army proper based on one man for every 1000 of the population. This would provide an Army of 76,730 men. The bill also provides for an auxiliary force of 20,000 men to. serve for .three years, unless sooner discharged. The dispatches indicate that the Ad ministration has decided to join hands with the Senate's military committee and supersede the Miles bill with one calling for a regular Army of 50,000 men. The inference is fair that the ob jection of Senator Hawley's has been kapproved; namely, that it Is unwise to establish an Army upon a pro rata basis of one soldier to every 1000 Inhab itants, because it is not a judicious idea to establish an arbitrary ratio between the strength of the Army and the population. The whole subject should be based upon the laws of de mand, and the size of the Array estab lishment should depend largely on the military needs of the country. Today General Miles' Army of 76,000 men is not in General Hawley's Judgment equal to the demands ot the military situation, which requires not less than an Army df 100,000 men. General Haw ley favors a measure empowering the President to use his discretion in deter mining the exact strength of the Army, not to exceed the maximum fixed by Congress. The President under present conditions could be trusted to recruit an Army of whatever proportions he thinks necessary to quell the Filipino Insurrection, and' upon the conclusion of that work could reduce the number of troops in proportion to existing needs. Now that - the election is over, and there is no further fear of the effect of demagogic rant about- "militarism" and government by "the man on horse back," there is no reason why the Pres ident's request for ah Army equal toT the country's military needs should not be granted. The measure of our needs has always hitherto fixed the strength of our Army. In 1789 the Army con sisted of 46 officers and 840 men, a total of 886. In 1739, owing to the fear of war with France, the Army was en larged to 51,691. At the end of the sec ond war with England It contained 62, 674, the largest number ever authorized until last year, when it was nearly 65, 000. From 1S17 to 1840 the Army had less than 10,000 men. The Mexican War increased It to 21,686 in 1847; at. the outbreak of the Civil War the Army was about 12,000 strong; in 1862 It was about 25,000 strong; In 1867 it was 56,815; In 1874 it was 30,520 strong, and for the next twenty-five years it was about 25,000 strong. These figures of the In crease and decrease of the regular Army show plainly that its measure has always been the military needs of the country. With only five millions pf people In 1799, we had an Army nearly 52.000 strong; with only eight millions of people In 1814 the Army was nearly 63,000 strong. The people have always, through Con gress consented to increase or decrease the Army according to the Nation's needs. The regular Army needs to be at least 50,000 strong, but we should create a skeleton for an Army of 100, 000 strong. That Is, we should provide for officers and regimental organiza tions enough so that the peace strength of 50,000 men could be promptly in creased to 100,000 at any time. There should be educated, highly trained offi cers equal to the needs of an Army of 100.000 men. There should be 50,000 highly trained soldiers. With such an Army in existence, it can be quickly ex panded to 100,000 men, for men can be rapidly enlisted, and, under trained company officers, commissioned and non-commissioned, can be quickly made into excellent " soldiers. When Napo leon's veteran army was so fearfully depleted by the Russian campaign, he filled up his ranks with young con scripts, and with this army he won Lutzen and Dresden. His defeats in 1813 were due to the absence of artil lery and cavalry, which he could not replace; but his young recruits com manded by veterans made excellent in fantry. A CENTURY-OLD PICTURE. In a Nromance that turns a strong side-light upon the character of Bene dict Arnold, Mrs. Ann S. Stephens, a story writer of the middle years of this century, gives us a glimpse of Thanks giving observances of the time Just preceding the Revolutionary War a period in close touch with Puritan prin ciples and in which the stern Puritan conscience' dominated the affairs ot church and state. The "meeting-house" of Norwich, Conn., into whioh the peo ple crowded on the Thanksgiving day In the middle of the eighteenth century, is described In this story as "a vast wooden structure almost square, with great, barn-like doors on three sides, and a pulpit, composed of wood enough io build a modern cottage, looming up at the end. Over this pulpit a wooden canopy or sounding-board brooded like some mighty extinguisher, and beneath it along the broad front ran a long bare pew, in which the deacons sat, grim and solemn, like a bench of Judges. The room,' except where the pulpit forbade it, was surrounded by a long, lumbering gallery, and the body, cut into four sections by broad aisles, was crowded with square news. so that a large part of the congrega tion sat with its back to the pulpit" Thanksgiving was not altogether an ordinance of God, even In those days, but an extra occasion 'gotten up by the Governor, in which to worship him. So thls'wrlter tells us, "it was not con sidered indecorous to smile blandly on entering the sanctuary, and a few had ventured to kiss their wives and chil dren in fl congratulatory way before starting, without dread of a fine." The services consisted of- a thanksgiving hymn sung by the congregation, a long, long prayer, followed by a longer ser mon, with Its divisions and subdivis ions, but all grandly imposing." This service over, came the grand Thanks giving dinner for which New England was even then famous. It was regard ed as a great relaxation of discipline to allow the young people to take a sleigh ride 1ft the afternoon, while their elders sal decorously around their fire sides, talking In subdued tones of elec tion, foreordlnation and the strictly cir cumscribed elements of God's mercy. The transition, from these times and observances to football games, special bills of attraction at theaters and grand Thanksgiving balls was gradual. In the. very nature of things it had to be so, since a sudden Innovation of worldly Into spiritual pleasures would have sent our stern forefathers again Into the wilderness seeking the environment of Isolation as a safeguard for their religion. Processes of growth are im perceptible. Only by comparison do we realize the, changes that the years have brought. Who, contemplating the pic ture presented by the austere Thanks giving observances of a century or a century and a half ago, and turning to a realization of the Thanksgiving of to day, with ( its round of merriment, its undiminished table cheer, its decorous but far from punctilious church-going, recompensed by special anthems and a short, semi-secular address from the pulpit, will regret the passing of the old and its substitution by the new? The corner on November corn in Chi cago was engineered to a successful conclusion yesterday, and the name of George H. Phillips has been added to the list of bold speculators who have suddenly emerged from obscurity throughja fortunate turn on the mar ket In the amount Involved and gen eral effect? on the market, this deal was of insignificant proportions com pared with . the wheat "squeezes" worked by "Old Hutch," "Plunger" Partridge or Joseph Leiter. It waB per haps for this reason that the unfortu nate shorts Settled in preference to bringing corn back from the Atlantic seaboard, 'belter's wheat victims had more nerve nd money, and they raked the granaries of the country, and by stupendous effort succeeded in deliver ing so much wheat that the young Na poleon Was Tunable to hold the market up until he could get out from under. Mr. Phillips has been working on his deal only about a month, and his ex perience shows that when a man at tempts to corner any commodity which is produced all over the world, he should rush jnatters, or the law of sup ply and demand will make a vacuum of his corner. Mr. Phillips was lucky, and so was "Old Hutch" when he cleaned up $2,000,000 on a wheat corner. "Hutch" died a pauper. Phijlips is young yett'but, In thej language of the street, we can "see his finish." Every day that has added its twenty four hours to, the period since Hallow een has added to the Insignificance of that date and subtracted from its seem ing importance. The man who, in a fit of passion, shot a boy, probably now sees in the same perspective, although at the time tha,t event was the climax of the world. If he had lived through those excruciating moments with impu nity, the world to him now would be as placid as before. Our institutions of charity appeal to the philanthropy of generous citizens. The Children's 'and the Baby Home and our hospitals are the worthiest of all objects of public solicitude. What ever doubts people may have of the efficacy of poor relief, ' sympathy will never fail to go but to orphans and the sick. Altruism should not fall to make them thankful on. Thanksgiving. The New York naturalist who wants some Oregon wild animals for a zoo might find it to his advantage to look up a few of our blear-eyed hirsute poli ticians; They are a species not often encountered East The State Board of Education has de cided that a teacher in Washington County kissed girl pupils. The decis ion probably was for the benefit of the victims. Their doubts in the matter, if they had arty, are thereby removed. When M. Plcard showed unto Kruger all the kingdoms of the world and the glory thereof from the top of Eiffel tower, the martyr patriot forgot his Scripture for once and did not say, "Get thee behind me, Satan." The Sultaji seems to have scored a diplomatic triumph in the Harpoot matter without resort to diplomacy. Kruger is not. such a boor that pol ished and suave France refuses to take up with' him. If the silver question is not dead, as Teller says, at least it has been burled alive. COUNTRY'S MATCHLESS CREDIT. Stands Today Highest Among: All Civilized Rations. Kansas City Star. The Secretary of the Treasury ha3 an nounced that the issue of 2 per cent re turning bonds, to replace outstanding bonds of higher rate of interest, will be suspended December 31, 1900, These bonds were provided for in the currency law adopted last March, and up to the present time about 350,000.000 of them have been Issued, taking the place of a corresponding amount of 3, 4 and 5 per cent bonds. In effecting the exchange the Government has paid in cash the difference between the market value of the old and of the new bonds, and In this" way about $20,000,000 have been put In circulation Irom the cash surplus of the Treasury. There were three purposes In provid ing for" the refunding 2 per cent bonds; one was to give the National banks a bond, as securiety for circulation, which does not require the locking up of a considerable amount of cash in the form of premiums; a second reason was to ex tend the time of part of the National debt while the money market conditions were favorable, and a third object was to discount part of the Interest on the debt The officials of the Treasury fig ure that they have saved the country about $8,000,000 in interest by the refund ing operations up to date. Less than half the bonds that are sub ject to refundlnc have been turned in. to be exchanged for new 2 per cents; Almost the only ones that have Veen refunded are those possessed by the Na tional banks. Such bonds as are held by financial institutions and Individuals for permanent and safe Investment have not been presented for refunding for the rea son that the owners do not care to have their investments disturbed. The owner of $100,000 in 5 per cent bonds possesses a security worth, at present prices, $114, 000, and his net return on the market value of the bonds la a little less than 2 per cent. If he exchanges them for re funding 2 per cents he will receive bonds worth $105,000 and $9000 in cash. The net return tn both cases will be the same per cent but he will have $9000 In cash to Invest In some other form, and rather than be bothered with that he prefers to keep the bonds he now holds; Although the present high value ot Government bonds Is due to the demand for them, to bo used as security for bank circulation, it is nevertheless a cir cumstance that stirs the pride of Ameri can citizens to see their National secur ities sell far and away above those of any other nation. A 2 per cent United States bond Is worth 105 cents on the dollar, while a British consol, that pays 2 per cent annual interest, may be bought for less than par. The credit of the United States before the world stands so high today that no other na tion can be mentioned in tho same class. tax reduction; Annoying; Features of War Revenue Law Should Be Dropped. New York Journal of Commerce. Some Washington dispatches which are usually particularly well informed about the Treasury give the probable surplus for the coming fiscal year as $50,000,000, and indicate $15,000,000 or $20,000,000 as the maximum probable reduction. Our own Washington dispatches and the Associa ted Press reports give the surplus at about $30,000,000, and the Ways and Means Committee is sold to regard favorably the proposition that $30,000,000 of taxes bo removed. We apprehend that the $50,000, 000 mentioned above Is the estimated sur plus after the reduction Is made, and not the surplus from which the reduction was made. The surplus of the current year promises to bo as large as that ot the last year. It was lost Spring estimated to run $S,000,000 or $10,000,000 above It But the surplus for the last year overran the estimates about $9,000,000. It is conserva tive enough to assume that the surplus for the present year will equal the esti mate, when the surplus for last year ex ceeded the 'estimate. For 1S02 no figures have been given out by the Treasury, but It is impossible to see any reason why the expenses should Increase much. No one thinks of increasing the Army, and the increase of the Navy will be gradual, and may involve no greater disburse ments than in the lat,t year or two. On the other hand, the expansion ot business warrants the expectation of an Increase of custoroo, and of the Internal collections on beer, whisky and tobacco, even If the taxes Imposed in 1S98 should show no In crease. It is unlikely, then, that the surplus ot 1901 and 1902 will be less than $SO,000,000 each, and It exceeded that In 1900, No reduction of taxes Is likely to go into effect till the end of the fiscal year 1901, so that the large fund already In the Treasury Is certain to be much augment ed, and the larger that fund Is the less danger there will be of embarrassment to the Treasury If the cut should be made too deep. With a probable surplus of $80,000,000; a reduction of $30,000,000 In tax ation is not excessive, especially when we recall that beer, whisky and tobacco al6ne yielded $22,000,000 more in 1S00 than in -1899, and the Increased collections from customs were $27,000,000. The original suggestion made In thla paper was that all new Internal revenue taxet- levied on account of the Spanish Wafe be' removed. This would leave In creases of previously existing taxes and the tax on tea for future consideration. Bu this would reduce the revenue some where between $45,000,000 and $55,000,000. and' the Secretary and the Ways and Means Committee do not deem it prudent to go so far. We quite agree with them If the Treasury stands ready to buy bonb freely If the event proves that the tax reduction was less than might have been made, it Has been objected to a large reduction of taxes that the funds of he Treasury are $18,000,000 less than a year ago. But this is not due to in creased expenses or a diminished reve nue; it is due to bond purchases and pay ments in the refunding operations. These are reductions of the- public debt, and are therefore to be charged to the sink ing fund, ana by so much reduce the de mands of the sinking fund for tho re mainder of the year. Suppose we take, in round numbers, the surplus as $80,000, 000 and repeal $30,000,000 of taxes; the re maining $50,000,000 is above the require ments of the sinking fund, and for the present year a part of the requirement of the sinking fund has been compiled with. The sources of the internal revenue have not yet been given in full detail. The general classification Is as follows: 1900. 1899. Increase. Spirits $109,868,817 $99,283,534 $10,585,283 Tobacco .... 59,355,084 52.493.207 6,861.876 Beer 73,550.754 6S.fi44.558 4,906.196 Oleo 2,543,785 l,9S6.fil8 587,166 Filled cheese 17.064 18.0SS 1.033 Mixed flour. 7.439 7.840 401 Special taxes 4.515.640 4,921.593 V,P52 Legacies .... 2.884.491 1.2.15.436 1,649,056 Schedule A.. 40,964,263 38.fil8.ftSl Schedule B 5,219,737 .S Decrease. There Is a miscellaneous class, which yielded over $1,000,000 In 1899, and is not included in the abstract of the report for 1900. Schedule B is made up of the stamp taxes on medicinal proprietary articles and preparations. Probably no taxes cause more annoyance than these, and they could, be removed entirely and leave approximately $25,000,000 of reduction that could bo effected in the stamp taxes dn documents, constituting schedule A, and in legacies. The latter are peculiarly a BUbJect for state taxation, and If the taxes on them and the stamp taxes ot schedule B wero removed there would be $22 000.000 or more to be taken off the doc umentary stamp taxes. Many of these, whllo not burdensome In amount are ex ceedingly annoying in their incidence, and if more than half of them could be re moved, the measure would be Justly pop ular, and the relief to business would be great WORLD'S GREATEST ELECTORATE. Impressive Spectacle of 15,000,000 Voters Making; a Choice. New York Tribune. An Impressive phase of the greatness of the United States Is suggested by tho Daily Telegraph, of London, when it speaks of Mr. McKlnley's victory "upon tho unparalleled plebiscite of 16,000,000 votes." The exact returns of, the popu lar vote In the late election have not yet been made. Four years ago, however, about 13,920.000 ballots were cast, and it is quite possible that this year's poll exceed ed rather than fell short of the impos ing round numbers mentioned by the Telegraph. In that case, and indeed even on the basis of four years ago, this was by far the greatest plebiscite ever taken in any nation, and the voters of the United States compose the most numerous electorate in the world. The word "plebiscite" recalls the vari ous popular votes of France in the days of Louis Napoleon. Those wero at the time the largest that had been cast That of 1S48, by which Napoleon was first chosen President comprised more than 7,500,000 votes, or less than halt the num ber cast here this month. That of IS51, by which he was made President for 10 years, comprised nearly 8,115XX) votes. The first so-called plebiscite, by which popular sanction was ostensibly obtained to his assumption of the Imperial dignity, in 1852, brqught out more than 8.140,000 votes, and the second and last In 1870, by which popular approval of the revised constitution was secured, increased the number to mora thnn fl.floonna. That was the high-water mark ot the French elec torate," for while at the present time there are about 10,500,000 inscribed elector, only 7,600,000 are brought out at a general elec tion. The French electorate- is, then, half the size of ours, which is proper, seeing that the population of France is scarcely more than half that of the Unit ed States. If from France we turned to the United Kingdom, where almost universal suffrage prevails, we find a still more marked in feriority to the American electorate. There were in 1808 only a few more than 6,500,000 registered electors. The number voting this year on that registry is not yet precisely known, but it cannot be much, if any, larger than that in in 1895, when fewer than 3,859,000 votes were cast In 1893 the total population of the United Kingdom was a trifle more than 40,000.000. Only about one-sixth of the population, therefore, were qualified voters, and scarcely more than one-tenth actually voted; while in the United States the num ber ot actual voters is about one-fifth of the whole' population. In Germany, also, universal suffrage prevails, and the population of the Empire ia much nearer to that of the United States than is that of the United Kingdom or France. In 1890, when the total population was 49, 500,000. the number of inscribed electors was more than 10,623.000, or a little more than 21 per cent of the whole, and at the elections of 1893 the total number of actual voters was more than 7,702,000, or more than 15 per cent of the whole. The United States has, then, an elec torate four times as numerous as that of the United Kingdom, and, of course, two or three times as large as that of the entire self-governing British Empire throughout the world. It Is also about as large as the electorates of France and Germany put together. Its suffrage may well be called an "unparalleled plebiscite," and the United States may still easily rank as by far the greatest example of popular government the world contains or ever has contained. Alcohol and Athletics. W. O. Atwater in Harper's Magazine, Many of the men who are most success ful in athletic contests are most rigor ous abstainers. Miller, the famous bi cyclist, is an illustration. In a study of his diet and that of other contestants In a bicycle race in the Madison-Square Garden, New York, in which he rode from 20 to 22 hdurs per day, and covered a distance of 2007 miles in a littte less than six days, we found that he used no alcoholic beverages. His trainer, John West himself an athlete and very suc cessful in the training of other athletes, expressed to me his Judgment that alco hol In any form or amount is injurious rather than beneficial where enduranco Is required. This view, however, is not universal among experts. A late study of the diet of Sandow, "the strong man," whose feats of muscular strength are phenomenal. Indicated that he was In the habit of taking about two quarts of beer dally. Ale Is very commonly Includ ed In the diet of English athletes, as stu dents in training for rowing contests. Judging by these examples, It would seem rather presumptuous to infer that this practice is entirely unwarranted. Personally, I am Inclined to believe that alcoholic beverages, even in moder ate quantities, are for most people more of a hindrance than help to muscular activity, but I am unable to find any warrant for positively affirming that very small quantities of alcohol are of neces sity harmful In their effects upon muscu lar work. Tammany Xot Democratic. New Orleans Times-Democrat. In the rescue of New York from Tam many the whole country is Interested, and the misuse of the word Democracy by that organization will make no dif ference with the people of other cities and states. The control of -the Ameri can metropolis by an organization which has no intention or, indeed, Idea of good government which exists only for the division of the offices and the $90,000,000 of salaries paid by the municipality of New York, has a contaminating effect on politics throughout the Union. Old Notions Dying: Oat. Wheeling Register. There is an old tradition that colleges and universities are institutions of learn, ing, but the idea is one more honored in the breach than in the observance. What with hazing, football, rowing, cane rushes, rowdyism in theaters and on the streets, assaults upon citizens, amateur pugilism and klpdred things, the college man who prefers to bo a gentleman and attend to his studies Is rather looked down upon by the fast and so-called athletic set Get Back the Gold Democrats. Memphis Commercial Appeal, Dem. Those Democrats who wanted to drop sliver four years ago are entitled to fra ternlze once more with those Democrats who dropped silver In the recent cam paign. All this talk about ostracism Is unwarranted. A political organization that can tolerate Populists and Stiver Republicans need have no hesitation in taking back Gold Democrats. " ' The Station Ascnt's Story. 8. E. Klser in Chicago Times-Herald. They never did much for me till I got a chance one day. To take a better station, and prepared to come away; I'd worked flown there in Watertown for thirteen- years, and passed From messenger to agent, and was called up here at last. And when they heard about It they came la with smiles and praise And told me how It tickled them to hear I'd got the raise; They knew I'd have it some day; they had seen It all the time. "For a fellow with such talents as I hod was bound to climb." And they put their heads together and got up a splendid spread A gorgeous farewell dinner, with the Mayor at the head; Andthey made & lot of speeches and they they praised me to the skies. And I felt my cheeks turn crimson and the .dampness In my eyes. And the ladies that I danced with, when the band began to play. Said the place would seem so lonesome after I had gone away, And the wealthy banker's daughter who hod seemed so proud before Almost confessed she loved me, as we salted across the floor. And pretty Janet Flamming, who hod let mt understand That she felt herself above me, trembled when I held her hand Trembled, sighed and, looking at me, said she wished I "wouldn't go; "It'll be so very stupid here without yea, don't you know!" I have never, till that evening, guessed hew well thoy liked me there; I had worked and hoped and waited, and they hadn't seemed to care. And, oh, what a. world of gladness had bees mine, if I hod known But they let mo wait and worry and keep tolling on alone. How I might have held my head up if I oaly could have guessed kHod I but known they thought that I was worthy of the best The Walt had been less dreary and" my work. hod been as play But they kept their feelings bidden tilt I bad come away. Tes, It's just the same old story, people some how never know What a man Is worth, or care to, till it comes bis turn to go And perhaps It's best they shouldn't, for, be gin to flatter men Give them all the praise they earn and there's no living- with them then. Stilt I trUh their celebration might have been arranged before They found out that I was going and would wander bck.no mora KOtE AND CpjklHHT. Brer Turkey this morning knows how it feels to be a Chines Prince. If you don't feel as .thankful as you think you ought Just think about Agui naJdo. k . . " - It does not take an inspired prophet to foresee an epidemio ot indigestion to morrow. Thanks to McKinley prosperity, a fine large turkey wiUbd oarvedby William J. Bryan today. The Duke of Manchester 'will be fully able to celebrate today in the American style, thank you. Papa Zimmerman takes a liking to the Duke, of Manchester. Dear, 'delightful, lovely sensible papa. Mow doth the busy housewife Take nettee with a sigh Of seme few things ti&t she' forgot To put la the mince pie. Among the people who are truly thank ful today is Hon. L. H. Chang, ot China. He has survived no less than seven sui oides. There will be no school Friday, whlsh is a good thing, as the Friday after Thanks giving ia always an unluoky day for at tendance. The lusty football plarer " Who happens to survtva Will be devoutly thankful That he earae out alive. Bryan's lamentation meant that It would have pleased him more to have been elected by adversity tnaa defeated by prosperity. Mr. Bryan is not able to draw one of his celebrated parallels between the growth of the country and the growth of the Democratic party. t Oht Mlsto' Tukkey 'Gobbler. Jus keep yo self well hid, Or yo' wilt sho'ly grt It Whah. Willie Bryan did. It was not necessary to, mention that fact that Webster Davis Is about to leave this country In' the some dispatch that announced Kruger's intention of coming here. Some things are self-evident. Clackamas Station residents don't know a boon when it is planted at their very doors. A powder-house is a Godsend to usher them Into kingdom-come without their knowing it They have the means of quitting life without consciousness, yet they fall to see u good thing. Now that the courts have sustained tho validity of the ordinance in Philadelphia prohibiting the distribution of advertising handbills and circulars in the streets and In vestibules and on porches, there is a general demand on the part of newspapers In interior Pennsylvania cities for similar ordinances. If littering the streets of Philadelphia with looso paper is a bad thing, it is argued to be quite as bad for the streets of other cities, though they may not be so large. An aggravated attack of the commercial instinct has raised quite a breeze in so ciety at Jackson, Miss., besides prevent ing the appearance at a reception there of Lieutenant Hobson, the Merirmac hero. While Hobson was at the state capital of Mississippi, the King's Daughters ar ranged a reception in- his honor. The af fair was to be held at the residence of Mr. Mlllsap, a bank president and it was decided to charge 25 cents admission. The Lieutenant and his relatives decided that it was a trifle too much to expect the young sailor to go on exhibition like a dime museum freak, and so tho reception fell through. The Philadelphia Record says that tho cheap restaurants of that city employ many unusual devices to attract atten tion, one ot the most startling being a megaphone attached to a phonograph, which announces from the doorway the principal bargain in meals, with the prioes. There is a restauranteur in South Ninth street who has hit upon an equally novel scheme. In front of his door is displayed a pair of scales, on which is the following placard: : WEIGH YOURSELF : I BEFORE AND AFTER : : Try one of our 15-cent meals t : and see how much you gain. : It isn't a slot machine, either. It Is an old, second-hand pair or scales, and the man who weighs himself manipulates the ' weights. Two Episcopal missionaries, who havo Just made a six weeks' trip through Idaho with a packtraln, found that their hav ing an outfit like that of an. ordinary min ing prospector won the favor -of the mep they met. Ono night rather a rough-looking cus tomer came up to them with specimens of ore from his claim, and, finding that they could not appreciate the fine points of gold-bearing quartz, he looked at them sharply, and the conversation went on: "What! Ain't you prospectors?" "No; we are Episcopal ministers, going up to the Hump to hold some services." A long pause followed, and then: "How arc you going?" "With packhorses." "Who IS doing your packing?" "We do it ourselves." "You! Kin you throw the diamond?" "Surely, or how could we pack a horse?" Out went his hand, and he said, slowly: "So you kin throw tne diamond! Well, you are all right" and he moved off re peating to himself. "So they can throw the diamond; they are all right" PLEASANTRIES OF PARAGRAPHED Prison Visitor My poor man. how did you" get in here? Convict Hard luck. I didn't manage to steal enough to engage a first-class lawyer to defend me.! Tit-Bits. The Difference. She What'- the difference between vaudeville and variety? He On, yea aall It vaudeville when you flrst get the habit of going and are still a bit ashamed of it Indianapolis Press. Why He Tramped. Housekeeper I'd Just like to ksow why you go tramping- through the eeuntry? Mouldy Mike Well, mum, I've heard that these 'ere palace cars is rather stuffy. -mum. New Terk Weekly. Not Tet "Is your son a voter?" asked the visitor. "Nope," answered the Kentuokian. "He ain't quite old enough to participate in elections yet All he can do is to sit out ia the baek yard and shoot at a target" Wash ington Star. A Book of Reference. Papa Here t I told you never to go near that bookeaM without my permission. Willie I Jest want to look at the history of the United States. Papa What for? Willie This paper says the Chleagos was ehampeens of the League in 1887, and I don't believe It Philadelphia Press. Ready. "Why. Mrs. Parkinson, whatever la the world Induced you to buy that dead btacx dress pattern? Surely, you don't think of giv ing up bright colors at yeur age?" "No, but it was a bargain, and I got to thinking it might come la handy, too. My-huaband's going deer hunting la the- AdlsaadacJau Caicaga Tunes-Herald.