The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, December 21, 1887, Image 2
CABINET CHANGES. !
!
Don M. Dickinson Appointed
^ Postmaster-General.
Mr, Vilas Succeeds Mr. Lamar, the !
Nominee for the Supreme Court,
The President on Tuesday sent the following
nominations to the Senate:
Lucius Q. C. I^amar, of Mississippi, to be
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the
United States.
Don M. Dickinson, of Michigan, to be Postmaster-General.
"William P. Vilas, of Wisconsin, to be Secretary
of the Interior.
The President also nominated the following
oflicers appointed during the recess of Con
gress:
Charles 3. Fairchild, of New York, to be
Secretary of the Treasury: George L. Rivers,
of New York, to bo Assistant Secretary of
State: Isaac H. Maynard, of New York, to |
be Assistant Secretary of the Treasury;
Sigourney Butler, Massachusetts, to be Second
Controller of the Treasury; James W.
Hyatt, of Connecticut, to be Treasurer of the
United States,
The New Supreme Court Nominee.
L, ^ "MS
l< / i
L. Q. C. LAMAR.
Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar was |
born in Putnam County, Georgia, September j
17.1835. and eraduated from Emory College |
in 1845. He studied law under the Hon. A. H.
Chappell, a?d was admitted to the bar in
1847. He went to Mississippi in 1849, and was
made professor of mathematics in the Misissippi
University. He resigned in 1850
ana went to Covington, Georgia. He established
a law practice and was elected to
the Legislature in 1853. In 1854 he returned
to Mississippi and was sent to Congress.
He sat in the Thirty-fifth and Thirty-sixth
Congresses. In 1S61 he represented his State
in the Convention of the Southern Stales, [
and during the s?me year entered the Con- i
federate array. In 1803 he was sent t>y rresi- |
dent Davis to Russia on diplomatic business, j
After the close of the war ne was s<?nt to the |
Forty-third and Forty-fourth Congresses, I
and in 1877 was sent to represent Miss ssippi
bi the United States Senate, and continued to I
do so until given the position of Secretary of j
the Interior by President Cleveland.
The New Postinaster-Genoral. {
DON ML DICKINSON I
Mr. Dickinson will be the youngest mem- j
ber of Mr. Cleveland's Cabinet. He was I
born at Auburn, N. Y., in 1S45. His father [
Asa D.ckinson, was a distant relative of j
Daniel S. Dickinson, but belonged to the i
Massachusetts Dickinsons. He went to !
Michigan when Don was a small boy. The j
new Postmaster-General was educated at the I
State University at Ann Arbor, graduating !
in 1866. Three years later he received his I
? diploma from the law school and began to I
nractise. At first he had a desk in his older i
brother's office. When the latter, already a
rich man, went to New York to accept a retainer
of $10,000 a year from one of the
largest dry-Roods firms there, he gave his
business to Don.
On receiving this encouraging gratuity Don
took into partnership another Dickinson,
Julian G., who was no kin whatever to him, ;
but knew how to collect debts. The two j
prospered and separated, but Don held to- i
gether the large collection business, in which j
ne naa mane a goou <ieai 01 money, a ne urrn
is now Dickinson, Hosmer & Thurber, and
the senior partner is said to have an income
all told of over $40,000 a year. A
large part of this comes from his collection
bureau, which he runs independently of the
firm. He hires two or three good lawyers
and a big corps of clerks and pushes the business
with an energetic hand. He is famous
for promptitude and never stops when he
gets after a debtor until he collects his judgment
and hands over the cash to his client.
He is said to be worth half a million, and
Mrs. Dickinson, who was a Grand Rapids
girl, has a fortune of $150,000 in her own
right. They have only one child, a little
?111 urn w yctti a kjiu?
Mr. Dickinson is a slender, black-haired
man, with b'ack side-whiskers flankine a thin,
pale face. He has been a delegate-at-largo in
every National Democratic Convention since
1876. Ho was an enthusiastic Cleveland man
long before the Chicago Convention, and
never saw the President until bo met him
bv invitation in Buffalo in December, I
1?S4, when Mr. Cleveland had gone there to
arrange his affairs preparatory to making his
home in the White House. Then, in company
with Judge Lothrop, now Minister to Kussia,
Mr. Dickinson called on Mr. Cleveland. TKp
two took a fancy to each other which time
has only strengthened.
THE NATIONAL BANKS.
Figures From the Report of the
Comptroller of the Currency.
The report of the Comptroller of the Currency
shows that the total number of. national
banks organized up to October SI is
8,805, of which 625 have gone into voluntary
liquidation, 119 have failed, leaving
in operation at that date 3.061. f he total num
ber of new ban?s formed during the last year
is 225; number closed, 33, of which 25 went
into voluntary liquidation, and 8 failed. The
net increase in national bank capital during
the year amounts to $30,572,325. On the
other hand, there is a net decrease of
$50,495,590 in the circulation represented by
bonds. The total amount of money piid in
dividends during the past year is *2,103,203.41.
The affairs of five failed banks have been
closed during the year, including among
thorn nr>n nf fchnse which failed during the
year. In four cases out of the five the credi
tore have received payment of principle and
interest in full. In the other case, that of n
bank which failed in 1870, tho total dividends
amount to w -?-*?
While George Lindley was working on
the banks of the Sangamon River, near Decatur,
I1L, he pulled a hollow log from the
water and found in it a catfish three feet six
inches long, which weighed forty-two pounds.
An eagle measuring nearly six feet from
tip to tip of its wings, that had made a practice
of roosting nightly on the steeple of a
Galveston church was shot the other evening.
J
* - :. ..
THE NEWS SUMMARY,
Fast cm and Middle States.
Three men were instantly killed, a fourth
died in a few hours, and a fifth was fatally
injured by the exp'osion of a locomotive's
boiler near Hazleton, Penn. All the victims
were railroad employes.
Three doomed murderers imprisoned in
the New York Tombs have been detected in j
an attempt to escape by sawing the iron bars j
of their cells.
n^1? \ TTflocnl nna tnIron I
vjm5 vjiuul-cskci i ~ ? .
800,000 pounds of codfish in three trips this |
season, the largest catch ever landed. |
John W. Qdick, a fourteen-year-old Phila- I
I delphia boy. has been killed by excessive
j cigarette smoking.
Two factions of boys had a sanguinary
fight in Erie, Penn., early the other day.
I Eight participants were stabbed, two fatally,
and eight arrests were made.
Seventeen Massachusetts cities have been
hold ng munic ipal elections. Ten cities voted
for licensing saloons and four against.
Two men were killed and two fatally inJ
jured by the fall of a derrick at Port Richmond,
Penn.
Sonth and West.
Four men were burned to death in the
Lawrence House, Brookville, Kansas.
It has been finally decided to place the
bodies of the execute.! Anarchists in Mount
Greenwood Cemetery, twenty miles from
Chicago.
Additional testimony confirms the charges
of horrible cruelty mnde against the women
managers of the Indiana State Female Re
formatory.
Jumping Don, an Indian who recently
! fired Cheyenne Agency, killed two of his
guards and committed suicide with a pair of
i shears.
A crowd of white men at Charleston,
Miss., took three negroes from jail anil shot
them, on suspicion that their victims had
attempted to kill a farmer.
Fifty armed men attempted to "wipe out"
the town of Gypsum, CoL A pitched baltlo
| lasting over an hour took place. Three citi,
tens and two of the mob were killed.
In the habeas corpus cases of Attorneyj
General Ayres and Commonwealth's Attor|
neys Scott and MeCabe, of Virginia, the
I United States Supreme Court decides that
I AfP/.iola nf o Wf-ita flinnnf Ivt minicliAil
for enforcing Stite laws. The effect of the
decision is that State bond coupon? are not
receivable for taxes.
Five men were killed and three badly injured
by the fall of a water tower at Thomasville,
Ga.
i Three negroes were blown to atoms by a
boiler explosion in Troup County, Ua
Washington.
There are the unusually large number of
twenty-seven red-headed men in the lower
House of the present Congress.
Congressman Townshend,of Illinois, proposes
a consolidation of all the bureaus at
Washineton in a new department, to be
known as the Department of ^Industries and
Public Works.
The Unite! States Labor Bureau is engaged
in statistics on marriage and divorce.
The bureau will report to Congress all marriages
and divorces granted in this country
since 1807.
The United States Supreme Court has decided
that a State has a right to tax out of
existence or confiscate a business if it is J
deemed to be productive of poverty, and
that no compensation can be claimed, thus
upholding the prohibition l iws of Kansas. I
The Secretary of the Treasury estimates
the total revenue of the Government for the
next fiscal year, under the laws as they now
stand, at $440,503.7^4.
Foreign.
The second trial of Lord Mayor Sullivan,
of Dublin, for printing in his paper reports
of suppressed branches of the National
* ? _ Ui! If.. C!..l
league, resulted in a wuvil-hou. iui. ?ur
livau was sentenced to two months' imprisonment,
but without labor.
An immense timber raft, designed for New
York, has been launched at Nova Scotia.
After a desperate conflict, in which there
was serious bloodshed, the St. Petersburg
police captured a Nihilist rendezvous and
factories for the manufacture of dynamite.
Twenty persons were killed and many injured
by an earthquake at Besignano, Italy.
The place was almost entirely destroyed, and
4,000 people are rendered homeless. The
town of Bogliana has also been badly
damaged.
Thrke railway employes were killed and
two injured by the explosion of a train loco
motive's boiler at Steliarton station, iNova
Scotia.
Lord Ltons, lato British Ambassador to
Paris, and in 1858 British Minister to the
United States, is dead in his seventieth year.
M. Gavard (Radical) has been elected
President of Switzerland.
Lord Mayor Sullivan, of Dublin, has
been taken to Tnllamore jail, to serve h s
sentence of two months' imprisonment for
publishing in his paper accounts of proclaimed
branches of the Irish National
League.
LATER NEWS.
There is danger of a coal famine all over
Minnesota, and coal is ?10 a ton, with prospect
of a largo advance when the blizzards
come.
A fire at Portsmouth, Ohio, destroyed the
Buckeye Flouring Mills. M. W. Anderson
the owner, and a fireman were killed and
three other firemen dangerously injured.
The skeleton of a man eight feet four inches
high has l>een uneari hcd at Nogales, Arizona.
It is thought the skeleton was one of the pre- |
historic men whose monuments of industry
still adorn the Territory's plains ar,d valleys.
THREE colored men were naagoa near
Rives, Tenn., by a crowd of citizens for assaulting
a ten-year-old girL
The Wool Growers and Wool Dealers of
the United States, in unnual session at Washington,
passed resolutions of remonstrance
ajainst tlie President's Message, because,they
claim, it was an attack upon their .ndustry.
A general Christian conference, under
the auspices and direction of the Evangelical
Alliance for the United States, of which
William E. Dodge, of New Yori', is President,
has just been held at Washington.
Many prominent clergymen and laymen
from all of the Evangelical denominations in
this country were present.
M. Carnot has been installed as President
of Franco in the Elys -e Palace, and M. Goblet
has formed a new Cabinot.
Gold in large quantities has been discovered
in Wales.
i James G. Blaine, in an interview at Paris
\ with a New York Tribune representative,
; made a long argument against President
Cleveland's Message recommendations rej
specting free trado and the surplus. Mr.
Blaino thinks the tax on tobacco should be
j repealed atouce; that on whisky should bo
retained aud the surplus used to fortify our
seacoast.
?
A CHINESE FEUD.
Bloody Work Among the Chinamen
of San Francisco.
San Francisco detectives have learned that
the murder of a Chinaman named Lee Wy,
in Chinatown, the other night, is the result of
one of those deadly feuds that are carried on
by Chinese societies in this country. The
Bam Jup Company, a large and powerful organization,
which mude its own laws for the
Chinese belonging to it, split som9 time ago
Into two fact ons cal'ed the Bo Sin Seer and
the Kin Rin Kmr Soma hiehbinders cf the
Kie Sin Seer 1 action killed two men of the Bo
Sin Seer, and the latter faction commissioned
a trusty cut-throat named IjOong Ah Tick to
avenge the s'aughter of its members. Leong
Ah Tick accordingly killed Lee VVy, who
happened to be the first Kie Sin Seer man
who came in range of his pistol. After the
latter murder a party from the Kie Sin Seer
went to the hendquai tersof the Bo Sin Soor
faction, and, tearing down the sign over the
door, chipped it into pieces. This is considered
the greatest indignity that can be oll'erod a
highbinder's organization, and can only be
wiped out bj blood.
THE TREASURY REPORT.
Secretary Fairchild Upon the
Country's Finances.
Sis Views Upon the Disposition of |
the Surplus Revenue,
Secretary of the Treasury Fairchild's report
on the finances of the country shows that
the total ordinary receipts of the Governmonf.
fmm nil cnnr/w for the fiscal year
snded June 30, 18S7, were $371,403,277.66,
the principal sources of the revenue being
$217,286,893.13 from the customs and $118,823,391.22
from the internal revenue. Tho total
ordinary expenditures were $315,835,42112;
leaving a surplus of $55,567,4S9.5i,
which, with an amount drawn from the cash
balance in the Treasury of $24,455,720.47,
makes a surplus of $80,023,570. As compared
with the fiscal year 1880, the receipts for 1887
. have increased $34,003^550.60. There was an
increase in the expenditures of $25,449,041.47.
The revenues for the present actual and esti- I
mated fiscal year are $933,000,000, and the |
expenditure for the same period, actual ana i
estimated, are $316,817,785.48 of the surplus
revenues
After paying a high tribute to the ability
of his predecessor, the Hon. Daniel Manning,
and stating that it is not necessary to do
other than follow in the general lines laid
down by him, Secretary Fairchild says circumstances
have heightened the urgency of
taxation reform as affecting the surplus
revenues, by which he desires to be understood
the money which annually remains in
I the Treasury after collection of all taxes and
j the payment of expenses and obligations exI
cept principal of the interest bearing date.
To the question "what shall do uone wnu
this surplus revenue?" the Secretary offers
three suggestions, as follows:
" (1.) l'ne purchase of the interest bearing
debt of the Government ('- ) Larger expenditures
by Government for other purposes
than the purchase of bonds, so that
they shall each year equal the taxation that
year. (3.) Reduction of the revenue from
taxation to the amount actually required to
meet necessary expenses."
- r\9 H/\nH<a t.hfl J
ua tug luutuji vi pui v> ??
Secretary Bays that it has this merit, that
the interest on the bonds ceases with
their purchase; and is of the opinion that it
the circulation of the money of such purchase
is not of more benefit to business than
the amount saved by the cancellation of the
debt, t hen the taxation is a burden to the
people to that extent.
Tne Government has never paid a gold
premium for its bonds, save in three instances?in
1880, 1881, and again in the current
fiscal year. The Government, with
these exceptions, has always been in position
where it could purchase or call its bonds at
par or less, and has been in posit.on the past
twenty-two years to apply the vast surplus to
retirement of interest-bearing debts on fairly
good terms.
There was in the Treasury December 1st,
barring all obligations, $55,258,701.19, which,
it is estimated, will be increased by the end
of the year to *140,000,0,0. under present tax
and appropriation lawa The Secretary does
not favor the enlargement of the expenditures
of the Government simply to expend
w'n VvTT fo TO f Jnn
Iliuuejr lajsju uj kuuuuii,
The Secretary does not favor decrease of
revenue from customs by increasing rates of
duties, as it would increase taxation for
more than it would decrease revenues. He
does not think it well to "abolish or reduce
internal taxes; it is a tax m>on whisky, beer,
and tobacco," which are only in a small sense
necessary to health or happiness; but he
favors reduction of revenues from customs
taxation, which should also be reformed as to
their abuses and inequalities. He would add
[ to the free list as many articles as possible,
I and reduce duties upon every dutiablo article
i to the lowest point possible.
The gross receipts of tho Government for I
the fiscal year wei'd $5'?5,844,177.C'J?-$398,534,- j
669.95 was in the Treasury and sub-Treasur- }
ies and $127,309,507.7] was in national bank j
depositories. Tho Secretary thinks steps j
should be taken to keep the standard silver
dollar in its proper place.
The Secretary shows that there are 3,805
national banks?2,219 being creations of Congress
and 580 converted from State institutions?with
captital stock of $30,572,325;
surplus, $10,004,250.10; deposits, $70,508,718.31.
Collections from internal revenue during
the fiscal year amounted to $118,837,3o1.0d|
being an increase over the collections of 1880
of $1,934,431.02.
INTERIOR DEPARTMENT, j
A Summary of Secretary Lamar's j
Annual Ileport.
Secretary Lamar, in his annual report of '
the Interior Department, says of the Indians: |
rue flve civilized trioe3 01 me mama territory
embrace a population of about 04,000,
mil the Six Nations of New York number
1,002. These being self-sustaining, it is not
| necessary for the present purpose to introi
iuco any statistics of their industrial oper!
ations.
j There are also about 19,500 Indians scat;
tered over the public domain and not living
on any reservations under charge of Indian
ngents, therefore no specific information of
their industrial pursuits is at hand.
The statistics compile 1 fro u the annual reports
of the various United States Indian
! Qornntc tf\ f.hn PnmmicQiAnflr f\t Indian Af
fairs represents that of the remaining
173,600 Indians under their supervision
58,00J wear citizens' clothes wholly; that
10,477 hous?s are occupied by them; that
35.000 can speak English with sufficient intelligence
for ordinary conversation; that
| more than 10,500 of their children are
i in schools receiving educational and
industrial training, for whom 2.J7 schools
are iu operation, and that over 81,000 families
are engaged in industrial pursuits. They
have cultivated over SW,00) acres, built over
21)5,000 rods of fencing, produced over 750,000
I bushels of wheat, 050,000 bushels of corn,
| 402,000 bu-hels of oats, 08.000 bushels of
[ barley and rye, 514,000 bushels of vegetables |
I and 83,0U0 pounds of butter. Besides
the above they have gathered for use and
Kile considerable quantities of wild rice, berries,
herbs, furs, tish and snike root, &c.
They have sawed 1,552,07!) feet of lumber,
cut 74,' *0 cords of wood, and 102,000 tons of
hay. Th<iy own over tf!?2,0o0 horses, 8,000
mules, 11:5,0 '0 cattle, 40.000 swine and 1,120 000
sheep. Droughts have seriously affected
the yield of their crop the past year.
The results are regarded as falling far short
of guaranteeing: an early consummation of
the policy of a complete Indian civilization. |
Thi only alternative perceived for the Indian
race is absolute extinction or a quick entrance
into the pale of American civilization.
The general allotment law of
February 8,1887, is alluded to as the most
imjwrtant measure of legislation ever enacted
in this country affecting Indian affairs, and
is regarded in the report as presenting the
only escape open to these people from the dire
alternative of impending extirpation.
The department has begun the work of
| making allotments under the law, and it
is proceeding quietly and cautiously. The
aim has been to proceed with the work
of allotting lands on those reservations
| where the Indians have made the great:
e6t progress and where thiir disposition and
i general cond tions promise success in this
I important movement
L nder the head of pensions the report calls
I attention particularly to suggestions of the
' Commissioner of Pensions for additional leer
I islation that will tend to the harmonious and
; equitable administration of the laws
I now governing the granting of pensions,
] and will remove many of the inconsistencies
and incongruities of existing law and
I very many of the present causes of coml
plaint. The report ndils to these suggestions
! one to the eiFect that widows who may remarry
and who may subsequently become
widows or be divorced without fault upon
their part should have their p nsions revived
to them for the period of such second widow
j The appeals to tlio Secretary of tho Interior
of pension claimants dissatisfied with the
adjudications of tho Bureau of Pensions have
Increased year by year, and thero were ppnd;
ing on the 1st of January, l>-87, 3,81)4. The
I nominal bnlance of 008 appeals now perdinsj
| before tho department is merely technical
j and does not express tho actual number of appoal
cases which can bo acted upon by the
department at the present time.
A large marsh near Switz City, Ind.,
which has hitherto been a resortofwild game
during their migration South, was recently
drained, and sportsmen say it is a wonderful
sight now to see vast flocks of duoks and
geese circle around above their old renting
place and then fly slowly away as if disappointed.
" j. - ,/t ~ U: ' ' " .
- 'JC :'.:-rT?h'-&
FRANCE'S NEW PRESIDENT.
The Man Who Has Been Chosen M.
Grevy's Successor.
I
The above is a faithful likeness of the sue- J
cassor of Jules Grevy as President of the ,
French Republic?M. Marie Francois Sadi- j
Carnot
FARMING- INTERESTS,
Thn Annual Kenort of the Commis
sioner of Agriculture.
The Commissioner of Agriculture, In his
annual report, recommends substantially the
abolition of the seed division of the department,
and the transfer of its duties to the
State and Territorial experiment stations.
Tho directors of these institutions, he says,
ought to know what kind of seed the
farmers of their respective neighborhoods
are interested in. and what kinds are best
adapted to each locality. "If," he says, "this
work of testing and distributing seed could
/Iawa Vm? ofafiAne onH f.Ka Hflnflrfmpilf.
UC UUUO KfJ l/UD OUaviUUO) UUU vuv ?>vp?
be relieved of this duty, it would enable it to
work in other directions of great importance
to the agricultural interests of the country."
The Commissioner discusses the scope and
functions of the departmenti in a way which
leaves room for the plain inference that he
disapproves the efforts to make it an executive
department, with a member of
the Cabinet at its bead. The department's
position, he thinks, should be
that of an adviser in those investigations
aud enterprises which bear
upon the agricultural interests of the country.
"In the beginning," he says, "the department
may have been an experiment, but
its condition now should leave no doubt as to
the precise relation which the department
should hold to the Government. The development
has been natural, and there may
be a valuable lesson in the history of its evolution."
The Commissioner says it is yet too early to
1? rncnlfo in
LUUKU au OiliUtti OMUnni^ilu VI vuu i vouiku ?it |
detail of the present year's experiments in the
development of sorghum sugar manufacture;
"but." he adds, "enough is known already to
enable this country to anticipate at an early
day the production of a sugar supply from a
plant as easy of cultivation as corn, but little
circumscribed by climatic influences, and one
whose by products have a value equal to the
cost of raising."
On the subject of our wheat surplus he
says: "The comparative prominence of this
country in its wheat surplus may not be
Wkila aiih ovnnrf.o
pu^uittl IJ ICailMM. II UliO wui ^
have exceeded 130,003,000 bushels per
annum for ten years, those of Russia
were about G0,u00,000 bushels and
those of India 24,000,000 bushels in round
numbers, for the last decade. Other lands
contribute only a very small surplus?Australia,
Chili, the Argentine Republic, and
others, only a few millions each?and the
combined surplus of all nations docs not
equal that of this country."
The report treats of the work of the Bureau
of Animal Industry in preventing the spread
of pleuro-pneumonia from infected counties,
and says that there has not been a time in
years when this malady has been confined to
such restricted areas as at present. If the State
authorities continue their co operation and
Congress makes an appropriation equal to
that of the present year, the Commissioner
believes that this dangerous disease can be
exterminated by the end of the next fiscal
year.
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL,
Work Done Daring the Year In Mr.
Garland's Office.
Attorney-General Garland says in his annual
report that the number of ordinary suita
now pending in tha Court of Claims is 1,110,
involving the sum of $13,'250,000. The num
Der 01 cases nieu unaer c:ia uowraau nci is i,819,involving
about 850,000,000. The petitions
filed in the French spoliation cases number
5,510, representing 2,3M> vessels and about
$30,<i00.00j. The amount reported in favor
of claimants in the eighty-one of these coses
passed upon, is about $4.i5,000, varying in
sums from $66 40 to $45,318.66
In the course of the fiscal year 1,777 civil
suits were terminated. In 922 of these, judgments
were for the United States, in 102 for
tbe defendants. The aggregate amount of
judgments rendered in favor of the United
States was $1,651,250. and the amount actually
collected on these judgments was
$152,558.
The Attorney General says he is now more
*- : 1 -J -I l..i.
tuau ever uuuvuitwi ui tuo auouiuui ucm ui
a government penitentiary. He 8iy3 that
the cost of conducting a government penitentiary
w.ll not be greater eventually than
the cost of subsisting the prisoners
in the various penitentiaries throughout the
country will be. He advocates the appointment
of a commission to inquire into the advisability
of building Government penitentiaries
and a reformatory.
The Attorney-General urges an appropriation
for the erection on the ground adjacent I
to the Department of Justice, of a suitable j
building for the accommo lation of the iSu- {
preme Court and other courts and commissions
of the United States.
A reorganization of the Department of
Justice in accordance with the increased
amount and important character of its business
is also urged.
THE WAR DEPARTMENT.
A Year's Work In the Secretary of
War's Oilice.
The annual report of the Secretary of War
shows that the expenditure made by the Department
during the last fiscal year amounted
to $41,886,165. The estimates for the
next fiscal year aggregate $53,388,710
against an apprpriation for the current
vear of $31,055,:>02. Th j increase is caused
by the incorporation of an estimate of $22,SJO.lol
for public works, including river and
harbor improvements. The expenditures on
this account for the current year amount to
only fl,:J08,4<)!>. There is also an increase
of about $1.5'>0,000 in the estimate for the
military establishment, army and military
academy.
The report says that the buildings, fortifications,
public works and grounds in the Division
of the Atlantic are everywhere in need
of repair or reconstruction. On tho entire
Atlantic and Gulf Coast line of 2,870 miles
and the Northern frontier of 2.510
miles the cole armament is 142 rifled guns,
of which 110 are obsolete and of very lo^v
power. Even the few serviceable rifled guns
that are mounted are but of little value.
oume oi Lnum ure iiiuiinwni uii uiu vu.inu.0^-,
and all are without adequate protection.
It is earnestly hoped, that if guns cannot
be had for fortifieat:o:is, appropriations can
be made for th'j purchase or manufacture of
enough guns to employ the artillery and fit
thein for ny emergency.
Touching Geronimo and his fellow captives,
now confined at Fort Pickens and Mount
Vernon Barracks, tho report says that they
are contented, perform their work with
alacrity, and thus far their conduct has been
excellent.
Attention is called to the fact that the
Pacific Coast is d 's; itute of fortifications,guns
and armament of every description, while t<an
Francisco is without a single gun which can
be fired with safety with present charges of
powder aim modern projccuies.
The druggist's clerk in Kansas wuo was
fined $20,8iMJ and sentence 1 to seventeen
yeais' imprisonment for ~U8 violations of the
prohibitory la w, bus been let o.T with a $000
fiue and two years1 imprisonment.
Peter Lawson, a Swede, of Goshen, cat.,
is ninety-fix years old und confidently expects
to live many years yet, because,as he declares,
his grapdmuther -lived to be 120 years old.
THE TEAR 1888.
100 tal&IS S'NM"*! 00
oo -?1^1 E-?? 00
CO 5 J j > ? 00 ? ?S -a ? * C 'a
zi 3 ^ K a & ? 3! ~ ^ ii ~ 5. ? %
Jan. 1334567 July 1234567
8 9 10 11 12 13 14! 8 9 10 11 13 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21, 15 1617 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 ? 22 ? 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31 . 39 30 3?
Peb 123 4 Aug 1334
5 6 7 8 9 10 ill 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 12 13 14 >5 16 >7
19 20 21 M 33 24 25 19 20-? 22 23 24 25
26 ? 38 20 26 27 28 29 30 31 ...
Mar 1 2 3' Sept 1
45678910 3345678
II 13 13 14 15 16 17 9 1? 11 '2 13 14 15
18 19 20 31 32 23 34 16 17 18 19 ? 31 33
35 36 ? 38 29 30 31 33 24 25 26 37 38 39
! on
Apr. i a 3 4 5 6 7! Oct. T. 1 a 3 4I 5 6
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 789 >o " 13 '3
15 16 17 18 10 ao ail 14 15 16 17 18 ? 20
aa 23 24 35 ? 37 a8i ai aa a3 34 35 26 37
39 30 a8 ag 30 31
May ...*13345 Nov 133
6 7 8 9 10 11 ia[ 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
13 14 15 16 17 18 ig 11 ia 13 14 15 16 17
ao ai 33 33 24 ? a6 ? 19 20 31 33 33 34
37 28 29 30 31 35 36 37 38 39 30 ...
June 1 a Dec 1
3456789 2345678
10 11 13 13 14 15 16 9 1011 12 13 14 15
17 l8 19 20 21 22 ? ID 17 ? 19 20 21 22
34 35 36 37 38 3Q 30; 33 24 25 26 27 28 29
I ...I 30 3'
Eclipses for 1888.
In the year 1883 there will be five Eclipses
?three of the Sun, and two of the Moon.
1. A Total Eclipse of the Moon, January
2Sth, visible generally throughout North and
South America, Europe, Asia and Africa
2. A Partial Eclipse of the Sun, February
11th, 6:02 in the evening; invisible in North
America; visible in southern part of South
America and South Pole.
3. A Partial Eclipse of the Sun, July 9th,
1:32 in the morning-invisible in America:
visible in the Indian Ocean.
. rri _ a _ * n.li .?A1? If T..1~ 00,1
iV. IOUU ILUiipStt Ui l/UO iuuuu, uui.y ??u
and 23d; visible generally throughout North
and South America, and portions of Europe,
Africa and the Pacific Ocean.
5. A Partial Eclipse of the Sun, August
7th, 1:25 in the afternoon; invisible in the
United States. This Eclipse is chiefly visible
in the Arctic Ocean, Norway and Sweden,
portions of Denmark and Greenland, and the
extreme northerly parts of North America
and Asia.
j Morning Stars. Evening Stars.
| Venus, until July 11. Venus, after July 11.
Mars, until April 12. Mars, after April 12.
| Jupiter, until May 21, Jupiter, after May 21
i n i t?r Tlf><r R. until Dec. 8.
Saturn, until Jan. 22, Saturn, after Januafter
Aug 1. ary 22.
Mercury, until Jan. Mercury, until March
18, after March 3, S, after May 10,
July 8, Oct. 31. Aug. 23, Dec. 28.
Planets Brightest.
Mercury, March 30th,. July 23th, Nov. 18th,
rising then just before the Sun; also Feb.
17th, June 12th, Oct. 8th, setting then just
after the Sun. Venus, not this year. Jupiter,
May 21st. Mars, April 10th. Saturn, Jan.
! 22d.
i
The Fonr Seasons.
Winter begins December 21, 1887, and lasts
! 89 days.
! Spring begins March 19, 1888, and lasts 92
! days.
i Ktimmop hocrins .Tnn? 20.188S. and lasts 94
days.
Autumn begins September 22, 1888, and
lasts 8.1 days.
Winter begins December 21, 1888.
GREVY RESIGNS.
Tlic French President Retires From
Oitice.
President Grevy's resisnation as Chief
Executive of the French Republic was sent to
the President of the Senate and Chamber of I
Deputies on Friday. At 1:25 p. M. crowds
were in front of the Chamber of Deputies.
The police cleared the approaches iu the
vicin.ty. Soon after the open ng of the
Chamber the message of resignation was
read.
The Deputies received the message with
j profound silence. M. Floquet read a letter
from the President of the Senate summoning
a Congress of the two Chambers at Versailles
to-morrow, for the mimosa of electincr a new
President. The sitting then closed amid cries
o? "Vive la Republiquel"
At 4:30 P. m. group of people had begun to
assemble in front or the Palais Bourbon in
Paris. Louise Michel, the Socialist leader,
attempted to force an entrance into the building,
and was placed under arrest. MM.
Camelinat and Dugiiercy, Extremist Deputies,
with Ernest Roche, of the Inlransiqeant,
tried to harangue a crowd in front of the
Palais Bourbon, but were prevented by police.
Afterward they proceeded to the Hotel
de Ville, followed by a mob. The guards
dispersed the crowd, but permitted the two
Deputies to enter.
On a pretest that the Republic was threatened,
hundreds of Revolutionists and Socialists,
followed by a big crowd composed of
all elements, started for the Hotel de Ville in
f.Vio oroninir PnliVn nnH nftv?lrv r>hnrcpd
tho mob, which retaliated with a yolley of
stones. About sixty persons were wounded.
The mob was dispersed.
M. Marie Francois Sadi-Carnot was
elected President of the French Republic,
succeeding M. Urevy. M. Carnot received
till) votes out of 820 cast by the Congress
of the Senate and Chamber of
Deputies. The announcement of h;s elec
lion was receivea wnn cries oi -vivo
la Republique!" M. de Freycinet and M.
Ferry, the strongest opponents of M. Carnot,
withdrew in his favor when they found their
own chances hopeless. The Royalists clung
to General Saussier and General Appert
throughout the sessioa The vote was as follows:
M. Sadi-Carnot, 616; General Saussier,
lfcW, M. Ferry, 11; M. de Freycinot, 5; General
Appert, 5: M. Pyot, 1.
Marie Fraiuoii Sadi-Carnot, the newlyelected
President of the French Republic, is a
French civil engineer and a native of
Limoges, where he was born August 11,
1837. His father, Hippolyte Carnot, is
a life Senator of the Republic. He studied
at the Paris Polytechnic School and
afterward at the Sc hool of Bridges, and after
graduating was made engineer in charge
at Annecy. In 1871 he became Prefect of the
Lower Seine, and Commissioner Extraordinary
to organize the national defense of the
three departments of the Lower Seine,
L'Eure and Calvados. In February of the
same year he was elected a representative to
the National Assembly, and took his seat
with the Republican Left, for which he
acted as Secretary. He voted for all the
ni-nnrtonri ff\f tho HnHniffl PQfAhllQh.
u1du^ui to pi upvjvv* avt miu mvumiw
ment of a republic and for all the provisions
of the new Constitution, ana was
recognized as one of the foremost leaders of
the strict Republican party. In the general !
elections of Februrary, 187tf, M. Sadi-Carnot
was elected to the Chamber of Deputies,
from Beaune, by a vote of 7.053
against 5,700 cast for his two
opponents. In the new chamber he adopted
the samo course which had characterized
him in the Assembly, standing shoulder to
shoulder wil h the out and out Republicans.
Ho was elected Secretary of the j
Chamber and was one of tho 3t>'i Deputies of j
the Left who united to refuse a vote !
of confidence in tho De Broglie Ministry. In j
the elections of tho following year his con
stituonts supported his action by re-electing i
him by a vote of 7.6S4 against 5,$i4 given to I
the candidate of tho Administration.
M. Sadi-Carnot was appointed Under Sec- j
' etary of Public works under President !
MacMahon's administration in 1S7S, j
and in 1880 ho was appointed Min- !
ister of Public Works under President !
Grevy. Ho held tins portfolio until '
1SJ52, when he was mado Minister of Finance, i
a position to which ho w as re-appointed January
7, lSbfi, in tho Do Freycinet Cabinet. !
He held this until the Goblet Min- j
lsiry came into power, i/ctunmi *>,
188U, when he was succeeded by H. \
Albert Dauphin. M. Carnot has at his I
command ft great deal of information regard- j
ing the interior affairs of the republic, and i
is especinlly conversant with the public !
works of the couutry. Ho was principally !
prominent in the Chamber in the I
discussion concerning these works, |
railroads, navigation, and the interior policy |
of theadininisir itiOT). Hisoidy literary work ,
nf nnfo ic ! M-ono'ntinn of John St.uarfc Mill's
"Hcvolutionof IS is an 1 its Detractors." He
lias a wife and five children.
The forest fires in Illinois have done much i
good as well as great damage. They have
destroyed the myria<!s of chinch bugs that i
ruined the corn crop last season. Before the
Arcs started the fields and woods were swarm
ing with the bugs. j
" ' rT' ^
SUMMARY OF CONGRESS,
Senate Proceedings.
1st Day.?At the opening of the Fiftieth
Congress the Senate Chambar -wore a fresh
and tasteful appearance. The floors and galleries
were newly carpeted, and the desks
glistened in their coat of varnish, the odor of
which mingled faintly with that of the bouquets
and gorgeous floral devices which enlivened
the picture. The Senator most favored
in the matter of flowers was Mr.
Daniel, of Virginia. The devices were all of
mammoth proportions, and covered not only
his desk and chair but overlapped
upon the desks of his neighbors.
Tne galleries were filled, Mrs. Cloveland
being conspicuous among the
visitors. The diplomatic gallery was filled
by members of the various legations, the
rront seat oeing occupied Dy me onineso
Minister, his secretaries and associates. The
| Senate Chaplain, Rev. J. G. Butler, opened
the proceedings with prayer. The President
of trie Senate, Mr. Ingalls, then took the
chair and called the Senate to order. He
said he would now place before the Senate
the certificates of election, the certificates of
appointment and other papers received since
the adjournment In the swearing in of
Senators-elect, Mr. Hoar made objection to
the administration of the oath to Mr. Faulkner,
of West Virginia, until certain questions
to which his credentials gave rise could be
nRirari nnon hv the Committee on Privileges
and Elections. At the suggestion of Mr.
Kenna, the matter was referred to that
Committee without a vote, and the swearing
in of Senators continued. At the conclusion
of this ceremony Messrs. Hoar and Morgan
were appointed as a committee to notify the
President that the Senate was ready to receive
the message, and at 1 o'clock the Senate
adjourned.
2d Day.?Mr. Harris suggested that bills
and memorials might be introduced and referred.
Mr. Hoar opposed the proposition,
stating that it was an ancient custom of the
Senate not to enter upon any ordinaay business
until after hearing the communication
from the President, at the beginning of the
session. That was a mark of respect due
from the legislative department of the Government
to the Executive. He therefore
moved a recess for half an hour. The motion
was agreed to. After the recess the
President's Messige was received and read.
Adjournment followed.
3d Day.?A letter from the Interior Department
was read, asking for an appropriation
of $77,495 to complete the publication of
the final report of the census of 1880, four of
the twenty-two volumes being still uncom
pleted. Laid on the table.... After the presentation
of several other communications
from beads of departments and the Court of
Claims. and some business of minor importance,
the Senate adjourned. The House was
not in season.
Honse Proceedings.
1st Day.?Long before noon the gal:
leries of the House were crowded to their
utmost capacity with spectators of both
sexes, drawn together to witness the opening
scenes of the Centennial Congress. At noon
the Clerk of the House called the body to
order, and was about to call the roll when a
man in the gallery started a Salvation army
hymn, which he sang lustily until ejected by
a" doorkeeper, which was not until several
minutes had elapsed, as the crowd impeded
the officer in his attempt to reach the musician.
The Clerk then proceeded with the roll
call amid a good deal of confusion, caused by
gentlemen renewing old acquaintances or
forminc new ones amid much talk and
laughter. Tho pages were kept busy carrying
belated bouquets and floral designs to
the proper recipients. After roll call Mr.
Carlise, of Kentucky, was re-elected Speaker
by llfcJ votes to 148 for Mr. Reed, of iu'aine,
and 2 for Mr. Brumra, of Pennsylvania. Mr.
Carlisle made a speech of thanks, in ich
he directed attent.on to the important labors
which would devolve upon tha present Congress,
and dealt with much stress on the imperative
necessity of such a moderate and
reasonable reduction of the tariff as would
guarantee the laboring people against the effects
of financial depression and at the same
time not deprive them of any part of the
just rewards of their toil. The work of orgaj
nixing the House was thca proceeded with.
I Tim Honsa was then called bv States, and
the oath of office administered, after which
Messrs. Cox. Randall and Cannon were appointed
a committee to wait upon the President
and inform him that the House was
ready to receive any communication he
should see lit to make.
2d Day.?Mr. Miller (Texas) offered a
resolution directing the Speaker to appoint
the Committees on Rules, Accounts, Enro.led
Bills and Mileage, each to consist of the same
number of members a3 is provided for by the
rules of the Forty-ninth Congress, and referring
the rules of the Forty-ninth Congress to
the Committee on Rulea when appointed.
Adopted....Several amendments to the
House rules were proposed The President's
Message was received and read, and then the
House adjoined.
PROMINENT PEOPLE.
Senator Edmunds and his daughters
equestrionize about Washington daily.
PlGG is a Probate Judge in Ohio. Hogg if
a member of Congress. Bacon is a customhouse
officer.
General Grant's widow visits ber husband's
tomb in Riverside Park, New York,
every Sunday.
General Sheridan's four children are hii
'picturesque escort to the War Department
in Washington.
Senator Mitchel, of Oregon, is going to
do his best tliis winter to have a navy yard
established on Puget Sound.
Nathaniel Clapp, the inventor of the absorbent
cotton, is now eighty-five years ol
age. He lives at Dedbam, Mass.
The youngest college professor in the country
is Willis H. Bocock, of Hampden-Sidney
College, Virginia. He is only twenty years
old.
Potter Palmer, the Chicago millionaire,
was earning $10 a month in a country store
in Pennsylvania before he went to Lake City
in 1837.
The largest plantation in the South is
owned by ex-Governor Alcorn, of Mississippi,
who has 4,000 acres under cultivation
in Cohoama county.
DonM. Dickinson is about 45 years old.
is in line health and strong in mind ana
body. He is a la wyer and at the head of a
very prosperous firm in Detroit;
Joan W. Young, Brigham Young's oldest
son, is said to be a successful business man
and a shrewd builder of railroads in Utah
territory, xxo uua umj imtx yviyco.
David Dudley Field, the prominent Not?
York Jawyer, takes exercise at the age of 82
years by walking eight miles every day and
riding horseback for an hour besides.
Healy, the artist, is painting Mr. Blaine's
portrait in Paris, having solicited permission.
Mr. Blaine undergoes a course of gymnastic
exercise daily for the benefit of his nealth.
President Ci.kvei.and is learning to ride
horseback at a Washington riding school to
reduce his weight. He is taking a course of
lessons in equestrianism preparatory to riding
outdoors.
Roland Nickerson, son of the President
of the First National Hank in Chicago and
heir to a fortune of $ >,000,000, employs himself
in cooking the food for the 10,000 street
car horses in the city.
NEWSY GLEANINGS.
Deer are reported very numerous in parts
of Maine.
Ostrich feathers have fallen from $300 to
a pound.
Mon'keytown is the name of a new postoffice
in Yazoo County, Misi
A Graxd Rapids (Mich.) firm made 200,00)
base balls the past season.
A Leghorn rooster that strums on the
io tho rrr\r?. 1 rumrtSA nf SaIgIII
5JT ~ ?""" e"~ i
Three Mormon cldnrs have been preach- I
Ing in tho mountains of Roanoke County,
Va.
The manufacture of false teeth for horses
is mentioned among the industries that are
springing up.
Since 18<J0 our manufactures have increased
from an annual product of $1,800,000,000
to $7,000,000,0J0.
A fifteen-year-old New Jereev boy has
been dangerously sick from smoking cigarettes,
of which ho used eighty a day.
? ? * "vr n . j# j xi_;.
Uaptian JcSAUI.dry, oi jew oeaiora, tms
year killed thirty-five whales, and secured
2,800 barrels oi' oil and 48,000 pounds of bone.
A citizen of Petersburg, Va., who is
6eventy-tive 'years old and is the father of
thirty-six children, has just taken his eighth
wil'o.
Fifty-nine survivors of the 600 who
charged at Balaklava thirty-nine years a^o, 1
held their annual reunion in London a few
diet's a?o.
.. .
THE PRESIDENT'S MESSA6E.il
"""""
To the Congress of ths United States: (j|
You are confronted at the threshold of yoor
legislative duties with a condition of the n*?
tional finances which imperatively demands HI
Immediate and careful consideratiox jMfl
The amount of money annually exacted, H$i
through the operation of present laws, from |H9
the industries and necessities of the peopl*, BH
largely exceeds the sum necessary to meet the HI
expenses of the Government. HH
When we consider that the theory of oar In- HB
stitutions guarantees to every citizen the fall
enjoyment of all the fruits of hia industry and IH
enterprise, with only such deduction as maj
be his share toward the careful and econom- H9|
malnfunon/m nf tH? fZtwrmw*mAttf.
protects him, it is plain that the exaction of
more than this is indefensible extortion,and * Bg|
culpable betrayal of American fairness and H
justice. This wrong inflicted upon thorn who H
bear the burden of national taxation, lik? HE
other wrongs, multiplies a brood of evil con- HS
sequences. The public treasury, which should^
only exist as a conduit conveying the peo*
pie's tribute to its legitimate objects of ex* HHj
penditure, becomes a hoarding place toe HH
money needlessly withdrawn from trade and
the people's use, thus crippling our national IB
energies, suspending our country's development,
preventing investment in productive HH
enterprise, threatening financial disturbance, HQ
and inviting schemes of the public plunder.
This condition of our Treasury is not altogether
new, and it has more than once of late HB
been submitted to tbe people's representative* H|
in the Congress, who alone can apply e R
remedy. And yet the situation still continues,
with aggravated incidents, more than ever HE
piesaciu;? financial convulsion and widespread
disaster.
It will not do to neglect this situation because
its dangers are not now palpably Hfl
imminent and apparent They exist none tMless
certainly, and await the unforeseen andunexpected
occasion when suddenly they will K
be precipafced on us.
On the 30th day of June, 1885, the excev- HH
of revenues over public expenditures after HO
complying with the annual requirements c?' H
the sinking fund act was$l7,8otf,735.84; during
the year ended June 30,1886, such excem- MH
amounted to $49,405,545.20, and during the BH
year ended June 30, 1887, it reached the sum H|
Of $55,507,840.54. Hj
The annual contributions to the sinking
fund during the three years above specified, BB
amounting in the aggregate to $138,058,
330.94, ana deducted from the surplus as
stated, were made by calling in for that pur- H
post outstanding. 3 per cent, bonds of the Gotera
meet During the six months prior tth
Jane 30,1887, the surplus revenue had grown
so large by repeated accumulations, and it HI
TVttO IWMtM tUQ TTlbUUianCU Ul lUUKIOaV DUUi
of money needed by the people would so street .^K
the business of the country, that the sum of Bwl
179,864,100 of such surplus was applied to the Hfl
payment of the principal and interact of the- H|
3 per cent bonds still outctanding.and which. HH
were then payable at the option of the Government
The precarious condition of flnan- ' HR
cial affairs among the people still needing ,
relief, immediately after the 30th day of ' I
June, 1887, the remainder of the S per
cent bonds then outstanding, amount- BD
ing with principal and interest tothe
sum of $18,877,500. were called in and
applied to the sinking fund contribution forthe
current fiscal year. Notwithstanding HH
these operations of the Treasury Department
representations of distress in business circles*
not only continued but increased, and abeo- H9
lute peril seemed at band. In these circum- 'H
stances the contributions to the sinking fund
for tbe current fiscal year was at once com- BM
K.t il>* Jlh.M n* *07 dtU -W? ftK <r>
UJ UiDCA^UUlKUtUUi |WljU</I|WAAVV,UI>'
the purchase of Government bonds not yet
due bearing 4 and 4)? per cent interest, the
premium paid thereon averaging about 24 per* cent
for the former and 8 per cent for the
latter. In addition to thi? the interest accruing
during the current year upon the outstanding
bonded indebtedness of the Govern*
ment was to some extent anticipated, and
I banks selected as depositories of public money,
were permitted to somewhat increase their
deposits. , ,-f,
While the expedients thus employed, to release
to the people the money lying idle in the
Treasury, served to avert immediate danger,
our surplus revenues have continued to accumulate,
the excess for the present year :
amounting on the 1st day of December to
$56,25d,701.19, and estimated to reach the
sum of #113,000,000 on the oOth of June next
at which date it is expected that this sum,
added to prior accumulations, will swell the \
surplus in the Treasury to $L40,000,(XX).
, Ihere seems to be no assurance that with
such a withdrawal from use of the people's circulating
medium, our business community
may not in the near future be subjected to
the same distress which was quite lately produced
from the same cuuse. And while the
functions of our National Treasury should be
tavo nnH niinnlp And whiln it* hpfit condition
would be reached, I believe, by its entire disconnection
with private business interests,
yet when, by a perversion of its purposes, it-?
idly holds money uselessly subtracted from
the channels of trade, there seems to be
reason for the claim that some legitimate
means should bo devised by the Government
to restore in an emergency, without waste or
extravagauce, such money to its place among
l the people.
I If such an emergency arises there nOw
exists no clear and uudoubted executive
power of lelief. Heretofore the redemption
of three per cent bonds, which were payable
at the option of the Government, lias afforded
a means for the disbursement of the excess of
our revenues; but these bonds have all been
retired, and there are no bonds outstanding
the payment of which we have the right to
' insist upon. The contribution to the sinking
fund wnich furnishes the occasion for expeu
diturc in the purchase of bonds has been already
made for the current year, so that
there is no outlet in that direction.
In the present state of legislation the only
pretense of any existing executive power to
restore, at this time, any part of our surplus
revenues to the people by its expenditures,
1 consists in the supposition that the Secretary
of the Treasury may enter the market and
I purchase the bonds of the Government not yet
> due, at a rate of premium to be agreed upon.
The only provision of law from which such a
power could be derived is found in an approI
priation bill passed a number of years ago;
' and it is subject to the suspicion that it was
intended as temporary and limited in its application,
instead of conferring a continuing
I discretion and authority. No condition ought
I to exist which would justify the grant of
power to a single official, upon his judgment Q|
of its necessity, to withhold from or release H
to the busincn of the people, in an unusual jM3
manner, money held in the Treasury, and D
thus affect, at his will the financial situation BB
of the country; and if it is deemed wise to mm
lodge in the Secretary of the Treasury th? M
authority in the present juncture to purchase B
bonds, it should be plainly vested, and provided
as far aa possible, with such checks and Mi
limitations as will define this official's right H
and discretion, and at the same time relieve fl
him from undue responsibility. K
In considering the question of purchasing H
bonds as a means of restoring to circulation
the surplus money accumulating in the M
Treasury, it should be borne in mind that H
premiums must of course be paid upon such H
purchase, that there may be a large part of Hj
these bonds held asinvestments which cannot ?|
! bo purchased at any price, and that combinaj
tions among holders who are willing to sell,
may unreasonably enhance the cost of such
bonds to the Government.
It has been suggested that the present
bonded debt might be refunded at a lees rat*
of interest, and the difference between the
old and new security paid in cash, thus findin;?
usa for the surplus in the treasury. The
success of this plan, it is apparent, must depend
upon th3 volition of the holders of the
present bonds; and it is not entirely certain
t!mt the inducement whii-li must be offered
them would result in more financial benefit
to tho Governtn-nt th-m the purchase of
bonds, while tho latter proposition would
re;luee the principal of the debt by actual
payment, instead of extending it.
The proposition to deposit the money held
by the Government banks throughout th?
country, for use by the people, is, it seems to
mo. exceedingly objectionable in principle, as
establishing too close a relationship between
the operations of the Government treasuiy
and the business of the country, and too extensive
a commingling of their money, thus
fostering an uunatuial reliance in private
business upon public funds. If this scheme
should be adopted it should only be done as a
temporary expedient to meet an urgent necessity.
Legislative and executive effort
should generally be in the opposite direction
and should have a tendency to divorce, as
much and as fast as can safely be done, the
Treasury Department from private enterprise.
Of course it is not expected that unneceaearj
and extravagant appropriations will be
M