The true citizen. (Waynesboro, Ga.) 1882-current, December 22, 1882, Image 2

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Wages. Tae (Joitrol of Capital and Labor, Prof, Sumner, of Yale C 'liege, In an able article in the Princeton Review, sums up the right and the wrong of the quarrel between the employer and tie employed on tbe question of labor: We Hud that there never ought to nave been any question about wages at, all, any more than there should have been a question about raw ma- tern, l or fixed capital. It is all wasted energy to reanalyze the subject and expose ihe lallacies which have been introduced by incompetent meddl* n in economic science, encouraged by the concessions of the economists. Wages do not belong in distribution at all. They belong in the application of c pital to production. The capital ist employer is led by self-interest to try to keep wages down just exactly as he tries to prevent waste of raw material or wear and tear of fixed cap ital. The employed is led by self inter est t > try (o get all tae wages he cm. Toe reside of it is that supply and demand distribute the capital among the laboring wage receivers in the prop- rtion which conduces to the maximum of production under all the existing circumstances If trades’ unions or employers’ associations in troduce interferences they may tem porally disturb this adjustment, but all such interferences avenge them selves in the end by compensating raac ions Jf a man knows how to earn more than he is getting he ought to insist on getting m< r j where he is or he should change. If an employer can get an equally competent man at lowt r wages he ought to get him for lower wages. If we depart at all from this rule we entingle ourselves in an eudless muddle of sentimental rubbish, we lower production and contract the welfare of all. Tuero is, therefore, no social question or strug gle of class with class involved in wages. The notion that there is under dis tribution some new and unexplored field of economic ecience is entirely without, foundation. That notion threatens to bring political economy still further undir the dominion of metaphysics and sentiment, by the introduction of some notion of j mice derived aliunde, as a controlling con ception in economical science. It is, inde d, painful to think what an im mense amount of poetry and declama tion is swept away when we once get at the truth of the relations with which we have been dealing. If these relations were coiractly understood it would be impossible to make people any louger applaud the orator, w ho finds it unjust that an industrious man is better than a lazy one, cr who wants a revolution because the man who has won capital by self-denial, gets more luxurious living for himstlf and his children than the mau who has spent as he went along. We should, however, have more sober Industry and manly effort on the part of the free, independent and in telligent laborers to win capital and put themselves and their children in a belter position. There is no reason at all, «t this moment, barring disease and accident, why any man living should not acquire capital, and in view of the progress in art*, there is no reason to apprehend, as far in the future as we can see, that this chance will not become rather greattr than less, for all who are prudeut, industri ous and frugal, and who will turn their backs on the social doct us who have patent schemes for making everybody happy by setting those who have not to rob those who have. The Dignity of Poverty. The Church Temporal, There is adignity in all poverty which makes itself entirely independent of the wealth of others, and which is un willing, even though pressed, to Bbare it,—adignity which consists partly in the olurioteristio consequeuoes of or derly self-restraint, partly in the simplicity of feeling and taste which results from constant and straightforward contact with the realities of life. Indeed, there is feal strength lost in all fastidious id hyper-sens.tlve lives,real strength gained by habitual contact with toil k »d want and good and evil in their disguised and mest naked forms. ^vev. E. Paxton Hood, of London, \vi has recently spent several mouths Country, in a letter to the Lon- Wan World,remarks: “There Viter 1 have not seen since there; in all tl* coinpa- I have been present, I A seen the character Thackeray Modern Cleigymon. The clergy nowadays receive fre quent reminders that at best they are rather an unnecessary class of men. They are told that they represent the waning and dying pon er of priestcraft, that they are the paid special pleadt rs of a bad case in a hostile court aud before an indifferent jury, that they are neither men nor women buta cross between the two—with most of the vices of the former, aud all the petty faults of the latter, aud that at Lest they are only mild enthusiasts w r ho sigh for a mythical past or dream of an impossible future. Notwithstand ing all these serious indictments brought against them by the un believer or the worldlirg, the clergy, as a whole, maintain the: r place in the affections and regard of the people. They take the lead in our cities aud towns aud villages whenever any movement is organized lor bettering the condition of mankind. No other profession in the community speaks to such a large constituency in favor of morality and goodness* Aud barring certain painful exceptions, no other body of men in the community is equal to them in disinterestedness and genuine goodness. The sneer of the infidel will never obscure or change this fact. Aud yet wnile admitting all this, it is plainly apptrjnt that the influence of the clergy is not only not what it used to be, but not nearly as great as it ought to be. The country par ton of)<1 igl tnd two hundred years ago, or the Puritan parson of New England one hundred .>ei>r, ago exercised much more power, and wielded a far wider influence chan the modern parson of to day. Why this declension in power aud ii f 1 .- ence? Fiist of all, it may be answered that the more general diffusion of knowledge has lifted all the people up nearer to the pedestal on which the clergymen formerly stood alone. Peo ple who sit in the pews now frequently know more about the special subject ou which the clergyman is speaking thau he does himself. The topics which were formerly discussed only io the pulpit are now treated exhaus tively by learned specialises in fresh books aud magazines, or even in the teeming pages of the daily newspaper. The sacred domain of theology is now boldly invaded by seekers aftt r (rath iu every department of human learn iug. They draw back the curtains that used to hide the holy of holies from the common gaze; and it must be confessed that they frequently find but little to reward their eager in- q uisitiveness. The trend of modern thought is to. ward an absolute intellectual and moral republicanism ; and while this is perfectly in keeping with the Christian dogma of brotherhood, it cats away all the supports from the mediaeval Christian ideaof priest hood. 8> that the modern minister must derive his influence not from the factitious support of the Church, but from his innate superiority as a man among men. Another reason for tbe lessening of the influence of the clergy is that theii intense conservatism has made them appear, in some respects, as fossils in a world instinct witli life and change. In many ways mouern thought has left them far behind. They tenaciously cling to the old dis mantled forts, and make a show of defending them when no enemy is near. They ofteu mistake their theory of truth for the truth itself; and they frequently confuse the traditional in terpretation of a fact for the fact. The consequence of all this is that they are considered unpractical by men who live in the real world of to-day. The message they deliver may be true and ^important; but it is often tluged with a glory of the past, or saturated with impossible ^opes for the future. Theological obstiuctions are put in place of the facts of human life and experience; and the Hook of Daniel, aud the Apocalypse are ex alted above the Beatitudes or the Sermon on the Mount. It is not strange that a restless, practical age like this should cease to follow exclu sively men who have in some things ceased to sympathize w.td its strug gles and triumphs. And the clergy will only recover their lost grnind when they supplement their blame less lives with a wider sympathy for the thoughts and aspirations of men aud women as they are.—N. Y. Tri bune. connected with the temple iu Tirupu* van am, who has a son in my hoys’ day-school, and who not infrequently calls on nue for the purpose of conver sation. He asked me one day to give him a Bible from winch his son might learn tae daily Scripture lesson as signed to the school. This naturally led to conversation in regsrl to the Bible and the Vedas. Among other inquiries I asked him to what extent a knowledge of Vedas was possessed by the peo pie. He is a man wed 1 able to answer the question ; a man of much thoughtfuluess, too, and one who never speaks hastily. He paused a moment as if to think, then answered : “There are four kinds of knowledge of the Vedas. The fir it is a knowl edge that tbe Vedas exists. This all men'possess. “The second is a knowledge which comes by having touched with the hand or seen with the eye the sacred jvritings, the Vedas, which exist from aucient times. This knowledge only Brahmans can possess. 1 The third is such a knowledge of the Vedas as is derived from having learned by rote the sacred words. This knowledge, it may be, five in a hundred Brahmans possess. “The fourth, the true knowledge, is called Dhyana. This can come to the soul only by deep and constant medi tation on the spiritual meaning of the words. This knowledge not one in ten thousand Brahmans has ” He might have added, “and not one among two hundred millions of the common people.” “For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkuess *lre people, but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.” Late Legal Decisions. Sale of Goods to Pay Freight Charges. Some full barrels which hud been carried as freight were sold by a rail road company to cover its eba ges as carrier. In the advertisement of sale the only given description was “two barrels, wet.” The price paid by a fav orite of the company,who hi d anterior knowledge of the bairels and their contents, was a nominal one. The owm r of the goods sued to recove r their value, as the sale had not been conducted with the proper regard for his rights. In thi* case—Shivers vs. Kathea—the Supreme Court of Ala bama, on an appeal by the plalntifl, reversed a judgment in favor of the carrier. Judge Stone, in the opinion, said : “All reasonable diligence should have been exerted to ascertain tbe contents of these barrels, except open ing them, so that an adveitisement could be made which would t fleet the best sale of the freight. The agent should have txamined all external in dicia and risks, tie odor of the bar rels (if one was emitted), and used all other sources of information Within convenient r 'aco ; aud if he knew or could have learned the content i of the barrels and withheld this knowledge in adveitising them for sale, and the i ffjet of this was the sale of them to a favorite who had superb r knowledge, aud at a nominal price ; tire shipper was defrauded thereby, and the com pany must compensate him for the damages he has stiff jred. Curious Patents. Some investigating person has fur nished the New York Timex with a brief list of patents ou small things which in many instances have proved great mines of wealth to the lucky discoverer. The list might be extended to a much larger number, hut we only state thoaegiven in the 'Times. Amoug these trifles is the favorite toy—the,“re- turn ba’l”—a wooden ball with an elastic string attached, selling for ten cents each, but yielding to its patentee an income equal to $50,000 a year. The rubb< r tip on the end of lead pencils affords the owner of the royalty an independent fortune. The inventor of gummed newspaper wrapper Is also a rich in an. The gimlet pointed screw has evolved more wealth than most silver mines, and the man who first thought of putting copper tips to children’s shoes is as well off as if his father had left him $2,000 000 in United States bonds. Although roller skates are not much used iu countries where ice is abundant, in South America, espe cially iu Brazil, they are highly es teemed, and have yielded over $.1,000,- 000 to their inveutor. But he had to spend fully $125 OLiO in England alone fighting infringements. The ,,dancing J:m Crow,” a toy, provides an annual income of $75,<fD0 to its inventor, and the cotnn on nee dle threader Is worth $10,000 a year to the man who thought of it. Tue “drive well” was an idea of Colonel Green, whose troops, during the war, were in want of water. He conceived the notion of driving a two Inch tube into the ground until water, was reacUed and then attaching a pump. This simple contrivance was patented after the war, and the tens of thou sands of farmers who have adopted it have been obliged to pay him a roy alty, a moderate estimate of which is placed at $3,(100,000. The spring win dow shades yields an income of $100,- 000 a year ; the stylographlc pen also brings in $100,000 yearly ; the mark ing pen for shading in dilft rant colors, $100,000; rubber stamps the same. A very large fortune has been reaped by a western miner, who, ten years since, Invented a metal rivet or eyelet at each end of the mouth of coat and pants pocket to resist the strain caused by the carriage of pieces of ore and heavy tools. Sale Upon Condition. A mower and reaper wi rs sold to N , who gave in payment his notes, and it was agreed that the title t > the prop erty should not pass until the notes were paid in full. S. bought the ma- can draw the money at Fianbfor The letter making this ri quest w»3 simply dated at Weisbaden, Germany, and signed bv the depositor, and the bank cilicer iu sending him a sight draft payable at a bank at Frankfort, addressed t ie letter to him at Weis baden, Germany. But he did not get it, fi r another person of his name, Philip Yung, took the letter from the posti ffleeand drew the money on the draft. A suit was b.-ought in Wiscon sin against the b ink—Yung vs. Second W r l Savings B ink—to recover the deposit on tbe ground that the remit tance was not made in a safe manner, and that the address was negligently made, as the American residence of Yiug should have been added. Tue judgment was in favor of tbe bank, and Yung appealed to the Su;rdme Court of Wisconsin, who affirmed the judgment. The Chief Justice (Cole) in his opinion said : “There is uo neg ligence shown by the plaintiff. The money was remitted in strict con formity to ids express direction, by crafi. on a Frankfort bank in the usua way, by mail If a loss has happened it is certainly not the fault of the bank, for the letter of tue plaint ff cleariy autbir zed the remittance as it was made, II language means anything. The plainbff saw fit to take the risk of this mode of transmission. When the draft was properly addressed tnd mailed to him at Weitbadeu it became his property, and the bank was dk- ckarged of its i b igation to him.” Landlord and Tenant. A merchant occupied the first floor of a building for a store; the upper floors were occupied by other tenants. Thereof was defective and leaked, as the landlord knew, but nothing was said in the written lease ib.ut repairs. , . „ tvt i r . . In an aclion for damages brought by chines from N. b-fore the notes wore *Q ie Knowledge of tiis Vadai. Mr. Traoy, of Tirupuvanam, gives the following incident in the Mission ary Herald: .There la an nl<H Rpahman^nundlt Nobody was more bittA-ly witty than Lord Ellen borough. Wi. youug lawyer, trembling with feam rose to make his first speech, anil began : “My Lord, my uufortuuatecAnff-my lord, my unfortunate oAnt—my lord—” “Go on, sir,” said LormEllen borough ; “as far as you have pi ed hitherto, the Court is entirely paid, knowing the condition upon which N. had got them, and McC., the seller, sued 8. for the conversion of his property, but was defeattd. The judgment in this case—McCormick vs. Stevenson—was carried to the Supreme Court of Nebraska, and they reversed it. Judge Maxwell, in the opinion, paid : “The title did not pass to N. on the sale; it rimained iu the seller until the condition—the payment of the notes—was performed. S., know ing this condition, cou'd not take title to the machines by purchase from N., for he was not a purchaser for value in good faith.” Assessment of the Premium on United States Bends. The Court of Appeals of New York, in The People <x rel. Leonard vs. The Board of Commissioners of Tsx/s and Assessments, has decided that the same ot jection lies to the assessment of the premium on United Slates bonds as to the bonds themselves, for they said, in both cases, the Federal government would be injuriously affected in negotiating its bonds, as io is plain that if the assessment of bonds is to be increased whenever they go above par, their value would be iffocted. railroads—Title to Ticket. A ticket from New York to Phila delphia over the Pennsylvania Rail road was bought from a “scalper,” and the holder was txpolitd from the cars at Elizabeth, N. J., on presenting it. He sued for damages—Sleeper vs. Pennsylvania Railroad Company—at Philadelphia, but was defeated. He carried the case to th^ Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, who reversed the judgment. Judge Tiuukey, in the opinion, said : “Because there is a statute of this Stats making it a penal i ffense lor any one hut an authorized agent to sell a railroad ticket, the com pany insists that Sleeper had no right to his p issage on the ticket he bought in New Yolk; hut it is not denied that his ticket was Issued by the com- piny, and it was evidence of the holder’s title to travel on the road. The pri party to the ticket pissed by delivery. The contract made by Sie< per in buying the ticket was made iu New York, and was a valid con tract, and it was fully tx cuted. There was nothing unlawful or imnioial in It; it was a mere purchase of the obli gation of a common carrier to take the holder over its road. This contract being valid iu New York, where it was made, was valid every win n. It is a question here between the passen ger aud the oou piny, not between it aud the ‘scalper,’ and damages for the ejection are reversible.” Banking—Bsmitlano# by Bcqaust. A depositor who was abroad wrote to his bank to remit the balauoe of his account to him “by draft or in suoh tanner as you think -heat, so that I mi reliant for the injury to his goods from the water coming through the roof—Krueger vs. Farrat—the Su preme Cour. of Minnesota, in render ing a judgment in favor of tbe tenant, through Judge Dickinson, said: There is no sound reason why the rule t-iat there is no implied covenant on the part of the landlord to make re pairs should not exteud to premised 1 rot expressly rented to the tenant Here tin n was a common roof, and each of the tenant* was hound to sec to his own interest therein.” Banking—Ixtent of Lisb.lity of Sureties. Z , a receiving teller in the savings department of a bank, gave a bond to secure the bank “for all sums of money, property and funds of every description as may from time to time be placed in his hands by the caehiej or otherwise con e into his possassioS as receiving teller.” In the absence! the general teller, who had charge of the receipts in both the savings ar commercial branches, the oas.1 reeled Z. to act as general tellel whilst in that capacity he euibea funds of the bauk. Au action brought upon the bond w recover 1 sum taken by Z—Detroit Savii Bank vs. Z egler—and the sureties fended on the ground that they wej not liable for his acts as general tt The court below decided agaim! bank, and the judgment was carl to the Supreme Court of MichiganJI who rever.-ed the trial court. Judge' Cooly, in the opinion, said: “We agree with the defence that it Is not/ legally competent to impose new dtw ties upon au officer to the prejudice of his sureties ; but we do not think that the temporary assignment in this case goes that far. Every appointment In a bank is made with the general course of business of such au institution in mind, aud it must contemplate that what is cu-tomary will take plaoe.” Sarcasms. It is well known that a constant sue cession of the sound-waves excites vib rations in the wires of suspension bridges,and they increase in force withr^' the continuance of the cause. ForJ this reason, soldiers marched oyer- these fridges are required to break step aud bauds of music are not allow ed (o play on them. Rector (recently appointed to new parish, meeting old man)—“Well, Thomas, this is a most healthy and beautiful spot, and people Heem to live to a great age here. I should think folks hardly ever die here.” Tuomas —“Weil, sir, it’s generally the last thing they do, sir, here.” His Highness, the Mahtnjih Dhu* leep Singh, the Indian priuoe, has an nounced his intention ot contesting the constituency of Whitby against the Liberal member, Mr. Pease, and it added that he would have fought the seat iu 1874 had been par«