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The Weekly Tribune
THE WEEKLY TRIBUNE.
One year SIOO.
Six months BO
ISFTaymentß required in advance.
THL RSD IY, DECEMBER il, 1893.
* '■ ■■■'- - " -
AGENTS FOR THIS TRIBUNE,
Armuchee-Miss Lillian Watts,
Crystal Springe—Mrs. P M. Storey.
Cave Spring—T. J. Davis.
Silver Creek—George Porter.
Van’s Valley—B. B- Sanders.
THE ALABASTER BOX.
We are in receipt of the following
communication from our esteemed
fellow citizen, Mr. J. B. Hill:
Editor Tribune:
If I had thought of it in time I would
have appealed to our merchants not to have
brought on any Toys and Eire works this
season. I' know how the little ones
enjoy these things and it does seem hard
to deny them this pleasure, but these are
exceptionally bard times and I do think it
is wrong to waste so much money in Fire
works and Toys and drink that cannot
possibly benefit any one, while there are
so many poor women and children in our
midst, without sufficient food and cloth
ng to make them comfortable. I am not
finding fault with any’ one, because all
have a right to spend their own money as
they please, but I do know that hundreds
of dollars are burnt up and wasted on Toys
every Christmas, that ought to be applied ;
to debts already made or for something use- !
fill tor themselves or some worthy needy j
person. lam not in favor of giving to the j
lazy ones who will not work, or who spend :
their earnings on useless things, but there I
are unfortunate ones in our midst who are
doing their best, who would be greatly
helped if the amount thus wasted was in
vested in meal, meat, clothing, shoes, etc.
My Sunday School usually spends about
twenty five dollars on a Christmas tree in '
toys Ac. which are not of any real benefit!
and generally result in hurting somebody’s I
feelings. I shall be in favor of spending
this amount this year in helping our worthy
poor, in a system tic way, and believe all
will feel happii r after the holidays are
over if we will deny ourselves, and take
the money that we usually spend for toys
fire works and drink, and try to relieve the
wants of our really worthy suffering poor.
J. B. Hill.
We fully sympathize with Mr.
Hill’s purpose to help the needy and
we think this community is in a hu
mor to join heartily in systematic
work of that kind, but we think; he
goes too far in proposing to cut oft’
the childish joys of Chistmastide.
We do not think a single parent will
be less liberal to the poor because
he has made his own children hap
py. The... amount to.
such purposes'is shall
percentage of a man’s income, and
the saving of a few toys will cut off
an immense amount of childish glee
without making the parent or the
poor any richer. Indeed, we think
a man who sees happiness in his own
home will ieel all the meaner for not
helping to bring smiles to the
desola', e.
There is a profound philosophy
in this, going down to the depths of
the human heart, and these depths
were sounded centuries ago in a
beautiful way by the Divine man
whose coming is celebrated by this
Christian festival. To those who
censured the woman for breaking i
the costly alabaster box in his hon
or, saying it should have been sold
and given to the poor, he replied:
Why trouble ye the woman? for she
hath wraught a good work upon me. For
ye have the poor always with you; but me,
ye have not always.
How many sweet cherubs who
gladden the homes of this Christ
mas will be in another world before
the next? Let him who would aoate :
by one single rippling syllab.e the ‘
childish glee of this season stop and
think what anguish might be his
in looking back a year hence upon
the sad face of a disappointed child.
FREE ORE AND FREE COAL.
The Manufacturer’s Record pub
lishes this week a striking paper by
Edward Atkinson, who predicts
that great prosperity will follow the
placing of coal and ore on the free
list. He contends that labor is
cheaper in America than in Europe,
counted by what it produces, which
is the true test rather than the
amount paid per diem.
“My first reason for desiring the
removal of taxes upon the import of
coal and iron in all forms,”
says he,” “is that we have
in this country in this branch
of industry 1 he cheapest labor in the
world. That is to say, if the cose :
of labor be computed and charged
to the unit of product, there is no
country in the world that can nut I
a. ton of coal at the mouth of the
mine, into the coke oven or into the
ir > ’’’"’’uace at so low a cost per
unit of ton as we can. There is no
country in the world that can ap
proach us in the low cost at which
we can deliver coke of the best qual
ity upon the cars or at the convert
ing works in which it is to be useci
in making steel. Whatever the price
or wage of our labor may be, it is,
nevertheless, the cheapest. There
is no delusion so mischievous as that
which leads to the rate of wages
being treated as the standard or
measure of the cost of labor. There
is no labor so dear as “pauper
labor.”
“As a general proposition it may
be maintained that the labor of this
country, in its application to nearly
every product to which machinery,
improved tools or modern inventions
have been or may be applied, is
cheaper than that of any other
country. That is to say, the cost
of the labor in a given unit of pro
duct with a few exceptions, mainly
on fine and fancy fabrics, which de
pend on fashion for their sale, is
less than it is in any other country.
The beneficent result of these con
ditions is that, with few exceptions
and with scarcely any exception
affecting any of the necessaries of
life, the products of the country are
produced at the lowest rate of labor
cost, from which products the work
ing people derive the highest rates
of wages or earnings.”
As evidence of this he quotes
from the manifests of outgoing
steamships which carry cotton
goods, hardware, machinery, loco
motives, etc.,, to all parts of the
world.
He pays that with free coal and
free ore, we can make iron cheaper
than Engiand and pay our present
rates of wages. Furthermore there
are a billion people in Asia, Africa,
Australia, South America and
Mexico who are hungry for iron
products and cotton products.
“Is it not folly, says he, for the
producers of iron and steel in this
country, who can
cheapest labor in the world, when
measured by the unit of products,
and who can deliver their products
at thedowest cost of labor, coupled
with the highest wages per unit of
product, to permit the government
to obstruct and retard their own
progress and to impair the pros
perity of the farmer by taxing the
crude and partly-manufactured
materials with which these great
continents can pay, and only in
which can they pay ? All commerce,
with the exception of small
balances, is but an exchange of pro
duct for product.”
“IMPATIENCE DRIES THE BLOOD.”
We are sorry to see some Demo
crats disposed to be very impatient
with the administration. We once
saw on the menu card of a popular
hotel this q"otation from the Bard
of Avon :
Impatience dries the blood sooner than
age or sorrow.
Another authority of still greater
weight says:
Possess your souls in patience.
Judging from the amount of im
patience manifested by some of our
friends, they are in danger of losing
their souls, and may find themselves
figuring in a fertilizer advertisement
as dried blood. How does this
strike you:
DRIED BLOOD. ;
• From the Richest Bourbon Veins.
Warranted to Make Wheat Grow.
Is this the inscription you want
on your tombstone I If you die
kicking it would be the truth. The
trouble is that people not in author
ity cannot realize the difficulties
and dangers that beset the path of
those in power. They are obliged
to go slow in order to be sure. So
far as they have gone they have
done well. Let our friends not be
too hasty to believe every idle
rumor circulated by the enemies of
the administration. Let them not
jump to the conclusion that our
leaders who have always been true
and loyal are about to sell us out to
some unknown hobgoblins. We are
not all gone to the bad. Things are
improving. The country is safe.
Don’t tear your shirt. Wait for the
wagon and we'll all take a ride.
1
THE WEEKLY TRIBUNE, THURSDAY, DECEMBERS!, 18»8
The mills of the Gods grind slowly. 1
You can’t hurry them. You had
better not try. The most satisfac
tory plan is to be contented to get
your grist when your turn comes.
The turn of the masses has co ne
at last. After years of agitation
and hope deferred, the Democratic
party is about to pass a tariff bill
with important reductions which
will give substantial relief to the
overtaxed people. This is the most
important legislation in a quarter of
a century. It is the goal of the
people’s desire. Why are you kick
ing? You are like the balky horse
that reaches the fence which con
fines him and refuses to jump over.
We have all got to the tariff fenc“
and the Democracy is ready to pull
it down. Why do you turn off at
this critical moment and go to grub
bing sprouts ? You can do that
next winter. Come back now and
quit “cussin” and help us pull
down the tariff.
"Possess your souls in patience.
AN EXTERIOR VIEW.
Prof. Gold win Smith, one of. the
ablest men on the continent of North
America, if he does write from Can
ada, has been telling the people of
England how things go on at Wash
ington. His article in the Nine
teenth Century is an exceedingly
able and interesting one. He says
that “Cleveland is the most power
ful President since Lincoln. * *
The nation wants reform. It feels
that of late it has been going astray.
It desires to be led back into the
right path, and believing Mr. Cleve
land to be strong and patriotic, it
is disposed to give him a free hand.
Very remarkable was the uprising
of the silent vote, that index of re
serve force, in his favor at the elec
tion. It baffled the calculations of
politicians, none ot whom, I think,
expected anything like such a ma
jority for This way
of giving i» at a nation
al crisis ade without
prejudice to the constitution, is an
advantage to be set against all the
evils of Presidential elections.”
The Professor states the cause of
this popular upheaval admirably in
a few words :
“The nation wants reform of the
tariff, retrenchment of expenditure,
and restoration of the currency.
The tariff was the principal issue at
the election and the result, if I mis
take not, is a death blow to the
system of protection on this conti
tinent.”
ARMAMENTS AND IRON.
There never was a time when the
prospective demand for iron was so
great. For several years the rail
roads have been renewing as little
and buying as little as possible, and
through the temporary decadence
of building, the demand for struct
ural iron fell off. The long period
of abstinence and economy is draw
ing to a close and renewals on a
large scale must be accompanied a
revival of construction.
At the same time an immense de
mand is growing in another quarter.
Though there is more iron afloat
than ever before in the world’s his
tory, the great nations are putting
forth extraordinary efforts to in
crease their armaments. Alarmed
by the increase of the American and
European navies, England is deter
mined to outdo herself. Thenalion
is aroused and even excited over
the situation.
“The sea power of Great Britain
is distinctly challenged in away
affecting its natural existence. The
challenge must be met. The safest
and most economical course in the
long run is to end the competition of
foreign powers by proving it hope
less.
“The government is alive to the
magnitude of the issues and will
ask the House of Commons for
whatever sum is required, however
large it may be.”
It is understood that Mr. Glad
stone will ask the Commons to vote
forty or fifty millions for this pur
pose. Meantime the construction
offloating fortresses goes steadily
on in the United States, and we are
about to embark in the work of
building costly coast defences.
Those who sa v samples of the Krupp
guns and armor plate at the World’s
fair have some idea of the immense
demand for iron and steel this arma
ment building is likely tc create.
MODERN STATE BUILDING.
The settlement of Oklahoma and
the settlement of the original thirteen
states is as irreat as the difference
between the eighteenth and nine
teenth centuries. The slow and
painful process of gaining a foot
hold on the stormy shores of New
England or the wilds of Georgia
are in painful contrast with the
peopling of Oklahoma with 250,000
souls in three years. This is the
more remarkable when it is shown
by the official records of the Interior
Department that 100,000 of these
people entered the territory in a
single day. The Secretary of the
Interior reports wonderful progress
in this incipient commonwealth.
There are six national banks, twenty
four private banks, eleven millions
of taxable property, a public school
system ana a territorial university.
The secretary concludes his report
on the new commonwealth by ex
pressing the hope that at an early
day it may be admitted to the union
as a state. It is not unlikely that
one of the first senators from Okla
homa will be Robert Weston Patter
son, who went there from Macon.
THE BACON RESOLUTIONS.
There can be no question of the
Hon. A. O. Bacon’s ability as a pol
itician as well as in his profession
of the law. His resolutions intro
duced in the legislature several
weeks ago and adopted in the last
hours of the session by an over
whelming majority, are adroitly and
ably written, and a perusal of the
document itself induces much more
respect than the reading of first i;nT
pressions by-newspaper correspond
ents.
After reciting the financial dis
tress prevailing throughout the
country, the resolutions say :
We hold it to be to the interest o£ the
people of the United States that the gov
ernment of the United States should coin
both gold and silver as the money of final
payment without discrimination against
either metal, the dollar unit of coinage of
which shall of equal intrinsic and ex
changeable value.
The second resolution invokes at the
hands of those upon whom it is laid the re
sponsibility of its decision, the speedy de
termination of the future coinage of both
gold and silver coin as ihe money of final
payment to the end that the future pros
perity and development of the country may
be assured.
The resolution on state banks says: “We
hold it to be the constitutional right of the
several states to enact their own banking
laws by which banking corporations within
their borders shall be empowered to issue
bank bills for circulation among their peo
ple tot the necessary transaction of busi
ness and that there is no constitutional
right in the general government to lay
upon the states a prohibition against the
exercise of such right or to restrict, regu
late, or control the exercise of such right.
There is a declaration for an individual
income tax and a tax for revenue only.
The last resolution requests Georgia's sen
ators and rep i esentattves to do all they can
to make effective the principles contained
in the paper.
The first paragraph of the above
is almost identical with a similar
one in the Chicago platform, but
there is a subtle softening of the
limitations, which are nevertheless
expressed by the words “the dollar
unit of coinage of which shall be of
equal intrinsic and exchangeable
value.” The next paragraph urges
speed in reaching this desired end—
desired by all factions ot the Demo
cratic party.
We think the ablest and most
statesman like of the resolutions is
the one on state banks, wherein he
says :
We hold it to be the constitutional
right of the several states to enact their
own banking laws, by which banking cor
porations within their borders shall be
empowered to issue bank bills for circula
tion among their people for the necessary
transaction of business, and that there is
no constitutional right in the general gov
ernment to lay upon the states a prohibi
tion against the exercise of such right, or
to restrict, regulate, or control the exercise
of such right.
In p rinciple we believe Maj >r
Bacon is right, and if the question
were to be decided de novo in these
times of peace, we believe the courts
would so hold, but the question has
been adjudicated for twenty-four
years. It was decided in 1869 at a
time when the pendulum of public
sentiment had swung to the farthest,
extreme of centralization, and the
states rights idea was at a discount.
It was in vain that Caleb Cushing, I
with his great legal learning ami his
encyclopedic scholarship, pressed (
' ?■
The Talk of Rome
Is Our Big Stock for these Panicy Times.
We say Hard Times and High Prices must go. High Prices
Have gone and Hard Times are on the run. We
broke the prices and you can come
With a Small Pocket Book and Buy
Your Winter Goods Nearly at your own prices. That is
the way we bought them and we only
A Small Profit on New York Prices
Fancy Goods, hoes, Hosiery,
Dry Goods, Hais, Gloves,
Dress Goods, ai'G?, Corsets,
Wool Jeans, Drawers, Zephyrs,
Jeans Pants, Cloaks, Yarns,
Factor Sheeting, Jackets, Flannels,
Cotton Checks, Shawls, Quilts,
Cotton Flannes, . Skirts, Blankets.
These goods and all others throughout our large stock
will be sold at
Marvelously Low Prices.
Don’t buy your fall goods untill you have seen
eUF stock of dressgodds, boots, shoes, hats, milli
nery, blankets, jackets, etc. Our low prices «re
the talk of Rome.
See Our Goods and Get Our Prices.
H. B. PARKS & CO.
upon the United States Supreme
Court the views above enumerated
by Major Bacon. After elaborate
argument on both sides, it was held
by the court that the congress,
under the taxing power conferred
by the constitution, could levy a tax
on state bank bills, whether such
tax had the effect of being prohib
itory or not. There is, however, an
appeal to Caesar. The appeal was
made a year ago when the Demo
cratic party went to the country
with a platform which recommended
the repeal of the ten per cent, tax
on State banks. The people gave
the platform as a whole their over
whelming endorsement, and it is the
duty of the Democratic party to
carry out its own recommendation.
MAKING GOOD INDIANS.
Secretary Smith’s annual report
for the Interior Department is one
of the most concise public docu
ments we have ever read. In speak
ing of the Indian problem he says a
great deal in a few words. Under
the head of Oklahoma we find this:
Indians.—The allotment of lands in
severalty is earnestly recommended as the
best solution of the problem of civilizing
the Indians.
This is all he says in that place,
but there is more in it than there is
in whole columns of newspaper ar
ticles and resolutions.
Under the head of Indian affairs
the Secretary takes the matter up
more in detail and shows some in
teresting facts not generally known.
Contrary to the general opinion, the
Indians are not decreasing. Tribal
wars and wars with the whites
having ceased, the red man begins to
multiply and replenish the earth,
and the census shows 250,000.
“Slowly but steadily,” says the
report, “these wards of the nation
are being advanced to a condition
suited for citizenship. The expen-
necessary are large, the labor
required is great, but the responsi
bility cannot otherwise be met.
“Much good is being accomplished
bv the allotment of land in severalty.
True, some of those who thus accept
homes are careles-, and fail to
properly utilize the benefits con-
ferred, but others are working suc
cessfully upon their farms, and are
adapting themselves to the changed
conditions.
“The school house is beginning to
have a marked effect upon the race.
Over 21,000 children were entered as
scholars during the past fiscal year
and have been carefully trained in
the habits and cu atoms of civilized
life, as well as instructed in those
branches taught in common schools.
“It should not be expected that
all these children will retain, when
returned to their savage parents, the
habitsand manner of life which they
were required to adopt while attend
ing school, but the education and
the influence which they carry to
their homes is having a gradual
effect which will be certain in its
result.”
ONLY A PART.
We find the following in the New
York Herald:
Education is the corner stone of happi
ness, and if we cou d lift the under classes
by teaching them to do better work we
should relieve half of the distress which
excites our sympathy.
This is true if we make the term
include moral education. Otherwise
it is eminently untrue. A common
school education without thorough
moral training for a foundation is
like a house built upon the sand.
In the same issue which contains
the above, we find this dispatch:
Santa Fe, N. M.,Dec. 16, 1893.—Valiant,
the Paris dynamiter, spent about three
months in this city some fifteen years ago.
He made a scanty living teaching French.
He was taciturn, and little is known about
him even by the French residents here.
From this town he went to Mexico, and he
had been forgotton long ago. Vaillantin
those days had extreme political views,
which he advocated in brilliant speeches.
He was a tanner by trade and a man of ap
parently a good education.
It should never be forgotten, even
for a moment, that education in the
ordinary sense, that is to say the
cultivation of the mental faculties,
is only apart of character building.
It is an immense aid to character
building, for it lets in the light, but
the moral faculty must be developed
at the same time. We ma/ have
God’s sunlight on the growing corn,
but if we do not stir the ground and
keep it clean, the weeds will take
the crop.