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NUMBER 26.
A FINE PEN PICTURE.
MRS. REED GIVES A GLIMPSE OF
MEXICO AND HER CUSTOMS.
Tells of the Fine Opening for Manufactur
ers and Men With Money—A Land Where
the Poor are Doubly Protected—A meri
cans Uead in Business.
(Special Correspondence People’s Party Paper.)
City, of Mexico, Feb , 25, 1897. I
207 Paseo del Refobma,. i
One is prone to make a superficial,
and therefore incorrect, estimate of a
country and its people on slight ac
quaintance, and for that reason I hesi
tate, as yet, to go deeply into the sub
ject of Mexican life, character, her
measure of civilization and the trend
of her present remarkable develop
ment.
That this development is extending
along all lines, moral, educational and
commercial is patent to the most care
less observer.
President Diaz is a strong, courage
ous man of progressive and liberal
ideas, and he has an able body of co
adjutors to assist him in the govern
ing and upbuilding of Mexico. He has
been called a military despot, but he
has brought law out of disorder, system
out of chaos, and peace, prosperity and
liberty to a nation that for centuries
was the mangled football of foreign
powers. Since he represents the Lib
eral Party that, under Juarez, forcibly
despoiled the church of its enormous
wealth and power, he has, of course, a
stealthy, watchful enemy in the Church
Party, but, holding up the hands of the
present government, are the interests
of foreign capital, the influence of all
business and the self-interest of every
class of reputable citizens. Diaz gov
ernment offers the most liberal con
cessions for the building of railway and
telegraph lines, as they are the arteries
through which the power of the gov
ernment would be transmitted in case
of war or insurrection. Judging from
an observation of two months in the
country, I should say that Mexico is
now safe from either internal disturb
ance or outside invasion.
The Indians, men, women and chil
dren, love Diaz because he is one of
them. ■ I feel a great respect for the
Indian races that have produced such
men as Montezuma, Juarez, and Diaz,
and a great disgust that the effete
blood of Spain should have fastened
onto Mexico a hybrid race that has the
virtues of neither the Indian nor the.
Castilian. An American lady of many
years residence here says: “The Mexi
cans are treacherous, insincere, indo
lent and utterly unreliable.” I should
not like to endorse her statement be
cause I have not been here long enough
to judge for myself of the moral side of
Mexican character. All with whom we
have come in contact have been kind,
friendly '. n, l ccurteops.
THE AMERICAN COLONY.
The American colony is assuming
large proportions in this city. Socially
it keeps to itself, as do the French and
Spanish colonies, except on the occa
sion of Diaz’ receptions, to which large
numbers of Americans receive and ac
cept invitations.
The smaller lines of trade are in the
hands of Mexicans, and their stores are
small, ill-lighted, poorly arranged and
their methods of barter worse than
that of the worst slandered Jew. There
are no Hebrew merchants in Mexico
because the Mexican can outjew the
Jew. The most attractive looking
grocery store is kept by an American,
the best place to buy shoes is at an
American shoe-store, the best lodging
house is kept by an American lady and
the only good hotel, The Sanz, has
New York city proprietors.
The clerical departments of all bank
ing institutions are in the hands of
“native talent,” and are slow and cum
bersome to a degree. Bank .failures
are, however, unknown, for a failure
means the sure and prompt confiscation
of all property of officers and directors,
and their imprisonment.
There are no laws favoring the rich
in Mexico. Corporation attorneys
would find a barren field here. All
business is taxed, noteven the smallest
receipt is valid in law without the gov
ernment stamp on it, but the rich man
and his pleasures bear the brunt of the
burden of taxation.
LAW FAVORS THE POOR.
If any class favor is shown, I should
say that the peon, dirty and mean as
he is, has the advantage, butthat opin
ion is due to the contrast offered by the
States, where the rich and influential
employer has the ear of the courts and
an unwritten law of privilege every
where. In Mexico should the carriage
of ait aristocrat run over the lowest
human vermin in the streets, nothing
could save its fine occupant, even
though a lady, from being immediately
conveyed to police headquarters to an
swer for the offense. A charge of theft
must be proven, or the accuser stands
accused, and this in the face of the fact
that Mexican servants are, almost
Without exception, the worst of pil
ferers.
The cost of living here can be much
less than in the States. Vegetables,
fruits and meats are abundant and
cheap, the cost of fuel is nothing sot
heating purposes and only a few cents
daily for charcoal to cook with; wool
garments are not expensive, Mexican
shoes cheaper than ours, servant labor
as cheap as it is poor, rents reasonable,
street car and railway fare not' high
and nothing exorbitant except drugs
and stationery. Merchants take life
easy, closing their stores from 12 to i
o’clock p. m., andon all “feast days.’
No bargains are advertised, eithei
through the press or by display o:
goods.
In view of the growing distress ir
the States, especially among our farm
ers, artizans and clerks, I earnestly
wish I could give it as pay opinion tha
there is a field open for the unemployei
in Mexico.
AMERICANS IN THE LEAD.
The opportunity now wide open ti
Americans is for capitalists or busines
leaders, not for men who must tak
subordinate or inferior places. Mexi
cans will fill the latter positions, and i
THE PEOPLE’S PARTY PAPER.
is their right. Every railroad has an
American president and staff of offi
cers, the minor positions are given to
Mexicans because of their knowledge
of the language and people, and their
Cheapness. It is the same of all organ
ized capital here. To money and abil
ity of a large order the opportunities
in Mexico are great. In spite of cen
turies of mining, new stores of miner
als in great variety are being discov
ered as new fields are invaded by the
mine expert.
A FINE FIELD.
Agriculture and horticulture have an
immensely wide scope, sheep raising is
a great industry and cotton a growing
one. In Mexico city and all the larger
towns there is a demand for good
American hotels and stores. But the
greatest need of the country, and one
that is being supplied as rapidly as
possible, is for manufactures, to save
the ruinous expense of importing from
gold standard countries. Driven to it
by the depreciation of her silver by the
United States and Europe, Mexico is
now manufacturing much of her own
furniture, the common grades of cotton
and woolen cloths, carpets, blankets,
mattresses, iron and wood work,
leather goods, clothing and shoes.
American clothing cannot be found in
the city and American shoes only at
one place and at double the price of
Mexican shoes. Coal and oil wells are
being discovered under the stress of
their need, new railway lines are
bringing the products of forest and ,
field from remote parts of the Republic ,
and it is only a question of time when
Mexico will be sufficient unto herself.
When a dollar will buy twice as much ,
at home as in foreign countries, Mex
ico will make every effort to spend that
dollar in Mexico.
The climate of the Republic is guaged .
by altitude more than by latitude, and ,
ranges from the hot air of the coast to
temperate and even cold at great ele
vations. At altitudes of from four to j
eight thousand feet in the tropical belt ;
of Mexico is found probably the finest i
and healthiest climate in the world, i
The valley of Mexico, 6,700 feet high, j
would be a climatic paradise if drain- ;
age eould be secured for it, and the es- ;
forts of centuries to that end appear
now about to be realized. ;
The Indians of Mexico bear little re- -
semblance to our North American tribes j
except in features, being industrious, ,
kindly-natured and of cheerful domes- s
tic habits. . ’
All portions of the Republic, even i
the most remote and unfrequented, are i
said to be safe to travellers, and in
some portions, the natives are courte- j
ous and generous hosts. 1
The municipal governments of towns 1
are careful and exacting. ;
Education is receiving attention in 1
the larger cities, and in Mexico city j
are to be found both English and Mex- 1
ican schools that would compare favor- 1
ably with any institution. of learning <
in Georgia. 1
Thus it will be seen that every ele
ment of progress is at work for the de j
velopment of our sister Republic. <
Emma Lj-Reed.
The Constitution on Cleveland. (
The four years of Cleveland’s last ad- j
ministratian have cost the people of the j
republic more than a civil war would (
have cost. The additions that he has (
made to the public debt, large though ,
they are, are a mere bagatelle com- (
pared to the property values that have j
been destroyed, the business institu- .
tions and firms that have been wrecked,
the suffering and crime that have been
caused by the enforced idleness of peo
ple thrown out of employment, the un
healthy depression of business and j
stagnation of trade, and the tremen-
]
dous, almost incomputable, losses that
have accrued from a reduction in the (
prices received by American producers ,
for the output of their labor. This loss
has occurred in the fields as well as in
the factories of the republic—with the (
inevitable res.ult that American work- (
ingmen are glad to get wages equal to
those received by the pauper labor of (
Europe. These great losses are the
direct result of Clevelandism.
From the hour that he assumed of
fice at the beginning of his second
term, he has dishonored and discredited
the party which twice elected him.
The commonest instinct of gratitude
seemed to be alien to his nature and
habits. The commonest instinct of pa
triotism seemed never to have affected
a lodgement in his mind.
He has dishonored the American flag
and has sacrificed the rights of Ameri
cans at the instance of bond specula
tors. He has permitted the vessels of
the American navy to be employed as
spy and patrol boats in the interest of
the Spanish monarchy. More than that
he has permitted the Spanish minister
at Washington to dictate the Cuban
policy of his administration.
He has been an eager and a pliant
tool of the rich against the poor. He
has sacrificed the public interests to
monopolies. He has done more to
draw the line between a favored few
and the great body of the people—more
to array the masses against the classes
than any American who ever lived.
His administration has inflicted a
hardship such as the people have never
been called on to endure before. It
has entailed misery in some form on
all except the few whom he has special
ly favored, and who have profited by
the infamies to which he gave life.
This is Grover Cleveland’s last day
in office, and lie will go out of it under
a greater burden of popular contempt
than has ever been excited by a public
man since the foundation of the gov
ernment.
Let us hope and pray that he is the
last of his kind ! —Atlanta Constitution.
What we Need.
We second the motion to the follow
ing from the Denver Post:
A report having having gone forth
' that a New Jersey girl kneads bread
- with her gloves on, a Colorado editor
plaintively remarks: “We need bread
with our shoes on and with our clothes
> on. We need it badly, too, and if some
s of our delinquents who are one or two
j years in arrears don’t pay up soon, we
- will need it without any pants on at
t all.”
PINGREE ON TRUSTS.
UNLESS SOMETHING IS DONE SOON
THERE WILL BE REVOLUTION.
Suggests Free Trade as a Club—Would
Blake it Unlawful for the Rockfellers anil
the Sages to be Philantliroplsts-A Veneer
ing for Robbery.
Gov. Hazen S. Pingree, of Michigan,
is very much interested in the investi
gation of trusts and monopolies now
being conducted in New York City by
Senator Lexow’s committee. He be
lieves that unless something is soon
done to regulate these octopi, there
will be a revolution. The Governor
has taken the bull by the horns in
Michigan and is after the railroads to
compel them to stop discrimination.
To-day, in speaking about the recent
developments in New York, in connec
tion with the inquiry into trusts, Gov.
Pingree said to a New York World
man :
“If I were in President McKinley’s
place I should have a law enacted pro
viding for a tariff commission to regu
late the whole question of revenue for
the Government. While 1 believe in
protection, I have no sympathy what
ever for trusts, and if I were in Mr.
McKinley’s place, every time one of
these ‘combine's’ was formed to raise
the prices I would have the tariff com
mission empowered to take off all du
ties on the trust’s product, and then we
should have free trade with a venge
ance.
“As regards gas and other kinds' of
monopolies, the municipalities should
either control or own them and have
the same power to regulate them that
is exercised over hacks and carriages.
Indeed, our municipalities should as
sume control of water, gas and street
car tracks.
TOO MUCH DISHONESTY.
“The trouble with our country to-day
is that there is too much dishonesty on
all sides. Incorporated bodies desire
the control of everything and Want to
run things to suit themselves. They
influence Congress and State Legisla
tures to such an extent that scandals
are cropping out every now and then.
“Look at the big scandal that the
Sugar Trust raised in Washington a
year ago when one of the Senators was
found investing in Sugar certificates.
And then look at the list of watered
stocks we have all over the country.
The innocent ► tockholdersare squeezed
in order that a few men on the inside
may ‘bog’ everything.
“We have got to come back to first
principles and get on an honest basis
before this country can prosper. Just
look at the railroad corporations that
are in receivers’ nands ! If you inves
tigate the matter carefully you will
find that in the majority of cases there
has been bad management, stock job
bing, or some peculiar business meth
ods employed by which the' big fish in
the puddle swallow up the little ones.
“Most of the bank failures within the
past six months have been the result of
dishonesty.
“You don’t hear of the Pullman or
Wagner companies being in bankrupt
cy, nor do you often notice that an ex
press company or a Merchants’ Des
patch or Union Line Fast Freight con
cern has gone into the hands of a re
ceiver. These are wheels within
wheels, and organized for the purpose
of making money for the railroad mag
nates at the expense of the mass of
stockholders of the railroad.
A TRUST RIDDEN COUNTRY.
“This country is trust-ridden. It’s
only a question of time, unless some
thing is done very soon, when we will
have a revolution upon us. Things are
running towards the Government own
ership of railroads, and the people are
demanding this more and more. Each
State should know what its railroads
are doing. It should stop them from
over-capitalizing, and hold them down
to a legitimate business, so that people
can invest in their stocks with safety.
“A railroad should be compelled to
do business in an honest way and not
be allowed to water its stock. If an
officer of such corporation offers wa
tered stock for sale he should be treat
ed as a man who obtains money under
false pretenses or as -a ‘green-goods’
man, and punished accordingly.
“I believe in vested rights, but I don’t
believe that the managers of . railroads
should be allowed to rob the people
who have their money invested in rail
road stops.
AS BAD AS CUBA. •
“The majority of manufacturers in
this country are in straitened circum
stances, and arc at the mercy of the
moneyed classes. The big fish are eat
ing up the little ones If this thing
keeps up we shall have a revolution,
and no mistake. The poor are oppress
ed as much by the rich in this country
as the Cubans are by the Spaniards.
“The trouble with the people is that
they cannot make out a good case.
That is to say; they cannot prove that
certain men in high positions are
scoundrels I fully agree with Andrew
Carnegie, the iron king, that the man
who dies possessed of many millions,
dies disgraced. If a man like John
Rockefeller were not allowed to give a
dollar to a college or a church, don’t
you suppose he would be soon exeerat
ed for piling up his ill-golton gains?
Nothing upsets a man so much as to
know that he is not respected. Just
look how Russell Sage loads down the
plate in New York!
“If such a law were passed, cutting
off these so-called ‘philanthropists
from being permitted to veneer theii
robberies and ill-gotten gains by dona
tions and securities, we should soon set
the plutocrats pass off the plane oi
action and become less hoggish am
more human.
“If I had the making of only out
law for the country it would be this.’
A Seeming Waste.
Over half the people in the grea
■ corn belt of the Northwest use corn so:
I fuel. It may seem a wanton waste
> but with coal at $8 per ton and cori
worth but 10 cents per bushels, it i
, economy to burn it instead of coal
The saving is nearly $6 for every ton o
' corn used Figure it for yourself, al
“ lowing severity pounds to the bushe
for corn. —People’s Voice.
“EQUAL RIGHTS 10 ALL ; SPECIAL PRIVILEGES TO NONE.”
ATLANTA, GEORGIA: FRIDAY MAI. CH 12, 1897.
THE RIGHT TO QUIT WORK
Judge Harlan Declares His Associates An
Behind the Spirit of tho Age.
Arc the federal courts of the Unitec
d States to compel men to work when
d they do not want to ?
■- This, in substance, is the question
raised by Supreme Justice Harlan in a
dissenting opinion. He used vigorous
l( language the other day in assailing the
i- views of his fellow justices and accused
v the court of making rulings contrary tc
y the spirit of the age and of seeking
- precedents in British law rather than
a that of American.
e In connection with Justice Harlan’s
r conflict of opinion with the majority of
a the court in the Debs case, his more
j recent comments are calculated to
arouse widespread interest.
t The case decided involved the right
-of sailors to desert merchant vessels
upon which they are employed. The
1 court’s opinion, written by Justice
Brown, holds that a sailor may be
s compelled to serve for the time agreed
- upon with the master of the vessel,and
- that a refusal to obey orders issued
r while at sea is just as culpable as the
i desertion of a soldier on the eve of
. battle.
Justice Harlan contends that any at
f tempt to compel a sailor to serve on a
> private vessel contrary to his wishes is
a violation of the thirteenth amend-
. ment to the constitution prohibiting
. involuntary servitude.
Robert Robertson and four other sea
men were taken into custody at San
' Francisco on the charge of having re
i fused to obey the orders-of the master
. of the vessel Aragon after having en
, tered into articles to make a voyage to
Valparaiso. They applied to the fed
. eral district court for writs of.habeas
, corpus, and upon the refusal of their
petition appealed to the supreme court.
The court refused to interfere in the
case. It held that the arrest of the
sailors was a due exercise of judicial
power, and that no involuntary servi
, tude was involved in compelling sea
men to serve for the time agreed upon.
They had no more right to desert a
ship than a soldier lias to quit his regi
ment just before a fight.
Justice Harlan’s dissenting opinion
dwelt upon the fact that the Aragon
was a private vessel, and that Robert
son and his companiohs were taken off
it to be placed under arrest because
they had asserted their rights as free
men and refused to work. He said
that the effort to compel them by the
aid of the government to continue
their labor was more like an overseer
standing over a slave to compel the
performance of menial service.
The justice raises the point that if
such a law could be enforced in inter
national commerce it could also be en
forced in interstate commerce. If men
could be compelled to serve on ocean
going steamers, why not on the river
boat’s of th'e interior !• Why was it I
more reasonable to arrest a seaman for
refusing to labor than a house servant
who made a similar refusal*? Would
not such a law apply to laborers in
every branch of industry?
The refusal of the seamen to work on
the Aragon, in Justice Harlan’s opin
ion, should not be regarded in the
light of a criminal offense, and their
arrest, to his mind, fell clearly within
the prohibition of the thirteenth
amendment against compelling invol
untary servitude.
There was, he contended, a differ
ence between imposing conditions like
these on men, like soldiers, in the pub
lic service, and upon men in private
employ, even though they be sailors.
Justice Harlan declared that it was
an attempt to interfere with the right
of freemen to compel them to serve on
a private vessel contrary to their wish
es. He objected to any appeal to
English precedents in the case, saying
that the two governments were so en
tirely different as to render such refer
. ence unavailing. In England, he said
parliament is the paramount authority
, and could wipe out magna charta in
. a law of ten lines,-while the power of
t congress was limited by the constitu
tion of the United States. —Labor
Leader.
Government and the Railways.
the only argument we hear
nowadays against Government owner
; ship of railways is the argument ad
1 vanced by James J. Wait in the March
' number of the North American Re
' view. It is really no argument at all,
of course, but as it has weight with the
unthinking it may be well to consider
I it.
It is that Government ownership in
5 the United States is not feasible be-
■ cause our public business is not con
» ducted upon a sufficientlyhigh plane.
> “A railroad train manned by political
■ appointees of the grade which one fre
? quently meets in public offices,” says
Mr. Wait, “would not be safe for pas
t sengers; and any one whose business
• takes him to the City Hall would be
t slow to entrust his commercial affairs
- to a similar outfit.”
v And jet not only this short-sighted
II unreflecting essayist but 60,000,000 oi
S other people daily entrust their com
a mercial business and their most deli
si cate and sacred private affairs to “po
t litical appointees” in the mail service.
He and all other city dwellers rely
• upon “political appointees” to keej
° their persons from violence and theii
■t property from fiery destruction. Al
e American citizens abroad make fre
quent use of the services of “political
K appointees” called Ambassadors, Min
s’ isters or Consuls. All American citi
r zens returning from abroad or import
l * ing foreign goods have dealings witl
e “political appointees” in the custon
houses.
What ground is there for believing
that “political appointees” in a GtJv
'® ernment railway service would be in
capable and otherwise undesirable?
By the way, the countries where th<
railways are owned and operated bi
it private persons or corporati ms are tin
>r United States, Great Britain. Barba
, does, Basutoland, Bolivia, Cosia Rica
Cuba, Guatemala, Hawaii, Honduras
n Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Persia
is Siam, Spain, Venezuela and Zululand
1. Every civilized nation in the work
of owns and operates the telegraph excep
.1- the United States, Bolivia, Cyprus
el Honduras, Cuba and Hawaii. —Nev
York Journal.
“ NEWS OF THE NATION.
® CARLISLE TO BE TAKEN IN BY THE
PULLMAN’S AS SPECIAL COUNSEL.
d
n A Murderer at Last is Shot Down by a
. Youthful Brother-in-Law —McCullough
n Wife Killer Geis a Continuance—Sam
a Jones Drawing Big Crowds.
.s
e Two men were killed in Philadelphia
d by being run down by a fire engine.
° Gov. Bradley of Kentucky has ap
" pointed Maj. A T. Wood to the United
D States Senate.
s Worcester, Mass, had a $250,000 fire
f on last Friday. Nine firemen were in
e juied while fighting the flames.
o A two year old child at Salem, Mass.,
pulled a lamp from the table which
t ignited his dress burning him to death,
s ‘
B Traffic is blocked in the northwest
e on account of the recent immense fall
? of snow. All over Minnesota trains
j .find it impossible to move.
I Mr. Mcßay, a planter living near
1 Romer, Ala., committed suicide by
5 jumping into a well. No cause as
s signed.
Mrs. Henry Ward Beecher is dead.
t Her death occured on the tenth anni
, versary of that of her distinguished
husband.
f . Senator Lexow in his report to the
New York legislature says that the
present laws of the state are sufficient
i to control the trusts if they were
■ enforced.
Recently while repairing a bank
floor in New York, the carpenter
£ound a rats nest built out of Green
backs. The nest was worth about
’ SIOOO.
A Snow slide buried eight men at
. j’ark City, Utah. Four of the men
. were dug out alive, but the other four
were crushed by the weight of snow or
. «>uffi rated,
. Will C. IL it, a Chattanooga druggist
is missing. It is thought he has aban
doned his wife and children for another
woman with whom he has been long
infatuated.
Tne Tuscaloosa, Ala., cotton mills,
valued at-$60,000 and giving employ
ment to 300 hands has been burned
down. Origin of the fire is unknown.
Carville, the defaulting paymaster
who absconded from Newport, R. 1.,
has been arrested at Chicago. He was
passing under the name of J. Reeves
and had $2,950 on his person when ar
rested.
Paymaster, Lieutenant William P.
Browley. of the U. S. Ship Yantie, has
absconded from Monte Video because
of entanglements with a brother offi
cers wife.
The Supreme court of California has
Fief used tv give Theouore Durant, the
murderer of Blanche Lamont and
Minnie Williams, a new trial. He is
now likely to hang instead of dying in
jail of old age.
Richard Condor, of New Orleans, shot
his mistress who had left him and then
killed himself. One of the shots fired
struck Mrs. Carmichael of Rachel, Ga.,
who happened to be on the street, in
the ankle.
Harry Reeves, a Chattanooga saloon
ist, has disappeared to the grief of his
creditors. A young female Salvation
army officer is said to have disappeared
at the same time.
D. 11. Duncan, a traveling salesman
for a tobacco house, committed suicide
in Birmingham by shooting himself
through the head with a pistol. Des
pondency on account of continued ill
health was the cause of the act.
Colin Draughdrill was hanged at
. Gadsden, Ala., on last Friday for the
. murder of J. I. Bates. Draughdrill
came of the best blood in Alabama, but
he was wild and reckless from his boy
, hood.
Governor Bloxham of Florida has ap
pointed Col. John A. Henderson to
represent the state in the United Senate
until the legislature shall elect a suc
cessor to Senator Call.
It is reported that the Pullmans have
employed Carlisle as general counsel
at a salary of 825.000. Monopolies are
I more grateful than republics. They
take good care of their servants.
i A quantity of nitro glycerine stored
i- on the farm of Albert Pike neai- Bus
I'alo, N. Y., exploded from some cause,
i killing Pike and his hired man. The
- latter was blown to atoms by the force
- : of the explosion.
Van Walker, of Nashville, who was
I once sentenced to hang for an assault
upon Julia Jones, has been released
s from prison. The Supreme court
' granted him a new trial on the ground
s of insufficient evidence to jiistify con
' viction and the prosecution let him go.
A construction train of the Baltimore
d and Ohio road left the rails at a point
,f near Zanesville, Ohio, and rolled down
i- a24 foot embankment. Three persons
i- were killed instantly and six or seven
others injured.
" Dispatches from St. Paul, Minn.,
S’ state that the snow is four feet d<ep on
P the northwest prairies. Why will
II farmers buy homes in such a country
I' when they can buy lands in Georgia
3 ‘ for 85.00 an acre and get a climate
worth 810 00 an acre thrown in free of
cost.
1-
t _ There has been trouble in the North
h Carolina legislature between the sup
m porters and opponents of the 86 year
railroad lease. To aid in the defeat of
the bill the speaker has absented him
° self for some days. Prominent Repub
lican representatives called upon spea
ker Hileman on Sunday and notified
io him that if he absented himself longer
>y that impeachment proceedings would
J® be instituted against him.
s’ A terrific explosion from escaping
a ’ gas occured on Tremont Street Boston,
il. The explosion occured just under a
■d street car which was lifted into the air
and shattered to prices. The street
w was crowded at the time of the explo
sion. Six persons were killed outright
aud fifty were more or less seriously
injured, some of them fatally. Sixteen
horses were killed on the street and
- glass was shattered blocks away.
There was a leak in a big gas main and
it is supposed a defective electric wire
1 ignited the escaping gas.
1
1 Thomas Rowe, just sent sent to the
penitentiary from Sherman, Texas, is
said to have sixteen living wives, all of
i whom were married inside of seven
years. He said that he had no special
objection to any of them only that he
I became tired of them. Most of the
women have children by him, there
being three sets of twins among them.
He claims that no woman has ever
refused to marry him.
. Capt. John D. Hart, of Philadelphia,
was refused a new trial under t,he
charge of violating the neutrality laws,
and was sentenced to pay a fine of
SSOO, to pay the costs of pro:-ecution
amounting to SSOO, and to serve two
. years in the penitentiary. Capt. Hart
was owner of the Laurada which car
ried arms and supplies to the Cuban
insurgents. Having won our own
liberties through the right of revolu
tion, we now fine and imprison an
American citizen for aiding our Cuban
neighbors to throw off the yoke of a
more galling tyranny.
International News.
It is reported that Queen Victoria is
rapidly failing in strength. She not
only has to be wheeled from one room
to another, but can take only a few
steps even when supported by an at
tendant.
King George, of Greese, has refused
to withdraw his troops from Crete in
accordance with the demand of the
powers. These six so called Christian
nations will now have to decide wheth
er they will hands off and let plucky
.little Greece have it ont with Turkey,
or whether their aid shall be given to
Christian or Turk.
Belgium has adopted a new method
of noting time. On May Ist the new
system will go into effect and the hours
of the day will be numbered from 1 to
24. The new day will begin as now at
midnight, but instead of calling the
hour past noon 1 o’clock as now, it will
be 13 o’clock and so on up to 24 when
the new day will begin again.
Greese is preparing for war with
Turkey. Forty thousand Greek troops
have been ordered to the frontier to be
ready to resist invasion. King George
has issued a’call to all Greeks in foreign
lands to return home to aid their na
tive land in the coming struggle. There
are said to be 30,000 Greeks in the
United States and many of them will
doubtless heed the call and return- to
fight the Turks. The Greek colony in
Atlanta numbers about 200, most of (
them being young men fit for military
service.
Emperor William has asked of the 1
Reichstag a large sum for the purchase
or building of warships. The idea
seems to be that at no distant day
Germany and England may come to
blows and with England’s greatly su
perior naval strength, every German
port eould be blockaded. The Reichstag
will be dissolved if the money is not
voted and an appeal made to the coun
try. .Socialism is rapidly growing in
Germany and it is by no means certain
that an appeal to the country would
result in a victory for the government.
Advices from Constantinople state
that the Turkish troops on the frontier
are almost ready to assume the oppres
sion and that in a weeks time 7,000
troops could cross the line and invade
Greece. It is altogether likely that in
the event of the invasion of Greece,
that Servia, Bulgaria, Roumamia and
possibly Montenegro, acting in con
cert, may make war upon Turkey, and
the war will become one of religion,
the cross against the crescent
Great damage was done last week on
the English Coast by a terrific gale.
The harbor of Weymouth was filled
with wreckage, and the piers crushed
in by the might of tremendous waves.
Large numbers of fishing boats were
foundered but the life saving crews
rescued many of the fishermen. On
shore the force of the wind was suffi
cient to snap long lires of telegraph
poles and to overturn a train of cars.
Stories of Sheridan.
Sheridan threatened to cut his son
off with a shilling. “You don’t hap
pen to have that shilling about you?”
said the hopeful.
“Now, gentlemen,” said Sheridan, as
the ladies left the room, “are we to
drink as men or as beasts?” The
guests indignantly exclaimed: “As
• men of course.” “Then,” said he, “we
•are going to get jolly drunk; for the
- brutes never drink more than they
- need.”
Sheridan excused himself from walk
ing with a lacy on account of the bad
; weather. Soon afterwards she met
t him alone. “So, Mr. Sheridan,” said
i she, “it has cleared up.” “Just a lit
s tie, ma’am—enough for one, but not
i enough for two.”
One night Sheridan was found in the
, street by a watchman, badly befuddled
i and almost insensible. “Who are you,
1 s r?” No answer. “What’s your name?’
7 A hiccough. “What’s your name?”
i Answer, in a slow, deliberate and im
s passive tone —“Wilberforce!” Byron,
f who enjoyed this joke at the expense
of the famous Bishop, wrote: “Is that
not Sherry all over?”
Sheridan was once talking to a friend
r about the Prince Regent, who took
* great credit to himself for various pub
" lie measures, as if they had been di
“ rected by his political skill, or foreseen
‘ by his sagacity. “But,” said Sheridan,
' “what his royal highness more par
r ticularly prides himself on is the late
■* excellent harvest.”
Sheridan, Jr., who was a candidate
g for Parliament, asserted that if elected
. he should put a label on his forehead
a with these words: “To let,” and side
r with the party that made the best
t offer. “Right, Tom,” said his father,
- “but don’t forget to add the word “un
t furnished.”
THE PRESS MEETING.
L
PAUL VAN DER VOORT ABLY REVIEWS
THE MEMPHIS CONVENTION.
Zealously he Renews His Vows to Battle for
the People’s Cause—Warns Populists
! Against Silver Clubs and Pie Fating
1 Fusionists.
The recent meeting of the Reform
Press at Memphis will do great good to
the cause. It was the largest meeting
meeting we have ever held. It was
practically unanimous on all subjects.
Though Rozelle had claimed that the
organization had broken up it was
proven by her own records that we had
gained more members during the past
year than ever before in its history.
The meeting at Kansas City was a
fizzle. Though Kansas and Nebraska
have nearly 200 newspapers, not one
fourth of them were represented. On
the question of organizing a new asso
ciation only 24 voted. The fact is that
though fusion exists in Kansas and
Nebraska two-thirds of the papers are
in favor of true populism. Only those
who have shared in the pie distribution
are in favor of fusion. The balance
remain quiet but will line up for the
true doctrine.
The only persons present from Ne
braska were a few of Gov. Holcomb’s
office holders. The two Edgartons
Launders aud one of the Nebraska
state officers and two others who hold
offijei.
I have not seen any address or reso
lution they offered. While they pro
claimed that Van Dervoort was the
cause of the separate meeting they or
ganized after Burkett and all our offi
cers were elected and thus demonstra
ted they were acting under orders.
Rozelle, the Democratic official bossed
the job. The Memphis meeting show
ed to all the world that we desired
harmony in our ranks while every
editor but one or two, was opposed to
Butler and Edgerton they favored
taking legal steps to secure that result.
No part of my address was received
with more delight than the clause de
manding the removal of Butler and
Edgerton. Washburne’s course was
wise and every editor received him
cordially and before the meeting \vas
over felt convinced of his devotion to
the true interests of our party.
Watson’s abscence was deplored.
But all of them accepted his reasons for
not attending. They would have been
glad to have taken him by the hand,
and would have given him a great ova
tion.
NO MOBE FUSION.
Fusion will meet with our united
opposition. It will never be tolerated
again. The desire to annihilate the
Democratic party was openly express
ed. All felt that we should slay the
Democratic tiger in her jungle, the
solid south. If we can do that in an
off year 1898, we can win in 1900. The
most of the rank and file of the democ
racy are honest. They desire reform.
We must show them that we adhere
to principle and they will join us The
silver Republicans of the West will
break away from them. Selfish leaders
would affiliate with us if we demon
strate our devotion to our cause. No
party can expect recruits that trades
or traffics with the enemy.
BBEAK AWAY FBOM SILVEB.
Our people must at once pull out
from the silver clubs which are a de
vice of the enemy and organize middle
of the road populist clubs.
It is easy. Just meet and elect pres
ident, secretary and treasurer, and
send names of officers and members to
J. H. Ferris, Joliet, Ills.
I now live under a southern sky,
surrounded by the faithful populists of
Texas and will do all I can for our holy
cause. My treatment at Memphis
warmed my heart. The association
did not want to investigate charges of
men who made them and ran away
and Edgarton and his whole crowd
were proven liars by their own hand
writing.
From my-humble location on the gulf
coast of Texas I shall continue to
work and reach the people through my
pen. Paul Van Debvoobt.
From Thomas County.
Editor People’s Party Paper :
Why is our party so slow in ridding
its committee of all office seeking fu
sionists. It seems to me that steps
should be taken to remove weak-kneed
members from our committee; and
place in their stead pure and undefiled
middle of the road Populists that will
not sell out the entire party for their
own selfish advantages.
We should never enter another cam
paign without first purging the com
mittee of all except “Simon pure”
Populists.
We need men on that committee who
will strive do the biddings of the peo
ple instead of trying to make the peo
ple do their bidding, and, if in the
future it is to be expected of us to
, abandon our party principles, for
which some of us have labored so hard
and so earnestly, hoping to receive as
our reward the emancipation of our
country from the clutches of plutoc
racy, and to join forces with the com
-1 mon enemy, then let us know and we
will stay at home and let the proces
; sion go by.
A wave is rolling o’er the land,
With heavy undertow; -?1-
And voices sounding on the strand,
, The fusionist must go.
' Their doom is written on the sky,
t Above the shining bow.
For indignation n >w is high,
The fusionist must go.
Weve stood the wretched bitter moan
c Full long enough you know;
Soon vie’ll speak in thunder tones,
Unless they “haste and go.
1 The Pops are tired of their course,
> Because they have said so,
And if they halt, we’ll make it worse,
k And force them soon to go.
Yours for Populism,
H. B. Nesmith,
] A Lasting Reproach.
1 That Grover Cleveland, Richard Ol
s ney and John G. Carlisle served out
t their terms of office without impeach
, meut is an unanswerable reflection on
- either the courage, capacity or honesty
of the 53rd and 54th Congresses.
WHY WILL YOU - - -
Pay double the price for reform
papers when you can get them at
club rates through the liberal of
fers on third page.
ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR.
WHOLE NUMBER 338.
PUBLIC DEBT GROWING. . .
, Net Decrease of Cash in the Treasury Dor
-3 Ing Month, Four-and-a-half Millions.
The monthly statement of the public
r debt, issued yesterday, shows that the
s debt on February 28, less cash in the
; Treasury was $1,012,600,464, an in
crease for the month of $4,592,137. This
increase is accounted for by an increase
in the national bank redemption ac
count, and a decrease of $2,525,165 in
the cash on hand. The debt is recapi
’ tulated as follows: Interest-bearing
’ debt, $847,364,950; debt on which inter
est has ceased since maturity, $1,858,-
210, debt bearing no interest, $376,714,-
’ 549; total, $1,225,437,709. This, howev
er, does not include $606,977,573 in cer
tificates and Treasury notes outstand
ing, which is offset by an equal amount
of cash in the Treasury. The cash is
classified as follows: Gold, $186,206,-
028; silver, $515,650,266; paper, $144,604,-
015; bonds, disbursing officers’ balan
ces, &c., $17,868,856, making an aggre
gate of $864,338,166, against which there
are demand liabilities outstanding
amounting to $651,509,911, leoving a net
cash balance in the Treasury- of $212,-
837,255.
The comparatively monthly state
ment of the receipts and expenditures
of the U nited States shows the total
receipts during February to have been
$24,400,997, and the disbursements
$28,796,056, which leaves a deficit for
the month of $4 335,059, as compared
with a deficit of about $690,000 for
February, 1896. Since July 1, 1896, the
aggregate deficit is $48,135,441. The
receipts from customs last month
amounted to $11,587,360; from internal
revenue, $10,388,421; from miscellaneous
sources, $1,925,315. As compared with
February, 1896, there is shown a loss .
from customs Os about $2,320,000; a
gain of about $82,000 from internal
revenue, and a gain of about $650,000
from miscellaneous sources.
Jerusalem—lts Seamy Side—Fart 11.
The English Churchman is in his
glory as-he traverses the winding ways
of Jerusalem, with a bevy of female
devotees at his heels. Everywhere he
sees the fulfillment of prophecy. He
tells pie Our Lord has set His curse on
the Jews, and they are still suffering
from the effects of it I reply that in
France and England the Semitic race
have long outlived the curse, and. as
artists, and financiers, and statesmen,
have climbed to the top of the tfee. It
may be that the poor Jew is under a
curse, but, alas! my poor Protestant
brother may be included in the same
category, as, undoubtedly, poverty is a
curse wherever it exists. They tell ma
the Jew is blind because he is waiting
for the coming Messiah, but, I ask, are
we not ail waiting for the coming
Messiah, and the sooner He comes
the better for all of us, Jew
and Gentile alike. If the Jew
is, waiting for a coming Messiah thaj^i 3 —
surely to his credit—that he remains
true to the teaching of his fathers— and
shows him to be no more blind than
those of us who piously await the dawn
of a Millennium, which, according to
all human appearances, seems as far
off as ever. When the Turkish Empire
breaks up it will be no easy matter
how to settle into whose hands Jerusa
lem will be placed. There may be a
terrible fight about the Holy City yet.
“One ought to go to Jerusalem If
only to see what priests can build up
on small foundations, and to what
length superstition can be carried, even
in what are termed days of light and
progress. In this respect, the Turk is
as great a sinner as the Christian, and
tells you how at the resurrection the
risen will have to cross the Valley of
Jehpsophat by a bridge of the proph
et’s hair, from which the wicked will
fall st-aight to Gehenna, while to the
righteous, Heaven, with itshouris, will
open its diamond gates. You see in
Jerusalem what you see nowhere else,
a city built up by religion true or false.
It is wonderful how Turk and Chris
tian, Roman and Jew, have battled for
its possession. To secure the sacred
places, Russia dragged us into the
Crimean War, and in the Middle Ages
how striking were the adventures of
the Crusaders, including the best blood
of Western Europe. The city is well
worth fighting for now. One is scan
dalized at every step he takes. The
s acred sites are all unreal, built over
with churches of all parties, so that
not a glimpse of reality remains. It is
a shocking sight to see the deluded
votaries of a faith which professes to
teach better things kissing every
sacred stone, praying at the corners,
crawling on their hands and knees to
where the Christ was said to have been
buried. All that you can realize is that
, you are in a cave or what might have
been such, lit with endless lamps, and
( around which architecture of all kinds
has sprung into existence.
“Jerusalem lives on fraud, and there
are no such aiders and abetters as the
pious Christians of England and Amer
r ica. It is a huge conglomeration of
( churches, the Russians, of course, tak
ing the. lead—synagogues, mosques,
convents, and hospitals and schools
r maintained by wealth of other lands.
Money is the one thing Jerusalem
sucks in as a thirsty soul does water
" when it comes, and many well-mean
ing people find there a living prepared
for them who would otherwise have to
starve. As to the real state of the
people, you never hear a word. The
Turkish taxgatherer may grind them
down. The wild Bedouin of the desert
may come and take what the tax-gath
erer has left. But you hear nothing of
that, and the daily topic of conversa
,j tion among the European settlers is
the repetition of dogma and the fulfil
ment of prophecy. It is not till you
have cleared out. taken the rail to Jaffa
and sail along the blue waters of the
Mediterranean that you get rid of the
; , nightmare, having done with cant, and
once more breathe free.” —The Ameri
can.
We Want Naiuui.
We want the names of two live, act
, ive Populists at every postoffice in the
United States,. We want none but
it those who mean business—not merely
talkers but doers. Our friends will
n confer a favor by sending us the names
of such. Don’t wait for the other man
V to do it. Address, Subscription Depart
ment People’s Party Paper, Atlanta.