The People's party paper. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1891-1898, March 12, 1897, Image 1

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DO YOU WANT - - - - To read several reform papers every week and yet pay no more than the price of one? Watch .the club offers each week ! ONE DOLL AH PER YEAR 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.