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