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THE STATE OF DAD VOL. X. MINORITY IEPORTS On the Proposed Reduction cf the War Ta:es. WOULD TAKE OFF $70,900,000. - That Would Give Relief to the Tobacco and Beer IndustrLs—Proposed Re duction Too Smal* Washington, D. C., Special.—The Views of the minorr.y members of the ways and means •committee on thr reduction of revenue tax.s to $40,000,- 000 were made pubiic Monday after noon. It was signed by the entire Democratic membership £ 3-the com mittee. The report say r, the propose i reduction of revenues ;s too small, and that the hill does not go far enough in relieving the people of the burdens im posed upon them for war *purpooses. The remaining taxes, says the report, arg unnecessary and should be re moved. The minority take issue with Secretary Gage’s estimate of $26 000,- 000 surplus in 1902, and say that T Congress observes proper economy in expenditures the surplus ought to be $109,000,000. “Instead of taking off the sum of $40,000,000, as is proposed, w-. would go further and reduce taxation not less than $70,000,000. We would make these reductions on those ar ticles which are most nearly the neces saries of life, and would take off the taxes that are most anoying and vexa tious to the people. This would in no ■way cripple or impair the public ser vice. We believe that by a return to proper economy in appropriations a reduction greater than we advocate could be made, and we should at oncr enforce this economy. The war being over, the war taxes should cease, and the train of extraordinary expendi tures following the war should also terminate. “We shall not oppose the passage of the bill, fqr it gives some relief, but will endeavor to properly amend it The most seßoys objection is that the burdens of taxation throughout the country are unjustly distributed. This being true, of necessity the revenues collected are inequitable.” The report continues: “We favor an alteration of the present tariff laws, certainly to the extent tha' they have promoted monopoly. It has been prov ed beyond question, by evidence before bythe indus rial commission, appointed by Congress, that many of the power ful trusts that have an absolute mono poly of their business in this country and that exercise their power de-poti cally and injuriously to the people, largely owe their growth to the cus toms duties imposed in the Dingley tariff law, which prohibits foreign competition. “By destroying, in many cases, all foreign competition, this bill has made possible homq combination with all of the evils of monopoly. We witness daily the gross injustice of these mo nopolies, created and fostered by the government selling goods, as they con tinually do to- foreign consumers, out of the same factory at a lower price than they sell the same goods to home consumers. We urgently ins st that the present tariff laws should be modi fied to prevent this imposition. We favor an alteration in our system of taxation which would collect more rev enue from the accumulated wealth of the country and correspondingly less from the producing energies and en terprises. “We favor a sy-tem by which a reasonable portion of the present taxes should be collected from income, or from profits, rather than ''at almost the entire burden of taxa X should be placed on consumption.' “We believe that a provision could and should be prepared which wou'd accomplish the just ends sought in an income tax, yet escape an adverse de cision of the Supreme Court of the United States, such as was rendered against the income tax provided for in the Wilson law.” The report says that a reduction of $70,000,000 in taxation would permr the relief of the tobacco and beer pro ducing interests which have suffered from heavy war taxes, and would en able the abolition of many vexatious and annoying taxes that will be con tinued under the proposed legislation. “We contend,” concludes the minority “that the vice of our existing legisla tion is that almost all the burdens of the Federal government are impo el upon consumption rather than upon production. For Federal purposes the people are taxed for what they want and not for what they have, and a false system of taxation has thus been inaugurated which has practica ly made a per capita distribution of the burdens instead of a distribution in some degree proportionate to thr wealth -which Is protected." Te egraphic Briefs. A landslide at Kragen, Helgoland, destroyed much property. Field Marshal Lord Roberts has ar rived at Cape Town, on his way from the Traansvaal to London. The Norwegian government saved nearly $750,000,000 from its annual bud ge:, and the treasury now holds over $8,000,000. The sixty-eighth birthday of Bjorn stjerne Bjornson, the Norwegian poet and novelist, was celebrated through out Norway. The Russian Naval Attache at Con stantinople gave a dinner in honor of the officers of the United State* battle ship Kentucky on Friday night. CONGRESS AT WORK. Dally Proceedings of the National Lawmakers. SENATE. Third Day—Senator Frye closed his speech upon the ship subsidy bill. He devoted his attention principally to a technical explanation of the vari ous provisions of the measure, explain ing with especial care that provision which would admit to American regis try foreign-built ships, upon which much of the forthcoming debate will rest. Mr. Berry, of Arkansas, presented the credentials of Samuel D. McEnery, elected a Senator f-om Louisiana for a term of six years from March 4, 1903. Mr. McEnery then himself pre sented the credentials of Murphy J. Foster, elected a Senator from Loui siana for six years beginning March 4, 1901. Both sets of credentials were filed. Fourth Day.—The Senate trans acted no business of importance in open session. Throughout almost the entire afternoon it was in execu tive session. The Ship Subsidy Bill therefore received no consideration. Mr. Hoar presented a resolution of the Massachusetts Legislature in favor of the purchase by the United States government of Temple Farm ami Moore House at Yorktown, Va. Mr. Martin (Va.) expressed gratifi cation that the project had met with favor In Massachusetts, and said a bill would be presented at an early day intended to carry out the purpose of the resolution. Mr. Clay (Ga.) presented the creden tials of Hon. A. O. Bacon, his colleague re-elected to the Senate for a term of six years beginning March 4th, 1901. They were filed. Mr. Carter (Mont.) gave notice that on Tuesday next he would call up the pending resolution relating to the con tested Montana seat in the Senate, claimed by W. A. Clark and Martin Maginnls. The Senate then, at 12:40 p. m., on motion of Mr. Lodge (Mass.), went into executive session and at 4:30 p. m. adjourned. Fifth Day.—The Senate committee on military affairs continued its hear ing upon the anti-canteen provision of the military bill, hearing in addition to a number of short speeches in advo cacy of the provision, a protest against it from Rev. Mr. Miller, who served 14 months as an army chaplain in the Philippines. Mrs. Thatcher, of New Jersey, ap pealed for the abolition of the canteen on financial grounds, saying that it cansed soldiers to squander not only their health and their time, but their money as well. Mrs. Kells, of Missis sippi, spoke for the mothers of the sol diers, saying that all of them favored the suppression of the liquor traffic. Seventh Day.—The Senate spent al most five hours in executive session considering the Hay-Pauncefote treaty. There were five or six speeches made. Senator Morgan elaborated somewhat on his position as to the effect of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. He took issue with Senator Teller as to the purport of the first clause of that treaty, chain ing that it only applied to Great Bri tain’s right to fortify the Nicaragua Canal, itse’f. Senator Teller replied at some length, asserting that the pro vision was of more general import ance, as, he said, any one could as certain for himself by reading Presi dent Buchanan’s v’ews upon the sub ject when he was minister to England. HOUSE. Second Day.—The session of the House was of brief duration. Three bills were passed under the call of committees. Fourth Day.—The House of Rep, resentatives today at the end of a long sitting passed the Army Reorgani zation Bill by a vote of 166 to 133 Pennsylvania, and Underhill and Clay ton, of New York —voted with the Re publicans for the bill, and Mr. McCall, of Massachusetts, with the Democrats against it. Otherwise it was a strict party vote. The passage of this bill was the only matter of importance disposed of by the House before adjournment. Sixth Day.—Under a special order, adopted at the last session, the house devoted to-day after 1 o’clock to pay ing tribute to the memory of the late Representative Alfred Charmer, of Pennsylvania. When tfifcvhouse met a bill was passed to include cherries m the list of fruits from which brandy can be distilled under section 3255 of the revised statutes. At the conclu sion of the eulogies the house, as an additional mark of respect, adjourned. Seventh Day.—The first of he grea supply bill, the executive, legislative and judicial appropriation bills, was called in the House in record time. Hie bill carries $24,449,303 and has 121 pages, but there was less than ten minutfs debate upon it. Mr. Bingham, of Pennsylvania, who was in charge of the measure, tendered his thanks to the House for the confidence shown in the appropriations committee. It re quired about three hours for the clerk to read the bill. No other bus'ness was transacted. The hill was read for amendment under the five-minute rule. Mr. Bingham said that both parties in the recent campaign pledged them selves to economy and retrenchment. The pending bill was a step in that di rection. Mr. Robinson, of Indiana, protested that clerks in the government service outside of Washington did not receive the same leave prlviliges rececived by those here, and he thought the unjust discrimination against the former should ceos Only one amendment, a minor one, was adopted and the bill was then passed. At 3:15 p. m., the House adjourned. TRENTON. GA.. DECEMBER • 00. FELL LIVE STORIES. Baltimore Fireman Has a Narrow Es* cape from Leath. <v —• RESCUED Wl SLIGHT INJURIES, Ihe Baltimoi n House and Other Propei troyed—Heavy Losses Sustain Baltimore, a extensive stores and stoe' ltimore Bar gain House at West Balti more street, wi vstroyed by fire Saturday, r the stock and building Lobe and Company whu were con siderably dam -e was dis covered shortly o’clock a. m. and burned 'ics of the night and .or-. completely obstL In tn busiest part of tn ixlng the early morning hours al firemen made narrow escapes f. death, but none was seriously inju l The Bal timore Bargain House, 'hich Mr. David Epstein is the hea 'one ol the largest concerns of th acrin the South and had a large holli L r stock on hand. Mr. Epstein is as ye®unable to give an accurate estimate of the loss on stock, but believes it will be $50,000, Grotjan, Lobe and Company estimate their loss at $5,000, while the loss on the building will probably swell the total to be $300,000, all being covered by Insurance. Fireman John Flynn had a miracu lous escape from being killed. He fell five stories from the rear of the West ern section of the series of buildings included in the Baltimore Bargain House. Flynn war on the roof of the building. When overcome by smoks he lost his balance. His companions who saw him topple backward and fall felt sure that every bone in his body would be broken. In his fall the fire man struck three different times on a zig-zag arrangement of rain spouts. Each section that he struck gave way, but each broke the momentum of this fall. As he struck the piece of rainspoul nearest the ground, his fireman’s hel met of aluminum fell off and he struck upon the helmet, mashing it as flat as a piece of pasteboard. When his com panions picked him up he was uncon scious, but revived shortly, when it was discovered that the only injuries he had received were a number oi bruises cn his shoulders and a broken ankle. To Revise the Creed. Washington, D. C., Special.—Aftei two hours’ deliberation the Presby terian Committee concluded its discus sion of the revision of the West minster Confession of Faith and ad journed. The committee find on examination of the returns from the Presbyteries the following facts: 1. That the returns plainly indicat? that the church desires some changes In Its credal statement. 2. The returns indicate plainly that no change is desired which would in any way Impair the integrity of ths system of doctrine contained in the confession of faith. These returns also indicate, that a large plurality desire that changes should be made by some new state ment of present doctrines. 4. The returns also indicate a desire upon the part of many Pres’Meries for some revision of the pre. con fession. 5. It was therefore unanimous, agreed by the committee to recommend to the General Assembly that some re vision or change be made in our con fessional statements. The committee will convene in this city on February 12th next to finally prepare the statement to the General Assembly in May. Superintended the Looting. Berlin., By Cable.—The Pekin cor respondent of The Deutsche Zeitung writes that several German marine of ficers discovered Sir Claude MacDon ald, former British minister, at Pekin, and Lady MacDonald, personally su perintending coolies who were carry ing off treasures from the Chinese Im perial palace to the British legation buildings. T legraphers Strike. Chicago, Special.—Six hundred tele graph operators on the lines of the At chison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad struck in sympathy with the operators on the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe railroad, a branch of the Atchison sys tem, who went out last Thursday. The foregoing statement is according to the best information obtainable from the company’s officials to-night. The en tire number of operators on the system is 1,200, of whom 900 are said to be union men. Of the 900 members of the union, 300, it is stated, refused to strike, leaving the system with abouf one-half its men at work. DEMOCRATIC. ARP ON ' Ci: p S II Is a Rare tvei. Neg p oes. SAYS THEY HAVE Old “Uncle 1 *- Poison Should t Handy. The rapid increase of suic. iouth is alarming and serious study of our tb ! „ 6 people. Fifty years ag was a rare avent among the ...e race, and never heard of among the negroes. When it lid occur, it was considered an evi dence of insanity. I do not recall but one instance in my youth and that was a woman who jumped into a deep well when no help was within reach. But nowadays almost every daily p per contains an account of one or m self-murders, and even negroes 1 ~4 ’akea the infection, for they w*’|) fmi i e every vice and fra’ or the w tes. Old Lewis, my wood cF oer, asked me the other day how it was hat the white folks kill “derselvcs so m ah, and de niggers dident.” “Be cause raid I, “white folks are more easily rcome with grief, or remorse, or distr than negroes. You negroes don’t bo w trouble, nor take It hard when it dOv*3 come. You don’t give yourselves much anxiety about to-mor row. or next week, or next year. You don’t grieve long over a death in the family; your emotional nature is of a low grade; your marriage relation is loose; in fact, it is on the decline since freedom came. The marriage records show that your legal mar riage are 60 per cent, less, according to population, than in the white race, and the decrease gets less and less every year. Your young men and wo men don’t marry; they just take up and quit when they please, and so the men don’t care very much about the welfare of the4r children, if they have any. Besides all this, Uncle* Lewis, your race has a trait of stealing little things, and this accounts in la great measure for their indifference\to the laying up of something for the future; something for the winter, or theVainy days, or for old age. If the W*prst comes to the worst they know tljey can steal or beg. If your young folks, men and women, haven't got but la dollar in the world, they will sp o "-* %t fo” a . watermelon v pr.an exenfs take the chances. Now. Uncle you remember when there w. chaingang in the south, nor a hei crime nor a brutal outrage, commi by your people, from the Potoi river to the Rio Grande. Now the are in Georgia alone over 4,000 of yo~r people in the chaingangs, and there would be 4,000 more if all the little stealings were punished.” Uncle Lewi3 had stopped cutting and was leaning on his ax helve. “Dat's all so,” and he, “and boss I knows it, and boss what I wants to know is dis: What must we poor niggers do about it?” There is the rub. I couldn’t tell him, but I did say, “Uncle Lewis, your race has got some mighty good traits, and I like to have you about us; you are kind-hearted, good-natured, easy to please, and don't carry malice or re venge in your hearts; you steal, but you don’t cheat anybody. The- white race won’t steal, but they will cheat, or take advantage in a trade, and that is worse. If you trust a negro with anything he will not abuse your con fidence, but a white -man will era bezzle and defraud and even the cash iers of banks will appropriate the bank’s money, and falsify the books for months and years. Every race has its race traits, both bad and good. Some of your bad ones were almost run out by slavery, but they have come back again, and all your college edu cation does not stop it. j fit makes it worse. There is nothing/will stoo it but work, constant woJ, every day,, lunder some good emrfivo- Wd-' the farm is vn- or vT, pood con ™ •'lf*.- -our p eo t JLi ch j, and the wh p* yaH the and patronize m jus w ing as they do whit* mechr neg *> blacksmiths and ms. goi*l employment here ana where, and as for cooking and ’ and nursing, your women have The two races would fit together if it wasn’t for politics aiid id’ An idle negro is a dangeroi&S r and should be taken up and work. He is much more dar than an Idle white man, for he l shame, and fears not God nor regan*. man. If I were a law-maker, I wouK make continued idlleness a crimm for, as Ben Franklin says, "It is t parent of vice.” j 1 started to write about suicides, got to preaching Uncle Lewis aj ser _ mon and got off the track. Ninf e^n hundred years ago Plutarch, ■ t i ie Greek historian, said that was cowardice, for a brave mair woul 1 suffer rather than take the life that God gave him Self-mmurder was a heinous crime under the old English law'. The estate of the felo de se was confiscated, and taken away from h-s family. His body was buried on tin highway without a coffin and a sharp stake thrust through it to mark the accursed spot. Suicide was under th*’ ban of the church, and no prayer were said for his soul. In no civilized country has suicide been justified, ex rept in such cases as that of Saul, who fell on his sword because, as he sai l, “Lest these uncircumcised Philistines thrust me through and abuse me.” O perhaps that other notable case th: -Mg ,ISO* killec ..self after .e kill and . would *ive set Wh Othello discovered b ta* . in killing Desdemon ti n was grand as he salt < /rcumcised dog by tl mote him thus,” and ' and died, for, r says, "He was great c ancient Greece and Ron warriors sometimes ki rMber than suffer the In battle. In Japan m commit what Is called i ping open the adbomeu) v sonal disgrace. But in o pistol or poison has supe. other means of suicide. It wc thousands of iives if the pisto abolished by law. Not one sboi allowed in any household; they * entirely too convenient for murder or suicide or robbery or revenge. And the sale of poison should be so regu lated that no one could buy it except upon the most careful inquiry as to lis intended use. Human life is too sacred to be endangered Ijy pistols and poison for as St. Paul says, “We are made 1n the image of God.” . Well, we see that Mr. Crumpicker, or Stumpsucker, or some such name, from Indiana, has opened the ball at Washingtop with his usual screech cwl howl against the south. He was in such a malignant hurry that he got in the first bill, and it is to reduce the representation of the south in con gress. He reminds me of Haman, whose\stomach would not digest*;bis food as long as he saw Mordecai sit ting at the king’s gate. He has begun to build a gallows for us. Let him beware, for it was Haman who was hanged. Some of these rabid repub licans remind me of old Sato, the Ro man censor, who hated the Carthe genians so Bad that he never voted on any question in the Roman senate without adding. “And I also vote that rthage be destroyed.” But ndboily j ss we will yet. have a schoolbook he fk?uth Is moving right along in spite of ftor+hern„insults and northern literature. that * “Barbara Friet chie” is tr ayed in Atlanta. I wonder if .amatic lie will be pa tronized 4 pelf-Wspecting south ern man ” Many year| ago a yankee 1 'o ]fwitli “Uncle igged them on *• "we done. Th ifar off, but the era and rub it i nta Constitution. ) A G., j Fin/' Milledgeville, Ga., Spec /nan’s building at tbe £ farm, near here, was desi ure Me Friday afternooh. L, fl ame s were first discovered *- \ hospital and are supposed been, of in cendiary <j-ig ! inmates of the buildiPfe , ut j n safe* and with the _cee.rs f this city, the we're pre from spreadinV In the e* some of the cowvic+Njnad' liberty and several Yerkes f Washingtd P^’ of lmeri Jjjpiifc, hat “Presi-ientt InJ**’ * * 4 Ft. ente Nelf"S.~. chair in the stud; bomb, Uriah C. Br lyn’s foremost citi. known among the c was found with a head. At his side lay are . -ie> ancho'.ia, aggravated by .c , °' ei the condition of an ill daugh Hs be lieved to have led Mr. Bunap j ha*s taken his life. Blobbs— "Did you run acnm aa, big game out West?" Slobba-*! drop q. t_h o u.;an<l on faro one niaub y<u leav* 000. i 30, 1902, mated 1902 there the reveni previous y_ penditures of committee deer duction r‘ abou Secretary. sf 1 1’ port, suggest? *30,000,000 in t tee has entirely vexatious taxes i. which seemed to ha burden upon the se\ trade to which they beer a war tax of 85 cents . added to the tax of $1 a barrel viously imposed. The committee lieves that the amendment pro in section 1 of the bill making reduction of 25 cents per barrel the beer manufactures all the re. which they are entitled. In the revenue act the tax upon cigars aging more than three poi weight to the 1,000, was made $ a.wi. This 60 cents per thousand was very onerous to the manufacturers, espe cially those engaged in a small way, and making the cheaper grade of cig ars. It has been impossible to dis~ , tribute any of this 60 cents in making a price to the consumer .and the fac tories have had to bear the of over $3,000,000 last year. rr " com mit t have therefore r> l an ame Sment reducing th ' the ratf®f 60 cents per tl’ renort. then g' £* e “a e fOi law. 44 he c erest ache poke pire?