Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, August 12, 1877, Page 4

4 ‘THE CHICAGO ‘LRIBUNE: SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 1877—-SIXTEEN PAGES. work by striking at present. On the cent, $80,000. Total estimate, $180,000; particrlar, limited cases in economic ang Ge Tribune. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. BY MAIL—IN ADVANCE—POSTAGE PREPAID. M: Sunday Maltin: Literary Jvowule bheet... Saturday Kaitiou, ‘Tri-Weekly, one ye Yarts of 3 year, per month. Specimen copies sent 1ree. ‘To prevent delay and mistakes, be sure and give Post- Oftice address in full, inclading State and County. . Nemitrances may be made elther bv draft, express, Post-Oftice order, or in registered letters, at our risk. ‘TERMS TO CITY SUBSCRIBERS. { Dally, delivered, Sunday eieenlea, s cents: ne thats atiy, delivered, Sunday Included, 30 cen! eck. Pttresa THE THIBUNE COMPANY, Corner Madisqn and Dearborn-sts.. Chicago, I. Orders for the delivery of Tnx Trinuxz at Evanston. Englewood, and Hyde Park leftin the counting-room ‘will recelve prompt attention. SOCIETY MEETINGS. APOLLO COMMANDERY, NO. 1. KNIGHTS TEMP- LAn—Members of this Commandery will assemble at ‘the Armory for dril} on the evenings of Taeaday. Thurs- Gay, and Saturday, During these evenings finportant, announcements, pertaining to th nial Conclave, ill be made. “Kerldent members are urged to be Present, and assist the officers in completing necessary armani {the B.C. ements, By order of tii" DUNLOP, Recorder. PROGRESS LODGE. No. 524, J. 0..0. F.—Tae mem- ers arc fraternally invited to attend a spectal meeting at thetr hall, N. W. corner Lasalle and Adams-s\s.. ‘Thursday evening, Auz.1t, forthe purpose of voting ga the question. hail ere, be a beard of Foreign \d for the City of Chicazo.” By order uf the N. G. = ‘3 ‘W. it. WILLIAMS, Kec. Sec. CRICAGO. COMMANDERT. NO. 19, K, T.—Atten- tion Sir Kntghts—Special Conclave Monday evenlnc, ‘Rus. 23, 1872. Business of importance in connection with le rlereae antes A ste ‘Bplents of the mamandery why iuvend making the pliz ease presente Visiclng Sir Kaighes cordially favited. “By order Gory H. SANBORN, Em. Com, JAMES E. MEGINN, Hecorder. PARK CHAPTER, &§ lark and Centre-st Special Convocation 3d} ig, Aue. 13, atB o'clock. Work on the ROA. Degree. 'Vinting ‘Gompanions courteously invi- le Mf the sede DEC aE Tas H. S. STREAT, Sec. No. 177, TR. A.M. CMCAGO LODGE, No. 55, I. 0. 0. F.—OMficers and Members: You will please atiend the meeting on Mon- day evening. Aug. 2), Uuslnoss of srare Unpertance $f e.. Per orderof the ¥. G. i chapreaneeeld MUSES HIRSH, Sec, SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 1877. CHICAGO MARKET SUMMARY. ‘The Chicazo produce markets were actfe and weak Saturday. Mess pork closed 7iic per bri Jower, at $13.124@13.15 for September and $13. 02!5@13.05 for October. Lard ciosed 5c per 100 Ibs lower, at $8.00@S. 62 for September and $8.62%@8.65 for October. Meats were steady, ‘at4Xe for loose shoulders and GXc for do short ribs. Lake freights were less active and firmer, at.3%@3xe for corn to Buffalo. Highwines were ‘unchanged, at $1.08pergallon. Flour was dulland weak, Wheat closed 14@1iXc lower, at $1.06% for Angust and 99%c for September. Corn closed Src lower, at 44% for August and 44c for Sep- tember. Oats closed {@tc lower, at 23%c for Angustand 23%@23%cfor September. Rye closed easier, at 64%c. Barley closed steady, at 67c for September. Hoge were active and firm at, $4.75@ 5.30. Cattle were quiet and steady, at $2.50G %.75. Sheep were quict, at $2.50@4.50. One , hundred dollars in gold would buy $105.25 in Sreenbacks at the close. If any one feels despondent about the fall trade of Chicago, or about the value of real* ” estate in this city, he cannot do better than read the article on another page of this num- ber of Tue Tnrsunxe under the head of “Hard Pan.” Elements of prosperity are there shown to exist, and to be growing, which must sooner or later give Chicago an exceptional prosperity as compared with any other city in the world. Judge Fanwex has granted the motion to quash the indictment against Waxeen, but, in his opinion, he holds that the special Grand Jary was regularly drawn, which is a Imockdown blow for the indict- ea Rmg Commissioners. Wanker was ‘only advenced _as..a figurehead, with the expectation that the tenire which brought together the body that indicted the batch would be declared illegal, and the whole crowd would escape. This scheme has failed signally. So far as is known, the other indictments are sound, and the pros- pect is that the Ring will get its deserts. Reports from Russia do not sustain the great prophesies of a grand uprising to fill the ranks of the Landwehr. The yeomanry. upon whom the Czar depended aro inclined to stick to their rights, and point out various statutes in which it is provided that they cannot be called ont of Russia for military duty.. To this the Czar replies that they will be only used as reserves and to garrison the forts from which troops are to be withdrawn-for the front, and this arrangement being held us satisfactory as any other, the would-be volunteers still hold back. Moscow is form- ing a legion which it will support until the end of the war, ‘but from other portions of the Empire news gf rapid enlistment is very meagre. ‘There zhust be a sweet-scented state of affairs in- San Francisco when Chinamen implore a United States Senator and the steamship companies to lay obstacles in the way of further Celestial immigration. A deputation of almond-eyed merchants waited on Senator Monron recently and invoked him that he securo the passage of a bill provid- ing for a modification or abrogation of the Burircame Treaty, and imposing a tax of $100 upon every disciple of Conrvcrus land- ing on American shores. They recommend that the fund thus raised be utilized in ex- porting to his native home such portions of exch Chinaman as may escape the clutches of the hoodlums, and thoy propose petition- ing the steamship companies to raise the fare this way to $75, and reduce the outgoing fare to $30, that the sons of the Orient may be deterred from coming, or enabled to get out when it becomes too hot for them. It is now more than ever proper for civilized America to declaim against the role in China that obstracts the explorations of foreigners. It requires continual reiteration to Reta fact or idea clearly and safely lodged in the public mind so that all men will understand it alike. For example, a great many peoplé do not yet know, or they have forgotten, that the silver dollar as originally fixed by act of Congress, April 2, 1792, contained $71} grains of ‘pure silver, and that no subsequent. act of Congress or mint regulation ever va- ried—increased or decrensed—that weight of pure silver in the “dollar of the daddies.” The weight always remained the same, viz. : 371} grains. The weight of the coined dol- Jar has been changed once or twice by vary- ing the amountof alloy ; but alloy counts for nothing in value. The weight of pure silver in the fractional currency has been changed twice,—the first time in 1834, which re- duced it 5 or G per cent; and second, by the Coinage-act of 1873, which increased the weight of fine silver in the subsidiary coins about one-half per cent, 50 as to corre- spond with the French franc. Two dimes now contain precisely as much pure silver: asthe French franc, and two half-dollars the same as the five-franc piece. But 371} grains of pure silver was selected as the legal money unit of the United States in April 2, 1792, and that weight has never. been changed. The gold dollar was made souch lighter in 1834; it was changed from one-fifteenth of the weight of the silver dol- lar to one-sixteenth, being reduced about 6 percent. Thus,while the weight of silver in the subsidiary coins has been changed, once down and once up,.and the weight of gold in the gold dollar has been reduced, the weight of silver in the original money stand- ard of values—the silver dollar of 1792— has never been changed ; and when Congress remonetizes the silver dollar it will still con- tain, as it did eighty-five years ogo, 371} grains of pure silver. As the Chinese of ‘Frisco emigrated from the British port of Hong Kong, it is pro- posed to present their claims for damages sustained during the riots through the Brit- ish Mimster. It is doubtful if he will pay any attention to the matter. It is true China bas no representative at the seat of our National Govern- ment, but this does not make a Chinaman o Briton any more than it makes him a French- man, or a prairie-hen, or a steam ferryboat with red paddles and a green light. He is a Chinaman. from scalp to sole, and a subject of the Chinese Empire, and all the English- men upon whom the sun never set can’t help him in his present dilemma. That the pig-tails of San Francisco have been seriously pulled of late. is unquestiop- able, and the indemnification of their owners would be a simple act of justice; but they must secure such indemnification in a legal way, and not further complicate matters by suddenly turning up, minus aspirates, and “claiming kindred with the Union Jack. The Judiciary Committee of the Council report that the Park Commissioners, under the advice of their counsel, will not accept the responsibility of taking possession of Michigan avenue and keeping it in decent condition. But the Judiciary Committee recommends, in lien of the project proposed, that an ordinance be passed providing for the improvement of Michigan avenue, between. Monroe and Thirty-fifth streets, by special assessment upon the abutting property. We fear this will prove to be a slow process. Under the present law it takes about two years to make such an assess- ment, fight it through the courts, aud collect the money, and therefore the im- provement would not be made much before 1880, unless the city advances the money, which it is not very likely to do. But, if anything be done to repair the street, it will be wise and proper to pass such an ordinance as the Committee has suggested,—if it is within the power of the Council,—regu- lating the width of the tires of trucks, carts, wagons, stages, and other heavy vehicles that shall be allowed to drive on Michigan avenue or any other graveled thoroughfares. It is mathematically certain that a heavy load on wheel-tires four inches wide will net do one-quarter the damage to a street that is done by the same load on wheel-tires only two inches wide. ' The narrow tires cut into a graveled road like an ax when borne down by great pressure, especially in wet weather. ‘The resistance of the road-bed is governed more by the width of the tire than the weight of the load. If the tires could be made wide enough, heavy loads might im- prove rather than damage graveled strects, as they would act ng rollers; of course, this is out of the question, and it is only men- tioned to illustrate the principle. But the width of the tires on heavy wagons may be so regulated that either the heavy teaming will seek some other street or will not cause special and destructive damage to the extent that itshall travel on Michigan avenue. Such an ordinance might be.passed with advan- tage, whatever be the action in regard to the scheme for transferring the street to the- Park Commissioners. + HOMES FOR THE UNEMPLOYED. The fact that there is a large surplus of ordinary labor in this country, and that it is to be found.in the cities and towns; that this surplus is represented now by 1 million of ‘unemployed and — partially employed men and their families, is of such a character as to demand the attention, and if possible the action, of the general public. The bulk of this labor is unskilled; it is adapted to the rongher occu- pations, requiring but little experience or training, and the men aro as ready and as ca- pable of working at one unskilled thing as at another. Moreover, the greater part of these persons, especially those of foreign birth, were engaged before they came here in agricul- turalwork. These peopleare nowin the cities and towns; they are unemployed, and likely to remain s0, and poverty, want, and suffer- ing are inevitable. They must either earn their own bread or it must bo given them out of the earnings of others; there is not work enough to employ them all, and they must remain here, where there is no work, or they must go where thera is work to be had. It is useless for these men to move from one city or town to the other ; the same surplus of laboring men prevails in all these places alike. There is only one ficld of labor not fully occupied, and which in the negessity of things cannot become over- crowded, and for the product of which there is always a market and a sale, and that is agricultural labor ; and the only certain em- ployment affording a comforteble and per- manent living open to these surplus common labcrers is to abandon the cities, and find upon the land that home and that support which is not possible elsewhere. ‘The case of the coal-miners in Pennsylvania isa lamentable one. They asa class are hard- working people, and all have families. They are mostly foreigners by birth,—English, Irish, and Welsh. Their numbers have been largely recruited by immigration and by natural increase. Their work is laborious, and unfortunately their habits are not such as to ercourage thrift or say- ing for the fature. There is a hmit to the. consumption of coal, and so great is the number of coal-miners that six months’ mining will produce more coal than is consumed in the year. The result is that for six months the whole force is unem- ployed or one-half the men are out of work. This condition of things has been aggravated by the suspension of other industries, which have thrown other laborers ont of employ- ment. The misery, suffering, and hardships of these people are pitinble, and these have been made worse by the general intemper- ance, and by the resort to secret societies in which violence and murder have been in- stigated, and a general spirit of lawlessness encouraged. What is to become of these people? A similar excess of labor prevails in all tho other coal-mining districts, and there is a constant struggle between employ- ers and employed over the effort to find re- munerative wages for the labor of ten men when there is but scant work for five men. ‘There is but one relief for this surplus of labor, and that is for the surplus to go else- where and find the living in working land they can no longer earn where they are. is The. chief objection urged is that the great mass of these unemployed laborers are not able to migrate to or goupon land. We have referred to this objection repeatedly. What is first wanted is a desire on the’ part of these persons to reach the land where they can carn their living and establish per- manent homes which they can call their own. It is not easy, perhaps, for a man witha family to abandon even the squatter home he has in the city and go out into the coun- try, and, without means, begin a new life. But that which one or two men cannot do may be accomplished by an organized effort. America was colonized, and has since been recruited, by immigration. There are an- nually many groups of immigrants who, be- fore leaving home, had organized, had con- centrated their means, and in a body had left for their new’ homes selected by them before leaving. The New World has been filled up largely by colonies, or organizations of families, groups of people from particular towns, all migrating in a body, and settling in a common neighborhood. Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania were originally settled in this way. All over Hlinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin are towns, counties, and dis- tricts originally peopled by large colonies of families, who were by organization able to reach new homes, which acting singly would have been impossible. The Western. States have been also largely peopled by orgamzed migration from the Esstern States. Kansas was settled and given a population entitling her to admission as a State through the efforts of the ‘* Kansas Aid Society,” organ- ized in Massachusetts and sustained by all New England. So have large bodies of fam- ilies left Virginia, North Carolina, and Ten- nessee, and have settled counties and districts in Missouri, Arkansas, and even in far-off Texas. If whole colonies can be organized of working people of small means in Ger- many, and moved and planted prosper- ously in ‘Texas, certainly a way ean be found for the moving and planting on the fertile lands in Minne- sota, Dakota, Nebraska, parts of Iowa, Mis- souri, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas, of the distressed surplus populations of tho Northern cities who are from want of em- ployment degenerating into pauperism, or becoming the dupes and victims of Com- munism. In all these States there is a strong ard urgent demand for this class of popula- tion, If seventy-five or a hundred fami- lies in Chicago, embracing the parents with their growing sons and daughters, can or- ganize and express their willingness to mi- grate, with their little possessions but stout hearts and strong purpose to work, they can find by proper efforts communities not only willing to receive them, give them present labor and homes, but arrange for their oc- cupation and ownership of all the land they can operate. This is not in the wilderness, but in districts, where schools and churches are already established, and where there is only a scarcity of willing lnbor. Nor will these people go empty- handed. So soon as there is shown a will- ingness to leave the corruptions, temptations, poverty, and crime of the large cities, remove the growing children from the streets where crime stalks worse than a pestilence among the victims of want, there will be found all the aid and the help needed to forward them to their destination, and to provide for their comfort when there. This is the true measure of providing re- lief. When any number of the families of tho unemployed, to whom employment is impossibte.in tho cities, voluntarily ask for aid to move to where there is labor to be had on land, and where it is remunerated with in- dependence, and with comfortablehomes, free from.want and suffering, there will follow organized effort notonly to make this migra- tion possible, but to promote it by liberal aid. The movement must originate among the un- employedmen themselves. When they are resolved to goto other homes where they may enjoy plenty, and where they can be the owners of the soil they cultivate, then the means will befound tosidthem. The States we have named are fertile, arc within easy “access, are thinly populated, and have Jands to be had at little cost, capable of supporting millions more people. They can absorb all the unemployed laborers of the cities and their families, and give them all homes and a prosperity dependent only on their own in- dustry and frugality, and where they can raise their families freo of the corrupting vices and allurements of the large cities. BUILD THE CITY-HALL! Now that the construction of the City-Hall is again a live question, and urged by all classes, there-is danger that it may be re- tarded by the confusion certain persons are trying to stir up, as to who is the architect, what plans have been adopted, what stone shall be used and how thick it shall be, otc. There is just one fact that stands out boldly in this whole discussion, and it is that the needs of the city and the conditions of the Jaw require that work shall be begun on the City-Hall without further fooling or procras- tination, and prosecuted energetically to the end. The points that illustrate and lead up to this position may be briefly restated: 1, There is no longer any doubt that the city authorities have been trifling with the condition imposed upon them in the act of the Legislature restoring the canal fund of $3,121,420 to the City of Chicago, and re- quiring that from one-sixth to one-third of that fund shall be applied to the restoration of the public Structures destroyed in the fire of 1871. The sum of $317,149 was expended in bridges and $3,600 for making the City- Hall excavations, and, though it is nearly four years since all the money was paid over tothe city, nothing has yet been done on the City-Hall. There remains of the original Canal-Lien Fand the sum of $775,343; and, as there are no other public buildings to be restored, the entire amount may be devoted to the construction of the City-Hall. 2. As far back as June 30, 1874, over three years ago, the Common Connzil appropriated the sum of $661,000 for building the City- Hall, to be taken from the Canal-Redemp- tion Fund. This was included in the annual appropriation bill for that year, and .the obligation to fulfill it is increased instead of diminished by the length of time during which it has been ignored. 8. The Canal-Redemption Fund was o trust-fund from the beginning, since it was voted to the City of Chicago. by the State under certain conditions, and to be used for special purposes. Any diversion of that fund to other uses was not good faith; as a trust fund it has a claim prior to the city certificates which have been drawn against the general tax-levy. What remains of the Canal-Redemption Fund is now the City- Hall Fund proper, and so the City-Hall Fund is o trust-fund in the same sense. Indeed, the Common Council have decided that it must be regarded in this light, and at the session of July 12 last passed the following resolution : Resoiced, That the Mayor and Comptroller be and they are hereby directed to hold and retain in the Treasury snch sum of the back taxes which may Droperly be credited and apportioned to the City- Hall Fund, and which may hereafter be collected and apportioned dnd credited to that fund; and be it further tesolced, That tue Mayor be and he is hereby requested to commiinicate to the Council a state- ment of the present condition of all arrangements heretofore made with reference to plans and ma- , terial for sach City-Halt building, that the Council may without delay take steps looking to the imme- diate opening of work in the constraction of such City-Hall. : 4. It isnot true, as alleged ina certain reckless, mendacions sheet, that this fund has been squandered ‘and stolen. There are now $1,000,000 of money in the City Treasury; and if the City-Hall Fund be given a priority over all others, as it ought to be, thon ‘all that remains of it ($775,343) is available for immediate use. But, even if other: special funds be regarded as trust- funds and entitled to proportion of the money on hand, then the quota belonging to the City-Hall Fund now in the City ‘Treasury amounts to $460,000, which is an ample sum to begin on, to work through the season, and to last till the money begins to come in under the collection of back taxes next year, as provided by the new law. ‘Thus there is no excuse for further delay. Competent architects agree that a good, sol- id, broad foundation of thick flag-stones and cement will completely obviate the necessity for driving piles,—a process that would not admit of beginning other work perhaps be- fore noxt spring. The sum of $460,000 at least will lie idle in the City Treasury all summer, and fall, and winter, unless the work be begun at once. We now havo o Reform Council,—that is, a Council which will not steal or squander the money. The city neods the hali badly, and the working- men are suffering for want of employment. If the work be delayed, under these ciream- stances, by procrastination aud bickering, the Aldermen responsible for the delay will be held to strict account. —_—_——_——— THE LUMBER-SHOVERS' PROPOSED STRIKE, If the lumber-shovers of Chicago carry out the threats they have previously made they will strike to-morrow morning for higher wages, and undertake to forcibly provent others from taking their places, with the ex- pectation of coercing theiremployersto accede to their demands. ‘There are said to be 4,500 lumber-shovers in this city, mostly Bohemi- ans, wko were originally mostly all agri- cultural laborers, and who have abandoned their farm-work in the old country to under- take the harder work of lnmber-shoving in Chicago. It may not be that all of them will strike; but the principles at issue are the same whether 100 strike or the whole 4,500. There are two sides to this question, as to every other. There is no doubt that the labor of these men is very hard and toil- some. There is no doubt that their wages arelow. Up to last year they had, we be- lieve, $1.50 per day. In the present de- pressed condition of the lumber market they receive but $1.25. They ought to get more, if possible, upon the principle that ‘“‘ The laborer is worthy of his hire ;” but, if the business affords no more, and the market will furnish men who are willing to work at the current wages, then these striking Bohemians have no right to prevent them. They have the right to quit work. They have the right to ask what they please and to refuse to work until they get it; but they have no right to forcibly prevent other men from working at $1.25 because they want an increase to $1.50. The settlement of this question. there- fore, depends upon the ability of the lumber firms to obtain substitutes. If the market will not furnish men who are willing to work for the present wages, then tie strikers will succeed in getting their advance. So far as the mere fact of striking is concerned, thera is nothing censurable in their announcement; but, when they couple with it the distinct threat that they will not allow any other men to take their places, they not only transcend their rights in the premises, but, if they carry theirthreat into operation, im- mediately become liable to arrest and pun- ishment under the following section of the State law of Illinois, passed las: winter, affix- ing penalties for obstructing business : Szc. 3. Iftwo or more persons shall willfully and maliciously combine or conspire together to obstruct or unpede, by any act, or by means of intimidation, the regular operation and conduct of the business of any railroad company, or any other corporation, firm, or indiciduat in this State, orto impede, hinder, or obstruct. except by due process of law, the regular running of any locomotive, engine, freight, or passenger train on any railroad, or the Jabor or business of any such corporation, firm, or individual. such persons shall, on convic- tion thereof, be punished by fine not less than $20 nor more than $200, an¢ confined in the County Jail not less than twenty days nor morc than nincty days. ‘The provisions of this section of the law are so explicit that the lumber-shovers will have no difficulty in ascertaining its mean- ing ; and it may be added that the business men of this city, after the disastrous experi-. ences of the past two or three weeks, are not in o temper to allow interference with their business, nor are the authorities in a temper to allow any violent proceedings upon tho part of amob to stop labor. So long as these proposed strikers refrain from inter- ference with business, no one will interfere with them, but, the moment they commence to hinder others by force from working, they violate the law, and will be dealt with as a mob, and will be prosecuted under the stat- ute cited. There is still another and even more seri- ous aspect of the case which these lumber- shovers would do well to consider before they rush into o strike, and that is, whether they will not cut themselves off from work altogether. In view of the very depressed condition of the lumber business, the neces- sity for economy in every direction, the in. jurious effects of the recent strikes, and the higher cost of city Inbor, insurance, dockage, and taxes, several of the larger manufactur- ers have been contemplating for some time piling lumber at their mills in Michigan, and distributing it dry to their country custom- ers, instead of pilingand drying it in Chicago. They have been led to this emergency by several reasons. Itis stated to be a more economical way of distributing lumber. It accomodates the country buyers who now purchase lumber by cargo, and prefer it dry, instead of buying by the car-lond in Chica- go. Lastly, it gives the manufacturers an opportunity, they say, to employ a larger number of men, who would otherwise lie idle about tho saw-mills, and to retain them as loggers for the winter. A correspondent of Tse Trmuxe has already shown that large quantities have been piled at Muske- gon, Grand Haven, and Oconto, and dried andedistributed from those points; that at Minneapolis all lumber is manipulated by mill-men, and sold direct from the yards; and that the same is done at Clinton, Ia., where labor is 25 per cent cheaper than it is here, As there is disposition on the part of all the manufacturers not only to econo- mize, but to place their business beyond the possibility of mterraption, by the adoption of this plan, which has been shown to be practical, it is for the lumber-shovers to consider whether they will not com- pel the manufacturers to adopt it, and thus cut. themselves off entirely from one hand, they have to consider a question of policy, the certainty of work at $1.25 per day, with an increase wher business warrants it, or the probability of no work at any wages. .On the other hand, they have to consider a State statute which admits of no compromise, or arbitration, or infringement without penalty. Can they afford to strike, even though they have the right? If they do strike, can they afford to disobey the laws of the State? MICHIGAN AVENUE. Tho Judiciary Committee. of the Common Council, to whom was referred the project for transferring the control of Michigan avenue to the Park Commissioners, to be im- proved and kept in repair as a part of the park system, have reported adversely to the proposition. This decision is based upon information, as the report sets forth, that the Park Commissionors, under the advice of their counsel, will not accept the street. This determination on the part of the Park Commissioners has been reached, so it is said, because they are advised there is no authority of law for their accepting the trast. And in this roundabout way a projectis to be defeated which is admittedly in the interest of thestreet, the city, the parks, and the public, and which is enthusiastically ap- proved by all whom the matter concerns, and opnosed by nobody, unless it may be some individuals of the dog-in-the-manger sort. ‘The people of the South Division of the city and of Hyde Park will not like to rest satisfied with this disposal of the project. The Council should hardly be governed by a report of a committee which has been made up from mere hearsay. In view of the fact that the proposed transfer of Michigan avenue 1s demanded by their constituents, is it not the duty of the Council to pass a resolution granting to the Park-Commis- sioners all the city’s interest, and title, and control in Michigan avenue, provided that the Park Commissioners will assume the trust as part of the system under their control, im- mediately improve the thoroughfare in the same manner as their other boulevards, and henceforth keep it perpetually in repair? Such a resolution will jeopardize no in- terests, as, in case the Park Commissioners refuse to accept the conditions, the control of the street will remain where it is now; but it will place the responsibility upon the Park Commissioners. It will then be for them to ssy whether they will accept the street under these conditions or not, and the Council will have done its duty to its constituents. When the case is thus presented to the Park Commissioners, it is not unlikely that they will take a different view of it from that which has been accred- ited to them. Their counsel will probably find a special act of the Legislature, passed saveral years ago, which permits the Park Commissioners to extend their jurisdiction over property not originally included in the park system, and a precedent will be cited in the case of Oakwood Boulevard, which was accepted as a grant from the property-own- ers, improved, and is now kept in repair and managed by the Park, Commissioners, the same as the Grand and Drexel Boule- vards. At all events, no harm can come from the passage by the Council of sucha resolution as suggested. It will show the Council’s willingness to gratify a popular de- mand, and it can be determined afterwards whether the Park Commissioners will be jus- tified by the law in accepting the grant and assuming the trust. HARMS’ EXTRAS, AND EXPENDING PUB- LIC MONEY. The decision of Judge Fanwetn in the case of Hanus’ extras is deserving of public aitention, and also of public commendation. It conveys an instructive lesson, which should never be forgotten by Legislative offi- cers. Henny Hanus was a contractor for building the foundations of the Court- House. His contract price was $84,000. The contract specified that the County Board might direct changes or alterations in the plan of tho work, and that for all extra or additional work he should be paid such sam as the architect should certify to be due him,—the architect being made the sole arbi- ter in the matter. That was the contract. When the work was’ completed, the archi- tect certified that the contractor was entitled to something like $117,000; but the contractor demanded the sum of $150,000. Harsas appealed to the County Board, which body, after more than eight months’ deliberation, passed an order directing that he be paid substantially his whole claim from the County Treasury. An injunction restraining the payment in excess of the award of the architect was granted, and has now been made perpetual by Judge FaRwWELn. The mere sum of money involved in the claim of Hanus was comparatively insignifi- cant, but the sum of money eventually de- pendent on this decision is a large one. The first attempt to plunder the public was in the awarding of the contracts at extrava- gaat prices. Such, however, was the war- fare on these proceedings that that policy was abandoned, and the ‘claim for extras” was considered more advisable. The Harms ease was therefore made a precedent, and the Board of Commissioners, setting them. selves up as liberal and generous em- ployers, undertook to ote the con- tractors large additions to their con- tract prices. The arrest of the Hanus allowance by injunction was not foreseen ; and the delay was so great that Watsen, the contractor for stone, became impatient. He hada claim for $92,000 for extra material, but the architect refused to certify to more than $9,000, and WaLker appealed to the Board. In like manner, Sexton, another contractor, had a claim for “extras” to which the architect refused to certify. Pend- ing the decision in the Haras caso it was considered prudent by the County Board to disallow the claim until the question of power was decided by the Court. The system of paying for building the Court-House by extras was a bold, if not in- genious, one. The contracts were originally for liberal prices, but it was never intended that the. expenditure should be limited to those prices. In the contract it was stipu- ulated that the contractors should be paid whatever sum for extras might be award- ed them by the architect. This officer was appointed by the Board, and his acqui- escence in robbing the public was considered as certain. Architect Eaan, however, proved to be a different kind of man ; he has refused to obey the orders of the Ring. He defiant- ly resisted all threats‘in the case of Hanus aud of Warker. In consequence of his ob- stinacy and his defense of the public, the Ring was driven to the necessity of having the Board assume the power of voting what- ever sums they might feel disposed to vote to the contractors. Had their power to do this in the Hanss case been affirmed by the Court, then the work on the Court-House would have been paid for after this fashion : Architect's estimate for work according to contract, $100,000; extra allowance, 80 per which, at the end of the work, would sum up original contract price, $2,250,000; extras allowed by architect, $250,000; extras allow- ed by Board, $0 per cent, $2,000,000; total allowance, $4,500,000.. Once recognized as possessing discretionary power to vote any compensation to the contractors, unre- strained by contract or architect’s measure- ment, who can estimate the liberality with which the Commissioners would dis- pense the public money? The decision of Judge Fanwex arrests this business at the threshold. The first attempt to plunder the treasury on the “extra” dodge-was stopped, ‘and an effectual prohibition placed on any further operations of that kind. Judge Farwztn admonished the Commissioners and all other public officers as to their official duty in terms so timely and so fitting that they cannot be too frequently presented. He said: As to the law of the case,—if there was no dis— pute abont the facts,—I understand it to be this: thatthe Board of County Commissioners havea right to build the Court-House, and to decide how it snall be built, and in what manner a contract shall bo let. and what sball be paid for it, acting, of course, a3 reasonable and judicious men, with an ordinary care of judgment and discretion, with- out fraud or such stupidity as is equivalent to it. They have no right to be liberal; they have no right to be generons: they have no right to give away money to people. ‘They are to conduct the business of the county on business principles and ina business way. They are not intrusted ‘with the authority which they exercise, and with prop- erty which they have charge of, for the purpose of making presents or of engaging in acts of benevo- lence. If a man employs a person to do a piece of work for him at a con- tract price, and, when the work 1s done, the laborer or mechanic has not gotten paid for his work, it isa very honorable thing for sucha man togive the mechanic moncy to which be has no legal claim. That is avery honorable thing. But people who are intrusted with other people's money. who are acting in an official capacity, have no right to exercise such gencrons impulses of heart. The Board of County Commissioners are a sort of corporation. They area municipal cor- poration, and, as: such a corporation, they have no soul, and no rightto have any. They are to do the ‘business intrusted to them ina strictly business way, without fearor favor to anybody. And when ‘Mr. Hanss got through with his work he bad no legal claims against the County of Cook for any compensation other than what the contract gave him. They bad no right to give it tohim, no mat- ter if they voted it in the best motive and acted in away for which they would be praised if acting as private citjzens, for the eimple reazon that they have no right to be generous with other people's money. ‘This is not the only obstacle placed in the way of this County Ring during the last few days. In order to avoid the vigilance and integrity of the architect, and the inter- ference of the courts, the Commissioners re- solved that the new building should have a mammoth dome, one-half of which should be over the county wing and the other half over the city’s portion of the building; and they ordered that Mr. Sztron should con- struct this dome, omitting all stipulations or contract as to price. For this work the Board would havag discretion to pay what they pleased. But this scheme has been defeated by the peromptory orders of the Common Council that there shall be no dome over any portion of the city’s half of the-building ; so that all that Sexron can build js one-half of a doma, ora half circle resting on a founda- tion of the same shape. That kind of a dome will be so difficult to construct and promises to be such a monstrosity that we think even the Commissioners will abandon the job. Thus circumvented and hedged in by the Council, by the courts, and the archi- tect, the Ring may well despair of any hopes of further plunder. In less than ninety days there will be an election, at which, unless there is a great mistake as to the temper of the public, at least five of these Commis- ‘sioners willbe forced to make room for men having different notions of duty to the pub- lic, and who will attend to the public busi- ness for lawful compensation, and have noth- ing to do with “extras.” ASTRIKING PROPHECY. | ‘Those who have not made a careful study of political economy, and of what is termed by Henpent Srexcer and others Sociology, have little idea of the fixed laws which run through human society, and which decide the events that daily occur. The popular idea is that things ‘happen ” or “coms about” in a mystetious and inerplicable way; or else that they are traceable to soma particularly significant thing that a certain powerful men did, who was so situated that he could bless or curse a whole land. If the uneducated mind is piously inclined, it takes the short-hand method of referring every important.event, or series of events, to the direct act of Gov. Thus, some imagine that the idea of sociological laws is fatalistic, as being inconsistent with the free will of the individual, while others accuse ‘it of being atheistic, as 1f it denied any Divine agency in human affairs. But neither objec- tion holds good. No intelligent advocate of free will imagines that the will is out. af all relations with man’s other faculties. He knows that itis linked on the one side to thought, on the other to feeling, and that it requires motives or reasons in order to act. These come from* outward objects, inward tendencies, ideas, habits, etc. Hence, what- ever affects these affects the appearances, and influences, and surroundings amid which aman makes his choices; and often, while the man is conscious of deciding freely, no- body doubts what his decision will be, or what will be that of a thousand or ten thousand men similarly circum- stanced. For human action is more or less under fixed conditions of mature and society, which render only such snd such causes apparently reasonable in given circumstances, As little need wo conceive that economic and social laws are inconsistent with Divine plans and agency. They are its result, They indicate its method. They prove that Divine work is orderly and systematic work. They lay a basis for human forethought and calculation. and for profiting by past experience. Gop ordains. laws, and then uses laws. These permeate all existence and regulate all ac- tion. Therefore civilization is in reality an orderly and normal development, and human society cannot work wisely at haphazard, but only by comprehending and obeying economic principtes. Such subjects as those concerning banks, paper money, metallic currency, protective tariffs, free-trade, meth- ods of taxation, credits, cash sales, stock companies, speculations, conditions of pros- perous commerce, and manufactures, and financial crises, are capable of as careful anal- ysis and explanation as is a steam-engine or the spinning machinery of a cotton factory. One of the most convincing proofs of this is to bo found in the predictions which clear- visioned, philosophical economists are able to make of coming events, in the realm of labor and of wealth. It is of evidential value to be able to classify and explain the phe- nomena after they have appeared, showing their relation to their causes; but it is more impressive when one has such knowledge of causes as tosee in them their included ef- fects, and to be able to describe them in ad- vance. Now this is often done in respect to | social life ; but it is less frequent in respect to extended and protracted experiences, Jy the last number of the Vorth American Re view Mr.Davip A. Wzxxs has this statement: “One of the most remarkable examples of economic prophecy, founded on cold, scien. tific reasoning from hard, positive facts ang natural laws, and which time is working to exact fulfillment, is to be found in Chapter IIL: of ‘Some Leading Principles in Politi. cal Economy Newly Expounded,’ by the lat, Prof. Carnes, of University College, Lon. don, in which the author, writing in 1873, before the panic of that year, predicts the present financial and industrial disturbance in the United States, and shows why its o. currence is a necessity from previous eco. nomic conditions.” We have not at hand that edition of Prof. Carvers’ work from which to quote the prediction,'so that our readers might see for themselves its exactness and truth. Bat we'are reminded of another sim. ilar one, which we read, when it was pub. lished early in 1873, with some curiosity, ard have occasionally called to mind since its remarkable fulfillment. Our readers shall judge for themselves of its merit. In the second issue of that ul‘ra-radical publication, the Modern Thinier, on page 156, will be found an article headed, “A Modern Prophet,” and signed “‘A Positivist Predictor.”_ The writer prints a prophecy in eight sections, ‘ to prove that Sociology has made some advance in the direction of cer- tainty.” Weomitthe opening and closing portions, and give his third, fourth, and fifth sections : 3. Ipredict that, within the two coming years, this country will experience the worst financial panic known to its history, It will be more wide- spread and disastrous than even that of 18:37.. All the debts created by our paper-money era will be wiped out or compromised. Land will temporarily fall to one-half its present value. 4. This panic will be precipitated, in all prota- bility, by the failure of the Northern Pacidc Rail- road, aud perhaps of the bankers who manage it. Tnis will bring to light such an amazing amount of fraud in connection with our railroads as to discredit all stocks, good and bad. The bears will hold high carnival. The men of most repate in financial circles, and on the street, wilt prove to ‘be common cheats. While the panic will com. mence, from all appearance, in railroad circles, and will be confined for a time to the mew Western enterprises, it will spread finally to the National Banks, and will develop an amount of rottennces in those institations which is now beyond the pow- er of the imagination to conceive. 5. J predict that, in ten years’ time, the Northern Pacifie Railroad enterprise will be reganled asone of the most astounding instances of human cre- dulity ana folly. It will be a matter of profound astonishment that, among a business commanity, tens of thousands of sensible men could be found to invest money, with a hope of profit, in a rail- roadwhich began nowhere, ended nowhere, and ran for the most part througha howling wilder- ness. Thatthis road may be built is possible; that it can be made to pay, for the present genera- tion, is too crazy a chimera to be for a moment en- tertained. ‘When it is remembered that this. was cir. culated in print several months prior to the collapse of the Northern Pacific Railroad and the failure of Jax Cooxe & Co., its famous bankers, and ata time when every- thing seemed to be at the height of prosper. ity, and few discerned signs of a coming storm, and especially of such a storm we have now been under for four years, its writer may well be numbered among the scientific prophets. Let us hereafter study the causes and laws of the economic world. Thus alone can we retrieve our errors and escape from our present evil condition. Thus alone can we gain wisdom for the fu tare, and know enough to reject the nos trams of quack legislation upon financial questions. There is just one right way. Let us seek for it intelligently. ‘That thapnificent display of Democratic gem eralship which reduced the army to a bandiul of men for fear it would be sent somewhere and do something, is to be congratulated upon one of the bloodiest battles and one of the worst de- feats that have marked the unfortunate Indian campaigns. At Big Hole Pass, Montana, Gen. Grsson, in commangj of acorporal’s guard came upon a Nez Perces encampment, and after a long and disastrous engagement found himself defeated, surround- ea, and thrown upon his own rude resources to care for his wounded and bury. his dead, num- bering nearly one-half of his forces. Dispatches represent the conduct of the soldiers as brave in the extreme. Grppon is wounded, Capt. Logan and Lieut. Bradley are enumerated among the killed, and several other officers are badly hurt. It now re- mains for the complacent gentlemen of the Democracy to thank themselves-that the army was no larger, for from their standpoint the greater the force the more the less, and couse- quently it is more remunerative to. send halfa dozen men to put down an Indian uprising than to place a competent army in the ficid. $$ The great American grammarist, as he calls himself, Ricuarp Grant Ware, invariably represents himself as receiving bushels and cords of letters daily from correspondents at Omaha, and Pecatonica, and Bangor, and Oska- loosa, and Bayou Teche, and Pembina, who thirst for information on abstruse philological points, such as, “Is pork and beans singular or plural?’? and the like. It has hitherto been shrewdly suspected that these correspondents and their correspondence were the creation of his grainmar-ovpressed brain, but now we are prepared to believe that, since he was placed on the guillotine commission of the New York Custom-House, hundreds of clerks have written to him dafly, asking his opinion on the use of the word “commence” or *‘reliable,”” and ex- pressing the liveliest admiration of his vast tal- ents and eminent services to philology. Also, that the writers of such communications, as 3 rale, sign their names and official rank. ——<$<—<——_$_— What under the sun has got into Deacon Surry, and how did he manage to get so much of it into him at one time? Upon the subject of Debeerization of Hops,” he says: Yet who would think, looking on it frothing to, such a generous appearance at the top, while, hollow bottom abstracts another third, that it was’ adulterated! ‘*Adultcrated tea!” said Mee i Pantixcos, looking placidly into the cup; ‘*i¢" looks virtuous." So she would say of our beer.’ Buta man told the New York Yribune be could name breweries to whom ‘‘hops and malt are whol ly anknosn."” Who, who would live alway? If mn. believers take away our trust in beer, what shall we have to cling to? Let us not too easily give op old beliefs. There are unreasonable persons that are always wanting proofs. ‘They demand, What has become of the aromatic flavor of the hop, no one can detect a trace of it in our beer? They forget that much beer has blunted their senacs, and tbat as they could not now perceive the hop flavor if it were there, it is just as well. There is a strong inference that the Deacon better ‘cling to” soda for a day or two. ———————_— It is curious how a man’s language and habit of thought will insensibly become affected by his occupation. After the last convulsion on the New York Herald, by which the leader writer became foreman of the press-room and the wrapper-clerk was placed in charge of the - financial columns, a member of the editorial staff entered an adjacent saloon and said to the attendant high-priest ot Baccus: “Jimmy, I ain't feeling very well today. Mixmeanice little shake-’em-up!? $a Onur English brethren of the Parliamentar¥ persuasion are in an undue condition of fank over the Irish members and their filibustering- ‘ i that # * 5 ‘They don’t know but what at some crisis Mr. _ : PARNELL and his co-obstractionists may succeed insoembarrassing the course of Parliament and dropping crowbars, as it were, into the. clockwork of the British Constitution, that the. Russians will have declared war, overrun India, . ana besieged London before the Commons wil have been able to vote the necessary supplies ‘Theiranxiety issuperfluous There is proba eae} —'