Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, January 16, 1881, Page 4

THE CHICAGC TRIBUNE: SUNDAY, JANUARY 16, 188i—SIXTEEN PAGES. \ She Tribune. ERMS OF SUBSCRIP TiC YOSTAGE PREPAID. S ®Y MAIL-IN ADVANC! Daily edition, one year. Parts ofa year, per moni Specimen copies sent irce. Give Post-Ofiice address in full, including County and State. ‘Bemittances mar be mace elther by drat, express, Post-Office order, or In recistered letter, at our risk. ‘TO CITY SUBSCRIBERS. Dalty,deltvered, Sunday excepted, 25 cents per week. Daily, delivered, Sunday included, 30 cents per week. Address THE THIBUNE COMPANY, Comer Madicon and Dearborn-rts.. Chicago, [LL ———oeene “POSTAGE. Entered at the Post-Ofice at Chicago, TH, as Second- Class Matter. Forthe penent of our patrons who desire to send single copies of Tuk TKIBUNE through the mail, we give herewith the transient rate of postage: Domestic. Per Copy. Fight and Twelve Page Paper. 2 cents. Sixteen Page Paper.... nts. th Fight and Twelve Page Pape! Bixteen Page Paver, TRIBUNE BRANCIL OFFICES. . "Try CRICAGO TRIBUNE has established branch ‘offices for the receipt of subscriptions and advortise- ments 53 follows: NEW YORK—Room 29 Trivune Bullding. F.T-Mc- FADDEN, Manager. GLASGOW, Scotland—Allsn’s American News Agency, Sl Henfleld-st_ LON: Eng.—American Exchange, 493 Strand. SOCIETY MEETINGS. i “AN RENSBELAER GRAND LODGE OF PEtt- ION, NTH DEGREE.—The annual Assembly of this Lodge will occur on ‘Thursduy evening, Jan. 20, . Bt 7:50 o'clock, for the election of owicers und such other fraternul matters as may be brought be- fore the Jeodge for consideration. Br order. GEOKGE R. LAN, aid Denree, Te. PG ED GOODALE, 324 Degree, Grund Socretary. HESPERIA LODGE, NO. 411, 4. Fo & A. M—Wul hold theirannual ball at the Palmer House on Tues- day evening, Jun. 25, Isl, Tickets limtted. Price. in~ cluding supper, $5: ladies’ single tickets, $2, to be pro- cured of members of the Cymmittee and officers of the Lodce. JAMES SMITH, W. M. CHARLES S. BI Ny Recretary. W. AL BROWS, Chairman Ex. Committee. APOLLO COMMANDERY, NO. 1, KNIGHTS TEM- PLAR—Staied Conclave Tuesday’ evening, Jan, 1% at 6 o'clock. A meeting of the corporate body Wil De hela the same evening. Important matters ¥ill be brought before the Commandery, and it is ex- pected that every member will be present. By order Of the Fminent Commander and Chalrman of tho Board of Trustees, S ~ LS. TIFFANY, Recorder and Secretary. q LUMBERMAN’S LODGE, NO. 717, A. F. & A. M— AM members are requested to attend the regular Communtcation on next Wednesday evening, Jun. 1%, $2 business of importance wil comehofore the Lodge, ‘isitors al welcome, : rae eiome TARRY FORBES, W. Mt. 2%. M. ASHLEY, Secretary. VALIER BAYARD COMMANDERY, U. D.. + CHEVALI ENIGHTS TEMPLAR—stated Conclave ‘Thursday evening, Jan. 2%, ISsL atS p. m.. at lid and 146 Twenty- second-«L Visiting Knights always welcome. Ly order of the Eminent Comuwander. S ‘H.C. RANNEY, Recorder. THE FIRST RED RIBBON REFORM CLUB Will celebrate their third anniversary at Avenue Hall, 139 Twentywsecond-st, Thursday evening next. ‘The Rev, Dr, W. 1. Ryder will deliver the address, and Prof. Walter C.“Lymiun_will give selections ‘from Bhakspearo. . ORTEL, President. ST. BERNARD COMMANDERT. 2: Btaied Conclave Wednesday evening, a’cluck. Work on the ‘Templar Order. Knights are invited. By order, . JQHN D. AL CALI, Commander. J.O. DICKERSON, Recorder. CORINTIIAN CHAPTER ). @, R. A. M.—Special Convocation Monday evening, Jan. Ii, at 7:3) o'clock. Work on the P. and AM. i. M. Degree. Visiting com- sanlons are invited., Its onder. z 2 a TH WARRINGTON, H. PL J. 0. DICKERS! retary. CHICAGO comma’ TEMPLAR.—Stnted Cone! onday evening, Jan. 1, at 7:30 o'clock. Vistitns Knights courieously invited. By order of the Eminent Commander, D. GOODMAN, Recorder. APOLLO LODGE, tion of officers on 1 So'clock, Members are ri ALF. SA. 3—Recular ing, Jan. 2L Business of v1 Eb G. BEECHER, W. 3. eeretary. ORIENTAL LODG Commaunseation Frid: rian 0. 3H, ALF, & A. M.—Resular jan. 1S in hall 7 Monroe- 8 be Present Bt 758 shi HL CRANE, “SUNDAY, JANUARY 16, 181 ‘Tne cotton manufacturing industries of the United States give empioyment to 1S1,625. people. THE official figures give West Virginia a population of 618,193, of whom 599,970 are na- tive-born. Michigan’s population is 1,636,395, of whom 1,247,889 are native-born. ANOTHER good wan is supposed to have gone wrong. J. E. Minor, the principal of the banking house of Minor & Co., at Fred- ricksburg, Va., has been missing since last Wednesday. Several depositors would like to Imow of his whereabouts. " A Five-srory building on Cortlandt street, New York, belonging tothe Vander- bilt estate, and occupied by Bruno & Sons, dealers in musical instruments, and by the Waterbury Clock Company, was almost to- tally destroyed by fire yesterday. The loss to the Clock Company is estimated at $75,000. Tne Senate Committee on Census agreed to recommend the additional appropriation ($500,000) asked for by Gen. Walker to com- plete his work. The Committee also agreed to authorize him to contract with private parties for the printing of the reports, in order that the work may be hastened as much as possibl Tue contest between the German party and the Autonomists in the Austrian Parlia- ment has rendered necessary another patch- ing up of Count Taafe’s Ministry. Baron von Strecht, Minister of Justice,and Kremer von Agile the Minister of, Cofnmerce, Tetire, and their piuves aré“thken by Dr. Prazat and Baton Pine, ~~ THE sgrvant girl of a physician residing at Pamrapo, N. J., recently picked up a bottle on the seacoast which contained a small piece of paper on which were written the words: “Steamship City of Boston, burned June 29, 1870.—A. Marrick Treque.” This may be the solution of the inystery concern- ing the fate of the vessel. Mvcn interest is being manifested in re- gard to the scull race between Hanlan and Laycock, which comes off to-morrow on the Thames. The bad weather of the last week has seriously interfered with the oarsmen’s practice, and this circumstance is said to (avor Laycock. Betting is in favor of Han- in, however; the odds being 9 to 4. Tuk Mexican Central Railroad project promises to be a complete success. Bonds to the amount of $5,715,000 were placed in the market and already more than douple the mnount of subscription has been offered. Jay Gould has purchased 666 blocks of the the stock, valued at $2,997,000, and Gen. Grant has received ten blocks, valued at $45,- 0, 19, KNIGHTS | higher courts, where it is not improbable that it will be granted. Warrants are out for the arrest of eleven other Tralee Leaguers on the charge of “Boycotting,” and the hon- orary and paid Secretary of the Cork Branch have been arrested on the charge of prac- ticing intimidation and writing threatening letters, : Whiz the European Powers are unani- mous in recommending Greece to abide the results of the arbitration plan patented by Bismarck, and recommended by Barthelemy St Hilaire and others, Greece is making active preparations for war, and its people are intent on snatching “from the ashes of their sires” enough spirit and courage to at- tack the Turks about the end of this month. —— Srwaror ALLIsoN, who is looked on as the probable successor of Secretary Sher- man, will visit Gen. Garfield at Mentor to- morrow, in reference to his acceptance of the ofiice, so itis sald. There is no doubt now that Senator Blaine will succeed Secretary Evarts. The latter, in his communications to the representatives of the United states abroad, ends by saying that all future diplo- matic correspondence isto be addressed to Mr. Blaine. Epwanp Notas, one of the guards at the Sing Sing Prison, is a useful man round such an instituuon. “Buck” Walsh, a noto- rious burglar and scoundrel imprisoned there, made an attempt to escape yesterday. Nolan pursued and shot the burglar dead. The victim’s father was a “bad egg,” and ended a bad life by com- mitting suicide some time ago, and it was the victim’s brother who butchered the girl Bar- bara Gronenthal at Brooklyn about two weeks ago. The world will not lose much by the diminution of this class of persons, Ir appears that the delay in announcing the committees of the Lower House of. the Legislature was in no respect chargeable to the indecision of the Speaker. He had his list made up in good season, and was pre- pared to announce it, but was compelled to wait for the names of members chosen to represent the minority in each committee, ‘The minority list was handed to Mr. Thomas Thursday. It necessitated some changes in his list, so that the interests of localities might be duly considered, but these changes were made in a few hours, and the commit- tees would have been appointed Friday ii the House had not adjourned over Sunday. By Tuesday, at latest, when a quorum may be expected to be present, the appointments will be made. TnreE members of the Duke of Rich- moud’s Commission on Agricultural De- pression in Great Britain and Lreland are said to have determined to present a minority re- portin reference to the legislation needed forthe Irish tenantry. They will recom- mend fixed tenures, rents fixed by arbitra- tion, and the right of the tenant to sell his interestin his holding. Two of the three signers of the minority report have been members of former Liberal Cabinets, Mr. James Stansheld as President of the Local Government Board, ana ord Carlingsford as Chief Secretary for TIveland; the third, Mr. Joseph Cowen, is the Radical member for Neweastle- on-Tyne and the editor and proprietor of the Newweastle Chronicle, the chief Liberal paper published in the North of England. Ir Illinois is to be conceded a Cabinet posi- tion in Gen. Garfield’s Administration, as its claims would certainly suggest, there will be no difficulty in finding men of character and ability who will serve the Administra- tion well and reflect credit upon the State. Among other names mentioned, that of Mr. Robert Lincoln has been aptly suggested. It is not probable that Mr. Lincoln will make any effort to secure a position in the Cabinet, and it may be that he does not desire to enter public life under any conditions, but the Na- tionalisin of his name and the respect he has commanded in his professional and social relations in this city during many years give a point-to the compliment that is conveyed in the suggestion that comes from Washing- Sugecstion also shows the folly of a microscopic search for nobodies and mediocre men in casting about for Llinois representa- tion in the new. Cabinet when men like Mr. Lincoln are residents of this State. ENCOURAGED, probably, by the success of the lady manager of the Woman’s Bank of Boston in fleecing victims, several swindlers have been recently making the “Hub”? the basis of their operations. The Jatest “operators” discovered are Alex- ander Rodanon and William North. Rod- anon advertised in papers published in New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, and other British colonies, that the ‘““Rodanon Manu- facturing Company” was selling watches manufactured in Switzerland at an excecd- ingly favorable price to the purchasers who would send part of the purchase money in advance. ‘The bait took, and Rodanon has been in receipt of about a dozen regis- tered letters per day recently. He was ar- rested yesferday on the charge of using the mails for fraudulent purposes. North, the other fellow, pretended to teach telegraphy to young men, and fraudulently collected his tuition fees in advance. Hehasbeen jugged. Some mempers of. the garrison at Salford, England, are suspected of. having made the attempt to blow up the barracks there with dynamite last Friday. The garrison con- tains quite a number of Irish soldiers, who have long been under-suspicion of having strong sympathies with Fenianism. The Gamage done the barracks is more serious than was at first suspected, and two persons are said to have been fatally injured. The most serious feature of the case, however, is the evidence It is be lieved” to afford that the Irishmen in the British army are in” sympathy with the Irish revolutionists. Although recruiting in Ireland has been at a standstill for many years, a very large percentage of the British army is Irish, and it is not pleas- ant for British statesmen to contemplate the existence of a serivus disaffection in its ranks, The Duke of Wellington advised the grant- ing of Catholic emancipation when Irish soldiers began to cheer for O’Connell. May not Gladstone be compelled to grant a sweep- ing land measure, and even Home Rule, be- cause of the more pronounced sympathies which seem to exist on the part of Irish soldiers for the present agitation in Ireland? ———<<_ DeBATE on the Funding bill was resumed in the House yesterday. The amendments offered by Anderson of Kansas, McLane: of Maryland, and other advocates of a 8}¢ per cent short bond were defeated bya vote of 10S to 97,—the Democrats generally. voting against the amendments, as did Washburn, of Minnesota, and Upegraff, of Iowa. Me- Lane and Hutchins, both Democrats, made 00. longand earnest speeches against the3 percent Tue local magistrates are making it inter- tsting for some of the Land-Leaguers in the South of Iretand. The officers of the Tralee Branch of the League, whose case has occu- pied the attention of the local Court for over a week, have been committed for trial to the Assizes. Bail was not offered, as it was be- lieved if would be refused. The prisoners? sounsel will probably apply for. bail in the clause of the bill They went even to the ex- tent of insinuating that their party friends were acting ina mere spirit of demagogy. Cox and Wood resented the imputations, and made buncombe speeches about “the credit of the United States,” the “independence of Uncle Sam,” etc. An amendment. by Carlisle limiting the .commission to be paid for negotiating the new bonds one-fourth of 1 per cent was adopted. The debate on.this amend- ment gave Cox a chanee to denounce syndi- cates and to refer disparagingly to Secre- tary Sherman. Gen. Weaver, frankly con- fessed that he voted for the 3 per cent and other amendments with ‘the hope’ that the bill, as it would pass the House, would render refunding impossible. Many of the Demo- erats who. voted for the 3 percent amend- ment did so to make themselves “solid” with their constituents and In the belief that the bill. will be amended by the Senate to meet the views of Secretary Sherman, give” dng an option to refund at as’ high a rate as 3!¢ per cent. : REDISTRICTING THE CITY. One of the most important duties of ‘the Legislature now in session will be the re- districting of the City of, Chicago for State and municipal purposes. The provisions of the Incorporation act relating to this subject are as follows: Ant. IIL, Sec. 2, Inst clause. In cities pf over 100,000 inhabitants there shall’ be el thirty-.| six Aldermen, and no more. 2 ‘Ant. IV., Sec. 4. The City Council may, from time to time, divide the city into one-half us many wards ag the total number of Aldermen to which the city Js entitled; and one Alderman Shall annually be elected’ In and for each ward, to hold hig office for two years, and until his suc- cessor is elected and qualified. Inthe formation of wards tho ulation of each shalibe as nearly equal and the ward shall be of 2s compact aud contiguous territory as practicabic. In accordance.with this act the city now has eighteen wards and thirty-six Aldermen. But it will be impossible to retain this num- ber under the new apportionment. The Sénatorial ratio will be about 60,000, If the present law should be continued, each ward, under the new apportionment, would havea popukition of 26,000 to 28,000. Any two wards would not have sufficient population for one Senatorial district, while any three wards would haye a considerable excess over the ratio. The plan which commedids Itself to the Legislature, without distinction of party, is that the number of wards should be in- crensed to twenty-four, each Senatorial dis- trict to be composed of three wards, Asto the wisdom of this.change there is no seri- ous difference of opinion, so far as we are in- formed, in any quarter. ‘The number of wards having been agreed upon, the real question at issue will at ‘once arise. {tis whether the apportionment shall be made solely on the basis of population, or whether citizenship and voting force shall be taken into the account. Eighty-two thou; sand yotes were east in Chicago at the last election. The average ratio of voters to pop- ulation in the rural districts, where the pro- portion of unnaturalized foreigners is very sinall, is about 1 to 43g. On that basis the whole yote of Chicago, if all persons other- wise qualitied had been naturalized, would have been 106,000 to 108,000. The alien or unnaturalized males of voting age therefore number 25,000 to 26,000, who, with their wom- en and children, constitute, perhaps, 130,000 of the whole population, Now it is evident that, if the city should be subdivided into wards under the last provision above noted, and the population of the wards be made as nearly equal as possible, the number of citi- zens, or the voting force of each ward, would be very unequal. The following table, pre- pared and printed by Tue Trune immedi- + ately after the late election, but without ref- erence'to this subject, shows how unequal the yoting powers of the various wards are in proportion to population: Total population. Vote. {Onc in 3.750 9 Wards. Fourteent! Fitteenth. botimnacikaconcivisxic HOM SMEE SEE Eighteenth.. ‘The Fourteenth Ward, in which nearly | half the population are aliens, as shown by the percentage of votes cast, would havo ; double representation in the Common Coun- cil, if the law should remain unchanged, for every citizen contained init. One hundred votes in that ward would count as much as 220 in the First Ward, 200 in the Eighteenth, 175 in the Third, 165in the Ninth or Eleventh, or 180in the Twelfth. It should be added that there is no pretense that any voters did not have an opportunity to cast their ballots at the last election. On the present basis the 130,000 aliens in the City of Chieago, many of whom are so from choice, would have about one-quarter of the whole representation in the Common Council. Six wards and twelve Aldermen would be allotted to them, and each voter in the wards inhabited by them would have from 1}¢ to 234 as much to say about the character of the City Government, - the amount of taxes to be levied, the money to be spent, and the purposes to whick: it should be: devoted as any citizen in the other eighteen wards. ‘It is not only possible, but it is probable, that the representatives of aliens in the City Council would hold the balance of power between the taxpayers and the tax-consumers, and they would seriously affect, if they did not wholly change, the com- plexion of the Legislature in off years. ‘There is no reason or. justice in bestowing this enormous power upon persons who do not understand our form of government, do not take sufficient interest in it to avail them- selves of its privileges, owe it no allegiance, and pay a very small proportion of its taxes, An unnaturalized foreigner has no vote, is not eligible to any office, cannot serve as policeman or fireman, is exempt fromtil- itary service if he chooses to plead, as mitny did in the late War, his foreign allegiance, and has no further claim on the people of this city and State than to the protection of his person and property from violence or criminal attack. To give these subjects of foreign Powers equal representation in our State and municipal Legislatures with our own citizens is to wrong the latter, and es- pecially those who have renounced, their foreign allegiance and become duly natural- ized. While the admission to citizenship is 80 easy and the invitation to all foreigners to assume its duties and privileges is so strong, there can be no hardship in confining its privileges, and especially the taxing-power, to those who have complied with the simple conditions of the law. Representation in the Council should be based exclusively on the number of citizens, and equalized on. that basis. The Federal census, now nearly completed, will show the | 6.1 number of natives and naturalized foreign- ers ineach of the present wards. ‘The State Jaw should be amended so as to provide that: “Inthe formation of wards the number of male citizens of voting-age in each shali-be as nearly equal as possible,” ete All the rest will be simple. Foreign residents will be represented as at present, but they will not.be disproportionately represented. They will have the protection of thé laws, the ad- yantages of City and State Governments, but they will not be able to tip the scales in favor of the tax-eaters as against-the taxpayers, nor to dictate to the citizens ofthis municipality and State how they shall be governed. It ought to require ne argument to show that citizens should not be overslaughed by non-voting aliens, or tkat the political power of 26,000 voters :shonld not be nullified and wiped out by an'equal number of non-voters, who do not understand our laws or language, and do not care to assume the responsibilities af citizenship. =* THE NEW TELEGRAPH MONOPOLY. A Chicago newspaper has advanced the re- markable opinion; in a quasi-defense of the amalgamation of the Western Union and American Union elegraph Companies re- cently announced, that. the interests of the public are not affected whether the telegraph business be aone by one company or more. If this view be correct, it can only be based upon the theory promulgated some years -ago by Mr. Charles Francis Adams in regard to the railroads—viz.; that competition in the telegraph business means combination. In such ease the logic of the situation and the principle of self-preservation require that the Government shall step in and turnish the people ‘the’ protection “against extor- tion, injustice, and oppression which it is the ,duty of Government to pro- vide whenever such oppression is practiced through the agency of public privileges and franchises, This is the view whictris rap- idly forcing itsqlf upon the American people, and which the new monopoly, if managed as Monopolies always have been heretofore, will bring to a practical and aggressive mant- festation. It issafe to assume that Messrs. Jay Gould, Vanderbilt, and the other benefi- clarfes of: the recent combination will agree upon the uniform policy of monopolies, which is to exact from the-public the largest amount of money for the smallest amount of service. If it shall be found that more money can be earned by doubling the rates,—or, in other words, that business will not fall off inproportion,—tlien the rates will be doubled. The maximum of profitat the minimum of service will always be the rule of évery cor- poration which has neither competition nor Government regulation to restrain the greed of its managers and owners. It is not to be expected that a vast monopoly like the West- ern Union Company, in the absence of all re- straint, will depart from this rule. Another reason why the new telegraph monopoly will be tempted to place the high- est collectible rates upon its service is, that it will undertake to pay dividends upon $S0,- 000,000 of stock, though its ‘ plant” does not represent an investment of more than $20,- 000,000. In cther words, it will undertake to earn four times as much as would be repre- sented in legitimate and prevailing interest on the capital invested. That thisstatement of the cuse is not exaggerated may be shown from-.a cursory review of the frequent watering of Western Union stock. The story was told some three years ago, when -the peoplé were urged to subscribe their money and give their support to the establishment and maintenance of the oppo- sition line, which, like all its predecessors, has now been absorbed into the old monop- oly, and has thus afforded another cppor- “tunity for increasing the capital stock. The present Western Union Company started in 1851 under the-name of the “New York & Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Com- pany,” and built some 600 miles of line at a ! cost of $360,000. Two years later 800 miles of additional line were secured by purchase from the Lake Erie Telegraph Company, and. paid for in bonds which were subsequently provideg for out-of the earnings. Other lines were secured from time to timein the same way, and the stock of the Company in- creased on the basis of the price paid in stock, and not upon the actual cost or value of the property obtainea. Stock watering began in 1858, when astock dividend was de- clared of 414 per cent, and thus quadrupled over the amount of the actual investment. ‘The stock, now increased to $1,595,500, was again watered. 37*per cent in 1869, which brought it up to $2,979,300, Less than a year later another stock dividend of 100 per cent was maie, thus doubling the nominal capital, and making it nearly $6,000,000. Another stock dividend of 833¢ per.cent was added be- fore the close of 1863, and the nominal cap- italthus became $8,000,000. Not long after | $2,000,000 were added to represent purchased. lines. In 18G4 the capital was doubled again by stock dividend, and during that year in- creased to $22,000,000. From that point it was run up gradually till it amounted to over $41,000,600 in 1878, from the small be- ginning of $360,600. The cash dividends were enormous during all this time. “In 1858 they amounted to 74 per cent, in addition to the 414 per cent stock dividend. From 1858 to 186 they averaged 7 per cent on the entire capital stock, water and all, Between 1866 and 1877 the net profits were stated to be $32,598,336, of which over $12,000,000 were de- elared in dividends, The recent arrange- ment for the consolidation of the telegraph companies is stated to be on a stock basis of $53,000,000 for the Western Union, $17,000,000 for the American Union, and $10,000,000 for the Atlantic & Pacific,—or the enormous sum of $80,000,000 capital stock, which represents the addition of no, material or facilities that were needed by the old company. The peculiar significance of this history of unparalleled stock watering will be found in the additional statement that Jay Gould is now likely to change his policy, and, instead of organizing new companies to force ulti- mate purchase and amalgamation, heis likely to control the management of the consoli- dated companies in such a way as to arouse public indignation, ard with the deliberate. purpose of forcing upon the Government the purchase of the Hines at the numinal value of the capital stock. It has been reported more than once that Jay Gould has declared that he will pinch, and squeeze, and twist the public until it Squeals, and that then Con- gress will buy out the telegraph companies at their own price, This purpose of Mr. Jay Gould’s may miscarry, for there is another, cheaper, and more obvious way to make the telegraph a part of the postal system of the Government than that of paying $80,000,000 for property not worth more than one-quar- ter that much. ; ‘The way for the Government to proceed is to establish telegraph lines along its postal routes, as it has the authority to do without asking leave or assistance from anybody. ‘These routes include the railroad lines, which would freely assent to the transfer of their telegraph facilities from the momentitshould appear that the Government was determined to goahead. The construction of telegraph lines will. be easy and rapid in the hands of the Governmen t, which has possession of the field and is in control of all the necessary machinery for making the telegraph business a part of thereguiarposial system. A prece- dent for such procedure is found in the grad- ual addition of the expressage business to the postal system. The Government did not buy out any established express companies nor legislate them out of existence. It simply added the carrying..of parcels to the carrying of--nrails, and established postal Yates thereon, which have conferred a great blessing upon the public. It inay proceed in the same manner with the telegraph business, and will find the same ready codperation from the railroads and the same eager support from the public which it secured in the ex- pressage business, It will not need to earn dividends on $80,000,000 of watered stock, but -will. furnish telegraph service, as it now furnishes mail and . express service, at about the cost of the service. If this plan be adopted, it will be but very few years till the Government will beable to send telegraph messages to the temotest points of the continent at the rate of 25 cents for twenty words. In the mean- time, the Western Union may manage its business as it pleases, but it will not be able either to buy out the Government service or to sell out to-the Government. This is obviously the true solution of the telegraph problem which’ has been sprang upon the public by the recent combination. The monopolists think they have a twist upon the public and the Government in the possession of certain essential patents which they.control. They seem to forget, however, that Congress makes and unmakes the patent Jaws of the country, and that the very same bill which shall require the addition of the telegraph service to the postal system may and will provide that the Government sball be entitled to the use of all existing and fut- ure telegraph patents by the payment of a reasonable compensation for the use thereof. Thus the Government can join the telegraph and mail service together without hindrance or embarrassment from the Western Union Company, at comparatively small outlay, and to the relief of a grateful public from im- pending oppression. THE MORALITY OF PETITIONS. ‘The petition business has grown into an evil of enormous magnitude, and there is not a person who is supposed to have any influ- ence who will not bear testimony to the an- noyance of the practice, and, if he’ rightly considers it, to its hypocrisy, falsehoods, and worthlesness. There is not an office in Chi- cago that is not pestered with the impudent bearers of petitions. In number they are legion,—petitions to pardon convicts in the ‘Penitentiary who ought to stay there; petl- tions to prevent men from going to the Peni- tentiary who ought to go there; petitions to put men in office who have no claims upon office; petitions to raise men from a lowerto' a higher oftice who ought not to be In office at all; and petitions for all sorts of appoint- ‘ments, from that of a notary public up or down, as the case may be. Ineyery instance these petitions set forth the most extraordi- nary merits, abilities, and claims upon the part of the petitioners which are mainly mythical, and as 2 rule they have for an ap- pendix a list of names of people who certify by their signatures that they are cognizant of these claims, when in reality they know nothing about them. These petitions allege certain facts and their wording is such that those who sign profess’ to have personal knowledge of them. ‘The hawkers of these petitions follow mén about, besiege them in their places of business, harass and badger them, until they have achieved their object. In most cases the frst man who signs knows something of the merits of thecase. The second man applied to objects to sign be- cause he knows nothing of them, whereupon he is met with the reply that he knows the first signer, and at Jast he puts down his sig- nature,- indorsing the statements of the first. Nine men out of ten have not the prin- ciple or the moral courige to refuse to sign and to frankly say that they have no knowledge of the facts set forth in the body of the petition. They sign to escape giving personal offense or to avoid the necessity of giving their reasons for not signing; while many are so reckless that they sign every paper presented to them without the slightest knowledge of the nat- ure of the petition. A pertinent illustration of this is found in an ex-Speaker of the Lili- nois House of Representatives, who was ac- customed to sign everything presented to him without reading it, and on one occasion actually headed a petition to the President of the United States asking. to arrest himself (the signer) and expatriate him for a series- of crimes of the most extraordinary descrip- tion, all of which were specitied in the peti- tion! And intoo many cases do Governors of States in the matter of pardons, and mem- bers of Congress in the matter of offices, act without any reference to the merits of the case. How can they do otherwise, when these petitions do not represent the personal solicitations of signers acquainted with the facts, but in reality are filled with signatures which to all intents and purposes are bogus, obtained from people who have signed because they do not wish to be consid- ered unaccommodating, or wanted to getridof bores, and in reality have signed a faischood. One of the most specious arguments used by these fellows, when the applicant informs them that he is ignorant of the facts, is that he knows what some one else knows, who has signed, and that be isa reliable man, no account being taken of the fact that however reliable or honest A may be, hecannot look at | athing through B’s eyes. ‘There is no greater or more discouraging obstacle.in the way of justice than these petitions. After over- coming unwilling witnesses, packed juries, bills of exceptions, and all the tricks and turns of the law, aguilty man is convicted, and immediately there isa rush to the pardoning power to’ fet him loose, and the -very people who care- Jesly and thoughtlesly sign these papers are often the ioudest in their condemnations of courts and in their strictures upon the laxity of justice. There is but one safe and honor- able course for people to pursue, and that is to refuse to sign any petition where they have no personal knowledge of the cérrect- ness of its statements; and, if this rule were persistently followed, fewer petitions would be presented, fewer men would get out of the Penitentiary who ought to be there, fewer men would get into office who ought not to be there, and fewer people would indorse statements of which they have no knowledge whatever. THE CANAL AND THE CHICAGO RIVER. A3r. William Thomas, the Secretary of the Board of Commissioners of the Lilinois & Michigan Canal, in a letter published in Tne TRIBUNE yesterday, vindicates thet Board, and also Mr. Jenne, the Engineer, from the charge of hostility to Chicago in the matter of the canal, These officers hardly need such vindication. Their whole conduct has been liberal and kind to the very limit of their power in aiding this city to relieve itself of the evil of the river stenches, and their efforts to induce the Mayor ot Chicago todo his duty in the matter have deserved the thanks of the State, and especially of the people of this city. Mr. Jenne’s offense con- sists inhaying furnished an estimate of the expense of certain work proposed to be con- structed without cost to the canal by cer- tain respectable citizens of Joliet. Thatis all. A-yearago the Canal Commissioners, the State Board of Health, the citizens of sev- eral towns on the river, and the united people of Chicngo urged the necessity of doing something to relieve the Chicago Kiver of the offensiveness caused by the insufficient flow of the water of the river into the canal, and there was a like unanimity in urging the City Government to restore the dam and lock at Bridgeport and, by the aid of pumps, in- crease the flow of water into the canal from 15,000 cubic feet per minute to 50,000 feet per minute,—a work which would not only purify the Chicago iver, but would keep its water and that of the canal as clear and as inodor- ous as the water of the lake itself. In the construction of this work, so thorough and efficacious, the Canal Board, Mr. Thomas, and the citizehs of Joliet offered every assistance and codperation. The City Council at the earliest day possible made the appropriation of $100,000, being the full amount. estimated as necessary. The unamimity of public sen- timent left no doubt that the work would be begun at once, and ninety days was supposed to be the limit of time in which the improve} But what, is the object of the Bore? Alas} tnonth passed, however, and no action was taken. The Mayor of Chicago was opposed, tothe work; it had not been proposed. or planned by him. He therefore lett it to be defeated by inaction. In June there were: Joud complaints and remonstrances, of which the Mayor took not the slightest notice. Acommittee of the Joliet Board of Trade was appointed to consider this subject, and the result of their labors is thus stated by Mr. Thomas: Theso gentlemen visited Mayor Harrison in Chicayo for the purpose ‘of urging him to take such uction as- would relieve them and their squeamish neighbors of the intolerable nuisance thrown into their midst by the City. of Chicagn. Harrison shifted the responsibility trom the city to the Canal Commissioners. It was then pro- posed and sgrecd that Harrison and others should meet this Committee and the Canul Com- missioners at Lockport on the Sth of July, 1880. Tho result was that the Mayor stated in tho Presence ot all that the City of Chicago did not | 11 — spots; need the canal for sewage purposes; that its sewers were clean, tho water in them was fit to wash one’s hands in, and the river was clean enough to bathe in; and further that the deep cut was made by the State to receive water for navigation, and not to accommodate the city; and if the canal wasa nuisance it was the fault of the Canal Commissioners, and not his nor the city’s; and as proof.of this position he exhibited about a dozen bottles of clear water. The purpose ofthe Mayor to do nothing, and the defiant and insolent mannerin which he communicated his purpose and intention, was followed by an appeal by the citizens of Joliet to the Canal Commissioners todo what they could in the matter. In the memorial they state the character of their meeting with the Mayor of Chicago and its result, and use this language: But braving recently sent a committee of our business men to confer with the Mayor of Chi- cauro with reference to the proposed pumping- works at Bridgeport, and, however strauge it inay appear to otbers, having learned from his Honor that the water ta the Chicago River was pure and clean enough for bathing and toilet purposes, and, what was still stranger, that the nulsauce was not caused by the City of Chicago, but by your honorable Board. that Committee was instructed by his Honor to stir us up to as- sist him in compelling your honorable Board to nbate the nuisance, and through his Honor our Committee was further informed that, on ac- countof the Fullerton avenue coudnit and its pumping properties, the City of Chicago did not need the pumping-works, nor the 1. & M. C, itself; that the water that passed into the canal from the Chicago River was for the benefit of the canal, and not for the benefit of the city. In view of all these facts {and fucts they must be, or surely Mayor Harrison would not so advise us) we come to you and most earnestly pray your openings mentioned aboye, but that your Board woutd avail itself of Ita right, etc., ete. The memorial, therefore, in view of the Mayor’s nonsensical blowing, asks*the Com- inissioners to obtain the water for the canal from other sources than the Chicago River. On that memorial the Commissioners have taken no action, and now the matter is be- fore the Legislature. The mistake has been that the people slong the river consider that the indifference of the Mayor and ‘his per- sistent inaction have had the sympathy or ap- proval of the people of this city. On the contrary, the people of Chicago have been directly and doubly outraged, first. by the continuance of the nuisance for months after it might have been abated, and next by the mulish refusal of the official organ ot the city—its Mayor—to carry into execution the express orders of the city. The Mayor now pleads that the appropria- tion of last year was too small, and that he cannot do anything until he has sufficient money. Of course this is understood for just what itis worth, and every one knows that, had the Mayor had the slightest intention of having the work done, it would have been done and the pumps in operation long before the close of navigation last fall. The remedy for the past. is prompt action now. If the $100,000 voted last year be insufficient, then asum needed in addition can be voted this year, and it is immaterial what that sum maybe. The city has expended $600,000 for the cleansing works at Fullerton avenue, and the North Branch is now ina condition tobe kept clean and pure. Note drop of the water of that part of the river finds its way to the canal. The South Branch is the only part of the river which con- nects with the canal. There is nota doubt that the pumps and the lock and damat Bridgeport can, ata small anaual expense, be kept constantly clean,—so clean and so free thatour neighbors at Joliet will greet the copious flow of lake-water with grati- tude, and will be moved, out of consideration for the cities farther down-stream, to abate the nuisance of emptying thelr own sewers into the pure waters of the Illinois River. ‘The Mayor has in his hands, or will have be- ment would be putin operation. Monthatter | it his victim could discoyer it be. > plore heayen and earth to at. enki would swear “by all the goagiy = & the elixir of life,— it at the feet of “ promise to convert the moog:i7?™ cheese ‘and store it away for bis FS z ie would agree: to 5 Sith, temper of his mother-in-law, ang jy self under the penalty of the loss, & mortal soul to cure the merchant ot, of cheating and the politician af ty 8 lying. But the misery of it alj has no object but to talk. ’ They wants to sell a cake of soap which 1! move grease spots, freckles, and g Wil, the moral character is no bor have only to assure him ‘that yoy grease spots, or that you. like that you have no freckles,- of freckles,—regard them a5 43% you have no ata or that you aes what stalns you possess as virtues,— only to convince the itinerant > Thy Bore that you don’t want his cance? and won’t have it, to quickly transfer a, portunities to your next-door neigh 1 jated clergyman, guilty having preached a doze tidns to sleep, solicits 2 subseripion gee conversion of the heathen, you dave ony say politely that you prefer the jitis 2 should die in their sins to be Tid of thay old gentleman who weeps for the heath, Africa but has no tears for the ty “Bier” avenue. If you are oferaty of matches at two prices it is the eu: & thing in the world to get rid of the ton chant by taking the gross Of miztches paying the two prices. You might the boy a liar and make him Dlushy ig how much easier to pay the py the lie! If you want to indulge Ae form take a man of your. gi, . tospeak, a first-class merchant Who wy wooden nutmegs, or basswood hams, ortiy nin tea, or dead animal grease butter sanded sugar. Go to him and say: Yor poisoning the stomachs of the comm you ought to be ashamed of youruit, Perhaps you might get kicked Out of ty honorubie body to not only allow us to make the |. merchant's oftice, but you would barety satisfaction ot feeling that you had bq kicked in the holy cause of reform}, ‘Tun E spectable merchant just in fromthe & house where he had superintetided & branding of suine as butter might call py “Bore.” But you could easily showhints error, because you could prove that yout an object in view,—the high and holyéaxy of reform; and the real Bore has no obje, whatever in view. No. Itinerant pedis are not bores. It is a pleasure tosettie| right before the public. They purines legitimate calling, with the legitimatedain of making money; and if their soapiiky remove stains from the moral charactertiy the fault of the manofacturer who bind it soap and published its virtues, not af y ragged peddier who vendsit. © Certain conditions are essential to thet, stitution of a full-fledged Bore. Age is ey of them. Boys are sometimes impudent it their impudence stops far short of thts} lime audacity which characterizes thx fessional Bore. No boy ever yet achjert the renown of confronting a full-grogn ta in the possession of all his facutties, ‘sea at his desk in front of a huge pile of pas requiring immediate attention, and thom {3 there reducing him to a. mental pulp-mi Fg forcing him to the verge of insanity. You § professional Bore is at least 50 or 60 yeus age. He has a profusion of whitehain his bald pate is as smooth as a Dillard bl & Te is of commanding presence. . His sely clothes appeal to the sentiment af pity; ts deportment, of the ‘Turreydropian niet for bids famillarity; his eyes nate the glitterd- fascination; his manner is that of) bak about to refuse a diseomt When he has wiped the perspiration fm his manly brow in summer, or removedml f& folded his glovesin winter, seated himself w asked in achair, and confronted his vice, the conquest is complete, and it only rem for him to torture and then devour hispe ‘The bored individual may flutter a liteh his cage. If he isaman of remarkeablepe ence of mind he may observe casually &s there is a case of small-pox next door, 8% his wife died day before yesterday andts the funeral is appointed for ‘an hour barrels fult of jt” his triend” ii use; nay, bi your moral character, a dilap’ crime o: President a aa fore navigation opens, the $100,000 roted last { ‘The Bore is happy to state that he has bal year. Let the City Council vote $100,000 additional, or whatever sum may be needed to put this improvement in operation, so that by the 4th of July, 1881, there will not a gallon of water pass from the Chicago Ri into the canal from which the most sensitive nosecan detect an odor, in which the sharp- est vision can discover an impurity. BORES, Byron divided society into two classes: Society is now one polished horde, Formed of two mighty tribes, the Bores and Bored. There is an impression abroad in the world that mankind loves to be humbugged. Quack doctors and the venders of “patent ” medi- | tng cines base their hopes of success entirely on this theory; certain financial schemes, as the late Boston female banking énterprise, are founded on it; the tulip-mania flourished on it; the Inquisition existed by virtue of it; and adventurers, public and private, subsist and even become wealthy and powerfal by inaustriously and skillfully working this vein of human credulity. But nobody loves tobebored. The definitionof “bore” is: “A person or thing that wearies by iteration ”— damnable iteration would be better. Another definition of bore is: “To eat out or makea hollow by gnawing or corroding, as a worm.” This is an admirable description of theawful processes‘of the human Bore. The iteration of the professional Bore Is like the gnawing of arat under the door or the bed; it makes the-victim shiver and writhe with agony. Nor is the “ worm” simile by any means an ill one. As the Bore proceeds his victim shrinks as from the loathsome contact of a grub, a caterpillar, or amaggot. The Bore isa mental torturer. He operates upon the mind of his victim as the carpenter does upon | the billet of wood.—chops it, saws it, drives nails into it, and finally makes 8 million gimlet-holes in it, and ham- mérs pegs twice their size into them. The suffering wretch would ery mercy, but dare not, The Bore possesses the power of a ma- lignant charm; he. holds his victim by the magic of the eye, and drills more. holes in him, and leisurely fills them with more mon- strously oversized pegs, using the power of a cyclops to force them to the very bottom. From the monosyllabic yes or no gasped out at long intervals, the subject of torture 1s at Jast reduced to outward silence. But within there isa fearful tumult. His soul is the abode of curses and maledictions,—curses | 754 desreos gout this month. To-i against his own mortal cowardice. maledic- tions upon the head, or rather tongne, of his merciless Inquisitor. Meantime the Bore smiles with. proud satisfaction, and—contin- friend,—he calls him friend,—and his tongue | ?! runs like a millyace, His friend (?) and vic- tim wonders what has become of the Fool- Killer; wishes that his torturermay be struck dead by a flash of lightning; mentally prays for another Chicago fire; that the walls, shat- tered by an earthquake shock, may tumble about his head; that a planet may shoot out of itscourse and destroy the round globe. His condition is wretched in the extreme. A beggar that is dumb, you May challenge double pity. aOR Astronomical. ‘ Chicago (Trinuse office), north tials 7 west longitude 42m. 1a’ fra Washington, and 5b. 50m. 30s. from Gree Tho subjoined table shows the time of 2 of the moon's lower limb, and the time for lighting the first street-lampin.escht daring the coming week, ult ordered sooner on account of bad westht ‘Also the following times for extinguishing 41 deg. 52m. cuit in this city, . A day at 5:26 p. ts from Jupiter. the apparent diameter of : hence the apparent distance from Jupiter will be about twice that frot Saturn; the three being nearly 02. line in the heavens. . Urnous will south Thursday a ing in right ascension Hi hours, a | 20 . Hnation 7 degrees 18 minutes. y ‘Neptune will gouth Thursday at 6:04 Fe small-pox, and that he also has lost a wilte two. The bored individual mentally wise that his tormentor had been carried ony 3 small-pox, and that, that failing, he iad ded °F] instead of his wife, andthen succumbs 0 awful fate. What a blessed thing it woul be if the professional Bore could be seat the Bridewell or the Penitenti te Congress. : Ey crovereres 5:13 p.m. - 658% The moon was full yesterday moraind fet will be in ber last quarter next Sunday st a. m. She will be morning. ‘The sun’s upper limb will rise ‘T:2414 a. m., south at 10m, 33.22, p. 4:57 p. m. The sun's upper Hm! 8. m., Souths at Lim. 44.03 p. m., and sets J Peas ies The sidereal time Thursday mea! 0b. Om. 57.985, Mercury will south Thursday being 34 degrees west of the sun. - superior conjunction Tuesday of next #5 ses Venus is now a brilliant evening sah: Thursday she will south at 3:05%3 P.7 sot at 8:45 p.m, ‘To-night she will be: enst from Lambda in Aquaries; night nearly midway between Marks Fomalhaut. Her angular distance from will incrense till Feb. 20, and the nest: will be-in conjunction with Jupiter.) inereuse in brilliuncy for ten weeks y0t 9 F Mars will south Thursday at 10:20 & he now u morning star, and far enough’ 8% the sun tobe recognized in the m Nght, though not a briiliantobject. the stars of Sagittarius, and next morning will be 13; degrees north from in that constellation. - 7 Jupiter will south Thursday at 4:49) atll07 pm. He isa littlo neers irom # lettered as Delta and Epsilon in Pisces: og ia from tha latter tho Inst GA morrow from 3:25 De Thi p.m, the first and third satellites will leaving but tivo of bis moons yisible. ;| that the fourth gatellite does not n0W hind or In front of the planct, a3-80€0:7" ues to talk. He has evidently convinced his | carth, but seems to describe a. very ressed ellipse around him Saturn will rise Thurs at 11:52 p. m., being now 9% degrees The apparent diamert nds, Jes test 40 seconds vias with Uranus, Weise on Monisy # m, andiet weeks but about janet - tho planet -4 i a b rises Friday pert 17 at. 11:58 Ho widest ed 000 SPS soe thee alg, she. Cd orning Heat, phar. igadeoe Lett only ot fet ‘a Ee