Evening Star Newspaper, November 20, 1894, Page 1

THE EVENING STAR. — + PUBLISHED DAILY EXCEPT SUNDAY, AT THE STAR BUILDINGS, 1101 Pennsylvania Avenue, Cor. 11th Street, by The Evening Star Newspaper Company, 8S. H. KAUFFMANN, Pres’t. New York Ole, 49 Potter Building. piles = Sood ‘The Evening Star is served to subseribers in t city by carriers, on their own at 10 cei per week, or 44 cents per gounter 2 cents each. By 1 United States or Canada—postage prepald—50 cents je Sheet _ Star, per month. Saturday Quin $1 per year; with foreign postage add d, $3.00. (Entered at the Post Office at Washington, D. C. as second-class mati matter.) £7 All mal! subseriptions must Rates of advertising made ki be paid Iu advance. Vor 85, No. 21,047. Che Evening Star. WASHINGTON, D.O, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1894-TWELVE PAGES. TWO OENTS. Te proof of te pudding is in te eating. Yesterday's Star contained 46 cofumns Of advertisements, made up of 762 separate announce: ments, These advertisers Bought pubficite—not merefp space, MAY BE TROUBLE If Kolb Attempts to Seat Himself as Governor. Se aE A JUDGE BLACKWELL'S VIEW OF THE CASE ad eg a ot What the Populists Think Will Be the Result. aE SOME VOTING FIGURES ‘The news from Alabama that Mr. Kolb Proposes to seat himself as governor of that state and that if he attempts it Gov- ernor Jones will arrest him for treason is causing considerable commotion among Alabama politicians now in Washington. Intense interest In the situation is also manifested at populist headquarters here. Judge Blackwell, third auditor of the treasury, is from Alabama and for many years has been closely identitied with the political history of that state. To a Star reporter today Judge Blackwell gave a statement of his view of the situation. Judge jackwe! Views. “If Mr. Kolb attempts to carry out his threat,” said Judge Blackwell, “he will certainly be arrested for treason by Gov- ernor Junes. There is no question as to the result; the only doubt is whether Mr. Kolb will go to the length he threatens.” Judge Blackwell said that under the con- stitutioa of Alabama treason consists in denying or resisting the established gov- ernment. If Mr. Kolb takes the step which he promises to do m his manifesto he will come in conflict not with the newly elected governor, Mr. Oates, but with the present established state govei Governor 3 at its head. * Alabama,” said Judge Blackwell, “pro- vides that the legisiature in joint assembly shall ccunt the vote for state oilicers, as determined from the returns of the Sroper officials in each county. When the vote has been registered by the clerks of the house of represeutatives the speaker of the house announces the result. This was done last Saturday and William C. Oates was formally pronounced elected governor of the state of Alabama, to be inaugurated December 1. Governor Jones will ve the executive power of the state uutil Mr. Oates takes his seat, and any attempt to set up another goverument would be quick- Jy crushed by him.” Militia Will Stand by Gov. Jones. In the event of the civil authorities being unable to cope with the forces of Mr. Kolb, which he cails upon to assemble in Mout- gomery on December 1, Juage Blackwell thinks that the militia of the state would obey Gov. Jones and will be cailed into action. Before he assumed the gubernuator- jal chair Gov. Jones was commander-in- chief of the militia and exceediugiy pupu- Jar with them. Judge biackweil thinks that if there should be any grave insurrec- tion in the state, and if Mr. Koib should succeed in gathering avout him any for- midable number of men, the militia would rally immediately to the support of Gov. Jones. Judge Blackwell ts of the opinion, how- ever, (hat matters will not progress to this point. He thinks that the manifesto of Mr. Kolb is but a biuff issued for the pur- pose of influencing public opinion in other States and especialiy in republican quar- ters where financial aid has been given ihe Kolbites. Judge Blackwell thinks that this is Mr. Kolb’s last appearance, and chat, after having issued is maniiesto in an alleged spirit of good taith, he and his 1ol- lowers will subside. he does not believe that Mr. Kolb can rally to his support considgrable body of men who would take up arms in opposition to the vested author- ity of the state. What the Populists Think. On the other hand, the sympathizers with the Kolbites in this city believe that a stormy time is ahead. They feel sure that Kolb is in earnest in this matter, and that he will push it to the utmost iunit. Mr. R. W. Dunning, who is a supporter of and sympathizer with the Koiv facuon, was found at the populist headquarters in tus city today. “I tell you the peopie of Aia- bama mean business this time,” said Air. Dunning to a Star reporter. “They are tired of the frauds which have been com- mitted at the baliot box and are not going to stand it any longer. Kolb was elected the first time and deirauded of his seat, but it was borne by the people patientiy for the sake of peace. There is a umit to endurance, however, and this time they intend to carry their grievance to the court of last resort. Kolb will certainly make the effort which he proposes in his man- ifésto to do, and, if it is uecessary, he can gather 100,000 armed men to his support. it is likely that he will be arrested for treason, but that is just what we want. We want to get the matter into another jurisdiction. Under the present law there is no provision for a contest of an election in Alabama, unless the iegislature passes an act to cover the specific cases. If Kelp is arrested, we will carry the matter im- mediately into the United States courts, and there we will get justice. Some Figures Given. “To give you an idea of the frauds which have been perpetrated there, I wiil quote frem @ statement made yesterday by M. W. Howard, the populist Congressman frem Alabama, just elected by 4,000 ma- jority. He said: “There are sixty-six counties in Ala- bama, and sixteen of them are known as the black belt, because there are 63,000 voters in it and nearly 60,00U of them are negroes. We carried nearly every white county, because in the white counties there are honest elections. As we had learned their tricks in the previous elec: tion, we planned to keep them from cheat- ing in the. black counties. We urged the negroes in those counties not to register. ‘As @ result, only 3,000 voters registered. ‘Then we thought we had them, because we thought they would not dare roll up the count if the registration books gave them the lie. But it's mighty hard to beat an Alabama democrat. In the sixteen ‘black counties the democrats had absolute charge of the election machinery, and they rolied up 48,000 negro majority for their didates in the black belt. ‘In Wilcox county the registration was less than SW, yet Wilcox gave the demo- cratic candidate for governor 6,000 major- ity. In one precinct, where we have the affidavits of five white men that the poll- ing place was not even open, they gave 371 yotes for the democrat and one for us. How generous they were to us! In Dallas county we managed to get the registration list after election and found that 2,300 voters were registered, yet Dallas gave the democrats 6,000 majority.’ What Col. Crandall Says. Lee Crandall, who ran for Congress on the Kolb democracy ticket against Gen. Wheeler in the eighth Alabama district, is at populist headquarters here fresh from the conference of Kolb men, at which it was determined to issue the manifesto ublished today. Mr. Crandall says that ‘ol. Kolb will be duly sworn in as gover- nor on the Ist of December by some mag- istrate qualified to administer oaths, and will then proceed to attempt to perform the functions of governor. When asked whether fighting would en- sue, Mr. Crandall said: “The Oates men have the militia to back them, and the support of thé administration, while we have not many arms, but you know what Napoleon said about the right. Compara- tively few Kolb men from the back dis- tricts were at the. convention last week, because they were not able to get there, and we cannot tell how many will re- spond to the call on the Ist of December. Many of them are too poor to travel. There will be contests made in the House against slx of the eignt democratic can- didates, who are given certificates of elec- tion, and we will present such indisputable evidences of frauds that the committee cannot overlook them.” Uneasiness in Alabama. Spécial Dispatch to The Evening Star. BIRMINGHAM, Ala., November 20.— Kolb's manifesto, in which he declares he will be inaugurated governor December 1, has created a big sensation and a feeling of intense uneasiness all over Alabama. Kolb’s plans will not stop in his effort to be governor, but a contest will be made for Senator Morgan's seat. The populists of the legislature will hold a caucus tonight and nominate Warren Reece, sr., for Senator against Morgan, and the populist members will vote for him and contest Morgin’s seat on the ground that certain memiers of the legis- lature were elected by fraud. Reece !s ex- mayor of Montgomery. Kolb’s followers all over Alabama are highly wrought up and tt is expected that several hundred of them will meet in Mont- gomery December 1. Gov. Jones will call out the state troops if he deems the situazfon such 2s to war- rant it. He is very positive _ his asser- tion that Oates wiil be inaugurated. Koib said this morning: “I will be governor of Alabaraa.”” But further than this he .efured to talk. There 1s serious trouble ahead. THE REPORT STRIKE What Representative Storer Says of the Commissioners’ Recommendations. Not Time to Embody Them Into Law the Coming Session, but Such a Law Will Surely Come, Representative Bellamy Storer of the commerce committee of the House of Rep- resentatives, and one of the leaders in formulating legislation affecting railroads and commerce, say: “The recommendations of the national strike commission cannot be embodied into jaw at the coming session, as the time is too short to take up such @ great question. But a law on tne general lines suggested by the commission is sure to come at an early day, and railroad men will consult their own interests if they recognize and accept the inevitable. It will be no ex- periment for the federal government to give its protection to a class of employes. Already the national shipping laws pro- tect sailors. The latter cannot be hired and discharged at will, but must be hired for a definite time, usually a voyage, and the federai law protects them in the exe- cution of this contract. The government Ras been so careful to guard this class of employes that sailors have the extreme legal right of libeling a ship and tiecing it up for non-payment of wages. “It is rather singular, therefore, to hear surprise expressed at the suggestion that railroad and other interstate corporation employes snould have the benefit of a national law. The shipping laws have demonstrated their usefulness, and you never hear of a sailor being unjustly dis- charged. There are no sailor strikes. And the analogy between vessel men and railroad men is so close that what has proved to be good for one will undoubtedly be good for the other.” Mr. Storer says it would be entirely feasible for the interstate commerce com- mission to be given charge of the national railroad laws, which would obviate the necessity of creating a new commission. “Tha two great questions I am hopeful of seeing passed at the coming session,” said Mr. Storer, “are the Nicaragua canal bill and the bill permitting railway pooling under certain Imitations. There will be little done before Christmas holidays, and after that January and February will give no time for new legisiation. But these measures are fully matured, and are of vast commercial importance, so that they can readily be disposed of. There are no party considerations involved in either bill, so that both sides can stand together in passing two measures of such wide public importance.” + 2+_____. MAWAIL LABOR IN Hastings Says That Skilled Classes Are Welcomed There. Mr. Hastings, the charge de affaires of the Hawaiian legation, belleves that the newspaper interview attributed to Minis- ter Thurston regarding the intention of Hawaii to rid herself of the Japanese laborers, which has caused ill feeling be- tween the two governments, was not a correct quotation. Minister Thurston was in Washington but a few days early in the fall after his return from Hawaii and Mr. Hastings says that he recollects that on that occasion Mr. Thurston remarked that one or two newspapers had fabricated interviews with him out of the whole cloth. Mr. Hastings was not surprised at the announcement that many American labor- ing men who had gone to Hawaii are in straits there. Opportunities for common laborers, he says, are monopolized by the Chinese and Japanese, who work oheaper than Americans could afford to because they can live much more cheaply. High- class skilled laborers are in demand there, and most of the positions, such as over- seers and engineers, requiring superior in- telligence, are held by Americans or Euro- peans. Skilled classes of laborers or men with small capital to help develop the re- sources of the country are welco! and pow advantageous opportunities awaiting em. —————+ oe +___ A PENSION OFFICE ORDER. Calculated to Greatly Expediate the jusiness in the Office. Commissioner Lochren of the pension office has issued an order destined to expe- dite business in the office and to especially reduce the amount of time taken up in answering pension claimants and attor- neys as to the status of certain cases. It has also been decided not tO furnish the claimant or attorney information a second time as to the status of a case. ‘he cir- cular issued today provides for a syste- matic manner of giving the information without occupying much time or making it necessary to trace the particular case in- quired after into every division where it is required to be considered. It is claimed that the new crder will result in largely expediting the adjudication of pension claims, as the commissioner can be readily informed as to the progress of the work in the different divistons. setae osteo see Naval Order: Surgeon F. Rogers has been ordered to the Waash, relieving Passed Assistant Surgeon 2. P. Stone, ordered to the Bos- ton Naval Hospital. Passed Assistant Surgeon C. Biddle detached from the Phila- delphia merine rendezvous and placed on waiting orders. ee ee Adams Escapes Death. Mr. Gray, United States minister to Mexi- co, has informed the State Department that President Diaz has commuted to twenty years’ imprisonment the death sentence of Edward T. Adams of Texas, who was convicted about two years ago cf killing a waiter in a restaurant in the City of Mexico, MR. ROOSEVELT He Talks Vigorously on Civil Ser- vice Reform. NO REAL ARGUMENT AGAINST I? Attacks Are Frothy Declamation . or Deliberate Untruth. THE LAW OPERATES WELL Civil Service Commissioner Roosevelt has returned to Washington. He is particular- ly amiable over the result of the election in New York and elsewhere, his conclu- sions regarding it being concentrated in the sirgle word “tremendous.” A Star re- porter called upon him this morning to find out what he had to say about the re- currence at this time of the spasms which perlodieally afflict the opponents of civil service reform. Never Had to Meet a Renal Argument. “It ts a funny thing that during my six years’ term of service as commissioner,” he said, “1 have never yet had to meet a real argument against civil service reform, ‘the attacks upon it and the defenses of the spoiis system invariably fall under one of two heads—mere frothy declamation or deliberate untruth. Every year a number of Senators, Congressmen, newspaper writ- crs, and, of course, the whole tribe of base Politictans and of dullards with vicious proclivities attack the law, but in not one instance have | ever known them to make an argument that required to be seriously refuted. ‘ake the article in the Washing- ton Post this morning. It is presumably intended to be funny, but it embodies the same old dreary mass of miscellaneous misinformation which the advocate of cor- rupt and dishonest government always makes use of when he attacks civil service reform. ‘Ihe statement, for instance, that we ask copying clerks about the rivers of Asia and the triangulation of its moun- tains, or janitors about Euclid, are such pieces of threadbare mendacity that even Senator Gorman doesn’t employ them now. ‘They are left to the use of the very small- est and also the very basest of the advo- cates of dishonesty in public life. What is Required. We require of a clerk only the knowledge directly fitting him to perform his duties. ‘That is, we find out if he can spell; can write a good hand; knows elementary arithmetic; can copy, and can write an intelligent letter. We ask nothing else, and if he can’t pass our examinations, it is proof positive that he is utterly unfit to be a government clerk. Under the spoils system, on the contrary, the questions asked him were: How great his political inffuence was with the leaders of his fac- tion; what pressure he could bring to bear upon the appointing officer and how much work—often how much dirty work—he had been able to do for his local boss. To the average decent citizen such questions real- ly do seem irrelevant and impractical to ask a candidate for the position of public servant, and the men who advocate re- turning to the spoils system simply advo- cate the reintroduction or retention of foul and unclean methods in public life. The Standing of Opponents. They stand precisely on a par with the men who belittied the revelations made by the Lexow committee in reference to the depravity of New York city politics; they stand precisely on a par with men who applaud yenality in voters and cor- ruption in public office. The difference be- tween bribing a man with $500 and bribing him with an office worth 3500, is about us great as the difference between the say- agery of an Ashantee ard the savagery of a Hottentot. “It is unimportant. The worst lesson we can teach an American citizen is to go into politics for private gain, and every spoils advocate is busily engaged teaching this lesson. Business and Politics. “Now, when it is asked why we draw a distinction between ordinary clerks, letter carriers and the like on the one hand, and members of Congress and cabinet officers on the other, the reason is plain to even the meanest intelligence, that has a right properly to be called an intelligence at ail. ‘The duties of the clerk or the carrier are in no sense political. Our letters are taken charge of, as it happens, by the govern- ment. Our telegrams and the parcels sent us by express are taken charge of by private companies, but the duties of the man delivering them are similar in all three cases. Whether a letter carrier believes in free silver or protection has no more to do with his delivering his lett®rs expeditiously and accurately than the belief of the tele- graph boy or the expressman has to do with his performance of his duties, and there is no more reason why the average citizen should have his letter carrier changed because the country at large has changed its belief on the tariff than there is in changing the boy who brings his tele- grams or the man who delivers his express parcels. “But Congressmen and cabinet officers are elected or appvinted for the very reason that the country wishes them to carry out its belief in matters political. They oughtn’t to have anything to do with the delivery of letters, still less with peddling out the patronage to letter carriers’ places. They're elected, or ought to be, with reference to the very political questions which have nothing to do with the action of the ordi- nary government clerk. The fool who thinks that a $1,000 clerk and a member of the cabinet or a Congressman should have the same qualifications occupies the same intellectual level as the man who could believe that Admiral Walker should have the same physical capacity as the captain of the foretop, or that the infantryman who drilis best and does best at the butts should be made general of the army. It is unlikely that either Grant or Lee, at the time of Appomattox, would have passed as a recruit for the rank and file. Cer- tainly, Von Moltke, at the time of the Franco-Prussian war, would have been unfit to serve as a private soldier in the German army. In other words, the private soldier and. the general-in-chief are chosen for entirely different reasons, and this is just as true of a President ‘and a letter carrier. It is almost as absurd to turn out all letter carriers, clerks and gaugers because one President succeeds another, as it would have been to dismiss the entire rank and file of the Army of the Potomac when Meade succeeded Hooker. The Law is Working Wel “Actual experience,” sald Mr. Koosevelt in conclusion, “shows how well the law is working; how infinitely hetter than the old system. Take the railway mail service. The bulk of the people now serving under President Cleveland are the same that served under President Harrison, and every business man knows that they are giving exactly as cood service now as they did then. Indeed, the railway mail service now stands at a higher point of efficiency than ever before, simply and solely he- cause it is under the protection of the civil service law. But though the improvement of the service under the law. has been great, the chief point is the {improvement of public life. Under the spoils system the offices form a vast bribery chest with which to debauch public life. There has been no cause so fruitful of degradation to American politics. Every believer in manliness and honesty in politics; every believer in fearless and upright American citizenship, must of necessity be an op- Fonent of the spoils system, and on the other hand, every champion of the spolis system is the champion of all that is foul and base in our public, and is of necessity driven to defend his position by every species of slander and falsification,” OUR MERCHANT MARINE Facts From the Commissioner of Naviga- tion’s Annual Report. Vessels Built and Documented During the Last Fiseal Year and Their Trade Distribution, Mr. Chamberlain, commissioner of navi- gation, submitted a synopsis of his annual report to Secretary Carlisle today. It shows that on the 30th of June last the documented merchant marine of the United States comprised 23,586 vessels of 4,684,029 gross tons, distributed geographically as folloy Atlantic and gulf coast, 17,468 ves- sels, 2,712,044 gross tons; Pacttic coast, 1,520 vessels, 450,359 gross tons; northern lakes, 3,341 vessels, 1,227,401 gross tons; western rivers, 1,257 vessels, 287,325 gross tons. Cod and mackeral fisheries employ 1,606 ves- sels, 71,578 tons, of which 32,498 tons are documented at Gloucester, Mass. Vessels built and documented during the year numbered 8388, of 131,195 gross tons, a decrease of 118 vessels and 80,000 gross tons.compared with the year ended June iv, 1s¥g. Incomplete construction (St. Loui and St. Paul) at Philadelphia has absorbed much labor and capital during the year which will not be noted officially in con- struction until the vessels are finished. Every shipbuilding country shows a de- crease in construction last year, that of Great Britain amounting to 20 per cent. For Foreign Trade. Our vessels registered for foreign trade number 1,350, of 916,180 gross tons, includ- ing 71 whalers, 16,482 tons, while those documented for domestic trade number 22,- 286, of 4,747,800 gross tons. One thousand one hundred and eighty-four canal boats, 126,219 tous, and 1,417 barges, of 397,823 tons, are ducumented, Inciuded in the me! chant feet are S11 iron or steel steam ves- seis, of 519,55 TOSS Long, and 9,110 wooden steam vesseis,or 1,411,007 gross tons. Twenty Saiung Vesseis, of 2Z,vdd Cons, are of iron or steel. Since 1884 the number of our vessels has decreased 504, while the gross tonnage has imcreased 413,000 tons. I'he average size of vesseis has increased from 177 tous in 1884 to 195 tons in 184. Five ships and 128 steamers are over 2,000 tons each. In 184 our stean. tonnage, 5,401 vessels, of 1,405,909 gross tons, was one-third of our merchant marine, while in 1894 it com- prises 6,526 vessels of 2,180,430 gross tous, or nearly one-half of the total. Consider- ing the greater efficiency of steam tonnage, the carrying power of our fleet, reckoned at 8,000,000 gross tons for 1884, may be put at 10,000,000. gross tons for 1804. In 1384 our iron and steel tonnage was less than 9 per cent of the total; in 1894 it is 20 per cent. In 1884 the gteel tonnage in our fleet was only 5,000 tong; in 18¥4 it is 350,- (0 tons. Steel marine construction in 1sS4 was carried on at only four points in the United States, while last year six- teen ports return such sconstruction. During the decade wooden sailing vessels have decreased 230,090 tous in Maine, and 100,000 tons each tm Massachusetts and New York, while Cajifornia and Michigan show a gain of 50,0W0\toms each. On the Great Lakes. The growth of the merchant marine of the Great Lakes 1s, thé feature of our mari- time development, the total tonnage of lake ports having Increased 500,000 tons during the decade, ormearly doubled. Iron and steel steam tonnage on the lakes has increased from 27,000 tons in 1885 to 260,- vou tons in 18¥4. The iron and steel steam tonnage of New York state has increased from 145,000 tons in 1884 to 325,000 tons in IMM. The total tognage of the Pacitic pecs eo increased 83 per cent during the Vessels registered for foreign trade num- ber 1,35), of ¥16,180 gross tons, sampened with , Of 1,804,221 gross tons in 1884, the decrease in sailing vessels being 835, of 400,944 tons, increase of steam vessels’ 58, of S108 gross tons. Of the increase ‘ 40,- 000 tons is due to the admission of foreign- built vessels, the New York and Paris constituting 21,000 of this amount. In the decade, in Maine, which imposes the high- est taxes on shipping noted in any state or country, tonnage registered for foretyn trade has’ decreased two-thirds (223,00 tons), Massachusetts’ three-fifths (120,000 tons), Pennsylvania’s over one-third (28,- v0 tons), New York’s one-seventh (60,000 tons), California's has increased about one- sixth (24,000 tons), and Washington's more than doubled (36,000 tons.) Iron and steel steamships registered for foreign trade number 108, of 228,575 gross tons, but of these only six last year crossed the Atlantic and seven the Pacific to Asia or Australla. Of the total, 52, of 155,602 gross tons, are registered at New York, which imposes no taxes on shipping in fcreign trade, and 16, of 36,630 tons, at San Francisco. Philadelphia registers for for- eign trade 8 iron steamships of 8,482 tons, Boston 3 of 2,026 tons, New Orleans 16 of 86,630 tons, ‘Tampa 2 of 3,385 tons, Seattle and Tacoma 4 of 2,875 gross tons. States with the greatest tonnage of all descriptions are New York, 1,333,065 gross tons; Michigan, 436,317; Massachusetts, 366,881; Maine, $27,653; Ohio, 827,580; Call: fornia, 415,516; Pennsylvania, 802,615; Maryland, 145,128, Twelve Greatest Customs Districts. The twelve customs districts with the largest tonnage of all descriptions are New York, 1,057,788 gross tons; San Francisco, 307,226; Cuyahoga (Cleveland, 0.), 234,734; Philadelphia, 221,648; Boston, 214,016; Buf- falo, N. ¥., 177,02; Huron, Mich., 171,629; Detroit, 161,446; Bath, Me., 124,619; Balti- more, 122,872; St. Louis, 122,746; Milwaukee, 93,767. Of a steam. tonnage of 2,180,430 gross tons of ail descriptions, 482,294 tons are docu- mented at New York, is3,224 at Cuyahoga (Cleveland), 128,839 at Buffalo, 128,386 at San Francisco and 120,817 at Detroit. Docu- mented yachts number 1,054 of 39,216 gross tons. It is estimated that to man all our vessels registered for foreign. trade would require about 22,000 men, and that last year the number actually ‘et ed in our foreign trade was abont 12, ‘The shipments be- fore U. S. shipping commissioners numbered 71,500. That number, covering in mauy instances repeated shipments of the same men on different voyages during the ycar, 1s estimated to represent about 18,000 men. Classed by nativity the shipments were 22,143 Americans, 21,966 Scandinavians, 10,346 Rritieh, 6,247 Germans, 626 French, 865 Italians and 9,042 of other nationalitie: The shipments at New York numbered 15,- 002, San Francisco, 14315; Philadelphia, 8,851; Boston, 7,756. The United States con- sul at Southampton reports 8,535 shipments at that port, 7,767 of these being British for (he New York and Paris. The complete report of the bureau will be issued in a fortnight. a The Marblehend Ordered Home. The cruiser Marblehead, which is now at Cartagena, after several months’ serv- ice along the Mosquito coast of Nicaragua, has been order@d home and will reach New York in a few weeks. Her consort, the Columbia, was at Kingston, Jamaica, at last accounts. She will also be re- Heved shortly of duty in the West Indies. See oe “RP SS Going to China. The gunboat Machlas left New York this morning on her long cruise to China by -way of the Mediterranean and the Suez canal. She will make her first stop at Gibraltar. Her arrival on the Chinese sta- tion will swell the American naval fleet in those waters to seven vessels, viz: ‘The Baltimore, Charleston, Concord, Petrel, Detroit, Machias and Monocacy. All but the last named are modern ships of war. RAILROAD INTRUSION The Court of Appeals Suggests Il- legal Occupancy of an Avenue. JUSTICE MORRIS POINTS OUT.A REMEDY How the Baltimore and Potomac Company Has Trespassed. PUBLIC RIGHTS IGNORED For more than twenty years the Balti- more and Potomac Railroad Company, really the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, has occupied many of the streets of the city in South Washington to th2 exclusion of the rights of not only the citizens of the city, but also to the exclusion of the rights of the District government. Origi- nally given but the right to enter the city and to use but certain portions of the streets and avenues on which the tracks of the company were laid, that right has yearly been encroached upon and enlarged until now there seems to be no one bold enough to dispute the claims of the com- pany to take possession of and use for its exclusive benefit any and all portions of the streets and avenues of the city which the company desires. Year by year the people of Washington, especially those living or doing business in South Washington, have protested in Con- gress, in the courts and before the District Commissioners against such usurpatiom on the part of the 1ailroad company, but their protests have beer in vain, end the people had about concluied that the crushing to death end cutting to pieces of citizens, the confiscation of streets and parks and the destruction of business not in the interests of the company would go on until the com- pany itself tired, or there were no more ruin to complete. At last, however, there is born a hope that the day will soon come when all this will be changed, a day when this corpora- tion will be taught that the majesty of the law is even greater than over-riding might, and that there are rights of the people and the government of the District of Columbia which it must and shall respect and obey. True it is that this hope springs from merely an intimation of a court of law, but the intimation seems so full of promise that the people of the District may well congratulate themselves and found therein a belief that in a proper case at a proper time the company's hitherto unchecked march of destruction will be at an end. The intimation above referred to was given by Mr. Justice Morris, in an opin- jon written by him in the case of J. Har- rison Johnson against the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Company, filed in the Court of Appeals after the adjournment of the court yesterday afternoon. Says the justice: “The question of the right of the railroad company to occupy Maryland avenue and the public space between 6th and 9th streets in the manner in which it is here shown to occupy it, is one that is open to grave doubt. It is a question that should be settied in some appropriate proceeding instituted’ for the purpose.” Justice Morris explains that in the suit in question such a case was not presented as warranted the court in undertaking to then settle the question, and, conse- quently, the court desires it understood that it expresses no opinion upon it. The Basis of the Intimation. The case decided by the Court of Appeals in the opinion written by Mr. Justice Mor- ris. was a suit in equity instituted by Mr. Johnson to enjoin the railroad company from the maintenance and use of certain railroad tracks and switches on Maryland avenue, adjacent to Mr. Johnson's resi- dence, at the corner of 8th and C streets southwest. He had erected other dwellings immediately adjoining, fronting on open space caused by the intersection of Mary- land and Virginia avenues. This space or reservation had been partly improved by the United States, and Mr. Johnson claim- ed that it would have been wholly improv- ed if it had not been for the encroachment upon it and its usurpation by the railroad company, without warrant of law, alleged Mr. Johnson, In expectation of the space eventually being wholly improved, Mr. Johnson says he was induced to build, in 1878, at a cost of $11,000. The burden of Mr. Johnson's grievance, explains Mr. Justice Morris, “is three-fold. 1. That the railroad company has no war- rant of law to enter the open space desig- nated as reservation No. 101, or to occupy it In any manner or for any purpose. 2. That, even if it has the right to occupy the space it has no right to do so with more than two tracks. 3. That it has no warrant of law for the use of the track on Maryland avenue between 6th and 9th streets, and especially for the use of steam power thereon. And the special damage which he assigns as accruing to himself from this alleged unlawful obstruction of the public highway and the public prop- erty by the appellate (the railroad com- pgny) 1s also of a three-fold charactor. 1. Occasional detention in his attempts to cross the highway. 2. The annoyance oc- casioned by the sound and noise emanating from the passing trains, and which are al- leged to disturb himself and family, and 3. The dust, smoke, cinders, soot and disa- greeable odors that are carried from the passing engines into his residence, to the injury of his residence, furniture and household effects.” The Plaintiff Asked for an Injunction. Mr. Johnson therefore prayed the Equity Court, by injunction, to restrain the rail- road company from the unlawful occupa- tion of the reservation and of Maryland avenue, and for the abatement of the tracks and switches thereon as a nuisance. ‘The company denied there is any such reservation as No. 101, and averred that its occupation of the streets, avenues and the cpen space in question was in accord- ance with its rights under its charter and subsequent legislative enactments. It de- nied that there was 6ny unnecessary noise, dust, smoke, etc., end claimed to use the tracks on Maryland avenue under an ar- rangement with the Alexandria and Wash- ington Railroad. Company. In voicing the opinion of the Court of Appeals, the Equity Court having decided against Mr. Johnson, Mr. Justice Morris explains that the burden of the complaint is the alleged unlawful occupation by the railroad company of the open space and of Maryland avenue. There can be no question, says Mr. Jus- tice Morris, of the power of a court of equity to restrain the commission of nui- sances even by a railroad company under a pretense of service to the public, and he goes on to say that !f the occupancy by the company “was in plain and palpable violation of law, or if its conduct of its operations, lawful or unlawful, was such as to constitute a plain and palpabie nui- sance, demanling urgent action to save the appellant (Mr. Johnson) from irremedi- able injucy, a writ of injunction would be an eminently proper remedy, no matter how great the resulting inconvenience might be, either to the appellee (the com- pany) or even to the public.” The Remedy Suggested. Quoting a decision of the United States Supreme Court, and suggesting a suit at law for damages, Mr. Justice Morris says: “When the right or title to the place in controversy, or to do the act complained of, is, as here, doubtful, and especially denied in the answer, no permanent or perpetual injunction will usually be granted until such trial at law is had, settling the con- tested rights and interests of the nartiaa”” Other authorities to the same effect are also quoted. In concluding the opinion of the Court of Po cians which sustains the court below (the Equity Court), Mr. Justice Morris : “In view of these authorities, we e unable to find in the record of any such showing by the complainant (Mr. Johnson) as would entitle him to the extraordinary remedy of injunction. Undoubtedly he has suffered annoyance from the operations of the railroad company, for which he should be compensated in damages. And, if the railroad company has occupied the public space and the public thoroughfare with- out warrant of law, it has committed a nuisance, which should be abated. “But it is, in the first instance, a public nuisance, to be abated by the public au- thorities. 1f the complainant has suffered special injury therefrom, and has therefore become entitled to his action for damages, he has neither alleged nor proved a case of irreparable injury, or one for which the remedy by way of injunction should be interposed. His case certainly does not seem to be one of urgency, when we con- sider that he waited for several years be- fore he instituted his suit, and that after he instituted it he permitted it to slumber for upward for a year before he attempted to take any testimony, and for nearly an- other year before there was any testimony taken for the defendant” (the railroad company.) —— Captured a General. A medal of honor has been awarded to E. W. Anderson, late sergeant company N, fifteenth Pennsylvania volunteers, for most distinguished gallantry in action at Crosby creek, Tenn., January 14, 1864, in captur- ing, singlehanded, a brigadier general. INDIANS IN MONTANA Reports From the Various Agents Show They Are Progressive. Army Officers at These Agencies Not Afratd to Do Thar Duty, Ev If Complaints Are Made. Montana Indians are not among those termed half-civilized even, yet the reports of the various agents in that state to the commissioner of Indian affairs show that they are making progress. It also appears that the army officers at these agencies are not afraid to do their duty, no matter what complaints are made. The agricul- tural pursuits of these Indians depend largely upon trrigation. The government has recognized this, and money is now be- ing expended for irrigation ditches, from which good results are expected. Mean- while stock raising is the main pursuit of the Indians who do anything for them- selves. It also appears that considerable attention is paid to education, and the Montana Indian children are profiting by it. On most reservations it is reported that whisky is sold, causing most of the trouble. Capt. L. W. Cook, third infantry, in charge of the Blackfoot agency, has taken vigorous measures to suppress the trafic and broke up a small village to do it, and says no liquor hes been sold at this agency since October, 18%. He sums up the results in the following: “Robare abandoned; post office discontinued; store and -saloons closed, and the proprietors of the latter sent to the penitentiary. The squaw men referred to, not being provided, through ‘the issuance of rations to their wives, with the necessities of life, have had to move away and engage in indus- trial pursuits. The benefit to the Indians as well as to the squaw men is more readily imagined than described. Thus have I added recruits to the ranks of those who cial army officers are arbitrary and cruel.” He bas also made trouble for squaw men, informing them that they must live like civilized people and get off the reservation. None of the agents speak highly of the morality of the Indiors, and, in fact, this seems to he one of the most serious ques- tions of the Indian problem, though but little spoken of in the gereral Indian litera- = it. J. W. Watson, tenth cavalry, in of the Crow agency, speaks in high terms of the general advancement of the Indians under his care, and shows that whisky selling has decreased while he has = erap g agent. joseph T. Carter, agent of the Fiatheads, commends the missionary and educational ork done by the Catholi Indlans under his care, Te aneaee . J. M. Kelley, tenth cavalry, Fort Belknap, has recently Been in Wash: ington with a delegaticn of head men of the tribes of this agency,and reported good progress among them. The Indians told Commissioner Browning that Maj. Kelley was the best agent they ever had, and they did not want him changed. Capt. H.W, Sprole, eighth cavalry, in charge at Fort Peck, says that his Indians have been disturbed by roving bands from North Dakota, and from across the Cana- dian border. Some of those from Canada claimed they were Sioux, and had been there since the great Sioux massacre of Capt. Geo. W. H. Stouch, third infantry, does not present as favorable a report of the Tongue river agency as the others, ———_-e.____ EXTENDING THE CLASSIFICATION. Additional Post Office Employes Pro- tected by the Civil Service Law. The President hax amended the civil ser- view rules as follows Departmental rule 7 ix hereby amended ty adding to the first paragraph of sec- tion 1 (providing for the filling of vacancies in the classified departmental service other- wise than by promotion and transfer), the following proviso: “Provided further, that sea post clerks 1u the Post Office Depart- ment shall be appointed by transfer from the classified railway mail service or the classified postal service, and shall be elig- fblo at any time for re-transter ‘to igs service from which transferred, but shall not be transferred to any cther department or branch of the service, nor to any other place in the Post Office Department with. out examination and certification by the commission.” Railway mail rule 2. is amended by striking out clauses E and F in section 5. (The effect is to do away with the examinations in letter writing and geo- graphy of the United States, and especially of the state or railway mail division in Which the applicant recides, in the case of ‘or admission to thi eo mail service.) Gop ailway mail rule IV ts amend last proviso of clause B, section 4 th tines of that provision, after the word “line; by inserting the words, “or at @ transfer station or on a steamboat,” and in the same line strike out the words “on whic substitute therefor the word “where, in line thirty-three, after the word road,” insert the words “or steamboat,” 80 that as amended the proviso will read: “Provided further, That on a line, or at u transfer station, or on a steamboat, where the service does not require the full time of a clerk and one can be employed jointly with the railroad or steamboat company, the appointment may be made without ex. amisfation and certification, with the con- sent of the commisston, upon a statement of the facts by the general superintendent; but no clerk so appointed shall be eligible for transfer or appolntment to any other place in the service.” ‘The effect of this amendment ts to include clerks on steamboat routes employed joint- ly by the steamboat companies and the government, with railway mail clerks un- der like conditions of pay, who may be ap- pointed without examination, These amend- ments were made at the instance of the Postmaster General. The President has not yet acted on the proposition to extend the operations of the civil service rules ‘o | chiefs of divisions and the internal revenue sarvie~ + THE SPEED TEST Naval Officers Opposed to Admiral Meade's Proposition. Tt WOULD SERVE NO GOOD PURPOSE Beside, There Would Be the Lia- bility to Accident. AN EXPENSIVE LUXURY Officials of the Navy Department take a far from favorable view of the proposition attributed to Admiral Meade, commanding the North Atlantic squadron for an ocean race between the twin screw cruiser Co- lumbia or Minneapolis, and the ocean greyhounds, Majestic or Teutonic. In the absence of Secretary Herbert it is Impos- sible to obtain an official statement as to the possibilities of speed contest of the character indicated, but it is manifestly certain that if he is influenced by his as- sistants in the department, naval officers and others, he will sit down hard and em- phatically on the proposition. Not an Admirer of the Cruiscr. Admira! Meade is not a special admirer of the cruiser type of naval vessels. He is of opinion that the money expended on them could be used to much better advan- tage in the construction of battleships. In a paper recently read by him before the Institute of Naval Architects he as- sumed that position and was severe in his criticisms of the cruiser class of ships, even going 80 far as to assert that they were practically incapable of doing what they were designed for, that is, capture or escape from an enemy, as the emergency required. It was in this connection that he asse: that the swift cruisers of the navy coul not catch any of the swift transatlantio merchant steamships, On the subject of @ race to test this point he is quoted as fol- ws: of “We need more active practice in the navy. We ought to have such speed con- tests as I suggest once in a while. My idea —and unless there is objection from Wash- ington I shall carry it out—is to He off quarantine some time with the Columbia or Minneapolis and wait for the Majestic or Teutonic to come out, and start out with her. Let her know that we will test her metal. Go with her to the bar, and then we ought to cross the bar close under her lee and race with her clear to the banks. if the cruiser is the best boat, and can get far enough ahead, we could cross her bow and maneuver, just as we might be called on to do some day in real service. We ought to know exactly what our boats in the navy could do. Put one of them in the best pos- sible condition and go out with the regular force and with the coal that is always used and see what is in them. And,” added the rear admiral, “the rear admiral should be on board to take the responsibility for tl trip and to see that steam was kept up. Naval Officers Against the Test. The consensus of opinion among naval officers on duty at the department is decidedly averse to the test imposed by Admiral Meade. The main objection was on the ground of expense. It ts esti- mated that the Columbia in crossing the Atlantic and back, at her maximum speed, would consume about 6,000 tons of coal, costing about $80,000, and would then have to undergo the expense of a thorough overhauling. There- would necessarily be &@ great strain on her boilers and machin- ery, with the always present possibility of an accident. Another strong objection to the race is that it would serve no special purpose. As one prominent officer express- ed it: “The Columbia has been thoroughly tested and her powers are well known without resorting to the questionable and expensive test of running her across the Atlantic at full speed merely to gratify ® whim, to say nothing of the great danger that might result to the merchant ship mith her precious cargo of passengers. The merchantman would undoubtedly do his best to beat the warship, and if push- = a add more steam than was pru- len “In case of an accident to either ship the consequences would be dreadful, and even should no accidents occur, what would be proved? Why, merely that one ship was faster than another in @ long race under certain conditions. The Majestic might beat the Columbia across the Atlantic, but ree Pbctegee oe prove Lg the Columbig get near eno’ roy different conditions.” 2 bare mae An Expensive Luxury. “Such a race would be @ most expensive luxury,” remarked a naval bureau chief, “and would be utterly devoid of any prace tical results, except to shorten the life of the warship. Our vessels are not made for speed alone, and are too expensive to be used for profitless monts. They make their crutees under most cconom. ical circumstances, and are never pushed to their highest speed, except in emergen- cles. We know their capabilities. “Why, then, should we go to a great ex- pense to demonstrate what has been prov- ed already. Experience with several our new ships has shown that they did Gevelop their highest speed on their trips. This is eepecially the case with t Bennington, which has shown inc - speed. The expense, the wear and tear boilers and machinery, to say nothing the dangers cutailed by such a test as the one proposed by Admiral Meade, are alto- sine out of proportion to the simple satig- faction that would be derived by the knowl- edge that the Majestic could beat the Cor lumbia In a trip across the ecean. We have trouble enough as it is to get money from Congress for coal and other necessary naval supplies, without plunging into an entirely unnecessary expense like the one suggested by Admiral Meade, and appare ently receiving the serious consideration of the press.” TO HELP GERMANY. Denmark Excludes American Beet an@ Meats. Count Reventlow, the Danish minister, first heard of Denmark's action tn exclud- ing American beef and meats through an Associated Press cable from Copenhagen, The count expressed surprise, as no action in that line had heretofore been contem- plated. He said the action was probably due to a request from Germany, as received at Danish ports frequently woul find its way into Germany, and thus. overe come the German restriction. Count Reventlow savs Denmark uses very littl American beef or meat products. He hai never heard that any of the American product in Denmark was affected with Texas fever. Under these circumstances he feels that the action of Denmark is not so much aimed against the United States as It is to make Denmark’s neighbor, Ger- many, effective in her exclusion, The min- ister bas not yet received eny official ad- vices cn the subject. —_—>—_—_ Dinmond Cutters Coming Here. A report from the commissioners of im= migration at New York states that twentye six diamond polishers had arrived there from Amsterdam. After examination they were permitted to land. The statement ip also made that of the 10,000 diamond cut- ters in Holland, fully 5,000 are out of em- ployment, and that many of them are com- ing to the United States, the inference be- ing that the diamond-cutting industry ts largely being trausferred from Amsterdam to New York and Chicago,