Evening Star Newspaper, April 9, 1895, Page 1

THE G STAR. ——_>-—__—_ PUBLISHED pany EBXCE| SUNDAY Panga & oe. 1th \venne, Street, by The Oompany, 8, H. KAUFFMANN Pree't. Newspaper Now York Office, 49 Potter Building, iy by guise te cents ith. subscribers fn the month. nF ee, Song By ae amet is mont Wideturday Qu jo Sheet Star, $1 per year, with ice at Washington, D. C., ‘All mail subscriptions must be paid in advance. | kta ‘eave made known on application. Che Zvening Star. No. 13,134. WASHINGTON, D.C., TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 1895-TWELVE PAGES. TWO CENTS. SPURIOUS POSTAGE | PRINTERS AND CIVIL SERVICE |THE LAW'S STATUS Discovery in Chicago of What Seems to Be a Big Plot. MANY BOGUS TWO-CENT. STAMPS The Post Office Authorities Hot After the Rogues. WITTLE KNOWN HERE OF IT ed CHICAGO,II1.,April 9.—The Tribune says: United States secret service operatives tm Chicago and Washington have unearthed probably the most unique and at the same time important swindle ever perpetrated upon any government. Its magnitude, after two days’ investigation, can only be guessed at, but it is believed thousands upon thousands of dollars have been se- cured by a gang of skilled counterfeiters, who have reproduced with wonderful skill and dccuracy the pink two-cent stamp of ommerce. . Whether the counterfeiters have accom- Plices in dishonest _postmasters is not known. It is thought the country is flooded from New York to San Francisco ‘with these spurious stamps, and the United States has been carrying millions of letters from which not one cent of revenue was re- celved. ‘The Gang in Chicago. Chicago apparently has been the head- quarters of the gang, and its product has been shipped to distributing agents through the express companies. Just exactly how the information reeched the government officials is not known, but they evidently got a straight tip, for last evening Capt. Stuart of the postal inspection department . and Capt. Porter of the United States secret service bureau called at the Wells, Fargo office. They were taken to the store room and there fcund an oblong package, looking like a big roll of music. It contained 10,000 of the counterfeit stamps. It was impos- sible to get Inspector Stuart or Capt. Por- ter to say a single word regarding the case. No one in the pont office knew anything about the case. It was said in Washington that while the gang has had its headquar- ters in Chicago, it has operated extensively in St. Louis, Cincinnati, Buffalo, -and as far west as San Francisco. Local View of It. Col. Wheeler, chief of inspectors for the Post Office Department, had full advices this morning from the alleged discovery of @ vast scheme of counterfeiting the pink Postage stamps. Inspector Stuart sent from Chicago a three-page dispatch in regard to just what had been found there, and giving the facts substantially as in the press dis- patches. Col. Wheeler would, of course, say nothing in regard to the affair while * it is a matter of business before the de- partment. Third Assistant Postmaster General Kraige talked freely in regard to the mat- ter. He thought the story was very much exaggerated, and that there was very little chance of a successful counterfeit of the two-cent stamp either being made or dis- posed of when made. There have been several such counterfeits, he said, and they had been found in the mails and sent in to the department. They were in every case clumsy imitations, which would easily be detected. Assistant Postmaster Sherwood says no counterfeit stamps have been found tn the mails going through the Washington office in several years. The fellows who operate in that way always work in the large com- mercial cities, where there is demgnd for large quantities of stamps for sending cir- culars, catalogues and advertising papers. Washington has almost no demand for stamps for this purpose. Counterfeits Found at Buffalo. Chief Hazen of the secret service division of the treasury received a telegram today from one of his agents at Chicago stating that he had seized $700 worth of counter- feit 2-cent postage stamps. They had been shipped from Buffalo, and were discovered in_the Wells, Fargo Express Company's office. The officials have been on the alert for something of this kind since last Janu- ary, when they learned of a man making inquiry, under suspicious circumstances, as to the process of printing stamps. The ® officials of the secret sgrvice are work- ing on the case in connection with the post office inspection force. eee ene SMALLPOX IN MARYLAND. What the Health Authoritics Say Abont Its Alleged Origin Here. According to a report received in Balti- more yesterday, there is considerable ex- citement prevailing jn the vicinity of New- berg, Charles county, Md., because of a dozen cases of smallpox there. It is re- Ported that a woman from this city went there a few weeks ago, when she was re- covering from an eruptive disease, and nursed a man named Wheeler. Soon after she reached there several members of the Wheeler family were taken sick with what was at first supposed to be chickenpox. Members of the Digges family, in the same neighborhood, visited the Wheelers, and seven of them are also sick. The state health officer has pronounced the disease smallpox. At the hea'th office in this city nothing 1s known of the cases in the two colored families at Newberg, but Health Officer Woodward has communicated with the proper authorities to ascertain the facts Telative to these cases. There was a colored woman named Digges quarantined here several weeks ago because of a case of smallpox in her house. The patient was Mary Morton, whom Sarah Digges escorted to her home near Catlett's station, Virginia, where she % died. When Sarah Digges returned she " was quarantined, and the officials here think it possible that she belongs in Charles and that possibly her relatives got se from her. only a few patients left in the hospital now. They are members rker family and the colored girl, Bettie Rich, whom the doctors say has not got the smalipox. Although she has not got the disease, she has been confined in the hospital about six weeks. Next week all the patients will be dis- charged from the hospital unless some of them get worse aj Today's Ca It 1s a fair inference that the President 4 ard his cabinet, at their meeting today, de- voted more or less consideration to the of the decision of the Su- t on the income tax law upon ial prospects of the government. members were present, and the until 2 o'clock. Although ted, {t fs understood that still of opinion that there n to apprehend a situation that ate the convening of Congress on to provide measures for an increase of revenue. oe Secretary Grexham's Return. Secretary Gresham returned to this city ~ qariy this morning from a brief visit to ort Monroe. He ts very much improved in jealth, and may repeat the holiday at the ‘st favorable opportunity. Talk About Including Them in the Olassi- fied List, What Mr. Benedict Says—A Merit Sys- tem Already in Force in th Government Office. It has been for a long time apparent that a definite effort would be made in the in- terval before Congress should assemble to put a considerable number of the em- ployes in the government printing office under the civil service rule. The special encouragement for this movement is the fact that President Cleveland has several times expressed himself in favor of such action, and it Is believed that whenever the Typographical Union and the friends of civil_ service reform agree on a program the thing will be done. But the initiatory steps come, it is said, from the civil serv- ice commission, ard thus far the Typo- graphical Union has not assented, and is not likely to assent, to the action proposed. The union now maintains in the govern- ment printing office a system which the members of the union claim is essentially as effective as any examination which the commission could make of candidates for Positions in the office. By this system an applicant must be a union printer, holding his union card, showing he has worked four years at his trade, and when admit- ted he is given a place only on probation. A standing committee of printers in his “chapel,” after a suitable time, usually a month or six weeks, makes a formal re- port on him to the foreman of the room, and the man goes or stays, according to that report. This is what the union calls its civil service, and it is claimed by mem- bers of the union that this method se- cures the best skied labor available and keeps out objectionable workmen. Printers Satisfied. This is all the civil service a large num- ber of the printers want. The union has been opposed to putting the office under the civil service rules. It was today rumored that s¢veral “chapels” in the printing of- fice had declared in favor. of the proposi- tion, and would petition that the action de- sired by civil sesvice advocates be taken. This report, however, lacks confirmation, to say nothing of the probabilities in the sit- uation. Secretary Padgett of Columbia Typographical Union said when the matter was mentioned to him that he knew noth- ing of it. “I am very sure,” said he, “there has been no chapel action upon that prop- osition. Of course, there is talk all the while about putting the government print- ing office under civil service rules. But so far it is only talk. We know that the prop- osition will come to be seriously considered, just a3 we believe that civil service has its friends and is extending itself slowly and surely throughout the many and various parts of the public service. But it is not here yet, so far as the government printing office is concerned.” What Mr. Benedict Says. Public Printer Benedict said the matter was all news to him. “In effect, we have civil service here,” said Mr. Benedict. “We keep the best skilled labor and dispense with that which ts unfitted for our work. The policy during the two terms that I have been here has been to keep only com- petent workmen, and now we are trying to have here only as many as can earn in six days of full labor the wages provided for them by statute. When I went out of this office in 1889 I left 2,132 employes on the rolls and at work here. When I came back I found 3,562, or 1,430 more than were here in 1889. Nearly all were people who were working by the piece three or four days a week. Well, any one can see that such a state of things was squarely against the efficiency of the office. Such half hands cannot be as efficient as whole-week hands. We had no right to ask competent men to share their loaf with these extra people. The force had to be reduced, and it was done practically on examinations. As a matter of fact, we are having examinations continually. Everything a man does here is practically done in competition with others. A Competitive Examination. “For instance, we give out to 200 com- pos’tors 200 equal ‘takes’ of copy. In five or ten minutes 150 of those men will dump their ‘sticks’ on the ‘galleys,’ and 50 of them will be behind. In a minute or two the others come in with theirs. We know the 50 who keep the 1%) waiting. We know the 40 that keep 160 waiting. We know the 30 that keep 170 waiting. We know the 20 that keep the 180 waiting. We know the 10 that keep the 19) waiting. When the force is to be reduced we know just who must go first. In that way the best em- ployes are kept. And let me say that this office has never had better skilled labor than it has now. The use of the type- setting machines has displaced men that heretofore would never have thought of coming here. “The idea of putting the office under the rules fs new to me,” continued Mr. Bene- dict. “I don’t think the Typographical Union has taken any action on it. If it has I don't know it. There are considera- tions that do not commend the proposition to printers already here. Appointments by Quota. “If the office were under the civil service rules, appointments would be apportioned to the states, which would certainly change the prospect for printers living here. “If the idea is to relieve the office from pressure, that is another matter, but I do not consider it a sufficient ground for the change. In all the removals I have made here I have never had a Senator or mem- ber insist on my keeping an employe who was objected to on the ground of unfitness. I doubt if the civil service rules would save us at all in that regard. “Of course, the igea has been,and will be, talked of, and it may be done some time. Yet, as I said, there is not the demand for it that there may seem to be.”” —_—_— --e+—______ MAJ. POWELL DENIES IT. He Declares the “Financial Review” Has Misrepresented Facts. Engineer Commissioner Powell is indig- nant at the article which appeared in the Financial Review concerning alleged se- cretive methods and favoritism in connec- tion with the preparation of the map for the extension of streets. He said today to a Star reporter: “The article which appeared in the Finan- cial Review regarding the extension of streets is recklessly false in every particu- lar. I speak from a thorough knowledge of the facts ani cannot comprehend what instigated such a misrepresentation of the facts. Since this matter was first consid- ered the ,engineer department has at all times and under all circumstances given the public the utmost freedom to examine the maps. “Tt is unqualifiedly false to say the invita- tions have been sent to a favored few to examine the maps. The poorest widow has been given the same consideration that the wealthiest landowner received. That pub- lication was a misrepresentation through- out, and it made me so mad that I wanted to get away from here. No, I cannot give you a copy of the maps that have been completed to publish in The Star. A map has been hanging up In the board room for months, and every one has a perfect right to examine it and make suggestions. Isn’t that publicity enough?” See Ocean Stenmships Arrived. LIVERPOOL, April ¢.—Arrived, steamer Norseman, Boston. BOULOGNE, April 0—Arrived, steamer New York for Rotterdam. N. 8. Aprii ®.— Arrived, rien, Glasgow. e steamer Effect of the Supreme Court’s De- cision on Income Tax Collections. VIEW OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Opinions Expressed by Lawyers of Ability and Distinction. IN THE POLITICAL ARENA “So far as the lower courts are concern- ed,” sald Attorney General Olney to a Star reporter this morning, “the division of the Supreme Court upon the income tax law is as binding as if the whole court had been unanimous in its favor. I cannot believe that any judge would grant an injunction to prevent a collector from collecting the tax on incomes derived from other sources than rents or state and municipal bonds in the face of the Supreme Court’s action. ‘The only way I can see by which persons who object to paying the tax can secure judicial action is by their paying the tax under protest and entering suit for its re- covery.” A Mistake as to His Views. The Star reporter mentioned the fact that Mr. Olney, in his oral argument before the Supreme Court on the income tax cases, had indicated the possible declaration by that body that the taxing of incomes de- rived from rents and state and municipal bonds was unconstitutional. “It is a mistake fo state that I included the incomes derived trom rents,”’ said Mr. Olney. “I did not believe the law would hold regarding the taxing of state and mu- nicipai bonds, and am glad the decision was against it in that regard, but I did not say anything of the sort about rents. Here is what I had to say on that subject.”” The Attorney General handed the reporter a printed copy of his argument, with the following paragraph marke What He Did Say. “In this connection, therefore, there is but one suggestion I desire to very briefly notice. A part of the income taxable un- der the law is rents of land, and a tax up- on rents is claimed to be a tax upon the land, and so to be a ‘direct’ tax within the meaning of the Constitution. But the sug- gestion is by no means novel, and certainly is not to be accepted as sound. There is a practical commercial sense in which a tax upon rents is always a tax upon land. It affects the value of land; land the income from which is subject to a tax, must sell for less in the market than land the in- come of which is not so subject. But, ex- cept in that view, a tax upon rents is not necessarily a tax upon land, but may be a tax upon a wholly distinct subject matter. Instead of being upon realty it may be up- on so much personalty wholly dissociated from the land. It is, of course, competent for the government to tax upon either plan —to tax rents under a scheme of taxation of personalty as personal property, or to tax them under a scheme of taxation as realty and as representing and measuring the value of real estate. The only question is of the intent—an intent to be looked for and found or ly in the statute imposing the tax. That test being applied, what is the purpose of Congress in the present income tax law? Is it to tax land—rents being used as a ready mode of valuation—or is it to tax rents as so much personal property irrespective of its origin? No Land Tax Aimed At. “It is difficult to see how that question can be answered except in one way. No land tax is aimed at or attempted by the statute—there is no lien on land for its payment—and the whole scope and tenor of the statute show the subject of the con- templated tax to be personal property and nothing else. It is well nigh conclusive on this point that there is no provision for the valuation and taxation of unproductive land—a provision that would almost cer- tainly have been found if the object had been to make a real estate tax. It may be suggested, however, that it may be the pur- pose to tax land, but only such land as yields rent. But there is no sign or symp- tom of such an intent in any specific pro- vision of the statute, while its general pro- visions, as already observed, contemplate nothing but a tax on personal estate. It may also be suggested that if a tax reaches rents in point of fact, it is a tax upon land no matter what the intent of the taxing statute may be. But that position is whol- ly untenable, because rents in'the pocket of the owner are not intrinsically and of themselves land. They are money, like any other. If for the purpose of a tax they are to have any artiiicial character as the rep- resentative of land, it is a character im- pressed upon them from some source and can come from no other source than the taxing statute itself. I submit, therefore, with great confidence, that while a tax upen rents may under some circumstances be held to be in truth and in fact a tax upon land, it cannot be held to be such un- der a statute iike the present which taxes rents without regard to land and merely as one of the constituents of income. “You will see from that that, so far as rents are concerned, I have been mis- quoted,” said Mr. Oiney. “T do not think the law will stand as the law of the land,” he said, in concluding the interview. ‘It is too technical.” Mr. Enoch Totten’s Opinion. Mr. Enoch Totten, when requested to define the exact present status of the income tax law, stated that, with the ex- ception of the paragraphs providing for the taxing of incomes derived from real estate rentals and state and municipal bonds, the law stood precisely as It did before the Supreme Court rendered its de- cision. The judges sitting at the hearing of the case were equally divided. There was nothing, he thought, to prevent the bringing of suits for injunctions by per- sons who believed the law, as a whole,- to be unjust, against the collections proposed to be made under it. Judge Jere Wilson's Views. Mr. Jeremiah M. Wilson, who was one of the counsel for Moore and Schley in their suit to restrain the collection of the income tax, was seen this morning by a Star reporter and requested to give his views on the income tax decision. He ex- cused himself from going into details, be- cause he had not gone thoroughly into the subject, but in response to a question whether the action of the Supreme Court would have the effect of preventing per- sons from seeking injuncttons to prevent internal revenue collectors from demanding tax upon incomes derived from other sources than rents or state or municipal bonds, replied that it would not. here is an equally divided bench upon the question of the constitutionalit the rest of the law,” said Mr. Wilson, therefore it remains virtually undecided. Suits may, therefore, be brought and taken up to the Supreme Court, where, vith a full bench of nine j ices, a final de may be reached. Under the present c tions there is nothing to prevent persons who believe the law is unjust to have re- course to the courts and seek to have col- lections of the tax enjoined.” What Robert Christy Says. “The cold neutrality of the impartial judge’ is illustrated in the position of the Supreme Court upon the constitutionality of the income tax law outside of its pro- visions which have already been decided as wrong,” said Mr. Robert Christy. “The law, with the exception of the paragraphs regarding the taxing of iscomes derived ‘from state and municipal bends and rents, stands in exactly the same ‘condition as it did before last Monday. The other por- tions of it have not been passed upon one way or the other, and suits to test their legality may be brought by any one who cares to do so and wishes to carry the issue up again to the Supreme Court.” Back Into the Political Arena. A public man of prominence, entitled to be heard on any subject of importance, said to a representative of The Star today while discussing the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of the, in- come tax: “In my judgment, the most important thing connected with the decision is that it necessarily throws the whole question back into the political arena. One may de- plore this, but it is nevertheless a fact. The question must be settled there, and will be settled there. But it will not be settled as promptly as some people seem to think. As shrewd and ordinarily as far- seeing a man as Senator Hill expects the next Congress to repeal the law. Well, I'll be bold enough to*tell the Senator that the next Congress will do nothing of the kind. The next Congress will not dare to repeal the income tax on the eve of a pres- idential election. Eastern démocrats would be very glad to see the republicans make that move, but the republican leaders are too well informed about public sentiment to blunder so broadly. The fact is that throughout the entire west the income tax is as much favored by republicans as by democrats, and I know of some avell in- formed eastern men who declare that a fair seunding of sentiment jn their section would disprove the oft-repgated assertion that the east is solidly against the tax. These men are not themselves tn favor of the tax. They rather regret, as I do, the raising of the issue. Be they think it unwise to shut one’s e¥es to the plain facts, no matter how urwelcome. The is- sue has been raised, and the action of the Supreme Court simply adds to its interest, and not until, the people have in some way had an opportunity to pass upon it at the polls will it be satisfactorily disposed of.” “Is it your idea that the iesue will enter into the next presidential campaign?” was asked. A Presidential Issue. “In some form, undoubtedly. I don’t see how it can be avoided. The leading point of Mr. Hill’s contention in the Senate last year was that neither party had declared for such legislation. It was well taken, al- though it availed nothing. Neither party had declared for an“income tax, and neither party expected in November, 1892, that any revenue would be raised by such means. But the tax has been imposed, the case-pro and con developed both by the legislators and the lawyers, and now it will be for the people, by some expression at the polls, to ratify or reject the action taken. So far as the next Congress is concerned ‘the republi- can leaders will be fortunate if they can succeed without committing themselves definitely in transferring e Guestion to the stump in the national race.” There will be possibilities of trouble for=them. Sup- pose some eastern democratic opponent of the tax should intrcduce a bill repealing the tax, and insist upon debate and a vote. It would test the capacities pf the best par- liamentarians to head him aff or to dispose of his measure without meeting "It squarely. As I have already said, the-republicans will not care to meet the question fully then. They are divided. Mr. Reed tn the House wil be no more strongly opposed to the tax than Mr. Teller in the Senate in favor of it. The part of ety an€ discretion will be to handle it, if at all, with extreme care untik nature of instructions from the peopic has been received. In- structions cannot be formulated before November, 18!i, and you will see that the question psactically goes cver until then. I believe, moreover, that it will be handled very tenderly, whether en the stump or in It ought to be. It is a very question, because of lending ily to the uses of class agitato to a popular aud something in the self so ea It caunot be present ence as it has just been presented to the Supreme Court. e distincticns re- lating to w or may not be levied under the Con on would all be lost on a crowd. The only peint the advo- cate of the incoine tax would care to make from the stump would be to show that the man of means would pay the tax. That alone weuld recommend it to the crowd. Of course I don’t mean to say that all the advecates of the tax are class agitators. Some of the ablest and wisest of our puv- lie men think that incomes ought to pay their proportion of the public: burdens, and they indorse the law now on the books. But there are men who favor the tax simply because the prosperous have it to pay, and they are likely to use the theme on the stump to stir up feeling against property, and add to the unrest of the times. For this reason the question is full cf possibilities of danger. But, whether the danger be great or small, the question is up, and ft is going to be no easy matter to se of it.” Does any compromise oceur to you?” Must Be Met nt the Polls. “None, unless the law itself may be ac- cepted as a compromise. It runs, you know, but for five years. Its friends op- pcsed the putting of any limit of time at all to it. They fought not only for the revenue it would yield, but for the prin- ciple involved. They haye “won on™ both prcpositior. Revenue will. be collected from the and the tax is approved, for the present at t, as constitutional. ‘The other side might agree to let the matter rest, with the reflection that when the law expires the condition of the Treasury De- partment will not be likely to call for its re-enactment, and so the difficulty will he erded. But this course is not probable, There is a great deal involved, and, as I have already pointed out, the question Is one appealing too strongly both to prop- erty owners and to agitators to be allowed to drop or go by default. It will have to be met at the polls, and I believe that it will be met there as early as in the next presidential election,” Sugsesting an Extra Session. It was said this afternoon that President Cleveland had received a number of tele- grams within the past twenty-four hours from business men in different parts of the country urging him to call an extra ses- sion of Congress to repeal that portion of the income tax law which still remains valid. The claim is put forward in sup- port of this demand that as it now stands the law applies exclusively and burden- somely to a class of peoplé whom it was never intended to discriminate against, and releases from its operation the very class that was expected to and looked upon to furnish the most favorable subjects for its operations. Prominent democratic politicians are said to have also urged the President to a repeal of the law, holding that the exe- cution of the law in its présent emascu- lated state and with its glaringly ununi- form features would raise a storm of re- sentment among the people against the narty that brought the law into being. hey urge that the opposition of the busi- ness interests to the law ag a whole is as nothing to the opposition of those who find themselves taxed by it while their neighbors are relieved from its application. It is claimed that it would be a wise politi- cal move to ask its repeat and that the request could be consistently made of Con- gress#upon the ground that the decision of the Supreme Court vitiates the grounds upon which the law was passed and ren- ders it practically ineffective, or, what is worse still, vicious to the public interests in point of its effectiveness, PAY DIRECTOR FuLPbN DEAD. Passed Away Early Thid Morning at the Naval Academy. ANNAPOLIS, Mdy April 9.—Pay Director James Fulton, in charge of the pay office at the Naval Academy, died here this morning at an early hour. He had been in bad health for a year or more and con- fined to his bed for a month. His death was caused by a collection of fat about the heart. At one time he was paymaster geeeral of the navy. A widow survives OFFICIALS PUZZLED How to Construe the Income Tax Law Now. SEVERAL GRAVE QUESTIONS ARISE Amended Regulations to Be Made for Collectors’ Guide. ANTICIPATED AMOUNT OF TAX The decision of the Supreme Court yes- terday in the income tax case has plunged the internal revenue officials into almost inexplicable mysteries and trouble, and the more the decision is studied the greater seems to be the difficulties attending a clear understanding of its scope. The declaration that .rents and incomes from real estate are exempt has opened up questions very difficult of solution. The question has arisen and is under serious consideration whether the effect of the de- cision is not to include not only rents proper, but all profits of whatever charac- ter growing out of real estate, including farm products, timber, coal and all mine products within the exempt class, so that all real estate, including buildings thereon, with whatever else is held by law to be a part of the realty, will be entirely exempt from the tax? Whether losses sustained through bad rent debts, the amount of ex- pense incurred in collecting rents or re- pairs on houses are to be deducted from in- comes is also a mooted question. Under the decision rents are not to be included in as- sessing the income tax. Suppose, it is asked, «a man’s income is of a mixed char- acter, that is, from real and personal prcop- erty. The former is exempt. Can he de- duct the exyenses necessary for the collec- tion of his income from realty from his income from persoral property before mak- ing a return? The question is puzzling the revenue collectors, and a legal opinion on the point probably will be sought. Another Grave Question. Another grave question raised by the de- cision is whether the roadbed, round houses, stations, etc., of railroads are real estate or personal property within the meaning of the law. The laws of several states are said to differ on this point, and on several ‘others of equal importance which are involved in the opinion of the court. As seon as a verified copy of the opinion can be had the internal revenue officials will begin the preparation of supplement- ary regulations. which will cover in a more or less general way the opinion of the court, leaving the more abstruse questions to be solved as they are presented. Col- lectors of the tax in different parts of the country already have begun to telegraph for instructions on many points, at the same time stating that the crush of those who desire to make returns has already begun. All things considered, it is now thought that the loss to the treasury re- ceipts from the income tax source will even exceed 50 per cent of the total that had been expected from this tax, and may reach a much higher figure. Fifty Per Cent Reduction. The estimate in yesterday's Star that the exemption of rents and state and municipal bonds from taxation will reduce the collec- tions from the income tax fully 50 per cent is substantiated by a further examination of the subject by Treasury experts today. A loss of $15,000,000 revenue is regarded as a conservative estimate of the effect of the elimination of the two items named from taxation. In some cities the loss will be far greater than 50 per cent, notably the city of Washington, where the loss is ex- pected to reach 75 per cent. Washington, however, is exceptionally a renting city. Rented Hotises in Other Cities. The proportion of rented houses in other cities of the country also is very large. In 1890 the rented houses in New York city was nearly 94 per cent of the whole. In Boston it was 81 per cent, in Brooklyn 81, in Cincinnati 80, and in Jersey City 81. In ihe other large cities the percentages range down to 56 at Rochester. In New York city there were 292,956 rented houses, in Philadelphia 157,808, in Chicago 156,566, in Brooklyn 139,040. |The total number of rented houses in the United States in 1800 was 1,120,487, which during the last five years has undoubtedly increased very ma- terially. Dwelling houses, however, repre- sent only a small part of the capital invest- ed in buildings of every character which produce enormous rentals. Little Was Expected From Bonds. Comparatively little was expected from interest on state, county and municipal bonds, but the total loss, it is thought, will not fall short of $15,000,000 or $20,000,000 for the first year, and this loss is expected to increase rather than to diminish in suc- ceeding years should the law remain unre- pealed. The ioss of this revenue, however, is not the anly cause of regret among the officials. The fact that the court was even- ly divided on the main constitutional ques- tion, it is expected, will result in almost endless litigation, thus very materially adding to the expense of collecting the tax. “To Modify Instructions. Commissioner Miller visited the Supreme Court recom today and obtained an official copy of the income tax decision, prepara- tory to the issue of the necessary modified instructions to collectors of internal rev- enue. These instructions are being, care- fully prepared today, and will probably be telegraphed late this afternoon. The time for making returns expires Monday, and much work remains to be done before that day. Returns canbe made on the original blanks issued by the collector as modified’ by the decision. In these blanks rents form one item and bonds part of another. These two items can be ignored in making the re- turn. When the returns are already in they can easily be amended before the date of payment, July 1. According to an offi- cial of the bureau, there will be less trou- ble In making the returns conform to the law as construed by the court than there will be in securing the returns. Returns for incomes taxable to the amount of about $1,500,000 have already been filed at the de- partment, but these will probably be re- duced 50 per cent, and it is intimated that many people will delay their returns be- yond the 15th instant, even at the risk of the 50 per cent penalty, in the hope that they may escape the tax altogether. ei BSR cee eee eee UR Nae THREE RAILWAY DISASTERS, They Were All the Result of Recent Rains. MIDDLETOWN, N. Y., April 09.~Owing to a washout at Jermyn, on the Scarton branch of the N. Y., O. and Western road, a freight train was derailed this morning and Peter Farrel was killed. Two berts were raised out on the railroad bridge near Rockland and trains cannot cross, . BRADFORD, Pa., April 9.—A_ west- bound freight train on the Buffalo, Roches- ter and Pittsburg railroad, while running at a moderate rate of speed near Sykes, ran into a washout. The train was dump- ed into the Clarion river. Engineer Tay- lor, Fireman Chase and Brakeman Mc- Clelland are buried under the wreck. ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt., April 9.—A south- bound passerfger train on the Boston and Maine railroad collided with a large bould- er, which had been dislodged by the storm, near Smith’s mills Jate last night. The locomotive was derailed and overturned, and Engineer S. J. Rooney and Fireman Lewis Emerson were fatally scalded. AFTER THE LABOR VOTE Plans Adopted by the Silver Men in the East : Pushing a Campaign for Free Coinage Spreading Literature Among the Masses. Bince the conference of the leaders of the new silver party was held in this city last week, as related in The Star at the time, considerable information has been obtained of the plans of the promoters of the new party for the silver propaganda. The fact that the new party people have resolved upon an aggressive campaign in the east has aroused the attention of prom- inent men in both parties, but the methods to be adopted are the-features of the situa- tion causing the feeling of concern, if not alarm. Heretofore the movement for the free coinage of silver has been confined to the west, and in a less degree to the south, and was regarded as western eccentricity which could do no particular harm, as the advocates of it would be outvoted by the east. When the movement c the Mississippi river and affected a portion of the states bordering thereon politicians were a little surprised, but merely shrug- ged their shoulders and said it would soon die out. Now that tho germs of the free silver idea are being scattered throughout the east, and in a soil which is reeognized as being exceedingly favorable to - their growth and development, the matter is said to be assuming more businesslike propor- tions. Working Among Labor Men. It is said to be the purpose of the leaders of the new movément to attempt to con- vert the labor elements of the east to the free silver doctrine. They believe that the existing unrest and dissatisfaction among the laboring class can be utilized to excel- lent advantage in furthering their plans. They will charge that much of the trouble of the laboring classes is due to what they term a contracted currency, and to the monopoly of the gold bugs, as they say. The socialistic classes will be arrayed against the gold standard, as being synon- ymous with capital and monopoly. Wall street and the Rothschilds will be set up as the bugbear of the workingmen, responsible for all their ills, and the free coinage of silver and an enlarged circulating medium suggested as the only cure for existing troubles. Politicians profess to see an excellent op- portunity in this plan of action for making political capital and say that times were never more auspicious for the establish- ment of a new political cult. It is claimed that the {dea of the financial policy being responsible for troubles heretofore charged to other causes will take well with the restless and dissatisfied ones. Disseminating Literature. The first move in the direction of elicit- ing the attention of the people upon whom the new party is working Is a diss>mination of vast amounts of free silver literature. Hundreds of books and pamphlets, present- ing the silver question in a popular way and in a manner calculated to appeal to the prejudice and ignorance of the people, are being circulated throughout the coun- try. Every time an eastern man, usually a theorist, makes a declaration in favor of free coinage the promoters of the new party seize upon it eagerly and give it the widest circulation. A case in point is the recent statement of President Andrews of Brown University, who declared that national free coinage would result in “a tremendous revival of usiness, money turned loose, factories going full capacity and trade of every silver country coming our way.” The fact that Prof. Andrews is an eastern man and a warm friend and admirer of President Cleveland is utilized to its full advantage by the silver men in circulating his statements. On the other hand, the assertion of Sena- tor Sherman, a financier of world-wide reputation, a practical financier and not a theorist, to the effect that free ccinage “would result in the most tremendous financMl panic this country has ever known and that it would paralyze business and trade beyond anything ever known in the history of any nation in the world,” is hooted at as being merely the raving of a gold bug. A ——_—_+-o+__ MAY HAVE A BATTLE. The Situation at Minersville, Ohio, Growing Serio: POMEROY, Ohio, April 9—The mining situation at Minersville is growing more serious between the strikers and, the strangers employed to take their places, and a battle is expected at any time. There have been several shots exchanged al- ready. Seventy-five pounds of dynamite is known to be in the village. At a meeting of strikers last night it was resolved to continue the strike and force the non-union miners to cease work. Arms are carried openly on the streets by work- men, who are armed to work. ‘The scene of trouble is three miles above here, on the Ohio side, at John Williams’ mine, the largest in Pomeroy Bend. Likely to Be Trouble. ALBIA, Iowa, April 9.—A clash between mine operators and striking miners at the Cincinnati mines, in the southern part of Appanoose county, seems inevitable, unless the militia is ordered out to quell the strikers. Notice has been served on the leaders of the strikers that if they did not permit the operators to open their mine an appeal would be made to Gov. Jackson to order out the militia, Guarding Empty Pits. PITTSBURG, Pa., April 9.—Deputies at the Jumbo mines at McDonald are guard- ing empty pits. Only one man appeared to go to work this morning. The strikers claim that both fire bosses have joined their ranks, so that the mine could not be operated today even if they had men. CAPT. HOPKINS’ STORY. He Tells About the Stopping of the Ethelred. BOSTON, Mass., April 9.—The steamship Ethelred of the Boston Fruit Company, which was fired upon by a Spanish gun-4 boat on her outward voyage to Jamaica, arrived at her dock here early today. She was immediately boarded by a representa- tive of the Associated Press, who inter- viewed Capt. Hopkins, her commander, re- garding the affair. The captain said: “On April Ist: we were proceeding on our regular course, when about 11 o'clock in the forenoon, off Cape Maysi, we sighted a vessel, which we could not at first make out. We were also about a mile from shore. Suddenly the stranger fired a blank shot across our bows. “Of course, I stopped and allowed the vessel to come up within hailing histance. I found it was a gunboat, but I could not clearly distinguish the name. When she saw the British flag floating over my vessel she changed her warlike attitude and quietly steamed past us. We then pro- ceeded to Jamaica, where I laid the matter before the proper authorities, : —.——_. Chalk Plates for Newspapers. ATLANTA, Ga., April 9.—A decision was rendered today by Special Master Slaton in the suit of the Hoke Engraving Plate Company of St. Louis against R. W. But- ler of this city for infringement of a patent on chalk plates for newspaper cut work. The judgment is that the Hoke patents are valid; that he was the inventor, and that Butler is an infringer. TWO BUILDINGS FALL A NOMBER BURIED IN THE RUINS Vicar General Parke Among the Victims. THE WORK OF RESCUER ——__— WHEELING, W. Va., April 9.—This morning shortly after 8 o'clock the five- story business house of Chapman & Sons, on Main street, in the wholesale district, and the adjoining four-story hardware es- tablishment of T. T. Hutchison fell ip suddenly without any warning, and buried seven persons in the ruins. Dad Williams, @ carpenter, escaped with only serious in- juries, but T. T. Hutchison, the veteran merchant, and the following employes of his house were entombed: M. J. A. Ford, @ salesman; P. J. Horan, clerk; Eugene Burch, clerk; Bob Wincher, clerk, and @ Western Union messenger boy, Harry Cowl, was caught in the alley and buried. Hutchison was taken out with two ribs broken and other injuries, and cannot lve. The Hutchison building was of light con- struction and was declared unsafe years ago. The fire department did effective work in keeping down the flames, while volunteers went to the rescue of the vico~ tims of the disaster. Vicar General Parke a Victim. At 10:25 Michael Ford was taken from the ruins alive, but badly hurt. He had been pinned beneath an iron girder, and the dead body of young Horan lay across him. It later became known that Rev. Father H. F. Parke, vicar general of this Catholic diocese, was under the ruins. He was cn his way to the cathedral from a train when the wall fell. The fire has extended to a large stock of oil and turpentine in Chapman & Sons” building, and adjoining property was in grave danger. At 11 o'clock the body of Benjamin Prich- ard, a Buckhannon, W. Va., merchant, was taken out of the ruins. was badly crushed. 3 M. J. Ford has one leg broken and in- meee injuries. It is now thought he will ive. The fire at 11 a.m. had considerable head- way, the flames breaking out in the alleys way in spite of the tons of water being poured in. The victims who were caught in the ruins, Horan, Wincher, Burch, the bey Cowl and Rev. Father Parke, are believed to be dead. : Two Great a Strain. The five-story block was in the course of erection. Adjoining it at the corner of Market alley was the four-story brick block of L. L. Hutchison &-Co.- The strain on the Hutchison building caused by thé new building going up was too much and the Hutchison structure commenced to give way outward toward the alley and the two buildings caved with a crash. Foure teen men were in the two buildings at thé time. Of these six ggt out without injury. Five of them, W. H. apman, Sam Kenn, Walter Chapman, W. V. Clifton and New- ton Wilson, were in the Chapman building, and, being near the front, succeeded in escaping without injury. It looks this afternoon as if it would require at least two days to recover thi bodies, The stubborn fire is still ragit and the firemen seem to make little imy pression on it. Father Parke was seventyé eight years old, and had twice been ade ministrator of the diocese during the ine terregnum. id HEAVY FOG IN NEW YORK BAY, A Steamboat Feared to Be on the Shoals. , NEW YORK, April 9.The fog which set in last night is still very dense in the lower bay. The observer at Sandy Hook says that nothing can be seen outside the beach and no vessels have passed in or out this morning. The French line steamer La Touraine, which was reported off Fire Is- land at 3:45 yesterday afternoon, has not been sighted since and is probably an- chored off the bar, waiting for the fog to lift. A dispatch received at 9:30 this morning from Orient, L. L, said that when the weather cleared, about daylight, a steam- boat, painted white and having one pipe, could be seen, apparently aground on Ori- ent shoals, Long Island sound. Her lines resembled those of the steamer Pequot of the Providence line. Before any further particulars could be obtained a dense fog set in and the steamer was lost sight of. The New York agents of the Providence line of stéamers have received no informa- tion that one of their steamers is aground, The Pequot left New York last night for Providence. —__——.——_ SALLIE DEAN'S MURDERER. The Father of the Dead Girl Believes Corkran Innocent. BALTIMORE, April 9.—Excitement in Caroline county over the murder of little Sallie Dean continues. The autopsy goes a long way toward proving that the young girl fought desperately for her honor. Her limbs were bruised and scratched, which would not have been the case had the brute had things his own way after having stunned her with a stone, when he stole upon her from behind. The people are a unit in believing that the young school teacher, Corkran, whom Price, in his confession, charged with be- ing the principal in the crime, is entirely innocent. The dead girl’s father shares in this belief. In his evidence Mr. Dean said: “Gentle- men, I feel as surely as I’m standing here that one man, and one alone, assaulted and murdered my Sallie. This is made plain to me by Marshall Price’s own words in what he calls his confession. It was al- most impossible for me to force my way through the bushes and briars of the copse to where my poor girl lay. Two men could not have carried her-there. It was all one man could do to dr: her to the spot. I am certain it would have been physically impossible for two persons to have carried her there.” Corkran’s lawyers have secured an orfler from Judge Phelps of the city court direct- ing Warden Constantine to produce Corks ran in court tomorrow and show cause for detention, ——— ANOTHER JUMP IN OIL. it Takes a Spurt and Goes Up to $1.40. PITTSBURG, Pa., April 9,—Oil took another spurt today and at noon the price had jumped to $1.40. This is the highest mark since 1882. At the opening the Stand- ard advanced the price for cash oil 7 cents by offering $1.27. On the exchange May options opened at $1.29 and rapidly ad- vanced to $1.84 1-2, and then broke at $1.32. Then it advanced to $1.40 and remained at that. The main reason for the advance is that producers are not selling direct to the Standard, but ere putting their oil into the pipe lines and taking out certificates.