Evening Star Newspaper, February 1, 1896, Page 11

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0 SSS SSS - SPEAKER REED’S PEN His Writings Find a Ready and Remunerative Market. ~ ENDURING STRAIN OF EXACTING DUTY How He is Able to Do So Much and So Well. OF KINDLY DISPOSITION (Copsright, 1896, by Bacheller, Johnson & Bacheller.) PEAKER REED IS going to return to lit- erature. He said last summer that he would write no more for publication, be- cause everything he wrote was misinter- preted to his disad- vantage. For the same reason he de- clined to be inter- viewed last summer yi by any of the news- M P74 paper correspondents who visited him at Portland or Grand Beach. He has not lost his prejudice against being interviewed, but he has consented to return to his magazine work. Possibly the addi- tion to his income which writing brings is @n inducement; perhaps he finds it neces- sary to relieve his pent feelings by putting pen to paper. The Speaker of the House speaks less than any other member, and to @ man who has such positive views as Mr. Reed on most public questions the restraint of sitting still and letting other people do all the talking must be a severe strain. ‘Then there is another reason—tt is a posi- ive pleasure for Mr. Reed to write—so great @ pleasure that he has been known to write @ great many things which were never in- ed for publication. Like the Ancient Mariner's victim, Mr. Reed * dvt’ write when b #® pity that sor Keon limited to a private circul those who have read them are to be believed, they are quit g as the work of any pr ssional hi One essay ¥ he at, is said But the public w to read Mr. Reed's vie cat in particular, for | humorous w xem. to get In es the di of a public man is impaired by the c tion of too much that’s humorous fr pen Mr. Reed has the faculty, shared by so jeany men, of working best in the night nd when he has on hand any | he often remains at his desk o'eleck in the morning. and his fingers fly v +. He sometimes writes an evening. He re . but the changes he ma lieves in the judgment o ost everything he writes is par 5.000 word: sure tim. In the c in the last C z il Mrs fter she had pa ech favorably, he de iver it es it was written, and the re: prised him. He said afterward that he ‘was quite content with what he had done. Tried Dictation. ‘This speech was the only one he ever dic- tate} ‘oa stenographer. Letters he dictates, but his magazine work and his public speeches he prefers to do with a pen. But the weather was warm when he was pre- paring his speech on the-repeal of the pur- ehasing clause of the Sherman silver law, and he decided to use a stenographer. So, as he expressed It afterward, he “talked cut of the window” for about an hour, while the stenographer made the record. He then took the typewritten manuscript and went over it, but he was not at all satisfied. He to rewrite the whole thing, and for a long time, perspiring he wrete. But when he s judgment and that of his etary, Mr. Allen, on what he had writ- - cop ously esked Mrs. Re eee 1 THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1896-TWENTY-FOUR PAGES. the Speaker’s valuable time. All sorts of people call on him. I was in his office one evening recently, when a man called to ask about a pension bill in which he was inter- ested. The Speaker listened very patiently to all he had to say on the pension ques- tion, and even to a discussion of the silver and tariff questions which his caller essay- ed in passing. He excused himself only when it was necessary that he prepare to go to a reception at the White House. Not long ago a gentleman called with his daughter to see the Speaker and found him just dismissing a meeting of the committee on rules. Mr. Reed recelved them very cordially, though they were strangers, and in about half a minute had learned that the daughter was an artist and that she had been admiring the picture of the Speaker which hangs in the lobby of the House. Now, this portrait is one to which Mr. Reed is rather partial, but it has been criticised very severely, and one of its critics is Mr. Dalzell of Pittsburg. The Pennsylvania Congressman was in the Speaker's room, and Mr. Repd called him over. “Here, Dalzell,” he said. “Here is a yonng lady who doesn’t agree with you about that pic- ture of mine.” And then Mr. Dalzell join- ed the grovp for a minute or two. Then the Speaker excused himself with a cordial handshake, and his visitors went away with a very warm spot in their hearts for Mr. Reed. Mr. Reed is no less considerate of people who write to him—not the people who write begging letters, though. Almost every mail brings the Speaker a request for money. HE TALKED OUT OF THE ing during the last Congress Mr. Allen waited until twenty minutes to 12 for Mr. Reed to appear. He knew that Mr. Reed had been up very late the night before, after an exhausting day in the House, speaking on the Sherman repeal bill; he knew also that Mr. Reed was anxious to take part in that day’s session of the House. So at twenty minutes before noon he went into his bed room and spoke to him. When Mr. Reed learned what time it was, he jumped out of bed, pulled his clothes on in a hurry, and, without wait- ing for breakfast, hurried down stairs and into a cab. He was at the Capitol a few minutes after 12 o'clock, and said after- ward that he never felt better than he did that day. Sleep has a recuperative power for Mr: Reed. However exhausted he may be at the end ef the day, a good night’s rest will make a new man of him. In the Fifty- first Congress, vhen the Speaker's duties Were much more severe than now, Mr. Read used sometimes to slip into his room when the House had gone inte committee of the whole, and, without a word, stretch himself cut on a leather-covered couch. In less than a minute he would be sound asleen. Mr. Allen would drop the latch of the door, and Neal, the colored messenger outside, whose excuses for the Speaker's inability to see you are harp-like in their melody, would piace himself on guard. For fifteen minutes or mcre there would be silence in the Speaker’s rcom, broken only by the faint rustle of papers at Mr. Allen's desk and the heavy breathing of the sleep- WINDIOW. ecently in he that tedly ir list for a ¢ American do not find it necessary to all the local cha: in England do. If Mr. for and mea ouldn’t have bri i ite to the § K for one or two dollar Reed has a warm s old lad One of the meane ever had apple and the House ecame Speake he came into offic set rid of the hu ed the duty he | all these me: ot in his heart t duth w Mr. Reed announced w: that he was going to sters; but every time he d ‘to draw back. Al- and wom: had si The most urgent ho made appl e which her hu nsin went to the Speaker to in e for this woman, Mr. Reed said: “Van chaick, you're a rich man and I'm a poor ; but I'll put up half the money If you Hl buy that woman out.” Arrangements finally to get a department po- ‘oman, which the Speaker's sympathy of a man in y wi nger to Mr. Reed; he was not ¢ ¢ man. He simply wrote to ity, and because Mr. Reed’s name was f. miliar to him He had been arrested in “DALZELL, SHE DOESN'T AGREE WITH YOU." }ten, they told him the typewritten man- | uscript was better; so he used the first copy. |. Mr. Reed would be called “‘a good study” ‘4m theatrical circles. That Is, he has a good | memory, and finds it easy to study a speech for delivery. He always writes the speech Lout, reads over the manuscript two or three [ times, and then is pretty well prepared to lyeel off kis thoughts just as he wrote them. | He ts satisfied if he adheres to the thoughts jin the manuscript without using its exact [jansuage. His speeches as published in the ongressional Record are not reported ex- yactly as he delivered them on the floor of the House. He gives his prepared manu- fcript to the reporters for publication. Usu- tally he has the speeches put in type at the Rovernment printing office before delivery, end slips are given to the press associa- ‘tions. The reporters, however, follow Mr. ‘Reed closely, and if he departs radically | } m the prepared speech, make correspond- | ling changes. The newspaper reports of pub- ‘Me speeches are the only accurate records. { Mr. Reed ts one of the few public men }who-could make a large income by pubile {ppeaking. He has received $1,000 for one lecture delivered in Boston, and he has re- geived $500 several times for repeating this lecture at other placés, at Ann Arbor, at jRochester, etc. He receives offers verg fre- quently from colleges, lyceums and so on, 'and he declines them rather regretfully, for | Mr, Reed fs not a rich man, and an occasion- $al $00 for a lecture would be an agreeable |Bdlition to his income; but he has little jfime to go lecturing. He will, however, |Inake $1,500 or $2,000 with his pen this year, Sunless he should be nominated for the pres- dency. He receives never less than $200 for & magazine article, and he sometimes gets great deal more. His salary as Speaker jas $8,000 a year, and with this income from i literary work enables him to maintain js home in Portland through the year, keep | Pp © very modest cottage at that very mod- ist summer resort, Grand Beach, and oc- upy a good suite of apartments at the oreham. Reception of Callers. | Mr. Reed 1s a man of great patience and a kindly, hospitable disposition; he lets ple impose on him a great teal. He ver denies himself to any one who wants f “pay his respects to the Speaker,” how- little claim the man has to consume Texas on charge of impersonating a man who had served in the same company with him in the war. His application for a pen- sion was not made in the name under | which he served, but in another name, which differed in only one letter from the name of the other man. This change of name he explained in a satisfactory manner. In support of his statement that he was not p2rsonating another, he had the other man as a witness, and the captain of his com- pany also testifitd in his favor. But the grand jury had indicted him, and he seemed in a fair way to go to the penitentiary. Mr. Allen was so much interested in the case when he read the letter that he made an investigation, and laid the result before Mr. Reed, who became equally interested, and went personally to the Department of Justice and interceded for the man. The result was an investigation by a special asent, which demonstrated pretty plainly that the man was a victim of persecution by over-zealous agents, and the prosecution s stopped. What Mr. Reed did for this stranger is characteristic; he has done the like again and again, and his good offices have been sought very often by democrats in his state. He would as soon do a Kindness to a democrat as for a republican where no political principle was involved. This does not include the getting of appointments for’ is constituents. Mr. Reed has his own ideas about the civil service. He believes every office holder should be kept in place so long as there are duties to perform and he performs them well. He does not be- lieve in a civil pension list; but he thinks the salaries pald to government employes should be arranged on a different scale— that smaller salaries should be paid new appointees, and that salaries should in- crease with years of service, with a pro- vision that a certain percentage of salaries should be held back by the government to form an insurance fund to provide for su- perannuated clerks. Experience has shown that government clerks will not provide for themseWwes, and it is quite iikely that Con- gress will adopt some day a plan like that which Mr. Reed favors. Mr. Reed fs an in- defatigable worker in whatever he under- takes. He bears the strain of hard work better than most men, probably because he is such an excellent sleeper. He makes it a rule to get seven or eight hours’ sleep a night. No one calls him in the morning unless there is an emergen¢y. One morn- } mac | his school-teacking d er. Mr. Reed can go to sleep at any hour of the day or night when he needs rest, and easily cancels the Mebt he owes to na- f straight twenty-four hours of y other unratural strain. this session of C 3 r robbed himself of sleep m » for it later. That was when he w ommitte at wo! He was night and day, late and early. of the way the com- ittee places Cistributed hi n told yet. Iam going to tell is an illustration of ‘1 pursues in before him. evident the method Mr. posing of the busines: That he is a man of method is by the te is trait is still better shown as Speaker of the House. first piace, it must be stated that 3 not true, as reported, that Mr. Reed had much of the work of distributing the commitiee efore he came here. He was res is summer and e little thought to committee selection He probably fixed in his mind the of the principal committee: Din: elgr. it the rank and file he had at ail. On his way to Wa! : rocured some large sheets of card- from a Si setts manufacturer. asted the names of the m rranged alphabetically t prepared by th Reed had received a great r frem members that they ted on particular committees. were fifty reque: riv the committees there were no requests at all. He had received also from many quarters indorsements of certain men for certain committee places. There were re- quests,too,from state delegations. All these requests and recommendations were en- tered in a book in which-the names of members were arranged alphabetically. ‘There was also an alphabetical list of com- mittees with spaces to enter the names of members. Arranging the Committees. Mr. Reed took the list of members’ names { and studied it carefully. He weighed the availability of each man for the position for which he was suggested, or, if no sug- gestion had been made, he considered for what committee work he was best equip- ped. If he was not sure about a member he sent for him and talked with him, or sent for some one else and got an estimate of the man from him. When he had determined that a man was fitted for work on a particular committee he p Lers of the Hose from the pr Mr. nted | There 's for membership on the ry and harhors committce—for some of and had weighed his claims in the bal- ance with those of others, if he decided to give him a certain place he entered tha name of the committee in the alphabeti- cally arranged book. Then under the member's name on the big card his secre- tary wrote “Sd on judiciary,” or whatever his committee place was to be. Often one of these entries was erased because it was found necessary to make adjystments so as to divide the committee places as evenly as possible, and particularly’ not to put any democrat on so many committees that he would be overworked. So there was con- stant shifting, and the man whose heart's desire might have been realized under the plan oi one day was scheduled for bitter ppointment on the next. All this work Mr. Reed did with only clerical assistance from his secretary d from his stenog- grapher. It kept him very busy for two or three weéks, and it cost him a great deal of that sleep he values so highly. He seems to have recovered his losses since,’ for he is now in the pink of condition. He can sit up til 1 or 2 o'clock any night, writing gssays, and never feel the exertion, The most significant piece of literary work Mr. Reed has done for some time is an introduction to theaworks of Henry Clay, which is to be brought out in the near future. Mr. Reed is a great admirer of Clay, and he devoted a great deal of time to verfecting his knowledge of that eripent American before he undertook to writ this introduction. Oddly enough «ne of Mr. Reed’s competitors for the republi- can nomination for the presidency—ex-Gov. McKinley—is writing the “‘tail-piece”’ for this publication. = The fact is, Mr. Reed enjoys the quiet hours which he spends in his study or with his family much more than he does the hours which he devotes to public du- ties. To some one who said to him recently that he would feel lost is he should ever drop out of public life, he replied that he vous be probably a great deal more con- tented. —————— = To Test the Coins, The President has designated the follow- ing-named persons as commissioners to test and examine the weight and fineness of the coins received at the several mints during the year 1895: O. H. Platt, finance committee, United States Senate; Charles W. Stone, House committee weights and measures; Thomas W. Drowne, Lehigh University; Henry Burnett, Paducah, Ky.; Edward O. Leech, New York; John W. Mallet, University of Virginia; Marcus Benjamin, New York; Eugene B. Braden, Helena, Mont.; Andrew Stevenson, Colum- bus, Ohio; Cabell Whitehead, Washington, D. C.; John Cadwalader, Philadelphia; Charles H. Banes, Philadelphia; Douglas H. Thomas, Baltimore. ——__—___-2+_____ Interest Checks Malled. ‘Tho United States treasurer hag mailed 2,249 checks, representing $1,319,062, in-pay- ment of interest due on United States reg- istered 5 per cents and on District of Co- Tumbia 3.65 bonds. GAS AND ELOQUENCE Municipal. Lighting: Discussed by the House, TALKING ABOUY:MONOPOLIES Members Who Think There Shou!d Be Competition. geeueieatisoe THE GREAT FALLS POWER : ad t * After the close of The Star's report yes- terday, the House continued the discussion of the District appropriation bill, and final- ly adjourned without completing it. Mr. Cannon, in replying to the objections made to the provision permitting the Com- toissioners to authorize the lowest “bidder for gas lighting the streets to lay gas mains, said that the right to make such a provision was necessary to the function of providing for the lighting of the streets. “The lighting of the streets,” he said, “is evidently a public object for which we can appropriate money. If that is true, it neces- serily follows that we can procure lighting through appropriations, as we may provide or limit in a clause making the appropria- tion. In other words, this appropriation is made for a public object. Now we can, if we choose; contract that this money shall be used for hanging old-fashioned tin lan- terns upon posts to we erected on every street corner.” The Great Falls Power. Mr. Newlands said he. understood the purpose of the provision to be to open to public competition thé lghting of the streets of Washington by either gas or electricity. He said the light of the future is the electric light. He referred to the water power at the Great Falls, and proceeding said: Now, it seems to me that this is the time, while electric lighting is in Its in- ancy, and while no corporation of that kind has yet any very large vested right in this community, to determine the question whether the municipality itself shall not own an electric-lighting, plant and whether it cannot operate such a plant in connec- tion with its water m to the great ad- vant: of the District and with great economy to the taxpayers. I am quite sure that the District Commissioners, if they are given authority, will inaugurate a sys- tem of electric lighting vastly superior to any that would be provided by a private corporation under the provisions of this bill, for I take it that no private corpora- fon will invest any large amount of money in an eilicient system of Ngating with the threat hanging over its head, as provided in this bill, that Congress may, whenever its fit, forfeit the right; in other words, that the privilege. of using the streets may be taken away while the property invested in the improvement still remains there. It seems to me that the wise, the rational, the prudent solution of-this question 1s to take the District Commissioners into the confidence of Congress. with reference to this matter and devise a system of munici- pal lighting by electricity, and not to pro- e for the destruction of the streets of Washington by giving, the Commisstoners power to grant to some new corporation, or: to some individual, the right to lay down new gas mains and elgctric-light conduits.” r. Dockery contended that if the rule st the laying of pipes or t the right of Commissioners to order the repair of streets, as. that involyed the, necessity making excavations. , He argued ex- against the position taken by and Mr. Baker, and contended of pipes and wires was an incident of tion in pursuance of the law governing. appropriations. Would Annul Legislation. Mr. Babcock, chairman of the District committee, said that. there was now in preparation-in this city a bill which pro- poses that the government shall acquire the balance of the property at Great Falls, of which {t now owns nearly all. | By so doing it would control that enormous water power, of sufficient capacity to light the city of Washington with electricity. That measure would be brought before this House. “We have pending before the committee on_the District of Columbia,” he said, “a bill to reduce the price of gas to $1 per thousand and to increase the Uliminating Power to twenty-two cand! We have also before us two bills asking for new charters to be granted in the regular way, each for a lighting and heating company. Now, the gentlemen asking these charters dre men of means, of capital and ability. If this bill passes, it'will practleally unify all of such legislation, and it will be useless to report it from the committee to this House. Why? Pecause in the provision now pending here we propose to give anybody authority to bid for gus-lighting or elec- tric-lighting in this city. Congress, by this provision, proposes to delegate the authori- ty it has jealously guarded for inany years to control this subject in the District of Columbia. All this authority it proposes to turn over to the Commissioners in this District, and to permit anybody to come in here, whether responsible or not, and make bids for gas or elettric lighting; and to the lowest bidder, whoever the party may be, the Commissioners can give authority to tear up the streets and put in new gas mains or wire conduits.” After some further discussion, the chair- man (Mr. Payne) made a ruling, sustaining the point of order that the provision was a change of existing law. A Dollar Proposition. Mr. Hepburn then proposed to strike out the entire paragraph and insert the follow- ing: “Provided further, That the District Com- missioners are hereby invested with au- therity and are requited to fix the price at which gas shall be furnished to consumers, including the District and the United States, at a price not to exceed $1 per thou- sand feet: And provided further, That said Commissioners are authorized to determine the candlepower of all gas to be consumed in the District of Columbia.” Mr. Pitney raised the point of order against this that it was obnoxious to an- other provision in the bill. He then with- drew it, and Mr. Bartlett raised the point that it changed existing law. Mr. Mahon moved to strike out the clause relating to the authority of the Commis- sioners to let the contract of lighting the District of Columbia to the lowest bidder, on the ground that the provision authoriz- ing the lowest responsible bidder to lay pipes or wires in the streets had been ruled out of order. He held that without the lat- ter the former must fall of itself, and was therefore irrelevant in’ . The One Gas Company. “Mr. W. A. Stone said there was confess- edly only one gas corfipitiy here that has power to enter upon the streets of the city, and, therefore, to undertake to advertise for bids would be a mere farce. Mr. Grout—“The gentleman says that ‘confessedly’ there is no other company ex- cept the one in existente that has the right to lay down pipes. I:would like to know who has confessed it. hg gentleman from Pennsylvania may confess it, but certainly the ruling of the chair does not make it so. If the gentleman‘had remembered the ground which I took dn the point of order a moment ago, he would ‘hardly have said 1. was ‘confessed’ that'there was po power left to take up the streets and lay down rew mains. I expressty stated that.in my opinion as a lawyer—¥ have not practiced lately, but I thought I did know some- thing about law before I got into the midst of these demoralizing scenes (laughter)—I stated that in my opinion the power was in the Commissioners without this provision in the pending bill to grdnt that permit, and I think so'still. Now, the proposition, after the ruling out of the provision that has just gone out on the point of order, is to strike from the bill this proviso which would leave the service open to competi- tion. “It is stated by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Mahon) offering this amendment that there is no other company to compete, and the other “gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr.William A. Stone) echoes that statement; while, on the other hand, the chairman of the committee on the Dis- trict of Columbia says'there is a new gas company about to be chartered,perhaps by a bill which will be presented here tomorrow. . Very well; whether a new company be formed or not, this proviso in the bill does no harm. It really does good. I can under- stand very well why gentlemen 80 restive when this gas problem is struck—” Mr. William A. Stone—What is the rea- scn? : Mr. Grout—“If gentlemen will make a comparison of the figures presented in this bill with the figures in the existing law, they will see that we have made here a very great reduction in the price of the gas which 4s to be furnished to the public—a very great reduction—and that accounts for all this bustle when a proposition like this is made. The gas company is hurt. F cannot myself believe that it is out of pure devotion to the spirit of the law or from a wonderful ad- miration and deference for the rules of the House in their spirit as well as letter that gentlemen are prompted to raise points of order on the provision which has now gone out, and then to discourse learnedly with reference to the impossibility of executing this provision. If they will look at the fi; ures reported in this bill, they will sec it is provided that a lamp which before cost $20.50 shall now be furnished for $16, and that {t shall be burned eight hundred and some odd hours per year more than under existing law. That is what this provision amounts to when you figure it out; and who will say that this does not account for the great care here displayed lest the rules of the House or the-law in some way be vio- lated? ~ “We provide a new schedule, which is no longer the ‘moon’ schedule, but from forty- five minutes after dark to forty-five minutes before daylight, and at the same time make this reduction from $20.50 per lamp to $16 per lamp. I find that those gentlemen who make objection here are now ready to con- cede the provision as to price, but they evi- dently want to avoid the feature of compe. tition. Sir, this bill has not yet been acted on by the Senate, and returned from that body. In what shape it may come back here as to the price of gas no one knows. But, supposing this competition clause be re- moved, there are suits now pending in which it is contended that where a limit is fixed the meaning is thatthe whole amount fixed by the Hmit, and nothing less, shall be paid. ‘Some lawyer has been so wise as to plant a suit upon that basis. Now, I believe that as the result of the competition here proposed, instead of getting these lamps for $16 apiece, we are likely to get them for $10 apiece. They can be furnished at $10 apiece, and money made upon them. Gentlemen say there is no company to compete. But surely if the company which my friend, the chair- man of the District committee, promises will soon be brought into being, we shail then have competition. It has been suggested that the municipality should own the gas plant and the electric plant, and that might be a wise thing to do. Let me state what has been the experience in the city of Phila- delphia. There the city owns the gas works; and the streets and public buildings are Mghted, and gas furnished to the citizens at $1 a thousand. A Valuable Franchise. Mr. Mahon, in the course of the debate, said: “I do not believe that the House should give any company the right to come and tear up the streets of this city. Your parks are in darkness. The magnificent park around this building is in darkness. Let the District authorities—let the Con- gress—authorize the authorities of the Dis- r some authority to erect a great ic plant; let the city or the Distric own it and furnish commercial light as other cities are doing, and put the revenues into the treasury of the District of Co- lumbia. ly objection 1s to putting in the hands of the Commissioners this valuable fran- chise. Do you not know that there are men in this country who would willingly pay $500,000 or 31,000,000 for a privilege that Congress proposes to give away absolutely ithout a dollar of compensation? You give me the authority to authorize four in- dividuals or any number of individuals to come and get permission from the District Commissioners to put gas and electric mains through the streets and furnish light and heat to this city, and I will guar- antee to get for you or for the District treasury a million of dollars for the right.” Attention was called by Mr. Washington to the fact that nothing had been paid for franchise by the present gas company. Mr. Dingley said he wished to call the attention of the chairman of the cormit- tee to a danger that might be involved in leaving the proviso as it now reads, after the second proviso has gone out on the point of order. As it now stood the pro- vision wa: Provided, further, That the entire service of gas lighting authorized under this ap- propriation shall be let, after due advertise- ment, to the lowest responsible bidder therefor. “Supposing,”’ said Mr. Dingley, “and it is entirely possible, that but one company, the existing company, shouid bid, and that they should put in a bid of a dollar and a half a thousand or more, do you propose to Cues the Commissioners to accept that “I think I can answer,’ said Mr. Grout, “If the gentleman will turn to the part of the bill above, where it reads that no more than $16 per annum for each street lamp shall be paid for gas, &c., he will find the necessary limitation on his clause, because the whole must be read together, but if the gentleman thinks that is in- sufficient we have not the slightest ob- jection to making it perfectly plain.” “ Electric Light Injunctions. Mr. Dockery defended the action of the committee. He said the existing com- panies today, under seeming authority of law, exercise the sinister privileges of monopoly, and because a company has recently had the temerity, under a charter from the state of West Virginia, to enter this Digtrict to compete with the existing electric light company, it is plied with in- junctions now “three deep” in the courts, the United States Electric Light Company claiming that it has the sole privilege of lighting the city with electricity. Now, let us understand the contention. I con- cede there is some force in the suggestion of the gentlemen wh» oppose granting new charters. I admit their sincerity when they insist that It is sound public policy to con- trol these corporations by regulating rates of compensation rather than by the author- ization of competition. “Our position, Mr. €hairman, is thi: We wovld regulate both as to rates by ex- press provision of law, and also by invit- ing that wholesome competition which ex- ists or should exist everywhere. Now, un- less gentlemen on both sides of the cham- ber—for this is a question not clouded with partisan considerations—are willing that the gas and electric light companies shall con- tinue to exercise an unchallenged monopoly, they ought to leave these provisos in the bill, amended as suggested by the dis- tinguished gentleman from Maine (Mr. Dingley), and then let us go to the Senate and fight out this battle with the Senate for cheaper gas and cheaper electric lights in the national capital. This is the issue.” After some further discussion the com- mittee rose without having come te any conclusion. —___--e. THE COURTS. Probate Court—Judge Hagner. In re orphans of Wm. H. McReady; pe- tition for appointment of guardian filed. Estate of Christiana Ehrmantraut; letters of administration granted to Ferdinand Schmidt; bond, $200. Estate of Michael Fitzgerald; ‘petition for probate of will and assent of next of kin filed, and petition for appointment of guardian filed. In re or- phans of Powhatan Hall; petition for ap- pointment of guardian filed. In re orphans of Leonard G. Shepard; Isabel S. Shepard appointed guardian; bond, $2,000. In re Amanda _ M. Dean, guardian; account passed. In re Caroline Le Roy Bonaparte, guardian;.do. Estate of Stella B. Conger; do. Estate of Mary F. Lane; do. Estate of Katharine Hilyard; inventory filed, and order granting executor leave to pay him- self $126 and retain $3,000 to meet claim of G. B. Moore, and account passed. Estate of Leonard G. Fee ote account passed. Estate of Wm. M. Walker; do. In re Mar- tha H. H. Flick, guardian; bond filed. In re Jno. L. Lake, guardian; order allowing $50 for legal services.” In re Geo. Johnson; Jonn Johnson appointed guardian; bond, $800, and conipromise authorized. “I Catherine E. Barrett, guardian; written election of Clara E. Gardner filed. Estate of Daniel A. Connolly; ee for letters of administration filed. Estate of Thos. B. Turner; proof of rublication and sworn statement as to assets filed. Estate of Wm. B. §lack; will admitted to probate, and _letteY&testamentary granted to Addie 8. Perrine; bond, $1,000. Estate of Levi Barnum; proof of publication. Estate of Delia M. Bennit; will admitted to probate, and letters testamentary granted to Amory K. Tingle and Albert L. Sturtevant; bond, $100. Estate of Frank H. Wiltberger; do. to Lillian A. Wiltberger; bond, $400. Estate of Eugene B. Wight; do. to Mary D. Wight; bond, $500. Estate of Ann R. Grave \- ward Graves appointed administrator; bond, —_—_—>___ The Bonne murder trial at Washington, N. C., ended yesterday with a verdict of murder in the second degree against all three of the defendants, Sherrill Bell, Uriah Bell and W. H. Brantley, FINANCIAL FOLLIES Mr. Morrill’s Speech Today on the Silver Amendment. FRANCE HAS NO SILVER PARTY Confidence Expressed by the People in the Republican Party. OUR BUSINESS INTERESTS At the beginning Mr. Morrill stated what the President had asked Congress to do and he said; “Was that nota fair request?” The House had promptly responded to the President's demand and supplemented !t with an emergency tariff revenue bill. The Senate finance committee proposed as a substitute for the bond bill a measure for the free coinage of silver. “This,” he sald, “may not be the first time when bread has been asked for that a stone ‘thas been presented, but it ts the first time that a committee of the Senate seems to have perpetrated a practical joke almost good enough for the clown of Bar- ‘num's menagerie.” The Senator thought that a deficient national income should be not less swiftly remedied than an excess, and In this con- nection he said: “The present administration, however, ex- hibits a bashful diffidence about acknowl- edging any deficiency of revenue derived from a@ tariff bereaved of its parents in early infancy, but with their hands be- hind them they may quietly take whatever money Congress may place in their hands for the treasury, where the outflow of gold has been so swift as to make even the heads of the keepers dizzy. Certainly there is no mathematical equation between the monthly receipts and monthly expendi- tures, and the public debt visibly expands mcre rapidly than the public credit. “Changes of revenue laws, or of duties en imports of foreign merchandise, are always troublesome to administer, as well both to home as foreign trade, and are enly advisable when demanded ‘by poten- tial reasons: or when substantial improve- ments will justify the changes made. The reasons now for change are abundan Quotations were then made from the re- ports of the Secretary of the Treasury, showing the deficiencies in revenue for 1Nid and the Senator said that if further evidence of a lack of revenue should be asked it might be found in the increase in our public debt. The deficit of the revenue should be remedied as early as possible. : The Example of France. Reference being made to the financial policy and condition of France it was as- serted that silver in that country is main- tained at par with gold because the govern- ment long ago suspended its coinage, and “Because there is no blustering silver party, and no silver-plated democratic party there striving to pull down their money standard to that of depreciated sil- ver, but they keep silver to the amount of $26,000,000, with $72,000,000 of gold on the ratio of 1544 to 1. “The United States has been the friend and patron of silver to its own hurt, and made a large market for the white metal, while many other markets were closed. It has coined silver by the million, and kept it with all of our currency at an equal value with the best money of the world.” Under the free coinage substitute for the House bond bill it was contended that the government will be required to run into debt for what It does not want. “If our late investments of nearly $500),- 000,000 In silver have been notoriously im- provident and unprofitable, the disastrous results will appear as q drop in the bucket when compared with what must flow from the enormity of the present proposal, which is to open all of our mints to the free coin- age not only of all ourown silver product,but that also of all the world, excluding nobody from Dan to Beersheba, and to tempt a great increase of the annual product, both at home and abroad, by offering United States obligations fost at double the sum it now commands in Yny other market. “The vast product, whether in silver bul- lon or silver dollars, once in the possession of the government, must stay there for- ever, defunct as an Egyptian mummy, as the public long ago refused to aid in its larger practical circulation. “Whenever the issuance of depreciated money is tolerated, so as to permit an in- crease of the amount oujstanding, as is proposed by the silver free-coinage substi- tute for the bond bill, now under consider- ation, a further inexorable depreciation of such money must follow, as our own recent unhapp} experience sufficiently demon- strates. Competition With the East. We are scriously urged, the Senator said further on, to adopt free coinage in order to equalize financial exchange, so as to com- pete with the criental artisans of India and China and Japan. To him it looked only as the first step in equalizing the wages of jabor instead of excharges. The sharpest competition we méet in selling agricultural products and provisicns abroad arises from countries using a silver currency only, where they are destitute of skilled labor, and where cheap wages prevail. A market abroad for any surplus of wheat or corn, beef or pork, only occurs when the United States can urdersell the rest of the world. ‘Therefore, he said, the home market should be preserved. “The absurdity of free coinage as a pro- tection against oriental industrial rivale cannot well be concealed. We might with almost equal propriety be invited to intro- duce an Asiatic plagwe, and have it just as logically urged on the ground that it has long prevailed in Asia and yet they have not all died there. “Some whispered threats have floated in the air that the extreme silver men, now fraternizing here and at home with the republican party, would band themselves together on one dominant idea, forsaking all others, and, with auxiliary democratic aid, hitch onto the tail of a great republican measure, at the first opportunity, some lnkling silver amendment, hoping thereby to secure a silver triumph of a hybrid com- bination, although the grand old republican party might perish. But there is little fear of these eruptive threats; for, if carried out, the riot act might be read at home to the offenders, upon whom public opinion would rot fail to place its brand, and, whatever party might survive, not ell of the garroters of the republican party would be found among its members. ~ “The southern people can hardly be ex- pected to see with much complacency over $100,000,000 annually expended for pensions to the survivors of our great Union army, but they should bear in mind that these survivors are now diminishing by thousands year by year, and that the confederates must be held responsible for the first gun in a deplorable war, where they then took the chances whether their surviving and bruised soldiers or those of the Union army should be rewarded for their heroic services. The nortLern people were subjected to an enor- mous expense, national and state, to sup- port the Union, and now by far the greater part of the pension moncy is paid by the more populous north, as the lergest con- sumers of merchandise upon which revenue has-been collected. “The anrual industrial products of the United States continued the Senator, “amount to twelve thousand million dol- lars, or more, perhaps, than thore of half of Europe, and our foreign trade is largely in- creasing. A silver currency would throw all these vast interests into a state of de- crepitude.” Southern Democrats and Silver. In concluding he said: 5 “I am aware that the largest half of the democratic party in our southern states have ceased to support with Jacksonian fidelity and courage the sound-money doc- trine of their fathers, but have met their semi-repudiating antagonists by accepting their subterranean silver platform, and they are now glued together by an equai hostility to banks, railroads and home- built ships, having only some trifling unad- justed controversies about a proper distri- bution of future spoils and proper protec- tion on wool, which they feel sure can be sweetly adjusted on the Kentucky pian, by a judicious separation of their platform from their candidates. “Will the free coinage of silver be a god- send to any part of our country, or confer a goodly prestige upon any party? There re many states in our great republic, rich iu varied natural resources, and now want- “must have subsistence MUNYON Cured Mr. W. J. Ward of Catarrh. Mr. W. J. Ward, 1219 T stroet northwest, snyn: “I have ised Munyon's Gough Cure, Nerve Care and Catarrh Treatment, and can thorougiily recom- mend them, as they msde complete cure in my case after several doctors hnd failed. I had sufter- ed very greatly, and began to believe there was no suck thing as a cure for nervous troubles, complt- cated by crtarrh. A month's treatment with Mun- yen's Remedies thoroughly eradicated all these complications, If you have eatarrh or any throat or Jung trouble, or are suffering from any disease, call and recelve @ free examination. Office open daily, 9 to 5; Monday and Thursday evenings, 6 to 8; Sun- days, 10 to 12. = ing nothing so much as an early increase of population and capital to place them in the front rank of a prosperous people. Wil the white-money metal alone of South America or of China attract any ag of population, or capital, or confidence to any of our states? I confess to some apprehen- sion that free coinage would be more likely to cause a withdrawal of some part of what has long been supposed to have there been firmly planted. ‘Surely the south would make nothing by giving the world a chance to buy the cot- ton crop with cheap silver, nor can it be hoped to cheapen the cost of labor by ing its wages in cheap silver, as that Jal r Does it now get or ask for anything mor “There are some gentiemen who confi- ently predict the overthrow of the gold standard party, as th sure the enthronement of th stardard party. I am not aware of a sir gold standard party in Am: is a large party—the party—now in excellent h poses to maintain both = circulation, and to p good health. The recent to show that the people dence in the republic: tion’s financial affa that party and to no other. republican governors in su ryland and that the old whig stat wheeling into line with ren on questions which dustrial py The solid Representat tions in ¢ not be much of an ura: new and naneless they stand, look national republican alth, which pro- south are former breth- n their in- n, with Indiana nesota with 7, to which , Mi ; Ohio, all but 2 f 15; Iilinois, all but ffornia, all but 1 of New lot MAKING OF ee FALSE TEETH. Ivory is Not the Only Material Em- ployed. From the Philadelphia Ti “Where do faise teeth come from a well-known -bone importer, ech: question that I had put to him. yeu like to know? Most people, I imaxine, think that all false teeth-are made from ivory. That is quite a mistaken idea, as the majority of false teeth are now made from anything ‘but fyory. We import large quantities of walrus tusks for no other pur- pose than that they may be made false teeth. You can go into some big dental establishment where tecth are made znd you will doubtless find the ren walrus tusks lying around, and, i highly polished tooth made from a w twsk is just as handsome, although not lasting, as an ivory one. ‘A dentist once came to me for an ele- phant's tusk, from which a good set of permanent teeth mi be made for a wealthy client of his. He was to spare no expense. 1 found him a tusk, which being an especially good one I svld for $12.50 a |, the usual price being from $2 i) a pound. I afterward learned that the dentist made $0 out of that set of teeth. “Of course it would be t ssible for den- t, So many people se teeth that I doubt if the ivory suitable for this purpose would ever be found. Iam told a good many false teeth are being made from vegetable ivory, ivoi f so, the price of teeth must naturally go down, and in time t pothiess ne one will probably be able to replenish his mouth for Hsurdly low sum. A set of teeth for $1 continued the dealer, laugh- ing, “would create a boom in f: soe se teeth, ictures, The Pacha’s From the Gentlewoman, I hear that Nubar Pacha, the Peypt statesman, is coming to live in Paris. few years ago he had a splendid r in the Rue de Lisbonne. There he tained, assisted by his wife and dav who since married Tigrane Pacha. N Pacha Is so rich that he cannot spend the quarter of his income, and at times he is enter- very generous. His drawing rooms in Paris were deco- rated with valuable pictures, and one day I-known Frenchman is said to have jastic in admiration of one vorks ef art. ure ou?” “One must 1 1 or with- out taste not t replied the Frenchman. Wk home the latter found on an armehair his own jon the picture he had so much praised. aturally he eful to the man frame the same, but the paint a bad copy; and he learned leisure hours Mme. war only that Nubar Pacha copied the masterpieces hanging on her walls, and allowed her husband to present her copieg to his friends. —— -+e+ Blaine’s Old Horse, From the Lewiston (Me.) Jcurnal. There died the other day at E. H. Grere ly’s farm In Trenton, Me., a character once well known in diplomatic circles at Wash- ington. This individual was none else than James G. Blaine’s old saddle and driving horse, Denman, who, having reached the advanced age of more than twenty-five years and become a burden to himecif, was quietly and humanely transported to the happy hunting grounds under the painless influence of a rag full of chloroform. At Mr. Blaine’s death Mrs. Blaine had placed the animal in Mr. Greely’s charge, considering him the one person suitable to care for the failing health of the agod horse, and one whose intimate and extend- ed experience would fit him adm iy fot the position of guardian to her beloved Den- man. That was three years ago: and since that time Mr. Greely has kept a bis farm in Trenton, receiving ever: a liberal allowance from Mrs. Blaine for his support. A few days ago Mr. Greely found that the horse was growing painfully old and as he was of no real use to anybody (for Mrs. Blaine would not allow him to be used) he consulted with Mrs. Blaine, an@ Denman passed away as already stated. aah History of Watermarks, From London Invention, According to Mi: EF. Thoyts, who has contributed an interesting article on “An- cient Watermarks” to the Antiquary, about the earliest date at which they were used was 1301. The paper of the first books printed in England by Caxton bore the watermark of a small black letter, which was used from the time of Duke Philip de Romtere in 1349. As the marks came to fis- tinguish various kinds and sizes of paper they soon gave thei paper, as “foolscap,” “pot, p - and other designations still famili r. watermark designating “foolscap” has been traced back to 1479, In the middle of the eighteenth century a figure of Bri Was substituted for the fool’s cap in o} country.

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