Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, September 9, 1894, Page 13

THE DEBT OF NATIONS Whole. Woridl Mads Aoquainted for the First Time wi'h What it Owes, MOST GOVERAMENTS PILING UP DEBTS Figares on Stats, Muvicipal, County and £chool I istrict Indebtedness, ENVIABLE POSITION OF THE UNITED STATES This Joantry's Splendid Showing in Rela- tion to the Per Capita Cust, GOOD FAITH AND ABILITY TO PAY Comprehonsive Table Showlug What the ading Cities of the U Stites Gwe and the Revenue Derived for 1 tod Liquidation. With the completion of the mortgage work relating to individuals, the eleventh census wiil have contributed to the world's informa- tion on this subject the most elaborate and valuable treatise extant. Nothing ble to it has over attempted by any government, The of this stupend us plece of statistical work, including the print- ing of several volumes, will not fall far short of $1,600,000. Enormous as thix expenditure seems, I regurd it as the wisest ontlay for statistical work ever made. It has brought not only this country but the world for the first time face to face with what it owes. It has called attention to the real burdens of individual mortgages and given us accurate information in relation to a class of indebt- edness which had been used by demagogues to create a class feeling 1n the republic and Qiscourage those who were thrifty encugh to purchase their farms and their and mprove their property Beginning with the public debt of nations representing a_population ¢f 1,102,000,000 and including local debt, dealing with an aggregate of $30,000,000 of indebtedness, this investigation was continued d.wn through state, municipal, county and school district finances, until it finally’ embraced an inquiry at the door of cvery farm and home. As a result we have a complete budget of the amount of individual indebtedness, the pur- pose for which it was contracted, the rate cf interest, the distribution of debt, and other essential data for a satisfactory study of this aportant question. When completed in all its details, these reports will occupy at least three quarto volumes of 1,000 pages each. In the compilation of this work, which 1ook four years, 2,000 field agents were employed and 800 or 700 clerks at Washington; mil- lions of letters and circulars were sent out and returns were cbtained direct from nearly 30,000 county and municipal divisions of the Unfted States, and nearly 200,000 school dis- tricts. One of these volumes has been is- sued, and the other two are well under way. Numerous bulletins and some advanee figures have supplied sufficient data to enable me to present for the first time a grand re- view of all three investigations. THE GREAT PROBLEM OF THE AGE. The debt problem in fts broadest sense s probably the greatest problem of the age. For bhalf a contury nations seem to hav been going headlong into debt, in some in- stances literally piling up debt until the capacity for borrowing was exhausted. There 18 an old saying that the world is made up of two classes, those who borrow and thse who tend. It i8 different with natidns, for all who can seem to borrow. Some nations (the United States and Spain for Instance) seem to pay their indebtedness, but as a rule national debis are either stationary or in- creasing, The world's national debts have been-gathering in volume of late years about as follows compara- been cost homes 1848 Dollars 7,627,692,215 860 Dollars 10,399,341,683 Dotias 17,117,640, 428 1880 Dollars 21,421,0:7,643 Diagrams, when simple and striking, often couvey intormation difficult to absorb from long rows of figures. From the ab.ve we seeat one glance that while the principal Dnations of the world during the decade end- ing 1890 are not still adding billions to their national debts, as they did in the decade ending 1870 and 1880, they are (excepting the nations mentioned) by no means reducing these cbligations and lifting the enormous burdens of interest. The extent of these fluctuations during the decade ending 1890 may be best studied in the following di- agram: p 1880 70 1890. 1 1890 Fraoce... { 1888) Russia . | Great Britan ... | Austria Hungary | Tuly Spain United States Portugal Brazil Prine Hollund. Belglum Jap: Argontine Repub Canada.. Roumanla, Greeco. ... ... Gormun Emplre. | Swoden & Nor w'y: Mexleo......oon | Dosmark.......... | Hundreds of millions of dollars. NaTionAL DEBTS SwowinG INCREASE AnD But the real test Is the per capita cost of this debt. The weight of the burden can hest be guaged by the number which share the responsibility. The per eapita of these nattonal debtsa in some Instances s very rge. From this standpoint, however, the United States occuples am enviable rank. It we shonld add the per capita of state and local debts, together with th nortgage debt in o the annual rost Is $400,000,000, the ublic might called upon 1o change places with of the effete toltering monarchies of Burope, though dly with those new and debt-con tracting ymmunities which lead the f lowing somewhat gloomy diagram: b some OMAHA DAILY BEE anything Ifke the full value of the outlay. This seems to have been followed by more careful expenditure of municipal funds and in some large cities by a decrease of indebt- edness. State and county debts cut a small figure In our state and local finances any how, and the tendency is to reduce rather than increase. The most vital part of this problem is, therefore, municipal debt Of the $724.000,000 under consideration about $454,000,000 represents the total debt of the cities having a population of 50,000 or more. To those cities it be well to di- to may Queensland. ... South Australia New Zealand New South W Victoria. Western Austr Tasmonlo. Honduras. Portugal, “ran Netherlands. Great Britain 2y pt Tialy. i Austria Hungary... Argentine Republic. Spain Felgium Paragiaay. Bavaria A Wartemberg. Gre:ce..... Canada Haden Brazil, . Saxon Chill Russia... Servia Hawaii.. Turkey. . Coiombia. . Denmark United S Sweden Palivia Japan Guatem Norwa Mexico Nicaragu, Switzerland.. Indi T Alsace Lorraine tiol German Empire (proper) 3 At the mostt in a kind it is possible to map out the genera debt. Sincs the compilation of the figures from which the above diagram was c structed the burden has proved too great for some of the Australian colonies and South American countries. If the nations of the world have entered upon a period of cur- tailment in industrial en . of rail- road exparsion, and of debt paying or ad- justment, the next century may celebrate its birth by a decided per capita reduction in national debts. If other nations should take the cue from the United States and Spain, the world would stand six years hence appalled at a reduction of $14,500,000,000 in national debts. This is not likely while national debts are regarded as national bless- ings, that some nations certainly seem loath to part with. The individual fluctuations in the amounts of indebtedness of the elghty- three foreign countries making the aggre- , I have given above, for 1390 and 1580 1 considerable during the decade. The total Indebtedness shows an Increase of $1,134,496,332, while the decrease of the national debt of the United States during the same period was $1,030,637,260, thus making the net increase in national debts of the world only $103,939,272. Our own national debt so long as the party of the union held control literally melted away from 1886, when the burden was greatest, though at present it is in a fair way to increase. This is best shown by the subjoined statistical silhouette giving the annual interest charge per capita: popular articie of this by a few bold strokes tendencies of national One dollar—one inch. Yarn [} i8q Our national debt decrease in the per capita interest charges since the war. Nothing could be more healthful and sat- isfactory than the public debt statement for the United States in 1890. Individual in- debtedness will be discussed and illustrated in a second article, so that can be dismissed while we take up a few facts in relation to state:and local indebtedness. Here we have the two pictures clear, concise, end com- prehended in a moment. National debt cut in haif from a per capita of $38.33 to a per capita $14.24; state debt from a per capita of $5.93 to $3.66; county debt from a per capita of $2.47 to $2.32; municipal debt from $13.64 to $11.57. The only increase being in school district in- debtedness from $0.35 to $0.59 in 1890, Rela- tively to population all classes of public debt has decreased except that contracted for education. The actual increase in muni- cipal indebtedness has been small when compared with the growth of our civic popu- lation during the decade and the municipal improvements which have been completed during that period. Between 1870 and 1880 there was undoubtedly a wave of municipal extravagance which increased debt and did not secure for the communities incurring it aQ 3 s <+ OF THE . 1PAL COUNTRIES OF THE VWOoOR LD DIAGRA M Decrease o DEBT NAaTioNAL DEBT PrincipaL CouNTRIES PER OF LAPITA THE rect attention, for have borrowed conservatively the smaller debts all over this broad domain of ours and aggre- gating $270,000,000 say in round figures are not likely to give much trouble. Total debt of the United States ing fund; $750,000,000—one inch. it they scattered less sink- NATIONAL DEBT| Less Cash in° Treasury NATIONAL DEBT Less wh fu T £901,960,104. asury STATR 097 389, 2104 COUNTY _ £145,045.045 1001, Dix $17.580 MUNICIPAL 984,318,845, MUNICIPATL #724,403,000. ate and Local, €1,1 State and Local, 1,13 To what extent have our large cities in- curred debts which have been unwise or be- youd their means to pay? Have we any means of ascertaining just where the safety line lies? One of the wisest checks on local indebtedness is state constitutional limita- tions. Eighteen years ago, after an elaborate personal investigation of the budgets of many of our large municipalities, I became convineed that constitutional = limitation should be universal, and I believe every state constitution since then and some before have limited debt to a percentage of the as- sessed value of property. The factors which constitute the borrowing power of a munici- pality are: First, good faith Second, ability to pay. GOOD FAITE An old community like New England, where financial conservatism is bred in the bone, may be of itself sufficient guaranty of good faith, but in new localities made up of more ambitious and reckless men, where capital reaps great returns, the power to is- sue munieipal obligations, if unchecked, is liable to be abused and the tax payers so overburdened that repudiation resuits, and credit ruined. To check such a tendency within the last twenty-five years, constitu- tional ard legal enactments have been adopted in many of the states, with a view to fix a limit to the issues of such securitics and to create a fund from which the interest will be paid from year to year, and the prin- clpal at its maturity. Thus restricted in dts operations the several municipalities have on the whole maintained a good credit for sev- eral years and today there is not on the market the bond of any city in the United States on which interest is not promptly paid, or on which there is any doubt as to the payment of the principal at maturity, excepting, perhaps, In a very few cases, where the legality of the bonds s in litiga- tion. The good faith, therefore, municipalities issuing this class of indebted- ness stands practically unquestioned save possibly in some small “boom” towns and in a few places visited by misfortunes ABILITY TO PAY, There s, no reasonable doubt that through natural ¢ rvatism or legal con- straint the limit of the borrowing power of our municipalities is in no case exceeded to- day. The following table shows the less water bouds, the rate per $100 of the debt to the assessed. valuation and the per capita of such debt of all the cities in the United States having a population of 50,000 or wore in 1890. No account is taken in this table of the sinking fund, which, in a few cases, would considerably reduce the actual hurden of the debt, or of other bonds, which are remunerative or paid from other sources than taxation (except water bonds) which would still fur- ther reduce the amcunt in a few cases, no- ticeably in that of Cincinnati. The sinking fund is, however, generally offset by the floating debt. The table shows nesrly enough the limit which has been reached in the municipal in- dobtedness of the several cities in ques- tion. This table, I am aware, looks some- what formidable, but readers are only ex- expected to look at the facts given for t cities In whioh they are particularly in terested. It forms, however, a vital part of this article and cannot well be omilted as it is of great value for future reference. Btatement show ng the asses: valuation of municipalities in the United States hav- ing a population of 50,000 or more, the amount of their bonded debt, less water of the several bonded debt ’bondn‘ its percentage of the sssessed valu- { + ation ‘and (s per capitw in 1890: e | Bonded | Det lons| Net Watar [0 Bondy | po Tato, 40 F agpeses Mesireausre, | TS0 R Total Niw York Philadelphia Irooklyn 8t Louls Haltimore Ban Frinc inna 081511, 99074 il 01, 553110, e o i Al 211 15,07 157,950 011 18125670 105, 181,955 1 RTER 115,889,845 12005 $1.700,91 19,98, ufraln New Oriein Pittaburg Detrolt Milwaukee Newark Minneapolis Jersey Cily Loulsville Omuha ochester Pl Nashville (nton Mamphis W iimisgton Dayion ... Tooy, N.'¥ Goand Rapida Reading mden T anton Lynn Lincoln Charlesion Hartford St Joseph Fvansy /11 5 Ange s Mo 5,156, 18,175 The constitutional or legal limit to muni- cipal Indebtedness s fixed, if at all, from 3 to 15 per cent of the assessed valuation, allowancs being made generally bonds not payable from taxation and for the sink- ing fund. The average per cent of the se eral cities mentioned above was but 5.64, about one-third of what in some cases has been fix:d by law as & prudent limit. Within the past thirteen years a few cities have incurred obligations which they subsequently declared they were unable to liguidate, and rather’ than to meet the de- mand by further taxation the city govern- ments rasorted to repudiation and consequent loss of credit and financial integrity Of course there is & limit to the ability of a city to pay its debts The limit cannot be so easily determined as in the case of an individual, No one expects a property lolder to actually give up his house, his furniture end his personal belongings to satisty a municipal obligation, and the holder of such an obligation tcok it knowing that n such sacrifice to meet its payment would be made. Every city, reasonablo obligations, however, should do all that a man could expect te meot its snd if through an honest error of judgment its liabilities have become to great to be met the Ilmit must be fixed at some point, and the public must judge of its fairness. The following table shows valuation, total debt, Aebt per $100 of valuation and the basis of ad- justment of the cities mentioned defaulting since 1880 in payment of their bonds. T DEBT 1 ESS WATHR BONDS, the a pér capita and essed An sessed Valua- MUSICIPAL- Ty Pat |s100 it | iy Per | $100; Cap- val Total Elizabe(h Raliway, N. Memphis . Pensacola 0 251 89/ 85 00 135 58/ 50 00 3 i 24 108 51/ € 00 In the case of Memp*is great depression resulted from the scourge of yellow fever, and business became so prostrated that the scaling down of municipal obligations to one-hall was generally considered justifiable, though the total debt was only about one- fourth of the assessed valuation of the city. In the other cases the' Hmit was above 42 per cent, and one case above 50 per cent before financial embarrassment ensued. It must be remembered also that the amount of capltal séeking investment in this country since 1880 has been so much greater than before that period that the rate of iinterest has been reduced just about one-half. Where a rate of 6 per cent prevailed in 1880 loans can be easily put now at 3 per cent, and where 8 per nt was the ruling rate 4 s now the highest asked for. This largely increases the borrowing power of a city, doubling the principal without Increasing the annual in- terest charge. As the legal limit of 10 or 15 per cent of assessed valuation was fixed generally fifteen years or more ago it is safe to infer that with the present low interest charge {he legislators would not have deemed even 20 per cent an excessive limit, especially as even with an interest rate double of the existing one only one eity had failed to meets its obligations until above 40 per cent was reached. Again, the total municipal country, less water bonds, in 1890 was but $656,925,412. Of this amount the cities hay- ing a population of 50,000 or more had issued 453,888,978, leaving to all other places $202,036,434, against a valuation cf $17,413,712,497, or a rate per $100 of $1.15, a per capita of $3.95. More than one-half of this debt was held by places having be- tween 4,000 and 50,000 Inhabitants, leaving to small villages and agricultural sections about $75,000,000, against a valuation of $13,041,786,137, or more than one-half of (he total assessed value of the country; a rate of only &7 cents on $100 of assessed value. The existing burden of municipal debt, light as it is, seems to be borne by the large cities. In fact, throughout the south- ern states few municipalities outside of the large cities have but little, if auy, power to contract a debt, and virtually no muni- cipal debt exists In view of these facts it may be safe to say that the municipalities of the country are able to sustain a much larger indebt- edness than they are at the present moment though the safety of it does mot admit the wisdom of such a course. All this and much mora of infinite value i the conduct of local finances may be found in these ex- hausting and remarkable volumes on debt issved by the census office. ROBERT P. e EDUCATION AL 1,336,781 debt of the PORTER. The summer school of Cornell university, which closed last week, was attended by nearly 300 students, many of whom were public school teachers fitting themselves for a more intelligent prosccution of their school work. Nikolai ~ Michailoviteh' Jadrinzeff, the founder of the Siberian. university, died re- cently in St. Petersburg., He was the edi- tor of a well known weekly journal, and had explored almost every part of Siberia, writ- ing a number of bodks:upon the country He was born in 1842, The regents of the, Uniyersity of the State of New York have appointed examiners in twenty-one departments “of learning to ex- amine persons who are unable to go to e lege, and wish to pursye home study. Of the forty-two examiners, one-third are pro- fessors In Cornell upiyersity. Prof. Morris, at tha head of the chemical department of Cornell university, com- menced work as a firefian on the New York Central railroad. Hé>advanced to be en- sineer, and then mada up his mind to get an education, which he fipally accomplished, and graduated with horor at Union college Edwin D. Searles, "Wwho 'married the widow of Mark Hopkins "of*'California, has pre- sented two valuable pictures to the Hopkins Institute of Art in San, Francisco. The insti- tute is a department of the University of California, and occupies the castlelike house built by the late Mark Hopkins for his own residence. Among the methods of Instruction scarcely yet known in our country, but long estab- lished in Germany, says Dr. Rice in the Forum, is the schooi excursion. Indeed, while to the uninitiated this measure may be re- garded as no less than revolutionary. it Is nevertheloss true that excursions from two to three weeks In duration were undertaken by Salzmann with the' pupils of his school at Schoepfenthal in Thuringia, when Wash Ington was president of the United States Since the close of last century, the school excursion, in one form or another, has been growing in popularity in Germany, and today It forms a regular feature of perhaps the majority of the elementary schools of that country. DAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1891, Great Basement Sale- Read these prices and see if they can be duplicated. Goods and no meas A few pieces all wool Ingrains....... Remnants, all wool Ingrains........ 28 pieces Tapestry Brussels Carpet. Moquette Carpets, only a pair ....... in basement sold for sures taken. cash only vard yard yard . yard 2,000 Manufacturers’ Samples Mo- quette and Brussels Carpet from lengiting i I Gloth el WA VB en Vot ed i Chenille Curtains (single). Rugs, 3 to 1Y yards .28c¢c to for in $1.00 3 7] 9Ce each yard yard Chenille Curtains, plain colors........$1.80 pair Chenille Curtains, with figured dados 2.00 pair Chenille Table Covers, 114 yds square 88c each Lace Curtains (single 88c each)....... 78c pair Moquette and Body Brussels Rugs made up from last of pieces with borders. 12 ft. 10 in. by “« 11 8 8 4 8 3 « il Il gy 21.00 18.00 9.00 All sizes at same proportions of price. & Willelm Garpe r FORTY-HIVE STATE NUMBER Admission of Utah Marked by a Cessation of Factional Strife. HARMONY ~ PERVADES ALL CLASSES With the Overthrow of Folygamy Fublic Sentiment Reveals s Reunited People Proud to Belong to the Sister~ hood of States, PART I The addition of a new member to the group of American commonwealths is always an event of importance. Particularly is this true as prospective states become fewer and we approach what now seems to be the “‘ul- timate union.” The admission of Utah, the preliminary steps for which were completed in July last, commands an interest far greater than would probably attach to the creation of any other new state. The pecul- far social conditions which exist there, the almost dramatic circumstances of its early settlement, the character of its population, the friction between its majority and minor- ity—all these have not only been the mean of keeping Utah out of the union, but have given it the most prominent place among the territories and have made its questions a subject of national controversy. Outsiders are now naturally wondering as to the prob- able effect of statehood upon these peculiar conditions and long discussed problems. The signature of President Cleveland to the Utah enabling act on July 17 closed a struggle for statehood which, both in dura- tion and intensity, Is unique in American history. No territorial form of government has ever existed so long; no territory has made such numerous and persistent, yet un- successful, attempts to gain admissio and concerning none has there been such pro- longed and bitter controversy. The party contest over the annexation of Texas is pe haps the nearest parallel. Yet it was less than ten years from the time that state sep- arated from Mexico until it became a mem- ber of the union. The first secular govern- ment In Utah was organized in 1849, the ter- ritorial form being finally perfected the next year. It will require, under the provisions of the new enabling act, almost a year and a balf more before the final preliminaries of admission are completed. Thus the period of Utah's territorial life will lack but little of a half century. During this time no less than six statehood conventions have met and framed constitutions and appointed represen- tatives to urge the territory's claims for ad- mission, while in recent congresscs bills have been pending almost constantly for the same purpose. The requisites in wealth and population were long since attained. Utah has now about twice as many inhabitants as Nebraska had when admitted, more than al- most any the recently formed states now have, and more than five times the present popuiation of Nevada. A majority of its people, too, have always heartily supported these ¢ florts toward statehood. Bu' & minor- ity, small yet active, has always opposed them, and it has been aided by a strong party outside of Utah times been quite bitter, taking in the east the form of a 1cligious crusade, its advocates claiming that the admission of Utah meant the formation of a polygamous common- wealth, Yet in the last congress this oppo- sition seems suddenly to have vanished. The bill for the admission of Utah had passed both houses with hardly the formality of debate, before the general public was scarcely aware of its pendency, and this, too, the active support of all parties in the terri- tory. Gentiles and Mormons, democrats and republicans, vied with each other in this final and successful effort for statehood This sudden unanimity concerning a matter which had so long been a bone of conten tion was a curious spectacle, and to many outsiders |s perhaps yet difficult to under- stand. Indeed, one must visit Utah and mingle with its people in order to appreciate the “‘era of good eling” which has there succeeded the long period of strife, of which the unanimity for statehood is only one of the symptoms. This fact is one of the most interesting in connection with the situation This opposition has at | with | in Utah today. 1 have talked with men of various classes concerning its cause, and with those prominent in all parties, and in the main their explanations agree. The reasons advanced for the cessation of the old strug- gle may be summarized as: [irst, the for- mal renouncement of polygamy by the Mor- mon church, and, second, the readjustment of parties throughout the territory. KEach of these causes will bear separate considera- tion, and a retrospective glance is necessary in order to appreciate the force of either. THE TWIN RELIC AND ITS FATE. The existence of polygamy has, of course, always been the stock objection on the part of those outside of the territory to its ad- mission. It has alsc been one of the causes of dissension between Mormons and Gentiles. But it has not been the only one, nor, it would appear, the principal one. It the Mormon church had never taken any part in politics and if its members had not voted so nearly as a unit It is probable that we would have heard much less from Utah about polygamy. At any rate, the attempts to suppress it probably originated in the east. No such attempt was made for fifteen years after the settlement of e territory, though polygamy was generally supposed to have been practiced by the Mormons before their migration from Nau- voo. At length, in 1862, congress passed an act to prevent polygamy n the terri- torles, aimed, of course, at Utah. Little effort’ was made to enforce this law, and the practice continued without interference for twenty years more. In 1882 congress passed the Edmunds law, disfranchising polygamists and imposing severe penslties upon them, besides placing the government of tho territory largely in the hands of a commission appointed by the president. The enactment of this law marks the beginning of an epoch lasting elght years, which wit nessed the flercest conflict between Gentiles and Mormons. The government was on the side of the former, and, as every one knows, the provisions of the new law were rigorously enforced. 1% was supplemented in 1887 by munds-Tucker act, which, besides ing the provisions of the former dissolved the Mormon church as a corpora- tion and declared its property escheated. The constitutionality of this legislation was attacked by the Mormons, and the litigation carried through the courts, but generally without success, the supreme ccurt of the United States afirming the validity of the ac Measures still more drastic were pending in congress when suddenly events took a_turn. _On September 24, 1890, Pre ident Woodruff, the head of the Mormon wrch, issued a manifesto directing his people to abandon the practice of polygamy, and on the 6th of October following the mem- bership of the church assembled in confer ence and formally ratified the action of its leader. This step marks the beginning of the end of hostilities, The Mormons uni- versally and emphatically declare that the renouncement of polygamy was actual and final, and that since then the church has neither taught nor sanctioned it. 1 learned of at least one case where a preminent mem ber was disciplined severely for not observing the new order. On the part of the Gentiles there seems to be a general feeling that this action of the church was taken in g fait Zditor Goodwin of the S:lt Lake Tribune, who has for many years been the recognized leader of the anti-Mormon party in Utah, and who is qualified, if any one is, to speak for the Gentiles, assured me that he accepted the the chureh final and regarded p-lygamy as a dead sye. Similar velws were everywhere ex pressed by other non-Mormons, and whie yet hears of sccret and isolated instances of polygamy, they ar> mostly conceded be the continuance of old relations, and newly formed ore The contest cver polygamy pear to have been cl sed by of the Mormon chuch as a result of the Vigorous me:sures prisecuted by the gov- um ot Yet I think one may find traces of a desper reason for the relinquishment of the d:curine. An Inteiligent M rmon in Salt Lake, whese opp-rtunities for knowing must havo been good and who could have mo ap- parent object for misstating the facts, told mo that he thought not over 5 per cent of the members of the chureh were actually Practicing polygamy when President W manifesto wes issued. M:reover, d on all sides that the younger generation of Mormons has long been avers: to the practice, whatever may’ have be its views as to the theory. Perhaps, then the church merely anticipated what it was inevitable snd chose the period of flercest persecution as the most opportun time for a stroke of finesse. If thix Is true It s & still stronger reason for regarding the change as flual and permancnt, It gives the Ed- extend- law, also action of is not would thus ap. the surrender promise also that the remaining traces of tho twin relic which the law has fslled to reach will yet yield to the slower but less resistless force of social evolution, C. S, L. —_————— RELIGIOU Brooklyn has ninety-five religious socleties for young people. The Russian Bible society has distributed o 1,588,000 bibles among the peasants of that country in the last twenty-five years, Gen-ral Booth of the London Salvation f army will sail for New York September 10 to make a tour of the United States. Archbishop Vilatte, the head of the new Polish Catholic church, is about 40 years of age, and was for a time a clergyman of the | Episcopal church. [y Early in the approaching fall ground will be broken for the first of the buildings of the Methodist university, which at Washington. Rev. Edward Allen of claims to b: the oldest clergyman in the United Kingdom. He was born in 1798, s in vigorous health, and reads without spec cles. The latest statistics show that in Brooklym there are ninety-five young people’s societies, with a membership of about 10,000, and forty= two junior societies, numbering about 1,700 members. The Methodist Episcopal church has 202 educational institutions, with over 43,000 stu- dents, and property and endowments valued a 82,000, and an annual income of $1,» will b2 erected merset, Eng., 810,171 A Scotch minister a fe ndays ago held out as a warning to his congregation the case of an Aberdeen man who rode on his bicycle Sundays with the result that ‘“‘he broke a blood vessel Monday, went to hell Wednesday, and was buried Saturday.” One of the most noble and bold depart- ures in misslon work was the establishment of the China Inland Mission. Th:se workers in the Inland parts of China now number , and eleven of the seventeen provinces of China that have no mission stations are upied by them. Rev. W. A. Parks of Georgla always goos to camp meeting with 2n cld-fashioned army haversack which contains the bible and hymn books. The haversack is made cf black oil cloth, and is the one he carried in the war in which he says he carried his “blue beef and corn bread.” The Scciety of Mutual Helpers of Boston distributed last year 30,000 bouquets in the tenement house districts of that city, to the sick and aged. The friends in the country gather the flowers and send them to the city, where they are distributed. Sixty towns are interested in this work According to the latest statistics of the Free Church of Scotland, there Is a total membership of 344,082—an increase of 6,884 for two years. In the Sunday schools there are 222,044 3 ung people and 18,938 teachers. There are %59 theological students, of whom thirty-two have voluntcered for foreign service, According there ar to the latest census returns in New Zealand 1,197 churches and chapels, a growth of 134 in five years; 241 school houses and 161 dwellings and public buildings are used for Sabbath purpos:s, all these various edifices having accommodations for about 278,000 persons, less than half the population of the colony, and are actually at- tended by less than 200,000. Of the vario: denominations the Presbyterians report 40,755 piscopalians 37,252, Roman Wesleyans 27,106 and Salva- tionists 14,442 Mrs. Ellen Malson, wite of Elder Malson, pastor of the U. B. chruch at Galton, IIL., in speaking of Chamberlain's Pain Balm, says: ‘I can cheerfully recommend It." Applied to a cut, bruise or burn, it produces & sooth- ing, pleasant effect, relieving the pain al- most instantly and healing the parts quickly and without leaving a sear. A flannel cloth dampened with thie liniment and bound -on over the affected part will cure a sprain in less time than any other treatment. Sold by druggists. ——— The Wink Did Not Work. Puck: Green Mount—Them fellers down to New York is a pack of thieves. Cheat the eye-tooth out'n ye, they will! Jay Bird—Took ye in when you was dowm there, I guess? Green Mount—Wa-al, I should say! to a sody fountain chap an’' msked for his best sassyprilla. I winked all right—and I be goll-swizzled It he didn't give me sassy prilla! 1 went S — Oregon Kidoey Tea cures all kidew troubles. Trlal 25 cents. All drugglsts