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PI , .1 - •' v-jteji- » i f ? f ' ; •••, jbsjawi' -_' ;j?r >----K-1 •.,-. '«> c' ^[i: , - .AROUND A BIG STATE TRADE GIFTS. THE STATE CAPITAL! • i WHAT ILLINOIS' LEGISLATURE! IS DOING. An Impartial Record of the Work: Accomplished by Those Who Malm r Our Laws--How the Time Has Been. Occupied During the Past Wefek* BRIEF COMPILATION OF ILLI -Oinic ucu/e QUANTITIES OF OUR FARM PRODUCTS GIVEN AWAY. liss Bracken's Gift to Illinois--Trag­ edy Costs One X<ife at Freeport- Canal Commissioners' Decline to Set' tie--Ravages of the Hession Fly. Bow the Gorman Tariff Worka in Beaching Those Markets of the World-$l35,000,000 Loss in Nine Months. The Democratic Policy. While it has always been claimed by the friends of Free-Trade that their policy wou,ld open the markets of the world to American products and manu­ factures, they have never shown the extent of the free gift distribution that has to be made in reaching those markets. The Gorman tariff had been in force seven months on March 31, 1S95, and in that time our exports of cotton were as follows, compared with the corresponding seven months a year earlier: • . " EXPORTS OF COTTON. 7 mos to. Pounds. Value. March 31, >95.2,924,315,673 $166,873,2S0 March 31. '94.2,230.426,409 176,223,789 Increase, 1S95. 693,S89,264 *9,350,509 * Decrease. „ . / , In reaching the markets of the world we have sold 694.000,000 pounds more of. cotton than we did a year earlier, but we have received $9,350,000 less money for the larger quantity than was paid us for the smaller quanti­ ty shipped a year earlier. It practical­ ly cost us this $9,350,000 to make free gifts to foreign manufacturing coun­ tries of 694,000,000 pounds of cotton. Let us now look at other farm prod* ucts and see if the producers of bacon and lard, for instance, have fared any better than the cotton growers, our exports of these two commodities for oine months ending March 31, 1894 and 1895 comparing as follows: EXPORTS OF BACON. 9 mos. to Pounds Value. March 31, '95.. .348,385.664 $29,053,333 March 31, '94.. .311,733,130 29.610.798 Increase, '95... 36,652,534 *557,465 EXPORTS OF LARD. 9 mos. to Pounds Value. March 31, '95.. . 363,153,997 $28,420,889 March 31, '94.. .317,147,119 29,819,10(5 Increase, '95. ... 46,006,S78 *1,39S,217 •Decrease. It seems that under the Gorman tar­ iff we sold 36,652,534 pounds more of American bacon in the markets of the world than we did a year earlier, but we received $557,465 less money for (he larger quantity than was paid vrs for the smaller quantity that we shipped abroad a year earlier. In oth­ er words, we have paid out this $557,- 465 for the privilege of making free gifts of 36,653,000 pounds of American bacon to the consumers in the mar­ kets of the world. No wonder they are so eagerly waiting to take our products from us. The figures of our exports of lard show that we have sold over 46,000,000 pounds more of American lard under the Gorman tariff period than we did during the corresponding mouths a year earlier, but we received $1,398,- 217 less money for the larger quanti­ ty that we sold than was paid us for the smaller quantity. In other words, it has cost us this $1,398,217 to present free gifts of 46,000,000 pounds of lard to foreign consumers, who are anxious­ ly awaiting to use our lard in those markets of the world that the Gorman tariff has opened. Summarizing these results, under tariff reform or free-trade, of letting ourselves out into the markets of the world during the few months of the Gorman tariff, we find that the Ameri­ can farmers have made free gifts of nearly 694,000,000 pounds of cotton, of 36,653,000 pounds of bacon and of 46,- 000,000 pounds of lard to the manufac­ turers and consumers of the world, and that it cost us $11,300,000 hard cash to distribute these free gifts. The free gift scheme is generally worked on the understanding, and with the expectation, that subsequent trade results will be beneficial to the giver, compensating him in the long run for the gifts that he has given away. In the distribution from our national gift counter no compensating profits seem yet to have been realized. Possibly the free gift scheme was not advertised enough during the 1892 and 1S94 election campaigns. We do not recollect having seen any notices there­ of. It was a serious oversight and one that should be remedied as speed­ ily as possible and explained away by free-trade and tariff reform orators. The Cleveland-Carlisle-Gorman-Wil­ son free gift counter, while proving a satisfactory grab-bag to the markets of the world, has only served to deplete the treasury till. The American peo­ ple,/,and the American farmers espe­ cially, will not forget that free-trade means free gifts. It was a glorious opening day when we let ourselves out with our free gifts. The markets of the world have been struggling to reach our free gift counter. How long can we afford supb a distribution? What are we getting in return for it? Countries that Benefits The Department of State Has, through its Bureau of Statistics, been recently publishing statements of the exports of foreign countries to the United States. This work is being continued and a summary from advance sheets of the exports of twenty-three countries, for the three months ending December 31, 1S94, is given below: ^ For three months ending Dec. 31. Increase or -< From 1894. 185)3. decreaBe, Algeria .. $62,569 $4,456 x $58,113 Hungary 1,968,770 2,242,541- 273,771 Belgium . 2,652,300 3,331,847-- 679,547 Canada .. 1,366,430 860,172 x 506,358 Ceylon... v 249,825... 47,342 x 202,483 Dani6h\V. V y Indies.. 10,370 V Denmark . 105,331 43,164 x 62,167 Dutch W. Indies... 40,656 14,676 x 25,980 France .. 16,310,263 10,836,945 x 5,473,318 German v. 8,774,070 5,520,986 x 3,253,084 Greece . .. 135,273 310,757-- 175,484 Honduras 310,262 Italv 5.335,260 3,548,922 x 1,786,338 Mexico .. 9,685,043 3,760,658 x 5,924,385 1 lands... 4,716,566 2,657,073 x 2,059,493 New Zea­ land 444,537 Russia... 1,373,645 931,147 x 442,498 Spain 1,284,998 1,283,488 x . \l,s>10 Sweden & - Norway. 884,121 732,946 x lol,17.) Switz'lTd 4.431,015 3,373,039 x 1,057,9(6 Turkey .. 1,453,065 1,484,761- . 31,697 'The Unit-' „ . ed King- > dom . .. 33,591,893 27,235,853 x 6,356,040 Cuba .... 3,319,592 - - • ' ^ xr 27,360,917 -Totals.$98,505,954 $68,220,773- 1.160,499 --- Net-increase. v .• $26,200,418 This table lias been especially com­ piled from forty-eight printed pages of statistics that give the exports of differ* i«nt articles in-detail from the different Doings of State Dads. ---- T Tt^re was a brisk fight over the Chicago ;§wp school teachers' pension bill In the House Friday morning, but itrwas finally advanc- ed to.third reading. The chances for tha bill to become ,a law are now considered very good. Col. Merriam called the bill up out of its order. Efforts-^ kmend and to strike out the enacting clause Wre voted down. The opposition came pn&L eipally from Cook County members. The Senate did no business. The child-Jabor bill was ordered report­ ed out by the Senate Appropriations Com­ mittee Tuesday afternoon. Senator! Mc- Cloud and other supporters agreed to cut « out all the provisions except the vital one . prohibiting the employment of children under 14 years of age and another forbid­ ding the empioymeent of children under * ' 16 years of age at any work dangerous to Ijfe, health or morals. The Appropria­ tions Committee approved all this except the age limit, which was made.12 instead of 14 years: The law now forbids the : employment of children under 14-in. fac­ tories and workshops, but the purpose of .the present bill is to extend the application of the provision to stores and other estab­ lishments employing children. It is said the Governor would veto any bill attempt­ ing to make the age limit less When the bill is reported to the Senate, however, Senator McCloud will attempt to secure an amendment changing the age limit back to 14 years. Senator Littler's amendment to the anti-trust law allow- / * ' ing combinations by companies whose cost of production consists mostly of wages was killed in the Senate. The vote was 26 to 6. In the house Mr. Lowenthal in­ troduced a jjpll which is identical with the ' Miller gas frontage bill vetoed by the m Governor, except that it makes the unit for which a majority of signatures must be secured before franchises are granted a mile instead of a block. Buried in the Judiciary Committee is Wallick's bill to remove the $5,000 death limit. Mr. Ber­ ry's bill creating the Illinois Farmers' In­ stitute was passed. The Cook County _ • civil service bill was reported out favorav bly by the House Committee on Civil , '• Service. The House passed bills appro-, priating for the reformatory at Pontiac for fche next two years $316,500; for the southern hospital for the insane, $273,- 400. Mr. McCarthy presented a resolu­ tion granting the use of representative hall for the monetary convention, which meets June 5. The resolution was adopt- II.I.IN'OIS WELCOMING THE NATIONS. dome. The artist is Miss Julia M. Brack- fen, of Chicago, who was present and was introduced to the assemblage. The statue iis of bronze, representing the figure of a .woman with arms extended in a welcom­ ing attitude. It occupied a prominent place in the Illinois building and has been viewed and admired by a majority of the people of the State. The base is of Ten­ nessee marble, engraved upon which is an outline of the history of the board's work. ' Fatal Shooting at Freeport. Sunday afternoon Frank W. Harris, a saloonkeeper of Freeport, shot Charles Bengle, inflicting wounds which will prove fatal. The two men had trouble over a woman, and Harris meeting Bengle on the street, opened fire. After the shooting jHarris went to the county jail and gave himself up. Harris is 37 years old, and his father-in-law, John Billerbeck, is one of the wealthiest men in Freeport. Har­ ris is an old-time professional ball player. iHe played third base in the Pittsburg league team, and while with the Rockford nine three years ago he quit the diamond to engage in the saloon business. His victim is 32 years old and w^s employed at the Burdett organ factory. Both are married men. ' Owners Want a Big Price. A condemnation case now on trial in the Will County Circuit Court comes from Du Page County on a change of venue and involves about 100 acres wanted for the, Chicago drainage canal. On the first 4'triaK"tiie owners of the land, who are wealthy men, were awarded $150 per acre for their land. The drainage commis­ sioners deposited the money subject to the order of the owners. It is now claimed by the latter that valuable stone quarries have been developed by digging through the land: that the stone has been used by the drainage contractors, and that, in­ stead of being worth only $150 per acre, $1,500 would be a very small price to pay for such valuable property. Ruinous to Crops. The Hessian fly is devastating the wheat in Cumberland and adjoining coun­ ties. The cut worm and chinch bug are also at work, but the damage done bp them is small compared with the havoc of the Hessian fly. During the past week some fields were rendered a total loss, the istock being sapless and dry as stubble and •have been plowed under and planted in corn. The fly and dry weather have ruin- od over 50 per cent of the wheat of Mont­ gomery County. Farmers in the south­ ern part of the county are plowing most of the wheat under and planting corn on Ithe land. State News in Brief. Joseph Ross, a prominent farmer living between Prairie City and Avon, has mys­ teriously disappeared. It is thought his mind is affected. He is a son of Gen. L. 'N. Ross, of Lewiston. Henry Chapman, 45 years of age, and a resident of Rockford, was instantly killed •at Farmdale, a small Tillage near Peoria. :He was repairing a steam shovel, when ;the shovel dropped on him. I A few years ago there were 100,000 jliorses in the street car service in Chicago. |An examination of the various barns by ihealth inspectors recently shows only 6,000 of this number remaining. i The suit of the Carlyle creditors of the defunct Ramsay Bank against the Chi­ cago bondsmen of Ramsay was continued luntil the June term of the Circuit Court. The compromise between Seiter, the ex- banker of Lebanon, and the Ramsay bondsmen is about to be effected. The •ease may be discontinued. Verdicts of guilty were returned in the jCircuit Court at Peoria against Henry iKassens, Frank Smith and Jacob Pitt, and their punishment was fixed at five years, two years and six months and two years, respectively. They were convicted of robbing Peter Bickerdt's tailor shop and stealing $300 worth of cloths. Jonas Weiss, who acted as the>4'«H ami Harry Pierce, a local hackman" who did the hauling, will be tried during the term. A Vandalia report says: Congressman Remann's condition is somewhat improv­ ed. He rests better and has taken an in­ creased amount of nourishment. Dr. 'Hughes, of St. Louis, the attending phy­ sician, now has hopes of Mr. Remann's ul­ timate recovery. The arrest of F. G. Arnold, of Chi­ cago, a few days since for advertising as a rich heiress who wanted a husband has brought to light the queer actions of one of the leading hotel keepers of Marshall. He is a widower and had been correspond­ ing with Miss Jennie May Lamont. He ;is out $60 in cash and a diamond ring. At Perkins Grove, Miss Kate Ivopp committed suicide by holding her forehead against the muzzle of a 22-caliber target 'rifle and sending a ball through her head. She was 20 years of age and popular in ^society. Ill-health is supposed to be the cause. At Decatur, Offi macher and Andei force, arrested Frap merly lived in Dec| time beesi making] (Chicago. Watches jewelry that had sj Avere recovered. T Goodman, who claij the goods from pawl The House resolution naming June 14 for final adjournment was concurred in by the. Senate Wednesday. Most of the time Jnat the Senate was in session was dev<>mi to the reading of theLittler reve­ nue bill. In the House the Senate bill for the benefit of the Chicago sanitary district was passed. The bill authorizes the levy of a tax of 1% per cent during the next three years on the value of the taxable property within the drainage district. The present levy is one-half of 1 per cent. The Lowenthal substitute for the Miller gas monopoly bill was advanced to third read­ ing. The Bogardus train robbing bill was amended and advanced to third read­ ing. The amendments adopted prescribe the punishment for offenses committed on a railroad train which are clearly the re­ sult of an attempt to rob the train. By the terms of the bill train robbing is made a capital offense. Mr. Needles' butterine bill passed. The bill will)compel every small boarding house whi^li uses butter­ ine to have posted in a conspicuous place in the dining room a placard stating that a substitute fo: butter is used in that boarding house. The House passed a bill entitled an act to prevent blindness. It makes it the duty of every person having 3harge of an infant to report to the regu­ lar physician any redness or inflammation Which may be observed in the eyes of the nfant. Another bill passed was -that amending the election laws. The bill pro­ vides that where there is a "contest among candidates claiming to be the nominees of the same political party, the contest, if for State offices, shall be decided by the State Central Committee, and if for county of­ fices, by the county central committee of the party to which the contestant candi­ dates belong. Under the law as it is at present these contests are decided by the Secretary of State, the Auditor and Attor­ ney General. The Lowenthal gas bill passed the House Thursday, was sent to the Senate, tliere read the first timeand referred to committee. The special committee ap- pofated to investigate chafges'against the bridge companies of East St. Louis de­ clares that State and national laws ar£- being violated and asks that the Attor-' ney General of the State be requested to proceed against the bridge companies; also that he ask the Attorney General of the United States to proceed in the mat­ ter. In the House the revenue bill was passed, deprived of its vital features as originally introduced. The child labor bill was amended, providing that nothing in the law shall interfere with the right of the parent or guardian to regulate the employment of his child. This virtually nullifies the essential features of the bill. The Jones libel bill, passed by the House some time ago, was favorably recom­ mended by the Senate Judiciary Commit­ tee. Senator Evans introduced a bill in relation to a portion of the submerged lands lying on and adjacent to the shores of Lake Michigan on the eastern frontage of the city of Chicago. The bill provides that "all right, title and interest of the State to the lands be set apart and dedi­ cated for the benefit of that part of the National Guard of the State and their successors as may from time to time be stationed in Cook County." What One Woman Says. I read many things in the papers of to-day; do I believe them all? Let us see. I read from one authority that coffee and a fine complexion are never in company. Then I think of my dear mother, dead of an accident at 53, with a complexion to the last day of her life that a girl of 16 might envy; aud I recall, too, that all the days that I knew her--and I was 20 when she left me--coffee was her constant solace, the moruing cup her only breakfast I read,, too, that gray hair is a disease promoted by indigestion. Then I think of my grandmother, hereditarily gray at 35. Dyspepsia, headache, indi­ gestion, were unknown to her; yet for sixty years her hair was white. I read that potatoes, if eaten, add to one's flesh; and vice versa; then I think of my plump friend and schoolmate, who never tasted the tubers, and my slen­ der self, who have consumed them daily and generously. The papers tell me, too, that water at meals is un­ wholesome, and the vision of a great- uncle, who habitually drained his four goblets at every meal of his adult life, appears; lie was hale at 70, but dead, alas! at 71--from a fall from his horse. Yes, I read many things in many prints, but I do not believe them all. $135,000 Loss in Nine Months. The latest statement of our imports and exports cover the nine months ending March 31, 1S94 and 1S95, as fol­ lows: NINE MONTHS ENDING MARCH 31. 1S94. 1S95. Domestic exp. .$692,344,598 $612,678,284 Foreign imp. .. 480,870,487 535,525,930 Excess of exp.$211,474,111 $77,152,354 During the earlier period to March 31, 1894, our excess of exports over im­ ports was $211,474,111. A year later, however, for the nine months ending March 31, 1895, our excess of exports over imports was only- $77,152,354. Since the Gorman tariff went into ef­ fect the value of our excess of exports to foreign countries lias decreased by $134,320,000 in nine months. How this Is divided can better be seen by the following figures: EXPORTS FOR NINE MONTHS ENDING March 31. Value. 1894 $692,344,598 1895 612,678,284 Decrease $79,666,314 IMPORTS FOR NINE MONTHS ENDING March 31. Value. 1895 $535,525,930 1894 480,870,487 Increase. $54,655,443 During the nine months of the cur­ rent. fiscal year the decrease in our ex­ ports was nearly eighty millions of dollars. During the same period the increase in our imports was nearly fif- ty-five millions of dollars, making a to­ tal of more than one hundred and thir­ ty-four millions of dollars in unfavora­ ble trade to us through , the smaller amount of money received for our own goods and the larger amount of money that we must pay for foreign goods. The Tide Turned. British foreign trade increasing? Of course it is. And American foreign trade shrinking? Of course, also. What was the Gorman-Wilson tariff for, any­ way? In this connection it may be re­ marked that under the "odious" Mc- Kinley act the relative drift of things In the two countries was exactly oppo­ site.--Boston Journal. '>«.« < *• , A Transfer of Taxation. The present administration has trans­ ferred the burden of taxation from Im­ ported goods of foreign countries to the incomes, the investments and the property of our own people.--Gov. Win. McKinley.' . " Education is a debt due from the pres­ ent to future generations.--George Pea- body; That Dollar Wheat. No Check, No Wash. What boy or girl understands what is written on a Chinese laundry ticket? The Celestials have a system of their own. It is based on the many Rods and goddesses of the laundry. Although the system is very complicated, seldom does a Chinese laundryman deliver a > package of washing to the wrong per- son. ' •* If the ticket is lost the chances are that you will not get your linen, unless. you be a particular friend of the pro­ prietor. The Chinese laundryman at the be­ ginning of each week makes out a batch of checks in duplicate, to be used as wash tickets. He selects the name of some god or goddess or of some ob- V^N- ject, as the sun, the moon or the stars. To this name he puts a number, as "Moon No. 1," "Moon No. 2," and so on. In the space between the two writings he has his own name, as, for instance* "Wah Lee.", '> . •, ' ,\v n '»-» When a customer takes a bundle of washing to the laundry the Chinese. first tearing aticket in two in a ragged fashion, puts one-half on the packet for reference, the other half he gives a« A receipt to the person who has brought the package of laundry. turke, Sud- he Chicago in, who for- as for some luarters in i and other itly stolen, e'en sold by t bought a 11^ i Chicago.