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ELEC

in the Supreme Court for a mandamus, to compel the trustees to restore to him the privileges of the University. Mr. North's position is certainly sus talned by a late decision of the Supreme Court o Wisconsin, which declared Bible-reading in schools to be illegal under constitutional provisions similar to those of Illinois.

The Supreme Court of the United States has rendered a decision to the effect that it cannot sit in judgment over the general question of the legality of a legislative session or of the resulting laws. The case arose from the peculiar action of the Fifteenth Legislature of Idaho. The Presidents of the Territorial Council and House declared the bodies over which they respectively presided, adjourned, as required by law, after a session of sixty days. Some members of each House remained behind and, having elected new officers, proceeded to pass some seventeen Acts. The case which came before the Supreme Court was to obtain writs of mandamus compelling the Territorial Secretary and the Clerk of the House to record the adjournments of the two bodies as declared by their Presidents. The Idaho Su preme Court denied the application, and this is affirmed by the Federal Court. But a suit arising out of any of these Acts might lead the Court to inquire into the validity of the Legislature which passed them.

-That the Supreme Court of the United States is unable to do justice either to those seeking its aid or to itself, has long been an established fact. The truth is, that in former years it proved quite adequate to all demands upon it, but the multiplicity of new cases, and the rising tide of litigation threaten to swamp it entirely. It is recognized that an appeal to that body, involves a delay of years and the people are in reality denied the right of its decisions. As the patent cases alone are more than the Court could dispose of, it is necessary that a Court of Appeals should be established, to stand between the Circuit Court and the Supreme Court. This Court of Appeal would bear the brunt of the charge, and would so relieve the Supreme Court that it might see its way clear to a clean docket. And yet a bill introduced by Justice Davis in 1877 was not passed in the Senate until 1882, and has not yet been reached by the house. "The mills of the Gods-"

STATE AND MUNICIPAL

TIONS.

Woman's Suffrage won the day in the election of members to the Board of Education in Concord, N. H. The women's candidate was elected, her nearest rival being 1400 votes behind. This is the first time in the history of the Concord Board that a woman has been enrolled as a member of that body.

In the recent charter elections for cities, in Minnesota and South Dakota, the principal issue was license or no license, the latter succeeding in four out of five of the contests.

Missouri's late elections were interesting in that the Australian ballot system, used there for the first time, was approved. Dem ocrats and Republicans made about equal gains and losses, while in school issues party lines were abandoned and education came out ahead.

In Wisconsin, license and the liquor men were pretty generally successful. A modified form of the Australian ballot system was used and gave general satisfaction.

Municipal elections were held in a large number of towns in Nebraska last week. License or nolicense was the principal issue Out of twenty-seven towns heard from; twenty-one voted for license. Of this number there were many that voted for nolicense last year.

Kansas held elections in sixty cities, for councilmen and school boards. Local issues extinguished party lines, there being much interest in Woman's Suffrage. Under Kansas law women are allowed to vote for city officers and school boards. At Manhatten two years ago, they organized and captured all the offices from Mayor down to Janitor of the City Hall. Their vote this year was smaller than last, while in many cities they put up no candidate.

Rhode Island took its turn at testing the ballotreform law last week in its State elections. An unusually large vote was cast and the system seems to meet with a praise that is fairly general. The new Union party, in spite of the fact that their candidates were men of high character and widely known, proved a failure and collapsed entirely

There was no election by the people of Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, AttorneyGeneral or General Treasurer.

The elections are then thrown into the Leglisla ture which stands as follows: Necessary for a choice in the Grand Committee, 55; Republicans elected, 45; Democrats elected, 36; members to be elected, 27. The control of the State will be de cided at the second elections to be held by April 13. An advance for the Republicans is shown in the gain of Ladd, their candidate for Governor, who polled over 2,000 votes more than last year, his Democratic opponent losing about 500.

STRIKES.

The Minneapolis coopers resolved last week to declare a formal strike. About 400 men are out, and the mills are expected to shut down.

On April 1, nearly 150 journeymen lathers struck in Boston for on increase of 50 cents per day. The strike was barely two days old when 100 returned to work, their demands having been granted. A like settlement is expected by the remainder.

Seventy-five weavers out on a strike at Bridgeport, Conn., have returned for ninety days, their proposals to be considered by the proprietors of the different shops during that time. A satisfactory arrangement is anticipated.

A very busy season for plumbers in Chicago finds more than 1,000 on a strike. Forty plumbing establishments are idle in consequence. The strikers demand a uniform rate of $3.75 per day.

The carpenters of Chicago are slso meditating a strike. Large meetings are held and an eight hour day is hopefully talked of.

Sheriff Flack, of New York, against whom the Grand Jury brought such a damaging list of charges, alleging corruption in almost every branch of the office, and who has received official notice from the Governor that he would be held to show cause why he should not be removed, has voluntarily resigned. The proceedings in the divorce case of his wife were found to be so irregular, that the Sheriff was brought into Court and convicted of misusing his official power. As this offence is not ranked among those classed

as criminal, and as a criminal conviction is necessary to the removal of such an officer, it was reported that the Sheriff intended to resist removal. The thorough exposé that his office has lately received however, probably caused him to change his mind. His successor was at once appointed by the Governor, the choice falling upon General Sickles.

According to Mr. Voorhees, of Indiana, the farms of Ohio are now under mortgages amounting to $300,000,000; of Illinois to $400,000,000, 23 per cent. of the surface of this State being under mortgage. Of the State of Michigan he said that 47 per cent. was under mortgage; and that throughout Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, the land was heavily mortgaged at high interest. The figures given should be divided by two in order to represent the facts more accurately, but even then the case is sufficiently striking.

The Iowa House has found another way to interfere with the management of railroads. It has passed a bill to compel all companies in the State to make through rates with connecting roads.

Another provision of the Act copies the Interstate Commerce Law in prohibiting discrimination in favor of cities.

There is a lesson to the United States in the 6 per cent. dividend that the Cunard Steamship Company has just declared. It shows that the ocean-carrying trade between this country and Great Britain, with English ships and English sailors exists in a flourishing condition.

The Standard Oil Company has again pursued its old policy of turning its enemies to its own good-by absorption. The Lima Oil Company was last week swallowed up by its big adversary; consideration, $1,000,000.

The effects of the dock laborers' strike at Liverpool, England, are already felt here. The supply of soda-ash, upon which our glass manufacturers are dependent, comes almost wholly from England. Firms are now using the stock on hand; when this is exhausted, if the strike has not then ended, there will be nothing to do but to shut down. The vital bearing of this matter is seen in the advancement of the price of glass, which has been fully 100 per cent. in the last month.

NEW TRUSTS AND SYNDICATES. The appalling number of trusts and organizations of like ilk, has lately been largely increased. Prominent among the new comers is the Chicago Ice Trust. The crop there being 1.000 000 tons short, and the supply being practically all in the hands of the trust, an advance of the price was made to 50 per cent above last year's figures current at the beginning of April. One one-third of the ice firms and companies are said to be now out of ice. In case of a further advance in price, the outcome is simple: The trust makes huge profits, outside firms go to the wall, and the people suffer.

-A Sewer pipe Works Syndicate has just been completed. English capital is invested, and some of the largest works of the kind in this country, including two in Ohio and West Virginia, have been bought. The consideration is said to have beenabout $2.000.000.

-A Paper-Mill Syndicate has nearly been completed in New York. Four large mills are in the deal; the amount of paper they can turn out daily is estimated at 105 tons. The contracts are now making and the purchase money is in the neighborhood of $8.000.000.

-Nineteen of the twenty-two starch factories in the country have united into the National Starch company. The average price for starch during the past year has been about 2 1-2 cents per pound. The new company inaugurated its birth notifying the trade of an immediate advance from the present price of 2 1-4 cents to I 5-8 cents per pound. A further rise to over 3 cents is promised in the near future.

THE SUGAR TRUST. -The Sugar Trust apparently believes in saving as well as making money, if accounts of its deal with the Erie Dispatch Company are true. When the Pennsylvania Railway was crippled by the Johnstown flood, the Sugar Trust made special shipping arrangements with the Erie Dispatch Company. These were subsequently made lower for the Trust upon the Pensylvania Railway's again ruling the field. It is claimed that its weekly consignment of some 4 000 barrels from New York to Pittsburg has cost the trust 13 cents per barrel, the normal rate being 15 cents. This renders competition impossible to outsiders unable to get the same discount.

The affair is to be investigated and upon sufficient ground a complaint will be made to the Commission, for violation of the Inter-State Commerce law by the Erie Dispatch Company.

BADLY PAVED STREETS.

-That New York and Boston are not alone in their street pavement troubles, is shown by the following clipping from the San Francisco Chronicle.

"An example of the utterly wasteful methods which characterize the administration of the street department may be witnessed by any citizen who will take the trouble to observe what is being done with the considerable sum of money appropriated to put our thoroughfares in better order. Instead of using the funds to provide decent pavements in lieu of the wretched cobble-stone and badly worn basaltblock affairs which now disgrace the most frequent. ed part of the city, nothing is being done but to tear up and relay the cobbies and basalt blocks. In the case of the latter class of pavement the ordinance requiring blocks to be laid on a bed of concrete is absolutely disregarded by the Street Department, just as it is by private contractors in laying_pavements on unaccepted streets."-San Francisco Chronicle.

MORMON'S LEAVING UTAH,

Mr. C. S. Nichols of Salt Lake City, brings for. ward statistics which tend to show that the Mormons are departing to practice polygamy in some less law-bound region.

The Mormon vote in ten years has shown a falling off of 1350 and it is believed that fully 2000 families have left Utah within that period. The Edmund's law seems to have convinced them that polygamy's day, in Utah at least, are numbered. The Mormon's have certainly bought immense tracts of land, notably in the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, and are sup. posed to have gone thither.

PRISON-MADE BROOMS.

-It seems that the brooms turned out by the convicts in certain New York prisons are sold below market price. Members of the Broom Association say they are unable to compete with these prices, and are obliged to shut down their factories; these they have run lately on half time only. The Association claims the prison system is illegal and open to pros

ecution.

"Now I urge you, not to enact any new law, but to repeal those which in

jure you."

It has been frequently remarked that one of the principal labors of legislators

is to amend or repeal the acts of their predecessors, and yet this does not induce them to have any consideration for their successors. These men are not to be blamed so much individually, however. When we take into account the pressure put upon them by their constituents who have elected them in order that they may legislate, and the very persuasive arguments held out to them by rich corporations and compan ies, together with the bent in human. nature for saying this shall be so, and hat shall not be so, the wonder is, not that our statute books are so large, but that they are not larger.

Our whole political system in this country is most admirably calculated to prevent law makers from realizing their responsibility, and to cause them to consider almost anything in regard to a proposed measure before the effects it will be likely to produce by its working. In the first place, of course, the theory is, that they are chosen to represent the people, and "people" easily comes to stand in their minds for those who voted for them. Now if a man has been elected "on an issue," it seems obvious that his duty is to carry out the wishes of those who voted for him with regard to this issue, as far as he is able. With regard to other issues he will also endeavor to please his "constituents" rather than to determine what is really best for the country, because the first course is likely to be more profitable to him personally, and also because he is more likely to be successful in it. Manifestly it requires much less intelligence to decide whether a given measure will be popular in a certain district than to decide whether its effects will be beneficial to the country at large.

And then the system of party government comes in to make things still easier; so that there is a selection of men most subservient to popular caprice and to the demands of party. As a consequence, remembering that the possible number of bad laws far exceeds that of the good, we see that the chance against the latter is very great, even without taking into account the liklihood of corrupt legislation.

It was for a long time believed that all violations of private rights, and all interferences with personal liberty were instances of wanton tyranny on the part of rulers, and that an increase of popular power implied an increase of personal freedom; but the experience of nations under democracy has not borne out this belief. On the other hand the fears of those who advocated monarchy or aristocracy regarding "the tyranny of the majority" have not been realized; the uncultured may have not thus far proved themselves more arbitrary and capricious than the cultured few; but under the rule of neither has personal liberty been very zealously guarded. Tolerance-tolerance of actions, at any rate is a virtue which has not yet become general; the number of people who are really convinced that it is better to permit what they believe to be wrong than to interfere with personal liberty, is very small indeed. This, however, is the question to be decided. If it is decided in one way, there will be no personal liberty left at all, since in the opinions of most men there is a right and a wrong to almost everything. Everyone would admit that the Big-endian and Little-endian controversy described by Swift was an absurd dispute, and that it would not be expedient for