be defective and full of blowholes any more than if the armor plate was 10 or 20 or 30 or 40 inches thick. There is armor on it 10 inches thick.

In a like manner, Senator Allen, of Nebraska, on April 20, delivered a speech headed: "Republican party and sinister financial influence opposed to Cuban recognition," the burden of which was that the Republican Congressmen were in league with the money power in trying to check the patriotic impulse of the country to make the Cubans a free people. He was challenged by Senator Gallinger to name some of the corruptionists, but Senator Allen quibbled out of the embarrassing situation, as shown by the following extract from the Congressional Record:

Mr. ALLEN. We know that constituents exercise a powerful influence on the course of Senators and Representatives from the money States. When rightfully exercised, it is proper. I am not disclosing a political secret that the humblest citizen does not know when I say the financial and business interests of a constituency are consulted and have a powerful influence in those sections where money controls.

I say that so far as evidence goes, that so far as you can deduce a conclusion from the existence of a fact or a group of facts, this influence has been in Congress and it is now here. The world ought to know, as we do, that the agents of this syndicate have been in this Capitol and are here to-day. And what are they here for? Not for their health, evidently, and not through patriotic motives. They are here to shape the course of legislation as far as that can be done from the outside.

Mr. GALLINGER. Would the Senator name one of these men? I have not seen them.

Mr. ALLEN. Now, that is an old dodge to ask, "Will the Senator name someone?" It has become a chestnut.

Mr. GALLINGER. But as a matter of fact

Mr. ALLEN. The Senator will name to a committee someone, if it is necessary.

Mr. GALLINGER. I think the Senator ought to name them here. Mr. ALLEN. I do not think so.

Mr. GALLINGER. If those men are around here trying to corrupt Congress I think we ought to know who they are.

Mr. ALLEN. I do not think so.

Mr. GALLINGER. None of them have approached me. Probably I am not of sufficient account.

Mr. ALLEN. They have not approached me, I am glad to say, but I see them. It is not necessary that a crow should approach me that I should know that it is a crow. When it flies over we can see it, and sometimes it gets in such close proximity that we can smell it.

Mr. GALLINGER. But the Senator would not hesitate to say it was a crow?

Mr. ALLEN. But I would not want to say it was Jim Crow, or any other particular crow.

Mr. GALLINGER. I think that is as near as the Senator is to it. He does not know whether it is Jim Crow or any other kind of crow.

be defective and full of blowhole any more How # He m plate was 10 or 20 or 30 or 40 inches turk ***#*# 10 inches thick.

In a like manner, Senator Allen, H MAYA livered a speech houden "aperta party will b infrence syyn w GAY *** WOME

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Representative Kelley, of South Dakota, in a speech on the warrevenue bill, attacked the Supreme Court for deciding the incometax law unconstitutional. The following extract from the Congressional Record of May 4, containing the speech, illustrates still further the utter irresponsibility of the Populists in making charges of corruption:

That such a law is perfectly constitutional nobody doubts who has any respect for the decisions of the Supreme Court during the century now nearing its close, notwithstanding the recent decision of the Court, which every one knows, whether the Court be above reproach or not, was attempted to be packed in the interest of plutocracy.

Mr. EVANS. I read in the Record of the 27th instant, on page 4757, remarks made by the gentleman from South Dakota (Mr. Knowles) upon this floor, in which, speaking of the judges of that court, he used this language:

"The probate court which recently settled the estate of a deceased member of the Supreme Court found members of his family loaded down with Bell telephone stock, which had been made valuable by a decision of that court."

Without alluding to the other most remarkable charges made by the gentleman at the same time, I think it is due to the country, I think it is due to this House, that any member of this body who makes such a charge as that should stand upon his feet and say what judge it was. I ask the gentleman from South Dakota the name of the judge of that Court whose family was loaded down with Bell telephone stock.

Mr. KELLEY. Does the gentleman deny it?

Mr. EVANS. I do; and I call upon the gentleman to name the judge.

Mr. KELLEY. It would not be parliamentary.

Mr. EVANS. It would be parliamentary, especially as the judge is not now on the bench, but is dead.

But Mr. Kelley shifted the responsibility on his colleague and went on with his speech undisturbed.

WHAT POPULISM STANDS FOR.

"Socialism is the soul of Populism," declares an editorial in the Independence (Kansas) Populist, a newspaper edited by a man who openly and avowedly believes in communism to its utmost extreme and who also serves the Populist party as a member of the Kansas State senate. This editor was addressing himself to the handful of impatient socialists who recently held a State convention at Fort Scott and resolved to run a ticket of their own because the Populist State convention had not declared in favor of the full limit of socialistic demands, and he assured them that in due time the Populist party would be with them heart and soul. We quote again: "The magnificent platform adopted by the Populists at Topeka is

going to be a landmark for all coming time. It demands as many steps and as long steps toward socialism as any reasonable socialist could ask. Unless our party is headed in the socialistic direction, it means nothing and promises nothing to the victims of monopoly and capitalism. That the Populists of Kansas understand this and are, year by year, advancing to higher positions and planting their standards nearer to the citadel is evident to every honest man. Should the party go backward instead of forward it would be time enough for the socialists to desert its ranks and set up new standards. But with the whole victorious army of Populism going our way, the socialist who deserts Populism in Kansas to-day is either a fool or a knave."

PUERTO RICO.

Exports and Imports, and Our Trade with Spain's Former Colony. During the calendar year 1896 the foreign trade of Puerto Rico, according to the official returns compiled by the colonial administration of the island, attained a total value of $36,624,120, exceeding all previous records. Compared with the value for 1887, the opening year of the decade, which amounted to $21,237,601, these figures show a gain of more than $15,000,000 during the ten years. In the five-year period 1892-1896, the total imports and exports had an average annual value of $33,870,535, as against $24,961,217 in the preceding five-year period, 1887-1891.

Following is a summary statement of the imports and exports of Puerto Rico during each calendar year from 1887 to 1896, inclusive. The original values in pesos, as published in the official returns of trade issued by the Puerto Rican customs authorities, are accompanied by their nominal equivalent in United States dollars. The figures are as follows: