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No. 22.

Thursday, October 16, 1890.

Published weekly by J. MORRISON-FULLER, at 3 Somerset Street, Boston, Mass.

SUBSCRIPTION, $1.00 PER YEAR. POLITICS; EVENTS; COMMENTS; LITERA TURE; (BOOKS, REVIEWS, ETC.)

IN MEDIAS RES

NATIONAL.

A board to examine mercantile and other vessels arriving at Boston has lately been selected at Washington. The board will inspect vessels, to ascertain how many ships could be used in time of war. A similar board exists at New York. The information gathered will be stored in the naval intelligence office.

An effort is to be made before Congress to increase the working force of the Interstate Commerce Commission by the appointment of deputy commisioners. The commissioners complain that they are overworked, and that, being compelled to pass upon every complaint submitted, no matter how trivial, these complaints are piling up, until the decisions are many months behind. The commissioners say that it is impossible to make a complaint in an emergency and get a decision until after the necessity for prompt action has passed.

In a circular addressed to postmasters by Assistant Attorney-General Tyner, the term "lottery," used in the new anti-lottery law, is held to embrace "all kinds of schemes, general and local, for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance, such as gift exhibitions, enterprises, concerts, raffles, or the drawing of prizes in money or property at fairs." Hence letters, postal-cards, circulars, newspapers, and other publications containing advertisements of them are unmailable. Foreign papers, pamphlets, and publications containing advertisements of lotteries are to be treated as if they were published in the United States.

Price 5 Cents.

The entire weekly edition of the Atlanta (Ga.) Constitution issued on Oct. 9 has been seized by the postal authorities under the lottery law. The objectionable feature consisted in an announcement that the paper would distribute prizes in its Christmas box. This Christmas drawing of prizes has been a feature connected with the paper for years.

Correspondence has been discovered by the New York World which fully establishes the fact that the Republican politicians have been interested in a scheme for promoting the migration of negro voters to doubtful States in the North. It was proposed to take eight or ten thousand negroes to Indiana, three or four thousand to West Virginia, and two or three thousand to Connecticut. The plan was to take them there in time to enable them to acquire the right to vote at the election of 1892. No attempt to discredit the story has been made. J. N. Huston, treasurer of the United States, Senator Quay, and other prominent Republican managers are interested in the scheme.

During the session the roll was called 462 times. It takes, on the average, twenty-four minutes to call the roll, so that 11,088 minutes were thus occupied. This was 184 hours. The average length of the daily sessions of the House was five hours, and, therefore, no less than thirty-six and four-fifths days of the session was spent in simply calling the roll of the Representatives. It is almost impossible to get at the exact cost to the people of the House of Representatives, but it is estimated at $6,500 a day, on the basis of its present membership. It has, therefore, cost for roll-calls alone during the session ending yesterday the very tidy sum of $239,200. It will probably appear to the average taxpayer that it is a pretty expensive thing to record the votes of the members of the House of Representatives.

Washington Cor. New York Times.

Owing to the increased duty of 40 per cent on English coal imported into the Black Sea, all English vessels (except those bringing a general cargo) now arriving in the Odessa port come in water ballast instead of bringing coal. A coal famine is expected by the Russians similar to that of 1887.

A law recently passed in Denmark provides that all drunken persons shall be taken home in carriages at the expense of the dealer who sold the last glass.

In the political contest now going on in Louisiana over the extension of the charter of the State Lottery Company, a political organization known as the Progressive League, taking the view that the offer of the company to give $1,250,000 a year to the State should be accepted, has sent out a number of pamphlets in support of its position, giving the views of Washington and Jefferson on lotteries, and containing fac-similes of the tickets of the Mountain Road Lottery, conducted by Washington, and the United States Lottery, chartered by the Continental Congress in 1776. All these pamphlets were seized at the post-office, on the ground that they violated the new anti-lottery law, inasmuch as they contained advertisements of the lotteries of 1768 and 1776.

IN GENERAL.

Collector Erhardt, in his official capacity, welcomed, on behalf of the United States Government, the Comte de Paris, king of France by "divine right," when he arrived in New York City. Some newspapers have protested against this recognition of a pretender and exile by the Republican Government of this country.

The Railway Age says that in the first nine months of 1890, 3,782 miles of new road have been built in 39 States. It estimates that the total construction of the year will be from 6,000 to 6,500 miles.

At the general conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, on Oct. 6th, the declaration of President Woodruff forbidding in the future marriages in violation of the law of the land was read and unanimously accepted as binding.

The Constantinople authorities having become convinced that a conspiracy is on foot against the government, and that the mails are used for the furtherance of the plot, have ordered the entire suspension of the local postal service.

The Brazilian elections have resulted in a complete triumph of the government. All the official candidates have been elected.

The Brazilian government has favorably received France's proposal for a copyright treaty.

The Irish leaders Dillon and O'Brien have eluded the police, and, it is believed, are now on the way to this country. The r escape has excited great enthusiasm among their sympathizers in England and Ireland, but many believe the step to be an ill-advised one. The Irish National League will support them in this action.

A French judge has set aside a verdict and ordered a new trial, because one of the jurors was asleep when some of the testimony was given. The London Law calls attention to the fact that, in both English and American courts, if the judge sleeps while the counsel are arguing, etiquette requires that they continue their arguments, and assume that the judge listens with his eyes closed.

The Dominion Government has decided to expend $250,000 in promoting emigration from Europe. A scheme has been submitted for diverting the German emigration to Canada.

STATE AND MUNICIPAL.

The New York Evening Post, canvassing the Tammany Hall General Committee, finds its actual membership, 4,567: number allowed to vote, 2,567; rumsellers, 654; criminal rumsellers, 565; not in the city directory, 1,266; no occupation, 147.

The new ballot law of New York allows those voters who are "physically disabled" from performing the act of selecting and folding their ballots to take their friends into the booth to do it for them. The Tammany politicians, who depend largely on illiterate voters, claim that inability to read and write is "physical disability," in the eye of the law, and that illiterate voters are entitled to bring their friends to advise them.

The Indiana Supreme Court has decided that carrying persons to and from picnic parties on Sunday is not a work of necessity or charity, and is therefore illegal. An effort is to be made to indict the Indianapolis street-car companies and owners of other vehicles who take large numbers of people to suburban places every Sunday.

It is reported that Chinese gamblers in New York are taxed $1,000 a week for police protection.

Gov. Campbell, of Ohio, has called an extra session of the Legislature to consider legislation relative to the city government of Cincinnati. The governor has proof of the corruption of the Board of Public Improvements, but as he is powerless to remove any of his appointees, he will ask the Legislature to remove the corrupt officials.

The Montpelier correspondent of the Springfield Republican, writing about the Vermont Legislature, says:

The amusing thing about the session thus far is the position in which the two Houses stand regarding the resolution to furnish newspapers to members at the State's expense. There has been much unfavorable comment on this longtime practice, and some expectations were entertained that it would not be conti .ued. But no sooner had the Senate organized when Senator Child, of Addison County, offered the usual resolution, which provided that the secretary furnish each member of the Senate two dailies and one weekly during the session. The resolution was promptly adopted. The House was hardly as bold. A resolution to provide each member with two dailies was amended by adding the words, "free of expense to the State." The amended resolution was laid on the table, and no one has yet dared to call it up. The members would like to have free papers, but they are afraid the time for action has gone by.

The question was finally settled by ordering one daily for each member, instead of two dailies and one weekly, as in the Senate.

One of the sections of the new registration law passed by the last Maryland Legislature provides, in effect, that no man can vote who is absent from the State a day during the six months preceding an election. This disfranchises every man who has been absent from the State on business or pleasure since the 1st of May. There is some talk of declaring this provision unconstitutional, but nothing has yet been done.

The mayor of Rochester (N. Y.) gave orders to the police to seize all theatrical posters of an immoral character. The pictorial advertisements of all the theatres of the city were seized under this order.

The Minnesota Supreme Court has decided that upper berths in sleeping cars running through that State must remain closed when not occupied.

The Connecticut Supreme Court has decided, under the new secret ballot law, the locally

famous contested election case of Tolcott (Democrat) v. Philbrick (Republican), for the position of alderman in the seventh ward of Hartford. The Court seats Tolcott, and unseats Philbrick, who owed his election to several ballots headed "Citizen's Ticket," which were prepared by the Republican Town Committee. The Court finds that there was no Citizen's party, and that the tickets are void. The law requires that the ballot have the name of the party issuing it.

New Jersey politicians are trying to find a way to evade the new ballot law, which was intended as a safeguard against bribery. An old dodge will probably be revived, the plan to have the purchased voter make a peculiar curve or mark at the end of the pencil mark where a name is scratched. When the count is made the party watchers look after these tickets.

INDUSTRIAL MATTERS.

The British press has been supplied with the following official report of the recent meeting of the ship-owners:

"One of the most important and influential meetings of British ship-owners- including many of the passenger lines, and practically the whole of the carrying cargo trade, both steam and sailing ships, and representing upwards of £100,000,000 capital- - was held this afternoon. Resolutions were unanimously passed to form a federation of the entire trade of the British Empire, for the purpose of dealing with labor questions in all parts of the world, and particularly to resist, in a united manner, tyrannous or unreasonable demands or actions of Trades Unions or their members; the protection of officers, crews, or servants of ship-owners against the compulsion or intimidation of trade organizations; the indemnification of members making sacrifices for the common good, and the supervision or promotion of legislation affecting shipping interests. The scheme includes a thoroughly representative central council in London, and the formation of powerful district committies in the various shipping centres to deal promptly with any cases arising in the outports or abroad. The central office of the Federation will be in London, and Mr. T. A. Laws, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, has been unanimously elected the manager of the Federation. Immediate steps are being taken to perfect the organization, and an influential committee is to sit daily for that purpose. Fresh and important adhesions to the Federation are expected, and there is every prospect of the organization becoming the most powerful combination of the shipping trade which has been established. Before separating, the members of the Conference unanimously adopted a resolution heartily approving the action of the Australian ship-owners in refusing the unreasonable demands of the Labor Unions as being utterly subversive of

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