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SANFORD, NORTH CAROLINA, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17,1890,
SUPf. FINGER’S REPORT.
iHe Declare* That the Tax (or Public
Schools is Insufficient.
The biennial , report of S. M. Fin
ger, State Superintendent of Public
r Instruction, is an admirable docu-;
meut. . Maj. Finger, in its very first
. paragraph, says: I desire to say,
with as much emphasis as possible
j^Jmt pur sphoola, \ save in a font , of
the cities, are not satisfactory to
any class of our citizens. As every
where we have in North Carolina
people who either want no public
schools or if any, only a sort of
charity school for the poor. For
. such people we have already too
much tax for public schools. We
have also- many people, and the
number is rapidly increasing, who
5 believe in liberal education for all
I the people for the people’s' ■ > benefit
and for the safety of the State. To
such people, many of whom are en
tirely dependent upon the _ public
schools for the education of their
, children, the schools are unsatisfac
tory because' of the small amount
of money applied and the conse
j quent shortness of annual terms and
\ want of proper qualifications on the
: part of many teachers. It is not my
| purpose to underrate t ie good the
public schools are doing. '' I wish to
bear testimony to the fact that they
are doing much good; that there is
continued improvement in the
teachers and public seutiment, but
it is simply idle to expect satisfac
- fcory schools with our. .average an
nual terms of sixty days, and with
an expenditure of money amounting
t<i 44 cents on each of the Federal
population (each man, woman and
child) and only $1.23 on each of
the school population, from six
to twelve years of age.
The Latest Radlfcal Dodge.
. ; . The great power of the Farmers’
Alliance which influential organiza
tion is fighting along Democratic
lines has alarmed the Republicans
; and they see that unless they net
quickly-and decisively they will. be
. driven from power by an over
, whelming majority. They have
.hit upon a new organization of
; farmers Which they vainly hope will
eclipse the Farmers’ Alliance. The
St. Louis Globit-DemOcrat—a ram
pant Republican organ—thus out
lines the plan by which it is hoped
to save the Republican party;; -
“The members are known as the
Knights of Reciprocity, and the first
lodge was organized a few weeks ago
atGarden City, Kansas. It is under
stood that about a dozen lodges have
since been instituted in Congress
man Pitter’s district, in Western
; Kansas and Colorado, and that the
order is rapidly extending. Like
the Farmers’ Alliance, the meetings
are held in secret session, and there
is an iniatory ceremony. There is
no political significance in the or
ganization of'the new order, nor is
reciprocity adopted as the principle
for any political, purpose. -The
founders of the order, however, be
j lieve that in' reciprocity lies the so
’ lotion of the tariff dilema. The
members are not especially tariff re
. formers, but they believe in a wider
, extension of American t rade, partic
larly in the Western continent.
They not only, favor reciprocity al
most to the extent of free trade
with the South American and Cen
1.- tral American republics, but they
believe in reciprocity within the
United States. They believe that
reciprocity should be observed be*
tween labor and capital, the miner
. and the mine owner, the people and
the railroads, the borrower and the
employer and the employee. They
propose to avoid the money, sub
treasury and other wild cat scheme:
of the Farmers’ Alliance, but then
are understood to be som<
points upon which they agre<
with the Farmers’ Alliance. Tin
new order will be introduced int<
the towns and cities as well a
through the* country districts, and i
the rapid growth already observe:
during the three weeks of its exist
once is any indication for the fu
s. , V
" 2 1 • -- . : . :
tore, the outlook is most promising.
A Grand Lodge of Kansas will be
established within a few weeks,
probably during the holidays, and
it is expected that later a Grand
Lodge will be organized in Color
ado.
An incident in the Proceedings of the
National Alliance at Ocala.
At the conclusion of President
Polk’a address, the Alliance reeol ved
itself into a sort of “love feast,"
during which C. A. Power, ah' old
ex-Union soldier from Indiana,
inoved that all ex-Union soldiers in
the hall who indorsed the senti
ments expressed in the speech of
President Foullfs, of South Dakota,
with reference to the burial of sec
tionalism, rise up to be counted
The motion prevailed, and between
forty andjifty stood up amid the
wildest enthusiasm. Under the in
spiration of this good feeling an ex
Union soldier from Wisconsin
stood up in his seat and called up
on all Union soldiers present to give
three cheers for the. old Confeder
ates in the Alliance. They were
given with a will. Then it was the
Confcrates’ tarn, and they -cheered
the old soldiers of the Union with a
volume of heartiness1 that raised no
doubt as to the genuiness of their
feeling..,. The cheers ended with a
wild,. old-fashioned “rebel, yell,”
and as its echoes died away one
aged veteran of the Confederacy
shonted, in a voice that rang out
clearly through the hall: ', “That’s
a genuine article. I’ve heard it be
fore.’’ «
The National Finances.
Baltimore Sun. -r - >
Secretary Windom’s report upon
the operations of the Treasury De
partment ih the fiscal year ended
June 30,1890,' and remarks npon
the financial prospects of the Treas
ury, in an interesting document. It
is of special interest as making the
transition from a long period of big
surpluses to a period in which Sec
retaries of the Treasury will have
difficulty to make ends meet. The
new tariff, by putting very high the
rates on articles sent us by foreign
ers in exchange for our agricultural
products, must check 1 imports and
diminish the revenue from .custom
uuues. a ne removal oi me auty
from unrefined sugars and the re
duction of the internl tax on to
bacco must have a like effect. At
| the same time the vastly increased
| expenditure for pensions will make
fhcreaaed demands upon income.
The nature of the ehange we are
about to see is illustrated in the
fact that Secretary' Windom reports
the surplus of the fiscal year ended
with last June to have been $105,
344,496, while he estimates the sur
plus Ending with June, 1892, at on
ly $15,147,790. This is- probably a
better showing for 1892 than the
situation warrants. Mr. Windom
has every reason to wish to take an
optimistic view, h:s party being re
sponsible for the pinch to which
recent legislation is bringing us. It
will be observed that he asks Con
gress atits present session to appro-,
priate but $135,263,085 for pensions
in the year ending June 80, 1892,
while persons well qualified to form
an opinion on the subject are posi
tive that the expenditure for pen
sions in 1892 cannot be less than
$150,000,000. Such an expenditure
would extinguish Mr.1 Windom’s
estimated surplus of $1&|)00,000 for
that year at one whiff. Other ex
pensive measures proposed to be
passed by the present Congress—
such as the Force hill and the sub
sidies bills—must tend to convert
the small estimated surplus into a
deficit This is the legacy, it ap
pears. which the Fifty-first Congress
is ambitious of- leaving to the Fifty
second. Apart from the financial
question, Mr. Windom has several
' interesting facts to note. He calls
attention to the fact that the silver
i law recently passed by the Congress
'■ is a failure—silver, after touching
$1.21, declined to 97 cents per ounce.
| The situation is such, he adds,~ that
'■ a continuance of the present low
price is to be expected. So far the
law has added not over $20,000,000
to the circulating medium. The
Secretary is at pains, however, to
shbw that there is abundance . of
of money risTThe countty. The
amount in circulation October 1,
1890, was $1,498,072,709, as against
$770,312,000 on Octpber 1, 1870.
The circulation per Capita is now
about $24, as against $30 then.
Moreover, bank cheeks, he-shttwe;
are used over ten times as much in
payments as gold, silver and paper
money all put together—a fact
which our friends of, the Alliance
wilt Observe with interest. The
national bank circulation is rapidly
decreasing, though, the" number. of
national banks is rapidly increasing,
especially in the South and West.
Our forelgn commerce has contin
ued to increase in volume, England
being our best customer. Of. our
total exports England took one-half.
A.s 74.51 per cent, of our exports in
-be fiscal year 1890 were agricul
tural products, it is clear that En
gland is a country reciprocity with
which • our farmers might prefer to
reciprocity With South America.
Our share in the carrying trade,
Mr. Windora shows, is still decreas
ing. In 1890 American ships car
ried a smaller proportion of onr
freight traffic than elver before. ~
More Lattitude for Officers,
Statesville landmark. -' ' '• .
JtcJipping in thih paper two or
three weeks ago i pointed put how
liffieult it is thesetimes for a map
to commit a murder in the first de
cree unless he hah previously taken
legal advice on the subject, and the
following will; show how nearly
impossible it it for a public official
to break ipto the penitentiary. The
clipping is from the North Carolina
Intelligencer and is a digest of a re
cent decision of the Supreme Court
of North Carolina in the case of
State vs. Pritchard—county not
stated.
1. On the trial of an officer for ex
tortion in taking fees it is necessary
to prove that the fees were taken
with a corrupt intent, and a charge
which withdraws the consideration
of that question from ,the jury is er
roneous.
2. On the trial of air officer for a
corrupt violation of his oath - of of
fice, under The Code of North Caro
lina, section 1090, by wrongfully
taking fees, it is necessary to prove
a corrupt intent, and it is' error to
withdraw the consideration! of that
question from the jury.
8. On the trial of an officer for
bribery in taking unlawful fees, it is
necessary to prove a corrupt intent.
4, An indictment for extortion
which fails to charge that the money
was taken ‘‘under color of office" is
insufficient.
This is carte blanthe to public of
ficers. Under, this decision they
can stuff their pockets with illegal
fees, deny, when brought to trial,
that they did so with “corrupt in
tent,” and that is the end of the
prosecution.
-■ — > -—-— ■
7 At the recent election Republican
county officers, excepting - clerk,
were elected in Washington county,
but the Tarboru Banner says that
those elected as sheriff,‘ treasurer
and register either presented no
bonds or unsatisfactory ones on the
first Monday, and the men who had
been the Democratic candidates foi
these offices were elected to them by
the commissioners.
The New Berne Journal says thal
during' the recent campaign the crj
in Craven was that Democrats, must
keep off Republicans' bonds. In
consequence, the Republican sheriff
clerk, treasurer and register-elect
failed, last Monday week, to present
satisfactory bonds to the count]
commissioners and Democrats.- wen
appointed to all these offices.
The Raleigh correspondent of thi
Wimington Messenger is informet
the R. A, Daughton, Esq., of Ale
ghany, will have the largest follow
ing for Speaker of the lower housi
of the legislature, .
j WORK FOR THE LEGISLATURE.
Eatpreta Correspondence,
I The State Legislature recently
elected will have some very import
ant work before it. There pome al
ways crises in nearly everything.
Occasionally we have a body of law
makers who make | wonderful and
radical changes, adopt untried and
impractical measures. These laws
are made by men who are rat|pji
and anxious to do aomethingJihikher
than nothing. Following this, we
are apt to have two or three sessions
of conservative workers, whose
greatest accomplishments 1 are not
to make good laws, but to prevent
the passage of bad ones. All that
they really do is to repeal some of
the obnoxious laws previously en
acted. The history of our laws and
of governments generally, is a record
of laws passed at one session to be
repealed aMjb£ following one. ' |t
In view of these facts and also
that much inconvenience and. evil
has to be.endured frequently before
such laws can be repealed, the cau
tious legislator feels great reluct
nce in adopting any laws very
greatly effecting, either for good or
evil, the prosperity of the country
On the other hand, the ambitions ,
and aspiring patriotic assemblyman,
who sees the injustice and inequali
ty existing among his constituents;
who feels, m his heart, a deep, ad
ding sympathy for suffering human
ity, and longs for the common
brotherhood of the nice—such
a man, feeling it his duty
to makehia life work_as -ser
viceable a8 possible to his fellow
men, will count it' rare fortune to
meet with the present Legislature
and help enact- some long-wished
reforms.
In addition to the many perplex
ing questions of a nature which
shall come up for personal adjust
ment, as is always the case, this leg
islature will be ho doubt, called upon
to adjust or equalize the,rate of in
terest. This is a question with at
least two sides to it and yet many of
them will think their legislative
work incomplete unless some
change be made in rates of interest.
The indignation of the people at
the last legislature for Rejecting
tneir petitions for a railroad commis
sion, and the increasing demand for
it will come up as additionarevidence
that something must be dode about
this matter this time or legislators
can never expect to meet their con
stituents in peace again. These and
othe$ such matters as will in all
probability come up affect; the ma
terial interests of the country.
But a questkn which not only af
fects the material prosperity of the
country in a far greater and far
higher sense than any of these, but
also tends to elevate and ennoble
mankind, to develop into that sphere
of useful citizenship and manhood
which an all-wise creator has de
signed he should attain, is the ques
tion of education.
all
This question vitally affects
others and all the more so on ac
count of the neglect it has suffered
wt the hands of previous legislators.
This subject has been handled again
and again but I only want to em
phasize its growing importance, for
as the country grows and other
States and other people advance, the
importance of attending
this
to
If you
educate
great mutter in increases,
are educated yourself and
your children, it is still yoj^r duty
and privilege to help educate your
neighbors’ for the sake of their so
ciety and citizenship. As Edward
Bellamy says, vour education at the
present is only like an occasional
oasis in a vast'dreary desert.
We do not spend money enough, we
do not spend time enough in order tc
procure education. We are too eager
to make money as if that was the
highest aim for which-we are to live
In talk a few days since with s
foreigner he referred to the fact
that we get prepared for anythin?
so quick. For instance he says:
“I heard a young man speak of tak
ing a three months' course- prepar
ing himself to be a druggist. Why
in my country he would study nine
or eleven years.” -
This is only one instance, The
ratio will hold for almost all other
departments of learning.
By all means, legislators, do
something to rid your State of its
present ignorance and if the pres
ent generation does not give you the
praise you deserve, rest assured that
unborn generations will be monu
ments to the work you have dones.
The Alliance and the Dollar.
Ntno York Bun. 1
President Polk of the Fames1
Alliance thus announces the issue
by which that body will live /or
die:
i “The farmer and laborer must
have a chance to get what -money
they need upon the security of their
real property, a privilege which is
denied, them today. The issue from
now on is to be a square one be
tween American manhood on one
side and the great American dol
lar on tne other.”
President Polk's rhetoric is a lit
tle cloudy. 'The issue is not be
tween American manhood and the
great American dollar, but between
the great American Farmers’ Alli
ance and the rest of the American
people. The laborer may- be left
out of consideration. Col. Polk’s
organization is called the Farmers
Alliance and Industrial Union, and
its managera are willing to attract
labor associations to the support
of its programme, but as long as
tbe Alliance remains essentially :an
agricultural body, agricultural la
borers at least will not get much
benfit from it. An increase in tbe
wages of agricultural laborers is not
one1 of the magic prosperity restor
ers which the Alliance demands
from the Congress. Between the
farmers and the strong and success
ful labor organizations is no Special
bond of common interest, and the
help of Powderly’s decayed order is
not likely to be of much use Jto the
Alliance. Whatever political unions
it may form, the Alliance is at present
a body of farmers who want to get
from the government “what money
they need upon the security of their
real property.
jn off, tne Alliance tarmers can
not expect to enjoy the privilege of
Arrowing money from the United
States at a nominal rate of interest,
and giving their farms as security,
unless they give persons in other
occupations some equal privilege.
It would be a great scheme for the
Alliance mortgagee to get a pot of
money at one per cent from the
Government and lend it at eight or
ten to persons standing in need of
financial assistance, and unable to
obtain it easily and cheaply on ac
count of not being farmers. The
farmers are worthy and thrifty
people, but they cannot be allowed
to become a privileged class a sort
of landed aristocracy, borrowing
money cheap and lending it dear.
They do not absolutely own the
earth, although they cultivate it.
There are several millions of per
sons in these United States who are
not farmers; and yet are as ready as
the horniest handed to borrow mon
ey from the Government. They
know a pudding when they see it,
and they will insist on being helped
to some of it. ^
If Brohter Hawbuck is to get from
the Government what money he
needs, Brothers Butcher, Baker,
and Candle-stickmaker must get
what money they want from the
same benevolent banker on the same
term. They can give them stock,
the good will of their business, their
•kill and industry and shrewdness
as security. A laborer with his
hands can pledge them, as security
for a Government loan. We can’t
all have farms, bnt if the Govern*
ment is going to run a pawn shop
it must take every thing offered as a
pledge for its advances. “Ameri
can manhood,” as' Mr.' Polk says,
must be regarded as sufficient as
security as a quartery section. The
whole American people must come
in on equal terms. Does’ Mr. Polk
think that the rest of the American
people are going to be content with
putting ijheir hands into their pock
ets for the benefit of the Alliance
and never taking anything for them
selves? '
The way to the nationalization of
the land' can be found in this
scheme to lend money to farmers.
The way to national bankruptcy
can be found i i its inevitable,
corollaries. But what does the Al
liance care if it can get the dol
lars? '• ‘
How the^Pension Iniquity Grows!—
A Baitingifor Commissioner Raum.
Extract! from the I'rocrcdlnffs oflhc Jloutc
+■ on 4th. ' -
At the expiration of the morning
hour the House Went: into a com
mittee of the whole on the pension
appropriation bill. Mr. Morrow ex
plained that the bill appropriated
for the payment of pensions the
sum of $133,173,000. He believed
that there would be no deficiency
next year,
Mr. Sawyer, of Texas, argued that
the estimate of the Commissioner of
Pensions was totally unreliable and
fcbpt the amount of money required
to pay pensions would be largely in
excess of {;he amount appropriated
by the pending bill. He ventured
to say that the Fifty-second Con
gress will be compelled to meet a de
ficiency of not less than $15,000,
000. No man,, however honest,
conld fix within ten millions the
amount actually to be expended un
der this bill. The Commissioner
had failed to tell the House what
would be expended in 1890; lie lmd
made a similar failure iu 1891, and
he would make a greater failure in
1892; and the Democratic Congress
would hare to pay the penalty. His
conclusion, after careful investiga
tion of the matter, was that instead
of the government expenditures for
pensions being confinejd to $133,000
000, they would be nearer $175,000,
000. In conclusion, he gave it 'as
his deliberate judgement from a full
investigation of the facts and figures,
together with the experience of the
House as to the workings of the
Pension Office, that if the Commis
sioner would work faithfully and
energetically, issuing certificates as
fast as they were prepared for issue,
there would inevitably be a deficien
cy iu 1892 of not less than $35,000,
000, which the Democratic House
would have to meet.
Mr. Cooper, of Indiana, renewed
his attack of last session npon Pen
sion Commissioner Raum. Refer
ring to the largo force of employes
in the Pension Bureau, and to the
vast expenditure of money for pen
sions, he said he proposed to show
why this force of men should be
presided over by a man of high char
acter, and why this vast sum of
money should be disbursed by a man
above criticism and above reproach.
It was his purpose to call the at
tention of the country to the fact
that the present Commissioner oi
Pensions was not such a person.
Carrying out his purpose he quoted
liberally from the testimony given
before a special committee, which,
near the close of last session, had
under investination his (Cooper’s)
charges against Raum of favoritism
towards one prominent pension
claim agent, of borrowing money
from an attorney who practiced be
fore the bureau, and of floating the
stock of a fraudulent corporation
among the employes of that bureau
He commented sharply upon this
testimony and'paid no attention tc
the objections of Mr. Cannon and
Mr. Sawyer that no report had been
made to the House by the investi
gating committee and£he testimony
was not a proper subject of' discuss
ion m the absence of such a re
port.
A Campaign Incident.
Mecklenburg T4mem.
In nn" interior county in thii
State there were three Democrat!
all duly nominated for the Legisla
ture. Bach had strong oppositioi
and the vote is close in this county
between the Democrats and Repub
licans. Hence very great cautior
was deemed necessary as to what,
should be said about the; senator'
ship, Alliance, matters, &c., 4c.
| When the campaign opened one
of the candidates, a lawyer of abili»;\
ty and conservatism, lead off in ;
speech saying he did not think it
wise to commit himself as to the
senatoraliip, but shonld wait and
see who atl^ould be ini. the field if
and then fry to select the best man.
The second candidate, an intelligent -
farmer, followed in aboat the same
strain. The third candidate was a f
little Dutchy merchant and farmer
from a remote part of the county
and simple-minded and honest '
enough to suppose that speech was
expected to express and not conceal
a man’s real opinions and purposes.
His speech was as as follows: “Gen- ,
tlemen, I am not afraid nor asham
ed to tell you who I am for for Sen
ator. I am for oM Zeb Vance. I
am not going to call him Colonel
Vance, nor Governor Vance, nor
Senator Vance, because I am ac- V
quainted with him, but just plain
Zeb Vance. If l am elected I;'shall
vote for hipi first, lait and all the
time, and don’t you forget it. .
Thank you for your attention.’’
This was his speech and the whole
of it all round . lie campaign, while
the other two candidates followed,
up the non-committal course they !
star1 ed out with.
When the vote was counted, the
Uttle Vmicc man was elected and
tlie other two defeated.
POLITICS, &G.
The bunk of England' Has
dnccd its discount rate from 0 to
per cent. ,
It is stated that it cost Senator
Ingalls $3,200 tcfget his Son Bill
elected to the Kansas Legislature.
The Democratic majority in New
York State upon the Congressional
vote in the recent election was 88,
000. - - r
The Democrats last week, carried
Now Haven, Conn., for the first
time in four years. The Democrats
had general victories in the town
elections all through Massachu
setts. "»
E. H. Ammidown, the President
of the National Protestant League,
and a big New York dry goods job
ber, failed last Saturday fdr a mill
It takes all sorts of people to
makeup this American world. Iu
Detroit the other day, a Hebrew,,
an African and an Arab' were , all
three arrested on complaint of a -
Chinaman. liiSl
The Georgia Legislature has in-:
augurated a war on bucket shops. :
The general tax bill recently passed
contains a clause fixing the tax on '
bucket shops and all similar institn
tions at $10,000 per year.
The will of Daniel B. Fayer
weather, the millionaire leather"
dealer of New York, gives $10,000 "
to the University of Virginia, $2,
000,000 to other colleges and $05,
000 to hospitals in New York.
The Democratic majority in Vir
ginia at the recent election was even
greater than in North Carolina: 64,
672 are the figures. The Democrat- -
ie majority wasjS.OOO mere thas the ^
whole Republican vote. .
The Democratic majority in Tex- '•
as at the recent election was 175,
000, and the Hon. Daniel Webster
Flanigan, the Republican candidate
for Governor, is doubtless asking
himself, “What did we^un for?”
Clerk McPherson, of the House
of Representatives, has just had
printed an official list of members
elected to the next House, showing
88 Republicans, 284 Democrats and
8 Farmers’ Alliance, One district
(28th New York) is set down as
uncertain and one (2nd Rhode Is
land) is masked vacant.
Delemater & Co., bankers, of ;
Meadville, Pa, made an assignment
last Friday and' suspended business
with liabilities estimated at $200,
00Q. Assets not known. Politic*
is supposed to be responsible for the
failure. G. W. Delamater was the