per cent. But the selling price of farm products has increased all the way from 100 to 400 per cent. At the same time the cost of most of the staples the farmer must buy has decreased from 20 to 50 per cent. Were we to compare the dwellings of the farmer of to-day with those of the farmer of even fifty years ago, it would be seen that he is not only able to live better and more comfortably, but quite willing to do so. If we examine his tool-house, we shall find single implements there worth the entire lot his grandfather owned and thought sufficient. Of course he will grumble. It is his privilege. It is the universal privilege. Of course if the price of farm products increased, and of what the farmer must buy decreased every year, the profits would be larger. But what would become of the landless consumer in that case?" One point our contemporary ignores in reciting the advantages that have accumulated to the farmer in the past seventy years. The life of the railroad is measured by a shorter period than that. Transportation seventy years ago was not only a difficult, but an expensive probleni. The railroad has come into the field, and the cost of moving farmers' products and purchases has become almost as nothing when compared with the cost of seventy years ago. Yet we have grangers and anti-monopolist among the farming class, which more than any other class in this country has been brought face to face with the benefits conferred by the railroads. There is scarcely a country town or village anywhere in this country where some old resident can not be found who can tell of the days before the railroad when everything had to be hauled for miles by wagon or carried by canal. The railroads have done some good after all, and their worst enemies, as a rule, have reason to be their best friends.-Daily Indicator. NUMBER OF MALES AND FEMALES.-The following shows the number of females to 1,000 males in each country of Europe:

"I WISH to state," said a fresh young lawyer, rising in court, "that the rumor to the effect that John Smith, now under indictment for murder, has attempted to commit suicide has no foundation in fact. I saw him this morning, and he has retained me to defend his life."

"That seems to confirm the rumor," said the judge. N. Y. Sun,

"Let the case proceed.”—

A LONG FAREWELL.-Last night a little Massachusetts avenue boy was saying his prayers at his mother's knee, and just before reaching the end he stopped. "Go on, Freddie," said his mother; "you haven't finished yet." "Bless papa and mamma," he continued, "and now, good-by, God. Lent is over, and I guess you won't hear from us again till this time next year. Amen."Washington Critic.

BILL NYE ON JEFF DAVIS.-I see that Mr. Jefferson Davis, who has recently

entered the lecture field, says that there could have been no nobler cause for which to die, no opportunity more glorious for a proud and honorable death, than that afforded the Confederate soldier who espoused the cause of the South twenty years ago. Looking at it in that way, I ask, in all candor, why did not Mr. Davis improve that glorious opportunity? Feeling that way about it, why did he not remove his polonaise and die like a man? Why did he let such a chance go by, in order that he might enter the lecture field and crowd out better men, and then die of old age, when he could have hung up his hoopskirt on a tree and died in a way that would have endeared him to every Southern heart?

I agree with the lamented A. Ward, that "it would have been $25 in Mr. Davis' pocket if he had never been born," but after he was born and it was too late to consider his rash act, he should have died as young as possible. With characteristic tardiness, however, he allowed himself to grow up, and then, with the full knowledge, as he now admits, that the war of the rebellion afforded a beautiful opportunity for a man who yearned to die in a neat and attractive way, he frittered away that golden moment and continued to destroy the high-priced groceries of the despondent South.

There is certainly "a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune," and Mr. Davis surely missed it when he neglected to make a funeral tableau of himself. From a Letter to the Indianapolis Journal.

The old

IT is stated that Maggie Mitchell's father has just died at the age of eighty-six. This is a curious illustration of the occasional inaccuracy of the press. gentleman was Maggie's grandson.—Washington Hatchet.

THE title of Miss Braddon's next novel-"The One Thing Needful"-encourages the remark that in all the world there are but two things less needful than a novel by Miss Braddon—namely, two novels by Miss Braddon.-Wasp.

"IN the hands of men entirely mouth the gun is harmless as the sword.”—T. V. Powderly.

Passenger: "Because you've got seventeen passengers aboard, and only twelve fares registered."

TICKLERS FROM TID-BITS.

THE husband, in house-cleaning time,

Escapes his wifey's frown,

And thinks he shows a level head,

By taking meals down town.

But, when his day's work is complete,

It makes his morals lax,

To clamber o'er, in stocking feet,

The business end of tacks.

GERONIMO's a crafty wretch;

He scalps and butchers without pay, He doesn't care for General Miles, Because he knows he's miles away.

JOKES FROM JUDGE.

It was remarked that Edwin Booth's fall was due to vertigo; whereupon a mean man said it wouldn't have vertigo to reach intoxication-and it wasn't true either.

GAS BILLS shou'd be carefully filed; not necessarily for preservation, but in order to reduce their size.

YOUNG GENIUS (who has had the talk to himself, and, as usua', all about himself): "Well, good by, dear Mrs. Meltham. It always does me good to come and see you! I had such a headache when I came, and now I've quite lost it." Mrs. Metham: "Oh, it's not lost, I've got it!"-Punch.

VOL. I.

POLITICAL.

PRESIDENTIAL POSSIBILITIES.

THE profound interest which always attaches to the Presidential office is re garded as a sufficient reason for collecting at this early day the press comments on the persons suggested as possible candidates of parties in the next quadrennial election.

Rochester Herald (Rep.), May 11.

MR. BLAINE tried three times to get the Republican nomination for President before he succeeded. He waited twelve years for that prize, and then when he had gained it just missed by a hair the supreme goal of an election. Having failed twice of a nomination and then having succeeded it is now conjectured that he has not been discouraged by one failure to secure an election, and that he will make another effort in the campaign of 1888. Should he fail then would he follow the precedent respecting his efforts to gain the nomination and make a third trial? Mr. Blaine is now fifty-six years of age. In 1888 he will be fifty-eight. Should he succeed at that time in gaining the nomination and election he would be sixtythree when his term expired. Should he fail and make another trial in 1892 he would be sixty-two years old when the election took place and sixty-seven when his term expired. Even then there might be a chance for him, so far as his age is concerned, for another supreme effort. Mr. Blaine's health is good and he may reasonably count on at least fifteen years more of life, if not twenty. Evi. dently, therefore, he is not to be eliminated from the list of Presidential candidates for some time to come on the score of age alone. What will he do with the remainder of his life from now on? Is it reasonable to suppose that a man of his ability, popularity, and experience in political affairs, and his love of political power, will settle down contented with writing history? His book is finished and in the market. His new house will soon be completed and occupied. He must then of necessity, through the impulses of his own nature, engage in some other congenial pursuit, and, as we have seen, there is none so congenial to him as public life. That he is still aiming for the highest office of the republic is apparent from many signs that are cropping out. The latest of these to attract attention is the organization of the Republican Congressional campaign committee, as it is regarded, in Mr. Blaine's interest. So fas as the influence and operations of the Congressional committee are concerned the choice of Congressman Goff as chairman and Edward McPherson as secretary may be regarded as conclusive evidence that the wires are to be laid for Mr. Blaine's second nomination. There are other straws in their way equally significant. The Blaine Republican press of the country has no second choice. It is as solid for the Maine statesman as it was in 1884, and misses no opportunity to sound his praises. All other possible Republican candidates, Sherman, Logan, Edmunds, Hoar, and Evarts, are disparaged as such whenever the Blaine papers get an opportunity to do it. The latter have done and are doing all they can to produce the impression that Mr. Blaine is the only man who can get the nomination and the only man who could be elected by the Republicans. But it is not to be assumed that Mr. Blaine would take the nomination if he saw no chance of an election. He has experienced one defeat and, while he rose manfully above it after the first shock was over, he would rather not have another. From now on to 1888 will be a period of maneuvering and intrigue, not only within the party in his interest, but outside the party against the Democracy. The election of a new Congress, the filling of vacancies in the Senate, and other matters will occupy the attention of the Blaine managers with a view to the advancement of their leader's fortunes and, indirectly, of their own. The Mugwumps, of course, will be against Blaine in 1888 as they were 1884. They have already signified their intention to that effect. But while he will encounter their hostility, he still commands the affection and support of the foreign elements that rallied about his standard two years ago. Stalwart opposition will still be encountered, but the lines between the two factions have been partially obliterated by the events and alliances of the past two or three years. Such, briefly, is the situation at present. But great changes may occur in two years, and before the campaign for the Republican nomination of 1888 fairly opens Mr. Blaine may, from one cause or another, entirely disappear from the field. At present, however, he must be reckoned with by any aspirant for the Republican nomination. There is no doubt that he is at work, quietly and adroitly, shaping the sentiment of his own party and, in a measure, of the country in his favor.

Galveston News (Dem.), May 9.

THE Hon. George F. Edmunds, of Vermont, can hardly be enjoying himself to any great extent just at present. Mr. Edmunds is a Republican and a United States Senator. He is also a candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination. Mr. Edmunds is a rigidly respectable man. He has not made millions out of his salary as a Senator like John Sherman. He would not expectorate in the face of a man who offended him, as Logan did during the last Presidential campaign. He would never write a letter that it would be necessary to add a postscript advising that it

No. 6.

be burned, as Mr. Blaine did. But while he is respectable and honest as the world goes, Mr. Edmunds has his failings. His conscience was not convenient enough to swallow Brother Blaine. At least this is the excuse that Mr. Edmunds' friends put forth when he is accused of "throwing" the Republican candidate at the last Presidential election. On the other hand, the Blaine people say that Edmunds' attitude in 1884 was inspired by jealousy because he did not receive the nomination himself. Be this as it may, there are a very stalwart set of Republicans in Vermont who are not inclined to excuse Edmunds either on the conscience plea or the jealousy plea. A Republican leader with an embarrassing conscience is not the kind of person the Vermont Republicans love to honor. Conscience and Republicanism never could go hand in hand and neither could Edmunds and Blaine. The Blaine people believe that if Edmunds had performed his whole duty during the last national campaign Cleveland would not now be President. Edmunds merely played a dog-in-the-manger part during the campaign. He voted for Blaine, but would not speak for him, and wrote against him. In consequence, he found his Republicanism tainted when Congress met. He made a gallant effort to win a partisan laurel by making war on the Administration. The Blaine Senators understood his game and refused to sustain him, and, as a result, the President's nominees are being confirmed by the Senate daily. When it is understood that every time that a nominee of the President is confirmed by the Senate a square foot of gas oozes from the Edmunds presidential boom the position of the Vermont Senator can be estimated. But this is not all. Mr. Edmunds' senatorial term expires with the present Congress, and the Blaine brethren are actively at work to defeat his re-election. Ex-Governor Smith has been selected to oppose him. Mr. Smith is an ambitious man, reputed to be worth about $6,000,000. Although the possession of millions is not deemed as essential to senatorial candidates in the extreme East as in the extreme West, still millions are very handy almost in any place or under any circumstances. With the influence of Brother Blaine and $6,000,000 to buck against, Mr. Edmunds has a difficult task ahead of him. Edmunds in private life would be a grand figure, and would be a demonstration sufficient to all the world that where Blaine sits is the head of the Republican table.

cess.

Washington Hatchet (Ind.).

It is rather early to discuss the President's chances for a renomination in 1888, but he and his party seem rather nearer together than they were at the beginning of the session. At that time there was grave and frank opposition to the Administration policy in both Houses, and prominent Democrats went upon record as differing radically from the White House views of what was necessary for party sucSince then much of the open talk has died away, however, and what dissatisfaction there is left seems to be confined to disappointed applicants for office and to Tammany. How much the fight on the Edmunds resolution has had to do with this change it is difficult to say, but it was probably a factor. Immediate offi. cial contact with the President has, doubtless, also had its influence upon Democratic Congressmen. Before the late Vice-President Hendricks died it was his constant advice to avoid any open rupture. He was opposed to the civil-service idea but he held that the antagonism, while firm, should be respectful, and that it would be bad policy to attack the President personally, inasmuch as it would create two factions in the party and injure its prospects in 1888. This advice seems to have been finally taken and none of the Democratic leaders have actually broken with the President, or made it impossible for them to visit the White House because of unusually bitter and adverse criticism. The main source of opposition is Tammany. This powerful organization is the center of the discontent against the Administration, and it is extending its influence in as many directions as it can. Its primary object is the nomination of David B. Hill in the next Democratic National Convention; therefore the test of the President's strength will be made in his own State. Upon the results of this contest the issue of the next convention struggle will probably depend. If Mr. Hill beats Mr. Cleveland, Mr. Hill will be the nominee. If Mr. Cleveland beats Mr. Hill, Mr. Cleveland will be the nominee. It will be an interesting battle between two strong types of men. Meanwhile Secretary Manning's health is steadily improving. It is also proper to note, in the same connection, that Governor Hill continues in his admirable physical condition.

Pittsburgh Dispatch (Ind.), May 14.

THE remark of Mr. Quay, recently reported to have been made with regard to the stalking of a ghost of the last generation in the South, that "Jeff Davis has renominated Blaine and Logan for 1888," has been so widely echoed that people are beginning to believe that there is something in it. No doubt the spread of the remark has been mainly due to the enthusiasm and attachment of Mr. Blaine's admirers; but the obvious disposition to make that sentiment the basis of Republican action in the next national campaign is one of the current political features. Now there is no doubt that Mr. Blaine is still a live and aggressive political quantity, and as such he may be the candidate upon whom the Republican strength can be best united. If any new issues can be brought out which he personally represents, or even if the Republicans wish to fight the campaign of 1884 over again, no one has the right to say them nay. But it is hardly complimentary to his vigorous and active qualities to assume that his greatest availability is the line of laying out politi'cal ghosts. The spectacle which has thus been suggested as the basis of a national campaign is that of a weak and foolish old man, spared by clemency, treated with contemp

Cleveland Plain Dealer (Dem.), May II.

SENATOR SHERMAN's day for a Presidential nomination and election passed years ago. He is wedded to the bloody shirt-heresy. His political opinions are those of an antiquated statesman and his disappointment in not receiving honors which he considered justly his due have soured his nature, harrowed his mind and unfitted him to preside as the great executive of this nation.

Wilkesbarre, Pa., Union-Leader (Dem.), May 14.

THE brilliant Matthew Quay let his tongue loose to a Philadelphia Press reporter one day last week. His remark upon that occasion was that "Jeff Davis has renominated and elected Blaine and Logan for 1888." There is but one other instance in the history of modern politics of the utterance of an equally asinine sentence, and that was when Burchard alliterated.

think that the Republicans could win with Sherman and Morton, the latter being ex-Minister Morton, of New York.

National Republican (Rep.).

THE flood-tide of popularity on which Gen. Rusk, of Wisconsin, is now riding will probably not tempt the level-headed governor to launch a presidential boomlet. Washington Dispatch to the Chicago Tribune (Rep.). THE Mugwump leaders are beginning to arrange for the campaign of 1888, and have already discussed privately how they shall combine to oppose Mr. Blaine. Toledo Bee (Ind.).

THERE is little doubt that James G. Blaine and John Sherman will be candidates for nomination for President in 1888. It is well to bear this in mind. Columbus, Ohio, Dispatch (Ind.), May 11.

JEFF DAVIS' denunciation of James G. Blaine as "that miserable Yankee" is equivalent to another send-off for Blaine for the White House.

New York Sun (Dem.).

WE note that the newspapers which say that Brother Blaine is dead and buried are, without exception, the mugwumpapers.

Minneapolis Tribune (Rep.).

THE Mugwump sheets insist that Mr. Blaine is dead and buried. If so, his spook seems to bother them a great deal.

Philadelphia Times (Ind).

By the time Blaine unfurls the bloody shirt possibly the bloody shirt will be as unnecessary as Blaine.

INTERSTATE COMMERCE.

THE passage by the Senate on the 12th instant of the Cullom bill, to regulate interstate commerce, has elicited comments in various newspapers, extracts from which are given below:

Philadelphia Press (Rep.), May 15.

THE Cullom bill to regulate interstate commerce passed the Senate Wednesday by a vote of 46 to 4. Several amendments have been adopted, but nothing to seriously change the general effect of the bill. The principal contest was over the long and short haul section, and this has ended in a sort of compromise, which is not quite radical enough to suit the anti-railroad men and a little too radical for those who view the question from a railroad standpoint. As adopted the section prohibits the charging of more for a shorter than a longer distance "over the same line, in the same direction, and from the same original point of departure or to the same point of arrival." Nor is this modification all. The commission appointed by this act may, in special cases, authorize a railway company to charge less for a longer than for shorter distances. While the original phraseology of the section has been changed, the teeth have been drawn from the Camden amendment, and the operation of the bill, should it become a law, will depend largely upon the character and ability of the commission. There are certain phases of inequalities in railway rates which this bill will not touch unless they can be brought under the section dealing with extortion. For example, not long since a Pittsburgh firm and a Philadelphia firm were competing for a contract of bridge or building iron to be delivered in St. Louis. The Philadelphia firm was awarded the contract because the proposal was just lower by the difference of the freight charges between Philadelphia and St. Louis and Pittsburgh and St. Louis. The Pittsburgh firm in due time might have seen the iron going through Pittsburgh on its way to St. Louis. The Cullom bill, as it has finally passed, will not remedy this state of things. In such a case the answer would be that Philadelphia had advantages of competition which were not possessed by Pittsburgh; that the rate from Pittsburgh to St. Louis was not extortionate. The bill, however, would prevent charging more for the shorter than the longer haul if the goods went over the same line, in the same direction, and from the same original point of departure or to the same point of arrival, providing, however, the commission did not grant the right to charge less for longer than shorter distances. The measure has been well surrounded with safeguards from the railroad standpoint, and that it is a conservative measure which men who have no desire to experiment with great business interests could consistently vote for. It provides for publicity of rates, prohibits drawbacks and rebates and all unjust discrimination. The "publicity of rates" clause is also modified and reads, "as far as the commission may deem practical." No advances on published rates shall be allowed without ten days' notice. It is not likely that Mr. Reagan will approve of this bill, and should it pass the House of Representatives Senator Cullom would hardly recognize it. The commission clause will meet with greatest opposition, as Mr. Reagan's idea of railroad legislation is arbitrary laws and no provisions to enforce them.

Chicago Inter-Ocean (Rep.), May 14

It will be time enough to consider the personnel of the commission after the bill has passed; but the President and the Senate, which must concur in the appointments, should fix the standard of qualification so high that no ordinary place-hunter would be so much as thought of for the position. The success of State regulation in Illinois has been due in large measure to the fact that men of the highest character were chosen to inaugurate the law. A good beginning is a great advantage. In the House the antagonism of General Reagan, of Texas, may be expected. Years ago, before Senator Cullom was transferred from Springfield to Washington, the ex-Postmaster-General of the Confederacy had made a hobby of interstate commerce, and introduced a bill for its regulation. He has dawdled along, session after session, until now his attitude toward legislation of the