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the passions. But no elevation of the mind, no purification, can arise from the contemplation of that which is mere horror and abomination, unrelieved by sympathy. It is difficult to see where good can come from working on the vile criminal passion of a man who is little short of a monster—a man in outward semblance only-and the consequences of his loathsome degradation. There would have been some slight excuse for this sad exhibition had Shelley's play contained any grand language, any lofty thought, or any special theatrical effectiveness. But in none of these respects is it noteworthy. Its "word-painting" has no particular excellence, and, regarded as a stage play, it is positively ineffective. The construction is throughout weak, displaying a very inexperienced hand indeed; the real climax to the piece, the death of the Count Cenci, strongly reminds one of the murder scene in Macbeth;" but even after this imitation of Shakespeare the greater parts of the two acts are occupied by the heroine, whom every one knows to be guilty of her father's murder, proclaiming her innocence of it; and Beatrice also strongly asserts at one time that she has been foully outraged, while on another occasion she declares herself to be spotless as the driven snow.-Austin Brereton. "CLITO." Mr. Sidney Gundy and Mr. Wilson Barrett have given us a story terribly true and realistic; a page of life with all the bloom rubbed off, where woman's infamy and man's guilty weakness are shown to us in all their nakedness. Truly the manager charms our eyes with exquisite stage pictures, gorgeous stage appointments. and beautiful and artistic dresses. The acting is admirable, the construction of the play good, and the treatment vigorous to a fault. This in great part carried away the audience, for the story told so swiftly that it absolutely gives the spectator no breathing time, but keeps him at fever heat unto the very end. No doubt a note of warning is sounded to the too self-reliant, who think they cannot fall; and no one can say this play is immoral, for woman and man meet their punishment in the shape most terrible to each-she by the loss of life, he by the loss of honor and self-esteem..-Marie De Mansiaux.

"HELENA IN TROAS."-Mr. Todhunter's play is a very thoughtful and intellectual poem, containing passages of much literary beauty, and a sympathetic sense of that sad dread of death, and the terrible vengeance that Love brings with it that we find in all Greek plays. For all that, it is not a strong acting play, and, saving to scholarly souls and artistic eyes, is somewhat dreary.-W. C. K. Wilde.

LITERARY.

Not

Creole LiteratURE.—A tiny work just published by the well-known folklorists, MM. Gaidoz and Sebillot, at Paris, entitled Bibliographie des Traditions et de la Litterature populaire des Frances d'outre-mer, ought to prove valuable to those interested in the subject of Creole dialects and Creole customs. As a bibliography the little book is certainly incomplete, even according to the prefatory confession of the compilers themselves; but is absolutely unique in its way, and, as a first effort in a totally novel direction, deserves the highest praise. Although containing barely a hundred pages, it certainly opens the eyes of the student to the importance, linguistic and anthropological, of the literature considered, and reveals the recent development of that literature in a decidedly surprising manner. very long ago, an English journal, in reviewing a Louisiana work on Creole dialect, expressed the opinion that remarkably few books had been written on the same theme. This writer would perhaps be startled to learn that in the bibliography before us Creole dialect literature proper represents nearly one-third of the citations given. Moreover it is reasonable to suppose that some fifty titles have been omitted in his first edition, titles of pamphlets, essays, glossaries, and miscellanea. Two Creole catechisms, for example, which we know to have been published in two different Creole dialects, are not mentioned. Nor is the bibliography nearly full in regard to magazine articles and newspaper curiosities. If a new edition of the book should be published next year, we might expect to have the Creole department enriched to the extent of nearly one hundred additional titles. Another noteworthy fact presented to the reader of this bibliography is that the history of Creole literature has two distinctly marked periods. From the beginning of the century to 1850-at a time when research could be pursued under peculiarly favorable conditions, and when the various dialects now becoming obsolete flourished in all their vigor and picturesque charm-quite a number of books and treatises upon Creole curiosities were published. The dates given by MM. Gaidoz and Sebillot show that some of the best work of the kind in existence was done at that time-contradicting the popular impression that during the period preceding slavery and immediately following it comparatively little interest was felt in such matters. The admirable collection of conundrums in the patois of Mauritius, known as Cirandane Caupec, was published in 1846. The exquisitely clever translation of Lafontaine's fables into Martinique Creole, made by M. Marbot, of the French Navy, and published anonymously under the title of Les Bambous, was published in the same year and had a remarkable success in the West Indies. No other translation into Creole was ever characterized by equal artistic skill; and it is safe to say that none ever will be; for the dialect of which Marbot was so wonderful a master has begun to die out. But before Marbot had written Creole as a dilettante, others had attempted work of a kind more valuable to folklorists in the same field. Victor Schoelcher in 1841 had printed a collection of Creole proverbs; and Dr. E. Rufz in 1839 had written upon the Creole superstitions, dialect, and domestic medicine of Martinique. Still earlier, in 1802, Ducœrjoly had published a vocabulary of the San Domingan Creole, which was followed in 1808 by Gregoire's De la litterature des negres. After Marbot (with the exception of translations made by Catholic priests, of catechisms and prayer-books), there does not appear to have been anything really remarkable published before Thomas printed his Creole grammar in 1869. Nevertheless M. G. d'Alaux had contributed to the Revue des Deux-Mondes in 1852 a collection of Haytian proverbs; and Alex. Bonneau had written for the Revue Contemporaine in 1856 an essay on the oral

literature of the same locality. The date of C. T. Fortune's collection of Creole adages, similes, and bon-mots appears to be unknown, and it might have appeared in the interval; but the first scientific movement in the direction of Creole studies from the time of Ducœurjoly, in 1802, to our own day, was Thomas' Theory and Practice of Creole Grammar. Previously publications in this line had been devised mostly for purposes of amusement. Thomas, however, first attempted to establish, or, more correctly, to explain, the grammatical construction of the Creole dialect. Thomas was a colored man himself, and thoroughly familiar with the Creole of Trinidad, his native place; Charles Kingsley speaks highly of him in "At Last." The second period of Creole study began with the dying of the Cre-' ole itself in the West Indies and Louisiana. What Thomas had done for the Trinidad patois, Turiault, a better scholar, did still more thoroughly for that of Martinique in 1874; and the brothers Saint-Quentin for that of French Guyana in 1872; and Baissac for that of Mauritius in 1882. Baissac's work on the Mauritian Creole is perhaps the most delightful book of the kind ever written; and he hopes to do a good deal in the way of folklore collecting. Turiault promises to give us the first important Creole dictionary; but it will probably include only the dialects of Martinique and Guadaloupe. Simultaneously with these efforts a great number of Creole songs, satires, fables, proverbs, conundrums, music, and folklore have been gathered not only in the West Indies, but in Mozambique, Madagascar, Bourbon, Mauritius, I'lle de la Reunion, etc., and published by folklorists. Linguistic societies have been founded for the special purpose of collecting and preserving these evanescent curiosities, and eight or ten leading foreign reviews aid the work. It would be interesting here to cite recent publications; but the list would occupy more space than we can afford in this connection. It is a pity that Louisiana does not fill a larger place in this bibliography, where Dr. Alfred Mercier's name is the only Creole name which seems to have obtained distinction in regard to our patois. We would hazard a suggestion in regard to the Creole stories contributed (only in French) to Melusine by Loys Brueyre as specimens of Guyana Creole. One of these (Compere Tigre et Compere Bouki), we recollect distinctly, appeared in the original some years ago, and over the signature of " Pa Lindor" in the Opelousas Courier. Their patois was here considered Louisianian. Again, it is to be regretted that the origin of the Creole excerpts credited to the Meschacebe, has not been specified in the bibliography. The old files of the Carillon, in which so many clever Creole satires appeared from the pen of William Henry and others, ought not to have been forgotten. It is singular that the most important part of what is being done for the preservation of our dying patois is being done by a German, Dr. Hugo von Schuchardt, of Vienna, who is collecting all the material that he can obtain here through various correspondents. Schuchardt is the greatest living figure in this field of research; for he has applied scientific methods of the most advanced kind to his study of Creole, and prosecutes his undertaking upon a really colossal scale. Not only all the French Creole dialects including those of the African colonies-have been included in it, but also the multiform Spanish and Portugese Creoles of the two Indies. Six of the latter have already been analyzed in the Professor's Kreolische Studien. The bibliography of MM. Gaidoz and Sebillot also shows us that good work is being done in another direction-concerning the origin of Creole negro music and improvisation. The music of the Congo and other west-coast African tribes is being collected by French effort from the original field; and there are already indications that the once celebrated art of our French speaking negroes in improvising satire may be traced to a Griot origin. With the present immense development of Creole studies and of African folklore, everything in regard to our Louisiana-Creole etymology, and in regard to the superstitions, customs, and chants of the Louisiana slaves promises to become known before very long. In the meanwhile, our local folklorists might do much to aid the labors of their brethren abroad.-New Orleans

Times-Democrat.

NOTES.-The New York World boasts of a Chinese reporter-Wong Ching Foo-to whom it devoted a column last week. He is thirty-two years of age, and has been in this country since 1873.Mr. Grant Allen is spending the summer at Kingston, Ontario, his native place.-Dr. Edward Eggleston has returned to the United States in improved health.- -The Pall Mall Gazette hears that Mr. William Black has set out in search of fresh adventures, accompanied by a well-known artist.- -Justin McCarthy will, it is said, start on a lecturing tour in the United States in September.- -Mr. Carnegie's "American Four-in-Hand in Britain" has reappeared from the press of Charles Scribner's Sons, this time in a cheap edition bound in paper covers.- -David Van Nostrand, the well-known publisher of military and scientific books and importer of foreign works, died last Monday. The date of his birth having been called in question recently, Mr. Whittier wrote: "I cannot say positively from my personal knowledge when I was born, but my mother told me it was on the 17th of December, 1807, and she was a very truthful woman.". -Mr. Hubert Hall, of London, will shortly publish with Messrs. Sonnenschein & Co. a new historical work with the title "Elizabethan Society." Ten social types have been selected to illustrate the interior life of the country, town, and court, and nearly all of these will comprise sketches of famous personages of the period. The illustrations are derived from contemporary manuscript.- "Land, Labour, and Law; a Search for the Wealth of the Labouring Poor," from the pen of Col. W. A. Phillips, member of Congress for Kansas, is published in England. Colonel Phillips presents a view of the principal systems of land tenure in both ancient and modern times, but with especial reference to the land laws of the United States.Philippe Burty is engaged in collecting notes for a history of Japanese lac, with special reference to its first introduction into Europe.- "Robert Burns, and the Moral Influence of his Poetry," by a Scotchwoman, is the title of a small volume announced for immediate publication by Mr. Elliot Stock. The authoress seeks to throw fresh light on the religious feeling expressed in certain of the poet's writings, in connection with recent correspondence and the coming Burns' centenary celebration.—In the Island of Java, there are twenty letter-press printing offices,

-M.

WIT OF THE WEEK.

AN absent-minded Congressman once lost the vote of an entire family by his carelessness. He had a way of saying "I would be glad to have you do so,” and one day a constituent, with his family, paid his respects. The Congressman was busy, and after some talk the visitor said:

"We will remain in the city several days."

"I should be glad to have you do so," replied the M. C., as he fumbled a pile of papers on his desk.

"We will come in and see you every now and then," chirped the visitor's wife. "I should be very glad to have you do so," said the Congressman.

"And bring around our other little boy you haven't seen," suggested the husband.

"I should be glad to have you do so," still said the Congressman. Then they rose.

"Well, Mr. Blank," said the visitor, extending his hand, "we must tell you good by and go back to the hotel."

"I should be very glad to have you do so," said the Congressman again, and he wondered for a week what made his visitors leave so abruptly and never come back to see him as they had said they would.- Washington Critic.

THE mosquitos are so large in a certain town on Long Island that a bald-headed resident keeps them off in church by wearing a base-ball catcher's mask.— Puck. We believe the case of Louis II of Bavaria is the first on record of the patient killing his doctor.—Puck.

HARD ON THE POOR.-Miss Clara: "We had a delightful time at the sociable last evening. The rain, fortunately, kept a good many away, and there were just enough there to make dancing a pleasure."

Mr. Featherly: "For whose benefit was it given, Miss Clara?"

Miss Clara: "For the poor of the parish, and, Mr. Featherly, the music was simply superb."-Haper's Bazar.

ADVANTAGES OF MORMONISM.-Gentile: I'm sorry to see you in that condition, old fellow, you're drinking too much. Mormon: No, I ain't (hic) m'boy.

a baby born, don't he?

Feller has to set 'em (hic) up when he has

Gentile I suppose so; but you've been drunk for two weeks.

Mormon: Tha's all right (hic); tha's the 'vantage of bein' a Mormon. Keeps me drinkin' most (hic) the time. Have to set (hic) 'em up ten or 'leven times shome days.-The Rambler.

TEACHER: How many mills make a cent?

Sagacious pupil: It depends on whether the hands are on a strike or not. Sometimes none of 'em make a cent.-Ibid.

RUSTICUS: Waiter, I hear that tips are very popular in these here city eating houses.

Waiter (in expectancy): Yes, sah, they is, sah.

Rusticus: Well, you may bring me a plate of 'em. Durn'd if I don't go the whole business!-Tid-Bits.

THE land that the first lady most loves is believed to be Cleveland.-Fudge. ENGLAND is said to have 347 female blacksmiths. So far, accordingly, from a woman not being able to shoo a hen she can even shoe a horse.-Ibid.

AN enterprising reporter, writing up a wreck at sea, stated that no less than four of the crew and passengers bit the dust.-Texas Siftings.

SOME day Uncle Sam will take a United States hook, bait it with good government, and catch Canada and land her in such a way that there will be no dispute with England on the fish question.-New Orleans Picayune.

THEIR TIPPLE.

JOHN BULL in the morning takes soda and brandy,

And rich "arf an' arf" for a nooner,

But the festive Canadian

And blue-nosed Arcadian

They take the American schooner.

-Boston Courier.

festations of popular approval and encouragement. The French flag hoisted in the New
Hebrides. The death of the Maharajah of Sudore reported by cable. Elections in Hol.
land resulted in the return of 47 Liberals and 39 Anti-Liberals. Prince Victor Napoleon
met with an accident while driving in Paris. Dr. O. W. Holmes receives honory degrees
at Cambridge amid great cheering. Elections in Mexico favor the Liberal party. Senor
Dinat, who was shot during the recent riots, buried.

FRIDAY, JUNE 18.

DOMESTIC.-President and Mrs. Cleveland hold their first public reception at the White House; the crowd was immense. Much damage done by storms in Texas. Rev. Henry Ward Beecher says farewell to his church before embarking for Europe. The North Atlantic squadron started for Portland, Maine. Col. J. W. Strong, managing editor of the St. Joseph, Mo., Herald, murdered in his office by Dr. 8. A. Richmond, who is said to be insane.

LORD Henry Gordon Lennox has just appeared in the London Bankruptcy Court. Liabilities, £11,579; assets, nil. Lord Henry Gordon Lennox will doubtless shine in New York society next winter, and another American heiress will join the British aristocracy.-Life.

EVENTS OF THE WEEK.

THURSDAY, JUNE 17.

CONGRESSIONAL.-Both branches in session. In the Senate Mr. Chace called attention
to the evil of claim agents in Washington; a number of bills on the calender were passed.
In the House, debate on the naval bill; Mr. Kelley read a letter written by Secretary
Stanton relative to General McClellan.

FOREIGN.-Mr. Gladstone addresses a vast audience in Music Hall, Edinburgh, on home rule. Lord Salisbury addresses enormous crowds at Leeds in opposition. M. de Freycinet telegraphs the governor of Caledonia ordering that if the French flag had been hoisted it be immediately pulled down.

SATURDAY, JUNE 19.

DOMESTIC.-All the street railroad companies of Boston consolidated with unlimited privileges and powers. Gen. B. F. Butler injured by a fall on a sidewalk. In the yacht race the Puritan was the winner and the Priscilla second. All were handicapped in crossing the line. From the actual start to the finish the fastest time was made by the Mayflower. Henry Ward Beecher sailed for Europe, and was accompanied down the bay by the Grand Republic, having ou board sixteen hundred of his friends. Mr. J. Harris Rogers, of the Pan-Electric Company, begins suit against his associates for a dissolution of partnership and $100,000 damages.

DOMESTIC.-The statue of Daniel Webster unveiled at Concord, N. H. The Right Rev. Bishop Hendricken buried with imposing ceremonies and many expressions of respect and gorrow. The supreme court of the State of Ohio sustains the reorganization of the Ohio Senate. Bunker Hill day celebrated with becoming honors in Boston. Maine Prohibitionists nominate Aaron Clark as candidate for governor of the State.

CONGRESSIONAL.-Both branches in session. In the Senate a number of bills on the cal. ender passed, among them one providing for a Congress of American nations. In the House the tariff was defeated on a call for the yeas and nays on the motion to reconsider.

CONGRESSIONAL.-The House in session. Free-traders obstruct the Dinley shipping bill; debate on the naval bill.

FOREIGN.-Mr. Gladstone starts on the electoral campaign amid unparalleled mani.

FOREIGN. The death of Admiral Augustus Charles Hobart (Hobart Pacha) is announced. Riot at a Conservative meeting in London. Mr. Gladstone's reception unprecedented. SUNDAY, JUNE 20.

DOMESTIC.-Baccalaureate sermons preached at Harvard, Union, Hobart, Princeton, Wesleyan, Trinity and other colleges. Ex-Vice-President Davis reported dying at his home in Bloomington, Ill. The British steamer Miranda, plying between New York and Halifax, N. S., went ashore at Point Judith, R. I.

FOREIGN.-Lord Randolph Churchill issues a manifesto. Negotiations begun between England and France for a revision of the existing convention between the two powers respecting the New Hebrides. The Emperor of China conferred decorations on the Ger. man minister of marine and a number of German officers for their services in the construction of Chinese Ironclads recently made in Germany.

MONDAY, JUNE 21.

DOMESTIC.-Class day at the leading colleges. Cardinal Gibbons receives the insignia of his office. Seven persons burned to death in Boston. Governor Robinson, of Massachusetts, vetoed the bill granting veteran soldiers and sailors the right to office without passing the necessary examination as to competence. The Chicago anarchists put on trial and the work of securing a jury commenced. A sensational incident was the appearance of Parsons, who has been hiding since the Haymarket riot. He walked into court and surrendered. The members of the lower house of the general court of Massachusetts passed a $150 "salary grab" bill.

CONGRESSIONAL.-Both houses in session. Mr. Randall proposes to introduce a new tariff bill. The House manifests a disposition to lay aside all other business until the appropriation bills are passed. President Cleveland rebukes Congress in a long veto message for their hasty pension legislation. An income tax is proposed in the House committee in order to meet the increased pension payments.

FOREIGN. The question of Cuban autonomy discussed in the Spanish cortes, as also, incidentally, that of the Spanish treaty with the United States which failed to be exe. cuted. The captain of the last schooner seized by the Canadian authorities for a violation of the customs law pleads "unintentional" guilt,

TUESDAY, JUNE 22.

DOMESTIC-Anarchists on trial at Chicago, Minneapolis, and St. Louis. Prohibition convention in Delaware. Boycotters on trial in New York. The new divorce law of Massachusetts ordered to be engrossed. It punishes any citizen of the State who obtains separation by trick, collusion or device, and lawyers for advertising for divorce business. Judge Nott, of the Albany county sessions, charges Superintendent McEwen, of the Albany penitentiary, with offering him $50 each for long-term convicts. The Sixteenth General Convention of French Canadians resident in the United States meets at Rutland, Vt.

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20

VOL. I.

PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY THE PUBLIC OPINION COMPANY.

WASHINGTON, D. C., SATURDAY, JULY 3, 1886.

POLITICAL.

VETOES OF PRIVATE PENSION BILLS.

EXECUTIVE disapproval of a large number of private pension bills has provoked much discussion, the general drift of which is fairly indicated by the selections here collated.

The New Yorker Staats-Zeitung, June 25.

[Translated for PUBLIC OPINION.]

Το

MR. CLEVELAND will probably soon acquire the surname of the "Veto-President." With the twenty-nine new vetoes of yesterday, he has now altogether brought the number up to seventy-three. This is three-fourths as many as, collectively, were sent in by earlier Presidents, namely, one hundred and nine. be sure, with the exception of a single one-Grant, and the latter comes next after him with his twenty-nine vetoes only-not one of them has busied himself or has had to busy himself with the revision of private bills. Now that Cleveland, actuated by his extraordinary conscientiousness, has once made a beginning, with a close inspection of this kind of bill, he can not very well pause until they have physically exhausted him, as was indeed the case some four weeks ago when Congress sent him, all at once, such a colossal heap that he could not examine them within the space of time prescribed by the Constitution. That the President is rendering a great service to the country in assuming this exacting and irksome task is beyond all question. The merit consists not so much in the economy of the pecuniary amount which is thereby effected, as in the preventive influence which his interference has exerted, and, so far as there is time, will yet exert upon the continuance of this dirty nuisance on the part of Congress.

From Congressman Bayne's Speech-Press Report.

THIS man had even had the temerity to sneer at the reports of a committee of this House. He had the temerity to put the seal of his sarcasm on the reports of a committee granting a pension to the widow of some man who had been slain in the service of his country. This man, himself no soldier, himself walking the path of peace when these other men imperiled their lives to save the Union, came in and put his veto on the unanimous vote of the House of Representatives and the Senate of the United States. What constitutional authority had the President for going to this length? It was the fault of men endowed with brief authority to arrogate knowledge that they did not possess. He was no better than any other; he was no better than any American citizen, and he, by God, was not the equal of any man who periled his life and went out to save the Union.

Albany Journal (Rep.), June 28.

As the President's vetoes of the pension bills are more closely examined their injustice becomes more apparent. A striking case is that of the widow of Gen. David Hunter, who served with credit in both the Mexican and civil wars. When he died of old age last year his gallantry and eminent services to his country were The extolled in a proclamation by the President as commander-in-chief of the army. vetoed bill, which met no opposition in either House, gave his widow a pension of $50 a month. The President's objection to the measure, on the ground that her claim is pending in the Pension Office, loses all its force when it is made known that the Pension Office can not grant her more than $30 a month, and that nearly every surviving widow of a major-general is receiving $50 a month by special act of Congress.

Savannah News (Dem.), June 26.

THE Country wouldn't blame the President if he were to refuse to examine any of these private pension bills. He should veto them all, and in that way put a stop to the consideration of such bills. As a rule, Congressmen don't care whether these bills, which are for the benefit of constituents whose votes are sought, become laws or not. If they are in a position to say that they got the bills through Congress, but that the President vetoed them, they stand about as well with the claimants for pensions as if the bills had become laws. They willingly impose burdens on the people to gain selfish ends, and put the responsibility of protecting the people against such burdens on the President.

Washington Post (Dem.), June 30.

Ir is remarked that Congress is going to pass a pension giving the widow of Gen. Stannard $100 a month; that the President is to veto it on the same ground he has taken in vetoing similar bills; and then that Congress is to make it a test case, and rally to break the veto on the issue that "Gen. Stannard was a real hero, wounded five times in three engagements." We warn the opponents of the President that Gen. Stannard would not be a very solid case to "rally" on. He was a brave soldier, to be sure; but he has been pretty well taken care of in public office. * * Mr. Cleveland might take the view that the Government has paid out enough.

*

Philadelphia Ledger (Ind.), June 25.

IF Mr. Bayne had kept better guard upon his tongue people at a distance might

No. 12.

never have found out what a raving lunatic he can become when he turns himself loose. Of course, he knows all about the President's constitutional power to decline to approve any Congressional bill and to return it with his objection, yet Mr. Bayne got frantic enough the other day to fling his arms about and to roar "who invested this man with such power?" At that moment Mr. Bayne must have imagined he was petrifying the President by calling him "this man," but when the frenzy passed away he probably saw that the President could stand it better than he (Bayne) could.

New York Sun (Dem.), June 28.

WHEN the President's turn comes to act, he can lay the whole case before the public with the certainty that although he may be condenmed by the disappointed pension seekers, his action will help him with the great majority outside. This ain't a fair shake, perhaps, but that can not justify the extraordinary support of indefensible pension bills, private and public, which has characterized this Congress. The President may be relied on to stop all such jobs that he can get his mind on, but the place where they should be stopped is at the doors of the Capitol.

New York Mail and Express (Rep.), June 26.

THE brilliant record the President has lately made in the line of writing vetoes of private pension bills will be a great misfortune to him, if he is carried away with too much conceit of such performances. This sort of work is legitimate, and probably was necessary, but it is not of a sort entitling it to such elaboration and striv ing for effect as the President has displayed, to the neglect of much weightier matters. If it should turn out that some of these ambitiously written vetoes are unjust and based on misconceptions of either the facts or the law, the undue prominence given by the President to this detail work will have been especially unfortunate for him.

Chicago News (Ind.), June 28.

In the case of the widow of Maj.-Gen. Hunter, which has been especially referred to both in the Senate and House of Representatives, the President's position is apparently unassailable. It tells Congress that her application was only made to the Pension Bureau last March and has not yet been passed upon. Moreover it intimates that the pension will be granted in due time. The President should indite an autograph letter to Mr. Bayne thanking him for the valuable service his attack has been in emphasizing the justice of the pension vetoes.

Pittsburgh Commercial-Gazette (Rep.), June 25.

THE House pension committees are controlled by Democrats, and there is a Democratic majority of forty in the House. What kind of a record is this for a body that was elected on the pledge that there should be "economy and reform" in the expenditure of the public funds? Are the Senators and Representatives in Congress, Republican and Democratic, a set of thieves banded together to pillage the Treasury for the benefit of rascally claim agents and dead-beat soldiers? This is about the estimate that President Cleveland has formed of them.

Memphis Appeal (Dem.), June 25.

UNLESS Congress changes some of its ways of doing business the occasions of its assembling will be regarded as apprehensively as the entrance of an invading army. Such an army takes, right and left, silver spoons and whatever is portable and carries them away. Congress lets the spoons alone, but it takes the money with which citizens should be able to buy spoons and squanders and lavishes it without the least mercy upon those to whom the money belongs.

Baltimore Herald (Ind.), June 23.

It is better to err on the side of generosity where the Union soldiers who gave their lives and their fortunes to the cause of their country are concerned. No political bias should be suffered to work injustice to any deserving applicant for a pension, and no claim should be ignored if founded on a shadow of justice. In the nature of things, the recipients of these pensions can not live many years. If pressure has been put on the President to veto such measures of relief, the sooner Mr. Cleveland rejects the aid of his evil counselors the better.

Nebraska State Journal (Rep.), June 25.

THESE vetoes indicate a picayunish soul. If the President was large enough to fill comfortably the Executive chair, he would, when he wants to save a little money for the Government, go for something bigger than a poor soldier's pension or a little postoffice and custom-house in the growing West. He would tackle a river and harbor steal or something else of his size. But he probably does fight things of about his size when he knocks out a pension to a sick soldier or a soldier's widow. A man's deeds are according to his strength.

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about the nation's duty to the soldier, and so forth, won't do." The North quite five-sixths are more or less fraudulent in one way or another. The general American is quite correct.

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ONE of the pension bills recently vetoed by President Cleveland provided a pension for the heirs of a Union soldier who, although his name was on the rolls as a deserter, actually died in prison at Andersonville. It is this whacking away at the shadows of things and ignoring their substance that is gradually enabling Mr. Cleveland to amass a reputation for being a man who longs to be a great statesman but doesn't exactly know how.

New York Evening Post (Ind.), June 26.

THE men who try to cover fraudulent raids upon the Treasury by shouting: "We saved the Union," are doing the same sort of thing that was done for so many years when all sorts of scoundrelism and public robbery were explained and condoned by tearful allusions to the "poor negro." If Mr. Bayne and his companions in unhappiness think that kind of argument is still powerful, let them go before the people with it.

Pittsburgh Dispatch (Ind.), June 28.

LIBERALITY to the soldiers of the late war does not by any means require that all the humbugs shall get special pensions. That the President has taken the trouble to examine the circumstances and expose an average of about one humbug out of every ten special pension bills, is not to his discredit. But it is to the discredit of the system that the time of either the President or Congress should be occupied with such jobs.

Congressman Bayne, Washington Post Interview, June 28. THE President means well. I believe he is entirely honest, but he is wrongly advised. He takes the general pension law to be a constitution, and holds that every special pension bill must conform to it. If that view were correct there would be no use for special bills. And you will find that the opposition to the vetoes will not be a party question. The Democrats will unite with the Republicans in opposing them.

Illinois State Journal (Rep.), June 26.

pension acts of Congress make ample provision for everybody in the country enti-
tled to a pension, and it is about time that a system of campaigning by members
of Congress on Government funds filched from the Treasury should be stopped.
Washington Star (Ind.), June 26.

Ir ill becomes members of either Senate or House to abuse the President for
his activity in vetoing the bills which they have dumped upon him by the hundred
since the private pension mills have got into smooth running order. He is simply
doing the work of candid inquiry which they left undone. Any aspersion they
cast upon his motives must surely react upon their own.

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Ottawa, Canada, Free Press, June 24.

A MAIN feature in the American system, superior to our system of responsible government, is the power of veto placed in the hands of the chief executive officer. It certainly can be made an effective weapon for the protection of the public interests, but it ought only to be vested in a person elected by and responsible to the people as a whole.

WHEN Mr. Bayne asks what "constitutional authority" the President has for going this length ?" and "who has invested this man with such power?" the most loyal of Mr. Bayne's thoughtful constituents must smile and confess that it was the people of the United States who did these awful things, and that it is from them that "this man" gets "this constitutional authority" and "such power."

Boston Herald (Ind.), June 26.

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It is easy to believe, after reading the President's terse and caustic vetoes of some of the private pension bills, the statement of a correspondent that "Congress seems to be unable to say no" to any pension scheme, however wild, or any private pension bill, however absurd. It is very fortunate for the country that there is a President in the White House who has the ability to say no with a big, big N. ! Chicago Tribune (Rep.), June 24.

It is safe to say that of the 600 private pension bills introduced this session,

It ought to teach Southern Democrats a needed lesson to see a Northern Democratic President thus putting a stop to jobbery in the name of patriotism, and gaining strength and popularity with Northern taxpayers by the act. The attitude of Southern Congressmen toward such legislation has been humiliating and alarming.

Memphis Avalanche, June 26. ·

THE President has been scrupulously careful to give to every application the benefit of every reasonable doubt. He has only singled out the cases of extreme carelessness. He has in every case given such reasons for his veto that no paper will dare to print his reasons side by side with its own criticism of his course. Boston Journal (Rep.), June 28.

FOR vetoing bills which have no merit, and some that he has vetoed did not have merit, the President is to be commended. He is equally deserving censure for vetoing bills which are designed to relieve persons in distress who have hon est claims based upon injuries received in the faithful discharge of duty.

Leavenworth Times (Rep.), June 28.

THE President's veto messages suggest the suspicion that they were written for the purpose of allowing the President to offer a nominal apology to the old soldiers for his heartless words of a few weeks ago, and to give him an opportunity to pull the nose of Congress on general principles.

Nashville American (Dem.), June 24.

If a man can not obtain his pension under the general law and in the regular way, we doubt whether wisdom or patriotism requires that Congress should throw open the doors to such a flood of fraudulent raids on the Treasury as is the necessary consequence of the present system.

Springfield Republican (Ind.), June 26.

PRESIDENT CLEVELAND is practicing on vetoes in a way to indicate that if the river and harbor bill gets unmanageable by Congress he can handle it. His "deestrict" is the whole country, and the people have their eyes on him rather than on the Members of Congress.

Pittsburgh Dispatch (Ind.), June 28.

AFTER a few more encounters with President Cleveland's virile ability to say "no" to its small-sized jobs, the Committee on Invalid Pensions may consider its name changed by the pronunciation of the word "invalid" with the accent on the second syllable.

NOT until the people turn their backs upon their representatives, refuse to reelect them, and tell them plainly they are unfit to serve them, will there be any reform in this matter of loose legislation.-Albany Press (Ind.), June 26.

PRESIDENT CLEVELAND's motto is: Millions for the genuine disabled soldiers of the Republic, but not one cent for perjured swindlers who are trying to get on the pension list through fraud.-Florida Times-Union (Dem.), June 27.

SENATOR BLAIR abuses the President because of his pension vetoes, while at the same time he would throw away millions of public money in order to further his crotchety schemes.- Philadelphia Record (Ind.), June 27.

BETTER that ninety and nine undeserving soldiers should be pensioned than that one poor defenseless widow or orphaned child should have cause to feel the injustice of the Government.-Troy Times (Rep.), June 26.

THE fun which the President puts into his vetoes could be materially improved by the introduction of pictorial illustrations. How would that sort of thing do in this era of reform ?—National Republican (Rep.), June 28.

If this course had been adopted by previous Presidents, very many millions of dollars would have been saved to taxpayers and some great scandals avoided. Cleveland Plain Dealer (Dem.), June 26.

It is to the credit of this administration that Mr. Cleveland can veto unlawful pensions as fast as Congress can grant them.-Kansas City Times (Dem ), June 24. REPUBLICS are proverbially ungrateful, but American voters have not forgotten

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as yet the heroes who put down the great rebellion and their work, in which Grover Cleveland was so little interested, and which he finds it so easy to relegate to apathetic oblivion.-Brooklyn Times (Rep.), June 25.

PRESIDENT CLEVELAND is showing a level head and firm will in the matter of vetoes, especially in the veto of private pension bills. He last week returned such bills by the dozen unsigned, with his reasons, and his reasons were good and valid objections to the bills.—New York Independent, July 1.

THE President is making for himself a record in the way of vetoes that secures for him the universal commendation of the press of the country. The President does everything in a deliberate, business-like manner, even to getting married. Wilmington, Del., News (Rep.), June 26.

WHILE the people are heartily and justly applauding the sending in of vetoes by the score, they should not forget that this interposition of Executive authority has been made necessary by a base and unscrupulous use of the legislative power. -Buffalo Courier (Dem.), June 24.

THE Republicans have brought in and passed four or five hundred private pension bills at this session. The President is vetoing them about as fast as he can get time to examine them, and the country is well pleased with this.-New York Herald (Ind.), June 27.

It is manifestly time that greater care and a closer inquiry were exercised with respect to alleged claims for pensions, to the end that this enormous draft upon the public treasury shall not be enlarged by unwarranted demands.--Omaha Bee (Rep.), June 28.

THE vetoes are calling public attention to a growing evil-to the large amount of legislation allowing private claims of various kinds, but mostly for pensions which can not be secured under the general law.-Columbus, Ohio, Dispatch (Ind.), June 26.

THE President is gaining a great reputation for courage by vetoing a few small pension bills. The real test of his courage will come when he is confronted by the river and harbor appropriations.-Louisville Commercial (Rep.), June 25.

THE DEATH OF DAVID DAVIS.

DAVID DAVIS, ex-judge of the supreme court of Illinois and of the United States Supreme Court, ex-Senator from Illinois, and ex-President pro tempore of the Senate, died at his home in Bloomington, Illinois, on Saturday morning, the 26th ult., in the 72d year of his age.

Springfield Republican (Ind.), June 27.

JUDGE DAVIS's election by the votes of both Republicans and Democrats gave to his entrance into the Senate a peculiar complexion which was maintained throughout the rest of his public life. He was a genuine independent, holding himself open to the merits of all matters, and above party dictation. He was placed on the committees of the judiciary, on the revision of laws, on private lands and on the census. He was actively engaged with Senators Thurman and Edmunds in the Thurman funding bill, forcing the Pacific railroads to provide a sinking fund for the payment of their obligations to the Government at maturity. When the Senate assembled in extra session in 1881, Senator Bayard, now Secretary of State, was chosen president pro tem., and appointed the committees; but when the two new Senators from New York and one from Rhode Island were qualified, Judge Davis was chosen president, and signalized his independent position by refusing to change the organization. He held the same even balance during the remainder of his term, which expired March 4, 1883.

Chicago Inter-Ocean (Rep.), June 27.

JUDGE DAVIS can hardly be ranked with Marshall and Story as an expounder of constitutional law. He was a man of few words. His talents rose in the direction of common sense into the region of genius * * * As a Senator Judge Davis left no imprint upon the legislation of the country. He had the respect of all his associates, but was too far advanced in life to learn the art of law-making. Besides, being neither a Democrat nor a Republican, he was not in a position to accomplish mucli. It is believed that he retired to private life without regret. In 1884 he was an earnest supporter of Blaine and Logan, for both of whom he had a strong liking. It was a return to the allegiance of the party he helped to organize, and in which alone he could feel at home, politically. In private life Judge Davis was absolutely and always above reproach. A man of great wealth, he was never tainted with any of the vices which seem to beset the path of riches. Those who knew him best were his best friends.

New York Tribune (Rep.), June 27.

THE death of ex-Judge David Davis ends the career of a man who occupied at one time a position of peculiar influence in the politics of this country. In the Senate he constituted in himself a sort of third party, and while his attitude was exceptional, he did nothing out of keeping with his principles, and made in the main an admirable Senator. To the bench he was an ornament, and was distinguished for his ability and fairness. In private life Judge Davis was admired for many virtues and great worth. Neither will it be forgotten that he was a trusted friend of Abraham Lincoln, and deserved the regard of that statesman and martyr.

Troy Press (Dem.), June 26.

THE judicial career of Judge Davis was clean up to the eve of his resignation from the Supreme Court bench. He was a champion of personal liberty and of popular rights against the aggressions of a political party intoxicated with power, and of corporations whose arrogance never found favor with him. The one spot

in the career of Judge Davis was his resignation as a member of the Supreme Court. He resigned while the electoral commission bill was being perfected. It was known that he would be one of the justices to be selected to serve on the commission. Had he not resigned it is probable that the Presidency would not have been stolen, for it is believed that he had too much regard for his legal reputation to hold to one rule of law in reference to one contested State and an entirely contrary rule when passing upon the contest about the electoral vote of another State. His resignation, coming when it did, and his election to the Senate were singular coincidences.

Richmond Whig (Dem.), June 27.

His career in the Senate is one instance in our political history in which a representative pursued a strictly impartial and independent course, and commanded the entire confidence and respect of both political parties. He will be chiefly remembered by Virginia people as the counter element in the game which Senator Mahone undertook to play when he was elected to that body. The Senate was evenly divided between the two parties-thirty-seven Democrats and thirty-seven Republicans, and David Davis and William Mahone-the biggest man and the littlest man in the Senate. Senator Mahone's double-dealing movement was entirely offset by Senator Davis' straightforward and non-partisan course, and it was not until after the elevation of the latter to the Vice-Presidency, through the circumstance of President Garfield's death, that "the hero of the Crater" began to get in his work. Mr. Davis' death will be sincerely regretted by the people of the South. Washington Post (Dem.), June 29.

MORE than once the Presidency was within his grasp, but lack of aggressiveness never enabled him to secure the prize. When he forsook the Republican party and became an Independent there were times when the chances seemed in his favor, but the possibility never realized fruition. His defeat of Logan for the Senate in 1877 was a personal tribute to the man, and his election, after the death of Garfield, as president pro tem. of the Senate was still another honor. It was a time of feverish anxiety, and men felt that a wise and cool head was absolutely necessary. With him in the chair there was no danger, and it is hardly an exaggeration to say that his election did as much to reassure confidence as anything else

Boston Globe (Dem.), June 28.

IF Mr. Davis had been content to stay where Lincoln placed him, it would have been better for him and for the country. His ambition to mingle in politics was the indirect cause of placing Hayes in the place that belonged to Tilden, and for this service a grateful Republican Senate made him Vice-President when Arthur stepped into the place of the murdered Garfield. At one time threatened with greatness, Mr. Davis failed to grasp the occasion, and, being of a happy temperament and having à good bank account, he did not pine over the loss, but continued a warm-hearted friend and good story-teller to the last.

New York Star (Dem.), June 27.

THE Democrats ceased to depend upon him after he had assisted in turning Mr. Bayard out of the office of president pro tempore of the Senate, and since his retirement he has been almost out of the public eye. His prominence was due to a political accident, and he left no mark on legislation or on politics while he was in Congress because he had no party. He was greatly respected. by lawyers, and undoubtedly he had a fine judicial mind. There have been few men in public life personally more popular than Judge Davis.

Evansville, Indiana, Journal (Rep.), June 27.

JUDGE DAVIS was immensely wealthy, but a man of plain tastes and sensible course of living. Like Lincoln, he never put on any airs nor conducted himself as one above his fellows. He married a comparatively young wife several years ago, and but for his late and fatal physical disability, bid fair to live many years. His loss will be severely felt. Though retired from active public life, he held the highest respect and confidence of the people without distinction of party. The country will sincerely mourn his loss.

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WHILE not a great man, Mr. Davis was a man of great energy and could not be swerved from his purpose after he had once determined upon a course of action. His independence was not an easy thing when the parties were so nearly balanced in power, and his honesty was frequently questioned by both sides. But a public man is generally prepared for such criticism, and he was not affected by it. His life has been a busy one, and as a lawyer, judge, and Senator he will be long remembered.

New York Independent, July 1.

As justice, Mr. Davis's experience was such that he found it impossible, when he retired from that position to enter the Senate, to vote in accordance with partisan dictation or otherwise than from judicial motives. He therefore assumed the role of an Independent, and as such was the only possible candidate for the Presidency of the half-Republican, half-Democratic Senate, over which General Arthur presided till the death of Garfield.

Baltimore Herald (Ind.), June 29.

MR. DAVIS has been claimed as a Democrat, but it is stated on the authority of one of his most intimate friends that he was not a Democrat at the time of his

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