OUR AMERICAN LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2086, 15 February 1894, Page 14

OUR AMERICAN LETTER.

(From Ouh Own Correspondent.) San Francisco, December 14. Chicago's aftebjiath. Between the hours of 1 and 4 o'clock in the morning Chicago is under martial law. All street frequenters during this period are stopped by the police and compelled to give an account of themselves. This remarkable procedure upon the part of the authorities was decided to be absolutely imperative for the protection of the lives and pockets of citizens. The whole city is alive with criminals and desperate men. Robberies with violence occur at all hours of tho day and night. Men, women, and children are stopped, robbed, and beaten to so fearful a degree that officials are using every known expedient to check their continuance. The causes for this condition of affairs are two : the army of villains attracted to the city by the World's Fair, and the far larger army— -which is estimated at from 40 to 100 thousand — of people who are face to face with starvation. Nervous apprehension of what the winter will bring forth is a very mild term to express the feeling prevalent in Chicago at this time. Editor W. ,T. Stead, of London, has been devoting his attention to this great cosmopolitan centre, and he is fairly appalled at the extent of the misery and vice openly proclaiming themselves on every side. He has called meetings, consulted all classes and conditions of men, and is desirous of doing something to purify, if possible, the moral life of the people. To this end he is now gathering material for a book he proposes publishing, and which is to be entitled, "If Christ Came to Chicago." According to bis own statements the lines he proposes to follow in his work are somewhat as follow: — "My book will discuss the whole social and economic problem from a Chicago point of view. I shall procee^d upon the old line, asking the best man in his class what is wrong and how to right it. Some people think I have fallen into a glorification of the saloonkeepers. That is not true ; Ido insist, though, that the saloonkeepers' standard is not lived up to by other people." Respecting Stead's remarks upon the despised saloonkeeper, I may mention en passant, he further declared, amid a storm of cheering, last Sunday : " For what the saloonkeeper ha 3 done to supply humanity with the f undamentsd. necessities of life I Bay God bless the saloonkeeper." "In your book on Chicago, what line of reform will you work on most ?" was asked. " The union of all who love to serve those j who suffer. That is my great theme, and it is j broad enough to include all tho6e who don't | believe in Christ, don't believe in religion, or don't believe in anything." The book will, without doubt, be worth reading, and will afford a good idea to outsiders what a great city in this country really is — a matter upon which, I think, there are very hazy ideas. Whether, however, it will purify Chicago, I cannot, say ; but I am inclined to think the moral purification of London would be the easier task of the two. NOTKS AND COMMENTS. , Professor Asger Hamerick has supplemented ' the learned and soul-stirring researches of Professor Garner into the language of monkeys with the result of his 12 years' studies upon the conversational abilities of chickens. A student of the language of asses is now eagerly awaited A man newmed Oroville. W. Owen, of Detroit, has outdone Donnelly in the matter of Shakespearian ciphers. The new fool outruns the old fool by many a mile. His cipher — so simple that he who runs may read — proveß that Sir Francis Bacon was the legitimate son of Queen Elizabeth by the Earl of Leicester, to whom she was eecretly married. Elizabeth made this disclosure on her deathbed, but was promptly poisoned and strangled by Sir Robert Cecil. The new fool confirms the old fool so far as Bacon being Shakespeare is concerned, but goes him one or two better as his cipher demonstrates Bacon to have written all the plays of Marlowe, Greene, and Peel, Burton's "Anatomy of Melancholy " and Spenser's poems into the bargain. Of course, between whiles, Bacon put in an hour or so on his own works. Mrs M. French Sheldon, the African traveller, in a lecture delivered in Pittsburg, referred to Dr Peters as a " German murderer," and continued thus : — " It fairly makes my blood beil when I think of his savage butchery and acts — atrocious to every law of God and man — among the poor ignorant people of interior Africa. In my explorations I found evidences of his detestable work on every band. "At one village that I visited I found the people most friendly and hospitable. Six weeks later Dr Peters visited the same village. When he left 120 defenceless men, women, and children were murdered in cold blood, and their bloody corpses were left as evidence of how Dr Peters ' colonised ' Africa. "This is but one instance, and many others like it came under my own personal observaion." Peters evidently beats Stanley. But as long as public and press fall down prostrate before the " scientific achievements " of these African " civilisers " for bo long will the genuine travellers and heroes, whose boots Messieurs Peterß and Stanley are not fit to polish, be unknown and unhonoured. Niagara is to be harnessed at last, and the first day of February next has been set apart for the inauguration of this the greatest experiment in electrical engineering yet attempted. Niagara is to be the generative power for sufficient electricity to turn all the machinery west of the Hudson. The plan is simple : The main inlet canal, which when completed will be some 1500 ft or 2000 ft long, will lead from the Niagara river at a point about a mile and a- half above the falls down to the wheel-pit. The solid masonry of this is pierced near the top by a row of gates through which the water will be admitted to the pipes, called penstocks, seven and a half feet in diameter, which will convey it to the turbines 140 feet below, generating power that will bo conveyed by shaftiog to the dynamos at the surface. After the water has dene its work at the turbines it will pass on into the tunnel and rush down to the river, a few hundred feet below the American Fall, emerging from the portal almost underneath the new suspension bridge and 214 feet below the btiuk of the cliffs which form the magnificent Niagara gorge. That is all there is to the Power Ccmpanj's plant for generating electricity. Captain Zalin&ki, of this city, and who is reported as desirous of testing his invention in Brazilian waters, has the credit of creating one of the most appalling of death-dealing instruments. His pneumatic gun is a most extraordinary piece of ordnance to look at. It is more like a gigantic Bmooth-bore fowling piece than anything else, bearing a strong resemblance to the tall, narrow smokestacks in use on Mississippi river steamboats 30 and more years ago. They are made of steel or aluminium brotze, and about half an inch thick and about 30ft in length, but they can throw dynamite, gun potion, explosive gelatine, or, in fact, anything

that will blow up. They are more quickly and easily handled than the ordinary powder qua. They are able to scatter lumps of dynamite, gelatine, or gun-cotton weighing a quarter of a ton, and do it accurately, too. They make no deafeniDg report or cloud of smoke, but simply belch out torpedoes as a Roman candle does lights. They can throw a quarter of a ton of explosive gelatine a distance of a mile, and smaller masses three times as far. A debate between representatives from two of the colleges of the Berkeley University upon the following was held last week :—": — " Resolved, that the English system of a responsible Ministry should be introduced into the United States Government." It appears to me the item is worth mentioning. The Yale University football team again defeated Harvard, btfore 25,000 people, on the 25th u\t. Yale's record for the past three seasons is 1300 points against 12 — a truly marvellous score. The lowest price of admission to these great encounters is 6s — the highest 335! Last spring a subscription list was opened for the purpose of collecting funds to erect a monument in memory ef " the peerless and incomparable Blame." The idea originated in Blame's native State. Last week the list closed. The sum of £24 had been collected. The monument will not be erected. Two hundred and fifty people own one-fifth of the wealth of the United States. The Rev. A, C. Coxe, bishop of the Episcopal Church for the diocese of Western New York, is addressing a series of "open" letters to Mgr. Satolli. Speaking of the papal delegate's position here, the bishop writes as follows: — "Yours is a deliberate invasion of our capita], and a practical intermeddling with our most delicate domestic affairs, which you threaten to make permanent. A Jesuit party in our politics has been formed like the Parti Preter in the French Parliament and the Windthorst party in the Reichstag. It will henceforth proceed more openly to clog and curse our Legislature. It will assail our common schools first of all. You introduce this party under the management of Lieutenant-Governor Sheehan." January 15. 1893. "Good riddance to bad rubbish" is the universal judgment, from Maine to California, upon the year the United States, in common with the rest of the world, has but now said " Adieu " to. It was a year ushered in under the fairest of auspices, the best wishes of all, the buoyancy of heart and soul born of hope fulfilled, and yet its close, no lees than the greater part of its life, has been such that men will not willingly pray for its like again. j For the first time in 34 years the year 1893 j saw a Democratic Administration and Congress | in power, both of which were charged with the onerous duty of carrying into effect the oft repealed, though hitherto impracticable, demand of the majority. Grover Cleveland was confidently regarded as the right man in the right place. His word once pledged was accepted without question. Had any ventured at that time to affirm the year now gone would pass without any legislative action upon the allpowerful question of the day he, or she, would have been laughed to scorn. But so it is. Tariff reform, the lightening of the enormous burden of taxation that has throttled every industry, closed scores of factories, and enhanced the cost of living to every individual, has j not been accomplished, and months will possibly pa3S ere we see the solemn pledges of ! jears ago realised. There has been an awful collapse of financial institutions, mining industries, and business firms. Panic soLssd upon_alLro£i; of all classes.— Neither figuFes nor statistics can convey any adequate idea of the universal gloom and cry of misfortune. Take the item of railroads alone, and these, perhaps, convey as clear a comprehension as any industry of the terrible downfall of the nation's prosperity. During 1893 no less than 71 lines of railway passed from their original owners into other hands for the benefit of creditors. There were already, as a heritage from previous years, 52 lines in the hands of the courts, so that, adding these two items, we have 123 railroads, representing a mileage of 33,195 miles, or 50 per cent, more than the entire railway system of Great Britain ! To these formidable figures must be added those of the great Aitcheson, Topeka, and Santa Fe system, which has just gone into the hands of the receivers — a line whose capital stock is given as 240,000,000d01. In other words, industries having a total funded debt and capital stock of 1.967, 512, OOOdol are being managed by the official assignees. Such is one item only in the numberless crashes of 1893. The causes assigned are various. Most of them I don't believe, and am inclined to think we must seek for the cause somewhere down iv the depths of those commercial cesspools underlying bo many of the great enterprises here. Even the receivers into whose hands these railroads have passed are not above reproach. Charges of fraud are freely bandied about, and actions of all kinds are threatened in the courts. English stockholders, at all events, are very nervous, and the London Economist voices their feeling in these words : — " We are loath to make such a charge against the American officials, yet are compelled to believe it, or else the whole system of finance adopted is rotten. No wonder investors on this side are disgusted with such chicanery. They need to enjoy absolute superfluity of faith or credulity to believe any longer iv the honesty of most American railway managements." Of course the working classes are the sufferers. Their cry ascends from every city iv the Union. Bisbxp Fallows, of Chicago, said there are 3,000,000 people "out of employment at this time, and even Conservative estimates are away up in the millions. What the outcome will be none can tell, but I am at one with those who believe the most dangerous being to be at large is the man who wants work and cannot get it. The bright spot in 1893 is the World's Fair. This great exposition towers up a monument to the energy, ability, genius, and greatness of the, as yet, undigested aud unassimilated mass that we terra the American people. All nations have joined their acclamations to swell the chorus of Chicago's triumph, and tho.-e of us who are optimistic rather than pessimistic in our views may fix our thoughts with pardonable pride and satisfaction upon the object lesson afforded mankind by (.he Columbian Exposition of 1893. CHRISTMAS IN SAN FRANCISCO. " The worst Christmas we have ever had " was the general comment. For the first time men and women recognised something had to be done to alleviate the intense suffering around them, and it was done in a manner that did credit to them as citizens and human beiDgs. The Examiner started a subscription with 500dol, and threw open its offices and the services of its staff for the good cause. la less than 10 days upwards of 5000dol was collected in sums ranging from 5s to 20dol, and a few larger sums. All contributed — if not cash, then goods. Tons upon tons of coal, fuel, vegetables, toys, clothing, books, &c. came rolling in from Greek, Roman, Protestant, and Hebrew. Policemen and militia, Sunday school scholars and ballet girls, betting men and jockeys poured in their coin. Out on the.

racecourse, in half an hour, 1200dol was collected from bookmakers, jockeys, and visitors — a gift that provoked unfavourable comparison with a subscription taken up at a meeting in Chicago by St. John, a former candidate for President, in the prohibition interest, at which, after an eloquent harangue by a lady who proved drink was the cause of the destitution, the sum of lOdol was collected. However, in San Francisco, everything went with a rush. Three thousand five hundred people had a roast turkey and plum pudding dinner on Christmas Day ; hundreds of baskets filled with delicacies and the like went to the sick; the poorly clad were clothed, and the heart of many a weary one was cheered for a — alas ! that it should be so — brief period. Apart from the giving and the appeal, it is apparent much work had to be done. Somebody had to arrange everything, to receive the goods, to send them broadcast, to pack the parcels, to test the bona fides of the applicants, to prepare the dinner, to feed the thousands, to clear up the fragments. Yes, someone or somebody had to do it, aud, by universal consent, newspaper managers, representatives of all the churches and all the creeds, and all the nationalities, handed every cent, of the money and every book, toy, food, or clothing right clean over, without inquiry or hesitancy, or anything but a hearty •• God bless you," to the Salvation Army. POLITICS AND EDUCATION. Some mouths since I submitted an array of facts tending to show the demoralising nature of the compact entered into between the above. On that occasion it was proved, upon the authority of one member of the Education Board and the admission of others, that teacherships were a marketable commodity, having a price varying according to the law of supply and demand : that fitness was not the all-important qualification, and that the manipulators of the directors were certain political bosses who claimed these " sales " as their perquisites. Aud now another scandal has comeinto the daylight. Certain documents, duly signed, have been unearthed, in which candidates for directorships on the Education Board made over every particle of honour they may have at any time, by chance, possessed to their political chiefs. The case stands thus : When the Pacific Bank and People's Home Savings Bank went under last year, the cause assigned was "the present financial stringency." Examination, however, has shown that these two great institutions were beiog run by as pretty a brace of rascals — who seemed td be president, directorate, finance committee, and cashier all in one — as ever escaped hanging The poo? soul who steals twopennyworth of bacon to satiaFy the cravings of huuger of course gets punished — the "Napoleons of finance," as we admiringly term our big thieves, very properly go about as usual — hence the two brothers M'Donald, who ran these banks, are still at large. Now, the Ll'Donalds are a very estimable family. M'Donald pere was a candidate for the Presidency in the prohibition interest on one occasion. He is also a pious man. He lectures at churches, disseminates tracts and pamphlets on the iniquities of the drink traffic, and, generally speaking, is, or was, a much superior man to the ordinary run of humanity. But M'Donald pere retired, and M'DonaJd^Ws succeeded him. This last, in addition to falsifying entries, creating worthless "paper" for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and advancing large sum?, on paltry security, to M'Donald pere, dabbled in politics. He sought to control the patronage pertaining to the Education department^aod, in order to accom?-pllsk-tbis—ctesfe&ble purpose, in "eotlSKterairon of the sum of 500dol each, obtained the signatures of a majority — i.e., seven, of those candidates for office to the following document :—: — I hereby agree that if I am elected as a school i director of the city and county of San Fran- | cisco, State of California, that I will vote upon all questions coming before the Board of Education, on any and all sub-committees thereof, of the city and county of San Francisco, as directed by A. F. | Johns, or by a person named by him, and I will not vote upon any question nor make any promises which would in any way affect my vote, or any of my actionc, without first having received instruc- ! tions from said Johns or the person named by him. I furthermore agree that all patronage and appointments of any kind, character, or nature over which I have any control, or participate in the control of, shall belong to said A. F. Johns, or person named by him ; and in general I agree to be guided while in said office in every particular by said A. F. Johns or the nerson named by him. I furthermore agree that in case I break any of the promises, in word or spirit, made hereinbefore, that then I will immediately resign from said Board of Education of San Francisco. Johns, I may remark, was merely an employee of M 'Donald's. It was only when the | Bank Commissioners were going through the J Pacific Bank vaults that six out of these j seven infamous barterings of honour and character were discovered. Now for another phase to this unholy transaction. The man -bo exposed the traffic in teacherships, to which I have previously alluded, and who posed as a reformer, a denouncer of jobs, an irreproachable citizen, &c, was a certain Dr ! Decker. How we admired that man ! How the press patted him on the back ! When, 10, behold ! the immaculate Dicker's name, signed in full to one of the six unearthed documents ! Denial being impossible, the gentle Decker haa adopted the Ui quoquc argument, which Lord Randolph Churchill once termed the "you're another' argument, and whilst this procedure cannot benefit the said Decker, it is to be confessed the odour arising from the stirrij'g up is awful. Among other things we aro told, and the evidence upon which the charges rest is published, that one of the directors in 1890 was a photographer, who — decent educator of youth that he was — had been arrested for selling indecent photographs. This man in his trouble went to a certain lawyer, who agreed to defend him, and at the same time see two worthies named Crimmins and Kelly — the Republican " bosses" — and have them order Police-judga Hale Rix to dismiss the case. And yet more : Kelly and Crimmins undertook to order the judge to dismiss the case on condition that the guardian of education, at that moment in trouble, signed himself away, body and soul — if ho had any — to vote as they, Kelly and Crimmins, should desire. Of course he signed.

It is unnecessary to give further particulars. The grand jury is now to take a hand, and something may result of benefit to the community and the cause of education. My point is chiefly this : Can any intelligent man in thia country, or out of this country, honestly approve, much.less defend, a system capable of Buch shameful abuse ? The appointment and election of judges, education boards, auditors, and treasurers by popular vote cast upon strict party lints is a system so utterly destitute of one sound leg upon which to rest that I am astonished intelligent and patriotic Americans have nob swept ib into the infernal regions long ago. San Francisco is not singular in this respecb. She is no worse than any other big city. The same unadulterated roguery abounds everywhere. I merely choose San Francisco because I ran speak with greater accuracy. If any man thinks such episodes are local and occasional then he does not know the

country ; at the same time it is true that these outrages upon honour and morality are quite as strongly condemned by honest citizens here as I condemn them, only the great fault seems to be that the honest citizens don't count.