OUR AMERICAN LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2231, 3 December 1896, Page 54

OUR AMERICAN LETTER.

(Rbom Our Own Gohrbspondent.) Ban Francisco, Ootober 15. THK POLITICAL WOBLD continues in a state of ferment. The whole land rings with the wrathful cries of the opposing parties, for as the day of judgment draws near the gloves are being tossed aside, the button dropped from the foil, and eaoh rhetorical contest fought with savage determination. The ordinary, everyday, intelligent citizen, who, in the aggregate, constitutes the majority, has rarely been so sorely tried. His eympathies naturf.lly.are with Bryan and the cause he represents. He knows a vote for M'Kinley is a vote to perpetuate all that is evil >in the ruthless exercise of wealth as known . here, and he is tolerably certain the men who are managing the Republican campaign have little or no eytnpatby for him. Bub he also knows that a vote for Bryan is a rote for a finanoial polioy that must land him in a danger greater than that he now endures. No oratory And no passionate appeals o&n hide the taobthat a 630 dollar will not purchase so much as a 100 c dollar, and that neither Uncle Sam nor any other power can confer .upon an artiole • a value it does not possess. Nor is there any sure ground of hope that with the . increase in value of all articles used and oon- . mimed among mankind — and not even a free lilver advooate can deny prices must double — , there will be a proportionate advance in wages. Therefore it is not to be wondered at that M'Kinley will receive a large number of votts i in every State in the Union whioh. in the ordinary course would be oast for the Democratic ncminee. Meantime, as I have previously remarked, every triok is being resorted to by supporters and workers of the rival parties. Lies s»re manufactured every day and circulated far and wide. It is amusing to take up a Democratic paper and read the- political forecasts. Nearly every State in the UnioD, we are told, will be B wept by Bryan, and figures, gathered from the most; reliable sources, are given showing how the conclusion is arrived at. Then theie are large letters proclaiming how the Republican managers admit they will be deteatea and how gloom and consternation permeate their ranks. Charges of wholesale corruption and bribery are oheerfully made. So many millions will be spent by Hanna to debauch the electorate of Illinois, or Ohio, or Minneiota Emp'oyers are compelling their men to wear M Kinley buttons and walk in WKinley processions, nbiist loss of position is threatened against any who dare disobey. Names of firms are published which have thus intimidated their workers,, and Bryan men are pictured as going about in a state of fear and trembling. A reference to the Republican press ahows this awful condition of affairs to be largely imaginative. . It states that the Democratic managers are at their wits' end, and the only question is, "How many States are there M'Kinley won'fget?" and the answer is, "Hardty any;" As for the intimidation business I do notbdirve In it, nor do I believe iff the large stuns alleged to be spent in buying the doubtful States. Of course there Will be all kinds of - bribery arid jobbery, but not much more than u«ial ; whilst the evidence upon whioh the' - intimidation r«sts is so vague, when it is not false, as to be absolutely without credence. As the same time the Republicans do not hesitate to .-charge .Bryan . with being the author of speeches and articles he never wrote or spoke, and to repeat the clearly disproved accusation that he is in the pay of the silver miners. j One fact, however, looms np clear and dis- j tinct amid tho murkiness and gloom : Every Democratic newspaper of note in the large Eastern cities is opposed to Bryan and the policy declared at Chicago. There are few big dailies supporting the new democracy, and the few that are so doing are oharged with being personally interested ' in the outcome. For «x*mpkr, the Examiner, which a few brief moons ago ridiculed the idea of the United States trying to open its mints to the free and unlimited coinage of silver, has coma out fcytterieally for the Bryan cause. Why? Well, the enemy says, and supports its charge with a few facts, that • the proprietor has recently become interested to the extent of millions in •ilver mines — hence these wails. ' Per cmtva, the Republican dailies of this city ware just as long ago 'demanding free silver,' but since the St. Louis convention are fighting against it for all it, or they, are worth. And so the unhappy patriot is left to wander through' the intricate and odoriferous paths of political knavery as' belt he may. BKTAN AND M'KINLEY have .taken completely opposite methods in conducting .their oa'mpaign ' Bryan went' on , * stumping tour -throughout the Eastern States, and Wfts everywhere greeted with crowds of 'people larger than any yet given to a politician. The outpouring of men and Women to hear him has been without precedent. . As many as 70 000 have assembled at one time to try and hear him, whiUt every building, no matter how large, has failed to accommodate the crushing crowds. Every railway depot and stopping place has contained thronga of curious ones eager to shake hands or hear the voice of Bryan. But lam afraid the educational campaign so conducted has not yielded much fruit. The arguments used and (he reasons given are lamentably weak. I have - sot yet seen how Bryan can reconcile his statements that his policy means cheap money and plenty of it when he, in the next breath, declares the free and unlimited coinage of silver by the United Btites will bring Bilver to a parity with gold. Nor has lie yet proved how a dollar under free coinage will be %a§ier to get than under our present system. M'Kinley pub the matter Very clearly when he said: — "My fellowtitizen's, it does not make any difference how free silver is in its coinage in the United States you will not get a dollar of it unless you give something for it. If we had mints in every . Btate in the Union and in every county of every State, and the silver of the world was brought to those mines as is proposed by our political opponents,' silver would not be any freer for you than It is now." M'Kinley's plan of campaign has been the reverse of his opponent's. He has not left the - ferandah of his own modest house in the town of Canton (Ohio) to address a meeting. Bat he ' has stood upon a chair placed upon the afore- - laid verandah from early noon to far in the evening, ipeafeing to large deputations of various industries that have travelled from his Dwn and other States to see him. He has received as many as 20 different delegations, numbering from a few hundreds to a few thousands, in one day. Every little speech is carefully prepared, and in mosb cases written out before being handed to the press. These speeohes have sought to make the tariff the point at issue; bat everyone knows the tariff cannot be so mad*. Currency, And ourrenoy only, is the one great factor in the Presidential eontett of 189 S. The result of the battle will be known long are this letter reaches New Zealand, and with.-

1 out venturing to dogmatise or prophesy — for no man can intelligently do either in this instanoe — 1 am inclined to think that M'Kinley will be the next President of the United Stateß. POLITICS IN MASSACHUSETTS may be quoted as illustrative of the exoeeding bitterness with whioh national 'questions are being discussed in this year of grace. A Damooratic rally had been held in the Music Hall, Boston, upon the eve of the meeting of the State Convention, but in Massachusetts, as in nearly every other State in the Union, there had been dissensions in the ranks of the party, some of the delegates having refused to accept the Chicago platform and ' follow the lead of Bryan. Georga Fred. Williams, an able and prominent politician, led the Bryan forces, and he announced to the meeting before its dispersal that he had reason to believe the Democratic State Central Committee, then in session at Quinoy House, intended- to pack the hall on the morrow when the regular convention would be held with men opposed to Bryan and the Chicago polioy. Williams, therefore, begged the delegates who were present; and were opponents of the gold standard to remain in the hall all night and thus stop any such scheme. Other speakers followed, urging the adoption of the Williams plan and defying the mayor or the agent of the building to ejec^ them. Loud cheering came from thn aromei silver men, who, to the number of 600, forthwith made preparations for an all-night stay, whilst some 50 policemen lined up againob the sides of the waII raady for emergencies. When the news was bivughi; to Q liooy Hall, representatives of tho indignant State committee posted away to police he idqaartera, demanding that the hall be cleared ; bab, after heatei discufsiona and wrangling* and hard worda, the , officials decided I hey had no power ta interfere, and the 50 policemen had to march oat of the building smid the wild hurrahing of the enthusiastic silver men. The next move was made by the agent, who at 12.30 a m. announced from tho platform that, the lease of the hall to the B-yan men having expired at 12 o'clock midnight, they must promptly give up possession. His advice was received with derisive oh- ers bat no exits. However, the agent was a hnrd nut to crack. He stationed <. ffijars at all the doors of the building and issued orders that anyone might leave the hall bub no one should be permitted to eoter. The recult was that some delegates who ventured out for a breath of fresh air were bluntly denied admission when they desired to return. Next a man with a load of sandwichas for the hungry fighters shared the like fate. Then, at 1 30, toe agent had all the lights in auditoriuoi and lobbies turned out, effectually shutting off, at the name time, the speakers who had been seeking to cheer the yawning, restless d~leg*tes. But at half-past 2 o'clock the cravings of hunger were so clamorous that a delegation went oub determined to get food in somebow. It went, but never came back. By this time many delegates left the ball unable to stand the strain any longer, nor was it till 4 o'clock that, by some meaus or another, food was smuggled in through the windows. This raised the drooping spirits, .of the crowd, although the .death of' one of , their ,number — caused by a fall from a -window — checked, for a time, their hilarity, and at 11 o'clock in the moraing a chairman was appointed, and the convention called to * order. Meantime the locked-out delegates, : including Williams, , held a convention in the open air and ratified the proceedings, aB soon as word was brought to them, of the indoor assembly. Then later on the " hold the forb " men left their quarters, joined the outsiders, and proceeded to another hall, there to hear Willtam^'s speech accepting tae nomination, in their interests, for Governor of Massachusetts. The gold men meanwhile held their convention, but, being voted down in their own stronghold, threw off the yoke and left the meeting protesting against Bryan, free .silver, and Williams — fittingly closing one of the mosb extraordinary conventions in the history of Massachusetts. In the City of Anderson (Indiana), however, affairs were still more lively. There the free silver men rushed a " sound money " clubhouse, smashed the building to atoms, caused a riot, and the serious wounding of 10 men ; whilst in Chicago — Cbicigo always is first in everything— a mob of men collared a free silver man and pitched him into the water, where he was drowned. Such a clear case of tha advantages of 16 to 1 deserves to be placed on record. THE LEADVILLE STRIKES came at a strangely inappropriate time for the silver mine owners. The men demanded 3dol a day, were refuged, and went out on strike. The usual embellishments of murder and bloodshed soon' followed, and the militia were called out. Riot succeeded riot, and the non- , union men were harried' in a cruel way. Then the whole city was placed under martial law of the most vigorous and rigorous character. Reporters - were tamed oub, speakers were arrested, and labour leadrra, thrown into gaol. AU attempts at conciliation and compromise were rejected by the silver mine owners. Their terms were absolute submission. The men refused, and had the pleasure of seeing their places filled by men imported from other districts. The strike collapsed, and the silver kings were triumphant. Of course there has been a heap of political capital made out of the disastrous business, aud the fact dwelt upon that capital, whether controlled by gold men or silver men, is equally ruthless in carrying out its polioy. The wages loss to tha men is estimated at 800,000dol. A PECOLIAE CASE. The arrest of Mr and Mrs Walker Caske of this city in London on a charge, or charges, of theft has developed into a scandal of almost international importance. The Caskes occupy a position of business and social prominence in this ciby, and so far aa Mr Caske is concerned there has never been any question as to his integrity and honour. When, therefore, the news was cabled over from London that he and his wife had been lodged in gaol it was promptly concluded that some terrible blunder had been made. Upon the face it did seem absurd that a couple travelling in Europe on pleasure bent with plenty of money in their pockets and troops of friends, should have been guilty of stealiog furs, jewellery, and tablecloths. Bab amid the protests of relatives and explanations of men high up in ths business world the police officials remained firm, and the magistrate explained to the wondering Americans, who are accustomed to arrange matters differently, that any application for bail would have to be made and heard in open couct^ Then, as time passed, the people here "began to think there must be something in the charges, and the wires i were kept hob with messages from governors and mayors and other officials, all testifying to i the high character of the Caskes, whilst Secretary Olney, in Washington, was busy cabling the Embassy in London to use its utmost endeavours on behalf of the prisoners. One fact, of course, loomed up very early in the proceedings — viz., the difference in the method : of treatment accorded to suspects in England and in this country. People hero cannot under.*

stand how a man of wealth can be treated with suoh sc\nb respect. I venture to affirm that in San Francisco any such charge as that against the Caskes would have been squelched db initio. The complaining 'storekeepers would have been interviewed and their missing articles paid for, the police would have ass sted, the press quieted, and the scandal killed. Across the water it is otherwise. ./No one could approach the magistrate, or police, or prisoners. Everything is done systematically and withoub fear or favour, the only leniency shown the Ciskes being in the matter of room accommodation and the use of a carriage in driving from gaol to court And ppeakiug to a good many people in San Francisco, I have heard a hearty endorsement of suoh procedure coupled with the wish that a similar condition of affairs prevailed here. A reaction in favour of the course of the English authorities came as events developed. Tbere could be no doubt that large quantities ; of goods had been stolen and concealed, and \ the puzz'ing question for solution Why were they stolen ? presented itself. The general view Beems to be that the husband is innocent of any knowledge of the crime, bub that Mrs Cuftke is a kleptomaniac of a most pronounced type. Upon these lines the defence will be made, and evidence of the wife's pecnliiuitios is being furnishsd in abundvica by our local storekeepers and o-hen. Wa oanu.t, at; this end of the line, arrive at any corrent judgment upon the Cisc, and the uo.va u.iblcd to-day, dhatthe husbuid was likely to be involved and that bvl bad been flje/d at the enorm >u<s euui of £30,000 came as a shock to many who believed that the charges would be disnvsssd upon their first bearing. DU MAUMEtt'S DEATH, the record of which, two yea*p ugo, would have p\6BGcl withoub raoro than a couple of lines of ! information, was as muuh a matter of inker* s 1 as that of m*ny a greater one's exit to the people of this country. Perhaps thi« is natural It was in -the United State.) thab Da Mnurier gained that recognition whioh lift id him from the ranks of a clever safciriib iv pencil of socia 1 fads to the highest round of popular and flnaucial success. "Tiilby" was published in au Amen c«) mag«z ; ne, and it wa-t America thaf heralded "Trilby's" fame with a mighty shouito the four cornets of tae globe. Eugtand c&m^ long afier us ia its homage to the fumou-. Gsrome's model, and the colonies were quite late in the day. E^jn the dramatised version of the boon fo tnd it? most successful rendition from an American aad upon *n American stage. So the-e is Hbblo wonder tha 1 . five columns of detail were devoted to tiie life and work of the artist-autb.»r, and bulletins issued and hiwked about the store's by the thousand, and portraits innumerable published. " Success came too late aud his killed me," onid Ou tM-uirier, and the mournfnl wuil is not withiub reason. No book of this decide — a d^o-»de voted for the phenomenal celebrity of certain litertry productions— ha 3 appr ached " Trilby " either fr jm a monetary or I popular oriterion. Waather such fame and fortune were merited is, in the opinion of the wise, open io ques ion, but the facb- still remains. Even at the hour when th-3 author was laying aside the burden he could not bsar his work' was being presented in this -city - to large crowds of peopla whose appUuse aud laughter were as fresh as when it first saw the, light, aud the pages cr" " Harper's Magozne'l for' tae-ourrenb mouth contain the fiwt chapters of the dead man's last work, " The Martian," a work which, if there be anything in prophecy, will add one more laurel to Dv Maurier'e fame. A MODERN BABYLON. New York is claimed to be tha most luxurious , city iv the world — a city in which more raouey is spent by itfl people than in either London or Paris, — and some figures, published recently, would seem to bear out the claim. With a population of 1,800,000 it; has an aggregate wealth, exoluding corporation property, in real aud person U e-aate of 5,762,282,904d01, or something like 3756J0l for every man, woman, and child. Its lawyers receive annually for th«ir services, 20,400 000 *ol ; physicians, 11,3J8,000d->l ; clergymen. 3,000.000dol ; architects 2,665, OOOdol; dentists, 1 600,000dol ; brokers, 13,020 00010 l ; dressmakers, 2,772,000d01; tailors, 3,150, 600d01. ' Upon fur«10,000,000dol are expanded, and upon cheaper grades of clothing 92. 000, OOOdol ; on car fares there is a turn of 27,000,000d0l upent eaoh year, and 120 000,000dol in alcoholic drioks. The property value of yachts — playrhinga of the rich and well-bo-do— is about 20, 000,000d01, and it takes some two and a-half millions to keep the olubs going. Charity, however, is not forgotten, a larger sum being subscribed thin is annually, spent upon theatres and other places of amasement. NOTES AND COMMENTS. Lan Maclaren arrived in this country during the lasb wcekin September and, of course, was j interviewed extensively. - He had,' howt-.ver, j to encounter a severe and plain-spoken criticism j from Ambrose Bierce, the which must have been the reverse of pleasant. Unfortunately, j too, for Maclaren, the criticism ie just. The students of Ya'e University amused themselves, at one of Bryan's meetings, with catcalls and hootings at the Presidential candidate. And'so the campaign of " education " goes gUriously on. The reported refusal of Turkey to permit a United States warship to pas a up the Dardanelles brought forth some fine articles in the Ercles vein. "We care not two straws for European omplications, bu 1 ; if ! we will ! aud teach'the world '' &.!., &c. A club of young men and women has been formed in New York, the object of whioh the following extract from the constitution makes plain :*— "We each solemnly pledge ourselves not to enter into any matrimonial alliance with any person whose family is subject to such hereditary diseases as consumption, insanity, or the appetite for strong drink, knowing that such ' individual is responsible for the phyoical perfection of hundreds yet unborn." It reads all , right but, in practice, it won't work. Human I affections canuob be controlled by any set of I resolutions however admirable. i John W. Maokay will spend 400,000d0l upon a mausoleum for his son. Death, contrary to general opinion, does not level all.' A man in Chicago, after waiting a month for a favourable wind, went vp — or rather went down — in his flying machine. Result : Smash, and a miraculous intervention of Providence. Monsignor Martinelli, S&tolli's successor, arrived oa Octobar 3 in the United States. A. man in the town of Defiance, State of Ohio, went crazy with too much, or too little, religion. In his frenzy he essayed to imitate the Founder of Christianity and walk on the water. The result was a blow to believers in faith : man was drowned. P. J. P. Tynan, known as " No. 1," is a citizen of these free States, and his wife and family are still with us. Tynan stumped the oountry for BUine when the latter gentleman was running for President. fiardou's " Madame Sans Gene" and Anthony Hope's "Prisoner of Zenda" have been the chief productions in the theatrical world during the last fen weeks. Both were financially i successful, i