"They are living to fight another day, t...

"They are living to fight another day, those Brazilians." If wage reductions were due to fear of reform of the tariff, why ■were they delayed so long after the presidential election? ■ Why did it take so much time to discover that set of returns which was finally, after repeated demands, placed in the hands of the governor? It was a great compliment Mr. Burrows paid the Wilson bill when he said there was not a line in it that was responsive to the hearings before the committee. Democratie members of congress should hew close to the line on the Wilson bill, and pay less attention to the fallingof the chips. Pledges have been made to the people which must be fulfilled. Let every taxpayer in Michigan scrutinize his tax receipts this year and compare them with the ones he received last year, and thereby ascer tain how much he has been benefit ed by turning ouer the state admin istration to the republicans. The scandal in the republican administration at Lansing cannot b hidden by raising a big dust abou the preceding administration. Thi "you are another," method of deal ing with the unsavory transaction will not deceive or satisfy anyone Democratie tariff reform con gressmen, who cannot support s moderate a measure as the Wilso bill, are not worth to the cause tw hurrahs in hades. All such shoulc resign and get over into the republi can fold where they properly be long. Should a purely revenue tariff b adopted and continued in force fo as many years as have elapsed since slavery was abolished, the country would undoubtedly be as loth to go back to the protective system, as the south would now be to have slavery re-established. After the elections of last fall the calamity howl and unnecessary wage reductions were made with the view of helping the g. o. p. politically. It is quite as difficult to explain these things on any other ground as it is to explain the salary steal at Lansing on the gjound of a simple clerical error Under an income tax the burdens of goverment are palpable and lead to a closer scrutiny on the part of the citszens hito public affairs. If a considerable part of the revenue of the general government were raised by this method, it would undoubtedly lead to a more economical administration of affairs. The tender solicitude of the republicans over the menace to the industries of the South contained in the Wilson bill is quite amusing. It is so marked as to arouse suspicion. lts sole object evidently is to foment división among the representatives trom that section and prevent a united support of the measure. The South will not allow itself to bc used as a cats paw, however. During the Winans administración the Jackson state prison was not only self-sustaining but a source of revenue to the state. Warden Davis, besides paying all bilis and leaving the prison in far better repair than when he took it, and a muchlarger stock of supplies on hand, turned over to the state ury seventeen t nousand dollars. We are informed that Chamberlain's administration has already cost the! state over and above receipts more thati $10,000. Such is repub'ican econouiy. When Mr. Cleveland went O'U of office in '89, he lcft a surplus of $85,000,000 in addition to the $100,000,000 and about $100,000,000 animal surplus. When the Harrison administration had the good luck to ! e overthrown at the polls four years later the surplus had practically dis appeared and a deficit was near at hand. The party with whora protection is a fetish to be worshiped without any reference to just methods of taxation, in order to perpetúate the class privileges thereby created must needs get rid of the surplus. This was done by increasing the governmental expenditures beyond the póint of prorligacy even, and adopting the McKinley bill which cut off the revenues without removing the burdens the people. A deficit followed and the republican party is justly responsible for the same. It is reported from Europe that a new monetary conference is among the probabilities of the not distant future. The movers are said to have drawn up a plan which is to be submitted to the countries concerned. This scheme contemplates a monetary union between the United States, France, Germany, and England. The United States is to purchase $10,000,000 worth of silver a year, and France, in behalf of the Latín union, is to purchase 20,000,000 francs' worth. Germany and England are to withdraw all gold and paper below the denomination of the sovereign, and buy annually .L75,000 of silver, upon which notes below the denomination of the sovereign are to be based; and India is to resume unlimited coinage of silver. The union is to have authority to fix the price of silver pence per ounce above the rupee price, and the fixed price is to be alterable only at the beginning of each Vear. Should the average London price fall 10 per cent below the convention price, the parties to the agreement are to be allowed to withdraw and thus dissolve the union. Could some such scheme as this be put into operation it would probably solve the silver problem and be of great advantage to the commercial interests of the world. It is to be regretted that the framers of the Wilson tariff bill have seen fit to retain the barbarous duty of twenty five per cent. on English boóks There certainly can be no necessity for this government to retain this tax upon knowledge. It cannot be claimed that it is needed as a raeans of protection, for all copyright books are sufficiently protected by the copyright law, nor can so mean a measure be defended as a means of raising revenue. Such a measure simply places uncalled for difficulties in the way of the necessities of the scholar who would buy English books that are not copyrighted. It is a surprise that in a scientific revisión of the tariff under the leadership of one of the most scholarly men in public life, an ex-president of a state university, such a duty should have been retained. It was probably the result of sorae compromise, but. it is to be hoped that means may be discovered. whereby he obnoxious duty will be elimnated from the bill before it becomes aw. it is understood that a great )etition headed with the name of resident Angelí of this city has )een forvvarded to Congress praying or the removal of the duty on English books, and it is to be hoped hat educators and scholars and all nterested in intellectual pursuits will make their influence feit with heir representatives in Congress to he same end.