The average valué of farm lands per acr...

The average valué of farm lands per acre in 1870 was $56; in 1880, $46; 1890, $28. What is the cause of this? It is estimated that the real estáte in New Vork City alone is worth more than all the land between the Potomac and Rio Grande. There are in the neighborhood of five thousand millionaires in the United States and all but about 186 of the number are north of Mason and Dixon's line. "The first lesson in the art of money-getting is the knowledge that it isn't the man who does the work who makes the money, but the man who, gets the other men to do it." Andrew Carnegie. When dealing with election matters in the South, republicans are always in favor of a "free ballot and an honest count," but when a dishonest count is traced to their own door in Michigan, a republican governor characterizes it a "mistake." In accordance with the cali issued by Judge Person last Monday, a grand jury assembled yesterday at Mason for the purpose of investigating the crooked canvasses on the salaries 'amendments of 1891 and 1893. Now we shall see what we shall see. There are a few more than eleven hundred millionaires in New York city whose wealth is sufficient to enable them, if they chose, to buy all the real estáte of the entire southern states and evict the population by due process of law. This dangerous concentration of capital has resulted to a considerable degree from vicious republican legislation. Monday, Gov. Rich applied to the Supreme Court for a niandamus to compel the clerks of Gratiot and Gogebic counties to send in new returns of the vote cast on the constitutional amendment of 1891, whereby the attorney-general's salary was increased from $800 to $2,500. The errors in the canvas of J891 are said to have been made in these counties. The state central committee of the Kansas populists issued an address to the people, last Tuesday, in which they declare that their party is the only salvation of the country. If this be true, and the men the populists have placed in the gubernatorial chair in Kansas, Colorado and Oregon are fair samples of the leading lights of the party, then, indeed, is the salvation of the country afár off. Judge Cox, of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. has decided that Secretary Carlisle has the legal authority to issue bonds, and that the Knights of Labor, as an organization. had no standing in court to maintain the injunction. The judge holds that no person can legally begin an action against an ofïicer of the government unless the rights of property of complainant or complainants are involved. The decisión is as everybody expected it would be. The period of republican rule from 1861 to 1893, witnessed more business depressions than any corresponding period in the history of the country. The worst of these panics, as to the number of men out of employment and the continuance of the depression, occurred in 1873, after twelve years of republican rule. There were 3,000,000 men out of iemployment, and serious labor riots iccarred in different sections of the rountry, and the effects of the d - pression lasted for six years. Otis Fuller, who was appointed to the wardenship of the Ionia prison by Gov. Rích, a long time ago, is still on the outside fuming and trying to.get in. Warden Parscll is still holding the fort and drawing the salary, and is likely to continue to do so for sorae time to coine. Sometime ago quo warranto proceedings were brouglit to test Parsell's right to hold the office, and Tuesday, Parsell filed his formal answer to the infonnation. The next step in the proceedings will be the filing of the rejoinder by Fuller. The case may be ready for trial about March ist. "Neither injunctions nor filibnsters nor Boutelies nor Reeds nor Burrowses nor all these powers ol evil combined must be perraitted to prevent the democratie party fröm relieving the country from the curse of republican misrule just so soon as the herculean task can be accom plished." - Detroit Free Press. And ever democrat who acceptec a nomination and election on the platform of '92, should be found in the thickest of the fight doing his full duty to his pledges and the people rather than consorting witl the enemy and giving them aic and comfort, by raising ODJection to petty details. Attorney-General Ellis is tbe only state official benefitted by the alleged salaries amendment of 1893, who has, uptojthe present time, turned over to the auditor-general the money drawn in consquence of said amendment. It begins to look as though the members of the canvassing board do not intend to turn over the money they received from the same source, and it is said they have been advised that the state cannot recover from them. Probably it is true that the state cannot recover, but should the inquiry now being made by the grand jury at Mason establish their criminallty in the matter of the crooked returns, they will need more than this amount to square themselves with the people. New Zealand has conferred upon women the right to vote. In a recent election there, one of the most keenly contested elections ever held on the island, they took a deef interest in the questions at issue and it is said that their influence was wholly for good. They were eager to learn their new duties, and many meetings for women only were held, at which the new electors were instructed how to use their ballots. With their impulsive natures, they are said to have become almost more partisan than the men. They crowded the meetings of their favorite candidates, and gave them ovations when they arose, and showers of bouquets when they sat down. They canvassed for votes with a charming persistance that would not be denied and exhausted, their arguments, personal and theoretical,upon the male elector, who was suspected of leanings toward the other side. Thousands of them registered and but very few of their votes were defective. It is estimated that they cast one-third of the total vote. When Governor Rich filed his application for a mandamus to compel a recanvass of the votes on the salaries amendment of 1893, he is said to have characterized the gross fraud perpetrated in connection therewith as a "mistake," but in filing a similar application in the matter of the canvass of 1891, he characterized that canvass as a "fraud." His choice of words is a little unfortunate when considere.d from the standpoint of justice, and would seem to imply that all the influence of strong partisanship is to be thrown into the investigation of the two canvassers. In the canvass of 1893 there were changes made in the returns from twentyfive counties, making a difference of 13,000 votes; there was no publication of the returns, and two sets o returns were missing; while in the canvass of 1891 there was a chang in only one county, and the papers were all on file and the required )ublication had been made. What s there in these facts to lead one desiring to do exact justice to characterize the former as a "mistake" and the latter as a "fraud"? When his Excellency informed the people through the Tribune exclusively that a slight "mistake" had been made by the state board of canvassers in the footing of the returns on the little matter of an amendment to the constitution, whereby the salaries of the members of the board were more than doubled, the g. o. p. heelers at once began smelling about with the determination to find, if possible, some highly scented transaction of the preceding administraron, not with the laudable purpose of serving the people in the righting of any wrong which might have been committeed, but with the object of turning the public gaze away f rooi their own rasca,lity. They now claim to have discovered that the amendment of 1891 raising he salary of the Attorney General was not carried. The dust they ave raised, however, will scarcely lind the people to the damaging acts in their own record; for grantng that all their charges are true, his important difference still exists, iz., that their administration develped three times as many salary grab ascals as lts predecessor. After all we are inclined to think this is a fair llustration of the relative number of rascáis in the two parties.