The Bond Agreement.

A great deal has been said about the last bond contract that is intended to cause the average honest patriotic citizen to hang his head in shame. Prominent raembers of congress and great newspapers have vied with each other in utterances totally without warrant and unworthy the credence of any person of intelligence. The hardest kind of epithets have been applied to this contract and it has even been asserted that President Cleveland and Secretary Carjisle were influenced by a "consideration." Aspersions have been uttered that are imputations upon the national honor. N'othing has seemed too mean to be charged up against those who negotiated the agreement on both sides. And yet there are no ñames in the world of public affairs and mercantile life which stand higher in the scale of principie, unblemished honor, and absolute rec.titude of purpose and method than those of President Cleveland, Secretary Carlisle and J. Pierpont Morgan. Time, however, will no doubt veal the fact to the satisfaction of all fair and intelligent people that the bargain was the best that could be afforded by the syndicate in view of what it had undertaken to do. It must be remembered in passing judgment on the transaction that the government was not in a position to delay that it might haggle over terms. The reserve was at its lowest ebb. Delay was dangerous. In this emergency, some of the strongest banking houses of the world carne forward with a proposition whereby the country would receive the gold it needed to reaffirm its credit. Nor did these banking concerns stop there. They went further and promised to use their utmost endeavor to stop the drain on the treasury and prevent the exportation of gold. The faith of the business world in their ability to do this was the very thing which caused the appreciation of the bonds on the market. The very people who jostled with each other in an effort to get in a bid on these bonds at 1.19, when they knew the powerful syndicate that was behind them would not take them at 1.05 before. To deny the syndicate its lawful profit on a transaction of such weight and influence is absurd. Messrs. Morgan and Belmont rendered the country a service in its extremity and they are entitled to the rewards of their ability. Then there is another phase of the question which has been largely overlooked in the heat of the controversy. These people undertook to aid in protecting the reserve, and there are already indications that they may yet have to give up a large part if not all their profits in doing this. There are not wanting signs, according to the treasury officials, of a renewal of gold exports. To prevent this the syndicate may be obliged to sell exchange at a loss. No one doubts that the agreement will be carrled out, however. and that the syndicate will give the treasury every protection in its power. This may reduce its profits even to the vanishing point. It is entitled to charge for assuming such lisks. In its closing hours congress passed a resolution providing for the appointment af delegates to the prospective international monetary conference. It provided for the naming of three delegates by the house, three by the senate, and three by the president. In pursuance of the resolution the house appointed Speaker Crisp, of Georgia, and Representatives Culberson, of Texas, and Hitt, of Illinois. The senate named Senators Jones, ot Arkansas, Daniel, of Virginia, and Teller, of Colorado. The presidential appointments have not yet been announced. The house delegates may be designated as moderate silver men, except Mr. Hitt, who has not been classed as a silver man heretofore. The senate delegates are radical silver men, and yet not ultra-extremists. The majority of the delegates will be bimetalists, thererore, no matter whom the president may appoint. As he is on j record in favor of real bitnetalism, he will no doubt name three able and conservative delegates in whose keeping the interests of silver and of the people will be perfectly safe. In naming Hon. John McDougal for senator, yesterday, the democracy of tho ioth senatorial district placed before the people a man in every way worthy their sulïrages. He is a man of education and brains, well posted in all current issues, mature years and irreproachable character, a farmer possessing the confidence of all who know him. No mistake was made in his nomination and there is little doubt of his election. The interests of Washtenaw county and the ioth district would be entirely safe in his hands. The republican convention over in the third congressional district was a red hot affair. It took 114 ballots to name the candidate. The votes were divided between J. M. C. Smith, of Charlotte; Washington Gardner, of Lansing, secretary of state; and Lieut.Gov. Alfred Milnes, of Coldwater. Milnes was finally norainated, receiving 35 votes to 34 for Smith. The district is strongly republican and the candidate has a walk-away. The house of representaüves did well in standing firmly by its position of opposition to the $500,000 appropriation for the Hawaiian cable. The senate was persistent in its efforts to force this job on the country, but the representatives stood loyally by their constituents and rejected it. They deserve a credit mark.