Editorial Notes

T.irll" or direct taxation s a condition - :iot a tlxory- that confronta U5. Will tlie Argus kinüly teil us how t proposes to raise the revcnues of the goycrnmcnl? The noxt quadrennlal repubücan üelnjre s ihie in 1892. Democrats please tnke nntice and get out fro:n under the wave. Mr. Cleveland will never aguln be president of tlie United States, and all the democratie gush is wasted. Hut Uien, iliat's no matter. Tlie mission of the Farmers' Alllance so far feems to have been to kill oft' as many republicana a9 possible without hurting any democrat?. With onr free schools there is no excuse for ijjnorance in this land of ours, and we bilicve that no man should vote eau not read the ballot he is to cast. Wiiy should he ? The membership of the next House at Washington will probably be fixed at 866, making the ratio of eacti district 173,701. Thlj gives Michigan twelve congicssmcn, a jjain of one. Vico a a monster of so frightful mica, as tobe hated, needs but to beseen, in Parnetl. Yet seen too oft, familiar with her frice, we flrst endure, then pity, tlien embrace Cleveland. - Tribune. If in every precinct of every st.ite in tliis Union there was an lionest and fair election, with every vote counted that was caat, would there be any bowl over a Federal election law? Jii3t consiiler that point a moment. Mr. Cleveland is utiderstood to have auddenly changed bis views in regard to free silver coinage; "nd to now favor the same. This sly dodge will not raise him in the estimation of the American pcople. They admire stability of character. Chelsea Standard : "For several years the prohibition party has held the balance of power in this district, bnt so far luis not made use of it. If that party had endorsed Mr. Allen this fall, lie would, without a doubt, have been elected." The republlraus must hare a preraonltion iiy llils time llmt the g. o. p. no longer slutuls for grand old party, bnt for gone old party,- Argus. The Argus will have not only a premonitlon, but a substantial exempUQcatlon of the fact that g. o. p. stands for get ontop part in 1892. The present leglsluturc should go on and perfect our election law, so that there can be no peddling of tickets around a polling plece, aud so that every ballot cast must be one taken from the booth. That would be the right way to secure au honest expression at tlie polls. The Detroit Street ruilways ought, by all means, to be given the Belle Isle park bridge approachfs or anythhig e!se they ask for. The said E. R. Co"s are Buch enterprising, KO-ahead-re2ardles3-ofexpenfe fellows, and have done so much to build up Detroit, don'tcher-ktiow. And now it has been developed tLat the the Indian troublts all come írom the iuaccuracy of the census enumerutors in not properly enumerating the redskins. This is rcally refreshinj;. We had all the time tliougbt that the McKinley bill had riüícil the prlce of beads and nose rings. Does free silver coinage mean a deb:ised currency, an entire sweeping away of gol.l as currency - with willen many of the obliatious of the coTcmmoni nnd private Individuáis must be paid ? Tliose who jiiinp into free coinage of silvcr without knowing, will do well to stiuly up on the cjnestion. 'i'lic meeting of tlie Farmers' Alliance conveiition at Ocaln, Pía., has proven one thing beyond doubt, v!z: The Farmers' Alliance is a democratie dodge in a new form. It Is ofllcered and engineered by Southern democrats in the interests of the pure Southern democracy, and will be used as a catspaw to put none but Southern demócrata and their northern sympathizers on guiird. Durinff the year ending June lat, '90, the United States mported from Great Britatn $106,488,950 worth of merebandise. During the same period the United States exported to that country merchandise to the value of $444,459,000. It is for the purpose of reversing these figures that maas meetings are held in England rc-joieing over democratie victories, and that McKinley is hung in efflgy therp. Are America ns ready to adopt the English policy of enriching England by Impoverisbing themscivcs? Gerrymander derives its name from Elbridge Gcrry, a Jcffersonlan demicr.tt who, In 1811, mapped out Massachusetts into senatorial distriets with a view to securing tlic electioa of a democratie U. S. senator. One of the districts resembled in construction Melvinley's present district in Ohio, and some wag of a printer added a few touchc3 anj printed it in colors, causing It to resemble some hideous monstrosity, The practice of dii-figuring distriets lor corrupt partlsan ends has ever since been called Gerrymandering - or Gerry's handhvork - and has a genuine democratie origin, and is peculiarly democratie in method. When the members of the Farniei's Alliance meeting at Ocala, Fia., found that they could not use the Colored Alliance organization as a club to hit the republican party with, thcy had no further use for thein. Grpat pressure was brought to bear on the colored delegatts. but they would not vote again9t the Lodge bill. For this they were ostracised and snubbed, and not allowed to take tlie excursión trip around Florida, given to the white member3 who toadied to the ex-rebels and southeru flre eaters. Many alliauce men who are republicans, however, are being convinced by actual experience, that the mission of the republican party is not ended, and tuut a free ballot and a fair count is a thing unknown in the southern statts. II illailalc Leader: "Is it a coincidence tlmt failnres, panics demoralizUIon of business, lurk of contldence and an universal feehng of uncertalnty follows so qulckly upon the hels of democrat yictorles? Is the unsavory, disloj'al record of the democrat party so f uil of eyil portent as its banners are agnin borne aloft, that fear and trembling take possesslon of tbe people ? ís there blood and treason and disloyalty in the very name? Go seek seccurity and loyal support for America and American institutions In the slnkholes and si unís of New York City with tlieir reeklng 75,000 majority, the corner stone upon which democracy builds in the Empire state and therewith often rules tlie nation, and then come home for restful sleep and peaceful dreams over the welfare of the oountry."