The Next President

The questiou of who will bo tho ncxt president is usually the most intercsting puzzle in the minds of the American people. Our president is scarcely elected before the public mind turns naturally to tho problem of who will next draw th? capital prize in the lottery of politics. Will Harrison succeed himself , or will Koino other Eepublican prove inoro popular? Has Cleveland lost bis chances, or is HUI the rising star? Or will some man now unknown come to the front? No other question than the presidency gives such scope for our national habit of guessing and weighing probabilitios. Thoso who aim to guess intclligently, and more e.spccially thoso who aspiro to draw the glittering prize, would do well to bear iii mind the fact that the presidency has usually been awarded to the man who has the prestige of a recent victory in war or politics. Grant was the inevitable nominee of the Kepublican party in 1868 lecause of his war record; Hayes was nouiinated in 1876 because of bis victory over WiUiam Allen in 'the memorable contest for the governorship of Oliio in 1875; Garfield had tho prestige of the Republican leadership of the house of representatives and of his recent eleeüon to tho senato f rom Oliio. aiid Harrison the strength of a popular ma jority overeóme only by the previous gerrymandering of his state in the contest for his own succession to the senato in 18845. Tilden was nominated ou the strength of his previous victory in New York; Hancock for his record at Gettysburg, and Cleveland because of the enonnous majority by which he was elected governor of New York over Folger. New York will elect her governor in November, 1891, one yearbefore the next presidential election. Whilo the unexpected is likely to happen in politica as in all other human afCairs, it is yct fair to eay that the man who is elected governor of New York in 1891 will stand a remarkably good chance of being nominated by his party for tho presidency in 1892. This fact is well understcod by the poliücians of tho Empire titate, and every aspirant for the governorship looks in his day dreams beyond tho executivo mansion at Albany to the open portals of the White House at Washington. Rich young New York men complain ihat thcy cannot find anything to do to put in the time. It ia very sad. The English language has doubled in the last half century. The new Century dictionary will contain 200,000 words. Statistics show that among deaf mutes there are more males than feniales, while among the insane there are more women than men. The most splendid sight observable in the western sky in many a year is Venus, the evening star. It is now very near the earth. A speaker at an electrical reunión in Chicago said recently that all that was needed to make underground telegraph, telephone and street car wires a success was thorough insulation. "And here is the insulation," said he, holding something in hia hand. It was his pocket book. The Salie law, by which it is said the infant daughter of Crown Prince Rudolph cannot inherit the Austrian throne, dates back to the Fourteenth century. The Salian Franks settled west Germany and northern France. It was one of their laws that no female could inherit lands. This law has prevailed as to the Austrian succession except when rendered noneffective by a solemn decree of the reigning prince. The decree was known as a pragmatic sanction. Emperor Francis Joseph cannot issue such a decree in favor of the little Princess Elizabeth because Austro-Hungary is now a constitutional government.