Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1878-04-17

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has rendered deci6on dir IA
Gettysburg claims, sixteen in number.
fled Ia the autumn Of 1876 for the use
AND rent OF the camping and parade
grounds and buildings used for hospi-
tails in the summer Of 1853, near the
field of the battle Of Gettysburg. The
decision Of the assistant secretary is
that the owners have no claim to COM
pensation, and no compensation can be
awarded them. Such losses are part
of the incidents Of war, and the govern
ment is no more bound to repair them
than to indemnify citizens against de-
struction by flood or fire or earth
quakes. An owner has no more
claim for rent under such
circumstances than he would have
against the police of town whom he
had invited to protect his house against
the assaults of burglars or mob. The
government, as a matter of grace, may
by act of congress, give indem-
nifty for such injuries, but there
is no existing statute authorizing
the payment of such claims. There is
no occasion for further investigation of
the claims. They must be promptly
rejected if presented anew to the &C
counting officers. Endorsement.
Treasury Department, April 5, 1878.
Approved.
It would be impossible for any gov
eminent to make good such losses dur
ing war, as are here claimed. Certain
ly there is no authority of law in the
treasury department to pay such claims,
and I would not ask congress to au-
thorize it, though entirely within the
power of that body,
JOHN SHERMAN, Secretary.
THE 1ARIEF ON WOOL.
A press dispatch from Washington
under date of April 9Th says the wool
manufactures haye prepared their pro-
test to the revised tariff bill. 1t will be
presented to members tomorrow. The
following are some of the principal OBJ
jections: During the ten years Of the
existing tariff, the united wool industry
of the country has made progress UNI
equaled in any former decade. An es-
sential feature of this progress has been
the material cheapening of fabrics. eff
fected by improvements and domestic
competition. Neither the industries af-
fected nor the general public demand
any change, much less the radical
change proposed by the bill. This bill
completely destroys an important fea-
ture of the existing tariff, namely: the
classification of woods according to char
acter, a classification which is now adopt
ed by the leading commercial coun-
tries. 1t makes the rate depend wholly
on value, causing the rate to be too high
on some classes and too low on others.
1t makes, with slight exceptions, the
duties wholly ad valrem, thus increasing
the evils of fraud and undervaluations.
The reduction proposed on many fab
RIGS are from 20 to 25 per cent. would
compel an abandonment of the manu-
facture of many of the important fab
RIGS. There would necessarily be ex-
tended litigation before a construction
of the law could be established by the
department and the courts. The shrink
age resulting from the proposed bill in
the wooden interest could not be less
than $25 100000. This evil would be
aggravated by competition from Euro
pean manufacturers, VINO are antici-
pating an outlet for their surplus pro-
duce in consequence of the greatly re-
duced rates proposed by the bill. The
Association recommends the prompt
defeat of the bill, and there can be
little doubt that, after Woods speech,
an attempt will be made to strike out
the enacting clause.