American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1878-03-09
CURRENT TOPICS.

THOMAS G.. ANDERSON, late member
of the Louisiana Returning Board,
was sentenced on the 25th to
two years Imprisonment at hard
labor in the Penitentiarv. Pre-.
viOus to passing sentence, in answer to
the usual interrogatory of the Court If
he had any thing to say, Anderson said
that he cOnsidered his case cruel per-
secntionpndef thk form of law, but that
he VasF i1 Die power Of the Court
and 3 readyf to- receive sentence.
Judge Whitaker answered that the
accused had had fair trial before an
impartial jury, and that the verdict was
fully justified by the evidence He then
sentenced Anderson, in consequence of
the recommendatiepiof the jury to the
mercy of the Court, to the lowest term
under the law-two years hard labor in
the State Penitentiary and costs. A
suspensure appeal was granted returna-
BILE On the following Wednesday.
-s
LATE advices from China give partic-
ulars of the terrible disaster that recent
" occurred at the Tienstin Rouge
refugees from-the Northern provinces
had assembled. The building took fire,
and. of nearly 3, 900 people in the build
ing only about 100 escaped. Owing to
the extremely cold weather, many Of the
refugees were frozen to death, while
thousands aFe-suffering from Insufficient
accommodation and lack of food, which
can, not be. supplied in quantities
to meet the demand Charles
Budd,i of the China Inland Mis-
sion, at Wachung ,~-yho has recently
visited the famine-stricken Province of
Shensi, writes heart-rending account
of the suffering he witnessed. The Gov
ernment's effort to supply food and as
sistance istosa great extent nullified by
the dishonesty of officials Children
are sold by hundreds by their starving
parents. In the large cities of Hou-
cheng and Puching risings have occur
red among the people, rendered desper-
ate by seeing their wives and children
starving before their faces, and MANY
heroutbreaks are reported. In Hou--
cheng the people beheaded a Mandarin
for speculating on their necessities.
Cold has been unusually severe through
out the country for several weeks.
THE House COMMITTEES on Education
and Labor, to whom was referred vari-
Gus matters in reference to Chinese i'm
migration, report that, inasmuch as the |
great majority of Chinese immigrants |
To
tions, to become permanent residents
of our country and accept the right and I
assume the responsibility of citizenship, /
that the President be requested to open /
correspondence Immediately with the
Governments of China and Great Brit
ain, with view of securing a change
or abrogation of all stipulations in ex-
isting treaties which permit unlimited
immigration of Chinese to the United
States. ,.ysJ
REPRESENTATIVE CLARK, of Missou-
ri, has introduced in the House a bill
providing for the removal of sunken
vessels in the Mississippi River and its
navigable tributaries. The bill pro-
vides that afters60 days notice the Gov
ernment boats shall proceed to remove
any sunken. vessel and make whatever
disposal of the same the Government
officials may see fit. At present there
is no salvage law affecting the Western
rivers, and the owners or underwriters
can use their own pleasure in removing
sgsb Pestsrgs93tlsqe4a4 tlsqe4a4fG 80 }fI.4@ }
REPRESENTATIVE SCALES, Chairman
of the Committee on Indian Affairs, in
his report in favor of the bill for the
transferring of the Indian Bureau from
the Interior to the War Department,
shows the present management costs
the Government 1928 .O5 per capita, while
under the proposed bill the cost to the
Government will not exceed S4.2S per
capita.
THE Silver bill became law without
receiving the Presidents signature, both :
houses of Congress having promptly
passed the bill over the Presidents veto
by the requisite two-thirds majority ;
1t is announced that the Secretary of
the Treasury will at once issue the
necessary orders fQrsthe mints to begin
the coinage of the old silver dollar.