Morning journal and courier., 1881-02-03

the pension bills he had chance at, the ar rearages and all, " and he quickly wrote the editor: 'T have not advocated nor voted for any bill of like character since my re- turn to Congress in 1875. Your own sense
 of right will dictate to you the propriety of
 making the 'amende lonora6lS by correcting
 the error into which you have fallen"
 The Irish Land League have good deal to say about renting the land on "Grifhth's Val
 uation." Sir Richard Griffith, from whom
 this term is derived, supervised the valuation of Irish estates in 1852 and made a rate which
 is now explained by his son, was based on the value of the soil itself, quite independent of the rent then paid, and on the then scale of prices of farm produce, the accessibility of markets, etc. A deduction was made for
 taxes The price of ''corn" is to-day about what it was in 1852. Other products, like
 butter and meats, have advanced from 50 to 80 per cent. The "Grifith Valuation" was
 considered moderate and few appeals were
 made from it. The landowners object to
 taking in 1881 the price named in 1852 con-
 sidering the rise in value of farm products,
 the extension of market facilities, etc. as reason enough for some advance.
 One of the Chicago papers recently pub-
 lished an article with these bumptious head
 lines Ut is Proven. Chicago the Biggest
 Town for Business in the World And Her
 Enterprising Citizens do not care who knows
 it." The Ame,fcGns Grocer takes these lines
 seriously, and shows that during 1880 the ex- changes in New York amounted to $3s, G14,
 44s, ,223. In Chicago, ''the biggest town for
 business in the world, they reached a total of $1 , ,725, ,Gs4 ,894, or about 4 per cent. of
 what they were in New York. A compara- tive statement of the operations of the clear ing houses in the United States shows that for the week ended January 15 the exchanges at New York amounted to $1, ,179 1899, ,3O3 at Boston, $S4, 494, ,917; at Philadelphia, $50,-
 FPS, 7O4 at Chicago, $34, ,5O2, 766. At the New York Custom House there was collected in revenue BPS, ,797, 169, or T0.4s per cent
 of the total customs revenue collected during the last fiscal year. The foreign commerce of New York amounted to $944 ,229, 124 out of $1 ,613, ITO. 633 for the country, or 5S4 per cent. of the whole. The imports of mer- chandise reached $459, ,937, 153 out of 8 total for the country of $6G7, ,954, TAG. It is the great depot for the natural and manufactured products of the world, and the principal dis tributive point for a nation of fifty millions of people. The census statistics will show that the city itself is the largest manufactur- ing center in the United States and that the manufacturing interests of the port, which really belong to it's record, make it as su preme in power in the direction of manufac- lures as it is in finance and commerce. A measure of it's prosperity is seen in the 2,386 new buildings erected in 1880 at cost of $24 .OOO, GOO. Clearly, Chicago is not the big gest, however big it may feel.
 Mr. Steuben l.. Bacon, of Boston, thinks he has invented something that will defeat all attempts at illegal voting, counting or tabulating. It is thus described by the Bos- ton Herald: The essential parts of the in- vention are long U shaped hook on which the ballots are strung on being voted and an enumerating apparatus which strikes gong and turns up a new number every time ballot is put on the hook. One end of this hook projects through the ballot slide on which the ballot is placed. Each ballot, when voted, is placed on the proje cting poin of the hook, and covered by metallic washer. By pulling open the slide the bal lot and washer fall into the box, where they remain strung on the hook, and the ballot cannot be removed except by considerable sk l. kha washer, enumerator and checked name re- main as te1ltales, and at once indicate that fraud has been committed The same move ment of the slide that drops the ballot in the box also rings the bell, and causes change of numbers on the dial of the enumerator. By an ingenious device the slide is so ar ranged that, in voting, there is no aperture in the box, and, consequently, no stealing or stuffng can be done When one of the hooks is full of ballots wire is run through the holes at each end, and secured by lead seal similar to those in use by the govern ment, and the hook can then be removed, and an empty one substituted for it. In can- wasting the votes they are not removed from the hook, but simply slid around and count ed After the canvass is completed, the box is sealed again, and, with the votes and wash CTS on the boxes inside, kept for sufficient time to admit of the rectifcation of any mis- takes. The box is to be sealed then brought to the polls, as is also the registering appar- atus These seals are supposed to have writ ten on them the names of the parties placing them there, and are not to be broken except by city or town officials after the election. At first sight it seems as if this arrangement would be effectual in preventing fraud, but if it were used some way would doubtless be found to heat if