Morning journal and courier., 1884-12-20

copies, which, in proportion to the popula- l tion, would allow one copy in ten years for each person. Of course the newspaper cir culation of Africa is confined to the extreme l north and south, with a commencement in i the west. In like manner Asia has neither supply or demand, except in parts of Turkey, British India, Persia, China and Japan Not newspaper of any sort is to be found in Arabia, Afghanistan, Beloochistan, or Turk estan.
 A well known citizen of Hartford proposes to have introduced into the incoming legisla- ture bill entitled 'sAn Act to Discourage Hypocrisy" It will provide that any advo- cate of temperance prohibition caught in the act of buying using spirituous iqucrs shall be fined or imprisoned according to the discretion of the court. He says he is tired of seeing men crying down the liquor traffic \ in public and then catching them quietly taking horn of liquor at some bar where they believe their identity is unknown, or purchasing the beverage in wholesale quan- | ties.
 A correspondent of the London Telegraph with the Nile expedition has learned from a refugee how the Mahdi raises funds. From time to time he appears before his people and says he has been commanded to part with all his goods, everything he possesses-in short, must go to the public treasury, or to the "Bait el Map Charity box). Proffers are made on all sides to save him from stripping his household; but all these he resolutely de- clines, saying, F'The command is for me, not you" By and by their turn comes, when the Mahdi says he has had communication from s'El Hadra" that such one is to give all he has to the ''Bait el Nal" They have seen the Prophet himself complying with these direc- tions of the Presence, /" and how dare any one else disobey2 Accordingly, making a virtue of necessity, goods and slaves all find their way to the F'charity box,' otherwise the Prophets chest. All disputes about goods or betrothals the Mahdi quickly set ties by appropriating the goods to the public treasury and the women to his harem He courts the poor and gives them free license to plunder, and snubs the sheiks
 The question as to the constitutional pow CT of the legislature to reduce railroad fares, which was much discussed in New York in connection with the Five Cent Fare bill, has just been decided by the Supreme Court of Appeals in West Virginia. By a special charter granted by the legislature one of the railroad companies in that State was author ized to charge seventy five cents barrel for carrying oil. Subsequently an act was pass ed regulating the freight charges on all roads. It reduced the rate on oil below seventy-five cents a barrel, The company in question claimed that this was a violation of it's chartered rights, and that the act to that ex- tent was unconstitutional. This view was sustained by the County Circuit court, but the Supreme Court of Appeals reverses the ruling. The latter tribunal holds that 'sthe right of any railroad company to charge for transportation, no matter what its charter may be, is absolutely under the control of the legislature, and one legislature cannot bind another with respect to this subject, it being a governmental power that a 1egisla- ture cannot barter away"
 A recent expedition sent by the lieutenant governor of Bengal into Thibet for the pur- pose of establishing English trade connec- tions with that little known country seems to have produced promising results. But the report made indicates the readiness of English political agents to make use of de- vices, religious or otherwise, which are cal culated to favor their purposes. It seems that one of the grand lamas died about two years ago. this one being in the line of pom 1al II their feelings toward the English The re- ligious faith of the Thibetans leads them to believe in the earthly immortality of their lamas, and that, though they apparently die, they reappear in the form of a child, born at the time of their seeming death. In order to gain entrance into Thibet, and to get himself upon a friendly footing with the people, the English representative pretended that he had been sent to inquire if the reap pearance of the lama had yet taken place, as the English were solicitous of continuing their friendly connection with him. The device apparently worked to charm. The embassy was received in 8 most friendly manner, and it's leading official succeeded in obtaining all the trade information that he could possibly have hoped to secure.
 In France, as elsewhere, the rights of red tapeism are respected, as an incident which has just occurred at Toulon proves. A bat talion was about to start for Tonquin, and the Lieutenant Colonel found that the men were short of clothing, and especially stood in need of shoes. He wrote, in consequence, to the Colonel, who, with the depot of the regiment, was at Nice, requesting an immedi- ate order for the stores. The Colonel was obliged to correspond with the General of his brigade, who happened to be at Toulon. He added his signature to the application. which in due time found it's way back again to Nice, and was delivered to the General of Division staying in that. town. The latter had to refer to the Commander of the Corps D'Armee at Marseilles, but he was not au- thorized to order boots for the soldiers until the demand had been forwarded to the War Office in Paris, and had there received the official approval. This was at length ob- tained. But the authorization for the supply of boots had still to travel back to Toulon It followed the same circuitous route-was sent to Marseilles, to Nice, to Toulon, to Nice again, and at last back to Tou1on, where it arrived day after the battalion wanting shoes had sailed for Tonquin. So the result was that the stores, which were ready packed, could not be delivered
 
 UNFAIR.