Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-09-16

people or the country as any man in the
Senate and his views on public questions
are always interesting. My converse ton
with him covered a wide range. 1t began
with the session Of Congress.
l asked: What Is Congress going to do
to help the people?'
II don't know" replied Senator CulIom
so far Congress has done more harm than
good. The people supposed We could do
something. and. had we come here stayed a
week. repealed the silver clause and gone
situation. AS 1t Is We are retarding bust
ness and We are adding to the fright Of the
people. Congress is Of no good in a pinch
like this. 1t can do nothing quickly. II 1t
has years to work in. II can accomplish
something and 1t can revise laws which ex-
tend over long periods. But 1t Is of no good
in an emergency. The people already see
this and the present revival Of business
ing and are beginning to help themselves"
The Situation in Illinois.
How IL Illinois being affected by the
times?" .af- .-a-i--
''Ve-y seriously" was the reply. I'VE are
having hard times. My state Is. you know,
a great manufacturing state and the north
ern part OF 1t makes all kinds Of articles
that are affected by the tariff. Among our
industrial centers are such places as Chi
cago. Joliet. Peoria, Elsin, Springfield and
others. In most of these places the fac
tories are running on half their usual
forces. A large number of the establish
ments have shut down altogether and there
are $1,000 men out Of employment In Chi
cago and I venture to say. that the num-
Der Of unemployed in the United States is
more than a million.
Yes. there are more than million
workers in this country who are out OF a
job" Senator Culiom went on. DO you
realize what that means? Suppose these men
average a dollar day, which is a very low
estimate. This means a loss of million
dollars day. or more than three hundred
million dollars a year. to the country. 1t
means the less of production. as we'll az
the loss OF the spending power, and it can
not but affect every branch Of business and
trade"
Chicago and the Fair.
How about Chicago?" asked. Has not
the fair helped it?''
I'm one sense yes. There have been from
seventy-five thousand to two hundred and
fifty thousand visitors who have been spend
ing on an average at least three dollars a
day in Chicago. Many have spent many
times that This money has given the
banks circulating medium. Otherwise
don't think it has changed matters much.
The fair crowd is only drop In the bucket
Of Chicagos population. There is no lack
of people on the streets when the fair Is at
its fullest. Chicago is wonderful city.
You can't keep pace with It, Go away
from 1t fo- a couple of weeks and when you
come back you find that it has added a
hundred thousand to its population"
"Yes. Senator said l. but is Its growth
a healthy one? Will 1t last?'
Yes" emphatically replied Senator Gull
lom. Chicago is full OF iron and muscle.
1t will be the great city Of the United States.
1t will eventually distance New York. 1t
is fast growing to be a city of rich men and
It has more enterprise and push than any
Other city in the country.
Anarchy and the Anarchists.
Eyes, Senator" said I, land it has more
anarchists. VIII not hard times increase
your socialists
IT can't TELL" replied Senator Cullom.
IF times do not improve. there will be
much starvation and distress. When hun
ger comes in at the door, reason and pru-
dence often fly out at the window. Gov
ernor Altgeld says there are not fifty anar-
chists in the country. He may be right in
that there are not fifty who would throw
bombs, but in times Of panic and Starva ton
you cannot tell how soon thousands can be
organized into mobs."
What will be the effect Of the times on
IF the hard times continue the republi-
cans will carry the country by a large ma
jority. and II Mckinley should carry Ohio
by an overwhelming vote the logic of the
situation would point to him AS our next
presidential candidate. If. however. time
should ease up under a revised tariff, Nc
Kinley could not be nominated, as he could
only be the head of a high protective tariff
platform. If Congress should repeal the
tax on state banks, and legislate the ma
tional banks out Of existence, We might
have flush times for a year or 50, and then
the trouble would be worse than ever. In
such a case the revised tariff might be car
ried on with apparent prosperity. 1t Is
hard to tell what will happen. I am afraid
Of Congress. If 1t does nothing, times will
certainly continue hard II 1t does what
some of it's members wish to Dc, the situa-
ton may grow better for a time. only to
leave us in a worse state than ever"
How Senator Cullom Saved the Bank.
here asked Senator Cullom as to the
panic of 1878. and his experiences in it.
He replied: II don't think the panic of
1873 or that of 1883 is to be compared 10
this. I was in business at the time Of the
panic in 1873. 1 left Congress in 1871. and
president of a bank in Spring field.
We had six or seven banks In the place,
and the situation for time was critical.
The New York banks had closed their
doors. The banks of St. Louis and Chica-
go had suspended payment, and the bank
presidents Of Springfield debated for a week
whether they should not follow suit. We
had meetings every day and every evening
of this week up to Friday night. The next
day was Saturday and we knew that the
farmers would come in from the country
and that many Of them would demand their
money. At the beginning of the r1eettng tie
Oldest bank president in the city made a
motion that We all suspend on the morrow.