davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The advocate and Topeka tribune., 1893-07-12
oHAs. POSTERS BANKRUPTCY.
John Davis Open Letter of Coincidence
and Advice,

DEAR SIR:-l WrICS you luz SoVoA"l
reasons: (D Having once enjoyed very
satisfactory discussion with you on the
money question, / now desire to ex-
press my very earnest personal regrets
on account of your present financial mis-
fortune. (0 desire to assure you that
you are very likely in error when you
ascribe your troubles to local causes or
to personal mismansgement. And (3)
Idesire by means Of this further dis
cussion to put other men on their guard,
90 they may not incur distresses like
those which have overtaken you. And
especially do desire that those thou
sands of people whom you have misled
to their ruin, by your official reports,
may be benefited.
Many thousands Of bankruptcies have
occurred in this country during the last
twenty years, mostly from one and the
same general cause. And from that same
general cause, still in operation, many
thousands more will occur, just as surely
40 night follows night. Having been, as
you think, the cause of distressing others
when you yourself fell, it may he that
you can now be induced to open your
eyes to the facts OF history and human
experience, and to the financial condi-
tions which environ all Of us in this
country, and thus be the means ofssVing
many thousands of people from financial
wreck and disaster. II you choose to do
this, you can atone thousand times for
the local evils you regret. You must
consider that great and dangerous reef
on which so many are being stranded,
and then point it out to all, that it may
be avoided, until all of US together may
be able to remove it.
You Rscribe your misfortunes at Fos-
toris to neglect Of business and personal
mismsnagement. You are probably mis-
taken. If that was the true cause, then
what was the matter with those persons
and companies for whom you indorsed J
Are they all dolts or rascalsP Surely your
absence in Washington and attention to
politics did not bankrupt them. lftheir
respective enterprises had succeeded
they would have paid their debts, and
the very reasonable business indorse-
ments which you favored them with
would have been no damage to you. But
it seems that their enterprises did not
pay. They bankrupted. Their lisbili-
ties fell upon you, and you all went down
together. If this was the case, then the
cause may have been general to the
community and not personal to yourself
But are such disasters peculiar to that
particular community Is Fostoria a
particularly unfortunate place in which
to do business Not necessarily So The
same disasters and distresses have con-
tinuslly visited very excellent business
localities during the last twenty years
and these financial cyclones are growing
worse and more frequent in all parts Of
this great and prosperous ~ country.
To convince you, my dear sir, that
neither you nor your business partners
nor your town Of Fostoria, were neces
sarily to blame, l beg Of you to rais'
your eyes and look about you. Please
sir, look into that great living, throbbing
delicately-pulsating business index o
this Countrywide New York clearing
boua0 RIM your eve up and down tht
The advocate and Topeka tribune., 1893-07-12

in 1897 over 1891, YET Oy consulting bne
column you will zee that the temporary
increase does not denote 8 permanent
growth. There was q greater increase
in 1890 over 1883 and 1889, but the figures
fell back in 1891, and have not recovered
to the figures of either 1889 or 1890. ALI
this is in the time of continued growth
Of population, amounting to nearly 3,OOO,-
600 in two years.
Now, sir, the New York clearing house,
and the millions Of people whose trans
actions affect it, are notperSonal to your
self and your partners, nor are they local
to the town Of FostoriR. Hence let me
conjure you TO stop your personal and
local Inscriptions Of blame. The CAUSE
rs GENERAL AND LONG CONTINUED. l
POINTED it out to you in our former dis
cussions Of the finances. But you re-
fused to see it then. You even denied
it's existence. I had patience with you.
I knew that the time might come when
you, like SO many others, would be COM
pellsd to open your eyes. Men are not
so very different from the lower animals
after all. Mr.. Jefferson said: "Men
never right their wrongs ss long as the
wrongs are suferable." Another emf
nsnt writer has ssid "The people can
not see, but they can feel" l once saw
q most beautiful pair Of pointers-chsrm-
ing little dogs-thoroughbred and full OF
promise. But the unfortunate creatures
failed to open their eyes when the proper
time for that species Of enlightenment
arrived. Day after day passed, and days
passed into weeks, yet the eyes failed to
unglue. The owner, in a fit OF anger
beat out their brains with his cane.
Next morning the beautiful creatures
lay stiff and dead, brains out and eyes
wide open. "Ah," said the unhappy
owner, "I had to knock out your brains
before yoW would open your eyes,"
have seen great men, even high Officials
Of this great government, who reminded
me Of the pup story. When the day o.
adversely comes men are more disposed
to open their eyes and to do some see
ing and thinking.
Sir, il you wish to corroborate thu
teachings Of the New York clearing
house, then turn to the reports of thu
clearing houses Of other cities, mor'
than fifty in number. You will find that
ON THE AVERAGE, they teach the same
general lesson that the business of thi
country does not grow and increase a
population increases. They indicat
that business is dying by the tournique
screws ON the veins and arteries Of a
otherwise vigorous and growing nation
They indicate that for lack of money
the legal means Of payment-busines
men every where are being driven to tn
wall and into bankruptcy. These thing
are not all personal to yourself, sir, no
are they local to your town. But therl
| is a GENERAL CAUSE driving as all dow
the rapids into the maelstrom Of bank
ruptcy, and woe unto him who ha
floated from the shore so far that b
cannot catch hold of the willows. Yo
have been descending the fatal declivit
with the rest of us. Under the falls
impression that there was water enoug
in the stream to float you above tn
rocks, you left the shore, got on to tn
The advocate and Topeka tribune., 1893-07-12

pOSSlDlyJ 10 nave sGe9reQ Clear VI GuS
reefs on which the industrial and finRn-
cial prosperity Of England was stranded,
causing untold disasters and sufferlngs
among her people. But, sir, you seemed
like the beautiful little CANNES in the
story. You were sleek (slick) and nice
and full OF promise (yes, of promisos),
but refused to open your eyes. Instead
Of profiting by the lessons Of history,
you and your predecessors in Office
seemed determined to consult the Shy
locks and bankers of Wall street only.
OF course they led you into the same
ruts and into the same policies and dis
tresses into which their fathers Of Lon
don had led England in former genera
tion. We have not only copied the policy
of England as to restriction of silver and
the contraction Of paper, leading to the
same general public and private disasters
but our finance ministers have been
driven into the same erroneous state
ments and have been compelled to tell
the same lies in order to deceive and
mislesd the people. You doubtless re-
member, sir, that in our public discus
sion in 1892 you denied that there had
been any contraction Of the money OF the
country since the war. You claimed
that there was more money per capita
RAost in this country in 1892 than in
1866. In order to prove this you con-
structed tables for your official reports.
You included in the tables of 1892 much
moneys not then in circulation, much
that was not then in existence, and much
which had long before been sent from
the country. You also denied that the
7'30 treasury notes and some other forms
Of war currency were ever in general cir
culation. l pointed out to you these
errors, and proved them to be errors by
Secretary Fessenden, Senators Logan
and Plumb, and other eminent Ruthori-
ties, but you refused to open your eyes
to the facts. Now let me say to you that
in doing this you but copied the ex-
ample OF the British finance minister in
1929. That / may be fully understood
in this matter l present short state
ment from Doubleday's history OF Sir
Robert Peel:
"a perfect knowledge of all the phenom-
ena Of circulating money is attainable by
ordinary intellects, though seldom attained;
and, had the Duke of wellington been
aware of this truth, he would, by little in
uuiry, have avoided the ridiculous assertion
with which he met the complaints Of Lords
Stanhope and Carnarvon. In reply to the
asseveration that Peel's sct was causing the
pressure complained Of, the Duke actually
went 80 far as to assert that the money in
circulation at that moment was, notwith-
standing the low and declining markets,
equal to the highest amount when the pa
DER money was in its most deprecated state
1 He might as well have asserted that, when
the Thermometer stood at 80 degrees, the
temperature was the same as when it rose to
GA degrees. The assertion, however, was
made; and to prove it the noble Duke pro-
duced the following extraordinary state
ment:"
Here follows two tables designed To
show the circulation was greater in 1925
than at any time prior to 1919. The
table prior to 1919 shows circulation OF
100000 The table OF 1929 shows
circulation of G65,1OO,OOO. The historian
The advocate and Topeka tribune., 1893-07-12

Bnu nOuEly uOluB Ia All PhrS VI One
country, yet candor Compels me to state
that, in wider and more general sense,
you are to blame You were one Of the
peoples sentinels on the wRtch-towers Of
state to guard our interests, and you
should have known and reported the
true situation. It was your duty to
know and report the factsl But you re-
fused to know. You refused to open
your eyes when the facts were pointed
out to you. You were asleep on your
post and refused to listen. My warning
to you was treated as calamity howl"
and you snored on, until you and yours
went down together. You even misled
US. You swore monthly in your official
reports that there was moro water IN the
stresm-more money sfost per capita
than ever before. To prove to you that
you were wrong but excited derision.
You stesred for the center Of the stream
in your business affairs, and went down
as the penalty Of ignorance. And while
you mourn for those about Fostoris who
went down with you, they are scarce a
tlthe of the men, women and children
you have destroyed or damaged. Your
example as business man and your
official reports and teachings have misled
many thousands, encouraging them to
venture. Your Fostoria is but one in q
thousand towns which your blind leader
ship has ruined. Your ignorance in
matters Of finance was most culpsble. |
myself pointed out to you more than a
year ago the testimony OF leading states
men in this country and in Europe, in
cluding eminent men of your own party
and state, which should have put you on
your guard. If you had read and needed
the testimony Of such men as Senators
Sherman and Wade, Of your own party
and state, you would have known better.
II you had read and needed the testi-
mony Of Senator Logan in 1874 and
Senator Plumb in 1888 and 1890, or OF
Congressman G Kelley, Ewing, Weaver and
hosts Of others, with that Of practical
business men and bankers without num-
Der in this country, you would have
known better. But you would have
nothing to do do with them. IL you had
read the financial history of England
after the wars of Napoleon, you would
have seen that the United States was
following England's fatal example and
reaching the same disastrous results
At the end Of the Napoleonic wars Eng
land stood forth at the very front OF the
: nations of Europe in blaze OF glory
She was mistress Of the ocean, she die
tated the policies Of the continent, Rno
. she had acquired an empire which en-
ciroled the earth. The British people
were jubilant and happy. This was il
. 1915. In 1916 the British parliament
passed law restricting the use Of silver
Then came the first note Of distress. Ir
; 1919 q law was passed to contract and re-
u tire that currency which had conquered
Napoleon and had saved England from
becoming province of France" Unde
D the operation Of these two laws the En-
! glish people were reduced to the sores
distresses. Bankruptcies prevailed every
where; factories and shops were closet
and men were thrown out Of employ
ment. By the year 1896 four-ftths of tn
Q lardholdara of England had lost thei
Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-09-20
ymGINIA,s MINERAL LANDS.
The special Committee on Assessment to
Meet Here In November.

Hon. A. i. Withrow, member of the
House of Delegates from the diStrict
comprising the counties OF Ail'ShanN,
Bath. ami Highland and chairman "f
the Special Joint Committee appolnieI az
the last session OF the General Assembly
TO Investigate and report upon the assess
mcut Of mineral lands. was in the city
yesterday I'm consultation with the clerk
Of the committee relative - liking a
day for q meeting 10 prepare report for
the next LEGISLATURE. The committee se-
cured some very important AMI interest
ing data upon their visit to Southw' II
Virginia. and some time I'm the early part
Of November they Will meet M the Carl
tol. where other data can De obtained
ana will prepare their report
Said Chairman WithrOw lust nlrht:
we will present q the General Assem-
bly, abundant facts and Information that
will be somewhat astounding. particularly
10 the owners OF farming lands In south
west Virginia. The report which we VIII
make will show that there Is by no means
an equalization Of taxation In virginia,
and this condition OF affairs IS huriful -
the owners OF farming lands. Ii lS not
alone the mountainous counties or VII
ginia that are Interested In this matter.
It Is a subject that goes directly home
to every farm-Owner In Virginia
The following compose the committee:
4. f.. Withrow, Of Bath; r. l. Anderson.
Of Pittsylvanla: John r.. Mason. Of King
George, and NJ. H. Jackson. OF Buchanan,
on the part Of the House OF Delegates,
and g. \. Mushblch. of Alexandria:
Conway r. Sand. Of Richmond, and
Henry Fairfax. Of Loudoun. on the part
Of the Senate. Ben. +. owen. Jr., IS
stenographic clerk for the committee.
Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-09-20
DEMOCRATIC HOUSE Caucus.
Continuous Session Agreed On tntil
Quorum Appears.
Bv telegraph to the Dispatch)

Rv telegraph to the Dispatch)
WASHINGTON, September l9-The
caucus OF Democratic members of the
House this afternoon was brief and TO the
point. Mr.. Holman presided and MT
Anderson acted as secretary. There was
a fun attendance of the Democrats VINO
had been present during the proceedings
in the House. and the action taken II was
reported had the hearty and unanimous
concurrence Of all who participated.
Speaker Crisp offered the loiio"ihs
resolution: -
Resolved, That it is the sense OF
this caucus that il Is the duty of every
Democratic member 70 attend the sessions
of the House. in order that the public
business may be considered and disposed
Of"
He supported his motion in an earnest
speech. pointing out the necessity that eX-
isted for Democratic representatives
doing their fun duty to their country and
their party. and honestly endeavoring 10
redeem the pledges made TO the public
which had entrusted them with the duty
OF legislating I'm sheir behalf
Mr.. Enloe of Tennessee moved 10
amend by adding "and vote after the
words. sessions of the House. which
amendment was hCCeHNth W AhD NPNHhNi.
Mr.. Fithian, of Illinois moved 10 add
the following TO the Speakers resolution,
and the caucus agreed: And that when
the House meets on tomorrow, II Is the
sense OF this caucus that II remain In
session continuously until quorum Is
obtained, voting In favor Of reporting the
bill for repeal of the Federal election
laws"
There was some discussion as TO the
expediency OF pressing consideration oi
the repeal bill. but the Overwhelming
sentiment of the caucus expressed was
favorable TO early action.
The following resolution offered by MT
McMillin on this point was adopted:
Resolved. That IL is the sense OF TINS
caucus that the House should proceed al
the earliest practicable day during TINS
session TO the consideration OF the bill
or bills repeating the laws authorizing
deputy marshals and supervisors OF elec'
tions at the polls"
After adopting the resolution as a
whole the caucus adjourned. having been
in session a little over an hour. Subse-
quently, in pursuance OF the last resoiu-
ton, Speaker Crisp issued call for a
meeting OF the Committee on Rules for to-
morrow at IL o'clock, 10 consider the nxins
Of a date for taking up the repeal bill. and
determining the length OF time that snail
be allowed for debate.
Speaking OF the probabilities OF the
length sf the continuous session agreed
Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-09-20
COLLECTOR RYAN.
lie VIII Go Into once To-Day Some OF
His Force.

Special Agent Lay, Of the Internal Rove
nue. Department. was In the city yestcr-
day. counting mp the stamps I'm possession
Of Deputy Collector Smith, and examining
hs accounts, preparatory To the transfer
to-day Of the business Of the district TO
Mr. William Ryan. the new collector Of
Internal revenue. Since the incumbenoy
OF Mr.. Brady the headquarters Of tho
district have been in Petersburg. and the
formal transfer viii be- made there. Mi
Ryan. accompanied by Mr.. ". ii. Tyler
and MIR. Allan Talbot viii 80 over To-
Petersburg to-day to take possession, anl
the Headquarters will be moved back 10
Richmond Mr.. Tyler viii be- Mr.. Ryan $
chief deputy, at salary Of 32.yO per
annum, and Mr.. Talbot will be- stamp
clerl. al a salary Of tl,GO per annum
Or. j. NJ Peasants viii be division
deputy al Petersburg at salary Of N,ssj
per annum.
Among others whom Il IS understood
Mr. Ryan will appoint, but whose exact
POSITIONS and salaries have not been de-
termlncd. are Mr.. ". j. Epps, Mr.. a.
r. Gum. Mrs. W T. Dashiell Mr.. Gus.
Peay, Mr. a. =. Shield, Mr. Frank De
noon. and Mr.. VirginiuS johnson.
A day or two ago Mr.. Ryan was noti-
lied that one Of the largest tobacco manu-
featuring establishments I'm the city would
make d very heavy shipment next week,
and advised the department in Wash
ington. 80 as 10 have an extra supply Of
gtamps here in time. Agent Lay re
ported yesterday afternoon that the ac-
counts In the Office here were correct 10
a cent.
Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-09-20
Worn by One of the Conyicts.

The officers Of the penitentiary received
Yesterday from Mayor J. Mercer Seay OF
Columbia, a pair OF convict pants found
hanging on bush on the side of the
river near that place.
The pants are numbered 10, which cor
responds with the number Of the room
that Clark and Smith occupied before
their escape The officers Of the peniten-
tiarv say that they are certainly the
pants worn by one of the men when
they left the prison
The pants were found Monday morn
ing by James Timberlake section master
Of the Chesapeake and Onto Railway
Company and Charles McLain, who no
ticed the garment hanging 10 bush on
the river bank. Whether the pants were
thrown there by one Of the conNcts, or
were cast into the water at -some point
higher up the stream and washed down
during the high water. Is not known.
They were probably thrown there, for
the impression obtains that the men
win not go very far until they get a
complete change OF clothing.
Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-09-20
BONDS FOR THE HALL
THE BOARD ADOPTS TIE aesOLu-
TON ISSUING Stoc,ooo MORE.
row Monsy-Coutrscis Awarded
Last Evening

The Board OF Aldermen held a special
session last evening to consider the reso-
luton authorizing the issuance OF $780,
0c0 of the citys per cent botds. the net
proceeds to be placed 20 the credit OF the
City Hall account. as we'll "a those pro-
viding for the opening and grading Of
certain streets In the annexed portion
OF Lee District.
There was no discussion upoa the reso-
luton I'm regard 10 the bonds, Nj. r. L.
Reeve, upon whose motion II was tabled
at the last meeting, having gone before
the Finance Committee vest rday after
noon and secured the light he desired.
The measure was adopted The Board
also agreed to the resolution from the
Finance Committee authorizlns that body
to borrow $4,000. pending the sale Of
these bonds.
There were not enough members present
20 take action upon the Lee-pistrict
street matters so they verc again laid upon
the table. II Is probable that the Boari
will be called together again IN = i,w
days to consider these papers.
MORE CONTRACTS AWARDED.
There was a regular meeting last even
| ing OF lft = 'OIlilllAAtf va NA'N'sf''' ''''NA
buildings. Chairmln Taylor prC sided. aud
the principal business transacted was TIE
awardIng OF some city Hall contracts.
Bids were opened for the construction or
| the drill-shed between the Howitzers
and cavalry armory. This structure Is
| TO he 10 feet wide and l5i feet long, COW
ering the space between the two armorles.
| 1t is to be modern acknowledgements
| truss shed with clearance of sixteen
| feet. resting on brick pillars with stone
cappings. The bidders were "A follows
Alex w. Pierce. N1l1; Ware x Paxton
| ~ Sl- 20. Jarvis x Giiuu, SN.33l; Il. 6.
Bristow d Co. SS.l0j..GS. Mr. Bates as
sistant city engineer explained that the
apropriatlon for the work only amounted
| 10 5000. As an bids exceeded this sum
| Mr.. Carter moved to reject them which
was agreed to.
| Messrs. Savage & Holmes, contractors
| to supplv the Cttv-liAli furniture. were
allowed 500 under the terms OF th'ir
| contract. This was done ON the condition
| that the firm should get out an insurance
| nolicv upon the goods already delivered.
The Tredegar Works were awarded the
| contract for the brass carpet-strips Tor
| the city Hall.
new fire-alarm office was given to savage
| & Holmes. q,
Many applications for work on the hall
were fled
| 1t was decided that the Grounds ana
! Ruildinrs Committee should meet win
the Special Committee appointed TO select
a suitable room i'm the hall for the C"un-
| ell chamber Thursday afternoon AT
| o'clock.
OTHER COMMITTEE MEETINGS.
| The Finance Committee held q long
meeting i'm the Chancery- Court room yes
| terday afternoon. It's business was oi Il
| routine nature.
| Chairman Bowdcn dl not get quorum
| of his Committee on Relief for the Po"i
| together yesterday evening, consequently
| uo matters were taken up.
Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-09-20

Professor Gentry's wonderful ponies and
dogs. compus NJ his Equine and Canine
Paradox will appear IN thi4 city undur u
tent on Nam and harvIo streets. SIX
nights. beginning Mon lay. September
eth. with matineos "Wednesday. Thursday
ana Saturday at t3 =. NJ. Inis company ~
the best of its Kind IN this country. Ihp
press everywhere speak N the highest
terms of the entertainments. Professor
Gentry himself has a taking way OF talk
Ing to tho animals. aEd contributes Ia the
enjoyment by giving everything an a.. of
good humor He has sixteen adult and "a
couple of baby ponies. The sixteen drill,
dance. and answer questions. Romeo ~
the star. unless Eureka. the kicking pOny.
divides with HIM the honor. and Juliet -
the leading lady There ~ an army ot
dogs. poodlos. grey-hounds. pugs. and oil
kinds Of fine dogs. one of the most wOnd-
erlUl leats * the complete bnck somersauh
OF Barney, little fellow whose breed -
doubtful. Three OF tho dogs rlde ponies
at full speed. 1ho grey-hOunds do soIao
wonderful high aud distance l0aplDg. Tho
performance closes with pyramid of dogs
and horses which makes an exciting pict-
ure for the youthful vision. Admission
Children, 10 cents; adults. 20 cents.