The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1897-01-09


prison life or suicide. He chose the
latter. Hammond was certainly con-
siderate. He had,cost enough trouble
ALREADY, and rather than put the state
to the expense OF conyicting him and
caring for him in the penitentiary, put
a stop to all further worry by ending
his life.
If the statement published in the
dispatches, that Gomez has resorted to
the butchery of prisoners of war as a
retaliatory measure. are true, it will
serve as damper on the cause of Cuba.
Little sympathy will be felt for the
Cubans if they resort to the cruelties
practiced by the Spaniards.
Next June Queen Victoria, if she
lives and remains Oh the throne, will
celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of
her reign. Hers has been ono of the
greatest reigns of any monarch of the
world, but the. average American
citizen would find more glory in serv-
ing one term as q successful president
than sixty years as crowned monarch.
The dispatches announce that less
than score of senators were present
at the session of Wednesday,. OF the
ninety members of that body less than
twenty were at their posts attending
to the duties for which they were
elected. Where were the other seventy?
Possibly some of them looking after
their reflections, but none of them
will be absenJwhen the time for paying
their salaries comes.
Dan Carlos, the pretender to the
Spanish throne, is said to be abe to
command Sf50,o00. 900 for any expe6i-
tion he may organize to obtain the
right to wear. the Spanish crown. He
could well afford to expend half that
amount helping the Cuban patriots to
secure their. independence. and after
that was accomplished Gomez could
take few of his best generals oyer to
Spain to capture the throne.
The press dispatches record the clos
ing of from one to five banks every day.
This is indeed bad state of affairs,
one we all sincerely regret, and hope
may come to speedy termination
with a revival of business which we all
expect within a few months at farthest
And we certainly have grounds for
such hopes, since depression In busi-
ness cannot last indefinitely. The de-
mands of trade and the natural require
ments of the people we trust will bring
about a change for the better in spite
of the the legislation or disturbance
caused by agitation of the tariff and
financial questions.
Senator Walcott, of Colorado, has
gone to Europe in the futile effort to
bring about an international agree
ment wherebygold and silver may be
coined at an agreed ratio and both be
made standard money of the leading
commercial nations. 1t Is not to the
interest of the European powers to en-
ter into such an agreement, hence it is
not probable Senator Wolcott's efforts
will meet with any encouragement.
Independent action by the United
States is the only logical method by
which bimetalism can be established,
hence we conclude the gentleman from
Colorado has gone On a useless errand.
The manufacturers, lumber men,
sugar planters, coal and iron miners
have all had an audience before the
house ways and means committee, and
now. it is the wool growers turn.
They propose to ask for duty of II
cents pound on all unwashed Merino
wools, and cents on all other wools,
double duty on all washed and treble
on secured wools. Further they will
ask for the imposition of an additional
dutyof one1cent a year until the duty
on MerinO shall reach l5 cents pound.
If the Recommendations that have
been urged by the different interested
industries are all embodied in the
tariff bill, when it becomes a law it
will be so nearly prohibitive that there
will be no imports while it is in opera
ton.