TOPICS OF THE TIME. 



63 



out of ? How can silver bullion have any 

 relation to gold when silver was demone- 

 tized or destroyed as final redemption 

 money ? No kind of metal can have any 

 ratio to gold unless it is used as primary 

 money, and then the ratio will be exactly 

 what the law wishes it. There can be but 

 one legal ratio between metals; that one is 

 made by law, and the law of supply and 

 demand will always compel the commercial 

 ratio to be very close to the legal ratio. But 

 now there is no ratio at all in the United 

 States between any kind of metals because 

 there is only one metal made into primary 

 money. Hence, there is unnecessary fear 

 that the commercial ratio between gold and 

 silver, in case of free coinage of silver, 

 would ever vary very much from the legal 

 ratio. 



With the new ruling against 

 the Beef bogus butter and the seizure 

 Combine! of unbranded oleomargarine 

 at several points, comes more trouble for 

 the Chicago packers. It is understood 

 that the new Grand Jury ordered for the 

 United States District Court in Chicago 

 will bring in indictments against the beef 

 combine. It is known that the informa- 

 tion gathered by the special agents of the 

 Department of Justice and the Agricul- 

 tural Department will be presented to the 

 jury. 



Confidence Those bright Northern 

 Again lights are indications of 



Returning, returning confidence, 

 and sure signs of a new era of prosperity. 

 The lights are from the great blast fur- 

 naces of Northern Wisconsin and Michi- 

 gan. The friends of protection to home 

 industry are again in power at Washington 

 and all the great iron and steel mills will 

 soon be going again under full headway. 



Robbing The Chicago Board of Trade is 

 Grain expelling members and doing 

 Growers, all itcan to reform itself. The 

 board is unable, however, to get from under 

 the control of the elevator ring, which has 

 absolute sway in the handling and ship- 

 ping of grain. This ring is an absolute 

 detriment to Chicago and is a bloodsucker 

 to every grain grower in the West. The 

 State legislature should investigate and 

 breakup this nefarious combination, but it 

 is afraid. It would be a blessing to the 

 agriculturists of all Western America if the 



farmers of Illinois would make a political 

 issue of the elevator abuses in Chicago and 

 elect a legislature pledged to break them 

 up. A majority of the members of the 

 Board of Trade would gladly render their 

 assistance. The Illinois State Grange, 

 which has been such a great sufferer, has 

 opened the ball against Chicago methods. 

 At its recent meeting a special committee 

 was authorized to draft a memorial to 

 Congress requesting that stringent legis- 

 lation be enacted against option dealing 

 gambling in grain, and the use of the 

 telephones and telegraphs for that purpose. 



THE National Grange and various State 

 Granges demand that Secretary Morton 

 be retired and that "a man be chosen from 

 the ranks of the farmers, with a knowledge 

 of agriculture." Farmers strongly approve 

 the rebuke given to Mr. Bayard, the Min- 

 ister to England. 



COMMISSIONER LAMOKEUX urges the neces- 

 sity of a riational commission to regulate 

 the distribution of irrigation waters in the 



West. 



THAT fraud, oleomargarine, can not mas- 

 querade any longer as butter under the 

 name " butterine." It must be stamped 

 ' ' Oleomargarine. ' ' 



THE Illinois and Michigan State Granges 

 declared for the remonetization of silver, 

 and against the retirement of the green- 

 backs. 



No WAY of successfully fighting the 

 sugar and oil trusts, and the beef combine 

 has yet been discovered or invented. 



A GOOD ROAD is being built from Chicago 

 along the lake shore through Kenosha and 

 Racine to Milwaukee. 



THE Western States are to have posses- 

 sion of their grants of arid lands before 

 the lands are irrigated. 



AN irrigation plant and a mortgage 

 never remain long together on the same 

 farm. 



CHICAGO permits the sale of horse meat 

 for food. 



THE Chicago Metal Reduction Company 

 has increased its capital stock. 



THE sugar bounties are to be paid. 



