328 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
MAY i7 
Rough on Rogues 
LOOKOUT 
ALMANAC 
LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE. 
MAY. 
Look out for Servian “Royal” 
bonds, which are offered by the 
19- Berlin Banking Company of this 
city. “ Big prizes, no blanks ” is the state¬ 
ment made in the circular sent out to catch 
buyers. It ought to read “ no prizes, big 
blanks,” to be exact, for that represents 
what the purchaser of these bonds will 
probably get and what he will surely be. 
If you have money to spare, why not invest 
at home at an honest rate of interest, and 
help build up your town ? 
* 
* * 
TllPSflaV L°°k out f° r another plow- 
^ share fraud. This one is in Bucks 
20 . County, Penn. He gives you a 
plow share and takes your receipt for it. Of 
course this receipt turns up as a note for a 
good round sum. Look out for a paper 
called the Farm Herald, printed in Ken¬ 
tucky. Funk & Wagnalls, of this city, say 
that it is published in the interests of 
liquor dealers. Glorious news, these gen¬ 
tlemen must have to herald to the farmers I 
Wednesday Look out for Prescott, Reid 
" & Co., of this city, who offer 
21. dry goods of the wrecked 
steamer Caledonia “ to consumers only.” 
The prices quoted are ridiculously low for 
goods like the samples sent with the cir¬ 
culars. There is no doubt but that the whole 
tning is a swindle. If goods are delivered 
when ordered they are not as represented. 
The probabilities are, however, that no 
goods are delivered at all, but the swindlers 
hope to dupe people into paying in advance 
for what they order. 
Thursday ^is * s It* N.-Y. day. Keep an 
J extra eye on that poultry fraud 
22. in Ohio. We thought we were 
done with him last week, but he bobs up 
again. The lady who received the birds 
has this to say about one of them: 
“ The Brahma cockerel is a sight. He 
was staggering-poor; his feet and legs 
were badly infested with scale mites. In¬ 
deed the pests covered his whole body so 
badly that the feathers are coming out. 
His legs and body are so thickly incrusted 
that he can hardly walk, and some of his 
toes are frozen off. He goes pitching 
around as if he were on stilts. I think this 
poultry sharper should have had a photo¬ 
graph of the bird taken before he sent him 
away ; no doubt he will long to see him.” 
Friday Look out for bogus charitable so- 
^ cieties in the West. A telegram 
23- to the N. Y. Herald reveals a re¬ 
markable state of affairs in Stevens County, 
Kansas. It seems that a stock company 
was formed to take charge of the goods 
sent there and the shares were listed at $75 
each. Under this arrangement those who 
needed help the most got the least. Lots 
of men who ougbt to be at work are living 
on provisions that kind-hearted people sent 
to "sufferers.” 
■* 
* ♦ 
SfrtUrdflV Look out for a fraud in Zaues- 
° ^ ville, Ohio, who proposes to 
24 ’ send plans for building a wind¬ 
mill. Zanesville has produced so many 
frauds that it must be a hard place for an 
honest man to do a mailing business. 
Look out lor concerns that want you to 
give your time “ exclusively ” to their busi¬ 
ness. As the Farm. Field and Stockman 
says : 
“If the agent carries out this agreement 
as written ne cannot sleep, eat, drink or 
kiss his wife without violating it.” 
THE U KITED STATES SUPREME 
COURT AND PROHIBITION. 
The decision just rendered by the United 
States Supreme Court in the Iowa Prohibi¬ 
tion case is one of the most important and 
far-reaching in its effects ever rendered by 
that august tribunal—the highest in the 
world. Iowa has a strict prohibition law 
which forbids not only the sale, but also 
the introduction of all intoxicants within 
its borders. Some time ago a brewer doing 
business at Peoria, Illinois, sent some beer 
in sealed kegs to customers in Keokuk, 
Iowa, claiming that, according to the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States, the regula¬ 
tion of commerce between the different 
States is exclusively the business of Con¬ 
gress, and therefore that neither Iowa nor 
any other State could legally prevent the 
shipment of goods from any place outside 
the State to any point within its borders. 
The city marshal of Keokuk, however, 
seized the beer as contraband under the 
Iowa laws. Suit was brought against-him 
for interference with inter-State commerce, 
the anti-Prohibitionists and liquor-selling 
interests pressing the case. The matter 
was carried from the local courts to the 
State Supreme Court, which rendered a de¬ 
cision supporting the constitutionality of 
the disputed provision of the State law, 
and from this decision an appeal was taken 
to the tribunal of last resort—the United 
States Supreme Court at Washington. 
According to the opinion of the majority 
of this court, malt or spirituous liquors 
sent from one State into another are arti¬ 
cles of inter-State commerce, and if con¬ 
tained in the original packages in the State 
to which they have been transmitted, can¬ 
not be seized under State prohibition regu¬ 
lations. 
Considerable doubt exists as to the scope 
of this decision, and various opinions have 
been expressed by the press with regard to 
the matter. According to one side, the 
principle affirmed is that no State has the 
power to stop the importation of liquors 
from another State or a foreign country, or 
prohibit their sale, in the original pack¬ 
ages, within its borders by the importer. 
That is to say, whisky, brandy, gin, rum, 
wine, beer, and any other kind of intoxi¬ 
cating drink may be shipped from one 
State to another in casks, barrels, kegs, 
bottles or any other sort of vessel, and the 
person to whom the stuff is sent may use it 
for his own purpose or sell it in the original 
package in spite of any State law to the 
contrary. According to the other side, the 
decision simply declares that the liquor 
cannot be touched in transit between the 
seller in one State and the buyer in 
another, nor while it remains in the pos¬ 
session of the latter, who has an absolute 
right to use it for his own purposes. The 
advocates of this view insist that the 
power of the State to prohibit or regulate 
the manufacture and sale of liquor within 
its territory, is practically the same now 
as it was before the decision had been pro¬ 
nounced. Tne moment, therefore, the re¬ 
ceiver of the goods attempts to sell them, 
in the original packages or otherwise, he 
will come within the police powers of 
the State and be liable to punishment for 
violating its laws. They maintain that 
this is all the decision amounts to, and 
that this view of the law is the same which 
a large proportion of the people of Maine 
have acted upon for more than a quarter of 
a century. Certain it is that the prohibition 
legislature of that State, the pioneer in 
prohibitory legislation, has never under¬ 
taken to authorize the seizure of liquors in 
transit from another State or in possession 
of the original purchaser. 
W hatever the scope of the decision may 
be, it applies to every State and Territory 
in the Union ; hence the Prohibitionists all 
over the country are roused to bitter in¬ 
dignation. Some predict that it will lead 
to the formation of a third great political 
party. Others declare that the Prohi¬ 
bitionists will carry the war from State 
issues and the election of State officers to 
National issues and the election of Repre¬ 
sentatives and Senators in Congress. The 
only remaining remedy, they say, is to se¬ 
cure from Congress legislation granting 
the States power to prohibit. Such power 
has never hitherto been granted to any 
State, and it is extremely doubtful if such a 
measure can be carried through Congress, 
and if Congress has the Constitutional 
right to make such legislation. 
In other respects, also, the decision is 
considered of great and sweeping import¬ 
ance ; for it must apply to every article or 
commodity of inter-State commerce with 
the same force as it does to liquor. Take, 
for example, oleomargarine, against which 
many of the States have enacted stringent 
laws. It is claimed that under this decision 
every State is powerless to prohibit, or, ac¬ 
cording to some, to regulate the sale by the 
importer of oleomargarine from another 
State in the original packages. The same 
is true of dressed beef; so the farmers of 
the country as well as the Prohibitionists 
are deeply interested by the decision. Many 
also declare it is a terrible blow to the doc¬ 
trine of State rights, which has of late years 
received scant respect from the Supreme 
Court. Of the nine justices, Harlan, Gray 
and Brewer, however, alone dissented. 
Chief Justice Fuller, and Justices Field and 
Lamar who support the decision, have al¬ 
ways been staunch advocates of State 
rights, and would, therefore, have hardly 
coincided in a decision which curtailed 
those rights to the extent which some at¬ 
tribute to that just rendered. For years 
the decision and its logical sequences must 
hold a prominent place in political and 
moral discussions on National and State 
affairs; hence farmers should be well in¬ 
formed of its nature and probable conse¬ 
quences. 
Western Farm Mortgages.— General B. 
F. Butler comes to the front again with 
some startling statistics regarding the ex¬ 
tent of Western farm mortgages. This 
“ distinguished philosopher ” states that, 
taking simply the agricultural lands of the 
Western States, there will be found in¬ 
vested in farm mortgages the sum of $3,450,- 
000,000, at a rate of interest averaging from 
seven to nine per cent., to say nothing of 
costs and commissions of agents, which 
farmers pay for procuring the money. 
General Butler states that this sum is 
nearly 25 per cent, more than the whole 
national debt at the end of the year. These 
mortgages never can be paid, he says. This 
country, with all its vast revenue has in 
25 years only paid 43 per cent, of its debt, 
which averages but three per cent, interest. 
How, he asks, when the profits of farming 
average only five per cent, can farmers pay 
debts with seven per cent, interest ? The 
burden of General Butler’s argument seems 
to be that Western farm mortgages never 
can be paid, and are therefore very poor in¬ 
vestments. Indeed, he asserts that capital¬ 
ists have ceased to invest in them. To 
prove his point he talks as follows: 
“Let me give you an incident of how 
that investment is done, and 1 give you an 
actual case : A gentleman had business in 
a United States land office in a Western 
State. While there attending to his busi¬ 
ness a man came in and said: ' Have you 
got my patent ready for me V 
‘ It is not ready yet, and this is the fifth 
time that you have asked for it to-day ; 
what is the haste V replied the Recorder. 
‘ Only this : As soon as I get the patent 
there is a fellow here who is ready to take 
a mortgage on the land at $9 an acre.’ 
You only paid the Government $1.25 
an acre, and you have made no improve¬ 
ments upon the property of any value.’ 
‘Well,’ said the applicant, ‘he will take 
a mortgage all the same, and I want the 
patent hurried up.’ 
Said the Recorder: ‘What are you 
going to do with so much money when you 
get it P 
‘I am going West to take up other 
lands V 
He evidently had no idea of paying the 
interest or of redeeming that mortgage.” 
The R. N.-Y. would like to know where 
these statistics are obtained. It does not be¬ 
lieve that such fabulous sums are invested 
in farm mortgages, and it does not believe 
that this statement represents anything 
but an estimate based on imperfect data, 
and extraordinary circumstances, an in¬ 
stance of which may be seen in the case 
quoted above. It is true that thousands of 
farms are burdened by mortgages, but it is 
nonsense to say that none of them, or, in 
fact, the majority of them cannot be paid. 
Prosperous Times Coming.— Turning 
from General Butler’s dismal figures, the 
R. N.-Y. desires to refer to an article 
recently printed in the Forum, entitled: 
“ When The Farmer Will Be Prosperous.” 
The writer of this article claims that the 
farmer can hope for prosperity only when 
domestic consumption shall absorb nearly 
all his products. Population, he says, must 
continue to increase, even more rapidly 
than heretofore, while the production of 
food cannot increase as rapidly as in former 
years, because new lands are becoming less 
available with each year, while old lands 
are yearly becoming less productive, except 
in locations where farming is conducted on 
scientific principles. We are now using 
lands for food production, which should not 
have been touched until the next century. 
When the next century comes, with its 
added millions of mouths to be fed, there 
will be scarcity of food; our present farms 
must be made to produce more, or the gov. 
ernment must carry out its vast schemes 
for irrigating what are now desert wastes. 
This sanguine writer gives tables to show 
that well within 10 years, it may be neces. 
sary to import wheat to feed an increased 
population, and he gives tables to show 
that “ such will be the logical sequence of 
the necessity of employing wheat fields in 
the growth of other staples and of the ex¬ 
haustion of the material from which farms 
are developed.” Here are hi figures in a 
nutshell: We now require 8.15 acres to 
produce food and clothing for each individ¬ 
ual of our population. Assuming that in 
1894 the population will reach 72,000,000, we 
will require in staple crops 226,800,000 acres 
of land. The area now employed in grow¬ 
ing such crops is 211,000,000 acres. If this 
area increases at the same ratio as iu the 
past, we shall have 223,000,000 acres or a de¬ 
ficit of 3,800,000 acres. There is something 
in this. If the government should abso¬ 
lutely prohibit the importation of foreign 
farmers and give up its scheme for utiliz¬ 
ing waste public lands, American farmers 
would be obliged to improve their farms or 
import food in 10 years ! It certainly be¬ 
hooves a man, in these times to keep his 
soil in readiness for a good crop—which will 
be needed before 1900. 
BOOK REVIEWS. 
L iberal living upon narrow 
MEANS is the appropriate title of a 
book of recipes designed, not for those who 
can afford to engage trained cooks, but for 
the thrifty housewife who needs to econo¬ 
mize in the general management of her 
home. It is the object of the work to show 
that a wholesome, appetizing, bountiful 
variety of food may be supplied without a 
large expenditure either of time or money. 
The months are taken consecutively, begin¬ 
ning with January, and for each month 
the dinners for a week are given with di¬ 
rections how to dispose of the “ left-overs ” 
from day to day. The Christmas Dinner, 
Cheap Mutton and Beef, The Seamy Side 
of Summer, How to Make the Tea Table 
Attractive, Dainty Dishes for Tea, Country 
Boarding, Summer Desserts, Food for the 
Sick are the topics ably treated in the lat¬ 
ter part of the work. The book is one 
of 275 pages —5x7 inches —canvas-bound. 
Christine Terhune Herrick is the authoress 
and the price is $1.00. Published by Hough¬ 
ton Mifflin & Co. It may be ordered from 
this office. 
(i TT °W TO USE FRUITS” is the 
n title of a new cookery book by 
Hester M. Poole, which contains over 600 
original and compiled recipes for the prep¬ 
aration of domestic and foreign fruits for 
table use. The little volume has the stamp 
of originality, and the recipes for fruit 
simply and in combination with different 
other ingredients making sauces, puddings, 
pies, creams, cakes, preserves, jellies, etc., 
etc., seem reliable beyond the average. The 
authoress says that it is a curious fact that 
those who show high intelligence in other 
regards are often lamentably deficient in 
respect to physical habits, especially re¬ 
garding diet. This truth is one that we 
have had forced upon us to a painful 
degree during the rearing of two children, 
whose food, owing to weak digestion, was 
at all times carefully regulated. Mrs. 
Poole has dedicated her book to the women 
of the W. C. T. U. Fowler and Wells, 
publishers. It can be obtained from the 
Rural Publishing Company at this office. 
PiS’ceUancou.sf §Uvcrti$ing. 
Please n ention R. N.-Y. to our adver¬ 
tisers. 
The soft, velvety coloring effect so desirable for 
house exteriors can only be produced and perma¬ 
nently held by the use of 
CABOT’S CREOSOTE SHINGLE STAINS. 
For Samples on Wood, with Circulars and full 
Information, apply to 
SAMUEL CABOT, 
70 Kilby Street, Boston, Mass. 
Mention Rubai. Nkw-Yorkkr. 
butter in 1 uavs. 
HIGH CLASS JERSEY CAT¬ 
TLE- AH registered In American 
Jersey Cattle Club. Bulls now In 
service are STOKE POGISSth, 59ST, 
sire of 8 young cows, testing from 
14 lbs. 11^ ozs. to 22 lbs. 12 ozs. of 
_ Full and only living brother of 
Stoke Fogls Sd, now d< ad, sire of 27 cows averaging 
over 20 lbs. of butter apiece per week. IDA’S RIOTER 
OF ST L., 18656, Inbred sou of Ida of St. Lambert; 
oflicl il butter test .80 lbs, 2 ^ ozs In 7 days. No bull 
calf sold for less than $'U0, nor heifer for less than 
«20U. 
Also Pure Bred ANGORA GOATS and Children’s 
Ponies. State what you want. No general catalogue. 
Trotting Horse catalogue sent on application. Ten 
Sons of the great Electioneer. Mention this paper. 
MILLER dk SIBLEY. Franklin, Venango Co., Pa. 
