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xor It generally is agreed upen by close tn lisa Is of political economy, and so taafht by all tbe great writers on tba subject, that the interests of employers o( labor and of tbe toilers who work for them run in parallel lines, even if not identical, if the employer doea not prosper be cannot afford t.. hire a large number of workers and cannot pay them food wages. And employers as a class compete with each other fully as much and as sharply as tbe toilers can do, so that while they ma; have to pinch on wages in dull times they are vitally Interested in having able, energetic men men to work for them when such will yield them a profit and the employe whose services are worth having is wanted at good wages. An understanding of his business, and po-se sion of th capital an . other fa-ili ties necessary to conduct it, ia of no use to the employer unless he can find a paying market for the products of his shop or factory. He cannot afford to operate his works at a loss, paying out more money than be takes in, and hard- ly dares to keep on buying raw mater- ial and saying for labor unless he has a reasonable prospect of selling hi- goods at a profit. Hence, anything that tends to disturb the market to the extent of lessening the demand in- jures the employer, and through him damages the wage-earners. A slacken- ing of the demand means more goods on the market than can be sold with- out loss. The persons who have them to sell compete among each other for customers, offering their wares at lower figures in order to invite purchasing. Then the manufacturer must produce at lass cost than before or cease to pro- dace at all till the demand improves. He is obliged to offer less for raw ma- terial, and labor, and transportation, and if they will not accept tbe reduc- tions he must "shut up shop" and dis- charge his men, for there is no more right or power in tbe community to compel an employer to operate at a loss than to make the workingman toil without wages. All tbe trades unions in the world, if pulling all together, could not do it. Hence the evident folly of strikes on a falling market intended to force tbe employer to pay higher wages than will allow him to realize a sufficient pro- fit to remunerate him for his time and trouble and enable him to pay interest on the use of tbe capital engaged in tbe business after having satisfied the demands of tbe tax-gat herer. insurance and repairs, the seller of raw material, and tbe wages of those who work tor him at stated wages. The statistics recently compiled by tbe ('mind States Commissioner of Labor speak volumes on this subject. They bow that the persons who engaged in strikes in that country during a series of yean* lost thereby more than twice as much as tbeir employers did. Evi- dently the cases in which they carried their point were those in which tbe em- ploying class could afford to pay tbe wages demanded, and it is fair to infer that in nearly all of them the point asked for might have been attained without resort to tbe costly experiences of a strike. In all the other instances it was simply impossible to grant tbe demand, because to nominally concede it would have involved tbe closing of the establishment and tbe discharge of j the workers through inability to sell t he products of labor at the enhanced ; cost necessary tu pay the higher wages demanded by tbe strikers. If the labor agitators who lecture the * oik Hitmen on tbe supposed " rights of j labor" against employers, and try to make them believe the employers are lieir natural enemies, to be fought and beaten at all hazards and under every possible condition, would consider these t hings they would be less mischievous j t ban they are now. They would even | benefit instead uf injuring thorn who t to them, if they would endeavor i to lead the " bands" to understand the | true relation uf the two classes. The! workers would then see it would be to! thi-ir own interest not to try to cripple' i lii'ir employers, and would comprehend i I he fact that ene of the very best ways j in which they could sustain tbe labor market would be to avoid and frown on tbe senseless agitations which tend tu unsettle confidence in the market for the products of labor. FIB IMS H 1 lUTS fHE THY LATEST FRM ALL oiru TUX CANADA. The C.P.R. station at Ottawa waa destroyed by fire. Mr. George King waa thrown out of a buggy at London and killed. Another lacdalide haa taken place in the hunter street tunnel at Hamilton. The Canadian fisheries protective ser- vice on the coast is being withdrawn for the season. Mr. W. S. Shufflebotham waa slug- ged by two soldiers at Kingston and robbed of $47. Master Fred Guest, a four-year-old boy, was killed at Hamilton in attempt- ing to jump out of a waggon. "Mr. Bert I'pper of Allanhurg rode over a 50-foot quarry bank near Thor- old and was instantly killed. A hundred deer were landed at Mus- kuka wharf, tbe fruits of recent bunt- ing expeditions in Muskoka. At Victoria. B. C.. J. G. Provost, late Registrar of the Supreme Court, was sentenced to four years for steal- "Seeing Life' In Japan. As a rule tbe young men of Japan are temperate and well behaved. They are industrious, polite and particularly deferential to tbeir elders. They have clubs and other resorts, but tea-house* are tbe usual scenes ef dissipation. When a young rake wants to sow a few wild oats be gives a dinner at a tea- bouse, provides an adequate supply of sake the native drink and his party sit around on the floor with tbeir food in bowls and upon trayi before them, shouting lumter ami luuder aa their btood becomes inflamed with the liquor. Five or MI geisha dancrs are then call- ed in to entertain them with songs and dances, and the proprietor of tbe tea house sends them home in 'rikisbas when the carousal is over. It is estimated that the war in Cuba boosting Spain one hundred and forty thousand dollars a day. The body of Miss Elizabeth Cask of Stratford was found in her apartments over a stove in an advanced state of decomposition. The steamship Vancouver crashed in- to her dock at Montreal. Fully fort v fet of tbe wharf were cut through before the vessel was stopped Tbe Grand Trunk bad 975.000 knock- ed off its assessment at Hamilton. The Gas Company's assessment was con- firmed. Mr. Justice Gwynne will retire from the bench of the Supreme Court He ia to be appointed Chairman of tbe commission tu revise the statutes. A consignment of tbe new rifles for the Canadian militia have arrived. There are a thousand Lee-Metford rifles and three hundred carbines. Five steamships have gone on the rocks this season in the Lower <t Lawrence tbe Dracona. the Marinoaa. tbe Mexico, tbe Brazilian, and the Can- adia. .A smuggling schooner with thirty- eight casks of contraband whiskey on board, was seized by a party uf revenue officers on Thursday at Berthier (en baa). A- committee of Winnipeg citizens has reported a scheme of civic reform which recommends the appointment of a general superintendent of all civic affairs. Tbe October exports from England to Canada increased sixteen par cent., and the imports from Canada decrees ed four par cent., as compared with tbe corresponding period last year. At Port Col borne the water in tbe canal is lower than it has been for thirty-five years. The depth of water on tbe lock sill of tbe Wetland canal is 11 feet 11 inches, whereas it should be 14 feet. Rev. W. B. Hinaon. pastor of tbe Olivet Baptist Chnrch. Montreal, ha* be*n called to Mncton. N.B.. to suc- ceed Rev. W W Weeks, who is coui- intr to tbe Walnier Road Church, Tor- onto. The Dominion Privy Council have decided to give the contract for a winter service between St. John and I.iverpt>ol to the Beaver Line, granting a subsidy of twenty-five thousand dollar* for ten round trips. Excitement in Lowe Township is high over the efforts of tbe Qul>ec Provin- cial police to collect overdue taxes. A number of threats have Iwen indulged in. a few acts of violence commit t*tl and a general fight between the police, and the mob is loi>kd forward to to- day. At a meeting of tbe Hoard of Arts and Manufactures, held in Quebec, Mr. J C. \\ 'ibion. one of the speakers, of- fered tu contribute five thusand dol- lars towards tbe construct urn of an in- stitution in Montreal, in which younp men might obtain a practical technical education of the highest and liest qual- ity, pruvi Ic.l tbe Government and muni- cipality each gave a like sum Col. Holmes. D.A.G.. is now holding an investigation into charges made by the men uf the Ninetieth I tat t alum of Winnipeg, that tbe regimental fund has been mismanaged and misappropriati'd. This year the men demanded t heir money before signing the pay roll, while in former years tbe moneys granted by the Dominion Government for drill nave been turned into the regimental fund. GREAT BRITAIN Mr. Gladstone is preparing a series of articles for The Sort b American Re- view on "The Future Slat* and tbe Cimilifion of Man in It." The Irish Parliamentary party has decided to summon a convention of re- presentatives of tbe Irisb people throughout tbe world. Fire-damp caused an explosion at the Winning cnlliery. near Algreton. in IV-rv*|i'i- - liners are reported to have been killed. Tbe CUM titii'ii of Georire A. Sala, the dist mituisbed Ix'ndun journalist, ia re- ported to be much worse. His death is a matter of a short time The London City corporation broke a long-standing rule in refusing to para a vote of thanks to tbe retiring I <>rd Mayor, Sir Joseph Renals. For tbe Grand Aggregate Competi- tion at the meeting of the National Rifle Association nt Bialey next year. it hae been decided that the Martini- Henry rifle ia to be used. The Canadian schooner Kri* Belle, owned by Toronto capitalists, was libel- led yesterday in Buffalo for six hundred dollars, which amount is said to be due to the crew for tbeir season's work. Prince Christian Victor of Schleswur- Mi 'l>ii-in. grandson of the QIMWII, is to accompany the British expeditionary force which ia shortly to start for Coomaasie, tbe capital of Ashanti. Tbe British agriculturists are taking advantage of tbe arrival of sheep af- : with scab from tbe United States, Montreal, to urge upon the Imperial > unit-lit the desirability of exclud- ing all imported sheep. I MTED STATES. New York coach drivers are on strike. All tbe Chicago morning papers are now issued on week days at one cent each. Tbe American battleship Texas waa liadly damaged in tbe Brooklyn navy yard. i e rday afternoon a twin^Ua. car ! frerm New York on a trip to Chicago. a year's meet of the American Association will be held at - . i iii'lsione Island, in tbe .St. Lawrence. I nited Slates Secretary Morton will recommend that no shipment of Can- adian cattle by way of Boston be al- lowed. It is stated one of the largest bank- ing institutions of Cana<la will open an I office in Detroit on or about tbe 1st of I February. The Duke and Ducheas of Marlbor- ough will sail from New York for Ijenoa to-day on tbe North German Lloyd steamer Fulda. I'liionsi rat ion was held in Chicago on Sunday in memory of thn Anarchists who were hanged eight years ago. Wreaths were placed on their graves. It is probable that I'niled Slates ' .Secretary Carlisle may be appointed to the Supreme Court bench, and that bis I pruhabla successor will l Mr. Chaa. 8. I Fairehild. of New York. A report comes from Sanduaky, Ohio, ' that two American boats, while fishing in Canadian waters, were captured by the Canadian cruiser Petrel, which also confiscated more than two miles of seine nets. Among tbe passengers who left San Francisco yesterday for Samoa on the steamer Maripcsa was Mrs. Robert Lcuis Stevenson, who returns to live permanently at her old home at Va- lima. The Bank of Montreal in New York haa received from Kuotenay. B.C.. the second largest block of gold that haa ever passed through the New York as- say office. It weighs 2,495 ounces, aiid is valued at 941.897. Edward Wemple. of Amsterdam. N.Y.. ex-Senator, ex-Congressman, and ex- State Comptroller waa arrested the other day on a charge of incendiarism. It is claimed that his mind has been un- balanced since he took the gold cure. Mr Langlands. manager of tbe Na- tional Line Sieanutlup Co. informs tbe London correopondent of the I'niled A MOST PECULIAR KIM MOST EXTRAORD. MART POTENTATE IN TUB WO.tLD. Tr !( of t.liolrr WHS: Wham (k* rn i.h Am ! i. War WeaM Hm tmr trvwe. ..! Press that tbe qu<wiion uf the absorp- tion of tbe National Line by tbe Wil- son & Hill Line is entirely off. and both companies will continue business as they have been doing. Mrs. Mary E. Baxter, widow of Gen. H. Baxter, is dead at Rutland. Vt.. aa tbe result of a surgical operation. Mrs. Baxter founded the H H. Baxter Me- morial Library in that city at a cost of over I1UO.OOU. It is considered the best library of reference in New England. Her wealth is estimated at 95.000.000. Bishop Doan. at tbe Episcopal dioces- an conference at Albany. N.V., address ed the clergy upon tbe excise question He said that he waa convinced that it was a mistake for tbe State to exercise any special control over tbe sale of liq- uor. He argued that if tbe State would let i he whole matter alone, it would adjust itself according to the ssnse and sentiment of the community. Reports from the two leading com- mercial agencies of New York show lit- tle or no change of consequence in tbe general condition of trade. Unseason- ably mild weather is having an adverse influence, enpecially in some of the \\ e t-rn . it en of t he State -.an I through m >re activity and a better demand IM reported m several leading products, this is to some extent offset by a gen- erally lower range of prices. There has been a disuoci falling off in the de- { maud for iron and steel, and a severe reaction in prices. On tbe other band. a decided improvement has occurred in tbe trade in woollen goods, with in- creased orders, and advancing prices. There is also a contmueil improvement in bank clearings, and the grow earn- ings of several importanl railroads. Dry goods are generally in better re- quest. GENERAL. France and Italy are sending war- shins to the Levant. The Czarina of Russia has given birth to a daughter. The British squadron in Chinese wat- ers is to be materially strengthened. Floods have done great damage in arts of France. The River Muselle rose nine feet. Three French ironclads ran aground in tbe Mediterranean, but one of them ihe Formidable, was floated. It is estimated that the war in Cuba is casting Spain one hundred and forty thousand dollars a day. A severe earthquake shock has been experienced at Kaluna. in Greece, and the inhabitants are panic-si ricken. It is reported that the Armenians in some districts are assuming tbe aggres- sive, and are pillaging and murdering the MuMulmans. Tbe R'latian Government intends to coin next year one hundred million rou- Lles in gold, and twenty-five million roubles in silver. Tbe English mission near Jerusalem was attacked by a mob. Tbe mission- aries escaped, but some of tbe ser- vants were killed. Advices from Zeitoun, Asia Minor. say that the Turkish garrison at that place has been compelled to surrender to the Armenians. A steam launch belonging to tbe Bri- ish cruiser Kdgar was lost in Japanese waters, and forty-eight men, who were on board, were drowned. Herr Liebknecht. tbe Socialist leader and editor, of Hrewlau. has been sent- enced to four months' imprisonment, after having been convicted for let* majeate. A despatch from Shanghai says that China has agreed that Germany shall occupy one of the island* near the en- trance to tbe seaport of Amov, for tbe purpose of establishing a naval yard and a coal depot. A despatch from Vladivoslock says that owing to the prmence of the Bri- tish fleet at Foo-Cbow. the Viceroy has executed eight Chinese under sus- picion of complicity in missionary mur- ders. Mustapha FehniT Pasha baa been ap- pointed Prime Minister of Egypt, to succeed Nubar Pasha, who resigned on account of ilk-health. He will continue a policy looking towards amity with England. The proposed line of steamers be- tween Vancouver and New Zealand ban been offered by tbe New Zealand Gov- i-iTitnent a subsidy of thirty thousand |x>undB a year if the terminal point is in New Zealand, twenty thousand pounds if it ia in Australia. King Prempeb, King of Ashantee. and the most extraordinary ruling potentate of the world, him defied the English Government. lie haa announced bia readiness for war, and ia now awaiting the arrival of the British troope. The { King of Aahantee ia the absolute mon- arch of aiuul three million subject*. They live in the heart of the African foreat. a few hundred miLea l>ack from the Gold Coaat. The king wears a girdle of dry gratia around his hips and a ' plug ' hat. He owua no orown. but in some way has become possessed of a ilk hat. which now does duty aa an emblem of sovereignly. He wears ear- rings. They are of solid gold. He also haa other personal adornments of solid gold. Hit royal ancestors ail wore gold earrings, too. His Majesty lives in a big stone and native brick palace the only structure of the kind in the kingdom. His Royal Highness sleeps on the floor. The king is several tunes a millionaire, and it ia believed that be haa several barrels of gold dual and nuggets. Aahantee is rich in gold. King Prempeh iaa blood- thirsty monarch and be ia in the habit of making human sacrificea on a whole- sale scale. Whenever it pleases him to do so be orders a few hundred sub- jesu to be beheaded. Besides tbia, during certain religious ceremonies, it is customary to kill subjects. It ia tbia practice which England wants the king to stop. And it ia to put an end to these human sacrifice* that the Brit- ish troope will wade into the forest and make war on the king. It us just twenty-one years since the British Government appropriated $4.- OOO.OUO to send out an expedition to bring the King of Aahantee to terms. and before the expedition got back. AFTER BURNING COOMASSIE. his capital, it had cost aa much more. The English troops under Sir Garnet Wolaeley remained only two daya in the capital uf Aahantee. Before they left the savage potentate agreed to do certain things. That waa King Koffea. His suooaaaor, the present king of Aabantee. King I'rempeh. has not ful- filled then conditions. There ia probably not another African monarch who can cause the British iiuwni mi much trouble and ex- pense aa the King of Ashantee. He is a very powerful potentate. His people are all born fighters, who would rather fight than eat. The one thing which has always excited the horror and amajernent of travellers who have pene- trated into this African town, lying a hundred ami forty miles back from the i:..l,| CVxaxt. u the Grove of Skulls. where, in <*>unlless numliers the bones of the victims of the king lie u|H>n the ground with the festering remains uf those who have recsntly been deepau-h- ed. Thi spot, where executions have taken place from tune immemorial, is in a small grove hack of the large mar- ket place at Coomaaaie. The victims are brought to this place with tbeir bands securely tied and they are made dumb by two knives thrust oroaswiae through the cheek*. The poor wretches are for a time tortured by being pinch- ed, pricked with swords and fired upun at short range with blank cartriiljces. The powder from t heae oartridgea en- ters the flesh, causing KXCHI ( 'I MING AGONY. Then the executumer*, who are fan- tastically dressed, seise their huge swords and. flouri/* h.nx them in the air. lop off the beads uf the victims, one after another. Then they retire from the scene drenched with bluod from head to foot and leaving the bodies lying where they fall. As soon aa the executioners retire the vultures swoop down from the trees above and the ground is soon black with them. At night the panthers come and slink away satiated before ilewn. The King of Ashantee is opposed to progress, which be defies. He dis- likes roads in hU kingdom. When the British under Sir Garnet Wolse- ley went to Coomaasie they had to cut tbeir way through the forest, leaving a fine road behind them. The Kin* ( Wmntew agreed to keep this road in good repair. But instead of keep- ing it o|ieii, he let the weeds grow up. Thu-< the British ui the oniintr war will nave to (jo all over the work attain. for. so quick ia vegetation in that pan of Africa that not even a trace of t he iiiK'mal route remains. The recent Urii ish Commission to Coomamiv had to find its way to the capital through a dense forest. It ia in thi* forest that the British forces will he attacked liy the warriors of the King uf A.shan- tee. who are natural bush fighters, armed with the beat of MODERN RIFLES. The Ahantee8 are far from being sav- ages. ignorant of modern warfare, and their religion nialuvs them brave to the point of recklessness. The King of Ashantee ia the only monarch woo sits on a throne of solid gold. This throne is officially termed a " stool." The royal stool is so heavy that it takes several men to carry it. When the King of Asbantee walks abroad to view the things that are go- ing on in his capital he is followed oy servants from the palace bearing the golden stool, in case he should decide to sit down to consider weighty affairs of state. But even more curious than this is the umbrella of state. .Sir Garnet Wulselev captured the umbrella of state of the King of Aabantee whan be waa in Coomaaaie in 1874, but it was return- ed to the beaten monarch before the invaders left The umbrella of state, which keeps the sun and rain off the bead of the King of Aahantee, is a svmlxil of his authority. It ia a sort. of African sceptre, being an outward and visible sign of the power which haa descended to him " by divine right." A king of A * banter woulil aa soon think of ruling without an umbrella aa a king of England would think of ruling with- out a crown. It ia as neneesarr a part of the regalia aa in a " sword of state " to a European sovereign and far more useful. The umbrella of state of the King of Adbanlee haa a sort at fringe of GRINNING SCt'LLS. which serve as playful reminders to his auditors of the uau to which tbeir own headpieces may be put. The rest of the umbrella of state ia made up of gold, red cloth and liamboo. The posit ien uf I'murella Carrier to His Majesty is one of importance in the government, and is eagerly sought for by feudatory chiefs. There is. however, some danger connected with it, for. ui case the umbrella ia not opened quick enough to keep rain or shine off the royal bend, the bolder of the office ia likely to get into trouble. In place of a crown the King of Asb- antec wears an old silk hat. Just aj Napoleon issued an order that no one in France but himself could wear the plain cbapeau, without which on pic- ture of the Emperor is complete, so Koffee ordered that nobody but himself in Aabantee could wear a silk bat. This law haa been maintained by hi* sucoeasor, the present king, who is re- ported to be even more jealous than waa Koffee of the royal prerogative. A West Coast trader who recently re- turned to the Cape from Coomaanie, said: "The King of Aahantee is attached to an old plug hat which somebody gave him. Seated on the golden stool under the umbrella of state, be pre- sents a funny spectacle, weariag this ancient piece of headgear. In war. however, be wears a special head-drees. The negroes of his ipiigitim regard the silk hat with awe. Any commissioner whom tbe British Government may send out there should be equipped with a silk hat. Otherwise be would not be ' in it ' with the king in public regard. Tbe neighboring King of Dahomey to wear an old hat of this kind." MORE BRITISH SHIPS. alUkarr ear* '* 'UcrraaeaB Hm i 111 be MreaciaieMaL The Lord Mayor's banquet at the Guildhall ia an event of public im- portance in England because on that occasion Ministers are supposed, more or less, to show forth their policy and their designs fur the future. "More or less" may be said advised- ly it is generally "less" that tbe puimc gets. Hveu the civic glories of a Lord Mayor's banquet do not as a rule draw her Majesty's Ministers into a talkative and confiding mood. Both Disraeli and Gladstone were wont on such Tr"ai>inm to ahow how pleasant- ly they, could talk without saying any- thing particular, and, on the whole. Lord Salisbury follows in tbeir foot- step*. The gravatuen of his discourse appears to be that Britain needs more ships, an d it may be gathered from bis remarks, and from contemporary happenings, that the Mediterranean fleet is to be strengthened. Events both in Turkey and the far East jus- tify this attitude, and there is appar- ently a further effort tu be made to support it by wise additions to Brit- ain's already immense navy. I'nder these circumstances it would seem to be very deairaule that the shipyard striken which are serious, should be arranged as speedily aa possible. Tbe ifnuig uut of all tbe engineers ma- c.hiuutu or engine-fitters aa we should call them here at one of tbe GHK.V I SHlr- CKNTRES out of sympathy with tbe locked-out men. should have a large uioal effect. IMCSUST tbe order of Amalgamated En- gineers to w hicb t hey belong is one uf the must judicious and moderate of tbe trades unions and baa a highly astiafae- tory record for ita general action in toe past with regard tu dispute*. But not only will ships be wanted, but men. Tbe necessity for special training and for special efforts to induce men tu un- dergo it i evident upon a comparison between tbe gun* even of thirty or forty yean ago and those of the pre- sent day. Tbe cannon with which tbe greatest victurius of tbe British navy were won were twelve, sixteen, and twenty-four pounders. In the Russian war fifty-six pounders and a few six- ty-eight 'pounders were used. But now ships carry J.IIOU pounder guns and more, an d the handling and manage- ment of these splendid engines uf de- nt ruction cannot b elefl to untrained hands. It is true that un tbe occasion of the breaking uut uf the R unman war in 1855 the fleet was manned for tbe first time in the history of the country without recourse to the press gang. But at tbe present time not not only does it seem necessary that the Kntisb authorities Hhould make spe- cial efforts to increase tbe persunnal of the navy, but that they should make it as much an object as tbe pro viding of more ships. TROLLEY ACCIDENT AT TORONTO. v. a>r sfeaw, CUM Krih*<ii.i Wlul*rv .!! . !!. Marl. A despatch from Toronto, says: Rev. John Shaw. D.D.. assistant secretary of tbe Methodist Missionary Society, was the victim of a trolley accident at Rich- mond and Y uoge streets, at about 6 o'clock on Friday night. He waa rid- ing hie bicycle across the car tracks and did not see a car coming from tbe north. Being somewhat deal, Mr.Shaw did not hear the warning of tbe bell, and the car knticked him down. He waa picked up on t he guard and car- ried about 90 yards. The fall had ren- dered him insensible, and the i>lice ambulance conveyed him to tbe resi- dence of bis sou-in-law, Mr. Alexander Mills. 41H Ontario street. Drs. Doo- litile and Boultbe dressed the injur- ies, which consisted of a iad scalp wound and a slight concussion. He Didn't Go There. Fond Mother Dear me, what's tbe matter now 1 Married Daughter Boo-boo husband haa deceived me Fond Mother The brute ! How do you know T Married Daughter Hl>oo boo- bs said the was was going to the church lair last night, anil and he didn't. He went somewhere else. Mother Who told you be went some- where else ' Daughter No one. This morning I found some some money in bis pocket* boo- boo- boo !