of Illinois goes to Washington to prevent the tariff reduction on jute
bagging proposed by the Mills bill, and pleads manfully for the poor
American workingman, though his own bagging mill has been idle for three
years, while he draws a dividend from the pool for "limiting
production," greater than he could realize by running his works. It doth
not yet appear that his idle workmen have shared in the profits he
derives from their idleness.

Sloan and Company stop as many coal-mines as is necessary to prevent the
output from exceeding the limit agreed upon at the "annual meeting" of
the combination. So with the coke-ovens.

The Joliet Steel Mills suspended "indefinitely" upon the publication of
Cleveland's message to Congress, because "we can just as well as not,
and we wish to impress upon our workmen the necessity of maintaining the
tariff." Very timid is capital, and very shy when it uses its power to
starve a thousand men into voting for its interest and against their
own!

That very much of this idleness is caused by these attempts on the part
of protected industries to limit the production of commodities at home,
is probably true. That voluntary immigration into a country already
cursed with a large idle population is the cause of much of it is
probably also true; but not to so great an extent as the imported
contract foreign labor. Voluntary immigrants usually come intending to
go far west and take up land. They come with intelligent purposes, and
intelligently carry them out. The imported laborers are of a very
different type.

A Pennsylvania newspaper states: "There were six hundred and forty
Bulgarians just from Europe, by way of Castle Garden, marched to the
mouth of a coal-shaft at Johnstown yesterday and halted at the entrance
like soldiers. On the opposite side of a close board fence six hundred
and forty of the old miners marched out and were discharged. The new
men, great, burly, blank-faced fellows, then marched into the dark hole
and took up the task laid down by the malcontents. We doubt if one of
the 'new arrivals' knew a word of English, or how much they were to
receive for their labor. What grand opportunities these animals will
have to study the beauties of our institutions!"

There is in New York a company, with a capital of $50,000, chartered by
the State to furnish Italian and Hungarian laborers, in defiance of the
laws of Congress. That a committee has been appointed to "investigate"
this