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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (March 31, 1900)
'r THE MORNING- OREGONIAN, SATURDAT, MARCH SI, 1900. . If tntcred at the Poetoffloe at Portland, Oregea, fij second-claw matter. TELEPHONES. Editorial Rooms.. ..ICC I Business Office.. ..G67 REVISED SUBSCRIPTION HATES. 3y Mall (postage prepaid); la Advance Bally, with Sunday, per month. ........ ...fO 85 Dally, Sundey excepted, per year-. ......... 7 CO Dally, frith Sunday, per year 8 00 Sunday, per year 2 00 The Weekly, per year ....... . 1 SO The Weekly. 3 months... .v. ...... 60 To City Subscribers Dally, per week, delivered. Sundays exeepted.lBo Dally, per week, delivered. Sundays lncluded.20o The Oregcnlan does not buy poems or stories from individuals, and cannot undertake to re turn any manuscripts sent to It without solicita tion. No stamps should be inclosed tor this purpose. Puget Sound Bureau Captain Al Thompson, office at 1111 Pacific avenue, Taconaa. Box 853, Tacoma postofflce. Eastern Business Office The Tribune build ing. New Tork city; "The Rookery." Chicago; the S. C Beckwlth special agency. New Tork. For sale In Ean Francisco by J. K. Cooper. 746 Market street, near the Palace hotel, and at Goldsmith Bros., 230 Cutter street. For sale In Chicago by the P. O. ew Co.. 217 Dearborn street. TODAY'S WEATHER. Showers;, cooler; east to njrth winds. k'ORTZ.AXD, SATURDAY, MARCH 31. "OR THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION The Republican State Convention of Oregon will not be held till after the time appointed for the vote In the Sen ate on the Puerto Rico bill. If the toonvention came earlier it would un doubtedly pass a resolution expressing Opposition to the bill. After the bill passes the Senate it will go to the House for concurrence; but this no doubt will be had immediately. Even then, to clear the party in Oregon of this blunder, it would be well for the tState Convention to express disap proval of the measure, through an em vphatic resolution. This Puerto Rican measure is felt by our whole people to be not only errone ous as a matter of commercial policy, hut full of injustice to Puerto Rico; and, moreover, since it is Intended as a precedent for the Philippine Islands, it especially conflicts with the interests and wishes of our Pacific States, with their expectations of commerce and .with the welfare of the Philippines. A few days ago the House of Repre sentatives of the Legislature of Iowa, a. state where the Republicans have overu helming ascendency, adopted a resolution which declares that "the peo ple f Iowa are unalterably opposed to the establishment of any tariff duties between the United States and'any ter ritory acquired as a result of the Spanish-American war," where the people have "accepted the sovereignty of the United States without resistance." This was intended specially for Puerto Rico, fcr the exception would exclude thore parts of the Philippines which ae making resistance to the United States; but, of course, upon suppression of the Insurrection and submission of the people there, the same rule would apply. The State Republican Convention of Oregon should call for free commercial intercourse with the Philippine Islands, to be had just as soon as the military conditions will allow it. The Repub lican party in the Pacific States will suffer, if it do not put Itself right on this mest important question. The ac ti n of Congress in the case of Puerto Rico is a deplorable error. It goes aiainst the country's sense of Justice as to what is due to the people of Puerto Rico, who welcomed the flag and j jyfully accepted the sovereignty of the United States; and It will stand as an economic error, to obstruct the legiti mate results of National expansion, in all places where the flag of Spain has recently been superseded by that of the United States. REFOR3I, TRUE AND FAISE. The experience of thirteen years has proved that the interstate commerce law is not stringent enough to correct abuses that are constantly arising in transcontinental transportation. An incident that Illustrates -the weakness of the law is the change made last January in freight classifications by hich rates were advanced from 5 to 45 per cent on several hundred articles of general merchandise. Senate bill 1439, which has the approval of the Inter state Commerce Commission and the indorsement of a number of Eastern trade organizations, proposes to strengthen the law by prohibiting rail roads from charging more for a short haul than for a long haul, requiring publication of tariffs by carriers, and forbidding any change in them on less than sixty days' notice, and empower ing the commission to establish and maintain a classification of freight which shall be uniform throughout the United States. In resolutions approving these pro posed amendments, the directors of the Chicago Board of Trade declared that "no combination of capital, whether in the hands of individuals, firms or cor porations, Is dangerous to the public welfare unless the parties controlling such capital are given an undue advan tage, by means of railroad rates or spe cial transportation facilities which are denied to their competitors and the general public." This ls a sweeping justification of trusts that public sen timent will not follow, but it contains a grain of truth. It ls the concessions granted by railroads freight discrim inations is the proper name for them that enable large Eastern manufactur ers and jobbers to Invade Pacific Coast territory and undersell our home man ufacturers and jobbers, if not destroy their trade. There are many lines in which Chicago, St Louis and other Middle "West cities could not, but for these discriminations, compete with Portland, Seattle and San Francisco west of the Rocky Mountains. It is the unfairness of the transcontinental rail roads that gives Middle "West dealers entry into this territory, reduces the profits of our owji dealers, and makes extensive manufacturing development Elow, if not impossible. The effect of rate discriminations in the building up and perpetuating of trusts and monopolies was explained by Charles A. Prouty, a member of the Interstate Commerce Commission, In testimony recently given before the Industrial Commission. He declared that freight discriminations are the most potent factor In the establishment and continuance of great combinations of capital at the present time. "It may be doubted," he said, "If a single one of those monopolies which have fas-- tened themselves upon the country m recent years could have done so in the face of absolute equality of the freight rate. I do not now speak of the epi demic of combination which has swept over the business world in the last eighteen months, but of those so called trusts in the essentials of life. Strip these great combinations of all participation In and dominion over the freight rate, and you take from them the most Important advantage which they possess." Along with this must be kept in mind the extremely narrow margin upon which business is now transacted. If one miller can deliver his flour at 2 cents per hundred pounds cheaper than a competing miller, he grinds at a profit while his competitor does business for nothing. A conces sion of 10 cents per ton in the freight rate on coal determines absolutely who shall and who shall not handle the product of a particular mine or a par ticular locality. This Is true of other commodities. Readjustment of transcontinental freights so as to stop discriminations would go a long way towards ending disastrous Eastern competition in this section. But the Pacific Coast cities should see to It that the Interstate Commerce Commission is not vested with power to establish graded rates or do away with carload differentials, which would be more harmful under existing conditions than Eastern com "WHY THE PEOPLE ARE AROUSED. Advocates of tariff taxation on Puerto Rican products coming Into the'Unlted States and on American products go ing into Puerto Rico offer no adequate excuse for their course. It is held out In a general way that this action ls Im perative on the ground of party policy; but this is no excuse in a matter of so great moral significance. It Is said to be thought that the people will in due time come around to protection again; but of this there Is no evidence, for popular indignation seems rather on the increase than otherwise, so that Repub lican members of Congress are becom ing restive and bitter under the In creasing pressure, and those, who have taken pains to inform themselves as to the state of public sentiment are learn ing that when it comes to an issue be tween the Protected Interests and fair treatment of the dependencies, there will be very little patience with these giant corporations which still seek to pose as helpless Infant industries. Some have the temerity to claim for themselves a desire to "help" Puerto Rico, which need deceive no one, for if that were their sincere purpose there would be no need of all the circumlo cution of tariffs and donations, when free trade will solve the problem at once. It ls a pleasure to turn from these wily subterfuges of politicians to a plain presentation of the simple facts regarding Puerto Rico's needs In an economic sense, and our National duty toward her. Before the politicians got their "hands on the unhappy little island, our United States Consul In Puerto Rico, Mr. Philip C. Hanna, made a report to the Government, which sets out in unpretentious but eloquent lan guage the true condition of affairs. His straightforward utterances give a stinging rebuke to the hypocritical course of the majority in Congress. "I am thoroughly convinced," writes Mr. Hanna, "that the tariff question is the all-important question in this group of islands. Puerto Rico can never become prosperous until she can buy bread for her people without paying enormous revenue duties ror tne privilege ol bringing that bread into the Island. It seems reasonable to me as an Ameri can that the people of this newly adopted country should be. allowed to purchase the products of the United States and land them on their own shores without paying tribute to any government whatever. I believe the inland should have ahHolntc free trnde with all parts of. the United States." Mr. Hanna points out that a great deal may depend on our treatment of the Puerto Ricans. They have hailed us as their deliverers. They look upon the title of American citizen as the proudest title in the world. They want to be one of us. Shall we receive them In a spirit worthy of this faith in us, or shall we rebuff them with cruel In justice? Such faults as they have, he says, can be and will be corrected if they are treated justlyand generously. Instead of being robbed, corrupted and otherwise maltreated, as they have been under the administration of Spain. They are not, he pleads, a bad people. "Remove from them the terrible temp tation produced by enforced hunger and nakedness; give to these people an opportunity to earn an honest living; teach them that toll is honorable; build for them factories Instead of forts; teach them to handle tools instead of bayonets, and we shall produce upon them a moral effect which the Span iards failed to produce, and make ol them a people'whom we shall not be ashamed to recognize as fellow-cltlzens of our grand Republic." If members of Congress are really In doubt as to the source of the universal condemnation of their course in this matter, and are really desirous of find ing out that source, they can find It in Consul Hanna's report. "In other words," he says, "free trade between the United States and Puerto Rico In a moral question. It is practical Tcllfrlon, and our people can never supply the nilsHlne link in the moral education and rellfrlous training of this people, without Riving- them an opportunity to earn a. living:, and without treating them as we treat other Americans. I see no more justice In compelling Puerto Ricans to pay for the privilege of landing American bread on Puerto Rican shores than I do in compelling the people of Massachu setts to pay for bringing Iowa wheat or Iowa pork Into the State of Massachu setts. The only difference ls that the people of Massachusetts are more capa ble of paying such duties at the pres ent time than are the poor people of Puerto Rico. Our 80,000,000 of people have complained of the unjust burdens placed by Spain upon her subjects In these islands during all the years of the past, and now it is the opportunity of our people to prove that Americans are better than Spaniards." There is the kernel of It. Justice to Puerto Rico Is a "moral question." And If our Republican politicians are too small-souled to realize from their own consciousness what a moral question means to the American people, let them refresh their memories, with the conflict over slavery, let them remember the rebuke administered by Democrats In 1896 to the proposal that this Nation should dishonor Its financial obliga tions. Colonel Bryan asks: "What will you do with the 8,000,000 of Filipinos who are unfit to become citizens of the United States and to participate In the Government?" "Very likely they Will have to be dealt with as Colonel Bry- an's political supporters deal with the negroes In the Southern States that Is to say, denied the right of participation in the Government; or, if allowed to participate at all, only in very limited degree. Colonel Bryan, who Justifies that sort of thing in the case of eight millions of negroes in our Southern States, shouldn't worry about the prob lem in its application to the "inferior" races in the Philippine Islands. THE1 ARMY HORSE, The value of good care of cavalry and transport animals has been demon strated in the later developments of the South African War. The success of Lord Roberts Is attributable, in consid erable degree, to the excellence of the mounts In the cavalry under his com mand. The thorough work of the BrlU ish horse is the more remarkable wben the distance the animals must be transported by water and land to the-It seat of war is considered. The arrival or norses ana pacK muies in sucn con dition that they are able, after a short rest, to take the field, speaks highly for the skill and watchfulness of the veterinarians In charge of. the trans- port animals. The British system Is in sharp con trast to our own method In the late war with Spain. During the time when troops and supplies were being hur ried to the points of rendezvous In the South, thousands of horses were bought for the Army. These were massed In corrals at the several camps, where, owing in part to heat and unsanitary conditions, but principally to unskilled attendance, the death rate was high and large numbers of the remaining animals were rendered unfit for service. A Government official asserts that dur ing the month of May, 1S98, between 5000 and 10,000 horses were confined in the corrals at Tampa, Fla., with not one veterinarian to attend them; that glanders, foot-rot and other diseases became epidemic, and ran their course without even the simplest efforts to prevent the spread of disease; that the sick were not separated from the well, and nosebags and water palls were used indiscriminately; that treatment of wounds and ailments was of the crud est description imaginable. The reason for this folly and neglect is found in the fact that our Army has no organized corps of veterinarians to care for the health of the Army horse. The United States stands alone among the civilized powers In this respect. In England, France and Germany, veter inary corps of high efficiency hold as absolute control over matters pertain ing to the health of their horses as our Army surgeons hold in regard to the health of our men. Several American universities Harvard, Columbia, Penn sylvania, McGlll, and many smaller col legesare graduating men yearly from their veterinary departments, who are fitted by their education as sanitarians, scientists and doctors of veterinary medicine, to undertake this work. The Bureau of Animal Industry of the De partment of Agriculture, cqmposed en tirely of graduate veterinarians, en gaged lp scientific Investigation of ani mal diseases and exercising control over the livestock interests of the country, has demonstrated the value to the pub lic of placing the control of these mat ters in hands best suited by training, education and experience to carry on the work. Veterinarians employed In the Army at the present time are hired as civil ians. They have no authority that the stable hand is bound to respect. An officer, of whatever grade, can counter mand the instructions of the veterinary surgeon. He is considered the inferior socially to all officers. He must salute all officers with the salute of a pri vate. He ls poorly paid, receiving no more than an ordinary clerk. Under these conditions, the Government can not expect men of high attainments to enter the service. The need of early organization of a corps of veterinarians on lines in accordance with their standing as professional men, with offi cial rank and authority to enforce their orders In the treatment of disease among Army animals under tneii charge, Is manifest. In recognition of this need of the United States Army, and with an In stinct of economy. Senator Kenny has proposed an amendment to the Army appropriation bill, which provides for the establishment of a veterinary corps in the Army. Many of the higher offi cers of the Army, Including General Miles, have expressed the opinion that prompt establishment of such a corps Is desirable almost to the point of ne cessity. The corps would mean no ad ditional cost to the Government, but the present method of incompetent and unorganized civilian service would be replaced by an organized service, whose competency would be secured by proper examinations. At present the sound ness of horses bought for the Govern ment, their shoeing, the quality of their forage, their care and hygiene in cor rals and transports, are left to the chance personal Interest of the, officer In charge of them. Under the new measure the animals would have the attention of trained men, who are to be held responsible for them. The Army has several millions of dollars invested in animals, and on their care and con dition rests very largely the efficiency of the field artillery, the cavalry, the transportation of the Quartermaster's Department, and the safety and suc cess of our soldiers. The fact is patent that Army animals should be In charge of veterinary surgeons of authority and responsibility. LOUD ROBERTS' ADVANCE. Lord Roberts ls doubtless on the eve of another Important forward move ment with his whole army. The with drawal of General Methuen from War renton ls significant indication that his presence at that point had no more serious purpose than to distract the at tention of the Boers. The fact that Lord Roberts has never sent any large, well-appointed force to the relief of Mafeklng indicates that he expects to relieve Mafeklng effectively through his forward movement. The late boasting of President Kru ger It is safe to consider the whistling of a boy as he passes through a grave yard. If Kruger is unbroken in mind, he knows that his army cannot resist the advance of Lord Roberts, which cannot but result In the Boers being driven to retreat not only from the Or ange Free State, but from Natal. Gen eral Butler's army, which will again become an operative force In the cam paign. Is reported to be not less than 40,000 strong, an army strong enough to force the Boer lines or turn their position in the BIggarsberg range. With 70,000 men pressing their right and center, and 40,000 assaulting their left in 27atal, the Boers cannot make long resistance, for they have not men j enough to defend this long line, They will be? compelled to let go somewhere. If they let go in Natal, General Buller can cross the Buffalo River into the Transvaal, and, thus turning the posi tion of'Laing's Nek, he could threaten both the railway leading from Natal to Pretoria and the line from Delagoa Bay to the capital. If the Boers let go Ii front of Lord Roberts and decide not to make a seri ous stand. South of the Vaal River, they will soon be driven-back to Pre toria, for Bullet's army could press the left of this new line and Lord Roberts is strong enough to turn the right of it. The Boer right once turned, their cen ter would have to be retired, Lalng's Nek would be evacuated, and the last decent line of regular defense, with Pretoria as Its strategic center, would have to be taken up. It 13 doubtful, however, if the Trans vaal Boers will fight to the last ditch. reported tnat Kruger's Influence ls wanInfff and has always been a strong feeling against the war, even among the Transvaal burghers. Presi dent Kruger is "putting up a good bluff" In his recent Interviews and proclamations, but from the standpoint of military judgment his final defeat is not far distant. Mr. Bryan Is "doing" the Pacific Northwest States. He Is making many speeches, but Is getting small attention. The reason Is that he ls not a thinker. His speech is chaff. Nothing he ls say ing or ever has said will be remem bered. His speeches will have no place in the history of our literature or statesmanship. "Who will be quoting Mr, Bryan fifty years hence, or who except the special student of our poli tics will know that he ever existed? He is contributing nothing to the sum of human knowledge. All that he says ls merely superficial, and only darkens counsel. He has ready and easy speech, but never goes to the bottom of any thing, and what he says is not for prop agation of "truth that lives to perish never," but Is uttered merely for the temporary interests or purposes of per sonal and party politics. Men of sound thought and rational purpose are not with him. He presents nothing that appeals to them. They see noth ing in him but multifarious superfi ciality. This ls the country's estimate of Mr. Bryan. So determined, it Is said, are the Boers not to submit to British rule that they will abandon their lands, and, with all of their movable possessions, trek again into native territory, seize new lands and- again set up the stand ard of liberty as they understand that term. The folly of yielding to a spirit of defiance which can only bring suffer ing, hardship and loss upon them as a people, without any distinct gain In liberty beyond the empty name, must be apparent to all practical people. The bravery and patriotism of these people have been again and again demon strated. Further trekking Is not neces sary to add to their character for hero ism, and can only militate against their common sense, and perhaps feed their Vanity and stubbornness. And, speak ing of "Invaders of their soil" and a "hated race," What relation will they bear to the land that they propose to take and the people whom they Intend to dispossess? The Island of St. Helena, which has come into prominence as a place f confinement for British prisoners of war, lies In the South Atlantic, 1200 miles from the western coast of Africa, and 800 miles from Ascension Island, the nearest land. Isolated, a lonely Island In a wide waste of waters, In Napoleon's time, It has been brought by modern marine construction and machinery In touch, practically speak ing, with the rest of the world. The earth has now. In fact, no Isolated or distant places that touch the sea. St. Helena ls Isolated only upon the maps and In the thought that goes back In sympathy to the period, of Napoleon's captivity In the second decade of the century. "While the State of New Tork ls con sidering a $60,000,000 Improvement of the Erie Canal, a private "syndicate ls said to be maturing plans for a $50, 000,000 ship canal to connect New York Harbor and Newark Bay. This canal would be 200 feet wide, 30 feet deep at low water, and 8 miles long, and would give 16 miles of additional water front to the shipping- facilities of the port. In connection with the Erie Ca nal Improvement, this. It ls predicted, wouid establish beyond successful com petition the commercial supremacy of New York on the Atlantic seaboard for all time to come. A statue of heroic size, of the navi gator Alvarez de Cabral, who was driven by a tempest upon the Brazilian coast 300 years ago, will be unveiled with Imposing ceremonies. In Bahla, on the 3d of May. While his landing upon the Undiscovered coast was In the na ture of compulsion rather than choice, the fact that the man was brave or he would not have been beating about In unknown waters in the unwieldy craft of those times entitles him to remem brance, dene In bronze. There Is, a touch In this, from the Louisville Courier-Journal, which no person who has a sense of sarcastic humor will fall to appreciate: Crokers bull pup Persimmons was violently assaulted at tb dog- show Wednesday by a blasted British bull pup called Ivll Rustic it ought to be a' race between Mason and Sulzer as 'to who shall first set a resolution of sym pathy before Congress. When has there been so weak a lot of Senators and Representatives In Con gress? Not since the days when num bers got on their knees before the Slave Power, as these now get on their kriees before the Protected Grafters. Bird Murder and Millinery. Philadelphia Telegraph. The announcement that contracts have been made in Delaware for the bodies of S0GO- birds that are to be killed for millin ery use In New York is a bad piece of news. The slaughter of the birds for this purpose ls continued, notwithstanding the protest against It for the reason of Its cruelty and on account of the material In Jury done by "the reckless removal of the roost effective agents In the destruction of insects that prey upon vegetation. The Delaware contract for this bird sacrifice, that ls to serve no other end than the profit of the milliners, and the gratifica tion of female vanity, ls ma'de to appear the more abhorrent by Its including in its ruthless and bloody stipulation such mem bers of the feathered tribe as bluebirds and meadow larks, besides other birds less charming but equally entitled to protection or their dnsectlvorous usefulness. This has grown to be an evil of seri ous character. It threatens not only to deprive us of the delight which the sing ing birds afford all right-hearted people, but'also to exterminate man's moat use- ful assistants In checking the ravage of insects upon his crops. It is time thact some other argument than appeals to the sentiment and good sense of the female enemies of the birds should bs resorted to for the correction of this evil. It looks as If It could be suppressed only oy leg islation imposing an appreciable fine for the sale of every hat ornamented with feathers of a kind that require the kill ing of birds. "THE HISTORY OP A CRIME." Orlcln of. the Perfidy Toward Faerto Rico. Chicago Record. Washington. Sereno E. Payne, of New York, chairman of the committee of ways and means, who ls nominally re sponsible for the muddle in which the Re publicans find themselves, comes from Au burn, ls 57 years old, a lawyer by trade, and has been in office almost continuously since he was graduated from the "Univer sity of Rochester and was admitted to the bar in 1866. He la now serving his eighth term in Congress. Mr. Payne smarted out all right on the Puerto Rican business. He introduced a bill to carry out the President's recom mendations for free trade, and wrote an open letter, In which he gave a series of unanswerable arguments' In favor of its passage. In this letter he declared that every obligation of the United States toward the people of Puerto Rico required free trade; that It Is not only right, but expedient; that there 1b no danger to the protected Industries of this country, and that no one could expect legislation for Puerto Rico to be used as a prece dent for the Philippines. A more con vincing statement than that written by Mr. Payne for the information of the people of his district in favor of free trade with Puerto Rico, on January 24 last, could scarcely be prepared. A few days later Mr. Oxnard, of Ne braska, met some tobacco-growers from Connecticut, and told them that they would be seriously injured financially 11 we had free trade In Puerto Rico, or words to that effect. The tobacco men were alarmed, and with Mr. Oxnard they went to explain matters to Mr. Rus sell, the Republican Representative from Connecticut, who ls a member of the com mittee on ways and means. By that time Oxnard and the tobacco men had con eluded that all tobacco-growers In the country would vote the Democratic ticket If the Payne bill for free trade with Puer to Rico were passed, and they frightened Mr. Russell Into that belief. He went with them to Senators Piatt and Hawley, of that state, to whom the story was re peated. By that time Connecticut had gone Democratic In their Imagination, had determined the next Presidential election, had defeated McKInley and elected Bryan, and the whole country was on the verge of ruin; the DIngley tariff was repealed, a free-silver law had been enacted, all the workshops of the country had been closed, the capitalists were ruined and the work- Ingmen from one end of the country to the other were starving because of cheap Malay competition. r This terrible bugbear was Immediately rushed Into the residence of Mark Hanna, who at once bowed his face to the ground and began to make vows like a Buddhist sinner. The party then agreed to meet In the room of the committee on ways and means at the Capitol, where Represonta tlves Payne. Dalzell, Hopkins, Dolllvet and other members of the committee were nearly frightened out of their wits by the calamity which hung over the Republi can party and the country. That after noon Senator Piatt wrote and Introduced a bill providing that SO per cent of the DIngley tariff rates should be Imposed upon the products of Puerto Rico. Mr Oxnard was fearful lest that was not enough to save the country. Mr. Payne. Mr. Dalzell and Mr. Russell took the bill to the "War Department, where Secretary Root remonstrated with them, and final ly induced them to cut It dowji to 25 per cent, and It was introduced that way That is the history of the most disas trous piece of legislation the Republi cans have undertaken for many a year. a A REPRESENTATIVE'S DEFENSE. The Pretenses of a. Member From Illi nois Examined. Chicago Inter Ocean, Rep. Congressman A J. Hopkins has In the Kendall County Record a letter In-tended to Justify his vote for the Oxnard tariff. This letter Is too diffuse to be reproduced In full, but main points may be consid ered briefly. Mr, Hopkins says: The people are too poor to Impose upon them the Internal re-venue and war taxes that the people of New Mexico, Arizona and this country have to pay. The value of Puerto Rico's taxable property Is from JICO.OOO.OOO to 5JSOO0OO0O. and the island has no debt. Hera is am ple basis for credit. Puerto Rico has al ways paid Its own bills, and when our rule began had $1,500,000 surplus in its treas ury. In 1S73 it emancipated 33,00) slaves at a cost of $12,000,000, all paid from Its own revenues. It had a 10 per cent prefer ential tariff, and under laws already en acted would have hod aDsolute free trade with Spain after July 1, 1S9S. had the Is land not been taken by the United States. The action of the principal planters and merchants of Puerto Rico on March 12 af fords refutation of Mr. Hopkins' statement that they cannot pay our Internal taxes. They petitioned Congress for Internal taxes instead of the Oxnard tariff. They showed that such taxes on rum, cigars and cigar ettes, with licenses and duties on Im ports from foreign countries, would pro duce a revenue of $12,452,000 a year. They pointed out that ordinary administration costs only $600,000 a year. In view of the distress In the island, they suggesteu that Congress reduce Internal taxes two-thirds and permit them to Issue $2,000,000 In ,5 per cent bonds for public Improvements. In terest and sinking fund for these bonds would be 5150,000 a year. Thus expenses would be but $750,000 a year, against ln como of one-third of $2,252,000 internal rev enue, or $750,000, plus $200,000 from customs, or a total of $550,000. But whether Con gress cut down Internal taxes or not, they preferred them to the Oxnard tariff. In objecting to the tariff, they said: "It would lay an embargo on our commerce. It would lock up our products here. We can never become financially Independent if forced to trade solely among our selve3.' Mr. Hopkins also refers to the necessity for "Immediate action," adding that "Governor General Davis says he needs $2,000,000 for the current year." "Im mediate action" has been- taken in the $2,000,000 appropriation bill already passed by the House and Senate. Besides, we havo the declaration of General Davl3, Commissioner Carroll and every other of ficial who has studied Puerto Rican con ditions on the island, that the quickest way to make the people of Puerto -Rico prosperous and self-supporting Is to give them free trade with the United States. Mr. Hopkins' constituents might well ask him to explain further what nan be come of our promises to be, not "gen erous," but Just. Where are our pledges of "equal blessings and Immunities," one flag, and one destiny, and a flag that "does not mean one thing here and an other In Puerto Rico"? Where has "our plain duty" gone? And if Mr. Hopkins cannot explain, let the people ask Mr. Oxnard. o John Rudkln. Blackwood's Magazine. The moral pathologist of the future will have much to say of the parasltea of the 19th century. A long chapter will be de voted to that well-known variety, the Gladstonlan Toady (aasentator locuples), and the cross-references to It In the Index will be place and peerage. But space will, nevertheless, bo found to do Justice to the Idiosyncrasy of the Toady of Robert Browning, and of the Toady of John Rus kln. His erudition gets the better of him: much learning hath turned his brain . . . In the middle of a discussion on some problem of political economy, he Interrupts us by a long-winded and wholly fantasti cal commentary on some plain-sailing pas sage in Shakespeare. . . Desirous of knowing the true theory of value, we are whisked off to St. Ursula, or soms other holy person of Italian nationality. Am bitious of grasping the rationale of gen uine patriotism, we are transported to Victor Carpacclo. Eager for Information as to the currency, we are fobbed off with an etymological explanation of the florin. Thirsting for instruction about our cereal supplies, we are referred to the practice of the Otomac Indians. As regards the criticism of art, Mr. Ruskln's true progenitor was no less a personage than Denis Diderot. . . . Pic tures have no charm for him unless they are antedotal, or unless they give scope for "trimmings" and fine writing. The dif ference between the two men Is the purely superficial one, that Diderot likes one kind of anecdote and "trimmings," and Mr. Ruskin likes another. Diderot writes like a good-natured, easy-going, frea-Hvlng man with high animal spirits and a bound less capacity for physical enjoyment. Mr. Ruskin Is a -sort of Puritan Procrustes. He curtails or extends the corpus vile of painting or sculpture to serve his own turn. HIa fine- passages. If tolerably numer ous, are neither long nor consecutive. Saharas of Insufferable pedantry He be tween them. Yet the basis Is worth tak ing some trouble to reach. . . . He haw enriched English prose with new cadences of extraonl'nary beauty, and that by a deft manipulation of the notes he has prduced the most strange and moving effects can scarcely be denied oy tne most bigoted devotee of the older and for com mon purposes better school of writing. He Is. par excellence, the master of tho purple patch. B Charles I as a Marty. Theodore Roosevelt In Scribner"s. Any man who has ever had anything to do with the infliction of the death pen alty, or, Indeed, with any form of pun ishment, knows that there are sentimental belnro so constituted that their sympathies are always most keenly aroused -on. behalf of the offender who pays the penalty for a deed of peculiar atrocity. The explana tion probably Is that the more conspicu ous the crime, the more their attention is arrested, and the more acute their mani festations of sympathy become. At the time when the great bulk of civilized man kind believed In the right of a king, not merely to rule, but to oppress, the action struck horror throughout Europe. Even republican Holland was stirred to condem nation, and as the king was the symbol of the state, and as custom dies hard, generations passed during which the great majority of good and loyal, but not par ticularly far-sighted or deep-thinking men, spoke with Intense sympathy of Charles, and with the most sincere horror of the regicides, especially Cromwell. This feeling was most natural then. It may be admitted to bo natural In certain Eng lishmen even at the present day. But what shall wo say of Americans who now take the same view; who erect Btalned glass windows In a. Philadelphia church to the memory of the "Royal Martyr,' or In New York, or Boston hold absurd festivals In his praise? a No Gentlemen in French Fiction. George McLean Harper In March Atlantic There ls scarcely a man In French fic tion, let alone a gentleman. Outdoor life, physical danger and prowess, the Joy ot muscular effort and victory over things, the glory of self-control, the intoxication of free movement and nature's terrible and fascinating sport all these are In finitely better and more copiously rendered by Gogol and Tolstoi, by Fielding, Scott and Stevenson, than by any Frenchman; for Dumas is unnatural, and Lotl silly. Nor, apart from the description of sexual emotions, and apart from Balzac, has French literature a master of social syn thesis to compare . with Jane Austen, Thackeray, or Trollope, or with Turgenieff. And for novels of psycnologlcal analysis, with the same exceptions, there Is no French diviner of, tho heart like Haw thorne and George Eliot; for Stendhal is dreary, and Bourget chooses to limit his fine powers to studying the outworn ,and wearisome questions of Illicit love. Balzac alone of the French novelists Is great In a world-wide, sense; but the traveler through the city of his creation needs a cicerone to save time. a a p As a "Mother Country. Philadelphia Manufacturer. The situation seems to be something llko this: .We say to Puerto Rico: "You can buy anything you want In the United f States; In fact, you must buy of us. But if you have got anything to sell, we don't want It. We have got enough stuff at hoihe. Go and peddle It out to Eng land, Germany, France or Spain." We have heard of mother countries, like France and Spain, which force their col onies to buy everything In the motherland. We never heard of any mother country whlch forced the colonies to sell all their goods outside the motherland. a No Use for Him. Washington Star. "No," said the practical politician, "we don't want him figuring In the campaign." "But he ls exceedingly well-informed." "I doubt It. He has put In all his time studying the tariff and finance and the United States Constitution. He doesn't know anything about politics." B The Poet's Great Production. Baltimore American. Visitor What is Barkem, the great poet, working so hard at? Editor He is writing the explanation of how he happened to write the poem ho will write tomorrow. e The Modern Stupfc. New York Weekly. Modern Actor I can't play in that piece. The role does not fit me. Old-Tlme Manager I thought you were an actor? Modern Actor No, only a star. - a a Climax of Bitterness. Cleveland Plain Dealer. "The rival Governors of Kentucky met In Louisville the other day." "Still bitter, eh?" 'Bitterer. Actually drank alone." i o MnRlc of a Xante. t Chicago Record. "What's that ugly, yellowish-brown thing you have on, Dorothy?" "Ugly? This ls my new khaki coat." "It is? Oh, how lovely!" a a i High Standard Attained. Philadelphia Record. Sllllcus When would you say that a man has acquired true greatness? Cynlcus When he deserves his ovn opinion of himself. a 0 a Millennial of. the Sausage. Cleveland Plain Dealer. There's dancing on the sunny meads That smile along the Hhlne. There's yodltng o'er the bubbllnff beads That crown the foaming- stein: The kellner's board Is dented By the pewter's sturdy blow For sausage was Invented x A thousand years ago. The graceful madchanp trip and trip To sound of rippling: flutes. The old men deeply Blp and sip As grav as ancient mutes; The fraus all sigh contented As wine and music flow For sausage was Invented A thousand years ago. From where the Moselle floweth fair From Blngen on the Rhine, The tender zephyrs stir the air "With burdens half dlvlneA Rich cheeses softly scented "Waft odors to and fro For sausage was invented A thousand years ago. The cervelat ls piping- hot. The brawrst smelleth fine. The wieners leap from out the pot Beside the storied Hhlne, The kumroel flask Is vented. Then here's to friend. and foe! For sausage was Invented A thousand years ago. S. NOTE AND COMMENT.' If Agalnaldo wants to April fool General Otis, ho should show a little fight: Tho advanced Spring is like the ad vanced woman; It refuses to back down. Rudyard Kipling 'would substitute sus pense In all the towns in Natal thaft have been relieved. Now Is the time for Colonel Baden Powell to make good on some of those too previous threats he made at tho Boers. Seattle's mortal terror of the plaguo la more for the people who may come ther than for the ones who are already there. You can sell a popular novel to some oft the people all of the time, and to all of the people some of the time; but not to all o the people all of the time. If the Democratic Central Committee" Isn't careful, that convention Is likely to kick over the traces and nominate a Coo stable or something today. General Sir George White, who com manded the garrison at Ladysmlth during the siege of the town, sailed for England on Wednesday. He ls still a sick man. All his staff save two have Joined General Robert's staff. Grant Duff tells of Lady William Rus sell's putting up with her harum-scarum eon's habit of keeping snakes about tha house. Did she not find It very disagree able? "Oh," very; but I like dear Odo to have home ties." Lord Russell of Klllowen (when .SI Charles Russell) was once examining a witness. The question was about tho slza of certain hoof-prints left by a horse 'n sandy soil. "How large were tho prints? asked the learned counsel. "Were they as large as my hand?" holding up his hand for the witness to see. "Oh, no," said the witness, honestly; "it was Just an ordinary hoof." Then Sir Charles had to suspend the examination while every body laughed. According to records of the Adjutant General's office, the number of deaths which have occurred In the Army In tho Philippine Islands, between June SO, 1S93, when the Army first landed In those Isl ands, to February 17, 1900. are as follows: Killed in action and died of wounds re ceived In action, 41 officers and 4S3 men, a total of 524; died of disease, 24 officers and 977 men. a total of 1001: total num ber of deaths, 65 officers and 14G0 men; grand total, 1525. A number of stories from the notebook of Bishop Walsham How have been appear ing In tho Sunday Magazine. When he first went to be rector of Whlttlngton, In . 1S51, anything leaning towards Innovation, any elaboration of the service sanctioned by custom, was sure to arouse a storm of protest. As an Instance, Bishop How re lates that "a Wellington paper, com menting severely on the supposed ritual istic practices at Welsh Hampton, spoke of the vicar as 'practicing the most un blushing celibacy.' " Queen "Victoria did a very graceful thing just before Lady Roberts sailed for the Cape. For she sent her the "Victoria Cross that had been awarded to the late Lieu tenant Roberts for his gallant attempt to save the guns at Colenso, where he re ceived the wounds to which he subse quently succumbed. The Queen accom panied the Insignia- by an autograph note, in which she said that as the young hero's death had prevented her from fastening them herself upon his breast, no hands but her own had touched It In laying it in the case In which she dispatched it to the be reaved mother. Ex-Governor Frank M. Brown, of Mary land, told some political friends In New York City the other day how sectional feeling ls dying away in the South. He said: "There still Is, and there will be for a long time to come, the man who Is 'un reconstructed' and whose spirit Is so well described In a poem that recently went the rounds of tho press. One verse was a3 follows: "'I followed olo Marse Robert fo' years er nigh about. Got wownded In live places and starved at Point Lookout: I cotched the rheumatism a-sleepln In the snow. But I killed a lot o Yankees an' I'd like to kill some mo.' "One of these 'unreconstructeds, so the story goes, saw. a wooden-legged Union veteran who had lost an arm, a nose, and an ear, begging for alms In Washington recently, and stopped to contemplate him. " 'You get them wounds flghtln' agin the South?' he asked. " 'I did,' was the answer. 1 fought all through the war.' "The Southerner drew a dollar from his pocket and put It In the hat. Said he: 'I fought all through the war on the other side, an you're the first Yankee son-of-a-gun that I ever saw carved up Just to suit my taste. - "You know theie must be some of that spirit left, and will be till all the South erners who lost everything In the war have died. But the war with Spain did a great deal to break down the lines be tween the sections. The manner In which the North tried to steal Fitzhugh Lee and General Joe Wheeler and make Yankees of them amused the Southerners, and helped the return of complete good feel ing, because it showed how frankly and fully the North was willing to accept Southern leaders and how far it had for gotten old sores." Bryan ls comln here. Things will be hummln here, All of the Popocrat push will be cut, ' Tickled at meetin' him. "Wild to be greetln' him; Powers and Rlggen and Henry and Stout, And all of that crowd will be stlrrln' about. They'll all be a-stlrrln about. Gln'ral Klllfeather. he Doesn't know whether he Ought to parade with the push on that day; Pennoyer la out of It. There Isn't no doubt of It; Davis and him will keep out of the way. But their places are filled by Judge Thomas O'Day, Are filled by Judge Thomas O'Day. He will be proud of them. All the whole crowd of them, "When at the depot ha sees them arrayed. Hears them a-cheerin him, Sees them a-steerln him Right through the Jam to the gorgeous parade, Composed ot the faithful, the still undismayed, Composed of the still undismayed. Bands will be playln then. Marshals soshayln' then. As the word ls passed. up, and the march la begutf; And Bryan will speak to them. Oily and sleek to them, "With a word here and there about sixteen ta one. And a roast of expansion before he is done Of the things that expansion has done. "When, at the dinner he Says he's a winner, he Thinks that this year he will be the whole show, And asks In a breesy way, A cool and an easy way. "What Oregon gave for him four years ago, And they tell him, he'll likely exclaim, I ,L thatsor' He'll say lr. disgust, "Is that eoV