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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (May 9, 1900)
t -r wr --&n?r ipwji 'IH5 ? THE MORNING OREGONIAN, WEDNESDAY, MAT 9, 1900. to regamast Xtred at the PostoSlce at Portland, Oregon, a econd-claM matter. y IEI4EPHONES. Editorial Rooms. .109 I Business Office-.. .667 REVISED SUBSCRIPTION KATES. Br Mall (pcetare prepaid), la Advance ,Ially, with Sunday, per month... .-.....$ 83 Dally, Sunday excepted, per year.. .... 7 SO Dally, with Sunday, per year...... ..... 9 00 Sunday, per year ................... ...... 2 00 The 'Weekly, per year ...... 1 SO Tfce "Weekly, 3 months...........- 60 To Qty Subscriber f Daily, per week, delivered. Sundays cxcepted.l5o Daily, per wek. delivered. Sundays lncluded.20a News or discussion Intended for publication In TSbe Oregonlan should be addressed invariably ""Editor The Oregonlan," not to tho name of ay Individual, Letters relating to tdverttslnE. tKibscrlptlone or to any business matter should f ke addressed simply "The Oregonlan." Tfee Cregonian does not buy poems or stories trcxa Individuals, and cannot undertake- to re tura any manuscripts sent to It without solicita tion. No stamps shoutl be Inclosed for tala -purpose. Puget Sound Bureau Captain A. Thompson. t-tofflce at 1111 Pacific avenue, Tacoma. Box 2 r STacoma postof&ce. . Eastern Busineoa OSce !., Tribune build ing. New Tork city; The Bookery." Chlcnco; tie a C. Beckwlth special agency. New Tork. For oale in San Irandaco by J. K. Cooper. JT0 Market street, near the Palace hotel, and Goldsmith Bros., 238 Sutter street. For Bale In Chicago by the P. O. News Co.. i til Dearborn street. TODAY'S WEATHER. Threatening, with irobably showers, westerly winds. POUTLAXD, WEDNESDAY, 3IAY 9. "We call attention to the exhaustive 1 valuable setting forth of trade conditions at Manila given in our Phil ippine letter on the first page of to day's issue. It makes a startling pre sentation of the outrageous and inde fensible burden the Government Is pressing down upon this Important de pendency. The commercial Interests of the whole United States should be aroused on this matter and force rec ognition and action from a complaisant .nd inattentive Administration. Every business man in Portland who has close relations with persons of political or commercial Influence in the East should send to such persons markod copies of this paper, and follow them up -with letters. The matter at stake calls for Jthe most strenuous importunity. LIBERTY AT ITS IiAST GASP. Slowly but surely the web of dismal ifate is closing In around the Boers, and are long their struggle to maintain lib erty and repel the tyrant invader must grow fainter and then die out. "Where once the lamp of liberty burned bright and clear, there will prevail the dark aiess of despotism. Justice and free dom will be crushed under the heel of the oppressor and all the William Tells and Arnold "Wmkelreids of the Boer re publics will be sold into slavery or dragged in triumph at Roberts chariot "wheels through the streets of London. It is a. calamity that calls for more ex tended portrayal. Look first upon the liberty of the Boers and then upon the tyranny of England. From time immemorial the nigh and holy institution of African slavery has been maintained by the JRqgs. For this sacred richt the noble Jrghers trekked north from Cape Col ony in lb33 and succeeding years. The tyrant sought to free their slaves and their dauntless spirits could not brook the base indignity. No one should deny them freedom to worship God in their own way; no one should cram down their throats the doctrine that Jew or Catholic had been created human be ings, that the stranger within their Sates had any civil or religious rights, that Ham had any other mission than I .to serve his brethren all his days and all his children's days to remotest time. These ideals and aspirations 3iave so far been maintained heroically j mgalnst the pressure of craven Engllsh- ! anen and Americans, anxious to inaug urate the British or American type of despotism; but the die is cast. Free- - aom must give way to the tyrant. It is not enough that liberty is to be i Eradicated from the Boer states. Brit ish despotism, urged on by that ruth- Jess tyrant and malevolent oppressor. Queen Victoria, insists on fastening upon the necks of the men of South Africa its own base form of servitude. The comparatively mild form or tyr anny in vogue in Germany, as shown In lese majeste and enforced military service; the moderate absolutism of France as exemplified In the Dreyfus case, could have been borne. The burghers were even disposed to call I -upon "William to take them under Iris loenlgn guardianship. But British tyr- -tAnny, worst of all this is the very re finement of cruelty. To begin with. there Is the English common law, the Implement of despots and the execra tion of freemen everywhere. Then there is the English system of trial by Jury, under which Jews and Catholics snay try their peers. There is the Brit ish elective franchise, under which the sacred right or freemen to keep Jews, Catholics, blacks and illegitimates from folding office or voting for members of Parliament will be ruthlessly swept away. The religious privilege of hold ing the negro as an inferior and per petual menial to the Boers will be taken from these sons of freedom and the most odious and oppressive form of equality before the law fastened upon the necks of the entire population of South. Africa. "We can hardly doubt, 4jp4iereater the immemorial of a minority to rule a majority a rod of iron will be abrogated. re are the dread possibilities hover like an Ill-omened bird of prey ir south Africa, it Is no wonder it the true lover of liberty every- ire lifts up his voice and howls. trgllsh. despotism has been long in jparatlon. The men who wrested Magna Charta from King John, the men. who stood with Cromwell In his assault on hereditary sovereignty, the men who stood with Peel for tariff reform, with Gladstone for elective franchise reforms, -with Rowland Hill for postal reforms, all had part in the creation of British tyranny as it exists today. The labors of Burke and Chat- barn, the thought of Mill and Locke, the books of Gibbon and Hume, the ieeds and appeals of Milton and Byron, lave all entered into the fabric of British despotism, British common aw, British injustice, British denial of ie rights of free speech, British pro scription of Jew and Catholic, British oppression of trade. It is because our erty-loving Democrats, who freed e slaves or the south, and 10 successfully resisted our 2Ca- anal expansion without the . con- FLnt of the governed Indians, Mex- &nd Spaniards, It Is because they know so perfectly the political and religious freedom of the Transvaal, and are so thoroughly versed in the devel opment of British tyranny, that they polnt with pride to Boer liberty and view the possible extension of British tyranny with such vociferous and con clusive alarm. The condition of the subjugated Boers will be as dreadful as that of the people of our subjugated Southern States. source; OP PRESEXT STRIKES. The improvement in the condition of the American workingman ' has been steady, if slow, since 1825, when unions of various crafts were formed in all the seaboard cities and manufacturing centers north of Baltimore. In New England the woolen weavers and cot ton operatives led the way. In New Tork City the ship carpenters and calk ers, following the example of the Phil adelphia machinists, began to agitate for a ten-hour day. In 1828 an attempt was made to secure a mechanics' lien law, and a report strongly favoring such a measure of relief was presented. The triumph of the movement for shorter hours of labor was still distant, but it had begun strongly and never went back. The poor during the last thirty years have been growing richer, not poorer, as pessimist economists, sulky social ists and anarchists proclaim. Sickness, the infirmities of old age and the scant wages paid women in the great cities of the East, where there is always a glut of unskilled labor, account for a great deal of honest. Inevitable poverty, but outside of these classes a good deal of absolute pinching poverty dates back originally to improvidence and dissipa tion. Men are dissipated slaves of Im perious appetites, and many women, too, are fond of display In dress and so cial nonsense that they cannot afford without dishonor. The practice of the methods of poverty, frugality and self denial will raise the smallest wage earners as a rule above lives of abso lute poverty. Absolute pinching pov erty has small reason for existence in this country, since willing, competent workers can generally get work. Nev ertheless, In good times or bad times there Is no lack of strikes. "Why? Be cause a strike may proceed from real suffering in the ranks of labor, as in 1877, or it may proceed, as it did in 1892 and as it does at present, from the un rest and discontent of labor. The rise in prices has Increased the cost of living to the wage-earner, and, while there has been a general advance in money wages, the workingmen rea son that the advance in the price of the necessaries of life has been greater than the advance in wages. Granting that the retail prices of many staples of consumption have risen more than wages, there is a vast increase in the volume of employment. Good work men get more steady employment and poor workmen find some employment, so that, assuming that the purchasing power of the day's wages of the Indi vidual workman has something de creased, the number of days' work has Increased so much as to leave a balance in favor of the laboring class. Times of prosperity are always times of ris ing prices, which increase the cost of living to the wage-earner without pro portionately Increasing his pay. For this reason there is discontent quite as much in good times as in bad, and sea sons of business revival are nearly al ways times of labor troubles quite as turbulent as in tlmesof reaction and wage reductions. The year of the greatest number of strikes ever known In the Nation was a year df industrial revival, because we are apparently slow sometimes from necessity in promptly raising wages with the rise of prices. There is nothing surprising in an epi demic of strikes after months of pub lic talk in Congress and In the press of the great business expansion, of large ly Increased railroad and other corpo ration earnings, of the organization of trusts to raise the margin of profit to capital higher. Labor strikes today, not as it did in 1877, because It could not live on meager and irregular wages, but it strikes because of dis content and envy, if you please, as it did in 1892. PEXSIOX TO LOXGSTR.EET. The granting of a special pension of $50 a month to General Longstreet, the great ex-Confederate commander, will hardly excite any surprise, for under the Mexican "War pension act, passed in Cleveland's first administration. Gen eral Longstreet was legally entitled to claim a pension of J12 a month, and could as properly ask in equity for a special pension as any other beneficiary of that act. General Longstreet is now Commissioner of Railroads In the In terior Department, "but as he is 81 years old and very deaf, he probably cannot much longer discharge the duties of his position. He was never a secessionist, but, like Lee and Joe Johnston, was re luctantly swept into the ranks of the Confederacy with his state. He has been for thirty-five years an admirable citizen, keeping his oath of allegiance to the Union not only In letter, but in spirit. He has served as Minister to Turkey, and in all his acts, public and private, has done honor to his country. During the Mexican "War, Longstreet was in the famous storming column of Molino del Rey, where he was severely wounded. The honor that General Longstreet has done himself and his country since he surrendered with the remnant of Lee's gallant army, at Appomattox, vindicates the wisdom of the policy In augurated by Grant, viz., to treat the South and Its people not only with jus tice, but generosity. "We did not seek to make an Ireland of the South. "We soon relieved all the Confederates of their transient political disabilities on easy conditions. None of the tradi tional penalties of rebellion were exact ed from the South, a wise and humane decision. The Government did not even try anybody for treason; it exiled nobody; it sentenced nobody to any term of Imprisonment; it permanently deprived nobody of suffrage or civil rights; it confiscated no estates after the war, and this policy ultimately has f borne excellent fruit in a people more rapidly and solidly united in loyalty to the flag thirty years after rebellion than Great Britain was sixty years af ter the flight of the last of the Stuarts. Great Britain adopted a similar wise policy after the Canadian rebellion of 1S37. She did not garrison French Canada, disfranchise all rebels and dis qualify them for office, but conceded to the French Canadians, after their rebellion, every privilege enjoyed by any other Canadian subject, and even admitted their mother tongue as one of the languages established by the state. Today, in consequence, French Cana dians are fighting on England's side in the war against the Boers, and the French Roman Catholic Premier of Canada, Laurier, is a most devoted servant of the crown. The same policy adopted toward the Boers after con quest will make them ultimately a loyal and'prosperous people. CHILDREN'S RIGHTS. If there were any doubt that the schoolbook contract is a big plum, full of luscious juices,, and worth striving to secure, this might speedily be dispelled by glancing across our northern bor der to the capital city of "Washing ton and noting the strife now going on there to.secure it. Olympla literally swarms with book agents representing Eastern publishers; one company has a complete line of text-books to submit to the Board of Education, the mechan ical work of which is entirely per formed in the state, and tho Typo graphical and Pressmen's Unions of Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane have men on hand to press state publication ot schoolbooks as an advantage to feder ated labor. It may be hoped that the Board of. Education will not become so bewildered by the buzz about its ears that it will neglect to consider the in terests of the pupils of the state, for whose benefit in the good, old tlme3 sohoolbooks were supposed to be com plied, edited and published with intel ligent regard to their fitness. The idea that schools are made for those who manipulate, rather than for those who attend them, has become a ruling factor in the American educa tional system. Many of the books and not a few of the teachers that have been foisted upon the public schools of Oregon during the past ten years have, by their quality, attested this fact. The patrons of the schools have been vic timized by it in a financial sense, and imposed upon by it in a sense of far greater significance, through placing inferior text-books in the hands of their children. It is not so much in the unnecessary redundancy of books which they were required to buy as in the uselessness, practically speaking, of many of them. The saving grace m the matter has been that the gorged pupils have not, in many instances, been able to do more than open these "supplementary" books, or at most to skim the first half of their contents, within any term. The Board of Education of "Washing ton, now sitting at Olympla, has any thing but an enviable task before it. Divested of sll clatter and clamor, the matter of deciding the question as to the best text-books for the public schools from samples submitted, and of the best method of purchase or ac quirement from facts presented in or derly array, would be simple enough, but with" the din from publishing houses reaching clear across the conti nent in its ears, and the clamor of the supposed rights of labor from near-by cities making frantic effort to be heard, it will not be so easy to decide for the benefit of the tens of thousands ot school children of the state and the thousands of anxious parents, to whom the decision rendered will be of vital Importance, because along subtle and enduring lines. "We hear a great deal in these conten tious times about "rights" of various brands. The rights of labor, woman's rights, political rights, the rights of the voter and of the masses. It may be hoped that on this occasion the gong of children's rlghte and parents' rights will be sounded so effectively in the ears of the "Washington State Board of Education that the clamor for all other rights, lugged in and tacked on to this question, will be literally drowned out In the pure, sweet, urgent tones of the unwonted appeal. General Garcia, who was captured at Aryat a few days ago, while directing the operations of numerous bands of guerrillas, was one of the fighting Gen erals of the Filipinos. He is a tall, very dark man, with a mustache, and evi dently not a full-blood TagaL He w as in command of the insurgents north of Manila prior to the capitulation to the Americans, and was wounded in one of their skirmishes with tho Span lardsr "When the Americans were at tacked In Manila, Garcia was in com mand of tho north line, with headquar ters at Caloocan, and under him were several thousand of the partially trained and disciplined soldiers who had deserted from the Spanish army. It was his force the Montanas and Kansans defeated in the capture of Caloocan, and which the Oregons en countered at the battle of Malabon. He was one of the lrreconcllables, and an adherent of Luna, Secretary of War, who was assassinated while trying to get an interview with Agulnaldo. Since the army was broken up last Fall he has been carrying on a guerrilla war fare in the vicinity of San Isldro, with his base of operations near Mount Aryat, always an lnsurrecto strong hold in the wars against Spain. His capture leaves but one General in Lu zon whose name has become familiar as an active leader, Pio Pilar, who has his base of operations in the moun tains beyond San Mateo, where Gen eral Lawton was killed. The capture of so active a General, one of the ir reconcilable Katlpunans, must be of assistance In suppressing guerrilla bands along the Rio Grande River, for, though the leaders of the numerous separate bands are still at large, the force pushing them on and directing them is removed. Representative Grout's record dur ing sixteen years of service for the. Sec ond Vermont District at "Washington is thus summed up: Private pension bills enacted, 50; granting relief, 1; au thorizing delivery of condemned can non, 1; public bills relating to the Dis trict of Columbia, 3; public building bill, 1; grand total, 5G. On this rec ord, Mr. Grout desires and expects to be elected United States Senator by the Vermont Legislature in October next, to fill the unexpired term of the late Justin S. Morrill, but it Is quite prob able that Judge Jonathan Ross, who was appointed by the Governor to fill the vacancy, may be elected, for while Ross Is 74 years old, ten years older than Grout, he is an able lawyer, and two yeaTS more of his old age would be worth more than two years of Grout's "youth." The contention of hand against ma chine labor still breaks out occasionally with unreasoning violence, the oppo nents of machines going wild over a temporary victory and despairing at defeat. The latest example was wit nessed at St, John's, Newfoundland, last week, when a thousand coopers and seal-skinners went on a strike to pre vent the use of a seal-skinning machine that could do the work of 3S men, and a barrel-making machine that would take the place of 50 coopers. They were successful, and the machines were removed. One cannot but sympathize I with men driven to an extreme in tils matter of fighting the Inevitable. Their training, habits of life and environ ment are all against them, in the neces sity that must come to them sooner or later, of adjusting themselves to the changing conditions of labor. A Democratic Mayor was elected In St. Paul, Minn., last week by a major ity of SSO in a total of 22,600 votes. It is the most comforting sign of the times the Democracy has discovered for many a day. It is almost the only im portant exception to the uniform rule of Republican gains in the minor elec tions of the current year. But local Issues determined the result in St. Paul. The Republicans elected six out of the nine Assemblymen-at-Large, and tho two Justices of the Peace and Constables, who are chosen at large. Minnesota Is a political enigma, in city and state matters. In 189G it gave Mc Kinloy 60,000 majority, and the Republi can candidate for Governor only 3000; and in 1893 Lind (Fusion) defeated Eustis (Rep.) by 20,000; but at the same time the entire seven Republican Congressmen were successful by major ities aggregating 33,000. The prestige of a small success in St. Paul will not have much bearing on the state in the Presidential election. Revisiting the Mississippi after twenty-four years' absence, Mark Twain found it was "illuminated like Broad way" by a considerate Government. The channels were straightened and deepened, the snags pulled out, and vast engineering improvements made from the Falls of St. Anthony all the way to the wonderful Eads jetty at the mouth. The river had everything but commerce. The Government was twenty years too late. It may be the same with Alaska. The northern waters, have become the scene of an enormous trade. The coast Is tortuous and treacherous, and the wonderful 1000-mile inside channel unmarked by any considerable numbers of buoys and lights, except in British Columbia waters. "What is the Government wait ing .for? Does it want this great Alas ka fleet to disappear through wreck and disaster before it acts? Tho Democratic leaders are suddenly moved by a reckless desire to make it appear that the Democracy out Debsed itself at the last state conven tion; hence the Juggle with the plat form over the railroad and fellow-servant plank. The substitution was quite unnecessary. Everybody knows that the Democracy is ready to assume any position, however extreme, or support any policy, however mischievous and threatening, if a vote is to be obtained. If it did not adopt the more rabid and vicious of the two planks, it was through sheer oversight. This expla nation is evidently due to the party, and The Oregonian cheerfully makes it. The Rev. F. C. Swallow, once Prohi bitionist candidate for treasurer in Pennsylvania, again wings his way I into public notice as the candidate of the United Christian party for Presi dent. He was nominated at a National Convention, last week in Rock Island, I1L The platform condemns laws against Sabbath-breaking, and is for prohibition of the liquor traffic, equal suffrage and international arbitration. The Swallow candidacy will be encour aged by every newspaper paragrapher and camplagn joker in the country. One Swallow may make a whole Sum mer of uninterrupted levity. The Fuslonists point with pride to the financial standing of their nomi nees for Congress. Both are strong men In the money sense, and well they might be. Dr. Bernard Daly, of the First District, ds interested in a bank at Lakeview, and Senator "William Smith, of the Second District, owns stock in the Citizens' Bank, of Baker City, and is one of its directors. Senator Smith's financial standing comes from money obtained from the sale of gold mines. He still owns gold mines, but is the loudest shouter for 16 to 1 In all Oregon. "When did Dr. Daly become a convert to free silver? During his Legislative career ho permitted it to be understood by Republicans that he was diametri cally opposed to his party on the money question. He Is, besides, a banker and landlord, and a capitalist, and alto gether a most astonishing Democrat, Small wonder that his nomination has not been received with wild acclaim by the rabid Bryanltes of the First District. The doctor will have a large amount of explaining to do beforo the campaign is over. It is now in order to introduce Into the Senate resolutions of sympathy with Jamaica. Let us not neglect our opportunities, and while we. are hitting England, let us hit her bard. ,f Dewey Admiral Dewey is getting a mighty flattering reception in the South. Candidate Dewey has been gently and politely forgotten. Governor Tanner, of Illinois, seema marked for an inglorious exit. Quay blazed the trail to retirement for sev eral kindred spirits. GOLD STANDARD IN IXDIA. Supply of Metal Accumulated. Ex ceed All Expectations. New Tork Evening Post. The fact has scarcely been noticed in the "United States that the gold standard has been established in India, not merely In theory, but in practice, during the past year. In 1S93, when the Indian Currency Commission decided to put a stop to the coinage of silver, except on government account, it was decided that the govern ment would receive gold in payment of taxes at the rate of 16d per rupee (15 rupees equal to the sovereign), and would give rupees In exchange for gold at that rate. This decision was accepted by the public as a quasl:promlse to redeem the rupees In gold at that rate whenever the government should formally adopt the gold standard. The price of the rupee In the market, however, fell to 13d, and hovered around that figure for a long time. After a while it began to rise, al though the price of silver remained sta tionary or nearly so, at 2id per ounce. Last July the Indian Currency Commis sion, of which Sir Henry Fowler was chair man, was able to announce that the price of the rupee had risen without any artifi cial supports to 16d, and that more than 2.000,000 of gold had flowed into the In dian Treasury in place of, or In exchange for, rupees. Last month the announcement was made officially in Calcutta that the gov ernment had accumulated 8.000,000 of gold and that the market price of the rupee was firm at 16d, with not more than the usual variations of exchange between countries having the gold stand ard. The government announced Its Inten tion to keep a permanent gold reserve of not less than 5,000,000. It thus appears that India has "grown up" to the gold standard since 1533 without any other help than the closing of the mints to silver. JThis result could not have beupredlctedjtha enabroldsra: is better thaq, tlthex. and was not anticipated by even the most sanguine advocates of the policy adopt ed in 133. There is no reason to doubt that the parity of the rupee with tho sov ereign (15 of tho former to 1 of the latter) will bo maintained; in other words, that the gold standard is actually in force in India, and will so continue. PROSPERITY GALORE. Straace Stast to Appear in the Great Br an Calamity Organ. Now York JournaL NIAGARA FALLS, N. Y April 29. George H. Daniels, of New York, general passenger agent of the New York Cen tral, arrived here today over tho Michigan Central, on his private car, from an ex tended tour of the United States. Mr. Daniels' mission to the Pacific Coast was principally the extension ot tho trado of this country with the Orient, and he returns well pleased with his efforts and tho assurance that this country will be the most potent factor In tho trade with tho far East. The flvo grcnt steamship lines on the Pacific Coast aro all build ing new and -magnificent steamships to take care of traffic to tho islands of the Pacific, China and Japan. where rormeriy a steamer sailed xrora San Francisco onco a month there are now weekly sailings, besides tho services established from Portland, Tacoma, Seat tle and Vancouver. Notable among this service Is that of the great Japan Steam ship Company (Toyokisen Kalsba), which Is tbo second largest company In the wrold. although practically unknown In the eastern part of tho United States. Mr. Daniels made an extended tour through Texas. In Birmingham, Ala., ho was struck with the marvelous growth of that great iron center of the South. He was surprised at the magnitude of the otl Industry in Southern California. "I found everybody busy," said Mr. Daniels, "just as busy as wc are In the East. In every city I visited I made it a point to talk with the leading manufac turers, merchants and transportation man agers, and ask as to the conditions of trade and commerce. Every one reported prosperity. There was no exception to this universal opinion based on the busi ness being transacted. , "Of course I talked of railroads and in cidentally tho New York Central fines, which extend over 11,367 miles east of St. Louis and Chicago. I criticised the con stant attempt to legislate against the rail roads, and urged the more earnest co-oper-ation between business men and railroad corporations." "How does the "West view the possibil ity of the change in the administration of the Government, Mr. Daniels?" "In California, Oregon and "Washington the general opinion, irrespective of politi cal belief. Is that it would be most unwise at this period of our country's history and prosperity to change the administration because of the great Impetus given to for eign as well as domestic commerce, which is the result of the recent Spanish war. I talked with a number of prominent Dem ocrats and they felt that a change would be a serious detriment, which might not occur four years from now." POLITICS IX NEBRASKA Ontloolc Encourages Hope for Re publican Victory. Chicago Times-HoraltL. For the first time in many years the Re publicans of Nebraska will present a unit ed front to the enemy in the coming po litical contest. The state convention at Lincoln, which promised the usual quan tity of factional discord, resulted in enough harmony and vindications to enable the party to pull Itself together for an aggres sive and determined struggle against Bryanism. That tho party is preparing for a cam paign that shall bo handicapped by no factional bitterness is evidenced by the election of Senator John M. Thurston and Editor Edward Rosewater, of the Omaha Bee, as delegates-at-large to the National convention. These old-time political an tagonists will sit side by side In the Na tional gathering at Philadelphia, and their presence there will serve as a warning to the "Jefferson of Nebraska" that his rear platform voice will encounter the hardest fight of its life in its homo state. The harmonious outcome of the conven tion is not the only gratifying feature of tno political situation in Nebraska. The ticket nominated is an exceptionally strong one. Instead of nominating a politician for Governor, the convention placed at the head of the ticket one of the foremost successful business men of the state. The nominee for Governor, Charles H, Diet rich, of Hastings, is an Ulinolsan by birth, president of the German National Bank, of Hastings, and Is identified with large mercantile and industrial enterprises. Tho platform Is especially commenda tory of the gold-standard law passed by Congress, and is strong, vigorous and pat riotic In its enunciations upon the newer issues growing out of the war. It de mands an amendment to the Constitution of tho United States, giving Congre3 the power to regulate and control combines and corporations, and to enact laws that will prevent such combinations as operate to prevent free competition. "With a harmonious leadership and unity of purpose on a strong platform and with a strong state ticket, tho Republicans of Nebraska are in shape to make the most aggressive campaign in many years. How Snlisluy "YVorlEs. Baltimore Sun. From tho breezy "West we get occasion ally apt and direct characterizations that delight tho lover of truth. Thus the Ne braska Conservative says, in speaking of the ship subsidy Job: "The piracy of leg islation is worse than that of the high seas. Tho present Congress Is full of Cap tain KIdds. They 'sail for blood and gold' like their original 'pirate bold. They aro for tho Hanna-Payne subsidy bill." Then to illustrate the working of the Hanna Payne bill, the story is told of tho Italian steamer Venus of 2641 tons, and its cargo of five tons of chalk, worth $50, recently arrived at Philadelphia from Ancona, It aly, via Bermuda. Italy gives a subsidy to ships regardless of the service per formed or not performed and the Venus was sailed to get It, not to promote the Italian trade. "Its paltry cargo," says the Conservative, "seemed little less than ridiculous until Captain Trapani had ex plained. At first he was supposed to have brought a sample, possibly to test the market, but he declared that the cargo was all ho had desired to carry; that he had steamed 4000 miles to carry it, and was satisfied. He told a reporter that un der the shipping laws of Italy the govern ment pays 1 franc per ton on an Italian steamer's tonnage for each 1000 miles sailed when It leaves a home port with a cargo, regardless of the size or charac ter of the cargo. This is done, of course, to encourage shipping, increase exports and generally stimulate commerce. Hence Traponrs voyage and his five tons ot chalk. For the trip he will receive $53220 for each 1000 miles, or J2112 for the trip. This, he avers, will not only pay all ex penses, but leavo him a profit. "Under the pending subsidy bill the greyhound steamers and the pleasure yachts of Senators may tramp the ocean with five tons of chalk or whitewash for political purposes and draw their thou sands of dollars from the Federal Treas ury. Italy has no corner on the prosti tution of commerce." Poetry on n. Sampler. London Chronicle. In 171S Elizabeth Matron, embroidering her sampler, "drops Into poetry" of the pleasing didactic sort, as follows: She that is wls her time will prize; Fbe that will eat her breakfast In her bed. And spend all the xnornlnc In dressing of her head. And ett at dfnner Uko a maiden bride, God In His mercy may do much to save her. But vrbat a case Is he that must have hert And in 1754 Elizabeth Bock embroiders a solemn prayer, which ends: And If Z should by a. ypuns youth bo tempted. Grant I his schemes defy and all he baa In vented t The aspiration Is better than the rhyma: WHO SHALL RON WITH BRYAX? The Populist National Convention, at Sioux Falls today has plain eoiUng in Uie open fuefon sea. Leaders like Senator Butler and General "Weaver have carefully-attended to that. There will be no dif ficulty about a platform. There Is really nothing for tho convention to do but to ratify a nomination now as good as made and promulgate a platfrm as good as drawn. Tho ono vexatious problem for the convention is the Vice-Presidency. It is not so much a question as to men as it is a. quesMnn of party policy. A boom for Charles A. Tcwne, tho Silver-Republican spellbinder of Duluth, has been most care fully engineered by himself and by cer tain statesmen high in the favor of Bryan; so that thero Is color to the prev alent belief that Bryan desires the Du luth man's nomination. If he should be chosen by the Populists, a powerful effort will bo made to havo him Indorsed by ho Democrats, so that there will be but ono straight Bryan ticket this year. In stead of two, as in 1S96, and all the con fuson and Irritation of that campaign among the loyal Bryan supporters of all complexions will be avoided. Towne was onco a Republican Congressman; since he has become a follower of Bryan he ha3 twice failed to bo returned to Con gress as a Fuslonlst; consequently, he is willing to be both a Democrat and a Pop ulist if It will assist him to office. If the Sioux Falls Convention yields to pres sure end nominates him, it will have aban doned all pretense of being a political party with a separate Identity and an in dividual purpose, and the way to nnai and complete swallowicg-up by -the Dem ocracy will be smooth and rapid. The complications of the Bryanltee over the Vice-Presidency in 1E96 were never fully adjusted, and it was happily never necessary that they should be. Inasmuch aa Mr. Bryan was beaten. The Democrat ic convention met at Chicago July 7 and nominated Bryan and Sewull. The Pop ulist convention met at St. Louis July 22. There was a great struggle between the fusion and anti-fusion elements of the party. The Fuelonlsts'won by a decisive majority, and there began the party's march to certain dissolution. The conven tion evidently feared a trick, and, after much debate, decided on the unprecedent ed courso of nominating the Vice-President first. Sewall .was rejected, and Thomas B. "Watson, of Georgia, was named on the first ballot. Then Bryan was nominated for President as a Popu list, defeating S. F. Norton, of Chicago, by 1042 to 321. There ensued In the various states the efforts of the Bryanltes to fuse on one electoral ticket. In somo they were suc cessful; in othera not. In Oregon, the PopuMsts demanded and secured from the complaisant and frightened Democ racy three of tho four electors. In "Wash ington they got two out of four. In IS states Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, ICansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, Now Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and "Wyoming the Populists vot ed separately for Bryan and "Watson elect ors. The total straight Populist vote in tho country was 45,723. But the Democrats got much tho best of it where there was fusion, as tho following vote for Vice President will disclose: o e - I - $ . pi r ? Nebraska ...... 4 Nevada. 3 6 0 2 12 IS 2 12 North Carolina.. South Carolina- South Dakota... Tennessee Tucas Utah Virginia Washington ... Wyoming 21 2 2 1 Total J140127 Other electors tor McKlnley and Hbbarfc The results of 1SX or, rather, the woe ful want of results have taught practical politicians like Senator Butler that, if thero is to bo fusion at all, it would bet ter bo on tho whole ticket. There can be no half-way business about it. The same lesson has been driven home with tho MlddJe-of-the-Roaders. They know that if they ever begin fusion there will be no end till tho big fish swallows the littlo one. That is tho reason why Pop ulists who aro Populists for principle are meeting at Cincinnati today; and It Is also the reason why tho Populists who aro Populists for revenue are at Sioux Falls, greasing themselves to make the process of deglutition easy for tho Bryan whale. THE NEGRO IX THE SOUTH. "What follows 13 trot designed at all as an argument against negro suffrage, but to state a condition: A Republican spellbinder from the State of "Washing tonone of tho surviving "bloody-shirt" genus cold out and went to Mississippi about two years ago. Not long slnco ho was encountered on tho streets of New Orleans by a resident of Portland, who asked him If he was making any con verts to the Republican ranks. "Well, it's a little different down here," he con fessed; "I live in a county where there aro five colored men to one white, and It does not seem, to me to be. altogether pollto to urge my white neighbors to place control of affairs in their hands." Here is tho whole secret of the low es tate ot the Republican party in Darkest Mississippi. Republican success, in the opinion of the great majority of whites, inevitably means negro domination; and the control of government by. the col ored people would be a dreadful disaster not wholly because they are colored, but because they are, in largo part, Ignorant, incapable and irresponsible, and because their leadership is usually dishonest and totally untrustworthy. However much en lightened and fit for suffrage the negroes have become in the North, they havo mado but slow progress in the extreme South. A sign of the times is found in the recent Republican convention in Mis sissippi, when John R. Lynch and James Hill, colored, were deposed from the headship of the party. The colored del egates were in the majority, but they were outgeneraled by the whites, who managed to Install a new National com mitteeman and to capture the organiza tion. The Federal patronage is at the bottom of the violent and sometimes bloody Republican quarrels in the South. The party obtains no offices from county- or state; and, becauso It Is tho ave nue through which Government appoint ments are made, we may understand one powerful reason- for tho lingering hostility and bitterness of a considerable part of the South and a very Influential part, too towards the Federal Government, which to them represents and lnforcea the purposes and policies of tho Republi can party. A movement is now under full headway in tho South which discloses Its unalter able position against the social and polit ical equality of the negro. Louisiana re cently disfranchised him by placing a rigid educational qualification in the state constitution. The inhibitory provision has accomplished its objects with conspicuous success. North Carolina has submitted a similar constitutional amendment, and Alabama will act on the question at an early day through a new constitution. In Virginia, the Democratic party has de clared in favor of a constitutional con vention, the primary object being to fol low In the footsteps of Louisiana and her sister states. If there Is no Federal in terference. It seems safe to say that the race question will have been eliminated from the politics of Virginia, North Car olina, South Carolina, Alabama and Mis isslppl and probably Georgia and Florida. If the negro then need9 protection, he must either secure it under the Federal Constitution, which these drastic state laws are avowedly designed to defeat, or by ed ucation, so he can fulfill even the severe Southern requirements as to the neces- 1 sarjj. .quaUflcatloc lor suf&ase, , Alabama Arkansas California Colorado ...... Florida. Georgia ....... Idaho Kansas ...... Kentucky ..... Louisiana ..... Mississippi ... Missouri Montana 11 ..I S 3 1 .. A ..I 4 .. 1:: 10 .. 1 ..I i 4 13 2 1 NOTE AND COMMENT. If tho powers really want to shatter China, they ought to employ a f ew-servant". girls. Gold Is going abroad. It probably real izes that It will bo needed at the Paris Exposition. Caro should be taken by the United Christians that Candidate Swallow does not bolt tho ticket. ' ' Bonjamin Harrison says he cannot get used to public speaking. H must havo been to hear Bryan lately. The buffalo i3 extinct, and the cougars ore getting scarce, but thero is excellent burglar-hunting in Chicago. Now Dewey is out of the Presidential race, he can resume his character of hero without any opposition from tho public "I havo troubles to burn, but I always make light of them," said the dead beat, as he touched a match to a package of dunning letters. Mark Twain says he Is going to run for tho Presidency. If he does he will find the campaign so hot that he will think he is following the equator again. "Wo now have It on unnnpeocbablo au thority that Prealdsnt McKlnley drinks only mineral water at banquets. This is highly important to tho promoter ot tha mineral water. Roberts will have to hurry up and do something if he wants that dukedom. The English press Is already beginning to sub stitute General Roberts for "Bobs" when it refers to him. He was killed right near Manila, when the fightta' first begun, , He was shot and killed some twenty times since then; He was killed for atabbla' Iinaa, was this savage Waabin'ton, An' was killed an killed an killed an killed again. Tet he's bobbm up serenely In some mounts In wilderness. An he seems to b as lively aa before; He's a trick of resurrection, has the gaat we must confess. An' it ain't no use to kill '1m any more. Then here's to you, Agulnaldo; you're a taost amasln guy. But you'll never go to heaven, 'cause you'll never, never die. Maud Muller, on a Suioiner's day. Called "Number, please?" to earn her pay. - Before her, numbers, printed small. Foil down when anyone would call. The Judge took down his office phone. And made to Maud his wishes known. Bald he, "I'll ask you. Just one more, f For four-eleven-forty-four." Said Maud, aa mild as Summer seas. j "What number did jou ask for, please! Said he, "I told yju twice before. It's four-eleven-forty-four."' Said Maud, and you could hear her smlla, "Just hold the phone a. little while." V A weary Interval ensued, . Tho wires hummed an Interlude, And broken bits of talk-came o'er the phone, and made the waiter sore. The wlyhbone-shaped receiver hoolc He seized upon and wildly shook. Till Maudle's voice he heard once more, ft "What number am you waltlne fori" ' The Judge responded with a roar, "It's four-eleven-forty-four." Serenely Maud made answer then. - "That line Is busy; call again." The Judge had business late that day. And so hemerely walked away. But as he walked he shook his head. And this Is what he sadly said: "Ot all d n words of tongue or pen. "The d dest are "Busy; call again." The cross-eyed man walked up to the manager of the dime museum. "I want a Job," said he. "You do, do you?" said the manager, throwing the full strength of his 2S3 karat searchlight on the applicant with such a glare that it made him look cross-eyed In both optics instead of one. ""Well, we don't need no Janitors. See?" "I don't want to be a janitor," said tha applicant, "I want to he a freak." "Freak! on them cross-yes of yours? "Why, thlSj town Is so full of cross-eyed men that the department stores puts their goods on both sides of the walk, so's to ketch their custom. You'll havo to work a better game than that or you don't get no Job in this bere show." "That Isn't it," said the applicant, blush ing, "I can't help my eyes." "Well, how the deuce do you expect to get a job here?" "I will tell you," said the cross-eyed man confidently, "I never stood on the bridge with Dewey, I never asked any body how they would Ilka to bs the ioe man, and I am not a candidate for Vice President." "Oh, excuse me, sir!" safd thamanager, "I I didn't, I couldn't know, of course. Job? "Why, certainly; fifty" a week ha about right for a starter; yes, of course, step inside, sir, and I will bring you a contract," and, hurrying up to the print er's to get some new paper out, ho left the applicant sitting triumphantly in the private office. PLEASANTRIES OF PARAGRAPHERS .City Editor How did the deaf and dumb wed ding come off? Reporter Very quietly. Phila delphia North American. i A Wise Woman. "Nobody can persuade Aunt Hetty to get on a bicycle." "She knows when she's well off." Philadelphia Bulletin. At the Theater. Asklt Doesn't the villain murder the hero in the first act? Telllt Tea. And he murders the drama. In the others. Bal timore American. The Spirit of War. First Hardy Mountaineer There seems to be no chance any more for "us to exercise our warlike spirit- Second Ditto That la the unhappy truth. I wish we could got a few capitalists and concessionaires In terested In us some way. Indianapolis Press. In Our Boardlng-House "Will some one please chase the cow down this way?" said the funny boarder, who wanted some milk for bis oatmeaL "Here, Jane," said the landlady, la a tone that was meant to be crushing, "taie the cow down where the calf 13 bawling." Chicago News. Missionary Was it liquor that brought you to this? Implsoned Burglar No, sir; tt was house-cleanln spring bouse-cleanln. sir. Mis sionary Eh? House-cleaning? Burglar Yes sir. The woman had been house-cleanln', and th stair carpet was up, an' th folks beard me. New Tork Weekly. Not What He Meant. A writer In an Eng lish paper called the Christian said the other day; "The remarkable providential escape of tho Prince of Wales from assassination ... has called forth a chorus of profound regrets from all the European governments and al most the whole of tho ConUnental press." "The trouble about these Boers," said the English officer, "is that they are wfcolly un reliable." "They seem able to depend on one another." "Possibly. But so far as wo are concerned we can never tell whether we have caught them napping or whether they are merely keeping quiet till we get close enough for them to do damage." Washington Star. Beady to Back It "Up. "Bight ahead of us," resumed the traveler who was narrating his experiences, "yawned the mountain pass " "Do yoa know," artlessly Interrupted one of the younger women In the company, "that seeins very queer to me? How can a moun tain yawn?" "Did you never see Cumberland Gap, miss7" he asked. And there were at) -LopraJntxrruaUoxj.rrCbicaga, grihgMu. -