The Leon reporter., August 30, 1900, Image 5

About The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930

Image provided by: State Historical Society of Iowa

                
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MR. ^RYAN^TDk POPllllSTS
What He Said in Reply to Notification of His
m. Nomination for the Presidency,
this country at sixteen to one, the ra
tio whlwh has existed since 1884. They
were Jpfeated but that did not end
the discussion. The democrats were
defeated in 1888, but that did not put
an end to tariff reform. The repub
licans were defeated in 1892, but that
did not permanently overthrow the
protective tariff. Defeat at the polls
does not necessarily decide a great
problem. Experience and experience
alone settles questions. If an increase
^in the volume of the currency since
1896, although unpromised by the re
publicans and unexpected, nas Drought
improvement in industrial conditions,
this improvement, instead of answer
ing the arguments put forth in favor
vof
MEASURES POPULISTS AND DEMOCRATS AGREE ON.
Imperialism is Again Presented as the Paramount Issue, But
the Trusts Come in for Lengthy Discussion—Prosperity
Contentions of the Republicans Shown to Be a De
lusion and a Snare—The Farmer Robbed and
the Capitalist Protected.
Mr. Chairman and Members of
Notification Committee:
In accepting the presidential nom
ination which you tender on behalf
of the populist party, I desire to give
emphatic recognition to the educa
tional work done by your party. The
populist party, as a^ organization, and
the^farmer alliances and the. labor or
ganisations from which they sprung,
have done much to arouse the people
to a study of econmic and industrial
questions. Believing, as I do, that
truth grows, not in seclusion but in
the open field, and that it thrives best
in the sunlight of full and free debate.
I have confidence that the discussion
which your party has compelled will
aid in reaching that true solution of
pending problems toward which all
honest citizens aim.
I desire also to express my deep
anpreciation of the liberality of opin
idif" and devotion to principle which
have lead the members of your party
to enter the ranks of another party In
the selection of a candidate.
While I am grateful for the confi
dence which the populists have ex
pressed in me, Ivam not vain enough
to regard as personal their extraordi
nary manifestations of good will. The
ties which' bind together those who
believe in the same great fundamental
principles are stronger than ties of
affection—stronger even than the ties
of'blood and co-operation between
the reform forces is due to the fact
that democrats, populists and silver
republicans take the side of the peo
ple in their contest against greed, and
•free in' the application' of Jefferson
Ian principles to the questions imme
diately before us.
In 1896 the money question was of
paramount importance and the allies
in that campaign united in the de
mand for the immediate restoration of
•liver by the independent action of
11
if'
4
bimetallism, only confirms the con
tention of those, who insisted that
'more money would make better times.
The repu
while claim
in circula
j, provision
Jean party, however,
credit for the increase
makes no permanent
an adequate supply of
standard Muny. It denies the neces
sity for mwe real money wnile it per
mits naticna* banks to expand the
-volume of paper promises to pay
money.
If the lopullsts felt justified in op
posing tie republican party when it
sought, to conceal its gold standard
tendeny^ under the mask of inter
nations .'bimetallism, the opposition
should be more pronounced in propor
fv'j* tion ss the republican party more
1»-W openty espouses gold monometallism.
In 1896 the reform forces cnarged
$• the republican party with intending
"ate'tc retire the greenbacks. This charge,
/. m^fenied at that time, has been con
jessed by the financial bill, which con
certs greenbacks, when once re-
V,j deemed, into gold certificates, and ex
tends new privileges to banks of issue.
"A If a populist opposed the republican
party when its hostilities to green
»,*• 'backs was only suspected, uiat oppo
sition should be greater now, since
no one can longer doubt the purpose
lii' J**
(of the republican party to substitute
bank notes for greenbacks.
Tt is true that the populists believe
l|, in an irrideemable greenback while
'the democrats believe in a greenback
Irredeemable in coin but the vital ques
®|fsfetion at this time, so far as paper
money is concerned, is whether gov
"j^V^ernmeiit or banks shall issue it. There
|yu 'will }e~ time enough to discuss the re
sf'deemability of the greenback when
ie greenback itself-is saved from the
dilation which now threatens it.
republican party is now corn
ed to a currency question which
siiates a perpetual debt, while
populist finds himself in' agree
ent with the democrats, who believe
payng off the national debt as rap
idly as'possible.
If belief in an income tax justified
S^a. populist in acting with the demo
fejeritic party in 1896, what excuse can
find for aiding the republican party
vhfeiii ieven the ex^genciek of war
re not be^ksufflcieht l^brlng ths^
Income
the as miifh as Ifc&y did in j896,' and are
as much opposed to government by
injunction and the black list as they
were then, and upon th»3 subjects
they have as much reason tor co oper
ation with the democratic paity to-,
day as they had four years ago.
Democrats and .populists alike favor
the principle of direct legislation. If
any differences exist as to the extent
to which the principle should be ap
plied, these differences can be recon
ciled by experiment.
Democrats and populists. agree that
Chinese and other oriental labor
should be excluded from the United
States.
Democrats and populists desire to so
enlarge the scope of the interstate
commerce act as to enable the com
mission to protect both persons and
places from discrimination, and the
public at large from excessive rail
road rates.
The populists approve the demand
set forth in the democratic platform
for a labor bureau, with a cabinet offi
cer at its head. Such an official would
keep the administration in close touch
with the wage earning portion of the
population, and go far toward secur
pend production and fix the price of
raw material as well as the price of the
finlrhed product the farmer, powerless
'.o protect himself when he sells, Is
plundered when he purchases. Can
any farmer hesitate to throw the in
fluence of his ballot upon the side of
those who desire to protect the public
{.t large from.the monopolies?
•The fact that:the trusts support the
republican party oilght to be sufficient
proof that they expect protection from
It. The republican party cannot be
relied upon to extinguish the trusts
so Jong as it draws its campaign con
tribution from their overflowing
vaults.
I
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The prosperity argument which the
republicans bring forward to answer
all complaints against the administra
tion will not deceive the farmer. He
knows that two factors enter into his
income. First, the size of his crop,
and, second, the price which he re
ceives for the same. He does not re
turn thanks to the party in power for
favorable weather and a bountiful
harvest, and he knows that the re
publican party has no policy which in
sures a permanent increase in agricul
tural prices. Since he sells his sur
plus in a foreign market, he is not a
beneficiary of the tariff, and since he
produces merchandise and not money,
he does not profit by the appreciation
of the dollar. He knows that the
much-vaunted prosperity, of which he
has never had his share, is on the
wane in spite of the unusual and un
natural stimulation which it has re
ceived during the last three years. He
knows that each month of 1900 shows
a larger number of failures than the
corresponding month of 1899, and that
tuere is already a marked tendency
toward a decrease in the output of the
factories. He knows, also, that dis
coveries of gold, famines abroad and
war on three continents have not been
able to raise the price of farm products
as rapidly as trusts and combinations
have raised the price of the things
which the farmer buys.
Our opponents have tried to make
it appear that we are inconsistent
whfn we desire a general rise in prices
and yet oppose an arbitrary rise in
1-rotected manufactures or trust-made
ing such remedial legislation as the
toilers need.
In 1896 the populists united with
the democrats in opposing the trusts,
although the quesrion at that time
appeare-l lute a cloud scan?1/ larger
tlinn a Iran's hand. Today that cloud
well-nigh overspreads the industrial
sky. The farmer does not participate
in the profits of any trust, but he
sorely feels the burden of them all.
He is dependent upon the season for
his income. When he plants his crop
he knows riot whether it will be
blessed with rain or blighted with
drouth he knows not whether wind
will blow it down or hail destroy it,
or insects devour it, and the price of
his crop is as uncertain as the quan
tity. If a private monopoly can sus
fjoods. There is no conflict whatever
between these two propositions. If a
general rise in prices occurs because
of a permanent increase in the volume
of money, all things adjust, tnemselves
to the new level, and If CHS volume of
money then increases in proportion
to the demand for xnoney the price
level remains the same and business
can be done with fairness to all. If,
however, the rise Is arbitrary, and
only affects a part of i&e products of
labor, thpse whose products do not
participate in the *ise Buffer because
the purchasing pewe*' of their income
is decreased. If bad monetary
tern drags. down the price of?
farmers' products, wbllr'^monopolies
raiqLi&e buys, he
AJ aid
must expeet to suffer In comparison
th those who belong to to* classes
more favored by legislation.
It' sometimes urged by partisan
populists that four years more or re
publ'inn misrule would so aggravate
economic conditions as to make re
forms easier. No one can afford to
aid in making matters worse in tne
hope of being able to make them bel
ter afterward, for in so doing he as
sumes the responsibility for evils
which he may not be able to remedy.
No populiBt, however sanguine, be
lieves it possible to elect a populist
president at this time, but the popu
list may be able to determine whether
a democrat or a republican will be
elected. Mr. Chairman, the populist
convention, which your committee rep
resents, thought it better to share with
the democrats in the honor of secur
ing some of the reforms desired by
your party, than to b#ar the odium
of remaining neutral in this great
crisis, or of giving open or secret aid
to the republican party which opposes
all the reforms for which the popu
lists contend.
Those who labor to improve the
conditions which surround their fel
low men are apt to become impatient
but they must remember thatvlt takes
time to work out great reforms. Let
me illustrate by calling your atten
tion to the slow growth of public
opinion in support of a proposition
to which there has been practically
no open opositiOn. President John
son, in 1868, recommended a constitu
tional amendement providing for the
election of United States senator by
a direct vote of the people, but his
recommendation met with no re
sponse. About twelve years later,
General Weaver, then a member of
congress, tried to secure the passage
of' a' resolution submitting such an
amendment/ but his efforts were fu
tile. In 1892 the resolution recom
mended by President Johnson and
urged by Congressman Weaver finally
passed the house of representatives,
but it has not yet reached a vote in
the senate. And now after eight
years more of public discussion the
proposition for the first receives the
endorsement of the national conven
tion of one of the great parties.
If the fusion forces win a victory
this fall, we shall see this reform ac
complished before the next presiden
tial election, and with its accomplish
ment the people will find it easier to1
secure any remedial legislation which
they may desire. But how halting
has been the progress! Holland has
said:
"Heaven is not gained by a single
bound.
We build the ladder by which we
rise,
From the lowly earth to the vaulted
skies,
And we mount to Its summit round
by round."
And so it is with great social and
politioal movements.
Great problems are solved slowly,
but struggling humanity marches on,
step by step, content it at each night
fall It can pitch its tent on a little
higher ground.
I have called attention to the Is
sues which have brought the demo
crats and populists together and
which' have justified their co-opera
tion during the last four years. Let
me now invite your attention to new
questions which would justify co-op
eration at this time even though we
differ upon all economic questions.
It is not our fault that these new
questions have been thrust into the
arena of politics it is not our fault
that the people have been called upon
to consider questions of ever increas
ing magnitude. In 1890 the tariff
question was the principal subject of
discussion., and the democratic party
contended that the masses were car
rying a burden of unjust and unnec
essary taxes. It 1892 the tariff ques
tion was still the principal Issue be
tween the democratic and republican
parties, although in the west and
south the money question was assum
ing greater and greater proportions,
and the populists were contending
that our monetary system was more
responsible than the tariff laws for
the depression in agriculture and the
distress existing among the wage
earners. In 1896 the whole question
of taxation became of secondary im
portance because of the increased
boldness of those who opposed the
gold and silver coinage of the con
stitution. When the republicans de
clared at St. Louis that the restora
tion of bimetallism in this country,
although desirable, was impossible
without the aid of the leading com
mercial nations of the old world, the
populists and silver republicans join
ed with the democrats in asserting
the right and duty of the American
people to shape their financial sys
tem for themselves, regardless of the
action of other nations. The failure
of the republican party to secure in
ternational bimetallism and its open
espousal of the gold standard, still
keep the money question in politics,
but no economic question can com
pare in importance with a question
which concerns the principle and
structure of government. Systems of
taxation can be changed with less
difficulty than financial systems, and
financial systems can be altered with
less danger and less disturbance to
the country than the vital doctrines
upon which free government rests.
In the early sixties, when we were
engaged in a contest which was to de
termine whether we should have one
republic or two, questions of finance
were lost sight of. Silver was at a
premium over gold, and both gold and
silver were at a premium over green
backs and bank notes, but the people
could not-afford to divide over the
money question in the presence of a
greater issue. And so today we are
engaged in a controversy which will
determine whether we are to have a
republic in which the government de
rives its just powers from the con
sent of the governed, or an empire in
which brute force is the only. recog
nized source of Dower.
In a government where the people
rule, every wrong can be righted and
every evil remedied, but when once
the doctrine of self-government is im
paired and might is substituted for
right there is no certainty that any
question will be settled correctly.
A colonial policy would so occupy
the people with the consideration of
the nation's foreign policy that do
mestic. questions would be neglected.
"Who will haul down the flag?" or
"Stand by the president," would be
the prompt response to every criti
cism of the administration, and cor
ruption and special privilege would
thrive under the cover patriot
ism.
It is not strange that the populists
should oppose militarism and impe
rialism, for both are antagonistic to
the principles which the populists ap
ply to other questions, pooking^ at
questions from the standpoint of the
producer oi wealth, rather than from
the standpeint of the speculator, the
populist re soghizes in -militarism a
constant ai increasing burden. The
Megfir worm, which occasionally de
stroys a field of wheaW. not nearly
so dangerou^nB^HM&&j^Q fiuaper
a°r?
from
Soon after the Republican leaders
began to suggest the propriety of a
colonial policy, the papers published
an interview given out from San Fran
cisco by a foreign consul residing at
Manila. He declared that the people
of the United States owed it to them
selves, to other nations, and to the
Philippine Islands permanently. At
the conclusion of the interview there
appeared the very significant state
uF|/vuivu
the United States for the purpose of
organizing a company for the devel
opment of the Philippine Islands. A
few days later on his way east he
gave out another interview in which
he explained that the company which
he intended to organize would estab
lish banks at Manila, and at other
places throughout the islands, and
build electric light plants, water
plants, street car lines, railroads, fac
tories, etc. It seemed that the plan
of his syndicate was to do all the
developing and leave the rest of the
American people nothing to do in the
matter except to furnish an army suf
ficient to hold the Filipinos in sub
jection while they were being devel
oped.
At the present rate we will spend
annually upon the army approximate
ly half as much as we spend for edu
cation in the United States, and this
immense sum is wrung from the tax
payers by systems of taxation which
overburden the poor man and under
tax the rich man.
vadeg every field of Industry and ex-' And yet they are denied and evaded,
every crop. with no small show of success. One
if 100,000 men are withdrawn from dashingly calls them 'glittering gen,
tne ranks of the producers and placed eralities another bluntly calls them
ns a burden upon the backs o2 those 'self-evident lif'3.' And others insid-.
who remain, it must mean longer
hours, harder work and greater sac
rifice for those who toil, and the
farmer, while he pays more than his
share of the expenses of the army,
has no part in army contracts or in
developing companies, and his sons
are less likely to fill the life positions
in the army than the sons of those
who, by reason of wealth or politi
cal prominence, exert influence at
Washington.
In the presence of such an issue as
militarism it is impossible that any
Populist should hesitate as to his
duty.
But even the menace of militarism
is but part of the question of imper
ialism. The policy contemplated by
the. Republican party nulifies every
principle set forth in the Declaration
of Independence, strikes a blow at
popular government and robs the na
tion of its moral prestige. Already
the more advanced supporters of the
colonial idea point to the economy of
a system of government which en
trusts all power to an executive and
does away with the necessity for legis
lation. The Army and Navy Journal,
In Its issue of August 4, commends
the English system and declares That
as a result of this system a fifth of
the world's area, containing a fifth
of Its population, is ruled with an ad
ministrative economy which is an ad
ministrative marvel, and adds:
"One million two hundred thousand
dollars spent in London is the price
of administrative order over a colon
ial rule whose total budgets aggre
gate $1,724,354,896, or fifty per cent
more than OUT total of federal, state,
county and village expenditure for
every possible purpose, for which tax
es are levied. In contrast to the re
sults of this system of executive ad
ministration, the fact is cited that the
American congress has spent an en
tire winter wrestling with the tariff,
the taxation, the administration and
the personal rights of the two little
islands. The English executive Is an
Imperial Executive. The British
Parliament is an English Legislature.
To the same system we are coming
by the decree of circumstances as in
evitable as that of fate. If this be
imperialism make the most of It. So
far as citizenship is concerned the,,
the British empire is one, but beyond
the limits of the United Kingdom the
citizen lives under a rule essentially
monarchial and not restricted by the
constitutional limitations of the par
liamentary system."
Thus does Imperialism bear its sup
porters back toward the dark ages.
There is no middle ground between
the American policy and the Euro
pean policy. If this nation remains
true to its principles, its traditions
and its history, it cannot hold colo
nies. If it enters upon a colonial ca
reer, it must repudiate the doctrine
that governments derive their just
powers from the consent of the gov
erned.
When such an issue is raised, there
can only be two parties—the party,
whatever its name may be, which be
lieves in a republic, and the party,
whatever its name, which believes in
an empire and the influence of every
citizen is, consciously or unconscious
ly, intentionally or unintentionally,
thrown upon the one side or the
other.
Where the divine right of kings is
recognized, the monarch can grant
different degrees of liberty to differ
ent subjects. The people of England
can be ruled in one way, the people
of Canada in another, the people of
Ireland in another, while the people
of India may be governed according
to still different forms. But there can
be no such variety in a republic. The
doctrine of a republic differs from the
doctrine of a monarch as the day dif
fers from the night, and between the
two doctrines there is, and ever must
be, an irrepressible conflict.
Queen Victoria has recognized this
necessary antagonism between the
Democratic and imperial form of gov
ernment. In proroguing parliament a
few days ago, she said:
"Believing that the continued po
litical independence of the republics
would be a constant danger to the
peace of South Africa, I authorized
the annexation of the Orange Free
State."
A republic is always a menace to
a monarch, just as truth is always a
meance to error. Self-government,
being the natural government, must
necessarily create dissastisfaction
among the subjects of those govern
ments which build upon some other
foundation than the consent of the
governed. What the Orange Free
State and the Transvaal republics are
to South Africa, our republic is to
the world, and only our increasing
strength and the wide Atlantic have
protected us from the inextinguishable
hostility which must exist between
those who support a throne and those
who recognize the citizen as the sov
ereign.
Every step taken' toward imperial
ism by this nation meets with prompt
and effusive encouragement from Eu
rope. Lincoln pointed to the interest
which SJuropep-' nations haye in the
abandonment) .re of the doctrine of
equal rights. Ae said:
"The prit titles of Jefferson are the
definitions and axioms of tree society.
uously argue that they apply to 'su
perior races These expressions, dif
fering in form, are identical in object
and effect—the supplanting the prin
ciples of free government, and restor
ing those of classification, caste,
legitimacy. Tliey would delight a
convocation of crowned heads plotting
against the people. They are the van
guard, the miners and sappers of re
turning despotism. We must repulse
them or they will subjugate us."
Our opponents say that the world
would laugh at us if we would give
independence to the Filipinos. Yes,
kings would laugh, aristocrats would
laugh, and those would laugh who
deny the inalienable rights of men
and despise the humbler folk who
"along the cool, sequestered vale of
life, keep the noiseless tenor of their
way," but l«t this nation stand erect,
and, spurning the bribes of wealth and
mc oifiuiucaut Biaiv* ouu, ojiuiumg tuc uuuco ui Wttallil ana
ment that the gentleman was visiting power, show, that there is a nobility
tha Din
a*. iu
In mtlnnfrvl
am
in the principles which we profess let
it show that there is a difference be
tween a republic and a monarchy, and
the opporessed in every land will see
in our flag the hope of their own de
liverance, and, whether they are bleed
ing upon the battlefield or groaning
beneath a tyrant's lash, will raise
their eyes toward heaven and breathe a
fervent prayer for the safety of our
republic.
Her Dog Collar Belt.
Young women frequently wear belts
that were manufactured to go around
the necks of dogs. They show thus
how slender their waists are, a dog
being big enough to clasp them. Phil
osophers can dig out no other reason
for this fad. In Philadelphia the ot^er
day a young woman wore an engraved
dog collar belt which she had bor
rowed for the time from her father's
-tiff. The engraving was of a mas
tiff's head, and around it ran the
words: "I am John Brown's dog.
Whose dog are you?" Smiles and
sneers were handed out to the young
woman from those who read the belt,
and she appeared to be delighted with
the attention she was winning.
Iabori*§ Lecture Tour.
The principal object of Maitre La
bori's lecturing tour of the United
States next winter, it is said, is to re
cuperate his fortunes, destroyed be
yond repair in France by his connec
tion with the Dreyfus case. Not only
did his defense of the persecuted cap
tain bring him no return for his serv
ices, but lost for him his expenses,
his neglected clients and any prospec^
of professional success in the future on
account of the unpopularity of his suc
cess in the "grande affaire."
Italjr'1 Shortlened Klngi.
The new king of Italy is taller than
his father and mother, but has ab
normally short legs, that seem charac
teristic of his branch of the family.
They were very noticeable in his fath
er, King Humbert, and in his grand
father, King Victor Emanuel, so thai)
those personages seemed hardly taller
when they stood up than when they
were seated.
The Prince's Flower.
One fashion that the Prince of Wales
evidently delights in following is that
of wearing a buttonhole flower. He
•has no favorite bloom, but, especially
during the summer months, half a doz
en buttonholes of various flowers are
placed on his table every morning, and
from these he takes his choice.
Two Bounties for One Bear.
It is the law in Maine that the boun
ty for bears shall be paid when the
animal's nose is shown in New Hamp
shire the ears must be exhibited.
Some enterprising sportsmen living
near the borders of the two states get
a double bounty by collecting on the
noses in one state and on the ears in
another.
Good Prices for Old Books.
A collection of children's books from
the seventeenth to the nineteenth cen
tury and of horn books, formed by the
late Mr. A. W. Tuer, was sold in Lon
don for $3,010. Among the high prices
were Charles Lamb's "Beauty and the
Beast," first edition, $215 Charles ana
Mary Lamb's "Mrs. Leicester's School,"
$210, and their "Poetry for Children,"
first edition, $405.
The Situation.
"I see," said Brother Dickey, In an
interview with Frank Stanton, "dat de
Chinese is still on de rampage? But,
bless God, I don't patronize no mo' er
dem! I done took my shirt en collar
outen de laundry, en I gwine ter git
married en git a peaceable 'Merikin
lady ter do my washin'!"
Nothing In It.
An old Chicago detective says:
"Don't take any stock in stories of
people being chloroformed in open
rooms by burglars. Chloroform in an
open room is no more effective than
it would be out of doors. Its unpleas
ant odor usually awakes sleepers and
keeps them awake."
Only Two Left.
Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes prophe
sied that there would be only one sur
vivor of the Harvard class of '29 by the
end of the century. He came near it,
for there are only two—Charles Storer
Storrow, of Boston, and Dr. Edward
Linzee Cunningham, of Newport, R. I.
The Gackwar's Son at Oxford.
The eldest son of the Gackwar of Ba
roda, Prince Fatteh Sing Rao, Is to
enter Oxford. He holds the command
of a regiment of cavalry in the army
of the Baroda state.
Chuchltls and Trolleyltis.
The mania for riding on railway
trains is now known as chuchuitis. A
physician has invented a word to de
scribe a patient whose mania is rid
ing upon the trolley cars. He calls)
him a trolliac, which is' a very expres
sive term. The doctor says that trol
leyitis io oecoming very prevalent.
A Brown Statue in Chicago.
A large bronze statue representinj
John Brown, with a drawn sword, anc
holding a negro child, is to be erectec
in Lincoln park, Chicago.
Kitchener May Marry Next Sprinff.
There is some talk in London to thi
effect that Lord Kitchener is to bi
married next spring, and that his en
gagement will be announced upon hi
return from South Africa.
jes, giraffes and ostriches''
Le^es than any other creatures.
»ys talk who never thtnir
In
kyi
n«n 1
They had been discussing a new nov
el which dealt with a hero with a
past.
"I think if she had really loved him
she would have been willing to accept
his past without any question," she
said.
"Would yon?" he asked,
"Why, yes—if I loved him. What's
the good of prying into all the nooks
and corners of the years that have
gone in a man's life? They are gone,
and you can't help them or undo them
or—or—anything, and if ghosts can
sleep, where is the comfort in starting
them to walking about? But"—sud
denly facing about—"I don't believe In
one privilege for a man and none for a
woman. If a woman takes a man's
past without a question, then he has
no right to stir up her ghosts, you
know. I believe in fair play at any
rate."
"But you know," he said, "good
women have no pasts."
"But good men may have, eh?" she
asked. "Well, it is the same old
story—a man may be a fool in his
folly and yet be good, but let a woman
be never so little a fool in her folly,
and. lo, she isn't good a bit."
"I didn't say that," he answered,
looking indignantly down at her
flushed cheeks, "and I believe I like
you best when you champion your sex.
Go on, dear.' Yon are very pretty to
day." But she only looked down at
the toe of her shoe and said nothing.
After a moment he reached out and
drew her closer. "Sweetheart," he said
in a low voice, "we have no question to
ask, no ghosts to walk about. We can
•safely take each other's 'pasts/ so let's
be happy in our present."
They had been married a month or
two, and no day that passed had flown
by burdened with a record of "ques
tions."
Tonight they were both very quiet
he, looking over her head into the
coals that glowed and flashed and
flickered like the moods of a human
soul she, with her elbow on his knee
and her eyes half shut behind her open
palm.
"You are so still, dear," he said.
"What is it?"
"Nothing," said she, without moving.
"I must have been far away, for I can
not recall of what I was thinking. I
tlare say I wasn't thinking at all."
"I do not accept that," he retorted,
half laughing. "A person always
thinks, and it is no compliment to me
if you are close enough to touch me
and are yet far out of my ken. I know
you were not asleep."
"No," s_- said, "resting her chin on
her hand and opening wide her eyes
"ho, I wasn't asleep. But you—of what
were you thinking? You were just as
still as I."
"I was not 'far away,' he answered,
at all odds. I was just wondering
how I could ever be good enough for
you." And he lifted her up to his knee
and smoothed back the soft curls of
her hair.
She turned her face down on his
shoulder. "Don't," she said. "I pray—
really I do—every day, that you will
always believe I am good. I am not
half the woman I ought to be, no, not
half." And then she began to cry.
"You foolish little woman," he said,
patting her shoulder as if she were a
fretful baby, "as if there were an hour
of your life that you need to live over
for repentance sake."
"If there were you would never for
give me," she said, drying her eyes and
lifting her head to look into his face.
The bare shadow of a frown passed
over the brow of the man. "Knowing
there is no possibility that I shall ever
be called on to 'forgive,'" he said,
Chinese Gordon's Prophesy/
Remarkable Forecast 20 Years Ago of
Present Events in China.
Wipiwini'inmrtnnnnfliwrfwwww'iiwiiwimmnnmnmiwiviinininin.wiwimiwni'inni'iniiiw
There was probably no European
more qualified .to express an opinion
on the Chinese than Col. Gordon, more
commonly called Chinese Gordon,
whose strange career closed at Khar
toum in January, 1885. His military
association With them during the two
years from 1863 to 1865, when he com
manded the Ever Victorious Army,
as it was styled, gave him a unique ex
perience of the Chinese and an in
sight into their somewhat complex
character.
In 1880 Gordon said of the Chinese
that they had no fear of death, though
he had seen them at times fleeing like
sheep. But what Europeans would
have to consider in future dealings
wiith that people was, he added, the
awful consequences of a general move
ment, when least expected, in the vast
inert m&ses of hundreds of millions
of men to overwhelm the foreign dev
ils, whdm they hate like poison.
The danger of such'an outburst,
Gordon said, became greater every
year on account of the way the Chi
nese were being harassed by the Eu
ropean states with demands for com
pensations, -in some cases just, in
others quite frivolous. When they
saw that their only -means of meeting
the aggressions was to organize an
army with improved weapons, then
they would buy guns and rifles and
ships, ond-wra' the- aid Off European^'
who
would
drill and
always be founi-ready to
organize them, tnoy would
I areate a torml4abta army.
stiffly, '1 don't see why we need dig-'
cuss the probability of such a thing-rr
do you?"
The woman laughed—a funny, little,
forced laugh. "We are very silly—
that is, I am,"' she corrected. "I find
myself wondering what you would do
or what I would if such and such were
the case. It is very absurd, even to
think about, isn't it?"
"Very," he agreed promptly. "There
being nothing to 'forgive,' how could I
'forgive,' and how do you know wheth-,.
er I would or not if there were?" W'
She did not answer. By and by she
said a little timidly, "I almost wish,
dear, there was something I could 'for
give' you."
He reached over, a little impatiently,
and poked the grate. Then he stood
up and faced her with a dark flush on
his face. "I heard," he said, "that a
woman was never satisfied unless a
man had some blot on his life. I nev
er expected, however, that you would
find fault with a clean escutcheon."
The tone was as cutting as the words.
It was the first tone she had ever heard
him address to her that had not a ca
ress. She grew pale and dropped over
the chair back like some suddenly
stricken creature.
In an instant he was beside her. all
repentance. "I was a brute, dear. Now
you have something to forgive."
An hour later, after the gas was
lighted and they had read a little and
talked a little upon indifferent sub
jects, she. with her mental equipoise
fully restored, quoted softly, 'Let him
that thinketh he standeth take heed
lest he fall.' Dear, I am afraid we
came dangerously near to our 'pasts'
tonight."
The man looked sober and said,
"That's enough," but when the woman,
now thoroughly mistress of the situa
tion, laughed and teasingly asked,
"Who was the woman, dear?" he was
wise enough simply to kiss her up
turned face, and since then they have
both been wise enough to let sleeping
ghosts lie.—Chicago American.
Keeping In Debt.
There is a type of good fellow, evilly
generous, whose only salvation lies in
keeping in debt—not borrowing a
quarter here and there, or $5, or $10^
or $25 from friends who cannot sparQ
ft, but buying property on the instal
ment plan, so much down each week
or forfeiture. This keeps him "up to
the scratch," as the phrase goes. It
keeps his nose to the grindstone,where
as otherwise it would be in the mint
I have in mind a man who never earn
ed more than $30 a week in his life,
but who has bought no less than three
large farms in the last twenty years
out of his savings. These savings were
like the average cotton crop in thai
south—mortgaged long before planted.
He dared not squander a cent, and the
habit of paying a certain sum each
month to retain possession of his es
tates made him so abstemious that hia
appetite was reduced to one glass of
beer a week and a piece of pie for din
ner. But bp c\n buy all his old pals
today.—NeAv Yirk Press.
A Ttemaicab)*' Meteorite.
The jparfte
ly iJgeiPfcl 'bmmunication from La
relating to a remarkable
which fell near that city.
It was observed Nov. 20, 1899, at 7 h.
24 m. by a clear and starry night, the
moon not being visible. According to
the observers who were stationed on
the hill of St. Sebastian, a short dis
tance from the town of Coronilla, the
meteor passed in a straight line from
southwest to southeast during five or
six seconds, over one-third of the visi
ble horizon. It had the form of an im
mense disk of a reddish white color,
with a train of bluish light. It ex
ploded near the town of Pazedon and
projected a number of meteorites upon
the ground.
First Visitor from America.
At the dinner of Oriel college, Ox
ford, after the commencement exer
cises, the toastmaster, in speaking of
Professor Charles Eliot Norton, one of
the guests, referred to the first visitor
from America to England, a cocoanut
washed up on the Irish coast long be
fore America was discovered. The nut
was then richly mounted in silver and
has ever since, every year for cen
turies, stood on the table at the Oriel
dinner before the provost of the col
lege.
Men love women women only love
to love men.—Ex.
Of one thing Gordon felt quite
sure. The days when Europeans could
march up to Chinese troops in posi
tion, or in defense of a position, and
sweep them away like flies, would
soon be over. There would be no
more military promenades by a few
hundred British and French troops
through the country, driving thousands
of Chinese before them.
Speaking of the authorities, Gordon
said a Mandarin was never to be
trusted, and he was only too glad
when he left their service. The Eng
lish, in his opinion, made the mis
take of thinking they were'welcome
wherever they went, but in 15 or 20
years they would find proof to the
contrary. With all their supersti
tions, their vices and theiX ignorance
the Chinese were, in GordoSte estima-'
tion, far too good to be ruletl by the
class that governed them. "She gov
ernments of France, Russia aod E'ng
land, he emphatically declarefl, had
for the 40 years before the
spoke treated the Chinese
dalously.
Current events are provir
curately Chinese Gordon
situation, and the regret
tain defects of chafacter temnerl
ament should have causraV
abandon- a position in whic^l lie coulSt
have Rendered great sermcj to Chi
and civilization.. In 0»e\l!-ht oi wfr-,
Is passing in CMtut to-d r.y. Gorfota|
words ©I Vj
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