The Richmond Virginian., May 02, 1910, CITY EDITION, Image 10

About The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920

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MAY 2
2
raica or vmoiNUN.
PwCopy, CHy Edition.,., lc.
Per Copy, 8t*te Edition_3c.
By Mail, One Year.*4.00.
ITO RIAL
Party Law.
George E. Cassell, of East Radford, ad
a conummicatiun to the Roanoke Timci
Which be asks for the whiter’s opinion oi a
ition to nominate the Democratic caudi
for Congress from the Sixth District bj
ntion rather than by primary election
thstanding that the committee has al
fixed the date for the primary
Times answers bluntly that it favors the
wary and gives several good reasons for pro
irring that method of choosing candidates for
And yet, strangely enough, our eontem
itptrary does not mention the fundamental rea
•on, namely, that the party law demands that
»nominees for Congress be se.lected by primary
jdeetion. And not so strangely either, seeing
lit&t in the Ninth District, and afterwards in
the Fifth District, party law was disregarded
and the primary set aside for a convention.
Again, it is passing strange that the law of
| the party is thus set at defiance without protest,
|ifltcept from a few newspapers. There lias been
|ao meeting of the State Central Committee to
intake action concerning what the Henry County
^Bulletin bas boldly proclaimed to be a rebellion
i%gainst the constituted authorities.
g|" The simple Tact that the primary has Tieen dls
Iparded is not the question. The question of
ous moment is that in two instances the
itten law of the party has been discarded and
is now talk of discarding it in the Sixth
ct. Indeed Mr. Cassell and the editor of
Roanoke Times write as though there were
law on the subject, as though it were optional
ith the District Committee to call either a pri
or a convention, whereas the law is manda
It says that iu each district nominations
bo by primary election and that the Dem
ralie voters shall have the privilege of ehoos
the nominee by popular vote.
The Virginian lias not been accused or suspect
oi neing a party organ, nut it is in amumuon
the Democratic party and believes thnt
y laws as well as statutory laws are made
1>e enforced and obeyed. It seems to us a
us matter that the primary law is treated
eh tine contempt and we are. ele.arly o
ion that if this sort of thing is to continue,
P* law should be repealed. In short, we regard
y organization, party discipline and party
tty as of i*iore consequence than the party
od of choosing candidates, for the latter is
inprely a matter of policy, while the first is fund
•znental and vital.
' We fear that this “rebellion” is heaping up
future trouble for the Democratic party. It
,y be of little consequence tlfat the nomiuation
the Ninth or the Fifth or the Bixth districts
made by convention. But it may well be that
some other district where there is a different
tion, some aspirant will rise up after the
Steven t ion lias been held, claim that the Demo
cratic nomination was irregularly made and,
Juence, not binding and so rally the discordant
element to his support and form a dangerous
pphnee with the Republicans. Tt is a risky
%tisiness to frfle with law.
Hearst Repudiated.
| In spite of the roasting which Mayor Gaynor
pad others have gotten for their behavior at
pbft Associated Press dinner, William It. Hearst
jMluiot but feel the stinging rebuke administered
him by his brother newspaper men. Not
nding Gaynor’s had manners he called
ition to the Hearst method and cited a case
point by way of illustration. And the news
.per men took this occasion to make a demon
jtfnttion against the Hearst type of journalism.
We have no sympathy with the manner of
it. Mr. Gaynor intimated that he had full
ission from the committee to atack .Mr.
,rst and that in so doing he was doing that
was expected of him. If that be the ease,
ever, the incident is made worse. If there
a conspiracy hatched out in advance to
once and repudiate Hearst and to bring
e charges against him, in common fair
he should have been put on notice ami
an opportunity to defend himself. Hut
was not present and when his repre
ive undertook to reply to Gayuor, he wus
led down and cries of “put him out”
heard from all parts of the house. The
lie wretched business was a reflection upon
manners and sense of justice of the news
men who took part in the demonstration,
we repeat, there is scant comfort in any
is for Mr. Hearst. Gaynor was permitted
him in the house of his fellow erafts
and he was sustained because the men felt
Hearst deserved the lashing he received.!
ver in apt and untimely the occasion may i
■e been. .
The Staunton Method.
report of Charles E. Ashburner, “general
sger” of the city of Staunton, for the past
1 year is before us and makes a good exhibit
the Staunton method. The manager makes
following summary of his work: ,
“Notwithstanding the fact that we
have incurred no indebtedness we have
strueted 6.993 lineal feet of grano
lithic sidewalks, an increase of ; 3,106
feet over the preceding year; 12,630
al feet of macadam and asphalt
macadam streets, increasing last year’s
street construction by over 3,000 lineal
feott 3,246 lineal feet of sewer, as
against 993 feet last year, while the
at of curb laid was 1,824 feet lust
and 2,556 feet this year and the
;1
cost of each item of this work has been
_reduced. ___
“In the Water Department we laid
5,903 feet of water nmius, an increase
over last year of a little more than Ij300
feet.
' f “ During the last eight months of
last year there was expended in build
ings the sum of $40,(Xh>, and during this
year $185,565, showing a very healthy
growth in building operations carried
on by the citizens.”
i The significant feature of this report is that
the improvements noted were made without in
Jcurring any indebtedness, which means, we take
lit, that the colt was paid out of current reve
nues. But there is no mystery as under the Stauri
jton plan a practical business man is managing
the business affairs of the city and doing it by
!the ordinary rules of business, as distinguished
| from the rule of politics.
Charms of City Life.
A writer in the Baltimore Sun who has been
pointing out the foolishness of'trTose wno sfarve
in the cities when they might have plenty in the
country relates the following:
lie boarded an open ear in Baltimore one day
when the weather had suddenly turned cold
and a chilly rain was falling. The conductor
'chanced to he a Than from his own county of
I Charles. After “passing the time of day” he
asked after the conductor’s health and the man
replied that be was suffering from rheumatism.
;The other remonstrated with him for being out
in the rain in such a condition. The conductor
! replied that he bad a family to support and
that he had to be on the job every day in order
to earn enough to keep the wolf from the door.
The conversation was then continued as follows:
“ ‘How long have you been on this job!’ I
| asked.
“ ‘Eight years.’ was his reply.
S “ ‘Well* why in the name of common sense
didn’t you stay in Charles county?’
“ ‘Shucks,’ replied ho. ‘Yon can t make any
money down thpre.’
“This got me to thinking hard, so 1 said:
‘Suppose you had stayed in Charles county.
Suppose you were there now; what would you
be doing?’
“ ‘Why, I'd he sitting by a fire, nursing this
rheumatism. ’
“ ‘You would, eh? And yet in Baltimore city,
where you get fair wages every week, you are
forced into this cold rain because you haven’t
one cent to rub against another. You can’t
make any money down in Charles county; yet
if you were there, you’d be sitting by a warm
fire. You can make money here, and yet you
are forced your necessities to work on an in
clement day'that is dangerous to your very life
and the life of your family.
“‘Now, listen, John, to tins; If you were
back in Charles county, no matter what your
returns were in actual dollars, you would be
better off. You would, by an amount of labor
not exceeding what you are performing now, be
iu possession of at, least a tight roof. Your wife
and you would have your garden of vegetables.
Poultry and eggs would come to your table.
You could not starve—you could not be worse
off. My boy, counting merely by dollars does
not answer life’s problems. We have got to
count by actual results.*’
But the secret of it, is that this man and bis
! family would rather enjoy the pleasures of
| city life on half rations than a fatted calf and
dullness on the farm. Their bodies can put up
with a crust, and the rheumatism, but the soul
|must have its excitements, or it will starve.
Is Kissing Safe?
Dr. A. M. Worthington of Harvard Medical
School declared in a recent lecture on “Man
and His Bacteria’’ that kissing was a perfectly
safe pastime. He assured his hearers that the
only danger in the practice to healthy persons
was a sudden and violent attack or heart trou
ble. “There is every reason to believe,” he
concluded, “that when two wholesome persons,
meet lip to lip they may break away without'
upsetting the bacterial balance.”
Dr. Worthington made a broad assertion when \
he said the only danger in kissing was that of a
sudden attack of heart trouble. Some men and
women know to their sorrow that under various
conditions, circumstances and environments, kiss
ing is more dangerous than bacteria and liable I
to breed other troubles than those of the heart.!
We warn our readers, therefore, that is to say any !
of them who may need waning, that the medical j
expert was merely discussing the scientific, ef
fect of kissing and not the most dangerous
phase of oscillatory recreation and pastime.
Mr. Roosevelt’s rfercncc to himself as a states
man recalls a story which Mr. Joseph Bryan
used to tell'with keen relish.
A congressman of old who was a man of
pomp and pride was asked by a woman who was
visiting Washington if there were many states
men.
“My dear madam,” replied the pompous one,
“there are many politicians, nut as for real
statesman—why madam, 1 might say that you |
could count us on the fingers of one hand.”
The talk of a conspiracy against President
Taft by Pinehot & Co. is the lost resort of des
peration by Ballinger & Co. and now comes the
statement from Washington that Ballinger must
g(>
Mr. Roosevelt has captured Amsterdam. i
Ian't that another case of the Dutch taking
Holland y -
V - I *. . • / • , ' r _
BRYUN AND ROOSEVELT
Great Americans—A Comparison and a Con
trast Between Our Two Most
Distinguished Citizens.
(Written for The Virginian.)
In u recent editorial of The Virginian, Cole. Bryan
1 and Kcosevelt are spoken of as "two of a kind.”
This Is true in the connection there referred to—
the wonderful hold of each upon the masses of his
own political party, and to some extent upon those
of the opposing party or of the people generally. But
; in certain ether respects these two men are as diverse
j as well could be imagined—as far removed the one
i from the other as the spirit of Bayard, the knlgnt
! without fear and without reproach, from that of—
1 J. J. Jeltrles, we will say.
Take the men themselves, or their respective per
i sonal temperaments and characteristics; take their
i basis political principles; their methods and means or
' success.
j Bryan Is. in very truth, the great Commoner; from
i the foundation up, and through and through, the
man for the masses, the constant and consistent
champion of tho diggers and delvers of the day, be
cause himself rooted and grounded in the principles
of JelTerson’s Immortal maxim, "Equal rights for all.
special privileges to none.” And this, too, though
Bryan, like Jefferson, comes of a respectable family
of aristocratic old Virginia, in the truest, most fun
damental sense of the word, Bryan is a democrat, nts
own htart and soul voicing the keynote of, his 190
campaign. Shall the people rule? This 1908 slogan
furnishes the sesame to his whole career; this, am
ids unswerving, able advocacy of the people's right®
and sovereignty, the reason he is at once the best
loved and the worst hated democrat since his pattern
and prototype. Thomas Jefferson
With Bryan, all real reform must come, not only
from the people themselves, the sovereigns, but by
and through the people. They shall have as direct
a voice In managing their own affairs as their num
bers and distribution will permit; his government is
as nearly one directly by the masses as possible,
hewing close to a pure democracy as defined hy
political economists. Roosevelt Is, at most, a repub
lican In its original sense—a believer in the rule ot
tho people, perhaps, but not directly by the people
themselves, but so far as possible, through repre
sentatives. lie Is a sort of made-over Federalist, ad
vocating rule by the “best,” this best to be, as much
as may be, self-chosen and seif-perpetuatlng, ana
themselves to decide for the people what are the
people's needs. This may serve to explatn the vehe
ment dislike of this strenuous reformer for the Con
stitution and Institutions of the new and progressive
State of Oklahoma, admitted during hts presidency,
his opinion of which Constitution he said was "un
printable"; though It is to bo remembered that the
new State came In strongly democratic, rough-riding
trie auviro or nooseveii s genial secretary or war
lo “vruit a little while," and Senator Gore, of Okla
homa, remarked that a good many of the President's
opinions were unprintable.
Hence Bryan stands for self-rule, not alone in the
affairs of the whole confederated republic (as Wasn
! Ington styled the 1'nited Statesi, but in those of each
| State, each community; the historic democratic prin
j i iple of local self-government. Roosevelt stands, in
; general, for centralism—especially when himself is
at the center—for encroachments by the Federal gov
ernment upon the reserved rights of the States, for
"constructive” delegations of power to this central
authority even In the face of the tenth amendment
to ttie Federal Constitution. Yet. true to primitive
Federalism, this latter-day Federalist can stretch local
authority literally to the breaking point when per
sonal or partisan exigency demands; as, when he
aided and abetted secession by a small corner of a
sister republic at peace with our government, or
when, as Governor of New York, he openly nuUlfle
that Federal Constitution he was sworn to obey, »r
j refused to surrender, upon demand of a sister State,
I a fugitive from justice who huppened to belong to
| Mr. Roosevelt’s own political party.
Likewise, Bryan Is the friend of foreign peoples
struggling for independence, and Is loved and revered
as such by the Cuban, the Boer, the Filipino (though
In the latter case ho, like a loyal American, when
in the Philippines, refused to commit himself against
the adopted policy there of his government.) Roose
velt, 1 believe, professes to be for the ultimate Inde
pendence of such peoples; that is. when the stronger
nation exploiting them shall, in Its wisdom, ultimately
decide that its protege vl ot armis is ready to pass
from the plundered class in the happy family of na
tions to plundering. And so, under Roosevelt s sys
tem, their ultimate independence bids fair to remain,
like his friend Bodge's ultimate consumer, a myth, a
shadowy something often sought but never found.
Book at the pictures of Cols. Bryan and Roosevelt
and compare them.
In Bryan you see a strong man, yet a kindly, clear
cut features, fearless, direct gaze (transformed at
close range, in the living man. Into eyes of startling
and piercing keenness); a inattlve forehead—all 11
all, a thinker; hardly the dreamer of his unfriendly
critics, but through and through the Idealist he is
known to be.
Roosevelt's photograph shows a solidly built man,
barely escaping the stocky; bullet head, cx neck, t"
dog teeth; a wide-awake, aggressive individual, wltn
plenty of sense, doubtless, but certainly of no tower
ing Intellect. The face Itself, in life, bears an ex
pression of marked grumness, if not Indeed surliness,
not pleasant to see to one who cherishes even in a
reforming cavalier the milk of human kindness. Hit
eyes have not that intensely frank look we mlgh
expect in an impulsive, strenuously honest militant
reformers, but rather squinting In appearance—mis
possibly due to his reputed near-sightedness. Roose
velt proclaims himself a practical man; he certainly
seems to be—as in the Harriman incident, where it
plainly appears that with this reformer nice senti
ment of ethics are not to be permitted to stand In tne j
Wav of a desired end \'nr when some ttf his “nrac- '
tlcHl" scheming are exposed, does any Instlnottve
generosity, or *-ven common honor between confed
erates, deter him a moment from utilizing his high
position to unload all tile odium upon the little reltow
in the deal, indeed, magnanimity—the square deal
as between man and man—in Koosevelt the pollt'
cian or public officer. Is vocal by its absence. Just
go over his myriad controversies while in the White
House, and judge for yourself.
And there you get the sunt and substance of the
two men in their heart and mind make-up: Hryan, tno
Idealist; Roosevelt, the opportunist.
Mr. Hryan thinks that theft is theft wherever found, j
and so he assails a robber tariff, not alone when :
hugged to its sheltering bosom by the republican or- |
ganization aw Us own pet and darling, but alike when j
coddle by recalcitrant members of his own party.
Roosevelt, the student and writer, condemns the
‘protective" principle as vicious in theory and harm
ful in practice, hut Roosevelt, the politician, ts care
ful to leave undisturbed, during his seven-year-long
augcan task, his party's historic floral emblem, R j
sacred touch-me-not of "protection.” Bryan, not .
contenting himself with glittering generalities nnd j
j liable platitudes on honesty and popular rights, ovl- •
c'cntly hits the bull's-eye with his concrete remedies
proposed, for he goes into a campaign for election j
with all the great beneficiaries of the Industrie! abuses
of the day lined up solidly against him; Roosevelt,
vehement in his denunciation of wealthy malefactors,
yet corrals Into his party's groaning colters those
malefactors' millions in the fight. Here, it appears,
the might hunter's words were not transformed into
deeds. Verily, he heeds the Scriptural injunction
to make friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, i
and on occasions converts his square deal into a rare
steal for some, ag when making himself part ar j
parcel of the illegal steel trust merger—that steel (or :
steal) monopoly which is one of this practical leaders
"good trusts."
Bryan, the idealist, may err gt times as a practical
politician. Thus, judging others by hlm«elf. he, at the
clor.e of the war with Spain, overestimated the mora
and sentimental std« of the average American's make
up. and hoped to sweep the country on the too es
sentially just and sensible platform of anti-impe
rialism, of according to the far-off KUlplno that same
liberty wo had long cherished as our own most pre
cious heritage. Roosevelt, on the other side of the
name Issue, was in his element, riding upon the surg
ing tide of new-born Jingoism consequent upon
America's llrst war of many decades, and urging upon |
his hearers' willing .ears the beauties of a white man’s j i
burden, newly found and self-imposed—and where 1
prospective profits went hand In hand with profess; ,
duty. ]
A couple of centuries earlier Bryan would likelv i
have-been with the handful of ridiculed phllanthro- i
piste opposed to slave importation from Africa; ;
Roosevelt, R»e practical, »» jld have Just as forcibly
•njolned Won us the Chrtrtlan duty of bringing tne
ben tghTtjfji eathen 16 dllh «a«res (dldh# wmtBircKerF
to our packets), tho beauty of individual man-steal
ing, as he now champions the kidnapping of back
ward peoples en bloc.
It has been said that Bryan is a man ahead of h
times, i'erhaps he Is. If so, he Is all the more a real
leader. Of Roosevelt It may well be charged (as field
| said of Abraham Lincoln) that In American politics
! he la w hat the London Time# Is In Kngllsh journalism
—he does not lead public opinion, but follows it so
closely that when the wave breaks he Is found- siding
in upon its crest.
it nas tern often pointed out that the ae-iatm*,.
reiorms of liouse«eit lu-uay are (so far as actually
aim euecuveiy cairtea out/ me noutea Heresies y.
r>rjan of yesteruay. itooseveit, the practical, reaps
mo auunuant narvest sown oy Aryan, me
just before him. uryan breasts tne raging gale, am
noius aunt nis naming beat'bn to warn tne careless
anu shuri-elgnied of Lie dangerous rocas and treacn
erous yuicK-sanus jusi aneao. itooseielt trims his
sail to me prevailing breeze and rides past tne beacon
into tne harbor. Liao his party tnrougnout its whole
history, Roosevelt relies ior success upon a skutui
welding of special interests and appetites, out ad
justed to seeming cuuiorrnuy with tne general good,
ills own success Is thereby secured; tne resultant
Voud to the rieoiwe Is at 1,,,-t urnnlf-mlllrHi Kur
himself Roosevelt obtained over seven years of vo'
ciferous trust-busting in me VVtute House, but wher
tne smoke had rolled away U was found that th«
only trust removed during those seven years (it
uuote Oliie James) was "fn God we trust" from oul
coins. Kooseveit heeus .Lincoln's warning that yot
cannot fool all the people all the time; but he recalls
too, Barnums motto that the American people ton
to be humbugged, and he sets himself the fas* t^ fine
how to fool most of them most of the time.
Ills recent deti of the Hope Is a piece of fine act
ing. It was ume to do something to appeal to tnt
Protestant element of his supporters. Anil ms cable
gram of several hunureu words to explain wnac needed
i no explanation from a good, patriotic American, only
■ serves to eat* attention to tne anmtraoie -working
allience long known to have existed between nimaeii
j and the serried cohorts of a religious oligarchy In
1 this country, and which explains the phenomenal volt
| for hlmselr or his party in certain strong Irish com
i inanities of tha United States. ilis loud-heralded
"tolerance” In religious matters is as tunny as it ll
i transparent. He needs the votes frox^ orttn sides 01
j the fence, arid pl&yB assiduously for i-.J'N.. But nad
! the wind been setting in strongly another way, nt
i would doubtless have out A. P. A.’d the A. P. A. s
i themselves in a flat-footed opposition to ecclesiastical
I meddling ui American politics. In Italy Air. House
| \elt recently said that successful politics consisted
I of honesty, courage and common sense Mended, the
| lust the most uncommon. It appears more and more
i clearly that the last is not the most uncommon In
i his own working combination.
Yes, much smoke, little fire—that has been the
Roosevelt crusade for "righteousness” so tar. v et
some progress Is being made—and along trie line*
mapped out by Bryan years before, whtn me evils
were ie-“8 difficult to overcome, because leas strongly
entrenched. For more and more we are coming to
sc« (to borrow Col. Bryan'a own application of the
j Scripture story) that after all this dreaming jusepn
hus the ccrn.
! In a sense, Roosevelt has far more of success to his
I credit than has Bryan; the success of the loaves and
fishes, won too often In his case through the brutal
methods of the patronage monger. Could he. out of
office, have ever scored three such signal successes
us has Bryan with no conciliating office* at his dtn
posal?
m >niii ill asm ft, ll cV iMiuuiiii uoiiaiiaiu vi mv “
despoilers, !s the apostle of peace and good will. Some
how, he does not think that a crusader must needs
be a bully. Roosevelt preaches the big stick and
soft words, and consistently practices the first nan ot
his preachment.
In their recent journeying in other lands, both or
these men have spoken on timely topics to foreign
audiences—Bryan in South America, Roosevelt in
fcgypt. In Bolivia Mr. Bryan said.
”1 esteem it a great privilege to visit this zenith
republic which is working out its destiny among tiie
clouds. The mountains have ever been the home or
liberty—our strength comes from the hills. The rocks
have been tower and fortress to tne free, anu a
barrier In the path of those who have measured right
by might- The cordilleras, too. have bo hedged about
their treasures that only the brave have dared to
claim them. Luxury and Idleness do not thrive above
corrupt and enervate. Permit me to express tn« nope
the timber line, and it Is luxury and idleness that
that Bolivia will turn her unique position to advan
tages, and set an example In Industry, intelligence,
patriotism and lofty purpose."
Again: "This doctrine of brotherhood is translated
Into everyday language in the commandment, Thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. It is impossible
to overestimate the results of this moral awakening.
It will regenerate the individual and teach him itiai
It is dishonest to draw from sectary more than he
earns, and that he cannot earn more than fairly
measures the value of the service that he renders to
society.”
Take Col. Roosevelt's spectacular defiance ol the
nationalists in Islgypt, or any otner of ins oraeu'ur de
Uevranees, abounding in pious platitudes garmsneu
about with bristling superlatives, and will you Onu
anything more truly forcetul and decided far uie
onward march of ' righteousness" trigntnessi ana
reform? But where In ail the tomes of Roosevelt s
outputs will be found an approach lu the true elo
quence and poetic beauty breathing througn these sen
tences ? And so once more we learn tnat real force
fulness need not be divorced from either geutieness
or gentlemanllness; that
"The bravest are the tenderest, ' ~
The loving are the daring. '
Nor does the knightly Bryan need fear a direct
encounter with the rough-rider Roosevelt. During
the campaign of 1908 Roosevelt Indulged in a char
acteristically reckless and Intemperate cn&rge against
the democratic treasurer. Col. Bryan at once brought
him to book with a stern demand for proof or re
traction, and suggested a trial before some tribunal
his usual bravado, but for proof he relied upon vague
rumors only! And he declined to name his tribunal.
This, too, from the man who once denounced as *he
worst of all thievings tile slanderous theft of another’s
good name!
Napoleon, at St Helana, said that Alexander, Cae
sar and himself had founded empires by force, all
doomed to speedy decay and destruction, while the
kingdom founded in love by Jesus of Nazareth had
endured and grown for eighteen centuries, and was
destined still to go on conquering and to conquer.
Roosevelt came upon the stage as a swash-buckler
from the Cuban war, at a time when the plngo germ
was all ahop In the veins of the Western republic,
ju»t attained to full manhood. And this at a time ot
all times when there was most need to heed care
fully the decline and fall of such earlier powers as
Rome, that had trodden the gory path Qf Mars to
their doom. He has helped to give It an Impetus
down this rockstrewn way; Just how much of an
Impetus remains for the years to show. Too, only
the perspective afforded by the future can display
whether, despite some undoubted good, the balance
shall be made up of Theodore Roosevelt's influence
upon his countrymen for ultimate weal or wee. —
Col. Bryan's position in history seems already as
sured. Whether or not further wreaths shall be
added to his laurels, to his more than to any other
one man Is due whatever of true moral awakening
shall have come in the place of the alarming ma
terialistic greed of a decade or so ago; to him, th
preacher of progress with peace and Justice, «h'
belong the preponderance of credit for the" sober
second thought that began to return to his fellow
Amertcans after the delirium and flrst plunge of so
railed "expansion,” and which may yet save them
from the dark and devious ways of a gold greedy im
perialistic republic. AUSTIN Res'!’.
Lemmon. & D., April 26.
Mr. Byrd’s Explanation.
Speaker Byrd publishes a statement In which he
llspels much misapprehension as to the nature of hie
employment by the governor as special counsel fer the
■Itate, He Is not to receive a fixed, salary but only
ees which are not to exceed *4,000 In two years. The
ippropriatlon available Is *4.000 for tiro'years, and
tot *10,000, as has been stated. The transaction is
icrfectly safe-guarded against Improper or excessive
ise cf the public funds, and there is nothing In It
hat warrants reflection upon the governor In making
he designation or upon Mr. Byrd In accepting It.—
Petersburg Index-Appeal.
EXCEPT SUNDAY
THE RICHMOND VIRGINIAN COMPANY. In
SAMUEL W. MEEK.Buaioeaa M_r
8. B. WOODPIN..Muag{i)| Kiflit/ir
Buaioeaa Offio#: Th* Virginian Building. Governor ud Rom
RICHMOND ... VIRGINIA
D»ily one year, poatage paid.$4.00
Daily aia month*, poatage paid.$».00
Daily three montha, poatage paid............. .$1.00
at RmwJS t*00^1** “***•*; Jaauary 28, 1910. at th« poat-offic*
at Kiciuaoad. 1 a., under act of Sarah $. 1879.
Milady of the Fortunes
By PHILIP KEAN.
1910. by Associated IJterar yPress.)
D„^he duat w“ thick on the long white road; sun
?”dri *Jaru and heat held the noonday world In
bondage. i,ven the birds were languid as they sat
iwth drooped wings on the fence rails. On the
f!It88v„y.ih°/0aJl8lde a woman lay asleep, half hid
?,*“ V „the bhahes- Now and then a curt with a
a .Knd drowsy driver rattled by. Nothing
dlat’ir^d ‘he woman, however, until there came
from the distance the "honk, honk" of an automo
bile horn. At the unusual sound In this far coun
JJ* sat u P- When the big car reached che
blackberry bushes In the fence corner, she was at
the roadside, her hand held up. At her signal th«
car stopped.
i .. ^hat do you want?” asked the man who sat be
side the chauffeur.
ytmr fortune; —IRf great “eyeg
: pleaded, supplementing the softness of her voice
| *■rom the back seat came a protest. “Why should
we stop here In the heat. Oswald?"
I The man was studying the girl's face. "It will
| take only a moment,” he said.
Again the lemlnlne voice protested. "Give heB
some money end we wlh go on.”
The girl by the roadside cast a glance at the girl
In the auto. ”1 do not take money for nothing.”
uhe said. "Let me tell your fortune.”
An older feminine voice urged the necessity ot
I kp'ng on. "Indeed, Osw ald, you are inconsiderate
I to stop here in the heat.”
The young man. still held by the eyes of the girl
! in the roadside, proposed a compromise. "Lot's get
! out and eat our lunch back there in the woods It
| looks cool under the trees.''
!i rheiT.orume tell,,r made an eager eonnrmaUon. "It
Is cool.” she said, "and there is a spring among tug
; rocks."
A murmur of distaste from the girl in the ton
i was followed by the older woman's decision.
We are all hungry, why not?”
The young man, questioning the girl by the road
side. appointed her their guide. "Show us the way
•nto the wood and heip us to rind the spring.” 1
bhe went ahead of them lightly, a picturesque
| ngure—tall and slender, with i mas* ol ,<d gold
| hair In a faded gown of blue. Her wide hat wag
crowned by a wreath of wheat and a band of scar
i let poppies drooped in her hand.
liven the girl who had protested was forced to
admit the beauty of the spot upon which they Anally
came, it was a place ot greenness and of dimness
ot murmuring water and of cr**oriing winds.
"There Is actually a breezi the ....._
***”- •earthly frit It in the nun " The chauf
! *aur unpacked the lunch hamper, spread a white
I on a flat rock and act thereon a fcaat fit for
the gods. The eyes of the fortune teller followed
c\ery movement, but when Oswald filled a plats
with good things and handed It to her she drew
j bac* “-Not unless you let me tell your fortune.”
Come Oswald." an Impatient votes interposed
' fort “nea t^?d "U‘“t’ SyUia- J am *°‘n* t° have my
voice'1"ald:" Thl“ tlrne 11 w*» fhf Older womis'i
oh’ihf„, 5°rVU"' U Ut‘r .b«»nt over hla hand fairly.
! 8I?® told h m many trivia! thing* hi first, tiling ai
-which Sjlwu and her mother smiled. At last, itu*.
ever, she spok. or deeper matters, of business and
of marriage and he gazed at her In wonder.
Uow aid you know these things?" he demanded*
Know— her voice was tremulous. but sud
denly she lifted her head and her eves Hashed.
There are thing*— things that I cannot tell vou
now.'' Sh* looked at the two women and he un
derstood. /
j Some other tine, then.” he murmured.
8he nodded, 'is it worth my lunch?'*
"Indeed, yes." and ha brought her nil the deli,
i cades upon which the others were feasting the
roaat fowl; the salad, the sandwiches. the "coicL
sparkling drinks. , 40
had finished, she stood up and said.
He. followed her for a little distance and de
manded.
"When will you tell me the rest of mv fortune"*
A little troubled look fluttered across her face
' Somewhere, sometime." she said und fled
He went back to find the blond Sylvia tn a 'bad
temper. She complained of everything, blaming the
, by ,*he, for their stop in this lonely
place. Let a leave it as Soon as possible " aha
argued. *“■
It was a long drive before they reached the coun
try house that was their destination. They were just
In time to dress for dinner and Oswald came down
to find waiting for him a tall slender girl whose
n..a£s of red-gold hair lay against the ivory of her
neck. Her filmy chiffon gown trailed behind her
in snowy folds. The band of pearls that held her
shining locks was matched by other pearls that felt
tn ropes almost to her knees.
lie gazed In astonishment. "you?” he asitea
sharply.
Her face showed no sign of recognition. "I don't
understand," she said.
Hte bowed, consenting thus to her deception
Sylvia and her mother stared and gasped as they,
too, recognized the personality of their fellow
guest But only once during the dinner did the
may oi me rea-goia locks lose the air of the uncon
sciousness that enveloped her. It was when they
spoke of lunch. "You were not here," her hostera
said, and the transformed fortune teller had the
rrace to blush and murmur that she had eaten It
elsewhere.
Later, Oswald made her confess, "Why do you try
to convince me that I do not know you?" he asked
her when he had her safe on the moon-lighted
porch. "My heart would know you anywhere." Then
tremulously, "Perhaps you think I deserve them ?”
“It was all such a wild freak." she admitted
later. "How was X to know that you were coming
here? Last night we were talking of poverty, ot
what one might do to obtain a meal If one had not
a cent in the world. It came to me than that I
had never earned anything in my life and X had a
a fancy to see if I could do It. I had often
told fortunes to my friends, so I put on a faded old
gown -and went down that quiet road and waited ~
tfo*'' aorfe one to come. Then I fell asleep and It
Waa your auto that waked me.”
"It waa fate," he Interpolated.
"After I got into it I was humiliated, yet I went
on to the end because I wanted to know what a
girl would have to do who really had to earn what
Ae «%e. I thought that 1 should never see you —
again—and then to find you hero!"
"It waa. fate," he repeated. “But you did not tell
me' the end of my fortune."
"How could I?” she said. "Your hand aald that
you muat not marry a blond woman, and there waa
a blond young lady eating . lunch with you. I
could not tell such a rude fortune."
He looked blank. "Oh. Sylvia Is juat a friend—*
but I hope to marry a blond woman.”
His tone waa so significant that she blushed
"That la,” he amended, "If red-gold hair can ba
called blond.”
Her head went up proudly. "I think." she re
prove^T'"that you are presuming.”
He leaned toward her. "X have said ft Is fate. We
cannot eacape It. Do you wish to escape It, dear
lady of fortunes?”
She shook her head. "I am not sure, and any*
how. It waa a fake fortune—euch things don't coma
true.”
"You can’t get out of It that way.” he said. "Tog
gfomleed that I should marry. There is only ona
woman that I want. May I try to win her?"
And looking up Into his eager eyes she promised.
■VY;«a-”- ■ ' ■
The daffodil Is on the bill,
w But I am fadlah.
The theme Is trite; I’d gather write
▲bout the radish.
Newer Topic.
—Philadelphia Bullet*.
M