Newspaper Page Text
xnm rvviCJfr-A-wHiEK TELEGRAPH
:v f Twr*
IKE MACON TELEGRAPH
PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING
AND TWICE A WEEK BY THE
MACON TELEGRAPH PUBLISH
ING COMPANY. 563 MULBERRY
STREET, MACON. QA.
C. R. PENDLETON, President
THE TELEGRAPH IN ATLANTA.
The Telegraph can be found on tale
at the Kimball House and the Pied
mont Hotel in Atlanta.
MADE HUGHES HI8 STALKING
HORSE.
President Roosevelt has declined
answer directly former Congressman
IVadsworth's charge of being a "faker
iiid humbug” for his removal of Archie
A. s.'indcrs.collector of port for Roches
:er, X. T., for no other offense than
hat ne was a friend of Wadsworth's,
out he authorized the explanation
;lven out on "excellent authority” that
hTs purpose was to uphold the hands of
Governor Hughes by giving the place
to a Hughes man. But the President
failed, apparently, to take Into account
the frank and above-board character
and policies of Governor'Hughes. "Now
comes the declaration from Albany,
also 'on excellent authority,’ ” says the
New York Evening Post, "that Gover
nor Hughes was not consulted about
the removal of Sanders or the appoint
ment of a successor; indeed, that he
knew nothing whatever about the mat
ter till the newspapers published the
story. In fine, Governor Hughes ap
parently does not care to be made tho
scapegoat In this unpleasant affair. If
Sanders Is Incompetent or otherwise
unfit for the office, President Roose
volt’s act has abundant Justification;
but tho mere fact of Sanders'
friendliness or unfriendliness to
ward Hughes, Is, on any theory
of honest administration, wholly lrrel-
jvant. In this Instance. President
Roosevelt has simply reverted to the
spoils system, and used office to re
ward his friends and punish his ene
mies."
CHRISTIANITY AND WAR.
It Is rather startling to find a min
ister of the Gospel glorifying war as
such and a secular newspaper taking
him to task and quoting passages of
Scripture with which to confound him
The Rev. Morgan Dix, D. D„ L.L. D.,
said at the Now York Peace Congress
that war is "an ancient, honorable and
necessary art.” To which the Wash
ington Post replies:
The Rev. Mr. Dix In that re
mark harks back to Joshua’s cam
paign on the farther side of Jordan.
According to tho Good B'ook. the
Gad of Israel personally ordered
the Israelites to put to death the
men. women and children or Ca-
r.aan and seize and possess their
estates. Be it remembered, how
ever. that Israel’s God was Israel's
only, the exclusive possession of
the Hbrews. Let It bo borne in
riled also that there Is not In the
Old Ttestament the slightest recog
nition or hint of the Idea of immor
tality. Tho Jews were and are a
greflt people, but the God of Israel,
ns portrayed In the Jewish Scrip
tures. Is not the Deity whom
Christians worship. Christianity
deals chiefly with the life to come.
And the most illustrious Jew who
has ever lived, the miraculously
conceived Son of a Jewish maiden,
drew the line between the old and
the new by teaching the Immor-
t illty of man and pointing out the
road to eternal happiness. The
Do, ilogue and the Golden Rule an
tedated Christ. But Christ said:
"A new commandment X give unto
you. that ye love one aonther." Ho
s i:d Love your onenjlos.” We are
to ble.-s those who curse us. to
render good for evil. Peace is the
leading thought all through the
teaching- of the Master Not one
word thnt he said furnishes the
shadow of justification for war,
hut emphatic condemnation of war
greets the eye of who roads the
New Testament whenever he comes
up'll w. r«i.- fr vn ;;|,, s of the
Founder of Christianity.
With what con latency can ad
vocates of or participants in war
repeat this p.tirlon: ’Forgive us
our trespass, s awe we forgive
these who trespass against us."
Tho little word ”fl«" Is terribly sig
nificant It is chastisement and
not forgiveness that one asks when
he makes that appeal if he harbors
in his heart hatred, malice, or even
lv.i’d anger t word anybody. Im
agine two great armies facing each
other In the field, expecting a bat
tle the next day. .Imagine thnt on
on. h -hie there ire thousands of
praying men. and thnt the solemni
ty of the situation prompts them to
prayer. They recall the prayer that
they learned ar their mother’s knee,
the sublimely beautiful model left
by Jesus Chri.-t. When they come
to ’’forgive us our trespasses as we
forgive those who tre»p s- 'gainst
us,” do not they present a shock
ing incongruity?
WANT ADVERTISEMENT.
Wanted—A l°ader for the Democratic
; trty. Fifty thousand dollars a year,
ail exp< . £■ s and luxurious quarters at
the white H- as for one qualified for
the place. Answers invited from
forty-six States populated with eighty
million souls, more or Ie«3. Applica
tions to be made to the People in per
son or it-, applicant’s handwriting, stat
ing applicant’s political creed, whether
In accordance with the Democratic
faith or otherwise, and giving in his
own language his understanding of the
same. No trlflers need apply.
IN THE HANDS OF THE INFANT
PRODIGIES.
’’Famous brains are of four sort3,”
says the Chicago Tribune. The Tri
bune gives Hausemar.’s classification
as follows: "The lowest group con
tains the minds that aro stimulated
greatly by alcohol, tea and other drugs
and by Impressions derived from the
senses; the second group contains the
Infant prodigies, whose intellectual
powers wane In middle age; the third
group contains the pathological cases
usually terminating in insanity; the
fourth and highest group is that of
true genius, whose powers remain un
impaired until old age.” A study of
these classes appears to furnish a key
to the Ills, of the Democratic party at
this time. It has fallen Into the hands
of tho infant prodigy class and the
Infant prodigies have reached middle
age.
THE LEGAL “SQUARE DEAL.”
President Roosevelt replies to the
request for a “square deal" made by
the friends of Moyer and Haywood,
who are on trial for their lives and
whom the President characterized as
"undesirable citizens," that he wants
the "square deal” for them, too, and
for everybody else ns well, and'he has
no apology to make for his utterances
on the subject We do not know the
merits of the case against Moyer and
Haywood. If they had any hand in
the cowardly assassination of Governor
Stcunenberg they richly deserve death.
But they aro on trial and the truth Is
yet to be established. The legal maxim
is that the presumption of innocence
attaches to the accused until guilt is
proven. It Is hardly "a square deal,"
in the eyes of the law, to publicly de
nounce an accused person before the
legal evidence Is heard.
from those inhabitants of the Atlantic
seaboard whose chief aim In life is not
to vary one hair's breadth from a cer
tain monotonous level of custom.”
Only four cities in Texas are larger
than Fort Worth, and the census of
1900 gave it a population of about 30,-
000. The Telegram might persuade us
that 29,999 of theae dress for dinner
every evening in London style, and still
we should detect a note of provincial
ity in the anxiety to prove that only a
few Texans are picturesque cow-
punch ers, that all the rest hurry to get
into evening clothes as soon as the
clock strikes six, and that but few of
the glorious State's punctilious sons
would even be caught dead otherwise
appareled after that hour.
HOW MUCH BETTER OFF.
FRIENDLY BRITON AND BOER.
The character of the reception of
Gen. 'Botha in London, and 'his own
attitude as reported, seem to show that
the Boers are a forgiving people and
that the British nation knows how fc
respect and honor a brave and fallen
foe.
According to a cable dispatch, at the
present gathering of the Colonial Pre
miers In London, Botha has received by
far the greater share of attention and
has been positively lionised, t» Iris own
modest satisfaction and the delight of
his daughter and sfster. An "enthusi
astic roar” from the populace greeted
the head of the Transvaal Government
as he drove through the streets on
Tuesday, and at the reception at the
Guiidhall, in the presence of England’s
most distinguished men, Field Marshal
Earl Roberts nearly embraced him in
his manifest Joy at meeting him in
such altered circumstances.”
Gen. Botha's own attitude was re
vealed in these words of his speech:
"The manly, courageous confidence
shown by the British in the people of
the Transvaal Is the best seed ever
sown in South Africa. We will prove
by our acts that we are worthy of this
confidence. Our Government is as
jealous of the honor of the British
flag as any other colony of the empire.
The message from the Transvaal is
that she wants to strengthen the bonds
of oo-operation and love and unity of
the empire.”
Less than half a dozen years have
passed since the Boers were finally
conquered by the B’ritish. Was ever
a "pacification” as prompt, complete
and apparently genuine? What Con
federate general, for example, would
have received such a welcome in the
North and could have spoken such
MISREPRESENTING MR. BRYAN.
It Is natural for Republican organs
like the Chicago Tribune to put the
worst phase on anything smacking of
radical utterance by Mr. W. J. Bryan,
and some of our SJbuthern contempora
ries appear to have accepted too liter
ally and unhesitatingly the statement
of its Washington correspondent that
Mr. BVyan in his Brooklyn speech "not
only declared for the initiative and ref
erendum, but announced that he and
the Democratic party would have to
separate unless it accepted that doc
trine with out reservation.” The Brook
lyn Eagle printed a verbatim report of
Mr. Eryan’s speech from which it ap
pears Mr. Brvan did not make any such
declaration, however much his words
may be capable of being twisted into
this meaning. What Mr. Bryan did
say was this.
"MACHINE” POLITICS THE ONLY
WAY.
Ex-Congressman Wadsworth, of New
York, one among those of President
AT THE RUBICON WITHOUT A
LEADER.
The headless condition of the Demo
cratic party at this - time appears to us
Roosevelts former warm personal and jjjg, mos ^ remarkable phenomenon in
You may help It. you may retard
it, you may defeat it, but one of the
things that Is coming, that is Jef
fersonian. that is Democratic, is the
initiative and referendum for the
control of tho Government. No
man can make an argument against
the referendum who is not pre
pared to deny the capacity of the
people for self-government. You
may differ with me on every ques
tion, but if you do not believe in
the right of the people to govern
themselves I will drive you out of
the Democratic party, and If the
Democratic party does not believe
in the rule of the people It will
have no trouble in driving me out
of the Democratic party: but I do
not think it is coming to the tesL
The crowded condition In which ■ words from his heart in tho year 1870
many of the poor, especially the foreign or even in 1880?
poor, live In the densely populated cen- The difference is so striking as to be
tres of this country is almost beyond j almost startling. The policy pursued
belief. Speaking of a house in Brook- j by the British conquerors in South
iyn which a policeman entered in : Africa since the end of the Boer war
search of an offender, the New York | and that followed in the South by the
Times says. "He (Patrolman Carroll) radicals in control at Washington from
reached the house early in the morning j 1865 to 1S76 were as wide apart as the
when tho inmates were asleep. Most j po ies. The wise British policy has
of the tenants were Poles. Carroll - been, not to punish and humiliate, but
says he found an average of four beds to heal the wounds of war and to cul-
ln a room, and that from four to five | tivate among the Boers not merely
people were accustomed to sleeping in , resignation but real attachment to the
each bed. lie says he counted 2G0 per- 1 interests of the empire of which against
sons in tho house, and believes that j their , wJI i s the> - had become a part,
there were others tucked into out-of- j Thls W iscr policy-ultimately prevailed
the-way corners who escaped his no- j in the Unlted Statos aIso> but was Iong
delayed.'
tlce.”
How much better off Is even the
poorest Southern negro than miserable
wretches herded together in this style.
Even where a negro family lives in a
log hut of one room, the room is a
large one, and there is plentiful space
out of doors, with fresh air, trees,
reen grass, vegetables and—if out of
town—the food-bearing growths of a
farm.
TEXANS DOTE ON EVENING
CLOTHES.
The Fort Worth Telegram takes
up
The New York Tribune says Presi
dent Roosevelt is considering the ques
tion of recommending that Congress
appropriate money to pay the expenses
of national campaigns, allotting each
candidate a sum of money. He is al
ways the "practical” man when the
sinews of war are in question. Some
substitute must be had for Harriman
and his fellows who may refuse to bo
"milked” again.
It may be that Mr. Bryan in a way
implied that the initiative and referen
dum was Identical with the rule of the
people and that to deny the one was
to deny the other; but he did not In so
many words declare it so. Of course
there will be no dissenting voice with
regard to his belief in the rule of the
people and hence no necessity for drlV'
ing or being driven out of the party.
We are n'ot so much disturbed by Mr.
Bryan’s new, or rather old and moth
eaten Issue, as wo are pained at his
apparently utter contempt and want of
sympathy with the South, In spite of
its loyalty to him. In his novel and sen
satlonal utterances. His Government
ownership bomb shell fell most severely
as a blow against Southern ideas and
Interests and now this control of tho
national Government by initiative and
referendum is suggested to a people
who have for forty-three years been
suffering from sectional legislation and
oppression because of the superior
power of the North under the repre
sentative system. If the South has
been practically elminiated from the
benefits of Federal Government when
the States have equal representation
in the Government to some degree as
States, what would be our fate if the
national Government were adminis
tered by the people in mass meeting
and the voice of the more populous
North and of the larger States alone
were heeded. This is practically what
Mr. Bryan’s national Government by
initiative and referendum means. But
we are not concerned about the issue
itself, so utterly impractical and non
sensical is it, as with the contemp
Mr. Bryan manifests for any interest
or sentiment the South ftiay have in
his theories of Government.
political friends to whom the President
does not speak as they now pass by,
has denounced Mr. Rbosevelt as a
"faker and a humbug” because the
President Is systematically decapitat
ing the men holding office by Mr.
Wadsworth’s recommendation, for no
other offense than that they are the
latter’s friends, In violation of the
President's declarations that good men
in office would be retained without re
gard to partisan politics.
President Roosevelt announced that
he would make no reply to Mr. Wads
worth, but "as a partial reply," we are
told in the same breath, “it was given
out yesterday in an authoritative quar
ter that in the removal of Archie San
ders, the collector of internal revenue
for the Western district of New York,
appointed through tho Wadsworth in
fluence, and in the selection of his suc
cessor, the President was actuated by
a desire to strengthen the hands of
Governor Hughes and see that Federal
officeholders in New Ybrk were men
who would support tho policies for
which the Governor stands."
After all there is but one way to play
the political game, and all the virtuous
professions of disinterestedness comes
to the complexion of “machine” poli
tics In the end.
The Washington Post tells us "The
In the above tho Rev. Dr. Dix is. in
our opinion, very properly rebuked,
hu» at the same time we think our
Washington contemporary is inclined
to be too literal. M'ar against invaders
bent on conquest, for example, is not
only just but “righteous.” We may
forgive our enemies—that Is, refuse to
permit our minds to be occupied with
anger and hate—without allowing them
to do open evil to us and to others. Ir.
the true sense the kindest, most mer
ciful. most charitable thing that can
he done for an openly evil man (as
well .as for society in general) is to
stop his career of crime by putting re
straint upon him. There is no incon
gruity between the teachings of Christ
ianity and the' just punishment of the
the subject of dress suits in Texas, i President will make no reply to tho
quotes some remarks of The Telegraph, charge of former Representative Wads-
clips out its own editorial and sends i worth, of New York, that he is a ’faker
it to us by letter. After all of which, j and a humbug,’ and that ‘the country
courtesy requires a word in response. ] is fast awakening to the real character
Says our Fort Worth contemporary: j of this bloody hero of Kettle Hill." We
' had feared for some time that the ex-
j cesslve run made on the "Ananias”
1 joke would Interrupt the fun.
Honest, now, Georgia, do you
really believe that Texas cares
what a man wears or that dress
suits* are uncommon even in the
smaller villages of the State?
•Break away and come to the next
cattlemen’s convention and we'll
buy for every man ycu find in
town for the meeting who isn’t
better dres-ed than the average
Georgia preacher.
And as for dress suits? Bless
you. they’re getting so common
that lots of good men need forcible
persuasion from their wives to keep
them from donning full togs for
dinner every evening. The white
ties in Fort Worth would make a
table cloth big enough for all At
lanta at a single banquet, and the
Iow-cul vests—but what's the use.
"In one California town citizens are
prohibited from carrying more than a
i pint of liquor on the person at one
j time.” says the Washington Post. The
| inspectors must be experts who can tell
from a man's breath how much he
h-olds.
THE CHANCE OF A LIFETIME.
Those numerous Americans, who,
after acquiring fortunes, are eager to
secure an impressive supply of distin
guished ancestors, should be cheered
by an interest'ng announcement of the
Marquise de Fonteno^-. This Indefati
gable lady whose fount of knowledge
is always on tap, and who in recent
years has contributed many thousands
of columns to American newspapers on
the subject of the European nobility,
declares In her latest installment that
"most Americans of English or Scotch
origin are of royal descent."
Th-’s will surely gladden the trusting
and hoping heart of many an American
who Is determined to round up and
corral tho necessary ancestors by any
and every possible means, the only
atom of bitterness in the cup of joy
being the suggestion of doubt as to
whether all this Is not really too good
to be true. The generous Marquise
figures it out thus:
“How about our Oriental commerce?
asked a reporter of Mr. James J. Hill
the other day. "We haven’t any,” was
Mr. Hill's reply. Mr. Hill overlooked
We have already threshed out this j our Philippine account probably be-
fubjcct (a former innocent Jest) with cau * e the baIanee Is on the wrong side
fiery Texas "gent” who wrote to us ! tae lel ^ Ker -
from Washington nearly a month ago, j
and we cannot do better now than
quote from the remarks addres-ed
bim in The Telegraph of March 28. as
follows:
"Not at all. dear, infuriated, flre-
and-br.'mstone-brer.th!ng Texan’ — not
at alL We are aware that Texas is not
wholly made up of ranches and cow- |
' | The opening <
boys, although this L much the most ^ Hou , e of CommoI
interesting and picturesque part of the j
Lone Star State fr:m the out.-ider's
Will Teddy Roosevelt please catch
Willie Bryan when he next takes
: bath and steal that new garment he
has added to his stock and which he
j calls the initiative and referendum? A
grateful Democracy will be everlast-
! ingly obligated to him for the service.
the budget in the
is the most import
ant parliamentary event in the British
Empire, if not in the world," says the
point of view. We never doubted that , „ . T . j _
l W ashington Post. It does not affect
in Texas both prosperous citizens and !
pompous negro waiters vie with each j
other in their devotion to low-cut vests 1
and string-tailed coats. We are. In { Mr. j acob Ri , s says one of Mr
us nearly as much as the budgets of
our two billion-dollar congress.
I tact, quite sure that A Texan' himself i Roosevelt's maxims is, "Have ail the
criminal or the driving back of the in- j !l3S ,:nff joined the common herd f Un that is coming to you.” Zeb Vance
vaders of one’s country at the paint of j wbo >vear l ‘ ie democratic garments US ed to say. ’’Be virtuous and you will
the sword—even
sword.
necessarily bloody
The Third Term League is trying to
ineoporate Roosevelt. Another Hearst
idea appropriated.
mentioned and has otherwise carefully j t*, happy, but you won’t have much
suppressed all native flavor and indi- i ;un _"
vidualitv. Except in his picturesque I >
vocabulary and his inability to under- j The Louisville Courier-Journal says
stand an editor’s Irony, there is nothing ; Mr. Roosevelt has a "mobile face."
by which he could be distinguished j Some peopi* think ha has two of them.
Starting from the obvious fact
that every child has two parents
and four grandparents, an easy cal
culation will show that were It not
for marriages between people more
or less akin to one another, every
person would be descended from no
fewer than 3,194,302 ancestors in
the course of twenty-one genera
tions. or 700 years. Now. as the'
population of the whole of Britain
700 years ago was less than 3.00P.-
000. every American of English or
Scotch origin must be descended
from the entire population of Eng
land and of Scotland, respectively,
at that time. This shows that by
mathematical necessity everybody
of English origin is of more or less
remote descent from royalty.
Fortified by this proof of blood rela
tionship, furnished by so eminent an
authority, what is easier for the an
cestor-chasing American than to ap
propriate the armorial bearings of
some old British or Scotch king and
form an overpowering combination of
new dollars and ancient blue blood? In
SURPRISING NEWS.
According to dispatches from Talla
hassee, tho upper house of the Florida
Legislature, by a vote of 25 to 5, "has
adopted a Joint resolution to declare
the fourteenth and fifteenth amend
ments to the Federal Constitution
void."
This seems so extraordinary that the
reader Is at first inclined to wonder If
the report is not a mistake. Surely the
Florida legislators know that nullifi
cation Is out of date. South Carolina
tried it in 1S32, and though eventually
she gained her object when the offend
ing tariff was reduced, the experience
was hardly such as to lead her to in
vite a repetition thereof. Between the
late forties and 1860 a dozen or more
Northern States went even further
than South Carolina when, through
their "personal liberty laws,” they nul
lified the mandate of the Constitution
itself that fugitive slaves escaping into
the free States be surrendered to their
owners. But they belonged to. the most
powerful section and had the sympathy
of the majority—which makes a great
difference. Not one of them would at
tempt to nullify a Federal law now.
If Florida wants the two amend
ments repealed she must Induce both
houses of Congress to pass the neces
sary measure and thus secure its ratifi
cation by the Legislatures of three-
fourths of the States. It is true, that
will be difficult—impossible, we might
os well say—but there is no other
known way to achieve the desired end.
IS THIS TRUE7
Discuss'ng a Washington dispatch on
the subject of "the' influence which
President Roosevelt endeavors to exert
over a number of the Washington cor
respondents of the newspapers
throughout the country," the Baltimore
Sun says:
In this country there Is one pub
lisher who controls five daily news
papers. each one of which repre
sents the single thought of its pro
prietor or the concerted thought of
his executive staff, who are fa
milial’ with his Ideas and policies.
Mr. Roosevelt has hit upon the
clever idea of cmitrollAig six times
that number. When it is consid
ered that Mr. Roosevelt brings to
gether some thirty or forty cor
respondents throughout the coun
try and Impresses upon their minds
his conception of public policies
and measures, and attempts by one
means or another to prejudice or
bias there correspondents In favor
of his measures and of himself, or
poison their minds against certain
men who are not friendly toward
him or who do not represent the
the same views he does, the influ
ence which the papers represented
by there thirty or forty correspon
dents exert will have great weight,
so long as it is betieved that 'the
publishers are expressing their own
views. As soon, however, as the
Independent and discriminating
readers of these thirty or forty pa
pers have become aware of the fact
that the views expressed by such
papers are not the views of their
proprietors, but represent theories
and ideas of the President, who is
syndicating his prejudices, these
papers cannot help but lose
strength sooner «r later, and will
be regarded as party organs or per
sonal organs of the President.
The ultimate loss which these thirty
or forty newspapers may suffer is rel
atively a very unimportant matter.
What is really important and greatly
concerns the public is whether it is
really true that the President domi
nates the minds of that many corre
spondents and thus pursues methods
scarcely distinguishable from those of
Mr. Hearst More definite and author
itative information on this subject is
desirable.
Col. Henry Watterson says the Dem-
these commercial times even the royal j ocrats might win under present con-
Coilege of Heralds at London or at
Edinburgh might perhaps be Induced
end countenance to the engaging
scheme, provided the fees are suffi
ciently enormous.
Charleston felt a slight shock the
other day. That eighty-foot whale
probably lashed the water from his
tail as he departed.
ditions "if cholera should break out in
the Philippines, yellow fever In Cuba,
and corn should go to 10 cents a bushel
and wheat to -40 cents.” We would
give a pretty to see Mr. Bryan or some
other Democrat President, but we dare ; has recently sought to rally the Dem-
nature and physics that has come un
der our observation. Never before have
we known or read of an instance lof the
vacuum of occasion and opportunity
being presented without being instantly
filled, under the operation cf the laws
of nature. The spectacle of a great
cause or of a great party In a great
crisis without a leader is unprece
dented, so far a.s we knrow. The oppor
tunity of the Democratic party today
for making a successful fight has not
been equalled since the war. The Re
publican party, drunk with unre
strained power and honeycombed with
corruption that has permeated the ave
nues of commercial life in every direc
tion, has fallen apart in the greedy
quarrels of its own factions over the
spoils of power and pelf. A President
elevated to office for a second term,
with the aid of a corruption fund un
paralleled even in Republican politics,
has turned his eyes from the rotten
ladder upon which he climbed to the
pinnacle of his ambition and under the
pretense of a virtuous indignation has
attempted to kick it down and prolong
his hold on power by making war on
his allies and appealing to the people
to witness the rectitude of his pur
poses. The exposure of the Tweed ring
and its extermination by Tilden was
not a circumstance to the exposure of
the corrupt collusion of the Republican
party with the trusts, the big insurance
companies and other institutions where
the people’s money and interest were
unblushingly made ducks and drakes
of for political success and personal
aggrandizement. Tilden, it Is true, rose
to power and fairly won a Presidential
election through his fight on the Tweed
ring, but he went into the fight with
clean hands and not as one who simply
turned State's evidence on his asso
ciates. Such is the relations of Roose
velt with his party today; denounced
as a traitor but feared and hated as a
leader of men—with a definite purpose
of prolonging .his power, if not of in'
vading the third term precedent, which
alone stands as a barrier between him
and a power more absolute than many
of the Old 'World autocrats. Here,
then, we are, to all intents and pur'
poses, at the historic and traditional
Rubicon of free Republics. Intoxicated
with national wealth and splendor and
enervated with luxury and corruption,
we await with apathy apparently the
turn of events that shall decide
whether we will go the way of Greece
and Rome or not. Caesar has already
crossed the boundary of his country's
principles in his greed for power and
debates with himself whether he will
accept the crown. Napoleon sees his
opportunity in the division and distrac
tion of the people and deliberates be
fore proclaiming himself dictator.
Meanwhile what of the Democratic
party whose virtuous principles and
policies steered the young republic
safely through the shoals the first half
century of its career? It is a thing of
laughter and contempt. The great par
ty which has held together through un-,
exampled stress and adversity and has
always presented a brave, undaunted
front to the enemy, is leaderiess and
despised at this juncture. Having for
years followed an ignus fatuus, a will
o’ the wisp, under the fond delusion
that the brilliancy of its light denoted
the qualities of leadership, the old par
ty finds Itself in a bog trying to follow
a beacon that forever eludes it, and re
duced to the condition of a target for
the heels of every brainless ass that
mistakes its bray for the voice of wis
dom.
The Telegraph has sincerely endeav
ored to base some hope for the party
under Mr. Bryan’s -leadership. It has
hoped against hope when it has seen
him without apparent aim or purpose
repeatedly excite consternation in tho
party by throwing the apple of dis
cord in the shape of some new and
unheard-of Issue atrlong the rank and
file. 'But we cannot blind ourselves
further to the hopelessness of a leader
ship that will not lead. We cannot
hope to get anywhere with a horse that
will do nothing but balk. For some
time conviction has been growing on
us that Mr. Bryan has reason to know
or believe after his two unsuccessful
efforts that he can never reach the
Presidential chair. The hold he has on
the Democratic party, he evidently
realizes can only serve as a personal
perquisite to Continue him in the role of
the uncrowned commoner, feted, flat
tered and applauded by the proletariat,
but never to hope for more substantial
success. In the meantime novelty and
sensation must be sought after and
brought to the front to keep up the
interest and excitement or even the
eclat of the populace will sink into si
lence. That this can only be done at
the expense -cf dividing and distracting
the party at a time when it should pro-
sent an undivided front does not ap
pear to weigh with him in the least.
These are convictions which The
Telegraph has had forced upon it by
Mr. Bryan’s course, despite its earnest
wishes to the contrary. Evidently we
are not alone in this interpretation of
the man. Col. Henry Watterson, who
racy at the pres- nt time can see
no "other alternative except Bryan.
Nobody is being seriously consid
ered except him. Nobody except
him is seriously considering run
ning. I sometimes doubt whether
he himself cares a fig for the Pres
idency. For I should think if he
believed Democracy had a reasona
ble chance cf carrying the country,
and that ho might bo nominated
he would be more circumspect and
would show greater sense of re
sponsibility than he seems to be
showing.”
Asked what he considered the
most vital is-ue to be raised by the
Democrats party. Col. Watterson
said: "The one thing to consti
tute a militant Democracy is that
we must think together. So long
as we don’t, there is no use pro
posing any issue. The relations of
franchise corporations to the pub
lic and of capital and labor are the
great economic problems to be
worked out in the coming years.
We are on the threshold of their
rapid developments.”
Of course there is no possibility of
Democrats “thinking together” as long
as they are dominated by a leader
whose chief effort appears to be always
to think along strange and novel lines
at a time when tho party should be
martialed and concentrated behind def
inite policies and purposes.
We are not surprised, under the cir
cumstances, that Col. Watterson Is
placing long shot bets on a Republican
as the next President.
A STRANGE SPECTACLE.
A United States Senator contending
for autocratic rule V>ver distant depend
encies, and a high English official for
liberal government in the colonies, on
the same platform, the Americas
speaking after the Englishman had
been heard—this Is the strange specta
cle that was presented at a meeting qf
the Academy of Political and Social
Science In Philadelphia last week. Who
would have ventured to predict this
a very few years ago?
The American was Senator Bever
idge. and the Englishman was Mr. (
James Bryce, the British ambassador. J
Mr. 'Bryce showed that even in tho
crown colonies, or those where the
populations were made up of - the
darker and less advanced races, the ef
fort was to give the natives as large a
share in the Government as possible,
capable men being unhesitatingly ap
pointed to high office. Senator Bever
idge. on the other hand, complained
that political clamor had caused the
Washington Government to attempt to
govern the Filipinos far more liberally
than was wise', and he argued in favor
of a purely paternai and autocratic
system. We clip a period at random:
Not sudden “self-government”
for peoples who have not yet
learned the alphabet '-of liberty
. . . not the fiimsy application
of abstract Governmental theories
possible only to the most advanced
races and which, applied to unde
veloped peoples, work out grotesque
and fatal results—not anything but
the discharge of our great national
trust and greater national duty to
our wards -by common sense meth
ods will achieve the welfare of our
colonies and bring us success in
the civilized work to which we are
called.
not wish for success based on public
calamity.
Private Secretary Loeb is now "shoo
ing” the reporters off the White House
“There is considerable difference of
opinion as to the probable course of | lawn after dark. It Is presumed that
the market during the next two or j the prohibition applies only to the
three weeks,” says Wall Street Sum- | “conspirator” class. The “thirty or
mary.
The liquidation will settle all ; forty” elect doubtless have the entre
the differences. »y the back stairs at all times.
ocracy behind Mr. Bryan, appears to
agree with us in this view. Arriving
in New York after a trip abroad. Col.
Watterson is quoted as follows:
"Mr. Bryan Is an individual man
with a certain foliowing," he said.
"He Is not a law giver. He may be
a law unto himself. It remains to
be seen if the fragments of the
Democratic party lying around
loose can be united on a new pro
gram.
“I think that organized Democ-
*We have no "abstract governmental
theories” except those provided In The
Constitution of the United States and
those that are the outblrth of instinc
tive American approval of self-govern
ment. Even now, in the midst of new
and strange developments, the average
American, If let alone, would vote that
the Filipinos be given a "fair show”—
that Js, as much home rule as possible,
even though they may make mistakes.
We do not think the average American,
even in these changeful times, is as
pronounced an "imperialist” as is Mr.
Beveridge, though the latter Is sup
posed to be the mouthpiece of Mr.
Roosevelt.
The American who knows the his
tory and remembers the principles of
his country Is apt to be troubled a
little when he finds a United States
Senator, on the same platform with a
British ambassador, glorying in the
existence of our new colonial empire
as a sign that we have at last really
found ourselves and become great. Tf
it was necessary to begin to imitate
Great Britain’s career of foreign con
quest in order to become great, then al!
the Illustrious Americans of former
times, from Washington even down to
Clevelund. wero singularly deluded
mem
Secretary Cortelyou wants to reform
the present barbarous method of going
through the trunks of every passenger
who lands in America, The New York
Times says the present method- ii
senseless, barbarous and Indecent.—
Savannah Press v How would it do to
use the X^ray on them?
The Atlanta papers aro trying to
crowd each other out of the Bryan
band wagon. If the driver grows much
move reckless each may be sorry later
that the other did not succeed.
The Thaw jury has effected a per
manent organization. The members
may yet reach an agreement on the
case.
4
k
"What is a Democrat?” asks tho
New York World. How old is Ann?
But, seriously speaking, a Democrat is
a man who has exploded the theory
that anything ever come3 to him who
waits.
Brain storm- are epidemic over the
country. Ice should he promptly ap
plied to the head at the first symp
toms.
"My God! Has it come to this so
soon?” exclaimed the New York bank
clerk who stole about a quarter of a
million dollars before he was detected.
Wonder what "limit” he was playing
"If we could have a little patience we
ould escape much mortification,"
says lime, de Sevign®. “Time takes
away as much as it gives."
L
INDISTINCT PRINT