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Whether Common or Not.
Tiie Stone-Bruised Heel.
Happy is ho through the livelong flay, ,
Whistling and singing in boyish gleo;
' Laughing tho long, bright hours away",
Ever from caro and sorrow free.
Freckled of face, with tousled hair,
Roaming through meadow and woodland doll;
Hunting tho bullheads' murky lair,
Finding tho homes where the songbirds dwelt
Wo see him, and pangs of envy feel
For tho barefoot boy with stone-bruised heol.
. Calling his chum with tho mockbird's note,
Happy and careless of how ho looks;
Scorning the workday's tiresome roto,
Learning his lessons from Nature's book.
Shouting ho runs down tho village street,
Over the fence to the swimming hole;
Heedless alike of the rain or heat,
Merry of heart and honest of soul.
Blessings bo on him through woo or weal
Tho barefoot boy with stono-brulsed heel. .
Swiftly tho years of our life run by, ,
Leaving their marks on our heart andbrain;;
Adding their burdens till you and I.
Earnestly wish wo were boys again.
Idle tho wish; so we plod along,
Hoping the ov'ning brings peace and rest;
Trusting, that virtue will vanquish wrong,
Praying our efforts' be seen and bloBt
But visions of youth through our mem'rles steal..
At seeing a boy with stone-bruised heel. .
;,, Tho Happy Fathers.
'i" "I named my twin daughters Kato and DuplI-
cate," remarked tho proud father.
"I named my twin boyd Peter and Repeater,"
said the other proud father.
"Gentlemen," remarked tho quiet man over in
the corner, "you are not in it with me. I have threo
boys, , triplets. I have named them Mark, Remark
and Ditto."
In the silence that fell the three men could
hear the Standard Oil company gathering in"the
profits on the smoky lamp over the hotel clerkls
desk.
Piscatorial.
How strange it is, my fishing friend;
It always comes to pass,
The one you get's a bullhead, and
The lost one is a bass. t
..
, t A Case of Arson,
"Johnnie, run away! What do you mean by
giving Mr. Gotrox all those matches."
"I wanted him to go out with me and have a
bonfire."
"You naughty boy! What do you mean?"
"Well,4 mamma said he had money to burn. and
this is a mighty good dark' night for a bfg fire."
&
Her Leisure Time.
"Now, my dear," said Mr. Bildad, pushing baclc
from the suppor table and lighting a cigar, "I will
teach you to play pinochle if you have time to take
a few lessons. If you learn the game wo will have
a pleasant way of. spending our evenings."
"O, I will bo so happy to learn," chirrupped
Mrs. Bildad. "Just wait till I do a little work."
"Well, hurry up, my dear. What haye you to
do?"
"0, nothing much. Just wash the supper
dishes, sweep the kitchen, clean out jtbo range,
darn a pair of stockings for Johnnie, mend Susie's
torn dross, put the baby to bed, get things ready
for breakfast, sow a button on your coat, patch
Willie's pants, put the clothes to soak, get your
laundry ready for tho laundryraan when he comes
tn tho morning, trim my last winter's hat so it
The Commoner.
will bo all right for spring, turn my old silk skirt
again, mend a ruffle on baby's dress, get the kindl
ings for morning, undress tho children and put
them to bed and hang that picture you forgot to
hang for me. Then I will be ready to take a few
lessons in pinochle. I have long felt the need of
having something to help while away tho long
evenings. It Is so good of you to"
But Mr. Bildad was half way to the corner be
fore she had finished, and his hat was tilted' down
over his eyes in such a manner as to indicate that
ho was mad about something.
Brain Leaks. . v
True love never dodges poverty.
Love softens a crust, but hato spoils a feast.
An hour of action is worth a week of explana
tion. . . "
A face at the window is better than a friend
at the bar.
A great many people grow cross-eyed looking
at thomBolves. -
A little lock of golden hair binds many a man
to home and God.
Some men go tlirough life with their definitions
of character and reputation, badly mixed.
Women often marry men to reform them, but
men never marry women for that purpose. This is.
the difference between women and men. -
Enough Said.
"Does Jimlay make a good husband?!'.
"Well, he never growls when the canary wakes
him' in -the morning."
k
A Veteran.
"I Iofct me leg in the last campaign, mum.'.' ,
"Poor man, sit here and eat your pie. Was it
tho Santiago campaign?"
"No; mum. It was .de last political' campaign.
I was a cundldate f 'r office an' the' boys pulled it
too hard."
my Wife and I.
Dorothy is small while I '
Weigh close to one-eighty; ;
i But when she just looks at mo Si
, Then she grows more weighty.
- 'J Pounds are naught twixt she and I,
t And I dare not linger,
'. But give heed with greatest speed
When she crooks her finger.
?fl
Uncle Eben.
"I hev noticed many a t'me," remarked Uncle
Eben as the grocer naileu down the lid of the
crackerbox, "thet it is th' nnther'o' the .cigaroot
smpkin' boy thet hes th' most t' isay about tho
foolishness o' th' mother thet lets :her girl gad
about too much."
a
Business Terms. '
Sucker See lamb.
Lamb See sucker.
Interest All that is left, and more, too.
Speculator A gambler who plays for -higher
stakes.
Financier The man who makes-enough jnonqy
to evade the ,law. ,'. .
Promotor A man who can make you believe
there is money in it. -
Bankruptcy Spending other people's money
and confessing the fact.
Seasonable
Long, -hard winters and backward 'springs
Keep coal consumers saying things
' '
Our Beautiful Language.
Of course we were puzzled. The wife of our
bosom had spoken.
"I need some suga." said she.
How were we to- know whether she wanted
us to boom the trust or divide our salary?
W. M. M7
Porto Rican Decision,
In tho series of opinions handed down yester
day tho federal supremo court has decided that
territory coded to tho United States is not mere
property, but a part of the country and under the
constitution.
At tho same time the court, as foreshadowed in
tho Republic's dispatches laBt weok, announces that
the central government can practically control the
new territory as it pleases; can apply a tariff as
between that territory and the fest of the United
States.
Porto Rico and the Philippines are, and subse
quent to the act of cession have always been, an
integral part of the United States. Pending special
legislation by congress, they have enjoyed all the
protection of the constitution which has been giv
en to Alaska or Arizona.
So far the decisions are something of a rebuko
to the administration, which proceeded on tho
theory that the new islands .were mere possessions,
having no rights at all until permitted by special
enactment to enjoy rights.
But in essence the decisions uphold the admin
istration. A majority in congress, with the presi
dent, can make and alter forms of government,
give or withhold the privilege of suffrage, discrim
inate in taxation, tax without representation and
exclude from internal commerce. At tho whim of
Washington burdens, inequalities and outrages
may be inflicted. Business may be destroyed;
Every tyranny which any monarchy imposes upon
its colonies a party majority may impose upon
the inhabitants of our distant islands.
The Republic, in anticipation of this decision,
has invited attention to the necessity of an amend
ment to the constitution. If Americans pretend to
believe in equal rights and to oppose special priv
ileges for class or section, they must at least make
and enforce a rule compelling equality in all unor
ganized territory. Alaska and the Philippines
should be on the samo footing.
Not only is this rule a necessity of logic, but
it is a necessity df practical prudence. All unor
ganized territory is held temporarily; the theory
being that ultimately it will enter the union as a
state or part of a state. The population must then
be put in the way of learning the duties of state
hood. These new peoples are Americans; they
cannot remain the political slaves of congress. In
the school of practice they must learn the art of
government by representatives. Protection against
selfish commercial interests, against race and re
ligious jealousies, must be guaranteed by organic
law.
The supreme court has decided that they are
citizens, but citizens without rights, except as in
dividuals, under the constitution. A nation of free
l..;cJtizens must give them a constitutional guarantee
of equality before the law. St. Louis Republic.
Ireland's Population.
The recently completed British census shows
the population of Ireland to be 4,456,54G. This is
a smaller population than Ireland had ninety years
ago.
It will be interesting to refer to other popula
tion statistics In Ireland's history. In 1750 Ireland
had a population -of 2,372,634; in 1811 Ireland's
population increased to 5,937,856; In 1841 Ireland's
population was 8,175,124; in 1845 there was a small"
Increase, the number reaching 8,295,061. Then
camethe potato famine which greatly decimated
the Irish ranks. In 1851, tha population fell to 6,
552,385. Since then there has been a steady de
crease. In 1861 the population was 5,792,055; in
1881 the population was 5,159,839; in 1891 the pop
ulation was 4,704,759, and by the census of 1901
the population was 4,456,546.
Some of this loss may be accounted for by emi
gration. But how does It happen that the natural
increase has not been sufficient to give a normal
increase to the population of the Emerald Isle?
It is estimated that the loss by emigration in
twenty years has been 2,460,685. These figures' are
not, however, entirely reliable. But the fact re
mains that in sixty years Ireland has decreased
nearly 4,000,000 in population. We see on the on
hand that the people of Ireland are anxious to get
away from their native land, and on the other
hand that those who remain do not multiply.
Ireland has indeed had a sad history, and it is
strange that with all its boasted civilization and
progress Great Britain has made no serious effort
- to give advantage to the people over whom it main
tains sovereignty and to -whom it denies the home
rule privileges to which thoy have so long aspired.
Will justice ever be done to the Irish people?
Evidently not, so long as it remains a British de
pendency. Ireland will probably suffer until the
time comes when the epitaph of Emmet may be
written in accordance with the dying instructions
of that great Irishman. Exchange.
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