Commoner.
4,-'
5 '
'r
IV
Wk
Making
Railroads
Pay.
Clark.
of
the Oregon.
Tvay hog and purpose getting Kim," nays the
general passenger agent. It is to he hoped that
the campaign against the "railway hog" will ho
taken up hy every railroad in the land and car
ried to a successful conclusion.
The state of Georgia owns the Western &
Atlantic 'railroad and leases it for an annual
rental of $420,000. Of course,
the people of the state are op
posed to Any propositions con
templating the sale of the
. . property to private individuals
or corporations. The stato of Illinois derives
an enormous revenue from the Illinois Central
railroad hy reason of a clause in the charter
which compels that road to pay into the state
treasury 7 per cent of the gross earnings of the
main line. There is a hint in this to those
new states and future states that may some
time ho called upon to deal with the railroad
problem.
It would seem to the casual dhserver that it
is high time the nation performed a simple act
of justice. hy hestowing some
mark recognition upon a naval
officer who seems to have heen
lost sight of in the present un
fortunate imhroglio. Gaptain
Charles Clark, who commanded the Oregon,
rhas not heen accorded the recognition due him
for his gallant services. . Instead of heing pro
moted and. rewarded heiacualy lost rank. The
Oregon's memorable run from San Francisco
to Santiago will ho recorded in history and not
forgotten while the American navy exists. The
part played hy the Oregon in the naval hat tie
of Santiago fired with enthusiasm every Amer
can heart. But the gallant commander of that
great fighting machine what of him?
The utter heartlessness of the war upon the
Boors is well defined hy one of General Kitch
oner's Jatest reports. Speak
ing of the military operations
undd? his command ho says:
"All the divisions -have had
good hags." Then he pro
ceeds to recount the numher of Boers killed
and wounded. "All tho divisions have had good
hags!" That is the language of the sports
man when he speaks of the numher of rahhits,
quail or grouse he has killed. It is fitting that
such a heartless expression should come from
a man whose soldiers hoasted of the "excellent
pig sticking" at Elandslaagte. In these two
phrases the world may find a measure of the
heartless greed that has prompted the strong
est monarchy in the world to make war upon
one of the smallest republics in the world.-
. The court of inquiry sustained Admiral
Schley's protest against Rear Admiral Howi-
son; The testimony showed
that Admiral Howison had ex
pressed sentiments indicating
that he had formed an opinion
so conclusive and so. prejudic
ed-that it was improbable that he could have
done justice to Admiral Schley. Admiral
'Have Had
Good
Bags."
- v
Initial
Victory
for Schley.
Howison did not deny the statement of fact,
but insisted that his private utterances had no
part in the proceeding, and ho reiterated his
statement that ho was capable of being an un
prejudiced judge. It did not take Admirals
Dcwoy and Benham long to pass on Admiral
Schley's protest. Within a very short time
they sustained that protest and Admiral How
ison retired from the board. This may be ac
cepted as Admiral Schley's initial victory in
this proceeding.
Although it was ovident that .there were
serious objections to Admiral Howison, he was
practically forced upon that
hoard by Assistant Secretary
Hackett, whose animus toward
tho hero of Santiago Bay is
generally understood. It is to
be regretted that with the very first protest
Admiral Howison did not ask to he relieved
from service in this court of inquiry. Tho ob
jections to Admiral Howison were based on
such strong grounds that they at once appealed
to the general public, and long ago it seems to
have been the popular verdict that Admiral
Howison should be retired from tho board.
The court's decision will meet with very gen
eral favor, because it indicates, that Admirals
Dewey and Benham are willing to do justice
to Admiral Schley, a thing which certain men
high in authority in the navy department are
very evidently unwilling to 'do.
A Severe
Rebuke for
Mr. Hackett.
.(.,:,..
No Missionaries Need Apply.
Congressman Hull seems to have brought
back considerable information from the Philip
pine Islands, a;id he has been sharing it with
the public on the installment plan. It is a dull
paper that does not contain some item of news
furnished by tho gentleman from Iowa, whose
timber concessions in tile Philippines would
be an excuse the maintainance of a large
army, even if we were under no obligations to
"manifest destiny.?' Being an observing man
he has made investigations in every direction
and his comments cover a wide range. Noth
ing that he has said, however, Tvill prove more
interesting to those who argue that Divine
Providence has led us into the Orient for the
extention of the-Christian religion, than his re
marks about the missionary field over there.
He says:
"At present everything is very quiet in Min
danao, but if missionaires ever get down there,
there will be serious trouble. The Moros are Mo
hammedans, and polygamy is part of their relig
ion. Just as soon as the preachers get to work
among them, preaching against plural wives, our
difficulties will begin, and when these people rebel
wo will have our hands full. They are a fierce,
warlike tribe,' and do not know what surrender
means. Like all Moslems, they are fanatical to
the last degree, and will light for their religion
till the very last.
"They are a stay-at-home race and have min
gled very little with the other islanders, and re
tain all the traits of their Mohammedan ancestors.
Spain never -mad,e any attempt to govern them
and thus avoided trouble. As long as we do not
meddle with their affairs there is little danger of
conflict, but any attempt to make them conform
to our methods of morality or religion will pro
voke war. Thoro are not less than 3000(H) o"f tho
Morbs, and war with them would make our trou
ble with tho Filipinos look liko child's play."
Tho above dispatch taken from the columns
of tho Inter-Ocean would indicato that Mr.
Hull would not encourage missionary work in
Mindanao. But what is tho use of going
to tho Philippines for missionary work if
wo are to keep away from the place where mis
sionary work is most needed? Mr. Hull seems
to think that wo should adopt Mr. Watterson's
plan and 'avoid trouble" by not trying to do
anything. Perhaps we could suspend our
moral principles in dealing with tho Moslems
provided they would enter into profitable trado
relations with us. Verily, Imperialism is a
queer thing. We shall learn more of it as tho
years go by, and the more we learn of it, tho
less we are likely to liko it.
Dooley Discusses Candidates.
Mr. Dunn, the humorist, has faily outdone
himself in his discussion of the men who have
been suggested for the Democratic presidential
nomination. His business is to find the weak
points in tho armor of each, and every public
public man has some weak points. Ho con
denses the whole question into a sentence when
he says that tho difficulty is that every candi
date mentioned is "either a traitor or a man
whom the traitors won't vote for." He inti
mates that the party might advertise for a can
didate, and outlines an advertisement which
ought Ao, .be satisfactory, to those Democrats
who want a candidate who will believe in
enough things to please everybody and yet not
believe in anything earnestly enough to offend
anybody. Tho proposed advertisement reads:
"WantedA good, active, Inorgetic dimmy
crat, sthrong iv lung an' limb; must bo in favor iv
sound money, but not too sound, an antl-impeery-alist,
but f'r holdin' onto what we've got, ah'
inimy iv thrusts, but a frind iv organized capital,
a sympathizer with th' crushed an' downthrodden
people, but not be anny means hostile to vested
inth'rests; must advocate sthrikes, gover'mint be
injunction, free silver, sound money, greenbacks,
a single tax, a" tariff f'r rivinoo, th' constitootion to
follow th' flag as far as it can go, an' no farther,
civil service rayform iv th' la'ads in office an' all
th' gr-reat an' gloryous principles iv our gr-reat an'
gloryous party or anny gr-reat an' gloryous parts
thereof."
One beauty about Dooley's writings is that
he appears to have no malice. His wit is so
clean and innocent that even, his victims enjoy
his thrusts.
Missouri Missou.
By Feed Emebson Brooks.
' Missouri, Missou,
"We're enamored of you,
The great thinking heart of the nation.
You could feed all the rest '
Without being pressed
And furnish them choice occupation.
You have ready at hand
All we mortals demand, ,
With a sky of such radiant blue,
Thy children here dwelling.
Can never cease telling
Thy glory, Missouri, Missou!
Missouri, Missou,
We're enamored of you
Thy soil like the great rolling billows,
Where the harvest lays down
Her corn-tassel crown, . .
With her grain tresses spread on the pillows.
Thy daughters are fair, ,
And thy sons will compare
With the standards our ancestors knew;
So rich, every acre.
Smiles back to her maker,
Thy glory, Missouri, Missou!
- b
o
X. -.
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