7
w
r
I
Should
Set Better
Example.
' The fact that little children, unattended,
travel long distances speaks well for the' kind
ness and generosity of railroad
The Milk and steamship employes. Ro
of Human cently there arrived in the city
Kindness - of Chicago Rosa Reher, a little
Austrian girl aged 5 years.
This child traveled alone from Austria to Chi
cago and was on her way to Darlington, Wis
consin. Attached to her clothing' wds a card
"bearing the words: "This child, Rosa Reber,
is going to Gottlieb Reber, Darlington, La
' Fayette County, Wisconsin." Because steam
ehip and railroad employes and men and women
generally are full of the milk of human kind
ness, this little girl will doubtless reach her
destination safely, and yet it is not hardly wise
to start a child on a long journey alone.
, The "time fixed by General Kitcheners'' proc
lamation demanding the surronder'bf the Boers
has ended, and we are informed
that Great Britain will now
proceed to use harsh measures.
Boers found carrying arms are
to be shot, and the policy of
concentration will. be made even more .severe".
Had the,. Boers adopted such a policy Great,
Britain would havebeen using the fact as evi
dence that the Boers are" not entitled co the
consideration of the civilized world. It is
probable that the Boers will make Great Britain
thoroughly tired of this policy. Heretofore,
the Boers lia,ye taken .no prisoners, .being, con
tent to let .the captured British spldiers go,free,
pref erring, Jthat ;to the expense of feeding and
guarding, them,, When Great Britain begins to
shoot without mercy all Boers found carrying
arms the Boers may begin to shoot all British
soldiers captured in skirmishes. This is not
war, of course; it is littje short of murder. But
the British ought to set the. Boers a better
.example. -
A Republican newspaper of considerable
prominence, referring to the mad act which has
bereaved the. nation, says,
"They only seek to kill Re
publican presidents." .The
partisanship which seeks to"
make party capital out' of such
a great calamity as the assassination of a
'president is, happily, not widespread. Decent
journalism doeB not stoop to such methods
and men who belong to party because of love
for its principles are above such expressions,
Again, the party organ that seeks to , influence
w.eak minds by such an expression is not well
acquainted with American history. Abraham
Lincoln was not the first president whose life
was sought by an assassin. On January 80,
1835, Richard Lawrence sought to assassinate
President Jackson by shooting him. President
Jackson was crossing. the portico of the capital
building when Lawrence attempted the crime.
From some .cause '.the -assassin' pistol failed to
explode. President Jackson sought to knock
rhirau down with his cane .but was . restrained,
while an officer near by seized-Lawrence and
idisarmed-hira. The assassin carried two.pistols,
both loaded to the muzzle with slugs. Caps
Sought to
Assassinate
Jackson.
The Commoner.
found on the person of Lawrence, were placed
on the pistols and at the first attempt both were
exploded with terrific violence.
Referring to the "Problem of the Surplus,"
the Chicago Record-Herald says that Secretary
Gage has undertaken to solve
Hr. Gage's the problem "by offering to
Diverting purchase $20,000,000 worth of
Habit. government bonds, and by di
verting internal revenue re
ceipts to the amount of $5,000,000 into the na
tional bank depositories." It is not difficult to
understand that if there really exists a "sur
plus problem," the redemption of outstanding
obligations would tend greatly toward a solution.-
But it -is difficult to understand what ad
vantage the government derives from the di-
version of internal revenue receipts to the
amount of $5,000,000 into the national bank de
positories. In other words, this means that the
diverting process would result in distributing
$5,000,000 among the banks to be used with
out the payment of any interest. Mr. Gage
has "diverted" in this direction to a consider
able extent since he took charge of the treas
ury department.
Polish societies throughout the country arc
adopting resolutions of sympathy for Mrs. Mc
Kinley and denouncing her hus
Llberty , band's assassin. At the same
Loving time they are disavowing the
Poles; act of Czolgosz,who is of Polish
descent. In the wave of right
eous: indignations -aroused by the -foul attack
upon the President there is grave danger that
an injustice will be done to a brave and liberty
loving people. Anarchy is not the product of
any particular nation or race; certainly it is not
indigenous "to the soil of Poland. The Poles
have ever been lovers of freedom, and history
is full of records of their heroic struggles. The
page which records the deed's of the gallant
Kosiusko is one of the brightest in- history,
and Americans will never forget the aid given
them in their, battle for liberty by the brave
and unselfish Pulaski. '"Unreasoning and un
thinking indeed arc those who would charge
responsibility for he attack upon the Pres
dent to a liberty-loving people because a man
of their blood became an assawsin.
The Kansas City Journal is relieving itself
of some suggestions concerning the abuse of
public men, suggestions that
Aptly the Kansas City Journal needs
Describes to take to itself. Speaking of
Itself. . the attacks made upon Presi
dent McKinlcy by opposition
organs the Journal says: "He was attacked at
times with a vindictiveness which can find no
excuse in the mere provocation of partisan
rancor." If ever a public journal has been
guilty of attacking a political opponent with
"vindictiveness which can find -no excuse in the
mere provocation of .partisan rancor," the Kan
sas City Journal is guilty. It has not hesitated
to impugn; the motives, of all who held to op
posite political- .views. It has charged with
treason men who would not subscribe to 'its
.political principles, and it has declared publio
men to bo aiders and abettors of assassination
because they dared to hold to opinions that did
not meet with the approval of its editors. The
narrow prejudice and contcmplablc partisan
ship of the Kansas City Journal toward those
who dared to differ from it "can find no excuse
in the mere provocation of partisan rancor." It
has furnished a phrase which aptly fits itself.
Hon. Webster Davis' book, entitled "John
Bull's Crime, or Assaults oh Republics;" is of
such exceptional value that
A . special attention is called to it.
Useful Mr. Davis went to South
Book. Africa prejudiced against the
Boers, but after mingling with
them and learning all the facts, he became so
deeply convinced of the righteousness of their
causo that he resigned his position as Assistant
Secretary of the Interior to champion the causo
of the two republics. The interview with
President Krugcr and the statement of Secre
tary of State Reitz (both arc published in the
book) present the Boer side of the question in
a masterly and conclusive manner. Aside from
presenting a clear exposition of the points at
issue, Mr. Davis gives an interesting descrip
tion of the republics and their people. Every
one who sympathizes with the heroic defenders
of free government in South Africa should se
cure a copy of Mr. Davis' book, and after read
ing it. himself should; loan. it ito his republican
neighbors. Full information in reardto the
publication will bo found on the last page of
this issue. ' ' ' .' i
i ..';?'. v-q.
.
Bishop
Ireland's
Tribute.
Archbishop Ireland on the receipt of the
news that Mr. McKinlcy was dead paid the fol-
lowing beautiful tribute to his
friend:
"The nation mourns. "Well
may she mourn. She has lost
hex' chief magistrate whom she loved so dearly, in
whom she so willingly reposed her pride. "William
McKinley is now dead, his memory will live
adown the ages, as that of one of the most worthy
to have been, the president of the republic of the
United States. I knew him closely; I esteemed
him; I loved him. He was the true man, honest,
pure of morals, generous minded, conscientious, re
ligious. He was the noble citizen, proud of being
a son of the people, brave on the battlefield, amid
his country peril, jealous of its glory, unswerving
ly loyal to its honor and its interests.
"He was the typical president of the republic
large minded in his vision pf the questions
bearing upon the country's fprtuno; resolute in us
ing the autliority for what seemed to him Its
best weal, ready as the leader of a self-governing
people to hearken to the popular voice and, sc far
as principle and conscience permitted, obey its be-,
hests even to the sacrifice of his personal view.
.Pollti: ! opponents differed from him in matters
'of public policy; they did not, they could not mis
trust his sincerity, or his spirit of justice and
patriotism.
"William McKinley is now dead, stricken
down by the hand of a vile assassin. This makes
the nation's sorrow doubly deep. For to sorrow is
added shame shame before her own eyes, before
those of the world, that in this land of civil liberty
there should have been found a man so over
whelmingly bad as to murder her president; to
murder him who served so well his fellow men; to
murder him who cherished so tenderly the free
Institutions of. America. .
"In our hour of sorrow we' turn 'to the God of
nations and commend to Him our country."
'