WP
General Kitchener has authorized one Vllonel,
who claims to be a Boer, to raise a corps of men
to fight his countrymen. It Is
Kitchener now in order for the British gov
vindicates ernment to withdraw its ob
Lynch. jection to the Installation of Col
onel Arthur Lynch, the Irish
man, who, while serving as a Boer colonel, was.
elected to parliament. If Vilonel has a right to
lead a force of men against his countrymen, why
may not an Irishman like Lynch lead, a force of
men who are struggling for liberty and for home?
And if the people who elected Lynch are to bo
condemned for their choice, what shall' be said of
Kitchener who encourages a Boer to fight against
his own people?
SS
Does Roosevelt
Endorse
Schurman?
General Wheaton is reported to have said that
ir the Philippines men have been sent' to prison
for such remarks as were made
by Mr. Jacob Schurman in his'
Boston speech. Mr. Schurman
replies to General Wheaton with
the statement that if this be
true, "it is the saddest and most discouraging
truth that has come to us for a long time from
the Philippine islands." Mr. Schurman adds: 'T
am with President Roosevelt and against General
Wheaton," But the indications are that Mr.
Schurman has misinterpreted President Roosevelt's
policy. Certainly Mr. Roosevelt has said nothing
to indicate that he is by any means In sympathy
with the suggestions made by Mr. Schurman in
his Boston speech.
In his speech before the Iowa legislature.
Senator Dolliver said: "Nobody is any longer blind
to the fact that with many of the
What win industries in the United States
DoHlver do the rates of duty which in 1807
About it?. were eminently proper have,
owing to the curious develop
ment of our'commercial life, become unnecessary
and in many cases absurd. They stand no longer
on our statute books as a shield to American labor,
but in many cases as a weapon of offense against
the American market itself." What will Senator
Dolliver do by way of destroying this "weapon
of offense against the American market itself?"
Will Senator Dolliver acquiesce in "these absurd
ities," or will he exert his great influence to cor
rect the evils?
Before retiring from office. Governor Shaw,
the Iowan who becomes secretary of the treasury,
made public his pardon list.
Governor Shaw's This list shows that during the
Big last two years Governor Shaw
Pardon List. has pardoned 473 convicts. Of
the number released 22 have been,
guilty of murder, 38 of offenses against women, 20
of fraud, 14 of manslaughter, 18 of forgery, 5 of
perjury, 4 of embezzlement, and 128 of robbery. It
is stated that the extensiveness of this list was a
great surprise to the people of Iowa. It is emi
nently proper that an executive should exercise
the pardon privilege, and yet it would seem that
the republican party of Iowa owes the people of
that state an explanation. Either something is
radically wrong with the judicial machinery of
Iowa, or something is radically wrong in the
chief executive's office.
Commandant Scheepers of the Boer army, who
was recently executed by the British, was arrested
while he was an inmate of the
hospital. Resolutions were in
troduced in the United States
senate and the lower house pro
testing against the execution of
this man, but before these resolutions were made
publis Scheeper's life had been taken. Schneper's
arrest, under the circumstances, is said to be la
violation of the rules of civilized warfare, and his
Exocution of
Commandant
Scheepers.
The Commoner,
executlbn- is term'ed by those familiar with the cir
cumstances, as a blot upon civilization. Senator
Teller, who introduced the Scheepers resolution
in the senate,- announces that ho will have some
thing to say on this resolution, even though ita
original purpose has been defeated by Scheepers'
oxecution. He proposes to use it not only as an
expose' of the unfairness and the brutality of the
British authorities, but ho will employ it as a text
in protesting against the reconcentration plan
proposed by General Bell xf the United States army
In the Philippine Islands. Senator Teller will
have the cordial thanks of the men and women
who are opposed to barbarity, injustice and wrong,
from whatever quarter they may come. It is
significant that many of these evils are beginning
now to attract very general public attention.
Speaking of the proposition that the green
backs be retired, the Chicago Chronicle says: "The
only demand of that kind comes
Realizing from those patriots who wish
Upon its to serve their country and in
Victorlcs. cidentally put money in their
own pockets by issuing bank
notes not specifically secured to take the place of
tho greenbacks." What right has the Chronicle
to assign ulterior motives to the men who lay
awake nights in the effort to preserve the honor
and integrity of the country? Did not the people
in 1896' and in 1900 declare in favor of tho single
gold standard and is not greenback retirement an
essential feature of that policy? Why then pro
test against the carrying into effect of tho popular
will? Why deny to the national bank patriots
the privilege of realizing-upon their twin victories?
Democrats can protest against the retirement of
the greenbacks, but the Chronicle cannot do so
consistently.
It is announced thrit Mr. Roosevelt has decided
to' 'remove Mn McClain, the internal revenue col
lector at Philadelphia. Accord -Hai
nr. Roosevelt ing to the same report, Mr. Mc
Changed Clain is to be succeeded by Mr.
Opinions? McCoach, one of Senator Quay's
lieutenants. It is said that no
charges have been preferred against Mr. McClain,
but he committed an unpardonable sin when he
supported the reform ticket against the Quay
machine at the recent election. It was generally
admitted that the Quay machine should have been
defeated. It represented all that was bad in poli
tics; and when one recalls Mr. Roosevelt's boasted
record with relation to the civil service, he is in
clined to ask, "What mighty influence has worked
so great a change in the gentleman now occupying
the presidency, that he will yield to the clamor of
politicians and remove a capable public official
simply because that official was brave enough to
oppose a corrupt political machine?"
JVs
"We Ask
a Fair
Divide."
Captain Richmond P, Hobson responded to the
toast, "The Navy," at the board of trade banquet
on the evening of January 28.
Captain Hobson adv6cated an in
crease in the number of war
ships. Senator Hanna made a
speech at the same banquet
beard. While he complimented Captain Hobson
upon his speech and sajd that he agreed with
it. he desired to offer this amendment: "Do not
spend all your money on warships; give us a few
merchant vessels; give us something to protect.
We ask a fair divide." It is not at all likely that
the interests which Senator Hanna represents will
fail to obtain a "fair divide." Senator Hanna did
not mean that the government was to build and
operate a "few merchant vessels." He meant that
the ship subsidy bill should be passed, thus re
quiring the government to pay Immense sums
of public-money ti men in order to persuade, them
to engage in. a profitable business. This, is what
Senator Hanna calls a "fair divide." There has
Mixing Hypocrisy
With
Force.
been altogether too much of tho "dlvldo" theory
among republican c tatesmyn. They have preached
the "fair dlvido" theory until they have come to
bolieve that tho government i operated solely for
tho purposo of providing lucrative "divides" for re
publican statesmen having Influence with the re
publican administration. But there are some peo
ple in this country who would like to make an
amendment to tho amendment These believe that
the people who support the government are en
titled to a fair divide. And yet if one-tenth of tho
propositions for which republican statesmen stand
sponsors are carried out, tho people will not only
fail to obtain a fair divide, but they will not even
be participants in tho division while being re
quired to bear all the burdens.
In his message to congress President Roose
velt said: "We are extremely anxious that tho
natives (of tho Philippines)
shall share the power of govern
ing themselves. We hope to do
for them what has never been
done before for any people of the
tropics to make them fit for self-government af
ter tho fashion of the really freo nations." To bo
sure this sentence was fearfully and wonderfully
made so far as the conveyance of any meaning is
concerned, but Charles Emory Smith, former post
master general, writing In his newspaper, tho
Philadelphia Press, explains President Roosevelt'3
meaning. In his Boston speech, Jacob Schurman
interpreted this statement of Mr. Roosevelt as an
explicit declaration in favor of independence for
the Filipinos. Mr. Smith declares that Mr. Schur
man ha3 made a sad mistake. Mr. Smith, referring
to jMr. Schurman, says: "Ho confounds liberty
ample, complete, Inspiring liberty with sover
eignty. He confounds autonomous self-govern-meni
with independence." Mr. Smith assures us
that there is no difference between the position' of
Mr. McKinley and that of Mr. Roosevelt with re
spect to the Philippines, the people of tho Philip
pines are to have "ample, corapleto, inspiring lib
erty." But to all this "ample, complete, inspiring
liberty," there is to be attached a stringthat old
autonomous string, made hateful to men aspiring
for liberty in every period of the world's history.
SvS
A newspaper correspondent, having Interviewed
Governor Shaw, the now secretary of the treasury,
aays:
Governor shaw is not an
Will Suit enemy of "asset banking,"
Wall neither does he advocate it.
Street. Ho thinks an elastic cur
rency can be provided with
out resort to that method. At the same time ho
is not afraid of letting the bankers control
the volume of currency.
But the governor, in his own words, says that
ho is in favor of an elastic currency and adds:
"If I believed there was no other way to secure an
elastic currency other than asset currency, then I
should advocate such an issue."
'If, after this, any doubt as to the governor's
position on the asset currency scheme exists, ,hi3
later words would set all doubt at rest. Governor
Shaw said:
I repeat that currency based on assets con
tains, in my judgment, no element of danger
except prejudice. This will vanish as the
question is discussed and explained by those
who make a study of It, and the depositor
would be in no worse condition than now.
Soon after Mr. Shaw's appointment was announced-
It was reported that Wall street was con
siderably exercised lest the new secretary of the
treasury might introduce new methods in the de
partment and might be inclined to repudiate the
policies which Mr. Gage advocates. It seems
safe, however, to say that Wall street has nothing
to fear from the new secretary of the treasury.
He seems to believe in the same things that Mr.
Gage believed in, and unless all signs fail, the
new secretary of the treasury will in- short order
become quite as much of a favorite in Wall street
as was his distinguished predecessor.
i
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