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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (July 25, 1902)
,q'MHt""MIH3rt witwffvrtit ?rwrjw w ftrr WR 6 r ft Current Topics. IT IS PROPOSED BY A NUMBER OF AMER icnn citizens of Polish birth to erect in the city of Washington a statue of Count Pulaski. In a gcn oral way the people of today know who Pulaski was, but if tho American people. generally wero thbroughly familiar with tho history of this great man tho effort on tho part of American citizens oc Polish birth to erect a Pulaski statue would very soon bo reinforced by tho vlgprous efforts., of Americans generally., Pulaski was born for ser vice in liberty's cause. He was but 22 years of ( ago when ho joined with his father and two brothers in a strugglo against despotism. Benja min Franklin, who waB ono of the best judges of men, formed Pulaski's acquaintance, and being apprisod of tho character of the struggle in Ameri ca, Pulaski offered his services to the causo of the American colonists. In 1777 ho enlisted in the col- onial army. At tho battle of Brandywine ho dis played fine courage and ability and after this bat tle ho was made brigadier general and placed in command of cavalry. Later ho commanded a corps of light horso and infantry known as "Pulaski's Legion." At tho selgo of Savannah, October 9, 1779, Pulaski was mortally wounded while lead ing an assault. At the age of 32 years he died, haying offered his life on tho altar of liberty. Li tho city of Savannah, a monument has already been erected to his worthy memory, and it will be strange, indeed, if, at a time when wo aro ac cepting at tho hands of foreign friends statues of kings for display at our national capital, there will bo serious difllculty in securing funds for the erection in the city of Washington of the statue of a man whose life was devoted to liberty's cause. TKAT "AN EDITOR EARNS HIS SALARY by tho things ho keeps out of the paper rather than by tho things ho admits to the paper," is well understood in newspaper circles, and this rulo was well illustrated by a recent publication in the Prague Official Police Gazette. Tho people of "Vienna opened wide their eyes with astonishment ,,-when in tho Official Police Gazette for July 11, "' thoy read this romarkablo notice: "A dangerous madman, hitherto under tho caro of Prof. Von Buelow, escaped recently from Berlin. His name is Kaiser Wilhelm. He is tho son of Kaiser Friedrich, deceased, in Berlin. Ho was last seen in rages of eloquence in Marienburg. "Notice is given that he shall be searched for and delivered up In this office. "IMPERIAL POLICE DIRECTION, "Prague." Every one corinected with the Gazette appears to bo at a loss to know exactly how this strange pronuncimento crept into tho columns of that publication. On its face it is shown to have been written by a bitter enemy of the emperor, and a cablegram to the New York World says: "The public is wildly excited over this notice, which will have grave consequences for the Prague police, as it must bo attributed to tho negligence of tho officials." SENOR SAGASTA, PRIME MINISTER OF Spain, was at one time society reporter on a Madrid paper. Finally he was assigned to report tho proceedings of the Cortes, and gradually he be came active on his own account in politics. Saga3 ta is now eighty years of ago and yet it is said that there are few men thirty years his junior who can dispose of as much work or whose counsel is more readily relied upon by his associates. IT WILL PROBABLY DEVELOP THAT THE heated controversy concerning the presence of the friars In tho Philippines is not at all of serious im port Tho letters exchanged between tho war de partment and tho Vatican aro of that tone that one is impressed with tho notion that noth ing really serious may result from tho discussion. ,The war department is anxious that tho friars withdraw voluntarily or bo withdrawn by their superiors. The ecclesiastical authorities do not desire to condemn tho friars by directing their withdrawal from the islands. The war depart ment will find It difficult to discover authority -whereby the friars could bo expelled, and un less Mr. Roosevelt shall conclude to adopt radical measures, tho result will probably.be that tho friars will remain. The Commoner, is generally well informed on administration ques tions, says: , ,, , u. "Tho caso will -then stand that tho friars will remain in tho Philippines under tho displeasuro of tho United States. They will bo afforded tho protection of tho treaty of Paris, but this will not avail to release them from tho difficulties inci dent to their peculiar position. Tho titles to their lands aro good, but against tho obstacles which tho expressed displeasure of tho government would create tho friars could not realize tho value of their holdings, and question of actual title will arise in many instances. These vast estates would, thOrofore, be frittered away in litigation, and every said of property by the friars will be under clouded titles. In this respect, while the friars win on tho face of the negotiations, they loso the substantial fruits of their victory, as their great possessions will bo depreciated in their hands, and their existence and tdnuro in the Philippines will bo that of foreigners who are obnoxious to the existing government. The outlook for the friars is not bright, while tho United States may retire from the present negotiations with the sim ple statement that a plain business bargain was proposed, the conditions of which were not ac ceptable to Rome." THE EXACT STATUS OF THE ISLE OF Pines has not yet been determined and while there is considerable newspaper discussion con cerning it, it is not at all probable that any serious difficulty between Cuba and the United States will arise because of the title to this particular terri tory. In the treaty with Spain, the Tsle of Pines was not mentioned and yet there was in that treaty a general cession to the United States of "tho isl and of Porto Rico and other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in tho West Indies." Con cerning Cuba Spain, in the treaty, relinquished its claims of sovereignty. It has been generally ac cepted that the Isle of Pines was properly within Cuban territory, but in the Piatt amendment, which Cuba accepted, it was provided that the Isle of Pines "be omitted from tho proposed constitu tional boundaries of Cuba, the title thereto being left to future adjustment by treaty." It will probably develop that Cuban statesmen will in sist upon Cuba's authority over this territory, and if tho United States shall be careful of their honor, it may bo depended upon that the Cuban claim in this respect will be conceded. RECENTLY IT LEAKED OUT THROUGH the newspapers that General Bragg, consul gen-, oral to Havana, had in a letter to Mrs. Bragg made this statement! "Uncle Sam might as well try to make a whistle out of a pig's tall as to try to make something out of these people." Gen oral Bragg has not loado an explicit denial. In a cablegram to the editor of the Chicago Tribune General Bragg said he had no recollection of writ ing such a statement, and ho said also that the publication was entirely unwarranted. He added: "However, what I write my wife I consider as pri vate and no one's business but our own." In other dispatches it is explained that what General Bragg really wrote was that when Uncle Sam got through trying to make a whistle out of a pig's tail, ho (Bragg) would report whether he could make an Anglo-Saxon out of a Cuban. THOSE WHO ARE WELL ACQUAINTED with General Bragg appear to believe that the consul general made the statement attributed to him, and yet oven though it should be admitted that Bragg wrote the-statement one or two inter esting questions would arise. In the first place, men inthe consular service are not presumed to bo diplomats; in fact there is a clearly defined dis tinction between the diplomatic service and the consular service, and where diplomatic agents would be held rigidly to account for their utter ances, the statements of the consular agents would bo passed by, lightly. And yet men in tho consular service have an intimate relation with the country to which they are assigned and while they aro not charged with the duty of deliver ing messages from the one country to the other, they aro nevertheless expected to be careful lest their actions or their utterances give offense. Level-headed consular agents are therefore gener ally very careful as to the things they write and the things they say and it may be that the presl dent will find It necessary to recall General Bragg unless tho Cuban authorities shall intimate to the representatives of this government that they do not regard General Bragg's remark as at all offensive. Vol. a, No. 27.. determined that consular agents must bo as care-, ful as diplomatic agents in their actions and their words, then the fact that General Bragg's offensive statement was contained in a letter to his good wife will not serve in tho least as a defense. On the whole, however, ono might be inclined to the conclusion that if General Bragg entertains for tho Cubans the poor opinion which his words might imply, his usefulness as a representative in Cuba . of this government, in any capacity, is practically, at an end. MARCONI'S LATEST TEST IN WIRELESS telegraphy was a marked success. For1 some time he has been engaged on board the Italian flagship, the Carlo Alberto, near Cronstadt, Russia, in ex periments. Recent advices from Marconi state that he has received signals from the Cornwall station, a distance of about 1,400 miles. It is true that portions of these messages were received overland, but it is also stated that complete messages were received for a distance of 850 miles. JUSTICE ALTv-N B. PARKER OF THE NEW York court of appeals has recently delivered an. interesting opinion in what has come to be known, as the "Right of Privacy" case. Miss Roberson. brought suit against certain parties, alleging dam ages because they had used her picture to adver tise a certain brand of flour. The New York court of appeals, speaking through Justice Parker, says: "The so-called right of privacy is, as tho phrase suggests, founded upon the claim that a man has the right, to pass through this world, if he wills, without having his picture published, his business enterprises discussed, his successful ex periments written up for the benefit of others, or his eccentricities commented upon either in hand bills, circulars, catalogues, periodicals or news papers, and necessarily that the things which may not be writ', -a. and published of him must not be spoken of him by his neighbors, whether tho comment be favorable or otherwise. "While most persons would much prefer to have a good likeness of themselves appear In a responsible periodical or leading newspaper rather than upon an advertising card or sheet, the doe trine which the courts are asked to create for thiu .case would apply as well to the one publication is to the other, for tho principle which a court of equity is asked to assert in support of a recovery in this action is that the right of privacy exists and is enforceable in equity, and that the publica tion of that which purports to be a portrait of an other person, oven if obtained upon the street oy an Impertinent individual with a camera, will be restrained in equity on the ground that an indi vidual has the right to prevent his features from becoming known to those outside of his circle of friends and acquaintances. "An examination of the authorities leads us to the conclusion that the so-called 'right of priv; acy' has not as yet .found an abiding place in our jurisprudence." ON JULY 16, THE ONE HUNDRED AND twenty-third anniversary of the capture of Stony Point by the American forces under "Mad Anth ony" Wayne was celebrated by the dedication of. the Stony Point battlefield. This battlefield corn prices 33 acres of land. It is 12 miles south of West Point, and has been set aside as a state park. The New York legislature in 1897 appro priated $25,000 for the preservation of this his torical spot It will be remembered that in June, 1779, General Clinton held Stony Point with a gar rison of 600 men. General Washington summoned "Mad Anthony" Wayne, and asked him if he could take Stony Point. It is recorded that the im petuous American general replied, "I can storm hell if you plan it." On the night of July 16, 1779, Wayne, in command of several hundred men, at tacked Stony Point. In the assault Wayne was. wounded. Twenty Britishers were killed, 74 were wounded, 58 were reported missing, and 472 were taken prisoners. The total American loss was 15 killed and 83 wounded. General Wayne's assault went into history as one of the boldest exploits of the revolution and the battle .of Stony Point was one .of' the decisive battles of that great contest. INDEED RECENT WASHINGTON Dis patches indicate that "the negotiations in tho Vatican will shortly lapse as a closed Incident." Contemplating this situation, the Washington cor respondent of the Chicago Record-Herald, who ANOTHER QUESTION THAT MIGHT BE raised is, "May the letters of a husband to a wife be used to tho husband's detriment?" But this latter question will probably be solved in tho solution of the former question. If it shall be THE RETIREMENT OF LORD SALISBURY and the succession of Arthur James .Balfour was the interesting bit of news to which the people of the world were recently treated.. No particular surprise seems to have been occasioned by the change, although there were some who believed that in tho event of Salisbury's retirement, Joseph Chamberlain would succeed to the premiership. Doubtless Salisbury's retirement was due to a de sire on his part for rest. There will be no radical changes in the policies under the new premier. Indeed, Balfour himself has said that he would' bo i-t 4 tt - .. .. j.t . f'tn-rtii(fc