1A
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tlbe Conservative ;
Plant Nut Trees.
If the farmer with an assortment of
poor , Bcraggly , hillside laud wore to se
lect three to five acres of it and plant
nut trees thereon , seeing likewise that
the yonug saplings wore kept alive and
cared for during the first period of their
existence , in not many years his lean
and unsightly hillside would bo the
most valuable portion of his ground.
Nut food is becoming more and more
popular every yeai. It has been found
to take the place of both broad and meat
to a considerable extent.
The hickory tree , the chestnut and
many varieties of walnut will grow any
where in the United States. The best
chestnut is the Japan kind , as hardy as
our own. The pecan will also grow in
nearly every part of the country , al
though Texas is the banner state for
this nut. In the south and southwest
the almond and Persian walnut , mis
called the English walnut , flourish and
bear abundantly.
Most rural ists plant shade trees about
their grounds. Varieties of maple are
popular for this purpose. But why do
they not plant the magnificent , spread
ing chestnut tree ? It will grow nearly
as fast as the maple and will have a
solid economic value every year genera
tion after generation. Chestnuts in the
city market are so high that few people
can afford to buy them , although every
body is fond of them.
James , earl of Douglass , the "Black
Douglass , " one of Brnce's heroes in old
Scottish days , said , excusing himself
for never defending his ancestral castle ,
"I like better to hear ( ho lark sing than
to hear the mouse squeak. " Admiral
Cervera has put it in a now form : " Any
how it is better to die with my ships at
sea than to perish like a rat in a hole. "
There has been a conflict between
"rod cross" and "red tape. " The army
surgeons have refused to accept a large
supply of trained woman nurses offered
to them. There was a similar clash in
the earlier times of our civil war. But
officialism yielded when the sanitary
commission came to the front.
Wo can readily afford a laugh over
the change of tone in more than one
Thersites of the continental press. Our
exploits at Santiago have caused a
change of front. Don Whiskerando is
"catching it" now instead of "Brother
Jonathan. " It is always well to bo on
the surely winning side.
It Beems unfortunate that some of our
retired army officers cannot bo put on
the active list again now that there are
so many appointments making from the
inexperience of civil life. A largo ratio
( if these old soldiers are strong and in
the prime of their usefulness , with years
of military experience behind them. Is
it not a question of politics as well as
red tape ?
Our True Ideal.
Mr. Bryce in his line Fourth of July
speech in London said : "Tho splendid
deeds of heroism of your soldiers and
sailors thrill our hearts as could no ex
ploits of men in whoso veins our blood
did not run. America is possessed of
the power to become a great conquering
and colonizing people , but to make a
great people happy , free and prosperous
is nobler than any foreign conquest.
Therefore we hope that nothing will
divert the United States from that
task. ' ' This pregnant utterance is worth
weighing and pondering. Whether or
not wo cuter on a career of territorial
extension our pivotal interests are at
homo. If by foreign ambition we forget
or fall short of a wise and effective re
gard to our internal greatness as a com
monwealth no brilliancy of tj ploits , no
aggrandizement of conquest will give
recompense. The problem which the
United States has so far worked out so
successfully , that of combining the ut
most individual freedom and opportuni
ty with such skillfully adjusted re
straints as preserve the needs of law
and order , has been a model and a stim
ulus to the world. If wo should over bo
diverted from that sagacious study of
the things which belong to this end by
the mere cheats of ambition , it would
bo a sad day for us and for humanity at
large.
It is not necessary to assume that the
immediate profit of territorial gain and
commercial influence , which seem likely
now to accrue , will divert our attention
from the ideals which are essential ,
but that there is always danger of di
version under such now conditions his
tory has shown. To dazzle the national
imagination is sometimes to blunt thb
national conscience ami to blind the na
tional common sense. There are many
wise men and good patriots who fear
that foreign conquest points in this di
rection. Others not less wise and good
do not regard the danger as ouo to bo
covmted in the conditions which ar
now converging , firm in the belief that
our organic growth is vital in its health
and power. The future ulono can fully
decide this question of political morals
if we decide to plant the stars and
stripes in distant lands. The advocates
of territorial extension and a largo part
in the world's affairs are no less believ
ers than their opponents in the impor
tance of primary devotion to the great
questions of the North American conti
nent. It is to be hoped that this keen
sense will prove an abiding safeguard
whatever stops we may take to reap the
war harvest ripe for the sickle.
About Being Resigned.
There are those who call by the name
of Christian resignation what is in re
ality a most unchristian mental lazi
ness. Wo are not creatures of a blind ,
cruel fate that is whirling and hurling
us like footballs hero and there. Thou
sands of persons sit down in the ashc *
and lot their neighbors or public charity
feed and clothe them and theirs when -
they ought to bestir themselves and get
food and raiment for themselves.
It is not the will of any providence
of any kind that human beings should
suffer and starve and bo lumps of inert
ness. At the very time the resigned
paupers are being fed by charity , public
and private , the price of cotton for
clothing was never so low , while Amer
ica's chief bread grain , corn , is almost
equally cheap.
It is well to put up with , for the time ,
that cheerfully , too , evil conditions and
situations that we cannot immediately
got out of , all the while steadfastly
resolving that we will find a way out
of them sooner or later. That state
of mind , however , is altogether differ
ent from being willing to sit stupidly
down and accept as permanent the un
pleasant situation. Poverty in particu
lar is something that no hu.i an being
should bo resigned to. There is plenty
for all of us , and there is no virtue ,
neither religion , in being resigned to do
without our just share of things.
There is a decided advantage to the
victims of legal discipline on being
made peers. An English creditor recent
ly tried to obtain an order for imprison
ment against a recalcitrant judgment
debtor , and the magistrate refused on
the ground that the party had been
raised to the peerage since judgment
had been given.
The parsimonious folly of congress in
its refusal to heed the reiterated de
mands of the war department for smoke
less powder has been well demonstrated
by land and sea. Our parochial legisla
tors , it is to be hoped , will now learn
this as well as some other lessons by
bitter experience.
Admiral Dewey has been dignified
with the degree of master of military
science by Norwich university. The de
gree is somewhat unique , but a vast
deal more sensible than that of LL. D. ,
which ho has received from other uni
versities.
A political crank has already come to
the front with a nomination of Admiral
Dewey as candidate for the next presi
dency. We can fancy the gallant old
sea dog hearing of this with a burst of
laughter. He is the last kind of man to
have such a bee buzzing in his cocked
hat. It would be a little odd if such a
promotion should occur. For the first
time a president would have been shot
out of a ship's gun into the White
House.
The bicycle lunatics appear to be on
the increase. A largo party recently
started from Brooklyn to do 5300 miles
in two days. . Result , nine-tenths of
them were seriously disabled and some
probably permanently injui-ed.