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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 15, 1898)
i ft Conservative * 9 this country to the cause of Immunity without permitting it to degenerate into a war of conquest. 'Imperialism' so- called , is an evil in nil its phases , whether viewed from the political or economical side , but it is more sure to promote moral , physical and social degradation - gradation than it is to work evil in any other direction. "It is my purpose as soon as our or ganisations are completed , and as fast as measures can be taken , to give pub licity to these facts throughout the country. "I hope it may bo consistent with your present duty to reply to this letter for publication , to the end that wo may again have occasion to express our sympathy with you for the difficult po sition in which you have been placed , and to give you the assurance of our continued support ; not only republi cans , biit the great body of independent and sound money democrats who turned the scale in the presidential election , who will give you continued assurance of their support in the declaration which you made against the perversion of the war conducted in the name of humanity into a war of conquest. That perversion is now disguised by those who advocate it , but the forced extension of the sov ereignty of this nation over great popu lations who can never be assimilated with us politically , socially or indus trially , is nothing more and nothing less than for this country to undertake a war of conquest which will bo con demned and is condemned by every right- minded man and woman in our land. ' "I know from previous experience how dense is the screen by wlrch the sup porters of bad measures attempt to sur round the chief executive of the nation. When the Inflation bill of 1874 was im pending , Vice-President Wilson called upon me knowing I had a wide cor respondence with sound money men throughout the West ; he stated to me that under the pressure which was be ing brought to bear upon the president in Washington ho was being misled into the belief that public opinion required him to sign the Inflation bill , and Mr. Wilson called upon me to bring to bear upon him the true public opinion of the country to the utmost of my ability. I immediately telegraphed to a number of men in the great Western cities who had agreed to act together in any emer gency to send in protests against the Inflation bill from day to day , signed by a few men of prominence prefer ably those known to the president while protesting meetings in Now York and Boston were immediately organ ised , the latter by myself. The evi dence was thus placed before President Grant of an overwhelming kind , that he was being misled and deceived by the advocates of bad legislation who surrounded him. "After his term had expired I mol President Grant. Ho turned the con- -i . , * v < * I * ' " ' * ' t versation to the financial issue , saying to mo that I was entitled to know the nistory of the veto of the Inflation bill. He said , 'I had prepared a message to iccompanj * the bill signed , stating my objection to it , and that I had yielded to what I assumed to be the public opinion of the country ; but presently the pro- : ests came in to me from the leading men of all the great Western cities ac companied by the Now York and Boston meetings , and I found that the true pub ic opinion of the oountiy would sustain mo in doing what was right and what [ know would be right. I read over the message which I had written to accom pany the bill signed. I said to myself , this is all sophistry. I do nof believe it myself , and no one else will believe it. [ tore it up and substituted the veto message. ' To which I replied , 'Veto and Vicksburg the victory of Peace and the victory of War. ' You now have bhe opportunity , siipported as you will be by the true public opinion of this country , to emulate the example of that grand man to maintain peace , order , and industry without violating the prin ciples laid down in Washington's Farewell - well address , and withoiit violating the spirit of the constitution. In that you may rest assured of the continued sup port of all men to whom you would re sort for cool , deliberate , and sound judg ment throughout the country. " T1IK L.ATKST KXAMPL.1S OF FALLING KATKS. The universal tendency in the direc tion of lower rates shows itself in two annual reports which have come to hand this week. The first report is that of the Chicago & Alton , one of the most conservatively managed properties in the country. The receipts per passenger per mile fell from 2.023 in 1896 to 1.918 in 1897 , a decrease of .104 cent , and the receipts per ton per mile from .817 cent in 189G to .708 in 1897 , a decrease of .054 cent. The reduction of slightly over one-tenth of u cent a mile on the pass engers carried by the company last year was equal to a net loss of about $99,000. The reduction in freight rate of about half a mill was equivalent to a net lessen on the tonnage moved of $228,510. The second report is that of the presi dent of the Northern Central railroad , part of the Pennsylvania system , and also an admirably and carefully man aged property. The receipts per pass enger per mile on this road fell from 2.140 cents in 1890 to 2.112 cents in 1897 , a decrease of .028 cent , and the receipts per ton per mile from .5135 cent in 1890 to .525 in 1897 , a decrease of .013 cent. The decrease of .028 ( twenty-eight one- thousandths ) of a cent in passenger rates meant a loss on the passengers carried of $14,054 , and the loss of thirteen one- thousundthsvof a cent on the freight ton nage represented a loss of $115,091. It is difficult to behove that the indi vidual traveler or shipper gains much by a shrinkage of a tenth of a cent in ff passenger rates or a few thousandths of a cent on a ton of freight. To each railway - way company , however , such decreases are serious things , the shrinkages on these two companies alone representing a practical gift to the public of $457,250 in one year. SPKCTACULAII countless thous ands mourn and the common conclusion is that no human frailty or weakness so evenly and generally permeates all the liearts and souls of the myriad tribes of mankind. THE CONSERVATIVE is moved to those reflections by the contemplation of an assortment of eye-glasses and spectacles which adorn its library , its tables and writing desks. These aids to eyes which have been watching the development of Nebraska and the trans-Missoiari coun try generally for forty-four years are in valuable. These glasses let into the mind the conserved and canned thoughts of antiquity , and of modern times , too , which have been put up in fine type and hermetically sealed to the unaided eyesight of age. And who ever thinks of the great and inestimable debt of gratitude which the race owes to the inventor of spectacles ? Who even asks the name of that bene factor of souls and hearts who has made visible to the imperfect or impaired natural vision all the beauties of litera ture and art and science ? Italian antiquarians attribute the in vention of spectacles to Sal vine , who did this great charity to the billions and billions of the earth between the years 1280 and 1311 and died in 1318. His ep itaph says : "Here lies Sal vine Amota do Armiti of Florence , the inventor of xpccluvlex. May God pardon his sins. " And now if every human being on earth who wears glasses , will , in grati tude , each give a single cent for a mon ument to Salvino , the inventor of spec tacles , to be erected at Wyuka cemetery , Nebraska City , Otoo county , Nebraska , what a spectacular commemoration that will be in its magnificence and costli ness ! The United States is entitled to the best of everything. Wo are entitled to the best money ; and that is gold. If wo give ourselves an inferior money , while all other civilised nations use gold , wo put ourselves at a disadvantage. Only lot us stay on an equal footing with other nations and wo can beat them at anything , just as wo have beaten them at everything wo have tried so far. We're all right. Twenty millions of dollars is too much to pay lor the Philippines to come in ; but it would bo quite reasonable for their staying out. i