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VOL. XI.
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, FEBRUARY 22, 1900.
NO. 41.
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MEETING OF THE POPULIST HATIOHAL COMMITTEE
Tha Populists Stood by their Organization and Kept it in the Hands of
Tried and True Reformers. '
All ATTEMPT TO PACK THE HALL
" Wharton Barker's Delegates and Republicans Holding Proxies Withdraw
and Name D. "Clam" Deaver as Chairman.
A UION OF FORCES AGAINST
The meeting of the populist national
committee was set for the 19th. That
was on Monday, but as early as Satur
day the committeemen began to arrive.
The fusion men came in with a deter
mined look on their faces. They knew
the life of the populist party depended
upon winniDg this fight against Mark
Hanca's attempt to secure the control
of the populist party. They were men
who had fought out many a contest
against plutocracy, but this time they
were resolved to stand by the old ship,
and if she was sunk to sink with it and
go down beneath the waters with guns
firing and the flag waving.
The night before the committee met
the fusion forces met in conference at
the Lincoln hotel in private rooms on
the fourth floor. There were many fa
miliar faces there, many men whose
hair had grown gray since they enlisted.
It was a good representation of the in
tellectual force of the populist party.
They were not brawlers, they did not
impugn the motives .of each other,
though at the beginning they were not
at an agreement. They all listened re
spectfully to what each one had to say.
The writer of this went into that con
ference, with, as he thought, his mind
made up. He was firmly convinced that
that Omaha agreement, as it was called,
wrf no binding force in ethics tr in
law. - Those men who were at that con
ference and who had insisted on that ar
rangement, when they were pledging
themselves to stand by it, had in their
pockets the tpye-wntten plans for the
calling of the Cincinnati convention,
and within one hour, they had gono-out
and had called that convention, after
wards attended it, organized a new party
and put up their presidential candidates.
Therefore he held that no attention
should be paid to it.
Bat there were Cyclone Davis and
Harry Tracy . from Texas who said that
they had accepted that agreement in
good faith, had gone into the south awl
declared to the people there that the
Eopulists of the northwest were true and
onorable men, and were not the scoun
drels that Joe Parker and Milton Park
declared that they were, and that they
had pledged their honor to the people
that the northwest would stand by that
agreement. They said that believing
and trusting in them, the populists of
Texas had elected a delegation to the
populist national convention, 90 per cent
of whom come to that convention and
cast their vote for W. J. Bryan and
Judge Caldwell. They also pledged
themselves that Alabama certainly and
probably Georgia would follow the ex
ample of Texas and send the same kind
of delegations.
By the time that Harry Tracy and
Davis had concluded their remarks, this
pop editor was in about the same fix of
old Felix and was ready to say: "Thou
almost persuadest me." But there were
many good men there who were not per
suaded and hour after hour was passod
in tho most earnest discussion. Tracy
and Davis had no better opinion of the
Wharton Barker boltera than we of Ne
braska had. They claimed that if we
followed out their plan that it would
leave the Barker crowd without a cor
poral's guard, of following in the south.
Finally it was agreed, although no for
mal vote was taken upon it, that the
committees should go ahead and ap
point a day and a place to hold the pop
ulist national convention.
Then the question came up as to
what was to be done with these men
who had bolted the party and nomi
nated their own candidate and were
wading along in the middle of a road
knee deep in Mark Hanna and boodle.
There was but one. opinion on that sub
ject. They were not members of the
populist party and had no right to sit in
its conventions or to participate in its
councils. . A resolution to that effect
was passed unanimously. It was very
late at night, or perhaps " more accu
rately, very early in the morning when
this conference broke up.
Meantime the fellows who came here
in the interest of Wharton Barker and
Mark Hanna were holding a council of
their own under the leadership of D.
Clem Deaver and Joe Parker of Ken
tucky. This writer was not invited.
They wouldn't even give him a ticket of
admission. But a friend of his was in
there taking notes. Joe Parker had his
pockets full of proxies and D. Clem was
instructing him who were the reliable
republicans to whom they could be dis
tributed so that they could report that
they had earned their salaries and were
not away simply on a picnic.
They did not make many mistakes in
" this matter and this writer saw sitting
on the floor as proxies, five men, citizens
of Lincoln, whom he' knows have always
worked for and with the republican
party and wo of them sport as vile
characters as it is possible for any man
to acquire in this western country.
j Finally the hour for the meeting of
WITH REPUBLICANS FRUSTRATED
PLUTOCRACY MADE CERTAIN.
the committee, 2 p, m., arrived. The
place was the representative hall at the
capitol. There was a great mob in the
halls and corridors, principally made up
of republican heelers. While going
along one of the halls three young men
came up and addressing me by name,
the following conversation took place:
"We want to speak to you for a mo
ment; we have proxies. Can we get
into the committee meeting?"
"Are you . populists?" was asked . in
reply. .
"One of us is a populist and the other
two are republicans," one of them re
plied. They were informed that the populist,
if he had a genuine proxy from from an
accredited member of the committee
would be admitted without a doubt,
but republicans holding proxies would
not be admitted.
Shortly afterward we met Komine and
he said that he had a proxy and wanted
to get in. The proxy was all correct in
form and had the McKinley war tax
stamp on it, but it was signed by Dixon,
a member of the Wharton-Barker com
mittee. Now Eomine is a red hot Bryan
man. He would not tell who gave him
the proxy, That was the only mistake
that D. Clem seemed to have made.
Finally the convention was called to
order and the list of members was call
ed. There was not a man on that list
who was at the Wharton-Barker conven
tion in Cincinnati; who was member of
any of the committees of that conven
tion or who has been actively, support
ing tnat ticket. As soon as the secre
tary had finished reading the list Joe
Parker was on his feet wanting to know
why Stiles was not on the list. Senator
Butler said that the chairman and the
secretary had made up the list of popu
list members according to the best in
formation that could be obtained J that
there were several cases like the one to
.which attention had been called, and he
did not like to decide these questions
himself and he would therefore appoint
a committee on credentials, composed of
Senator Allen, Gen. Weaver and Cyclone
Davis. He concluded the sentence by
saying that the f committee stood ad
journed until eight o'clock in the even
ing, and put on his hat .and started to
leave.
Joe Parker moved to make Clem
Deaver chairman and Clem jumped into
the chair. Then the bolters raised such
a howling as can only be duplicated in a
middle of the road convention. Pande
monium broke loose, The real members
of the committee stood around the little
crowd of .bolters and laughed. 1 Speech
after speech was made. Finally Yeiser
jumped into the ring and told the bolt
ers that they had no ground for their
action at all; that they should wait until
the committe on credentials had made
their report and see if there had been
unjust action taken, for so far, the pro
ceedings had been in line with all such
bodies. He made a motion to adjourn
and when Clem Deaver would not put
the motion he put it himself and de
clared the aggregation adjourned.
Clem kept banking away at the work
of chairman and the ' bolters kept on
with their howling and speech making.
Meantime the committee on credentials
met in a room in the story below and
commenced the hearing of contests.
Indiana was one of the first- states
taken up. In this state the bolters are
in full swing. The names on the list of
chairmen were Strange, Burkheart and
A. P. Hanna. Burkheart was the real
foundation and brains of the Wharton
Barker outfit in Indiana but he was
elected by a regular calied convention
and the committee could see no way to
depose him. Mr. Burkheart had par
ticipated in another, convention, not
called by the chairman of the state com
mittee, and that convention had elected
the notorious Motsinger as a member of
the national committee and Burkheart
held his proxy. The committee on ere
dentials made short work of Motsinger
and his proxy. Mr. A. P. Hanna who is
at present the chairman of the people's
party in Indiana had been elected
member of the national committee by a
regularly calied convention which as
semoiea tor that purpose ana he was
immediately seated, and the organiza
tion which he represents was recog
nized. -
The claimants to seats in the commit
tee were many and varied. . Their papers
were carefnlly examined one by one and
the parties were sent for and allowed to
present their cases. Burkheart was be
fore the committee on credentials sev
eral times, and it was only after the
severest cross-examination that he final
ly, admitted that there were too organiza
tions in Indiana. At one time he said
he didn't know of any other than the
one to which he belonged, thus ignoring
tne regular state committee and the
state chairman, Mr. A. P. Hanna.
In allowing' the claims of parties to
seats, the rule laid down that those who
had participated in the nomination of
Wharton Earner, or were members o
- - - wwMh..vww w. W piltj)
were no longer ennled to a voice in the
people's party was rigidly adhered to,
Another rule adopted and enforced was
(Continued on page 8)
SENATOR ALLEN'S SPEECH'
On a Bill to Confiscate the Property of the
People and Make the National
Debt Perpetual, v
The following is part of the speech of
Senator Allen delivered in the- United
States senate, Wednesday, February 7
and Thursday, February 8:
Mr ALLEN. I have been looking up
the discussion of 1893 and I find by ex
aming the Record that the senator from
Rhode Island was present, giving aid
and comfort to the enemies of the people
on that occasion. He was one of the
gentlemen who voted to repeal the pur
chasing clause of the Sherman Act of
1890; and by his vote, by his associa
tions, by his influence, and by what he
said, he gave currency to the thought
that it was not within the power of Con
gress to create or affect values by legis-
ation. Now he admits that it is. The
progress is somewhat slow and possibly
painful, but nevertheless marked. "
I was about to say before engaging in
this side discussion that that question
seems to have been settled by those who
brmed the Constitution and adopted it,
for Congress is by that instrument given
power "to coin money and regulate the
value thereof. Certainly it must have
been in the minds of those who framed
the Constitution and in the minds of the
people who adopted it that it was within
the power of Congress to regulate the
value of money.
What does "regulate value mean?
Can not regulation be carried to the ex
tent of creating and destroying? "To
regulate" certainly means to affect, to
change, to move from one standard to
another. If the value of money were a
thing fixed by trade, then it was a work
of supererogation in the fathers of. the
constitution to invest that power in con
gress. The power to control the volume
of money, to issue money, .and to regu
late its value is a soverign power which
no government has a right to alienate
or abandon. You might as well say, if
you have a right to turn this power over
to the national banks or to private insti
tutions, that the power to tax the peo
ple, which is also a soverign power, may
be farmed out to private individuals and
exercised by the few to the detriment of
the many, as it was in Rome at one time
in her history.
The power to raise armies and navies,
which is' part of the power to make war,
and essential to national preservation, is
a soverign power; yet congress has as
much right to turn over to private indi
viduals and private corporations the
4. 1 , T .
power to mane war, 10 couciuae peace,
to raise armies and to construct navies
rs it has to turn over the power to coin
money and regulate its value.
Whenever we concede that congress
has the right to abandon one of these
powers to be exercised by private insti
tutions or individuals, we admit that
congress has the right to abandon all
soverign power and to turn over the gov
ernment in its entirety to private inter
ests and the few,and therefore, because
this bill is an abandonment of the sover
eign power to make money and to regu
late its value, I am opposed to it.
In loUJ when we were discussing the
money question here, another argument
was made by the honorable, senator from
Rhode Island; and I refer to him be
cause he is the general tipstaff and
major-domo of his party. That argu
ment was that silver should not be coin
ed on terms of equality with gold because
the silver barons would make money out
of it, and all over the country that argu
ment was used by the advocates of the
gold standard. They said it would not
do to com silver on terms of equality
with gold because if we did the silver
miners, the silver barons they became
barons after a time would make money
out of it. And we all recall the drivel
that was sifted out of the hustings about
the 50-cent dollar, as though such a
thing as a DU-cent dollar were possible.
How stands the argument in respect
to this bill? Who is protesting on that
side against turning over .to the national
banks the right to make, by the issuance
of their currency and by the retirement
of the different forms of paper monev
ana silver, more money than the "silver
i -1 - ...
barons in their wildest dreams ever ex
pected to make? , It was wrong in own
ers of silver mines in 1893 to make monev
out of the people. So said our friends
upon that side of the Tshamber. It was
wrong to put them where they were be
fore the crime of lsd, and it was a crime
against civilization and against the
r:.ghts of the men, women and , children
of this country, let it be sneered at pub-
J 1 : 4.l Ji. T r
iiui yji px-ivaLvijr asu way. Jin was
wrong to coin silver at a ratio of 16 to 1
at that time because it would result in a
benefit to a certain class of our citizens
much greater in number than the bene
ficiaries of this bill, is it not for a like
reason wrong m 1900 to pass this meas
ure when its only beneficiaries will bo
about 3,500 banks? I am nftt the enemy
of legitimate banks. I realize as fullv
as any man the necessityof banks of dis
count and deposit. In our complex civ
ilization they can not be dispensod with;
they are necessary.
But when they perform those offices
they perform every function that per
tains to legitimate banking, and when
they are permitted to issue their notes
as money they are invading the sover
eign power -of the people of this nation
There is where I draw the line, and there
is where I believe the people will draw
it forever. -Mr.
President, this is a bill for confis
cation. - Our constitution provides that
"no state shall pass any
law impairing the obligation of con
tracts." So the framers of the constitu
tion said. And yet this bill by its ex
press terms impairs the obligations of
all contracts, public and private. Now
is there any doubt about that? It may
be said that while the constitution pro
hibits a state from passing laws impair
mg the obligations of contracts that it
does not prohibit the nation; and I ad
mitthat technically;-' that statement " is
true.- ' '
Mr. SPOONER. There is a moral
prohibition, anyway; .
Mr. ALLEN. The senator from Wis
consin very truthfully says that there is
a moral inhibition against it. Techni
cally congress can pass a law impairing
the obligations of a contract and destroy
the contract, because to impair its obli
gations means to destroy it in part or in
whole. Is it wise far the congress to do
that which the constitution has prohib
ited the states from doing in this res
pect? It there is an obligation on the
part .pf the legislatures of the several
states of the Union to preserve the binding
form of contracts and their obligations
does not that obligation extend to the
nation as a political entity? Yet by the
express terms of this bill the obligations
of contracts are to be impaired and vio
lated. 1 will read section 2 of the house
bill: ' - -;
"That all interest i bearing obligations
of the United Statesfor the payment of
money, now existing or hereafter to be
entered into, and all United States
notes and treasury notes issued under
the law of July 14, 1890. shall be deemed
and held to be-payable ' in the gold coin
of the United States as defined in sec
tion 1 of this act;- and all Other obliga
tions - ' : -
Note the words -1
public and private, for the payment of
money shall be performed in conformity
with the standard established in said
section."-: - ' - :s
There it is, an unblushing provision.
impairing the obligation of contracts.
Mr. President, under the terms of that
section it would make no difference that
a citizen had entered into a contract
payable in so many silver dollars or so
much lawful money of the United
States. He will find that when this bill
shall become a law that every one of his
obligations is transformed, from an obli
gation payable at the time the contract
was made in the lawful money of the
country into an obligation to pay in
gold according to the standard fixed by
this measure. . , -
Mr. STEWART, Does that include
all taxes?- ' ' -'-v'-." , :, ..
Mr. ALLEN. . Everything.
Mr. STEWART. . All taxes?
Mr. ALLEN. AU taxes.
Mr. STEWART. Then what becomes
of silver if it will not pay taxes?
Mr. ALLEN. It is gone. That is the
purpose of the bill. I supposed the sen
ator from Nevada understood that.
Mr. STEWART. I do understand it.
but I want to chip in here to make it a
little more emphatic. The senator from
Nebraska understands it; I want the
ptibhc'to understand it. It is very im
portant to be understood that the silver
dollar will not pay taxes any more.
Mr. ALtLiElv. It goes out of the cate
gory of money. ;
m. SPOONED. The senator ?is
speaking of the house bill. v ;
Mr. ALLEN. Of both bills, only one
is a little more artfully drawn than the
other,- Whoever drew the housa bill
1 3 11 lt. ? W -i
uau tne courage ci ms convictions and
was willing to take the responsibility
for it, but the man who drew the senate
amendment had great craft and no
moral courage. -
Mr. President, it embraces not only
taxes but every obligation that a private
citizen, or the United States, or a state
government, or a municipality, can en
ter into. All of the vast body of indebt
edness, national, state, municipal, county
and private, is converted into a gold in
debtedness, regardless of the terms of
the contract creating that indebtedness.
We have no assurance that this measure
will not become a law. It has passed
one body. It is here; and while the
senate committee have stricken it out
they have left the substance of it be
neath the hidden folds of the skillfully
drawn amendments that are presented
here. .- . - -
Mr. President,.! never expected to see
the time come in the history of my
country when it would be guilty of spoli
ation an act against the people which
it prohibited the states from doing. I
doubt if there can be found in modern
legislation so bold a declaration as that
contained in this section, that all private
and public contracts shall be payable in
the standard created by the bill rather
than in the money of the contract, and
if there be a disparity between gold and
silver and paper money and the debtor
is compelled to pay in the dearer money
costing more, sacrifice, more of his prop
erty, more of his labor to obtain a dollar
than formerly, what is that but confis
cation? So this ought to be termed "a
bill to confiscate the property of the peo
ple rather than be named as it is.
There is another thing about this bill
which is vicious and inexcusable. It is
a bill to perpetuate the national debt.
Mr. TEJjLi PjK. It increases it, too.
Mr. ALLEN, To increase and to per
petuate it. To my utter surprise I heard
a prominent New England senator say
five years ago that it was never , the - in
tention of the railroads to pay the prin
cipal of their debt , I was so much sur
prised that I rose at my desk and asked
if he spoke seriously, and he said he did.
1 want to put a question to the senator
from Rhode Island who has this meas
ure in charge, and to whose door much
of the wrong it will inflict upon the peo
pie will be brought. ; " Do you expect to
see this nation payoff its indebtedness?
Mr. ALiDKlCJbL. 1 certainly do.
Mr.-ALLEN. When and how?
Mr. ALDRICH. That is a question
which I suppose everv senator will have
to answer for himself.
Mr. ALLEN. I am afraid the method
of paying the. debt will be very much
like the case of a man , I once knew , who
cam? to my office and said "I am getting
out of debt pretty rapidly. I paid $2,500
today. I will soon be out of debt
said "How did you do it?" He said "
gave a new note." That is the purpose
of this bill to renew our debt. By a
system of renewals, pleasantly called re
funding, the national debt has been per
petuated for nearly forty years, and ac-
coramg to tne terms of this bill we are
to issue bonds that will not mature for
thirty years. Then when the time comes
and they mature, and the senator from
Rhode Island and I shall ' have passed
(Continued on page 2)
MACRUM SPEAKS OUT
Says the Americans Took the Oath to
Oom Paul and "Went Off to Fight
. I The British. -
Much has been said in the papers
about the American consul having
deserted his post at Pretoria and the ap
pointment of Secretary Hay's son to take
his place. Mr. Macrum now gives his
reasons to the public for his action. He
says that when he started for America
he did not know that there was a secret
alliance between this" country and the
British.
Washington, D. C, Feb. 14 The fol-
owing signed statement was given out
to night by Charles E. Macrum, former
United States consul at Pretoria:
"The situation in Pretoria was such
that, first, as an official, I could not re
main there, while my government at
home was apparently in the dark as to
the exact conditions in South Africa.
Secondly, as a man and citizen of the
United States, I could not remain in
Pretoria, sacrificing my own self respect
and that of thie people of Pretoria, while
tho government at home continued to
eave me in the position of a British
consul and not an American consul. I
want to say right here , that there was
not one single request made of me
through the department of state looking
to the care of British interests in Pre
toria which I did not fulfill- and report
upon according to my orders. On the
other hand, American interests in South
Africa were in that condition which
demanded that the department of state
should be cognizant of them. ' :
"I issued the statements received from
the state department that Americans
must remain neutral. In - the face of
this Americans were continually going
to the front and taking up arms in the
cause of the Boers. I could not help but
know that many of these were citizens
of the United States. I also knew that
many of them in utter despair at the ap
parent attitude of our own government,
were taking the oath of allegiance to the
Transvaal republic. When affairs had
reached that state that my vice-consul,
Mr. Van Ameringen, closed up his busi
ness, took the oath of allegiance to tho
republic, and went to the front as a
burgher, 1 thought the time had come
when I should make ' a report of these.
conditions. - " ' -';v -' : " .- ,
"It was over four weeks from the time
the war opened before I received a single
mail dispatch from my government or a
personal letter. The mail for the Trans
vaal had all been stopped at Cape Town
by order of the high commissioner.
When this mail was finally forwarded to
me, after uoi. stowe, tne consul-general
at Cape Town, had secured its release.
I had the humiliation asthe representa
tive of the American government . of
sitting in my office in Pretoria and look
ing upon envelopes, bearing the onicial
seal of the American government opened
and officially sealed with a sticker, noti
fying me that the contents had been
read by the censor at Durban. I looked
up international law, but failed to find
anywhere that one military power can
use its own discretion as to forwarding
the official dispatches of a neutral govern
ment t its representative in a besieged
country.
"The mail service from Uelagoa bay to
Europe was continually interrupted by
the action of British men-of-war at that
port. The service was over two weeks
longer than by the west coast and there
were continual rumors that that port
would be closed and communication
with the outside world entirely shut off.
"The cable service for the Transvaal
was absolutely cut off, ' I was privately
informed by the Belgian and German
consuls at Pretoria that their official
cables in code to their governments had
been refused by the censor. I tiled one
cable in the interest of an American in
Pretoria which was refused absolutely
by the censor in Durban. This cable I
sent to the fiancee of a Mr, Nelson, an
American business man in Pretoria. She
was on her way to South Africa from
Buffalo, N. Y., when the war broke ' out.
According to a letter which Mr. Nelson
received just before the war commenced,
she was buying her trousseau in Europe.
The cable requested her to dome by the
east coast. When I informed Mr. Nelson
that the cable had not been sent, his
brother took the oath of allegiance to
the republic and went to the front.
"But tiese are simply minor details.
The misrepresentations which had been
going on before the war and after it
opened were of such a serious nature,
and would require such detailed expla
nation, that on Nov. 6 I filed a cable to
the department - in code, stating that I
wished leave of absence in order to visit
the states. I set forth in this cable
that my vice-counsul had enlisted in the
Boer army; that a Mr. Atterberry, an
American whom I have known very fa
vorably fox more than a year, could take
charge of the office until my return.
in reply to this dispatch, which was .
forwarded without any delay,1 1 received
from the department . a reply advising
me that my presence at Pretoria was
important to pubic interests. On No
vember 8 I telegraphed again, acknowl
edging the receipt of the cable and ad
vising the department that the situation
was not critical; that Mr. Atterbury was
competent; that my presence t in - Amer
ica was important v No reply was re
ceived, and I wired again on Nov. 11,
stating that no reply had been received
and again urged a favorable reply. No
reply was received to this. On Nov. 14
I again wired the department, stating
that I could not leave without permis
sion, that I would forfeit my post if the
reasons which I would make to the de
partment did not prove satisfactory.
This cable was delayed by the censor
under Dec. 2, when I had advices that
it had just been forwarded. On NoV.
18 I again filed a cable, stating that
three of my cables had been unanwsered
and stating that a substitute would ajl
swer as consul during my absence, and
requested a reply. To this I received a
reply immediately, which was a reitera
tion of the reply to my first cable. Up
on receipt of this reply which was Nov.
20, 1 immediately wrote to the depart
ment'accepting the refusal to grant my
leave and stating ' in that letter that I
would abide by the decision of the de
partment and attempt to convey an in
telligent idea for the department's guid
ance of the conditions there in mail dis
patches. , . ;v
"On Dec. 4 I received a reply from the
department to my cablegram of Nov.
14, which I had been informed two days
previously had just been forwarded. It
read as follows:
" 'Sail 18th, by Naples.' .
"This cablegram was sent on Dec. 8,
and in the meantime I prepared to go.
A few days later I "received a telegram
from Mr. Hollis, consul at Delagoa Bay,
stating that he had been instructed to
come to Pretoria to take charge of my
office during . my absence, and until a
man should arrive from Washington.
Mr. Hollis arrived on Dec. 14 and was
thoroughly posted in the routine of the
office, and I introduced him' to the
heads of all government departments
and to my consular colleagues. I left
Pretoria the night of Dec. 16. I went
straight to Paris, notifieds, the depart
ment of my presence there, while wait
ing for the American line boat to sail
for New York. I arrived in Washing
ton on Monday, , February 5, and re
ported to Assistant Seretary Hill of the
state department, who officially informed
me that Secretary Hay's son had been
appointed in my place, and that he was
on his way to Pretoria.
"I appreciated the seriousness of the
conditions in South Africa to the extent
that on my way to Washington, believ
ing that I was still the consul at Pre
toria; I refused to make any statement
that would in any way involve the de
partment "or embarass it. - My one ob
ject was to lay. the information before
the department as to the true state of
affairs in South Africa. If the depart
ment thought these facts were of a value
sufficient to warrant the expense of the
trip I . had taken, . I expected to bp- re
munerated and return to Pretoria, leav
ing the department act as it saw , fit
upon the facts which I laid before it.
-"Instead of this, I find that Secretary
Kay, whether acting upon the report of
the newspapers or upon advice from the
British government, or from some other
motive I do not know, saw fit not to wait
until I could present my reasons in per
son, and has been a silent or conniving
partner in discrediting reports of my of
ficial acts.' . I come home to find an at
tempt ha-: been made to tear down my
personal reputation. ,
"I wish to state .right here that when
I accepted my post as consul I knew
nothing of any ' secret alliance -between
America and Great" Britain, and f that I
had seen nothing in the regulations
which made the consul of the American
republic subject to the whims . and cap
rice of an English ' military censor at
Durban. 1 came to America with a
motive of which I aaunot ashamed. .
There is not one soul who can point
to a single official act of mine which de-
Earted from the strictest neutrality,
ly confidential dispatches to the de
partment contained information which
will show my sympathy for the repub
lic, but which time will prove to be un
founded as to actual facts.
"My acts as a public official are all re
corded at the department. My acts
now as a private man can in no way in
volve the public service, and I simply
make this statement in my own defence,
as against those which have come from
the department, secretly and officially,
"Charles E. Macrum
ENGLAND IN TREMORS
It Is Acknowledged That the Empire it in
Danger Russia's Movements
Excite Alarm. "
The following discussion"" took place
in the English house of lords the other
day:
The earl of Rosebery said he fully real
ized the gravity of the situation and
agreed - with the previous speaker 1 in
thinking that the measures adopted were
inadequate m the circumstances. He
also doubted whether "tne paper force
of 400,000 men in Great Britian," to
which the secretary of state for war had
referred would stand analysis. For the
volunteers Lord Rosebery said he had
the highest respect, but by no stretch of
the imagination could they be called sol
diers, as it was admitted that they need
ed months of training annually to render
them efficient
"The' crisis in South "Africa is urgent,"
continued Lord Rosebery, "but we must
not kepp our eyes on South Africa alone.
Last December the government made
urgent overtures to great powers, Ger
many and the United States, for an alli
ance, but those overtures ; were . not re
ceived with such cordiaUty as to en
courage the government to pursue them.
It does not appear that the friendship
of France would bear any great strain,
and as to -Russia, events 'have been re
cently witnessed in Persia about which
England would formerly have had some
thing to say, but which sne now passes
unnoticed. '
"It now becomes the government to
take a large grasp of : the situation and
to make adequate : proposals. ' If Great
Britian were to lose South . Africa she
would lose the most important base out
side of the United " Kingdom, , and she
would lose colonial support which has
been given because the colonies have be
lieved that they were-'associating them
selves with a powerful empire, and thus
the empire would break away from us,
If this be not a life and death crisis I do
not know what is."
The Earl of Kimberley, the liberal
leader, said he felt the danger of the
situation equally with Lord Rosebery,
Although he would not ascribe a direct
hostile intention to Russia at the pres
entr moment, be said that he could not
overlook the fact that there was a move
mentof troops in pr egress, which, if not
she
hat possibilites of
theiutureT.
.absent from the
THE GOLD BILL PASSED
An Unlimited Issue of United States
Bonds and a Perpetual National
Debt Established. ;
Washington, D. C, Feb. 15. The1
senate substitute for the house currency!
bill was passed "by the senate .today byi
the decisive majority of 46 to 29. Prior J
to the final passage of the bill, amend
ments were considered under -the ten
minute rule. Only two of these amend-'
mentis were adopted, viz: One offered by
the finance committee, keeping the door.
open to international bimetallism, and I
one by Mr. Nelson of Minnesota, pro
viding for national banks with $25,000
capital in towns of not more than 4,000
inhabitants.
The vote taken on the varioua amend-
ments offered ' were : practically along
party lines. Mr. Chandler (rep., N. II.),
voted for the bimetallic amendment, but
against the bill. Mr. Caffery (dem. La.)
and Mr. Lindsay (dem. Ky.), voted
against the" committee amendment, but
for the bill. Mr. Kyle (S. D.) was tho
only senator who did not vote and was
not paired. The free silver substitute
offered by Mr. Jones, tho leader of tho
democratic side, was defeated by a ma
jority of 19, the vote being 47 to 28.
The bill as passed consists of ten sec
tions. " It provides that the dollar pf
25 8-10 grains of gold, nine-tenths fine, !
shall be the standard unit of value andj
that all forms of United States money I
shall be maintained at a parity with it, ,
and that treasury notes and greenbacks :
shall be redeemable in gold. :
The secretary of the treasury is to set
apart a fund of $150,000,000 for the re-j
demption of these notes and to maintain
this fund at a figure not below $100,000-
000; he is empowered to sell , bonds of
the United States, bearing interest at
not exceeding 3 per cent. ' It shall be
the duty of the secretary of the treasury,
as fast as standard dollars are coined, to
redeem an equaly amount of the treas
ury notes and to issue silver certificates
against the silver so coined. Under cer
tain provisions, too, gold certificates
shall be issued against the gold held in
the treasury. No United , States notes
or treasury notes shall be issued in de
nominations less than 510 and silver of
a denomination to exceed $10. ;
The secretary of the ' treasury is also
authorized to refund the bonded indebt-.
edness of the United States in thirty year
bonds bearing Z 'per cent interest, the
principal and interest on these bonds to
be paid in gold. The 2 per cent bonds
shall . be issued at hot less than par.
Any national bank,' by depositing with
the United States, bonds of this country.
shall be permitted to issue circulating
notes to the face value of the bonds de
posited, no bank being allowed , to issue
circulating notes in excess of the amount
ofthe paid in capital stock of the bank.
The bill as amended, passed, 4b to 29.
as follows: , - , "
Yeas Aldrich, Allison, ' Beveridge,
Burrows, Caffery, Carter, Clark (Wyo.)t
Cullom, Davis, Deboe, ; Depew, Elkins,
Fairbanks, Foraker, Foster, Frye, Gear,
Hale, Hanna, Hansborough, Hawley,
Hoar, Kean, Lindsay, Lodge, McBride,
McComas, McCumber, McMillan, Mason,
Nelson, Penrose, Perkins, Piatt (Conn.),
Piatt (N. Y.), Pritchard, Quarles, Ross,
Scott, Sewell, Shoup, Simon, Spooner, .
Thurston, Wetmore, Wolcott 46.
Nays Bate, Berry, Butler, Chandler.
Chilton, Clark (Mont.), Clay, Cockrell.
Culbertson, Daniel, Harris, Hatfield,
Jones (Ark.), Jones (Ne v.), Kenney, Mc- ,
Enery, McLaurin, Martin, Money, Mor
gan, Pettu's, Rawlins, Stewart, Sullivan,
Taliaferro, Teller, Tillman, Turley, Vest
Ex-Senator Gorman
Mr. Gorman has recently given out an
interview for the purpose, as he a ays, of ,
correctiner some misstatements i about
mm wnicn nave appearea in tne press, f
and this is what ie says: . V
i , . i i j ' ii
rl am just as much opposed to the
nomination of Mr. Bryan today as I wast
in 1896." said he this eveninsr. '"He is."
the same , man, standing on the same
platform, and the same reasons against
his nomination apply with even more
force today than then. I do not think
his nomination would be wise and I
have not said that nothing can prevent
it. On the contrary, while I realize that
he has the support of the people to a
remarkable degree, I believe his nomina
tion could be prevented if those who
believe it unwise would get ' together
and unite their efforts. Every now and
then I hear an influential man in the
democratic party say that he does not
think we ought to nominate Mr. Bryan
but that he does not see how it can bo
prevented. The united action of people
who feel that way can prevent it. Mr.
Bryan has a great many unwilling sup
porters." : "WiU you support Mr. Bryan if he ia
nominated?" . '
. ;"I am a democrat and I never desert
my party." ;'
Taking that as the correct representa
tion of his views, the Independent wishes
to say that Mr. Gorman advertises him
self as a political scoundrel of a worse
character than he has ever been charged
with. A man who will say , that he is
opposed to Bryan and the principles
that he represents and yet will support
him for president is a dangerous char
acter and should never be allowed to
hold office of any kind.. Such a man is
on a level with an anarchist and a traitor
to his country. He should be driven
out of decent society. . There is no honor
or principle in him. " j
x Club of five subscribers ' from now
uutil January 1, 1901, for $2.50. Ev?ry-j
body rustle. . " " .i
t ; : , -J .-
1
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