k- fit
WW
VOL. XII.
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, FEBRUARY 28, 1901.
NO. 40.
ami an ii ii hi
ii i sii iii iii i a 11 i ii i inii i mii i ii it
THE KEY ZEALAKD YAY
TV aJ brack. M 1M B4 With
rrtgfeta-a' l TVlea ef
mi ti a 1 him.
la cs ef Frxck Carpenter's late Ut
ters froa New .Zealand be write of
tie way ley things there as fol
io: TS.2J Is ti. wy they ar Colas
tllsft Ll,w Zealand.
"Her r tost suetiozu for the
iAU property toller, for farmer
who wo isd worth it than JTOO:
"flow woqM yon like to pay no tax
vttUvtr cpon one-third of your prop
erty, or. if tfc property 1 Jae4 at
Jess wta S2Jta0, e tax whatever?
How wuld ywa like to have all
your lE?rofJsecu (deducted from the
aaMid valuation and the tax merely
laid G3 the Ijx4 as it vu whea unlm
proed? Hcw wosd yoa like to pay only on
that part of the land which yoa really
&, tl arsoart of your mortgages
Leia deducted from the tax valuation
to pay. fa fet, no tax upon anything
outside the exds proved land you havs
paid for and your income, and this fa
caae the said Income annually amounts
to raur thaa 11.20?
"That 1 tha way they do things la
Ntw Zealaad.
""How wir-H yoa like to e the big
estate of thi country takea pos&es
s'a of by the government aad redis
tributed is small ctioas to you at
coat oa lag titse at 5 per cent in
terest? "How would jxra like to hare ad
vanos rid to yoa for hall 41 ag your
house and ftseicg your land aad the
terms of payrsert made so easy that
yoa oosld ither pay for the whole or
have It oa Uju at this low interest
for years, the rent not being raised f
ro matter how ranch improvements
yoa pet oa the land ia the way of cul
tivation, fertilization aad '.ulldlass?
That Is the way they are doing
sotae thltc la New Zealand.
The alor are among the carious
feature of New Zealand's laad ys
texa, The New . ealadrs do not be
lieve la lar? laad holdings aad they
are dctng all that they caa to have
their cocatry divided up iato sraall
farts a. They call the large laad holder
a 'social pet and scrapie not to tell
Lis that they will be glad to Lave hint
leav the eoaatry. They tax him ia ev
ery way possible to get h' " v leave
ad if h Is aa absent . .ig la
Europe c-r eewcxe. thrrj- ."pHe oa
the taxec that he ha to selL
"At present absentee property own
ers are charrt-d t$ per cent more taxes
thaa thos iiiag ia New Zealaad and
the taxes rise la proportion to the
amount of latd oae rasa own.
"everything is d&ae to encourage
tmal! farmTa. The man whose In
come ts less thaa UJ'jO a year goes
seoi-fnre. paying no taxe. lie whose
farm 1 worth only $2j5 is exempt
aad if hi etat Is worth J7.S0Q he
pays taxes oa only of its valua
tion. The tax Is asseaed oa the ualm
ptoved valuation. The maa who
takes a poor farm and brings it cp to
a high state of raltivatloa pays oaly
oa what the land was worth whea he
t rt plowed it and his buildings and
Improvements are only taxed through
the incomr wfckh they bring him when
this i o?r 1.SC per annum.
The rich man pays increased taxes
oa hi land, oa ci income, oa every
thing. Take the laad- His tax is
levied r-a its unimproved valuation
and this tax is incr-aed according to
its t:. If his farm is worth more
thaa $12 he gets no exemption
whatever. Afwr it reaches the value
of $5.0J there Is no deductloa of the
Eiortgaire upon it and from tbea oa it
increases at the rate of aa eighth of a
pci - ia the pound until it reaches a
maximum taxation of twopence per
pounJ. which is payable only when the
valae if a sasllioa dollars or more, lie
pays aa Increased tax oa his income
The man who has only flOO a year
pays no taxes whatever, but the man
who has up to $S.0v0 above this pays
sixpence m the pound, or 2H per cent,
aad a maa whose taxable income is
more than lZ.t:-0 pays S per cent. This
does not seem a great deal without
yoa f gar it cp.
"Stirpoe your Income was that of a
congressman, joa would pay 2li per
crct oa li.trJ. lea iCK. or Is? in
come tax. If you were one of the jus
tie of the supreme court and got
S10.OW, yoa would have to pay 5 per
cent oa the extra fi.U.H). making your
taxes tZZ7, and if yoa -were one of our
t'.g trust magnate with an income of
tlMQ.VOQ a year, your taxes would
closely approximate S0.OX), and if
yoa lived in New Zealand yoa would!
have to pay them. It is safe to say
that such taea ia the United State do
not pay half a much, ia New Zea
land they would probably be ranked
as social pts.
That Is the way they do things in
New Zealand. Whea the populists
proposed to the same sort of things in
Nebraska what a roar the republican
renters made in Nebraska. The more
they thocght of such things the more
aad the louder they shouted for Mark
liaana. Ia fear that the pops might
do something like that if they ever got
Into power they left their fields and
hurrtd to town to march ia parades
to uphold the millionaire.
Don't let any one imagine that New
Zealand will ever have anything to do
with sociaiUm. It has net a single
follower they say in the whole of
that country. They would never list
en a moment to a proposition for the
-public ownership of ALL means of
production and distribution." Each
maa owa his own farm aad his own
property. He believes ia iadividuallty,
not la a common level. He belle-res,
as we stated la the Omaha platform,
that tle laad is the heritage of all
tt pcple. New Zealand forge for
ward a leader c the whole world
because It has a big majority of pop
ulists to ran the government. Don't
let any old pop show this article to
his republican neighbor. If he should
that neighbor might be thrown into
pas mi and whea he recovered he
would write a letter to Mark Hanna
and ask him to come out here and
save Nebraska.
Loyalty to Britian
The republicans of the Kansas leg
islature sent such a toady ish resolution
to Edward VII. that he seemed to hae
taken It as a declaration of loyalty to
the British crown. The king sent a ca
ble message acknowledging the rerVtpl
of the resolutions and returning
thanks for their "loyalty and sym
pathy. Weilep, the populist leader,
together with all the fusioaif ts, opened
up a fight on mch a thing going into
the record and moved to bare it
etricken out. The republicans arc net
yet quite willing to so publicly an
nounce their "loyalty" to Great Brit
ain aad the motion carried although
there were one or two feeble "No's."
King Edward was perfectly justified
in inferring that these republicans
were his loyal subj-cts. What other
conclusion could any reasonaHe man
come to who had any knowledge of
the close connections the republicans
have made with all British Irlerests.
including the Hay-Pauncefobj treaty,
and the treatment of the Beer envoys
by 21 1 -Km ley. In war and in peace
they have followed British dictates
for the last ten years. King Edward
3W the appropriate thing waca he
thanked them for their "loyalty and
sympathy
WHAT OUGHT TO BE SAID
Tfc ISpiadat Ban mp Ag-lnt a Prop
Itloa Wkiri Its lUtoaiTM la Lab
gac Fulls It.
When The Independent runs up
against some of the onum-jntal lying
that the gold standard editors occa
sionally indulge in. It Is free to con
fess, that while on ordinary occasions
it can express Its feelings in suitable
language language utterly fails it at
those times. It can't do justice to the
subject at all. Now here Is the Denver
Times that printed the following edi
torial the other day. It said:
"Of course the people who think that
If they cannot have things precisely
their own way it isn't worth while to
have them any way at a H, .will not be
at all content wih the proposition of
tlie committee on - coinage to recoin
into subsidiary coins a portion of the
silver dollars that have been lying use
less in the treasury vaults for years
past.
it doesn't matter, for this purpose,
what is the reason why these dollars
are not used, and that as often as the
attempt has been made to put them
into active circulation they have
straightway come baclc into the treas
ury, it is true that they have done so,
and it is also true that all the time
the amount of subsidiary coin in cir
culation has not been as great as the
demand for it-
There might have been some excuse
for printing such aa article as that
down in the benighted regions of New
York. Boston or Philadelphia, but to
see it out in Colorado where all the
facts and statistics about money have
been so often and fully stated, rather
staggers one. Silver lying Idle in the
treasury by the million because it can
not be got into circulation! The facts
are that the total number of silver dol
la -s coined by the United States up to
December 1 last was 500,403,541. On
January 1. 1901 one month later the
number had risen to 504,690,508, show
ing that the government coined during
the month 42S6,967 silver dollars in
response to the demand for currency
from all parts of the country. Of the
504,90.50 silver dollars in existence
on January 1 last there were In the
circulation 498.581,729, leaving only
6.107.779 held in the treasury. The sil
ver certificates representing silver dol
lars, in actual circulation, have in
creased from 465.460.S63 on January
1. to 1498,581,729 on January 1,
1901.
Those are the facts. Every man who
reads the government ofneial reports
knows that they . : - the facts. Yet this
monumental Colorado liar says that
"the silver dollars have beeu lying use
less in the treasury vaults for years
past," We wish some old pop would
tell The Independent what 13 the prop
er thing to say when it run 3 up against
a Rockefeller bank ring statement like
that.
(A visitor to The Independent office,
seeing the above article, wrote at the
bottom of it: "The case is hopeless.
There is some ertusc for the man who
l nows that he can deceive by a mis
statement of facts, but the English
language ia not rich enougn to proper
ly name the liar who lies, well know
in r that his hearers know he lies.)
The Financial Situation
Reports to R. G. Dun &. Co. show
failures in January 1,242 lu number
and $11,220,811 in amount of liabili
ties. Henry Clews says: "The very ex
ceptionally low condition of the bank
reserves for this season of the year,
with no positive assurance of an early
increase of cash funds, while it may
not produce any general or very posi
tive discouragement, does hold "bull"
operations In check and induce post
ponements of buying."
This Is the condition that comes
around every ten years or so and the
plain lesson It teaches is: Get out of
debt and stay out.
THE FIGHT IS ON
The Crucial Point in This Coagnu la
Baached Shall Congress Abdicate
Its Constitutional Power.
The real crucial point where a fight
to death must be made has been
reached in the United States senate.
The Independent has advocated from
beginning that there should be no fac
tional opposition to legislation de
manded by the republican majority.
If this majority of congress wanted to
appropriate a billion dollars let them
do it. If they wanted to pass a ship
subsidy bill, let them do that. If they
desired to create a standing army of a
hundred thousand men, let them do
that. But this question of the abdica
tion of the power of congress to legis
late and the passing of that power over
to the president should be fought to
the bitter end. We can stand the tax
ation imposed. The standing army can
be reduced at any time by a refusal to
vote appropriations to sustain it, but
this Philippine business is a horse of
another color.
The majority intends to push it
through and will hold continuous ses
sions to do so. They began that sort
of business last Monday. Senator
Morgan, old as he is, was forced to
hold the floor until nearly midnight.
This legislation is so far-reaching and
so disastrous to the helpless millions
whom it will effect, who have no vote
and whose protests are refused a hear
ing, whose defenders are denounced es
traitors and enemies, that every feel
ing of chivalry every honorable mo
tive that moves a man will prompt him
to exhaust every means to prevent it.
The Independent sends greeting to
Senator Morgan and bids him to fight
on as long as he can stand on his feet
anu after that to fight while he has
voice to speak.
When Senator Morgan took the floor
he declared that the Philippine amend
ment was in eifect an addication of
power by congress and a turning over
to the executive branch of complete
and flnai authority over the Philip
pices. Once this power was possessed
by the president, congress could never
again get hold of It without a two
thirds vote to overrule his veto. It was
such transfer of power as the Brit
ish parliament would never dream
of conferring upon King Edward. The
hazard and rashness never equalled in
a country having a parliamentary gov
ernment. Mr. Morgan said that under the pro
posed legislation speculators aud trusts
would , lick . up the 83,000,000 acres or
lands in the Philippines with their
mines and forests of untoiu richness,
without the reservation of a singl
homestead for the people. The sena
tor expressed the belief that the real
motive of the measure was to give
authority under which the millions of
acres in the Philippines could be
"gobbled up" by great speculative en
terprises. Mr. Morgan spoke two hours, and
then stated that tomorrow he would
take up the question of the right of
congress to delegate or abdicate its
powers, and after that would discuss
the Cuban branch of the subject.
At 10:15 Mr. Morgan's colleague, Mr.
Pettus, moved an adjournment, but on
a yea and nay vote the motion was de
feated. The senate's refusal to adjourn com
pelled Mr. Morgan to go on with his
speech. As he resumed he referred
with feeling to the apparent effort to
dagroom this measure through, de
spite all the proprieties. After an ar
duous and lengthy session beginning
at cieven this morning, Mr. Morgan
said, the senate had determined to
force an old man to go on with his
speech and in effect had served him
with notice that he would go on until
he closed.
"But," he added, speaking with im
pressive deliberation, "I would rather
leave this chamber a dead man than to
leave it a coward."
It would be a plain abandonment of
duty, he said, if he should skulk be
cause of his age or because of the late
ness of the hour.
Mr. Spooner tried to gain recognition
to ask Mr. Morgan as to his plans, but
the senator waived him off and caus
tically declined to yield.
At 11:20 p. m., Mr. Morgan yielded
to Mr. Spooner for a motion to ad
journ, and the long session came to a
close.
PITY THE POOR DUPES
Mad to Think That They are Supporting
the Principles of Jefferson When
They are Voting for the Doc
trines of George III.
There is a very large field for pa
triotic work open before every man.
He need not go further than the man
who relies upon the daily papers and
the Associated press for his Informa
tion for good material to work upoi.
E n't get angry with these poor dupes.
Many of them are perfectly honest and
besides that they suffer from the par
tisan mania which vrarps their Intel
lects and clouds their minds. .
The other day the editor of The In
dependent accidentally overheard a
conversation between two working
men. One of them vehemently as
serted that McKinley's plan in regard
to the Philippines was an exact copy of
the law that Jefferson approved when
Lou piana was annexed and in sup
port of his contention read the follow
ing extract from an Associated press
dispatch sent from Washington: .
"Senator Spooner's bill authorizing
the president to establish civil govern
ment in the Philippine islands, which
j is drawn in almost identically the
same language as the measure under
wiuch President Jefferson governed
the Louisiana territory, v was today
adopted by, the ; senate military com
mittee as an amendment to the army
appropriation bill.- It will be taken up
for consideration as soon as other ap
iropriation bills ahead of it are dis
posed of." . -
The shrewdness of these devils who
prepare and send out the dispatches
for the daily papers is so great that it
is no wonder that many thousands of
people are deceived by them. " See how
the writer of that dispatch In announc
ing the fact that the Spooner bill had
been attached to. the army appropria
tion bill inserts another statement that
is no part of the "work of a reporter,
as another undisputed fact. The sec
ond statement is in .i:t a legal opinion
which the ordinary ?ep-rt.r is not sup
posed to have anything to do with, and
he states it. as though it ere an un
c"3puted fact acknowL . jed by all men.
Even the statement of what purports
to be a "fact" is a bold,' unvarnished
lie. . '
Aa to the o. nion thrust into the
dispatch under "the ga;-d of "news,"
the reporter must have been thorough
ly acquainted with the treaties made
with Napoleon and with the Spanish,
as well as with all the conditions sur
rounding each case before he could be
qualified to express an opinion that
would have : any 'weigh;. But this
"opinion" is thrust into the body of
the dispatch as an accepted "fact."
'lae truth about this business is this:
No reporter ever wrote that part of the
disintch. It was thrust In by the cen
sor. It is well known that plutocracy
has a censor at every news center
from which ne-xs is distributed in the
whele United States. All dispatches
written up by the reporters are edited
and altered to suit the notions of this
"editor" of the Associated - press, and
tliat "opinion" tha this Spooner bill
"was drawn in almost identically the
same language as the measure under
Jefferson" was put in by tnis editor.
An examination of the Spooner bill
shows that while i has a part of a
s ntonce in the same wort as the law
passed in regard to; ue government of
Louisiana, the object and effect of the
Spooner bill is completely antagonistic
to that law. There is jao "parallel and
the men who support the Spooner bill
know that the preteaded parallel falls
in every tital 'particular as will be
come evident to every one who makes
an honest examination of the subject.
1. The Louisiana purchase and the
Florida acquisition were of contiguous
and. .sparsely populated territory, ac-C-iired
and . accepted by the United
States under & tlistinct'pledg. that
"The inhabitants of the ceded terri
tory shr.ll be incorporated -in the un
ion of the United States, and admitted
as soon as possible, according to the
principles of the feleral constitution,
to the enjoyment of all the rights, ad
vantages and Immunities of citizens of
the United States."
This pledge was scrupulously - kept.
L there any such promise, purpose or
possibility in respect to the 10,000,000
inhabitants of the group of alien isl
ands on the other pfde of the globe?
2. The grant of authority under the
Lov-"siana act was only "until the ex
piration of the present session of con
gress (the Eighth), - unlcis provision
for the temporary government of the
said territories be sooner made by
congress." As a. matter of fact that
I . aisiana purchase was completed on
December 17, 1803, and it was organ
ized as a territory on March 26 follow
ing. No limitation of the president's indi
vidual and sovereign power in the
Philippines is made in the Spooner res
olution, and nobody ramiliar with the
fasts really doubts that military con
trol and rule must continue so long as
we attempt to hold and govern the
islands. '
3. In the Louisiana act the powers
tj be exercised under the direction of
the president were carefully defined as
being such as were "exercised by the
officers of the existing government of
the same."
By the Spooner resolution, Presi
dent McKinley will be endowed with
"all military and civil power necessary
to govern the Philippine islands,"
without definition or restriction and
with no reference either to the rights
of the inhabitants or to the constitu
tion of the United States. He is to be
rrade absolute master of the islands,
and may continue indefinitely the pol
icy of shooting, hanging and deporting
the natives and burning their fields
and villages. He cn give away all
the valuable franchises in the islands,
subject only to the right to "alter,
amend or repeal the same" a mighty
lever for the extraction of boodle in
t. i hands of a Hanna syndicate!
The army bill has made militarism
a fact. The Spooner resolution will en
throne imperialism in the United
States.
Ths Foundation Gone
Suppose the supreme court sides
with the government, maintaining that
our new possessions lie altogether out
side the constitution, and that they
may be governed by congress and the
executive in any way that seems best,
without regard to the rights of Am
erican citizens. In that case the very
foundation of our system crumbles
under our feet. In place of a republic
based on the consent of its people, ex
panding only to add to the number of
its free inhabitants and the extent of
its free territory, we become an em
pire subjugating alien peoples without
their consent and holding satrapies
and tributary possessions. Commer
cially and Industrially, this might
prove the more convenient arrange
ment for a time. It would enable us
to keep out coolie immigrants and to
avoid the free competition of cheap
labor. But at what a cost! - Are we
ready to welcome the subversion of
those principles on which this repub
lic has grown great? Boston Post.
BOER PROCLAMATION
President Steyn and General De-wet De
clare That the British Constantly
Treat With Contempt Cie
Laws of War.
The following proclamation has been
issued by President Steyn and General
Dewet:
"Be it known to alkmen that the
war which has been forced on the
Transvaal republic by the British gov
ernment still rages over South Africa;
that all the customs of civilized war
fare and also the conventions of Ge
neva and The Hague are not observed
by the enemy, who have not scrupled,
contrary to the Geneva convention, to
capture doctors and ambulances and
deport them In order to prevent our
wounded from getting medical aid,
that they have seized ambulance ma
terial appertaining thereto; that they
have not hesitated to have recourse
to primitive rules of warfare, contrary
to the solemn agreement of The Hague,
to arrest neutrals and deport them and
to send out marauding bands to plun
der, burn and damage burghers' pri
vate property; that they have armed
Kaffirs and natives and used them
against us in the war; that they have
been continually capturing women and
children and old and sickly men and
that there v have been many deaths
among the women because tne so-
called Christian enemy has no consid
eration for women on a sickbed or
whose state of health should have
protected them : against rough treat
ment. -
"Honorable women and tender chil
d-en have not only been treated rough
ly, but insulted by soldiers by order of
officers. Moreover, old mothers and
women have been raped. Even the
wives, children and property of pris
oners of war and burghers have not
been respected. . In many instances
mother and father have been taken.
the house has been left unprotected
and all have been left to their fate,
and easy prey to savages.
; "The world has untruthfully been
infermed by the enemy that they have
been obliged to carry out this destruc
tion because the burghers blow up the
railway lines, cut the wires and mis
use the white flag. Nearly all the
houses In the territories have been de
stroyed, whether in the neighborhood
of the railroad or not, The alleged
misuse of the white flag is simply a
continuance of the everlasting calumny.
against which the Afrikander has had
to strive since 4 the time God brought
him in contact with the Englishman.
Robbing his oppont it of goods only
does not satisfy him; he is not sat
isfied until he has robbed him of his
good name also.
"They state to the world that the
republics are conquered, and that only
here and there small plundering bands
are continuing the strife in an irre
sponsible manner. This is an untruth.
"The republics ; j not conquered.
The war is not finished. t The burgher
forces of the two republics are still led
by responsible - leaders, as from the
commencement of the war under the
supervision of the gjvernment of both
republics. The fact of Lord Roberts
and Lord Kitchener choosing the term
'marauders' In designating burghers
does not make them such. When was
the war over? Perhaps after the bat
tles in which irregulars captured the
enemy and totally vanquished them?
Tne burghers would be less than men
if they allowed the enemy to go un
punished after lll-trc-ting their wives
and destroying their houses from sheer
1 st of destruction. Therefore a portion
of the burghers reseat it. Cape Colony
will not only wage war, but will be In
a position to make reprisals, as it has
already done. In the case of ambu
lances, therefore, we warn the officers
of hi majesty's troops that unless they
cease the destruction of property of the
republics we shall wreak vengeance by
destroying the property of his majes
ty's subjects who are unkindly dis
posed. But in order to avoid being
misunderstood, .we hereby openly de
clare that their wives and children will
always be unmolested, in spite of any
thing done to ours bj his majesty's
troops. We request nothing from our
brothers in the colony, but call on
them, as well as on Uie civilized world,
to assist in behalf of our joint civili
zation and Christianity 1- putting an
end to the barbarous manner of the
enemy's warfare.
"Our prayer will always be that
God, our Father, will not desert us m
this unrighteous strife.
"STEYN and DEWET."
CUBAN CONSITUTION
It Has Been Sent to Washington Repub
licans in a Muss Imperialism a
V
Permanent Policy.
Washington, D. C, Feb. 22. The
Cubans have finished their constitu
tion and forwarded a copy to the pres
ident of the United States. The ad
ministration, through General Wood,
governor of Cuba, made a strong ef
fort to keep the convention In session
until after congress had adjourned
here, the idea being that the responsi
bility for delay In dealing with the
matter might then be charged to the
dilatory tactics of the Cubans them
selves. The failure of that plan and the ar
rival of the constitution starts afresh
the talk of an extra session.
The' administration assumes that
congress has a right to dictate to tbje
Cubans what sort of constitution they
will adopt and holds that congress
should take up the matter.
It is now said that an extra session
will be called about March 18 after
the president and his friends have re
covered from the fatigue of the inaug
ural ceremonies. s ,
It is a little difficult to understand
why. the administration should hold
that we have any right to meddle with
the Cubans in the construction of their
constitution. They have the solemn
pledge of congress, made two years
ago that this country did not' intend
at any time to annex Cuba, but only
to free it from Spanish tyranny. And
the supreme court In giving its deci
sion on the Neely extradition case held
definitely that Cuba is , foreign terri
tory and that the presence of our
armed forces pending a reconstruction
of the government of the . island gave
us no title by which to consider it a
part of our domain. -
The administration has a faculty of
ignoring a supreme court decision
which does not agree with Its own in
clinations. We really have no further business
with Cuba except to .withdraw our
troops and negotiate tne proper trea
ties with it as an independent govern
ment. The reDublican members of congress
are torn between conflicting desires.
Of course it has never been the inten
tion of the party to let such rich plun
der as Cuba will prove slip out of Its
grasp. Yet to stay for an extra ses
sion and carry out the theory that we
have dominion over the island Involves
great discomfort and real danger.
The danger lies in the fact that toe
republicans, are by no means agreed
as to how the back-down from our
plain assurances to Cuba can be ac
complished gracefully. Then it is very
well understood that there Is a strong
sentiment throuehout the country in
favor of keeping faith with Cuba. An
extra session, with Cuba for Its text,
will give the. democrats the best pos
sible ammunition with which to elect
a democratic house at ;the next elec
tion. So everything is in a muddle,
but the chances just now are against
Hanna is not so anxious for It as he
was. The subsidy bill is very dead in
deed and only its most ardent cham
pions believe that it can be passed at
an extra session. It is comforting to
occasionLiriicl a measure like this
where even a party pushed with the
sense of a great victory at "the. polls
receives, a check at the hands oi tne
people.
The minoritv in the senate are en
titled to great credit for their energetic
and courageous fight against the sub
sidy grab and Hanna has changed nis
mind about its having received an in
dorsement at the polls last November.
It has been " recognized for some
time that England could not have con
tinued her war against the Boers had
she not been able to buy horses and
mules in this, country , to equip her ex
hausted troops in South Africa.
The matter of furnishing such con
traband goods to England has been
made the subiect of congressional In
quiry, with the result that might have
been expected. . .
Secretary Hay asked- the English
foreign office how it came to violate
the neutrality treaty and was told that
England had never subscribed to cer
tain articles in the treaty and that
Tivnrveflch nation decided for itself
what constituted contraband good3
when a war was in progress,
in other words England proposes to
accept the help of this country in car
rying on her war of subjugation
among the Boers and nas tne private
assurance that the administration will
.--operate wiui her in the violation
of any treaty. - ' ;
Hay blandly transmits this insulting
answer to congress and the matter will
now be dropped. The administration
proposes to carry out its Anglo-American
understanding, and having been
re-elected Is quite indifferent as to
what the people may think about the
honesty of the policy involved.
The Spooner resolution making the
president the sole autocrat of the
Fnilippines, has been tacked to the
army appropriation bill and will prob
ably be rushed through before the
close of the session. This removes an
other reason for an extra session. With
the passage of this resolution the ad
ministration can begin to give ap
pointments to the carpet-bag brigade
and fulfill the ante-election pledges of
giving speculators and franchise-grabbers
a free hand in the Philippines.
That's what colonial possessions are
for to reward the faithful and bolster
up the fabric of imperial power.
McKinley is taking a very shrewd
way to make the standing army a per
manent institution. He is going right
into the homes of prominent citizens
and giving out good appointments
right and left, This means that the
annointee and all his family and all
whose votes he can influence will
henceforth consider the standing army
a sacred institution. For does it not
irive fat lobs to individuals? This ap
peal to the self-interest of the individ
ual is more potent than any amount
of patriotism or principle, - Imperial
ism and militarism are to be firmly
fastened on the country. '
Col. John P. Bratt, late of the fam
ous First Nebraska, has been honored
with an appointment on the staff of
Major General F. V. Greene, who has
charge of the inaugural ceremonies
on the 4th of March.
It is a fine compliment to Colonel
Bratt and a splendid recognition of
N. jraska's fighung regiment for the
former commanding general to send
for its colonel as a staff officer on such
an occasion.
Something for Fach
Editor. Independent: Enclosed find
an express order for $2.35. Send the
Commoner one year to John Porter at
Angus and extend his time to The In
dependent. Send Commoner to ,G. A.
Byer at Edgar for three months and
give one dollar to the campaign fund
and credit to Sherman precinct, Knox
county. : W. H, KINNISON.
Angus, Neb. 1 1
A BAD SAMPLE
The Butcheries and Barbarities , are the
Result of the Crase of Imperialism,
Not of Christianity.
"Minister Wu's plea for Confucian
ism would be stronger if he had some
other sample to show than China as
it now exists." St. Louis Globe-Demo-c.
.t. . v
That is true, and we may add that it
would be vain to plead for Christian-
I .- If we had no better "samples to
shor:" than such as ine soldiers of
t'-xistian Europe I.ave exhibited in
China during the past six , months.
wever since the religion of Christ be
gan its triumphal march has It been
more loudly challenged, more lmpera-'
tively called to show its superiority,
and never has it so signally, sadly,
shamefully failed.
The soldiers of Christian Europe.
under officers supposed to represent, if
not the best products of Christian civ
ilization, at least a long stride away
from heathenish barbarity, have per
petrated against unarmed and defense
less people, against hpth sexes and all
ages, every crime which vileness of
soul has ever suggested to the most
depraved of human be ngs. "It will
be much more than a generation," says
the New York Times, "before the Chi
nese are as hospitably disposed toward
Christianity as they were before the
troops under European command gave
them their awful exhmition of applied
Christianity." Bisuop Potter of New
York put the case t- sely when he said
that In the conflict of ''Christendom"
with China the latter held the better
moral position. The Baltimore Sun,
speaking upon the evidence furnished
by the highest authc.ities, declares
that "if the European soldiery, who
have given free rein to their murder
ous and licentious instincts were in
any manner or degree representatives
of Christianity, there would be no
choice between the religion they prac
tice and that of the most degraded
cannibal." The dun dds:
.. - jman nature in it- most depraved
and detestable ,,form never appeared
more hideous than in the brutalities of
which the Chinese haye been victims
in the past six months -If hordes of
Apache, Comanche and Modoc Indians
hsH hMn lot 1 nnoQ nnnn iha nhlneca
the latter could not have suffered
more at the hands of these . savages'
than they have endured from the arm
ies of 'Darkest Christendom.' "
Before this time of horror began,
Christianity had gained a. strong hold
In many parts of the empire. As an il
lustration of that feet it is stated, on
reliable authority, that not less than
40,000 native converts suffered martyr
dom at the hands cZ the boxers, pre
ferring to be tortured to death rather
than to recant the Christian faith.
Washington Post.
COURT FAVORITISM
If, we Will Have Imperialism we Must
I . Take Aloag With it All Its Con
comitants. If we have Imperialism, which ia
now the acknowledged policy of the
administration end openly defended,
whereas a while ago it was denied or
excused, we must have everything that
necec3arily accompanies it. One of
these things is a court after the fash
ion of all imperial governments. A
court necessitates favoritism. Those
who are closest to ..ue imperial com
mander, such as McKinley will be, al
ter the Spooner bill passes, or who
have friends at court who can influ
ence the absolute ruler, will receivo
the favors. The government of 10,000,
000 cf people by the will of one man,
who appoints every officer, civil and
military, will make a court at Wash
ington such as we find at Constanti
no?' or St. Petersburg. It cannot bt
avoided. Those who have the ear ol
the emperor of the Philippines will
get the appointments and the rich con
tracts. It may be said to be already
established at Washington. The favor
itism shown is causing some of the
mullet head editors to make mild pro
tests such protests as would be al
lowed in any despotic government.
Several of such -mild comments have
been made in newspapers in the differ
ent states concerning the nomination
of - -uderick D. Grant, J. Franklin Bell
and Leonard Wood to brigadier gen
eralships in the reguiar army.
Frederick D. Grant is a volunteer
officer whose sole service in the field
has consisted of about one year's em
ployment in the Philippines in the
present guerrilla warfare, and there is
no record that he has distinguished
himself by special merit. A dozen col
onels serving in the Philippines have
a far better record. As an Instance,
Colonel Rice of the Twenty-sixth vol
unteer infantry may be taken. He went
into the civil war as captain of tie
Nineteenth Massachusetts infantry In
September, 1861, and served through
the war, being mustered out as lieu
tenant colonel June 30, 1865. He went
Into the regulars a. lieutenant of the
Fortieth Infantry July 2i, 1866, and has
been in the service continuously since.
He was brevetted captain for gallant
service at Antietam; was brevetted
major for gallant service at Gettys
burg, and was brevetted lieutenant col
onel for gallant service at the Wilder
ness. Grant has been jumped over 804 cap
tains, 277 majors, !8 lieutenant col
onels and 77 olonel3 of the regular
army.
Captain J. Franklin Bell is 44 years
of age. He graduated from West
Point in 1878, became a. captain in the
seventh cavalry in March, 1899. He
is jumped over 584 captains, 277 ma
jors, 98 lieutenant colonels and 77 col
onels. Captain Bell is almost unknown
compared with such men as Colonel
Daggett and Colonel Kellogg. Colonel
Daggett led the American troops. lnt
Pekin last summer. He went into the