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a member of the Presidenta cabinet; he ought to
wit next to the prcsHidunt in the council chamber.
Receiving 1i5h nomination from a national conven
tion and h'lH commission from the people, lie is
able to furnish the highest possible proof that he
enjoys public respect and confidence, and the
President should avail himself of the wisdom and
discretion of such an ml visor. While the respon
sibility for action rests upon the occupant of the
White HouHO he is entitled to, and of course de
sires, all the light possible before deciding on any
question.
Congress can by law impose upon the Vice
President the'duty of giving such assistance to his
chief, or the President can of his own volition
establish the precedent and it would in all proba
bility be obsorved'by his successors.
Many public men have avoided the second
place on the ticket for fear it would relegate them
to obscurity; some of Colonel Roosevelt's friends
objected to his nomination on that ground. A
cabinet position has generally been considered
more desirable than the Vice-Presidency, but the
lattor in dignity and importance is, in fact, only
second to the presidency, and the occupant de
serves the promineilco and prestige which would
come from more intimate ollicial association with
the Executive.
1A
The Value of Truth.
IV J1 . . . a
t vyiiu ui oiiu musu inioresung uuu instructive
essays on "The Value of Truth" was written by
p, Albort B. Dod, who, years ago, lilled the chair of
mathematics at Princeton, and died in 1845. Mr.
tti T.T i 1 i 1I...1 j 1. 1 .V .(
J.UU puiuieu out tuat tne nappincss 01 man was
. intended to bo dorived chiefly from his own in
ternal disposition. External circumstances arc
but secondary and inferior souroes of enjoyment
or suffering, and in the heart itself is hid the se
cret fountain which refreshes or saddens us with
its sweet or bitter water.
Mr. Bod cited the fact that there were hearts
1 "so filled with knowledge, so strengthened by
love, so thoroughly fortified by acquiesonco that
S although the darts of anguish struck upon those
hearts, thoy could not fix or rankle there." So,
too, it may be said there are many beings upon
whom misfortune lias made its worst visitation,
j beings who have never known what it is to spend
one moment tree irom physical pain, and yet who
f. carry their cross without a murmur.
r v
On the other hand, as Mr. Dod pointed out,
" wo can concoivo of a heart so weak that it can
withstand tho presence of no external evil so
ignorant that in tho blank and solitude of things'
it is robbed of all 011 joy men t so depraved that
" in the midst of all cxtornal advantages it is preyed
upon by hatred, malice, envy and all disturbing
passions."
Mr. Dod's conclusions are worthy of careful
study, lie said:
"The obvious tendency of virtue, in whatever
degree it be cultivated, is to produce hanniness : unci
f vice, by an equally obvious and indissoluble connec
tion, is the parent of misery. The man who clisolmv
j his reason, or violates his conscience, in his search
after happiness, grasps at a irood at the cxnnHo f
the very appetite which is to relish it. To injure his
r luwm iiuuirc is to waste and weav away his only
capability of happiness. If we take the constitution
01 man to pieces, as we would a watch or other piece
of mechanism, to ascertain the object for which it
was constructed, we see evident marks in every part
The Commoner.
that virtue was the end for which its Maker designed
it. And if we then inquire further how this end is
to be gained, that is, how men are to become virtu
ous, we find equally strong reasons for concluding
that it can only be through a belief of the truth.
The essence of virtue consists in its principle; and
every moral principle has its root in truth. Error
may be productive of some partial and transient good,
as when a crying child is stilled, or a refractory one
frightened into obedience, by a belief in some nursery
fiction; but no one doubts that this trivial good is
purchased at a lamentable sacrifice. Every honest
man knows that whenever he uses deception and
falsehood to promote even a good end, he is sacrific
ing the law of reason to the dictates of a low and
(short-lighted policy, and that he gains his end only
as he would gain the sword which he should purchase
with the loss of the arm that is to wield it. Truth is
the only agency by which a principle of good can be
implanted and nourished in our own hearts, or in
others. It is ,as inseparable from virtue as virtue
itself is from happiness. Jn all our modes of educa
tion and our attempts to improve the character of
individuals or communities, we proceed upon this
principle. We never think of working a permanent
good in any other way than by instilling the truth;
nor do we ever dream that error would answer our
purpose equally well, if we could only succeed in
making it pass for truth. Any man would spurn the
shameless effrontery of the scorncr who should tell
him that the good of society and of its individual
members would be equally well promoted by teach
ing them to lie and steal and murder, provided we
could only persuade them that these things were
right. That men can be elevated in their moral
character, or in any way benefited by being taught
to receive error as truth, is as monstrous an absurdity
and as palpable a contradiction to all the lessons of
experience as can be conceived. Man is so made as
to be swayed to good only by the truth. His moral
nature cannot respond to any other influence."
R-
1
Questionable Appointments.
The recent appointment of Justice Harlan's son
to the Attorney-Generalship of Porto Rico and
the appointment of Justice McKeuua's son to the
ofliee of Inspector-General of Volunteers aret to
say the least, very unfortunate. It is not neces
sary to discuss the general fitness of the .appointees
for the positions which they expect to fill. It is
sufficient to say that there were others equally
qualified against whom no objections could be
urged. The fact that the Supreme Court is now
considering the most important question submitted
to it in recent years-r-if not in a century; the fact
that the Administration is relying upon a favorable
decision to support its imperialistic plans; and the
fact that the appointees are sons of Judges whose
opinions may determine the position of the court
these facts should have been sufficient to prevent
tho consideration of .their names for appointment
at this time. '
Suppose the case was being tried before a jury
instead of a Supreme Court, and suppose one of
tho parties in the suit had given lucrative posi
tions to the sons of two of the jurors after the jury
was impanelled and before the verdict was render
ed, could he have escaped prosecution for contempt
of court? A juror whoso son had already received
such an appointment would be challenged for
cause and tho giving of such an appointment dur
ing tho trial could not but impress an impartial
court and tho public at large as an. attempt to iu
ilueuco the jury. Is there any vital difference
between the mind of a judge and the mind of a
juror? Can human nature and family ties bo dis
regarded in tho one case more than in the other?
To view tho subject from another standpoint,
would the republican national committee1 have
been willing to have these appointments made
during .the campaign? If not, why not? Tt is
certain that such appointments would have excited
widespread criticism. It is surprising that the
appointing power would be guilty of such a Hag
rant violation of official propriety, and scarcely
less surprising that the sons of such honored sires
would ask for, or even accept, appointments under
existum circumstances.
In 1890 the republicans expressed great indig
nation because the democratic platform suggested,
in language much more polite than that employed
by Lincoln in 8G0, a possibility of the reversal of
the income tax decision. And yet no criticism of
the Court employed by any individual or party
could do a" tithe of the injury that has already been
done by these appointments. They are direct blows
at the dignity and independence of the Court,
and the silence observed by members of the domi
nant party shows how imperialism and commer
cialism are paralyzing the conscience of the re
publican leaders.
Militarism Against Pensions.
The following press dispatch from Berlin will
be read with interest by pensioners:
Today's debate in the reichstag upon a resolution
submitted by J err Nissler, conservative, to amend the
pension laws, so that every veteran of the wars of
1804, 1800, and 1870-71 who is an invalid and unable
to support himself would receive 120 marks annually
developed into a terrible arraignment of the govern
ment. Speakers of all parties, conservatives, na
tional, liberals, centrists and even socialists, declared
their willingness to vote fprf adequate pensions "and'
.censured the government for constantly ignoring
this debt of honor, unworthy, as one speaker said, of
a country which had embarked on a world policy.
Other speakers declared that the attitude of tho
bundesrath in steadily refusing to provide pensions
was inexplicable.
As the burdens of militarism increase a govern
ment which rests upon force finds it necessary to
choose between the army of the present and the
soldiers of tho past. It can better afford to do
injustice to those whose fighting days arc over
than to alienate those upon whom it must rely for
future assistance.
Liberal pensions are possible with a small mil
itary establishment, but hardly probable when
the resources of a country are drained to sup
port a large body of professional soldiers.
W
McCall Taken to Task.
The Boston Journal serves notice upon Con
gressman McCall, of Massachusetts, that ho must
leave the republican party if he desircsto uphold
principles which gave immortal fame to Faneuil
Hall. It suggests to him that he embarrasses the
party by claiming to be a republican while he
votes .against the administration. The republican
party is so crowded that there is 110 longer room
111 it lor a man who is encumbered with a con
science. To keep in good standing, he must be
prepared to change his opinions at a moment's
notice and must hold his principles subject to
alteration whenever the command comes from
headquarters. Victory 'has made tho republican
leaders bo arrogant that their intolerance is likely
to swell the ranks of the opposition.
VS ould the International Navigation compam
be willing to split tho desired subsidy in half am
recognize the farm wagon and the city dray?
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