y
The Commoner.
Somebody Is
Paying the
Bill.
The People,
the Products
and the Official.
The official reports for the fis
cal year ending June 30, 1001,
show that the total expendi
tures for the war department
the past year amounted to $144,543,912, the
expenditure for the navy during the same per
iod amounted to $60,580,705. This shows
an increase of $62,000,000 over the expendi
tures of the army and navy departments for
the fiscal year ending June 30, 1000. It also
shows an increase of $121,600,000 over the
expenditures for the fiscal year ending June
30, 1898, that being the last fiscal year prior ,
to the Spanish-American war.
These are enormous figures. Somebody is
paying the bill. Is the bill being paid by the
republican politicians "who insist upon making
this nation a world power? Or is the bill
being paid by the American people, who in the
midst of a temporarily well filled dinner pail,
are ignorant or indifferent as to the source
from which the money must come?
Mr. Wu, the Chinese minister,
has come to bo quite a popu
lar orator at American ban
quets. Mr. Wu is a man of
exceptional ability, and it is difficult at times
to free one's self of the suspicion that this
ableChinese diplomat is poking fun at the1
American people. At Independence Square in
Philadelphia on July 4th, MrJfTOB''Qj.s
chief orator. On0 sentence of 'this Chinjtmanls ,
address .is worthy ? of -preservation v'' Listen:
"The people are the most important element
in a nation; the spirits of the land and grain
are the next; the sovereign is-the-ligh test.".
How different this Chinaman's notion is
from that of the republican politician of today?
How similar, however, this Chinaman's notion
is to the idea of the founders of this repub
lic. "The people," says Mr. ; Wu, "arc the
most important elements in a nation, the sov
ereign is the lightest." The people first and
above all, next the products of the country and
last and least and lightest of all the sover
eign, so called, who in a republic is but
the agent of the people, having no more au
thority than the people have seen fit to
give in a written constitution or law, and en
titled to no more honor and credit than is
suggested by the manner in which he conforms
to a public officer's duty.
A Sensible The name of Jane Perlis, a
Girl of. young woman of New York,
Gotham. deserves to be remembered by
- . the men and women' of Amer
ica. This young woman was recently invited
to ride with the man whom she had promised
.to wed. On the trip her affianced beat the
horse so unmercifully that a policeman who
happened to be near promptly arrested the
man. The lover was fined' ten dollars and cost.
Miss Perlis paid the fine and returning to her
home sent a letter breaking the engagement
saying: "When a man would so brutally beat
a horse and so easily lose his temper, the
woman marrying him would take the same
chances."
A very sensible girl, indeed, is Miss Perlis.
I Bequeath
to You all
My Troubles.
A man who would be cruel to a dumb animal
has but a short step to cruelty to a human
being. Man's duty to the dumb animal, and
particularly to those animals that serve man
faithfully and well, needs to bo impressed upon
the men as well as upon the children of today.
Kindness to the birds of the air and the beasts
of the field, needs to bo taught to the children
in their infancy. It will help them in many
ways; for the child who learns that it owes a
duty to the birds and beasts will more quickly
learn its duty toward its fellow men.
When General Chaffee deliv
ered the military authority in
the Philippines to the now
civil governor, Taft, General
Chaffee said "I bequeath to you all my trou
bles." It cannot be doubted that General,
Chaffee was very willing to surrender his au
thority, and .with his authority, the great re
sponsibilities that must attend authority in the
Philippine islands. The American officer in
the Philippines has much to contend with. His
duty is but to obey the orders of his superior,
and whatever may be liis personal opinion as
to the principle involved in any-attitudc of his
government, it is not his .province i to question
the wisdom-of hia superior's course. But whilo
the administration papers liavc been assuring
the American people that the war in the Phil-,
uppmes was over,-that!: only a :few straying
bands-were in- arms:ragainst A"m"ericatf alithor
ityjthe American commanders in those islands
have been struggling under enormous "loads.
General Chaffeo knows the difficulties con
fronting the leaders of a republic when they
seek to govern another people as the leaders
of a monarchy would govern that people. He
knows that the troubles are not yet disposed
of and that whoever maybe in command in tlio
Philippines must carry this enormous burden
for many years. It was therefore doubtless
an agreeable task to General Chaffee when he
surrendered his authority in the Philippines.
It would, indeed, be gratifying to many Amer
ican citizens if they could bequeath all their
troubles in the Philippines to the men of some
other nation. The problems of government in
a monarchy are large, and yet they are insig
nificant in comparison with those great prob
lems that must arise wherever a people whose
government has been baptised in "liberty's un
clouded blaze" undertake to govern the men of
another race on lines directly opposite to those
upon which their own government was
founded.
The troubles of a czar who must be sur
rounded day and night by armed guards in
order to protect him against assassination by
enraged subjects are nothing compared to the
difficulties that must confront a republic whose
people undertake the enormous task of govern
ing other people according to the argument of
kings and the doctrine of thrones.
In his address at Philadelphia
on July Fourth, Mr. Wu, the
Chinese Minister had this to
say concerning this republic:
This nation, it seems to me, has not sprung
into oxistenco without a manifest destiny. There
must bo some noble ends for which tho Indepen
dence of the United States was established. It was
to demonstrate to tho world what great good to
mankind a free and independent people can do; to
OFtabllsh 'a government of tho people, by tho peo
ple, and for tho people to preserve law and order;
to treat nil peoplo alike with fairness and just
ness; to do away with solfish and clannish feeling;
to mako American patriotism synonymous with
fair play, with tho lovo of mankind, with free
dom and liborty, In accordance with law and jus
tice. By pursuing these ends this republic will
become the greatest power upon tho earth, and you
citizens of this great country will bo more- than
over respected and loved by all."
It will be observed that Mr. Wu refers to
"manifest destiny." Wo have been treated to
such reference before, but the Chinese Min
ister appears to have a notion concerning
"manifest destiny" that is quite different from
tho notion preached by tho republican orator
of today. The "manifest destiny" which tho
Chinese Minister regards as the objective point
of the United States of Amorica is demonstra
tion to the world that it is possible to pre
serve a government of .the people, by the peoplo
and for the people, to mako American patriot
ism synonomous with fair play, for the lovo of
mankind, for freedom and liberty in accord
ance with law and justice. Ho seems to think
that by pursuing these ends, rather than by be
coming feared because of our armaments, this
republic niay become, tho greatest power upon
the earth and its citizens may command respect
and.be loved, by all the world.
?Thi8is an old story to the- American peo
ple. Washington'toldTit to us in his frewU
addre8B.Xdame, Monro, Jefferson, Jackson,
Lincoln and all the great Americana preached
this same leseon of love, and law and liberty
to the Americans of their time; and they
preached it so faithfully and so eloquently that
the sermons have been preserved in the litera
ture of the country in order that American"
posterity might profit by the examples. And
yet today, it remains for a representative of
the Chinese government to tell us this old, old
story on Independence day.
No republican orator would care to empha
size in these times the phrase made famous by
Mr. Lincoln in his great speech on the Gettys
burg battle field. And yet, when the Chinese
Minister stood in Independence Square in Phil
adelphia, telling this old, old story about a
government of the people, for the people and
by the people, even the republicans among his
audience cheered him to tho echo, many of
them probably unmindful of the faot that the
sentiments to whiclithey were giving their cor
dial applause are antagonized by the political
party to which they give their cordial support.
The United
States and Man
ifest Destiny.
The end of the Boer war was promised
many months ago, yet today Great Britain has
251,000 soldiers in South Africa and British
tax payers are called upon to pay in $6,000,
000 a week to defray the war expenses. De
stroying a republic by force of arms is expen
sive in more ways than one. Although Great
Britain has expended hundreds of millions in
destroying the Boer republics the greatest ex
pense is yet to come the expense of keeping
liberty seekers subjugated and paying the pen
alty for a monstrous crime against liberty and
justice,