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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (April 18, 1902)
A Simple Form of Government. April 1 8 ,' 190a r The Houston Post throws a bit of light on the magnitude of the South African war when l- it points out that the British Aa government was never able' to Enormous give the Duke of Wellington 'the Army. support of more than sixty to r seventy thousand men, and that Iflfty-two thousand men was the greatest number pf British troops in the Crimea; while the pres ent British secretary of war states that the army of British fighting men now maintained in South lAfrica is 230,000 men. The Washington correspondent of the Chi cago Chronicle says: "It is regarded as certain t . that the president will advise Why Not tariff revision at the short ses- Do It sion which begins next Deceni- Now. ber, and if no action is taken at that time he will call congress together in the summer of 1903 for the express purpose of carrying out his ideas in the matter." Why does Mr. Roosevelt wait until the December session? Can it be possible that his professed leaning toward tariff revision is for campaign purposes only? On April 7, 1871, the late Senator Morrill of Vermont spoke in opposition to the proposed an nexation of San Domingo. In this speech Senator Morrill said: "The wise founders of our re public contemplated a simple form of government, one Im posing the smallest possible burdens upon which it would be wholly incompatible to engraft a sys tem of colonies or outlying dependencies. . . . Jefferson never sought to colonize or to annex distant islands. He sought to make bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh the great delta of the Mississippi. The United States should have too 'much self-respect to accept of any annexation save such as would add political and moral strength to her free institutions, wisdom to her councils, and buttresses to her constitution." The Chicago Tribune, referring to the com plaint against the beef trust because of the ad vance in beef prices, and also Shifting pointing out that the failure of the . the corn crop has something to Blame. do with this increase, says that if blame must be attached to somebody for present high prices, "Let it be Provi dence not the packers." The republican organs have generally Insisted upon credit being be stowed upon the republican party for good crops. It seems hardly fair for the blame in this par ticular case to be shifted. If we are to give tha republican party credit for the good crops, why not hold it responsible for crop failures? Tho Tribune will, however, have difficulty in placing the blame upon Providence for present high prices of beef, so long as there are any considerable number of people having sufficient discernment to recognize the enormous power and influence of the beef trust. The tremendous sacrifices made in blood and treasure by the empire in its effort to subjugate a pair of tiny republics is strik Yetth ingly presented by the Philadel- Contest is phia Ledger, when it points out, Not Ended. "When the first call for money and men was made in England with whicli to prosecute the Boer war in 1899, the sum of $49,000,000 was asked for, and it was believed by the blind jingoes that the Dutch re public could be extinguished in four months by an army of 47,000 men. The last demand for money in the past year was for the sum of $273, 743,000, and parliament has appropriated, alto gether, $704,948,300 for the conquest of the Boers. By,the end of the present month, which Is the The Commoner. end of tho British fiscal year, the total cost of the war will reach at least $844,000,000. The war is in its fourth year, and, instead of 47,000 men, tho British force in South Africa at the last re port numbered 237,000 men. Tho average during active operations has been in the neighborhood of 200,000, and tho British have lost by death or permanent disability over 25,000 men, while tho total of British casualties, including the surviv ing wounded, numbers 100,701 men and 5,240 offi cers. This is a tremendous sacrifice to make in blood and treasure, and the contest is not ended." The Ledger might have added that besides all this treasure, the empire has had the practical and encouragement of tho greatest republic on earth and even yet "the contest is not ended." NNX Air. Bat) cock Rewarded. A Stern Arraignment. The republican congressional committee has chosen- Congressman Babcock of Wisconsin as its chairman. Congressman Bab cock is tho gentleman who, for tho last six months, promised tho American people that ho would insist upon a reduction or an abolition of the tariff duties on trust products. It seems, however, that recently Mr. Babcock has grown very mild in his assaults upon the tariff barons, and newspaper dispatches have been pre dicting that ho would be -re-elected as chairman of the republican congressional committee as a sort of reward for his silence. While it would not do to say that this honor to Mr. Babcock Is in shape of a reward for silence, it is not too much to say that it Mr. Babcock does not make a vig orous fight for a reduction or abolition of the tariff on trust made articles, the intelligent men and women of America will understand that his re-election to tho head of the congressional com mittee was in fact nothing more nor less than a reward for a change of front. In a speech delivered in the hquse March 31, Representative Bell of Colorado said: "As a de liberate body, the house has ceased to exist. It is absolutely controlled now by a few men. The greatest trust in the country today is the legislative trust." In this accusation Mr. Bell simply repeated tho charge that has been made against the. republican house by a number of republican newspapers, a charge indeed that need not formally be pre sented, because the fact is patent to every one that tho house of representatives under republican rule long ago ceased to be a deliberative body and is in fact controlled by a few men, these few men be ing in turn controlled by the representatives of selfish interests. The fact that there is no re publican member who would seriously undertake to deny IZ?. Bell's charge should furnish food for thought among the rank and file of republicans. These must know that popular government can not long exist when the house ceases to be rep resentative of the popular will. A Washington dispatch to the New York World says: "President Roosevelt has ordered from a press clipping bureau Can everything printed pertaining to - it be the Roosevelt-Miles-Root inci- Possibie? dent. He has these comments of the newspapers of the country laid upon his desk, end crefully reads every line. He wants to know exactly the attitude of the pub lic toward General Miles. Both Roosevelt and Root would like to have a new man at the head of the army, but the president appreciates that he cannot go contrary to the public sentiment without jeopardizing his own interests. Thus far the press comments have not been pleasing to the president. What has become of Mr. Roosevelt, the strenous?. Has he completely disappeared in Mr. Roosevelt, tne politician? Is it pos&ible that Mr. Roosevelt would think of retiring Gen eral Miles unless hjs retirement was for tho good of tho service? And if tho retirement of Gen eral Miles would bo good for tho service, would Mr. Roosevelt bo restrained because of public sentiment, or because of any consideration for Mr. Roosevelt's political interests? Can it bo possible that Mr. Roosovelt is anxious to succeed himself in the White House, and that, bolng anx ious so to do, ho will bo restrained from doing what ho would most llko to do through fear of political results? SS&? New York World Endorses Hill. The Now York World says that if David B. Hill shall bo rstored to the leadership of tho Now York domocracy "the poor old party that has been flound ering lcadcrless through the Slough of Despond for the last six years, fed chiefly on west wind and rainbow dust, will have a mighty good chance to recover its footing and put up a hope ful fight for tho control of tho next house." The World ha3 been an ardont champion of the sin gle gold standard, and it has insisted that bimet allism bo abandoned. And yet the man to whom tho World points as tho hope of the democratic party has proposed for a plank in tho democratic platform "a simplo declaration in favor of tho gneoral principle of bimetallism." If bimetallism is dead, if Its adherents are visionaries, what hope can the democratic party of New York pos sibly have in tho leadership of a man who want to insert In tho democratic platform "a simple declaration in favor of the general principle of bimetallism." Do tho World and Mr. Hill un derstand each other? Tho World should publish the election returns of 1894 when Mr. Hill lost New York by more than 150,000 and when Mr. Cleveland's administration received a more crush ing defeat than any other administration hag suf fered since the civil war. - One interesting feature of tho ship subsidy bill- is the taaterial Increase In rates paid for tho carrying of mails on American vessels. The Chicago Tribune, a republican paper, points out that the chief beneficiary of this Increase will bo tho Interna tional Navigation company. Under this bill thla company would receive about 73 per cent of the postal subsidies on the Atlantic ocean. Under the present contract that company is paid at a rate about three times as high as that paid to other steamship lines doing the same kind, of work. The present contract with this company expires in 1905. The Tribune points out that railroads are paid for carrying mail on the basis of ser vice actually rendered, according to the weight of the mail. Foreign steamships carrying the mall under a foreign flag are paid, on the same basis. The Cunard line, for Instance, Is paid a rate of 44 cents a pound for letters; but tho American line Is paid, not for service rendered, but accord ing to speed and tonnage of the vessels carrying the mail. A 20-knot vessel like the New York re ceives $4 per mile, no matter how small the mail it may carry. The Tribune points out that it la now proposed to raise the rate to $4.70 per mile and that under tho subsidy bill the St. Louis or the St. Paul will get for a trip to Southampton $19,881, where It now receives $14,564. The Tri bune says that the American line was tpaid last year $750,000 and that if the ship subsidy bill were to become a law, "this favored line woiiU receive, according to some authorities, about $1, 414,000 per year In postal mail subsidies alone." With a fine show of sarcasm, the Tribune adds: "This is the kind of legislation which the advo cates of the ship subsidy bill are pleased to call legislation for the benefit of tho people." But the Tribune overlooks the claim that such thing as these are essential to the "business interests" of the country. But Think of the Business Interests. !,