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The Commoner
VOLUME ,3, NUMBER
"l
THE SITUATION IN MACEDONIA IS BE
coming more critical day by day and it is re
tarded as certain that open hostilities is only a
matter of time. It has brcn announced time and
again that Turkey and Bulgaria are on the point
or open rupture, on account of the cruel methods
which the former power is using in its treatment
of tho Macedonians. It seems that the Bulgarian
ministry is determined that the first blow must bo
struck by Turkey, and it is regarded as certain
that tho trouble in Macedonia can never be set
tled without tho Intervention of the powers. In
the meantime Turkish atrocities in that province
and vicinity continue with ui.abated zeal, more
than 50,000 men, women and children having al
ready been massacred by Turkish soldiers
throughout Macedonia. Th9 valley of Monastir
ocems to havo suffered the most severely from
Turkish rapacity, every Bulgarian village in that
section being reported to have been destroyed by
the Turks. Some correspondents place the num
ber of Turkish forces in Macedonia a 300,000
and it Is believed that such a force would not
havo assembled morely for the purpose of crush
ing tho robollion In that province, but that the
sultan is contemplating an attack on Bulgaria.
Tho insurgents seem to be well equipped for a
long Ftruggle, arms having been smuggled inr.o
tho country in defiance of Turkish authority, and
an outbreak in the Balkans seems to be inevit
able. THE COLONIAL TROOPS OF THE NETHER
lands have been at war with the Achins al
Luuat continuously since 183. 'lhe Brussels cor
respondent lor tho Now York Times says that the
chief colonial leaders will at an early day formal
ly submit. This correspondent says that the
cause of the war was tho .refusal of the sultan to
recognize tho suzerainty- of the Netherlands, over
which long negotiations took place. The sultan
sent a secret embassy to the United States di
plomatic agent at Singapore to appeal for the
military aid of this country, and at the same
time he sent commissioners to treat with the
Dutch government. Encouraged by the hope of
aid from Great Britain and the United States, tho
sultan rejected the terms offered by the Nether
lands. The war thus begun has cost the Dutch
over $200,000,000, i.nd the lives of several thousand
soldiers. One expedition after another has been
sent to Sumatra, but as soon as tho revolt was
apparently crushed, it broke out again. The
Dutch have tried by every means to end the war.
-whicll has crippled the finances of tho Dutch
Indies.
BEFORE THE ZIONIST CONGRESS AT
Basel, Switzerland, Dr. Hansel, the presi
dent, submitted a letter from the .Russian min
ister of the interior, in which letter the support
of tho Russian government was pledged to the
Zionists in their movement o establish an inde
pendent state in Palestine. An Associated press
correspondent, describing this letter, says: "The
minister said his government was favorable to
the original program of Zionism, wich can rely
on its moral and material support when its prac
tical measures tend to decrease the Jewish pop
ulation of Russia. Such support mighC take the
form of supporting tho Zionist demands on tho
Ottoman government. The Russian government
has been obliged to act toward the Jewish question
as the interests of tho state require, but it has
never deviated from the great principles of moral
ity and humanity. He,hope- nothing would pro
vent tho development of measures tending to im
prove the conqitions of the Kusslan Jews, espe
cially If emigration decreased their numbers."
CALEB POWERS, FORMER SECRETARY OF
state for Kentucky, was on August 2D con
uoted on the charge of complicity in' the murder
of Governor William Goebel and the death penalty
was assessed against him. The motion for a new
trial was promptly overruled and Special Judge
Robbins passed the sentence of death. November
25 wag fixed as tho day of execution. The attor
neys for the defense have taken an appeal to the
Kentucky court of appeals and if unsuccessful in
that way they will undortako to get the, case into
the United States supreme -court. Governor Goe
bel was shot Tuesday, January 30, 1900j -and dlod
on the Saturday following. Among those indicted
tor tho murder were William S. Taylor, former
governor; James Howard, Henry Youtsey, John
L. Powers and Caleb Powers. Howard and Yout
sey were tried and given life sentences Taylor
fled to Indiana where he now rests under tho
protection of the republican governor of that state
who refuses to honor a requisition for his return
to Kentucky. Subsequently, Youtsey piade a con
fession in which he implicated the men against
whom indictments have been returned. Youtsey
claimed that Howard fired the fatal shot and
that it was with the deliberate sanction of Taylor,
Powers, and others.
SEVERAL WEEKS AGO THE OMAHA WORLD
Herald printed extracts from Owen Wister's
book, "The Virginian." It was shown that one
of the characters in this book drew a fine distinc
tion between the lynching of white men in the
west for horse and cattle stealing and the lynch
ing of black men in ie south for tho offense
'against womanhood. The World-Herald directed
attention to the fact that the author had dedi
cated the book to Theodore Roosevelt in the fol
lowing words: "To Theodore Roosevelt: Some
of these pages you have seen, some you have
praised; one stands new written because you
blamed it and all, my dear critic, beg to remjnd
you of the author's changeless admiration." The
World-Herald said that it would be interesting to
know whether this particular chapter in which
tho lynching in the west was defended was among
those chapters that had been praised by Mr.
Roosevelt.
A .'REPUBLICAN PAPER IN NEBRASKA
criticised tho World-Herald for undertak
ing to make t appear, so this republican paper
charged, that because Mr. Wlster had dedicated
his book to Mr. Roosevelt that therefore Mr.
Roosevelt was responsible for all 'the sentiments
expressed in the work. The World-Herald makes
a very interesting reply to the Nebraska republi
can paper and says: "Inasmuch as this Ne
braska repumican paper has brought up the ques
tion, it may not be out of place to say that Mr.
Roosevelt, under his own seal and signature, has
written some very interesting things on this very
subject." The World-Herald proceeds to show
that "in one particular article written by Mr.
Roosevelt, it will be seen that the line of reason
ing advanced by Senator Tillman, for instance, in
defense of the lynching of black men for the
violation of women is identical with tho line of
reasoning presented by Theodore Roosevelt In de
fense of tho lynching of white men who have
stolen horses."
ATTENTION IS THEREFORE DIRECTED
by tho World-Herald to- a volume entitled
"Itnnch Life -and tne Hunting Trail." This book
was written by Theodore Roosevelt and was pub
lished through tho Century company only four
years ago in 1899. On page 93 of "Ranch Life
and the Hunting Trail" the following paragraph
appears: "Horse thieves are always numerous
and formidable on the frontier, though in our own
country they havo been summarily thinned out
of late years. It ia the fashion to laugh at the
severity with which horse stealing is punished on
the border, but the reasons are evident Horses
are the most valuable property of the frontiers
man, whether cowboy, hunter or settler, and are
often absolutely essential to his well-being, and
even to his life. They are always marketable
and they are very easily stolen, for they carry
themselves off, instead of having to bo carried.
Horse stealing is thus a most tempting business,
especially to the more reckless ruffians, and it is
always followed by armed men, and they can
only be kept In cneck by ruthless severity."
tf IT
COMMENTING UPON THIS JUSTIFICATION
by Mr. Roosevelt of western lynchlngs, tho
World-jHerald says: "Senator Tillman Insists
that the violators of womanhood are numerous
and formidable in , the south. Senator Tillman
has said that it is the fashion to condemn the
severity with which these terrible crimes are
punished In thongouth; and Senator Tillman has
declared, Just as Author Roosevelt declared with
reference to horse stealing in the west, that:
. 'But the reasons rre evident According to Sen
ator Tillman, women are the most precious pos-
sessions of the south, and tbey are absolutely
essential to tho well-being and .even to the life
of the good man of that section, s well, of course
as to tho well-being and tho life of the good man
of every other section; and Senator Tillman his
said that the 'reckless ruffians' who violate tho
womanhood of the south can only be kept ia
check by ruthless severity. Th"t-is exactly what
Author Roosevelt said-in defense of lynching of
horse thieves in the west."
A UNIQUE CELEBRATION WAS SCHEDULED
to take place on Labor Day in the little
town of Buena Vista in Youghiogheny Valley, lJa.
This affair was arranged for tne special benefit o
those who had lost a limb or been otherwise
damaged in the fight for bread. The correspon
dent for the Boston Globe said that it was ex
pected that at least one thousand armless, leg
less, eyeless, handless, and footless specimens of
humanity would bo present The Globe corre
spondent explains: "In this part of the state
there are hundreds of men who have been crip
pled in some way, 90 per cent of the injuries be
ing duo to accidents in the v.oal mines. The com
mittee in charge of the celebration has issued a
general invitation to every cripple to attend the
celebration. No tickets are needed. The 'open
sesame' to the gates of the park in which tho
celebration is to be held will be the absence of
some part of the applicant's anatomy. The orig
inator of the idea and chairman of committee is
D. M. Sager, who has lost a leg in the battle of
life. Associated with him are two- one-legged toil
ers named W. J. Schwindling and Peter Boyer.
They have arranged a great feast for the maimed
guests, as well as an elaborate program of sports.
There will be a baseball game between one-legged
and one-armed men, a tug-of-war between teams
in the same condition of crlppledness, races in
which tho man who hops best will capture tho
prize, and games of blindmen's buff, in which no
bandages will be needed for the eyes, because tho
players will be sightless. It is intended to show
the world that a maimed man is not necessarily
an unhappy one."
? ST
THE REVENUE CUTTER THETIS FAILED
in its effort to reach Point Barrow this
Buuimer with mail and supplies for tho missions
and whaling stations In the most northerly points
of Alaska. The cause of the delay is explained m
a special dispatch from Seattle to the Chicago
Inter-Ocean as follows: "Thetis arrived at S
Michael July 14, but lay tnere until August 1
waiting for Senator Dietrich of Nebraska, whom
it Was to take to Nome. It reached Nome August
2 and the day following started on the trip nortn
ward. At the icy cape nearly 1,000 miles from
Nome, and about 200 miles from tho government
-rescue mission, where the mr'l is Jeft, the cutter
encountered a solid ice pack' in that frozen sea
that never yields to the onslaughts of any ship
man has yet built Thetis hugged the shore in
hope that shifting winds i ight open a way, but
in that it was disappointed and finally turned
back. The mail was left to be taken by Esquimo
canoes or whalers, but it will be months before
it gets there."
ATTORNEY GENERAL CROW OF Mis
souri recently instituted in the Missouri
Supreme court "quo warranto" proceedings to an
nul the charters cf the St Louis Merchants' Bridge
company, the Terminal Railway company, tho
Wiggins Ferry company, and the St. Louis Ter
minal Railway association. The attorney general
charges that tho railroads centering at St. Louis
have formed practically a conspiracy to control
the arteries of trade throughout the Mississippi
valley; that the aggregate wealth of the railroad
companies composing the so-called terminal com
bine and holding terminal joint proprietary in
terests amounts to ?300;000,000; that this com
' bino has a 'monopoly on the St. Louis freight
traffic along the course of tna Mississippi river,
controlling "every available St. Louis entrance of
incoming and outgoing freight" Attorney Gen
eral Crow intends to summon as witnesses the
officials of every corporation embraced in the
membership of the terminal companies. He will
also secure, if possible, the deposi .on pf J. Pior:
pont Morgan, Mr. Morgantefira recently .issued
circular letters advertising th sale of tuis com
pany's bonds to a total amouni of $5Q;0O0,000. He
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