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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (July 21, 1898)
4 > Che Coneervative. . . , . , , , . . VOL. i. NEBRASKA CITY NEB. THURSDAY JULY 21 1898. NO. 2 Emotional pat- NEW PATHS. . . . . . , . riotism is blazing now paths for the American people. But practical patriotism deliberates. It is claimed by the former that the United States is just beginning to be known and respected by the nations of the earth , and it attempts to make the achievements of Washington , Franklin , Jefferson , Hamilton and Madison , in civil life and in military prowess , micro scopic and hardly discernible down , the avouuo of a century and a quarter. The methods , policies , teachings and admonitions itions of the 'fathers of the American Republic are declared to have been ap propriate only for an infant government but entirely obsolete and unadaptable to its posterity. The sensational press and the inflam matory oratory of the United States are now daily employed in belittling the past of the government and the country. The war of the revolution for the inde pendence of the Colonies is depicted by them as a most insignificant affair , while the war of 1812 is still more in tensely minimized , and the war with Mexico made utterly invisible. The Civil War. however , which closed only in April , 1865 , is admitted to have been something of an array of physical force and militant ability , though nothing compared to the war machinery and fighting equipment which , have been recently developed by the conflict between Spain and the United States. The war between that antiquated , debilitated and deteriorated people , on the one hand , and the young , vigorous and strenuous Republic of the United States , on the other , does not demand the highest ability and prowess of tin's country. Whether this Spanish war could have been aver ted by congress , had an endeavor been made for peace equal to that which has been put forth to find pretexts for battles is a question not now to be discussed. It enough to recall the fact that this war was en tered into upon the ground of humanity. The American government interposed to prevent the starvation of men , wo men and children who wore in rebellion against the government of Spain. Con gress by deliberate declaration informed the world that this Republic sought no new territory , that it desired no acquis ition of domains by war or otherwise. The. conflict , therefore , was instituted solely for the purpose of acting as a Good Samaritan among the nations of the globe. Nothing but benevolence and a desire to compel liberty for the Cubans actuated the McKiuley administration. And yet there is a paroxysmal patriot ism already abroad in the land which wildly shrieks for the holding of all islands and other territory over which the flag of the Republic has been once floated. These hysterical aunexationists tliink that there are no other glories for a government than those which are to be obtained by militarism. They forget that the United States for more than a hundred years has been respected by all the nations of the earth because of its adherence to justice and right and be cause of its great intellectual and moral development. ' In all the great seaports and in all the great trade centers of the globe the United States has been achiev ing the beneficent victories of civiliza tion and commerce. In that one cen tury it has accomplished more for the advancement and exaltation of the hu man race than any and all other gov ernments put together. The new paths pointed out are not safe to enter upon. But the victories of peace are peculiarly adapted to this form of government. "Peace and good will to man" is the acme , the crowning glory and consummate perfection of civil ization. And while the United States , physically , with its men and material , can equal on the battlefield and on the seas any of the nations of the earth , its great strength and usefulness are in its mental and moral forces. Its agri culture , its manufacture and commerce explore all the habitable globe , and the influence of its thought and its religion permeates the remotest sections of the earth. Practical patriotism is not in favor of permanent militarism. Practical pat riotism differs with emotional patriotism because the latter is inspired by impulse and the former by reason. The bar baric glory of war and the savagery of triumphs by arms are not alluring to the best minds and characters of modern times. Those great internat ional expositions for corpsemaking , for wounding , for mutilating , called battle fields are not the result of Christianity and civilization , but are the sporadic indications of the fact that the original savage and the prehistoric barbarian are not entirely bred out of the modern man. It is a sad fact that during the last half of the last decade of the Nineteenth Century humanity should anywhere be settling its difficulties by brute force. The spectacle is a satire upon the vaunted improvement of our race dur ing the last eighteen hundred years. OIIATOIIS. OUATOKY IN Somewhere about NiiiniASKA. the year 1850 , just after the accession of Logan Fontanello ; o the cliiefship of the Omaha Ind ians , there was a great council of that ; ribo convoked , and while the newly se lected leader was making a speech ho was interrupted by the constant at tempts of White Cow , one of the head men , to interpose some remarks of his own. Enduring these seemingly irre pressible eruptions of the talkative Mr. White Cow for some time , Foutauelle at last become enraged and in a moment of anger drew his scalping knife and slashed the cheek of Mr. Wliite Cow wide open. Tin's savage surgical opera tion for the time being allayed the ver bosity of the interlocutor and the coun cil proceeded to its adjournment with out further interruption from him. But , Mr. White Cow was one of those abor iginal orators who never saw a crowd' ' gathered together that ho did not feel1 like making a speech. This peculiarity of his seems to have distinguished many citizens who now inhabit the land that ; Mr. White Cow and his ancestors origiu- allv possessed. He , however , never af terwards in the presence of Logan. Fontanelle attempted any great amount of oratory or eloquence. But , as a con stant reminder of the mortification which the blow from his chief had in flicted upon him , he wore as long as ho lived a large , black , old-fashioned , silk handkerchief tied over his head and down under his chin so as to conceal the gash with which the knife of his su perior had indelibly scarred one side of his strong face. During the years 1854 , 1855 and 1850 , and even down to his death , no white man or Indian , outside of his own family , ever had an oppor tunity to see the scar inflicted by Fonta nello. It was invariably concealed by the silk kerchief. Nevertheless White Cow remained eminent and justly dis tinguished among both Indians and whites as one of the most logical , per suasive and eloquent men of the entire Omaha tribe. During November , 1854 , the govern ment having failed to pay the autumn part of the annuity .which the Omahas claimed due them from the sale of their- land east of the Elkhorn and north of' the Platte river in the Territory of Ne braska , the squatters and settlers in , then : cabins all along the banks of thej Missouri river and on the prairies bacfr JfjC * "K