/ . . Jt
C.v'V
12 The Conservative.
Cuban Reconstruction.
Ono thing is becoming clear every
dny. The conditions of lifo and social
order in Ouba are chaotic and need to
bo guided with a firm hand. It is vain
to disguise from ourselves that our al
lies in the late war do not fairly represent -
sent the intelligence , the industry , the
trained skill in doing things and the
wealth of Cuban society. For the sake
of the Cubans of every class , and the
insurgents have as great a stnko in the
solution as tboir Into opponents and the
neutrals , wo owe it to ourselves and
the world to see that all the elements
which make for a healthy recoustitutiou
of affairs in the hitherto distracted is
land shall have full play. No ouo who
has observed the bias of events can
question for a moment that this can bo
accomplished in aught but one way.
The United States must for the present
exercise a thoroughgoing protectorate
over judicial and political methods. To
do otherwise would be to unleash horrors
rors not less woeful than those which
we have banished. It is natural that
the better class of insurgents should
suffer vexation at not being invested
with the expected degree of power as
builders of a new order of things. But
a little reflection should teach men of
this stamp that it is the part of wisdom
to join hands with all those vho frank
ly accept the new regime and forget
the past as soon as possible. If Cuba is
to bo regenerated , it will be , too , in
great measure by American money and
enterprise. No thinking Cuban can
blink the fact that this movement will
bo slow till the American has absolute
confidence in the social order.
The bill introduced into the British
parliament providing for loans to colonies
nies under certain specified conditions
is in accordance with the general policy
of the country in binding its dependen
cies by the most genuine helpfulness.
But it is difficult to see what practical
end can be served. The same conditions
which the proposed bill specifies are so
confirmatory of the solvency of the bor
rowers that they would justify the easy
sale of colonial bonds. If Great Britain
wishes to help its colonies in this way ,
it would be a more easy and direct way
to indorse the bonds , thus giving them
still greater security. The same purpose
would bo effected in a way probably
more acceptable to colonial pride. It
looks as if this measure was an entering
wedge for the revival of the great
Chamberlain scheme , of which there
was so much discussion a year or two
since.
General Lord Wolsoloy is an enthu
siastic Americomauiao To Iliram Max
im , about to set sail for America to
preach the new Anglo-Saxon alliance ,
ho wrote : "I think your proposed 'cam
paign' would bo worth to us far more
than a dozen Wei-Hoi-Wois or Sudans
and to the United States far more than
Ouba , Manila and the whole kingdom
of Ferdinand and Isabella thrown in. "
"Tho moral amelioration of man con
stitutes the chief mission of woman , "r
says M. Comto , the philosopher. True.
And the pursuit has always been so
tautaliziugly elusive and bewitching
that it has remained a labor of love
with her from the first.
The real importance of an individual
can only bo judged by the effect his
death makes. Yet great men survive
the active period of their greatness , and
the effect is purely sentimental and
critical. Dead Bismarck and Gladstone !
The world is not moved a whit except
in curious contemplation. "Imperial
Caesar dead and turned to clay" be
comes only good for Hamlet's moraliz
ing over an open grave. The death of
the biggest man , after all , makes a very
small ripple in the ocean of life.
The retired officers of the United
States army , constituting a largo body
of able and in many cases physically
competent men , have not been encour
aged in giving their services to the gov
ernment in our recent needs. Hundreds
of military offices have been filled by
civilian appointments and the trained
soldiers debarred. In the naval service
this rigid exclusion has not been en
forced. It is not easy to grasp the phi
losophy of the distinction.
The persistent snubbing which the
new Prince Bismarck and his family
have given the kaiser from the funeral
to the present time should be whole
some discipline for the imperial young
man. It is not often that ho experiences
such a shower bath. It is to be assumed
that ho forgets all thought of leze maj
esty as his anguished fancy dwells on
a certain literary dynamite magazine
in London.
There is no country in the world
where such immense benefactions are
given to institutions of learning , col
leges and universities in especial , as are
given in America. In England or Ger
many such a thing would instantly ex
cite universal comment. Here it passep
without a ripple.
The most enviable persons are not
such as have the largest possessions.
They are the happy spirits able to get
the most out of the things they have
who never suffer dyspepsia for lack of
digestion at the banquet of life.
There are two significant "trade"
terms , introduced of late years , which
show vividly the modern tendency in
doing and seeing things. The theatrical
man always refers to a stage perform
ance , whether tragedy or farce , as a
"show ; " the newspaper man designates
every article of news or information as
a "story. "
Scuhor Mendonca , the new Brazilian
minister to Portugal , on his presenta
tion to the king indulged in an un
usually flowery outbreak over the glo
ries of the Portuguese race. "When at
the end of the century about to begin ,
the Portuguese language will bo spoken
by 100,000,000 of men"said ho. If
other races increase in proportion , there
will be standing room only.
The Snowqualmie falls in Washing
ton bid fair to rival the marvelous re
sources of Niagara as a fountain of elec
tric energy to be distributed for pur
poses of lighting and motor force. It is
estimated that 100,000 horsepower will
be easily made available when the
plant is completed.
There is a hackneyed apothegm
which says , "Strike while the iron is
hot. " The man who finally clutches
fortune by the hair is he who does not
wait for the iron to be hot. Ho makes
it hot by hammering on it.
A first decision of Commissioner Scott
under the new war tax law decided that
the rent payer must pay a tax stamp to
bo put on the landlord's receipt. This
has been revoked since , and no stamp is
necessary now. It is difficult to see how
the most super-serviceable official zeal
could have come to the first opinion. It
would at once discriminate between
rich and poor. The rich man generally
pays by check , which in itself acts as a
receipt.
The most powerful personages in
name and seeming are those who rarely
have their own way. Monarchs are
often helpless slaves of policy , of bureau
cracy , of tradition. The Russian czar ,
for example , is an ardent lover of Eng
land and English ideas , yet circum
stances make him pose as their for
midable foe.
According to the veracious New York
Herald , the newest Parisian fad among
women is the hypodermic injection of
perfumes that thin skins may reek with
sweet odors. As the habit must surely
be a swift road to the coffin it naigh1
save the expense of sweet smellt )
floral tributes.
An Emperor's Attic.
The winter palace of the czar sur
passes any other palace in Europe. It
is on the bunks of the Neva and owes
its existence to the Empress Catherine
II , that most extraordinary woman , ex
traordinary in ability and in vice , the
surprise of all her contemporaries and
the wonder of all who have studied hi r
character. The building is four stories
high , of a light brown color and highly
ornamental in architecture. It is a
wilderness of halls , stairways and
apartments. The Nicholas hall and the
St. George's hall will never be forgot
ten by those who have seen them.
One of the most interesting rooms is
that whore Nicholas I died. It is in the