hns lntelj * come n messngo so strange , so
unexpected , nncl , nbovo all , so pro
foundly significant , that it does not
seem easy to exaggerate either its im
portance or its timeliness. I am speak
ing , of course , of the recent Ukase of
the Emperor of Russia , proposing a con
ference of the great powers to consider
the subject of international disarma
ment. I am not at all unmindful , let
mo say , of the reception which this
memorable proposition has met at the
hands of foreign diplomatists and native
pro-imperialists. I am as little unaware
of the gentle and often kindly scepticism
with which it has been greeted by many
clever and acute minds in both hemi
spheres , whose attitude to all great na
tional questions has come to be one of
good-natured cjTnicism ; and whose phil
osophy of life is summed up in Carlyle's
axiom that brute force is the master of
the world.
For myself , I do not believe that
axiom ; and I think that a Christian
ought to be ashamed to believe it. Nor
do I believe that , because some people
have dismissed the present young sovereign
eign of Russia as a dreamer and a vis
ionary , you and I are called upon to
dismiss his remarkable utterance as un
worthy of serious consideration. This
world has forever been divided between
the dreamers and the "practical" people
the men who have seen visions , and
the herd that has laughed at the vision
and the visionary. But , sooner or later ,
once and again , all around the world ,
some such dreamer has struck a great
note , the clear and penetrating reson
ance of which has waked and roused
the nations. Most opportune is it , I
think , that , in the ear of a nation al
ready dizzy with the dream of what it
may achieve by conquests through the
force of arms , there should sound that
strong , temperate and most cogo1 ' , ly
reasoned message which rings through
the Ukase of the Emperor of Russia. It
is an unanswerable indictment of the
enormous folly and essential madness of
the international race for increased arm
ament ships , and forts , and men , piled
up in ever greatening proportions , until ,
at last , the utmost limit of a nation's re
sources in men and money has been
reached ; the last man has been dragged
from his family ; the last shekel has been
borrowed from reluctant creditors , and
the empire or the republic makes its
wild plunge , at length , into irredeem
able bankruptcy. And this is called
"statesmanship" and "the wisdom of
diplomacy , " as against the visionary
dreams of an imaginative sentimentalism -
ism ! For myself , it is better described
iu those very recent words of a singu
larly clear , hard-headed and acute Eng
lish statesman , whom nobody will accuse
of being visionary or a dreamer , I mean
Sir William Vernon Harcourt , who pro
nounced the present rivalry of the great
powers of the world in the matter of
ships and men as simply "insensate
folly ! "
Has such a folly bewitched and blinded
us ? Has the lust of empire and the pas
sion of conquest made the people so mad
that they cannot see the mischiefs and
the misery that such a policy is destined
to entail ? Is it true , above all , that the
followers of Him who came to teach
men how to beat their swords into
plow-shares and their spears into prun-
ing-hooks , are eager , instead of striving
to abolish the bloody and brutal duello
of nations , to re-enthrone it ? Are ' 'peace
and happiness , truth and justice , religion
and piety , " to prevail among us by cut
ting one another's throats ? For one , I
disown so barbarous a conception of our
calling in the world as at once a libel
upon our civilization and a dishonor to
our common Lord and master. And so
I hope that this convention will not sep
arate without some expression of sym
pathy and of admiration for an act so
truly noble and words so greatly wise as
those of the ruler to whom I have al
ready referred. May God give him
courage to persevere in his high and
holy purpose , and may the Ruler of
rulers turn the hearts of kings , presi
dents and peoples toward an aspiration
so generous and a purpose so truly
Christ-like !
Nebraska credit may be improved
everywhere. Capital is now anxiously
watching Western opportunities for safe
and profitable investments. By as much
as the men of Nebraska by voice and
vote show their fidelity to an honest ,
gold-basis system of finance will they
allure money to come into and help
build up Nebraska.
Capital for sugar factories , mills ,
starch works , broom factories , strawboard -
board manufactories ami tile plants can
be either led in or driven out by the
votes which the citizens of Nebraska ,
cast in the autum of 1898.
Those votes will be for men advocat
ing silverism , inflation and the payment
of debts in money of less purchasing
power , or for men who represent
gold standard conservatism and are in
favor of honesty in all the dealings of
mankind.
Who prefers Mexican financial and
social conditions to those of England ?
Who wishes the metallic currency of
the United States made of over-valued
silver and sold , as Mexican dollars are
sold , as plain pig silver bullion in all the
commercial centers of the world ?
Competent men only should bo elected
to servo either city , county , state or
the Republic in official stations. Honest
men , temperate men , industrious men
and reputable men only should be
called.by an intelligent majorityinto the
public service. A premium upon the
highest intellectual and reputable char
acter should bo cheerfully awarded at
each election , by all truly patriotic voters
in this country.
STATEMENT OF THE UNITED STATES
TIIEASU11Y.
The New York Evening Post , Wed
nesday , October 5th , 1898 , contains in its
financial columns the following lucid
and terse statement of facts and figures :
"The treasury's so-called 'circulation
statement , ' showing the amount and
kinds of money in the United States , in
and out of the treasury at the opening
of the month , is interesting ; first , be
cause of the $10,767,000 increase which
it shows in total circulation during Sep
tember , despite the treasury's large ac
cumulations , and second , because of the
large use of gold in payments shown by
it. For instance , the legal-tender notes
iu general circulation increased during
September $21,048,000 ; yet the circula
ting gold supply decreased by $8,043,000.
This was in spite of large new gold pro
duction ( five to six million dollars
monthly ) , and gold importations of at
least eight millions since the beginning
of September. But the explanation is
easily found in the increase of $14,190-
000 in the government's holdings of gold
coin , and of $11,128,000 in its holdings
of gold bullion. The truth is that gold
has now , as in the several years prior to
1890 , become the natural medium of ex
change for large banking balances .chiefly
because , with the present active trade ,
the legal-tender supply is in full em
ployment. Yesterday's annual state
ment of the Now York clearing-house
illustrated this truth in a curious way.
When the legal-tender supply is exces
sive for needs of current trade , the paper
money will , of course , be used for bank
ing settlements , and gold will be ex
pelled by export. When the legal ten
ders are in normal or relatively insuffi
cient volume , gold will come from
abroad , and will instantly begin to do
the work of institution exchanges. Ac
cordingly , in the clearing-house year
which ended September 80 , 1895 , it was
found that in all the money balances
paid from , bank to bank during the
twelvemonth , only § 1,415,000 out of a
total of $1,890,574,000 was paid in gold.
But in the clearing-house year just
closed , in which the total balance pay
ments were $2,888,529,000 , no less than
$1,194,892,000 was paid in gold coin or cer
tificates. Of course the same influences
which cause the banks to settle in gold
with one another will make them by
preference settle in gold with the govern
ment. It is rather an interesting fact that
tin's 1898 percentage of gold payments to
total balances is the
clearing-house larg
est since 1891. "
In view of the above array of solid ,
stubborn gold facts what have the de
votees of the silver fetish to remark rel
ative to the utter impossibility of the
agriculture , commerce and manufacture
of ths United States continuing a pros
perous career upon a gold basis ?
Promise is most given when the least
is said. But promises make debts and
debts make promises.