6 'Cbe Conservative *
not have become a nation at all except
for the War of Independence.since it
was essential that the fetters laid upon
us should be broken once and for all ;
and while the blighting curse of human
slavery and the spirit of secession dark
ened our future and stained our fair
fame it was impossible for us to fulfill
our mission , so that the Civil War was
necessaiy also. Both of these Aval's de
livered us from bondage and wrong , and
they in that way helped to make us
great. The decision of the jingo is , in
effect , that the Revolution and the
Union struggles were glorious , therefore
war is glorious. Washington and Lin
coln were precious , hence military spirit
is precious. But the thought occurs ,
what would have become of those heroes
if thej- had acted from motives of con
quest or military fame ? If Washington
had wanted to fight England for glory ,
or if it could have been proved that Lin
coln sought to wage union war ? What
poison and ruin to their glory in the
very suggestion ! Honor so sought is
only dishonor.
Only dire necessity , after the exhaus
tion of every effort to prevent , can be
come an excuse for war. That any
good comes out of it is only from the
fact that God rules , who alone can
bring good out of evil. War is man's
utmost effort to defy and dethrone Him ,
and the best that can be said for it is
that it fails of this. When we come
near the Prince of Peace we see that all
the heroism of war never equalled that
of the early Christian martyrs at the
stake and in the arena , or even now of
the engineer holding steadfast to his
perilous post , the miner cheering his
mates to escape while suffocating him
self , the fireman risking life and limb to
rescue others , or the captain freezing on
his bridge or going down with his ship
while saving his passengers. All these
are not urged on by their own boiling
passions , but by the simple call of duty.
Our country's greatness is not due to
military power , but rather to its solid
greatness in other ways. Our little
army of 25,000 men gallantly as it has
served as a sufficient police force for a
v nation of 75,000,000 scattered over 3,000-
000 square miles , can hardly be credited
with the vast increase of power , wealth
and resource this country has enjoyed
in the past thirty years. Not the sword
and war , but the plowshare and the
peace have made us the greatest nation
on earth. There are fifty-five battle
ships building. The cost of each one of
them would erect a church or a college.
Are they worth as much ?
Our situation , wo irust confess , has
done much for us. Were wo not made
what we are by circumstances were
our territory less compact , our possible
enemies closer within reach , our neigh
bors more powerful we might oftener
have felt ourselves forced to drop the
plowshare and grasp the sword , and so
have lost our character in the world's
eyes ns pursuers of peace. Now we are
asked to turn our back upon our past
to despise the good gift of favoring
circumstances to plunge into arma
ments and other costly dissipations.
What is to become of our once jealously-
guarded Monroe doctrine ? Monroe pro
claimed non-interferenco with foreign
nations and their existing colonies.
What provision is there in our constitu
tion for governing such dependencies ?
Do we ask to be paid the expenses of a
war undertaken for humanity ? I fear
it is the old whisper of the tempter in
the Avildorncss : All these kingdoms
Antilles , Philippines , Ladrones , Chinese
trade , martial glory and what not will
I give thee if thou wilt beat thy plow
shares into swords and worship mo.
That same tempter in the old narrative
might easily , if ho had chosen , have told
of the many men and people who , mi-
tier similar inducements , followed his
prompting ; but we cannot imagine that
that would have made any difference.
Jesus spurned him without waiting to in
quire how the precedents stood. So now ,
when we are invited to extend our do
minion over remote islands , we may con
cern ourselves as little about what others
have done in the hour of victory. Have
we not in our own country room enough
and land enough tn work out our
problems for generations to come ? An
example must now be set , and our na
tion must set it. Did our fathers stop
to ask , when they "brought forth on
this continent a nev ; nation , conceived
in liberty and dedicated to the proposi
tion that all men are equal , " what other
countries had done ? No , they laid the
foundations of our republic so deep that
through all time , through every trial ,
through every shock , "a government of
the people , by the people , for the people ,
shall not perish from the earth. " Let
there be an imperishable truce with all
nations , and our beloved country , like
the island of Deles in ancient Greece , bo
forever dedicated to God and peace.
Civilization and liberty will suffer
throughout the world if wo make a false
step now at the Rubicon of our country's
history. An end to all talk of spreading
our commerce by multiplying our posses
sions ! There is one way to have a com-
merceand that is by furnishingat a fail-
price , an article that our customers
want. The country that does that most
effectually wins the trade ; the country
that fails in that , fails to win in the com
mercial contest , though it blacken the
land with armed hosts and the sea with
warships. The work of commerce is a
work of service that man or country
does best at it who serves his brothoi
best. The true commercial rule is the
Golden Rule. The following of benefi
cent productive activity , which has been
so good for our forerunners , will bo evei
good for us. Blessed is he who learns
with the plow to make two blades oi
grass grow where one grew before ! And
above all "blessed the
, are peace-makers ,
for they shall bo called the children o1
God ! "
The Pdnnd-Ohi.
SPITTING SWINIS.
un , Essex , Berk
shire and Tnmworth hogs nro decidedly
clean and wholesome by comparison
with the human hog who in church , at
the theatre , on the street car , in stores ,
and even in private houses chews to-
jacco and projects a mulatto liquid all
over the floor and carpets with the force
md euergy of a dynamo.
In Chicago , Omaha , Des Monies ,
Kansas City , and other well-ordored
cities the boards of health have com-
demned spitting because it spreads dis
eases. In those cities ordinances have
been enacted making it a penal offence
"o spit in street cars , at church , theatre ,
or on the streets.
This sanitary and cleanly legislation
ought to prevail in every town in the
United States. The human hog that
floods with tobacco saliva the aisles and
pews of churches , and drenches the car.-
pots of theatres and all their foot rests ,
from dress circle to gallery , are too dirty
to herd with Berkshires. These foun
tains of filth which boil over and gush
with tobacco juice ought to be excluded
from all decent resorts.
No man who expects to rate as a gen
tleman will expectorate upon the floor
or elsewhere to discommode the public.
An anti-spitting law should be in force
here at Nebraska City and in all other
prosperous and growing towns.
Col. William Jennings Bryan finds
much solace in the recent elections and
gives grateful expression to his tranquil
delight in an interview for the Assoc
iated press , which was secured by the
long-continued importunity of one of
the most pertinacious reporters. The
facility with which Mark Tapley could
become jolly and laugh boisterously in
the face of adversity , is matched , out
classed in fact , by the optimistic con
tentment and beatitude of Col. Bryan.
There is only one case among the
curios of human gratitude , acknowledg
ments of obligations and thankfulness to
parallel the adorable kindness , hopeful
ness and smile-lit equanimity of Col.
Bryan in the face of returns from the
recent elections. That luminous and
saintly parallel was the ancient dame
who thanked God that the only two
teeth left in her jaws , upper and lower ,
wore directly opposite each other !
A professional
i j j „ . . . .
THE PEOPLE.UlaU > Of hlSh CUI'
ture , who recently
visited Nebraska City under favorable
conditions , writes as follows to a friend :
"The memory of my trip to your city
will always remain full of charm and
pleasure. I never have met a people , as
a whole , who were of. such a high order
of intellectuality , with all the added
graces , and I feel that one living in such
a social environment is to bo congratu
lated. "