* Cbe Conservative *
plants unknown to mo bewilder and
dazzle eyes so recently looking upon
snow-drifts and watching the mercury
at many degrees below zero. And yet
Nebraska with its vigor of winter , its
heat of summer and its vigor of men ,
and its intelligent energy of women , is
a better soil and climate for the mental
and material development of the race.
The Anglo-Saxon is not now , never
has been and never will bo adjustable to
, , , , , . . the tropics. For
Tropical Humanity. , ,
more than three
hundred years the Spaniards have been
making religious endeavors to occupy
and reclaim from savagery the islands
of the Philippines but without success.
And now the United States pays twenty
millions of dollars for the opportunity of
taking up this job of piety where the
Spaniard drops it. After reasons of al
leged benevolence and Chadband-Peck-
sniff philanthropy have been exhausted
we are told that we must for commercial
purposes secure the islands of the Pa
cific archipelago. Trade follows the
flag , saith Saint Jingo. The trade of the
Philippines is immense ! How big ?
All told , the trade , export and import ,
of the Philippines is , in a whole year ,
thirty millions of dollars. But Califor
nia alone exports forty millions of dollars
lars worth each year. And , the Califor
nia products are the result of voluntary
labor and efforts. But all exports from
tropical countries are the products of
enforced , involuntary efforts. They are
the results of compulsory labor. No
where on earth , where , by spontaneity ,
Nature furnishes food and climate elim
inates the necessity of clothing , is there
an export trade not founded upon en
forced labor. Neither the English nor
the German people prosper under a ver
tical sun. The American will fare no
bettor.
Here in the United States of North
America and not in the annexed United
States of Asia will
At Home. . . ,
the mind and mus
cle of our vigorous , inventive and stal
wart race best expand. Hero at homo
wo have enough and more than enough
of barbarism and want to overcome and
to "benevolently assimilate. " Here af
homo , where our fathers founded free
government , it is our duty to labor to
conserve and perpetuate civil and religi-
MT ous liberty for our posterity. Civilization -
tion and Christianity , like charity , should
begin at home. J. S. M.
San Francisco , February 2G , 1899.
Certain journalists -
ists of the United
States have been
amusing themselves with calling the
German government all kinds of names
on all kinds of pretexts , the drift of their
argument being that wo could lick Ger
many if wo wanted to. There is a general -
oral impression that they could not pass
their time in any more foolish occapa-
_ JL
tion , and it is pleasant to observe , by
way of contrast , f ho temperate bearing
of the Gorman press , and how accur
ately they estimate the true value of the
utterances in question. The Germans
are thorough , and they probably know
more about us than we do about them.
Wo quote from "Die Nation" of Ber
lin :
"It was to bo expected that the Eng
lish people would view the course of
events in Samoa coolly and without pre
judice ; but it was especially noteworthy
and especially gratifying to find the
same thing happening in governmental
circles in the United States , giving fresh
proof that the men who have the reins
in their hands , in both Washington and
Berlin , have never departed from their
mutual good relations. The bull-baiting
that is practised against Germany by
way of sport in isolated circles in the
United States is the work of private
parties , and the Americans themselves
ore beginning to object to these infelicit
ous and motiveless assaults. "
The editor then speaks of the indig
nant protest of certain American colon
ies abroad against the course of the
yellow journals , and continues :
"There are no questions up between
the United States and Germany which
cannot be settled in a kindly and friendly
way , and the public opinion of each
country should go earnestly about it to
banish these harmful prejudices and in
trigues on both sides of the water , so
that the two nations may return to their
old traditional attitude of warm esteem
for each other. "
It appears that Rider Hnggard still
writes books. But what no one would
have foreseen ton years ago is that ho
has now produced a novel with a moral ,
namely , that people should bo vacci
nated. His latest work , "Dr. Therne , "
tells what happened in England after
people had refused for twenty years , out
of conscientious scruples , to take that
precaution against the always-impending
suinllpox : an epidemic arose , about the
year 1920 , which devastated the country
worse than the great plague of 1(565. (
This is reasonable enough , but that
Rider Haggard , should have written it
remains a very funny thing.
The San JoaquinValloy in California is
capable of sustaining a population equal
to that of Italy and in many respects is
similar to that ancient country. The
same sunny skies , the same balmy at
mosphere , the same products of the soil ,
in fact about the only difference be
tween the two countries is that Italy
is old and thickly populated while this
wonderful valley in California is now
and thinly populated. In the older
country the earth indicates that it has
been cultivated for centuries and in the
younger much of the ground is in a vir
gin state. Who is wise enough to fore
cast the great number of people who
may in generations yet to come make
this valley the most wonderful purveyor
to all the world ? I& is not only a great
cattle and wheat country but produces
the highest order of choicest fruits. The
oranges of the foothills along this val
ley surpass those of any other district in
color , flavor and size , and are said by
experts to bo easily the most improved
grade of that citrus fruit. The muscat
grape which is the genuine raisin grape
reaches its highest culture around
Fresno , Visalia and Hanford , all three
prosperous towns in this fertile valley ;
in fact all kinds of horticulture flour
ish there just as they do under the soft
Italian skies of the older country.
A DEVOTED .
WIDOW. 1U # OVOr "er nus'
band's grave was
approached by an Engaging Gentleman
who , in a respectful manner , assured
her that ho had long entertained for her
the most tender feelings.
"Wretch ! " cried the widow , "Leave
mo this instant ! Is this a time to talk
to me of love ? "
"I assiiro yon , madam , that I hod not
intended to disclose my affection , " the
Engaging Gentleman humbly explained ,
"but the power of your beauty has
overcome my discretion. "
"You should see mo when I have not
been crying , " said the widow. Bierce.
THE-SWEET A newspaper
TOET. " moved to sym
pathy in a great
company with the sufferings and fate of
Rudyard Kipling , and desiring to say
something strong of his place in the
world of letters recently called him
a "sweet poet. " This is very tame
and inadequate praise of a man
who is one of the most profound
thinkers of his ago , and whose utter
ances furnish the Anglo-Saxon race and
its highest statesmanship with new
guides in directing the advance of na
tions. The "Song of the English , " the
"Recessional , " and the "White Man's
Burden , " alone have done more to in
fluence the destiny of at least two of the
most powerful countries in the world
than has been accomplished by the par
liamentary orators of tlmir respective
governments in a hundred years.
London is a larger town than Ne
braska City , bub houses are proportion
ately just as hard to got. It is said that
there are 900,000 people in London living
in houses that are unfit for habitation ,
because there are no others for them to
move into. The homeless and distressed
housekeepers of Nebraska City will
therefore gain nothing by moving to
London.