ff- " n
Cbe Conservative.
TO THE WOMEN OF THE
STATES.
Believing that , in this national crisis ,
it is the duty of nvery American citizen ,
woman no less than man , to uphold the
principles of the declaration of indepeud-
euco , and believing that the noble work
of the Anti-Imperialist League should be
heartily supported by all true patriots ,
we invite all women of the United
' States to join us in helping on that work
by sending at once to Miss F. L. Abbot ,
' 48 Larch St. , Cambridge , Mass. , their
i signatures ( with the names of their
'town or city and state ) for the fol-
Jlowiug petition.
MKS. TIIOS. WENTWOUTII HIOGINSON ,
MRS. LEWIS G. JANES ,
AXJCE FREEMAN PALMER ,
MARGARETSTORER WARNER , D. A. R. ,
SARAH SHERMAN STORE R.
ANNIE LONGFELLOW THORP ,
HARRIET E. BROOKS ,
MRS. WILLIAM JAMES ,
SARAH E. HUNT , D. R. ,
FANNY L. ABBOT , D. R.
R.Committee.
Committee.
PETITION.
To the President of the United States :
We , women of the United States ,
.earnestly protest against the war of con-
qucst itio which our country has been
plunged in the Philippine islands. We
appeal to fcJw ? declaration of indepoud-
ence , which is the moral foundation of
i the constitution you have sworn to de-
j fend , and we reaffirm its weighty words :
"Wo hold these truths to be self-
evident , that all men are created equal
[ before the law ] , that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain uualieu-
able rights , that among these are Jjfe ,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness ;
that to secure these rights , governments
are instituted among men , deriving their
just powers from the consent of the
governed ; that whenever any form , of
government becomes destructive of these
ends , it is the right of the people to alter
or abolish it , and to institute new gov
ernment laying its foundation on such
principles and organizing its powers in
such form as to them shall seem most
likely to effect their safety and happi
ness. "
_ And we unqualifiedly approve and
-support these resolutions of Hie Anti-
Imperialist League :
"First. That our government shall
take immediate steps towards a suspen-
Hion of hostilities in the Philippines and
a conference with the Philippine leaders
with a view to preventing further blood
shed , upon the basis of a recognition of
their freedom and independence as soon
as proper guarantees can bo had of order
, and protection to property.
"Second. That the government of
the United States shall tender an official
assurance to the inhabitants of the Phil
ippine islands that they will encourage
.and assist in the organization of such a
gbvernnient in the islands as the people
thereof shall prefer , and that upon its
organization in stable manner , the
United States , in accordance with its
traditional and prescriptive policy in
such cases , will recognize the independ
ence of the Philippines and its equality
among nations , and gradually withdraw
all military and naval forces. "
In those eternal truths of the declara
tion of independence lie the principles
which we firmly believe ought to govern
your action as a faithful servant of the
American people. In those resolutions
of the Aiiti-Imperialist League lies the
clear application of those principles to the
duty of the hour. In the name of jus
tice , freedom , and humanity , and in the
spirit of George Washington and Abra
ham Lincoln , we urge you to obey those
principles , and cease at once this war of
"criminal aggression" against a brave
people fighting for their independence
just as our forefathers fought for theirs
and ours.
Th ° contents of
SELF-CUI/TURE.
the June number
of Self-Culture fully justify the good
opinions already gained by this maga
zine. The articles are solid and attrac
tive , with pleasing illustrations , and are
admirably adapted in subject and liter
ary style to give information to a class
of subscribers who desire a course of
reading that will lead to the best self-
culture.
We quote the following words of com
mendation from D. O. Gilmau , presi
dent of Johns Hopkins university :
"You are conducting an admirable
magazine and likely to do great good
throughout the country. I was sur
prised , in looking at the numbers sent
me , to pee so many articles that were
interesting to mo , and how many of
them seemed well fitted to interest and
instruct the bright youth of our conn-
try. "
Self-Culture is published at Akron ,
Ohio. The subscription is $1.00 a year.
CONSERVATISMS.
If , as ' 'Uncle Josh" says , a couserva
tive is a jackass , which balks and will
not move , even if you put a fire under
him , but falls into the flames of his own
ignorance and is consumed ; does he not
also resemble the proverbial ostrich
that , on seeing an enemy approach ,
buries its head in the sands of its own
ignorance and leaves its body to be
plucked by its enemy ?
Those two definitions describe conservatism
vatism as generally understood. Con
servatism is looked upon as identical
with immovability. The idea is right
if rightly understood. There are two
kinds of conservatism. The one is in
telligent , the other ignorant. The last
is dangerous. That is not the kind rep
resented by THE CONSERVATIVE. The
conservatism of ignorance is the censer
vatism of error. It is movable. True
conservatism is immovable. There is
no such thing as "the progress of truth. "
There is such a thing as the retrogres
sion of error. The progress of the world
has been the removableuess of error.
Trutli changes it not. The mountain of
error is situated in and made up of the
shifting sands of the Sahara of ignor
ance. The social danger is the inability
of ability. A paradox of profound ex-
tenuability. The business ability of the
nation resembles both the jackass and
the ostrich. It is so busy looking out
for itself. It is so selfish that it is blind
to the aggrepsive dangers surrounding it.
In its vanity to be seen of men ; in its
cowardly consciousness that it is not
what it appears to be ; iu its superstitious
fear of the future , it builds monuments
to itself and endows colleges and other
institutions , thinking to bribe God and
purchase a foreclosure on immortality ,
while it provides means for the nourish
ment and maintenance of its enemies to
dig its grave and rob its children. The
inability of business ability , the assiuine ,
ostrich-like conservatism of the self-
supporting middle class , the motto of
which is , post hoc ergo propter hoc , it
has been so it must ever be so , which is
ever without power of exact observa
tion , or independent and intelligent
reasoning , is the stronghold of supersti
tion , and the fortress of political corrup
tion. For the true conservative , the
individual of independent mind , no
man , no set of men , ever had the power ,
ever had intelligence enough , to bind
the thinking man , by creed or platform
one moment longer than acceptable to
individual reason. Thomas Jefferson
was that kind of a conservative. His
cardinal principle was that he "never
feared to follow truth and reason to
whatever results they led , bearding
every authority which stood in their
way. " Glorious "Old Tom Paine" was
another true conservative. "Cast these
precedents behind thee" he said ; 'tnrn
to the great book of nature , and think
as if thou was the first man who ever
thought. " Superstitious slavery and
maohine political despotism can find no
support in the teachings or example of
these two radical leaders of true con
servatism and apostles of intellectual
freedom on American soil. True con
servatives are the topmost and ripest
fruits of the tree of knowledge.
FRANK S. BILLINGS.
The men who whittle and moan about
hard times never saw any times which
were , to them , good times and they
never will. Industry , vigor , hope and
lives , led on by high ambitious , to make
men and the world better make "good
times. " Sloth , intemperance , inertia ,
mental and physical , and days spent in
dreaming of "how to make something
out of nothing" create "hard times. "