t3be Conservative ,
"ORIENTAL AMERICA. "
ATlmnly nnd Interest liif * Mine of Tnfor
mation for Itollcvorn In an Amorl-
CHII Policy.
DesMoines , la. , Leader : The prog
ress of events in the American-Filipino
war has been so rapid , and history-
making episodes and utterances have so
crowded upon each other , that those
who have sought to inform themselves
on the pending issues of imperialism
and colonialism have been compelled to
rely wholly on transient newspaper
articles for facts upon which to base
their opinions. The people are not well
informed , and today , concerning the
pending issue , there is as much need for
information as there was concerning the
money question in the early stages of
the campaign of 1890. Hence there is a
legitimate , demand for literature which
will supply the needed facts accurately ,
briefly and impartially.
- "What seems an honest effort to sup
ply this information has been made in a
hastily prepared little volume bearing
the title of "Oriental America , " just
issued. It is compiled by Mr. Ora Wil
liams , a newspaper man well known to
western newspaper men from his long
connection with the daily papers in Dos
Moines , Sioux Oity and Omaha. He is
-
- now editor of The Sioux Falls Daily
Press. Mr. Williams has collected ,
compiled and arranged , under conven
ient headings , practically all the information
mation now available concerning the
war , especially in its political aspects.
In the form of excerpts from official
and. other authentic documents , Mr.
Williams tells a story , not only intense
ly interesting , but invaluable to all who
wish to do their own thinking on the
Philippine question , and who are not
content to accept the partisan declara
tions of either side. The book includes
the official correspondence between
Filipino and American officials while
the war with Spain was in progress , the
record in regard to the various proposals
of peace , the meetings to plan concerted
action against the Spaniards , our procla
mations and those of the Filipinos ,
together with extracts from military re
; * , i : ; - . - - v ports , consular reports and views of
various public men and visitors to the
Philippines. 'In time this valuable
information will reappear in historical
studies of the present war , but at present
no one has done the work. In a word ,
Mr. Williams presents the data from
which the future historian will draw
his conclusions.
' * { ' One of the sources freely drawn upon
*
„ by Mr. Williams for information in re
gard to the Filipinos and the war against
them is the famous document No. 02 ,
published by the United States , in con
r > nection with the peace treaty last Janu
ary. This is a document which is now
almost impossible to secure , arid yet it
* . " . ' - . contains a vast amount of valuable in-
"i * 'f
" *
? '
J& 'i ' li
formation about the Filipino people and
about the official relations the American
representatives sustained to them while
the war with Spain was in progress.
Mr. Williams has performed a service to
the public by collecting these matters
and putting them , into form where they
can bo conveniently consulted.
? h e Louisville
CHOKER CASH.
1 Evening Post
which denounces the Goebel ticket , sup
ports the democratic nomination of John
Young Brown , and avers that the cash
to carry on the Bryau-Goebel campaign
in Kentucky comes from the Tammany
strong box.
Ho\v much cash has Oroker added to
the Coin Harvey fund for the purpose
of electing House Rent Holcomb , presi
dent of an insurance company , to the
supreme 'court of Nebraska ? Oroker
and Tammany being proclaimedly for
Bryan what sacrifice will they not make
for his sake ?
Why is ifc that
. ,
in a11 those States
where Bryanism is
rampant a blight has fallen upon the
democracy which is worse than a hoar
frost on a cucumber vine ? Why is it
that Bryanism and debility seem to bo
synonymous terms in the political
annals of the day ? Here , for instance ,
is the Springfield Republican's account
of a so-called democratic rally in that
city on Friday evening :
"Tho democratic rally in City Hall
last evening , the only example of this
good old American institution we are to
have in the city this fall , was rather a
sad affair. The attractions were Paine
and Mack , the two youthful candidates
at the head of the ticket ; the veteran
democrat , Col. John L. Rice ; the rugged
and reverend politician , the Rev. R. E.
Bisbee of Pepperill , and Patrick Kilroy
of this city. Behind these the platform
was tastefully banked with the promi
nent democrats of the city and the
Second Regiment band. In front of
thorn was a prayer-meeting attendance
of some 500 a little black mass bunched
up under the platform in the wilderness
of yellow seats. It was a restless and
not over-impassioned audience , and the
swinging doors at the end of the hall
kept a continual draft on the back of
the necks of the assembly from the
multitude of those tramping in and out.
A crowd of chattering and giggling boys
in the galleries , with most extraordinary
squeaking shoostrotted in and out at
will. That the rally was gotten up in a
hurry may account in part for its small
attendance. But as it was , it was a
rather discouraging affair and made a
remarkable contrast to the old days. In
fact , the bid-time roaring , ramping ,
blood-aud-thunder party rally seems to
have beeii taken away from us in this
state for the past few years , under the m
present policy of the republicans. "
"Chattering and giggling boys , "
hoodlums galore , a dearth of men of
character and importance , no public
interest , intellectual'feebleness and lassi
tude those are the characteristics of 'a
Bryanite ratification meeting in these
days. In the Springfield case the demo
crats of the town were invited to come
and hear the democratic candidate for
governor talk a youthful man in poli
tics , a Boston aristocrat inheriting a
name , a man who never thought of
being a democrat until after the adop
tion of the Chicago platform in 1890 ,
and who has not yet learned the A B O's
of democracy ! Why should anybody
but the reporters and giggling boys come
out to hear such a "leader , " who has
been thrust forward by the Bryauito
boss in Massachusetts to stand where
Patrick A. Collins , George M. Stearns ,
William E. Russell , Sherman Hoar ,
John E. Russell and other men of brains
and courage were wont to stand and
profoundly interest the people ? V *
It1 is the same story everywhere
dignity gone , character gone , seriousness
gone , sincerity gone , intelligence gone
all gone to make way for the Chicago
platform heresies and for Bryauito ma
chine methods methods as repulsive
and as wrong under the Williams des
potism in Massachusetts , as under Oroker
and Platt in Now York , 'Qmvy ' in Penn
sylvania and Haiina in Ohio.
This Bryaniziug of our politics has re
sulted in the abandonment to a large
extent of tests of character in the nomi
nation of men for public office. A letter
from Buffalo to the New York Tribune
says :
"There are many examples of the de
moralization caused in the democratic
paity here by the constant harping upon
the doctrines set forth in the democratic
national platform of 1890 , these examples
being shown by the unworthy character
of the candidates for office. It is the
testimony of both leading democrats and
leading republicans ! that this year the
nominating conventions of the demo
cratic party reached their lowest depth ,
and that it would be calamitous to Erie
county if most of the democratic candi
dates for city and county offices were
elected. "
In every state of the Union where
Bryanism has obtained full swing , the
men of brains and standing in the demo
cratic party have been forced into the
background. It is Bryanism which has
raado Goobel the democratic boss in
Kentucky , Millionaire McLean the
democratic boss in Ohio , the erratic
Williams democratic boss in Massa
chusetts and so on to the end of the
chapter. Connecticut is not quite so
badly off as some of the other states ,
because at the last state convention
Bryanito leadership was sent to the rear
for a time. Hartford Times.
s. . '