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'Cbe Conservative *
THE BACKLOG'S SONG OP SUMMER.
There's a sweet , enthralling magic
Lurking in the glowing flro ,
Soft enchantment in it flickers ,
And the song of hidden lyre
From the gnarled log's rugged surface
Sounds in faintest , fitful tone ,
Oft a mirth is in its ringing ,
Oft it has a saddened moan.
Gentle voices of the woodland
Echoes in its music weird ,
Melodies from great tree monarchs
Standing in their strength unsoared.
Only those who sit and listen
By the restful hearthflro's gleam
Hear the songs that load the fancy
Spollhoundin a happy dream.
All the carols of the summer
Murmur from the forest's sheen
Where the backlog learned its singing ,
Swaying with the boughs of green.
There it heard the songs from heaven ,
Heard the south wind whisper low
, Midst the scenes that seem to linger
Sunilecked in the embers glow.
With the flitting flames and shadows
Visions come and disappear ;
Fair , loved faces of the missed ones
In the twilight hover near.
Fondest hopes long since abandoned
Come again with fresh , now life
Far away in wintry tempest
Lies the world of care and strife.
MAUY FKENCH MOUTON.
AGAINST THE PAPER TKUST.
The Centennial state of Colorado , from
which spring many of the fountains of
national legislation , is conspicuous at
present by reason of its Newspaper asso
ciation , which baa camped upon the
trail of the paper trust and proposes to
have that combination's scalp. If the
newspapers of other states shall consult
their own interests by joining hands
with the Colorado journals in their cru
sade , a militant force will be established
which will aid greatly in accomplishing
the desired result.
The Colorado association has passed a
resolution demanding of congress the
repeal of the duty on wood pulp , where
by the hand of the trusts' extortion is at
present heavy upon every newspaper in
the land. A recent sharp and arbitrary
advance in prices of paper all along the
line has precipitated the inevitable con
flict. If the paper trust injures the big
city dailies , it's extortions literally grind
the face of the poor publishers of coun
try newspapers , who , buying in compar
atively small quantities , are constrained
to pay prices which are positively ru
inous.
If the duty on wood pulp were re
moved , the resulting competition would
bring the trust to terms. Therefore it
is the duty of every newspaper in the
country , great and small , to join in the
movement of self-protection begun by
the pioneers of Colorado. Omaha Daily
News , Feb. 1 , 1900.
A NOTEWORTHY PRECEDENT.
"In Charlemagne's time , " Bays Mont
esquieu in his "Spirit of Laws , " "the
nobles were obliged , under great penal
ties , to repair to the general meeting in
case of any wars whatsoever ; they ad
mitted of no excuses , and if the court ex
empted any one he was liable himself to
be punished. But the treaty of the
three brothers ( sons of Charlemagne )
made a restriction upon this head which
rescued the nobility , as it were , out of
the king's hand , " [ the people of the
United States need just such rescue out
of the hands of militarism ] , "except
where the war was defensive. "
This treaty relates to another conclud
ed five years before between the two
brothers , Charles the Bold and Lewis ,
King of Germany , by which these princes
release their vassals from serving them
in ' 'in should hostilities
war , case they attempt
tilities against each other.
"The death of a hundred thousand
French , at the battle of Foutenay , made
the rest of the nobility imagine that , by
the private quarrels of their kings , their
whole body would be exterminated , and
that the ambition and jealousy of those
princes would end in the destruction of
all the best families in the kingdom. A
law was therefore passed , that the no
bility should not be obliged to serve in
war , unless it was to defend the state
against foreign invasion. This law ob
tained for several ages. "
Senator Bever-
A BRILLIANT ,
M fa Qn
ORATION. , ° _ . . . .
the Philippines
was described in the dispatches from
Washington as a "brilliant oration. "
The Congressional Record containing it
has now been received , and the accuracy
of the description is made evident. The
speech is indeed one of the most scintil
lating that illumines any page of the
Record since its publication began , and
to the coruscations of glittering general
ities adds the flashing of dazzling de
tails.
"I have a nugget of pure gold , " said
the senator , "picked up in its present
form on the banks of a Philippine creek.
I have gold dust washed out by the
crude processes of careless natives from
the sands of a Philippine stream. Both
indicate great deposits at the source
from which they come. " That ais a sam
ple of the senator's argument. To him
a nugget is proof positive of immense
riches , and some gold dust from the
sands of a stream confirmation sure that
there are millions in it. Had the sen
ator found on his travels one bone of
the vertebra of a megalosaurian he
would have returned to swear the woods
are full of them.
His argument concerning the commer
cial probabilities of the islands is a
shining specimen of his style. It runs
thus : "Spain's export and import trade
with the islands , undeveloped , was $11-
584,781 annually. Our trade with the
islands developed will be $125,000,000
annually , for who believes that we can
not do ten times as well as Spain ? "
"Who , indeed ? Some of us believe that
we can do a hundred times better than
Spain , and on that basis might estimate
a Philippine trade ten times bigger than
the senator estimates. Such commer
cial calculations are dead easy ; all you
have to do is to take a grain of gold dust
and prophesy a gold mine.
Another gem of brilliant ray occurs in
the senator's prediction of the future of
the islands and of Manila. "Consider , "
he says , "their imperial dimensions.
Luzon is larger and richer than New
York , Pennsylvania , Illinois or Ohio.
Mindanao is larger and richer than all
New England , exclusive of Maine. Ma
nila as a port of call and exchange will
in the time of men now living far sur
pass Liverpool. " That prophecy spar
kles like an aurora borealis , and yet , as
human life goes , most men would con
sider it a promise of a very desirable
longevity if they were assured of living
until Manila surpasses Liverpool.
Even of good things there can bo a
surfeit , and therefore it will not be ad
visable to reproduce here all of the sen
ator's arguments of excelling brightness.
One more , however , may be admitted.
By way of confirming his glowing hopes
of our imperialism in the Philippines he
tells what has been done by the British ,
and says : "On the bare and burning
rock of Hongkong our constructing race
has builded one of the noblest cities of
all the world , and made the harbor it
commands the focus of the commerce of
the East. And the glory of that achieve
ment illumines with a rarer splendor
than that of Waterloo the flag that floats
above it , for from Hongkong's heights
civilization is irradiating all the Orient.
If this be imperialism the final end will
be the empire of the Son of man. "
Beyond that flight no eloquence can
go. A grain of gold dust may be un
doubted evidence of exhanstless gold
mines , Manila may in our time surpass
Liverpool , and Luzon today may sur
pass the state of New York , but there is
not even a grain of evidence in Hong
kong imperialism to show signs of the
coming empire of the Son of man. It is
clear that when he reached that point
in his speech the senator was dazzled by
his own glow and went it blind. San
Francisco Call , Jan. 20 , 1900.
Sir William
ABSENT-MINDED Mac0ormac , the
DOCTOR. . , . c . ,
president of the
Royal College of Surgeons , is an inde
fatigable worker , and often , to save
time when studying in his laboratory ,
has a light luncheon served there. Once
his assistants heard him sigh heavily ,
and looking up saw the doctor glaring
at two glass receptacles on his table.
"What is the matter , doctor ? " asked
one of the youngsters. "Nothing in
particular , " was the reply , "only I am
uncertain whether I drank the beef tea
or that compound I am working on. "
A