4 Conservative *
WORDS OP LIFE.
Af tor a conflict with the world
With nil its weary strife ,
What rest to turn those pages o'er
Where lie the words of life ,
To read that God's eternal love
Holds all our souls most dear ,
E'en when mistaken paths we take
His presence shall be near.
After the triumphs over self
In battles torely won ,
And after struggles when , too weak ,
We fall and sink undone ,
Despondent , with a heart o'er hung
With failure's sad di-spair ,
We read that One above does know ,
For all our woe does eare.
After the timid doubter's wail
Of sad unrest and fear ,
And taunting words of unbelief
Made harsh by sceptics' sneer ,
What sweet assurance greets the heart
In words that none need miss ,
Till reason echoes from the past ,
No man e'er "spake like this. "
Different sects may strive , perplexed ,
O'er changing human creeds
What matter , when we have the words
That answer human needs ,
That tell , and tell again the truth ,
That God's commandments give ,
That , Heaven inspired to meet our search ,
Will show us how to live.
MAHY FHKNCII MOHTON.
Iii his speech at
IJUYAN , HIS
PEDIGREE. Wichita Colonel
Bryau treated
things in his usual light and airy fash
ion , and as usual , says the San Francisco
Call , assumed that everybody is waiting
to hear him as the oracle of the time.
Sitting outside of himself asa part of
the audience enraptured with him , he
said : "The public wonders why I have
dropped the silver question. New meas
ures are resting upon us , but I shall
never drop the silver question until the
little coterie of English financiers ceasa
to meet in secret and make laws for this
country. "
Now , there is a statement of fact. It
is either true or false. What evidence
has Bryan or any supporter of his that
a little coterie of Englishmen meet in
secret and make laws for this country ?
Who compose this coterie ? What laws
do they make ? Why do they wish to
make any laws for this country ? The
statement is a falsehood and is used
merely as an appeal to prejudice.
In such appeals Bryan is a past master.
He never made a logical argument in his
life. He doesn't know a syllogism from
a pied mule.
England has never had any interest in
our adoption of the gold standard. Her
interests fi u a n-
United States the I.ai > or
cially have been
with silver and Mr. Bryan , because that
left her the leading gold standard nation
of the world and made London the
clearing-house of the planet. Our
adoption of the gold standard threatens
her financial primacy. It threatent to
transfer the settlement of balances from
London to New York. If we had
definitely adopted the gold standard on
our resumption of specie payments in
1879 , and Bryan had taken to the pulpit
or the stage , by this time we would have
boon the leading creditor nation and
New York would have been the world's
clearing-house.
In the same speech Bryan threw a
kiss to the populists , saying : "The
East no longer regards populists as an
archists , but has come to respect them. "
Of course this refers to the populists
who are willing to support Bryan for the
presidency conditioned upon his forcing
the democracy to adopt populist prin
ciples , which he has so far succeeded in
doing.
But the gem of his Witchita oratory
was this : "In the great contests that
are fought between
IMiiy for the , . ,
Foreign Vote. kingdoms and re
publics wo know
where to place the hearts of Americans.
It is so today with the Boers , and I do
not say that because I am against
England , but I am part English myself ,
also part Irish and part Scotch , but above
all I ain an American. "
No other public man , aspiring to the
presidency , has ever said anything as
delicionsly and demagogically funny as
that. He wishes to stand well with all
nationalities and so pedigrees himself
back to the British Isles. He is English ,
Irish and Scotch , and wants the vote of
each nationality. His sympathies are
with the Boers because their country is
a republic , not because England is treat
ing them unjustly. If England were
treating a weak monarchy as badly as
she is treating those weak republics ,
Bryan leaves it to be inferred that he
would be indifferent to the issue , or
would perhaps let his one-fourth British
blood lead him into the support of Eng
land. His treatment of the Boer issue
is characteristic of his illogical habit of
thought. He has no sense of abstract
justice at all. The rights of the Boers
are settled , in his view , by their form of
government. Republics are right al
ways , is his ripe conclusion , and then he
turns on the republic of the United
States and condemns everything it has
done since ho was born and denounces
everything it is doing now.
6 rS
CONSTITUTION AND , , ,
PORTO luco. brought to the
attention of the
court , relative to the constitutional
status of Porto Rico , has resulted favor
ably to the extension of the constitution.
Judge Lochren , of the United States
district court for the district of Minnesota
seta , decided that Porto Rico , after the
ratification of the treaty of peace became
a part of the territory of the United
States and subject to the constitution
without further act of congress.
The decision was given in the case of
Raphael Oritz , a Porto Ricau who is
seeking release from the state prison at
Stillwater on the ground that his trial
for murder by a military court was un
lawful , because as an American citizen
ho was entitled to a trial by a jury.
The decision of the court was oral. A
written opinion will be prepared later.
The Chicago Times-Herald gives the
following report of the decision :
"After reviewing the facts in the case
and noting that the trial took place
, . , , between the date of
r . .
Opinion of This Court. .
signing the treaty
of peace and the exchange of ratifications
the court said that according to the
decisions of the supreme court of the
Unitad States a military commission was
without jurisdiction to try a civilian in
United States territory in the time of
peace.
"He considered Porto Rico territory
of the United States and subject to the
constitution the minute it came under
the control of this government. Unless
the constitution extended to Porto Rico
in advance of action by congress , con
gress would have no power to legislate
for the island at all , because it has no
authority to legislate for any except
territory to which the constitution has
extended. "
Judge Lochren is recognized as one of
the strongest constitutional lawyers in
. . , , , Minnesota. He is
An Able Judge. .
popular with all
parties. Daring the second administra
tion of President Cleveland he was
commissioner of pensions. He was
appointed by President Cleveland to his
present position. The appointment was
satisfactory to both political parties. At
one time he was endorsed by a republi
can legislature for a federal position.
The case will probably be taken to the
supreme court of the United States and ,
unless the higher court disregards
precedent , the decision will be con
firmed. If it is confirmed the unconsti
tutionally of the McKinley tariff for
Porto Rico will be established and the
imperialistic plans of the administration
will receive a set back.
SURVIVAL OF THE UNFIT.
Taking up again , in order to see
whether or not we agree with Doctor
Shaw in the matter , a recent "Review
of Reviews" wherein he commented on
sundry charitable institutions main
tained by the state of New York for the
support of certain defective and in
competent classes among its inhabitants ,
we notice that that able editor is entirely
non-committal as to the propriety of
such establishments. He says they are
"note worthy "and a "landmark" what
ever that may mean and "well worthy
of the observation of the country at
largo ; " but we see nothing to show his
opinion as to the morality of the forcible
maintenance , by those who are able to
win out , with a little to spare , in the
struggle for existence , of those who are
marked by the umpire of that struggle
as unfit to survive , with the attendant
Ml
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