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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (June 21, 1900)
, , v. , . , ' 6 Conservative * COllKY TO HOUTWEM. . Hon. GKO. S. BOUTWELL , Washington , D. O. I see by the public press that you have broken with the republican administra tion and consequently with the party , over McKinley's imperialistic policy. To break with McKinley over any question of political principle would in deed be a most difficult performance , one which would have to be accom plished between two days as he scarcely ever was known to hold any one well- defined policy or principle long enough for anybody to make or break with him. Mr. McKinley's imperialism or repub licanism is simply how far and how well it will conserve McKinleyism. I notice that the Pittsburg Post , the only demo cratic paper in our city , is elated over your break with McKinley as likely to contribute to the success of that other political mountebank , Win. J. Bryan , whose itinerating campaign of the past four years on that platform of crucify ing the American people on a cross of gold is on a par with some of Wm. Mo- Kinley's apostrophes of criminal ag gression , et al. , which is held up before the common people as statesmanship par excellence. There can be no possible excuse on the part of the American people ( other than incapacity of self government ) of putting either of these men at the head of their tickets for" the high office of president of the United States , or upon the principle of P. T. Baraurn , on which he acquired his two great fortunes , viz. : the bigger the humbug the more money there is in it with the American people. Neither of these gentlemen has ever given evi dence of possessing one single trait of character you would expect to find in a man upon whom devolves such great re sponsibilities as that of president of the United States. Just think for one mom ent of the preposterous idea of selecting men who have been notable failures in the most ordinary business and profes sional efforts in life. Is it not as pre sumptuous on the part of the people as is possible to conceive of , and yet both of these candidates are as lacking in true patriotism as they are in all the other elements of statesmanship. These facts , along with the history of our national government as they relate to the Ameri can people , are strong presumptive proofs against our capacity for self-govern ment. Aside from the fact that our first century's experiment of manhood suffrage was a dismal failure ( for no one will pretend it is the function of a good government to destroy its own people , and yet the sacrifice of one million of the flower of our land , six billions of treasure , the devastation of the homes of one-third of our own people , $150- 000,000 in pensions to widows , orphans , and maimed soldiers , all expended in the American experiment of self-govern ment , is our first century's showing ) the first third of the second century is even worse in this respect. The making of serfs of the industrial classes to support an official aristocracy of pot house poli ticians , is even a greater scourge than the evil consequences of a war upon the destinies of a people. While the popu lation of the country has not quite doubled since I860 , when the corrupt democratic party involved the nation in civil war over the slavery question , our national government cost 40,000,000 people $60,000,000 to pay its expenses. Today 70,000,000 people cost over $700- 000,000 to tide them over from one con gress to another , with every office from the public school teacher to the presi dent of the United States prostituted to the avarice and greed of pot house poli ticians. There is not much encourage ment or inducement for any man to be come exercised over the great danger of imperialism. The boodlerism of the American people which regards the offices of their municipal , state and national governments as legitimate spoils , is ten fold more alarming to the intelligent American citizen than McKinley's imperialism. This degen erate sentiment which originated with Gen. Andrew Jackson , received its greatest impetus under the republican administration in which yon took a part. When the real crime ( not the sham pre tense on which Wm. J. Bryan rings the changes the repeal of the silver grab act of 1878) ) was consummated ; that in famous act about which I wrote Presi dent Grant and yourself , urging him to veto and you to use your influence to have him veto , was the greatest crime of 1873 , in that it has converted the American people into a nation of knaves and political thieves , nine out of ten of whom will plunder their municipal , state and national governments on the slightest pretext and opportunity. There is no use nor sense in becoming exercised over the tendency of our pot house poli ticians to become imperialistic , so long as the people themselves look upon their governments as legitimate spoils. No one has ever brought a olean thing out of an unclean , and that in itself pre cludes all hope of redress from the old corrupt disloyal democratic party. No church or politician was ever known to reform , much less a nation. The Pitts- burg Post credits you with being one of the founders of the republican party. I was in the convention myself that was held in this city in 185G , and which started that party on the mission of rescuing our national government from the grasp of southern traitors at a ter rible sacrifice of life and treasure. This was accomplished only to have the gov ernment handed over to an even more degenerate foe that of avarice and boodle pot house politicians. I wrote you several letters , on the question of the resumption of specie payments , etc. , at the time you was secretary of the treasury. Hoping this long letter will not exhaust your patience , but that you will condescend to answer , giving both letters to the public press for the people to think about , Yours respectfully , J. B. COKEY. Pittsburg , Pa. , May 29 , 1900. KEEP COOt. With the dogdays , the mosquitoes and the nineties , come the regular visitations of advice , in speech and print , how to sustain the hect. Perhaps the very wisest would take the least account of the matter one way or another , but go their gait through heat or cold as they would through sun or cloud. But grant ing that there may be something worth considering in regard to comfort under extremity of summer heat , some of these counsels , and perhaps most of them , appear quite reasonable ; others make an experienced and thinking reader very tired. The former are such as go with the course of Nature itself , with culti vated human sense and inclination ; the latter , such as are counter to these. When we are advised to bathe frequently in hot weather , we feel sure that this is rational ; the cool water feels delightful then , even if it do not at other times , and the reeking skin must surely be the better for it. When thin dressing is recommended , we need not doubt that this is sound doctrine , if for no other reason than that nature cries out for it ; though we may often hear oracles to the contrary , and declarations that we will feel the heat less with more cloth ing of one sort or another on. Iced Drinks. But along with the rest of the exhor tations , we are sure to hear a most impressive one , to beware of iced drinks. In this there is as much sense as if we were counselled various ways to keep warm in winter , but not to go near a fire. Human beings will not take the advice , and the more sensible they are the less they will take it. The voice of Nature- the clearer the more educated , for doubtless nature at its rudest would make little use of either ice or fire is as plain in this case as the others , and the result of experience as undoubted. Of iced water , to begin with , it will probably bo found whenever large enough view is taken , that no single agent ever devised by man has done so much for health and temperance. We hear of particular summer diseases that had infested certain localities , disap pearing upon the introduction of ice- water. There are some who assert that they like the water better without the ice ; the charity that believeth all things may accept the statement , but not find reason for imposing the rule on others. So with other cooling drinks : regard the soda fountain and the refrigerator with no unfavorable eye , and experiment with scientific precision which beverage
