'I ' !
10 Conservative ,
would today be impregnable. But the
most important action which ho has
taken regarding the subject has boon a
backward step and a very long one.
After protracted consideration so that
ho had not even the poor excuse of hav
ing done a foolish thing hastily Mr.
McKinley issued an order restoring
to the spoilsmen ten thousand places
which had been brought under the rules ,
and taking down some of the bars which
protected those who entered the service
by the competitive system.
Mr. McKinley is a shrewd politician.
Ho undoubtedly weighed carefully the
gains and losses to come from such a
violation of his own and his party's
pledges. Ho made up his mind that
only a comparatively small element
among the voters felt interest enough in
the question to resent a breach of faith ,
while it would "make him solid" with
all of the professional politicians. Look
ing forward to the campaign of 1900 , he
thought he could afford the loss of sup
port on the part of the reformers for
the increased enthusiasm on the part of
the workers.
It is already plain that the president
made a bad blunder in this matter , look
ing at it simply from the standpoint of
the practical politician. Even when he
took his backward step , it was plain to
every thoughtful observer that "our
new possessions" made it more impera
tive than over before that the principles
of the merit system should be main
tained. It wa perfectly obvious that if
the spoilsmen should be allowed to have
their way in these islands , there must
be niisgovernment , extravagance , and
corruption ; and that the only way to
avprt these results was to extend the
merit system so as to cover them , and
then enforce it with the utmost rigor.
Mr. McKiuley failed to realize the
situation , and he now pays the penalty.
The Cuban scandals , which have brought
discredit upon the American name , are
the direct result of his refusal to carry
out the principles of civil-service re
form. Everybody today appreciates this ,
and the country realizes that more dis
grace of the same sort will be inevitable
unless the merit system is applied , not
only there , but wherever else our govern
ment exercises authority. Even the
professional politicians can now see how
much stronger McKinley and his party
would bo today if he had kept the
pledges of 1896 , so that in 1900 the re
publicans could congratulate the coun
try , not only upon the fact that there
had been no backward step , but that the
reform had been carried "wherever the
flag waved. "
It is a hard matter to deal with , as the
cose stands. Now pledges from those
who have broken old ones will count for
nothing. The only thing that will count
is action of the right sort. The presi
dent can extend the operation of the
merit system wherever he chooses , the
statutes authorizing him to prescribe
rules for this purpose which have all
the effect of laws. The only way in
which he can ever convince the people
that there is to be any reform of the
civil service under him is to issue the
orders necessary to enforce it , abroad as
well an at home. New York Evening
Post.
TIIUSTS AND MONOPOLIES.
EDITOU OP THE CONSERVATIVE :
Twenty years ago I said in the Omaha
Daily Herald , of which I was then the
editor , that there was no such thing as a
'railroad monopoly. " I think time and
events have confirmed that statement as
having been grounded in solid truth.
More and more railroads and the higher
aw of competition , which , given time
to operate , always beats combination ,
settled that question long ago to the
satisfaction of all rational and candid
men. State reduction and regulation of
freight rates by statute could not keep
pace with the reduction by competition ,
and regulation by law has had no part
whatever in any state , or in the United
States , in giving to the people the lowest
long-haul railway rates of transporta
tion the world has ever known.
I ask room in THE CONSERVATIVE to
say now , in the midst of the same noisy
clamor that was heard about railroad
monopoly in other times , "that I do not
believe in the existence of what are
called trusts , or in the monopolies which
are said to exist under this name. A
corporation is not a trust any more than
a partnership between two men in busi
ness is a trust , unless this word has lost
its meaning. The only re'al trust with
which I am acquainted 'in restraint of
trade , " as statesmen of the swashbuck
ler brand , define it to be , is a high pro
tective tax upon imported commodities
that a few manufacturing bounty jump
ers may raise prices for them in the home
market. In trade , as with the railroads ,
competition beats combination. In labor ,
the trust of the unions 'in restraint' of
the freedom of free men to sell their
labor , is failing and falling on every
hand. People talk about the Standard
oil monopoly ; and also of the Arniour-
Swit't-Cudahy monopoly ; which is said
to control the price of meats in the stock
markets of the country. What is
charged upon either the one or the other
of these industrial agencies is actually
true of neither. Unrestricted freedom
of trade finds a regulator of both which
permits no trifling , as the Standard oil
and meat magnates know to their own
cost. If this wore otherwise , would the
best illuminating oil in the known world
be sold to the people now for 14 cents a
gallon , when the worst that was ever
seen , used to be sold to consumers for
50 , GO , and 75 cents per gallon ? The
guns of an hundred batteries of competi
tion are constantly trained upon the
Standard oil corporation including those
of a whole array of oil producers in
Russia. And as to the meat magnates ,
: here was never a word of truth in the
idea that any one man , or any combina
tion of men , could control the prices of
meat in the world's markets for a single
day in the rolling year.
GEORGE L. MILLER.
Omaha , Neb. , June 15 , 1900.
AN ENGLISH VIEW OF COFFEE KAIS-
ING IN MEXICO.
Coffee in Mexico , as a paying product ,
ranks with the first in agricultural enter
prise. Given the right soil , proper al
titude , and convenient situation and ,
in connection with the second of these
conditions , an altitude must be struck
such as to embrace at the same time the
successful raising of crops and 50 per
cent , profit should be the result , provided
always , of course , that careful and com
petent management be given to the
plantation. The price of coffee fluctu
ates , as in any market of a commodity
which is at times in excess of require- i
merits , and this seems to check the
ardour of the planter periodically. The
result of this is that he allows his crops
to stagnate without care or attention ,
until the market again rights itself. If
the planter consistently pays attention
his profits , taking the good and bad
years together , should at least show 50
per cent , profit. As before stated , the
situation of the property is almost
everything in this respect , as if com
munications are difficult there is greater
expense entailed. A planter is a wise
man if , within the bounds of reasonable
price , he buys laud well situated. This
can hardly be too strongly advocated.
For a man to locate his property away
from easy communication , for the sake
of cheaper land , is one of the most
serious blunders all too common that
the planter can make. It is necessarily
dearer than other land , because , being
more remote from all communication by
water and rail , profits are swallowed up
in transport. Therefore , it is better for
the planter to pay $5 an acre more , and
have easy transportation. It must be
understood that coffee culture is a busi
ness that requires large capital , as the
crops require a long time to develop.
The life of a coffee-tree is about thirty
years , but it must bo planted and tended
for five years before the first crop can be
gathered. Finally , I should say that for
large companies , well capitalized , with
capable overseerstropical agriculture in
Mexico pays very well. One can only
go by the American companies that
have made the experiment , most of them
having met with comiderable success ,
because they have gone to work the
right way , and have put sufficient capi
tal into the business. Without capital ,
agriculture in Mexico is a hopeless busi
ness. South American Journal , Lon
don.