8 Conservative *
HARRISON'S "HAIL COLUMBIA. "
Ex-President Harrison in replying to
the toast , "Hail Columbia , " at a recent
banqnet of the Columbia Club in In
dianapolis , took occasion to justify his
utterances concerning the relation of
the constitution to the Philippines and
Porto Rico , and in doing so gave to
captious republicaus and to exuberant
Bryanites some advice in which humor
and wisdom were pleasantly mingled.
Upon the issue involved in our rela
tions to the islands he said : "I have
no argument to make , here or anywhere ,
against territorial expansion , but I do
not , as some do , look to expansion as
the safest or most attractive avenue of
national development. By the ad
vantages of abundant and cheap coal
and iron , of an enormous surplus of food
products , of an invention and economy
in production , we are now leading by a
nose the original and the greatest of the
colonizing nations. Australia and New
Zealand loyally send their contingents
to South Africa , but Great Britain can
not hold the trade of its colonies against
American offerings of a better or-cheaper
product. The Central and South Amer
ican states , assured of our purpose , not
only to respect but to defend their
autonomy , and finding the peace and
social order , which a closer and larger
commercial intercourse with the world
will bring , offer to our commerce a field
the full developmert of which will
realize the El Dorado. Hail to Colum
bia , the home of the free , and from
which only freedom can go out. "
Having thus stated his views upon the
main question he next turned his atten
tion to the critics who have charged him
with acting in a manner unworthy of
an ex-president. These critics , it will
be remembered , have asserted that a
former president should not condemn
the acts of an existing administration.
Mr. Harrison met the charge with
delightful banter by saying : "The
decapitation of the ex-president when
the oath of office has been administered
to his successor would greatly vivify a
somewhat tiresome ceremonial. And
we may some time solve the newspaper
problem what to do with our ex-presi
dents in that conclusive way. Until
then I hope an ex president may be per
mitted to live somewhere midway
between the house of gossip and the
crypt of the mummy. He will know
perhaps in an especial way how to shows
the highest honor to the presidential
office and the most courteous deference
to the president. Upon great questions ,
however , especially upon questions of
constitutional law , you must give an ex-
president his freedom or the ax , and it
is too late to give me the ax. "
In conclusion ho referred to the claims
made by some democrats that his oppo
sition to "imperialism" is leading him
to Bryanism , and said : "To me the
democratic party has never been less
attractive than now. No plan of re
organization suggests itself to me , except
that suggested by a waggish lieutenant
of my regiment to a captain whose
platoons were inverted. He said : 'Cap
tain , if I were in your place I would
break ranks and have the orderly call
the roll. ' Perhaps even this hopeful
programme may fail for an inability to
agree as to the roll and as to the
orderly. "
Here is wit and wisdom combined.
The touch upon each issue is light but
effective. It is not likely any intelligent
republican will hereafter deny the right
of a former president of the United
States to speak upon the political ques
tions of the day , and if he choose to
dissent from the policy of his successor ;
nor will nny Bryanite regard Mr. Harri
son as a probable convert to democracy.
To both classes of critics he has given
"Hail , Columbia , " in more senses than
one. San Francisco Call ( rep. ) .
TO MAINTAIN PARITY OF MONEY.
A bill to maintain the parity of the
money of the United States has been
introduced by Representative Overstreet
of Indiana and is intended to supple
ment the gold standard law. It reads
as follows :
Sec. 1. That all gold and silver coins
of the United States , except subsidiary
coins , shall be exchangeable for each
other at par at the treasury of the United
States at the demand of the holder.
Sec. 2. That , for the purpose of
carrying out the provisions of this act ,
the secretary of the treasury may em
ploy any part of the reserve fund of
gold coin and bullion established by
section 2 of the act of March 14 , 1900 ,
entitled "An act to define and fix the
standard of value to maintain the parity
of all forms of money issued or coined
by the United States to refund the public
debt and for other purposes , " and
money received in exchange for gold
coin or bullion , under the provisions of
this act , shall be held in said reserve
fund , and not paid out , except in the
manner provided in regard to United
States notes in said section 2 of the act
of March 14 , 1900.
Sec. 3. This act shall take effect upon
its passage.
THE PUBLIC EDITS THE MAGAZINES.
"It is the public that edits a maga
zine , " writes Edward Bok in the Janu
ary Ladies' Home Journal. ' 'The editor
simply edits the public's thought as it
comes to him for expression through his
magazine. In the manner in which he
presents that thought he may stamp his
personality upon it , and so we know
that there is an individuality behind the
printed page. But the thought remains
that of the public , whether edited by the
editor in manuscript or expressed with
his own pen. He remains simply a
medium placed in control of a channel
of expression. That channel represents
certain principles , and those principles
become what is called the policy of a
magazine. This policy determines
whether certain questions shall be dis
cussed in the affirmative or the negative ,
or whether the questions are important
enough to be discussed at all. For
instance , the Ladies' Home Journal
believes in everything that will make a
woman's life simpler , more restful and
more cheerful. That is its policy
b ecause it is the principle of its con
ductors that principle being based upon
observation , experience and conviction.
On this policy the magazine either
ignores aitogether or opposes anything
which its conductors are convinced , for
well-grounded reasons , will complicate
the lives of women or make them rest
less , and therefore lees happy. Such a
policy , one might'say , is the backbone
of a magazine. Upon it it rests , and
this it reflects in its opinions. "
THE REAL ISSUE IN THE ARMY BILL
The advocates of the pending Army
Bill should be frank enough to state
squarely what everybody knows that
the plan of saddling American taxpayers
with the expense of a hundred thousand
regulars is due solely and simply to the
need of a large army to keep the Ameri
can flag from being driven out of the
Philippines.
This argument is straightforward and
intelligible. It brings the country face
to face with the question whether it is
willing to go on spending a hundred
millions or so a year for the purpose of
maintaining some scores of hemmed and
harassed garrisons in a Malay archipelago
pelage ten thousand miles from Wash
ington. This is the real issue involved
in the policy of making the army four
times as large as it was three years ago ,
and the champions .of the retention of
the Philippines ought to be sufficiently
courageous to avow it and fight on it.
The assumption that we need a hun
dred thousand men , or half that num
ber , to man the batteries of our seacoajt
forts is as untenable as the theory that
the jealous , jangling Powers of Europe ,
with their bitter rivalries and intrigues
in China and elsewhere , are likely to at
tempt the task of invading a nation of
seventy-five millions , separated from
them by three thousand miles of ocean.
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin ( Rep ) .
BRYAN'S PAPER.
It isn't likely that W. J. Bryan will
pay much attention to such small per
simmons as J. Sterling Morton when he
gets down to business in his Commoner ,
but the very fact that Mr. Bryan knows
Morton as well as if he had the mould
ing of him , will cause that perfunctory
to become more docile. Rushville
Standard.