Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 3, 1901)
Che Conservative * OH , ABSALOM , MY SON ! Oh , Absalom , My Son ! It Is the old , old cry ; "Oh , Absalom , My Son ! " Thus I become King David's fellow-mourner , And ho to mo from this time henceforth Is no more the fierce war-chief of Israel. Nor yet the Jewish prince , But the bowed-down father ; Who ? e heart , like mine , was pulled toward the grave , By the fingers of a son. But mine , he was innocent ! And my grief is more tender Than that of Judah's Lord. My son was pure , holy , sweet , His hair was golden and his eyes wore brown ; His lips they tasted naught , save that Which came from his mother's heart , And ere ho died she pressed him to her breast , And begged the boon to give him , once more , life ! I prayed then to all the mothers I know in Heaven , To take my boy and give him tender care ; To Her whoso Son had died on Calvary , Mother of all babes orphans in the skies To keep him , until wo shall come. come.S. . B. EVANS. Ottumwa , Iowa , Sept. BO , 1001. The silver dollar SILVER DOLLAR , circulates at par notwith standing the fact that there is less than , fifty cents worth , of silver in it , for identically the same reasons that nickle five-cent pieces circulate at par , though they contain but a fraction of that value of metal. Silver dollars are essentially token coins , and their circulation at par depends on two things : continued confidence in the government and limitation in the amount in circulation. While there is no specific law providing for the re demption of silver dollars in gold , con gress has repeatedly declared it to be the settled policy of the government to maintain silver money and gold money at par with each other and the people have faith in this declaration as long as there is a limited number of silver deli - i > lars in circulation. If , for any reason , //I / the United States government should . ' / suspend specie payments and paper money should fall to a discount under gold , the silver dollar would keep com pany with the paper dollar and would not stay at par with gold , showing that its value , in excess of the value of the metal in it , is a credit value , and de pends on the soundness of the govern- . meat finances. Branding a man CRIME IS NON- populist , ' democrat PARTISAN. or republican does not change his moral nature. The political organiza tion in any state which attains a posi tion of such domination that a nomina tion to office means an election will always most attract and best serve those men who seek office for a liveli hood. hood.Where Where the majority is so largo that any nominee con be elected the quality of nominees declines in ability tegrity ; and rascals soon achieve placeV where they plunder the public. Any party which attains a very large ma jority in any state is' unfortunate be cause that party is sure to soon find rascals at its head ; and mediocrity and kuavishness directing its affairs towards certain and merited defeat. All history verifies the statement that crime is non-partisan. The majority in each party in the United States is un doubtedly inclined to honesty and fair play. Some leaders in each party , how ever , have been convicted of rottenness in office. But that does not make all members of all parties in the United States corrupt. There is no politics in larceny. Too many fond ABOUT parents are con- CHILDREN. stautlj striving to secure something of value in fortune or reputation for the sake of their children , instead of exer cising a vigilant solicitude and disci pline to determine what those children shall be mentally and morally. The father and mother who wish to found success and honorable usefulness in their offspring can best accomplish that end by selecting the practical knowledge and the standard of right and wrong which those children shall acquire and adopt , with conscientious and deliberate judgment. What shall my son be mentally and morally ? Not what shall my sou have in this world ? The ingratitude SPECTACULAR of man has made INGRATITUDE , countless thousands mourn and the com mon conclusion is that no human frailty or weakness so evenly and generally permeates all the hearts and souls of the myriad tribes of mankind. THE CONSERVATIVE is moved to these reflections by the contemplation of an assortment of eye-glasses and spectacles which adorn its library , its tables and writing-desks. These aids to eyes which have been watching the development of Nebraska and the trans-Missouri coun try generally for forty-seven years are invaluable. These glasses let into the mind the conserved and canned thoughts of antiquity , and of modern times , too , which have been put up in fine type and hermetically sealed to the unaided eyesight of age. And who ever thinks of the great and inestimable debt of gratitude which the race owes to the inventor of spectacles ? Who even asks the name of that bene factor of souls and hearts who has made visible to the imperfect or impaired natural vision all the beauties of litera ture and art and science ? Italian antiquarians attribute the in vention of spectacles to Salvino , who * i.A ) / c . did this greaVcharity to the billions and Jilfi/jns , of theear { | < h between the years [ 2S6-oudJ811 and tlied in/l18. His ep- ataph says' : < - . O ( > / . "Here lies Salvmd/A ndta/de Armiti of Florence , the inventor of spectacles. May God pardon his sins. " And now if every Iminan being on earth who wears glasses , will , in grati tude , each give a single cent for a mon ument to Salvino , the inventor of spec taclesto be erected at Wyuka cemetery , Nebraska Oity , Otoo county , Nebraska , what a spectacular commemoration that will bo in its magnificence and costli ness ! There is need of ECONOMICS. more reading.in the homes of the Amer ican people , of economics. There is need too of study of civil government in the household of every good citizen. Boys and girls in this republic , when they arrive at adult ago , ought to un derstand the duties as well as the privi leges of citizenship. CARLYLE DENIED "THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED. " Then there arose one of democracy's most trenchant foes , Carlyle ; the first who dared frankly to impeach the new ruler , to question his decrees , says Elizabeth Bisland in the Atlantic. Through all his vooif erousness ; through all his droning tautology , his buzzing , banging and butting among phrases , like an angry cockchafer ; through the general egregiousness of his intolerable style , there rang out clear once again the piuan of the strong. Here was no talk of the rights of man. His right , as of old , was to do his duty and walk in the fear of the Lord. "A king or leader in all bodies of men there must be , " he says. "Be their work what it may , there is one man here who by character , faculty , and position is fittest of all to do it. " l or the aggregate wisdom of the mul titude , to which democracy pinned its faith , ho had only scorn. "To find a Parliament more and more the expression of the people could , un less the people chanced to bo wise , give no satisfaction. * * * But to find some sort of King made in the imago of God who could a little achieve for the people , if not their spoken wishes , yet their dumb wauts.and what they would at last find to be their instinctive will Which is a far different matter usually in this babbling world of ours , " that was the thing to be desired -"He who is to be my ruler , whoso will is higher than my will , was chosen for me by heaven. Neither except in obedience to the heaven-chosen is freedom so much as conceivable. "
