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. "
