Conservative *
It scorn ! ) likely
SALARIES , that a bill for
largely increasing
the salaries of judges of the federal
courts will bo passed during the
present , session of congress. Since as
a rule lawyers of character and ability
, are , \tnder the appointive system ,
chosen for federal judges , and they
give their exclusive attention for life
to their official duties , it is possible
that the proposed increase in their
compensation is proper. In general ,
however , the salaries of public officers
are already too high. The chief test
of the amount of the salary they
should get is the vahie of the services
rendered by the men who are actually
chosen to fill public offices ; and in
general the salaries are at least 38 per
cent larger than the value of the men
who get them , rated in the open labor
market. There is much contention
that the salaries of judges of our
supreme court are much too low ; but
this contention will not stand our
practical test. The lawyers who are
chosen for judges cheerfully abandon
their "large and lucrative practice" to
" " of the
draw the "meager salary"
judicial office. This alone is strong
evidence that they are paid all they
are worth ; and this test is well sup
ported by experience and observation.
No one will dispute that we ought to
have a stronger bench in this state ,
but the increased salary would be
generally thrown away in the attempt
to secure it under the present partisan
elective system of choosing judges.
Present compensation would bring bet
ter judges than we now have if we
knew the way to let them in. Until
we find the way the true public
policy is to save the extra salary.
Just as competent men as now fill
them would be found for other public
offices under much lower salaries , and
by a proper adjustment of official
salaries according to market or com
petitive values , the present conten
tious clamor for these offices would
cease , the tenure of the officer would
be longer , and the public would have
the benefit of the resulting greater ex
perience and skill.
The so-ca lied
STRONG IN democracy ; the boa
DEATH. cons t-r i o tor in
whoso sinuous
folds the populistic steer has been
crushed out of all semblance to his
former greatness , having squeezed its
bellowing prey into a pulpy mass ,
prepares to gorge the salivous morsel ,
when from out that shapeless mass of
bones , flesh , intestines and yes , some
brains , comes a voice for in this ani
mal the voice dies last a weak , small
voice , yet capable of conveying a pro
test ; the voice of ox-Senator Allen , of
the Madison Mail , who says :
"Aside from Mr. Bryan and Mr.
Cleveland , the democratic party is
without competent leadership , and ,
so far as wo can observe , stands for no
substantial reform which the populist
party does not better represent , and
there is no more reason why populists
should desert their ranks and muster
under the banner of democracy than
become republicans and lose their
identity , and there is no reason for
either. "
And oven as the slimy mass disap
pears down the inaw of the hungry
reptile , we hear that same plaintive
voice saying :
"The populist and democratic par
ties differ radically and irreconcilably
on certain well known issues ; for in
stance , on government ownership of
telegraphs , telephones , railways and
other natural monopolies , and it is
the height of folly for democrats to
undertake to dissolve the populist
party .and absorb its membership. "
Doesn't that strike you as being
rather rich ? "Undertake to dissolve
and absorb. " As though the dissolu
tion was not complete , and the absorp
tion all but over. Why such a
crushed , lacerated , maimed relic
should wish to live , a hopeless cripple ,
a burden to itself and an eye-sore to
the other animals , does not appear.
Better were it to draw in its horns ,
or allow them to be drawn in , and be
decently and quietly swallowed , just as
the rest of the menagerie predicted
when the simple steer first began
grazing in the boa's particular section
of the jungle.
Ultrap r o t e c
AN AWAKtiouists , within the
ENIN6. republican party ,
are really strayed
afar from the path pointed out by the
leaders of that party. Right or wrong
originally , the illustrious McKinley ,
whose name stands for protection , in
that farewell address at Buffalo
pointed 'out the changed conditions
which prevail , and the demand for a
broader , more liberal intercourse with
the producing and consuming nations
of the earth.
Conceding solely for sake of argu
ment that the embryo industry de
manded incubation , and the infant
nursing , must it follow that a matured
industry , in all the vigor of its man
hood , in the herculean strength of its
giant stature , is still to bo coddled and
fondled , at the breast of a nurse
whose strength is far inferior to its
own ?
Is an institution which successfully
competes in the open market with the
manufacturers of all the great produc
ing countries , still'to bo considered
an "infant industry" at home ? It was
a labor of years for leaders like McKinley -
Kinloy to convince the American
voter of the. necessity for the very
laws which , just previous to his sad
death he declared no longer necessary ,
but on tlio other hand burdensome
and oppressive. Those who followed
two or three years behind him into
this movement seeui as far or farther
to the rear in coming out of it.
Again granting solely for argu
ment's sake that , in its time , the
theory of protection was sound , and a
power for good , listen to the warning
voice of McKinley , the voice which
so many hundreds of thousands of re
publicans loved to hear and heed ,
when it was raised for protection :
' /A system which provides a mutual
exchange of commodities , is mani
festly essential to the healthful
growth of an export trade We muet
not repose in fancied security that wo
can , forever , sell everything , and buy
little or nothing. The period of cx-
clusiveness is past. The expansion of
our trade is the pressing problem.
Commercial wars are unprofitable.
A policy of good will and friendly
trade relations will prevent reprisals.
Isolation is no longer possible or
desirable. We have a vast and in
tricate business built up through
years of toil and struggle , in which
every part of the country has its stake ,
which will not permit of either neg
lect or undue selfishness. No narrow ,
sordid policy will subserve it. Our
capacity to .produce has developed so
enormously , and our products have
so multiplied , that the problem of
more markets requires our urgent and
immediate attention. ' '
But while Mr. McKinley , with
other erstwhile protectionists , has
caught the true scent , the great rabble
has not yet found the track , but fol
lows the blind trail which begins any
where and ends nowhere.
Breathing into their lungs the dust
of ages , walking and working amidst
hazy dreams of the past , their trance
seems destined to continue until some
giant leader , some political Sandow ,
arises to grasp the frayed , antiquated
double of each somnambulist , and
jerk him forward into this century.
Then and only then , will the world
feel the commercial supremacy of this
grand republic ; then will the escarp
ments be levelled and the moats be
filled , that our neighbors may visit us ,
to find , not the isolated , frowning
castle , but an open hospitable mansion
within whose halls no selfish plots are
hatched , and whoso lords may draw
from the surrounding fertile plains
and honey-combed mountains food ,
raiment and mineral wealth , to bo
profitably distributed among the less
favored nations of the earth , in that
spirit of' ' good will ana friendly trade
relations" which will "
"prevent re
prisals. ' '
