ttoe Conservative * 5 R
The new style
UNDIGNIFIED , of oratory adopted
by members of the
senate , is certainly very impressive ,
but hardly praiseworthy. Senator
Tillman delivered an impassioned
address and made a telling point on
Senator McOlaurin's forehead. The
latter being adroit in debate delivered
a forceful and eloquent reply which
completely shattered his opponent's
logic likewise his nasal appendage.
Wjth the house gone anarchistic , the
senate gone pugilistic and Prince
Henry hero on a visit , it begins to
look as though both branches should
be spanked and put to bed when the
country has company. While it is
true that duels are not unknown among
the legislators at the German capital ,
and ink-stand throwing is a regular
pastime upon the floor of the French
chamber , while in England speakers
are frequently arrested , and South
America has adopted poison and pistols
as proper weapons of debate , still it
J is not necessary for our soloug to re
sort to fisticuffs , merely to show the
Prince that they have a proper con
ception of the ethics of their high
office.
Con gressmau
MIXED Wheeler , the in-
. . METAPHOR. flamed Kentuckian
, ' | j i > who proved upon
the floor of the house that he is in a
class with the gentleman from Bun
combe , is also entitled to a place in
history on account of his abilities as
a mixer of metaphor. Previous to
Mr. Wheeler's effort , the reporter
who , in describing a death scene set
forth that the "icy hand of death
fluttered its silent wings over the
sufferer , and softly spoke his name , ' '
was considered pre-eminent in this
line , with Pitchfork Tillman a
reasonably close second , he having ac
cused a boiling pot of rising up and
saying things. Mr. Wheeler's com
position treats Miss Roosevelt's pro
posed visit to England as "another
step in the chain which shows us
whither we are drifting. " And just
to think that an unappreciative and
envious house is preparing to expunge
such a gem as that from the record 1
. Wishing to earn an honored place
beside this trio of artists , The Con
servative suggests that such an action
on the part of congress would be another -
other link in the book of time which
beckons the country on to destruction.
CHINESE FEUDS.
[ Taken from the U. 8. Consular Reports. ]
Olan fights are the curse of the
Ohao prefecture , and , indeed , of the
whole province. They start from the
most trivial causes , of which the fol
lowing are a few of many : Two men
met in a village , and , after they had
saluted each other , one took excep
tion to the other being a native of a
certain village. From this started a
fight involving hundreds of men. In
Jab Peng , the Ur-Ohang fight was
brought about by two men of the
Ohang clan , who had been out to
catch frogs , passing naked , at night ,
through the village of one of the
branches of the Ur-clan. This
brought on a fight where one clan
numbered about 20,000 and the other
about 16,000. Another fight , in which
the amount of damage done was over
$10,000 , started in a row over 2 cash
(0.0028 ( cent ) in a gambling house.
Many years ago these fights became
of such alarming proportions t.hat Ad
miral Fang was sent to this region
with soldiers to end them. Being a
man of great ability , he made forced
marches by night , appeared when the
people least expected him , burned
villages ai'd tortured te death men
without number. In a very short
time lie had put an end to the fight
ing. As long as he lived , and for
several years after his death , the
people kept the peace , such was the
terror of his name. Of late , how
ever , these fights have been increasing
*
ing to such an extent , and have so
interfered with business , that the
foreign merchants and the members of
the shipping firms in Swatow have
sent a memorial to the doyen of the
consular corps in Swatow that he re
quest the viceroy to put an end to the
fighting In many cases the local
magistrates are helpless or are ham
pered with other duties. For example -
ample , with fights raging in all parts
of the prefecture , the military exam
inations , at which the presence of the
district magistrates is compulsory , are
now being held and have been forever
over a month.
The usual method of stopping those
fights is for the magistrate to send
out two or three constables to inquire
into the matter and report on the
state of affairs. Then , if the fighting
be serious , a few tens of soldiers are
sent there , who in no way interfere
with the fighters , but quarter them
selves on the villagers until , tired
of their presence , the fighters stop.
A board of arbitration is then ap
pointed by the magistrate , which
estimates the number of men killed
on each side and the amount of prop
erty destroyed. Both sides then pay
a certain amount in proportion to
the damage done. Sometimes the
magistrate comes in person , but oven
his presence does not havu the desired
effect. In 1891 , at Ohai Yau , in the
Hak-ka country , a district magistrate ,
proceeding to settle one of these fights ,
was sot upon by the fighters , his
escort scattered and his chair de
stroyed , he himself barely escaping
with his life. The taotai sent 500
soldiers , who scattered the fighters ,
many of them going abroad. Eight of
the headmen of the villages wore pat
to death , live by crucifixion and three '
by torture.
In connection with these clan fights
comes up the question of smuggling
arms. The majority of the weapons
used by the fighters are the two-men
muzzle-loaders , one man acting as a
*
rest and the other firingtho piece , the
damage in lives lost being compara
tively small. Recently , however ,
many arms ' have been smuggled into
the prefecture from Canton and from
Hong Kong. Those from Canton come
overland into the Hak-ka country and
into the Kieh Yeng district of the
prefecture. The majority , which
come from Hong Kong , are brought up
in small junks , whose sizes enables
them the more easily to escape detec
tion , and are sold to the elders of the
villages and clans for from $4 to $20
apiece. The elders in turn sell them
to the clan for from $4 to $6 advance.
The introduction of these weapons
has increased the death rate in the
clan fights to an alarming extent , the
death rate in the Jao Peng fight
having been increased to an average
of eight a day , and in tne Oho Yang
fight to ten and twelve a day. It is in
these two districts that most of the
arms are landed.
These clan fights are a serious detri
ment to the commercial relations ,
nor can there bo said to be any social
conditions which will improve them.
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THE CUBAN WORM WILL TURN.
Unless this congress , ruled as it is by
hide-bound protectionists , concedes
some of the things which are absolutely
essential to the Cubans , it is likely that
the "worm will turn. " "What can wo
expect ? There is no possibility of the
Cubans holding their own against the
will of the United States , however un
just it may bo. But the Cubans take
little account of possibilities , as their
long and hopeless fight against Spain
attests. Boston Post.
