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"Che Conservative *
The greatest power
POWER OF PUBiu America today
LIC SENTIMENT , is public sentiment.
Temperance work
ers , with the best intentions in the
world , overlook this important ele
ment in government , and seek to
force the citizens of their own com
munity to conform to the code of
morals adopted by other communi
ties , the inevitable result being
friction , and ceaseless agitation.
This is true , simply because it is
true. Local sentiment prevails in
Kansas today , and regulates the
liquor traffic there , as it does in Ne
braska. The municipal campaigns'
there are fought upon the "wet or
dry" issue as they are here. For
example , at Solomon , a mayor was
elected upon the following platform :
"Resolved , That the election of
the nominees on the above platform
we deem a repeal of the prohibitory
law so far as Solomon is concerned "
In other parts of the state cam
paigns were carried on with license
as the leading issue , and it is fair
to say that in Kansas today
local public sentiment rules , as it
does in Nebraska ; rules as it does
where cattlemen club thousands of
the sheep men's charges to death ,
without fear of prosecution ; rules
as it does where negroes are burned
at the stake , and the crime is un
avenged ; as it ruled when Barrett
Scott was brutally murdered at the
side of the wife who believed him
innocent and his slayers , though
proven guilty , could not be punished ;
| as it has always ruled everywhere ,
aud always will , unless the prohibitionists -
| tionists succeed in reversing nature ,
1 and forcing a reform upon people
I who think they know what they
want , and how , when and where
they want it. It is easy to argue
that murders are committed , and
murder is against the law ; but did
you ever know a man to run for
office on a platform containing a
murder plank ? The difference is
that in all communities murder is
condemned , and every effort made to
prevent it ; but in many vicinities
the liquor traffic is upheld and it is
impossible to punish offenders , even
impossible for a man who would
punish to hold any office , for those
who like the saloons do not hesitate
to speak their sentiments , nor do
they neglejt to vote against any man
who would be guilty of enforcing the
law. Did you ever know a man to
be opposed , perhaps defeated , because
ho threatened to punish murder or
robbery ?
The moral effect of these failures is
extremely bad and brings the law
into disrepute. Therefore , the rea !
mission of temperance workers is to
educate the people to look upon the
; raffic with disfavor. That accom
plished , a law will follow of its own
accord , and when it comes it will
not be proclaimed a dead letter. To
pass the law first , and educate the
ommunity afterwards is getting the
equine behind the vehicle.
In spite of the
CAR FAMINE. very large addi
tions that have
been made to the t equipments of
railroads everywhere , there is a
belief in many quarters that this
year is to see the greatest blockade
of freight the country has ever ex
perienced. The warning comes from
bne eastern lines. Pittsburg seems to
be the center of trouble. The traffic
of the Pittsburg district is something
western people do not appreciate.
There are said to be more cars aud
engines in use within 160 miles of
Pittsburg than in any one state of
the union. In this district railroad
managers are now facing a congestion
that is without precedent. Some of
the things they have before them
there are 20,000,000 tons of ore to be
moved ; 12,000,000 tons of coal ; 10-
000,000 tons of steel products to be
turned out by one concern alone ;
20,000,000 tons of other iron and steel
products ; 10,000 cars of brick and
tile ; 100,000 new freight cars and
5,000 new locomotives. Added to
this is the prospect of the United
States having to feed the old world
this year , and the certainty of an
enormous increase in the agricultural
output of the west , much of which
must pass through this whirlpool of
iron. Conditions are much the same
everywhere ; and this explains" the
feverish haste of all the roads 'to be
doubling their tracks , shortening
their lines , lowering grades and in
creasing their motive power. All
this of course means heavier rail ,
better ballast , stronger bridges and
increased shop facilities. There are
lively times ahead for railroadjmen
everywhere.
I Editors are the
OPINION HOLDERS , molders of public
opinion , but there
seems to be something the matter
with the molds this spring. The tri
umph of "Bathhouse John" Coughlin
in Chicago , in the face of bitter
newspaper opposition , the remarkable
success of Mayor Reed of Kansas City ,
who was elected by an overwhelming
majority though opposed by the Jour
nal , Star and Times , Kansas City's
leading papers , and the many other
instances wherein practical politi
cians more than offset the efforts o :
the press , seem to indicate that the
power of newspapers in municipal
elections is at the low ebb , perhaps
because power used is power abused.
It seems that there
HEATHEN IS was absolutely no
PECULIAR. foundation for the
suspicion that Wu
Ting Pang had misappropriated certain
of the imperial funds. From an Ori
ental standpoint the fact that he had a
shance to steal was taken as conclusive
evidence that he had stolen , and the
throne was so informed. It has been ,
before this , remarked that "the heathen
Chinee is peculiar. "
Mr. Payne , the
SUGGESTIVp. republican leader ,
finds it impossible
to discuss Cuba and sugar , without
ringing in annexation. This gentle
man's opinion is no idle gossip.
Fresh from a council of his party
managers , he asserts that Cuba will
ultimately be dragged into the union ,
with the tariff rope. As one card af
ter another is uncovered it becomes
more and more apparent that "our
sacred ' ' is to be
duty' forgotten , and
"moral obligations" ignored. "
A Kansas organi-
BUYING zation known as the
TROUBLE. Farmers'
Cooperative
tive Association is
endeavoring to secure a railroad ,
which its members foolishly think
they need. They should take the ad
vice of other Kan sans , of riper exper
ience , who have learned to say
"blank the railroads" without
stuttering , and let the blood-sucking
corporations go their own way.
Kansas hills may be long , and hard
to climb with a load of produce ,
but as these gentlemen can easily
learn by listening to the growls of
a certain brand of statesmen , to them
a railroad would be like Robinson
Crusoe's "miserable deliverance. "
Miss Stone has
COMING. lauded in America.
Secure your tickets !
The foot which trod the stony
trails of Bulgaria's mountain fast
nesses , now treads the pavement of
an American city. The hand which
guided the meek-countenanced mule
through the ravines and over the
peaks of a foreign and hostile dis
trict , may bo even now writing a
magazine article. The identical per
son who threaded the by-ways of the
earth in an endeavor to save the
heathen , having by a misstep
stumbled awkwardly into public
notice , has decided to let the heathen
save himself from now on ; which
induces a great many to believe that
the size of a missionary's salary sub
tracted from her earning capacity in
other work , gives the amount of her
solicitude for the heathen , if sue con
tinues to labor with and for him ;
if she deserts him , the public is left
to draw its own conclusions.