TTbe Conscrvatiw *
Hon. T. Estrada
THE PRESIDENT. Palma , of Central
Valley , New York ,
is seeing the sights in Cuba. If he
likes the country he may settle there.
P r.i n c o Henry's
A NOTEWORTHY statement that
EXCEPTION. American crowds
are orderly and
" their own controllers" leads us to
believe that ho did not visit the sen
ate chamber , after alL
An- enthusiastic
CAUTION. Briton , declares that
his countrymen are
ready to explode with patriotism.when
the peace terras are made public. To
guard against a premature discharge ,
the fuse had better be cut long enough
to outlast Paul Kruger.
_
L * - *
Investigation has
BARBAROUS. proved that ; the
"water cure"
ap
plied to the sullen citizen in the Philip
pines is a form of torture worse than
the wheel , more diabolical than the In
dian methods , and almost as bad as the
West Point hazings.
What we call corn
ABOUT CORN , is an American in
stitution , both the
grain itself and the name we apply to
it. Abroad they call it maize. In Eng
land wheat and rye are corn too. The
pilgrim fathers called this native grain
sometimes Indian wheat , sometimes
Indian corn. When it began
to assume such great import
ance as a crop they called it just corn
for short. It seems to have been
raised forever in this country. They
find ears of it stowed away along
with the mummies in South Ameri
can countries little runty nubbins
with blue kernels , such as the
Mexicans make atolo out of to this
day. It has never become such a fav
orite anywhere else as it is here ; do
you suppose this fact has had any
thing to do with the making of his
tory ? . The United States leads
in its production by a vast
majority against all the world ,
including the rest of America. We
produced in 1900 2,100 million
bushels , out of a world crop of 2,800
million ; 75 per cent. The next com
petitor is not one of the Central or
South American countries , as one
might suppose , but Austria-Hungary ,
which furnishes 6 per cent of the
total. Most of the southern European
nations raise a little corn ; but prob
ably they feed it to their horses , in
stead of to their children as we do.
Most people usu
A GOOD GAME ally eschew parlor
AND A BAD ONE. games on account
of their tediousness
and insipidity , but one recently in-
troduccd by social leaders of the
fairer sex is not only exceedingly in
teresting , but it rewards virtue.
In this game the contestants , are
provided with the requisite material
and requested to write down as 'many
slang expressions as possible within
a given time. Each searches her
hrain for bits of vulgarity , and some
surprisingly long lists of questionable
phrases and expressive abbreviations
arc handed in to the judges , who
promptly bestow the prize upon the
lady who has conjured up the 'least
slang.
This is very pretty in its way , . " and
the successful contestant has reason
to be proud of the reward which ; her
unsophisticateduess has earned ; while
the deceit upon the part of the ladies
having charge of the entertainment is
excusable , as it is practiced in a good
cause. '
A similar confidence game is being
worked upon inhabitants of the
Philippines , and the end in nowise
justifies the means. The native offi
cial of a pueblo is requested to report
the condition of their municipality
to the American commissioners. He
does so , it must be admitted not
without indulging in the Asiatic
habit of exaggeration and , having
painted a glowing picture of the con
ditions in his city , its peacefuluess ,
industry , thrift and contentment , for
wards the report to the proper au
thorities , and with hopeful solicitude
awaits the granting of additional
rights and privileges to his people ,
feeling that their loyalty and o'bedi-
ence deserve reward.
But , instead of being accepted as
proof that the people of this com
munity are entitled to a greater
measure of confidence , and to be' re
warded accordingly , the report turns
up mouths afterwards as an indorse
ment of the American policy , and to
reinforce a petition for the retention
of an American military officer in
actual control of the affairs of the
municipality.
To trap a lady into the confession
of her inability to be vulgar and then
to reward her innocence , is justifi
able deceit ; to inveigle a childish
dependent into a confession of virtue ,
and then to use that confession to de
feat the very purpose which it was
so confidently expected to accom
plish , is shameless deception , espe
cially when practiced upon a people
in whose minds we are ostensibly endeavoring -
doavoring to instill the great princi
ples of honesty and morality.
Mr. 0. 0. Boslaw ,
UNJUST DIS- clerk of York county ,
CRIMINATION. Nebraska , assesses
the assessors' at a
valuation somewhat lower than that
at which they hold themselves.
Among other pungent remarks upon
the subject , Mr. Boslaw says :
' 'Do not discriminate unjustly.
The merchant , the banker , the
lawyer , or the man of leisure , have
no rights that inure to them to the
detriment of the farmer and the
laborer. Oti the other hand , the
farmer and the laborer should not
expect an extension of any special
favors which would be detrimental to
the interests of the tradesman or
professional man. Do not assess one
for the position he occupies , but for
the property you find he has on hand.
"The law governing the assessment
of property specifically provides that
all property shall be assessed at its
cash value and action could be
brought against every assessor who
violates these provisions and his
oath of office by returning property
otherwise than at its cash value. Ifk
however , you are determined to fol
low a precedent established by long
use of abuse in this particular , in
violating the law , I would suggest
that you do so mom systematically. ' '
You have all heard of the man who
stood so straight that he leaned
backward , and the schoolmaster who
whipped his little brother is not un
known to you. The same spirit pre
vails among assessors , who , lest they
be charged with favoring the rich or
powerful , take every opportunity to
"gouge" them.
After having sworn to assess all
property found , the assessors meet
and agree to "allow" each farmer
several hundred bushels of corn for
seed and feed , but neglect to exempt
th ) washboard over which the poor
widow bends to win her daily broad.
This is slightly out of line with their
openly announced intention of pro
tecting the needy , but the needy one
in this case doesn't happen to be a
farmer , as the majority of assessors
are.
are.The
The railroads catch it. In many
counties where laud is worth from
$50 to $75 per acre the narrow right-
o f-way is assessed at a higher valua
tion than the land for two miles on
each side of it. Nobody takes * the
trouble to champion the cause of the
railroad company , and it would avail
them little if they did , but it is
pleasant to hear the truth spoken
once in a while , and Mr. Boslaw's
suggestion that' ' the average assessor
does not understand the importance
of the office which he holds' ' and the
further caution to abuse the law
systematically , if at all , are particu
larly refreshing , though there is
room to doubt the efficacy of his re
marks to cure the evil , and to fear
that in future as in the past , in
York county , and elsewhere , the hod-
carrier will pay as great a tax upon
his $500 house as the farmer will
upon eighty acres of land worth
$3,500.
