The Conservative *
A close observer
DEPENDS. will not fail to note
that the lamenta-
tious over the high price of beef and the
corresponding increase in the value of
fat cattle , emanate principally from the
manufacturing centers. The agricul
turalist may , for once , view the situa
tion with great equanimity. It makes
a vast difference whose ox is being
butchered.
Many a tart dish
NICELY BLENDED , becomes palatable
when sweetened ,
and the element of acidity adds to the
delight of the epicure. And when
battle-scarred veterans of the lost cause
meet in reunion to sing "Dixie" and
"America , " the singing of the former
gives added sweetness and strength to
the latter. "Dixie" without "America"
is little relished by many Americans ,
while "America" unaccompanied by
the soug of the Sunny South is not
spiced to the taste of some who reside
in the shadow of the palmetto. Blend
ed , the airs of the North and South are
emblematic of reunion of two once
mutually inimical peoples.
Neither ineauiug-
"BEEFING. " less invective nor
purposeless denun
ciation will cause the promoters of the
beef trust a moment's uneasiness.
Spumescent oratory or denunciatory
editorial lucubrations are alike power
less to cure this , or any other , evil.
The editorial table fairly groans be
neath its load of exchanges containing
columns of lugubrious twaddle about
this monster ; not one proposes a rem
edy , or gives a sufficiently lucid descrip
tion of this new species of octopus to
allow of plans being made to destroy
him.
him.When
When the beef trust is old enough for
us to judge its character , it will be
overcome , if it needs overcoming ; but
the author of its downfall will be a man
with a purpose and a plan. Neither
oratorical nor editorial maledictions
have the slightest effect upon an octo
pus , simply because on octopus is con
structed to withstand them.
"Everybody over
WANTED THE ton" in this couu-
FACTS1 try is pleased to
learn that General
Smith will bo tried for the crimes
committed by subordinates in com
pliance with his directions.
But , because good citizens unani
mously demand a full investigation of
this most deplorable affair , it by no
means follows that they cry for the
conviction of the accused. Quite to
the contrary , if there is a circum
stance or- chain of circumstances
which could possibly justify the pro
mulgation of such an extraordinary
order as General Smith is alleged to
have issued , the country will read
those facts with avidity.
If the inhabitants of Samar are by
nature so wild and ferocious that
the soldiery is forced to adopt such
drastic tactics , the fact is surely of
value , solely from a historical stand
point. The history to bo studied by
generations of unborn Samarites will
bo much bettor balanced if the chap
ter containing a chronological report
of the operations of the Waller puni
tive expedition is followed by fjn-
ether chapter containing ample jus
tification for the remarkable methods
employed by those in command , and
it is the data for this chapter that is
now very much in demand.
Once upon a time
PERVERSE. there lived a man
who had a herd
of swine to be tended , and a well
to bo walled up with stone. The swine
being wild and unruly , he selected a
slender youth of remarkable activity ,
and known to possess keen judgment
and foresight , to watch them. The well
being deep and the stones heavy , he em
ployed at this labor a broad-backed lad
of great strength and endurance. After
instructing each in his duties , and
cautioning them not to interfere one
with the other , he betook him to the
village to market some fat cattle , well
satisfied that upon his return he would
find the swine feeding quietly in their
pasture , and the well far advanced.
His cattle going quietly , and a pur
chaser being quickly found , the farmer
was enabled to reach his home at a
much earlier hour than he had expected.
Imagine his surprise to find the stout ,
sluggish youth toiling laboriously after
the swine , which he was unable to come
up with or keep within bounds , while
the slender , active lad tugged with might
and main at a huge stone which his
strength hardly sufficed to stir.
Leaving this picture of another
country and another day , turn to that
of our generals who are appointed to
fight , but insist upon talking , and our
senators , who are chosen to talk and
reason , but persist in fighting.
But , after all , senators and generals
are but great , overgrown boys , and as
the old-time chastised his
- peasant per
verse servants with his staff , so the
president must inflict punishment upon
those generals who will talk instead of
fighting , and those senators who will
fight instead of talking.
The injection of
PARTISAN MUNI- politics into muuic-
CIPAL GOVERNipal campaigns is
MBNT. as needless as it is
fruitful of evil.
Factional feeling has prompted the
recently elected mayor of Kansas
City to remove Chief Hale , the vet
eran fireman whose fame has spread
beyond the borders of Missouri and
the nation ; a man in whoso record of
more than thirty years of continuous
service there is not one black page.
He has been retired to make room for
a successor who owes his promotion
more to his political activity than to
his fire fighting ability which , how
ever , is not inconsiderable.
This official decapitation of a
faithful servant who has done his
full duty at home , and startled
Europeans with the exhibitions he
has given them of the efficacy of
American apparatus and men , is only
one example of the folly of allowing
partisan , feeling to govern in affairs
municipal. It would have been
equally sensible to have discarded one
of the engines , because the maker
chanced to oppose the election of the
successful candidate. A good chief
is certainly as essential as a good
engine , and the people are as much
entitled to the services of the best
man , as of the best device.
The charges of
TRANSPORTS extravagance in the
OF PLEASURE , transport service
find substantiation
in the following list of expenditures in
connection with the refitting of the Han
cock : One small brass bed , $44 ; four
pillows , $16.40 ; three bat curtains ,
$62.70 ; 285 yards of carpet , $471.50 ; one
chair , $46.75 ; three chairs , $132 ; skirt
round commander's bed , $9.35. These
are but a few items.
Americans do not favor a niggardly
policy in dealing with faithful guard
ians , and money expended for their
comfort and convenience is little be
grudged by those who realize that the
lot of a sailor is hard enough at best.
Consequently little exception would be
taken to the above if it was thought
that the gallant commander of the
palatial Hancock could secure $16.40
worth of added repose by resting his
over-worked head upon those downy
pillows , or stretching his soldierly frame
upon the $44 brass bedstead. If his
morning grog will taste the sweeter be
cause he sips it while reclining upon the
soft , yielding cushions of that $46.75
chair , or even one of the three which
cost $132 ; if his tired eye finds relief in
resting upon those $62.70 curtains and
that $9.35 bed-skirt , or his gout is'in a
measure relieved by treading a $471.50
carpet , the country would unhesitatingly
declare the money well spent ; but there
is every reason to suspect that the prin
cipal beneficiary of all this luxuriousness -
ness is the contractor who supplies the
furniture and draperies , and as he is
not a naval hero , nor yet a public serv
ant , common citizens are somewhat
dubious as to the advisability of allow
ing preferred contractors to take passage
for the island of Monte Ohristo , upon an
American transport.