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THE HESPERIAN,
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old regime in France that such men should gain for a single
moment the control of the state! that the author of the Social
Contract should be the arbiter of the destiny of France! Hut
it is not to be forgotten that it was the misery of the peasant
that made Rosseau cry out, "Man was born free, and every
where he is in chains!" It was the oppression which the
masses labored under that led them to placs such unbounded
faith in Rosseau's doctrine, which, as subsequent events have
proved, merely ndded one more to the list of unrealized
clysiums with which mankind in all ages has been wont to
amuse itself, in order thereby to alleviate the sufferings of its
earthly lot.
MISCELLANY.
The recent election was truly an astonishcr. Never since
the Republican party came into power has it been so thor
oughly beaten. Many arc the reasons assigned for this gen
eral revolt; each politician having his own. We believe that,
while there were many causes contributing to the defeat of
the dominant party Rome of which were purely local, yet
the principal cause was the McKinlcy tarifl revision. T! is
bill while it, without doubt, has many good features has also
many had ones. The free list has been enlarged it is true,
yot the tone of the bill throughout shows that the party leaders
construed tariff revision, to mean revision not downward, but
upward.
While the election returns were yet coming in one of the
large Republican dailies of Chicago published an editorial
commenting upon the result and ended by demanding the
complete revision of the McKinley bill. This paper said that
the bill had been passed upon by the people and rejected,
that the time was now conic, for a Republican congress, in
special session, to break away from th dictates of cistern
manufactures and obey the voice of the people. This it seems
is the only course left for the party if it desires to make good
the promises made in the last presidential campaign; the peo
ple do not look upon the recent tariff act as a fulfilment of
those promises. The McKinlcy bill has been referred to an
intcligcnt jury the verdict has been rendered "Thou art
weighed in the balances and found wanting" the refusal of
the dominant party to heed the decree of the nation can be
interpreted in but one way a refutation of its claim to be a
party of people and for their service. The principal measure
passed by the recent congress has been condemned, the party
that supported it is now on trial.
One result of the election is nlready apparent. Senator
Quay has been retired from the councils of the nation Penn
sylvia rebuked the administration for employing such a man,
andFrcsident Harrison has heeded that action. The place
occupied by M. S. Quay as advisor concerning the patronage
of his state has been vacated by him in order to make room foi
Representitave Dalzell. All good citizens should rejoice at
the retirement of such a man.
The result in Nebraska is due to circumstances more than
in any other state. The tariff and the railroad problem in
troduced a near factor into Nci'-aska politics. The Nebraska
Farmer's Alliance has raised up the new Independent People's
party. Their motto has beci "slm.u firm," and their control
of the state Icgisfotuie besides the election of two congress
men, beais ey'uence to how well they have lived up to their
motto. An,:ra of reform has opened in the state. May it
cont'nuemtil the meetings of our legislature willbe something
more "than a process of transaction for unscrupulous men
from the field of local to that of state politics.
In this, the Fiist congressional district, the ,'fight was pre
eminently between two men. Mr. Council was handicapped
liom the first, by reason of the fact that he voted at the dic
tation of his party caucus for a measure which he had opposed
on the floor from principle and in obedience to his duty to his
constituents. Mr. llrynn owes his election largely to the re
volt of the western states against high piotcction. He owes
his handsome majority to his own universally recognized abil
ity as an orator. The Uryan-Connell joint debatcsjhavc made
a great change in the views of the voters of this district upon
the tariff issue, this was truly an educational campaign.
We will comment but briefly upon the greatest issue in
Nebraska this year. A great moral reform has gone down
before the giccd of one city. The question was referred to
the people; will you relinquish one item in the list of your
personal liberties, for the sake of the home, and the morality
of the state, this question has been answered, "the time is
not yet." Five years of work may produce a change of senti
ment and Nebiasku may then take her place in the sisterhood
of western prohibition states.
We print below a letter from F. F. Almy, '90. Frank is,
it seems, as much an athletic enthusiast as ever and describes
some features of the athletic phase of a post-graduate course',
John U. Fooakty:
Editor-in-Chief Hesperian. To one who took Horace
Greeley's advice to "go west and grow up with the country"
very early in life there is much in a trip cast that is novel and
interesting; and also in the surroundings in an eastern city,
there nic many things quite agreeable in their novelty that I
fear will not continue to be so much so after the newness
wears away.
The features of country noticeable in such n trip are the
more or less gradual change from the broad rolling timber
less prairies to the mountainous timbered country; from broad,
generous, regular fields of corn and pastures fenced with in
visible wire, to the little 2x4 lots surrounded by tail fences or
stone walls and containing about seventeen hills of corn or
one Jersey "kcow;" from the muddy, sluggish streams to the
clear, rapid, rockbottomed streams of the Allcghanics, from
a soil of rich black loam to one composed of equal parts of
sand, cobble stones and oyster shells.
I had the pleasure of sitting next to an old soldier (con
federate or otherwise) as we ran along the bank of the
Potomac from Tera Aha away up in the Adirondacks
almost to Washington lie was quite familiar with the
country and discouiscd at some length upon various points as
we passed them, pointing out John Hrown's old fort and the
U. S. Arsenal at Harper's Ferry; various points of historical
interest in their connection with the "late unpleasantness;"
Deer Park, the summer resort of Washington people, and
told stories intcuded for listeners with more imaginative
powers than I possess. We ran into through Washington,
caught a glimpse of the Capitol, Washington monument and
the granite paved boulevard through the rain, and whirled
on into the "Monumental City," ns the Ilaltimorcanssccfit to
call their city.
We who have been students at the U. of N. since the era
of expansion began, have felt that we were crowded with four
buildings upon our campus of four blocks. Johns Hopkins
University has thirteen buildings located quite centrally in
the city. Four large buildings, aggregating about as much
room as our four buildings occupy, a half a block; the physi
cal laboratory occupies a corner about a block away; the
gymnasium and Levering hal!,-thc Y. M. C. A. building
arc located across the street, and six residences of the "ter-
wsxinmKm-m