THE HESPERIAN.
ii
CURRENT COMMENT.
Senator Quay, of Pennsylvania, chairman of the republi
can national committee, has at last made a denial oi the
charges against him. He has made a complete denial, in
fact he has denied in toto. After the lapse of a year from
the time when the charges were first nmde against him, he
has seen fit to make an explicit and dispassionate denial.
His denial is remarkable for the fact that it is only a denial,
nothing more. Not one word was adduced in support of it.
In a carefully prepared, worded, and committed speech, he
denied what? Charges the most serious that could be
brought against a public officer without indicting dim for
treasons The charges were explicit and the accusers were
responsible; yet no suits followed. No investigating com
mittee has been called for. Senator Quay did not even call
upon Senator Cameron to say anything in regard to that part
of the accusation in which the names of the two men were
associated. Set over against accusations with proofs is ths
personal denial of them by Matthew Stanley Quay. Will
such a thing humbug people? Senator Quay will find out.
The tenth census has prought to light many startling
factsand fuiuUhed the ilalu for reversing many, former
notions. One. of the best examples with regard to the
respective growths of the white and the negro populations.
For many years it had been the almost universal belief that
the fecundity of the negroes was considerably greater than
that of the whites. This fact, as it was then regarded,
formed the basis of many theories for solving the negro
problem. Many books were written' on the problem with
this fact as their basal proposition, The most noted exam
ple is Tourgee's "Appeal to Caesar." Many predictions
were made of the time when the negroes would be in the
majority in this country. Some prophets set the time as
fifty years hence. The near possibility of such a thing made
the subject a bugbear to many good people. Alas! it is sad
but allthis energy of fear has been spent in vain. Those
cold, dry things, statistics, in the tenth census say in cflect
that the white race still has the lead in proportionate increase
as well as in other things. The negro will still be with us
and in increasingly large numbers, but we will still be here
in still greater numbers. Thus one great bugbear has been
removed from before the progress of the Anglo-Saxon race.
This, however, does not by any means remove the negro
probhm from all consideration. A vast and increasing pop
ulation of illiterates is as much a menace now as ever. That
must never be forgotten.
When the so-called force bill was set aside Senator Hoar
declared that it meant the death of the republican party.
Allowance must, of course, be made for this remark as coming-from
one who had so earnestly championed the bill and
was .at that time smarting- over its defeat. There is, how
ever, much food for thought in the remark. The federal
elections bill was, as it were, the last attempt of the rcpub
Hcan party to carry out its policy in the issues upon which it
was started. It may be truly said that when the senate
finally laid aside the elections bill a national rebuke
was given to certain campaign issues that have been
before this country fot twenty-five years. Tht "Bloody
Shirt," tlie rebels in congress, the solid South and the war
of the rebellion-have furnished the republican party for long
years with a large part of its campaign thunder.. These
things are'oul ofdater entirely and the senate has so declared.
Accordingly if the "Grand Old Party" cannot become.a
"Grand New Party" Its time is over. Senator Hoar evi
dently believed it could not. Hence his remark. Time will
tell whether he was right in his belief. This, certainly no
one can deny, that when the republican party turns its back
on the old issues, whether voluntarily or not, it can hardly
expect to find any new line of policy that will hold unitedly
those that followed it on the old issues. The times arc rap
idly progressing. Parties, like institutions, must fight' for
and justify their existence.
That the study of geography is still of advantage beqomes
apparent whenever one reads in an English periodical some
article touching upon affairs in the United States. An amus
ing instance of the ridiculous ideas even educated English
men have of the geog;aphy of this country occurs in the
Spectator of January 10. "If the ultimate result (of the
Indian outbreak) is a battle in which the whites are worsted,
large districts will be in great peril; and accordingly the
states of Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska are calling out
their militia and making other active preparations. Col.
Cody (Buffalo Bill) is said to take a gloomy vfew of the sit
uation." The man who wrote the above evidently took down
a map of the United States and measured with his finger the
distance between Pine RUlgc agency ana Missouri and iCau
saS. Finding that it took but a joint or two of his finger,
and knowing that Nebraska had called out her militia he
probably concluded that Misssotfri and Kansas would of course,
do likewise. A very natural conclusion! People in theieast
undoubtedly had as ridiculous notions. We have heard of one
fond mother in New Jersey who wrote to her darling boy in
Lincoln that she hoped the Indians wouldn't get hpfd'of him.
She was in great fear that they would because Lincoln was
such a short distance from them. Truly one half of the world
knows neither where the other half is nor what it is doing.
We believe, however, that the next two presidential elections
will open the eyes of the cast considerably with reipect to the
"wild west". Even England in the case of a war with the
United States, would have occasion to find out that America's
hardiest sons were in the "Unknown West." -
Manlcy still has the cream of the candy trade.
Special prices to students at T. Ewing & Co's.
Dr. Garten, eye, car, nose and throat specialist. Glasses
fitted. Rooms 16 and 17, Richards block, Lincoln, Neb.
Students, buy your coal of Missouri Valley Fuel Company.
City office 1 100 O street. Telephone 343.
McConiga & Allen, Props.
Wanted. The consent of 10,000 smokers to send each a
sample lot of 150 "Nickell" cigars and a 20 year gold filled
watch by express, C O. D. and allow examination.
Havana Cic.ar Co., Winston, N. C.
Ladies and Gentlemen.
You are always interested in anything that affords con
venience or increases your comfort. We think our new' Lin
coln and Omaha "limited" will do this very thing. It leaves
Lincoln at 10:15 every morning except Sunday, and makes
the run to Omaha in seventy-five minutes. Returning it
leaves Omaha at 5 p. in., reaching Lincoln in ample time for
supper.
You can depend on this train being on limej it has no
connections to make, and is independent of all. through,trains
and Is run purely for the benefit of Lincoln and Omsdia
people. J r ., . L , I
Call on the .agent at union depot, orcitys office, comedo
and Tenth streets, AH' inquiries receive pr"ompTWdeoiir
teous attention.
. A. C. ZaiMEK, C. P. and T. A.
WSiSOBBBm