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About The Hesperian / (Lincoln, Neb.) 1885-1899 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 1891)
THE HESPERIAN. CUKKUNT COMMENT. President Ilnrrison made no mistnkc in one appointment nt lenst. In his appointment to n strictly business depnrtment of the government, the post office depnrtment, of n business man of acknowledged nbility and energy, the president did well. IJc could not have done better, as circumstances show. The postal service, under Postmaster-General Wannnmnkcr, has been perfected throughout. And now new conquests are longed and looked for. Our efficient Postmaster General desires to lower postage to one cent, to secure telegraph serv ice to the people at half present rates, to have newspapers and literary periodicals sent free, and to give free delivery to all thickly inhabited communities, country or city. A noble ambition and one Mr. Wannnmnkcr expects, so he says, to sec realized within a few years! So be it. The American people certainly will not object to postal and telegraph ser vice of thnt sort. Possibly Jny Gould may. Put not even the wizard ol Wall street will be able for long to keep back the tide of public opinion in favor of such service. Postmas- tcr General Wannnmnkcr is bound to go down to history ns'n man and a public officer of industry, abilky, and patriotism It is a little difficult to sec just why the republicans have any great cause of rejoicing over the recent elections. To be sure Ohio went republican, likewise Nebraska and Knnsns They have always been republican states. On the other hand, New York and Massachusetts went democratic. The worst of it is that Uoswcll P. Flower secured a majority of the votes cast in New York outside of New York City. Hith erto the republicans have controlled the state outside of the metropolis. 'Tis so no more. The legislature will be demo cratic on joint ballot. If then the republicans must have New York in order to win in '92 the outlook is certainly not the brightest. Iowa, too, has gone strongly democratic. The democrats of Iowa have secured not only the state officers but a majority of the seats in both houses of the legislature. And what is the cause for rejoicing in Nebraska? Only two thirds of last year's vote was polled. In the vote Mr. Post received the slim majority of 5000. In contrast with the old time republican majority of 20,000 there seems nothing very stable or exhilarating about this. The greatest matter to rejoice over in Nebraska is that Omaha will have a new regime. The change can make matters no worse. The gen eral hope is that it will make them bitter. In Ohio the republicans may well find cause of happiness. The majority accorded to Major McKinley was a laige one and one received from a cr.mpaign in which national issues were pre. dominant. Whether it may rightly be claimed that Mr. McKinley was elected on the tariff issue is somewhat doubt ful. Senator Shermnn, in his campaign speeches, dealt prin cipally with 'he money question. Republican speakers, gen erally,. in Ohio followed his example. Even Major McKinley himself talked much about money. And so the circumstances hardly seem to justify the claim that he was elected as the grcatjCxponcnt of high protection. His election resulted more from a combination of issues and circumstances. The relations of the United States to Chile have been, to pu t U, mildly, unfortunate. A few years ngo when Mr. Hlaine was secretary of state under President Garfield, our relations with Chile became strained through certain "shady" manipulations of the nitrate fields. The name of Secretary BlainVwas notoriously connected with these transactions, much to 'his embarrasment and that of his government. The Cliiiean government was, at the time, much offended. The affair was patched up in some way, for future reference as events have shown. Later, when Minister Egan was sent to Chile, President Halnmaccda objected .most strongly toihifri. home ol Jinlnmacctla's counsellors advised the rejection 61.' ?lr. Egan. Halnmaccda, however, did not feel called1 upon to go quite that far. Put, nevertheless, the people of Chile felt almost insulted that upon theniralonc of airiiations the United States should thrust a political refugee, a man of no high and honorable standing in his own country. The Chil eans, it is well to remember, arc a hot-blooded, high-spirited race. Even a fancied insult rankles in them. It is, there fore, no great wonder that the present relations of the two countries to each other are strained and in a decidedly unsat isfactory condition. It will be of advantage to our govern ment to discover that no nation, however insignificant, can with impunity be treated slightingly or made the sufferers from political deals in this country. The charge has been made and the facts seem. to sustain it thnt Mr. Egan was appointed minister to Chile as the result of a political 'deal looking to securing the Irish vote in the last presidential campaign. If this be true we arc suffering what we deserve. The Methodist ecumenical or world conference has passed into history. It has left an impression upon the religious thought of this country, and an impression, too, of no little depth. The coming together of the brightest and ablest exponents and adherents of n denomination as gront ns is the Methodist is an event of no little importance. The expecta tions of people generally in regard to the council were not disappointed. In all its discussions and proceedings, the conn cil displayed great breadth of view, great progrcssivencss, and. great earnestness. The Methodist church has ever been pre eminently a church ol the common people. With them i.t started. From them, we hope, it has not yet departed. On account of its tremendous growth,' however, the Method!,! church has attained to great wealth. Accordingly, tl.ereluiv, the problems before it arc nil the more complicated. In w.t ecumenical Council, they were most of them discussed with vigor and ability. It is especially interesting to notice that the majority of the discussions had to do with the rclntion ol the chuicii to the world outside, with the relation of the church to the so called social problems. Perhaps the address of most interest to Americans was that of the Rev. Hugh Price Hughes, the famous London preacher, the lender in Methodist mission . work among the poor. This great lover uf the poor and the degraded believes that the church has a mission to perform in the world, and that not the least important part of that mission is the reclamation and salvation of the most depraved and the most vicious of mankind. Gradually, yet very notice ably, is the church of today coming to his way or thinking and acting too. His closing exhortation to New York Meth odists in regard to their city work thoroughly shows the spirit of this gront English slum preacher, if the expression may be allowed: "There was a general in your great civil war.Gencral Slier man. I wns much struck n few yenrs ngo, when a great Eng lish statesman, on a memorable occasion said, that the secret of the success of that brilliant general wns this: thnt'at'the decisive, at the very crisis of the battle, -when victory was wavering, when it was not known on which side victory would decend, he wns in the habit of saying: 'Now let everything go in,' and in they went, cavalry, artillery, and iiifantry-all of them; and by their united force and enthusiasm at the decisive moment gained a victory for the Union. I say that m the history ol our conflict with the devil and servants, with human sin nnd with human misery.thc rcsultof'sih, tli'c decis ive hour has come, when sdme grent ecclesiastical Sherman should say to every one of usi 'Now, let everything "go. :ih rich nnd pooi young and old' wise and ignorant-let all.do their utmost, so that this great commonwealth may in' this twentieth century, and for all lime, be a Christain common wealth." : , : . , ,,-ij
