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About The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903 | View Entire Issue (July 9, 1898)
THE COURIER it u !l in I m .Ml u M Mil and the two sons posed behind them and flanked by an aged negro and a small, wistful little colored girl. It is all well enough to paint pictures of tho Merrlmac hero as he appears at present, but the reproduction of the family album is an indication of a cor rupted taste on the part of the public, of bad judgment in the publishers, and a lack of proper reserve in the Hobson family. A distinguished mem ber of a large family cannot provide a halo lor his kinfolks. The mighty Napoleon tried it and failed, and the yellow newspapers will have to give it up The public is only faintly inter ested in the occupants of the Hob6on porch, and the scrupulous part of it must regret that his mother and father, sisters and brother are willing to have the family group on the porch reproduced in the newspapers of the country for the sake of notoriety. r Since colonial days the territory of the United States has been slowly in creasing. Beginning with a narrow strip along the Atlantic coast, the colonists bought, and, in some cases, stole land from the Indians. The ex tension of the territory to the Missis sippi and beyond it, the French and Indian war with its territorial acces sions, the Mexican grab, the Louisiana and Alaska purchases, are indications of the tendency of a large and grow ing nation to keep on growing. Hav ing driven Spain out of the Phil lip! nes, the inevitable consequences, such as the rights of the inhabitants and the duties of a conqueror, force an American occupation and admin istration of the group of islands. Those who object to annexation have nothing better to propose. Why should those who believe that in the United States exists the germ of lib erty give back the islands to Spain, who has shown by the colonial fail ures of seven hundred years that Spanish rule is cruel, corrupt, and finally unbearable, or to Germany, whose emperor believes in the divine right of kings, and has -established a military despotism so securely that an officer can kill a peasant for acci dentally shoving him, or some such trifling rudeness, and only be repri manded by his superior; or why should we give them to France, whose repub lican government totters from day to day? There is no reason why the people who have paid for the war should not receive the victor's spoils, except the sentimental one, that it is unamerican. The survival of the strongest is the survival of the fittest. At first, France, Spain, Portugal and the English colonists occupied North America. The others have been grad ually moving out until at the present time England and the United States own everything except the extreme southern part of the continent. The acquisition of the Phillipincs, Cuba and Hawaii is strictly in the line of development. Their govern ment is a problem, but we can manage it better than Spain has, or than Ger many or France could. And there is no reason why we should spend blood and treasure for Germany or France, more especially when history shows that we can do a better lob of govern ing than either one of them. j What will the republicans do in this congressional district? This is a se rious question when propounded to republicans, for the situation from their standpoint is grave. It is time for them to consider. If they move on through the congressional convention, which meets here in Lincoln on Au gust 2, according to the plans and speciScations laid out by the late Lan caster county convention, they will fall way below their opportunity and cone far short of their duty to their party, to President McKinley, to the nation, and to the intelligent republi cans of this splendid district. What is their duty? What does the president desire? What does the na tional congress require? What does the nation expect in this year of great achievements from the First Congres sional district of Nebraska? And what has the patriotic and prosperous community a right to demand? If the answer could come from the clouds as did the voice from Mount Sinai.it would say, "Send the strongest, wisest, most mature and reliable material you have to the next congress, for there will be work to do there which will requjre statesmanship and master minds." It is no time for experiments The nation's need calls for the assem bling of her wisest men. Our battle ships, riding the sea, are magnificent. Our naval commanders are superb. Our land forces are game to the last. As a mighty Christian nation at war in defense of humanity, we are chal lenging the admiration of the civilized world. This war, with the new environ ments which it iscreating, is ushering us as a nation Into new relations with the governments of the earth. The next congress must know how to deal with questions that reach further than the Canadian boundary on the north or the Gulf of Mexico on the south. The next republican congressional convention, if it thinks a while, as it ought to, before it acts, will consider the increased responsibility which will rest upon the next American congress, and will have very little interest in the personal ambitions of young men who would like to experiment on themselves, believing that with a few years' practice at the national capital they would grow into real congress men. The American people have been putting too low an estimate on our national congress. They have sent too many ordinary men there, as if it were a national kindergarten, where beginners could learn statesmanship and grow up with the country. Nebraska people have been putting too low an estimate on public office. Here in Lincoln, especially, there has grown up a system whereby the con ventions choose between those who offer themselves. So many ordinary men are crowded into public notice partly by their own efforts and partly by back ground manipulators, that the real and worthy man, seeing the low estimate which is put upon these po sitions disdains to enter into competi tion for them. If the republicans of this district attempt to put into the next congress a man who will lower the general average of ability there, they will humiliate the president, dis appoint the republican voters of this district, and fall far below the oppor tunities of the hour. J The election of Mrs. Lowe of Geor gia as president of the general federa tion of women's clubs over Mrs. Breed of Massachusetts by a majority of more than two to one, threatens to detach the Massachusetts clubs from the general federation. All such am putations are to be regretted and must decrease the strength and influence of the federation, though in this case the effect will be imperceptible to the main body, whereas the limb which has insisted upon the operation will lose vitality and significance. As I said last week the organization has another meaning than the study of arts, literature, or even to satisfy the universal craving for office-holding and newspaper mention. That pur pose took definite form, though it was not generally recognized, at the Denver Biennial. The federa- "We are now ready with our and Novelties. Also a "Whips and Robes in best line of Bicycles. Billmeyer tion unites the women of the north, south, cast and west. It re veals the universal dissatisfaction with political impotencv and the strength of the organized and unified effort which can effect a change. The general federation can do this better than suffrage organizations, because the latter are aggressive and at times bitter. There is reason for both bit terness and aggression in the long re fusal to recognize that the principal of representation and taxation applies to every member of the state bu; the woman suffrage propaganda has not accomplished much in comparison with the energy expended, in the federation woman is learning funda mental principles and practicing par liamentary thinking that will inevit ably bring her to one goal. The road does not branch, those who walk in it will have to climb over logic if they wish to go nowhere. If Massachusetts withdraws from the general federation she will miss the inspiration of reach ing the promised land in company with those who have kept the middle of the road. Massachusetts has wealth, a large culture, it is philanthropic and in the last analysis, good natured. But it is unsportsmanlike not to play because she cannot name the umpire. She showed her pluck by sending seventy-two delegates and sixty-eight visitors 1,900 miles to help elect her candidate for the presidency. That candidate was considered ineligible not because she was a resident of Mas sachusetts, but because she has never shown any positive qualifications for the place; because she has exerted all her influence for many months to se cure it; because those wh knew her best and longest acknowledged her unfitness, and because Mrs. Henrotin, who has more Influence with club woman than any other, refrained from expressing at any time approval of Mrs. Breed's ambition. There were many other signs of ineligibility for such an office, such as lack of any per sonal magnetism or evidences of a in in sub, ik spiders, fe for the summer season new line of fine line of Harness, the city. Largest and & Sadler. catholic love for her kind and sex. The two little Japanese women whom she induced the Japanese empress to send to America and especially to Denver while the Biennial was in ses sion, were too much in the way of exhibits. They themselves were charming, modest, graceful women and the federation gave them an un mistakable welcome as representatives of Japan while disapproving of their appearance as exhiLits. If Mrs. Breed does not use her personal influ ence against the proposed withdrawal of Massachusetts from the general federation, it will confirm the good judgment of that body in refusing to make her its leader. Such a secession will deprive Massachusetts of the in fluence in the national council her ancestry, history and present accom plishments entitle her to. The citi zens of that state have concentrated opportunities of culture which have been scattered over Kansas and Ne braska prairies, Wyoming's foothills, Colorado's mountains, Utah's long reaches of desert and irrigated farms and Washington's forests. Massa chusetts can afford to be generous to the south and the west. She cannot afford to be selfish or sulk like an amateur sportsman. NEW TOURIST CARLINE. Weekly Personally Conducted Excur sions to Portland, Ore., via Burlington Route. On February 17 and every Thursday thereafter at 6:10 p. m. Pullman tourint sleepers in charge of our own excursion conductor are scheduled to leave Lin coln for Portland, via Denver, Leadville, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Oregon Short Line, pawing through the grand est scenery of the Rockies and 3topping several hours at Salt Lake City to allow a visit at many points of interest there. Berths, tickets and full information may be obtained at B. A M. depot or city ticket office, corner Tenth and O. Gw. W. Bon imx, C. P. & T. A