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A year or 80 ago it was proposed
that the city of London build an
aqueduct from some far away water
supply which would supply it wltti
water enough and -to spare. The
proposition was opposed by the water
companies which succeeded in killing
the bill The fear of a water famine
was not strong enough in the London
aldermen to brace them against the
threats and the bribes of the water
company which have the advantage of
even unusually wakeful politicians in
not requiring cither sleep or rest.
The blame must of course, linally
rest on tiie people for not selecting
aldermen who can resist bribes and
threats, and the citizens who com
mitted the folly of electing weak
mercenaries six years or more ago to
the common council of London arc ex
periencing now tiie iirst effects of
their bad judgment and subservience
to their party. So far-reaching is the
folly of fools. In the tenements and
wretchedly poor part of London the
tilth and odor is almost unbearable
and even the inocculated poor, who
have lived in the midst of smells
since birth, turn sick and white as the
fumes from the river Lea fill their
crowded rooms. The cruelty and bar
barity of a company willing to per
petuate such u state of tilings for the
sake of its own profits would be In
comprehensibleif we were not in the
power of such companies ourselves.
Experiments seem to teach that
municipal ownership is wasteful but
It is better than private ownership
because tiie people have more fre
quent opportunities to punish ineffic
ient wasteful management and to
rewaVd with another term those who
have served them well. For these
and other reasons the condition of
Philadelphia under municipal owner
ship of the water department is bet
ter than that of London supplied
with water by a private company.
Eloquence Only.
Daniel Webster and Henry Clay
were brilliant men and fascinating and
convincing orators. If a vote were to
be taken on tho most brilliant and
Imposing figure in American history
Daniel Webster would undoubtedly
receive a large majority of the votes
cast. George Washington, Abraham
Lincoln, and General Grant are im
posing for what they accomplished
and for the increasing evidence of
time and posterity that their work
was permanent and of inestimable
value. But when George Washington,
Abraham Lincoln and General Grant
were upon earth it is not recorded
that the people were overwhelmed
with admiration and awe when in
their presence. On the contrary the
revered George W. was a bit stiff and
formal and not much of a talker,
though when forced to speak his
ideas were presented with great clear
ness. Abraham Lincoln was a speak
er whose effects were mido by the
lawlessness of his logic and the sim
plicity of his language rather than
by any brilliancy of style. Abraham
was a plain man who wrought better
than the people knew; one whose
fame is still growing for that he
never once was confused about the
real object of the war which was the
preservation of the union although
that involved the abolition of slavery.
And General Grant was a modest
hero too, who made few speeches. He
was an inspired soldier, and an in
cessant worker who knew how to
defeat an enemy. Washington made
the nation, Lincoln kept it from
breaking in two and Grant assisted
iLlncoln. Yet if Daniel Webster were
Actually standing beside these other
TO THE FIRST NEBRASKA REGIMENT,
GREETING FROM GOD'S COUNTRY. AUGUST, 1899.
(For the Courier).
Come back to the heaven-wide heart of your mother,
Strong ions she hath sent like the wind from her hills;
Who have borne over mountains and sea to another
The sap of her sunshine, the blood of her rills. '
i
Come back to the plains where the cloud-shadow flying M"
Floats free from the gates of the sun to the sod; ?T
And no lair where the slime of the serpent is lying
Disfigures the face of the country of God.
But open and clear to the stars and the noon-tide,
She hideth no hold where the pestilence waits. .
She hideth no hurt save the hurt of that June-tide
When her first-born beloved went forth from her gates.
Come back to the land that no shadow hath darkened,
Save the shadow that hung by the echoing sea,
Where the heart of your mother hath waited and harkened,
In the long island watches ye paced sleeplessly,
To the breath of your lips'when the battle-heat thickened.
To the rush of your feet in the demon-loosed strife,
To the throb of your hearts when the fever-pulse quickened
In the veins she has filled with her glorious life.
Come now where she waits in the sheer August splendor
That lies on the brows of her heaven-bared hills.
The first who have taken the lance to defend her,
Come drink of the cup of thanksgiving she fills,
Come back to the land that no glory hath lightened
Like the glory ye bring from the valleys ye trod, .
Where in famine and fever and death, unafrightened,
Ye carried the hearts of the country of God.
Come back, ye that may, in your warrior's regalia;
Come back, ye that inarch gleaming white by their side,
That waken no more to to the soldlers's reveille,
But sleep evermore in the hearts ye abide.
Come, scarred hero-host of the dead and the living,
Who have poured out for strangers the blood of our land;
Far more than the lives ye have recked not In giving,
Is the faith that may die, but may not understand.
Far more than the glow of proud Freedom's defender
Is the spirit that failed not in doubting and gloom;
'And the land whence ye rose like her sun in his splendor
From the white arms of martyrdom welcomes you home.
Her harvests flow out to the hills beyond measure,
Calm shineth above them the evening star,
But the crown of the gifts God hath given to bless her
Is the faith ye have brought through the gate-way of war.
Katharine M. Melick.
three men, all eyes would be at
tracted to him in preference. Un
doubtedly none possessed the Intel lee
tual gifts of Webster. In the power
of thought and the expression of it,
and in everything that makes a
statesman, except what Washington
and Lincoln had namely an unlimited
capacity for self denial and patience,
Daniel Webster was well fitted for
the presidency of this country. Rec
ords are made to be broken, but
Americans are apt to demand of a
man something more than the ability
to make a good speech. That peculiar
gift of good judgment and the un
named character'stic of a presence in
which all men feel that the man who
Is asking them to make him chief of
the nation, is safe and reliable should
be demanded from their candidates
by both democrats and republicans.
Notwithstanding Daniel Webster's
imposing and commanding presence
and personal magnetism, he had not
that characteristic which the silent
Grant and many a common-place, ob
scure man has, that characteristic
which Inspires confidence and which,
given favoring circumstances, will
make a man president. It was this
quality in Abraham Lincoln which
made him president and it was the
absence of it which kept Daniel
Webster from reaching the goal of bis
ambition.
It has been said that history does
not teach anything except the un
certainty of politics and that a man
rejected by one generation may be
just the sort of man the next genera
tion will approve of. However that
may be the figures of the last presl.
dentlal election confirm the lessons of
history to date; Those states where
Mr. Bryan made the most speeches
to the largest and most enthusiastic
crowds, gave the largest majorities
to President McKlnley.
The Secret of the Multitude.
The free concerts have brought to
gether thousands of people who sat
upon the grass or wandered about the
neighborhood ot government square
or of the Capitol grounds as It chanc
ed to be Friday or Tuesday evening.
Rich and poor were there and tho
most enjoyable feature of the bi
weekly assembly was that they were
there enjoying the music together.
Many a wistful minister who has
racked his mind for a subject and a
method that will bring the poor and
the desperately wicked-who were of
the multitude that pressed about
Chrlst-to his church watched the
happy young men and women strolling
about, the mothers and fathers with
their children, and the little groups
of neighbors, with the hope that he
might learn the secret of assembling
a multitude.
There is no doubt that everyone Is
attracted by a crowd and that the
people, rich and poor, good and bad,
respectable and declasse like to be
together and to watch each other.
A crowd, of whatever elements It is
composed, Is Impressive, it is as if
the individual strength and spirit i.r
each were merged Into humanity atnl
the drops which make the stream
were conscious of the mighty voluni.
and current of the whole. Be this n
it may, there is no doubt that tli
people like to be together, that tho
Invariably patronize and make su
cessful by their presence any enter
talnment which is addressed toeverj
body, which has no admission pilco
and no requirements of color, educa
tlon, sex, or religion. In Chicago
the electric fountain for two years
drew thousands of people to Lincoln
park every evening. The spectacle
was a beautiful one but it was the
crowd that drew the crowd together
for two or more years in succession.
The spectacle itself was of too simple
and monotonous' a character to remain
the center of attraction and It became
simply a pretext
The free concerts here have been
the most enjoyable feature of the
summer, so nearly coded. Mr. Hage
now in demonstrating the power of
music and tho delight of. the people in
it and the readiness with which every
body responds to an invitation to lis
ten to music and to disport them
selves in u free country as free and un
trammeled citizens has given usu valu
able lesson. The concerts were made
possible by the energy of Mr. Hage
now who canvassed the city and se
cured contributions from the public
spirited, early in the spring. The de
lighted reception of the concer.s by
the populace, has more than repaid
the contributors, who in watching
the happy little children dancing on
the sward, the blooming young men
and women promenading up and
down, and the happy family parties
realize that their contributions sup
plied a long felt want in this ocean
less, lakeless, sf-eamless, mountain
less summer resort, where for the
horseless there is nowhere to go and
nothing to see.
The Commuters' Reformation.
In no places have village and city
improvement societies accomplished
more than in the small residence
towns surrounding a great city, towns
emptied of men in the morning and
filled with them at night, home return
ing from the city where they are as
cogs or belts in, or power to, a great
machine. Tired with the labor and
stress of the day they return grateful
ly to their homes at night, but in the
village where their homes are located
they feel no particular interest. At
evening time and on summer Sundays
they sit on the verandahs of their
suburban homes and may observe that
the place has a neglected, untidy as
pect, but It is not aB if they speot
their days there. Suburban cities,
especially show the effects of absentee
ism For many years the women
wiio have been disgusted by the un y
tidyness of their residence cities
which were to them perpetual, and
not nightly refuges', had no means of
remedying the evil. Association in
clubs gave them the means of present
ing an appeal, of proposing remedies
and of combining to effect (hem. It
is said that In the suburban towns
surrounding New York the effect of
the village improvement societies is
particularly noticeable, Tiie streets
and alleys whose unsanitary condition
escaped the observation of the male
inhabitants because they scarcely saw
them except by night, are nqw pre
sentable in the day time. Apt) U be
cause a few women organized ftnd re
solved that their cities should be
clean and fit to live in. Cqmmttce
of investigation, commlttles tq cop y
fer with the mayor and common coup-
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