Life — September 14, 1899 — page 4: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

“« While there is Life there's Hope.” VOL. XXXIV, SEPTEMBER 14, 1899. No. 877. 19 West Tutery-Pinst St., New Youre. Poblished every Thurrday. $500 a year in ad~ Vance. Hostage to foreign countries In the P.stal Union, $1.06 4 year extra | Single current copies, lucents. “Back numbers, after three months from date of pubilcation, 2 cent, No contribution will be returned unless accompanied by stamped and aiddressed encelope. The illustrations in Live are copyrighted, and are not to be reproduced without special arrangement with the publishers, Prompt notification should be sent by sub- scribers of any change of address. EPORTS multiply in thesedays of serious dissat- isfaction with the President among men whose votes elected him. We are told that he is to lose a very large vote of temperance reformers on account of bis attitude on the liquor question; that he will lose the votes of thousands of Grand Army men because be has not turned out Pension Commis- sioner Evans; that he will lose many votes in Michigan because he did not stick tight enough to Alger. What his attitude on the liquor question is, is best known to himself; but the objection to him on that account seems chiefly to rest on bis unwillingness to meddle with the post exchange in army posts. He ought to gain more votes than be loses on that issue, and also on the Commissioner Evans issue, and the Michiganders who turn from him ov Alger’s account will be an ungrateful lot of men. There is little doubt that better reasons than any of these tor voting against the Major will be produced in the course of thenext twelve months, but none of them will have much weight uoless there is a chance to vote fora better man, We may grumble about the Philippines and his policy there, but shall we turn to and try to elect Bryan in order to rectify it? Not much! If the Major's own party renominates him there is no present sign of anything that will jeopardize his re- Rochicsciethes! adheres? Sipe® “LIFE election, The votes he will lose because of his merits, and those he will lose be- cause of his defects, will count for little as against those he will gain because of the intellectual prostration of the Demo- cratic party. He is at present, to all appearances, the best and wisest mao the majority of the American people can be induced to vote fer for President. The total abstinence people, the would-be pensioters, the Alger Republicans who threaten him with loss of votes, may just as well stop bleating. Croker, Bryan, Altgeld, Tillman, George Fred Williams, and the other current Democratic nota- bles, can be relied upon to keep him or a Republican successor comfortably in officeas long as their leadership continues. cy Gi ef RE there any rising Democrats whose growing prominence has hopeful signs about it? Mr. Color of Brooklyn, the gentleman to whom we intrusted the charge of the finances of Greater New York when we recalled Croker to power, has made a noise in bis part of the town, and has seemed to do meritoriousthings. He is adoughty per- son who speaks his mind, is very little in awe of The Boss, and seems ready to interpose as much as there is of himself between Tammany and the public purse. He is u stouter and more diligent public servant than we bad any reason to ex- pect, considering the company with which he took office. Let us hope he is a thoroughly virtuous mau, and that if he lacks anything of being so he will exercise and discipline himself until he climinates his defects, for a trustworthy man of his party in high office in a Northern State is a joyful sight, and highly conspicuous by its rarity. LORIO ~ENATOR LINDSAY of Kentucky has explained, in an able discourse before the American Bar Asseciation at Buffalo, that we have law on our side in our dealings with the Philippines. No donbt he is right. Spain also bad law on her side in her dealings with them, and with the Cubans. But we sympa- thized with the Filipinos when they objected to Spanish rule, and we would be happier if we bad less law and rather more Filipinos on our side now, We need all the comfort we can get about the Philippincs, however, and are much obliged to Senator Lindsay for what he has given us, We may reasonably find some more comfort in the large increase inthe num- ber of our troops that will soon be avail- able in the Philippines. To fight the brown men with an inadequate force is the cruelest way, for it means constant killing and no results, To swamp them with soldiers is much more merciful, for it may stop the war. With a hundred thousand troops in the far East at an expense of a hundred and fifty millions a year, we shall bein a position to reason carnestly with Aguinaldo’s people, and convince them that they are paying too dear for their dictator’s whistle. By all means let the good work of sbipping soldiers to Mavila go on. It won't pay commercially, but it will be immensely instructive. We don’t need more terri- tory, but we do need knowledge about many things, and can afford to pay for it. Perbaps when we have learned from the Filipinos all they are competent to teach, we may be able to teach them some things in turn. Meanwhile the schoolmaster is abroad, awaiting us, 3 Eare all bound to hope that Im. perial Britain and President Kriger will be able to come to terms in South Africa without a fight. The mass of news about their dispute that comes to us daily by cable has only been ex- ceeded by the daily reports of the Drey- fus trial, To determine with which side the preponderance of right abides is an engrossing job, which no wise American whose strength has been sapped by the labors of the summer will care to under- take without remuneration. But we don’t want them to fight. Our periodi- culs have just begun to lift their tousled heads above the flood of war literature, and we don’t want to see them sub- merged again, We have had all the war we want to read about, and are still fighting in Luzon, though that makes dull reading. Moreover, we want neither Briton nor Boer to be hurt, and hurt some one will be if those two get at it.