The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 23, 1898, Page 6

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, —HE announcement that Senator Stephen . M. SENATOR WHITE'S RETIREMENT. White has determined to retire from public life JOHN D: SPRECKELS, Proprietor. Address All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager. Sos a e PUBLICATION OFFICE. Market and Third Sts., S F Telephone Main 1868. traet EDITORIAL ROOMS .2IT to 221 Stevenson sl Telephone Main 1874. N NCISCO CALL (DAILY AND SUNDAY)Is r"i:?& bf’ifimm In this city and surrounding towns for 15 cents a week. By mail $6 per year. per montn €5 cents. THE WEEKLY CALL QAKLAND OFFIiCE R s:;utl\-e. DAVID ALLEN. NEW Y%-Rsl?:)“FFIT::’JI;e ..Room 188, World Building ‘WASHINGTON (D. C. OFFICE . .. Riggs Houso C. C. CARLTON, Correspondent. .One year, by mall, $1.59 908 Broadway BRANCH OFFICES-—-52T Montgomery street. eorner Clay open until 9:30 a'clocl\. 339 Hayes street: open untll ©:30 o'clock. 62! MoAlllster street: open unt|.| 9:30 c'clock. 615 Larkin street; open until 9:30 o'clock SW. corner Sixteenth and Misslon streets: open untll | Y - clock So'clock. 2518 Misslon street: open until 9 o'c i06 Eleventh st.. open until9 o'clock, 1505 Polk stnt; open until 9:30 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-secon and Kentucky streets; open until 9 o'cloc| AMUSEMENTS. ldwin—The Bostonians. Blacs Patt! Troubad ir and Klondike Exposition. side February 23, at 254 Sutter street, 1-This day, February 23, Groceries, at 113 February 23, Grocertes, av, February 24, Real Estate, at day March 3, Real Estate,at 626 }\PPROPRIHTIONS FOR CALIFORNIA. | S reported to the House on Monday the sundry ppropriation bill, while not wholly sat- ures that will be grati- 1t does not appro- actory. 1e people of California. t to expect, but it provides for many im- and some of these are | st notable feature of the bill so far as it | lifornia is the appropriation of $400,000 for | an Pedro harbor during the next fiscal This is especially gratifying because the fight that improvement has been so strongly and y waged in the past that doubts existed in many quarters whether some new plan had not | been devised by the opponents of San Pedro to still further delay it affects C. work year. again $0 s cces The large appropriation recommended for the work seems to put an end to the long contest over the is- | sue. It is one of the most signal triumphs the people | have won over the opposition of the Southern Pacific | Company and will have in the southern part of the | State something of the effect produced in the San | Joaquin by the construction of the Valley Road. It | is a step toward emancipation from the monopoly, and is significant of the increasing power of the peo- | ple and the diminishing prestige of a corporation | all powerful | which a few years ago was considered throughout the commonwealth. Among the other items of the bill are appropria- | tions for Oakland harbor, $133,000; for buildings in | San Francisco, $300,000; for the establishment of tele- phone connections between lightship and lighthouse at Point Arena, $860; for fish culture stations at Baird and Fort Gaston, Cal,, $4620; for enforcement of the Chinese exclusion act, $100,000; for surveys and | resurveys of the Pacific Coast, $54,400; for surveying and temporarily marking a portion of the eastern boundary of the State of California, $10,000; for con- tinuing work on the wall at the Presidio, San Fran- cisco, $3000; for defraying expenses of the California Debris $15,000; expenses of Soldiers’ Home at Santa Monica, $23,000. There is missing from this list the much desired ap- propriation for the improvement of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers Commission That work is in many re- | spects the most important we can expect of the Fed- | eral Government in this State, and as the completion of it will require years of time it is to be hoped the beginning will not be long delayed. It may be pos- sible to gget an amendment making the appropriation | while the bill is under consideration in the House, but, failing that, the contest for the measure should be organized with greater force than ever. We have won the fight for San Pedro by sticking to it, and we can win that for the rivers by the same tactics. | —— | Having collected from the people of San Francisco | $7000 ostensibly for the families of the firemen -who | perished at the post of duty during a recent fire in} this city, the Examiner holds on to the funds and | stands a lawsuit rather than give them up. This is | working charity according to the law of the profits of | a slot machine. The action of the Supervisors in this city on the question of water rates for the ensuing fiscal year | was not in itself particularly gratifying, but when con- | sidered in connection with the situation of the water | problem in Oakland and Los Angeles it is almost | worthy of commemoration by a brass tablet in the | City Hall At the time it made a donation of cheap sheepskins | to the sailors of the Bear the yellow journal explained that a portion of the cost was defrayed with money | taken from the so-called charity baseball fund, and now it looks as if the remainder had been sneaked -out of the firemen'’s fund. | Jefferson County, Washington, complains of a lack of school marms, but there is reason to suspect that what the fellows up there are aiming at is not to get young women to teach children already in the count: but pretty girls to marry and set to raising more ch dren. Zola may not succeed in proving that Dreyfus was | not justly convicted, but he has already shown very clearly that the French Government cannot assure anybody a fair trial when the Parisian mob is aroused and demands a victim. If any proof were needed of the truth of the state- ment of Councilman Rowe of Oakland that the water resolution adopted on Monday night was “an insult to the council,” it would be found in the alacrity with which the majority took it. '—[ and devote himseli to the practice of his pro- fession will be received by the people of the State generally, irrespective of party politics, with regret. Mr. White is one of the ablest Dempocrats California has ever produced. - When not acting as a partisan l his services to the commonwealth in the Federal Sen-‘ | ate have been exceedingly valuable. The people can- | not fail to feel the loss of a man in Congress \?'hose | ability and experience were destined to cause h‘|m to play an important part in"the ‘history of the nation. | Now that Senator White is about to retire from | active politics it is appropriate that a Republicap | newspaper like The Call should pay him a compli- ment, especially when it can truthfully say that he | reached the high office of United States Senator with- ;flut corruption or compromise. He has sat in the | upper house of Congress for six years as an inde- | pendent man—a most extraordinary position for.a | lawyer without fortune to occupy among the mil- | lionaires and corporation attorneys who ornament that chamber. ‘ | From a political viewpoint Republicans may rejoice that Senator White has retired; the disappearance | of such a man from the Senatorial field ought to | make the election of a Republican Senator easy. But we doubt whether in all except partisan matters | it will be possible to improve on him. He was, in | fact, though to our mind wrong in politics, an ideal | Senator for the State. Mr. White’s retirement is attributed to the inade- | quate compensation paid a Federal Senator. He | says he cannot continue in office without abandoning his law practice, and he cannot live comfortably and ieave anything behind for his family upon $5000 a | year and mileage. The moral of this should not be lost upon the public. Here is an independent, able, conscientious and self-respecting man who is prac- tically driven out of the public service because it does not afford him a living. Were Senator White to en- gage in business schemes and represent corporations in Congress doubtless he could speedily get rich; but he will not do that. Hence he is driven to withdraw from the Senate in order that he may procure a fair return for his services. It ought to be perfectly plain to the most superfi- cial observer that the compensation of which Sen- ator White complains can ultimately produce but two results, viz., filling the Senate with millionaires and ignoramuses. Doubtless there will always be plenty of men glad to accept senatorships at $5000 a year, but such men will ordinarily make worthless Senators. Millionaires usually possess some ability. But suppose the crop of millionaires runs out? What will become of the Federal Senate? THE FREE-SILVER MANIFESTOES. \ E have reviewed the statements made by the leaders of the three free silver parties. We have fairly sought out and individualized the classes, and the interests attacked and devoted to | destruction by these perfervid documents. Their authors and supporters must now show how the people and the country are to be benefited by de- stroying the interests they attack. If the 159,000 depositors in the savings banks of this State are killed as “traitors” or exiled as “Tories,” and their property is taken from them, who will be helped by it? Will it bring another day’s work to any laboring man, or add a penny to his wages? If the insurance companies are destroyed and made incapable of drawing interest or paying losses, will it bring prosperity to anybody, will it add to the food, comfort, shelter or wages of the laborers, or to the happiness of anybody? In one of his campaign speeches Mr. Bryan said he could prove that the fire and life insurance companies take in more money in premiums and interest than they pay out for losses. But who would insure in them if they did not? Suppose his theory put in practice and their power to pay losses destroyed, what could cause more suffer- ing and distress? Countless thousands of affection- ate and prudent men have insured their lives for the benefit of the women and children of their families. Every hour of the day some man dies who leaves life insurance for the protection of his family. The mind cannot conceive the loss and suffering if the insur- ance companies were destroyed in the anarchist as- sault proposed by the three parties which are making this hysterical appeal. Suppose, again, that the whole fabric of commer- cial credit is crumbled in a common wreck by the success of this attack on the commercial banks, who would be helped by it? Can any laboring man demonstrate that he would be better off? In the place of all these interests, institutions and practices of business, which are to be destroyed as enemies of the popular welfare, these politicians pro- pose to put the free coinage of silver at 16 to 1. In what way can it substitute them? How can it restore’ their own to the 159,000 savings bank depositors- in California? How can it replace their small inyest- ments to the stockholders in building and loan as- sociations? In what way will it restore the credits required by ship builders and the promoters of the large wage paying enterprises of the country? Can they point to any iree silver country in the world where enterprises are more active and profitable, work more plenty and wages better, or as good, as here? Is it not plain that if there were such a coun- try emigration would be flowing from here there? As a matter of fact we go to great expense to shut out and turn back from our shores immigrants from the greatest of the free silver nations to protect our own wage earners from the lower standard of life which enables these immigrants to exist upon less and therefore for lower wages. These politicians are seeking power by threaten- ing to use in a way that will bring distress upnn the very classes over whose condition they pretend to agonize. Their proposition is so full of danger that the thoughtful patriotism of the country will combine against and i The attention of Bateman Brothers is respectfully called to the fact that the energetic citizens of Bernal Heights, feeling the need of a public hall, built it in one day. Bateman Brothers are said to have a contract for erecting the Hall of Justice. It would be cheering if they were to absorb the Bernal Heights spirit. At the rate they are progressing the estimate of the non-professional observer would be that to carry out the terms of such a contract the Batemans would have to keep on at their present gait/for at least a thousand years. Ta s The contrast between the orderly transaction of business by Congress during this administration and the disorderly racket that prevailed in Cleveland’s time is worth noting as an evidence that when we have a statesman at the White House we have state- craft at the Capitol, and when we have a freak at the head of affairs we must expect a menagerie of { cuckoos and wild colts. THE WATER SCANDAL IN OAKLAND. HE manner in which the water rates for the Tcoming year have been fixed in Oakland and the circumstances under which the job was done constitute one of the most serious municipal scan- dals of the day. The very swiftness with which the work was accomplished is an evidence that it was the outcome of a scheme that could not bear the light of examination and discussion. A resolution fixing water rates was submitted to the City Council some time ago and passed to print. That measure had been duly considered :and in the main was fairly satisfactory as it provided about the same rates as now prevail. Suddenly on: Monday night the new ordinance was introduced which ma- terially raises rates on all classes of consumers of water,’and without debate, without a pretense " of time for consideration, the new measure was adopted by a vote of six to five. A peculiar feature of the proceeding is the part played in it by the newly appointed member of the Council, Mr. Woodward. This gentleman was sup- posed to be on the side of the people, but his prompt action in voting for a raise in the rates has naturally raised a suspicion that he ‘was fixed by the companies beforehand, and that the retirement of Councilman Fibush to make way for him was part of a pre- arranged plan. Such, at any rate, is the impression produced on the minds of some of the Councilmen themselves, for as soon as the vote was announced Councilman Girard is reported to-have said: “Now our eyes are opened. When he was appointed last week the new member stated in the public print that he was for the people and had no strings on him. We now see what people he meant. ‘We can now see why Mr. Woodward was appointed.” The new ordinance was carried through so rapidly the members had no time to consider the full extent of the proposed raise. As soon as it was introduced it was referred to a committee and was then reported back within five minutes. As the resolution com- prised about twenty pages of type-written matter the committee could hardly have had time to read it much less digest it before reporting it. The newly appointed Woodward, together with W. W. Watkin- son, constituted a majority of the swiit working com- mittee and reported in faVor of the resolution, while the remaining member, Mr. Upton, was allowed no time to make an adverse report further than what was required to write “I emphatically dissent.” It is estimated that the new rates will allow the water companies a revenue equal to 12 per cent on their investments. The increased tax falls on the water supply everywhere, from hydrants used by the city to the tubs of private houses. It is an act of spoliation as sweeping as it was sudden. It is not to be wondered that the consummation of such a job should have roused the indignation of good citizens and. that Councilman Rowe should have protested against it as an “insult to the Council.” It is gratifying to learn that the City Attorney con- siders the vote taken under such circumstances to be illegal. The people of Qakland should certainly nake a determined and persistent resistance to such an outrage as this. It is about as insolent a job as | has ever been worked out in the face of the public in the history of California. Oakland ought to find some means of defeating it, and also some means of punish- ing the jobbers that d fl can Monthly Review of Reviews gives an in- teresting account of the work and present ex- tent of the traveling library system in the Eastern States where it has been adopted. The facts cited show that the system has supplied an urgent need of American life, and its operation is expanding with remarkable rapidity. At the present time the system is in oper- ation on an extensive scale in New York. Towa, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. It has also been adopted by some of the. larger rail- | ways of the East for the benefit of their employes, and it is said the circulating library of employes of the Baltimore and Ohio is perhaps the most impor- tant institution of the kind in the world. The eager demand on the part of the rural popu- lation of the country for such advantages as are af- forded by the system is proven by statistics showing the rate of expansion. The first appropriation for traveling libraries was made in New York in 1802, and in that year forty-six such libraries were sent out. In the second year 139 libraries were necessary to meet.the demand, and last year no less than 447 were circulated.. To supply these libraries the State has 36,000 volumes, which are circulated in sets of from 50 to 100 volumes each. In other States the system is not so extensive as in New York, but in all of them it is growing. Mich- igan s now circulating 100 libraries of fifty volumes each. Iowa circulates fifty libraries and there are ap- plications on file for 200. In Wisconsin the move- ment was started by the munificence of a private citi- zen, and to this day the State has made no appropria- tion for it, but nevertheless upwards of 100 libraries with a varying number of books are being circulated, and there is a demand for more. It is significant of the importance of the work that a demand for libraries has been found in localities where the people were supposed to be wholly indiffer- ent to literature or incompetent to profit by it. An instance is cited of a hamlet in Wisconsin made up of a railway station, a store, a blacksmith shop, a saloon and a dozen houses. The people were of the kind called “tough” and the young men generally found their amusement in getting drunk. The store- keeper agreed to keep a library and circulate it, and the result soon showed that the people of the com- munity appreciated the advantages offered. The number of books called for at the place soon ex- ceeded that required for several other communities of equal size that were considered much more cultured. The topic is one of timely interest to California. Our State is so sparsely settled that thousands of cul- tured people live remote from cities and have few or no advantages in the way of books. At the same time the State has at Sacramento one of the largest and best State libraries in the Union. This library is maintained at the expense of all the people of the commonwealth, and yet it is of benefit under present conditions only to the residents of Sacramento or to those who visit that city. Why not put a large number of the books belong- ing to the people into circulation so that all may have some benefit of them? Why not be one of the first States of the Union to adopt the traveling libtary system instead of waiting to be one of the last? - igned it TRHVELI[{Q LIBRARIES. N article in the current number of the Ameri- Officers of the War Department who expfiin that the recent orders which have caused activity at every army post “have no significance” not only waste breath and time, but produce in the minds of hearers an inclination to cry “rats!” which, being vulgar, is something the department has no right to encourage. 1398. 9000000000000V 00900000000000900060066 9 o oo THE MUSTANG AND THE SHIP : 2000000000060000000000000000000000000609 HERE are some things of the sea | apparently not masteredat the United States Naval Academy and one is how to dock a ship without plunging somewhat into the appropriation for re- pairs. Charitable people have explained that a naval vessel being designed and built for destroying purposes is true to her calling and election by trying to rip up- eyerything she falls in with, and no commander, unless he runs her into a stmwnlnc_k. can prevent confusion and disaster. ' This theory will hardly bear the wear and tear of time and practice. The United States steamer Marion -during her last cruise acted unusually contrary. She tried to kick the gates out of every drydock sh entered and rubbed the planking off ever: coal wharf she was moored at. Yet aft. losing a fleck of paint from her flanks o chafing a splinter from the dock. then snuggled up to the though it were home to her. There is one naval vessel that was re- cently docked without disaster—the Phila- delphia, and the navy officers at Mare Island wondered. Her commander was Ne- hemiah M. Dyer, now commanding the COLLECTED IN THE CORRIDORS She structure as Fred Russell, an extensive lumberman | of Portland, Or., is stopping at the Grand. Raleigh Barcar, the well-known news- paper man of Vacaville, is staying at the | Lick. Hon. J. P. Diggs, the prominent capital- | Ist of Woodland, is registered at the | | Balawin. | w. | owners of the great Sheep Ranch mine, | Is at the Lick. ellng man from St. Louls, is one of the arrivals at the Baldwin. Lieutenants V. Diaconoff and B. Chay- kosky of the Russian imperial navy are at the Occldental from St. Petersburg. Captain J. F. Smith of the City of Peking can be found at the California during the time that his vessel is in this port. F. A. Nash of Omaha, who was re- cently appointeds vice-president of the ‘Union Pacific, is registered, with his daughter at the Palace. Michael Cudahy, the millionaire of Chi- cago, is stopping at the Palace with his son, E. T. Cuddhy. The gentlemen will combine business. with pleasure while they are on this coast. Major and Mrs. M. A. Darling, who have been away for three months touring the Orient, are guests at the Occidental. They are accompanied by Miss Hastings, and on their way back the party stopped at the Islands and were hospitably enter- tained. Joseph Dow and George I. Wheeler- of Deadwood, Cal.,, and George E. Pitts of Sisson, three mining men, are at the Grand, and are making preparations to g0 to Alaska for the purpose of getting some of the gold that is reputed to be in that country. Colonel James M. Moore. assistant quartermaster-general, U. 8. A., and chief quartermaster, Department of Cali- fornia, will leave for San Diego barracks this week to make a thorough examina- tion of the buildings at that post. Colonel Moore has been identified with the army for the past thirty-seven years and is recognized as one of the most efficient officers of the quartermaster's depart- ment. The colonel has charge of all con- struction at the Presidio. 0000000000 _The courtof the o O ‘Palace Hotel pre- o AN HOUR o sented an. ani- i mated. &cene - of o WITH THE o Ther briancy 0 COLONELS. © for an hour yes- o O terday afternoon, 0000000O0O0C owingto thepres- ence of the Governor's staff, which had assembled there pursuant to an order of Adjutant-General Barrett, as they, to- gether with Governor Budd and Mayor Phelan, had accepted an invitation to visit the Mining Fair. The order read 1 o'clock, but the six carriages did not move until 2, and the lieutenants, colonels and majors whiled away the dreary hour of walting by indulging in good-natured railery and innocent badinage at the ex- pense of each other. Lieutenant Choynski, in commenting on the variety displayed in the military uni- forms of his associates, said: ‘“‘Some are wearing campaign hats because they look better in them, while others wear fatigue caps for the same reason, and I am one of the others. Each man is uniformed according to his own sweet whim, caprice, age or physical condition. Look at Colonel Sanborn, who has no cord on his hat and is wearing tan shoes and gloves, while Major Kirkpatrick thinks he is going to a social function in the Maple room, judging from his cotillon overcoat with silk lapels and his white kid gloves.” Colonel Pippy was accused of wearing Colonel Kowalsky’'s military overcoat, which had wofully shrunk from fre- quent campaignings, but Pippy denied the soft impeachment. Colonel Andrews was resplendent in his gorgeous military costume, but he be- walled the fact that it hid from view a diamond stud of huge dimensions which he wore on his immaculate shirt front, and he finally concealed his handsome proportions in an Inverness coat of the latest cut, Just as-the party were about to start an Italian image vendor came up and offered for sale. two plaster-of-paris busts, one of Christopher Columbus and the other of George Washington. In a spirit of fun Colonel Chadbourne, who had become impatient at the long delay, picked up the bust of Columbus and dashed it to pleces on the ground. The Italian gazed ruefully at the broken frag- ments, and then with a quick movement, as if impelled by a sudden idea, threw the other bust down to join its shattered companion, saying: ‘“Georga Washa, he g0 broka, too.” It was whispered that the colonel also went broke settling the damage, but the truth of the rumor could not be confirmed. —_———— CALIFORNIANS IN NEW YORK. NEW YORK, Feb. 22.—R. B. Mott of .\ San Francisco is at the Hofftman House, g H. Cleary Sr. of Stockton, one of the | Colonel J. H. Droste, a successful trav- | Baltimore, who first saw the light of day through a Cape Cod fog about the densit; of goose down, and when an {ron-| gale of wind was trying to drive the whole Atlantic into Massachusetts Bay. Nehemiahn&)icked up sea lore around New Bedford, Martha’s Vineyard and on the Banks where the fat cod doth make its habitat, and drifted into a Federal gun- boat when rebellious guns were booming along the south seaboard. He was a fight- er from iway-back—in Massachusetts— and was commissioned acting master in '62, coming up the ladder of grades to commander, his present rank. Captain Dyer is not beloved by many of the younger officers of the service on account of his severity in matters of discipline. A biting Cape Cod breeze begins to blow and the sea to throw up whitecaps when Skip- > e per Dyer comes on deck. There is a glanc- y ing around by the young men on duty er fOr stray ropevarns hanging from a rat- she was turned over to the Naval Re- serve she came meekly down from Mare Island and let Captain Louis H. Turne dock her at a Folsom-street pler withou line or a piece of running gear not hang- ing properly on its pins. This, added to the fact that the old martinet is a “mus- T tang” and calls not the halls of nautical t learning at Annapolis Alma Mater, severs r the bond of sympathy between them and hm‘L But to the docking of the Philadel- phia. When the war vessel left her moorings and began to swing toward the wharf through a swift tide gurgling around her stem nearly all the yard came down to see. A smaller vessel had been put in there a few days before under steam (her port davits, whisker-boom and fore-t’gal- lant mast were at the repair shop in co THE MAINE DISASTER. | WHEN THE TRUTH COMES OUT. | American blood has been freely spilled | in the harbor of Havana under circum- | stances not yvet clearly developed. the truth will come out, and 70,000,000 | other Americans will see that the repara- | tion, if required, be just and ample.—St. | Louis Globe-Democrat. | But | FEW COMPARABLE. WITH IT. | There have been few such disasters in modern times. The catastrophes to the | | Royal George, to the Victoria, and, in | Apia harbor, to the Nipsic, the Vandalia, and the Trenton are among the few com. parable to it. There are none which ex- ceed it in the gloom of the calamitous ruiln of individual hopes.—Chicago Jour- nal. CALAMITY UNBEARABLE. | Had the Spanish cruisers and torpedo | boats attacked the Maine and sent her to | the bottom with the loss of 250 lives the | calamity would have been hard to bear, but to have the Maine destroyed as she | was destroyed on Tuesday night is calam- ity unbearable. It is useless to cry pa- tlence when theré is no patence. It {s | useless to ask for suspension of judgment | when judgment - has - been given.' That judgment is agatnst Spain, and if it 1S re- versed it will be on the testimony of wit- | nesses who have standing in the court of | public opinfon.—Chicago Inter Ocean. ENOUGH AND TO SPARE. ! The world. has already supped full of | horrors from the Cuban conflict. It is time for it to end. Its first American vic- tim was the brave Ensign Breckinridge. The next are the 253 victims of the Maine explosion. Shall there be others? Must the infernal carnage go on until Cuba is depopulated and until other blameless Americans are sacrificed through acei- dent, treachery or incompetency? Is it not time for the United States Govern- ment to say that the war must stop—that this nineteenth century materialzation of Dante’s Inferno must come to an end— | and to enforce the mandate? If our men must perish, is it not better that they shall perish in fair and open fight, than go down as helpless victims of mystery, treachery or inaction?—Minneapolis Tri- bune. —_———— THE MAINE DISASTER. Editor Call: The Key West corre- spondent of the Journal-Examiner says that even if the destruction of the Mafne were an accident, we know that Spain was planning such a erime and therefore the act must be treated as a cause of war. There is a great deal of such foolish and misleading talk. There are certain rules in force between nations, 'the growth of treaties and conventions and other forms of agreement, and .educed from the principles of natural justice, and no country has ever gained honorable or permanent advantage by their viola- tion. The Cuban rebellion has put upon this country a peculiar strain. Our na- tional honor requires that we enforce our obligations as a neutral. If a subject of Spain, on his own responsibility, blew up the Maine, we must be cautious in the enforcement of national responsibility upon Spain. It fs notorious that ever since the rebellion began citizens of this country have constantly violated our neutral obligations. It has proved use- less to bring them before American Jurles, for their acquittal has followed. Violation of the neutrality laws has not impressed our people as a wrong in morals or policy. Public meetings have been held, partigipated in by local offi- clals, as mayors'of cities and even mem- bers of Congress, and public subscriptions have been started to buy arms and muni- tions of war for the Cuban insurgents. In all these acts encouraging violations of neutrality our people are unable to see any wrong. Granting that a Spaniard has proved as incapable of the conception of wrong in destroying the Maine, the two governments have a common interest in avolding responsibility for the acts of in- diyiduals. If it were capable of proof that the Spanish Government knew in advance of such intention of her subject, and, hav- ing the power, failed to prevent it, the aspect of the case would be wholly changed. The British Government was notified of the building within her jurisdiction and by her subjects of the Alabama as a cruiser for the Confederate Government. having the power, she falled to nrevent that violation of the neutrality laws, and when we asked the nations to sit in judg- ment between us in the { Geneva Court, that great jury found her dgullty of re- sponsibility, and she pald to us the heaviest fine ever pald by one country to another, except as an indemnity for war between the parties. Having established this principle, we should not lose sight ¢ it in the excite- ment of the moment. If a subject of Spain_destroyed the Maine, without the prior knowledge of that Government, and we force indemnity for that act of an in- dividual, the columns of American news- papers and the proceedings of public meetings in this country would go far to prove to an international court of arbi- tration our responsibility for the cost to Spain of her attempts to suppress the in- surrection which has been made necés- sary by the aid extended by our citizens. Of course Spain is weak miserable and mad, but she has the rights of a na- ve officer was sequence) and ‘her execut! S sanimande over his report to t ‘didn’t occur. {1:(::{ :he bridge and with a voice thatfi%fl,}: plerce a Ma.r‘thaés wfiefifif{gfi o ogue to Gay He: S;g; 1Zr%‘:ured the engines to g0 a}zfifl?é When the tide gets into full cry C(;)S ok outof Napa Creek the little dry-goo of a Mare Island ferryboat sails in great circles between the yard and Vallejo, the workmen bound for their daily toil get “‘docked”’ for loss of time, and the teredos seek quietude on the down-stream side of the piles. As the Philadelphia shoved her great bulk in toward the island do- main of Uncle Sam the naval constructor began to figure up on his ngotlesa cuff the cost of injury to wharf and ship, and the repalr force to calculate on overtime Wwhen the ‘“estimates’ came back from ‘Washington; the other spectators in uni< form and civilian togs only got ready te see “a circus. ‘When the current got a fair heave at the vessel she plunged toward the Vallejo shore, but Nehemiah met her with a star- board helm and Georgia-street wharf was safe. Then she swung away with her steel ram pointing at the granite drydock that cannot accommodate a battleship, with war menacing the Golden Gate and Hawali unprotected, but the wheel, rolled a-port, saved it for the use of the Adams and the other little ships. The tide car- ried her down toward South Vallejo, but four bells in the engine room brought her back. She tried to hide behind the an- cient hulks moored in the upper bay, but the Cape Cod skipper was officially at the “helum” and she wore herself out trying to get away from and with him. 'hen the big craft steadied down and walked into her place at the wharf like a broken filly, permitting herself to be tied up to the ‘dock without even an angry snort. Then Nehemiah left the deck and went down to tea, and the Philadelphia hung tenderly to her mooring lines. 2 There are some things a ‘‘mustang’’ can do apparently not mastered at the United States Naval Academy, and one of them is to dock a ship without plunging into the appropriation for repairs. challenge to test them in an international ion. m"]'."!‘\?aémefican people are ready to fol- low their Government in. any sacrifice necessary to the national dignity and honor. Surely they are also ready to up- hold its honor by avoiding the temptation to break its treaty obligations and violate principles of internallo%a:!t\aw 'w{xlic')‘l it a d ou; 0 maintain. has established an §0HN BATRISIL Oakland, Feb. 22, 1898. CENTRAL AMERICA FRIENDLY. Editor of San Francisco Call—Dear Sir: As a regular reader of your esteemed newspaper allow me to correct a state- ment made in to-day’s Issue concerning the alienating of the Latin republics in ntral and South America. Allow me to ure you that Spain would find very or territory-to work in this direction in America. These States have a PO “entral | shown their great sympathy for the Unit- ed States on more than one occasion. I only recall to you the late award of Unit- ed States General Alexander in the San Juan River question, between Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Your article would read well,however, if referring to South Amer- ica exclusively. Yours respectfully, F. W. DIECKMANN, From Costa Rice: San Francisco, Fel 1898 —_—ee WISE MOMMSIEN AND WOMANKIND. That was a truly diplomatic answer of Professor Mommsen, the Roman his- torian, to the question recently addressed | to the artists and authors of Europe by Budapesti Napoli: “What manner of will the twentieth century Said Professor Mommsen: 'The women of the nineteenth century have given me so much food for thought that 1 have no room for her of the twen- tieth.”—New York Evening Sun. Cal. glace fruit 50c per ib at Townsend's.* st Vet Dol aiileiiid Genuine eyeglasses, specs; 15c up. 33 4th chidlihori (o U ol Specfal information supplied daily to business houses and public men by the Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’s), 510 Mont- gomery street. Telephone Maln 1042. * — e Mark Twain is very popular with the Viennese. He gave a public reading in Vienna two weeks ago, and the hall was not large enough to hold the people will~ ing to pay $ to listen to him, and the reading was in English, too. > e e — “Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup” Has been used over fifty vears by millions of mothers for their children while Teething with perfect success. It soothes the child, softens the gums, allays Pain, cures Wind Colic, reg- ulates the Bowels and is the best remedy for Diarrhoeas, Whether arising from teething or other causes. For sale by Druggists in every part of the world. “Be sure and ask for Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup. Zc a bottle. —_——— CORONADO.—Atmosphere is perfectly dry, soft and mild, being entirely free from the mists common further north. Round trip tickets, by steamship, including fiteen days’ board at the Hotel del Coronado, $65; longer stay, $2 50 per day. Apply 4 New Montgomery street, San Francisco, or A. W. Bailey, man- ager, Hotel del Coronado, late of Hotel Colo- rado, Glenwood Springs, Colorado. —_———— Don't forget Waller Bros. Gift Day, Feb. 2, 1898. 33 Grant avenue, corner Geary street. e TWO YEARS FOR REFORM. There are only two years left ‘of this nineteenth century, considered the most brilliant period in the history of civiliza- tion, discovery and invention, and yet ade crossings, overhead wires and cob- lestones are holding their own against criticism and protests. The century ought not to end with this trio of antique nui- Tances still in control.—Baltimore Amer- can. ADVERTISEMENTS. Coughs and colds need not be emdured; they can be cured, and that quickly. Many mixtures are tem- porary in effect, but Scott’s Emulsion of Cod-liver Oil with Hypophosphites is a permanent remedy. The oil feeds the blood and warms the body; the hypophosphites tone up the nerves; the glycerine soothes the inflamed throat and lungs. The combination cures. 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