Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 April 1895 — CURRENT COMMENT. [ARTICLE]

CURRENT COMMENT.

Echoes of Foot-Ball. ! Now that the football season is over th* barbers ought to have a rich harvest.— Kansas City Times. It is greatly to be feared that Congress will prove a poor substitute for football as a topic of conversation.—Omaha Bee. It may not be necessary to suppress football as a game but certainly the brutal features which now characterize it should be suppressed.—New York World. The. opinions of football experts show that football can easily be made a game of skill instead of a competition in brutality. The rules must be so changed as to bring this about or football as a college sport is doomed.—New York World. Walter Camp, whois -called the father of American football, has no hair whatever on the top of his head. Considering the football style of hair it is difficult to see how Mr. Camp worked his way up in the business.—St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The future existence of American intercollegiate footbq.il is at stake. Unless umpires devoid of cowardice and able to see each play as it is made can be found football is about to degenerate into met® pugilism and plug-uglyism, a brutal display of rough-and-tumble fighting such as may sometimes be seen in the Bowery dives of New York, and respectable colleges and universities will be forced by public opinion to prohibit the sport.—Boston Advertiser. Armenian Massacres. Those Armenian horrors, if true, show that the unspeakable Turk is still unspeakable.—Baltimore American. Such a story coming from the heart of Africa would hardly be credible, but the incidents occurred on the immediate frontier, at least, of civilization.—lndianapolis News. Every statesman interested in maintaining the peace of Europe has probably 1 felt that the match had been touched at last to the powder magazine. The massacres reported near Bitlis, in eastern Turkey, force the Armenian question to the front.—Philadelphia Press. The details of wholesale slaughter and violence, which it is claimed have resulted in the total destruction of twenty or thirty villages, are sickening beyond the power of expression and indicate a reign of violent bigotry .that should not be tolerated anywhere within the realms of civilization.—Philadelphia Times. Maybe Nicholas will be more pliable than Alexander and will consent to a united protest to which England shall be a party. Should this be done the Sujtan would probably bestir himself to ’Ve these Armenians the peace which is their right, for fear of more severe pressure from these powers.—Springfield Republican. , t

New York’s Bank Robbery. The defaulting bookkeeper of the Shoe and Leather Bank didn’t drink, smoke or chew. He was simply a thief without trimmings.—Washington Post. The question which the defalcation at the Shoe and Leather Bank has suggested to everybody is, Why the inspection of the books which revealed the fraud was not made sooner.—New York Post. If the Shoe and Leather Bank of New York City had taken some lessons from the Syracuse banks, it would not now ba mourning the loss of more than a third of a million dollars. —Syracuse Post. If you own a national bank, you had better take it home and tie it up in your back yard over night, or the seventeenth assistant bookkeeper or fourteenth vice messenger may get it away from you.— New York World. The latest bank defalacation is of sufficient proportions to direct the attention of bank officials to their bookkeepers, as well as to their cashiers and tellers. * * * The lesson here taught is a useful one, but it is rather expensive.—Boston Herald.

Li Hung Chang’s Wealth. It appears, at least by report, that Li Hung Chang is a man of some versatility. He’s crazy, a traitor and 500 times a millionaire. —Boston Journal. Li Hung Chang is reputed worth $500,000,000. Any reasonable Chinese tailor should have no fears in taking his order for another chrysanthemum figured robe. —Washington Times. The Tacoma man who says Li Hung Chang has stolen $500,000,000, and adds that he is a traitor and is crazy, seems to be under the impression that Li is running for aiderman. —Boston Herald. It is said that Li Hung Chang is worth $500,000,000. One has an opportunity of acquiring wealth as viceroy of China which is possessed by no other individual outside the New York police force.—Boston Globe. And now they tell us that Li Hung Chang is worth $500,000,000. We can, therefore, readily believe the accompanying statement that he is the chief of a sort of celestial Tammany hall, but the further allegation that he is of unsound mind hardly consists' with reason or common sense. —Boston Transcript.

The New Czar’s Manifesto. If the young man fulfills these early promises nihilism and bomb-making will become lost arts in the nation and “Darkest Russia” will be known as “Brightest Russia.” —Kansas City Star. The official declarations and personal utterances of the new Czar have all indicated a purpose to substitute toleration for oppression, wise clemency for ferocious cruelty. —Cleveland Plain Dealer. It means that the rancor and bitterness of years long past are to be at least partially atoned for and an opening made for an era of good will and kindness between Czar Nicholas and the Russians.—Ohio State Journal. He is in the unfortunate position of a man with unlimited power for mischief and very limited power for good. But his manifesto is an encouraging indication that he means to make the best use he can of these limited powers.—New York Times. Unless the manifesto of the Russian Czar is only a preface. for reforms to come it is a disappointment. The concessions to the peasantry and mitigations of penalties inflicted upon political offenders are of little consequence. They do not go to the root of the wrongs which afflict the people of Russia.—New York Press. Monetary Reform. . All the signboards indicate that the money question will be the great issue in 189 G Commercial. History repeats itself. Are we to have overagainthe old arguments about United States banks?—Cincinnati Enquirer. The issuance of more bonds proves the utter inability of the present financial system when put to severe tests.—Nashville American. The first and most important step toward the reform of our currency is to take all banking business away from the Government; the rest is merely a matter of arranging details.—Providence,Journal Rev. R. B. Corey, who was assaulted by Jbe Ryan at Gregory, Mo., is dead. Ryan, who created a disturbance in shurcti, and was reproved by the minister, waylaid Corey as be came out of church, beating him ovei the head with ltotj