Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 June 1900 — Page 2

Captain Brabazon

BY B. M. CROKER

fl ./Aili tapy • gou fi»iea

CHAPTER XIX.-(Continued.) | Poor Mias Jane had felt her nephew’* death acutely, more than anyone would Aare believed. The few daye he had spent with her had entirely reinstated him fa her good grace*. She liked him for jhlmaelf; he was gentler, more consider ate, and more manly, than the old, trou-, ibleaome Teddy; and he evoked a memjory which endeared him to her especially, lor he seemed to link old memories of the fast to realities of the present. A memory, notably, of a smart young officer of tight dragoons, whose presence she recalled by his soldierly figure, his clinkSapor* and his off-hand manners and handsome face. This officer's epistlea, on large letter paper, written in faded ink, were treasured up, along with a wriniatnre, in the most secret recesses of Mia* Jane’s bureau ; also a lock of brown (hair, the very self-same shade as Teddy’s. The smart young dragoon might have been a burly, stout, red-faced squire by this time, discussing shorthorns and turnips, addicted to snubbing his wife, had he lived. But be had not; he had died, saber in hand, on a far-away Sikh battlefield, and a halo of romance and regret forever enshrined his memory. Time works wonders. Who can stand him? Esme baa bowed to fate at last. She has even, in a way, become to Teddy's death. She can .speak of it now quite calmly; for have I** three months elapsed since the day of that fatal foray, and as yet no letter has come from Captain Brabazon, and she - feels more drawn to him than ever now —for her dead brother is a bond between them. Did not Teddy die in Miles’ arms, with him alone beside him? She makes every excuse that a fertile brain can contrive for his unlooked-for silence. How (eagerly does she scan the mail news. How early she is down the morning the South African post is due, and she is always disappointed. Even ruthless Mrs. Braba®on herself feels a little pang of remorse* aa, la answer to an unspoken appeal, she say*. with a smile, “Nothing for you, my dear, this morning,” and then there is another long week to get through; “but it will come, will surely come,” she tells herself, bravely. There are so many things that may have happened. The mails have ’been lost, stolen or seized by the Boers. The camp may be now beyond postal communication. She reads with blanched cheeks of the battles. Miles was there; (but Miles is safe, his name is not among the killed or wounded. Still he may — Kt ill And with thoughts and speeulaona of a more or less gloomy complexion does she torture herself through seven days more.

Then the house is full of a subdued, ihot busy, bustle, for Gussie is going to Ibe married: It is to be a very quiet wedding, she tells everybody, apologetically, land “Fred is so anxious to be back for the cab-hunting.” The.trousseau.is uiagjsitieent, though man) of ti. dresses are •f a mourning type—the pretty lavenders and grays, and black and white tnlle*. The presents are numerous and costly, as has been previously stated. The wedding takes place without the smallest hitch in the program, one lovely Septeinber morning. There was no waiting .bride, no missing bridegroom, this time. Mr. Vashon, looking very red, and very ■ervous, was awaiting his extremely selftpouesaed little bride for fully a quarter •f an hour. She came at last, escorted (by Flo, and followed by Esme, who was >early as white as her dress—Esme, who should have stood at that altar herself just one year ago. Her face was thin, haggard and woe-begone, her eyes bad lost their brilliancy, there were dork marks under them, and her lovely color had entirely faded from her cheeks. Truly people were beginning to whisper that the beautiful Miss Brabazon was now u positive wreck, and almost plain—being nothing more than a very thin, pale, dejected looking girl. Augusta made a charmfag bride and beamed and smiled graciously on all her friends, as she walked down the aisle on the bridegroom's arm. She drove away from the church to Bydord, and traveled by the mail up to London. Mr. Vashon, who had a shrinking horror of being recognized us a bridegroom, indignantly rejected the coupe which was tendered by an obsequious guard, and plunged, along with his Augusta, into a Pullman car full of other passengers. Alas, poor ostrich! little did your off-hand manner, or a newspaper, avail you. At the next station the beaming Miss Clipperions were in waiting, with an enormous white bridal bouquet. Qaaale saw them eagerly searching the carriages, and shuddered; she closed her eye*, to shut out, if possible, what was coming. It was this: Hatty Clipperion's •milmg face at the window, saying, “Oh, (there you are, Mr*. Vashon. We brought you this bouquet with our best, best nrisbes Be sure you send as a piece of Over Mr. Vashon's face and the faces •f the other passengers, permit us to drop k kindly veil.

CHAPTER XX. • What doe* thia picture convey to the Blind of even the most obtuse in such famttrrs? The acene before u* represent* tduli December afternoon, a leaden gray y, brown hedges, bare trees and damp aountry lane. The only bit of color in hhe landscape fa the scarlet coat of the hoong gentleman who, in splashy top Wools and.leathers, Is standing at the side jef the road with his horse's bridle over Jhia arm, while with the. other he cndeav■rs to" seise the band of a tall girl in Black. whose face is turned away in an •ppoaite direction. i Emboldened by a wedding in the famfay, Mr. Hepburn thought that surely he ■night sow come forward and urge hie ■■it, hia courage permitting. He was very ■nach in love, .and had more than once fares on the point of asking the all-im-■ortaat question, when his courage failed sass; and all the way home subsequently, ■nd until the next occasion when .he met |he object of bis adoration, be would rate

himself soundly for his cowardice, and pass valiant new resolutions “to do better next time!” But Miss Esme was so unaffected, so ready to accept him as a friend, and she looked him in the face so frankly and yet so innocently with her dark blue eyes, that his tongue remained tied. This particular afternoon fate had favored him. He was returning from hunting when, in turning the corner of a road, he suddenly came upon a girl in mourning. Now was his time. Now or never! he said to himself imperatively, and trotting hastily forward before his courage had time to cool, he jumped off his horse and accosted her warmly. She looked, as she always did, pleased to see him, and questioned him eagerly about the run, about the people who were out; but he quickly cut short all her queries by an abrupt question of his own. “Never mind the hunt now, I want to ask you something,” he said, becoming exceedingly red and miserable looking, “and I’m shot if I know how to put it. Do you know why I have been so much over at your place lately?” beating his boot' with his hunting-crop as he spoke. "Oh, yes,” she replied, unhesitatingly. “Of course I do,” her mind at curring to his friendship for Teddy, and* his sympathy in their trouble. “Of course I know, and it has been very kind of you.” Mr. Hepburn stared at her in silence for nearly a minute, and then said, “I don't believe you understand what 1 mean; though. I think might have noticed it. I’ve been going to see you all along, and no one else. The more 1 see of you the more I like you. And — and—my father and mother and I—want to know—if you will marry me. I’m not a bud fellow, and I’m awfully fond of you.” It was now Esme's turn to stare at him in blank amazement. “Don’t talk to me in this way,” she said Impatiently. “You are making fan; you are not in earnest.” j “I should think I was in earnest. And I hope you like me, even a little, Esme,” venturing her name rather shyly. “I do, I always did, as Teddy’s friend, but now—now—you have spoiled it all.” “Can’t you like me as something more than a friend of Teddy’s?” appealing to her with a wistful face, and endeavoring ; to possess himself of her hand. “No, I can be nothing more than a friend to you always,” she replied, ignoring his hand, and stepping back two paces, perilously near the edge of a ditch. I “And why? why? Tell me the reaj son.” “You know the reason,” she returned, now averting her face, which had borrowI ed its complexion from his scarlet coat, j “You have heard,” she proceeded, in a : still lower voice, “of my cousin Miles?” I “Yes, but I don’t mind a bit,” very ' eagerly, and quite niiaund s tanding her ' meaning. "He treated you vilely. He was a confounded—-” “Stop, stop, before you say anything more,” cried'Esme, “and listen to what 1 have to tell you.” And thereupon, with rapid, almost incoherent, utterances, and faltering breathless sentences, she told the whole story of Teddy's secret and of Miles' mistake—a tale which the young man beside her heard with sinking heart and remarkable and various changes of countenance. When she brought her story to a close he put this one abrupt and crucial question: “And you like him still?” “Yes,” in a very low voice. “And would marry him after all?” ‘“Yes,” in a whisper. “Then there is no more to be said,” giving his innocent horse an angry chuck of the bridle. “Of course, if I had known I wouldn’t have made such an awful fool of myself," turning away with ill-assumed dignity. "You are angry with me,” said Esme, tearfully, "and I don’t know what I am to say to you,” detaining him by a gesture. “If I had known or dreamed of this, of course 1 would have told you; but I never dreamed of it, and now I suppose,” with trembling lips, “you will hate me, and never be friends with me again?” Mr. Hepburu was very much ent up; but at the same time he had a soft heart, and to see a very pretty girl with large tears in her eyes, deploring the less of his friendship, considerably cooled his indignation, and he hastened to assure her that when he had got over it a bit he would still be her friend. Of course it was a facer. But he was not such a dog in the manger as to grudge the other fellow what he could not have himself. “I don't understand it, you know, not a bit; for Mrs. Brabazon told the mater that you never had cared a straw for him, nor be for you. It was all a question of money, and you know, Esme, 1 can give you heaps of that. The governor said he'd let us start with five thousand a year. He is very much taken with you himself ” “I don’t care for money,” said the young lady, hastily. “Mrs. Brabazon was quite wrong. I was not going to marry Mlles foC’money, nor he me, and I would be proud to marry him without a shilling.” “And live on love," suggested Mr. Hepburn, whose heart was still very sore Indeed, and could not refrain from this one gibe. Esme colored painfully, and was about to make some angry retort when he added: "Forgive me. I cannot help it. I envy that Miles of yours. He Is a lucky fellow. It s not every pretty girl in these days that says she doesn't core for thousands a year, and will take a chap without a penny. Well,” with one foot now in the stirrup, holding out«his hand, wringing her fingers in a vlselike grasp. “What can't be cured must be t-ndured,” taking off his hat to her as he truism; afid in another moment he was trotting away down the road on his brown hunter, leaving Esme alone. 'There ar* some things cannot be hid,

especially from a lynx-eyed lady, such as Mrs. Brabazon. Mr. Hepburn's Infatuation for her stepdaughter was one of them. She was alarmed about a week later to casually overhear at an afternoon tea that “young Hepburn had sent his hunters up to Tattersall's and was going abroad immediately, to Nice or Monte Carlo.” What did it mean? Had he proposed or not? She must see Esme about it at once, and her mind was in a perfect ferment of impatience till she reached home and rang for Nokes to send Mis* Brabazon to her in her own room as soon as possible. Esme was soon on the spot. “Shut, the door,” said her stepmother the instant she appeared, “and come over here. I wish to speak to you. I want to ask you a question,” she proceeded, looking fixedly at her stepdaughter. “I heard to-day that young Hepburn had suddenly sent all hie hunters up to Tattersall’s and gone abroad. Perhaps you know it means? Can you tell me the reason of this unaccountable conduct?” “I? I, Mrs. Brabazon?” stammered Esme, faintly. “Why should you ask me?” “Come, come, this fencing is no use. The man was bead over ears in love with you. Is it possible that he has gone away without speaking?" she asked in a tone of resentful wonder. To this she received no answer. Esme sat quite still, her eyes glued on one particular pattern in the carpet, and tnade no reply. However, she had become extremely and painfully red. “He proposed to you, 1 see. And when?” demanded Mrs. Brabazon, authoritatively. “Last week,” returned Esme, in a low voice, not daring to raise her eyes. “And what did you say, might 1 be permitted to ask?” proceeded Mrs. BrabaI zon in convulsive tones. |"1 said—no!" replied Esme, scarcely I daring to speak above her breath. “You said no!” almost screamed her stepmother, now rising to her feet. "Said no, to the heir to twenty-five thousand a year, to the finest emeralds in England! Oh!” casting her bonnet on the bed with ■ sueh furious impetus that it rolled off it at the other side, “I can’t believe it. You could not—not be so wicked. It is impossible.” To this harangue Esme made no reply, evidently she had been quite capable of, this outrageous deed. After glaring at her down-faced companion for some seconds Mrs. Brabazon said hoarsely: “I should like to know what you said to him, and why you refused him; in fact, I insist upon hearing your reasons,” demanded the lady, with a lurid gaze. Visions of her beautiful castle in the air, her stepdaughter’s high position in the county, and her own increased importance, were now dispersing like mists before the sun. “Your reason, miss, at once,” with an imperious gesture. “My reason was,” returned Esme, tremulously, “was—was-because of Miles!” “Because of Miles! Forsooth, and a pretty reason! Do you mean to say you would hold to your engagement still, and marry him if he would have you, you idiot?” "I would,” rejoined the victim, firmly, raising her eyes now for the first time. "And what would you say if Miles would not have anything to do with you? What would you say if you were told that, now the money was gone, Miles was not such a fool as to marry a girl without a penny? What would you say if Miles broke off the match?” “I would simply say nothing, for I would not believe it,” returned Esme, also rising, and casting a tall, pale reflection into a mirror in an opposite wardrobe. “I suppose If you saw it in his own handwriting you would believe it. Seeing is believing. Will that convince you?” taking a letter from her desk and handing It to Esme. (To be continued.)

And Schaefer Settled.

Wizard Jake Schaefer, the expert bllliardist, is known as one of the greatest jokers iu the business. Some time ago Mr. Schaefer was lounging in an uptown billiard room. Business was dull, but a pompous chap came in tuid asked the proprietor to get some one who was “pretty good" to play with him for an hour or two. The wink waa “tipped" to the “wizard” and he was introduced, but purposely his name was mumbled so that the gentleman did not catch it. Mr. Schaefer and his new acquaintance commenced play, the latter graciously allowing tho expert to choose tho game. “Jake” won every game by a few points. The style of billiards was changed, but at straight rail, cushion caroms or balkline the “wizard” invariably finished in the lead. Realizing that he had met a “pretty good player” the gentleman asked: “Beg pardon, but I did not understand your name.” “It’s Schaefer,” answered the “wizard.” The other laughed: “Well, that’s a good one; mine is Ives—Frank C. Ives." They kept on playing and the bar bill grew to goodly proportions. Then the pompous chap said he would play one more game and then quit But before beginning the last game he excused himself for a moment, and as no particular attention was paid to his movements, the roomkeepr still has the bill on his alate as a reminder of the “little Joke.” —New York World.

Why?

He—Why are women afraid of mice; the little things can't hurt them? She—Why are men afraid of pink dragons and green snakes that they think they see in their boots'sometimes? The things are only Imaginary and they know they can’t hurt them!— New York World.

Prudent Man.

“No, 1 never take the newspaper home; I’ve got a family of grown-up daughters, you know.” "Papera too full of crime, eh?” “No; too full of bargain sales."—Collier’s Weekly. American college libraries contain 6,750,000 volumes, of which Harvard has 500,000, Chicago University. 850,000, Columbia 275,000 and Cornell 225,000. A man may smile and smile and ba b dentist still.

G. O. P. IN CONGRESS.

iSOME NEFARIOUS MEASURES HAVE BEEN PASSED. Brief Liat of Things Republicans Have Done and Other Thing* Which They Failed to Do—The Administration’s Philippine Policy. Washington correspondence: “We have done those things which we ought not to have done and have left undone the things we- ought to have done.” That is’’ the confession which the Republicans of th® Fiftyislxth Congress should make of the session just brought to an end. Here is a brief list of the things they Wive done: » They have passed the tingle gold standard bill, which repudiates lhe money of the Constitution xbd the Republican pledge of 189 G to wiltk for the rehabilitation of bimetallism. By the same bill the national bonder.’ debt was extended for thirty years ami the power of the national banks Indefinitely Increased. They have passed the Porto Rican tariff 1,111. It violates the honor and.pledged /aith of the United States to the Porte. Ricans. It st-zAHies the declared pol.cy of President McKinley and every 'eiuler of the itepublicatj party, and did violence to the sentiment of the people regardiesi' of party. They forced through Congress the armor plate grab whereby the armor plate trust will make a profit of £7.<»00.000, itnd whereby Mnffc Hanna’* campaign fund will be enriched to the extent of a ten per cent, rtke-off. They provided for the (spending of $50,000,000 on new naval vessels in face of a declaration not successfully contradicted, that one big shlp-bulldinff firm alone gave $400,000 io the Republican campaign fund with the expectation of being reimbursed by fat naval contracts under favorable terms, Th*/ hfi-e been guilty of the mo?t reckless extravagant e in appropriations !j every direction From a total of 8515. 000,000 for the fiscal year of 1890’97, the last on. affected by a Democrat® administration, the apprnpriat’ons havt been swollen to $709,000,000 ffiT the current fiscal year. These enormous fig ures do not include the usual approprl ation for river and harbor Work, for public buildings, or. for the $50,000,000 worth of naval work authorised, or cf any portion of the $140,000,000 whictl will be covered by the Nicaragua canfil bill, which still rests on the Senate calendar. But it does carry an increase of over $90,000,000 over ordinary arnry expenditures, an increase of over $31%000,000 in ordinary naval expenditure and an increase of over $32,900,000 *.n /sundry civil expenditures; and thft reckless extravagance in app“opriatict> can hardly"keep pace with the reefr less, prodigal and even criminal extravagance and corruption In expenditure. Like the daughter of the horse leech, the huge army of tax-eaterK corruptionists, favored contractors and sopil> anen cry, “More, more.” Things Left Undone. The Republicans have left undone nearly -everything of vital iirportancf to the people.’ They passed an antitrust bill through the Housb, which, with Democratic amendments forqed upon it, received the practically unanimous vote of all parties in that branch. But when it reached the Senate, despite the umost efforts of the Democrats to secure consideration, the bill was sett by a solid Republican vote Into committee, from which it will never emergn. The bill was proposed by thd IlepubV* cans solely for campaign purposes, attf without the slightest purpose of evßr letting it become a law. The Nicaragua canal bill pissed the House by an overwhelming non-parti-san vote, but In the Senatf the l‘r.cific railroad lobby tied up thff measure and it slumbers on the calendar. la both House and Senate resolutions eff sympathy with the Boer republics la their struggle for Independence Introduced, but In each body the retjolutlons were overwhelmed and suppressed under direct orders from tte White House. Efforts were made sh both bodies to secure the InvjstlgaHon of the numerous charges of fraud ufd misconduct of government officials ’n every branch of the service during t?e past three years, but In every Instance save one the resolutions were either fofeated or postponed of consideration until too late to be given effect. In one Instance aloue was ti thorough Investigation had. The arbitrary t’ke of the military In the Coeur d’Alet’es to suppress organized labor was investigated by the military affairs committee of the House, and the testimony given under oath was so damnatory In its character to the administration tint every effort was made on lhe part of the majority of the committee ns well as by the majority of the House to suppress the testimony and prevent its reaching the public. Representative Lentz of Ohio made a gallant struggle to secure the printing of 10,000 cqfles of this testimony, so that It could be distributed among the labor unions And other bodies which were equally Interested in the investigation and harf requested copies of the report, but his utmost efforts were unavailing. The Republicans have gathered In and destroyed or secreted nearly every fopy of the testimony which had to be printed for the use of the committee. Thousands of tons of trash are printed every year by the Government >.o find dls|>osltlon In junk shops, hot this vitally important report to every laboring man In the country could nd? b* permitted to see the Hg|it of day. Were on the Program. Certain other measurer stood Upou the Republican program, but failed to pass Congress for various reasons. Tho •I ministration sought by every mean*

in its power to secure the adoption of the Hay-Pauncefote treaty in the Senate, which would have given to Great Britain, with her enormous fleet, practical nayal control of the Nicaragua canal. But public sentiment came out so strongly against the surrender that the treaty was permitted to sleep. The ship subsidy bill failed for a similar reasoin. Its purpose was plain enough to enable a few’’wealthy shipbuilders and steamship owners to further increase their already enormous profits, and at the same time contribute the usual ten per cent rake-off to Mark Hauna's corruption fund. But the growl from the public was too ominous and consideration was postponed until next winter. The army reorganization bill was also abandoned, although the administration urged its adoption to the last, because Speaker Henderson bluntly told the President that its adoption would lose the Republicans twenty congressional seats In the middle West alone, the country not yet being prepared for militarism. It is safe to assert that every nefarious proposition which lias been postponed until next winter will be then adopted if McKinley wins at the polls In November. Should Bryan win they will be abandoned, as the Democrats of the Senate will hold them up If it takes until the fourth of March to do It. Our Philippine Policy. On the arrival of the Philippine com-, mission at Manila, Judge Taft, on behalf of the commission, proceeded to announce ti e Intentions of the administration (is to its future policy in dealing with tlti Islands. In effect Judge Taft announced that the administration has no definite Philippine policy, except to continue the war Indefinitely. The commission has no authority to make any material pledges to the insurgents. In fact. Judge Tfift stated the commission would have nothing to do with those Filipinos In arms. Nor would the Filipinos be justified In relying upon the commission should it make them pledges as to their future government. Any pledges made would need the sanction of the President and the possible concurrence of Congress. Gen. Miles pledged the people of Porto Rico that they would be given the same rights and privileges as held by our territories under the constitution, bv.t Mr. McKinley and the Republican majority in Congress brushed the pledges aside at the dictation of the sugar and tobacco trusts. Pledges and “fflain duty” counted for naught. As Lar as the Filipinos are concerned the administration has nothing definite to offer them. They are invited to surrender, with the understanding that they will get what it may please the administration to grant them. They may be ruled by a military dictator, or by carpetbaggers, or the Government may be turned over to a syndicate. And yet there are soma people who are unable to understaqri why the Filipinos decline to lay down their arms and accept that Indefinite measure of liberty that Mr. McKinley has in store for them.—Milwaukee News. ; McKinley’* War on Religion. Tie protest of Monsignor Sbarrettl against the decree of Gen. Brooke, declaring that civil marriages only should be recognized by law, will make an impression on everyone not animated by hatred of all religion. “Catholics and Protestants alike," he declared, “capiplaln because they were obliged to perform one ceremony to satisfy the law and another ceremony to satisfy their consciences. To this neither Cubans nor Americans were accustomed. What is now asked Is the marriage regulations generally obtaining in the United States, where. In this as In all things else, is allowed the greatest personjil freedom consistent with public sa f«ty.” The bigotry which would Inspire such a decree is inconceivable; the stupidity which would adopt the suggestion and formulate it Into enactment is equally amazing. It contravened not only the laws and immemorial customs of Cuba, but the laws and customs of the United States, where religious marriages are vaUd and sufficient, without any civil ceiwmony. It showed a deliberate and obitlnatfc purpose to goad and excite the. Cubans, and It is making enemies tot the United States throughout Spanish America, where we ought to have frUnds. The revelations of misgovernment, corruption and religious oppression in Cuba are being carefully noted by the Spanish-America ns, and are domijch to undo the excellent influence of American successes in the war with Spain. Even England has learned, of late years, not to meddle with the religtyus affair* of states and races subJeqj to her rule, and President McKinley, as an admirer of the English, profit by their example.- *-New York News. Where They Belong. it is reported that the Hawaiian planters class themselves with the llepnbllcan party of the United States in politics. Of course, that’s where they The Hawaiian planters have Ivcn accustomed on their plantations tj the form of slavery known as contract labor, whereby the worker Is to servitude for a certain number of years, and finds himself, ns a rule, compelled by circumstances to renew his contract when his term expires. This means a degraded form of labor, Irrespective of race or color, to which the Democratic party Is utterly opposed, but which is right In Hue with Republican policy, and the plans of tru*t and monopolies, fostered and protected by the Republican party. The degradation of American labor Is as much a principle of Republicanism as protection for the American M*onop-

olist. Nothing would suit the Republican party better than to have the white workingman reduced to a condition of servitude similar to that of the yellow workingman tn Hawaii; and the planters in our Pacific possessions naturally link themselves with thepoUtical organization which favors the system they would like to maintain. A Reactionary Period. The student who tracgs the- history of Republicanism through the ages rill not fail to note the reactionary tendency at the close of the nineteenth century. He will look In vain for a sign that the old love of independence which was so conspicuous as the century was coming in was still burning. He will turn to the living and prosperous republics to gather from the official records some evidence that Republicanism was tjie common cause of all lib-, erty lovers. He will find no such evidence. He will read upon the records of the old and proud monarchies proof that in the courts of Europe the destruction of young republics caused unbounded delight. The black page will not be illuminated by any record that in nny republic anywhere there was any protest against the assassination of Republicanism. But the cause of human liberty is not lost because of a few reverses. Nations come and go. but the principles of equality and justice remain unchanged. That which was right in 1770 has not become wrong in 1900. The inalienable rights of man are not modified by the color of his skin or obliterated because he happens to live in a distant continent or on an isolated Island. The making and unmaking of nations is but an Incident In the onward march of civilization.—Sioux Falls Press. A Prodigal Congress. The Republican party once suffered an overwhelming defeat because a Republican Congress had expended a billion of dollars during the two years Tor wlilch It "made” annual TppfoprfiF’ tions. The Fifty-sixth Congress during is first session has set a pace in the matter of expenditures which makes the repudiated billion-dollar Qongress a model of economy in comparison. The appropriations made during the session just closed, and which do not include a river and harbor bill, reach over $700,000,000. If this rate is maintained during the final session the present Congress will earn the sobriquet of the bllllon-and-a-half Congress.— Philadelphia Times. Ammunition for the Democrat*. Will the ghosts of the murdered South African republics furnish a less “telling cry” than their living, struggling forms would have offered if the war had dragged on? We do not know how much capital the Democrats could have made out of the South African business if the brave fight for the independence of the Boers bad been prolonged, but, whatever its measurement might have been, we doubt if it will be reduced one iota by the fact that the fate of the republics no longer impends, but lias become a reality.—Washington Post. Brother Abner. As we draw nearer to the Presidential campaign it is to be observed that Brother Abuer, who has from time to time filled the public eye. modestly withdraws himself from publie observation and even declines to talk to the newspaper reporters. Yet Brother Abner is a great and good man. Why should not he continue to enlighten the public, even though carping critics might call attention to the circumstance that he is now wallowing in luxury while four years ago he couldn’t get credit for a 25-ceut meal?—Chicago Chronicle. Nothing New in the Situation. The administration organs are, making much ado over the statement that Kansas farmers canuot get help enough to harvest their crops and are ascribing the fact to McKinley prosperity. It is the same old story, however—nothing new. From time Immemorial thousands of people have been idle in cities, while the Western farmers could not get help enough to harvest their crops. “McKinley prosperity” has nothing to do with the case.’—Syracuse Telegram. Indiana’* Democratic Leader. In Mr. Kern the Democrats nominated probably their strongest man. He is a creditable candidate withal. He lias strength of character, a fine executive mind, is a lawyer of conceded ability, a popular speaker of force and a mau oCfedecislon. He has courage. He Is clean and upright. He is in the prime of life.—lmlanapolis News. If They Had Been Honest. Had the majority in Cougress been sincere they could easily have legislated against the trusts iu the early days of the session, when geuuine anti-trust legislation could have passed both houses and been signed by the President without delay. No effective antitrust legislation has been intended.— St. Ix>uls Post-Dispatch. Exterminating the Filipino*. Our scheme of benevolent assimilation Is proceeding in the Philippines. It is estimated that we have killed 15,000 of them since We began to try to subdue them. At this rate we could succeed in exterminating them in a few hundred years if they would only stop being born.—Atlanta Journal. Cannot Find What They Reek. Tho Republicans are looking in vain for the lack of harmony in the Democratic ranks which they are fain to believe exists. The party of McKinley and Hanna is basing all its hope* of success on a divided ene/ny. and it is disappointed already.—Peoria HeraldTraoscript