Rensselaer Republican, Volume 25, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 April 1893 — TOPICS OF THESE TIMES. [ARTICLE]

TOPICS OF THESE TIMES.

RITSSIAV BYTT.F., Ths horrible story recently cabled from Russia giving details of the fate of a band of nearly 300 prisoners who perished in a snow storm while en route to their destination in Siberia where they had been sentenced for various offenses—largely political—is calculated to weaken the efforts which have been made by emissaries of the, Czar to gain the good will of the American people. The harshness of a sentence to Siberian exile is well understood. When to this is added the hardships of a forced march in midwinter, with all the added dangers of a rigorous climate, the barbarity arises to the importance of a crime against common humanity for which the authorities' of Russia must be held responsible by the civilized world. The spectacle of women and children, footsore, weary and despondent—needlessly exposed to the fury of an arctic winter to gratify the tyrannical edicts of a half-civilized sovereign whose slightest whims are stronger than all written law, will raise in the minds of the American people serious doubts as to whether, after all, the recent treaty with that country by the United States granting extradition for political offenses was not a mistake. In a land where such atrocities are permitted or are possible, it would seem that a higher law than is customary among civilized nations should rule, and that we should say to all who may be so fortunate as to escape the clutches of the mighty tyrant: “Come unto us and you shall be safe from all your past offenses, be they plot intrigue or murder. Here you shall have a city of refuge, and your wrongs no more shall drive you to a maniac's revenge.” It is nowin order for Dr. Talmage to indorse the Czar and his lieutenants, ,and paint in glowing words, as only Talmage can, the beauties of despotism and the magnificence of imperial rule. He should tell us of the wonders of the palaces, the kindliness of the royal family, the urbanity of the Czar, the splendors of the capital, and impart a roseate coloring of some kind to this gruesome picture of men, and women and children, chained together and in irons like so many beasts of burden, driven on and on and on over bleak and frozen and barren plains, till strength and reason has fled, with bleeding feet still painfully pushing onward to a hopeless goal, goaded by brutal guards with whips and thongs, until at last the heavens with more mercy cover their stiffened forms with one common shroud and the awful struggle is over.

The friends of Irish home rule in America continue to solicit aid for the cause in this country, while the current of public sympathy in the United States is overwhelmingly with Gladstone and the movement of which he is the leading champion. And yet cable dispatches tell us that the Ulsterites in Ireland are so violently opposed!*) the measure'which we on this side of the water had supposed was the one great desire of the Irish heart, that actual war and bloodshed is feared in that part of Ireland should the Gladstone Home Rule bill become the law of the land and be enforced, and that the government is even now preparing to quell any disturbance by force of arms that may be inaugurated by bellicose Irishmen who seem determined to make the worst of all situations, and whose cheif happiness, it would seem, is in being in opposition to the hated Englishman, even when he may be trying to ameliorate the condition of the race he has so long held in subjection, and righting somo the great wrongs of the past. Such conduct will go far to weaken the sympathy of Americans with the Irish race, but if it is necessary for the establishment of a better form of government in Ireland to break a few Irish heads, the present occasion is opportune, and all lovers of liberty will hope for the success of the Home Rule bill, even if it has to be established at the point of the bayonet.

Many of the European countries are torn with dissensions. In those governments where the popular will can make itself felt through legislative action great excitement over a variety of questions prevails. In France the Panama scandal has stirred the people as nothing has ever done before. In Germany the discussion of the Army bill seems likely to retire Chancellor Caprivi to private life. In England the Home *Rule bill is creating a first class row which all classes have become interested. But the countries without constitutions like Russia, Turkey, China, Persia and India are not agitated in the least. Oh, no. Why should they be? One man settles

all questions of public policy without regard to public opinion, thus saving his^ub end of trouble, and insuring internal peaee, on the surface at least, in the domain of which he is master. Home rule does not cause a Russian to lay awake of nights, and the principal subject which occupies his thoughts is how to escape the notice of his beloved sovereign, while all his leisure time is devoted to laying plans for blowing the aforesaid sovereign to kingdom come with a premature blast of dynamite. Then there are those bellicose principalities in South America, where a political campaign always takes the form of a bloody revolution, who call themslves republics, yet are incapable of comprehending the true meaning of a republican form of government. Several of these alleged republics are at this time engaged in electing a new President and Cabinet and the effort is accompanied with the usual bloodshed. It is well for Americans to contemplate these foreign difficulties so that they may be able to more fully appreciate the blessings of the free, constitutional, democratic government under which they live.

THE CHOCTAW WAR. The bitter feud which culminated in the skirmish at Antlers, in the Choctaw Nation, a few days ago, hetween the National and Progressive parties, had its origin in the election held in the Indian Territory last August, When W. W. Jones was elected Governor. The Choctaw Nation is located in the southeast corner of the Indian Territory, and its government differs from the other civilized tribes. The Choctaws have been noted for their liberal treatment of freedmen, and while there are but 10,000 of this tribe on their reservation, twice as many aliens have been allowed to reside on their lands by a liberal system of permits. The race question has had an important influence in the formation of parties in the Territory, and while the line has been lax against intruders, there has been a desire to expel those who clearly had no right to remain. After the election of Jones in August last the result was disputed by the adherents of Jackson, his opponent, and during the contention a party of Nationals assassinated four Jones men. Civil war seemed imminent. Both sides flew to arms, and rival camps were established. Indian Agent Bennett ordered out his force of police, and gradually the excitement subsided on the understanding that the votes at the August election should be counted at the meeting of the National Council in October. The final decision was in Jones’s favor, but the partisan bitterness ftas not allayed. Some Nationalists had been arrested for the murder of Jones’s adherents and the Governor determined to make other arrests, and employed the National militia for this purpose. The encounter at Antlers took place as a result of the attempt to serve warrants for this purpose by Capt. Thompson, of the militia. Disputed elections are not a new experience among the civilized tribes, and it is Beneve'JlhaTThematteflvin>'riOTassume any serious proportions.

NEPOTISM. President Cleveland, if dispatches may be trusted, has emphatically refused to appoint any of his own relatives to office. The occasion of this ruling was the urgency with which a Congressman presented the claims of an office seeker, and added as a clincher, “He is a relative -of yours, Mr. President.” “That settles it,” said Grover, “I will appoint no relatives to office.” This decision will be approved by a majority of the people, and yet it is a hardship for the unfortunate relatives, who may be fully qualified to hold positions of honor and trust Public opinion is clearly wrong on this subject. A relation of a distinguished and successful man should not be disqualified for duties to which it is the right of all American citizens to aspire, simply because of their unfortunate relationship. More than that, a ttian who is so fortunate as tjp reach so great an elevation as the Presidency of the United States owes something to his own family—some consideration for the blood of his sires. “He that careth not for his own household is worse than the infidel," says the Scriptures. Nepotism, however people may rail at it, is to a reasonable extent an attractive trait in any public man. Love of kindred is commendable in all men, and all the more commendable in successful men.

Senator W. D. Washburn, of Minnesota, who has closely followed the course of events in financial .circles says: “The financial system is not in as bad a condition as Wall 1 street would have the world believe. Operators in Wall street have made such a howl about the silver question that it has not only alarmed the people oh this country, but the entire world."