Rensselaer Republican, Volume 25, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 August 1893 — TOPICS OF THESE TIMES. [ARTICLE]

TOPICS OF THESE TIMES.

THE BERING SEA ARBITRATION. Thc court of arbitration, to settle disputes between various governments—more especially England and the United States—as to the limits in which seal fishing may be indulged iu, in the Bering Sea, which has been in session at Paris for several months.has not reached a decision, but an agreement between England and Russia probably foreshadows m part the finding which will in the end be brought in. British vessels, under this - agreement, are not to hunt seals within 30 sea miles of the Commander Islands, or of 10 miles of the Russian mainland. This agreement also includes the North Pacific regions, as well as Boring Sea. Apparently this agreement is very favorable to a final decision of the board in favor of the United States, which has that deep sea killing of seals ought to be restricted even south of the chain of islands known as the Aleutian group. Thirty sea miles is nearly 35 statute miles, and the distance thus agreed upon by Great Britain for the protection of Russia’s island rookeries is 10 miles greater than that which she has proposed for the Pribylov group to the board of arbitration. Evidence continues to accumulate that the only hope of preventing the extermination of the fur-bearlhgl seal is the favorable decision of the board in granting all that has been claimed by the'United States. AN IMPENDING REVOLUTION. A correspondent of the New York Times writing from Topeka, Kansas, under date of July 20, gives details of a situation and*eondition of affairs that is alarming, and if the statements made shall in the near future be borne out by realized facts, the country may well wish that greater heed had been given to the signs in the West that for some time have been portentious of coming evil —of events fraught with danger and possible ruin to free government in the United States. The correspondent makes the startling statement that warlike preparations are actually in progress in that State that will attempt to override all law in behalf of what is termed the “starving class.” A slumbering volcano that is liable to break forth at any time is said to undermine the whole system of State and mun icipal government, and there are strong evidences of a conspiracy that will wreck the State and all its enterprises. Gov. Lewelling is charged with having incited the recent strike among the coal miners, and has pardoned numbers of the worst criminals, who have returned to their homes to be a terror to all who were instrumental in securing their imprisonment. Attorney-General Little, in a recent public and official utsaid that “men must live, and if the Nation by its policy makes stai’ving men, then the starving men will resort to anything.” The Governor has mustered into service two companies of cavalry , that have been secretly drilling for months,as a portion of the National Guard, and they will be equipped for actual service. The Governor has commissioned a colonel of an infantry regiment in direct violation of law, which piovides that the officer shall be elected by a vote, of the commissioned officers of the regiment, and it seems to be the pnrpose of the Governor to rem ove every officer who is a Democrat or Republican. Where military companies have a majority of members belonging to these parties they are being disbanded, and Populist' companies are being organized to take their places. There seems to be a concerted and determined effort by the Populists to gain control of the State government in all its branches. Eastern men are to be induced by every possible pretext to send as much money as possible into the State, and the next Legislature is expected to pass a bill suspending all collection laws, and giving all mortgagors indefinite time for payments, letting taxes accumulate as a lien agamst the mortgagee. Such statements seem foolish and irrational, but they are vouched for by reputable citizens —both Democrats and Republicans. Time alone can establish the truth of the matter, but there seems to be strong and undisputed evidence that Gov. Lewelling designs reorganizing the National Guard, so that it will be a Populist force armed for any emergency. The entire situation seems to be the outgrowth of the humiliating position into which the Governor was forced last winter in the adjustment of the difficulties between himself and the Legislature. The condition of affairs in Kansas seems to oe, much more seripus than pastern people realize. The correspondent has taken pains to interview of all parties, including the m ,st i,a .B®t>har*i

that there is a substantial foundation for the fears expressed. That t-berfe is a rebellion of some kind imminent seems certain, and it may be a bloody one. It will be if the present leaders retain tbeir control of the masses. THE SIAMESE WAR. Cable dispatches lately ' have brought very war like intelligence from the far East. The French government, as we gather the information, - has been trying a very large game of bluff on what it seems to regard as a comparatively weak power Not content with the great “advantages already granted to tfre" French traders on the Mekong river by the King of Siam, the avaricious Gaul seeks to gobble the whole porcine quadruped, and finding itself set at defiance blusters in a very threatening manner. The result of j the diplomatic fencing that may ensue cannot at this writing be foretold, but the probabilities are that France in case of war with the Siamese will find that it has bitten off more than it can conveniently masticate, and iU will find that the conversion of the Eastern barbarians to its way of thinking on the matters in dispute a very costly and all but ■ impossible undertaking. The Siamese, while comparatively uncivilized, are well armed and proficient in modern methods of warfare. They are hardy and courageous pghters, with the advantage of being acclimated. It has been estimated that for every dollar that it will cost the King of Siam to defend his country it will cost the French SIO,OOO to make an attack. Blockade of the, ports of Siam will have little effect, as the people are simple in their habits and can easily subsist on the products of their own country. The rainy season, now on and continuing until. September, renders the lower portion of Siam a marsh, desolate of undergrowth and deadly to a white man. The Menam river is the only navigable stream of importance not already in possession of the French, but it is practically inaccessible to vessels of formidable size and can readily be defended if attacked. Bangkok, the capital, is impregnable. It contains a population, oi 800,000 Siamese,2oo,000 Chinese, and less than 100 permanent European residents. Some authorities state that France could eventually win, but only at great expense of blood and treasure. The representative of Siam at the \\ orld’s Fair stated to the Inter Ocean that should the French ‘ ‘ever set foot on our soil we would eat them up.” Evidently the war, should hostilities actually result from the matters now in dispute, will be a great blunder on the part of France even if final victory is attained, and the struggle is likely to be a stubborly contested one on both sides, with all the advantages on the side of the benighted worshippers at Buddha's shrine. ARBITRATION. Legislation of recent years has assumed a marked tendency toward realizing the hopes-nf-the-aposilesjof. peace throughout the world, and their ultimate effect must hasten the time when the prophecies of Isaiah will have a real meaning to the human race that for so many centuries has settled disputes ot a national character by bloodshed and a dreadful sacrifice of human life and wanton waste of treasure. The President of the United States,as a result of acts of Congress at different times, is empowered to settle all international disputes by arbitration, and this has led to the passage of a similar measure by the British Parliament, thus practically rendering war between the two greatest En-glish-speaking nations of the world an impossibility in the future. The unmistakable spirit evinced by the German people, also, in the recent contest in that country over the army bill, shows that the military spirit that has in the past made that nation feared and famous, is greatly weakened, and the philosophic tendency of German scholars and me of ability will no doubt soon develop a public sentiment that will make the maintenance of Llie huge standing army of the present an impossibility before many years shall pass. All lovers of mankind will hope that the leaven of peaceful arbitration that has been planted by the United States will permeate throughout the contending European powers and make an end of the bloody strife that has cursed mankind for couctless ages.