Rensselaer Republican, Volume 28, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 December 1896 — General Harrison. [ARTICLE]

General Harrison.

A bill has been prepared and it is likely "to become a law this wia- . ter, providing that a prison reformatory be established in the central part of this state, and all convicts between the ages of 15 and 25 be sent indefinitely to it. The general plan is based on the web known Elmyra reformatory and provides Uat no sentences shall be imposed, bat that criminals be sent to the reformatory. The length of the sentence will then depend on the good or bad of the managers. A man’s Qondnct will be the element in de- , termjning the time he shall serveThis is Intended tor the benefit q| the younger class of criminals who are-beginning the way of Crime and who would often become useful citizens if the proper inducements were thrown around them. —Westchester Tribune. That the people of Cuba who are fighting for their independence should receive the sympathy of the people of this country is a proposition which no_ one will deny. But whether circumstances ...«re such as would. at tliia .ii.me. justify a recognition of Cuban independence. are very much doubted 1 In the first place, there is no such thing as a Cuban civil government; nor even the resemblance nor pretense of such a government. Even the form of a government which the insurgents proclaimed some mouths ago, has been voluntarily abandoned, and to recognize * people a* an independent government, who do not even pretend to. have a government, is premature, to say the least. In the next place, a recognition of Cuban iude-

pendence now would not be of any help to the Cubans unless it resulted in a war with. Spain—which is undoubtedly ' the result* desired and expected by a majority of the leaders among the advocates of Cuban recognition. But much as this country desires'Caban independence or annexation wb do not believe that any considerable portion of our population would be in favor of war for the attaining of either of those objecta War is u terrible thing in its destruction of life and property and moral effedts upon a people, and it should, not be engaged in by any nation except in a case of almost unavoidable necessity,—Above all it should not. be lightly resorted to by a nation jjeace, like ours. It has been said that the very fellows who are howling the loud? e*st for a war with Spain, over the Cuban question, would be the last to risk their lives where any fighting was going on. There is no doubt-a good deal of truth in this suggestion. And it is an undoubted fact that very few, if auy, soldiers of the last wa/„ who really saw much actual fighting, are now infavbfbfanbtberwar. -

General Harrison’s declaration that he does not want and could not accept the seat in the United States Senate which the Indiana will soon be called upon to I 'fill is perfectly explicit, Says the New York Tribune, and his decision is doubtless irreversible. Of course the ex-Presldent has never been considered a 'candidate in the ordinary sense, but a good -many—..paranns... itavo- naturally, hoped that he might consent to accept an election which would be most honorable torhis own State end most acceptable'to the whole country, ft is not surprising, however, that he should.be resolved to remain a private citizen. Since his retirement from the Presidency he has been ■cougeni-. ally anduisefully* employed in ♦he practice of his profession and in other intellectual pursuits for which his training at the. bar and the experience of life have preeminently fitted hun, and he looks

forward to a continuation of agreeable and appropriate activities. Certainly he has earned the right to consult his own preferences by a faithful performance of public duties during many yeais. It should be noted, however,' that General Harrison’s announcement with referenc > to the S mu torship does not indicate a growing indifference to public interests or any selfish- inclination. “To those friends,” he says, “who have urged the too friendly view that I could serve the country usefully in public office I have answered that T can render better service out of office; that wliat I may say nr write on public, questions as aprivate citizen will gain more confidence.” Without necessarily accepting this view of the case, hi-fellow-citizens will gratefully acknowledge that General Harrison has made large contributions to the public welfare since the expiration of his Presidential term, aud will confidently rely upou a similar exercise of hie influence in years to come. During the campaign recently ended he was a great force on the side of National houor and order. The direct effects of his logic ariO eloquence were repeatedly visible on b large scale,. and there can be no doubt that he was a potent source of instruction and inspiration to thousands of' less conspicuous workers for the cause He will unquestionably put himself at the service of his country hereafter in any emergency which may arise, in the same spirit and with similar results, while constantly setting r salutary example of gpod citizenship in private life. .Hon. - Jv-h’-xiuik. 1 budy. has—gimu., publicity' tq a letter in which he says lie ts not a candidate for United States Senator, in the following emphatic language: “I would have made this .statement' before now. but I did pot wish, to rush into print. But all my friends have known that I fyn> not a candidate. I wjsli to .Ate also that I shall not be a candidate for congress against Mr. Crun)packer. . I shall/not permit my name to be | used for aiqjlfcjffice, either, elective or appointive, I sbyp.ll practice law at LaFayette and Williamsport.” 1