The Syracuse Journal, Volume 5, Number 32, Syracuse, Kosciusko County, 5 December 1912 — Page 8

TAFT SENDS IN MESSAGE ABOUT FOBEJWFAIBS President Informs Congress of Our Relations With Other Nations. AMERICAN DIPLOMACY WINS Its Success in Settling Central American Troubles. DIPLOMATIC SERVICE BETTER Reorganization Has Done Much to Increase Its Efficiency—Adjustment of the Sealing and Fisheries Disputes—lnterests of United States tn the Near and Far East. Washington, Dec. 3. —President Taft mbmitted to congress today the first of several messages. It was devoted to our foreign relations and In part was as follows: To the Senate and House of Representatives: The foreign relations of the United States actually and potentfaily affect the state of the Union to a degree not widely realized and hardly surpassed by any other factor in the welfare of the whole nation. The position of the United States in the moral, intellectual, and material rela€fons of the family of nations should he a matter of vital interest to every patriotic citizen. The national prosperity and power impose upon us duCfee which we can not shirk if we are to be true to our ideals. The tremendous growth of the export trade of the United States has already made that foade a very real factor in the industrial and commercial prosperity of the country. With the development of our' industries the foreign commerce of the United States must rapidly become a still more essential factor in sos economic welfare. Whether we have a far-seeing and wise diplomacy and are not recklessly plunged into smnecesary wars, and whether our for«tgn policies are based upon an intelligent grasp of present-day world conditions and a clear view of the potentialities of the future, or are governed ■by a temporary and timid expediency ar by narrow views befitting an Int&iit nation, are questions in the alternative consideration of which must convince any thoughtful citizen that tto department of national polity others greater opportunity for promoting dfce interests of the whole people on She one hand, or greater chance on other of permanent national injury, than that which deals with the foreign relations of the United States. The fundamental foreign policies of the United States should be raised Mgh above the conflict of partisanship and wholly dissociated from disIferences as to domestic policy. In its foreign affairs the United States ajhoald present to the world a united Sront. The intellectual, financial and Industrial interests of the country and the publicist, the wage earner, the farmer, and citizen of whatever occupation must co-operate in a spirit of l&lgh patriotism to promote that national solidarity which is indispensable to national efficiency and to the attofament of national Ideals. The relations of the United States with all foreign powers remain upon * sound basis of peace, harmony and friendship. A greater insistence upon Justice to American citizens or interacts wherever It may have been denied and a stronger emphasis of the need of mutuality in commercial and other relations have only served to •trengthen our friendships with foreign countries by placing those friendships upon a firm foundation of realities as well as aspirations. Before briefly reviewing the more Important events of the last year in acr foreign relations, which it is my duty to do as charged with their conduct and because diplomatic affairs are not of a nature to make it appropriate that the secretary of state make a formal annual report, I desire to touch upon some of the essentials to the safe management of the foreign relations of the United States and to endeavor, also, to define clearly certain concrete policies which are the logical modern corrollaries of the undisputed and traditional fundamentals of the foreign policy of the United States. .Reorganization of the State Depart£7 ment. At the beginning of the present ad- • ministration th-e United States, having fully entered upon its position as a world power, with the responsibilities thrust upon it by the results of the Spanish-American war, and already engaged in laying the groundwork of a srast foreign trade upon which it should one day become more and More dependent, found Itself without the machinery for giving thorough attention to, and taking effective action Sspon, a mass of intricate business vital to American interests in every country in the world. The department of state was an archaic and inadequate machine lackfog most of the attributes of the foreign office of any great modern power. With an appropriation made upon my Recommendation by the congress on August 5, 1909, the department of state was completely reorganized.

leaking Balance Even. A chimney sweep’s boy went into a baker’s shop for a twopenny loaf, and conceiving It to be small remarked to <he baker that he did not believe it was weight. “Never mind that,” said iht man of dough. “You will have the less to carry.” “True,” replied the lad, and, throwing three halfpence on the counter left the shop. The baker called after him that he had not left enough money. “Never tnlnd that,” said young sooty, “you will have the less to count”

There were created divisions of LatinAmerican affairs and of far eastern, near eastern, and western European affairs. To these divisions were called from the foreign service diplomatic and consular officers possessing experience and knowledge gained by actual service In different parts of the world and thus familiar with political and commercial conditions in the regions concerned. The work was highly specialized. The result is that where previously this government from time to time would emphasize in its foreign relations one or another policy, now American interests In every quarter of the globe are being cultivated with equal assiduity. Merit System In Consular and Diplomatic Corps. Expert knowledge and professional training must evidently be the essence of this reorganization. Without a trained foreign service there would not be men available for the work tn the reorganized department of state. President Cleveland has taken the first step toward Introducing the merit system In the foreign service. That had been followed by the application of the merit principle, with excellent results, to the entire consular branch. Almost nothing, however, had been done in this direction with regard to the diplomatic service. In this age of commercial diplomacy it was evidently of the first importance to train an adequate personnel in that branch of the service. Therefore, on November 26, 1909, by an executive order I placed the diplomatic service up to the grade of secretary of embassy, inclusive, upon exactly the sain? strict non-partisan basis of the merit system, rigid examination for appointment and promotion only for effi-; clency, as had been maintained without exception in the consular service. Statistics as to Merit and Nonpartisan Character of Appointments. How faithful to the merit system and how nonpartisan has been the conduct of the diplomatic and consular services In the last four years may be judged from the following: Three ambassadors now serving held their present rank at the beginning of the administration. Os the ten ambassadors whom I have appointed, five were by promotion from the rahk of minister. Nine ministers now serving held their present rank at the beginning of the administration. Os the thirty ministers whom I have appointed, were promoted from the lower grades of the foreign service or from the department of state. Os the nineteen missions in Latin America, where our relations are close and our interest is great, fifteen chiefs of mission are service men, three having entered the service during this administration. The thirty-seven secretaries of embassy or legation-who have received their initial appointments after passing successfully the required examination were chosen for ascertained fitness, without regard to political affiliations. A dearth of candidates from southern and western states has alone made it impossible thus far completely to equalize all the states’ representations in the foreign service. In the effort to equalize the representation of the various states in the consular service I have made sixteen of the twenty-nine new appointments as consul which have occurred during my administration from the southern states. This is 55 per cent. Every other consular appointment made, including the promotion of eleven young men from the consular assistant and student interpreter corps, has been by promotion or transfer, based solely upon efficiency shown in the service. In order to assure to the business and other Interests of the United States a continuance of the resulting benefits of this reform, I earnestly renew my previous recommendations of legislation making it permanent along some such lines as those of the measure now pending, in congress. Larger Provision for Embassies and Legations and for Other Expenses of Our Foreign Representatives Recommended. In connection with legislation for the amelioration of the foreign service, I wish to Invite attention to the advisability of placing the salary appropriations upon a better basais. I believe that the best results would be obtained by a moderate scale of salaries, with adequate funds for the expenses of proper representation, based in each case upon the scale and cost of living at each post, controlled by a system of Accounting, and under the general direction of the department of state. In line with the object which I have sought of placing our foreign service on a basis of permanency, I have at various times advocated provision by congress for the acquisition of govern-ment-owned buildings for the residence and offices of our diplomatic officers, so as to place them more nearly on an equality with similar officers of other nations and to do away with the discrimination which otherwise must' necessarily be made, in some cases, in favor of men having large private fortunes. The act of congress which I approved on February 17,1911, was a right step in this direction. The secretary of state has already made the limited recommendations permitted by the act for any one year, and it is my hope that the bill introduced in the house of representatives to carry out these recommendations will be favorably acted on by the congress during its present session. Dlplomancy a Handmaid of Commercial Intercourse and Peace. • The dlplomancy of the present administration has sought to respond to modern ideas of commercial intercourse. This policy has been characterized as substituting dollars for bullets. It Is one that appeals alike to idealistic humanitarian sentiments, to the dictates of sound policy and

Not Inconvenienced. “Did the dissolution of your gigantic corporation cause you inconvenience?" “Not the slightest,” replied Mr. Dustin Stax. "I needed an enlarged and improved system of branch offices, anyhow.” Greek Fire to Be Used Again. To stop following hostile vessels or even for purposes of attack when the conditions are right a German naval officer has Invented a Greek Are that will burn while floating on water.

strategy, and to legitimate commercial alms. It is an effort frankly directed to the increase of American trade upon the axiomatic principle that the government of the United States shall extend all proper support to every legitimate and beneficial American enterprise abroad. How great have been the results of this diplomacy, coupled with the max? imum and minimum provision of the tariff law, will be seen by some consideration of the wonderful increase in the export trade of ’the United States. Because modern diplomacy is commercial, there has been a disposition In some quarters to attribute to it none but materialistic aims. How strikingly erroneous Is such an impression may be seen from a study of the results by which the diplomacy of the United States can be judged. Successful Efforts In Promotion of i Peace. In the field of work toward the ideals of peace this government negotiated, but to my regret was unable to consummate, two arbitration treaties which set the highest mark of the aspiration of nations toward the substitution of arbitration and reasoa for war in the settlement of International disputes. Through the efforts of American diplomacy several wars have been prevented or ended. I refer to the successful tripartite mediation of the Argentine republic, Brazil, and the United States between Peru and Ecuador; the bringing of the boundary dispute between Panama and Costa Rica to peaceful arbitration; the staying of warlike preparations when Hayti and the Dominican republic were on the verge of hostilities; the stopping of a war In Nicaragua; the halting of internecine strife in Honduras. The government of the United States was thanked for its Influence toward the restoration of amicable relations between the Argentine republic and Bolivia. The diplomacy of the United States is active in seeking to assuage the remaining ill-feel-ing between this country and the Republic of Colombia. In the recent Civil war in China the United States successfully joined with the other interested powers in urging an early cessation of hostilities. An agreement has been reached between the governments of Chilo and Peru whereby the celebrated Tacna-Arica dispute, which has so long embittered international relations on the west coast of South America, has at last been adjusted. Simultaneously came the news that the boundary dispute between Peru and Ecuador had entered upon a stage of amicable settlement. The position of the United States in reference to the Tacna-Arica dispute between Chile and Peru has been one of nonintervention, but one of friendly influence and pacific counsel throughout the period during which the dispute ill question has been the subject of. interchange of views between this government and the two governments immediately concerned. In the general easing of international tension on the west coast of South America the tripartite mediation, to which I have referred, has been a most potent and beneficent factor. China. In China the policy of encouraging financial investment to enable that country to help itself has had the result of giving new life and practical application to the open-door policy. The consistent purpose of the present administration has been to encourage the use of American capital in the development of China by the promotion of those essential reforms to which China is pledged by treaties with the United States and other powers. The hypothecation to foreign bankers in connection with certain industrial enterprises, such as the Hukuang railways, of the national revenues upon which these reforms depended, led the department of state early in the administration to demand for American citizens participation in such enterprises, in order tha. the United States might have equal rights and an equal voice in all questions pertaining to the disposition of the public revenues concerned. The same policy of promoting international accord among the powers having similar treaty rights as ourselves in the matters of reform, which could not be put into practical effect without the common consent of all, was likewise adopted in the case of the loan desired by China for the reform of its currency. The principle of international co-operation in matters of common interest upon which our policy had already been based in all of the above instances has admittedly been a great factor in that concert of the powers which has been so happily conspicuous during the perilous period of transition through which the great Chinese nation has been passing. Central America Needs Our Help in Debt Adjustment. 1 In Central America the /aim has been to help such countries as Nicaragua and Honduras to /help themselves. They are the Immediate beneficiaries. The national benefit to the United States is two-fold. First, it is obvious that the Monroe doctrine is more vital in the neighborhood of the Panama canal and the zone of the Caribbean than anywhere else. There, too, the maintenance of that doctrine falls most heavily upon the United States. It is therefore essential that the countries within that sphere shall be removed from the jeopardy Involve ed by heavy foreign debt and chaotic national finances and from the everpresent danger of international complications due to disorder at home. Hence the United States has been glad to encourage and support American bankers who were willing to lend a helping hand to the financial rehabilitation of such coutrles because this financial rehabilitation and the protection of their custom houses from being the prey of would-be dictators

Emphatic Comment. It was held by the duke of Wellington that the true story of the battle of Waterloo had never been written. A contemporary relates how he once sat in a carriage with the duke and “watched him read a ponderous Quarto recital of the battle of Waterloo. Against paragraph after paragraph he traced the letters *L.’ or *D. L.’ with a great blunt ended penoil. I ventured to ask what these mystic letters meant. The pithy reply was: '“lde" and "Damned He,” to be sure.’ ”

would remove At one stroke, the menace of foreign creditors and the men ance of revolutionary disorder. The second advantage to the United States is one affecting chiefly all the southern and gulf ports and the business and industry of the south. The republics of Central America and the Caribbean possess great natural wealth. .They need only a measure of stability and the means of financial regeneration to enter upon an era of peace and prosperity, bringing profit and happiness to themselves and at the same time creating conditions sure to lead to a flourishing interchange of trade with this country. I wish to call your especial attention to the recent occurrences In Nicaragua, for I believe the terrible events recorded there during the revolution of the past summer—the useless loss of life, the devastation of property, the bombardment of defenseless cities, the killing and wounding of women and children, the torturing of noncombatants to exact contributions, and the suffering of thousands of hu man beings—might have been averted had the department of state, through approval of the loan con ven tion by the senate, been permitted to carry out Its now well-developed policy of encouraging the extending of financial aid to weak Central American states with the primary objects of avoiding just such revolutions by assisting those republics to rehabilitate their finances, to establish their currency on a stable basis, to .-amove the custom houses from the danger of revolutions by arranging for their secure administration, and to establish reliable banks. During this last revolution in Nicaragua, the government of that republic having admitted its inability to protect American life and property against acts of sheer lawlessness on the part of the malcontents, and having requested this government to assume that office, it became neessary to land over 2,000 marines and bluejackets in Nicaragua. Owing to their presence the constituted government of Nicaragua was free to devote its attention wholly to its internal troubles, and was thus enabled to stamp out the rebellion in a short space of time. When the Red Cross supplies sent to Granada had been exhausted. 8,000 persons having been given food in one day upon the arrival of the American forces, our men supplied other unfortunate, needy Nicaraguans from their own haversacks. I wish to congratulate the officers and men of the United States navy and marine corps who took part in re-establishing order in Nicaragua upon their splendid conduct, and to record with sorrow the death of seven American marines and bluejackets. Since the re-establishment of peace and order, elections have been held amid conditions of quiet and tranquility. Nearly all the American marines have now been withdrawn. The country should soon be on the road to recovery. The only apparent danger now threatening Nicaragua arises from the shortage of funds. Although American bankers have already rendered assistance, they may naturally be loath to advance a loan adequate to set the country upon its feet without the support of some such convention as that of June, 1911, upon which the senate has not yet acted. The president alluded briefly to the enforcement of neutrality laws, to Secretary Knox’s visit to Central America and to the unfortunate disturbances in Mexico. Continuing, the message said: Agricultural Credits. A most important work, accomplished in the past year by the American diplomatic officers in Europe, is the investigation of the agricultural credit system in the European countries. Both as a means to afford relief to the consumers of this country through a more thorough development of agricultural resources and as a means of more sufficiently maintaining the agricultural population, the project to establish credit facilities for the farmers is a concern of vital importance to this nation. No evidence of prosperity among well-established farmers should blind us to the fact that lack of capital is preventing a development of the nation’s agricultural resources and an adequate increase of the land under cultivation; that agricultural production is fast falling behind the increase in population; and that, in fact, although these well-established farmers are maintained in increasing prosperity because of the natural increase Ln papulation, we are not developing’the industry of agriculture. We are not breeding in proportionate numbers a race of independent and independenceloving land owners, for a lack of which no growth of cities can compensate. Our farmers have been our mainstay in times of crisis, and in future it must still largely be upon their stability and common sense that this democracy must rely to conserve its principles of self-government. The need of capital, which American farmers feel today had been experienced by the farmers of Europe, with ago. The problem had been successthelr centuries-old farms, many years fully solved in the old world and it was evident that the farmers of this country might profit by a study of their systems. I therefore ordered, through the department of state, an investigation to be made by the diplomatic officers in Europe, and I have laid the results of this investigation before the governors of the various states with the hope that they will be used to advantage in their forthcoming meeting. Increase of Foreign Trade. In my last annual message I said that the fiscal year ended June 30, 1911, was noteworthy as marking the highest record of exports of American products to foreign countries. The

Hindu Charm. “The God-given Almighty Power is moving within me to give health, success and happiness. I shall be shown the way to help bring about all these conditions. Love, Light and Kindness wait upon me. I shall be shown the way.” Woman. Wrinkles are said to be the result of experience. Is that why woman is so keen on having her wrinkles vnaaaaarAd a wav?

fiscal year 1912 shows that this rare of advance has been maintained, the total domestic exports having a valuation approximately of $2,200,000,000, as compared with a fraction over $2,000,000,000 the previous year. It is also significant that manufactured and partly manufactured articles continue to be the chief commodities forming the volume of our augmented exports, the detnands of our own people for consumption requiring that an increasing proportion of our abundant agricultural products be kept at home. In the fiscal year 1911 the exports of articles in the various stages of manufacture, not including foodstuffs partly or wholly manufactured, amounted approximately to $907,500,000. In the fiscal year 1912 the total was nearly $1,022,000,000, a gain of $114,000,000. Advantage of Maximum and Minimum Tariff Provision. The importance which our manufactures have assumed in the commerce of the world in competition with the n?anufactures of other countries again draws attention to the duty of this government to use its utmost endeavors to secure impartial treatment for American products in all markets. Healthy commercial rivalry in international intercourse is best assured by the possession of proper means for protecting and promoting our foreign trade. It is natural that competitive countries should view with some concern this steady expansion of our commerce. If in some instances the measure taken by them to nfeet it are not entirely equitable,'a remedy should be found. In former messages I have described the negotiations of the department of state with foreign governments for the adjustment of the maximum and minimum tariff as provided in section 2 of the tariff law of 1909. The advantages secured by the adjustment of our trade relations under this law have continued during the last year, and some additional cases of discriminatory treatment of which we had reason to complain have been removed. The department of state has for the first time in the history of this country obtained substantial most-favored-nation treatment from all the countries of the world. There are, however, other instances which, while apparently not constituting undue discrimination in the sense of section 2, are nevertheless exceptions to the complete equity of tariff treatment for American products that the department of state consistently has sought to obtain for American commerce abroad. Necessity for Supplementary Lelgslalation. These developments confirm the opinion conveyed to you in my annual message of 1911, that while the maximum and minimum provision of the tariff law of 1909 has been fully justified by the success achieved in removing previously existing undue discriminations against American products, yet experience has shown that this feature of' the law should be amended in such way as to prevent a fully effective means of meetirig the varying degrees of discriminatory treatment of American commerce in foreign countries still encountered, as well as to protect against injurious treatment on the part of foreign governments, through either legislative of administrative measures, the financial interests abroad of American citizens whose enterprises enlarge the market for American commodltiees. I can not too strongly recommend to congress the passage of some such enabling measure as the bill which was recommended by the secretary of state ift his letter of December 13, 1911. The object of the proposed legislation is, in brief, to enable the executive to apply, as the case may require, to any or all commodities, whether or not on the free list from a country which discriminates against the United States, a graduated scale of duties up to the maximum of 25 per cent, ad r 2?rem presided in the present law. Flatariffs are out of date. M Special Claims Arbitration With Great Britain. The special agreement entered into between the United States and Great Britain on August 18, 1910, for the arbitration of outstanding pecuniary claims, a schedule of claims and the terms of submission have been agreed upon by the two governments, and together with the special agreement were approved by the senate on July 19, 1911, but in accordance with the terms of the agreement they did not go into effect until confirmed by the two governments by an exchange of notes, which was done on April 26 last. Negotiations are still in progress for a supplemental schedule of claims to be submitted to arbitration under this agreement, and meanwhile the necessary preparations for the arbitration of the claims included in the first schedule have been undertaken and are being carried on under the authority of amappropriation made for that purpose at the last session of congress. It is anticipated that the two governments will be prepared to call upon the arbitration tribunal, established under this agreement, to meet at Washington early next year to proceed with this arbitration. Fur Seal Treaty and Need for Amendment of Our Statute. The act adopted at the last session of Congress to give effect to the furseal convention of July 1, 1911, between Great Britain, Japan, Russia and the United States, provided for the suspension of all land killing of seals on the Pribilof islands for a period of five years, and an objection has now been presented to this provision by the other parties in interest, which raises the issue as to whether or not this prohibition of land killing is inconsistent with the spirit, if not the letter, of the treaty stipulations. The justification for establishing this close season depends, un-

One Thing. “I see they are now showing circus performances in the moving picture houses." “Well, I suppose the time Is coming when we’ll not have a chance to anything real. They will merely let* us look at moving pictures of the real things." "There's one thing well have to experience in reality, instead of merely looking at s, moving picture of it." “What’s that?” < "Getting a tooth ! fllled."

der the terms of the convention, upc» how far, If at all, it to protecting and preserving the Ameriani fur-seal herd and for increasing its number. This is a question requiring examination of the present condition of the herd aid the treat ment which it needs in the light ai actual experience and scientific investigation. A careful examination ■of the subject is now being made, and this government will soon be in pcs session of a considerable amount ol new information about the American seal herd, which has been secured during the past season and will be o* great value in determining this question; and if it should appear that there is any uncertainty as to the real necessity for imposing a close season at this time, I shall take an early opportunity to address a special message to congress on this subject, in the belief that this government should yield on this point rather than give the slightest ground for the charge that we have been in any way remiss in observing our treaty obliga tions. Final Settlement of North Atlantic Fisheries Dispute. On the 20th of July last an agreement was concluded between the United States and Great Britain adopting; with certain modifications, the rules and method of procedure recommended in the award rendered by the North Atlantic Coast Fisheries Arbitration Tribunal on September 7, 1910, for the settlement hereafter, in accordance with the principles laid down in the award, of questions arising with reference to the exercise of the American fishing liberties under Ar&tbtel of the treaty of October 20, the United States and Great Britain. This agreement received the approval of the senate on August 1 and was formally ratified by the two governments on November 15 last. The rules and a method of procedure embodied in the award provided for determining by an impartial tribunal the reasonableness of any new fishery regulations on the treaty coasts of Newfoundland and Canada before* such regulations could be enforced against American fishermen exercising their treaty liberties on those coasts, and also for determining the delimitation of bays on such coasts more than 10 miles wide, in accordance with the definition adopted by the tribunal. of the meaning of the word “bays” as used in the treaty. imoerial Valley and Mexico. In order to make possible the more effective performance of the work necessary for the confinement in their present channel of the waters of the lower Colorado river, and thus to protect the people of the Imperial Valley, as well as in order to reach with the government of Mexico an understanding regarding the distribution of the waters of the Colorado rive*', in which both governments are meek interested, negotiations are going forward with a view to the establishment of a preliminary Colorado river commission, which shall have the powers necessary to enable it to do the needful wortr and with authority to study the question of the equitable distribution of the waters. There is every reason to believe that an understanding upon this point will be reached and that an agreement will be signed in the near future. The message told what the government has done in connection with the Balkan war and in placing the government of Liberia in position to pay its debts. The new condition of affairs in China was set forth, and then our relations with Central and South American governments were set forth in more detail. It concluded as follows: Congress should fully realize the conditions which obtain in the world as we find ourselves at the threshold of our middle age as a nation. We have emerged full grown as a peer in the great concourse of nations. We have passed through various formative periods. We have been self-cen-tered in the struggle to develop our domestic resources and deal with our domestic questions. The nation is now too mature to continue in its foreign relations those temporary expedients natural to a people to whom domestic affairs are the sole concern. In the past our diplomacy has often consisted, in normal times, in a mere assertion of the right to international existence. We are now in a larger relation with broader rights of our own and obligations, to others than ourselves. A number of great guiding principles were laid down early in the history of this government. The recent task of our diplomacy has been to adjust those principles to the conditions of today, to develop their corollaries, to find practical applications of the old principles expanded to meet new situations. Thus are being evolved bases upon which can rest the superstructure of policies which must grow with the destined progress of this nation. The successful conduct of our foreign relations demands a broad and a modern view. We can not meet new questions nor build for the future if we confine ourselves to outworn dogmas of the past and to the perspective appropriate at our emergence from colonial times and conditions. The opening of the Panama canal will mark a new era in our international life and create new and world-wide conditions which, w Ith their vast correlations and consequences, will obtain for hundreds of years to come. We must not wait for events to overtake us unawares, With continuity of purpose we must deal with the problejns of our external relations by a diplomacy modern, resourceful, magnanimous, and fittingly expressive of the high ideals of a great nation. WH. H. The White House, December 3, 1912.

Not All Owing to Wife. "Biggins says he owetj everything to his wife.” “That Isn’t true,” replied Biggins’ father-in-law. “His wife Quit lending him anything years ago and then he started in owing me.”—Washington Star. Empty Feast. “Why did you leave that boardinghouse?” "Because the swellness was at the expense of the food supply.” "What do you mean?” "Four kinds of forks and two kinds of vegetables."

SToaiES 'OKTWAa. nd PRESENTED HAM TO GEN. LEE Young Lieutenant Couldn’t Withstand Hungry Look of Superior and Gave Up His Meat. The Christmas story entitled. “Where the Heart/Is,” by Will Irwin, in the American Magazine contains the following: “It was just before Christmas of ’64 that I saw Lee last on the south bank of the Appomattox. I wonder if any of the northern army knew what it was to be as hungry as we all were those days? The captain sent me up with a report to the general’s house — he had an old farm building for his headquarters. I went on foot, because we were sparing our horses. And right there happened about the great est piece of luck I ever had in my life. I kicked something in the road Well, I could scarcely believe my eyes when I saw w hat it was. It was half a boiled ham. How it got there I’ve, never known to this day. Some raiders making camp dropped it, I reckon. If I found SIO,OOO in the street tomorrow, it wouldn’t seem so lucky. 1 wrapped it up under my cape, just unable to think of anything but how good it was going to taste. You see I wasn’t much more than a boy. I enlisted at seventeen in ’62; I was only nineteen then, and just wearing my second lieutenant’s shoulder straps. “Well, I came to the turn of the road, and looked up. And there came the general and his staff. Some of the boys had been complaining. I’d heard them say that the general was living in a house, eating fried chicken while we were eating bran and going meat hungry. 1 thought of that, with the ham under my cape. I dropped it down so I could hold it with my left hand when I saluted, and stood there by the road at attention. “I hadn’t seen the general for a year. But Lordee —what a year had done to that man! Then his hair was gray-brown—now it was almost, white. Then his eyes were clear like a boy's —now they were old. And his face was pinched and -hollow. You couldn t fool me. I’d seen that look often enough before. The general was hungry. “Well, I went on up to headquarters with the report. And all the time I held the ham, and all the time I was thinking of the general and the way he looked. And when I got ready to start back, something struck me. I wasn’t much use to the Confederacy. He was everything. I just turned and went out to the kitchen. I found the nigger boiling a little handful of corn meal. I took out that ham and said. ‘Get a knife, nigger, and slice up this meat. It’s for the general. And if I ever find you haven’t fed it to him, you won’t have to wait for the Yanks to get you.’ And I went back and ate a corn cake and a little sliver of bacon for dinner that day.” Last Flag Out of Alexandria. At a political meeting at Alexandria after the war, Col. Mosby was making a political speech. at the court house. “Why,” said he, “my war record is a part of the state’s history. Gentlemen, I carried the last Confederate flag through this very town.” “That is so,” spoke up Fitz Hugh Lee, who was in the audience. “I was here at the time.” “Thank you for your fortunate recollection," gratefully exclaimed Mosby. “It is pleasant to know that there still live some men who move aside envy and testify to the courage of their fellow-beings. As I say, gentlemen, my war record is a part of the state’s history, for the gentlemen here will tell you that I carried the last Confederate flag through this town.” “That’s a fact,” continued Fitz. *T saw you do it. You carried the Confederate flag through tnis town, but. Kilpatrick and Ellsworth were after you, and you carried it so blamed fast one couldn’t have told whether it was the Confederate flag or a smallpox warning.” A Witty Lady. President Lincoln was once busily engaged in his office when a young attendant unceremoniously entered and gav£ him a card. Without rising, the president glanced at the card. “Pshaw! She here again? I told her last week that I could not interfere in her case. I cannot see her,” he said impatiently. “Get rid of her: tell her I’m asleep: anything you like.” Returning to the lady, the boy said: “The president says to tell you that he is asleep.” The lady’s eyes sparkled as she responded: “Well, will you be kind enough to return and ask him when he intends to wake up?” Got Careless. At the battle of Bull Run General Arthur met a soldier with a bad wound in his face, running towards Washnigton. “That’s a bad wound you have, my man,” said the general, “where did you get it?” “Got it in the Bull Run fight.” “But how could you get hit in the face at Bull Run?” “Well, sir,” said the man, half apologetically. “I got careless and looked back.” Found It First. Perryville was the first battle of an Indiana regiment, and when the guns began to boom a raw member crawled into a hole. The sergeant came aloni and called out: I “Come out of that hole, now.” j Stubborn resistance replaced • til look of fright on the boy’s face, ail he said: I “You may be my superior efliefl but I found this hole first, an’ I’m ■ iug to keep it.” I