Telegram-herald., 1890-03-31

ger tie Imagination. Some of the
claimants have been hsmmerlng st
ColgTess To- the i4st half century
May Ot the clslnls are lusg and should
- pad, BAT the ma 4l0Fly of
snsm have very httle merit
- recommend RI en- u the favor
able consideration OF the committee
A sample u the KIND o. cases md the 2
way 70 tRe CON mattee = that OF = woman
wnOse husband Vas killed in ls02 -
Federal soldiers NhO we're hunting de-
ssTtsrs Beng = non cOmnSt4nt he Was
not killed u the line u duty and his
sldOw consequently = not entitled 20
benson. she nOw wants the Govern
meuG u pay Aer for the loss Of her hus.
band. Perhaps there ls no setOf mem
beTs who have 20 work 80 hATd as the
men Mo are Oh this committee as they
have 20 study every case closely and
when they report 3 ball 10 the House
they must be prepared 10 answer every
question regarding the claim which may
be pat to them. IL would never do for
them 10 be caught tripping, as every
clam, 10 matter how meut0rious, Is
always opposed by some one, and il lt
should De found that the committee
did not know all the facts in cOnnec-
ton with il, the claim would be sure 70
be rejected.
Perhaps there Is no man on either
side OF the House who 50 frequently ex-
poses himself 10 the rldlcule OF ms as
socrates IS Judge Chipman. OF Detroit.
Not long ago Capt. George :. Anderson,
OF the sixth Cavalry, received the dec
Grafton OF the Cross OF the Legion OF
Honor from the French Government.
Under the constitution no officer can
receive foreign decoration without
tire consent of Congress, and IN cases
OF THIS kind Congress rarely objects 10
giving the desired permission. 4 b!ll
for this purpose was introduced and re-
ferrcd 10 the Foreign Affairs Commit
tee, and every member bat one OF the
committee signed the report recon-
mendng the passage of the bill. The
single exception was Chipman, who
presented his views in an
elaborate minority report, In the
course OF which he SAYS,
Orders and decorations are mere
haubies and are nothing in this country
but an evil example, which tends 20 fos-
ter taste for theyulgaTiucs of ROYALTY.
10 IS true that the decoration in this
case Is offered by n republic, but the
claim that there IS u courtesy which
compels our acquesccnce for
that or for any other rca-
son growing out of international
comfy IS ill-founded. Our moral
sense must not be surrendered to
cCmplalsancy. While il is not our
province TO decide the propriety of the
existence OF the national order in a
popular government, we must not for
get that Il is the offspring OF the first
Empire. Whether the retention of It Is
Wise or ever useful in any nigh sense, is
a question for the French people alone.
II certainly would be neither wise nor
u cful here.
Every decoration is tribute 10 the
latent sayagery of human nature, as
III garterS and crosses as in
scalp locks ana bears claws. A grown
man, jewelIsd and gilded with Oriental
Is hardly a spectacle of
dignity; certainly not OF Republican
We have forbidden the
court dress TO our foreign repre-
We have no distinctive
costume for the great officers of the
but We do have, unfOrtu-
lately, prurient taste in certain class
as OF Our people who initiate foreign
and decorated man is only
4 provocative OF unrepublican appe-
-ites."
Everybody is laughing at this exhibit
ION OF cheap craftsmanship and won |
iering If the Judges" constituents |
AN be fooled by such claptrap.
A. VI. L.