The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-05-02
SHALL WOMEN VOTE?
Anarchy and Jury CoWardice in France
The international Silver Conference.

New YORK, May 1.-Smaley's London
letter to the Tribune says it has been usual
with advocates of female suffrage to treat it
as political question. 1t is political on the
face of It, but is essentially far more social
than political The political phase Of it is
only preliminary. The effect on society
will not be seen till the eXI eriment has
been tried. if it ever should be, on great
scale, when it would be seen that no ques-
tiOn of the day goes so deep. The women
suffrage party are thought TO have won a
moral victory in the House Of Commons on
Wednesday. They expected to be beaten
by 90 of a majority, and were, in fact.
beaten only by %. Defeat, II not so bad a.
you expected, is nowadays a moral victory.
Various explanations are given of this
vote; most of them mere conjecture. Glad
stones letter was to have OYeTthrOwn the
partisans of female voting. Unluckily, on
this, as on other questions, Gladstone's fol-
lowers desert him when it suits their con-
venienGe. They do not hold themselves
bound, It would seem, 10 pay him even the
/ homage due to his services, his abilities, his
admitted craftsmanship and his unquestiOned
aScendancy in the counSelS and conduct OF
the once united party. The spirit of LOYALTY
is forgotten, discipline Is reiaxe d and mu-
bIutCc OCCui CNCiS ACN Nd9
The RavachoI Jury's Cowardice.
The u heroes of tile Ravachol jury have
done one service: they have enabled the
present generation to understand more
! clearly how 1t is that minority has always
| governed France; how il was that the
reign of terror was established IN 1893; how
it was that what NJ. Taine so well calls the
JacobiD conquest Of France was effected.
The minority was possessed Of the courage
~
than the majority, which had no courage Of
any kind. The verdict of eXtenuatiug cir
cumstances in RayachOFs case is treated by
all Europe as a verdict OF pure COW waTdice.
Even in Paris hardly a voice is lifted in
excuse for these gentlem en-. One respPcta-
bic journal lie Temps excuses them, and
IS to that extent less respectable. Paul de
CassaRnac excuses them on The express
ground that man must be expected to
think first Of MS own safety and after that
"a long way after-Of bis country. Other
aDDlOgiStS are reds or outcSsts, or such q
person as Mr.. DrumOnt, the Jew-hater.
Public opinion in France was terseiy eX-
pressed in the cry "COwards," which saluted
the jury as it left the court.
Likely to Be Retired.
Whether other juries will be less cow
aTdly remains To be seen. Already il is pre-
dicted that If RavachOl be tried for the
murder of the hermit Of Chambles, eX-
tenuating circumstances will present them
selves to thu minds Of that jury nlsO. Mat
thew Arnold found the want of Germany
to be civic courage That i, and long has
been, at least equally conspicuous in France.
A worst system yet is the readiness to make
q hero of RaVachOl. The ciVllitles shown
him 10y the police, by the press and by the
Judge on the bench are such as might be
offered some misguided refUrmer The
mildness Of manner of N. Cues, the pTesid-
Ing magistrate, was not pleasing 10 the
A.. h.. H. Il g
There Is one whom everybody. anarchists
excepted, praises, and that is QueSnay de
BeauTepdlre, the Prosecutor General.
His conduct OF the prosecution aud his ad-
dress TO the jury were admirable, whether
from a professional or civic point of view.
He spoke with his life in his hand and lie is
clearly one Of those men to whom danger
acts as a tonic. There is a strong feeling in
the capital that the police have not shown
themselves equal TO the occasion. Perhaps
not, but when an outrage occurs the police
are always blamed.
International silver Conference.
President Harrison'S negotiations for an
international silver conference are, If you
will accept an English view OF the matter
an evasive an ilusory attempt TO tempOrlze
with the sOft-mOney partisans. Currency
is made the Daythng OF e.ectiOneering poll
ticians. Such is the grave and cOnsiderate
courtesy with which a leading journal of
the country refers 10 the chief magistrate
of the United States. These compliments
begin an article which enIs with the asser-
tiOn that the Presidents proposals can
/ hardly be other than purposeleSs; mischiev-
Gus, even, compared with the ordinary pro-
ductiOnS of presidential campaign.
Let us dismis 5 the attacks and invite the
silver people to answer, II they can, the
arguments which not one journal only, but
almost the whole civilized world address TO
US: We are coming four and half million
ounces of silver monthly; the American
treasury holds already $40 600 in silver.
It IS perfectly we'll known here that this
boarded silver cannot be got into clrcula-
tiOn; the country will not have ii, and the
more X increases the less likely is 1t to cir
cuate. 1t is held in reserve, perhaps to
be let loose dsastrously some day at the
bidding Of an ignorant and rapacious ma
jority and by the act of "A reckless Govern
menL
The Effect Abroad.
It Is undoubtedly true that the vagaries
OF American silver legislation have pro-
duced alarm rather than confidence, even
among SilveT-using and reproducing
communities abroad. The laws OF trade are
seen to be stronger than Bland and Teller
and their whole backing of silver barons
and currency Quacks.
FinaucieTS an q meE of business generally
are grateful to President Harrison for
standing out against what is insidu0usly and
dishonesty called free coinage They do
not perhaps object to an international con-
ference, believing that no conference OF
sane men, without selfish interests TO serve,
will declare for free coinage or anything
ike 1t. Ii they object IL is on the ground
that SUCH a conference keeps up excite
ment, unsteadies mems minds and unsettles
the markets Of the world. The Europe an
world is going to do business on q gold
basis-so much is clear. Ii we prefer silver
we shall make ourselves a debtor nation.
Bland and Teller would like US to be the
India of christeGdOm. Would the Ameri-
can people like il? Would they like to pay
for all their imports in gold and take their
pay Cor ex aorts in silver? Such are some of
the questions asked her. Many more might
be asked; will ask one: If, in order TO
enrich the silver ring, the American Gov
erument buys the product of the American
silver mines, why should 1t not buy the
product Of the American iron mines or
American coal mines? Ii currency is to be
deIanged and the community plundered for
the benefit of silver capitalists why not for
the benefit OF iron owners or coal owners
! or lager beer owners?