The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-07-17
THE LATEST CANARD.

THE LATEST CANARD.
The newspaper correspondents de-
serve credit for their ingenuity in vary
ing from day to day the form of roor-
back which they send out showing the
great disturbance in our foreign rela-
lions, with immediate probability Of
war with some nation or another. The
latest canard is the report Of an al
legged alliance between Spain and Japan
to harass the coasts of the United
States, with a view to making us back
water in regard to Hawaii and Cuba.
That this is utter and absolute fiction
appears upon its face. Between no two
nations in the world is such an alliance
less likely than between Spain and
Japan. They have absolutely nothing
in common, and neither has any appe-
tite for even a skirmish with this coun-
try.
The purpose of these silly lies is ap-
parent They are a part of the regular
lingo programme for firing the pub
lie heart" The great desire and the
necessity of this administration is to
divert attention from Its performances
at home. Never was there a president
and a congress who had more need of
a few sky rockets in the department
of foreign affairs for the people to gaze
at, lest they should think too much cf
the corrupt or imbecile management
of their immediate and important con-
Germs. A tariff bill is in the last stages
Of completion which is a monument of
iniquity. The promises made by the
Republican party to the nation to give
it currency reform remain unfulilled,
and Mr.. Mckinley has been bulldozed
by the party leaders to prevent him
from even mentioning the subject in a
message to congress. The public dis
satisfaction is as deep and widespread
as it is we'll founded
1t is the most familiar fact in the
history of all countries that any ruler
or any government which fears the de-
served resentment of the people uses
every effort to distract their attention
by plunging into foreign complications.
We are no exception to the rule. 1t is
evident that the foreign policy of the
Mckinley administration is planned
with reference to this familiar prin-
clple Of government, and that the au-
thorities at Washington are willing to
deserve, as well as incur, not only the
displeasure, but the contempt of other
nations, in order to avert the resent
ment OF the people for incapacity at
home. This is what all the rattlety-
bang about Cuba means, which has not
saved one human life or given the
slightest aid or encouragement to the
people at our doors, who are struggling
not merely for liberty, but for the right
to live. This is what the Hawaiian
annexation treaty means, which cuts
across all American precedent and all
wise policy, and is to force upon us.
II possible, mongrel population Of
Asiatics, placed 1000 miles from our
r.
ough member of this Union. That is
What the sending out of these wild
rumors of hostile combinations means.
The inventors do not even take the
trouble to give them decent plausibility.
That is what the dispatch of Senator
Sherman means, over which the whole
British public is indignant. 1t is not
the substance of Mr.. Sherman's COM
munication that is objected to, but the
language. The highest official of state
is supposed to communicate with his
equals in other nations in terms that
are justified by usage and by the or
binary intercourse of gentlemen. Mr.
Sherman has not hesitated to be in
sulting and offensive in manner and in
the choice of terms; for no other rea-
son, We believe, than to stir up, if pos
slble, this lingo hornets nest that is
to stop the people from talking about
the tariff bill and the money question
Are the American people fools enough
to follow the goad Of these men who
take them for a lot of fat-witted beasts
| that can be frightened to right or left
by a meaningless clamor?
The senseless reports of non-existent
foreign complications that are issued
day after day are of no conseouence
in themselves. They acquire a meaning
and dire possibility when we recog-
nize that they are part of a consistent
and desperate plan by those now in
power to secure the dominance in our
domestic politics Of cowardice and
venality. at the cost, if need be. of q
war between the United States and anv
other power that may choose to be in
censed at our bravado The policy of
the administration is no more Ameri
can than it is a sign of courage for a.
man to walk along the street and apply
foul and opprobrious epithets to every
one whom he chances to meet. The
bully is neither brave man nor a
gentleman. Under the leadership of
the Republican party the United States