The San Francisco call., 1898-01-31

do with their prompt and effective exc
 cution. One may be an excellent the
 oretical tactician, clever strategist,
 and yet as commander weak. The se-
 lection of an officer. especially when
 done by ballot, does not endow him
 with the training necessary to make
 him efficient, and it is pity that there
 are not more opportunities for the edu-
 cation of the National Guardsmen. It
 is not necessary that we should follow
 the example of England in this matter, l but if we can improve on her system
 there is no reason why we should not. l British volunteer officers have the priv | ilege of free training at the Wellington | Barracks in London-the home of the l Grenadier Guards-where they drill i companies of that crack regiment reg | ularly while in training. The advan- 1 tage is immense. They not only learn
 much technically, but the practical side | of the education is worth great deal. l Good discipline and the methods pro- | noting 1t are constantly before the eye,
 and the unvarying result is an increase in the efficiency of the men whom the trained officers command. If the Fed eral Government could be induced to establish school somewhat on this principle at the different headquarters
 of the army, there would be wonder
 full improvement in the militia of each State without question, and Federal troops would not so often have to be | called on to do what the militia should accomplish.
 It was remarked some time ago that the Examiner excelled as a poser and not as a logician, its knowledge of the
 science of reasoning permitting it not to be able to distinguish a premise from a promise, a conclusion from a con- clave, nor a syllogism from syllepsis. It is again in evidence in support of that assertion. With astonishing vigor | and iteration it observes that We have
 a right to expect public servants to be
 able to competently perform the duties of the offices to which they are ap- pointed. That will not be denied, but as usual there is "a nigger in the wood pile.'' What has stirred the poser up is question of proffered assistance to Police Court attorneys. They should
 be able to attend to all their duties, he
 eXclaimS, and then goes on to say that it is a dangerous practice to give them help, for the counsel called in to assist
 may roughly handle one accused of crime. May 1t not be reasonably sup i posed that the judges of these same police courts are competent to protect
 witnesses and defendants alike from
 unfair treatment? The fact is, this poser would like to have the law and the rules of practice altered on every l occasion to suit his ends whenever he
 is party to a suit If one may not
 be allowed to employ special counsel in the prosecution of an offender, it
 might, with equal reason, be urged that | no man should be allowed to pay an | attorney to defend him; that he should | take the legal adviser appointed by the | court. Where it is evident that there | is a case of moment it is not only ex- pedient but often necessary, that police court attorneys should be assisted by 1 special counsel. A single instance, and 1 one fresh in mind will suffice. If the ! police court attorney had been left to ! his own resources is there even a re-
 mote possibility that Figel would now
 be on trial in the Superior Court? The | police had already declared him inno- l cent. and as the prosecuting attorney i is dependent almost Jntirely on che po- i lice for his evidence, thIs man, accused of murder, would have gone scot free. | The law and the established rules of
 practice are good as they are and that some disadvantage may accrue to the
 yellow poser in short order on this ac-
 count is not only no reason for dis l turbing the status quo, but it again | demonstrates the prudence of permit l ting those who have been criminally ! injured to bring to light, even at their ! own expense and inconvenience, every piece of evidence which will tend to the | conviction of offenders.
 In an editorial that had no merit ex-
 cept it's value as personal insult, the | Bulletin, for what reason it possibly | knows, comes to the defense of Arthur ! McEwen, who was justly criticized by
 a competent paragraphist because of | his vagaries. MT. McEwen's standing | in the journalistic world is we'll known ! it Is one which all reputable writers | despise. He is one of the pariahs of | Journalism. That the outer world may i know what that means I will define it: 1 A journalistic pariah is one who uses
 the privileges that are his for the Satis- l faction of personal interests, the pub | lie veal being a secondary considera-
 tion; he is one who will write on two
 sides of question at once if he can get i pay for doing so. Arthur McEwen in
 an interview only a few years ago said | that he considered the best paper the
 one that paid most for its space. That | is a specimen of the breadth of intel
 lect of this journalist. For myself,
 did not notice any controversy between
 Ambrose Bierce and this pet of yellow
 Journalism. MT. Bierce showed plainly
 that McEwen was 'falsifier of letters i and a forger of telegrams" and then
 threw him on the mud heap. What the | little evening sheet may have to say,
 however, about McEwen or the writer
 who scored him Is scarcely matter for
 comment, no member of it's staff being
 able to think in the same terms as
 either the critic or the criticized.
 Thar MT McFWen has abilities no