The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1898-01-05

Der In their ranks goodly list Of able
men, but for years they have with
unanimous accord agreed to abide by the
leadership OF one whom they all revere
and admire-Hon. VIM. B. Allison. 1t is
worth while belonging to q party that
acts in such spirit of unison and dis
pl ,ys 80 much sound sense in politics.
The result Of good leadership and loyal
following in Iowa is seen in the long
continued domination Of the Republi-
cans. II the Republicans we're as sen.
sible and free from internal pickering
elswhere as In Iowa, their ascendency
in the nation would be permanent"
OF course it is denied that the en-
trance Of Russian squadron into Port
Arthur means forcible or even perma-
nent occupation or hostile intention
against any power. But while reports
OF actual occupation may be premature,
there is little doubt that Russia intends
to have that ice-free harbor sooner or
later, and that she now taken another
step in that direction. Probably the
temporary winter station now es-
tablished will never be given up, at
least not without a struggle. 1t will
be recalled that there were stories sev.
eral months ago to the effect that Rus
aia apd China bod ,,,ado n eooraf traatu
whereby the former was to have this
harbor or some equally good one in its
vicinity. What Japan will do under the
circumstances is an interesting ques-
ton. Possibly there may soon be de-
velopments in Chinese waters that will
command the attention of the world.
ACCORDING TO some newspapers the
negroes Of the South are very corrupt,
and their acceptance OF money for their
votes is menace to popular govern
ment in that region. What about the
Australian ballot9 That system of vot-
ing is in vogue at the present time in
almost all Of the states, and probably
will be in operation in all OF them by
1900. There is good corrective of
corruption. Nobody will give negro
or white man cent for his vote in
any community which has the secret
ballot, because nobody except the voter
knows how he votes, or can find out I'M
less the voter tells. These stories about
bribery, bulldozing and general corrup.
ton and oppression were exploited in
1896 by Popocrats from Bryan and Alt
geld downward, but the country, OF
course, laughed at them, as it will
laugh now at the tales that great sums
of money are spent in the South to buy
up negroes on election day.
HON. H. CLAY EVANS, commissioner
OF pensions, says on much discussed
subject: " The cry of pension frauds
has become 30 common OF late that the
people do not regard it seriously. 1t
was for the purpose of proving the fall
lacy of this charge that recommended
to Congress, and will urge in a bill, af-
ter the holidays, the publication of a
complete list showing each pensioner,
his address, disability and amount of
pension received, which would do more
to stop this idle chatter than anything
this department can say. The posi-.
bilities of disabilities are great, and
every one knows man apparently in
the best of health, attending to his
daily duties, may have disability
which entities him to pension. This
is hard for some people to see. Per-
haps, if they had an X-ray apparatus
with them, there would be no Difficult.
ty. This list would show what was the
matter with such men and why they
received pensions. But best OF all, it
would bring to light the frauds which
do exist, and we all known there are
some. But l say without fear of con-
tradiction that in no other business en-
terprise where 30 large an amount Of
money is disbursed, are there 30 few
Mistakes"
If the Madrid story that the Phillip.
pine Islands rebellion is ended is true,
Spain has some excuse for its rejoic-
ings. The Cuban situation, however,
is not altered in the slightest degree
thereby. Cuba's uprising has had far
greater incentive and vitality than the
Philippine instruction. 1t has had
more men, better commanders and
greater moral support from the outside
world. The extra naval and military
force which Spain can now send to
Cuba will not change the conditions.
The filibuster's chief peril has been
from United States war ships, and the
few additional Spanish war vessels
which may now be sent to the Gulf of
Mexico are not likely to make such diff