davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-16
The Mlddlc-or.the-Roa Diversion

The middle.of.thc.road Populists from
twenty States who were lately In session at
St. Louis, for the purpose of overturning the
authority of Senator MARION BUTLER and
rejecting fusion, represent the Populists who
threw overheard the Democratic candidate
for Vice.President in 1896 and cast $780,
600 votes for BRYAN and WATSON. Since
that election they have kept up a separate
organization in many States, where their
chief strength Ia indicated by their poll of
nearly $4,000 votes in Texas, 4G,000 in
Kansas, 10000 in Ohio, $4,000 in Ala
bama, II 200 in California, and $4,000 in
Massachusetts,. They have retained, too,
a considerable following in Georgia, Mis-.
sissippi, and Tennessee.
These Southern middle.of.the.road Pop
ulist radicals boast that theirs is "a white
mans party" thereby modifying the posi-
tion Of Democrats in the Gulf States to-
ward the colored voters. In Georgia, Ala
bama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas
there has been polled at recent elections a
considerable Democratic vote among colored
citizens, rather more than making up for
the Populist detection.
The present voting force of the radical
Populists Is uncertain, but 1t Is possible
that 1t is strong enough to a IN impor-
tant effect on the Congressional elections Of
this year. The present House of Represent
atives, chosen in 1896, has its largest
Democratic membership in the South and
Southwest, where the middle-of-the-road
Populists are most numerous. Should they
persist in the threat made at their recent
C0Dvpntinn In ST T0uia RI Xyrpat control of
1.-THE Populist party" from the hands of
Senator BUTLER and his associate manipu-
lators by running o~ut-and-out clear.the.
road Populist Congress candidates in West
ern and Southern districts, they may intro
duce into the contest a new element of
political uncertainty.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-16
For the Suppression of Marplots.

The last Presidential election was fought
On the issue of the gold standard sustained
BY q powerful sentiment in favor OF pro-
lection; but the cause Of Honest-money
against Reputation is still undetermined.
Difficult as the situation is, q new Mug
vumpish party, mainly bankers, seek to
make It far worse by the intrusion Of q more
or less private issue entitled currency
5tEeform," which, II it could be forced to the
front OF the honest-money campaign, would
be absolutely certain to give victory to the
Bryanites.
A gold standard party proposing to abol'
s1sh the greenback system at the expense
to the Government Of $3.50, DOC, 900, Civ.
ing to the banks the monopoly Of issuing
currency, would have as much chance Of
success as the cause of National Prohibition.
The incendiary passions which up to now
have ragged impotently against the gold
standard, because blindly and without the
-solidifying help of reason. would find In
this b~ank-currency campaign a simple and
logical argument for success against which
opposition would be powerless.
The sooner business men and laboring
: men, Republicans and sound-money politi-
clans of all names, suppress the cranks on
currency reform and centrcth public mind
on the still supreme danger Of reputation
and other perils Of the Chicago platform,
the stronger will be the probability that the
country will come through the troubles
surrounding it mistaken in its credit, I'M
dishonored, and ready for the prosperity to
which its fortunate position in the world
Il.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-16

To THE EDITOR OF THE SUN-Sir: May that
niceness in the American woman against
which your German correspondent, Mr.. Sterner,
inveighs never grow less, but serve as u power
against all Sterners as long as her flag shall
typify all that Is best in the morals upon which
1t was founded!
The only trouble with our American women is
that they are too amiable, too easy. While all
pure-minded women protest privately against
the filth served to them on the stage at present.
they allow themselves to DO taken to see these
things by men whose moral sensihilities have
become 80 blunted by u continuous course of
such art that they do not distinguish the good
from the bad.
Women do not yet realize their power. 1t was
the goddess OF Wisdom. To them is intrusted
the preservation of morals and OF ethics; hence
II they were to turn their faces pcrsistently
against such plays, very soon the shrowd man
ayers would cease to offer them,
Man Is n social animal. he docs no like Ito
flock all by himself. but wants his pleasures
shared by his finer self. woman.
We go to the drama for amusement and recre-
lions OF the brothel. which have crcpt into the
theatres. and to which the legs Of the BLACK
Crook" were as virgin snow: morally. {.
1t is heart sickening for Mr.. Stcrncr to call
at present staged in New York "a conven-
tional, false modesty. and the remains of a mar
row Puritanism, limiting hopclcssly all efforts
in the arts" Arts Save the mark ! To such
as Stcrner may be applied Tennyson's Cpigram,
slightly perverted:
The ATHEIST of all paintings painted well
Is mightfer than tho purest painted I'LL
Yes, mightier than the purest painted we'll
So prone are we toward the broad way to HE'LL
NEW YORK, Jan. ii. NJ. H.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-16
THE SUN, SUNDAY, JANUARY Ie, 1893.

LEVY and his friends, the gold Democrats,
have really made mp their minds that the
free and unlimited coinage of silver and
the rest Of the Chicago doctrine ore to be
submitted to II necessary, there will be
mighty little trouble about securing perfect
harmony In the Democratic organization.
No dinners will be needed. The money
that it Is proposed to expcnd upon mol.
lusks and a%rtichokes and carbonic acid gas
from Rheims and Epernay may we'll be saved
for the circulation OF Bryanite literature In
the campaigns to come. The Democratic
Club Of New York will become q mission
branch Of the Chicago establishment, not
a centre for the p~ropagandism OF sounder
financial and political doctrines.
We observe, however, that the logic Of
tho situation Is not perfectly clear in MIR.
JEFFERSON NJ. LEWIS usually %perceptivc
mind. He talks precisely as II it were pos
sible for himself and gentlemen like him,
first to accept as defensiblo political truth
that which they now regard as indefensi-
BILE political heresy, and then, having in
vited all the honest heretics everywhere to
come and stand, or, rather, to sit and dine
along with them upon the common ground
of that heresy, to procure in the course Of
years a revocation of the Chicago platform
by means of good cooking and intellectual
persuasion.
The ethical distortion involved in this
programme we cannot undertake to exhibit
without using unpleasant language. One
practical consideration, however, may ap-
peal to Mr.. LEVY and the sound money men
in tho nemocratic Climb
A campaign for the election of q Governor
Of New York will begin next summer 81
multaneously with a campaign for the cleo
tion of a new House of Representatives at
Washington. The election in November of
this year is inferior in State and national
Importance only to that which will &C.
cur in 1900. However many dinners
Mr.. LEVY and his friends may give
meanwhile, they cannot hope to reverse the
Chicago platform until the fight Of 1893
has been fought and decided. That cam
paign must be conducted on the Democratic
side under the Bryanite flag of Chicago.
II the issue could be avoided In the State
canvass it cannot possibly be escaped in
the Congress elections.
What will be the position of MI. LEVY
and his associates in the coming campaign
while they are standing on the Chicago
PLATFORM VIII it be the position Of honest
men or Of fraudulent pretenders9
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-16
An American Girls STANDARD.

To THE EDITOR OF The SUN-Sfr: Perhaps 1t
Is due to such stories as MADAME Butterfly"
that the American women are considered as
and sentimental expressions, lead men on to love
them. only TO throw them over in the end and
barter themselves off in marriage to the highest
bidder, be the point of advantage the size of his
bank account or his title.
1t Is time some dissenting voice was raised to
crush this belief that Is rapidly becomin ex-
tant about American women. No true woman,
tenants wife is supposed to have acted with
Mime. Butterfly. Even assuming that the vito
loved him, sympathy, which Is womRn's chief
virtue. would have kindled her pity for the
whose ruin had been brought about by the
man whom she had married and respected.
and her very sympathy would have kept her
from treating the object of her husbands vi
ciousness with the flippancy portrayed in
Mime. Butterfly, AS to her wifely duties com.
polling her to take the child and bring 1t up. tho
probabilities arc that upon learning of her hus-
bands peridy, not only toward herself but also
against the other woman. all wirely duties to
such a man would cease in toto.
II she married him Tor his wealth and position
land the story does not give this impressionj,
tho love and respect which a young wife gem
orally feels toward her husband being absent,
there would he no idealization OF character to
SKATER. and in that case tho knowledge OF her
husbands dishonor would not disturb hcr very
much. neither would tho responsibility of her
wiieiy duties weigh upon her SO heavily that
she would trouble herself with the child,
The portrayal of tho Lieutenant's wife ms a
true, noble woman and wife is n ~travesty upon
tho purity and high'spirite dness of the Ameri-
can woman. Thank God! they exist only in fc-
ton, like MADAME Butterfly" for such women
MUM upon tho immortality of men.
NEW YORK, Jan. II. AN AMERICAN GIRL.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-16
The Lake Bennett AFFAIR.

Until the boundary line between south
eastern Alaska and British Columbia is
clearly defined, at least in its more i'm
portant and settled portions, such incidents
as the one that occurred at the head of Lake
Bennett may be expected from time to time.
1t will be fortunate If all end as quickly
and with results no more serious.
The ground in question is on or near the
route from Dyea to the Yukon gold fields.
and naturally Is of consequence now. The
Victoria version Of the affair is that our
flag was hoisted there, and then, upon a
protest from the Canadian authorities,
hauled down, an apology being offered.
The boundary from Mount st. Elias north
to the Arctic is the 141st meridian, and on
this line American and British surveys
lave been made to u an extent, and with
such marks at important points, that there
has been remarkably little conflict of juris-
diction in the mining regions. In due time
visible marks can be raised wherever neces-
sary along the meridian line. But below ST.
Elias the treaty boundary line runs along
the summit of the coast range of mountains,
or at most a distance of ten marine leagues
from the windings of the coast, until it
reaches Portland Channel, whence 1t fol-
lows that channel to the southernmost
point of Prince of Wales Island.
In the absence of the mountain range as
sumed in the treaty, the alternative of a
line parallel to the coast and thirty marine
miles distant therefrom must be taken.
But such a line has not been surveyed, nor
has any agreement been reached by our
Government and the British for yisibly
marking it. What the Lake Bennett af-
fair, therefore, suggests is the Importance of
making soon the necessary surveys and set
ting up the proper marks at all important
points. 1t is especially important that this
should be done on the passes and trails
leading up to the Yukon gold region, so
that we may firmly hold, without encroach-
ing and yet without yielding, the treaty
strip which gives US full control of the
coast.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-16
The Virginia Senate has passed a bill te

The Virginia Senate has passed a bill to
prevent and punish deception in the sale of
Imitation butter. Bills of this sort are nearly
as common as buttcrcups and buttertngers.
and yet the Imitation butter keeps on b.ing sold.
Still tho wicked wretches utter dreadfully
deceptive butter. Why not put butter in
the Constitution Everybody knows that a
constitutional amendment is an infallible
remedy. When the law doesn't work. try a
little Constitution. t the same time, imitation
butter Is peculiarly wicked. and the safe thing
to do is to mako 1t punishable with death, i'm
prisonment, and fine. Perhaps the eater OF IL
should be punished. too. Legislators should go
to the root of the matter. even II they have to
cut down the tree.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-16

To THE EDITOR OF THESuN-Sir: Did obadiah
Oldboy" dear old boyl read "Madame Butter.
fy"f Surely not, or he would have found 1t In
his heart to see only the pathos of the situation,
the writer's delicate handling OF the lighter
parts only serving TO Intensity this pathos. In
this story 1t is the little Japanese IDOL" who Is
pleading for her rights Just AS hard as she
knows how in her uncnlightened way. and. un.
Ike the modern play, does It not point out what
all good women should h~avO-uOcs II not awaken
intolcrancn Tor tho Is. f. Pinkcrtons ami tho
Mrs. B. L. pinEcrtOnI. too; buj il II not well that
there are such dsthese Tor each other since there
has to be ell h. + OF thcmi
An American wOman's idea of right and wrong
Is above rcpTudcll, tut has she not ConilHoI mo
ralily 10 a rather limited corner OF The globe, and
has hhc not shat her ewes 10 tHcts-thc facts pro-
claimed daily in the nGwspnpeIsi
Why ccnsurc u writer who did not hold tho
man and woman up Tor admiration or respect,
but pointed out The cruelty OF ono man ana The
more than thou=htlessn, SIS Of one woman, and
may bc-yes, surely. since We al have hearts
pointed out he right way to more than one man
and more than one woman
NEW YORK, Jan. ii. A SCoTCH WOMAN.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-16

OF single device easily recognizable and
readily identified. They who recall with
out any thrill Of pride the microscopic pic
ture gallery of the Columbian series OF
stamps may anticipate with a feeling of
apprehension a similar series OF Trans
Mississippi Exposition stamps, iridescent
as to colors and pictorial as to effects In
transit Mississippi scenery.
However illuminative Of trans.Missis-
sippi progress a view of IN Omaha stock
yard by moonlight might be, however pic.
turesque n mining scene in the Rocky
Mountains or q prairie fire Sin %little," as
postage stamp designs, we submit that
these things. which are imminent, would
not and could not elevate the American
standard of art or Illustrate anything what
ever but the show which is to celebrate
the trans-Mississippi regions.
The American philatelists are right. 1t
is beneath tho dignity of the United States
Government to issue postage stamps to
commemorate the establishment Of an in
dustrial exposition whose very existence is
a matter of only passing. interest.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-16
4 CARD FROM MR. REDMOND.
The Question OF the irish Poiitica, Programme

The Question or the irish Political Programme
To THE EDITOR OF II SuN-Sir: I have
road with great interest the editorial in TIE
Sun inviting me to state publicly the facts Of
tho political situation at this moment in Ire
land, and nothing would give me greater pleas.
ure than TO explain how the prospects of homo
rule and OF the various political questions stand,
but tho conditions under which l have come 10
America preclude the possibility Of my doing so.
There is u great movement on foot to celebrate
the centenary Of tho Revolution Of 1893. For
this purpose all Irishmen who call themselves
misunderstanding and antl-Parnellite-
are uniting. I came here to stimulate that
movement. and II I utilized my position here to
mako capital for my own particular party I
would DO ~injuring tho '9s movement. I prefer
to remain silent for the present in tho hope and
belief that in tho near future parties in Ireland
will come together upon Independent and self
respecting principles. JoHN +. REDMOND.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-16
The Decline of the Religious Papers

The annexation of Hawaii is opposed, for
various reasons, by the Christian Aduo.
cate, the Methodist organ in New York. 1t
Is unnecessary to recount the reasons, none
of them being original, but all Of them
being ~hackneyed material borrowed from
the enemies of the project in the secular
newspaper press. On generally similar
grounds every annexation scheme in our
history has been opposed. If such narrow
teachings had prevailed we should not now
have the mouth of the Mississippi and for
eign territory would lie between us and the
Pacific coast.
We refer to the article in the Methodist
paper not because 1t has any Importance in
itself, but because 1t affords an illustration
of the tone of the political discussion on
which so large a part of the religious pa
pers are o engaging. 1t Is the Mug
wump spirit, and this in the face Of the
principles upon which rests our system Of
party government, with it's necessary con-
sequence of party consolidation mi or
ganization. 1t Is an attempt to Illustrate
the formation and enforcement of a party
policy representative of the common
agreement of a great body of citizens
upon certain large issues, and the sub
ordination to it of individual opinions
and whims touching matters less vital.
Other DIRECTORS would destroy the possibil.
ity of such consolidation by requiring that
in large and in little the party should ex-
press their varying views and crotchets.
They are ready, fcT instance, to throw over
n party, with its whole body of principle,
II they do not happen to like the men con-
cerned in the routine management of its
mere machinery.
The religious papers to which we have
referred %inculcated this disintegrating
doctrine during the late campaign. They
proceeded on the assumption that the great
question of the age related to the propriety
Of the leadership of Mr.. PLAT and the
personal merits of Mr.. Low. 1t was with
them solely a matter of men; of princi-
pies not at all and it was very childish.
Is not the decline in the circulation and
influence of the religious papers which has
been going on during the period since they
were attacked with the moral and mental
paralysis of Mugwumpery, a logical and
practical consequence of the rebellion of
healthy minds against such destructive
doctrines2 The members of churches,
especially those likely to take religious
papers, are people of decided convictions,
and as such they are partisans in politics
no less than in religion. They are neither
political nor religious agnostics. They are
accustomed to organization in their
churches, and they understand its necessity
in political parties also.
At any rate, it is q fact hat the once
great religious papers have been steadily
falling Off in prosperity of recent years,
and their simultaneous decline in moral
stamina and intellectual force has been not
less marked. They are usually nothing
more than a feeble reflection Of the feebler
Mugwump secular papers,.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-16
The Protest of the Postage Stamp
Collectors.

1t Is a matter for regret that the protest
Of American philatelists against the i'm
pending calamity of s-Mississippi Elk
position postage stamps could not have
been based on purely aesthetic and artistic
considerations. The philatecal protest, so
far as It's purpose Is understood, is moved
by economic reasons rather h by those
which imply a want Of art in the prepare
tion of memorial stamps. That is to say,
the 100000 stamp collectors who carry
on their cheerful and industrious pur-
suit in the United States readily may be
supposed to regard with some degree of
d~isfavor a proposition to increase the
already considerable volume of market
able stamps by the addition of five varie.
ties Of United States stamps ranging in
their face value from one cent to one dollar.
These collectors, whether amateur or pro-
fessional, might we'll regard with weari-
ness such an addition to collectable objects,
without an acquisition of which no col.
~lector's cabinet can be complete.
The implied reason for the protest of the
philatelists Is the loss of dignity involved
In the issuance of a lot of postage stamps
to celebrate an event of not tr~anscendent
Importance, as the holding of an industrial
exposition in Omaha, let us say. The phi
l~atelists very pungently remark that this
petty business might well be left to small
States like Canada and Newfoundland,
whose Governments "have stopped to such
a prostitution of the legitimate purposes
of a Post Office Department" We fully
sympathize with the exacerbated philat-
elists in this presentation of their case,
although it is tolerably certain that their
opposition to the scheme of stamps for tho
celebration of the Trans Mississippi Expo
sition is due to reasons other than those
here adduced.
OF course. the anniversary that gave
occasion to the issuing of the Column
bian series of stamps in 1903 was one of
surprising Importance; and, in this view
of the case, our people regarded with good
natured liberation the anomalous character
of the designs. 1t is difficult. If not impos-
sible, to reduce to the dimensions of
u postage stamp the gigantic proportions
of 1.-THE Landing of Columbus" without
also reducing the idea thereof to some,
thing akin to n~othingness. A proper de-
sign for a postage stamp is one which has
! the value Of o unit-as q head, . nHmeral.