The San Francisco call., 1898-01-03
INDIVIDUAL THOUGHTS.
BY A MODEST CRITIC.


 moment or two I will open mine. The Examiner Is the direct benefciary-the public the incidental. The paper referred to has been good enough to offer unasked time and again advice as to how news paper, in order to succeed, should be con- ducted. The advice has usually been di- rected to the editorial management, and most of 1t has been but a cover for per sonal spleen. If the Examiner will watch this paper for year or two I promise 1t that it will be taught all 1t has attempted to teach, but this being Yuletide l will save it at least for few months of the pain caused by inattention to the neces- sity of correct behavior. Having seen the evolution of a successful newspaper or two l have had one lesson clearly taught me. This: In order to win and keep the respect of its readers every journal must be sincere in comment. The Examiner is rarely that. To aver black to be white one day and to insist that it is of sable hue the next is inconsistent as we'll as being insincere. What follows is from the editorial columns of that pa- per on Wednesday last:
 'The integrity of the Monroe doctrine, with the maintenance of our vantage point of consistency on that issue, Is worth good deal more to this country than its interest in China's trade. The Monroe doctrine is something that by implication works both ways, and the United States cannot afford to surrender any part of it by dipping into Europe's embodiment over the affairs of the far East
 The Examiner has advocated day in and day out interference with the Gov ernment of the Hawaiian people by the Hawaiian people, seeing in that policy no deletion of the Monroe doctrine. but in intervention in a sQuabble over China dfSCernS nOmnlpta obliteration of this, our national policy. A doctrine that is held by the nation must be firmly held, no matter whether it applies to affairs 5000 miles away or 10000. When it is asserted that It will destroy the Monroe doctrine to engage in the Chinese embodiment, and that this Stygian project will not be accomplished if we assume the right to control Ha- waiian affairs, either inSincerity or a lack of reasoning power Is shown. In the Examiners case it smacks of both.
 It has been asserted by a prominent controversialist that education for the masses is a breeder of discontent. I diff fer. This time is chosen for the expres- sion of the difference of opinion because educators have, during the week past, occupied deal of public attention. Ed ucation is almost entirely the training of mind-cultivation of brain power. It imparts knowledge, too, doubtless, but the increasing of the power to reason is actually its chief value. The educated man Gall other faculties being equaD will accomplish more in any given time than can the uneducated. This applies to bak- l CTS and to fakers, as well as to tailors and ! to sailors; in truth to the world. No schemes yet devised, except actual war | fare with another nation, have proved | more prejudicial to the interests of na- | tions than have strikes and labor riots, | and strikes and kindred follies are | caused principally by lack of education. | The average laborer is easily led astray i by the walking delegate" (whose only mission is to produce discontenD, by an assurance that 'the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer | every day" The inaccuracy of this statement he would readily see were his mind we'll trained. But he sees 1t not, l so he is induced to strike, and not only does he suffer for his folly but the whole community Is compelled to. Is 1t not wise then to do what we can to prevent suffering and waste of natural resources? | These are the two fruits of strikes and labor riots invariably.
 An able collaborator suggests the hanging of attorneys who attempt to prevent the prompt execution of justice. If he will include inciters to labor troubles" when he next stings some peo- | pie Hike a white hot brand" he will | find one more mark on the credit side of his account when he faces the record ing angel. But I happen to think hang 1 ing far too good for attorneys who act in this way. If the Bar Association would see that they are denied the right to practice they would probably starve, and might perhaps Ind a living death. | Then the punishment would fit the crime.
 It is scarcely to be expected that W. W. Foote would so promptly verify the statement that 1t was good for California that he was not permitted by the Legis- | lature to go to the Senate. Some time | ago 1t was stated that he had retired permanently from his cheerful habit of defending criminals, but now I am pained to note that he makes his appear ance in the most disgusting case ever | presented to any court. That Durrant could permit his mothers and his sister decency to be impugned in an attempt 1 to save his precious neck is evidence enough that he is unfit to live, and that MT. Foote could appear for him in such l an action-for that is what he virtually did-must be shocking to each acquaint- ance of his who knows what honor is.
 General Ballaine of Washington has we are told by London dispatches, writ ten to prominent journal of that city | voicing his annoyance at w. T. stead $ 1 book, "Satan's Invisible World This warriors letter is described as extraor- dinary, and it must be, for he ayers that the real American of the West hates New York as much as he hates London The .'reai American of the Vest hates no one without cause, and we have no reason to hate the people of New York. We joy occasionally because the part of the Union in which we happen to live has advantages which other States have not, but that breeds not hate 'mongst sensible men. Does this general wish to divide the country longitudinally? An attempt was once made to divide it laterally and repetition of that horror no sane man desires.
 Why any one on this continent should care an atom as to what Mir. w. T. Stead chooses to say of 1t passeth comprehen- sion. He is not a litterateur, nor is he g competent critic. Failing, when editing the Pail Mall Gazette, to command and hold general attention by the excellence of his legitimate work, he descended to 4 sensation. and be has never got out o1