The record-union., 1899-10-13
VOICE OF THE PRESS.
EXTRACTS FROM EDITORIAL
EXPRESSIONS.
State and Coast Opinions on Sub
jects Of Living News
Interest.

out from Washington that it has been
decided at a Cabinet meeting as re-
suit of protest made by the Chinese
Minister to revoke the order issued by
General Otis, putting the United States
chinese exclusion laws in force in the
philippines, was untrue. No such de-
cision was either reached or consid-
cred. The Chinese Minister was in
formed when he filed his protest at
the Department of State that the issu-
ing of the order by General Otis was
entirely in his discretion, and that it's
continuance would depend upon the
view of General Otis as to it's being
still a military necessity, and when
the matter was discussed by the Cab
met precisely the same view of 1t was
unanimously taken. In this, as in all
other things connected with the mill
tary government Of the Philippines,
General Otis will be left unhamperec.
COAST DEFENSES.
Stockton Record: The expenditure Of
the United States for coast defenses
has been criticised on the ground that
land defenses are less desirable than
naval strength The experience of the
Spanish-American War, so far as 1t
went, and of other conflicts in which
there was fair test, show that land
defenses can play very important
part in defense against naval attack.
Dewey made short work with the forti-
flcations at Corregidor Island and Ca
vite, but those at San Juan and Santi-
ago held Sampson and Schley with
considerable success. So in the Civil
War, Farragut burst open the portals
to New Orleans and Mobile, but Fort
Sumter and Fort MacAllister resisted
all attacks till they were taken in the
rear, and Fort Fisher required two
bloody assaults by land and sea before
it fell. So far as both coast defenses
and naval strength are necessary, the
United States is able to provide them
and need not be lacking in either.
THE APPENDICITIS SCARE.
Oakland Tribune: California grape
growers have found themselves con-
fronted by a new trouble this season.
this time one born to great extent
Of imagination and misapprehension.
The continued cry of appendicitis and
the many warnings issued regarding
the danger of permitting grape seeds
to enter the stomach have brought
about an ill-advised scare, the result
being, that with the exception of the
seedless varieties, the demand for table
grapes has fallen off fully 80 per cent
While it is true that the grape seed
occasionally brings about an attack of
appendicitis, still the medical profess
sion will admit that it is not response
BILE for more than per cent. of the
cases of that disease, the apple, pear,
orange, blackberry, fig, and. in fact,
all seed-bearing fruits being just as
likely to cause the trouble as the grape
The layman, too, is in the habit of at
tributing to appendicitis almost every
case of severe stomachic affection or
intestinal disorder, fully 80 per cent.
of those homemade diagnoses proving
incorrect when the family phsician is
called in. Still 1t must be conceded
that appendicitis can be occasioned by
the lodging Of grape and other seeds in
the blind appendix, for while it is true
that if any kind of food whatever
should get in that part Of the intestines
it would bring about exactly the same
result, seeds can find their way there
zach easier than aught else, owing to
their peculiar formation.
There is no occasion, though, for the
preseGn widespread scare. Let those
who hesitate to eat grapes or oranges,
lest by any chance they may swallow
a seed or two. remember the millions
of people all over the world who both
now and in the past have made such
fruits part of their daily diet and have
never suffered from appendicitis or
anything akin to it, Then let them
consider how few and isolated are the
cases of the disease that do crop up
and what small proportion of them
is really due to fruit seeds. There
should also be borne in mind the fact
that the fruits in question are most
healthful and beneficial to the di-
gestive organs, and then when con-
clusion is drawn it will be seen that
it is all sheer nonsense to blacklist
them for the sake of a trouble that
does not result in one out Of 100,0Ot|
| cases. Furthermore, with care the
swallowing of the seeds and pips can
easily be avoided, and with this phase
of the issue added TO the consideration,
the fears of those who now shun these
products almost as they would rattle
| snake should entirely vanish. The
whole boycott has been borne of an
exaggerated misconception of facts, for
when the truth is brought out, every
sensible person must admit that the
| scare is silly in the extreme.
THE MORAL SIDE
Fresno Republican: President Schur-
man of Cornell and President Wheeler
of Berkeley, who have recently made
notable addresses in favor Of expan-
ion, have emphasized the aspect Of the
case which has hitherto met with toe
much contemptuous denial and too lit
! tie positive assertion. The Philippine
question is pre-eminently a moral one
| We are going forward in the path
marked out for us by circumstances
not merely because it pays or because
we cannot help ourselves, though both
! of these are true, but because 1t is
| right and high duty to do so. We
| Americans are not adventurous Don
| Quixotes, fitting at imaginary evils
! We freely recognize that most things
are none of our business, and let them
| consistently alone. But when we dc
| have a duty to perform there is no peo-
pie in the world that will perform il
with more singleness of purpose or en-
thusiasm for an ideal But If carpina
| critics insist that our only motive is
sordid and selfish we are very mucf
| inclined to let them have their say
and even tacitly indorse it. We are
boastful enough In things material, bu