Omaha daily bee., 1899-11-12
THE PLANT OF A sNosorRAT.

| John L. Webster has again projected
himself into public print with Il screcd
in which he endeavors tn square him
self for the part he played in the recent
betrayal OF the republican ticket bv the
faction that follows his pernicious
leadership.
When n republican seeks to justify
his political course through the columns
of the opposition press he makes public
confession OF his colusion with the
common enemy. There never vas n
time since the inception of The Omaha
Bee when republican, he he friend or
enemy, could not get n fair hearing in
its columns for the discussion Of any
public issue.
If we accept Mr.. Webster's theory
the recent disaster to the republican
party is chargeable to the refusal of
The Bee to join in the jngo and yellow
journal crusade which preceded the an
neXation of Hawaii and helped 10
precipitate the war with Spain. Mr..
Wcbster's. bent of mind was exhibited
at the close of that war when Presi-
dent Mckinley was invited to the
Omaha Peace jubilee. Mr.. Webster
immortalized himself by introducing n
resolution in the board of directors of
the Transmississippi Exposition extend
ing special invitation to the prince of
Wales to participate in the jubilee with
| President Mckinley and his cabinet
At Mr.. Webster's instance the litho-
| ,nI t,,x.i itpt; 1,n Il n,,t
and foreign diplomats read as follows:
'EIis eXcellency, William Mckinley,
| president of the United States, has
signified his intention to be present and
his royal highness, the prince of Wales,
has been invited"
The improperly of singing out the
prince of Wales from among all the
royalties of Europe or the potentates
of other nations was so apparent that
new cards of invitation, emitting
Webster's snobocratic salaam to the
prince of Wales, had to be printed and
the originals suppressed.
A man suffering with Anglomania to
such an extent and so unfamiliar with
international diplomatic usage is
hardly safe guide for plain-spoken
| republicans on international questions
that present momentous problems
which he is incapable of grasping.
1t is not the purpose to discuss jingo
vagaries with Mr.. Webster. Suffice it
to say that every cardinal principle
embodied in republican national plat
forms has found vigorous exponent
and unflinching advocate in The Bee.
Not 50 with Mr.. Webster. At the ma
tional convention of 1896 he exerted all
his influence upon the Nebraska men,
ber of the platform committee to pre-
vent the insertion of gold plank into
the national platform, and two years
after McKinley's election sought to
emasculate the sound money plank in
the state platform by omtting the word
gold"
AS to expansion and world power
the party has yet to speak. The Bee
opposed annexation of Hawaii years
before Bryan was thought of as presi-
dental candidate. President Mckinley
himself was opposed to the Hawaiian
annexation scheme when he came into
office, and was persuaded to change his
view year later in order to placate the
clamor of jingo statesmen. Up to the
time the annexation resolution was
passed republicans had as much right
to differ as to the policy as did mem-
berS of the cabinet.
A man more experienced in interna
tional affairs than Mr.. Webster whose
name is John Hay, viewed the Philip
pine problem with grave anxiety and
the president himself gave no intima-
ton of permanent occupancy of the
islands until his speech to the return
ing Pennsylvania volunteers at Pitts
burg. Even in the declaration that
'peace and order would be maintained
under the stars and stripes he clearly
indicated that he looked to congress for
the final solution of the Philippine
question.
The Websterian diagnosis Of repub-
lican maladies in Nebraska is that of
charlatan. Instead of tracing back the
first causes to maladministration and
corruption and subserviency to cor
porate monopoly, which were rs
disastrous to the party in Kansas,
South Dakota and other western states.
Webster persists in telling us that
populist ascendancy was due to the cX-
posures made by The Bee of the mis-
deeds of republicans and it's appeals 10
the party to live up to it's platform
pledges. BY a parity Of reasoning The
Bee could be held responsible for the
crash of 1893 and the financial disasters
that have followed in the train of wild
real estate speculation, stock watering
and banking on the Cadet Taylor plan,
against which it had time and again
taken pains to warn the public