The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-07-08
VOICE OF THE PRESS.
State and Coast Opinions ON Sub
jects Of Living News
Interest.

jects Of Living News
Interest.
San Diego Union: Senator Hoar, who
has been keeping rather quiet Of late,
has now broken silence to remark:
For thirty-f1ve years I have never
missed while in this country, my Sum
day morning. breakfast of Goldfish balls.
Can any one accuse me of being a
traitor of New. England ?" The Senator
is acquitted.
THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND US.
Fresno Republican: There is point
ed hint in General Otis suggestion that
the knowledge of divisions in America
on the Philippine question is one of the
strongest encouragements to the Philip
pine insurrection. The Filipinos do not
understand American affairs nor the
American form of government, and
they greatly exaggerate their own i'm
portance in the eyes of the rest of the
world. It is only natural that they
should magnify the differences OF opin-
ion in the United States into a posi-
bility that the Government which is
| making war on them will be over
thrown and replaced by another which
will give up the war. But it ought not
to be natural for any American to en-
courage them in this belief.
SUSPICIOUS.
Tulare Register: We are growing
suspicious Of these womens con, an
lions. They are having the biggest one
in all history in London now, and they
are discussing everything under the
sun, including woman suffrage. The
| beginning of revolutions are the hold
| ing of conventions. and women are
most likely any day to issue a declara-
| ton of independence and set up for
| themselves. There were a hundred
American women at the London con-
vention. Susan b. Anthony was there,
| Of course, and so was Rev. Anna B.
| Shaw.
THE MEN WANTED.
| San Diego Tribune: General Corbin
says the Government wants soldiers for
the Philippines who will not be affected
| by town meetings demanding their dis
charge or recall from necessary duty.
| Neither does the Government want
married men nor boys, but single men
old enough to understand that enlisting
in the army is a serious business. Evil
IDENTIFY the Government proposes to try
and get an army Of such men. Army
| work in the face of an Ell envy is in.
| deed serious work from which the eie-
| ment Of sentiment and politics must be
| eliminated as much as possible if the
| best results are to be obtained.
WHY THEY FELL.
Stockton Independent: Thus far, at
cost of 700 American lives and an ex-
penditure of $63. 100000. General Otis
controls less than 100 square miles OF
| Philippine territory. though the Island
| of Luzon alone has an area OF Al, 900
| miles.-Mail.
Our contemporary may be right as to
the number of lives lost and the amount
of treasure spent in the suppression OF
the Filipino rebellion, but if so it is an
unusual correctness. General Otis holds
the city of Manila and the adjacent ter
| ritory and all the other islands of the
Philippine archipelago with stronger
hand and more secure tenure than
did the Spanish whose sovereignty was
respected there for more than three
centuries. But were all that the Mail
says true, still every American who has
the same regard for his country rs the
uicu WIZ AOuSAl siOWA SeccSSlOu Ia
1861 will demand that the rebellion be
crushed out if it COSTS even ten times
as much.
To suppress rebellion in the States Of
Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia,
Louisiana and others cost not only ten
times as many lives and ten times as
much treasure. but hundreds of times.
Those States have been a care, annoy
the maintenance of the Union and the
prestige of our nation were worth all
the sacrifice. For every man that falls
in the Philippines under the American
flag there are ten thousand at home to
cry shame at such utterances as the
''Maips' and to demand that the land
where they fell shall be rescued from
savage misrule and waste.
STREET ASSESSMENTS.
Stockton Independent: There is a
growing conviction among the people
of California and of other States that
the cost Of improving streets should
be borne not by individuals who own
property fronting upon such streets
but by the community as a whole.
Every law based upon the principle
that the owners alone should be taxed
for the improvement of streets upon
which their property fronts is unjust.
and the most Of these laws are vitality
defective. The Vrooman Act was re-
Gently declared unconstitutional by
the Superior Court of Sonoma County,
on the ground that the cost Of street
improvements is made a lien upon pri-
waite property without proof that the
DrODertV owner is benefited nv the i'm
provement. A similar decision has
been rendered by Circuit Court in
Missouri, concerning the constitution
ality of a law in that State, the es
sential provisions of which are like
those of the Vrooman law. The Cir
cult Court holds that the law is in
violation of the Fourteenth Amendment
to the Federal Constitution, and that
unless all the, benefit of such improve
ments rebounds to AUDITING property
owners, as distinguished from the city
at large, the statute is unfair. Prop
erty in one location may be benefited
more than property in another location
on the same street, and to be in har-
mony with the clause of the Constitu-
ton cited, assessments must be levied
in proportion to the benefits derived.
This il doubtless good law, and it
is certainly common sense. Comment
ing upon this decision and upon the
system Of street assessments which it
affects, the Sacramento Record
Union" pertinently inquiries why streets
should not be opened and constructed
at general cost, as well as the main
tenance of a police force, of a water
system, a fire protection system, or