The observer., 1900-01-13
aKING" LEARY OF GUAM
low This Versatile Naval Officer Is Admin.
isterlng Our New Isle.

~ is not strange that among our di-
Fefsely gifted people there should be
foqnd here and there a man with an
ipfltpde for kingcraft. There have al
ways been plenty of Americans who
would have reached one, too, If thrones
| la1 been open to competition. But
lDe division of labor has not gone that
raf and hitherto the deserving person
nas stood no chance against the tenth
transmitter of a foolish face. So many
holenual monarch among us has had
tslslook on while others muddled the
reFal business In a way to make him
srlf his teeth. Such man was Com
manders Leary of the Boston Navy
laHd till a turn of affairs led the gov
ernment to take him away from rou-
tine duties and anoint him king Of
Guam. Not that there was a formal
eoronation, for that would have offend
ed popular sentiment. And as to any
fufufe legends that he was burning
cakes in a peasants hut at the time or
tEat he was at his plough clad only in
2 funic and had to send home for his
toga, we may say in advance that
there is nothing in them. The one au-
tAenticated fact is that he became
king of Guam.
As king he has justified the hopes Of
y that knew him. There was nothing
Jl We Bourbon about him-no blind |
less to the mistakes of his predeces- |
'0fS. He saw, for example, where men |
ike Louis the Pious and Edward the |
agla1essor had failed, and he soon
YNofe home that Having disposed of
rs priests, rapid progress will be made
IlA no further resistance will be en-
ohntered.' Rapid progress was made,
ukiK progress as is seldom seen in a
'aelic archipelago. The people were
Rzf& and producing just enough food
Keep them alive. In his ukase of
'efeber4 he commanded them to plant
enalls and vegetables. He has re-
alrpa every adult native to contribute
TIE support of the government He
rs compelled each one to maintain
yekve hens and /; sow. He has order
bkm to bring their produce to the
alNel and sell it. In short, he has
attSd them at the regular produc-
oA f wealth out of which they are to
~ !; Ssnrge their debts and pay their
Id p1z--5 ..Sg--~s- ---s- +
orcN backward than the Russia or
pter's time. and the reforms are more
yeeping. He may be compared to the
who beat idlers over the
lad with his rattan and made the ap-
@ women knit at their stall. But be-
nd Frederick William was an army
10000 men, the best drilled force In
urope. On the other hand, when the
avy Department asked the ruler OF
uam if he wanted more troops he re-
led that the only thing lie needed
as an ice machine. Where other
ngs required standing armies he
anted only ice water. That, as an
merican. he felt he must have.
And it is no mere matter of issuing
acrees. These DEGREES are Obeyed
zen when they run counter to the
rongest popular traditions. A light
nd transitory marriage tie, or no mar
age tie at all, is one of these tradl-
Ons. Yet when the decree went forth
lat people should marry, the entire
1ult population made a rush for
censes, and the officers had more than
ley could do to meet the demand
hese are the rumors that come to us
,om Guam, and of no man is it easier
} believe them than of the present
ller. 1t should encourage them who
ear that we should be unequal to our
ew duties. Even for a queer ana
hronistic job like this we can find
ur man, and he fits in a good deal
etter than the average pOrphyro-
enitus.