The silver star., 1900-01-26

against one Of the greatest powers IN
the world. He declared that fhe war
which Great Britain is wagIng is the |
most fell blow at human liberty that
mas been struck In the century. Hc
denied that the American people were
IN sympathy with Great Britain I'm
the South African war to stamp out
the liberty Of the people," and whcr !
MIR. Balfour, In the House of Com.
mons, made such statement. .he
shouid be met with some disclaimer
from this side of the Atlantic" He
declared that the English people them
serves We're not In favor of this war
Which had been brought on by n
shaip cabinet minister engaged with
gold SPECTATORS" Mr.. Hale spoke
with unusual force, decisiveness
ana earnestness, even for him, ana hi.
passionate cloquence claimed tho
closest attention of every auditor.
Senator Morgan, as chairman of the
Senate committee on inter-oceanic en-
nals, has presented written report
upon the Nicaragua canal bill. The re-
port says: AS provision for the ma
val ana military defense of our coun-
Try, whether insular or continental,
TINS canal is Indispensable, and the
closer Its location is made to our states
on the Gulf Of Mexico the more efH-
clent VIII be Its protection to our
cohsts on the Atlantic and Pacific
fearl harbor In Hawaii, and the har-
Dor OF San Juan In Puerto Rico are the
true military defenses of the canal
against attack by European or Asiatie
powers and they give n more secure
protection to Its eastern and western
outlets than any fortress, however.
strong. that can be located at or near
Its connection with the sea. Measured
by the income of the Suez canal, at q
corresponding cost. the Nicaragua ca
nal should yield. with equivalent rates
OF tolls, mt lenst twelve per cent. on
S14O.OOO,OOO. 1t Is too severe a tax up
on credulity to ask the adoption Of the
precariOus water supply at Panama in
preference to the two grand lakes Of
the Nicaragua route, one of which is
lOO miles long by fOrty-five miles broad
and affords nearly seventy-five miles
of fresh water navigation for the lar
gcst ships. as part of the canal route.
and together they supply more than ten
times the water needed to supply the
canal line from Lake Nicaragua to
both oceans. We owe 1t to ourselves
and to the whole world that whatever
canal we shall build and control on
the isthmus of Darien shall be as open,
free and neutral to all nations as its
corresponding gateway, the Suez Gu
nal"
The sixteenth annual report of the
United States Civil Service Commits
sion has been submitted to the presi-
dent The report, while containing
much Information OF value concerning
the operations of the commission dur
ing the year, deals witlI n number of
subjects of general public interest The
remarks of the commission on the i'm
pOrtance of n merit system i'm our
COLONEL possessions; the need of max
ing some disposition of superannratcd
employees: the Improvement shown in
the reduction of the percentage of re-
movals throughout the service. result
ing from the requirements of the law
and the order of the President of July
p, 1897. looking to its enforcement.
and the advantages to he gained by
the classification of the force of the
library of Congress and the municipal
service of the District of Columbia. de-
serve special attention at this time
The report opens with n preliminary
statement in regard to the extent of
the classified and unclassifled service.
from which 1t appears that there are
approximately 1000 classified po-
sitions and 100000 unclassiiied po-
sitions; of the latter. 11,OO7 are Occu-
pied by fourth class postmasters. There
are 10.44G positions in the executive
service In the District of Columbia.
and more than 10000 distributed
among the states and territories. The
commission states that the expendi-
lures for salaries for the entire service.
classified and unclassified. Is approxi-
mately $10i, 200, 900 per anniIm. n large
increase having resulted from the war
with Spain. The total number of ap-
pOintments made during the year Oh
certificates of the commission was
0,050.
The correspondent OF the Chicago
Record, who is Republican, criticises
his party rs follows: 1t looks as II all
the reciprocity treaties negotiated by
Mr.. Kasson under the Dingley bill
would be hung up by Congress as an H.
lustratlOn Of human selfishncss and the
Inconsistency OF the Republican party.
The platforms Of the st. Louis cOnven-
tion and other previous conventions In
fervcnt terms demand the application
Of the principle of reciprocity to our
foreign commerce. The Presidents in-
augural address and messages to Con-
g.css advocated 1t. The speeches OF
the spcll-b!nders throughout the last
campaign described the beauty and nd
vnntnges OF reciprocity In trade and
promised grcat results II the Repub-
lIcan party were allowed to negotiate
treaties. The lnte Mr.. Dlngley md his
colleagues OF the committee Of ways
and means made II great demonstration
10 deceive the public. and inserted what
they called n reciprocity clause In the
Inst tariff Inv, which was framed 10
that It should he imperative, but MFR.
Knss0n skillfully managed to make
something out Of II md concluded mr.
rnngcments with France and the Brit
ish colonies In Americn. while MFR.
Buchanan mndc nm excellent trcaty
with the Argentine Republic. which
gave sugar. wool. tobacco. fruit and
some other things from those countries
nm advantage OF twenty per cent. less
thnn the ordinary duties imposed upon
s,,cli .ncrclnndIsc. Although tho cIl.
tire trade Of all the countries mentlor-
Q4l IL but n drop In tho bucket when