The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1900-02-08
CURRENT COMMENT.
Notes md Comments, Political ard
Otherwise, on Matters of interest.
BY Andrew J. Palm.

BY Andrew J. Palm.
Our Republican friends are boasting
considerably about what they call the
absence of the soup house. and hold
forth the idea that everybody is pros
porous. II is worthy to note, however,
that the Republican papers OF Phila-
delphia on the day after Christmas
gave list showing the number of per-
sons who had been fed by charity the
day before. The number fed in differ
ent places varied from $4,000 in the
homes and asylums to 225 fed by the
Life Line League. The total number
was 110.425. II would be well in view
of this not to destroy all the soup
houses just yet. They will be in great
demand by and by. Mckinley has sent
many thousands of our idle men to
risk their lives in killing off our fell
low men in his scheme of benevolent
assimilation. but as they will all be
asking for pensions by and by, 1t isn't
house.
The New York World has done a
great work in securing a monster pc
tition of the best men of the country
urging President Mckinley to offer his
services toward stopping the criminal
aggression of the English against the
Beers in South Africa. But what does
the World take Mckinley for? He has
no sense of consistency, and he has
never been credited with courage, but
let nI
he still has sense enough to know that
II he would say to John Bull, "You are
numbering innocent men in the Trans
vaal. let me show you how not to do
it. Bull would quick make reply.
you're another. You began first. now
quit before you begin lecturing US"
Oh, no, Mr.. Mckinley isn't going to
mention anything like that to England.
He is more likely to send a commits
sion of college professors over to learn
how an Englishman can stick a lance
through two prisoners at once, a bril-
liant feat that they call pig sticking
It's so English, you know. that we
ought by all means to have It.
The United States mail service now
carries letter 1000 miles for two
cents. and yet nobody is complaining
that it Is too cheap. The telegraph COM
panies, however, continue right along
exacting at least three times as much
for their services as it is worth. There
is no more reason why the govern
ment should not assume control of the
telegraph than there is why it should
give the mail service over to some
trust or corporation. The wonder is
that the Mark Hannas and Pierpont
Morgans have not discovered before
this that the government ought not
to be troubled about the matter of
carrying the mails. If the mail service
at the present time were in the con-
troll OF private individuals 1t is safe
to say that the powers controlling oul
public affairs would see to it that the
government should have nothing to
do with it. They would point out the
dangers OF government control Of the
mail service. and the majority would be
foolish to believe them, or at least not
take enough interest in the matter to
declare that private control of the pub
lie mail service should cease. The
public ownership of the telegraph and
railroads never ought to have been
given into the hands of private parties.
and should be taken charge of by the
government without unnecessary delay.
We hear so much fapdoodle about
the dear old flag, exalted patriotism,
how sweet 1t is die for ones country,
etc, that one would almost be led to
believe that men are anxious to give
4 hA,, al, al q a..
that they may be referred to as heroes.
We find, however, that of the patriots
who were so madly in love with their
country that they were willing to
leave the comforts of peace and civil
ization to fight against Spain, 5.772 de-
serted. In the civil war the desertions
from the Union army were 117,640.
The sweetness of dying for ones coun-
try may sound well in story books, but
1t is the mythiest sort of myth when it
comes down to actual business. The
sweetness in military matters Is con-
fined exclusively to those gentlemen
who draw big salaries as officers and to
the shallowpated hero worshipers who
seem to think that the business of de- |
life and property and caus-
ing untold suffering is more worthy of |
honor than saving life and relieving |
III 1t were not for the army
who grow rich by stealing |
from the government and the brass |
buttoned dudes who receive big sala- |
ries and the plaudits Of the multitude |
the war spirit would die out In a gener- |
alton 1t Is high time that we should |
either cease to hang men for commit |
ting a single murder or quit paying |
and teaching thousands TO commit |
wholesale murder.