Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-09-24


nant and general disapproval. took
to task those Of his fellow citizens
who cannot agree with him. and in
doing SO, branded them as guilty Of
treason, as traitors. and as those who
do not recognize the enormity OF their
crime" He asserts that they are guilty
OF .'copperheadism and disloyalty," and
that they would not be toler-
ated by the authorities of any civil
lied nation on the face Of the earth. !
ST. III. NJ should curb his temper
and affect more tolerant spirit to-
wards his fellow beings. They are just
as much entitled to their opinion and
to express it and urge it upon others as
he is. There is no statutory or moral
obligation upon any American citizen
to agree with William Mckinley, Theo-
dore Roosevelt, Mark Hanna, or even
ct. II. NJ This is free country,
or was until recently, and the rights
of free thought and free speech are
guaranteed by the Constitution, latter
ly, it is true. in i'll repute with the
powers that be. American citizens are
freemen, and if they, or any OF them,
cannot find it to their conscience, to
approve Of the monstrous and I'M
American policy of the present admin
istration in the far East, they have
perfect right to say so, and 1t lies in
no mans mouth to object to that opin-
ion, or to it's expression. 1T. III. Mis- an
example of that intolerance with
which the majority Of the people are
not very much in love at present, and
such seedlings and vaporings fall upon
unsympathetic ears. And yet he finds
it to mis- liking to take the death of a
soldier, we'll known in Wheeling, as an
excuse for his criticisms, insinuations,
abuse and charges Of disloyalty and
treason, when, without doing violence
to the facts, he might have said that
had not William Mckinley made his
objectionable bargain with Spain, by
the terms of which he paid twenty
millions of good American money for
very large bundle of trouble. Cap
tain David D. Mitchell and some thous-
ands of other good American soldiers
would be alive and well to-day, and
the country at large be from one hum
dred to one hundred and fifty millions
better off.
ct. H. N" is unfortunate in his
choice of a subject upon which to
base abuse of his fellow citizens. He
must know, as every man knows, that
no one rejoices in the heavy mortal
ity, in the great suffering, or in the
vast cost of the Asiatic policy Of the
President of the United States. On the
contrary, these things are universally
deplored. But much as the people de-
plore them, they must not have their
mouths stopped by the gag of news
paper communication. nor will they
submit to the epithet of Traitor" and
the false imputation of fdisloyalty."
Criticism or dissent from the acts Of
an American administration is not
yet lese majestic in this country, and
the people do not intend that it ever
shall be.
AS for the Intelligencer's approving
editorial of the extraordinary utter
ances of its correspondent, that is not
a matter for surprise. No one. not
even ct. II. NJ" could possibly go to an
extreme which that paper would not
enthusiastically approve. It's con-
science Is bounded by the acts of Will
lam Mckinley, and whatever he may
do, or others do in his name or by his
direction, is good in its sight. Forum
ately, however, its views attract little
attention and command less respect.
1t is an organ of Imperialism, a de-
fender of trusts, an advocate of mill
tarism, and-little else