Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1901-02-21
CHAMP CLARK ) LETTER
Treason on the Floor of
the House.
A GOOD MAN GONE WRONG.
Dared to Stand Up and Criticise
the Administration.
A TIP FOR SENATOR MARX HANNA

ATIP FOR SENATOR MARX HANNA.
He Should Have a Law Passed Gre
ating and Defining the Crime of
Leze Majesty-GeneraI Merritt ON
the Constitutfon-Poses as a Jurist.
Uncle Marks War Record - Mark
Twain Runs Amucl< on Imperial
ism-General Harrison n Thorn In
the Republican FIesh--Riot of Ex-
travagance-The Next Speaker.
Especial Washington letter.
Away with him to the block! Seth
w. Brown, a Republican congressman
from Ohio, is the latest traitor to stand
up in the house and with front of brass
to mouth treason. Nothing short of the
guillotine will do him any good He
should be made an example to all the
idiots and criminals who still dare to
believe and assert that the Declaration
of Independence is not historic lie.
serpent nor harmless as a dove His
lack of wisdom is shown in this: For
some time, as a sort of amicus curie,
have been advising him gratuitously to
have law passed creating and defin-
ing the crime of leze majesty and pro-
yiding pains and penalties therefor,
warning him that in that way, and that
way alone, could he muzzle free speech
in this country as he has done in the
Philippines. For some reason he has
not accepted my friendly counsel,
though it would have saved him more
trouble than all the senile chatter he
hears in the senate in month of Sun
days.
The first fruit of his neglect to follow
my suggestion was that General Ben
jamin Harrison, once president of the
republic, broke into speech and print
with lot of reasonable rubbish which
must vex sorely the patriotic heart of
Hanna as he revolves in his capacious
head new plans for benevolent assim-
ilation." Unfortunately, the pestifer-
Gus Benjamin has bad habit of catch
ing the public ear. Millions read ca
gerly what this hoary headed traitor
has to say, and, sad to relate, many be-
lieye his utterances. His remarks are
widely copied and are safely stored in
divers and sundry scrapbooks for fu-
ture use and ready reference. Benja-
min, to Marks disgust, does not take
Remark of Great Jurfst.
When Mark does enart his leze maj
esty statute, be win have to run coun-
ter to the constitution and make it act
as an ex post facto law in order to
catch General Harrison, but that won't
matter, as that immortal jurist, Cen
eral Wesley Merritt, who accumulate
ed his store of legal lore by dancing at
tendance on drumhead courts martial,
has declared in an ex cathedra sort of
way: THE constitution is played out.
1t is not worth discussing" That set
ties It, But when General Harrison is
arraigned at the bar on the ex post
facto charge of leze majesty perhaps
of high treason to AIark-he can throw
himself on the mercy of the court and
allege as palliating circumstance the
doctrine of heredity, showing conclu-
sively that love Of liberty, which is
becoming questionable and dangerous
under Marks regime, runs in the Har-
rison blood, citing as incidents that
one of his ancestors helped chop off
the royal head of Charles /; that his
great-grandfather, Bluff Ben Harri-
son, signed certain antiquated and
obsolete paper, yclept ''The Declaration
of Independence, which was saturat-
ed with treason to his gracious majesty
King George HI; that his grandfather,
General William Henry Harrison, spent
his whole life, and long one at that,
upholding the glory of republic, do
ing some extraordinarily good fighting
at a place called Tippecanoe, for which
he was made president of the United
States proper; that he himself, Ben
jamin Harrison, prisoner and defend
ant for four years, barred his breast
and risked his life on numerous battle
fields in defense of Old Glory, while
Senator Hanna was serving the coun-
try by means of a substitute, for
which service in his own proper person
he was also made president of the
United States proper by the unthink-
ing hoi polloi, as was his grandfather
before him, while Marcus A. Hanna
was made senator of the United
States, proper or improper by venal
legislature and boss in chief of the Re-
publican party as q reward for the
fighting which he did and the blood
which he shed vicariously through his
substitute. Perchance in this way
General Harrison may save his white
head and reduce his punishment to for
feiture of estate and to perpetual ban
ishment from our imperial court.
StiI1 Another Traitor.
General Harrison is not the only
traitor who has set his tongue a-wag-
giEg and who has taken his pen in
hand by reason of Marks unaccounta-
BILE negligence in adopting my advice.
A vagrant, globe trotting scribbler
named Samuel L. Clemens, better
known by his sobriquet of mark
Twain" was emboldened by General
Harrison's example to indite certain
reflections designed admirably design
ed-to bring our imperialistic fad into
contempt and to make it and its propa-
gandists the laughing stock of all crea-
ton. Marks article demonstrates be,
yond all peradventure that he is as
great a master of irony as of humor, ri
valing Foltaire, Frederick the Great and
John James ingalls, in the former as he
rivals Henry Fielding, Abraham Lin
coin and Artemus Ward in the latter
Now, Mark has tabernacled in the fesl
considerably more than threescore
years and consequently ought to have
known better than to run amuck Oh
Marks imperialistic host. His case IL
a sad one and is fresh illustration oil
the truth of the ancient saw that "ar
old fool is the greatest of all FOOLS
When Mark hauIs him to the bar on {
charge of leze majesty and when it j.
eyerlastingly too late to do him any
good, Mark win learn several things
inter ALA that age like ignorance does
not excuse. In extenuation of his trea
son he may plead that he is Nilsson
rian and therefore must be shown; alst
| that millions love him not for the enc