Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1903-10-07

Beirut. Thus far not morsel of
information has been vouchsafed
from any quarter. Our feet was
ordered to the Syrian port on the
the strength of a report by Minis
ter Leishman, at Constantinople, to
the effect that Mr.. Megalssen had
been assassinated. Admiral Cotton
reached Beirut some days later,
only to find that Megalssen was
alive and well. 1t has transpired,
moreover, that, up to the time the
assination roorback was sent by
Minister Leishman, there had been
no hostile demonstrations by the
Mohammedan population of the
city or its immediate neighborhood.
There have been some since, we
are told, but that is Ineligible
enough. We all know what would
occur in any of our seaport towns
were foreign government to send
a clustering feet there on a false
report, and without stopping to
ask for explanations. What both
cas- folk, however, is the fact that
after all this time not single ray
of light has been shed upon the
mystery. Here we are jumping
on the collar of nation with which
we are supposed To be on amicable
terms, yet no one seems TO know
why the demonstration was made,
still less why it is persisted in.
There seems to be a "hen on some
place, but no man can locate it.
You can cut the silence of the
administration with knife at this
time, but there was no hesitation,
no statecraft, no deep, dark. willy
reticence when it came TO giving
out the news" of the assassina-
ton, or making public the prompt
and vigorous action of the govern
ment in ordering the fleet TO the
scene of this tragedy in buckram.
Can it be possible that our admin
istration of the government is gar
rulous for effect upon the public
mind, and that il becomes majesti-
cally reserved only when there are
blunders TO conceaR Think it over.
The recent action of the promi-
nent republicans of the country
made it clear that all the talk in
dulged in by some of their leaders
aneAt tariff reform and revision is
the merest gulf" The Iowa
idea was rampant some time ago,
and Governor Cummings of that
state was standing upon his hind
legs and wildly waving his ears and
bowling for some measure of relief
from the exactiOns of the tariff
wall, and demanding it at once.
He now is cooling like a sucking
dove, as mild as May morn, and
he says that the revision should
not be made in the face of nation
al campaign, but that we shall wait
until 1905 before attempting any
thing like a tariff revision. This
should make it as gross to the
sense as the sun at MONDAY that
unless the people of the country
unhorse the republican party they
will wait until the trumpet of the
angel Gabriel blows before they
will obtain relief from the clutch
of the corporations. 1t is up to the
people to do little thinking.
The idea has just begun to per-
colate through the hair of the re-
publicans that there is going to be
an investigation by Congress of the
naStlneSS IN the POStothce Depart
ment, or at least it will be up to
them To refuse to have one. The
democrats are determined to press
the matter and the responsible
party for the refusal will be the
republicans. If they refuse all
will know the reason why. If they
do not, then there will be an at
tempt to whitewash somebody and
something, but the democratic
members of the committee will
come out with some powerful good
campaign material. The republi-
can party is between the devil and
the deep sea.
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