The National tribune., 1906-01-04
rE1BUFE WASHINGTON

THE NATIONAL Tribune:
hands Of persons to whom Il does not
belong is a serious one. and as it is a
penal offense, 1t Will be inquired into
with great care.
The statement was made in a source
outside the Department that the
charges made In this connection will
intensity the bitterness already devel-
oped in connection with the Senatorial
race in Kentucky. No opponent OF
Senator Blackburn is named directly
in the papers filed in the Department,
although it is understood that an off,
cial or officials in the Frankfort Post
Office are named by Inference.
Senator Blackburns term will ex-
pire on March 3, 1907. He succeeded
William Lindsay, who is now practic-
ing law in New York. fhe famous
Kentuckian had little trouble in being
elected in 1900, after a hiatus of four
years in his Senatorial career. His
friends say that his opposition at pres
ent comes from what they term the
machine" and that if it were left to
"a popular vote Mr.. Blackburn would
win by an overwhelming majority.
Every expedient known in Kentucky
has been utilized to defeat Senator
Blackburn. and no surprise was mani
tested by observers here who have fol-
lowed the fight in the State when the
announcement was made that mail
had been tempered with and that the
incident would intensity the fight and
might result seriously.
Three or four Of the most expert
Inspectors in the Post Office Depart
ment have been dispatched to Frank
fort and other cities in the State. and
they have been instructed to complete
their investigation and make a report
to Postmaster-General Cortelyou as
soon as possible.
of this waited from the lips of Speak
er Cannon, and then shake off that
pessimistic smile, and go out and help
the wheels go round. That's the way
our young" Speaker does. and that is
what keeps him young. He went to
dent was off down in Virginia playing
hockey The newspaper correspond
ents tackled him, and kind as always
he stopped to give utterance to the fol-
lowing between puffs at an excellent
cigar.
they We're in the old days." observed
the Speaker; that we are becoming
aristocrats; that there is no longer hon
esty in legislative bodies: that there Is
no ability at the bar; that we are apt
to become q monarchy; that some
strong man is apt to rise up and dom
mate everybody.
But 1 say there is no fair-minded
man who studies the history Of this
country from the days of it's fOunda-
ton down to the present time and who
deduces the difference between 10000
900 of people and 100000. who con-
siders the telegraph, the telephone, and
he 6c w will that
are markedly better-physically. men
tally, and morally-than our grand
fathers or even our fathers
Then you believe the House Of Rep
resentatives is Just as representative
as it was I'm years gone by?' he was
asked.
Yes, yes. indeed" the Speaker re-
piled. 1.-The House is just as represen-
tative body now as it was when tnis
country had only 100000 Of people.
If you listen to all that is said, you
ing to the devil; is fast becoming
monarchy. and will soon cease to be a
republic. Why heard that Same kind
of talk when / was a boy, when we
used to gather at camp in the good old
days. You hear the same things now;
that the. country is retrograding; that
everybody is corrupt and dishonest,
and that there is wholesale immoral
ity. l do not hesitate to assert that
this country is better today than it
ever was in its history; that the people
are better-mOre honest, more moral,
and less disposed to yield to tempta-
tons that are put in front of honest
men at every turn.
1.-The people are just as mighty now
in the matter of elections as ever be-
fore, and just as discriminating as to
whether a man has done his duty. No
man ever gets SO big that he cannot
And how quickly the people do it, too!
They settle man so quickly that he
is soon forgotten. / venture the pre-
diction that few Of the best read men
In the country could sit down today
and give off hand the names of 100
in the House of Representatives. The
others were defeated and forgotten,
and that was the end.
"There was William J. Brown, who
put through the House the appropria-
ton of $4,000 to build the first tele-
graph line between Washington and
baltimore. He did the world an i'm
mense service, yet at the next election
afterward he received hardly enough
votes to count. The opposition put up
a man who ridiculed the idea of send
ing messages by lightning and he beat
brown tHOuSdHQS Oh VOtcS. DO IL Is 10.
day, although a mans services now
are not SO easily condemned.
Undoubtedly, we are better off than
were our forefathers. The millennium
isn't here, 1t is true, and things will
not be a bit interesting when every
thing becomes perfect. We are doing
better, though"
Now you see 1t and now you don't
Gen. Wrights retirement from the
Governorship Of the Philippines. He
says he isn't going to retire and never
intended to do SO. Other people say
that he will be forced to retire be-
cause the Filipinoes do not like him.
They say that he thinks of them as he
does of colored people, and that he
would as soon associate with negroes
as with the little brown brothers
across the sea" They do say, also,
that there is a vast difference between
the way the Filipinoes. men and wom-
en-, were treated socially when Secre-
tary of War Taft was over there smil-
ing upon them, and when Gov. and
Mrs. Wright took hold of things. Mrs.
Wright is intensely Southern in senti-
ment, and positively refuses to accept
the FilipinOes socially. 1t is said, and