Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-02-04


Old institutions traditions, customs, are
given shocks OF varying power, and fat
headed monarchs are forced to sit UP and
take notice Look around and note the
awakening and the uplift. There is China.
awake and alert. summoning foreign medi-
cal aid to stamp out the plague shedding
queues. outlawing the opium pipe and pre-
pairing for constitutional government. In
| dia increased native representation in pro-
vincial councils and presses forward for
genuine home rule Persia is shaking or
the letters Of centuries. and Turkey. be-
sides exiting Abdul and proclaiming a con-
| stituton is diligently teaching the faithful
Of Islam that It Is meet and proper to live
on terms of friendship with non-believers.
Portugal pensions lts exiled king while
looking up pointers on republican govern
ment The republican impulse in Spain
hesitates to strike, cOntenting itself with
hurting an occasional bomb, while the same
spirit in France is. perpiexed to find new
sources Of taxation Socialism keeps the
Hohenzollerns as near the chalk line OF
duty as the waist line permits. Little Mon
AGO stopped the game long enough to Sc
cure a constitution, and the Germanized
provinces Of Alsace and Lorraine are prom
Used limited home rule, Grave constltu-
tional questions involving heredity as
coordinate legislative force. is up for early
settlement in Great Britain II these
grouped events a few OF many, do not
convince skeptics OF civilizations advance
to higher levels. one more may be sum
moned as a clincher: The tall hat Is going
out OF fashion in England.
| Canadian delegates in attendance at the
Inauguration of the government of the
South African union last october have re-
turned home with gloomy tales OF Dutch
ascendency everywhere in the conquered
colonies Some OF the things mentioned
| showing how the wind blows are worth
noting. Empire day has been abolished. A
large sum Of money has been voted to pay
| pensions to officials OF the late republic.
Measures have been taken to restrict immi-
grafton but this is directed mainly at con-
tract cheap labor from India. These are
minor signs of the times in South Africa
| Back Of them is a policy that looks far
into the future. That policy has to do with
placing Beers upon the land as farmers,
United with this is the bilinguai education
! plan, whereby the English and the Dutch
languages are to be taught In the schools
and all legal notices must be printed In
/ both. Discrimination in the selection Of
! teachers is cited as another grievance. pref
erence being shown Dutch teachers over
English in lower standard of examina-
don. No remedy for these conditions II
suggested by the Canadian imperialists
They content themselves with the recital OF
the painful facts, coupled with a lementa-
ton over defeat turned into victory for the
Beers. The grant OF self-government made
inevitable the conditions mentioned. Boer
ascendency could not be averted under any
| .F..t oh,
stitute three-fourths OF the farmers of the
united colonies and are potential factors in
the activities Of the cities The percentage
OF English on the land is comparatively
small, and many OF these are one in senti.
ment and aspirations with their Dutch
neighbors. The majority of the English
are in the cities, their number rising and
falling as mining and commercial life pros
pers or declines. Land cultivation is the
dependence OF the Dutch, and that beats
mining proposition for endurance and
permanent results.
! The federal pie counter in France pos
/ sesses no more appetizng morsels than
other nations hand out to hungry favorites,
but the proportion Of the population which
reaches the counter and sticks constitutes
an unrivaled record of zeal and persever-
ance. Official reports show the number
Of officeholders in France has reached
96s 12i. and is growing every year. The
average yearly increase in officehoders
for the last fifty years Is $500. In half
century the increase in population has
been only 10 per cent, but the civil service
pay roll has sweled from 80, 1900 to
SiS7, OOO5 500 In round figures. Frances
population is s9OOO.00O, so that one person
/ in every thirty-nine has a pull at the
public crib. The civil list in the United
States totals 367 794 persons in a population
of 92OO0OOO. or one officeholder for each
$50 Allowance must be made for employees
on the French railroads. telegraph and
telephone services and other utilities con-
trolled by the state, the number so en-
ployed vastly increasing the public pay
roll But the aggregate is swollen beyond
reasonable needs. The Paris Gaulols as
serts one-third of the number could be
Topped off without injury to the service,
French thrift in money matters is the sd-
miration OF the world. II shines with
equal luster in office getting. The ideal Of
the middle class citizen is to get an easy,
well paid Sob under the government en-
titling him 20 a pension. Doubtless a good
deal OF the French taxpayers money could
be saved II sinecures were abolished. but II
would need a strong man to undertake this
task,
Stories OF morganatic marriages lend
spice and some disagreeable odor to the
romances Of the royal houses. Whether
true or false, alliances outside OF the
royal circle are accepted by subjects as the
privilege OF heirs to and occupants Of the
throngs. No ruler OF recent times has
shown the courage Of King George in meet
ing a specific accusation Of bigamy and
demonstrating in court the utter falsity OF
the charge. The discredit story differed
from the usual morganatic alliance in that
no moral wrong was asserted. AS the story
had II. marriage was contracted long be-
fore the present king was prince of Wales
and heir apparent TO the throne. The
death of his elder brother nicknamed
Prince Collars and Cuffs" changed the
status of the new prince OF Wales and
would have annuiled a real marriage out
side OF royalty had one existed. At the
time Of the death Of King Edward the