The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1914-06-06
A STUDY IN CANT
BY JdOoyard.

Last night was reading Macaulay's
essay on Croker's edition of Bos-
wells Life of Samuel Johnson" and
was struck with the passage relating
to the great old writer's intolerance
of shams and his intense and invet-
crate hatred of "the cant of patriot
ism," that has disgraced the politics
of all tongues and all peoples In all
ages and in all climes. And how this
mighty old man of letters would fay
our jingoes in Congress, who claim
that under the Hay Pauceforte treaty
we have the right and 1t is the pa
triotic duty of Congress to grant a
ship subsidy to the most grasping and
the only perfect and legally en-
trenched monopoly in the country, If
he lived in our time and were a citi-
zen of our country.
1t is calamity to forensic debate
that Benjamin Disraeli and Thomas
B Reed did not live in the same coun-
try, and were not contemporaneous
members, on opposite political sides,
of great legislative body in England
or in America. Here is a passage
Dizzy one day hurled at Gladstone:
Il have had some experience in pub
lif life, and during that time l have
seen a great deal done and more pre-
tended by what are called moral
MEANS and being naturally of a
thoughtful temperament l have been
induced to anaIyze what moral means
are. Will tell you what found them
to consist of. | have found them to
consist of three qualitfes-enormous
lying, inexhaustible boasting, intense
selfishness."
Rub out moral and insert pa
triot" and you have got the lingo AR
guments' on this tolls question In Con-
gress and out of Congress-"enor-
nous lying, inexhaustible Boosting, in
these selfishness," supplemented with
infamous and odious cant.
You hear a heap about Sovereign
ty" in this so-called debate. You hear
! that President Wilson has cravenly
surrendered to Great Britain. You
hear that If this subsidy is not grant
ed the canal is not ours. You are
told that Sovereignty" embraces the
right and imposes the duty to dishon-
or the country by violating a cove
nant we entered upon with England
and that included every nation of the
world that has a ship on water. You
are admonished that you are not
patriot unless you favor the taxing
of all the people to substitute a few Of
the people.
Dumas, the elder, determined to
translate Homer, but did not know a
word of Greek and did not consider
it necessary that he should learn
Greek. If anybody could turn that
trick the gifted quadroon was the
chap to do it, and we can imagine
what a work it would have been when
we read the argument" of the Hon.
| O'Gorman in the United States Senate
in which he contends that the remis-
sion of taxes is not a subsidy.
Everybody else has to pay tolls, in
Guiding that INDECENT, miserable des-
titute and distressed more or less
entity, the American merchant marine
engaged in foreign commerce, that is
as lean as Lazarus and as poor as
poverty; but the American merchant
marine engaged in the coastwise trade
is as rich as Croesus and as insOlent
as the devil, and it is to be released
from the hardship of paying tolls
This is estimated by competent ex
perts at 100000 annually. Accord
ing to O'Gorman, If it pays that sun
into the Treasury and Congress, un
uer the oiu nag anu Ny oPoiotioh "
an appropriation, returns 1t to thi
monopoly, 1t is a subsidy; but If it Il
not collected then it is not subsidy
Yet the condition is precisely tn
: same.
Somebody win have to pay that So
: 100000 annually. If this ship monoI
oily is relieved of that taxation tn
taxes of Tom, Dick and Harry WI
have to be increased to pay it. Thi
concern is rich and no more entitle
to that graft than / am to pass owe
the railroad the next time I go to KeI
lucky. You might as well enact la
forcing the proposed railroad
| Alaska to carry Rockefel1er's o