Potter County Journal

              CuttiitB J0wrnal
ESTABLISHED 1848.
COUDERSPORT, PA., WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20. 1898.
VOLUME 49, NUMBER 41
Events at Washington.
\S ar to Come  Soon   Enough  for the
Preparation that had
Been Made.
INK MILITIA TO BE CALLED OUT.
\\';is)iin<:1()n.     .\pril    IS. 18!IS.
l'i-(,'sident .McKlnU-y  did   no   frot-
'iiiir iK'causc Coti*i"rcss took a whole
uci'h' to acl    upoi)   his   nicssa^'t'  on
armed iuterveiitioii in   Cui)a.   whiU'
lie ^^-ciieral e.xpcelalion was that th
I itary occupation of Cuba.    The plan ' of  compaign is all made out. but  so well   has the secret   been kept  that no   person, not an otlicial. can   posi¬ tively  say   whetlun- these  regulars will have militia assistance in   their invasion of Cuba or not. Thepfeneral i?7ipressif)n   is.   ho\vover.   that   thev will,   and that a   call for   volunteers ' from the uiilitia will   be  issued   by I President McKinley within 48hours jof the  moment his signature is at- I trached to the joint i-esolution auth- ;orizing    forcible     intervention     iu [ Cuba.     Tt    is   undei-stood.   but    not J officially, that the Presidont has de¬ cided to adopt  the   plan   of   calling for volunteer militiamen rather than
, , ,      T .    ,        ,        ; one calling ui)0u each state to   furn-
misiness would Ite done m two days i ^     '¦
aw.   ex-Confed-
mav  hereafter
in   the  United
will be entitled
.It tlieoulsule; he knows what re- s])onsi))illty is. 'j'liat llic delay has i)ecn l)enelicial to this government may be seeu from tlie followiug lan¬ guage, used by a member of the Cabinet to an impatient friend who was repeating the argument used ou all sides against the apparent tardi¬ ness both of Congress and the Pres¬ ident: "'Nobody has the remotest idea how unprepared we were when Congress made the appropriation of *.50.00(>.(IO(». As a matter of fact, tiiere were net tive rounds of ammu¬ nition in a fortified plaee in the eountry, and the ships did not have ammunition enough tofightanything. We were simply ready in an ama- turish manner. The President was shocked when he learned the full facts. A knowledge of these facts had as much to do with making him cautious as a desire to avoid war. Had this country been forced into war three weeks ago. we might have gotten the worst of things for a while. 1 think we are now about ready and can give an account of ourselves." These words should be considered by the hair-trigger individuals who blame the President for not rusliing into wai' weeks a^o. Just wlien hostilities will begin IS still a matter of some doubt, al¬ though it nuist necessarily be soon. The House is today considering the intervention resolution adopted by the Senate, which recognizes the in¬ dependence of the present govern¬ ment of Cuba and otherwise differs from that adopted by the House. It is expected that an agreement will be reached .sometime today, or tomorrow at the outside andthe res¬ olution be sent to the President, although there is some talk  of the
ish its quota of the nunibtn' of men desired, and that the organizations which volunteer tirst arc to be ac¬ cepted regardless of the states from which they come. According to estimates made by War Department officials, more than 2.0IMJ.0O0 volun¬ teers have been offered to the gov¬ ernment, which is about twenty times more men than anyone expects to be needed.
Just after a meeting of the Cabi¬ net, at which the probability of the materialization of the forcible Euro¬ pean intervention upon which Spain relies to save it from a terrible thrashing was referred to in a dis¬ cussion, a member was asked what would be the probable result of an at¬ tempt on the part of the six great European powers to force the U. S. to withdraw its demand that Spain evacuate Cuba. ''Fighting, and plenty of it. " was his prompt reply. That represents the position of the administration to a dot. It proposes to drive Spain out of Cuba, i-egard- less of whether it has to fight Spain alone, or the allied powers. This is very well known to the European Ambassadors and Ministers at Washington, unofficially, and they have only to give the President an opportunity, by p^(^sen^ieg a note either threatening or announcing European intervention, to be made officially acquainted with it.
The Country Editor of Today.
The country editor is no longer a handy-Andy in a community, to be re¬ warded with a free lunch, a compli¬ mentary or the mere thank you of an unappreciative constituency. His newspaper is no longer a mendicant thriving by the good graces of the community. It no longer survives possibility of a deadlock between ! ^^.^ ^.j^g erumbs of support thrust to the House and Senate. Nothing of- [ ^^ f^om the tables of the political and licially has been said about the pro- j business Dives of its locality. ,The gram that will be followed after the i occupation of editing and puplish- re.solution reaches the Pvesident. j jj^^ .^ ^.^untry newspaper has ceased but the statement is made upon I to be a despised one, the butt of good authority that the Pi'esident! ^^fggjjj^g j^l^g^^ and the victim of will make a demand upon Spain to j ^^^^i^^^gj^tful ridicule. The country evacuate Cuba and will grant one j j^g^^.j^p^per and its editor have come or two days for the answer. This j ^q ^^ ^n in.stitution of power and in- will be largely for form sake, as it] fluence in every community. They is already practically certain that j^g^^.^, ^.q^.,^. ^q stand as any other Spain will refuse, and will probably | gi-eut enterprise requiring capital accompany the refu.sal with a mes- j .^^^^ brains for its conduct stands, sage of defiance. Then the naval i rpj,,^, business of conducting the forces of ti.e country will be put i" | country newspaper in the present motion aud the lirst steps taken  to- 	
TO MAXIMO QOHEZ.
Par the Potter Journal.
Siuce Xer.xe.s pa.'^sed, warriors of man}' lands
Have marched    their    troops    into  death's
yawning jaws, Aud famous generals with a zeal divine, Made desperate battle for a long-lost cause.
But thou, 0, Gomez !   Witli a dauntless soul. We see thee face Castilla,—and the world,— Thy troops, the ghosts of murdered innocent.s That follow where thy colors are unfurled.
M. E. H. Everett.
A PREMIUM ON TREASON.
An important measure has been favorably reported to the House, and if it becomes a erate soldiers who serve ninety days States army or navy to all the benefits provided ex-Uni¬ ted States soldiers in the act of June 27, 1890. generally known as thc "Dependent Pension Act." The bill as originally introduced merely provided as an inducement for the Union veterans of the late war to enlist for this war with Spain that enlistment should not operate to stop pensions now being drawn, but the committee thought the ex-Con¬ federate veterans would also make desirable recruits, and it was amen¬ ded as above.
This bill should never become a law. Whenever disloyalty receives the same rewards bestowed upon loyalty, a grave wrong is committed. The Confederate soldiers fought against the government and while we accept their protestations of readiness now to fight shoulder to shoulder with the Union soldier against Spain, as evidence of their present loyalty, they should first earn their right to the rewards of patriotism before they can claim a place beside the ex-Union soldier on the rolls of honor. The claim that it is done as an inducement to en¬ list in the present war is a sham. Ten times as many men are ready to enlist as can be used by the national government and if the ex-Confeder¬ ate will not join the army to fight against Spain without a guarantee of pensions for disabilities received while fighting again.st the Union, let them stay at home and the boys in blue will take care of the Span¬ iards as they did the Johnnies in the sixties with no expectation of reward. We hail the expressions of loyalty coming from the South with joy, but this effort to smuggle through a Confederate pension measure savors of something far re" moved from patriotism. Let no premium ever be placed upon trea¬ son or rewards bestowed upon trai¬ tors, however penitent.
wards driving thc Spaniards out of Cuba, while the troops now being hurried as fast as steam can carry them towards convenient points of embarkation will be got in shape to be rushed over to Cuba just as soon as the fleet has captured a desire- able location on the island for them to be landed. Once landed the war will be pushed to a speedy and vic¬ torious end both on land and on water.
Naval officials smile at sensational predictions of damage that will be done to our commerce by Spanish privateers. Instead of having any fears on that score, they think that we shall have so many fast and for¬ midable auxiliary cruisers on the seas that auy Spanish privateer that gets far from home will be extremely fortunate if it escapes destruction or capture by .some of them. The Spanish are not ignorant of our pre¬ paration in this line, and they are not likely to go as extensively into tbe privateering business in reality as our sensationalists have made them go in imagination.
The massing of practically three- Jfourths of the regular army—about 118,000 men—at Chickamauga Park. {New Orleans, Mobile, and Tampa, is Fthe first open move towards the mil-
has come to require the highest kind of business ability, and the editorial and news departments have come to be entrusted to steady nerves, trained minds and hands— to men of education and of business acumen, to men of moral character and good example. And they have come to be patronized not as matters of favor, but as matters of business and YiYont.—Springfield {III.) Regis¬ ter.  J
A Perfect Union.
No intelligent person of any party or locality had any right to doubt the south's patriotism in the Span¬ ish affair, or in any other affair which may threaten to bring the country in conflict with any other nation. In a moral as well as in a physical sense the south has been I'cconstructed for a good many years. South Carolina is now as loyal as Massachusetts, and it is safe to predict, would contribute as many men. in proportion to the pop¬ ulation, to the government's service in a foreign war. Persons who doubt this, or who are surprised at it, are either inexcusably bigoted, or show a strange blindness to the drift of public sentiment in the south in recent years.—aSV. Louis Globe-Democrat.
A Disturbing Element.
There is nothing which disturbs the nerves of the average legislator as the introduction of temperance in politics. He will legislate on the potato bug and domestic relations, pass resolutions on the Irish tenan¬ try, of the Panama canal, introduce bills of all sorts ; but he abhors the pestilent subject, temperance. He is in favor oi regulating the pratice of dentistry, of medicine, of caring for all forms of suftering humanity, the feeble minded and idiots—but he begs of you in the name of your party never to introduce temperance into politics. Nothing is clearer than that the temperance people have settled down into a calm deter¬ mination founded on long experience and settled conviction that they will push on their work to a successful consummation if it takes till the crack of doom. Excitement has given place to earnestness. The temperance movement has crystal- ized into hard, solid fact. It is no longer fitful showers and sudden floods, but it moves as the glaciers move—right on and almost imper¬ ceptibly—but over all before it.— Church and Home.
OUR MINOR COINS.
Kepresentative Charles W. Stone, of this State, the very efficient chair¬ man of the House Committee on Coinage, Weights and Measures, finds pleanty for his committee to do. even though the question of coinage is not now a very active one. It is not possible to touch the silver question, even in its relation to subsidary coins, without raising at some point the 10 to 1 issue. Mr. Stone's committee has recommended that the silver bullion in the Treas¬ ury be converteJl into subsidiary silver, and without waiting for ac¬ tion on that proposition, which may never come, it has addressed itself to the consideration of our minor coinage.
This consists now of but two pieces—the tive and one cent coins, the three-cent and two-cent coins being uo longer minted. Neither of the present minor coins is satisfac¬ tory. The five cent nickel looks well when fresh, but it soon loses its luster and wears fiat and smooth. The metal it is composed of is far too soft. It is called nickel, but a five cent nickel coin contains only 25 per cent, of pure nickel, with 75 per cent, of copper. The bronze cent is even more unsatisfactory. It is composed of an alloy of ninety-five parts copper, three parts tin and two parts zinc. It is nearly as bright as new gold when first minted, but it soon begins to turn dark, and in use bcomes clogged with dirt and grease. In the pos¬ session of children and brought by them in contact with fruit or vege¬ table juices of any sort it develops on its surface verdigris, an active poison very injurious to the chil¬ dren when introduced into the sys¬ tem by the very bad but very com¬ mon practice among them of putting coins into the mouth.
The committee is convinced that the ni:,nor coinage can and should be improved by the use of belter ma¬ terial in its manufacture. Just what is the best material is iu doubt, and the committee has reported a resolution authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to make experi¬ ments to determine the best material for minor coinage. Pure nickel is recommended by the Director of the Mint, though he is favorably im¬ pressed with the merits of an alloy containing eighty-six parts of alum¬ inum, with nickel, copper, zinc and manganese making up the other fourteen parts. When new the al¬ uminum and pure nickel coins look a good deal alike, but to the touch there is a perceptible difference, and aluminum coins are much the lighter. Italy, Switzerland and Austria-Hungary use pure nickel for minor coinage. The aluminum coins are still a novelty.
Minor coins from either of the metals proposed would cost the Gov¬ ernment a little more than the alloys now used but the coins would be better, more handsome, more whole¬ some aud more durable. Our soft nickel-copper 5 cent piece and ver¬ digris-charged bronze cents are be¬ low standard on several accounts and should give place to something better. —Ph iladelphia Press.
Rule No. II.
"The Chairman of the County Committee shall furnish to the committemen of the several dis¬ tricts, tickets for such districts, with the names of the various candi¬ dates under the proper head printed on the back of such tickets, and on the face of such tickets blank spaces for the names of the delegates and the county committeemen to be elect¬ ed."
Let All be Americans.
The Washington Post very pro¬ perly says: There is not, there should not be, a thought of mere party advantage in this matter. The South is as loyal as the North. The Democrats are as patriotic as the Republicans. The issue touches our love of country, not the elections of next November. The crisis em¬ braces all of us with equal force. He who would seek to extort a personal or a partisan benefit from an emer¬ gency involving the national wel¬ fare, the honor of the flag, the spot¬ less glory of our 'scutcheon, is no true son of the Republic. He who would make these sacred things the material of sordid barter and vicious calculation is a traitor to the coun¬ try 's fame. There is only one proper cause for emulation among patriots at such a time, and that is the dig¬ nity, the glory and the honorable repute of the Union we love so well.
The Yankee against the Castilian; may the best man win.
LICENSING AN EVIL.
The curse of civilization is the liquor traffic. Intemperance which the traffic encourages and promotes, is recognized as the bane of our so¬ cial progress ; the great danger to be guarded again.st in every depart¬ ment of business. Clear brains and steady nerves are indespensible to success in every field of industrial activity. Complicated machiner}' driven by steam or electricity can¬ not be operated by one whose in¬ tellect has been weakened and dulled by an indulgence in alcoholic bev¬ erages. Merchants, manufacturers, bankers and transportation com¬ panies almo.st without exception, re¬ fuse to employ men addicted to the use of alcoholic drinks. A man or boy accustomed to visiting the sa¬ loou. looses the confidence of his em¬ ployer and soon finds himself with¬ out a job. It matters not how much may have been done for them in our schools and colleges, the saloou graduate is not wanted. Yet, in view of all this, the people of this county are being asked to throw the door wide open to the saloon and liquor traffic. To make the gradu¬ ating of such incompetents a re¬ spectable and legalized business. Will they consent to the repeal of a law that forces the nefarious busi¬ ness of wrecking body and soul to hide away in secret, under the bane of disapproval and condemnation of self-respecting communities, be¬ cause its enforcement costs a few extra dollars in taxes paid ? W^ill they consent to putting the open saloon with all of its attendant de¬ moralizing influences in competition with their churches and sch(X)ls to nullify their training and teach¬ ing. Schools and churches cost money but the good they are de signed to do is worth all they cost. It is worth all it costs to shut out the saloon, for the evil of which it is ca¬ pable cannot be counted • in dollars and cents but by i"i..iiiGilli\vj.-'! ¦: ivi.i ted hopes, aud debased manhood. Republicans of Potter county whar say you to this ? W^ill you go back on your past record, as the party of moral ideas ? If not, refuse to give countenance and support to any one who would attempt to introduce the licensed saloon in your midst. The liquor traffic is an evil under any condition. W^ill licensing it make it less so ?
A Big Search Light.
The most powerful searchlight in the world is being placed in posi¬ tion near the mouth of the Chesa¬ peake Bay to guard in case of war the roads leading into the bay and to Baltimore, Washington, Norfolk and Newport News. The search¬ light has the power of 30,000 candles and is the largest one that was used at the World's Fair at Chicago. It is said that a newspaper can be I'ead in its light at a distance of forty miles.
The light is now being mounted at Fort Monroe and its rays will sweep the channel leading from the sea into the Chesapeake and turn night into day. It will easily find any Spanish ship which may at¬ tempt to enter the Maryland waters. It is also said that the disappearing guns in Fort Monroe are in position to be trained on the channel lighted by the powerful searchlight.—Er.
AGREEMENT
REACHED
Cuban Resolution Enacted Into Law" by Congress.
EEPUBLIO NOT RECOGNIZED,
Turpie Amendment   Entirely   Stricken Out.
Uncle Sam and April.
For more than a century April has been an eventful month with Uncle Sam:
April 19, 1775—Battle of Lexing¬ ton.
April 24, 1846—First engagement of the Mexican War.
April 12, 1861—Sumter fired on.
April 13, 1861—Sumter surrend¬ ered.
April 14, 1861—Lincoln's first call for troops.
April 9, 1865—Lee's surrender.
April 14, 1865—Lincoln assassin¬ ated.
April 13, 1898—Resolution for Cu¬ ban independence passed House of Representatives.
April 14, 1898—^Resolution passed Senate.
April 18 1898—Concurrent Reso¬ lution passed both Houses.
April 18 to 30—Wait and see.
Nearly an All Nighf Srssion of the Sen¬ ate and House HeUl 15<*rore au agree¬ ment Was Kertcheil—Conference Report Finally Adopted In the Senate by a Vote of 42 to 3.5—In the House It Is Passed by 31(» Yeas to 6 Nays—Its Pro¬ visions ."tlean the Expulsion of Si>ain From the Island of Cuba by the Armed Forces of the United   States.
WASHINGTON. April 19.—After one of the hardest fought battles between the two houses known in many years, congress, at an early hour this morn¬ ing coming to an a.greement upon the most momentous question it has dealt with in a third of a centiiry.
The Cuban ze.sohJtion was pa.sped and will now be sent to the president.
The conference report was adopted in the senate by a vote of 42 yeas to 35 nays, and in the house by 310 yeas to 6 nays.
Its provisions mean the expulsion of Spain from the island of Cuba by the armed forces of the United States.
There were many rollcalls in both houses, and each body held tenacious¬ ly for Its own resolution. The confer¬ ence had great difficulty in agreeinyr. The first conference .showed a deternii- tion on the part of the house not to .yield a single point, and it was only after long consultations with the house leaders that they agreed to al¬ low the little words "are and" in the first section of the senate resolution, which declai-es that the people of Cuba i^T:-' : .-d of ri.-i'ht ought to be free and independent.
The resolution as finally adopted is that reported from the senate commit¬ tee on foreign relations with the ad¬ dition of the fourth section know'n as the Teller amendment disclaiming any intention on the part of the United States t*o acquire Cuba. It is as fol¬ lows:
Joint resolution for the independence of the people of Cuba, demanding that the government of Spain relinquish its authority and government in the isl¬ and of Cuba and to withdraw the land and naval forces from v'uban waters, and directing the president of the United States to use the land and na¬ val forces ot the United States to carry  these  resolutions  into effect.
Whereas, The abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than three years in the island of Cuba, so near our borders, have shocked the moral sense of the people of the United States, have been a disgrace to Chris¬ tian civilization, culminating, as they have, in the destruction of a United States battleship with 266 of its offi¬ cers and crew while on a friendly visit in the harbor of Havana, and cannot longer be endured, as set forth by the president of the United States in his message to congress of April 11, 1898, upon which the action of congress was invited;  therefore
Resolved. By the senate and the house of repi'esentatives of the United States in congress assembled.
First—That the people of the island of Cuba (are and of right) ought to be free and independent.
Second—That it is the duty of the United States to demand, and the gov¬ ernment of the United States does hereby demand that the government of Spain at once relinquish its authority and government in the island of Cuba and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters.
Third That   the   president   of   the
United States be and he hereby is di¬ rected and empowered to use the en¬ tire land and naval forces of the Unit¬ ed States, the militia of the several states, to such an extent as may be necessary to carry these resolutions into effect.
Fourth — That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or in¬ tention to exercise sovereignty, juris¬ diction or control over said island ex¬ cept for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination when that is accomplished to leave the government and control of the island to its people.
AWAITING    DEVELOPMENTS.
Diplomatic Circles  In   MadTid Anxiously Watching; AfTairs at Washinston.
MADRID, April 19.—Governmental and diplomatic circles are anxiously expecting developments at Washing¬ ton. The cabinet council is sitting to discuss the text of the speech from the throne to elect a number of life senators, and to settle other parlia¬ mentary details for the forthcoming session.   The town is tranquil.
El Correo (Ministerial) says: "It is reported from Washington that, in the event of the senate's resolution pre¬ vailing President McKinley will avail himself of his privilege of 10 days ere giving the resolution his approval, providing he does not employ the act¬ ual veto. Amid, such excitement the (Continued on 6th page.)