VOL. XXXI., No. 21

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TOPICS OF THE DAY.

THE HEARST VOTE.

STOLEN election was the cry raised by the papers of William R. Hearst on the night and morning after the ballots for Mayor were cast in New York City on November 7; and for once the greatest exponent of "yellow" journalism has uttered a statement, sensational tho it is to the last degree, that stands unchallenged by many of the most conservative papers in the city. In fact, it may be said that the local press generally, while not accepting his startling assertion as literally and completely true, believe that the evidences of fraud, corruption, intimidation, and force in several instances are too positive to be ignored, and hence they are encouraging him in the contest he has begun against Mayor McClellan to secure a recount of the ballot. Thus The Evening Post (Ind.) remarks that "the title to the Mayoralty is clouded," The World (Dem.) is equally dubious, while The Press (Rep.) boldly declares:

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'We do not suppose that anybody in the city of New York, George B. McClellan himself included, thinks that McClellan was elected Mayor on Tuesday. But his intimate friends who managed his campaign and performed the crooked work which is made to show on the face a slight lead for him, in the COUNT, overstepped the line of their personal safety. There were too many thousand repeaters voted. There were too many antiTammany voters driven from the polls by thugs who mauled, kicked, and blackjacked them into insensibility and even shot at them. There were too many ballot-boxes-which would be complete evidence that McClellan was NOT elected -secreted, burned, and thrown into the river."

WHOLE NUMBER, 813

the sudden and unexpected political power he has developed. He has gained no recruits from them. The papers which abominate him personally and execrate his principles steadfastly maintain their sentiments, and are supporting him in his ambition solely because they are convinced that by his enormous wealth, his char

acteristic enthusiasm, and his dogged determination, now fortified by a sense of personal injury and loss, he is circumstanced better than any other individual to wage war upon corruption and to strike a crushing blow at the politicians who have so often made elections in New York a mere farce. Moreover, in lending him this support, the opposition papers are careful to avoid creating the impression that his own conduct during the campaign was blameless. Thus The Sun intimates that a recount of the ballot will show that Mr. Hearst performed "his share of the evil practises of the day." In the same vein speaks The Tribune (Rep.), which says:

In the midst of the excitement over the contest, the papers have not overlooked the causes and consequences of Mr. Hearst's spectacular appearance as an almost predominating factor in New York politics. But the attempted solutions of these difficult questions hardly serve for a better purpose than to show how many and varied are the sources from which he draws his formidable strength. The Journal of Commerce thinks that "the insurance scandals" gave the 224,000 votes for Hearst. The Herald, among other things, indicates that it was the large foreign element in the population, which derives its information mainly from his cheap-priced and simply worded journals, that made him so strong at the polls The American, of course, believes that this heavy vote was due as much to the growth of the municipal-ownership

William M. Ivins, the defeated Republican candidate for Mayor, announces his belief that Mr. Hearst was counted out, and has gratuitously offered him his services as a lawyer to secure his rights. Other prominent men also are now speaking in favor of Mr. Hearst, but this encouragement which he is receiving so generally and liberally from the public and from the local press in his efforts to be declared Mayor of New York can not be attributed to any change of feeling arising from

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idea as to any other cause; while The World asserts that his strength originated with the widespread and popular hatred and distrust for bosses and corporate and special interests. The Brooklyn Citizen (Dem.) also holds to this opinion, and says:

'When the American people, or any considerable number of them, wish to express their displeasure at the course of public affairs, they do not hesitate to employ any tool that seems likely to answer the purpose. In the present instance they had to use Hearst or nobody. It is well for our business men also to give thought to this diagnosis, otherwise they might become unduly excited over what is called the growth of Socialism and other disturbing economic heresies. It would, indeed, be a very serious matter if the vote cast for the gentleman just named represented a serious wish to have the basis of American society changed. In that event, it would be very much in order for our property-owners to take measures for their future safety."

Jerome's success, the other of the twin surprises of the New York city and county campaign, has been fairly well accounted for. A public sentiment, that almost united the local press and tore political parties to pieces, demanded the reelection of the District Attorney. His irreproachable conduct while in office, and his spotless private character, well known to all New York, where he was born and has spent his entire life, were. irresistible arguments in his behalf; so the few enemies he had to combat, outside the

CZOLGOSZ

"L LEST WE FORGET!"

This cartoon was displayed in huge posters on fences and dead walls all over New York City and circulated by thousands in The Daily News, the Tammany organ. The Tammany managers tried to send out 300,000 copies of it on postal cards to voters, but they were barred from the mails as scurrilous matter. Many think that this cartoon caused a revulsion of feeling against Tammany, and helped Hearst more than it hurt him.

criminals that feared his prosecution, were those who were so situated that they could hardly do otherwise than to oppose him. Tammany and its organ, The Daily News, and the Municipal Ownership party and the Hearst publications were the only forces that openly fought him.

But the press have failed to give a clear and satisfactory explanation of the tremendous showing of strength made by Mr. Hearst at the polls. Mr. Hearst came to New York ten years ago.

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His record as congressman from the Eleventh District of the city adds nothing to his credit. The Times asserts that he rarely attended the sessions of the House during the two terms that he served; while "his private character," according to The Post, 'rests under the most serious and unrefuted charges." The campaign circulars that were openly or surreptitiously passed around regarding him recalled to mind the slanders published against Grover Cleveland during his early career, but so far surpassed them in their defamatory nature' that Mr. Hearst himself declared in one of his speeches that it was the first time in American politics that literature of this class was barred the privileges of the mail."

In fact, Mr. Hearst made his fight for Mayor apparently in the most adverse and humiliating circumstances. The bitter attacks of the press gave an impression that all the so-called respectable and conservative classes were against him. The only avenues of defense left open for him in the public prints were his own papers, if we except the lukewarm support of The World. Yet Mr. Hearst ran such a close second to McClellan that he leaves the Mayoralty election in doubt, and many fear that if he loses on the recount of the ballot, his defeat will only increase his popularity and power. Thus says The Wall Street Journal:

TH

HE various cable despatches which confirm the news, with all the harrowing details, of the massacre on November 1 of five of the seven persons comprising the little band of Presbyterian missionaries at Lien-chow leave the American press in doubt as to the cause or motive that inspired the Chinese mob which perpetrated this new outrage against citizens of the United States. According to one version, the trouble began with the refusal of Dr. Eward Charles Machle, the leader of the missionaries, to allow the natives, during a festival, to fire a cannon in the vicinity of the mission hospital; others say it was started by his peremptory demand for the removal of a noisy theater which was opened near the hospital. A less authentic report declares that the tragedy was precipitated by the bold and indiscreet action of Mrs. Machle, who seized and declined to return to the owners an idol which the Chinese had intended to carry in a religious procession; while still other despatches say that the murderous assault was entirely the result of the anti-foreign sentiment which has recently become so pronounced in China against Americans.

This last view seems to be held by Dr. Arthur J. Brown, secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions in New York who, in issuing the official statement of the unfortunate affair, says:

"It should be added, however, as a possible influence, that the growing consciousness of unity and power which have resulted from the operation upon China of the forces of the modern world, and which has been greatly augmented by the results of the Russia-Japan war, has led to a feeling of irritation against the United States because of the exclusion laws of this country. Nearly all the Chinese in the United States have come from the province

of Kwang-tung, in which Lien-chow is situated, and reports of their treatment here have greatly exasperated many of the people, such as the expression which this feeling took in the recent boycott of American goods. The letters of the missionaries, however, had not indicated any interference with their work, or any disposition on the part of the people to molest them. Under these circumstances, it appears probable that the attack was made by some among that teeming population who did not personally know of the character and work of the missionaries."

But whatever may have been the provocation, the fury of the mob when once aroused was frightful and destructive. They burned or tore down the churches, hospitals, and all other buildings belonging to the mission, while they mutilated and threw into the river the bodies of their murdered victims, one of whom was a little girl. Never until this month had the missionaries been harmed or threatened during all the twenty years they have been established at Lienchow. Even in the midst of the "Boxer" uprising, in 1900, they were unmolested; so, as the New York Times remarks, "the massacre was apparently a bolt out of the blue."

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The press, as a rule, do not believe that this bloody affair will become an international incident." Thus the Portland Oregonian looks upon it as resulting from passing misunderstanding between friends that could not lead to bloodshed." The Newark News believes that it is only "one of those sporadic eruptions likely to occur at any time among such a people as the Chinese, intensely credulous under the impulse of long ingrained superstitions." So The News cautions the United States against hasty action, and after predicting that ample reparation will be made, it proceeds to say:

"To speak the truth, some of the American outrages on innocent and law-abiding Chinese in the Far West have been fully as atrocious and horrible, and much less excusable under environment of special conditions. Our own barbarians can learn nothing from the Celestials in fiendish exhibitions of homicidal passion regardless of age and sex in the exercise of racial hate. A slight pretext gives the demon full incarnation.

trouble has been renewed with such effect that several of them have paid with their lives for meddling in matters that were not their business."

RESENTMENT OVER THE PRINCE OF BATTENBERG'S VISIT.

THE

HE arrival of a British squadron of six cruisers under the command of Admiral Prince Louis of Battenberg in American waters is, as a rule, looked upon by the press simply as an occasion for felicitations or humorous allusions. The elaborate entertainment given to the Prince and his officers is considered only as a proper manifestation of the friendly relations between two nations now for a long time at peace, and as

a mark of respect and pledge of good fellowship for men of our same blood and of an honorable profession. The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch says that if war-vessels " go around the world carrying good-will they are far better employed than when they are doing their normal work of destruction"; while the New York Times, on seeing the flagship Drake on the Hudson covering the city with its heavy and ugly looking guns, remarks that" she is also fitted with the best dancing floor in the navy."

But in the midst of this raillery and expressions of friendship, a discordant note is occasionally sounded. Irish-Americans and some other earnest and suspicious patriots, believing that the visit of the squadron is not a mere social courtesy, but a step in a plan for an alliance between England and the United States, take umbrage, exception, and alarm over the cordial reception. The New York American vehemently protests against the use of municipal or government funds for such a purpose. The Anti-Anglo League in New York met at Cooper Union and resolved "to resist to the death any and every attempt to involve this country in any alliance or understanding with England." The Irish World (New York) declares that it is an outrage for the city to appropriate money for entertaining the princely visitor and his officers and men, as "in this way thousands who strongly object to pro-British demonstration so acceptable to Anglomaniacs will be made to participate indirectly in it by helping to pay its cost." And The Gaelic American (New York) indignantly remarks:

We can not venture

to criticize Chinamen too mercilessly till we have revised our own attitude. The monstrous reproach which we may bring home to ourselves is that our own treatment of the Chinese edges the peril to the lives of our fellow countrymen and countrywomen who show so much daring and fortitude, as missionary workers and philanthropists."

Many papers, moreover, drawing their conclusions from certain press reports, charge the unfortunate missionaries with "bringing down upon their own heads the tragedy which befel them." Thus the Hartford Times, referring to the actions of Dr. Machle and his wife, as mentioned above, declares that "the Presbyterian Board of Missions can hardly complain, if it is held accountable for having sent out incompetent persons among its representatives to China." In the same vein speaks the Kansas City Journal, which says that the missionaries who. forget " obligations of hospitality" can not expect to escape "the penalty which would quickly follow similar lapses in our own country," while the Brooklyn Eagle remarks:

"It is time that our Government instructed our missionaries to follow more conservative lines of conduct. Several times they have embroiled us in difficulties, and even in war, and now the

"The only object of the visit is to make it appear that this country and Great Britain are allied against Europe to bulldoze and. insult those nations that refuse to submit to her insolent dictation, and that being so, President Roosevelt owes it to himself and to the country to make it clear to all concerned that he is no party to any such policy. The bowing and scraping and flunkeyism that has already been exhibited at Annapolis and Washington was undignified, but we think it will not be repeated here except by those degenerate Americans who, while flaunting their wealth before the visitors, despise the institutions that made its acquisition possible." But the Augusta Chronicle approves of all that has been done to make the visit of the Prince pleasant and memorable. "It does no harm," says The Chronicle, "to let the representatives of any power see for themselves what our country has become." The Chicago Inter Ocean declares that the coming of the fleet simply meant that the two countries" were on friendly terms and likely to remain so." And the Pittsburg Gazette remarks:

"Twisting the lion's tail, which used to be such a popular

pastime in this country, especially with orators on the Fourth of July and similar occasions, has gone pretty well out of fashion. There has been a practically general recognition of the fact that no two nations in the world should stand in closer relations than the United States and Great Britain, not only on account of ties of blood, language, and systems of jurisprudence, but because of mutual interests. The action of the New York freaks will be entirely devoid of national significance."

JEWISH MASSACRES WITH OFFICIAL

APPROVAL.

THE friends of the Russian autocracy who are displaying their

loyalty by wholesale slaughter of the Jews are proving to the satisfaction of a number of our newspapers that almost any kind of despotism is better than liberty-for them. These massacres "reopen the question whether the people of Russia can properly appreciate liberal rule and are capable of anything like self-government," remarks the Nashville Banner; and the Boston Herald agrees that they show "how entirely unfitted the Russian people are for absolute democratic control." The despatches name 20 towns where the Jewish quarters have been given over to murder

fessing its firm determination to follow the road of progress. Among administrative officials there are enemies of the new system who are opposing by every means in their power the realization of reforms."

Mr. W. T. Stead predicts that 100,000 lives must fall before order is restored, and possibly 2,000,000. He is quoted as saying:

"The coolest man in Russia is the Emperor. God grant that he may keep his seat, that the Liberals may gather about him, and that they may resist the forces of dissolution! His authority is shaken, passions are loose, and things are likely to be worse. There may be fearful slaughterings. As an optimist, I think a hundred thousand lives may fall. If I were pessimistic I would say two millions. The situation is something like this:

"The police, gendarmes, and Cossacks have been suppressing a revolution in the name of the Emperor. Suddenly, they say, the Emperor goes over to the Liberal side, and he thinks more of those who want to vote and who are doing everything in the way of meeting and agitation which the police were taught to believe was unlawful than he does of them. The police and gendarmes say:

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And when the police are indifferent the hooligans break loose and Toryism in society also breaks loose. That mass of ignorant conservatism which thinks only of killing-the Black Hundred in Moscow-are Conservatives who are offended by the Liberals getting the upper hand. All through the Russian Empire authority as represented by the police, Cossacks and gendarmes is shaken, as I have said, and the forces that tend to tear society apart are at work."

The Engineers' Union of St. Petersburg accuses the Government of instigating these massacres to accomplish a counterrevolution. It says in a resolution adopted at its meeting on November 4:

The long and obstinate struggle of the nation with the autocracy has compelled the Government to make concessions, but the Government is seeking to resume the open conflict with the nation by organizing the dark elements, and, having armed them out of the nation's money, to incite them against the progressive elements of society, against the intelligents, against the students, workmen, and Jews, and so to accomplish a counterrevolution.

"At the very moment when the revolutionary movement has driven the autocracy to surrender, when the nation and country are on the eve of effective liberation, we are witnessing a series of massacres of Jews carried out by the rabble, thanks to the criminal tolerance of the authorities. We see in these tragic misdeeds a desire to abuse the ignorance and blindness of the people for the purpose of the deliberate organization of a counterrevolution, in the hope of saving the remnants of the old régime.

"It is resolved, therefore, that troops acting not in defense of the citizens but against them, be removed, and that the safeguard: ing of the inhabitants of the towns be intrusted to a national militia."

Intervention by the Powers to restore order is suggested by the Baltimore American and the Brooklyn Standard Union but there is little, if any, indication that the Powers are considering such a move. The Administration at Washington has assured a delegation of American Jews who requested interference that our Government is keenly sympathetic, but that it is powerless in the present situation.

The Louisville Courier-Journal believes that "we need not on account of these excesses despair of the future of Russia." It says:

"They mean that the country can not go at once from despotism to orderly liberty, but that was already known. If the lawlessness ends speedily, the task of consolidating liberty may be taken up and prosecuted, but not to immediate success. If disorders run into universal terror and anarchy, all that has apparently been gained may be lost. In any event, the work of regeneration will require time, patience, and education in those things that are necessary to the success of national freedom, of which respect for law, made by the consent of the governed, is an absolutely necessary condition."