The Peril of the Republic of the United States of America - Percy T. Magan

uildings equipped with all the latest modern
improvements; we have telephones, and the
telegraph; but, after all, how much more civilized
and Christianized are our natures above those of
the poor ignorants of other climes! This is a
question worth considering. The theory of our
government is perfect; but how well do we live up
to it? Fraud and deceit in high places of public trust
are frequent; election scandals fill the very
atmosphere whenever the franchise is exercised.
Aldermen accept boodle; and the lowest dens of
vice are allowed to run “wide-open” under the eye
of the authorities. Our lives are spent in all kinds of
pleasure, with but little thought or care for the
sorrows and trials of the poor.
All these things lead one seriously to ask, In
what position are we as a nation to bring benefit to
those in benighted lands? In April of this year,
1899, it was authoritatively reported that since the
arrival of the Americans in Manila there had been
over three hundred saloons opened in that city.
Again, a statement is issued from the office of the
surgeongeneral in Washington that twenty-one per
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