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TUESDAY AND FRIDAY
BURR PRINTING CO., Ownera
Entered at the poUofTice at Alliance,
Neb., for transportation through the
nails as second class matter.
GEORGE I- RURR, Jr. Editor
EDWIN M. BURR Business Mgr.
Official newspaper of the City of
Alliance: official newspaper 01 vox
Butte County.
Owned Bnd published by The Burr
Print! n ir Company, Ueorge u uurr.
Jr., President; Edwin M. Burr, Vic
President.
MAKING DEMOCRATIC VOTES
One prominent Box Butte county re
publican is moved to lament Governor
McKelvie's obstinacy in insisting on
calling for a special session of the leg
islature, when public sentiment was
overwhelminsrly opposed to it. "He
will make more democratic votes in a
month than all the orators of that
party could convert in a year," was
. the comment. Democrats, of course,
. trust that this prediction will be car
ried out, and indications are, so far as
the firrt few days of the session are
concerned, that the governor is getting
results for the democrats.
Mr. McKelvie cannot afford to fly in
the-face of public sentiment If he has
further political ambitions. He has
been credited with the desire to be
the next United States senator from
Nebraska. Despite an announcement
from him that he intended to retire
from politics, he is still looked upon
as a potential almost as a logical
candidate.
But the special sess;on is not doing
him any good personally. For that
matter, it is doubtful, if it will be of
any great benefit to the stale. The
gasoline tax proposed by the governor
is admittedly an unpopular measure.
The cut of over two million dollars in
appropriations has turned out to be a
loomernng. When the last budget was
made up, the appropriations were set
at a figure that was plainly high. Some
people think they were made purpose
ly high, so that the governor's budget
and code system could be given credit
for saving the state more money. In
lils message to the legislature, Gover
nor McKelvie recommended certain
cuts in the appropriations. The total
vaa imposing. But the legislator
aren't convinced that the state officials
are giving till it hurts. The refusal of
Dome of them to consider a 5 per cent
cut in salary on the ground that it
was unconstitutional, has stuck in
their craw.
The result is that the legislators are
not disposed to leave the appropria
tions where the governor has placed
them. The fun has just started, of
course, but before many days it will
cease to be fun. Thus, when the gov
ernor recommended the appropriation
for the support of Gus Hyers' depart
ment be reduced to $90,000, the finance
committee made a further cut of $15,
000, and on the floor of the house an
attempt was made to lop off another
$50,000. The legislature shows signs,
on most of the items fixed by the gov
eraor and his budget secretary, of
making the state officials be really
economical.
The governor has also made a lot of
enemies by appointing members to fill
vacancies in the house. After a whole
lot of ireful discussion, some of them
were seated, but the vote was close
and although enough of the republican
majority was mustered to seat the ap
pointees, there is a bad taste left in
the mouth. The supreme court, when
appealed to for a ruling, refused to
get its fingers burned.
The house has also appointed a com
mittee to make an investigation of
State Engineer Johnson's department,
that gentleman having indicated that
he desired something of the sort The
state engineer wanted an investigation
of county expenditures carried on at
the same time, and kindly offered to
furnish half the help and pay half the
cost, at state expense, of course, but
the house wasn't particularly concern
ed with what Mr. Johnson desired. The
senate a.lopte,! a similar resolution, but
later gigged back, saying that the
governor's call didn't include this sub
ject and that the motion was out of
order.
Altogether, the special session shows
figns of developing into a rather in
teresting affair before it is over. The
democrats are feeling pretty good over
it, as every day further evidence of
discord in the enemy's ranks is dis
cernible. TnE FUTURE OF POTASH.
The owners of stock in various Ne
braska potash companies, who have
been holding fast to the belief that in
some way the industry and their
money might be saved if congress
could only be prevailed upon to ap
prove a protective tariff on the Ger
man product high enough to enable
the plants to get on their feet again,
may as well nerve themselves to kiss
the coin good-bye. Congress has not,
at any time, been favorable to the
! tariff on potash, let alone being friend-
y,
Not only has congress been exceed
ingly slow to act, but the potash-buying
interests have been against the
adoption of a tariff that will put them
at the mercy of home producers. They
recall how, during the war, the price
sky-rocketed with no foreign competi
tion to keep it down, and they will use
their influence, which is fairly power
ful, to keep the same situation from
recurring.
An editorial in the last issue of Sun
set, on "High Potash Prices and Cheap
Cotton," is interesting, inasmuch as it
gives the arguments that are now
being urged against protection for our
own infant industry. If the charges
made can be substantiated, we might
as well give up all hope of any come
back of western Nebraska's potash in
d us try. Sunset says:
ine production or potash was one
of the few brand-new war babies born
in the far west While German potash
was inaccessible), these plants, extract
ing potash from kelp, from the brine
of saline lakes in the desert and from
alunite, multiplied and prospered. The
kelp plants closed down immediately
after the armistice when potash
slumped. As soon as German potash
was available again in quantities, the
other plants suspended operation one
after the other. I heir production cost
was too hiarh. They could not com
pete with the imported salts.
Now it is proposed in the Fordney
tariff bill to remedy this situation by
placing a stiff duty on imported potash,
reducing the amount of this duty in
five successive years in order to give
the new western industry a chance to
take root and develop. But this pro
posal meets with opposition. The po
tato and tobacco growers of New Eng
land, the cotton and tobacco planters
of the south are objecting vociferously.
They point out that the west can not
supply more than one-fifth of the coun
try's potash needs unless new and at
present unknown deposits of great
magnitude are discovered; they also
point out that the western potash must
always pay a very high rail freight
rate from the point of production to
the point of consumption, and they es
timate that they, the potato, tobacco
and cotton growers, will have to pay
out $31,000,000 in increased potash
prices for the benefit of an industry
which will not be able to supply the
lomand by 80 ier cent.
Is the far west justified in asking
for this protection if there is no chance
that it will ever supply enough potash
to make America independent of
Europe T
THE BONUS OUTLOOK.
Ex-soldicr3 out of a job and there
are plenty of them in other places, al
though the list is small in Alliance and
other of the smaller cities are begin
ning to feel better. The change in
their attitude is due to the changed
attitude of the republican congress and
the republican president on the sub
ject of a soldier bonus, or compensa
tion, as the national officers ftho
ex-service men's organization prefer to
say it
The change in the attitude of the
party in power is a refutation of the
charge that it is folly to butt one's
head against a stone wall. The Legion
leaders have fought with no other
weapons than their heads, and they
have apparently gained the victory,
President Harding is the spokesman
for his party. Four days before the
1920 landslide which carried him into
office, at Cincinnati, Mr. Harding said
these memorable words: "I want to
say to the service men here that I
want an America that will never for
get its gratitude for the service they
rendered the country." Now he shows
signs of living up to the implied prom
ise in his words.
When the president assumed the
office, however, he found there were
strong forces opposed to any sort of
bonus. Several national organizations
that represented the financial interests
of the country spoke out openly. The
new secretary of the treasury was
bitter in his oppositon. This situation
continued for a year.
And then a change came. Nobody
knows just why the bonus should have
become popular over-night, but that's
about what happened. The reasons are
probably more or less political. Other
wise, it is unlikely that men who
strongly fought the program of the
ex-soldiers should capitulate without
an argument
The plan, as set forth in the bill
which has been introduced in the house
of representatives, provides for com
pensation for the ex-soldiers, with a
choice of five optional plans. One of
these includes a national system of
reclamation to be initiated through
adequate federal appropriations and to
be carried out for the purpose of af
fording ex-service men opportunity to
cultivate the soil. Another provides
for appropriations to enable ex-service
men to build homes. A third allows
ex-service men to elect to receive vo
cational education. A fourth would
give the ex-service man a paid-up in
surance policy of the twenty-year en
dowment sort The last is for a cash
bonus, to be paid at once. Several
amounts have been suggested, but the
one most in favor calls for a dollar
for each day of service, with a limit
of $500.
Strangely enough, the cash bonus
which has been most bitterly opposed,
would be the least expensive for the
country.
THE ALLIANCE HERALD,
The American Legion Weekly, of -
ficial orRan of the Legion, has ben
doing its best to answer the charge
that if a bonus is granted, the ex
service men will proceed to waste it
in riotous living and in an orgy of
spending. The Weekly has investigat
ed the result in New Jersey, where
soldiers received a check for $100 from
the state. Here are some of the way
the ex-soldiers spent the money:
"It helped to buy furniture for my
home, and it didn't buy very much at
that," one doughboy declared. "I put
it in the savings bank and some day it
will help build a home,' was the an
swer of another. A third paid hi:
board bill with most of it, and the rest
went to buy an overcoat Another
went into business, and found that his
hundred dollars was Just enough to
make a payment on a shipment of
goods. One man used his in getting
married, and discovered that "it didn't
go very far." The savings banks re
ported a noticeable increase in the
number of new accounts opened.
The Legion's contention is that com
pensation is not a gift, but a repay
ment, in slight measure, for the eco
nomic loss suffered by the men who
entered the service. This was a very'
definite loss. Compare any two men
in the same vocation, one of whom
went to war and the other who kept
the home fires burning. So far as the
financial end of the game is concerned,
it will be found that the man who
stayed at home during the best busi
ness period the country has ever known
now has undoubtedly a big advantage
over the fellow who heard and an
swered his country's call, whether ho
had to be prodded into it or went
cheerfully. The fivefold compensation
plan will do much to overcome that
economic inequality.
JOHN THOMPSON'S IDEA.
Every man is entitled to have one
big idea during a normal lifetime, and
John R. Thompson of Chicago has al
ready had his. Just who John may be,
or what his vocation, the literature he
has sent us neglects to state. Neither
is it made plain who is financing him.
Someone is spending a lot of money
on John's crusade against the pistol
and revolver, and unless he has inter
ested Henry -Ford, who once fell for
the peace ship idea, it must be quite
a drain on his pocketbook. After all,
the important thing is not John him
self, or his backers, but the idea.
Mr. Thompson has a remedy for a
good share of crime. He would pro
hibit the manufacture or the sale of
the revolver and the pistol, and make
it a felony, punishable by five years of
actual imprisonment at hard labor, for
the person having either of these
weapons in his possession. Some time
ago, apparently, the idea came to him.
He inserted an advertisement in many
newspapers, offering $1,000 to anyone
who would give one reason why the
revolver manufacturing industry
should be allowed to exist in America
and enjoy the facilities of the mails.
There were hundreds of replies, but
not one of them was rewarded with the
thousand dollars. Therefore, Mr.
Thompson claims that there is no good
reason.
His argument is quite easily follow
ed, and there is undoubtedly something
to be said for his logic. The revolver
is a secret weapon, John declares. The
whole nature of the brute is secret It
is made to be carried about the person
without others being aware of its
existence. It is the weapon of the
highwayman, the train robber, the
holdup man, the thug, the policeman
killer and the bank robber. The armed
burglar is a coward without his pistol
"If the holdup man knew he would
have to serve five years in the peniten
tiary for having a revolver in his pos
session, he would think twice before
putting it in his pocket or using it"
John a idea is a good one. At least
it's the best one he has had. If, along
with international disarmament, we
could have individual disarmament,
everything would be lovely. Crime
would diminish, although it would
hardly disappear. The same difficulty
appears in advocating individual dis
armament as in disarmament or na
tions. If nations keep the faith and
actually disarm, the problem of war is
solved. But will they? If individuals
no longer carry concealed weapons,
there'll be an awful crimp in crime
waves. But will they do it, no matter
how strict the law on the subject?
Already there are laws prohibiting
the carrying of concealed weapons,
aimed at the pistol and the revolver.
But thugs will carry them. There are
laws prohibiting burglary and bank
robbery and automobile thievery, with
stiff punishment, but these crimes are
being committed in greater numbers
than they were when the laws were
enacted. From time to time, the laws
have been amended, and the penalties
stiffened, but so long as there is a good
haul in sight, the burglars and yegg-
men stay on the job.
Here's the main difficulty with that
kind of disarmament The law abid
ing citizens and the law enforcement
officers would obey the law. They'd
turn in their weapons. But can you
imscinft st tuirdm. tiivYtimfv i n Via :
tol? Not on your life, John. He'd
FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 1922.
,buy up all the ammunition he could
get The hoLlSphnl.W Ami thn rw1iwi I
I. l.l .....
lum.i rarry sawen-ou shotguns and'
high-powered rifles, but the burglar I
with the automatic would have an en
tire household or an entire Police force!
killed off before they could get into
act:on with the bulkier artillery. As it
is, the housebreaker has the advan
tage. If the householder were prohib-
:.! e i . ...
i nom naving weapons, ne u lur-,
nish an ever better target for the bur-1
glar who, already a lawbreaker, will:
cheerfully wink at any legislation !e-.
signed to make life harder for him.
John's idea to abolish pistols and
revolvers deserves a place in the front
row of the hall of humor, along with
Henry Ford's peace ship and the
scheme of a great suffrage leader.
She expected to end the war by having
fifty thousand women, all robed in
white, meet the invading forces with
uplifted hands. WTiat John overlooks
is that the criminal element aren't
playing the game according to the
rules. If they were, they'd be making
their livelihood in some other way.
A poor man cant afford a valet,
but he can get married.
wm mm
Two $1.00 bottles of 5
grain Aspirin J1 Af
tablets, for J)1.U1
Almond hand
lotion
20c
33c Jergen's Benzoin
2Sc jar Paroxone van
ishing cream (a real
peroxide cream) )
two for Z0C
15c bar of Williams
wistaria toilet
soap, 2 for
16c
25c Nailoid Cuticle Sol
vent, o
two for UC
50c Violet Dulce theat
rical rouge, ri
two for JlC
50c tube Chlorox tooth
paste,
two for
r w vi a
51c
MAftftlCU
ass
3
j WAMT AD SECTION
gri " . .. !
EPPERSON HAS BILL
TO PUT TAX ON RABBITS
LINCOLN Representative
son of Clay county has a bill which
he is considering offering as a sub
stitute for Gorvernor McKelvie's gaso
line tax measure. In place of put
ting a sales tax on motor fuel Epper
son would have one levied on rabbits.
"Nothing uses the public highways
as much as do the rabbits," declares
the Clay county representative. "If
you doubt this, drive out into the coun
try at night and you will find the
thoroughfare crowded with these ani
mals. Nor do they run along smoothly,
as does a flivver. On the contrary
they dot the surface of the roadway
with innumerable pits, showing where
each one comes down from his leap.
They should be made to pay for the
upkeep of the highways which they
use."
Mr. Epperson states that the only
criticism his proposed measure has en
Bonded Safety
Against Check-Raising
Does absolute safety of your checks mean
anything to you? Are you interested in a
plan that will eliminate any loss from "rais
ing the amount" of your checks?
As a matter of
Further Service to Patrons
We will be pleased to explain the plan and
which relieves you of all liability in cases of
eheek-raising, and this safety is made abso
lute by 1
A $1,000 POND AS A GUARANTEE
We will be pleased to explain the plan and
place it in operation for all who wish, at no
extra cost.
First National Bank
Tell it to the world
through a want ad
ADVERTISING in the Classified
columns of The Herald is a quick
and efficient means of getting your
message across.
A want ad will reach the people you
want to reach and will tell your story
with the least expenditure of time and
effort.
If you are in need of help, or wish to
sell or buy something, let The Herald
want ads convey your .message. It
will produce satisfactory results.
lc Per Word Per Insertion.
PHONE 340
Xlie Alliance Herald
MASONIC TEMPLE BUILDING.
countered is as to detail. He proposes
a graduated tax, requiring rabbits with
long wheel base to pay fifteen cents
while those with shorter base should
be required to pay only a dime. He
is still working on the bill, however,
and hopes in time to be able to offer
to the legislature an act upon which
they can agree.
THAT'S DIFFERENT
"Oh, Dad," gushed the young thing,
bursting into her father's office. "I've
just ordered a knickerbocker suit at
Madame Marie's, but I left my purse
at nome. win you '
"No, I won't," interrupted her parent
with a glare. "I won't have a daugh
ter of mine gallivanting around
in those pants contraptions. The
idea"
"Oh, Daddy, but it's not for me. It's
for mamma."
"Well, that's different," answered!
the tyrant, digging into his jeans.
urn
res
fib!
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