The Morning Bee MORNING—EVENING—SUNDAY THE PEE PUBLISHING COMPANY NELSON B. L’PD'KE. Publisher. B. BREWER. Geo. Manager. MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS „^*.Aaaoiaated Preie, of which It* Bee ta a memtwr. la neleeltelr •ctlUad to t&a un for ropubik'tUoo of all ne«a diai>atch«a cradltad to It or riot otharwlaa crvdiUd to Uda .papas. and al*, tiit local Dewa pubilabod harala. Ail rights of rccubiiOatloos of our apocial dtapatchaa art also raaartad. BEE TELEPHONES Private Branch Eichange. Aak for the Department AT Untie or Paraoo Wanted. For Night Calle After 10 P. M ; Editorial Department. AT lantio 1021 or 1042. loou OFFICES Main Office—17th and F'arnam Co. Bluffa • • - - li Scott St. So. Side. N W. Cor. 24tb and N _ New York—2S8 Fifth Avenue Waibington • . 422 Star Bldg. Chicago - - - 1720 Stegar Bldg. Paria, France—420 Rue St. Hunere TAXES AND THE SPOILS SYSTEM. Counting employes of states, counties, municipali ties and townships, there are more than 3,000,000 public employes in the United States, according to the estimate of Richard H. Dana, president of the National Civil Service Reform league. Something more than half of the total payroll of $3,000,000, 000 comes out of the federal treasury. Taxpayers, most of whom complain of the bur densome exactions made for the support of govern ment, may well be astounded to learn that one per son out of every seven families is on some official payroll. This condition, if it continue to grow, would result in making government the principal object in life of the American people and the chief industry of the nation. However, long before that point is reached the demand for greater efficiency in public office will have resulted in retrenchment. One quarter of the total of salaries, Mr. Dana asserts, is wasted in sur plus employes, unnecessary duplication of work, in adequate management and antiquated methods. "Could waste be stopped in the public service,” he says, “there would be a saving to our overtaxed Country of $700,000,000 a year.” Of course he makes some suggestions for the | accomplishment of this economy, most of which do not harmonize with the old-time political system. F’ut efficiency and employment experts into the va rious departments, he urges, standardize work, modernize methods and put promotion on a basis of merit instead of seniority or political pull. Officials ! in the higher grades he would have selected for fit- i ness rather than as a matter of political expediency. ! There is no doubt that America is wasting im mense sums through the shifting in and out of pub lic employes. Nebraska, unless all signs fail, is soon to go through just such an overturn, as is every other state, county or city that changed ad ministrations in the recent elections. As long as public opinion countenances the spoils system, the public pocketbook must pay. ABOLISHING THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE The proposal to eliminate the ancient device of the electoral college and vote directly for president has been advanced by a Nebraskan, Senator Norris What is more interesting is the reaction of a former Nebraskan, W. J. Bryan, to the plan. In criticising the amendment as proposed, he declares that it does not go far enough. Senator Norris would preserve the present sys tem of voting with each state as a unit, retaining the present proportionate strength. Bryan would count the votes by. congressional districts. “That would be as near we could get to the popular elec tion without incurring the danger involved in a system that would allow each vote to be counted directly,” he said in an interview in Washington. "The danger of such a system would he ballot box j stuffing in states where one party is absolutely ! dominant, and the opposition party not strong enough to watch the count.” In an absolute, democracy, the vote of all citi- ! y.ens would be added together and the candidate re ceiving a majority would be given the election. How ever, this would break down the identity Qif the states and increase the power of the more populous parts of the country. A state such as Nevada or Wyoming would have less inttuerfee than a city stlch as Omaha. Bryan would not urge this, nor does Senator Norris. What Bryan has in mind is that at the present time, and even under the change sug-' gested by Norris, if New York or Pennsylvania is carried by a few votes, that bare margin gives one party the entire state electoral vote. Under Bryan’s plan, if certain congressional districts in Pennsyl vania went democratic, as they often do, though the state as a whole is preponderantly republican, the democrats would pick up a few presidential votes. The same principle would work to the ad vantage of the republicans in parts of the south, for j instance, Tennessee and Kentucky, which though 1 democratic as a whole, have some districts that go I republican. The power of the east and of the south might be lessened under Bryan’s plan, but there would be no such disturbance of the present bal ance under the scheme outlined by Norris. The more this subject of abolishing the presidential electors is discussed, the more complicated does it become. JUSTICE, OR MERE JUGGLERY ? An Arizona judge has added the latest item to i the continually growing puzzle of the law. A man j (11 years of age confessed his part in a train rob bery, and the judge sentenced him to banishment from the state for twenty-five years. He is to re- 1 port at intervals his whereabouts, but may not enter Arizona during the quarter of a century without permission of the court. On the surface, no objection will be made to the act of the court so far as it includes clemency only. . Yet the curious man will wonder why, if this self-confessed criminal can not live at large in Arizona, he is to be shifted onto some other com munity. If he is undesirable in one state, he surely will be as unwelcome in another. If the Arizona peace is in danger of being disturbed by his pres ence. then it would seem to be up to Arizona to put him where he will be harmless. Banishment of criminals has been in vogue for a long time; usually in modem police practice it has taken the form of driving vagrants and like of fenders from one town to another, but no proof is yet forthcoming that justice is served or the com munity bettered, for when one is sent out another comes in. Train robbery is a major crime, and de serves more attention from the law than a sentence of banishment implies. Allowing for any peculiar circumstances that may mark this case, it remains true that it contains elements of danger as a prec edent. If the example were to be generally fol lowed, we will come to see a continual shifting of confessed or convicted criminals, and a possible de feat of the law because of the condition. -——--- » The shortage in the cotton yield for the year will permit a lot of the hold-over stock to go on the market at top prices. A WINTER’S STORM. The influence of habitation and settlement upon climate is hard to estimate. Every tree, fence post and blade of corn bears its small part in breaking the force of the wind. Perhaps this is why the younger generation and later comers can not com prehend the Nebraska blizzard of thirty years ago. The morning of January 12, 1888, was warm and balmy. Gray clouds hung overhead. The new fallen snow beneath the feet was light as swan’s down; light feathery flakes were still floating lazily in the air, and one could not help but admire their perfect geometrical shapes. .The sound of an incoming train could be heard for miles; and, as the morning advanced, the still ness grew eminous. Darkness seemed to creep down almost imperceptibly; cattle in the stalk fields grew rcstl-ss. At midday a gray line appeared along the hori zon in the northwest. The line advanced, and be fore one was aware, the blinding storm in all its fury broke. Farmers were on the road taking a grist to mill or returning laden with provisions. The wind increased in violence and the air was dense with flying -snow. As the afternoon advanced, the air grew chill. In rural districts, teachers took stock of fuel and provisions, and, if staying was out of the question, lashed their pupils together and, taking the lead, struggled through drifts in an effort to reach a place of safety. The storm lasted three days, and some had used the last seat or desk to keep up a b'aze; teaehcr and large pupils had sacrificed their wraps and gone without food in order to portion out enough to keep the spark of life in the weaker ones until reached by relief parties. Oi. the fourth day, the pitiless sun shone on a dazzling white world, and the drawn, anxious faces of the ones’at home as they awaited the return of the res-ue parties. In the towns no such adventure with the elements is known, nor are there such ad ventures in the country now, except in isolated in stances. .Some claim climate has changed, but it may be that, with modern conveniences, we nave learned to offset and checkmate its force. SAFETY FOR THE COASTER. Omaha is a paradise for the small boy and his sled. However much of a problem the city’s many hillsides may be for city planners, they are a source of everlasting joy to the youngsters of the community, and these have rights that have been honored from time immemorial. Yet a serpent en tered the original paradise and destroyed its happi ness, and the use of the hills in Omaha for coasting purposes is more or less complicated by the fact that the streets also are used for business traffic, of various sorts. Here’s where the Boy Scouts come in. They have volunteered to do patrol duty at dangerous places, and to protect, as far as they can, the coasters from collisions with trucks or other vehicles. The chief of police has accepted the proffer, and hours have been designated for the sport of the youths, to obtain until the coming of spring puts an end to coasting for the season. This action on the part of the Boy Scouts and the police will have the approval of all, for it is a wise move in the direction of making the hillsides safe. Boys and girls will coast, and, under the ex hilarating influence of the combination of swift sled and smooth track are apt to forget certain precau tions and so expose themselves. With a vigilant Boy Scout on patrol duty, much of the danger will be eliminated, and the joy of living increased to that extent for youthful citizens of Omaha. ETHICS OF EVIDENCE GETTING. A local prohibition “evidence getter," which is | a euphemism to describe the man who patronizes a ! bootlegger and then snitches on him, has admitted j in federal court that he solicited a bribe. The I judge, in passing sentence, takes cognizance of the fact that the compensation of the culprit was not adequate, and so let him off with a minimum sen tence. AH of which opens up a rather wide vista in ethics. First, perhaps, comes the unfortunate fact that those in charge of the enforcement of the law are compelled to work with tools that might oth erwise be discarded. Again, the officers knew that to get the evidence they need, a peculiar type of 1 man, one of a class whose morals are not always temptation-proof, and the temptation to graft is ever present in this traffic. No surprise is felt at the confession of the “evi dence getter,” that he solicited a bribe. Reason enough exists for thinking that such an act is in no sense a novelty in the business. Nor is it clear that the lack of adequate compensation is a serious factor, for it is possible that in any event this man might have sought to share in a lucrative source of easy money he thought was open to him. Law-abiding people will feel better when they can be assured that no part of the business of en forcing laws is in the hands of men whose probity is not assured. It is not especially a question of morals, but of ethics; as long as bribery in any form figures in law enforcement or evasion, so long will the fountain of justice be muddied by such cases as this, though not, perhaps, in this exact form. The problem is not one to be settled off-hand, but com mon decency impels the wish that the difficulty might be removed speedily. Burning of a toy store just before Christmas is a tragedy, but old Santa Claus has his workshop running overtime to make up. loway—Ioway _JOHN J. SMERTENKO. in the Nation. It is the boost of Iowans that one cannot cross the state’s boundaries at any point without realizing that here is a land Record. Several counties in th* state have been organizing taxpayers’ leagues In order that there might be more infor mation disseminated in regard to the tax question and how to get relief from high taxes, and these counties have been getting in readiness to counsel with and, if necessary, to be able- to instruct their representatives in the state legislature this winter, as to what steps they desire taken to securp relief In such ways as piay he possible by legislation. It is conspicuous that while these things are being done over the state, hero in Polk county, whei^e so much noise has been made about high tax’s in the late campaign, there is nothing being said or done about such league by those who were so fearfully con cerned about the tax question and in view of the spasms that were so liberally thrown here in Polk county to convince the taxpayers that their tax ills emanated from their state tax bullions, it is a mighty easy matter to see why the people who made the big noise during me campaign are singing mighty dumb at this time. The conclusion, of course, is plain —there was not at the time and there isn't now’ any concern about tax re lief for the taxpayers in the minds of those who were making the noise. What they wanted then Was a cam paign issue, which they could use for a few days, with the hope that they could get by and win an election and in this they were partly successful, which is all they wished or expected and which answers the whole ques tion as to their innocently dumb si lence at this time on such questions as a taxpayers’ league. The fact is as truo today as it was a month ago that -the immensely larger share of the tax burden arises in things right at home. There was no answer to this fact during the cam paign and no attempt to disprove it, and, in view of the fact that a num ber of counties have gone into the business of organizing taxpayers' leagues to disseminate information about the tax question, the Record desires to say at this time that now, that the campaign Is over and there Is no partisan excitement about the tax proposition, we will take pleasure In Joining the movement, and to this end we will start a series of discus sions on tax matters, and Interested parties who wish to take part in dis cussing any phase of the movement for tax relief are invited to make such contribution or comment as they may desire. If we cannot have a taxpay ers’ league In Polk county, we can at any rate join the movement in short discussions, which may be pro ductive of information. America's Contribution. From the Chicago Journal of Commerce. Just what form this country’s con tribution to humanity in Europe may take in the future is on the knees of the gods, but the emotional and hys terical complaints that at present we are "doing nothing" nfciy he dismissed as absolutely false and viciously mis leading. The United States now. and every month since the armistice, has been contributing to the security, the sta bility. and the future prosperity of all Europe. How? By going to work, by pro ducing wealth, by maintaining in this country law and order, by quieting one after another ever? social and economic disorder, by sound finance, by attention to business, and by frowning upon all ill-advised and vis ionary schemes for meddling in mat ters abroad. It is not (hat America is heartless, or careless, of conditions in Europe; not that it is selfish; not that it is wholly devoted to enriching itself, that it lias not rushed into Europe in quick response to every plea. It is that America wants first to be right before it goes ahead. It is Amer ican prudence, its purpose not to bite off more than it can chew, that holds it within safe limitations. And— America is not going to do for Europe tilings Europe should do for itself. It is waiting to lie shown. Community Chest*. From the York News-Times. Numerous cities are trying the community chest plan in handling the various .charitable enterprises that every city must cope with. The nu merous drives and tag days are be coming quite bothersome. The people who give to these meritorious char itable enterprises are inclined to pay in lump sum and then let the mu nicipality distribute the money to the organizations that are deserving. There have been charges of more or less graft in connection tvlth many of these drives and it is contended the graft charges can be avoided if the distribution of the funds is In the hands of responsible boards or city officials. The American people are generous, hut they hate to be "worked.” The money will be forthcoming for char itable work that is worthy of sup port. Skin games and thievery in the name of charity should be throttled in their incipiency. Radicalism and Conservatism in the West. From the Springfield Republican. Western radicalism in politics, which is now again receiving national ad i vertisement, finds a contrast in the I conservatism of the west in matters I of religion. Although Mr. Bryan has | transferred his residence to Florida he has not severed his connections with the west and Is still largely rep resentative of it. Where he would cast liis fortunes if the agricultural block should develop Into a third party and the democratic party become the party of conservatism, is perhaps uncertain. But there has been no un certainty in the religious position which Mr. Bryan has taken during the year in sternly opposing evolu tionists and liberals and in reassert ing the older theology and the literal truth of the Bible. Kchoes of the struggle in the west between the older and the newer re ligious thought have recently been heard In the east, which if more con servative in politics is now perhaps more progressive in theology. The special case which has attracted at tention is that of Rev. J. D. M. Buck ner of Aurora. Neb., a Methodist preacher for forty years, who against his will was placed upon the retired fist by the Nebraska Methodist con ference on the initiative of the pre siding bishop in September. The cause of hi* retirement was the open expression of belief in a kind and lov ing God coupled with such explana tions of the historical development of NET AVERAGE CIRCULATION for NOVEMBER. 1922, of THE OMAHA BEE Daily.73,843 Sunday .78,103 B. BREWER, Gen. Mgr. ELMER S. ROOD, Cir. Mgr. Sworn to and subscribed before me this 6th day of December. 1922. W. H. QUIVEY. (Seal) Notary Public ! the Bible, where the text might seem to conflict with that belief, as have long been familiar In the east through the teaching of liberal pas tors and professors of theology. Rev. Mr. Buckner was justly en titled In the opinion of Methodist periodicals In the east, to the trial on his beliefs for which he sought. His retirement was accomplished, in the I opinion of these Methodist periodicals, by taking Improper advantage of a provision of the church law never In tended for use In such cases. The purpose of this provision was the re tirement of incapacitated or superan nuated pastors. This Invocation in the case of Rev. Mr. Buckner, who was in vigorous health and powers, has apparently led to the chief critic ism among the Methodists them sedves. In so far as the rettirement of Rev. Mr. Buckner in this way was intended to prevent the public airing of op posing religious views that might have resulted from a heresy trial, it is evident that the course adopted has been a failure. Apparently there has been more publicity rather than less and much rallying, In press and else where, to Rev. Mr. Buckner's sup port. His church in Aurora stood loyally by him and protested against the action of the conference, but he counseled it to stand by the newly ap pointed pastor and to work for liberal views within the church organization. The latest development is that Rev. Mr. Buckner is to write his views for a newspaper syndicate. With an apparently wide feeling that he has merely been expressing what others in many pulpits have thought, he seems assured of a larger audience than if he had been permitted to continue his pastorate. For Our Commercial Marine. V»1 J. Peter, in the Omaha Dally Tribune. The president has appealed to con gress for the second time with the re quest that the ship subsidy bill be passed. The message of the president is clear, convincing and definite in its power, and if congress fails to give the appeal of the chosen chief execu tive proper consideration this time, that body will be guilty of gross neglect of an important national duty, for which the people will surely hold that legislative body responsible. What Is the remedy proposed by the president? Nothing else but the granting of $25,000,000 per year, to lie paid to the steamship companies as a subsidy, in order that the opera tion of these ships may be made prof itable. Now, please note with care. The loss of $50,000,000 now sustained by the government with this com mercial fleet will be reduced one-half, and at the same time the government is enabled to maintain the commercial fleet and to provide for replacement in proper manner. The adoption of this proposal would enable America to ship its own mer chandise under its own flag. We would be come independent of other nations, even England, for transporta tion of our goods and passengers. This consideration alone should suffice to prompt Congress to adopt the pro posed bill. There are other considera tions, equally as important. Vnequal Price Levels. From the Christian Science Monitor. The inclination is to believe that the conditions which Secretary Wallace says the farmers of the United States are now compelled to face are being likewise faced by the great majority of producers and wage earners. The year would have been a prosperous one, declares the head of the Depart ment of Agriculture in his annual re port to the president, had it not been for "the distorted relationship between prices received for farm products and the prices paid for things the farmers must buy." This same distorted re lationship exists generally. The things which the farmers and wage earners must buy are still sold, de spite efforts to bring about economic readjustments, at prices greatly out of proportion to the earning power of producers and consumers generally. The farmer finds this condition re flected not alone in the machines and implements which are necessary in his business, but in the prices charged for all staple commodities which ho is compelled to purchase at the stores. The wage earner in the cities finds himself face to face with the same conditions, with the added handicap of being compelled to pay excessive prices for the very commodities which the fanner complains of having to sell too cheaply. Secretary Wallace, as would bo ex pected, views the entire problem from the standpoint of the farmer. It is encouraging that he finds the eco nomic status of agriculturists better than it was a year ago, yet he be lieves there should be constructive legislation to insure against possibje future losses. Perhaps it would not be so easy for the secretary or any cither supposed expert to discover a similar improvement in the economic status of the average American wage earner. The latter is still being ex ploited by the gentlemen who find pleasure and profit In arranging price combinations and schedules and in manipulating and controlling the flow of natural products. In New England, as well as in other sections of the east, both the farmer and the ultimate consumer are suffer ing financial losses because of the combinations that have been made against them. The farmer is receiv ing far less than he should for the things he has to sell, and the con sumer Is paying for more than he should for the ptoducts of the farm which he has to buy. It may be that laws can he devised to correct this condition, hut it would seem that an easier and suret way to bring relief Would he the establishment of co operative marketing, with immediate release for both parties chiefly con cerned from the results now com plained of. “The People’s Voice* Editorial* from rradrrn of The Moraine Bo*. Readers ef The Morning Bee are invited to uao this column froely for oxproaoion on matter* of nubile inte.eet. Crit irises lhe Progressives. Oxford, Neb.—To the Editor of The Omaha Bee: General Pershing is quoted as saying recently at Lincoln “We ought to have our eyes open to a lot of things we were quick to for get as soon as the war was ended— bolshevism and I. W. \Y\, for instance.” A few days later in Chi cago he scored Debs for traitorous utterances since he was pardoned from prison and asked his audience, “Must we stand such insolence?” Again he electrified his hearers by asking, “Has the Herrin massacre or tne communist party in tho Michigan woods no meaning for us?" He gave this warning to the American people, “Do not be misled by cranks who ate niw-'.vs tangeiing with the con stitution.” Let the constitution alone and live up to It and we will have no further trouble,” was his closing admonition. It is truly encouraging to know that we still have men who, like Roosevelt, have tho courage to call a spade a spade and who stand for true repre sentative government. Our news papers axe clouded with glaring head lines. and columns of dope are writ ten about what self-styled progres sives want, wh^t they demand and what they are going to accomplish. In Nebraska one bunch of faddists are working for a new political party which will contain all tho good citi zens and the cornerstone will lie the "Closed Shop,” with death to any man who attempts to support his family by labor unless he is possessed of a union card and obeys to a dot the commands of union dictators. Then a more crazy bunch, led by a United States senator, have determined to smash ail political parties, abolish our stato government and substitute for our legislature a body of hand picked judges who must have the O. K. of the university law school and who shall receive salaries compatible with their high calling and constant ser vice. The people who now have a lit tle rest between sessions will then have a continual feast of legislative enactments. At Washington things are even worse. The farm bloc which was organized to catch farmer votes is to be scrapped and a progressive bloc organized whose platform is in the main to make life miserable for the president and to captliro that of fice for one of their members in 1024. They will impeach tho attorney gen eral for trying to protect the lives and property of American workmen and they will turn all who were imprison ed for disloyalty during the war free that they and their friends may help in the new progressive move. They demand that the thing called govern ment in Russia he recognized by the United States. They will revise our constitution just to make people be lieve they are doing something. Congress should give its whole at tention to our present day problems and not waste their high-salaried time monkeying with constitutional amend inents which are immaterial or worth less. The bunch of lawyers who are so anxious that the constitution should be revised had better use their talents in improving our rotten and expensive court procedure. In the La Follette convention no thought was given the daily increasing murders, not a word of disapproval of the brutal Herrin massacre that shocked the civilized world, and no attempt was promised to stop the lynchings and lnhurpan burnings at the stake that have be come common occurrence. They cal! themselves progressives hut prove prove themselves adepts at dodging any issue that might lose them votes. It pays better to damn the railroads and to threaten to crush Wall street, or demand that foreign nations shall pay the last penny they owe us, as Start a Savings Account This Christmas It will work for you every day and next year will pey you a Christmas Dividend of H INTEREST _ State Savings & Loan Association 315 S. 17th St. Keeline Bids. C. C. WELLS, Secy L d The whole town is waiting for it— Omaha is to have the classiest shop for men and women in the “World ” See this paper tomorrow night. You All Know Leon’s We Worry Along Year After Year. Japan ma* some HWTi OLD METHODS. ITS p, MttMT JAMAICA ^ zornfti m ip*a \ Tkl*» HA6 tlfWj ) TttifD wim --%. Jwccess, jU' / WORLOl But WE STILL 3ncff /" Tb ixe ouo method ^ of GETT/nG tmc. OiRISTMAS SHOPPING | Home: A? -Eh&'T'IUs? 20 - WtlU*rA> that Is good vote getting dope. If one desires a true to-life definition of our self-styled progressives in congress, turn to the 31th verse of the 3Sth chapter of St. Luke. A. C. RANKIN. Crowing for Adams County. Hastings, Neb.—To the Editor of The Omaha Bee: I see on the editorial page of The Bee a paragraph saying , Grand Island shipped 2,700,000 eggs, "something to cackle about." Come over to Hastings, we will give you something to crow about. We will show you 20,064,000, This is 1S1 cars, 400 cases to the car, 30 dozen to the case. 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