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About The Omaha morning bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 1922-1927 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1925)
The Omaha Bee MORN1N G—E V E N 1 N G—S U N P A Y THE BEE PUBLISHING CO . Publl.h.r N. B. UPDIKE, President BALLARD DUNN. JOY M. HACKLER. Editor in Chief _Bu»in»*» Manager MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Associated Prea», of which The Bee it * member, it exclusively entitled to the use for republieation of ell news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper, and also the local newt published herein. All right* «f republication of our special dispatches are also reserved. , ^ The Omaha Bee It a member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations, tha recognised authority on circulation audita, and The Omaha Bee's circulation is regularly audited by their organisations. Entered aa second-class matter May 28, 1908. at Omaha postoffice, under act of March 8, 1879. BEE TELEPHONES Private Branch Exchange. Ask for AT lantic 1000 the Department or Per.on Wanted._ OFFICES Main Offiee—17th and Farnam Chirago—Stager Bid*. Boston—Globe Rid*. Los Angeles—Fred L. Hall, San Fernando Bldg. San Francisco—Fred L. Hall, Sharon Bldg. New York City—270 Madison Avenua Seattle—A. L. Niets, 514 Leary Bid*.__ mail"su~rscription rates DAILY AND SUNDAY 1 year #5.00. S months 13.00. S months *1.75. 1 month 75e DAILY ONLY 1 year *1.50, « months *2.75, 3 months *1.50. 1 month 75e SUNDAY ONLY 1 year *3.00, S months *1.75. 3 months *1.00, 1 month 50c Subscriptions outside tha Fourth postal sons. or «<'« miles from Omaha; Daily atd Sunday. *1.00 per month; daily only. 75c per month; Sunday only. 50e per month. CITY SUBSCRIPTION RATES Morning and Sunday .1 month 85c. 1 week 20c Evening and Sunday .1 month «5e, 1 week 16c Sunday Only .. month 20c, 1 week 6e _— -- OmaHa-lDhere the IDesl is at its Best WHY PENALIZE DOUGLAS COUNTY? Debate over the bill to change the election law for Douglas county is taking a peculiar turn. Wc should not lose sight of the fact that Douglas county has been singled out for special treatment in the election law. For some reason, not made entirely clear, a provision was inserted requiring “word of mouth voting” by those who require assistance in preparing their ballots in this county. F.lsewhere in the state the voter may present a list of his se lections, and have his choice so made registered by the judges. To assume that conditions are so different in Douglas as to make it necessary to partly if not wholly to destroy the voter’s right to full secrecy as to his ballot is decidedly unfair. Nothing in our recent experience justifies such discrimination. Sen ator Robbins, in his argument for the retention of the present law, says that to change the law would open the way for buying and selling of votes. He renews the charge that in certain precincts of the city the electorate is corruptible, if not corrupt. All that is old straw, threshed over many times. While the senator admits that no scandal has marked an election in Omaha for many years, ascribing this condition to the existence of the law that is asked to be changed, he gives little consideration to other conditions that have changed. Reciting other special provisions for the control ®f Douglas that do not apply elsewhere in the stata simply serves to emphasize the shame that has been foisted onto the people of Omaha. We are most heartily in favor of the registration system, of the administration of the office of election commissioner. But we have heard some bitter complaints about how affairs of that offiee have been handled. Not the fault of the commissioner, hut because self-appointed guardians and would-be custodians of the public ronscience have taken advantage of the provisions of the law and made a great deal of unnecessary trouble for voters. The average of intelligence of the Omaha voter is high. Equally high is the standard of integrity. Corrupt or corruptible men may be found every where. Not all of them live in the lower wards of Omaha by any means. A great many foreign-born residents, as sincere and as honest as any citizen of the community, require help in the preparation of their ballots. They should not be regarded as po tential criminals, but should have the same treat ment they would get in Lancaster or any other coun ty in the state. In sincerity, and with every regard for the sanc tity of the ballot, we ask the legislature to readmit Douglas county to the fold from which it is now shut out. Why should a voter be penalized for living in Douglas county? Subject to espionage and suspected of something he would be free from if he moved across the line into Sarpy, Saunders, Dodge, or Wash ington county? Repeal the ‘‘word of mouth" pro vision, and let us have the same election privileges that are enjoyed by Nebraskans everywhere hut in Douglas county. A HIGH TRIBUTE. A Nebraskan whose business has made him fa miliar with each succeeding legislature since 1897, Mys of the legislature now in srs«ion: “In my judgment it is the best legislature In more than a quarter of a century. It ranks higher in intelligence, higher in patriotism and higher in purpose. It is honestly trying to act in the best in terests of the state without regard for political ad vantage. Its membership is not trying to rip busi ness, nor is it appealing to discontent. It is business like and busy.” That is praise indeed. Despite the fact that sev eral very foolish hills have been introduced, and others that might be looked upon with suspicion as being offered for the sole purpose of being killed, the comparatively few bills, measured by the grist pre sented to previous legislatures, are in the main worthy. The legislature is not listening to the specious arguments of the political fixers. It Is striving to meet the approval of all the people. Its membership t« level-headed and its leadership founded on rom nton sense. It is easy, and very usual, to cast aspersions upon our public officials. No matter how earnestly they try, they are too often faced with sneers and jibes. The public official who tries to perform his duty end most of them try do that very thing is entitled to praise. The present legislature exhibits plpaxing evi dences of trying to. work solely for the benefit of the commonwealth. It is entitled to commendation. SUPERIOR QUALIFICATIONS. There is every indication that George Alexander Parks will make good as governor of Alaska. Firstly, Parks was not an applicant for the position. Secondly, Parka has been content to work as a min ing engineer In Alaska, leaving politics to others. And thirdly, Parks looks upon the governorship as a real he-msn's job and doubts his ability to fill it. Ths last indication is the most hopeful of all. Because he entertains doubts he will probably bend every energy towards msklng good. He has been in ths government employ for several years, work ing in the Alaskan field service, and he is credited with knowing more about Alaska and its resources than any other man. He has been content to do his work as an engineer, and doing it to the best of his ability. And that is the sort of thing that is nebded in higher branches of the government service. Rec ognizing this, President Coolidge appointed Parks to the governorship. Making good on the job in hand, fidelity to his superiors, thinking only of rendering service-well, that is the sort of thing the country should be look ing for. Governor Parks is going to make good in big things because he has made good in lesser things. His modesty is as refreshing as his ability is un doubted. MARION LJEROY BURTON. When the announcement was made lest spring that Dr. Marion Leroy Burton hail been selected by President Coolidge to make the nominating address at the Cleveland convention, there was much buz zing. Who is this man Burton? He was not known to the public. Never sat in the councils of the party, and seemed as far outside as it was possible to go for anybody. The best information given with re gard to him was that he was president of the Uni versity of Michigan. His address to the convention enlightened the world as to the reason for his being given that task. It was not a flood of perfervid oratory. It did not scintillate with gems of wit, nor resound with sonor ous periods. It was a plain, matter of fact state ment of the case for the republican party, for its chosen leader, and its bid for public favor. As a bit of rabble-rousing rhetoric, it was not to be com pared with the effort of Pat Harrison at New York. Nor with the message Robert Marion I.a Kollette rent to Cleveland. As the days went on, and people l.egan to study the issues, they turned again and again to Dr. Burton’s speech. Finding in it always something sound, something that could be depended upon. For once a leader had arisen who appealed to the calm sense of the American voters. The re sponse was conclusive. Another side of Dr. Burton’s ability is shown by a story of the Michigan legislature. It is recounted that when the time came for him to go to the capital to secure an appropriation, he found the legislature organized against him. His reputation had fright ened the men who were to decide the issue, and they agreed that Burton would g«t nothing. When the session was over it was found he had secured ap propriations amounting to $17,000,000 for the re building of the university. Now that Dr. Burton is dead many stories will come out to show how influential and active he was in the general cause of humanity. Acting through service to higher and sounder education, he did many things that will bear fruit through years to come. Quietly, attracting little notice to himself, but always setting ahead the cause. He did not go hunting with a brass band, but he did achieve results. WILD MARRIAGE LAWS. A lot of loosely considered talk has been indulged in connection with Nebraska’s so-called eugenic mar riage law. Most of thia hai been with little or no regard for the prime object of the law. Not so much to prevent marriage as to prevent hasty and ill-con sidered marriages. To forbid, if possible, the union of those who are unfit to marry. A marriage almost necessarily contemplates children. In thia society >s vitally concerned. First, because the children of unfit marriages are essentially a menace to society. Water docs not rise above its source, nor will the off spring of incompetents be anything but incompetent. Some diseases are transmitted from parent to child, and these are also sought to be combatted. Publishing of bans is a custom centuries old. Notice given that two persons contemplate matri mony is a recognition of the right of society to have something to say about a contract that may result in a burden to society. The Nebraska law has not been enforced long enough to warrant any con clusion as to its effect on divorce, hut the assump tion is not unfair that marriages contracted under it are more likely to last than those that take place under the go-as-you please practice the law aup plantg. We know that it has heen popular to cross the borders of the state to contrart ‘‘bootleg" marriages ,undpr conditions easier than those at home. Some time these conditions will not prevail. Iowa, Mis souri, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota all are interested in the problem. Nebraska ia a pioneer in a great movement. Marriage is not alto gether a privata matter, between two persons ex clusively, hut is something in which society in gen eral has a large interest. Wild marriage law* are not for the good of anybody. The North Carolina legislature was prevented from considering an anti-evolution bill because of n rush of spectators to the assembly chamber. Does not atate whether the crowd was for or against. A Kansas City mRss meeting ha* decided in favor of the World Court. It will take more than that to move Senator Borah, who has determined not to go into the plan. Senator Norris is opposing the proposed increase in pay of congressmen and senators. If he has hi* customary lurk, the salary grab will go through. An Arkansas prophet, who was to raise the dead, Had to postpone his demonstration on account of his serious illness. Life ia full of little annoyance*. Senators propose to inquire into the reason hack of the hike in gas prices. Simplicity. Brother Charlie is no longer governor. A Nebraska farmer sold his pigs at auction, and netted an average of $H4 a head. Doea it pay to raise them? Looks like yes. ' Homespun Verse By Omaha’* Own Pont—• Robert Worthington Davie s._______A WHEN THE FARMER READS THE PAPER. It kinds tickles me at times dm Just a farmer, See!) The wav the politicians fuss about dishonesty One makes a. great nig statement that there's araft and Brims galore A crawling through the keyhole of l he other feller's door. The second feller alepe right up and tells what he has done. And lays the guilt directly on the other honest one! They rani and rave Hnd kick up dost likes cyclonic gale. Ami swing their fl«ts and stinlri their lungs wllhnut the least avail. 1 need In hitch my horses In a tree at live till ten, And hasten for the paper and the currant scandal ken, And hurry hack and light nty pipe and lean upon th* plow, And read the printed comment* on die politicians’ row. |'ie kind* got « habit, now, of reading funnies Aral, And then a glancing over where the hontba In silence buret FI lit dial a he, a use tin wnathei mult gels on i he 'null [>a*e loo, | And 1 muet sort of tiguie on work that a yet to ihj, | “Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow” _ ______ ______ _____——' r s Letters From Our Readers All l« tier* must be signed, but name will ba withheld upon request. Communications of 200 words and loos, will bo given preference. Indeterminate Sentence l*aw. Sidney, Neb.—-To the Kditor of The Oiiwihi 1 »*-e. Vour valuable news j pit per had in it an editorial respecting I i recent ad «»f tiie legislature in kill Ing k statute recommended hy the count v at tonicv* of tile state for the .-peal of the indeterminate sentnce h,\v of Nebraska. The statute which tin1 fotinty Attorneys’ association : t .• !x f< 1 to have i r|»*aled does not have anything in any way to d*» with the pn don *o pa role hoard so far as the text of the law I* concerned. Many year* of experience in the prosecution of criminals on ihe part of a large number of the county «» lornev of the state has proven to their satisfaction that the jndetermf nat sentence law b> wholly wrong in principle. It i* the one stable bul wark of ultimate defense of the or dinal v criminal, because It shed* * iay of hope to him before lie even commits ihe crime, a* he know* that, regardless of the despicable nature of the- crime he i* about to commit, the revulsion of feeling of the people over Its commission will he very large lv set off n« far a* he, the criminal, is concerned, when he comes to get hi* sememe at the hand* of * court for an indeterminate period. ** Axed hy the statute, and knowing further that he will go down to either the re formatory or the penitentiary at Lin coln. and will Immediately he looked upon hv a large and increasingly large body of well fntenttoned but misdirect, id men and women, who will Immedl ately interest themselves in his behalf and attempt hi* so-called reformation. We believe tliat the trial court who l.as conducted the case ha* observed tiie wit nesses, has a perfect knowl edge of the greater plot, has had oc casion to study the defendant in open court, and ha* been placed In pn* session of many facts outside nf th* record as to the commission of the crime, or Ihe antecedents and henr ing of the defendant, is a vastlv hette judge of the time the defendant, tf found guilty, should serve, than a politically organized commission, who et long distance ran get only a stirrer Ada! view point of the reel circum stances of the case at bar. It is with f- --■ ■ .. — \ Abe Martin i v-/ mm rtvft&ibes'' L FR&h r>iM* 04/iY I wish Luther Burbank would in vent some hotel pens that don't taste like a pnpn wad. Another whole month o’ th’ legislature, an' we've got more laws than we kin break now. (et»pyi (• vit. i a - a > out question the theory of the law that punishment for crime Is for two purposes* The first In importance Is to deter others from the commission of like or other crimes, and. second, whlrh may he divided into two point*, for the punishment of tire individual, and. second, to deter that individual from further commission of crime This being true, and the fact that our legislature* have in their wisdom fixed different degrees of punishment for practically sll crimes, indicate* that .uch degrees were fixed to meet *« rious and different grades of crime. That 1*. the commission by one indl virtual of a certain crime should re ceive h higher or more severe punish ment than the commission of the same crime by some other individual, be cause oft times the one may be atrociously done, while the other might be in the heat of jmssion. or under extenuating circumstances that would carry a measure of considera tion in the matter «»f punishment, hut under the indeterminate sentence law there is no such distinction. The hardened professional criminal fcet* tiie same indeterminate sentence ss the youth who makes his first mis take. in fairness t• * the earnest endeavor of those who c.m h.i dly he charged with selfish inteiest in pr«|>osing the i ( pe : I of this law , we bc!ie\ e that H i« entitled ?o a little bit more consid eration titan has been given b\ the sentimentalists of the state who have discussed It in connection with an THE BIBLE I “All Scripture i* given by inspiration of God, and is I profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, I for instruction in Righteousness."—2 Tim. 3:16. HE Bible contains a great variety of different composi j tions, embracing sixty-six smaller volumes comprising | historical narratives, laws, ordinance, poetry, doctrine, moral and religious precepts written by different persons widely sep I arated from each other in place and time. More than 1,500 years | elapsed while the authors of these productions were engaged in writing them. Even in a literary aspect the Sacred Scriptures form the most remarkable book the world has ever seen. File wisest and best of men have borne witness to their efficacy as an instrument of enlightenment and purification. It reveals the character of God, and nature and con dition of man and the end for which he was created. It deals with the inseparable connection between sin and misery, the principles on which the Ruler of the Universe is governing the world, and His revelation of Himself through Christ. Wherever the Bible has been received, its ef fects are such as no other book has ever produced. ( haracter and con duct are altered, elevated and purified. It supplies the most powerful motives to honesty, industry and social integrity. The Word of God fills up the measure of our wants, directs, controls, sustains and comforts through all conditions in life. Select a Church and Then Support It by Your Attendance “tn a wider appeal to religion and to religious faith is to he found the answer to the grow* ing tendency toward law violations which we see on every hand." This is the judgment of a group of Omaha men and institutions, who have arranged for a pro gram of appeals for church attendance. The appeal published herewith is third of the series. *► r ---- ^ SUNNY SIDE UP i JSSgSt&S&q&X&r " i j \_._—--- ——“ ■—■— _ "*"""" *\ f On occasion we h.va felt Inclined to chide Nebraskans be n,nse of their tailors to study or properly appreciate the won decs and heat.ties of .belt state. Ur. Cond.a s tet ent addre,* ■•Nebraska the Beautiful.'' Impels us to undertake another mil i dissertation upon our commonwealth. The tourist season tapldly approaching. when Nebraskans will braird their autos and seek the beyond. Too many of them will seek for the -nange and beautiful far beyond Nebraska's holders, hut we have hopes that we will be able to persuade some who read this that they should first gaze upon what Iheir own state has to offer. The si eat trouble is that most Nebraskans eu tour stick to the main highways, anti ail they see is town* amt titles and cultivated farms. If they would see wonders of nature they must gel away from the main traveled highways. 1. e braskans have never seen the wonders spread by nature along the drives that follow along the Missouri bluffs, when the trees ate In full leaf and summer I* at its best, they have missed a lot. From Omaha to Jtuio. winding through those great bluffs, now in roads where xlanl Iters form an archway above, now looking out across the lowlands to where the Missouri Is hur rying to the sea, and then past orchard* coveting the hillside*. Many Nebraak.m* who talk much about the foothills of the Hookies, with their curious formations, have never visited the Pine Hldge country of their own state. I hev know nothing of the beauties of the Frenchman valley, nothing of the canyon* of the Niobrara, nothing of the Had l.and* In the extreme northwestern part of the state They have never visited the gteat fossil fields at Agate, although scientists from all over the world gather there to study the early history of creation. A ride tip the North Platte river Is a revelation to the > stranger. Mother Nature In her most fantastic mood hascarved an ange figures front gt*-at bluffs that nin e stood upon the edges of a gteat river. Chimney Rock, Massacre Canyon, Court house and .tall Rock. Battleship Rock, Dome Rock. Stotts Bluff, from the summit of Scotts Bluff one can see with the raked eye 1-aramle Peak 175 miles to the west. From the vantage point of the summit of Scotts Bluff—it Is really a mountain— ^^*4 one may lurn to the south, looking out over the Wild Cat J range, and see nature In the primitive. Pine-clad peaks, darken ing canyons, precipitous bluffs To cast and west stretches the most fertile and productive valley In America. One of the prettiest acienlc highways in the country winds its wav over the W'lld t'at range. Were It In Colorado or I'tah, Nebraskan* would drive over It by the thousand*, and voice their wonder and delight. But It is In Nebraska, therefore Ne braskans know little or nothing about Its beauties. Take It from one who has visited these places time and again, and on every visit has seen something new, something more wonderful, something more Inspiring, something that strengthen* one s pride in one’s state Time enough to explore other Ststee after you ha\« become fairly familiar with your ow n. _ Try “Seeing Nebraska’ this summer. Forget the far-off places for they seldom come up to expectation*. To the grow ing wonder that you hare missed much hv not disrure-Inc Nebraska long ago, you will a<M the satisfaction of learning more of our own commonwealth. \\ IBL At. MAC PIN. — ~ -J other law that has no plare with it. R. P. KEPLV. Member of the legislative t'ommittee of the County Attorneys' Associa tion._————— NET AVERAGE PAID CIRCULATION For JANUARY. 1925 THE OMAHA BEE Daily .74,002 Sunday .77,234 Do*» not include return*, left eft-re. sample* er papers spoiled ir printing and includes no spocia sat-s or free circulation of any bind V. A. BRIDGE, Cir. Mfr. Subscribed and twain to before ms this 2d day of February. 1025. W. H. QUIVEY. (Seal) Notary Public SPECIAL 2.000 Player Piano Rolls 5 for si Samples, Demonstrators, Used A. HOSPE CO. 1513-1515 Douglas Street. When in Omaha Hotel Conant 230 Room*-250 RststS2to<3