Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Omaha morning bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 1922-1927 | View Entire Issue (March 17, 1925)
The Omaha Bee M O R N 1 N G—E V E N IN G—S U N D AY THE BEE PUBLISHING CO.. Publisher ~ N. B. UPDIKE. President BALLARD BUNN. JOY M. HACKT.ER. Editor In Chief Business Manager MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Tha Associated Preis, of which The Bee is a member, ii exclusively entitled to the use for repuhlication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in thia paper, and also the local news published herein. All rights of repuhlication of our special dispatches are also reserved. The Omaha Bee la a member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the recognized authority on circulation audits, and The Omaha Bee’s circulation is regularly audited by their organizations. Entered as second-class matter May 28, 1908. at Omaha postoffice, under act of March 8, 1879. BEE TELEPHONES Private Branch Exchange. A*k for AT lantir 1 OAfl the Department or Person Wanted. 1 Iamic 1UUU OFFICES Main Office—17th and Fnrnam Chlrago-w-Steger Bldg. Boston—Globe Bldg. Los Angeles--Fred L. Hall, San Fernando Bldg. 1 Ban Francisco—Fred L. Hall, Sharon Bldg. New York City—270 Madison Avenue * Seattle—A. L. Nietz, 514 Leary Bldg. M AI lTsUBSCR IPTK> N R ATE-S ~ DAILY AND SUNDAY 1 year $5.00, 6 months $3 00, 3 months $1.75, 1 month 75c DAILY ONLY 1 year M .50, 6 month, 42.75, 3 month, 91.50, 1 month 75c I SUNDAY ONLY 1 year 93.00, 6 month, 91.75, 3 month, 91.00, 1 month 50c Subscription, out,id, the Fourth postal inne, or COO mile, from Omaha: Daily and Sunday, 91.00 per monih; I daily only, 75c per month: Sunday only. 50c per month. CITY SUBSCRIPTION RATES Morning and Sunday .1 month 85c, 1 week 20c 1 Evening and Sunday .1 month 65c, 1 week 15, I Sunday Only .1 month ?0c, 1 week r,c v__, Omaha-lDhere the UUest is at its Best LITERACY TEST FOR VOTERS. A Douglas county senator expressed himself publicly in Omaha as in favor of a law that will re . quire the voter to be able to read and write English. A measure looking to that end is pending before the senate. Such a law should be carefully pondered before it is enacted. We earnestly advocate the policy of teaching the English language in the schools of Ne braska, to the end that everybody will be enabled to take a proper place in the life of the state. Our con stitution provides that English shall be the official language, and that it must he taught in the public schools. With this we are in full accord. Something else must be considered. Nebraska was largely settled and developed by foreign-born citizens. These have proved themselves in all ways qualified for the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship. Thrifty, industrious, fugal, law-abid ing, God-fearing, they have wrought well in building up a great state. Prosperity, both material and spir itual, has followed their efforts. But many of them have not for reasons of their own acquired a work ing knowledge of English. They still read and write in the language that was theirs from birth. Are they now to he denied the privilege of vot ing, something they have enjoyed through all these years, because they are not proficient in English? Can the state of Nebraska afford to visit such an injustice on these men and women, to whose efforts is due in so great a measure all that the state rep resents in social and political life? Other aliens have come amongst us more re cently and have satisfied all the requirements of the law with regard to the qualifications for citizenship. They read and write in the language of the land from which they came, hut not in English. Are they, too, doomed to be disfranchised because they do not comprehend the language of the common people? The literacy test adopted by the United States was ability to read and write in some language. Ne braska can well he content with that limitation, re lying on the public schools to remedy the deficiency in the second generation. For the matter of that, the majority of those who now come here show great eagerness to acquire a new tongue. Will this ambi tion be fostered by taking the vote from those who for any reason fail to perfect themselves in English to the extent of being able to read and write the language? This agitation exposes again the insincerity of the “word of mouth’’ provision of the election law. That applies to Douglas county only. In any other county of the state the deficient voter is not so han dicapped. If the legislature earnestly desires to im prove the citizenship of the state, it might do so by providing for the better enforcement of the excel lent school law. Under it in good season ail voters born in this state will he trained in the language of the state. But it would be too drastic a change to suddenly pounce upon the older people who came here from Europe, and disfranchise them because they cling to the mother togue. The end sought is good, but the means proposed is not. THE STORM. It wasn’t really a blizzard, except in the head lines. It was just a March storm, during which a lot of needed moisture was precipitated. It caused considerable Inconvenience here and there, and per haps some suffering. But on the whole it was highly beneficial to Nebraska. It doubtless slowed up traf fic here and there and prevented many people from getting to town to do their trading, thereby decreas ing the cash receipts a bit. But thoge things aro temporary. With the soil saturated with moisture it means a boost to spring work on the farm. It means a big wheat crop. It means a good stand for another bumper corn crop. Two or three days of inconveni ence, to he sure; but just think of the good that will follow the little storm. Listen as you may, you are not hearing any com plaints from the farmers. They know what these March storms mean in terms of soil preparation, crop growing and harvest gathering. “Blizzard" is a much abused word. It is usually applied by those who find themselves temporarily discommoded by a little flurry of snow borne on a brisk wind. If last Friday’s storm in Nebraska was a blizzard, then Patrick Henry was a deaf mute und George Washington a conscientious objector. IN THE MATTER OF PAY ROLLS. One of the factors In community prosperity is the pay roll. Much if not all the permanent growth and business of any city depends on the amount of wages paid to the workers. Out of this fund goes the support given to the local trade, the home busi ness, that is the life blood of commerce. For these reasons the people of the city, big or little, are su premely concerned In the pay roll. An advertisement apprnred in thp Omaha papers one day lately that must have opened the eyes of everyone who read It. It stated that for the year 1024 the "combined pay rolls of the Nebraska insur-' ance companies maintaining home offices In Omaha amounted to *1,799,101.OR.” Almost *2,<m0 a year each for the 900 familiea dependent on the wage earnera represented. This Is a tidy sum. Considerably more than the uninformed would set the figure, but indicating the importance of the rapidly developing home insur ance industry of the city. Certainly it is a factor in The community life of Omaha, one that is not to be neglected, and deserving of careful consideration in connection with any home industry movement that may be contemplated. TAKING A LOOK AT FACTS. Every now and then some statesman arises to mourn about the lack of water power development m this country, and shed great salt tears over the alleged fact that some unknown conspiracy by un known men in a mysterious place have combined to gobble all the water power sites. They insinuate that if only they are permitted to have their way they will harness these water powers for the public and give us power so cheap that it will really be like finding it. But George Otis Smith, director of the United States geological survey, Department of the Interior, informs us through the current number of Collier’s that— “First of all we need to deflate, our large ideas of the adequacy of our water power, which, though not a diminishing resource, is deficient in amount, for if fully developed It could not turn more wheels than are already installed in all the power plants of the country.'' Some of our would-be statesmen are resting their whole cause on government development of water power, but here comes a man who knows what he is talking about to tell us that we must deflate our large ideas about the adequacy thereof. Nor should it be forgotten that much of the pos sible water powder is so located as to be of little ad vantage if developed. And much of it would have to be supplemented by steam power in case of acci dent. Nebraska has several available hydro-electric power, but hard-headed men of business, after long and expensive investigation discovered that to de velop the power and carry it to the point of con sumption would cost by considerable more than to develop an equal amount of power by steam or oil, and particularly if developed by interior combustion engines. To use the language of the street, there has been an awful amount of blah about development of water power. Developing electric current is one thing; distributing it is quite another. As between the politicians who talk water power for the purpose of catching the favor of the uninformed, and Di rector Smith, who knows what he is talking about, we pin faith on Smith, who says: /'Nor should we face the future with gay assur ance that science will unlock the atom and thus set free energy enough to turn all our wheels forever more. 1'nfortunately for such optimism, the scientists who know- the atom best' promise least. And as for harnessing sunshine, the carboniferous plants probably did that far better many millions of years ago than human ingenuity can do It today. So we must continue to rely upon the stored up sun shine In our unsurpassed coal deposits as the cheap est source of energy to turn the wheels reqerired by our present-day civilization.'' Increasing knowledge of how to use coal eco nomically, and constant improvements in electrical machinery, will result in cheaper current and wider distribution in the future, just as it has in the past. It behooves the people of this country to acquaint themselves with the real facts, turning a deaf ear to the insidious plaints of politicians who are using this “white coal’’ thing for purposes of deception only. THE DRIVE AGAINST OLEO. There are argument* on both sides of this buttor olen controversy. This being true there is no earthly reason why so careful and conservative newspaper as the Milwaukee Journal should muddle the whole controversy in this fashion: "But, netting down to fundamental*, a man who wants oleomargarine haa a light to It. What gov ernment ran rightfully do is to protect, him from having a substitute foisted upon him when he asks for butter.” But ha* a man a right to have oleomargarine if enough people insist that he shall not have it and manage to J’ass a Law to prohibit him from get ting it? Putting it another way: Has a nian a right to have butter if the oleo manufacturers become strong enough to Pass a Law prohibiting the use of butter? Getting down to fundamentals, as the esteemed Journal puts it, has a man a right to anything he wants if a lot of vociferous reformers insist that he shall not have it? What's a little thing like fundamentals between friends, anyhow? The Greeks and Turks are going to stage another round in a contest that has horn going on for at least 1,800 years. Maybe this time the world will stand back and let them go to a decision. The"husband who let his wife pay for the honey moon trip and buy gas for the family bus has some of the markings of excess baggage. Head of the telephone company sees signs of prosperity rearhing out for five years more. By that time we will he used to it. The ide« of March may have meant something ulse to Julius Ceasar, but it nearly nlways means a snowstorm in Nebraska. A smuggler has been sent to prison two years for kissing one of his women cargo. He may have de served it at that. Omaha's tramway is making something of a stir at Lincoln. Home folks will take up the subject later. Auto owners who paid for licenses with had checks deserve all they are likely to get. Homespun Verse By Omaha’* Own Poet— Robert Worthington Davie ----' A GLIMPSE OF GROWIN* OMAHA. A farmer friend with whom I tolled when I wa* garbed In Jean*, And had an eighty where I mad* my roln * ralalng lira na— Came Into town our Omaha one day not long ago, And thla la what he wiltaa bemuse he say* that I ahould know : "I d heard about your city fair, It* parka and bout* varda. Ita great rotnmerrlal Indnatrlea, pa far famed rattle yard*. Put. alranga to *«v, I didn't know, like Iota of ellly foolg. A Ideaard thing about three blamed trn inlnut* parking rule*. "I left my rar and atarled out to look around a hit: Your rlty wasn't had to view I liked to look at |l! When t rnme hark my rar waa gone, lull nlnelv rent* I had, , _ And naturally I sort of got a trifle vexed ami mad. "1 ve had to a*|l a roitple pigs to flx up things complete I douht tf I ran make enough my other debt* to meet, And I ran not apprarlat* the better things I saw When I went down to get a gllmpe* of glowin' Omaha." — I - I /- ---m\\ Letters From Our Readers 1 All letters must be signed, but name will be withheld upon request. Communications of 200 words and less, will be given preference. ___ “Improving” the Bible. Gibbon, Neb.— To the Editor of The Omaha Bee: Your editorial under date of March 7. wherein you ridicule any attempt to improve on the Bible Mounds a little queer In view ot the fact that the Bible, until the advent of the “King Jam* s Version.” failed to satisfy the mind of those to whom, and about whom, the subject matter related, written in a language with out vowel or consonant, and only a matter of conjecture that we have the exact words of any of the Old or New Testament writers. Few. if finy, deny the Bible the religious literature of an age long extinct, and few would have Its place in literature destroyed, but why leave the impression the Bi ble’s 66 books ace the beginning and ending of printed wisdom, when all we have are copies of copies, ami in very truth we do not know just who wrote the original, for they are lost. It would appear on the face of things, the mind of man cut some consider able figure through the ages In col lecting and improving on the many fragments that have reached us. and these many fragments would give us a very poor mirror through which to reflect nature h perfect self were we to rest content in the “landlocked bay” of traditionalism. O. J. WAEKEH. Wliat About Ideals? Omaha. To the Editor* of The Omaha Bee: In an editorial that ap peared in a local paper. “Fact Versus Hysteria.” it is stated that the M. E Smith company did only 114 per cent of the total volume of Omaha’s whole sale business In 1024, .and goes fur ther to say that the employes affected represent only a little more thin 1 per cent of the total employes of the manufacturing and jobbing houses of the city. 1 am not contradicting any of the facts, but when we consider the nar row-minded, unumerican principle used fvhlch caused the wrecking of this in stitution. also the efforts of such broad minded ffetriotir, public-spirited men as A. W. Gordon, Mr. Crofoot and associates, who gave their time and efforts to save this institution. 1 can’t see how we ran take It so cool even though the Industrial facts arc before us. When \?e look back to And the cause of President Wilson getting America Into the European war, was It nt»t an Insult to our American Ideals to have | one of our ships sunk? Is It not an unpatriotic deed to have one of Om« ha s institutions sunk for the small sum of 16,000? Has not the M. K Smith company a right to run. even though it causes a strong competi tion for some other house in the same line of business? This is n free coun try, is it not? Then why not pro tert our institutions and not let there he any kaisers, (If 1 may say ylth --N A be Martin j <\ '«*?! A girt can't shorten th’ time t' th' ellur hy rutlin’ out th' curves, Th’ feller who could have bought th’ ground fer $10 where th' court house stands now has a grao'son w-lio could have bought th' corner where th' tillin' station stand* fer $3,00U tioe>tutu. tlli> * out being radical), wreck them for such a small sum ns $K,000. AMERICAN' JURATS. About the Dog Poisoner. Omaha.—To the Editor of The Omaha Bee: Your editorial i astica tlnn of the dog poisoner is timely and thorough. Nothing can be added to it or taken away. Bast week a little fellow tan away from home with his pet dog He tramped many weary miles liefore the police picked him up and took him to the station. The "hard boiled," raj loused officer brushed the tears from cheeks unfamiliar with that dew of the soul, ami hla voi e was husky n« lie told how the ‘'kid" sat on a chair at the station, his dog before him. with paws on the boy’s lap, licking up the tears as fast as they fell from the frightened child’s face. To de prive a boy of his pa! by poisoning bis dog indicates that the poisoner is so low he has to reaeh up to touch bottom. One of our hoys snswered S5 calls and drove his car 99 miles in picking up Injured dogs on Monday, of this week. JOHN K. POCCHER, General Manager, Nebraska Humane Society. Center Shot, __ Peeping 'Pom was getting an eyej full of Godiva. “Some day," said he.! “they'll get paid for snooping like this.'—Nashville Tennessean. Civilization isn't hopeless Nome and Cave City get more publicity than Herrin. Baltimore Sunday Sun. "Root legger" isn't a very pretty name, hut it goes The bootlegger's other name Is legion.—Anaconda Standard. It s a sad and disappointing world and nobody ever gets to he as impor tant as he feels at 1*5.—Vancouver! Surv They put the word “hot" on the warm water faucet because there wasn't loom to label it Ananias."— Toledo 1-hade. Sixt\ eighth congress—HC’3, sworn in: lfcjv cussed out.—Wall Street Journal. Talents usually come singly. The man who make* money seldom ! know* much about the art of spend ing It.—Rochester Times Union. Handicapped. “Poor ole Bill? ’K's so sh«*rt lighted e’s working 'im^elf to death “Wot 'i* short sight got to do with it?’ “Well, 'e can t *^e when the boss ain't looking, so * as to keep on! shoveling all the time!"—London Hu-; morist. Thrifty. “At the hou*=e party T mistook « celebrated millionaire for the butler and tipped him a dollar. Afterwards I was introduced, apologized and we had a good laugh over the affair." "A whimsical episode, to be sure." "Yes. but he ne'er handed hark the dollar."—Louisville Courier-Journal. r SUNNY SIDE UP Hake Comfort, nor for$e t; | ghat Simrise ne\/erfailed / Hot to thinking about electricity while sitting and watting for an Inspiration, or whatever it Is you call the impulse to Jot down a few lines for publication. That's all we can do about electricity, just think about it. Nobody knows what It Is. but It lust heats all what it it con do. night now it is the tnost commonly used thing in the world, with the possible exceptions of air and water. When we were a boy about the only use we put electricity to was for telegraphing. We were sitting up ami taking notice of the girls when the telephone was invented, and had to use a razor at least once a week before the electric light was in vented. We are yet only middle-aged—O, well, maybe just r little past—and iust look what a lot of dependence we put on the blooming juice. Without it we couldn't telegraph or tele phone or use the radio. It runs our street cars and makes pos sible the use of the automobile. It lights our homes, cooks our food, heats our water, curls our hair, massages our faces, runs the washing machine, runs the sewing machine, heats the iron, toasts the bread, boils the tea and coffee, rings our hells, runs our elevators, and turns nine tenths of the commercial .wheels of the nation. Can you imagine what a calamity it would be to he de prived. all at once, of our telephone and telegraph lines, and l e forced to wait until steam engines could be installed to run in dustrial wheels now run by electricity'’ It would mean going hack to the ox cart, the grist mill and the stage coach. It would mean more days than it now means hours to travel from New York to Kan Francisco, and more days than it now means seconds to establish communication between the two coasts. Kiei trie current is now in such common use that we never give it a thought until the monthly bill comes in. And even then we are mighty apt to grumble alsiut the cost without taking into consideration how much more expensive it would Vie to live without it. It has made skyscraper buildings possi ble. and because of It half the people of the I-'nlted States will sit down to their radio tonight and listen in on the world's best music and oratory. s I.ess than a century has seen all of this development, save only the beginnings of the telegraph. And the telegraph sys tem of our boyhood days was woefully 1 t ude compared with the quads and duplexes and automatic receiving typewriters we have today. Just sit down and think about what has happened in the last few years, and thett try to imagine what Is likely to happen In the future field of electric development. When old Ben Franklin flew his kite in a thunderstorm and got a soark front a kev tied lo the string, he certainly Started something. Today Omaha has more teleph - there were in all the world less titan 10 years ago. During the day in which you read this Omaha will consume more electrical energy than was consumed in all the world less than a half renturv ago. The capital invested in electrical development In the Fnited States today is greater than the entire assessed valuation of the republic when Abraham Lincoln cast his first vote. * Yet. in spite of all this, pot a single or.» of 11s knows what ^ electricity is. We know only a small fraction of what It will do w hen we learn how to use it fully. Coming rieht dow n to brass tacks, we don't know very much anyhow, compared with what there is to know. VV ILL M. MAT PIN’. - ' ■ - -^ I "THE CONSERVATIVE" The Best Place to Save Your Money The Best Place to Borrow Money The CONSERVATIVE s*f0VT Savings & Loan Association L“r"* s«vin*» 1614 HARNEY Home* SAY “BAYER ASPIRIN” Unless you see the “Bayer Cross” on tablets you are not getting the genuine Bayer Aspirin proved safe by millions and prescribed by physicians 24 years for • - Colds Headache Pain Neuralgia Toothache lumbago Neuri4is Rheumatism //•) Accept only “Paver" package ^ /Y/i(v which contains proven directions. ^ ^ Ft'indr “BuTfr" hoxr* of 12 Uhl*t*. r Al»o hoiflu of 24 »tnf 100—Pnics'»<« Atylila U Um <r>4« ourt »f li|.r Utnartcnra or U >uoimuc>c.1mim *1 fc»Uo>iic»u4 t NET AVERAGE PAID CIRCULATION For FEBRUARY, 1925 THE OMAHA BEE Daily.76,202 Sunday .77,710 Doe* not include return*, left over*. samples or papers spoiled in print.nf and includes no special | sales or free circulation o! any kind. V. A. BRIDGE, Cir. Mgr. Subscribed and *worn to before me this 2d day of March, 1925. W. H QUIVEY, (Seal) Notary Public first National iBank of Omaha Facilities and Desire to Serve . . . Every officer and em ployee at the FIT?ST is ea?er to render you an intelligent, courteous service —irrespective of the size of your account . . . QUININE A Safe and Proven Remedy for Colds, Grip and Influenza. The First and Original Cold and Grip Tablet Look for this fj on the Bojfc Siguatur* \Q, S/T&TeTtS 30a s