THE BEE: OMAHA, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1916.
THE OMAHA DAILY BEE
FOUNDED BY EDWARD ROSEWATER.
VICTOR ROSEWATER, EDITOR.
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CORRESPONDENCE.
Address communications relating to news and editorial
matter t Omaha Bee. auditorial Department
NOVEMBER CIRCULATION.
55,483 D.ily Sunday 50,037.
Dwlght Williams, circulation manager of The Bee
Publishing company, being duly sworn, says that the
average circulation for the month of November, 114, waa
(Mil dally, and t,7 Sunday. ,
DWIOHT WILLIAMS, Circulation Manager.
' Subscribed In my presence and sworn to before me
this and day of December. 11.
, . C. W. CARI.80N. Notary Public.
; Subscribers leaving tha city tampwrartly
'should hava Tha Baa mailed le them. Aal
. drwaa will be changed as oftan a raquirad.
1 No matter how the game ends, it's a wild horse
. on the investors.
I Once more the "status quo ante", holds the
world's spotlight.
, f rotters 01 peace nappny oiena wun ine sea
1. son's spirit of good will.
1 Wonder If th German chancellor crossed his
fingers before he said it?.
In the race for the Nobel peace prize the
kaiser easily tops the score of Colonel Bryan.
Cheaper postage will not serre public needs
half as well as better sertice at present rates.
: It is1 up to the Entente Allies to accept the
medicine "made in Germany" or start a real
' rough house. :
:' It is gathered from side remarks that Potadam
presses the "humanity" pedal as deftly as the
White House.
The first substantial breath of peace pulls the
ptops from grain and stock prices. Still, the deal
ers insist the market is unstained by the gamblers'
chance. . i v
1 3 Official Austria delicately insinuates that it,
too, was forced to draw the sword. This lends
considerable color to the claim that Baron Mun
chausen got his inspiration at Vienna.
A compulsory donation of $25,000 apiece from,
the meat packers carries a message of cheer to
the Missouri state treasury and also intimates that
the state , law against combinations is a live
member,'..,i,.: -. . ..;.', -(:
In a public address not long ago Lloyd George
characterized Prussia as "the road hog of Eu
rope." The premier's comment on Germany's
peace offer promises a picturesque addition to
war's, vocabulary.
Amid the wreckage of cabinets, the tumult of
the shooting and the joyful calculations of war's
booty, Bagdad continues in undisturbed repose.
Besides other defenses Bagdad possesses an at
mosphere of sufficient strength to put gas bombs
out of business. : .
'. Auto drivers as a rale observe the law re
quiring a atop at crossings where atreet cars
are receiving or discharging passengers. A few
reckless drivers ignore it and take the chance
, of getting by without running down someone.
Such conduct defies a reasonable taw and those
who are guilty of it deserve the full penalty. '
"' A long and costly road must be traveled be
fore the United States reaches the goal of pre
paredness. One of the surprises of the present
time is' the fact that American shipping in the
Philippines Is largely dependent on British stocks
ol'coal Independent supplies of fuel must be pro
vided at every available port, or other defensive
measures are futile.
f . .. . ,
' V A note of profound humility runs through the
Aaatrian message conveying the empire's peaceful
desires to Pope Benedict The tone is in marked
contrast to the lofty contempt manifested in the,
same quarters in July, 1914; when' Pius X pleaded
in vain for peace. The cold indifference of "His
Most Catholic Majesty" in those appealing days
undoubtedly hastened the death of the venerable
pontiff.
The Nation's Food Supply
-New Yarn Tlatos-
There is ground for optimism. Secretary Hous
ton says in the annual report of the Department
of Agriculture, as to the ability of the nation "not
only to supply itself with food, but increasingly to
meet the needs of the world." This opinion is
based in part upon the results of an inquiry
which shows that in the last sixteen years the
per capita production of .the leading food com-
: modifies, meat and dairy products excepted, has
kept pace with an increase of population amount
ing to 13 per cent Meat has fallen from 248 to
219 pounds per capita and milk from ninety-five
to seventy-five gallons. But the beef supply has
vbeen growing slowly since 1913, when the lowest
point was reached. Meat and dairy products are
about SI per cent of the average diet and de
, clining output must affect prices and the cost of
living even in normal times.
During the last two years, however, we have
not only been supplying our own needs in the
food market, but also satisfying an abnormal and
extraordinary demand from abroad. Official fig
tires from another department of the government
show what has been done. Exports of foodstuffs
and food animals in the ten months that ended
with October were $866,000,000. In the corre
sponding months of last year they were $855,
000,000. For these two years the shipments have
been at the rate of more than $1,000,000 a year,
while in tin corresponding ten months of 1914
the exports were only $421,000,000. High prices
due in large measure to this foreign demand
, would naturally cause effort to increase output,
but with the end of the war thrv will rlcdi.,.
An Increase of the acreage of winter-sown wheat
: is -. ported, but enlargement of the yields of some
other product may be prevented by uncertainty
and by the fact that the process is a slow one.
Waiting for Definite Proposals.
England and France express surprise and some
scepticism at the announcement from Berlin that
Germany and its allies are ready to present peace
proposals. This is but natural. Neither of the
Entente Allies is yet beaten to a point where de
feat will be admitted, and that, if the speech of
the German chancellor to the Reichstag is to be
accepted as a guide, is a condition precedent
However, that is a point not fully determined, and
it is unfair to prejudge entirely the motives of the
German government in making its move. Allow
ing for honesty of purpose and sincerity in the
proffer, the next step will quite natuarlly await
the reception accorded the proposal by the Al
lies. Until their disposition has been in some way
made manifest, it is not likely that exact terms
will be stated.
It is quite vMthin reason to believe that Eng
land and France are willing to discuss peace on a
basis that concedes to them less than the share
of the undefeated. Neither of the belligerents can
afford to accept full responsibility for continua
tion of the conflict, save as an alternative to the
admission of defeat. Jf the German proposals
contain anything that may lead to such settle
ment as will restore peace to the world on terms
all can accept, the outcome will be welcomed by
all. From the first month of the war it has
been clearly apparent that neither side would be
able towork its full will on the other, without
such sacrifice in men and money as would leave
the final conquest empty. This situation has so
lidified to the point where "stale mate" might
have been announced many weeks ago. To pur
sue the war under Such conditions is idle, it any
honorable way to peace be shown.
Many days must be Spent in preliminary dis
cussions, but it 1s not improbable altogether that
negotiations may be advanced early enough to
permit an armistice withiu a fortnight, and give
the men in the trenches a real Christmas. Once
an armistice is declared, the end may be con
sidered as at hand.
Another Office Outlived.
Auditor of State Smith recommends the abol
ishment of the office of commissioner of public
lands and buildings, for the reason that it has
outlived its usefulness. The chief work attached
to the office is now performed by the State
Board of Control and what is left can well be
done through the office of the auditor or the
secretary of state. This will shorten the ballot
in, Nebraska by one office. It raises another
question, however. What economy in adminis
tration is there in creating a board of three mem
bers to relieve a single elective officer of his
constitutionalduties? This point waa urged at
the time the law for the board was being shot
through the legislature by the democrats. Audi
tor Smith's further recommendation that the
State' Printing board be abolished and its duties
transferred to the auditor's office still further
supports the stand of The Bee that it is possible
to reorganize administration of our state govern
ment on a much more compact and efficient basis.
The pay roll as well as the ballot may be short
ened without very seriously interfering with gub-
Iic service.
Readjusting the Canal ToUs.
General Goethaft, speaking to a gathering of
engineers at Pittsburgh, said the Panama canal
tolls as at present fixed give British vessel an ad
vantage of fully one-third over "American ships.
This is because of the difference in systems of
determining the carrying capacity of the vessels.
He suggests that congress immediately act to
remedy the matter, because of the discrimination
against the home-owned ships, and the consequent
loss of revenue. The general's warning will very
likely fall on deaf ears. Originally American ships
engaged in eoatswise commerce were exempt
from canal tolls, but the democrats, under pres
sure from President Wilson, repeated the provi
sion made by the republicans for protection of
our own commerce. Under the same influence
that then moved the president in his course, it
is not likely that the democrats will feel any more'
inclined to, favor home interests now. And it
may not be out of place to again call attention
to the fact that President Wilson has not yet dis
closed what calamity threatened the nation at
that time, and which could only be averediby re
moving the canal toll exemption and placing
American vessels at their present disadvantage.
If Peace Real! Should Come.
Some little foretaate of what may reasonably
be looked for in event of peace being restored in
Europe is afforded by what actually followed on
the announcement that one set of belligerents
fecla ready to treat for peace. Although our
democratic friends have in the most solemn man
ner assured us that the present "unexampled pros
perity" is entirely separate and apart from the war
and that it will be continued so long as the pres
ent administration is in office, prices generally
began to topple with the first suggestion of peace.
Nor was this felt alone in America, but wherever
trading is carried on. In Tokyo, for example, the
movement assumed the proportion of a panic,
and the stock exchange was closed in conse
quence. The truth is, all the inflation that has
disturbed the normal currenta of trade recently
finds its source in war conditions, and that the
level of prices now existing will fall with the
war is equally true. The manager who does not
arrange his affairs against the coming of peace
is making a mistake. This is not pessimism, but
prudence.
A spirit of narrow provincialism pervades Rus
sian public life. The president of the Russian
Duma resigned because some uncouth opponent
dubbed him "a babbling blackguard." The Duma.
compared with its neighbors, is a young body, and
its members lack the political tanning processes
which render the hide immune to barbed epithets.
Women opposed to suffrage set up the claim
that only a small minority of the sex desire the
ballot. If this is so, how do they account for
the whooping majorities which surrounded the
ballot boxes where the chance offered? The op
position might solve the mystery by demanding a
recount.
Two more postmortems on the tragedy of
November 7 have been held one each in Kansas
and California. The deliverances are chiefly re
markable as exhibits of the vocal nerve of acces
sories before and after.
It is a question whether the Teutonic allies
feel they have all they want or realize they have
all they can get, That they hold the big end
of the war game is beyond dispute, which makes
the present a desirable time to quit. .
On Being a Boy Again'
Boston) Transcript -
And what would you like for Christmas? The
question was addressed by our charming hostess
to my friend Liberalis, and without a moment's
hesitation he answered: "My dear lady, the gift
I am really sighing for is a pair of copper-toed
shoes." "But, but" the hostess almost stam
mered "is that the latest style? Do they make
boots for grown-up gentleman with copper at the
toes?" Liberalis smiled as he replied: "It is just
a boy's pair that 1 desire with the appropriate
changes that will make me fit to wear them. My
dear madam, 1 am asking to fit the receiver to the
gift. I am growing old, and I am weary of
maturity. '. I want to empty my mind of judg
ments and conclusions. I want to try life's ex
periences and adventures all over again. I would
cease to be a grown-up man and put back my
whole stature of body and of mind to fit the copper-toed
shoes I saw trudging sturdily along the
pavements this morning. I want to be rid of the
morning news and the noontide gossip and the
evening stock quotations, to empty my mind of
a huge mass of unnecessary and burdensome in
formation, to attain to the happy irresponsibility
of a boy of 10." (
"That is clear enough," answered our hostess,
"and .now I understand exactly what you mean.
You are idealizing childhood as the poets and
story tellers of your own generation did. You
think that if you had your life to live all over
again you could make a better use of it than you
have done. Your friends will hardly agree to
that. They are pretty well satisfied with you as
yon are. You are deceiving yourself, my friend,
I fear. Without flatter, you will allow me to say
that you would run some risks in those copper
toed shoes and might make a worse use of the
long and busy years. Childhood has risks as well
as pleasures, let me tell you."
"I have often wondered." Liberalis took up
the conversation, "how much we bring over to
our life experience from former existences. The
question goes with the problem of whether we are
made out of nothing or simple go round and
round. It is one of the strange things in a
strange world that alt the experience of all the
fenerations throws no light upon that question,
t daunted the imagination ofMhe Greeks in the
heroic age. Homer could imagine the scenery
and characters of the Iliad and the Odyssey, but
he could not imagine anything for the shades of
his dead heroes except aimless living in a world
as shadowy as themselves. And some Christian
thinkers are just as helpless. They have given the
boys just graduating from copper-toed shoes
the idea that heaven is a continual harping and
hymn singing. You can not feed the imagination
which is the undeveloped soul of a 12-year-old
American boy on such monotony of occupations.
He does not believe it, any more than he believes
any other unpleasant fact which contradicts his
irrepressible activities of mind and body. The
boy of Asia, who is taught that his present life is
just the fruit of lives which he has passed through
previously, and that he is reaping only what he
has sown, has a more rational, if less hopeful, view
of the universe than the Greek or the copper
toed American boy who is taught that what fol
lows on the ending of this life is what seems to
him today a perpetual boredom."
"I understand the risk of going back to boy
hood," he went on, "and I am not ungrateful for
your kind appreciation of my career in life. But
1 'am thinking of tjie gerat opportunities which
open on the copper-toed youngsters of today. I
am also vain enough! to think that the inherited
qualities which have made possible that small
success of which you do me the honor to remind
me, are a fair insurance that with a new beginning
I would not make a failure of my new oppor
tunity in life. I know you would be kind to the
boy to whom you brought the chance of new
venturing with your magic Christmas gift of the
copper toes, so I ahould not lose your friendship
altogether. ' But. think of the relief of having all
thei anguish of this war a dim recollection of on;s
childhood, and all Its heroisms an inspiration in
the fresh and grateful memory of mankind! Think
of the new knowledge pushing down into the
firimer lessons and even the talks around the
amily tablet It is so much a bigger world that
I am emulous of its opportunities and adventures."
. Consider, I put in at this point, all the im
provements in games and shows. In the days of
your youth there was no golf, too little tennis and
no movies. Foot ball was an amusement and- not
a heroism and a social rallying point for the very
rich. The whole development of the motor car
was in the future, you did not even have a bicycle.
You learned your lessons by kerosene, or by a
flickering gas burner which our grandchildren
would scorn. All the Rare and glare of electrical
advertising was in front of you. You had your
news of the doings of the world by steamer ar
rivals and the wars Of the world were not the first
thing served with due flavoring of horror at the
breakfast table. No wonder, Liberalis, you are
envious of your grandson and are sighing to get
into his shoes.
"That is all true enough," Liberalis answered,
"hut superficial. A boy puts his whole heart into
his occupations, whether they are of the old time
or the new. But there is a certain amount . of
truth in what you say. I would like to know how
the rich world of today looks to the boy of today.
I am not afraid of the dwarfing of the human by
any amount of machinery. The elaborate arrange
ments for securing a good time no more overawe
the modern boy in copper-toed shoes than the
lesser arrangements did in my own day. Human
nature does not dwindle in any tool shop or place
of play. But what interests me is that the boy of
today stands on the threshold of such a different
world and has so great a chance of seeing it shape
itself into the measure of his dream. That bring
ing of the world together which puts the sorrows
and the triumphs of all nations on your break
fast table is setting, us face to face with some of
the ultimate problems of right living, of peace and
food relations in the four quarters of the earth,
may be wrong in thinking that the boys of tc
day will be far nearer to final questions and soluv
tions than, the boys of fny age were, but that is
the conclusion of what yotf Call wisdom which I
am asking to put off with; the gift of youth-returning
shoes. I crave the great adventure which
seems to make ao little appeal to the boys of to
day." t. - t. ;. .
A National Asset
-Philadelphia Ledger.-
Secretary Baker wisely recognizes the muni
tion factories as one of the most important of the
national assets, without which the nation would
lie helpless in any emergency calling for instant
defensive preparations. Many of these estab
lishments owe their being to the stimulated de
mand growing out of the great war, and most
of them represent factories originally designed
for other purposes, but equipped especially to
supply the needs of the belligerents over seas. To
allow them to be totally dismantled when the
present war ends would be a short-sighted failure
to profit by one Of the most vital lessons of the
hour. There, ought to be some way to conserve
a resource so valuable short of government own
ership. One of the most powerful arguments
against the embarkation of the government in
arajior-plate manufacture had reference to its ef
fect upon the existing plants. Even the plant
contemplated by existing law would be totally
inadequate to meet the present needs of the navy
for protection for battleships and cruisers, and.
of course, it is obvious that the present arsenals
could not begin to supply the munitions that
would be needed in the event of an emergency
calling for national defense on a large scale. It
will be recalled that even in the recent case of
the mobilization of the regulars and the militia
on the Mexican border, the government was de
plorably lacking in many essentials of the equip
ment of an army. To throw away the great gain
in efficiency which we have made in meeting the
needs of others would be suicidal.
raaraasr-p snar aa fl M '
Thought Nugget tor the lay.
If eyea were made for seeing.
Then beauty is ita own excuse for
being. Emerson.
One Year Ago Today In the War.
Bulgarians reported to have entered
Greece In pursuit of the allien.
General Kmlth-Dorrlen Bent to com
mand allies attacking German East
Africa.
British began withdrawal of 70,000
Anglo-Indian troops for Bervice In
Mesopotamia.
British on alxty-flve-mile front from
Ypres to itlver Homme poured de
structive artillery lire on Germans.
In Omaha Thirty Years Ago.
The first number of the High School
Register ha appeared. It la a tittle
folio published in the Interest of the
Hchotara of the high achool and is
edited by J. W. Broatch. Victor Rose
water, H. Clarke, Mlsa 8. McClintock
and Alias J. Wallace. H. B. Taylor la
the publisher.
Workmen engaged in cutting down
a toboggan slide on I'oppleton avenue
and Twenty-sixth street, discovered
an old graveyard. Several tombstones
were exhumed and one or two skele
tons. The skulls of the latter are in
the hands of Dr. Whinnery.
The largest real estate transaction
In Interior property in this city was
that of the sale of Joseph Millard's
two lota on the northeast corner of
Karnam and Seventeenth, which were
sold for 485,000 to W. F. Booth of
New York, son of the president of the
Third National bank of that city. He
intends to build upon the property.
The Cozzens house on Ninth and
Harney, which for several years back,
has been one of the most popular and
successful hotels in this city, has
passed out of the hands of Mr. Rum
sey and Into those of Robert Law.
The Bohemian turners expect great
things from the promised visit to this
city of Charles Btulik, the celebrated
athlete from Bohemia, who is ex
pected to arrive here about Christmas.
This Day in History.
1782 Charleston, S. C, evacuated
by the British.
1817 Mission of San Rafeal, Cal.,
founded. " ' .
1819 Joint resolution, admitting
Alabama Into the union approved by
President Monroe. - '"
' 1844 Steamer "Belle of - Clafks
ville" run down in the Mississippi river
by the "Louisiana" and sunk, 'with loss
of over thirty lives.
1861 Louis Napolean elected presi
dent of the French republic.
181 Prince Albert, consort of
Queen Victoria, -died at Windsor
Castle. Born near Coburg, Germany,
August. 26, 1819.
1863 General Longstreet repulsed
the federals under General Shackel
ford at Bean's station, in east Ten
nessee. 1864 General Benjamin F. Butler
tvas given command of the land forces
to operate against Fort- Fisher.
1873 Louis Agasslz. famous nat
uralist, died. Born in Switzerland,
May 28, 1807.
1877 Serbia declared war against
Turkey. "
"1891 A bill was Introduced In' the
senate to provide a, memorial statue In
Washington to General U. S. Grant.
1894 Eugene V. Debs was sen
tenced to six months' Imprisonment
for contempt of court during the great
railway strike.
1904 Fire In Minneapolis destroy
ed property valued at $2,400,000. ,
' ' i-
The Day We Celebrate.
Preston) B. Myera president of the
Myers-Dillon Drug company, was born
December 14, 1869, at West Liberty,
la. He is a pharmacist by profession
and came to Omaha in 1888, being
employed by Kuhn ft Co., for seven
years, engaging in 1895 in business for
himself.
Prince Albert, second son of the
king of England, and who has been
engaged in active service in the British
navy, born twenty-one years ago- to
day. Prince Paulos, third son of King
Constantlne of Greece, born in Athens,
fifteen years ago today.
Orson Smith, for many years a
leader In Chicago banking circles,
born In Chicago, seventy-five years
ago today. . .
Rt. Rev, Frank L. McElwaln. suf
fragan bishop of the Episcopal diocese
of Minnesota, born at Warsaw, .,
forty-one years ago today.
Oliver A. Harker, former dean and
now professor of practice in the Uni
versity of Illinois Law school, born at
Newport, Ind., seventy years ago to
day. '
. George Tyler, pitcher of the Boston
National league base batl team, born
at Derry, N. H., twenty-seven years
ago today, s
Timely Jottings nd Reminders.
President Wilson fs to be the prin
cipal speaker before the National Gov
ernors' conference, which assembles In
Washington today for a three-day ses
sion. Denmark is to take a plebiscite to
day on the question of selling its
Islands In the West Indies to the
United States, according to treaty re
cently concluded at Washington.
A great preparedness bazar, for
whirh preparations have been making
In New York City for several months,
will be opened in the Grand Central
palace today for a week's engagement.
Rev. Hugh Latimer Burleson, for
ten years editorial secretary of the
Episcopal Board of Missions, is to be
consecruted in New York City today
as bishop of the Protestant Episcopal
diocese of South Dakota.
Yale, Columbia and Syracuse uni
versities are to engage In a triangular
debate tonight on the subject of the
enforced settlement of disputes be
tween employers and employes by
legally established courts of arbitra
tion. Further hearing of the New Haven
railroad's application for permission to
retain ownership and continue opera
tion of its Long Island Sound steam
ers, despite the prohibition in the
Panama canal act is to take place to
day before the Interstate Commerce
commission In Washington.
Storyctto of the Day.
H. C. Frlck, the steel millionaire,
said one day to a Pittsburgh re
porter: "Tha man who lacks enterprise is
always a lazy, do-nothing man. it's
like the story of the clock and the
sundial.
"In an old-fashioned village there
was a movement on foot to purchase
a town clock for the town hall, but
Jabex Hartley said:
" 'No, no. That'll eat into a lot of
money. What do we want a town
clock for, anyhow T Why, lying abed
of a morning, can't I see the time by
the sundial over the church porch?'
" 'Yes. Jahes.' said a progressive,
'but suppose the sun isn't shining?
What do you do then ?'
" 'Why,' said Jabex, 'I know then
It ain't fit weather to be out o' doors,
so 1 stay where 1 am for the Say.' "
Baltimore American. ' "
Control of Coal Mining.
Council Bluffs, Dec. 7. To the Edi
tor of The Bee: We are waking up lo
the fact that there is needed Imme
diate legislation on three points:
First The government should own
all the coal mines. Then there would
be no car shortage.
Second. We need a law preventing
any set ot men from combining their
capital buying up any commodity and
holding it above a limited protit
Third. We need a law to prohibit
a strike of any kind. Then all dis
putes could be adjusted by arbitration
and no panics.
With these three things accom
plished we will have the best govern
ment on earth. Am I right?
God made the coal and all other
commodities for the sustenance of his
people and not as a deck of cards to
be handled by a set of gamblers with
His people at their mercy. Can any
one wonder why so many apply to the
county for aid when they are held up
every day by these gamblers for the
necessities of life? A. V. COVAL.T.
Thinking of the Daily Grind.
La Platte, Neb., Dec. 9. To the
Editor of The Bee: Oh, this daily
everlasting grind; what a theme for
thought It Is!
Every week day evening and morn
ing I observe from my window the
procession of public laborers on their
way going and returning from their
places of toil. The faces of the rush
ing masses appear meditative and
fixed, in this groat race may be ob
served the commanders, the high
salaried and the independent, but
90 per cent of the population are
striving for an existence. Now this
is a repeating and a continuation of
the same old grind which the build
ers of the pyramids of Egypt and
the great wall of China were com
pelled to endure thousands of years
ago, and which will be going on thou
sands of years in the future.
In the famous debate in 1858,
Stephen A. Douglas delighted in
parading his favorite motto of not
caring whether slavery in the United
States was voted up or voted down.
And to this weak bid for the presi
dency, good Abraham replied that he
did care, and that he proposed to take
a definite stand for the right and tight
on that side to the end. He said it
was a part in that great struggle be
tween right and wrong which is going
on all over the world and would be
going on long after his and Judge
Douglas's voices were silent. So it is
with the masses who are toiling on and
struggling for a mere or a comfortable
living. The combat may be traced far
away in the very dawn ot human life
upon the earth.
At a foundry during a day's study,
I found every one of the twenty-five
men employed were arrayed against
the corporation as they called the
company who gave them work. They
all were complaining.
Visiting at the home of a well-to-do
farmer down in northeast Missouri,
who had lately moved Into a commod
ious home. 1 said to the woman that
all this fine enterprise meant that at
least their daily grind would surely be
enlarged. Both parents are above 50
years and one of the children is at
home. Fifteen rooms are to be cared
for besides the garden and the chick
ens and forty other duties to be cared
for every day. And this with all our
labor saving machinery and other con
veniences. I am not criticizing or finding fault.
1 am pleading that the general people
should have some leisure for the cul
tivation of their minds and souls every
day. JASPER BLINES.
Faith and Its Uses.
Omaha, Dec. 12. To the Editor of
The Bee: ."A man can have only one
religion," says Rabbi Cohn in Tues
day's Bee. Why? It is like saying a
man can eat only one kind of food.
Of course, if the different religions of
the world are exclusive of each other,
the distinguished, rabbi is right But
don't you see the embarrassing pre
dicament we get into the moment we
pronounce such a judgment especially
If we are committed to one of the
great faiths? These faiths are all dog
matic that Is they -know they are
right, know it passionately, un
hesitatingly. Two truths cannot be
incompatible: si the cuncltiMlon Is
obvious: all of them hut one arc
wrong. Anil, since there Is no In
finite mind among us, nobody can be
sure but that his dogma, of which he
has absolute certitude, Is wrong, and
that he may wear the fool's cap in
the next millennium, as all who
sneered at the Copernican astronomy
wear It now. , But If the great master
ful religions are not mutually exclu
sive, but rather complementary (as I
firmly believe) then why can't a man
have as many religions as he has
friends? Who has ordained monog
amy in the households of faith?
Now, really, Isn't it true that our
disputation over these things is only
a quarrel about names? Who will
arise and tell me the difference (ex
cept In external ritualism and over
beliefs) between Christianity and
Judaism and Buddhism? I have
studied comparative religion until my
head whirled (perhaps you think It
still gyrating) and I declare that in
their great wise hearts these faiths
are one. Precipitate the solid, eternal
substance of them all, and. what do
you get? You get a belief that the
crude material forces In the universe
do not have the last word; that the
seen powers do not give the final cue
to the cosmic drama; but that there is
something unseen and divine in the
cosmos, something that is our
nemesis when we live In the dirty
fringe of our possibilities, and our ally
when we obey the deeper self within
us. Prometheus bound we feel never
to be final; we always go on, with
Shelley, to Prometheus unbound.
I was never more impressed with
the unanimity of the master religions
than when I read Tagore's "Sahdana,"
a beautiful exposition of Indian ideal
ism, the religion of the Upanlshads.
Why can't we be eclectics here, as we
are in our ethical codes? Each situa
tion, each spiritual state, has Its own
peculiar needs and demands its own
special form of faith. Wouldn't it be
absurd for one to insist on taking the
same medicine (I apologize to the
Christian Scientist) for gout and
pneumonia and indigestion? Why not
have all these faiths in our philosophi
cal home, to use according to ex
igency? For pessimism or physical
bankruptcy 1 recommend Christian
Science; for moral enervation, Juda
ism; for flagging idealism, the Hindu
systems or theosophy; for inflated
egoism (which, goodness knows,
Nietzsche did not have to teach us),
Christianitv.
WILLIAM YERINGTON.
CHRISTMAS IN LITTLE EYES.
mm. HiiuuiiUiHiiHin...:
621 Residents of Nebraska
registeredat Hotel aAstor
during "the past year.
1000 Rooms. 700 with Bath.
A cuisine which has marie
die Astor New York's leading
Banqueting place.
Static Room, without bath.
12.60 and 13.00.
Double - 13.60 and M.Ot
Sioale Rooms, with batfc.
19.50 to !..
Donbla - $4.(0 to 17.0
Parlor, Bedroom and bats
110.00 to 114.00.
At Broadway. 44th to sKth Streets the center of New York's social
and business activities. In close prorjmitv to all railway termmals.
mRnnHinniiniiiiHiiiiiniiiiiiinmiiiiiiiiiinniniiiuuiu
If TIMES SQUARE
Will There Be A
1
In Your Home For
Christmas
THE LAST CHORD
In Piano Purchase
A Hospe Co.
' 1513-15 Douglas St
T
Increased Till Face Was Full ofThem.
Large, Hard and Red, Festered
and Scaled Over. Itched.
Baltimore Sun.
Christmaa U speaking In little eyes
tinder tbe spell of the autumn aklea.
Socreti are glowing In hearts that knew
AM that It means when our aecreta glow.
Hearts are beating In tune to the chime
Of the splendor and spirit ot Christmas
time
And so In the lane and so tn the atreet,
Christmas Is speaking In child eyea aweet.
All of Its mystery comes as of old.
All of Its tinsel of silver and gold,
All of its magic and marvel of light,'
All of Its waiting the long coming night,
When over the housetops with Jingles of
cheer
Old Santa will come with his sleigh and
his deer.
His jolly cheeks glowing, his merry eyea set
In that laughter of love we can never for
get. Christmas Is speaking on cheeks that , art
red
Windows bloomed yesterday bright with a
sled.
A tool box, a lantern, a train and a book
Christmaa Is speaking in each childish look.
Telling Its Btory all over again
For the cheer and the glory and comfort Of
men.
For the sweetening and lifting smd helping
of life
Down through the dust of Its struggle and
strife.
MIRTHFUL MOMENTS.
"Nothing can ever take your place,"
cooed the bride.
''Nothing, dear?"
"That Is, perhaps, execpt adequate ali
mony." Pittsburgh Post.
"Are you the head of the family?"
"Not exactly." replied Mr. Meek ton. "My
position Is rather that of the man higher
up who gets blamed when anything goes
wrong." Washington Star.
Bhe Well, did you drop htm hit of goo
advice ?
He Uh-hu.
SheHow did he take it? .
He For a lemon drop, I gueew Judge.
Mr. Goodlelgh I was surprised to see you
in a hopelessly intoxicated condition last
evening.
Tipples I was surprised myself. I thought
I could stand a lot more. Boston Transcript.
HEALED BY CUTICURA
SOAP AND OINTMENT )
"I had a few pimples to which I did not
pay much attention, and they increased
till my lace was so full of them it made
me look a sight. They
were large, hard, and red,
and they festered and scaled
over and they itched and
I squeezed them until the
blood came. I did not sleep
well. r
"Then I used Cuticura
Soap and Ointment which
relieved me within a week
and I only used three cakes of the Cuti
cura Soap and two boxes of the Cuticura
Ointment till I was healed." (Signed)
Mrs. Ohlenbacn, 3819 Honore St,
Chicago, 111., Feb. 21, 1916.
Sample Each Free by Mall
With 32-p. Skin Book on request. Ad
dress post-card: "Cuticura, Dept. T,
Boatoa.". Sold throughout the world.
