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THE COURIER
some degree of certainty, an election, and Field should bo the
nominee.
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TWVEEKO AT TnE LINCOLN rOSTOFTICE AS KECOND-CLASS MATTEE.
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W. MORTON SMITH, Editor.
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Lincolk, Neb., Saturday, May 5, 1891.
That the gaine was not worth tho candlols probably the conclu
sion reached by Coxey ere this.
The democratic campaign of education that commenced March 4,
steadily smaller.
There is certainly nothing in the personnel of the men who are
responsible for the Coxey movement in this city, as a persual of
comments that appear elsewhere in this issue of The Courier will
show, to prejudice public sentiment in its favor.
That particularly wide-awake councilman, George Woods, caught
the other fellows napping Tuesday night and succeeded in having
passed an ordinance making a rate of H for telephones in business
places and 93 for residences. Under this ordinance the telephone
company is not to have the exclusive use of this business. The
passage of this measure is the best thing the city council has done
in a long time. The rates named are materially less than now
charged, but they are high enough to leave a very comfortable mar
gin of profit for the company.
The formal announcement by Judge Allen W. Field that he is a
candidate for re-nomination for congress in this district will, we
'believe, be followed by a general expression of sentiment all over the
district favorable to his candidacy. J udge Field made a particularly
aggressive campaign against Mr. Bryan two years ago. He con
ducted an abler canvass than perhaps any other republican in the
district could have conducted, and he emerged from the campaign
with the respect and good will of republicans generally. Judge
Field is an able man and he is just the kind of a republican to send
to Washington at the present time, when there is a demand for
patriotism and intelligence in the halls of congress. He has every
qualification for the proper discharge of the dutiesof a congressman,
and he is fortified' by a record as a public man and a citizen that
reflects the greatest possible credit upon his integrity and ability.
A careful consideration of the conditions that prevail in the First
district will, we believe, result in an overwhelming sentiment in favor
of Judge Field, as the one man, above all others, specially qualified
to meet Mr. Bryan there is scarcely any doubt that Congressman
Bryan will run for congress again. It is not Judge Field's purpose
to scheme and plot m order to secure,the nomination, and, with
him, such a course will not be necessary. Lancaster county can be
harmonious if the occasion demands it, and Ve'are certain that in
the coming campaign all elements will unito on one candidate, and
Judge Field is pretty sure to be the choice of a very large majority
of republican voters. This time a nomination will mean, with
Tho Netca tho other day had a timely article on jury fixing, one
of tho greatest curses of this county. The expressions of our con
temporary were strong, but there was no over statement of fact, and
the public generally will endorse the stand taken by tho ATctc. That
paper says:
It is a matter of common notoriety not only among laywere and
others whoso business brings them into contact with tho courts, but
among tho people generally, that the greatest hinderance to the ad
ministration of justice, the proper punishment of criminals and the
awarding of damages in cases where certain corporations and even
individuals are interested, is tho prevalence of jury fixing. It was
not so many years ago that this was a comparativly infrequent in
cident to the trials of such causes, but of late years it has grown to
such proportions that it is one of the most grievous scandals at
taching to tho courtB. There are half a dozen men in tho county
who make a business of "plugging,7 juries, aided, abetted and
paid by some members of the bar. These men are generally .known:
in fact they have become so bold that not only do they make no
secrecy of their visits to men drawn upon the panel, before the
sessions of court are held, but they have bfcn seen hanging
around the court house while important trials arc in progress, and
even tackle members of the panel in the corridors and on the streets
adjacent to the court house.
The practice of fixing juries in this county has grown to an
alarming extent. A prominent attorney assures us that it is his
belief that in forty per cent of the jury trials tho jury is tampered
with. Probably the only way to stop this disgraceful and criminal
practice is to make an example of somebody. But there does not
seem to be any effort to discover and punish the offenders.
The extent of the influence which may bo exerted by the news
papers of the country is forcibly illustrated by the unprecedented
growth of the mob epidemic which followed the departure of Coxey
and his men from a small town in Ohio. The newspapers seized
upon this comparatively insignificant episode and magnified it and
dilated upon it until the whole country was aroused, and what would
have been, if left alone, an inconsequential freak on the part of a
handful of foolish men, became a considerable movement of threat
ening import. An immense power for good or evil is in the press.
The trouble is that the great majority of newspaper proprietors or
editors have no adequate sense of their responsibility, of the duty
they owe to the public, holding as they do, public positions. They
are guided solely by a desire to reap profit, and they are willing to
imperil the interests of the people, or prejudice some deserving
cause in order to add to their gain. The newspapers have come to
regard a sensation of any kind as legitimate material from which to
manufacture profit, and of late years some of the nest newspapers,
those that have been noted for their conservatism, have displayed a
tendency toward sensationalism that is highly discreditable to the
dignity and integrity that should distinguish a great newspaper.
Apparently there is nothing too sacred for these great scavengers to
drag into the public mart. They assail the privacy of the home and
revel in details in a manner decidedly nauseating. An incident like
the Coxey mania is grasped with avidity, and in their desire to cater
to certain demands they take no thought of the effect of theircourse.
It may truthfully be said that the newspaper is no better or no
worse than the people, that it is just what tho people expect and
want. But who created this demand, if not the newspapers? To a
very large extent they made tho demand, and now they point to this
demand as their excuse. There are a few conspicuously honest
newspapers, journals that pander to no element or appetite, and
they are successful.
They Want Xame.
The Russell Art Publishing CoT, of 928 Arch street, Philadelphia,
desire the names and address of a few people in ever)- town who aro
interested in works of art, and to secure them they offer te send
free, "Cupid Guides the Boat," a superbly executed water color
picture, size 10x13 inches, suitable for framing, and sixteen other
pictures same size, in colors, to any one sending them at once tho
names and address of ten persons (admirers of fine pictures) together
with six 2-cent stamps to cover expense of mailing, etc The regu
lar price of these pictures is 81, but they can all be secured free by
any person forwarding the names and stamps promptly.
Note The editor of this paper has already received copies of
above pictures and considers them really "Gems of Art''
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