TWO
THE ALLIANCE HERALD, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1922.
XEht Alltanrr Hcralb
TUESDAY AND FRIDAY
BURR PRINTING CO., Owners
Entered at the postoffice t Alliance,
Neb,, for transportation through Uic
nails as second class matter.
GFORGF. I BURR, Jr Alitor
EDWIN M. BURR Business Mgr.
Official newspaper of the City of
Alliance; official newspaper of Box
Butte County.
Owned and published by The Burr
Printing Company, George L. Burr,
Jr, President; Edwin M. Burr, Vice
President
THE GAS TAX DIES
The proposed excise tax on gasoline
Is a thing of the past. It was put to
death by the republican majority of
the house by a vote of two to one,
after Governor McKelvie had done his
riarnmlost to nut it across. The elTort
to secure its passage was not given
vp until the last minute. Ami now
come the brigade of explainers and
apologists who are doing their best
to explain the disaster.
Thus, we learn from one leading rc
pulican daily, not that the hou.se re
fased to pass a gosoline" tax, but
that it "refused to lift the
burden of road building oil
of the property owners." The
outcome of the vote, it declares, was
due to political opposition to Governor
McKelvie, thus entirely overlooking the
fact that the sentiment all over the
tnt was overwhelmingly opposed to
a special session and the gasoline tax
in particular. .
' , The defeat of the measure, it i
tharged, was accomplished by a cpulw
Hon of democrats (of which there are
but four in the house), non-partisan
leaguers, persistent enemies of ' the
state administration and house mem
bers who are candidates for state of
fices. In .addition, the non-partisan
leaguers made a threat tF a referendum'
. on the bill even if it were enacted.
''.' In their zeal' to sale Governor Mc
Kelvie's face,, these writers entirely
overlook the fact that there wan a
definite objection from voters all over
the, state, and that there were some
arguments against such a tax. Some of
. the defenders even go so far as to say
that the governor doesn't really care
febout the gas tax, having secured every
other thing he wanted. Thesp news
papers overlook the muddle in which
the highway department has been left
The gasoline tax was designed to
take the place of money lopped off
the road appropriation. This money
Vaa intended to match federal funds.
Under a five-year contract, Nebraska
matches dollars with the federal gov
ernment, which gets the morey in
taxes from Nebraska in the first place,
fend by this plan is permitted to
supervise the expenditure of the whole
amount The house, which killed the
gas tax, may not put back the $750,000
it would have realized into the appro
priation bill. Thi3 leaves the highway
department out on a limb. Some of the
legislators say that there is so much
waste and extravagance that it is
theaper for the state to forego its
federal appropriation than to toss
money into the hopper to be wasted.
Men with this sentiment seem to be in
the majority. Either way they go, there
will probably be little complaint from
over the state, for the average citizen,
now that the governor, who insisted on
Calling the session, has got his come
uppance, are content with the pleas
lure to be derived from that knowledge.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS.
An illuminating paragraph or two,
bidden away on one of the inside pages
of a Lincpln daily, furnishes a bit of
amusement for those who think that
the state authorities are attempting
entirely too much regulation, and have
assumed more authority than they can
conveniently exercise. It is also an
interesting sidelight on the activities
of the state highway department
which is now under fire from critics
all over the state, and perhaps a bit
of a reflection upon all local law en
forcement officials as well.
All of us will recall the law passed
by the last session of the legislature,
at the request of the state highway de-1
'partment, which provided punishment
for automobile owners who persisted in
keeping glaring headlights on their
cars. The department officials had
dozens of reasons, most of them good,
why such legislation should be enacted
and enforced. And the obliging legis
lature complied with their request
The state department entered into
the spirit of the thing. A rigid test
for automobile headlights was estab
lished. You will remember, of course,
. that approved lenses, at so much
money, had to be installed on all cars,
and that the headlights had to be set
at a proper angle, so that they would
reveal the outlines of a torn cat at so
many feet away that is, they had to
reveal the whites of the eyes, but leave
the tip of the tail, when fully ex
tended, in semi-darkness and shadow.
The state highway department
promptly began sending out bulletins
to the sheriffs, police officers, county
j attorneys and, alwve all, the news
patM r-. There was an indication that
Guy Myers' sleuths, when not engaged
in running down bootleggers that had
boon located by lower-salaried loud
officers, would spend their time testing
headlights. Apparently everyone
meant business. The garages sold an
enormous num!cr of approved lenses
for headlights. A few automobile
drivers got scared. In Lincoln hundreds
of car owners attended a police
demonstration and h;ul their headlights
adjusted.
Two weeks later, the whole plan was
forgotten. It has been months since
Mr. Johnson sent out a bulletin. Ap
parently the law is destined to le self-
enforcing. A fairly close watch of the
newspapers from over the state fails to
disclose as much as a single conviction
for glaring headlights. The depart
ment spent a good deal of money in
approving lenses and preparing to en
force this law. The automobile owners
spent ever more. Today a large num
ber of cars are equipped with approved
lenses, but not one in ten are properly
focused. The law, so far as enforce
ment goes, is a dead letter.
The amusing paragraph is a protest
from the Lincoln council of Commer
cial Travelers, to Chief Johnstone of
Lincoln, at one time the most ardent
udvocate of the lense law in the state,
ivith the possible exception ofy State
Engineer Johnson. The traveling men
ask that the law be enforced. They I1" Of?m'on as l T ' an,l.ene"
t . I..-, i i i f what amounts to a condoning of
are serious about it. VV ill it be done? j students for overt acts in connection
Surrv about the same time that the w ith their examination questions. We
Esquimau' belles begin rolling their expected to hear from Alliance, ami
hosiery. while there is no desjre nor no nt-
, ' j ' tempt to influence the conduct of the
It's about time that some of these' Alliance school system, yet we main
state officials who are anxious to take tain, that if the schools desire to air
on more authority should get back to lh?ir ?oiIel linen in the columns of
, ,, ,,,. , . ,ii ,n i their own publications, the rest of the
the fundamentals. It is well to mas-. , . , . . , . , ' , , ....
' , - . i state should not be blamed for critins-
ticate one mouthful before taking in incan what is of more importance
additional provender. Wouldn't it be a ' forming its own opinions of such
fine thing if all of us 'could take about methods. It is worth while to find out
a year off and get rid of the accumula
tion oi uniiiiishe
1 business ?
I)ANGJ-:iMU'S CURVE AHEAD.
Our esteemed contemporary, in its
last issue, published a strong editorial
in support of the anti-lynching bill,
which recently passed the lower house
oi cmrress by a vote of 2130 to il9.
The editorial in question gave some
thrilling details concerning mob vio
lence and closed with the following in
dictment: ' ' "
Although it may have a temporary
effect in curtailing crime, it does not
cure the criminal. It never does. It
puts one criminal out of the way, but.
it incites many others to crime. It
serves only to bring out the worst and
the most dangerous passions of men
and women and it accomplishes noth
ing in the end except to stamp a black
disgrace upon all who participate in it
and upon the state and nation as well.
With these utterances we have no
quarrel. Our only object in quoting
them, aside from the fact that we
think they are worth quoting, is to
warn Brother Ben Sallows that in all
probability these sentiments, which do
credit to both the publisher and the ed
itorial writer of the Times, will serve
only to get him into difficulties with his
temperamental partner at Minatare.
Col. Rufus Jones, unlike us, will never
endorse these words. Several times
Rufus has expressed himself, editorial
ly and otherwi.se and his opinions do
not jibe with those we have quoted.
It seems to us that Brother Ben is
running a grave risk of being charged
with' attempting to destroy Rufus' in
fluence with a possible mob element
in Alliance. We shall now watch the
"Public Forum" column of Mr. Sallows'
newspaper for the indignant and in
evitable protest
IT'S CALLED JUSTICE.
From Grand Island comes the report
of the conviction in county court of
Charles Hessepano, who was given a
sentence of ' fifteen days in jail for
theft The offense for which this pun
ishment was decreed was the theft of
one bottle of milk a day from door
steps. The milk was delivered by a
co-operative stove and the criminal
was caught stealing one bottle.
The defense was that Hessepano was
hungry and out of work. It didn't go.
The managers of the store, greatly in
censed, claimed that this conscienceless
criminal, in addition to stealing milk,
had added insult to injury by bringing
the bottles back to the establishment
and trading them for bread.
Hessepano received fifteen days in
the county jail. The store is satisfied
that this particular series of thefts is
at an end. The court is resting serene
ly, with a calm conviction that justice
has been done. But frankly, after all,
has there been any real solution of the
problem? Hessepano will be fed, at
least, during the fifteen days. After
his term expires, will there be a job,,
or will the good people of Grand Is
land hesitate to offer work to a man
convicted of theft?
Victor Hugo, in "Les Miserables,"
tells the life story of a man who was
sentenced to the galleys for the theft
of a loaf of bread. There are some
who, reading that book, will shudder
at the barbarous injustice of courts Jn
those dark days. Hugo's hero became
( a criminal, because he was Just this
one time given a much heavier sen
tence than his offense warranted.
Is the Grand Island judge, or any
other court which upholds the dignity
of the law by assessing such penalties,
doing his duty? Does any of the
blame rnst upon the good people of
Giand Island, who force hungry nen
to -teal broad. Messepano hasn't ginr
far on the criminal path; he stole only
what was needed to k'ep his body i nd
sou! together. He could have boot
legged, or held up citizens, or com
mitted much more aggravated offenses,
but he didn't desire to do anything
more than keep from starving. What
will he do when he is released? The
chances are, now that he has a prison
record, he'll go after bigger game than
loaves of bread or bottles of milk. And
yet we speak of courts of justice, and
do it with sincerity.
Every other town in the state, or the
nation, for that matter, may have
problems similar to the Hessepano
case. Hungry men must be fed. If
there are no jobs, and the public does
not come to the rescue, are they to
starve?' The Grand Island brand of
justice seems to think so, but what do
you think about it?
"""PECULIARLY UNIQUE'
(Scottsbluff Star-Herald.)
Both of the Alliance
take the Star-Herald very
'L , f' I
fif fTm'vo I
V IH lO gle
nAU-tnonAI-s
task because this paper saw
i - A . j a a 1 a 1 A rr .A
what the Alliance newspapers aver ,is
an ideal school system and to use a
mild phrase
unique.
it stands peculiarly
A Frenchman has made gold out of
lead. We saw a plumber make ?50
out of a lead pipe once.
Many men want to wear knickers.
There's a secret about it. Koickers do
not bag at the knees. They .quit there.
Harvard's history students are sing
ing their lessons another case of
a professor's services going for mere
song.
According to a medical man, fast
living shortens our lives. According
to the coroner's records, fast fliwing
has the same effect.
Governor McKclvic's
Gas Tax Measure
Is Put (o Death
Governor McKelvie's gasoline tax
bill w is killed by the lower branch of
the legislature by more than two to
one majority Tuesday morning. The
motion to udvance it for third reading
and passage was defeated bv 07 votes
to 31. Without another roll call, the
chamber then voted for indefinite post
ponement with an oei whelming
tihoi-u.-; of "ayes."
Two of the thirty-one votes for the
bill were cast by Governor McKelvie's
appointees, Frank I Carroll of Colfax
county and W. II. (Juade of Logan
whom the house seated last week
despite the irregularity of their ap
pointment The opposition vote included all four
democrats, twelve non-partisan leagu
ers and fifty-one regular republicans,
many of whom have been adminis
tration superiors in the past. Thirty
of the votes cast for the bill came
from regular republicans and one non
partisan leaguer, Mr. Hakanson, lined
up with them.
Not until the debate closed and the
vote was taken did Governor McKelvie
and his aides cease their efforts to win
over sufficient support for the passage
of the gasoline tax measure.
By knocking out the gasoline tax the
house made it possible to shorten the
special session a day or tw o, and mem
bers were talking at noon about finish-
inrp tin litr VVrDilnAciloi, f.inn!n.i If la
-I- -V " ' "ui.o i":uiuh, i la
doubtful, however, whether the legis
,ature wi" finisl bv that time. Th
!., l .1....: l
he
ten day's period during which members
are entitled to draw pay will be out on
Friday.
Among those who rallied to the de
fense of the governor and supported
the bill was Representative D wight P.
Griswold of this legislative district.
Mr. Griswold is mentioned as a can
didate for state auditor, and his vote
mpy have been influenced by a desire
to stand in well with the party leaders.
In' the course of the debate, Mr.
Jeary spoke in opposition to the gover
nor's plan and said the bill as drawn is
unconstitutional because it taxes some
people on their use of a commodity
and exempts others who use the same
commodity. It would be held up in the
courts, he predicted, and if no other
provision were made for the state
highway construction the road pro
gram would have to be abandoned.
Mr. . Byrum, another opponent, ac
cused the bill's friends of misrepre
senting the facts by claiming that the.
appropriations have been "reduced two
and three-quarters millions, when in
fact the reduction is only two million
dollars and $750,000 would be appro
priated for road work, whether the
money was derived from a gasoline
tax or general property tax.
A lengthy argument for the bill was
made by Representative Snow of Chad
ron, who told of getting a letter from
the secretary of the farmers' union at
Chadron stating that its members had
Dodge B roth ers
announce
a substantial reduction
in the prices of their cars
effective January Isi, 1922
LINCOLN
ALLIANCE,
unanimously endorsed the gasoline tax
idea. Snow attributed the hostile sen
timent which exists throughout the
state to the opposition press, which he
said war ted to keep the republican
party "in a hole" and give the demo-,
crats a belter chance of cairjing the
r.cvt e'ection.
National debts are what we get out
of war as long as we don't get out
of war.
Be careful how you refer to the au
tomobile ago. Your friend may think
you are making reference to the 1915
model he drives.
otided
Against Check-Raising
Does absolute safety of your checks mean
anything to you? Are you interested in a
plan that will eliminate any loss from "rais
ing the amount" of your checks?
As a matter of
Further Service to Patrons
We will be pleased to explain the plan and
which relieves you of all liability in cases of
eheek-raising, and this safety is made abso
lute by
A $1,000 BOND AS A GUARANTEE
We will be pleased to explain the plan and
place it in operation for all who wish, at no
extra cost.
First National Bank
LOWRY
NEBRASKA
Maybe China invented gunpowder,
but is has an alibi in the case of poi
son gas.
Bootleggers throw still more discred
it upon the ancient game of getting;
rick quick.
, -
The ex-crown prince is planning to
return, and Germany already has.
troubles enough.
The fly-swatting campaign is a tre
mendously good thing, but it does?
make us a little tired to see fellow
think they have done a day's work
when they have winged a fly.
Safety
