THE SEMI-WEEKLV TRIBUNE. NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA.
THE PROHIBITION BILL
ORA8TIC BUT NOT BONE DRY
MEASURE APPROVED.
Items of General Interest Gathered
from Reliable Sources Around tho
State Houso
tVeitern Ncwnpaper Union News Service.
Following tho conference between
Governor Novlllo and tho prohibition
commlttooa from tooth houses last
week It bocamo known that tho two
commlttooa had decided to respect
tho wishes of tho governor and that
a drastic but not bono dry bill would
bo framed. It also bocamo known
that his roquest for a special commls
eion to enforce tho now law would bo
granted. Since then Interest has been
centered on how much liquor tho law
will allow a man to Import for his
own use and how much authority tho
special commission will bo given. Tho
preliminary draft provides that a man
EUGENE O. MAYFIELD
(New member of the State Doard of
Control.)
lOugeue O. Mayneld of Omaha, who was
appointed by Governor Neville as repub
II can member of the board to succeed
Judge Howard Kennedy, also of Omaha,
for the six-year term, beginning July 1.
After the confirmation. Judge Kennedy
rosigned, effective March 1, to engngo In
law business In Omaha. Governor Nev
ille then appointed Mr. Mayneld to All
tlio vacancy.
Mr Mayneld Is Sunday editor of the
WorW-IIorald; has been In the news
paper business for forty years; was con
nected with tho Western Newspaper
Union for several years In tho capacity
of manager at 'Kansas City, St. Louis and
Cleveland.
man Import per month one quart of
w.ilsky and twelve quarts of beer,
atl no moro, That Is about the same
amount as la allowed In Kansas. Un
less that provision is altered in the
final draft, which is not regarded as
probable, those amounts will stand
until the bill goes before the leglsla
ture for adoption or rojoctlon.
For Physical Examinations
Under the termB or a bill introduced
In tho lower house by Lambert of
Saunders, all bridegrooms-to-be will
be compolled to undergo physical ox
amlnatlons before they rocoive their
mwriago Uconses. Tho mcaauro pro
vi6c3 that "all male persons making
application for license to marry shall
at any time within fifteen days prior
to such application'be examlnod as to
tho cxlstenco or non-existence In such
po?son of any venereal disease, and it
BlBiU bo unlawful for tho county clerk
of any county to issue a license to any
person who falls to present and, Mo
with such county clork a certificate
sotting forth that such porsou is free
from vonereal disease as nearly as
can be determined."
Bl'l for State Printing Plant
Among tho now bills before the log
islaturo Is ono by Bates and others
creating a stato printing commission
and appropriating $100,000 for a state
printing plant. It. is providod that the
plant shall bo located in one of Lan
canter county's Btato institutions, .tho
exact place to bo detorminod by the
Btato board of control. All the stato
printing in addition to any other pub
lie printing authorized by tho proper
authorities, will bo turned out by this
plf.nt Tho stato commission will con
slat of tho governor, tho secretary of
tun state and the stato printer, tho
last named to draw a salary of $2,000
a year.
Land Commissioner Shumway is not
euro that tho stato owns the fai
grounds, for which $18,000 was paid to
tho Nebraska Exposition Co., a privat
corporation of Lincoln citizens, back
In 1901. The quostion was suggested
at a committee meeting of the house
when tho proposed $100,000 approprla
tlon for hog barns was discussed. Mr,
Shumway, looking up the abstract
finds articles of incorporation con
tafnod thorofn which givo the corpora
Hon power "to purchase hold and Im
Drove." He does not And them en
tltid to soil.
To mako tho state of Nebraska
purchasing agent for all Its counties
in tho buying of structural steel, Iron
and tlmbor for public bridges, and
thus obtain tho advantage of prices
uniformly as low as tho railroad com
panlos and othor large users of those
matorlals pay for them, is tho object
of a bill .which Representative Anton
of TJoono county, has introduced.
Mr. Auten's measure will leave
with each county board to contract
as It dooB now, for small wooden or
concrete bridges and culverts, or to
buy material and build them itself
VARIED AND MANY
Changes Suggested tn New Election
Laws of State.
Changes in the primary and general
election laws of tho stato aro likely to
bo many and varied In this session,
at loast they will' bo If bills now In
go through In their present shape.
Tho most radical .chango Is In tho
primary law. As suggested by Rep
resentative Conley of Jefferson county
the stato conventions will bo given
tho power of nominating all elective
stato officers below tho governorship
Lven tho railway commission candi
dates will be so choson.
Dolegates to the stato gathering will
bo chosen at county nominating elec
tions, tho same primaries at which
county officers aro to bo nominated
by tho various parties. This, accord
ing to Mr. Conley, will glvo tho people
chance to speak their minds through
carefully choson dologates.
National Guard Budget
General Hall believes that upward
of $125,000 will bo necessary to run
the stato national guard during tho
coming two years. That Is an lncreaso
of $60,000, mado necessary becauso of
a numbor of changes In tho guard,
not tho least of which is its lncreaso
to a pcaco footing, or several notches
higher than It was Juno 20, when It
was called Into federal service
Two years ago tho guard obtained
$68,000, after tho house had mado an
effort, In tho face of the European war
and constantly darkening clouds on
tho United States foreign relations
horizon, to reduce tho amount to
about half that size. The senate saved
tho day, and a houso conference com
mittee later recommended tho in
crease, and it was adopted.
State Nurses Attack the Bill
Members of the State Nurses' asso
ciation aro up in arms over tho Intro
ductlon of Houso Roll No. 230, by
Representative Dr. Renokor of Rich
ardson, cutting down the standard of
qualifications necessary for registry
by a nurso in Nebraska. Tho present
law provides that a graduate nurso
must have had at least one year's hlgn
school education; three yours of active
training in a hospital, and must have
taken a state board examination. Ren
eker's proposed law, which has al
ready had a reading, provides only for
six months' training in a hospital and
two and one-half years' practical ex
porience before taking a stato examl
nation for registered nurses.
To Put Catfish in Game Class.
Nebraska's standard fish the cat
will be promoted to tho gamo class
with tho trout and the bass, and will
havo the mantle of the law thrown
about It for its protection, if Game
Warden Ko3ter has his way. The
catfish Is now In1 tho catagory with
the carp, squawflsh and buffalo, In
tho catching of which tho law does
not Interfere. Warden Koster says
tho cat Is one of tho best eating
fishes and should not bo ono caught
and sold for general purposes. His
proposed chango in Jho law has been
introduced in tho senate by Adams of
Dawes and in the house by Anderson
of Boyd.
New Course at University
A now course, "Psychology and Effi
ciency," has been added to the curric
ulum of tho University of Nebraska.
This course is designed to aid studontB
who are to take up law, tho ministry,
medicine, Journalism, social service
and other professions. Tho psychol
ogy of buying and selling and methods
of estimating tho efficiency of indi
vidual workmen also will ho consid
ered in the instruction.
Blue Sky Exemption
Representative 0111b has a bill to
exempt farmers' co-operative associa
tions from tho blue sky law. Under
this law, they aro compelled to pay
tho railway commission a $15 fee and
meet the requirements of tho law,
among which is a proviso that shares
of stock shall bo for $100 each. These
associations deslro to issuo stock in
denominations of $10, $25 and $50.
Dry Member Issues Warning
Strong arguments by a number of
speakers in favor of a bone dry propo
sition and a warning by Senator
Busheo, dry republican, that such a
procedure would never get by tho son;
ate, marked tho second and final hear
ing beforo tho prohibition committees
of tho two houses, hold In the house
chamber Wednesday evening.
Favor Four-Year Term
By a vote of 87 to 7, tho houso has
gone on record in favor of tho enact
ment of a law fixing a four-year terra
for elective county offlcors, it boing
understood that such a law was not
to affect tho terms of tho present in
cumbents. Tho action was taken up
on motion of Dafoe of Johnson. It
was explained that It was done to
ward off the horde of lobbyists such
as swooped down upon tho legislature
two years ago to secure a four-year
term law to becomo effective at once.
Making the state tho common school
unit Instead of tho school district, by
the state paying tho salaries of tho
12,643 Nebraska teachors rural and
city, is tho plan of Sonator John A,
Robertson of Holt, in his bill, S. F,
3. It is designed to dispose of the
question of stato aid for weak ills
tricts. Tho Idea, which has never bo
foro been reduced to actual statute
n any state, Mr, Robertson says, will
balance the Inequalities between (lis
tricts, encourage rural school consol
Idatlon and will bring about the teach
Ing of more grades in common schools.
CONDENSED NEWS
OF INTEREST TO ALL.
DATES FOR COMING EVENTS.
Fobruary 15 State Volleyball Con
test at York.
February 20-21 Nebraska Clothiers
Association Mooting at Omaha.
Fob. 21. Annual Meeting of State
Opticians nt Omaha.
Feb. 22-23 Nebraska Jewelers' asso
ciation Meeting at Omaha.
Fob. 2G to March 3 Omaha Automo
bile Show.
March 5 to 10 First Annual Auto
Show at Lincoln.
March 6 to 10 Mid-West Cemont
Show and Convention at Omaha.
March 7-8-9-10 Stato Basketball Tour
nament at Lincoln.
March 12-17 Annual Merchants' Mar
kot Week at Omaha.
March 18 District Mooting of Odd
Follows at North Platto.
Growth of tho boy scout inovemont
In Omaha was emphasized when
Scout Executive C. II. English re
ported to scout-masters that there aro
ton troops with a membership of 266
registered scouts In tho city.
Tho Beatrice city commissioners
have instructed Mayor J. P. Saun
ders to enter Into a contract with the
Harrington Incinerator company for
tho leaso of a plant In tho city for a
period of eight months.
A. Well, Custer county Btockman,
recently sold a bunch of twenty-ono
white faco cattlo for $1,885. This is
ono of the hlghost prices paid for thnt
quality of cattlo In the county for
some time.
Early this- spring tho Burlington
will build at Gibson a 2,000,000-bushel
grain elevator, and make othor Im
provements which will entail an ex
penditure of more than $1,500,000.
A proposed bond Issuo to raise
$40,000 for a now school building in
College View, a suburb of Lincoln,
was defeated at a special eloctlon by
the narrow margin of 265 to 260
At an election held in Springfield
electors authorized thovlllago board
to build a new tank for tho wator
works on tho slto of tho old one,
which was destroyed recently.
Tho valley schoolB, which woro
closed a week ago on account of nn
oxposuro to scarlet fever, havo re
opened. Thero has only been four
cases of scarlet fever.
Tho Northwestern railroad haB an
nounced that a now depot will bo
built at Swedoburg this spring, wbrk
to commence as soon as tho weather
is favorable.
It is announced that appointment
of tho directors and othor officials o
tho Omaha farm loan bank probably
will tako place within tho next few
days.
J. F. Frye, who has Just returned
to Hastings from a hunting trip In
tho Ozark mountains, brought 'with
him a hornets' nest two foot in diam
eter.
Two Hastings saloons are to be
converted Into soft drink establish
ments after May 1, when stato-wlde
prohibition becomes effective.
Obln, 7-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs
Frank Jones of Geneva, while playing
with a gun, shot himself, tearing his
head and killing himself Instantly,
Three bankB In York and Butler
counties, at Surprise, Gresham and
Ulysses havo been taken over by
syndicate of Fremont capitalists.
Nearly all tho breweries of tho
stato, eleven In number, aro said to
bo preparing to engage in (ho manu
facturo of "near boor."
The village of Snyder, through Its
commercial club, has asked tho
Northwestern to build a now depot at
that station this year.
Dentists of northwestern Nobraska
will meet in Alliance February 14 at
tho call of tho Nebraska State- Dental
society.
Fire destroyed several frame build
ingH at Odell, causing a Iosb of about
$5,000. Tho town hall was among the
BtructureB burned.
Hogs sold for $11.50 per hundred
weight at tho South Omaha market a
few days ago, the hlghost price on
record.
A special election will bo hold at
Beatrice March C for tho purpose of
voting $40,000 Intersection paving
bonds.
A factory for the manufacture
hay stackers has Just been put
operation at Norfolk.
of
In
York 1b to havo a community build
ing to cost $50,000. Tho building will
bo planned for tho purposo of housing
all agricultural products during the
county fair and be used for conven
tions, etc., other times during th
year.
Tho Chadron city council has Just
passed a whito way ordinance and ox
tended an electric light franchise
Into bondage to the Intormountaln
Railway Light and Power Co. and
thus soon Chadron will beam as brlgh
as tho noonday sun.
Forty-four head of pure bred Duroc
Jersey bows were sold at an average
of $97.05 at a hog sale held by Jess
Colder near Oakland. Tho top price
of tho sale was $250, paid by Wlllard
Robblns of LyonB.
Nebraska's portion of tho federal
good roads fund for the year begin
nlng July 30, 1917, is $213,541. This Is
to bo paid on condition that tho stato
will approprlato a like amount.
Fifty citizens of Brule havo signed
their names to a protest against teach
Ing the life of Lincoln in the publl
schools of Nebraska.
Over one hundred high schools haT
already asked for entry blanks to par
tlslpnte In tho seventh annual No
braska basketball tournament to b
hold at Lincoln, under the uimplcos ol
tho State University. March 7, 8, 9 and
10 arc the dates sot for the gathering.
To make sure that the high school
Isltors will enjoy the duyH of th
tourney, University authorities have
scheduled some Cornhusker intercol
legiate contests. The Ames wrestling
tournument has been scheduled again
ho Missouri Valley championship baH
ketball games between Ames and No
braska have been changed to March
and 10 and will be put on for tho
better entertnlnnuint of tho visitors.
Prizes to bo awarded this year aro
moro elaborate than over beforo of
fered.
Some 2,222 Nebraska boys and
glrlB took part In home-school garden
clubs conducted by the agricultural
extension service of the University of
Nobraska In co-oporatlon with tho
Unltod States Department of Agricul
ture, with schools, and with tho chil
dren's own parents. This work was
carried on In twenty-flvo towiiB in
1916, and resulted In 1,252 back yards
and 345 vacant lots in the state being
turned Into garden spots.
Congressmen Shallonbcrger, Sto-
voiib, Rcaavls, Sloan and Kinkald
voted to overrldo President Wllson'a
voto of tho immigration bill, which
was rejected becauso of tlio literacy
test Congressman Lobeck voted to
sustain tho president Tho houso had
twenty-llvo moro than tho nccossary
two-thirds majority to carry tho meas
ure over tlio president's hoad.
Tho Nebraska Tolophono company
has Just completed a survoy of tho
territory between Allianco and Bro
ken Bow, In determining tho possibil
ity of establishing a toll lino Joining
tho two cities, thero to connoct with
all points east. An expondlturo of
$100,000 Is recommended by P. D
Glooson, who mado tho survey.
Historical pngoanC representing tho
growth of tho Sunday schools from
tho Hebrew period through all tho
stages of development until tho pres
ent day, will bo glvon at tho fiftieth
anniversary of tho Nebraska Sunday
School association meeting nt Omaha
In Juno. Tho pageant rcqulros 500
participants.
A Btato-wido spelling boo will bo
staged as ono of tho educational at
tractions of tho Nebraska stato fait
at Lincoln this fall. Tho competition
will, bo for both rural and city schools,
with stato championship awards in
both classes and sweepstakes in a
Joint contest.
E. L. Dodder, grand treasurer of
tho A. O. U. W. of Nobraska, whoso
suicide caused a .Bhortago of $16,000
in his accounts to como to light, left
mining and oil stocks of a faco value
of $218,06G, according to an Inven
tory of his cstato .filed in Douglas
county court
Whllo tho congregation sang tlio
doxology.a noto of $2,400 against tho
Methodist church of Fairmont waB
burned In the pulpit, thus making tho
proporty free from debt Tho amount
was raised through a campaign in
augurated by J. P. Yost, pastor.
G. D. Davis of Laurel bought o
bunch of cattlo at tho South Omaha
market in October that wolghod 1,086
pounds each, and cost $6.85 per cwt
Last week ho disposed of tlio herd at
tho same market, receiving $11.00 per
cwt They weighed 1,400 each.
Dr. C. A. Oaks, second assistant
physician at tho Inglcsldo hospital for
tho lnsono at Hastings, died after two
days' illnoss from pneumonia. Ho wns
a son-in-law of E. O. Mayfleld, nowly
appointed member of tho Board of
Control.
A now automobllo road from Mis
souri Valley, la., to Fromont by way
of Blair, Kcnnard and Arlington, Is
being boomed by cltlchs of tho towns
concerned and will bo officially mark
ed In tho near future.
Columbus is going to havo a new
bank capitalized at $50,000. William
Blucher, Fred Boohm and A. D. Beck,
or aro Incorporators. Tho institution
will bo known as tho Fanners' Stato
hank.
Dorrybcrry and Forbes of North
Platte, hardware and implomont deal
ers, havo made tho announcement
that hereafter Its employes will Bharo
In all profits mado by the company.
Morclor, a Percheron horso owend
by tho Woods Bros., Silo company of
Lincoln, won first prlzo and grand
championship honors in tho Interna
tional llvo stock show, at Denver.
Nebraska Leaguo of Municipalities
selected Fremont for tho 1918 conven.
Hon at tho closing session of this
year's meeting at Hastings. R. S. Ire
land of Croto waB elected president of
tho league; A. P. Moran, Nebraska
City, vice president; C. A. Sorenson,
Lincoln, secretary-treasurer.
It is expected tho now Burlington
depot in Tecumseh will bo ready for
occupancy within tlio noxt two or
threo weeks. Tho Commorcial club
Is back of a demonstration to be held
at the time of dedication.
Directors of tho Omaha-Lincoln
Denver highway agreed at a meeting
in Lincoln to chango tho nnmo of the
route to the "Buffalo Bill Trail," in
honor of tho lato Colonel Cody.
Tho congregation of Holy Trinity
Catholic church of Hartlngton hns in
augurated a campaign for tho pur
poso of raising funds for the erection
of a now church building.
Sovonty-two conventions, national,
district or state, wcro held Inst year
In Omaha. Conventions already
booked for tho metropolis for 1917
number thirty.
YOUNG
IN
NEEDED
WANTED BY STATE DEPARTMENT
FOR POSITIONS IN DIPLO-
MATIC SERVICE.
WORK IS VERY
ATTRACTIVE
Good Education and One Foreign Lan
guage Required Promotion, How
ever, Usually Stops Short of tho
Rank of Minister.
By GEORGE CLINTON.
Washington. Uncle Sain needs
young men for the diplomatic service.
Tho positions open to young Ameri
cans nre, of course, In tho lower ranks
of tho foreign service, hut there Is u
chance for promotion and If tho deslro
Is to mnko tho diplomatic service n
Ilfo employment, the man who takes.
a place In It may know thnt if ho
makes good ho can work for his great
nnd good undo as long us ho wishes.
Tho othor day William Phillips of
Massachusetts' was promoted to bo ns
slstnnt secrctnry of state. Ono of IiIb
first acta in taking up his now duties
wns to issuo an appeal to , young
Americans to try to enter tho diplo
matic service. Mr. Phillips said:
"I appeal to the young men of tho
country who have the necestmry cdu
catlonnl and linguistic qualities nnd
who nre Interested in International nf-
fnlrs to consider seriously the honor
able career which tho diplomatic serv
ice now offers them. Tho department
of stato Is endenvorlng to enlist for
Us foreign work tho highest type of
Amcrlcnn men, nnd thero never has
been n moro nusplclous moment In our
history in which to enter upon such n
enrecr."
Tho young American who may wish
to enter tho diplomatic service nnd
who succeeds In passing the cxnmlna
tlon must not tako It for granted that
ho is to bo an actual diplomat, for
diplomatic service Includes our for
eign officers who look nfter trado re
lations nnd business opportunities for
Amcrlcnn firms seeking outlets.
What Is Required.
In order to enter the'scrvlco tho
young American must bo well edu
cated nnd be able to speak at least
ono language beside his own, nnd the
second language must bo ono which Is.
in uso among many people. For In-
Btnnco, knowlcdgo of English nnd
Welsh would not bo sufficient, for
Welsh Is in exceedingly limited use.
Frenqh, German, Spanish or Itnllnn
are tho lnngunges usually to bo under
stood, in addition to English, by tho
young men who succeed In gottlng po
sltlons In our foreign offices.
Promotion conies In the foreign
servlco of tho United States up to a
certain point, nnd it would go beyond
that point perhaps in some cases wcro
It not for tho fact that tho government
does not pay Its ministers and ambas
sadors enough money "to sustain their
positions." This mentis, of courso, that
nobody' but a rich man can nfford to
tako tho post of ambassador to Great
Britain, to France, to Germnny, to
Italy, or to nny other great country.
Some of our nmbnssadors spend three
or four times the amounts of their Hal
nrles In "keeping up" their position.
Nn' Pri-aks In lnniinnr.il Pa m fir.
Wnrrl hn. rrnnn m,r Hint M.nrn ,,,ar ,
nn "frnnlr nvlilhltu" In tlio lili l.innmi-
ral parade of men und women who aro
to inarch and show themselves on
Pennsylvania avenuo on March G, tho
day this year on which Woodrow Wil
son will tnko tho onth of office for the
second tlmo us president of the United
States.
Tho managers of the big events
count It curious that so many Amorl
enns of supposed sense have shown u
disposition to believe thnt n certain
amount of buffoonery Is nil right on
an occasion like the high ono of In
ducting a president Into olllcc. All
kinds of things were suggested to tho
committee which It wnB supposed by
tho suggesters would add enjoyment
to tho occasion. The answer has been
that clowns uro nil right In a circus
nnd end men In n minstrel show, hut
thnt grease, paint, dldos and antics
aro not fitting for an occasion like the
coming one.
Washington Is going to bo a city of
light on the nights thnt tlio Inaugural
visitors arc hero. Inasmuch as March
4 falls on Sunday this year it Is ex
pected thnt the visitors attracted by
the Inaugural ceremonies will como
on Saturday and therefore have ono
moro day than usual to spend "In our
midst." Therefore the nights aro to
bo mado like tho days In the eyes of
tho assembled multitudes.
City a Blaze of Light.
Pennsylvania avenuo and all tho
streets shooting down Into It aro to ho
'illuminated to tho limit possible by
tho lighting powers now held by tho
electric companies of tho district. Gas;
of courso, will add Its glare. Business
houses nre not the only ones which
will blaze. Tho broad avenues of the
resldenco districts will he shot with
light from tho windows of tho houses
Everybody has been asked to light up
and it has been virtually promised
l that, irrespective of political aflllla
tlons or of administration or untl
administration views, the populace
will comply with tho request.
In thlri part of tho country thero
are n good many hunt clubs. Over in
Virginia and even on tho edge of the
district tho wily and elusive fox fre
quently Is hunted by men and women
in pink riding clothes, who take
ditches and occasionally stono walls
with tlio abandonment of the old-time
fox hunters of Gnlwny, Ireland.
The hunt clubs are to form a part
of tho inaugural day jmrnde. Ono of
them will bo nmrsholcd by n woman,
n young nml good-looking woman who
daringly rides to hounds ncross coun
try on every occasion when tho dogs
aro let looso nnd the fox breaks from
cover. These hunt clubs cannot be
Included In tho freak class. The horses
are thoroughbreds and every man and
woman 1b a lino rider. Moreover, they
arc nil undcrimlna n little nrcllnilnnrv
military drill which will ennblo them
to keep the lino perfect nnd to de
part not from tho order of formation
unless perchance some luckless hound
In tho street crowd should start Its
hue and cry, nnd habit, stronger than
the check rein, make tho horses mo
mentarily forget themselves.
Wilson Again Does Unexpected.
President Wilson's nppcurunco In
tho senate wing of tho cnpltol ns n per
sonal proponent of the legislation
which ho desires tho majority party In
congress to puss, was not tho astound
ing surprlso to senators nnd members
that tho country generally seems to
think that it was.
Ever since ho hns como into ofllco
the president has been doing tho un
expected along a dozen different lines,,
of endeavor. Tho result of this hns
been that when something now comes
surprise, it not minimized, is, so to
speak, ameliorated.
The determination of tho president
to address congress nt tho opening of
each session Instead of Bending u writ
ten message, us had been tho custom
for years upon yours, was a Bort of
a bombshell of surprlso In-itself. Thoro
was nn Immense amount of discussion
over tho president's action nt that
time. Uo wits criticized soverely by
a good many senators and members
Irrespective of party, although, of
courso, tho soverest criticism carao
from tho Republicans, whllo such of
tho Democrats ns objected to tho pro
ceeding said sharp things in tho cloak
room nnd reserved milder words of re
proof for tho opon.
Now that tho addressing of congress
In person haa becomo n llxcd presi
dential habit, most peoplo seemingly
hnvo forgotten tho npprouch to n tur
moil with which tho first announce
ment of intention was received. On
ono or two occasions prior to tho tlmo
that Mr. Wilson announced ho would
go to tho cnpltol almost dally to con
sult with tho senutors about legisla
tion in which ho is Interested, ho had
gone to tho cnpltol to advlso with tho
leaders of his party.
Others Have Broken Precedents.
Tho direct address to congress at
tho opening of u session and tho ap
pearance of tho president at tho cup-
ltol nt n few other times to talk over
legislation acted ns something of u
shock absorber when tho recent doc-,
titration of Intention to mnko frequent
visits to tho cnpltol was announced.
During every administration some
thing Is suro to happen which sur
prises tho lawmakers and perhaps tho
public with them, and gives tho crit
ics nmplo opportunity to talk their
sharp words. Roosevelt smashed a few
precedents nnd Mr. Taft did so like
wise. Mr. Wilson has followed suit,
hut has done it "a llttlo moro so."
Precedent breaking by n president
nnd tlio consequent nnd .Instant criti
cism nro not confined to supposed In
terference with tho lcglslntivo Inde
pendence of congress. This breaking
nwny from tho conventions of tho
years sometimes concerns itself with
social matters, but whether tlio do-
PlirtUrCS UrO legislative, political Or BO-
-!, uiu lunguua nil gu wagging lor u
week. Then Washington gets accus
tomed to tho new order, stops tnklng
und forgets nil about tho cnuso for tho
talk.
Arthur Dined Often With a Friend.
In tho old days presidents wero
chary about breaking any kind of
precedents nnd if they did break them,
they tried to keep tho breaking qulot.
Thero hns been nn unwritten rule in
Washington stneo tho days of Mndlson
that a president should not mako per
sonal or social calls on friends, and
should not attend nny social functions
unless they wcro virtually of national
size, or wcro intended to forward souio
grent charitable cause.
President Chester A. Arthur was a
socially Inclined man. Ho wanted to
lenvo tho White Houso to dlno with
friends whenever ho felt tho Inclina
tion so to do. Ho checked his desires
along this lino becauso ho did not want
to glvo offense to tho precedent wor
shipers, hut ho -indulged his desires ,
nevertheless about onco a week. After
he had left olllco it was found thnt un
known cither to tho gossips or tho non
gosslpB of Washington ho had dined
regularly onco a week with au old
friend who had a "corking good
cook."
Mr. Roosevolt, when ho was presi
dent kept pretty closo to the lines of
established social precedence, bnt ho
wns independent enough of gossip to
dlno onco in a whllo with somo closo
personal friend, llko Henry Oubot
Lodge. Mr. Taft was moro of a vis
itor to private houses perhaps than
uny of ids predecessors. Ho had some
old-tlmo Ohio friends hero, and Into
their houses ho used to drop for aft
ernoon teu, occasionally to Sunday
supper, and certainly onco or twlco a
month to partako of a family din
ner. President Wilson has broken com
paratively few social precedents, but
as Washington unquestionably would
say about it, ho has kept tlio record
for precedent smashing in other di
rections. The Silver Lining.
It was after tho domestic tiff.
"I havo nothing to llvo for," com
plained tho wife, bitterly.
"You seem to forgot my ilfo insur
ance," replied tho husband, who was
of courso a brute. Judge.