The Frontier.
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY BY
if; HE FRONTIER PRINTING COMPANY
D. H. CRONIN, Editor.
TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS.
AH our subscribers who are owing
us on subscription are requsted to
caU and settle their account. Do
not put off the payment of your sub
scription, but come and pay up at
once. We need the money to keep
our business going, and if our sub
• scribers do not come in and pay up
we will have to employ a collector.
Please call and settle.
Now for the republican tariff bill,
and then a long era of general
prosperity.
The hearing of the case against
ex-Treasurer Bartley has been con
tinued until Apiil 10.
The Sioux City Journal is defend
ant in a $10,000 libel suit This
ought to make the Tribune envious.
President McKinley has made a
good start, and everybody knows
haw advantageous that is in every
thing.
A great deal of the oampaign
enthusiasm was revived at the
inauguration of McKinley and
, Hobart.
American citizens and the Ameri
v can flag are going to be respected
in every quarter of the world during
this administration. Mark the pre
diction.
■M.. --
Protection to Americans at home
and abroad is the keystone of the
republican arch congress will pro
vide for first, and President MoKin
. ley will do the rest
Yes, yes, great party, great admin
istration, and we are all going to
have great times as soon as its
imprint is felt upon the statute
books of the country.
Jerry Simpson knows the value of
advertising. Having worked out
t the sockless scheme, he has now
' sprung a silk hat and tailor made
suit on the newspapers.
The Sun has just discovered that
a board of populist supervisois are
an expensive luxury. Just what
The Frontier has been telling the
people the past five years.
A French duke has arrived in
this country as the advance agent
of a useful invention. Even Euro
pean nobility is sometimes useful—
if they are so poor they have to be.
The report that Gen. Weyler has
resigned may or may not be true,
but, unless he intends to turn over a
' new leaf in his treatment of Ameri
cans in Cuba, he would better
resign. '■ _
John Hhxbmab’b platform—pro
tection to American citizens any
where and everywhere—is good
enough for anybody, and it is going
to be lived np to by this adminis
tration.
All those who are interested in
the question of irrigation should
attend the meeting at the oourt
■f house next Tuesday. No matter
whether you are opposed to it or in
favor of it, attend, and let the mat
ter be thoroughly discussed.
John D. Rookxfelleb has prom
ised to add $10,000,000 to his
2 already large donations to the
University of Chicago, of which he
is the founder. Standard oil money
has certainly proved an excellent
lvbrioant for this institution.
Tub Sun was willing to pay a cor
poration about $5,000,000 to build
jis the big irrigation ditch, and then
pay them about $750,000 a year for
the use of the water. But now it is
opposed to the residents of the dis
trict bnilding the ditch and owning
it If it was a good thing for a
to pay n water right of $10 an
ecre, and $1.25 an acre for the use
:J|of the water, why is it not a good
V thing to pay a tax of about 20
cents an acre under the district
system 7 -4 .-..V,
Wr4''
THE DITCH.
Thera seems to be a great deal ol
excitement and agitation and fus*
over the irrigation question, and
people here and there are working
themselves into a frenzy over imag
inary “octopuses,” “swindler’s ditch
es,” “burdens of taxation” and sc
forth and so forth. This is all
unwarranted. There is no one hurt
and we don’t believe that anyone
is going to be hurt.
The people got so much of the
drouth in 1803 and 1894 that they
were clamoring for a system of
irrigation. Their clamor was born
of necessity. All agreed that it was
a question of irrigate or emigrate.
It was believed that a successful
system of irrigation could be had
and a number of persons, who prob
ably had more dollars than sense,
went down into their pockets and
contributed money to ascertain what
could be done in that direction.
Investigation showed that we had
what appeared to be one of the best
natural layouts for a successful irri
gation system that could be found
in the United States. So encourag
ing did the thing appear that efforts
were made to interest outside capi
tal, but the outside capitalists were
evidently “on to us.” They were
shy. Finally, however, an agree
ment was made with some eastern
parties that if a sufficient number of
water rights were contracted for to
form a safe basis for investment,
money would be forthcoming to
carry on the enterprise. A great
many water rights were taken, but
not enough. Public meetings were
being held in the meantime at which
the question was being discussed,
aud at which the obstructionists
were in attendance. The cost was
roughly estimated at a million
dollars. Those opposed to irriga
tion pooh-poohed the idea. Accord
ing to them a few hundred thousand
dollars would build the ditch. Pcli
tics got mixed up with the idea and
it died.
About the same time the legisla
ture framed an irrigation law—the
very thing the people wanted.
They could form a district, build
their own ditch, eleot good honest
men to look after it instead of the
rascals that were connected with the
company, and best of all they could
make the non-residents pay the
biggest share of the cost. Just
what the doctor ordered. The dis
trict was formed and everything
went smoothly on, and it begins to
look as if the district could build
the ditch. But now mark the
change. The fellows that don’t
want irrigation come on the scene
again, the obstructionists, the ones
who wanted thei people to build the
ditch because they thought the
people couldn’t build it, the ones
who laughed at the idea of the
ditch costing more than a few hund
red thousand dollars, when the
company was trying to bnild it
They have changed their minds and
now think that the ditch instead of
costing a few hundred thousand
dollars will cost as many million
dollars.. Consistent, are they not?
Now then, what’s their purpose?
Are they honest? How can they or
anyone else say what the cost of
building the ditch will be? The
survey iB being made for the pur
pose of finding this out We most
positively and emphatically say that
no one can tell what the cost will be
at tbis time. Those who were away
down low in their figures on the one
proposition, end equally as high on
their estimate of the cost under the
present plan, can hardly be depend
ed on for reliable information.
It seems to us a good time to
“keep one’s shirt on” and summon a
little common sense to our assistance.
But a roar is going up against the
survey, which is costing thousands
of dollars. Well, we’ll just wager
dollars to buttons that of the taxes
already paid in under the levy made
for the purpose of making the sur
vey, not cne-tenth of it has been
paid by people living in the district.
We heard a man who has a couple
of town lots kicking on this survey a
few days ago, and the tax he had to
pay on account of it, and juBt to
satisfy our curiosity we wen!
and looked up the taxes on
his lots. He hasn't paid any taxer
in five years, and, ten to one, he
doesn’t intend to pay any more.
Now in conclusion, let us say that
we don’t want to see this ditch built
unless the cost of building it will be
reasonable and such that we can
profit by it. We do want to see the
survey completed so that we will
know once and for all what is best
to do about building a ditch. When
we get the engineer’s report we may
be surprised at what it will disclose.
It may show that the cost will be
very light. We are sure of one
thing now, and that is that the man
who says the ditch will be 250 miles
long is either misreprrsenting or
uninformed, because the actual dis
tance from the reservoir site to the
east line of Holt county is only 108
miles, and from the Snake river to
the reservoir site is only 28 miles.
And we know that those who state
that Campbell is being paid $25 a
day while he is in Denver are either
willfully untruthful or do not know
what they are talking about, because
Campbell is paid only for the actual
time he is engaged, and then in
warrants that we do not believe he
can sell for ten cents on the dollar.
And we also know that the news
paper that has been asked to bid on
the printing of ballots for the April
election, as required by law, as was
one of the Ainsworth, Neb., papers,
and then comes out in an article
with a declaration that the ballots
are for a bond election, and that the
bonds are to be voted before the
survey is completed, whether the
ditch is to cost a large or a small
sum, is not honest or ridiculously
ignorant.
MS. ECKLES AND THE CONFER
ENCE.
A Washington rumor has it that
Comptroller Eckles is to represent
this country under the international
monetary act providing for one or
more special commissioners for the
preliminary negotiations, and five or
more commissioners for the confer
ence.
There is no reason to doubt but
what Mr. Eckles would act in good
faith in this matter. As for the
commission to participate in the
conference itself, while the gold
monometalists, to which class Eckles
belongs, should be represented, a
clear majority of the commission
should consist of genuine bimetal
lists, men in thorough sympathy
with the international monetary
plank of the republican platform.
That plank was not a decoy duck,
but a truthful statement of what the
republican party will try in good
faith to accomplish.
The act as finally passed gives the
president almost carte blanche to
expend $100,000 in promoting the
end in view. That amounted to a
vote of confidence in Mr. McKinley,
confidence that be will do all he can
to bring about such a conference
and to make it a success.
This is the fourth time our coun
try has tried to restore general
bimetalism by passing an interna
tional monetary conference act, or,
which is the same thing, providing
in some more general bill for partic
ipation in such a conference. The
first dates back to February 28,
1878, just 10 years previous to the
last act That first instance was a
supplementary feature of the Bland
Allison act. Three years later the
sundry civil act contained an appro
priation for the purpose, as did the
one of the year following. From
1982 to 1895 there was a lull. A
general appropriation of $100,000
was made in 1895, but President
Cleveland ignored it altogether.
He was opposed to anything and
everything which might promote
the restoration of silver, no matter
what the ratio.—Inter Ocean.
The bill changing the definition
of a legal newspaper was killed in
the house Tuesday. ’Tis well.
Well, it is a relief to know that
Mr. Cleveland is no longer in a
position to teach the country expen
Bive object lessons.
' A strong cabinet, mentally, physi
cally and politically, is that which
President McKinley has chosen to
advise him. The men who compose
it will not be merely head clerks, as
the members of Mr. Cleveland’s
cabinet were, but will be actual
advisers of the president.
O’Nbi LL BUS1 NESS DIRECTORY
jQR. J. P. GIL.L1GAN,
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON,
Office in Holt County Bank building
All work cash in advance. Night work
positively refused.
O’NEILL, . - - NEB.
J| R. DICKSON
ATTORNEY AT LAW
Reference First National Bank
O’NEILL, NEB.
tmi aid son cram suss
Stage leaves O’Neill at 8:80 a. m„ arriving at
Spencer at 4 p. m. ; at Butte. 5:30 p. m.
S. D. Gallentine, Prop.
gABNBY STEWART,
PRACTICAL AUCTIONEER.
Satisfaction guaranteed.
Address, Page, Neb.
fj^H. BENEDICT,
LAWYER,
Offloe in the Judge Robert! building, north
of O. O. Snyder's lumber yard,
0 NEILL, NEB.
Pacific Short Line
-HAS THE
BEST TRAIN SERVICE
-IN
NORTHERN NEBRASKA.
Through Freight and Passenger Rates
TO ALL POINTS.
If you are going on a trip or Intend chang
ing your location, apply to our nearest
agent, or write to
W. B. McNIDER.
Gen’l Pass. Agent, Sioux City.
DeYARMAN'S BARN.
B. A. DaYAKMAN, Manager.
D'Y ARMAN’S
fffffn ?iuif
Livery, Feed and Sale Stable.
Finest turnouts in the city.
Good, careful drivers when
wanted. ALo run the O’Neill
Omnibus line. Commercial
trade a specialty.
Purohaat Tlokata and Consign your
rrsIgMvlstht
F. E.&M.V.andS.C.&P
RAILROADS.
TRAINS DEPART:
OOIMQ BAST.
Passenger east. No. 4, 10:04 a. m
Freight east. No. 24, 18:15 p. m
i Freight east, No 28, 8:55 p m.
OOINO WIRT
Passenger west. No. 3, 9:40 p. u
Freight west, No. 37, 10:04 p. m
Freight, No, 23, Local 4:00 P. X.
The Elkhorn Line is now running Reclining
Chair Cars daily* between Omaha and Dead- !
wood, jree to holders of flrst-class transpor i
tatlon. i
Fer any information call on
Wj J. DOBBS, Agt.j
O’NEILL. NEB. j
elKHorn valley
PLOW FACTORY
O'NEILL, NEB.
EMILSNIGGS, Prop.
-Manufactures the Hamnell Open Mould-Board Stirring
Plow. Also general blacksmithing and practical horseshoer.
Wagon and Carriage woodwork carried on in connection.
All work guaranteed to give satisfaction. Also dealer in
Farm Implements. Handles the Scandi implements and
the Plano Rakes, Movers and Binders. Parties wishing
anything in this line call and see me.
G. W. WATTLES, President. ANDREW RUSSELL, V-Pres.
JOHN McHUGH, Cashier.
THE - STATE - BANK
OF 0*NBaidC..
CAPITAL $30,000.
r
Prompt Attention Given to Collections
DO A GENERAL BANKING BUSINESS.
Chicago Lumber Yard
Headquarters for . . .
LUMBER
AND
< CO A LI
Always Buy the
Best. The . . .
si®®
spsi
Best is Cheapest
sipqg
The Finest end Largest stock of good in the Hardware and.
...Implement Line in the Klkhorn Valley is found at
1
Neil Brennan's
\
John Deere plows,. Moline wagons, David
Bradley & Co’s famous Disc cultivators...
Riding and walking cultivators, harrows.
Glidden wire, stoves, oils, cuttlery, tinware.
NEW YORK. . .
ILLUSTRATED
NEWS
•The Organ of Honoat Sport in Amorloa
ALL THE SENSATIONS OF THE DAY
PICTURED BY THE
FOREMOST ARTISTS OF THE COUNTRY
Life in New York Graphically Illustrated
Breezy but Reapcctable.
*4 FOR A YEAN, $2 FOR SIX MONTHS
Do you want to be poeted? Then aetid
your subscription to the
HEW MS ILLUSTRATED HEWS,
3 PARK PLACE NEW YORK CITY
PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY
HOTEL
-—£ vans
Enlarged
Refurnished
Refitted
Only First-class Hotel
In the City.
w. T. EVANS, Prop'
Wanted-An Idea Sh?jss