The Frontier
D. H. Cronin, Editor and Proprietor
Entered at the Postoflice at O’Neill,
Nebraska as Second Class Matter.
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Economic Highlights
Europe continues to hold tenaciously
to the news spotlight. A few weeks
ago the German executions constituted
the greatest headline feature of re
cent months. The assassination of
Chancellor Dollfuss followed, and all
eyes were focused on Vienna. Now
the death of President Hindenburg
has again centered the world’s interest
on Berlin, and has further complicated
the already chaotic Central European
situation.
It is u known fact that von Hinden
burg was simply a figurehead in Ger
many for the past year or two. Grown
old und tired, it is reported he could
be easily handled by his advisors—it
is said that in recent months he would
sign anything put before him without
reading it. As long has he lived, how
ever, the world knew that the German
government was officially headed by a
man of proven ability and strength.
Von Hindenburg was literally the rock
of Gibraltar of Central Europe; some
believed that he was all that stood
between Germany and economic and
political insanity.
Chancellor Hitler moved fast when
the President died. He at once seized
the office the old Field Marshal had
held and thus became both President
and Chancellor. His power over Ger
many is absolute in theory as well as
in fact; there is no check whatsoever
on him. He is more powerful than
was the Kaiser in the palmiest days of
the Hohenzollerens.
A number of qualified observers are
now forecasting that Hitler is plan
ning to restore the monarchy—but
Wilhelm II will not sit again on the
throne he left in 1918. Hitler’s hope,
if reports are correct, is to make him
self King Adolph I. If he succeeds,
his rise will have but one historical
counterpart—that of Napoleon, who
rose from a poor Corsican army lieu
tenant to become emperor of all
France.
These events in Germany have had
an unhappy effect on the Austrian
problem. The nazi putsch which re
sulted in the assassination of Dollfuss
failed, and its leaders have faced tir
ing squads, but the rebels have not
admitted defeat. Preparations for
overthrowing the present anti-nazi
Austrian government are again under
way, and the revolutionaries have
money, leaders and men. It will be a
fight to a finish with no quarter given.
Today the Austrian government is
treating nazis and their families very
much as the German government
treats anti-nazis. It is confiscating
their property and sending dissenters
to concentration camps for long terms.
Hatred is the great emotion of the
hour and it is feared much more
blood will flow in the streets of Vienna
before the issue is settled.
The Central European powder keg
is still open; the fuse is still laid.
Behind the scenes diplomats work
furiously, seeking secret ententes and
agreements in case of war.
Up in North Dakota the governor
was recently convicted of a felony, and
sentenced to Leavenworth. The voters
of North Dakota then renominated
him for his office by a tremendous
majority.
Behind that fact is a situation which
is causing much worry in Washing
ton. North Dakota farmers are mad
—and if one state gets mad, the rest
of the agricultural states will get mad
too sooner or later. Agriculture is
still largely in the dumps. Many farm
ers have little use for law and order;
they dislike and mistrust courts.
Thousands have lost their homes and
their crops; those who still own their
own farms are liable to find that cost
of operation, plus taxes and mort
gage payments, exceed revenue. The
result is that they are in a harsh
frame of mind, and their renomination
of the convicted governor was a direct
slap at the federal power which sen
tenced him to prison.
The national government ran do
nothing as yet. But high officials are
keeping a watch on Bismarck and
wondering if similar situation will oc
cur in other state capitals.
The railroads entered depression
long before industry as a whole, large
ly due to the increase in waterway,
truck and bus competition. Result of
bad times among the railroads was
much unemployment, a tremendous
drop in purchasing power, heavy de
creases in the value of railroad secur
ities. The federal government regards
the railroads as one of the main in
dustries which must be rehabilitated
before normal times can start to re
turn.
Now the railroads propose revision
of the national freight rate schedule.
A new schedule will be presented to
the Interstate Commerce Commission
for approval. Maximum increases,
with few exceptions, are about ten
per cent; many classes of rates are
upped less than that. It is forecast
that the schedule would net the roods
about $180,000,000 a year additional.
This is but 60 per cent of the in
creased expenses the railroads must
pay, due to higher cost of supplies,
higher pay rolls, etc.
The Interstate Comerce Commission
will probably permit the rate increase;
under the law its duty is to allow the
carriers a fair annual return of about
6 per cent. The lines have not earned
as much as that in the last 16 years.
Nebraska’s Political Sower
By James R. Lowell, Lincoln, Nebr.
With the need for water being im
pressed upon Nebraskans this sum
mer more focibly than ever before
in the state’s history, both local and
federal authorities are bending their
efforts towurd water conservation and
drouth prevention on a scale hither
tofore undreamed of in the Cornhusk
er state.
It is a matter of record that in the
North Platte valley alone enough wat
er to cover 2 million acres a foot deep
is lost to the valley farmers each
year. About a million and a half
acre feet of water gets away from
the farmers of the Loup river valleys
during the flood season, not to men
tion the Frenchman and Arickeree
valleys.
Irrigation projects proposed or now
under way will come near to doubling
the number of acres under irrigation
in the state (three-quarters of a mil
lion acres at the present time) within
the next 10 years. The Sutherland
project in particular is an important
landmark in Nebraska’s water con
servation development.
The water engineering section of
the emergency relief administration
is making surveys of the drouth area
to determine the most feasible means
of developing long-range drouth pre
vention means, and S. P. Lyle, one of
the engineers, is now making such a
survey in this state. He is studying
all suggested power and irrigation
projects as well as the possibility of
digging wells and constructing reser
voirs and will make his report to Re
lief Administrator Hopkins at Wash
ington in the near future.
Diverting Colorado river waters
across the continental divide into the
Platte is one of the recommendations
that has already been made. The
water would be impounded in num
erous resevoirs in the Platte valley.
Diversion of Missouri river waters is
also being considered.
,rTo prevent a repitition of the
tragic experience of this summer,”
President Roosevelt has been appealed
to by Dan Stephens and J. E. Lawr
ence of Nebraska’s PWA advisory
board who urge prompt development
of all water conservation projects in
the state. This appeal was made on
the belief that the president will make
special funds available to combat the
drouth recurrence.
Stephens estimates that it will take
$60,000,000 to complete proposed pro
jects and set up a bulwark to effec
tively combat drouth. The program
would include the Tri-county, North
and Middle Loup projects, Benkleman
Haigler-Arickeree, Frenchman and
Blue Creek irrigation developments.
Word has been sent to Congressman
Ed. Burke, of Omaha, to the effect
that the public works power board of
review, at Washington, has recom
mended a modification of the pro
posed Middle Loup project to pro
vide power only for pumping water
for irrigation purposes. Burke says
there is a liklihood that this project
may be speeded up so that water will
be provided to irrigate next year’s
crops. The project originally called
for $2,278,700 for power and irrigation
development, but federal authorities
say that the Sutherland project will
provide power for the Loup territory
and that there is not enough water
available to provide energy for power
plants at both places.
J. K. Carnahan, state work director
for the FERA, has completed a pro
gram of water conservation which in
cludes wells and water supply, garden
and farm ponds, improvement of ir
rigation works, public lakes and res
ervoirs, soil erosion, and municipal
water supplies. Work on this pro
gram is to be financed with FERA
funds as an employment relief pro
ject, and is to begin at one*. The
program is to be completed 8y March
l, 1835.
The tax levy of 1834 to be paid by
counties under the 2.1 mill assessment
is 94.326,326 as compared with $4,865,
147 a year ago. Taxable cash shows
an increase this year as do cattle and
horses.
While all intangibles show a sharp
reduction from the 1932 assessment*
there is a slight increase over 1933 on
assessment rolls of money. The value
of securities and accounts shows a
great reduction, however, and there is
a small reduction in bank stock values.
As the new intangible tax law
passed by the last legislature has been
declared void, intangibles are taxed
under the old law. Money is taxed at
2*4 mills on the dollar, and securities
and bank shares at 8 mills. Money
and its equivalent show a total valu
ation of $46,680,195, while class B
intangibles which consist of stock and
bonds, notes, annuities, royalties, book
accounts and judgments, total $36,
905,801 this year compared with $52,
399,921 in 1933. Taxable money last
year totaled $43,014,122.
Bank stock was valued at $26,251,
102 in 1932, $24,290,101 in 1933 and
$21,494,007 this year.
The assessment shows 3,029,461
head of cattle this year (before the
drouth emergency sale of cattle
started) compared with 2,776,843 last
year and 2,572,905 in 1932. The value
for 1934 is $66,726,457; last year, $48,
147,064, and $50,576,854 in 1932. The
average appraised value was $18.39
compared with $17.34 last year. As
usual, Cherry county had the most
cattle, 219,061 head, valued at $3,805,
835. Custer county was second.
The total assessed value of horses
in Nebraska this year is $21,386,817,
or nearly four and a half million dol
lars above 1933. There were 601,681
horses listed, or about 6,000 more
than were listed on the assessment
rolls for April 1, 1933. The average
value was $35.65 as against $28.42
a year ago.
Drouth relief for farmers and their
cattle continues to hold first place in
affairs of state. Rowland Haynes,
federal relief administrator for Ne
braska, last week made a tour of the
state which convinced him that the
relief load will be twice as great as
last winter’s record breaker, while
there will not be half enough feed to
care for the livestock now in the state.
A more liberal policy in dealing
with drouth-stricken farmers in re
gard to carrying over notes, the ap
praisal and classification of paper
carried and extension of time and. val
uation of livestock is to be adopted by
Nebraska state banks upon recom
mendation and under the supervision
of the state banking department.
Superintendent Luikart of the de
partment announced that “banks are
now in good shape and they can well
withstand a more liberal policy. Just
how to handle paper under present
drouth conditions will be decided in
the near future."
Under a plan worked out by Prof.
H. J. Gramlich, state director of fed
eral cattle buying, purebred stock is
to be kept within the state by “farm
ing out” the purebred herds to Ne
braska farmers who have feed and
roughages to spare. It is doubtful,
however, whether all the purebred
stock can be handled in the state over
the winter, so the schedule of prices
for such animals is to be raised under
Gramlich’s plan.
Arrangements are now being made
with local elevators and similar agen
cies to serve as distributing points in
counties short of feed for livestock,
to handle feed purchased by the gov
ernment and distribute it to farmers
working under the government pro
gram in the drouth areas. Such com
missaries are to be established in at
least 30 counties, according to L. A.
White, rural rehabilitation director
for Nebraska.
Up to this week only 12 counties
in the state had not been designated
as emergency drouth counties. These
12 are in the secondary drouth area,
however. They include Cuming, Da
kota, Burt, Thurston, Dodge, Colfax,
Pierce, Garden, Cheyenne, Kimball
and Scottsbluff. None of the 12 had
asked for'the emergency classifica
tion.
State officials have received word
from the office of Secretary of Agri
culture Wallace that federal author
ities have given no consideration to
the plea made by the state railway
commission that a 25 cent increase be
made in the corn loan value. The ex
tension of the maturity date on corn
loans to Sept. 1 was announced re
cently, however and the government
informed the railway commission that
it is making plans to handle corn on
which loans are not redeemed by Sep
tember 1.
The extension of the maturity date
on corn loans was made to allow bor
rowers plenty of time to determine
their own feeding needs, according
to the government communication.
GIST OF THE STATE HOUSE
NEWS: The capitol will not be dedi
cated until sometime in October. The
date had been set for September 3,
but the state fair board protested on
the grounds that holding the dedica
tion labor day would detract from the
Labor day crowd at the fair.
State revenue from beer for the
first year will fall considerably under
the half million mark predicted by
“beer boosters” during the last legis
lative session, but will be consider
ably above the $200,000 mark. July
collections will be the biggest of the
year, being certain to top the pre
vious high figure of $31,116 set in
June. During the 10 months and 20
days up to July during which beer
has been legal in Nebraska, 6,301,048,
or nearly three gallons per capita has
been consumed.
Figures released by the state audit
or’s office show that the registration
of new public bond issues in the state
took a jump in July, totaling $730,200.
The South Omaha bridge across the
Missouri river accounted for $550,000,
however, governmental subdivisions
paid off $877,775 of old bonds in July.
The biennial report on Nebraska’s
public school endowment submitted by
the state land commissioner showed
collections for the first half of this
year amounting to $144,055, with
$172,180 and $218,041 being collected
in the preeeeding half year periods.
Interest collections on sale contracts
amounted to $32,938, and $25,394 and
$48,216 respectively for the preceed
ing half year periods. Taken as a
whole, the income from state lands
has shown an increase under State
Land Commissioner Conklin as com
pared with his predecessor.
The board of control which has
charge of stale institutions has re
duced. salaries of its 1,000 employes
$37,000, or 5 per cent. Nine employes
of the state hospital at Lincoln went
on strike as a protest and were im
mediately replaced. The new reduc
tion makes a total of 15 per cent since
the beginning of the biennium.
The cut does not affect members of
the board of control or officers of the
17 state institutions. The reason for
this, according to Mrs. Nellie Benson,
chairman, is because only one state is
now paying less than Nebraska.
Mrs. Benson says the further re
duction of wages of employees is
necessary to make up for crop fail
ure at the state institutions and higher
prices for supplies. The last legis
lature appropriated $3,360,000 for
maintenance of institutions for the
biennium, of which $1,774,973 remains.
Salaries are paid from maintenance.
The number of inmates in the 17
institutions last month was 7,558 com
pared with 7,634 a year ago. Em
ployees including officers number 1,144
compared with 1,147 in July, 1933.
The shortage in the state permanent
school funds which was revealed by
the auditor’s office nearly a year ago
has developed, into a political squab
ble, with State Treasurer Hall crit
icizing Governor Bryan, State Auditor
Price and Attorney General Good for
failure to press an investigation of the
former administration’s handling of
the funds.
Hall asserts that “pressure has been
brought to bear to halt the inquiry,”
and that hundreds of thousands of
dollars are involved in the affair which
is “the worst thing that has happended
to Nebraska since Joseph S. Bartley,
ex-state treasurer was convicted of
embezzling funds before the turn of
the century.” A $50,000 civil suit
was filed against former Stats Treas
urer T. W. Bass last spring in connec
tion with alleged clipping of coupons
of state educational investment funds
by outsiders. Hall recently asked
for a furntheT investigation of invest
ments of the board of educational
lands and funds prior to 1931, but
Price refused, saying he lacked the
funds and that it was “just politics.”
Excavation Shows Holt
County Was Once The
Home of Many Indians
By J. B. O’Sullivan
(Continued from last week.)
Often, when the given number of
fish were eaten by the medicine men,
they were opened only by some glit
tering and precious long knife per
haps of quartz, agate, obsidian, chal
cedony, petrified wood or jasper, or
semi-precious material. The owner of
that knife had the keys of the town,
so to speak, he was as good as king
without the risk of having his carcass
found with so many holes in it that
one could not distinguish it from a
sieve.
It should be mentioned here, as it
might come in handy some time, that
the fish traps were constructed of a
size which permitted entry of the
fish but they could not turn around
and seldom backed out. It often hap
pened that the squaws of this or that,
or all of the tribes decided the time
best to prepare fish for use in the
winter was during the operation of
the dam and traps at the big conclave.
The women smoked the fish after they
had been dried in the sun and. were
as hard as so many ears of corn.
White persons claim they ate fish, so
prepared in winter time, and found the
fish fine food. Ceremonies and con
tests of all kinds occupied the time of
those present and there was something
doing every daylight hour. At night
notes were compared, the weather,
game movements, news, rumors and
death and disasters discussed around
council fires that flickered and faded
away forever.
During these conclaves matters of
great importance were discussed and
settled, usually in a peaceful manner.
(Continued, on page 4, column 4.)
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