The Frontier
D. H. Cronin. Editor and Proprietor
Entered at the Postoflice at O’Neill
Nebraska as Second Class Matter
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scriber.
Keonomic Highlights
On August 28th the state of Calif
ornia produced some of the most start
ling political news of the decade. The
voters nominated Upton Sinclair, life
long Socialist, for Governor on the
Democratic ticket. In addition, they
nominated him by a tremendous maj
ority over his nearest rival, who ran
as a straight New Deal advocate, and.
his vote was well in excess of that of
the Republican candidate, acting Gov
ernor Merriam. If Mr. Sinclair wins
in November, it will be the first time
an avowed Socialist ever reached a
high governmental position in this
country, with the single exception of
the late Victor Berger.
As was to be expected, this unpre
cedented happening has aroused na
tion-wide comment. Those who be
lieve in Mr. Sinclair’s principles state
jubilantly that his success means the
definite beginning of a swing to the
left—that it is only a matter of time
before believers in socialism will sit
in all the seats of the mighty. Those
who oppose him tend to the opinion
that the voters of California have gone
temporarily insane. Neither of these
views, to an unprejudiced observer,
is convincing.
Mr. Sinclair, whether you like his
economic dicta or not, is a man of un
questioned probity, and absolute, al
most fanatical sincerity—and those
are two main reasons for his nomina
tion. Citizens of California have
grown wiuiry of machine politics—the
state has been plunged steaddy into
debt, and many taxpayers think, right
ly or wrongly, that they have little
to show for much of the money spent.
As a result, thousands of people who
do not favor Socialism cast their votes
for Sinclair because he is against all
existing political machines and appar
ently has no political connections or
obligations.
The Sinclair program is ubout as
‘promising” as anyone could imagine.
High lights are: Heavy taxes on large
inheritances and incomes over $6,000,
pensions for the sick, unemployed and
aged. Sinclair campaign motto goes
by the initials EPIC, meaning "End
Poverty in California.” It is a note
worthy fact that Mr. Sinclair financed
his campaign by charging admission
to his speeches—and he packed the
voters in while other candidates, who
charged nothing, addressed half-empty
halls. This is largely due to the fact
that he is a brilliant and experienced
speaker and a convincing writer. Some
literary critics of distinction, here and
abroad, regard him as the foremost
living American novelist.
President Roosevelt at once made an
appointment with Mr. Sinclair—ob
servers believe he will attempt to
tone down some of Mr. Sinclair’s
“wildness.” If he is elected—ami his
chunce of tttiat depends upon how
many Democratic voters who support
ed other and more conservative can
didates he is able to hold—it is likely
to prove somewhat embarrassing to
the Democratic party by putting a
genuine Socialist high in its councils.
Thus, eyes in all parts of the nation
will be trained on California next
November. And between now and
then, the state will witness one of the
bitterest campaign battles in its history.
No two men could stand farther apart
than Mr. Sinclair and Mr. Merriam,
who recently popularized himself
greatly by his decisive action in the
San Francisco strike situation—such
a wide difference is what makes tirst
class political wars.
A great deal can happen in a year
—and high government officials, tex
tile employers and textile workers are
realizing the bitter truth of that now.
A little over a year ago, on July 17,
the first NR A code went into effect.
This was the textile code, held to he a
model of its kind. It outlawed child
labor, cut working hour* and raised
wages, improved working conditions.
Spokesmen for the NRA ami the in
dustry made speeches and statements,
said that the rode marked a great
step forward in social and economic
evolution.
Today, the textile mills are silent j
save for a few in the south, and there I
are no hands to guide the looms. Al
. most 500,000 workers have left their
jobs, and the greatest strike in Amer
■ ican history has begun. Neither side
• shows signs of giving quarter, both
are digging in for a long, unhappy
battle. Last hope for early settlement
• collapsed when final desperate efforts
| of the government’s labor board, failed.
! The workers demand still shorter
1 hours, without wage reduction, plus
a closed shop and further complica
tions lie in the threat of sympathetic
strikes within other major industries
—and that is the stuff of which a
national general strike might be made.
Heads of the textile union announce
that financial contributions are flowing
in from all branches of labor, that
they will have a war-chest adequate
to pursue the strike to what they hope
will be a successful outcome. How
ever, the nation’s purchasing power
will be reduced by about $7,000,000 a
week as long as the strike is in effect.
—and everyone will feel the ill effects.
The whole future of the NRA and,
more important still, of employer
employe relations is in the balance.
The gravity of the crisis cannot be
over-emphasized—it is literally packed
with dynamite.
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
By Frank P. Litschert
September is the month in which we
celebrate the coming into being of the
Constitution of the United States. If
there is any considerable question
about how, in fewer than 150 years
we have become the richest and po
tentially the most powerful nation in
the world, the answer can be found in
this great American document.
Never in the history of the world
has there been anything like the de
velopment of the United States of
America. Our national achievement
is the wonder and envy of the entire
civilized world.
And a great deal of it has been due
to the form of government under
which we have lived. The early fath
ers were a fearless and a hardy race,
the bravest and most enterprising of
Europe’s citizens who came here be
cause they loved liberty more than
contentment, opportunity more than
safety. But in spite of this, it is
doubtful whether we could have
achieved our present greatness as a
nation, had it not been for the framers
of the Constitiution, and the govern
ment which they fashioned for us.
The proof is easy to find. Before
the creation of our Constitution the
American nation was a loosely con
nected aggregation of colonies, hem
med in by the ocean on one side and
red savages on the other. There was
no common feeling, no common pur
pose., There was every danger that
these colonies might fall apart and.
set up a series of petty governments,
so serious was the situation that many
thought a monarch, recruited from
Europe’s royalty, was the only means
of safety and stability.
But the Constitiution changed all of
this, and soon the United States of
America was a going concern. It has
been a going concern ever since. It
has succeeded because our Constitu
tional government has given us the
greatest possible amount of personal
liberty, together with a profound and
effective nationalism. Its system of
checks and balances has worked suc
cessfully, and has done so because the
Constitution is a practical document,
framed not by theorists and profes
sional reformers but by honest, sane,
hardheaded Americans, who number
ed among their ranks some of the
finest minds in the civilized world of
their day. They built not upon theory
but upon experience.
In these modern days international
ism and depression there has grown up
in our country a tendency to sneer at
the solid accomplishments of the past,
to make light of personal liberty and
of patriotism, to seek to substitute
for the solid American precepts of the
Constitution, a doctrine made in
Europe, or perhaps in the Orient.
These ultra-modern preachers of the
new faith tell us that the days of rug
ged individualism are gone, that the
old customs and the old religion have
outlived their usefulness. Instead of
seeking to make our own way accord
ing to our ability, our industry, and
our integrity, we are told that, under
I the new dispensation, Uncle Sam will
do it all. Individual effort will not
be the measure of our success; it will
come to us thru regimentation and
government regulation and control,
perhaps in the long run thru federal
ownership of property and control of
the rights of the citizen. This doc
trine, we are told is better than that
which was taught by the Constitution
al fathers. Many are fnclined to accept
it because it provides a way out, an
alibi for our own shortcomings, no
matter what these may have been.
But the so-called new idea, which
is not a new idea at all, will not work.
It has been tried in the past and has
failed, just as it will fail again. Con
stitutional government, the American
plan, has proved a success. If we
cherish it and follow it, we will again
pull from the slough of despond as
we have so many times in the past.
If we listen to strange voices ami
follow off after strange gods we will
pay in ruin and despair, and our child
ren, and our children’s children too,
will pay in full measure for our folly.
Let us then in this month of Sep
tember, rededicate our efforts to the
maintenance of American Constitu
tional government. Let us renew our
faith in sound Americanism and send
back to Europe an Asia the false doc
trines which can do nothing but
spread ruin and despair in the free
atmosphere of America.
Nebraska’s Political Sower
By James R. Lowell
“It is reported that one of the fas
tidious newly married ladies of this
town kneads bread with her gloves on.
This incident may be somewhat pe
culiar, but there are others. The ed
itor of this paper needs bread with his
shoes on, he needs bread with his
pants on, and unless some of the de
linquent subscribers to this “Old Rag
of Freedom” pony up before long he
will need bread without a damn thing
on, and Nebraska is no Garden of
Eden in the winter time.—J. R. L.
Recent events have called attention
to the state banking system of Ne
braska—namely the increased deposits
in state banks, reduced number of
state banks in operation, increased
dividends being paid to depositors of
same, and the platform of the repub
ublican state party adopted by last
week’s convention at Grand Island
wherein a demand was made for a
complete reorganization of the state
banking department. This newspaper
is presenting a brief description of
the department as prepared by the
Lowell Service at Lincoln.
Due to the instability of the early
MONEY depoNiled here to
day the burglar cannot get
to-night.
THE
O’NEILL NATIONAL
BANK
Capital, Surplus and Undivided Profits,
$125,000.00
This bank carries no Indebted
ness of officers or stockholders.
banking institutions of the state, a
general banking act was approved in
1889. Later, in 1895 a state banking
board was created, and in 1909 the
banking law was revised to provide
that the auditor, attorney general and
the governor, as ex-officio chairman,
should constitute the board The civil
administrative code imposed the duties
of the banking board on the bureau of
banking. The legislature of 1929 pro
vided for the appointment of a bank
commissioner. The most conspicuous
new feature was the guaranty fund
required to be maintained by state
banks.
The failure of many banks in 1921
led to the creation by the 1923 legis
lature of the guaranty fund commis
sion to deal with the problem of in
solvent banks. It operated until 1929,
when Khe legislature abolished the
commission and transferred its duties
to the secretary of the department
of trade and commerce. A special
legislative session in 1930 repealed the
guaranty of deposits law. Later that
year a constitutional amendment was
approved fixing liability of stockhold
ers in banks.
The first bright note in the state
banking situation in recent years came
with the court decision that RFC
funds to the extent of 75 per cent of
the approved value of assets might
be borrowed on a failed bank. This
allowed the depositors to take out a
good proportion of his money, and at
the same time allowed the debtor three
years in whcih to pay his indebtedness.
This is one of the most helpful things
that has ever happened to Nebraska
state banks, according to E. H. Luik
art, state superintendent of banks.
So far this year seven new state
banks have been chartered, Scotia,
Staplehurst, Burwell, Clarkson, Peru,
Malmo and Decatur. No such banks
were chartered in 1933, one in 1932,
five in 1931 and one in 1930.
There has been a sizable decrease
in the number of state banks, this
year, but bank failures have fallen
almost to zero. At present there are
300 unrestricted state banks in Ne
braska, while about 20 state banks are
now in the process of liquidating or
re-establishing themselves. Up to
Sept. 1, $3,155,906 had been paid on
dividends to depositors in failed state
banks. R. F. C. funds were respons
ible in part for this, but contributing
were the federal land bank commis
sion Ions, corn-hog money, wheat
money, and, most helpful of all, corn
loan money.
The year 1931 saw the greatest
mortality rate for state banks. The
number of bank failures decreased
somewhat in 1932, and was still smal
ler last year. This year the number
has been comparatively small, while
at present the storm has blown over
and bank failure is a rarity.
The bank guaranty law has lost its
teeth, due to court decisions which
destroyed the purpose of the law. As
ordered by the courts, the benefits of
the law have all gone to a compara
tively few institutions, while the great
majority of failed state banks have
derived no benefit from the law.
Already this month dividend pay
ments totaling nearly $28,000 have
been made by the state banking de
partment to depositors in failed banks
at Anselmo, Auburn and Elmcreek, in
addition to a good proportion of their
deposits which they had already re
ceived.
State banks, altho their number has
decreased from 415 to slightly more
than 300 during the July 1, 1933 to
July 1, 1934 12 month period, have
nonetheless shown an increase of over
$3,000,000 in aggregate deposits dur
ing that time and their reserve posi
tion is the strongest in history.
On July 1, 1933, deposits in state
banks stood at an aggregate total of
$61,622,000 as compared with $64,803,
000 on July 1, 1934. Their cash re
serve on July 1, 1933 was 63 per cent
of the total of $39,485,000 in loans
and discounts totaling $26,299,000.
The sizeable decrease in number of
state banks during the past year is
attributed to three factors: Receiver
ship of banks which were allowed to
open temporarily on a restricted basis;
voluntary liquidations; and consolid
ations. Nevertheless, Mr. Luikart
says tthat the state has all the banks
it needs with the exception of a very
few localities.
The situation in state banking cir
cles is vastly more hopeful now than
for a number of years, according to
Luikart. Deposits are increasing over
a year ago every month. For example,
Omaha bank clearings last Thursday
were up nearly two million dollars
over the same day a year ago, or
$5,384,574 compared to $3,701,829 a
year before.
The democratic and republican state
conventions at Omaha and Grand
Island, respectively, have left no
doubt as to where the two parties
stand as regards President Roose
(Continued onpage 5, column 3.)
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Think back a few years and a
you'll remember when the i
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a real car to make the trip to
town. And the farmer didn't
have a Ford V-8 to drive,
either. Those were the days
of the old Model T. The old T
was just the car for those roads.
Today you require a car that
is at home both on the dirt and
on the pavement. And that calls
for a different car. One with the
power to dig its way out of a
lough stretch, and, at the same
lime, with speed for the concrete
or improved road. And the Ford
,V-8 is just such a car.
I ndcr the hood of the Ford
is a real engine. The V-8 and
the only one in a car under
$2500. An engine that Henry
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power per gallon than any Ford
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an<l ruts and had stretches of
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On the highway the Ford
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