Journa
rhATTSMOUTII, NEmtASKA. THUIj37)A V, NOV lM Willi II, 1907.
VOLUME XXVII
NUMIiKIJ Hi
'plntternontb
u
mi
Bryan, and Plot Governor JohnsoEi, of klinne-
;oia, Ihe Logical Gandidafe,
in
A TRIBUTE TO
By a Former Cass County Gilizen, Who as Now
a Resident of Oregan, and Believes He
Can Lead the Party to Victory.
The following is from the pen of our
old friend, Charles V. Sherman, who
was formerly editor of this paper and
lived in Plattsmouth many years. Mr.
Sherman has many personal friends
throughout tlfe county who are always
glad to hear from this "grand old man,"
whose heatl is pretty level on the politi
cal situation at the present time. We
publish the following, which is taken
from the Portland (Oregon) Daily Jour
nal because we know that it will be
read by the readers of this paper with
considerable interest:
To the Editor of the Journal:
The fairness with which the Journal
treats all questions of public interest
and importance has given it great power
in the molding of public opinion, not
only in Oregon, but measurably through
out the country, while the kindness of
its editorial management toward critics
among its readers is no less noteworthy
Its habits of tolerance toward such in
duces me to offer some observations
respecting the nomination the Demo
crats should make for president next
year, inasmuch as that is a subject of
interest now.
I see that the Journal in a very mod
erate anil well-guarded editorial, has
joined the Watterson crusade in favor
of taking up a new man -Governor John
A. Johnson of Minnesota, in place of
William I. Bryan, the popular leader,
and closed by venturing the opinion that
"it is not improbable that under all the
circumstances Johnson could poll a
heavier vote than Bryan." As reasons
for this view, it is hinted that there are
certain antagonisms to Mr. Bryan, and
his nomination would arouse opposition
within certain elements of the party,
and Governor Johnson's wonderful
popularity in his state is pointed to.
The first of these reasons I do not think
is worthy of serious consideration, but
the second may well be taken into ac
count. Norwegian Vote Elected Johnson.
Governor Johnson lives in a state
which was settled very largely by Nor
wegians, who are. very naturally, very
clannish they stick together. Most of
them came to America while the slavery
question w as the leading issue of the
day. Having come to a "free" coun
try they disliked slavery, and in com
mon with the Germans and Swedish
immigrants of that time they became
attached to the Republican party, which
was brought into being to defeat the
extension of that curse to American
civilization. Governor Johnson is, if I
am correctly informed, a scion of one
of those Norwegian families, and who
came into public life as a representa
tive of that element of the population
of the state. He is unquestionably a
man of strong personality and great
intellectually resources, and far be it
from me to disparage his powers. Of
late years the Republican politicians of
that state became jealous of the claims
of the Norwegians in the politics of the
state and tried to ignore them, which
fact aroused great resentment among
that element, and while that feeling
was at its strongest Johnson was taken
up for governor by the Democrats, and
on the issues presented, was elected by
an overwhelming majority, while Roose
velt carried the state by more than
100.000.
The resourceful Norwegian-American
was able to carry the man of his blood
and kindred with him for governor, but
not on the presidential question. And
he has done so, to a less extent, a sec
ond time while on national party lines
" the Norwegians still vote the Republican
ticket, and the probabilities point
strongly to their doing so, should John
son be the presidential nominee next
I
i
III
i
i
YEAR HEH
THE NEBRASKAN
year. Not only that, but the country
at large would very likely look upon
him in the same light as many regard
Mr. Taft today as a substitute for the
real leader of the party. And this leads
me to a brief discussion of the elements
of leadership possessed by Mr. Bryan
I to such a remarkable degree, and has
j enabled him to retain his place in the
'hearts and confidence of the "rank and
file" as no public man in America has
I done except Washington and Lincoln,
i Bryan's Life Purpose,
j William J. Bryan was the son of
! rather ordinary parents. His father
j was an Illinois farmer who rose to the
distinc tion of a county judge. He was
esteemed more by his neighbors for his
unquestioned honesty and integrity and
for right living than for superior tal
ents. His mother was a woman of
rare good judgment and homely com
mon sense. As a boy Mr. Bryan lived
and worked on the farm as farmer boys
do going to school during the winters.
He was bright and of a studious an
alytic turn, so that his father deter
mined to give him a chance to secure
more than a common school education.
But he was a boy who early in life dis
played traits far in advance of the or
dinary farmers' boys -a determination
to make a career for himself in public
life -and this is how it came about, as
I had it from his own lips:
"When about 14 years of age I was
plowing one day in one of my father's
fields. The sun was warm, and as the
plow handles jerked my arms back and
forth, the sweat ran from my forehead
down over my face, and I got to reflect
ing on the fearful struggle which the
great mass of people were compelled to
make against poverty and wretched
ness; that the rich people had favors
shown through the laws, while the poor
had none; and I then and there made up
my nd that if I lived to man's estate I
would enter public life and do all that I
could to equalize the burdens of life, to
elevate the plane of the common man,
the man between the plow handles, the
blacksmith at the forge, the carpenter
at his bench, the mechanic and the day
laborer, the men who do the work of
the world, and as much as possible re
lieve them from the almost hopeless
grind to which they were then subject
ed in their struggle for life."
This statement substantially he made
to me the evening before he was to
make his speech in congress, March 16,
1392. "And that resolve then made, "
he continued, "is the reason why I am
here in congress today, and why I have
prepared my speech for free wool."
An Unequaled Leader.
Who, I would ask, among our public
men, ha? begun life with a higher pur-
I pose or a nobler ambition? to elevate
the condition of the common man? And
in the years since I have known him,
since two years before he was nomi
nated by the Democrats of his district
for congress, that boyhood's inspiration
seems to me to have been the guiding
star of his every public act. It was
that profound thought which followed
him through his years of schooling, his
adoption of the law as a further means
of preparation, and his study of elocu
tion as a means of reaching the hearts
and confidence of the pople that has
given him an impassioned eloquence of
speech unapproached among the men
of his time, and made him a peerless
debater on the stump. It has, too, kept
him from making such mistakes in his
public utterances as Henry Clay, Daniel
Webster, Lewis Cass and James G.
Blaine made at critical times in their
careers, which barred them from the
acme of their ambition the door of the
presidency. And, I think it more than
possible, that he had that boyhood de
termination in mind when he uttered
that startling peroration in his great
Chicago convention speech in 1MJ(: j
"You shall not press down upon the
brow of labor a crown of thorns; you j
shall not crucify mankind 'upon a cross j
of gold!"
Since his first entrance into the halls j
of congress, Mr. Bryan has moved rap-i
idly forward as a forceful, constructive j
statesman, not by means usual with j
machine politicians, but by sheer strength .
of character and ability; with an en
thusiasm for correct princ iples that is
all-pervad'.ng, a courage undaunted by
temporary failure, an honesty unas- j
sailed, a heartiness that is magnetic j
and which meets a ready response 1
among the people, a genialty which '
draws all men to him as a genuine j
friend of mankind, and with a states- ,
manship broad and deep, which makes :
for the purification all the affairs of j
public life and for the uplifting and I
bettering of the conditions of life 1
throughout his country and the world.
His keen perceptions of the needs of !
the nation has enabled him to formu- j
late platforms of principles so apt and I
profound as not only to command their
adoption by his party, but has forced
their adoption by strong men of other I
parties and even by a president elected
by the party opposed to him, who has
found them to be the chief elements of
his popularity.
Unwise to Put Forward Another.
It is the part of wisdom, in view of
these things, to suggest or counsel such
a man -a model and exemplar of the
statesmanship of his time to stand
aside for the nomination of one who, at
best, is but little known by the masses
of men throughout the country, who has
taken no part in shaping the policies of
his party, or in the struggle which has
brought that party up to its present
high standard of political and moral
ethics? No matter what Mr. Bryan
may think of such advice, but it is fair
and honest with the people? Should
they not have something to say regard
ing such a reactionary proposition?
Have the masses, who have found in Mr.
Bryan as perfect a leader as the coun
try has found in 50 years, nothing to
say in this matter?
The Journal well says that Mr. Bryan
is "undoubtedly the first choice of a
great majority of the rank and file" of
his party. How can it, then, be the
part of political wisdom, or, indeed, of
moral ethics, to ignore that fact, to go
out after a "will-o'-the-wisp" in search
for someone who, possibly, has no "an
tagonisms" within his party? It strikes
me that the wisdom and force of char
acter which have made Mr. Bryan a
leader of his party also force upon him
a responsibility which he has no right
to evade, and which cannot be minim
ized with safety or propriety. The re
sult of a presidential election is always
a matter of doubt in advance. This is
well illustrated by the 86,000,000 raised
by Mr. Hanna's "hurry-up call" lOdays
before the election in '96, but for the
use of which, it is believed that Bryan
would have been elected. Four years
ago Bryan's opponents in the party
thought to bury him forever when they
obtained a mastery of the St. Louis con
vention but the result was he came
out of the struggle stronger than ever.
An eastern man was nominated against
his judgment "for the sake of suc
cess," as was said at the time, and the
country knows the result.
Watterson Hostile to Bryan.
That same influence is still at work
only in another direction. Mr. Watter
son, the great Louisville journalist,
whose accomplishments are as brilliant
as they are varied, has never liked Mr.
Bryan very well since he won the nomi
nation in 1896 and became the accepted
leader of the Kentucky Democrats
over his own head. Watterson is the
chief sponsor of the Johnson movement,
and it is worth observing that, however
brilliant are his accomplishments, past
history clearly shows that his political
prescience is not to be relied upon. In
the Chicago convention of 1892 he
strongly inveighed against the nomina
tion of Cleveland, and loudly prophesied
defeat. He was a bad prophet. In
1894, under the leadership of Mr. Cleve
land, at that time backed by Mr. Wat
terson, the party was worse beaten in
the congressional election for a genera
tion. It was from that "slough of des
pond" that Mr. Bryan, in 1896 lifted it,
and came so near carrying the country.
Perhaps Mr. Watterson would again
like to wrest the party leadership from
its acknowledged head to place it upon
his own brow, under the insidious plea
that possibly, "under all circumstances, ' '
somebody else "could poll a heavier vote
than Bryan."
I, for one, do not share in such a mis
giving spirit. To me such action has
the appearance of cowardice, and "God
hates a coward.'' .Mr. i "Bryan stands
for the exaltation of politics and for the
elimination of .all . the evils and giant
wrongs which afflict our body politic. 1
He has brought the party up to his
standard. rWould you have him relin
quish that standard in the face of the
enemy? But, aside from the reaction
ary feature, it is safe to say that the
result of such a movement would be
problematfc, to say the least. We know
how the "safe and sane" movement of
four years ago terminated. Shall the
same experiment be tried again? I hope
not. The party should put its real
leader in the forefront of its batt'e line
and thus meet the foe.
Rank and File Demand Bryan j
Mr. Bryan has very many e'ements of j
strength which no substitute could
possess. One of the chiefest of these I
is the confidence ol "the rank and life
who have to furnish the votes. They
know just where he stands on every
public question and he has never be
trayed their confidence; and not that
alone, but he has stood as a wall of ad
amant as the defender of the people's
rights and interests always. The ex
ploiters of privilege, the railroad loot
ers, the tariff robbers, organized greed,
the trusts and the exploiters of every
form of graft are the only enemies he
has made in his battle for the public
good. A plea for him to stand aside is
like asking a favorite general who has
led his well disciplined army up to an
enemy's entrenchments where the men
are all ready for the charge giving
over the command to an untried leader,
whom "the rank and file" did notknow.
In all probability it would result in ut
ter rout. It is bad policy to change
leaders in front of the enemy, as it is to
"change horses in crossing a stream."
Mr. Bryan and he alone can keep the
ranks of she Democracy closed and in
the coming battle lead to a well-deserved
victory. So it seems to yours truly,
Charles W. Sherman.
Dairy, Or., Oct. 11, 1907.
A Pioneer Citizen Injured.
A special from Ashland, under date
of November 7, says: "Charles S.
Wortman, one of our well-known farm
ers, while driving to his home from
town was jarred from his seat and
thrown to the ground, falling on his
head and shoulders and sustaining a
serious shaking up. As Mr. Wortman
is well advanced in years he is in a seri
ous condition." The Journal regrets to
learn of the injury received by our old
friend, and we trust that he will re
cover as soon as possible. Mr. Wort
man has lived in Cass county for many
j ears, and his friends in and around
Plattsmouth where he first settled in
1856, will regret to learn of his mis
fortune. Organizing Against Horsethieves.
A special from Fremont says that
"Sheriff Bauman is arranging with
other sheriffs and constables and peace
officers to hold a meeting here in the
near future to consider the adoption of
some scheme to prevent horse stealing
which is greatly on the increase in this
part of the state. There appears to be
a regularly organized gang with
"stations" in every county for the pur
pose of running off horses. The date
has not been fixed." The season is
ripe for horsethieves, and a perfect
organization of officials in this direc
tion may be the means of securing
these pests before they get fairly start
ed in the way of plying their depreda
tions. And in a Temperance Town
The spectacle of two young men on
our streets Saturday afternoon so drunk
that the sidewalk was almost too nar
row, and able to stand for the reason
that they went arm in arm and braced
each other to keep from falling down,
was not very edifying. They had been
to Berlin. One or these young men
has been the cause of getting more
young people into the habit of drink
than any open saloon would in a year's
time. If he would buy his four full
quarts and drink it the harm would be
minimized, but to hunt up four or five
boys to invest in it, and then all get
drunk, is where the devil in human form
accomplishes his dastaedly work.
Weeping Water Republican.
Doubly Complimented
Otoe and Cass counties did the right
thing and elected our friend H. D.
Travis distrrict judge. Judge Travis
defeated an exceptionally good man in
Jesse L. Root, for which he is to be
doubly complimented. The one re
deeming feature about the voters of
these two counties, they don't wear
any brass collar and the party whip has
no terrors. Lincoln Herald.
Change in Business.
Floyd Kuhney, who has been working
at Green River, Wyoming, for some
time, and who returned some time since,
will go to Nehawka to take charge of
the barber shop wtuch his father, John
P. Kuhney; has 'been operating during
the fall, and Mr. Kuhney will come to
Plattsmouth and go in with H. H.' Kuhney.
THE DWINDLING
PENSION BULL
The Veterans of the CiviS War
Answering the Last Roll
Gall in Vast Numbers
The new report 'of the Commissioner
of Pensions shows that the .shrinkage
in the army of pensioners that ben an
to be evident two yc ars ago was no pass
in? h'uctuatio.i, but a permanent pro
cess, ihe numner oi pensioners
reached its maximum on January Ml,
1905, when there were 1,00-1, 19(5 names
an the roll. In May of that year the
figure.i dropped below a million, and
have never reached that point since.
On June :J0, 190"), there were 998,4-11,
on June :J0, 19(;f), 985,971, and on June
:;o, 1907, 1:67,371-nearly 10,000 less
than the maximum and this although
a service pension law, opening the rolls
to everybody who had served for
nisety days in the Union Army, had
been passed in February.
But while the number of pensioners
is decreasing, that often predicted time
when the cost of the pension system
shall begin to decline is not yet insight.
With fewer names on the list than at
any time within the past fourteen years
the annual value of the roll is higher
than ever before. It amounted to $110,'
850,880.60 on June 30. 1907, an increase
of $4,613,131.60 over the proceeding
year, and it is still growing. This is
because the service-pension act of Feb
ruary 6, 1907, increased the rates of a
great number of persons already draw
ing pensions under previous laws. One
of the beneficiaries of this act has reach
ed the mature age of 108 years.
Although the last veterans of the
Revolution and of the War of 1S12 dis
appeared from the roll some time ago,
those wars are still represented. The
last widow of a Revolutionary veteran
died on November 11, 1906, but three
daughters of men who fought for Amer
ican independence were still drawing
pensions when the report closed. There
were also left 558 widows of veterans
of the War of 1812.
From the beginning until June.30.
1907, we paid in pensions $3,598,015,723.
The cost of runnning the system
amounted to over $110,000,000 more.
The Civil War alone has cost in pen
sions $3,389,135,449.54, which is more
than it cost to maintain the armies in
the field. The little military parades
with Spain and in the Phillipines have
already called for $18,909,512.43, and
the outlays under those heads are
steadily increasing. They amounted
last year to to $3471,157.27, which is
three times as much as they cost in
1901, when the wars for which they
are' paid were already over.
Two More Smallpox Cases
Mrs. Peter Clarence and Mrs. Ed.
Leach are the latest victims of the dis
ease, and they are reported to be getting
along very well. They are the last of
those who are supposed to have been
exposed to the disease when it first ap
peared here, and as the "allotted time"
for new cases had expired we are reason
ably certain that these two will be the
last ones. Mrs. Clarence and Mrs.
Leach have been living to themselves
in a house in the north part of town
ever since it was thought they had been
exposed to smallpox, and they assert
positively that they had not been off the
premises since, hence, in justice to them
we will state that the parties who re
ported seeing them away from the house
after dark were probably in error as to
identification Union Ledger.
Former Burlington President Dead
A special from Boston under date of
November 8, says; "Chas. A. Perkins,
formerly president of the Chicago, Bur
lington & Quincy railroad and one of the
leading railroad authorities, died at his
home in Westwood a suburb, late to
night. Mr. Perkins had been suffffer
ing from Bright's disease for several
years, but was not confined to his house
until recently." The Perkins House in
this city was named in honor of the de
ceased during his incumbency as presi
dent of the Burlington system.
Will Go n Bottomless Pit.
"There will be hundreds of thousands
of religious people who will go to the
bottomless pit. " Thus spoke Rev. R.
A. Torrey in a meeting held in Chicago
Hallowe'en; As a basis for his re
marks he said that "the worst man
there is, is the one who pretends to be
religious and gains your confidence so
he may rob you." This statement is
true as Holy Writ. The principles of
Christianity, are - right, . but I they . are
so often prevented that people . loose
sight of them in the mad rush for world
ly gain.
FAMILY OF ROOSE
VELT PROPORTION
I Fourteen Grown Children and All
I Living in Mills County, Icwa.
The Clenwood Tribune i. responsible
, for the following:
llarrv .Smith, tor two viars past. :i
for
resident east of
(Jlenwood in Center
township, ceitainly 1 elong-;
of llooseveltian proportions,
of fourteen children. The
brothers and sisters live in
Emerson. The children
divided a- to sex, seven girl
boys.
to a family
He U one
nio -;t of his
and around
are evenly
s a 'id seven
'A remarkable thing is t I'm L there
has never been a death in t he f.imi! ;
the parents and all Ihe children are
living. The youngest child it ''' and
the oldest 56. All the children with the
exception of one son are married. One
daughter, however, is a widow.
The parents of this remarkable family
are Mr. and Mrs. Henry ('. Smith, liv
ing about a mile northeast of Emerson.
They are both about 80 years of age.
Their health has always been good until
of late. The father is q;ite poorly and
suffers from paralysis. Mrs. Smith had
the misfortune to fall last spring and
break her hip bone; this has never
healed. In addition to the fourteen
children, there are thirty-two grand
children and eight great-grandchildren.
"This would make the direct descend
ants of Mr. and Mrs. Smith 51. The
family are preparing for a grand re
union about Christmas lime. Including
the two generations of sons-in-law and
daughters-in-law there will be a. strictly
family gathering of about seventy peo
ple. There are not many such families
as this in the United States. It is
probably the most remarkable family
in Iowa, all things considered."
THE LATE CHARLES
E. PERKINS
Funeral of Deceased Yester
day at 2 p. m. Dcdy to
Be Cremated
A special from Westwood, Massa
chusetts, in speaking of the funeral of
the late Charles K. Perkins, former
president of the Burlington system says :
"The funeral services of the late
Charles E. Perkins, former presidentof
the Burlington railroad, were held to
day at his home. The Burlington was
represented at the funeral by (Jeorge
C. Harris and the Northern Pacific by
Howard fClliott. Every Massachusetts
railroad was represented, as was also
the American Bell Telephone company,
in which Mr. Parkins was a director.
The body was cremated at Forest Hill,
Boston, and the ashes were interred aA
Milton cemetery."
The Lincoln Journal says in reference
to the tribute paid the deceased.
"Wherever they happened to be at 2 p.
m. yesterday Burlington trains stopped'
and remained standing until 2:) p. m.
For five minutes every wheel, telegraph
instrument, typewriter or other piece
of mechanism employed in the operation
of a railroad, was stilled. For that
long the Burlington ceased to be a car
rier of people and commodities. A
great system was paying it-: tribute to
a dead railroad president who had done
much to make it great. At that hour
in faraway Massachusetts, the funeral
of Charles E. Perkins was being held."
All departments of the Burlington in
this city ceased operation for five min
utes. County Attorney Makes Address.
At the rooms of the Young Men's
Bible class at the Methodist church last
evening, were gathered the members
of the class, and by special invitation,
the members of the Young Men's Bible
classes of the Presbyterian and Chris
tian churches, to listen to an address
delivered by the teacher of the former
class. C. A. Rawls. The subject being
"A Modern Battle." The subject was
handled as the speaker well knows how
to handle the subject.
This is the opening address of the
season, and is an innovation which was
originated by the teacher of this class,
E. H. Wescott, which was productive
of so much good during the last winter.
We admire the sentiment which
prompts Mr. Wescott in his efforts to
furnish high grade entertainment and
instruction for the members of the class
which it is his earnest efforts to guide
to a better and higher life. These
lectures and addresses will continue
during the winter, and we trust be pro
ductive of great good.
Impure biood runs you down make
you an easy victim for organic diseases.
Burdock Blood Bitters purifies the blood
I cures the cause, builds you up.
