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VOL. VI.
A POPULIST FINANCIAL SYSTEM.
Our Exchanges are Asked to Consider
This Plan in All Its Provisions.
SETTEE THAN CARLISLE'S PL AS
The Secretary of the Treasury baa pub
lished a plan to get rid of what green"
buks we havt left, and bestow upon
b&ers alone the power to issue fiat
money, money that has no intrinsic value
in rt, but which, being clothed with the
power to make exchanges, they can loan
to the people and draw from tbera for
the use of mere pieces of paper an enor
mous amount of usury and wealth. His
' plan is unjust, unequal, unconstitutional.
It would be class legislation of the worst
ort. A better plan for providing safe,
eound, sufficient currency must be found,
and we propose the following:
Repeal all laws permitting private cor
porations to issue their notes for use as
money.
Enact a law providing that every state
may make and deposit non-negotiable
bonds in the United States Treasury in
eums not to exceed in the aggregate twenty-live
per cent of the actual value of its
taxable property, and that for bonds so
made and deposited as security, bearing
an annual revenue to the government of
one-half of one per cent, it shall be per
mitted to draw from the Treasury ninety
percent of their face value in coin or
greenback dollars, which shall be full
legal tender for all debts public and pri
vate. , By state laws that may beenacted such
state bonds shall be in quantity dupli
cates of county bonds deposited with the
state treasurers, county bonds to be
issued to provide only what money each
county needs, and to be limited also to
twenty-five per cent of each county's
taxable property, and made to bear to
the state one per cent annual interest.
For each deposit of county bonds with
the State Treasurer the state shall de
posit the same emount of state bonds in
the United States Treasury, and the
money which shall be advanced on such
bonds shall be paid directly to the prop
er ofiicials.of the counties whose bonds
are deposited as security with the state.
The funds so provided and secured by
bojda shall constitute the capital for
county government banks which shall be
. ir. charge of regularly elected county
bank) officials whose bonds shall be ap
proved in four times the sum the people
may have on deposit at any one time.
The presidents, cashiers and directors of
these public banks shall be paid reason
able, fixed salaries.
. The counties shall each provide their
banking representatives the necessary
ssfety deposit vaults, fire proof safes and
ether needed furniture, blank books, etc.,
to conduct the entire loan, deposit and
exchange business of the people pi the
county, furniture to also include a com
plete set of abstracts of titles of all real
etate in the county.
Th9 county government banks shall be
y law required to receive all surplus
. ash which individuals may wish to de
posit, and to pay back to depositors the
full amount of their deposits, but no in
terest shall be paid on such deposits.
Loans applied for shall be passed upon
by a board of three bank directors, wh!
Hiust be agreed that the security is worth
At least double the amount of the loan
desired. Finding the security amply
sufficient, loans shall be made on im
proved farms in size not exceeding 640
acres, up to half their selling value, at
two per cent per annum. Oil homestead?
in town (lots built on and owned by th
parties living on them), minin g towns
excepted, loans limited to 33 per cent
of their cash value shall be made at two
per cent. On business pronerty up to
33 per cent of its cash value loans at
two per cent may be made, provided the
owner does not possess more than a half
block of such property. On warehouse
receipts for grain and cotton stored in
county, state orgovernment warehouses,
loans at two per cent may be made up to
60 per cent of their market value. Per
onal security for thirty, sixty and ninety
days, or fractions thereof, may be taken
when notes are signed by three parties of
good repute, twoof whom are established
ROBBERS STEAL A SAFE,
Bold Hold-Cp of a 1 ansanger Traill In
Iowa The Strong Box Recovered.
Dks Moines, Iowa, Jan. 7. While
the north bound passenger train on
the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific
was standing at the Coon Valley
mines, six miles south of here, last
night, and while the messenger,
Frank Tarrode, was outside his car,
Tobbers entered the car and carried
away the heavy steel safe containing
$216 in money and a valuable package.
A brakeman, noticing that the
lights were not burning in the ex
press car, gave an alarm. The rob
bery was discovered and a searching
party of fifty miners speedily organ
ized. Half an hour later the safe
was found a short distance away, un
opened, the robbers having become
fritfhtttneri
The bow long book, Bow rea.dj for de
livery, is immense. Fire in your orders.
Thirty-five cents a copy.
m Dusmess ra the community and pos
sessed of ample property to collect the
debt by law, such loans to be discounted
at one-half to one per cent.
Above rates to be reduced to cost oj
conducting the business when foun
above it, as doubtless would be the ewe
as soon as all money came to be deposit
ed in the government banks and all loan
ing should be done by the people's
banks.
The above plan, would make losses ex
ceedingly small if adopted with all the
safeguards, profits even at these
rates, cut down to perhaps one
per cent, over labor cost, would
much more than make good such
possible losses. The tax-payers would
thus be secured by the profits exceeding
losses, and by ample bonds against the
occasional dishonesty of an official of
their own selecting. The state would be
secured against any fraudulent or over
valuation of particular counties by a
state board of tax rate or valuation
equalizers and by the entire taxable
property of each county, and the nation
al government would be secured absolute
ly in its state loans by the state bonds
deposited in the U. S. Treasury. There
would be no more money called for (or
bonds given) than the people with secur
ity judge they individually need to em
ploy labor, and if money could be bor
rowed of county government banks at
rates, say, not to exceed one per cent a
year above the labor cost of loaning it,
all private money loaners would be driven
out of business and their money would
either be turned into more labor-employ.
ing capital or directly deposited with the
government and so would go into the
circulation without enforcing usury trib
ute. The volume of money would not be
greatly increased by the system we pro
pose, because with government banks
furnishing money at cost it would draw
all money not for the present needed by
individuals to their care for absolute sf
curity, and when deposits -exceeded de
mauds bonds could be paid off and can
celled. But an amount of perpetual stats
bonds drawing only one-half of one per
cent a year and of county bonds dra ring
one per cent a year should be kept de
posited and not paid off, to supply se
curity to the government for whatsver
money can be used profitably as capital
and is needed in excess of coin to iaak
additional state charge would be some
more than the labor cost of this machin
ery of credit, but it would not be a bur
den, for it would furnish an income that
would reduce other taxation. There
would be no interest tax,- except the
slight one going to the government.
Now are there any who win object to
the above financial system.
Yes, the bankers will object to .it; all
who own bank stock will call it frightfu1
names. It is not in their special interest,
as are the Baltimore and Carlisle plans'
Were it to be enacted into law the money
power would be destroyed and honest la
bor would be enthroned. It would pro
vide capital at nearly labor cost for those
who new must pay from five to a hun
dred per cent a year bonus for it. It
would prevent panics and periodsof com
mercial paralysis and enforced idleneso
and starvation. It is a just ourrency
system that would bring to the masse
unheard of prosperity, therefore the
classes, the bankers especially, will view
it with alarm and will frighten foolc
with their cries of, "Socialism!"
rhe Lincoln Provident Association
The Lincoln Provident Association o'
Nebraska is chartered under the stab
laws, and is receiving and dispensing
charity funds and supplies of all sorts t
meet the needs of the drouth sufferers of
western Nebraska. Its purpose is through
a system of inquiry to make sure thai
the people who need the helpure the one
on whom it shall be bestowed. It is in
charge of directors, nine in number, witti
Capt. W. H. Hunter in charge. The plan
of business where all donations of sup
plies are brought or money sent is at th
corner of Tenth and P streets.
If our advertisers do not treat yon
right, let us know. We want no "fakes"
in This Wealth Makers. Isn't there
something in our "Three Cent Column"
that will profit you?
LINCOLN, NEB., TIIUKSDAY, JANUARY 10, 1895.
APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE
Against the Currency Scheme Now
Before Congress.
(By the American Bimetallic League.)
The bill now before Congress to rad
ically change our curreucy system by de
stroying the greenback and coin-note
circulation, with the view of turning
over to the banks the entire control of
the paper currency of the United States,
is the most radical and dangerous meas
ure ever seriously presented in this coun
try at any rate, since the covert act de
monetizing silver in 1873. So sweeping
and radical a change in the monetary
system of any country cannot be carried
out without profoundly disturbing all
industrial conditions, unsettling prices,
and creating confusion in, every line of
business. Besides, the proposition to tax
the people to take up and ultimately
cancel our entire legal-tender paper cur
rency, and leave it to banking associa
tions, organized for private gain, at
their will and as their interest alone
may dictate to supply its place
with promises to pay, ought to
arouse the most anxious concern of the
whole people. The greenback currency
costs the people nothing, is legal tender,
of the same value in every part of the
country, and good anywhere in the
world. To ask the people to tax them
selves for that is what it amounts to
to take up this currency, in order that
banks may fill its plaoe- with their notes,
is a proposition, which, if it had not
come from the treasury department,
would have been deemed insane, if not in
deed diabolical, This proposition, too,
comes to the country as a bolt from a
clear sky. No political platform ever con
tained such a proposition; nothing pur
porting such a change was givin out be
fore the late election. The people have
had no opportunity to express them
selves rejecting it. It comes, as all
conspiracies do as did the act demonet
izing sil ver like a thief in the nigh t.
There are more than ten thousand
banking institutionsthat under this act
may issue notesto"circulate as money.
By what principle will they be governed by
in the iHsue of this currency? By none in
the world but their own interests. Make
it profitable to them, and they will put
out any amount of currency, regardless
of consequences, immediate or remote.
In turn, let it become their interest to
contract the currency, and they will con
tract it regardless of the effect on the
business world. That is the only kind of
"elasticity" there is in this form of cur
rency. Banks will issue it as long as there
is profit to them in doing so and no long
er. The experience of the world has been
that, under such a system, there will at
first be expansion expansion here, there
and everywhere, all over the country,
heedless of the export of gold, except,
perhaps, in the seaboard cities, till, with
continued loss of gold, the limit of ten
sion is reached, when acollapse will come,
followed by a long-continued contrac
tion, general business stagnation, and
the ruin of debtors.
This has been the history of such cur
rency, not only in this country, but in
every country that has tried it; and
nearly all commercial countries have
tried it, one time or another.
A. J. Warner.
Finance. Land and Transportation.
As we go to press the delegates to the
St. Louis Populist conference are assem
bling. We have made arrangements to
get a full report of this important con
vention and will give our readers a ful
account of its deliberations and resolu
tions. We have no use for a single
plank platform as advocated by some
weak-kneed papers, who hope to capture
more votes by making one plank the is
sue. The Omaha platform which makes
the demand of the necessary reforms in o
short but decisive way is good enough
for us, and a platform containing the
three cardinal demands for reform in fi
nance, land and transportation is not
long. We have enrolled nearly 2,000,.
000 votes under that banuer ar.d by the
next presidential election can count ot.
6,000,000 votes if the proper work cni'
be done. Don't step backwards, breth
ren. It would be demoralizing, coward
ice. We know our demands are right
and we would not be justified to takt
back one single iota of them. Forward,
march, is the password to victory. No
wavering, half-way measures, no com
promise, no schemes to catch the ao
plause of our enemies. If we want to suc
ceed, compromise and fusion must be for
ever banished from our consideration.
Jackson (Mich.) Industrial News.
Trvitsnrer Stephen!' Dvuo.
Jefferson Cur, Ma, Jan. 7. State
Treasurer Lon V. Stephens yesterday
handed in his bond as state treasurer
to Governor Stone. The law requires
the bond shall be renewed every two
years. Mr. Stephens' present bond is
the largest in amount ever held by a
state treasurer of Missouri. The law
requires that it shall be for $."00,000.
His bondsmen qualify for 81.940,000.
It contains the signature of sixty-six
men, of whom thirty-three are of
Boonville, Mr. Stephens' home, and
nineteen in Cooper county, outside of
Boonvillrt
Subscribe for Thb We altw Makers.
Holcoi's message!
Lincoln, Jan. 4, 1895.
' fellow Citizens of the I legislative Depart
ment of the State of Nebraska: I nave
been called by my fellow citizen! of Ne
braska to sorve them as governor of the
state. In your presence I have just taken
the prescribed oath of office, and, agreeable
to time-honored custom, I will now address
you briefly before entering actively upon
the discharge of the important duties ot the
office.
I am Indeed deeply impressed with the
grave responsibilities I have assumed. I am
fully aware of the manifold and arduous
duties attaching to the office to which I have
Just been inducted. Were I called upon to
encounter at one time all the perplexing
difficulties to be met, well might I be ap
palled at the magnitude of the undertaking,
but, encouraged by an earnest desire to
faithfully administer the duties of the
office, I am hopeful of being able to master
these difficulties singly as they arise with
a reasonble .degree of satisfaction to the
people of the state, of whom I am but an
humble servant.
It shall be my disinterested and unselfish
Grpose to direct my entire efforts to the
ithful and impartial observance of the
constitutional provision which' declares
"that the supreme executive power shall be
vested in the governor, who shall take care
that the laws are faithfully executed," to
the end that good government may prevail
and the rights of each and every citizen be
(ealously guarded and protected. '
In assuming the onerous duties of this
office, I am able to content myself with the
thought that there is a right way and a
wrong way to decide each perplexing ques
tion, and, with a firm determination to as
certain the right and then adhere to it, I
hope the burdens may be lessened, the work
simplified and the duties fully discharged.
Although posnessing various political be
liefs we as legislators and executive should
have but one great object In view to dis
charge the duties incumbent upon us in a
business-like manner for the common good
of ail. Each of you as a legislator has been
elected as the advocate of the principles of
some political party, but today you repre
sent all the people of your district. In my
capacity I shall earnestly endeavor to be the
governor of all the people. As the represen
tatives of political ideas you will probably
have but one duty to perform the election
o'.a United States senator; in your capacity
as representatives of the people of your dis
tricts you will doubtloss nave many matters
of great importance to consider.
The pronounced majority of onepoliticol
party in both branches of the legislature
will doubtless insure the election of a repre
sentative of the state in the senate of the
nation without unnecessary delay.
In disposing of the business of my fellow
citizens in the capacity of governor, I so
licit your counsel and hearty co-operation.
I apprehend that our relations will be mutu
ally cordial and agreeable and redound to
the good of the entire people, whom we alike
serve.
Possessing no knowledge of the condition
of the various departments of the state gov
ernment, other than that enjoyed in common
by all our citizens, it is not my intention, nor
do I deem It to be my duty, to enter into a
detailed discussion of the management and
requirements of these departments. In his
message, my distinguished predecessor,
Governor Grounse, has given you much
valuable Information and advice to aid yoa
in the discbarge of your duties. Its com
prehensiveness and completeness in detail
commend it to you as legislators and to me
as his successor for our careful considera
tion. Untrammeled Suffrage.
The preservation of the sanctity of the
ballot is necessary to the perpetuation of
self-government. It is by the ballot that
the voice of the people is heard and their
will registered touching all matters connect
ed with the affairs of state. A failure to
give to each elector the privilege of casting
his ballot without fear or prejudice, accord
ing to the dictates of his conscience, is to
that extent a failure of popular government.
Each citizen possessing the right of franchise
should have untrammeled freedom in ex
pressing by his vote his individual
sentiments agreeable to his own
conception of duty as a citi
zen, without regard to his station in life, his
education, his occupation or the degree of
intelligence with which he has been endowed
by his Creator. It is your duty to
sacredly guard this right to your fellow
electors and to reduce to the absolute min
imum any infringement of it. Especially
does it seem to me that the employes of the
larger corporations should, by wise legisla
tion, have such protecting care thrown
about them that they may in the exercise of
the right of suffrage act without any fear
whatsoever from the displeasure of their
employers, whose political convictions may
be different from their own.
It Is uadenied that the Australian ballot
law was a needed reform and has done much
towards purifying elections in Nebraska,
but I am confident it would grant privi
lege without mischief if the law should be
amended by you so that the elector can des
ignate, where it is possible, his choice of can
didates and at the same time express by his
ballot his political convictions.
I would respectfully suggest that each po
litical party having a fair percentage of the
vote in any district should have representa
tion on the election board, and that not more
than two judges should be selected from any
one political party.
There can be no more Important subject
for the careful consideration of lawmakers
than the protection of the purity of the
ballot, and I would most respectfully call
your attention to our existing election laws
and invite a comparison with those of other
states, to the end that amendments may be
made rendering bribery and undue Influence
of the voter more nearly impossible and
facilitating the more rapid and accurate
ao un ting of votes.
Drouth Sufferer.
I regret the necessity demanding a careful
consideration of the actual want of a great
number of our people caused by the drouth
of last year. Nature has bountifully blessed
Nebraska. Her climate is unexcelled and
her toil responds generously to the labor of
the husbandman. For years prior to 1890
there was an uninterrupted era of good
rope.. Rapidly the domain of the rancher
was encroached upon by the farmer. From
various states came an energetic class of
food citizens to make their homes in west
fra. Nebraska. Generally they were poor
Ihd flspended upon the nrst season ovp
(o supply themselves and families with all the
Immediate necessities of life, and until 1890
they never relied in vain. Then came one
aeon when the accustomed rains failed to
tall and hot winds swept over the country,
carrying devastation to the fields of growing
train. Since then there have been alternat
ing good and poor crops, culminating in the
reneral drouth of 1804.
While this drouth extended practically
ever the entire country, it was particularly
disastrous in the western portion of the
I itate. Distressed by combats with previous
' partial crop failures, many farmers with
Duly moaerate means were wnony unpre
pared to meet the drouth. Many bod been
unable, on account of the short time of their
residence, to store up grain sufficient to meet
the exigencies of this extraordinary occasion:
Some removed from the state, but the great
majority, possessing the utmost faith in the
country, remained, determined to hold on to
their possessions in the drouth-stricken dis
trict. It patience and long suffering make
people deserving, the harvest ot 1895 should
be bountiful.
Our great state is able to take care of its
own poor and many ot the county boards
have, with commendable energy, provided
work with compensation for the able-bodied
needy in their own counties, but there is
still necessity for quick relief to be extended
to many portions of the ntat. so that all her
people may be comfortable during the pres
ent winter and have an opportunity to seed
and work their ground for the coming har
r I know some claim that the legislative
body has no right to make the people donate
to the needy and that such work should be
left to individuals who are , charitably in
clined, but every government is in duty
bound to provide at public expense the
necessities to sustain life to its own needy in
habitants and especially is this the case
when the needy are without fault on their
part.
The Belief Commission.
The relief commission created by the law
of 1890 is still in existence. It was revived
and the vacancies filled by my predecessor,
Governor Crounse, and has been actively
engaged in the work of assisting the deserv
ing needy by distributing food and clothing
furnished by charitably inclined people from
every section of the country."
These commissioners have doubtless ex
pended considerable money in the work, re
lying on the legislature to make pro
vision to indemnify . them for neces
sary expenses incurred, and their
services will be required until seed is sown
in the spring for another crop. In order to
effectively carry on the work of assisting
the deserving drouth sufferers with the least
possible expense, I would respectfully sug
gest that the la s s of 1890 be sumodelled and
that roller appropriations sufficient to sup
ply the necessities of these people during the
winter be placed in charge of the commis
sioners lor distribution, under such safe
guards as may be deemed wise in order that
only the needy receive aid and that no un
necessary expenses be incurred.
I feel confident that the great railways of
tne state win asnt tr ni'trirmtion wttn
free transportation, or. at least, witn greatly
reduced rates. I would further suggest that
legislation be had so that each county in the
more severely afflicted portions of the state
may be able to vote bonds, which may be
made a very proper mode of investment for
a large sum of the now idle permanent school
fund, in order to provide ready means to
secure seed to sow and grain for stock for
the coming crop season.
If on investigation it is deemed wise and
practicable, it will be well to consider whether
special assessments may not be levied on the
land where the seed is furnished, or by some
other means require ot the beneficiary to re
pay in installments the value of the grain
furnished, together with interest com
mensurate with the rate the bonds bear.
It is well to bear in mind that the people
thus to be favored are not asking for charity.
They ore a hardy set of farmers who have
been struggling against adversities over
which they had no control and they ask tem
porary assistance merely to tide over the
present difficulty and will gladly make re
payment for ail the seed and grain thus fur
nished. This subject I regard as one of pressing
importance, demanding your first energies
in your work as legislators, in order that
suitable enactments may be made as speed
ily as possible and at the same time with due
consideration of the work to be done,so that
the result of your labors shall meet the
exigencies of the occasion and also receive
that degree of deliberation and care which
should characterize all legislation. I trust,
gentlemen, that you will at once direct your
attention to this subject and make such dis
position of it as in your wisdom yoa may
deem proper.
Irrigation.
One of the most important subjects that
you will have to deal with duf ing this ses
sion, and one far-reaching in its results is
Irrigation. The subject has been gradually
growing in favor with the people, especially
west of the one hundreth principal meridian.
Its merits have been investigated and
proven by actual tests and it is now an ac
cepted fact that very large areas in the
western portion of the state, where the
small amount of rainfall renders the matu
rity of crops precarious, can, by a proper
system of irrigation and because of the ex
cellence of the soil and the otherwise favora
ble climatio conditions, be made to yield
most bountifully and with unvarying cer
tainty. The subject is a live one. Too
much care cannot be given to the enactment
of laws to meet every requirement of our
local conditions in this regard.
The great waterways in the state and on
its borders have heretofore in early spring
run bankful of water. In the early sum
mer they have joined with the waters of the
Mississiopl and Ohio and many seasons have
spread devastation over the fertile bottoms
of Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee,
Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana, while
the vegetation of a portion of Nebraska was
in many places withering and dying for
iwant of water. The government nas seen
fit to expend millions of dollars in the con
struction and maintenance of great levees
to protect the property and lives of the peo
ple residing along the rivers in the south.
W onld it not conserve a double purpose and
be productive of inestimable good to both
sections if the government would direct its
efforts toward turning the waters of the
western tributaries of the Mississippi river
into great reset volrs and thence into irrigat
ing ditches for the development of sections
of the country which now produce very
littler
A proper system of irrigation would
doubtless make the fertile plains of Ne
braska and similar states produce an inex
haustible supply of the sweetest vegetables
and best cereals, and thus by spreading the
NO. 31
water in the springtime would reclaim to
Keat river bottoms of our southern neigh
rs and make them the kings of corn and
cotton countries.
I am not familiar with the practical work
ings of irrigation, but your body contains
some members who have given considerable
time to the investigation of the subject and
a few who have bad years of practical ex
perience in irrigation. They will doubtless
render valuable service in advising and
framing practical legislation. From the in
vestigation I have been able to give to this
important subject, I do not hesitate to
recommend a district irrigation law, to be
framed from the good which may be found
In Wyoming laws on the subject, and to
guarded by a clause enabling the users ot
the water to control its distribution and
price so that it may be to them a source of
pecuniary benefit rather than an engine of
oppression in the bands of speculators. A
good law on this subject so framed as to pro
tect the rights ot those directly interested in
irrigation will substantially encourage the
work, and drouths and consequent suffering
will no longer menace the welfare of the
people.
Railroad Legislation.
The fundamental law of the state declares
that the railways in Nebraska are public
highways and shall be free to all persons for
the transportation of their property and
persons thereon, under such regulations as
may be prescribed by law. It gives to the
legislature power to pass laws from time to
time establishing a reasonable maximum
rats of charges for the transportation of
passengers and freight. It also declares
that the legislature Bhall enact laws to cor
rect abuses and prevent unjust discrimina
tion and extortion in Charges by express,
telegraph and railroad companies.
The railroads of this state have been one
of the most important factors in bringing
about its rapid development, and it is of ut
most importance to all citizens of Nebraska
t hat this great interest be sustained and en
couraged. To the construction of the present
extensive system of railways in Nebraska
may be ascribed in a great measure the ma
terial prosperity of the state.
It is an erroneously conceived idea, and
quite prevalent, that the interests of the rail
ways and the people of the state are inimical.
' In faot, the success of each lies principally
in the prosperity of the other. The earnings
of the railroads depend on the amount of
business the people are able to do. - and the,
people in turn must look to the railways for
the transportation both of their surplus com
modities to market and of the articles of con
sumption they must obtain from others.
Between the two there should naturally ex
ist the utmost degree of reciprocity.
Notwithstanding the feeling known to ex
ist among the people that they have been
burdened by oppressive rates on transporta
tion. I am certain that there is no demand
on their part ' for any unjust action that
would tend to cripple the great highways of
commerce. The people are willing to deal
justly by the railway corporations and in
turn demand only fair treatment in the mat
ter of charges for freight and passenger
transportation.
The subject nas Deen one or constant mo
tion and annoyance between the peopls and
the railroads for several years past. In vari
ous ways and at different times attempts
nave been made at legislation for the pur
iDose of settling this question, but so far they
fcave been without complete success.
Recommends Railroad Commluloners
The board of transportation as it now
exists under the law is entirely unsatisfac
tory and is generally regarded as of little
value to the people. Railroad commissioners
elected by the people, with power to regulate
all charges of this character, would, in my
judgment, nearest approach a proper solu
tion of this difficult problem. This, how
ever, cannot be done without amending the
constitution. There has been one submis
sion of the question to the people and it
foiled to receive the requisite vote, vet I am
persuaded it was more the result of the ex
citement attending a political campaign,
causing the people to overlook this important
question, than it was of disapproval or want
of real interest in the matter on the part of
the people.
I am of the opinion that if a constituitlonl
amendment creating a board of railroad
commissioners, with ample power ia the
premises, could be submitted to the people it
would receive their approval by an over
whelming majority, ana I believe this vexed
question could be nearer settled satisfac
torily in that than in any other manner.
The Maximum Rate BUI. . .
Different attempts have been made to en
act into law a maximum freight rate bill,
culminating in the passage of the house roll
No. 88 during the session of the preceding
legislature. This bill was approved by the
governor and but for the process of injunc
tion issued out of the federal court would
now be In operation. You are each
doubtless somewhat , familiar with the
historr of the case and the re
cent decision handed down by Judge Brewer
of the United States' circuit court. The
question now naturally arising is whether
toe decision shall be accepted ss final or pro
visions be made for appealing the cose and
thereby obtaining final decision on this very
important matter in a court of last resort.
The points in controversy are of vital inter
est to the people of Nebraska. It woald
doubtless be better if an early and final de
cision by the highest judicial tribunal of the
land could be obtained, in order that there
might be a full, fair and accurate under
standing as to the respective rights of the
people and the railroad companies touching
the questions involved.
I have no intimate knowledge of the his
tory of the case, of the issues raised therein
or of the evidence adduced on the hearing of
the cause. From reading the opinion of the
learned judge deciding the oase, I under
stand that every disputed question is found
In favor of the state save the one of the al
leged unreasonableness of maximum charges
as fixed by the bill. With all due respect to
the distinguished judge and thoroughly ap
preciating the difficulties as expressed by
him surrounding a question of this kind, 1
am inclined to the belief that the conclusion
reached is based on an erroneous conception
as to the proper basis forsiimating the costs
and earnings of the roads. In the first place
It occurs to me that justice and equity would
indicate that the proper basis for the purpose
of fixing fair and just rates would be a pres
ent resonable value of the roads rather than
what may have been expended in their con
struction by useless extravagance, bad man
agement or the increased expenditures at
won time as compared with the present.
Another element in this case which seems
to be worthy of consideration and which I
(oil to find any notice of in the decision of
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