Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Wealth makers of the world. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1894-1896 | View Entire Issue (March 7, 1895)
a)0 r$S rJJ) VOL. VL LINCOLN, NEB., THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1895. NO 39 SO MOVES THE WORLD. W sleep aad wak and ileep, but all things stove; The Sun Die forward to his brother Sun ; The dark Earth follow, wheeled In fair ellipse; And human thing, returning on themnelvee, Mot onward, leading up the golden year." The Whisky Trust is reorganizing. A new invention is for steaming faces, for beauty's sake.' .. Forty thousand people in Berlin are down with influenza. The business centerof Toronto, Canada was burned March 3d. Loss $1,200,000. .Forty poor people froze to death in London during the month of February. The hotels of Sioux City, Iowa, are be ing brought into the hands of a big hotel trust. Bishop Fallows lias opened a temper ance saloon in Chicago, buying out one of the old stands. There is a plan on foot for the erection of 5,000,000 worth of model tenement houses in New York city. Euclid Martin who led the rumps has been rewarded. He gets from Cleveland tne postmasterstnp at Umana. The average value of land exclusive of improvements in Pittsburg, Pa., is offici ally estimated at $10,000 per acre. Twenty-five miners were killed and eighteen injured in an explosion in White Ash mine New Mexico a few days ago. Congressman Wilson has been named to fill the cabinet position of postmaster general, left vacant by the resignation of Jiissell. Eugene V, Debs addressed an audience of il,000 people at the auditorium Chicago Feb. 28. Ifis subject was "Who Are the Conspirators t ; The Chicago Times has been consolida "th the Herald, and the new combi is to be called the Times-Herald. V also be the silver-goldbug? k.. ity per cent of the families of our people areenants or by mortgage inter est charges reduced ineconoiniccoudition to a state more or less near the renters, level. " " " ' " '' In Pittsburg, Pa., 73K per cent Of the real estate is private property and 26 percent belongs to the municipality, is commonwealth. The common wealth is officially estimated at $260,619,715. The millionaire William King, hasgone insane. All of thetn would go crazy were they tosee howmuchinjusticeand misery the gathering of a million inflicts upon others, and the punishment they deserve. Three suicides in Chicago reported in last Sunday's Times. "Tired of life," said one. "Rattle my bones over the stones" in the pauper's coffin and the poorhouse hearse. A gang of fifteen train robbers held up a train Feb. 27th, the Houston & Texas Central, on the outskirts of Dallas. They cut loose the express and baggage ears and steamed away with them five miles, where all money and valuables were taken. " Alfred Merritt, oneof the Merritt broth ers who d iscovered the Mesa ba iron range, issuing John D. Rockefeller who he alleges, broke bis contract and cheated them out of it. The claim of the plaintiff is for $1,250,000. The other brother, Cassius Merritt, died of a broken heart through being financially ruined by Deacon Rockefeller. In the citiesof our country whose popu lation exceeds 100,000 souls 77 percent are renters, according to the 1890 census Of the other 23 per cent 38 per cent are mortgaged. Taking the entire families of the nation, numbering 12,690,152, in to consideration 52 per cent are home less renters, and 28 per cent of those owning homes have blood and sweat extracting mortgages attached to them. In Budapest, Hungary, the electric street cars use no trolley, overheadwire, nor third rail; nor do they allow the rails to be cliurged. The current is carried on an insulated wire iu a conduit under one of the rails, the rails being slotted to al low connectioirwith the motor, on the cars. The cars are in some respects su perior to American cars, the motorman being protected in inclement weather be hind glass doors. A great mass meeting was held in Chi cago Sunday, May 3d, to protest against the recent giving away of exceedingly valuable monopoly rights by the bood lers who are in majority in the city coun cil. Lyman Gage presided, and among the speakers invited were Henry D. Lloyd Rev. Dr. P. S. Henson, Judge Moran, Sigmund Zeisler, John W L'la and others. The meeting was called by the Civic Federation. Prof. Lowell of the Lowell observatory in Arizona, devoted all last summer to a telescopic examination of the planet Mars, and discovered evidences well nigh unanswerable that the planet is inhabit ed. The evidence is the appearance of a triangular system of canals which cover most the entire surface of the sphere. The canals cannot be natural water courses, because they are geodetically straight and of nearly uniform width. They lead in every possible direction. "They have every appearance of having been laid out on a definite and highly . economic plan. They cut up the planet into a network of triangles instantly suggestive of design." The planet has no mountain ranges and the low-lying lands are like those of Holland. DR. HOLMES FOR MAYOR Platform Adopted by the People's Party of Chicago The People's party of Chicago held Feb. 22nd, an entirely harmonious convention nominated a full ticket of excellent men and adopted the following platform: "We adhere to the Omaha platform one and indivisible. "We renew the declaration made at Springfield conference and ratified at the Uhtrich's hall convention, which, in the last campaign united the reform elements of Chicago under the banner of the Peo ple's party. "We hold that municipal politics should turn upon municipal issues mainly, and we invite the citizens of Chicago, regard less of party affiliations in national elec tions, to join with us to make Chicago a free city free of dirt, boodle and mono polyfree to use the common powers for the common good, and free to fit itself for itsfuture placeat theheadof thecities of the world. "To this end we pledge our candidates for city office if elected to prepare for submission to the legislature and to work for the passage of bills to give the city of Chicago the power it now lacks to buy, build, lease and operate, when the people so elect, public works for public needs, including: '1. Heat, light, power and health. "2. Telephones, telegraphs, and other means of communication. "3. Transportation and rapid transit, 'especially a terminal loop to connect all the railroads, elevated, suburban, and trunk lines, with each other and with the center of the city. "Docks, wharves, markets and such similar facilities as the people decide to be needed for developing the commercial supremacy of their city. "Abolition of the contract system in public works and employment for the un employed. "Abolition of the slums. "7. Any general service which the peo ple find to have become a monopoly or which they judge would be better done if administered by the public for the public good. And as a necessary step pending the acquisition of these monopolies we demand that henceforth no franchise be granted for such business, except upon the condition that the city secure an adequate portion of the annual gross earnings, and that the franchise revert absolutely to the city after twenty years. ARE IN SUCCESSFUL OPERATION ELSEWHERE "These powers are in successful opera tion, some in one and some in another of the leading cities of this country and Europe to their great pecuniary and moral advantage. Chicago can do what any other city or all other cities can do. Withoutequal power our city cannot hold its own, and we demand, therefore, that the legislature give Chicago the right of home rule and self-government in these matters vital to its growth in population industry and civilization. "Werecognize theincreasing monopoly of the great department stores and the mischief thereby inflicted upon the inter ests of the similur tradesmen, their fami lies, and employes throughout the entire city. We extend to theBe merchauts the sympathy of the displaced mechanics that great army of men who have been forced from their occupations by mono poly. We solicit these merchants to join with us in an effort to make improved methods of production and distribution serve the interest of all instead of being used for the advantage of the few and the injury of the many. Meanwhile we point to the scandalous tax dodging, the em ployment of child labor, the misleading advertisements, and swindling bargain schemes of these concerns as abuses to be corrected by adequate ordinances." True and False Patriotism There is in Chicago what is called the Columbian College of Citizenship, an or-, ganization "non-partisan and unsecta rian and a school for the masses along lines of social, economic, ethical, politi cal, educational, humanitarian and his torical investigation." On Washington's birthday they had a patriotic celebra tion and one of the speakers, Judge Mark Bangs, among other true and forceful things said: "Patriotism, said Judge Bangs, is a love of country, and Washington and Lincoln were the embodied synonyms of American patriotism. The fathers of the revolution were genuine patriots; the tories of the revolution and Benedict Arnold were bad patriots. They loved their country wrongly. Garrison and Wendell Phillips loved their country wisely; the slaveholders loved their country also, but unwisely. The multi tudes who fought to save the union dur ing Lincoln's time were genuine patriots, but there was also a class of loud-mouth ed men in their day who were false pat riots. These latter were inspired by avarice and greed, and made profit out of the disasters of the nation. They stayed at home and literally coined the blood and sufferings and anguish of genuine patriots to theirown aggrandize ment, these patriots of avarice and greed discredited the greenbacks, the money of the soldiers and the peoDle un til it took $258 in greenbacks, to buy $100 in gold. These so-called patriots are still at their work of impoverishing and pauperizing the genuine patriots up on whose industry and productiveness and manhood the glory and wulfaro of the nation rests. . This speech was iuterpreted and de livered in sign language by C. N. Has kins, for the benefit of a large number of deaf mutes who were present. The en tire program -songs and recitations, tions, was so interpreted, and the sign language, full of dramatic force and ex pression, was not the least interesting feature of the exercises. "The Sugar Trust Monster' Under this title the New York World makes the following statement: "The sugar trust has made at least $22,000,000 in profits during the last year. This is 220 per cent on its actual investment of $1,000,000. In 1893 the trust paid IC5 per cent, and in 1892 150 Der cent profits. Its workmgmen are obliged to labor twelve hours a day for $1.10 80 cents for a working day of. eight hours under the hardest conditions and in a heat averaging 120 degrees, ana sometimes reaching 150 degrees. These are the men who have been turned out in to the street by the trust for the purpose of deterring Congress from passing the free sugar bill." Such facts as these cause the student in political eoonomy to hold his breath, and wonder what will be the final result of the growing greod of monopolies, These hold in their grasp the commercial relations and supply of commodities up on which the masses of people must de pend for sustenance. It is an open secret that the legislation of the present Con gress on the sugar tariff was dictated by the sugar monopolists, and that several United States legislators profited by their own votes. The sugar trust pro fited to the extend of millions, but the legislation enacted has thrown the com mercial relations between this and some other countries out of joint, A diserimi nation was made against Germany, and that country promptly retaliated by dis criminating against the Ainericau pro duct of pork aud beef. The result is that the American farmer must take less for his products, that the millionaires of the sugar trust may get a larger price for sugar, and thus keep up their enormous dividends. And wnile Amerioan farmers suffer, German sugar producers are threatened with bankruptcy as the result of the American discrimination against their products. The price of sugar in that country has fallen Delow tne cost oi pio duction. and they have no more loreign markets. This is the secret of their anxiety to have the differental tax re moved. And what shall be said of the inhuman ity of the millionaires who refuse ty pay their employes proper wages? It is again the story of Dives in his treatment of the poor; the hard worked employes re ceiving only the crumbs of great wealth. Omaha Christian Advocate. No Right lo Bond Posterity. Woodlawn, Neb. Feb. 27, 1895. Editor Wealth Makers: Vote on jail bonds. On thesecond day of April the voters of this county have to decide by their votes if this county shall give out bonds to theamountof $90,000 for getting money to erect a new jail. As this is neither a political nor party question, but a matter which in the end must be settled out of the pocket books of the citizens, and as I havenot seen any opposition against issuing such bonds, I will give my argument against them. Before anyone goes in debt he should consider if it is necessary and if it cannot be avoided. In this case the fellows which favor the issuing of bonds will say that everybody knows and acknowledges that our jail is too small; but this is no proof that we have to build anew one, especially in these hard times, when everyone has to cut his expenses to the lowest notch. Most farmers had to limit themselves when with little money they came here to settle ou the raw prairie. The first thing was to put up a little shanty, wherein every corner under the roof was used, and if the family increased some beds were put in granaries or even stables, as all that was necessary was shelter against storm and rain, (a little snowou the face did not hurt very much). In case one had a few cents left he bought a few boards to make a new addition to the old shanty, and in this way the peo ple pulled through until they were able to build a good house. Now this is exactly what our county should do with the jail. In the casement and under the roof of our court house there is plenty empty room which with very little money could be arranged for cells and the county would not need a jail in a hundred years. This would be a little inconvenient for the jailor; but he would have to console himself that other people, too, can not always have every thing us handy as they wish. To issue bonds payable in 30 years would be nothing less than a crime, as it would put a mortgage on the coming, unboru generation. Of the voters of to day there would very few be left living when the bonds came due. As bonds lead to bondage, and as the declaration of independence says that God endowed every man with theinalien able right of liberty, we have no right to put our posterity in bondage. Forthis cause I recommend to every voter under all circumstances to go the polls on the second day of April aud vote against jail bonds. F. Sciiwkizeb. THE ECONOMIC SITUATION Of the Farmer In the Existing Indus trial Organization Addren of Prof. William A. Jones of Haattngt before the annual meeting of the Nebraska Farm ere Alliance at Kearney, Januar.v, 181)5 The output of each plant is fixed be forehand and the selling price also. Even i he retail dealer is compelled to sell at a price fixed by the trust. Domesticcompetitiou is annulled. Rent, interest, and profit are assured in their line of production so far as the control of home competition can affect them. But to make absolutely sure the dis tribution of rent, interest, and profit, foreign competition must be cancelled. We now reach the point at which the Captains call for government aid, and how that aid is extended. Their demand is that the government shall, by force of luw, enable them tocou duct their business profitably, i. e., so they shall make rent, interest, aud sur plus value. But in politics they emphasized theem ployment of labor, and the wages of la bor as the leading idea. The laud and the capital are their private property and these shall not be used in production unless the government shall aid them. They'll all close down and turn men idle unless the government shall aid them. They the Captains.are intelligent, un derstand business with ethics left out- no sentimentality about them. They are organized. They and their friends con trol the press, especially the "agricultu ral and religious press." They Bee their congressman who is a corporation law yer and a corporation lawyer before his election. Represents the manufacturers, request. Congress grants it. The only way in which the government can aid an industry is to tax all the peo ple and then take the sum collected and give it to the people in that industry, i. e., to the owners of the land aud capital employed in it. This mode of "encour agement" is called giving a bounty. The voters of Nebraska have sugar beets,,. Oxnard, Neb. legislature, aud bounty mixed up in their minds. The true nature of a bounty may be brought to their minds this winter. It will be called nourishing an industry instead of a mode of taxing all the people to enrich a corporation. Now if the government wants money for any purpose, it never passes around the hat and solicits charitable contribu tion. It levies a tax and collects it by forceof law. Butthemanufaeturerdou't usually ask the government itself to col lect the money from the people and pay it over directly to him. tie asksthegov- ernment to allow him the manufacturer to levy and collect the tax in an indirect way, so as to fool the people, and este- cially iu the past the farmer. The manufacturers did this successfully till the organization of the Alliance. The farmer was and still is peculiarly susceptible to being fooled about the manufacturer s taxing the peoplein order to secure rent, interest, and profit. Especially is this true, if you can make him think he will gain by the scheme; for he the farmer is just as much in need of rent, interest, and profit as the manu facturers. Self interest is as powerful witu the farmer as with any other class. In the past, the farmer assisted the manufacturer to get the government to transfer a portion of its sovereignty to the manufacturers, so that the fatter could levy and collect from the people of the United States from $080,000,000 to $1,000,000,000 yearly. The farmer was told ha would reap the benefit of this taxation; so he assisted at what has proven to be bis own funeral. HOW IT WAS DONE. When private property owners produce commodities and these commodities con front one another in the market for ex change, they present themselves as the equal rights of their owners. it is then and there that the law of competition reveals itself as an inherent or subjective law of the existing mode of production and exchange. Lacb and every owner of a commodity offers to exchange his commodity for money. Each ancj every owner of a com modity seeks to buy the largest sum of money possible for a unit of his produat. 1 Ins sum of money you call price. If A offers to exchange in the market a unit of his commodity for$l, knowing that in the J 1 he can recover legitimate cost of his production, and distribute rent, and interest, to land and capital, and have a "margin" left, profit; and know ing that unless he gets the $1 he cannot make this distribution, he will not sell for a less price until coerced by competi tion to do so. If 15, iu the same market, can sell the same commodity for 73 cents he has a right to do so; and the benefit from any and all advuntage of this lower price will inure to .the benefit of the consuming public. 1 he public gain the advantage ol lis greater skill and superior advantages. (Continued on : rd page.) L EGISLATIVE RECORD Ike Reverend Believer Remarki, Solemn ly, Let Us Prey. SALE EHDE IVORS TO SAVE Constitutional Amendments Proposed Beet Sugar Bounty Going Through Webster's Claim Allowed The Insurance Lobby, The Governor's Health Improving Following is an out lineof the work for the post week: , MONDAY. Senate. Business opened by prayer by Rev. L. P. Ludden. Only action of im portance was the adoption of a resolution instructing Auditor Moore to pay the senate employes. The senate, it will be remembered, has about one hundred em. ployes, whereas the law allows only sixty-eight. Auditor Moore refused to pay the extra men, but bucked water on the adoption of this resolution. t House. Whole afternoon spent in wrangling over the bill for change of venue in the Barrett Scott case. Popu lists opposed the bill. Finally adjourned under call of the house without any ac tion. TUESDAY. ' Senate. Dale (Pop) introduced a res olution requiring the attorney general to go after the present state treasurer and ex-state treasurers for the recovery of nearly five hundred thousand dollars of interest money collected on state funds and presumably put into said treasurers' pockets. Sprecher's stock yards bill taken from the committeeand placed on general file. About two! vecoiistitutional amend ments recommended for passuge. Among the most important or. these are: Elec tion of railroad commissioners bv the people; five judges of the supreme court; designating Nebraska as the tree riant- ers state; providing for the investment of the permanent school fund; that in civil cases two-thirds of a jury may ren der a verdict; making an educational qualification for voting; and many others. House. Last day for the introduction of bills. Six hundred thirty-seven the total number introduced. General ap propriation bills introduced; but as these will be largely changed, I will withhold comment on them at this time. Very large number of bills killed. House con demns ex-oil imspector Hilton. WEDNESDAY. Senate. Governor sent in thenameof Dr. L. J. Abbott, of Fremont, to be sup erintendent of the Lincoln asylum for the insane. Referred to committee. It is thought the senate will confirm. Dr. Hay, present Republican incumbent says he will hold on and fight it in the courts. Dr. Abbott is one of the best known phy sicians in the state and a staunch Popu list. The twelve constitutional amend ments, recommended for passage on Tuesday, were passed. House. Number of important meas ures considered in committee of the whole. , ' THUR8DAY. Senate Last day for introduction of bills. 408 were introduced in all, as agaiust 807 two years ago. Akers irri gation bill considered. House Beet sugar bounty was the order of the day. Fight raged all the afternoon Republicans favoring the bounty, Democrats and Populists oppos ing it. After a long debate the bin was recommonded for passage by the follow ing vote: ' For the bill. Republicans, 71, Popu lists, 1. Against the bill. Populists, 20, Democrats, 3, Republicans, not one. FRIDAY. House Bill appropriating $200,000 for feed and seed in drouth stricken regions recommended for passage, after a long debate and considerable opposition from a portion of the Republicans. Senate adjourned soon after reading of journal. SATURDAY. House placed the bill, locating the state fair permanently at Liucoln, on general file. Routine work occupied the rest of the day. Senate adjourned at noon having done very little business. NOTES. The house committee recommended that John L. Webster be paid $10,000 for his services in the maximum ratecase. If over burdened tax payers groan at this exorbitant fee, they will have to re member that Mr. Webster is a great Re publican lawyer and his claim was allow ed by a Republican committee. lue insurance lobby has been down here all winter to achieve two results: First, To repeal the valued policy law; Second, To defeat the bill for mutual in surance companies. It is now certain that they will fall in the first attempt and probably in the last also. Gov. Holeomb was severely ill with the grip during the latter part of the week, but is now improving. Lost week 1 failed to state that a bwi passed the senate for the repeal of the state depository law, Republicans nearly all voted for repeal, Populists ag:nht re peal. This is the law saving the merest on county funds to the county. When it is repealed said Interest can go into the, treasurer ,s pocket. It is not yet decided whether the gover nor will sign the anti-oleo bill or not, but it is thought he will. He will hear arguments next week. SonatorGray (pop) who has been ill so long, is improving and was in bis seat one day last week. J. A. Edoerton. My Idea I have observed that the present party system of government has prevented any legislation in the interest of the people during the last 80 years, aud also has prevented any question of real publio welfare from engaging general attention and being decided by a majority of the people. I believe that under our present party and representative system no re form can be dealt with fully and settled right, except by the formation and vic tory of a party for that particular pur pose, with substantial unanimity among its supporters on that one question. I believe that this not only delays all other reforms until one has been settled by this slow process, but that, what is far worse, it makes each reform move ment a most earnest and effective oppon ent of every other, so that in the mad struggle for . precedence the doorway is blocked up and not even one reform can make progress. A citizen can give his vote to only one reform party, although he may sympathize with several. More over the claim which every reform party must make that its issue is of para mount importance contradicts like claims of other reform parties, thus dim inishing, if not destroying, confidence, if not interest, in all. , If division among reformers does not prevent success by any of tha reform par ties, It is to be feared that the successful one will not be sufficiently agreed upon any one thing to dispose of it logic ally and make room for another party. In this state of affairs every earnest thinker, every lover of his kind should consider courageously and' honestly the absolute awfulness of qur situation as a nation. The growing discontent of the producing masses, surging continually higher and higher, while the present sys tem affords no outjet for it, must inevit ably lead to explosion, revolution, unless means be devised and adopted to trans-' mute the people's demand for justice and relorm into statute law. I believe Hor ace Greeley's plan for "a new party every 12 years" though well-meant, and atone time sufficient, is at present wholly inadequate. The only means of relieving the enor mous strain upon .the frame-work of society, in my opinion, is the adoption of the system of Direct Legislation in its fullness. : The system is very simple; it is already widely advocated and generally approv ed in thiscountry,and is in partial opera tion in Switzerland, where it has given perfect satisfaction so far as tried. The system embracesthe Initiative, the Referendum, the Imperative Mandate, and by necessary implication, at least, Proportional Representation. The Initiative provides that any reas onable number of citizens may demand that a certain reform be submitted to the whole people for adoption or rejec tion; that then the legislature shall pro vide for an election at which all voters shall have an opportunity to vote for or against the proposed law, first seeing that the bill is iu proper form. If a ma jority of the voters approve the measure, it becomes low; if not, its advocates can cheerfully go ahead and educate the voters on the question, in the confident knowledge that if it is right it must aud wiii triumph, and that as soon as a ma jority of the voters appreciate and ap prove it it will become a law. 1 bus tney would never be driveu by failure unto dispair, as now they sometimes almost are, by seeing unworthy representatiues and the exigencies, of party success put off their demands for the restoration of their natural rights into the far future, aimost beyond the horizon of hope. Two or more measures may besubmitted at one election. Each question can be decided upon its merits; no one will anta gonize or interfere with another, as parties organized to carry out tnose same ideas, would necessarily do. One can vote for two principles at ouce but he cannot vote for two parties at once. More: under Direct Legislation one can vote for one thing and agaiust another, while under our system of government by parties he must vote for several at least, whether he believes in all or only one. This explains why our (inis)representa tives devote themselves so exclusively to feathering their own ne8tand the nests of those who know what they want and can tell the legislators as well as offer 'inducements," while he cannot possibly tell what the majority of his constituents want, and there is no inducement what ever for him to do what he may guess they want. Should a multitude of ques tions besubmitted at one time; too great for each to be fully considered, by the voters, the inherentspiritof conservatism may be relied upon to defeat all except those which have impressed the people as (Continued on 5th page)