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BT TO!
Independent Publishing Co.
At 1132 If Stbibt,
LIKOOLW, - - , NEBRASKA.
telephone eat.
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address all communication! to, and
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TUB INDEPENDENT PDB. CO.
Lincoln, Neb.'-
STATE TICKET.
For Judge of the Supreme Court
Sila A. Holcomb, of Custer Co.
For Regents of the State University
J. L. Testers, of Lancaster,
. Emon Rich, of Douglas.
LANCASTER COUNTY TICKET.
Judges of the District Court . . i
i T. J. DOYLE, Lincoln.
G.E.HIBNER, Lincoln.
Clerk of tb District Court
FRANK D. EAGER, Lincoln.
Treasurer
WILLIAM M'LAUGHLIN, Lincoln.
Sheriff- .
P. JAMES C03QRAVE, Lincoln.
County Clerk r 1
H. C. REDDICK, Bethany.
WILLIAM HEIBEKGER, Grant
County Judge ,
FRED SHEPHERD, Lincoln.
Cammissioner .
JOHN MEIER, Dallam.
The watchword of every man who has
reform at heart is: "Unite or perish."
Krag-Jorgeusen ' Christianity, is the
new kind, Walk op and be baptiied.
Captain Carter understood it. If yon
are goiog to steal, steal a million.
W ben yon have done that, plutocratic
judges or republican presidents will see
to It that no harm comes to you.
There are some very funny things in
the great gold bug dailies. One of them
the other day gravely informed its read
ere that "if there is no fusion in Ne
braskaths democrats might fail to
carry the state."
Mr. E. T. Stevens of the Crete nurseries
was in the Independent office and showed
as fins samples of grapes as were ever
grown on Nebraska soil. Besides the
crapes which will not be a full crop this
year, he Is shipping from 80 to 40 bar
rel of apples every day.
It will be noticed that by article 12 of
the treaty made with the Sultan of Sulu
that slavery is once more recognized and
flourishes under, r the American flag.
When they hear of this, what will the re
publicans who helped to elect Abe Lin.
coin do? Ohl for an hour of Horace
Greeley or even ten minutes of John
Brown the Brown who was hung at
Harpers Ferry.
The Wilber Republican say that
'.'there are all kinds of pop this year.
. Gold standard pops, free silver pops,
free trade pops, protection pops."
Since the nomination of Holcomb the
republican editors' dreams are filled
with pops. The whole country seems
full of them. There is, however, one
kind of dop that this republican editor
did not enumerate. It is the popinjay.
He is generally engaged tn editing'a re
publican paper. : i . v . ; . .. . -
The total losses by Are in Lincoln last
year was 123.845. The amount paid
for Insurance and which has gone from
the state never to return, no man knowp,
but it is many times that amaunt If It
were not, the vast board of insurance
agents would not lire so well a they
do. The time will come some day when
. this insurance crate will disappear and
the business will be put upon a common
sense basis. Then the great insurance
companies will not have mortgages on
half of the real estate in the common
wealth.' -
That Anglo-American alliance which
was so much desired by the leading re
publican papers a few months ago Is so
dead that some of the same papers are
now beginning to deny that they ever
wanted any such thing. But look out
for thro. That is the same gam they
played about the gdfM standard. They
. were always and all tbs time for bimet
taliror, and Mark Hanna told tbs truth
when he said that in the beginning of
the last campaign they did not have a
speaker in the whole party who Could go
. Into the campaign withoat making
complete flop on all bis past record.
McKinley was In the same fix with all
the rest of them tor he . bad always been
binctallist, ,Tby trill all . be for the
declaration of independence and the
Monroe doctrine now until tbey get a
good chance to play traitor to them.
BIRB A POP.
The republican party of Nebraska has
always refused to attempt to defend
their principles. Since BryAa wiped op
the earth with Conneli and wiped out a
three thousand majority in this district,
they have universally refused to meet
their opponents in joint discussion, and
have relied upon slander and lie for
campaign material. Their editors wvr
attempt to make an argument in the de
fense of the gold standard ortbeeowi
o roic theories practiced by the repub'i
can law makers. When challenged to a
joint discussion, they have made the
silly reply that they did not want to
furnish audlenas for pop speakers, and
that in a state where they have been in
a minority by many thousands. Tbey
have proved themselves moral and in
tellectual cowards so often and on eo
many different occasions, that the effect
of it upon all men who like a fair fight
is to disgust them. '
It is manifestly impossible to follow
this course any longer. They must
make some sort of a defense of their
theories and practices or go into noxious
desuetude. The State Journal made a
first attempt at it the other day. It
never tackled an economic question be
fore and its failure was so complete that
It was pitiful. Mr. 8. Prince wrote to ft
as follows:''":,' . " t " ' " "' '
"Milford, Neb., Aug. 28.-To the Edi
tor of the State Journal: Some of my
populist friends come at me as follows,
and as I am at some loss to answer
them, I appeal to you for information.
"Tbey say, when one's incomes, includ
ing his money, are less than his outgoes,
he must be losing money. It , don't
make any difference whether his business
is mining, stock raising or what not If
he is a miner and the value of the ore
sent out added to the money expended,
either for food, improved machinery, in
creased help or anything else, is In ex
cess of the money he , receives added to
the value of the improved machinery
and other things bought, be is losing
money. '"
"They say that what is true of an in
dividual Is true of a naiion, and if the
value of a country's outgoes, including
its coin, bullion and ore, is greater than
the value of that same country's income,
including its coin, bullion ; and ore, that
country is losing money, and so far I
am compelled to agree with them, but
now comes the poser. ,'
They quote government statistics to
prove that the total exports from these
United States. including coin, silver and
gold, and tlrfe bullion and ore of these
metals, is some millions greater than
our imports including the same things.
If this is so, and I can't go back on
treasury tables. I can find no suitable
reply to them.' I bate to be 'stamped'
and ask you for your reply to them."
Now what explanation of these facts
did the Journal make. It said that the
government statistic were wrong. Hear
it! ''.': V . '
"In valuing our exports, for instance,
the department takes the values when
delivered, not f. o. b., that is M delivered
at the nearest station to the farm or
mine, but at the selling value when they
are delivered in the market. No account
Is taken of the cost of transportation
which we have to pay.
"On the other band the values of our
imports are estimated at the ports
whence they are shipped, as per invoice,
and duty paid. No account is taken of
tbs cost of transportation to our shores,
which we pay."
That statement will somewhat aston
ish the statistician of this country and
the whole world. That the statistician
at Washington have not been getting
reports from all the 1 elevator in this
country and finding out just how mnebvj
tbey paid the farmers for their wheat,
corn, oats, rye, barley, hogs and cattle
and calling that the export price, is
surely abominable.
But the funniest thing In the state
ment Is that "no account is taken of the
cost of transportation to onr shores,
which we pay." The imports and ex
ports are both valued at the seaports
where they enter and leave this country.
A onr exports are very largely raw ma
terial aud oar imports almost exclu
sively, aside from coffee, sugar, tea, rice
and tobacco, are manufactured goods,
the result is that the ocean transporta
tion on the international exchanges is
mostly paid by foreigners. It is true
that the ocean freights that are paid by
thepeopleof the United States is not
taken into account in trade balance ex
cept a they are added to the price of
goods at tbs port of entry. Uut tbey
are thus added in most cases. But if
they are not thus added what is the re
mit? That would make the balance
against n that much greater instead of
less as the Journal assert.
The government statistics show that
in the trade between this country and
other nations duriug the last year we ex
ported about $60O,OO0OQ mora goods
than we imported. W should therefore
have been paid that ' amount In cash, if
w were doing a paying business. But
the statistic also show that we received
less than $200,000,000. What became
of the other t400.000.000? It went
right where all the economist have been
pointing oat that It went for the last
ten Tears. A 1100.000.000 or no I
pent In Europe by the glob trotter
and millionaire who spend the season
over there. About 75,000,000 want to
f.
ay freight carried In foreign bottom,
be balance of it want to pay latersat
on bonds and mortgage and other se
curities held in Europe. The book show
that we r short- $400,000,000. We
root that much more wealth ont of the
country than we brought back
Tue Journal's attempt is so. pitiful
that the sympathy of the Independent
is extended to it. It is to be commended
however, for making the effort at all.
It shows a disposition to defend by ar
Kum 'in instead of personal attacks upon
priv tie chHrscter. Viewing it in that
lubt tt I dependent is moved to help
it !(. A populist can always make a
b'er gold standard argument when he
tries, than any of the Mark Hanna fol
lowers. This is f bat the Journal should
have said: '..,...? ' ';';"
"The foreign trade of the United States
is but a bagatelle when compared to its
domestic trade. , While the former can
be estimated in millions, an Idea of the
immense proportions " of the latter can
only be given in terms of billions. The
former is to the latter as a drop
of water in 'a great ocean. The
fact that there is a balance against, ns
in our export trade is nothing. That
means that a great amount of foreign
capital has been sent to this country for
investment because this is the most pro
ductive country in the world. The in
vestment of foreign capital has opened
up our country and produced wealth
by the Bide of which this $400,
000,000 is as a grain of .... sand on
the sea shore. Where we pay the foreign
ers one dollar for the use of their capital,
we create by the means of it ten dollars
of wealth. We build railroads with it
and the roads quadruple and quintuple
the value of our lands. . The fact is. that
instead ot this balance showing that we
are losing money as the pops say, is
glorious testimony of the wealth pro
ducing capacity of the greatest country
under the sun. It means that all the
world wants to invest money here,
Three cheers for the old flag and the
government of t-he United States!" ,.
Now if the republican editors knew
anything about the science of political
economy, they could' get np a sophism
like that. That would fire ; the mullet
head heart and set the whole crowd to
yelling. The Independent advises the
Journal if it really intends to drop its
former tactics of slander and the" calling
of names and go into a campaign of ar
gument, to hire some good pop to write
editorials for it Pay him well and be
will put up a fight that will keep the mul
let heads yelling from morning till night
A GREAT IDEA,
Every year along about the first of
August, the republican editor has an
idea. It is always the same idea he bad
about the first of August every year for
the last ten years. , It is, that alt the
talk to the effect that there are men wil
ling to work in these United States who
cannot gajb anything to do, is nothing
but pop lies. Then he starts out to
prove it by declaring that the wheat
farmers up in th Dakotas are offering
enormous wages to men to work and
the men cannot be found. It is not
only the editors of , the republican week
lies that are attacked by this Idea, but
the great Chicago dailies "catch it and
write long editorials pa the wickedness
of all the pops and especially the abom
nable wickedness of the pop editors who
have said that among the rights of an
American, was the opportunity to work
This year all the gold bug' editors have
had this idea. It has proved to be a
very epidemic among them.
What is the basis for all this writing?
Wheat harvest lasts about ten days or
two weeks. The men who are employed
during harvest can get no work in the
Dakotas during all the rest of the year.
If a wheat farmer pays them $2 50 a
day for 12 days, each man receives
$30.00. The average fare to and from
the wheat fields is not less than $25.00.
That leaves the man who is said to get
such enormous wages 41 8-4 cents a
day for his work. That is the plttto
cratlo idea of what "enormous wages"
is. That is the sum and substance of
the great idea that starts the republi
can editors, big and little to seize their
pens and write,about the first of August
NOt CAPITAL BUT LABOR.
It was not capital that developed and
made Nebraska what it is today. It
was labor. The men who broke the
prairies, built the . bouses and barns,
planted th groves and the orchards,
bred tbs cattle and tbs horse, were
men for the most part without capital.
Tbey had nothing but their hardened
hand and vigorous minds. But who
own now the wealth that tbey created?
For the greatest part of it is not In the
hands of tbos who created It. The
mortgage investment companies, the
money lenders, the holders of state,
county and municipal bonds own it
All these are facts that cannot be suc
cessfully denied. Every thinking man
knows that the statement is true.
By what process has this wealth
passed from the hands of those who
created it Into the hands of men who for
the moat part create nothing? Who
will tell? The populist have constantly
asserted that this transfer of wealth
from tb men who create it to tbs men
who create nothing, is accomplished by
th financial ayatom of tb country. It
to Interest and the increase In th pur
chasing power of money that doe It.
Those who dny that proposition should
show, if they can, what ha dons it
Not only Is Mark Banna's literary
bureau working night and day but in a
hundred other ways la the country flood,
ed with gold standard literature. Many of
the great dailies are printed by the mill
ion and circulated far below cost, but
many million copies are sent regularly
to voters entirely free, among them
Melting Pot Morton' paper and the one
issued by Wharton Barker. Against this
flood of literature there is nothing to
oppose but the reform papers and men
must subscribe and pay for them. Would
it not be good policy to spend some
money in sending reform papers to men
outside of the party free for a while? The
state committee should consider that
matter. In nine cases out of ten when a
mau reads a reform paperjfor a few weeks
he will subscribe and pay for it after
wards. A reform paper contains matter
absolutely new to a man who never took
one. He generally finds it intensely in
teresting. ;
The city of New York consumes about
3,000,000 pounds of meat each week.
The rise in prices made by the meat
trust of four cents a pound in two weeks,
means a tax on the people of that city
of $120,000 a week. At the same time
the price ot beef cattle fell off 15 cents a
hundred. Most of that tax comes upon
the wage workers. It goes into the
pockets of a very few men. That is the
case in one city, but in all other 'cities
and towns it is the same. In the last
two weeks the meat trust has probably
robbed the people of these states of $20,
000,000. In the course of the year, the
meat trustcan levy and collect a greater
tax upon the people of.the United States
than the government itself. This is the
sort of beneficence that the republican
mean when they talk about the trusts,
and they say: "We can't do anything."
They will find out whether we can't do
anything before we get through with
this business.
Window glass will soon be a luxury in
the United States, but a very common
article of commerce in every other coun
try. The trust has raised the price of
it up to the McKinley tariff which is
about 150 per cent above what it used
to sell for. That tariff shuts out all im
portations and gvyes the trust the whole
market Outside of the United States,
glass can be. bought at the old prices
and poor men can afford to have light
in their houses. When the ' panes get
broken here, they can't buy any more.
They will have to put . In a piece of
greased paper or stuff the window with
old "rags. The trusts have cornered
everything but the air and the sunlight.
Now the McKinley glass trust has a
cinch on the sunlight Moral: Tote for
McKinley. " -' '
It seems that the reonblican press is
determined to make this a campaign of
lies. The Wahoo Wasp starts off with
this one. ' It has been proved that he
(Holcomb J took from the state during
his term of governor over $700 that he
was not entitled to." The trntb is that
he turned back into the state treasury
over $700 that he was entitled to. He
was entitled to the whole of that appro
priation for rent and every republican
governor always took the whole of it,
but Silas A. Holcomb turned back into
the treasury every cent that was not
actually expended and for which vouch
ers are on file in the auditor's office.
The republican editor has lied so long
and so persistently that be don't know
how to do anything else,
Two republican papers lie upon the
desk. One of them declares that pros
perity has come in its county because a
large amount of mortgage indebtedness
has been cancelled (probably by foreclos
ures although it don't say so.) .The
other declares that prosperity has come
to its county because men are borrow
ing money in large quantities as shown
by . increase of mortgages ot nearly a
million dollars. Now, here is a pretty
kettle of flth. One editor say that pros
perity has come because mortgages are
increasing and the other because they
are decreasing. These republican editors
ought to hold a convention and all
agree to tell the same lie; They will
never get along this way. V
When a democrat is nominated for of
fice in a fusion convention the republican
editor weeps great salty tears and tells
the pop bow sorry he is that the demo
crats are swallowing the pop party.
When a populist is nominated then the
republican editor sheds more and saltier
tears and tells the democrats how sorry
he is for them because the pops want to
gobble everything. The sympathies of
the republican editor in this year (
trust are worked overtime and the
fountain of their tears is liable to become
exhausted. .
Tnoma B. Reed sent in his resigna
tion to the governor ot Maine last week.
Mr. Reed has always been a thrifty
Yankee, He ha lor a acore of years
drawn a salary from the insurance com
panies four time a much a hi salary
as a member of congress. He did not by
any means despise tbs small salary ot
member of th house, and he continued
to draw It . while ha was taking a long
vacation la Eorop from which h ha
just returned Yes, Mr. Reed ha al
ways been thrllty. f
OUB ENEMIES BEING f CDGEH.
Every time one.of the Mark Hanna
editors in this state starts out these
day to make an argument for tbs gold
standard hs unconsciously gives a dem
onstration ot the soundness of the po
litical economy preached by the pop ora
tors. These editor are just now filling
their columns with statements of ' the
improvements that are being made on
Nebraska farms and how much money
the farmer have made during the last
two years. They say that this shows
prosperity. It shows that when the pop
orators made speeches on the street
corners and in the school houses all
over this state and declared that pros
perity would come when the prices for
farm products were raised, and not till
then, knew what they were talking
about , ;.-',', ,
When wheat was selling for 40 cents a
bushel and corn from ten to twelve, there
was no prosperity and the pops declared
that there never would be any until
prices raised. The republicans and so
cialists claimed that the cause of low
prices was improved machinery and that
wheat could be raised so much cheaper
by reason of t,he machines that there
was no cause of complaint from the low
range of prices. John L. Webster ac
cepted that logic as sound and made a
speech declaring that the low price of
wheat was a blessing.
. All the time the pops said there would
never be any relief from the stagnation
in all lines of business until the price of
farm products was increased. Then
came the famine in India and the crop
failure in Argentina. The price of wheat
and corn began to rise. Gold was dis
covered in the Klondike and Colorado
and the African mines produced gold in
unprecedented quantities. : Prices began
to rise and the farmers began to pay off
their most pressing debts. After these
were paid, they began : to buy things
again and that started np the factories
and gave work to the idle. The next
crop was a big one and prices', while not
quite so high, were much higher than in
the years when wheat was forty cents
and corn ten cents a bushel. The result
of all this is just what the pops said it
would be. It is a complete and most
perfect demonstration of the theories
that they, have so long defended on the
stump. -
Now there it another change in sight
There is no famine . in India this year
and Argentina is sending out her usual
amount of export whaat. 'Wheat be
gins to fail and at most of the stations
in this state it is bringing not quite 50
cent a bushel. ' The increase in the
money supply from the mines is too
small to hold prices. After a little time
the old prices will prevail again and we
shall have the same old conditions. ; f
Meantime the republican editors are
adding their testimony .. to that of the
pops that higher prices for farm products
brings prosperity to all lines ot business.
It makes the burdens of taxation and
interest lighter and it gives work to the
idle thousands all over the United States.
It does not take 100 bushels . of corn
now to pay ten dollars of interest It
takes less than 50 bushels. The farmers
take what corn and what wheat is saved
by these higher prices and build barns
and improve their houses. That gives
work to carpenters and masons and
makes sales possible in many lines of
business. Ail this is just what we told
these thick headed partisans would hap
pen. Now, they" themselves, say that it
Is true. The political economy that we
have taught is sound, "our enemies
themselves being judges."
MEAT TRUST BRIGANDS.
. There is nothing l'ke a big daily paper
to help a trust squeeze the life out of the
common people. The Chicago Record is
a good example of the aid that can thus
be given: One day last week it had a
cartoon showing what a great thing the
beef steer was this year. It had a picture
of one with a silk hat on and wearing an
eyeglass. The impression conveyed was
that cattle had raised enormously in
price. But turning to the market re
ports in the same paper for the samo day
the following is found. ,
"Union stockyards. Arrivals in all
branches were ot too great volume for
the gqod of the trade yesterday and
weakness was evident in each branch.
Some prime native cattle sold as high as
as ever but the bulk of native cattle
and branded steers had to go at 1015
cent decline from the level of Mondays'?
sales, slowly at that. Good grades oi
hogs sold at a big five cent decline, the
average cost of most good droves stand
ing about that, much below the cost of
such Tuesday. Sheep were salable at
firm prices but lambs with the exception
of a few load of fancy quality, went
slowly at 1 0(3) 15 cent decline or a big 25
cents below prices paid at the start this
week."
Now it th paper had wanted to pub
lish a cartoon that would tell the truth,
It wonld have made a picture of a big
pair of balances. On the end going down
wonld have been the fat beet steer and
on th end going np wonld have been
dressed beet. -That would have told the
truth." - -
Th beef trust is making an attempt to
rake la a few extra millions from th
meat consuming population of this
ooautry by raising th price ot dressed
meat while tb price of bog sheep and
cattle go down. Th vast majority of
tboM million will come from th pockets
of the wage workers for they form four
fifths of the meat eaters. The feudal
lords or an invading army I Bashiba- ,
zeuks never planned or executed a mora
damnable system of robbery than this
effort of the meat trust to plunder the
working people of the United States. The
managers of it are highwaymen, foot
pads, thieves and brigand. Then never .
has been in all history' anything that
would equal it. It is the robbery of the
poor of a whole nation.
The republican party , and its press
have always claimed that they were the .
friends ot the wage worker. All their
policies they have claimed to be in their
interests, but here, when the wage work
ers are.ro bbed in open daylight, right
in their homes as they sit around their
humble tables, there is not a republican
paper in the whole land that will utter
even a feeble protest Instead of pro
testing they Bay that trusts are benefi
cent organizations. . .
The moral to this tale is: Tote the re
publican ticket some more.
CAMPAIGN MATERIAL,
Wni. E. Curtis continues to write
about the beauties of the gold standard
and the blessings it has brought to some
of the South American republics that are
attempting to establish it Not One of
them are on the gold standard they are
only trying to get there. As usual in the
writing of all the gold standard advo
cates, Mr. Curtis lets the cat out' of the
bag every time he attempts to say any
thing about it Here is a part of his last
effusion: He is writing about the gold
standard in Peru. ;
"The result has been a surprise to all
classes. Values in the local markets have
not been disturbed and wages have not
been changed. The laborers on the plan
tations and the mechanics in the manu
factories are still paid in silver sols at
the same rates that prevailed before the
law was passed. The butchers and bak
ers and huckster sell their food for the
same price and accept the same money.
The only difference is an increase in the
cost of imported goods. They were paid
for in gold and sold for gold prices, be
fore the law was passed, just as they are
now, but the government now requires
customs duties to be paid in gold and
that is practically an increase of 100 per
cent from the time when they were paid
in silver." .
So the result of this beneficent opera
tion of establishing the gold standard in
Peru is simply to double the already
high tariff of that country. Laborer
are paid in silver and all businessls done
with silver but the tariff duties must be
paid in gold at double the valuation of
silver. The descendants ot the Incas,
who form the larger part of tbateountry
may submit to that sort ot . thing and
never find out that their taxes have been
doubled, but such beneficence wonld
hardly be popular in a country where
the common school bad been in opera
tion a decade or two. There is only one
class of people in this country that
would admire thai kind of philanthropy.
Tbey are the republican mullet heads. If
they read about it in a republican paper
they would declare that it was the salva
tion of the world.
It is to be hoped that Mr. Curtis will
continue to publish his South American
gold standard investigations and give us
the result from day to day. It makes
such very good populist campaign stuff.
THE STATE CONVEN1IOX. s
, Whenever an editor begins to talk
about "the thing being fixed," and all
that sort of "thing," he is assaulting
not the persons that he thinks he is, bnt
the men who composed the state con
vention. These men were all fairly
chosen and there were no contests.
Every one of them voted with6nt con
straint and just as he thought best"
Tbey were the men to whom the voters
in all jbe counties of tbe state entrusted
their business. Tbey were chosen be
cause the populist voters of the various
counties had confidence in their honesty
and good judgment They elected their
chairman, tbey did all that was done
and they alone are entitled to all the
glory or all the blame The talk about
fixing things is then an assault upon
these farmers for most of them were
farmers and not upon any one 'about
the state house. There never was
a more intelligent and honest body as
sempled in a state convention than
assembled in that pig pen of a place that
was set aside for the use of the populist
state convention at Omaha.' The In
dependent propose to stand by tbe
men who composed that convention,
and any insinuations against them will
be resented. ' ' ; -
' WANT OrfENSE.
McKinley shows not only a want of
patriotism but a want ot common sense.
Here he had a lot of preachers howling
for him every Sunday talking abont
"duty," "destiny" and "providence."
But for want of good bores sense he has
turned every one of them against him.
Hs hasn't given them a bit of the boodle.
One of them, the notorious Sam Jones
got after him. This is what hs says:
"Th government has arranged that
very post of our army In Cuba may
have it canteen for drinking at large
among tb soldiers, bnt ha mastered
out every regimental chaplain, estab
lished no post chaplaincies, and left In A
Cuba not on man ot that offlo to '
preach to tb soldiers, olao th tick,
or bnry th dead."
1
.7
