o
i iii ii i ii i n ii i i i
s
VOL. XIIL
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, AUGUST 1, ' 1901.
NO. 10.
WHEAT FOR ARID REGION
Ballet! a Jmt tt4 by tha Agritnl
tcrat Xepartmaaa I!ra Mac
raal Wheal Will Onw all Ottr
she Ury rimt mm
Macaroni wheat Las been grown for
eeveral year la Dakota where it was
first Introduced by Immigrants from
Ra&zia. The agricultural department
fcaa ba making experiments with it
and cow issue a. bulletin declaring
that it can be successfully grown in
ail tha semi-arid regions from Texas
to Canada, and in regions where ail at
tempi at farming hare ben a failure
for want of rainfall. The bulletin
sayi:
"During the past twenty years much
Intern has been awakened in the sub
ject cf crops adapted to semi-arid dis
tricts, and great results hare been ob
tained In this line. The successful es
tablishment cf Kafir corn, Turkestan
alfalfa, and awcless brome grass has
airrady been worth many times the
cost cf the work, and now there is an
opportunity to establish in these dis
tricts another crop, that is, macaroni
wheat, which is quite as Important
as those mentioned, and which may be
profitably grown in the plains region
of the United States far beyond the
hundredth meridian.
-Mzrroni wheats differ radically
from the ordinary bread wheats, and
in the field look more like barley than
wheat. The heads are Cat. compressed,
and bearded, the beard often being
black: the chafT is usually golden yel
low, but sometimes black; and the
grains are Large, hard, yellowish
white, and clear, or. in wheats of the
best quality, sometimes translucent.
There are also occasionally velvet
chiS varieties. In Europe they are
known simply as hard wheats, or du
rum wheats. The grain is much hard
er haa that of the hardest bread
wheats, and in the best varieties con
tains an unusual amount of nitrogen
and a eorrenondingly small amount
of starch. The quantity and quality
of the gluten make them exceedingly
valuable for making macaroni. They
are eitretsely resistant to drouth and
relft the attacks of the leaf rust and
rauta to aa unusual degree. On the
other hand, they will not withstand
hard winters, and are usually grown
as pricg wheats. This fact should
tot be a strong objection to them.
boweer. for they will behave very
diSertntly from the ordinary spring
wheats grown in Kansas and Nebras
ka. South of the thirty-fifth parallel
they mr be sown In late autumn. In
the cf macaroni wheats, however,
it is not only true that they can be
grown In dry districts, but they must
be grown there in order to produce the
best quality of grain, and up to a
mioimum of about ten inches annual
rainfall, the drier the better, provided
th rain fails at the proper time and
the soil s of the right kind.
A cartful study, made by the writ
er, of the conditions in east and south
ftuf sia show that in both soil and cli
mate they are remarkably similar to
thoae of our Great Plains region. The
plal climatic features of the Rus
sian region, which are requisite for
the production cf good macaroni
wheats, asd which are also character
istic cf our own Great Plains, are as
follows: U A very low annual rain
fall (not exceeding 17 inches in east
Russia); (2) the occurrence of a very
large proportion of that rainfall in
the umraer months; (3) the nature of
the rainfall, which occurs in the form
of qi'.ck thunderstorms, with few
dajs of mist or fog (4) corresponding
to this, the low atmospheric humidity
and large number of days of sunshine;
il great extremes cf temperature, but
especially short. Intensely hot sum
mers. In the Russian region, however,
as a result of the growing of macaroni
varieties, the present actual wheat area
is characterized by greater extremes
cf climate than the actual wheat area
of the Great Plains. For example, the
normal yearly rainfall of the Great
PI ins at the one hundredth meridian,
where wheat growing is at present
practically non-existent, because of the
lack of drouth-resistant varieties, Is
nearly three Inches greater than that
for the entire semi-arid VoTga region,
which is one cf the principal wheat
rtjrios of Russia and produces the
fie-t macaroni wheat that is known."
The bulletin is accompanied with a
map tholng the region where this
wheat will nourish the best. The
country designated is about 200 miles
wide, running from Texas to Canada,
and the center line of which is about
sixty miles west of earaey. This wheat
deteriorates when raised in a humid
climate. It Is spring wheat, although
there are varieties that may be sown
in the fall. There is a market for all
that can be raised.
INDIANA POPULISM
.i
The Stiver !Teabllaa Will Protxtbl
Ira Their Orgraalsatlaa aaa Jala
Willi the rpu!Uu
The following private letter to the
dltrr of The Independent from the
eminent lawyer and economist of Ind
U&a is printed because it contains mat
ter cf general Interest to all workers In
the reform field. No man of good judg
ment longer denies that Bryan was
t-eatea la the last campaign by the
!iet treachery ever known in poli
tics. The letter is as follows:
Dear fc:r; 1 have been shown a let
ter from you to Mr. Hanna of this state
tbt gives me great satisfaction.
nire can be not the slightest doubt
that the HUl-CXe?eland element will
control the organization of the demo
cratic party in this state as they have
cczt relied it la Ohio. You know bet
ter than nwt men oudtide of our state
stsout the situation here. I tried In
tie ?r!r part of 1514 to make myself
lIiee that the democratic organlza
tioa la Indiana would, because of a
desire for party success, be forced to
be true to the ticket, but by the time
the Btate convention met in June, it
was manifest that this influence would
prefer the election of the republican
ticket to the election, of Mr. Bryan on
any such platform as that afterwards
adopted at Kansas City.
The vote polled for Mr. Bryan in this
state was little less than marvelous
under the circumstances. I think I
am suspected of "seeing things" when
I have asserted that It was not simply
inability and want cf Interest that
was the matter in the state, but that
It was positlv eorganlzed and premedi
tated treachery. The interests behind
the state organization preferred the
election of Mr. McKInley to Mr. Bryan
and worked to that end. These inter
ests did not like the Kansas City plat
form and would have given aid to no
candidate unless assured that he would
disregard its principles and pledges.
You cf course know that the finan
cial trust represented by the Indiana
association of bankers had control
here. One of the delegates at large
was the president of that organization.
There is no paper that comes to my
table that I read with more Interest
than I do The Independent and I shall
be glad to assist in the matter of its
distribution.- Just what our silver re
publicans in this state will do, I do
not know, but for myself, as between
the dsmocratl cparty and the people's
party, I am disposed to work with the
people's party.
I am Inclined to drop our organiza
tion and take as many as possible of
our people to the populists' organiza
tion. The time for such movement has
not -yet arrived, but I am sure that it
is not far off. Yours respectfully,
FLAVIL J. VAN VORHIS.
THE POOR PAY THE TAXES
A BIG SURPRISE
nrd tor Oil aad S track an Artesian
Water Sap ply Thai Will Turn the
Desert lata a Gardan
The search for petroleum on the
Mohave desert in California has re
sulted In the development of a supply
of artesian water which is destined in
time to prove of more value than oil.
The djscovery, says the San Francisco
Chronicle, has been made near Victor,
a mining town located in the heart
of the desert on the Colton-Barstow
branch of the Santa Fe system, midway
between those two places. Prospecting
for oil has been in progress there for
weeks, as it Is on the line of the sup
posed extension of the Kern river belt
Three welia have struck a strong ar
tesian Cow of water within the past
week. All of them are represented to
be gushers. The last of the three
penetrated the water belt at a depth of
183 feet, and It Is yielding a steady
stream of 215 miner's inches. It em
erges from the earth with such force
that up to the present time the owners
have Tailed to cap the pipe, and the
Cow is consequently unrestrained.
This fortunate discovery has given
a new and - unexpected value to the
land and revolutionized the prospects
of that desolate region. If the water
belt is found to underlie the whole
desert it will doubtless become one
of the most productive agricultural
districts in the state. All that the
soil in that section needs to make u
produce crops of any kind is moisture.
Wherever the soil could be irrigated it
has yielded generously. But the avail
able water supply has been so scant
that it has been Impossible to culti
vate more than a few nmall areas scat?
tered widely apart along the edge of
the great barren waste.
ABSOLUTE POWER
A Plaaa Where Jadges do Xot Interpret
Lawi by the Constitution Far They ara
Eaacted by tha President
The curious form of government
prevailing in the Philippines is brought
home to American understanding by
the Information that the oath of office
of the newiy appointed judges does
not include the customary declaration
that they will support the constitu
tion of the United States. The com
mission which has been framing the
government omitted the usual lang
uage because of the supreme court de
cision which held that the uniformity
of duties clause of the constitution
does not extend to the newly acquired
Insular possessions. Yet the opinions
of the justices of the supreme court
were far from declaring that the con
stitution does not extend to th eislands.
Nearly all of them, in fact, expressly
said that the constitution does so ex
tend, though five of them managed to
reason out that congress has the pow
er to Impose duties on imports from
the islands.
Another curious fact Is that every
enactment of the Philippine commis
sion has an enacting clause as follows:
"By the authority of the president
of the United States, be it enacted by
the United States Philippine commis
sion that"
The above quoted form Is based upon
the act of congress which equipped
the president with power to govern the
islands. Yet it should be a shock to
every American who loves the consti
tutional forms of hi3 country to learn
that In some of its possessions the
judges are not sworn to construe the
laws according to the constitution and
that the laws themselves are enacted
"by the authority of the president."
An organization more autocratic in
form or farther from the American
idea would be difficult . to imagine.
Through his commission and his
judges the president has larger per
sonal power in the Philippines than
the sultan or the czar have in Turkey
, ana Russia. -Denver News,
Tha Most Inhuman Government That tha
World Has Kver Known Tha Rich
Swear Off Their Taxes but tha '
Peor ara Made to Pay
There must be some measures taken
to make the rich pay their share of
taxes or this government cannot long
endure. The thing has got to such a
stage that it is no longer bearable It
is not the corporations alone that .es
cape, but as soon as a man has be
come a millionaire, he is let off with
the merest bagatelle. They might as
well pay no taxes at all as the amount
that some of them hand over.
As an instance of tax inequalities as
they may be seen in New York, Rus
sell Sage, who is generally believed to
be worth $50,000,000 in personal prop
erty stocks, bonds, etc. is assessed
at only $1,000,000, and yet he swore off
$400,000 of the amount. The Hunting
ton, estate, assessed at $3,000,000, es
capes altogether by the swearing-off
process. Alfred G. Vanderbilt and W.
K. Vanderbilt, assessed at $5,000,000
each, had their assessments reduced to
$500,000 and $1,000,000, respectively,
while Cornelius Vanderbilt's $1,000,
000 assessment was cut down to $100,
000. Ex-Governor Levi P. Morton and
President Seth Lowe were each as
sessed for $500,000 and each swore off
th8 whole amount. The majority of
the rich Tammany officials swore off
their assessments altogether, while the
rest had theirs cut down to nominal
sums.
Most of the supreme justices and
other members of the bench have
sworn off their obligations and so on
through the whole list of personal
property owners, including J. Pierpont
Morgan, who had his assessment .re
duced from $1,000,000 to $400,000, New
York's supposedly best ' citizens who
refuse to do tneir duty and deliberate
ly commit perjury. -
As to the "swearing oft" process by
New York's chronic "tax dodgers,"
the loss does - not fall upon the city
but upon real estate holders and the
poor, whose property is necessarily in
creased in valuation or the tax levy
increased to make up the deficiency In
the city budgets of over $97,000,000.
Here is the formal oath which eacm
person who makes an application for
a reduction of personal assessment
must sign before the deputy, tax commissioner:
"I , do solemnly swear
that the foregoing statements made by
me touching the amount and value of
my personal property on the second
Monday in January...l9. are true. And
that the amount a. debts owing by me
and to be deducted from, the amount
Of my personal assessment is $......,
and that there is not included in such
amount any debt contracted for or in
curred in the purchase of non-taxable
property 'or securities owned by or
held for my benefit, nor for or on ac
count of any liability assurety, guar
antor, Indorser or otherwise, nor for
the purpose of evading taxation."
Besides the $3,787,970,873 of taxable
real and personal property in New
York, the assessments on much of
which must either be reduced or can
celed altogether, there is non-taxable
property . valued at $772,000,000 in
crease of $20,000,000 over last year.
This vast sum includes federal prop
erty worth $50,000,000, state property
worth $4,000,000, city property worth
$350,000,000 and church property .val
ued at about $90,000,000.
THE MAN WHO FOUGHT
The One Who ran Away and the One Who
Hid In tha Conning- Towar Both
Attacking: Schley
The Chicago Tribune yesterday
printed the following:
George E. Graham, a correspondent
of the Associated press, stood on . the
bridge of the Brooklyn during the
battle of Santiago close to Captain
Cook and Admiral Schley. He was
the only civilian who witnessed every
movement and was in a position to
know every order issued by the ad
miral. His . testimony regarding dis
puted incidents, prepared over his own
signature, and outlined below, is par
ticularly pertinent at this time, when
the "affair" promises to become the
most celebrated of the war:
Regarding the Maclay history, he
matches the language in this equally
spirited manner:.
Maclay, it is asserted, wrote his
criticism from naval reports. What
naval reports? The expurgated things
that have been foisted upon the pub
lic, or the real reports of commanding
officers? I have in my possession the
report of the battle of Santiago writ
ten by two , officers of the , converted
yacht called the Vixen. It is signed
by Lieutenant Alexander Sharpe, and
it was his account of the fight as he
saw It at short range, the only naval
eye-witness not engaged in fighting. I
placed it alongside the navy, depart
ment's book purporting to print it, and
I find it has been expurgated so as
to give but little credit to the Brook
lyn, and so as not to disclose the real
position of . Sampson's ship, the New
York. Is that the way history is made,
and is Maclay to be blessed for boldly
following the example set him? If
"coward" is to be the word let us draw
he line sharply. I have supreme con
fidence in our navy. I don't believe
a coward would stay In it a year.
There is none in it now. There are
men with unearned fighting sobriquets.
There was one with us. His name was
Evans. His ship was never closer to
the enemy than one mile. It was not
hit, but "Fighting Bob" crawled into
the conning tower and watched the
fight from a 6-Inch by 1-inch slit.
Schley was on the deck of the Brook
lyn. Captain Cook was near. , A man's
life-blood splashed their clothes. The
sh,ip quivered under fire. Still they
stood there. Captain Clarke, on the
Oregon, was on his bridge. Captain
Philip of the Texas staid on his
bridge until part of it was shot away.
And when it was over Evans had the
largest story to tell a story he would
not like to see now because of its
gross inaccuracy. And pray, who was
the coward?, -
MY. Graham, describing the events
that led up to battle, says:
The happenings of the twenty-four
hours preceding the battle will go far,
I think, to demonstrate that Sampson
was reprehensible for - deliberately
weakening the line of battle and de
serting the line himself when he knew
that for the first time in several weeks,
or since the establishment of the
blockade, extremely suspicious move
ments were going on In the harbor.
That Sampson; himself recognized this
is evident from the fact that he sent
the Vixen around to the different ships
of the squadron to announce to them
that he considered the movements in
side to be suspicious, and that he de
sired a close watch kept.
At 9 o'clock Sampson suddenly sig
naled: "Disregard the movements of
the commander-in-chief," and moved
away from the line with the New York.
The New York was the only other
ship, beside the Brooklyn, in the line
with the accredited speed of the Span
ish ships, and there were present the
Gloucester and t the Vixen, two con
verted yachts, either one of which
would have made a special dispatch
boat, without weakening the line.
When the battle call was sounded
Admiral Schley made the signal, "The
enemy is escaping," and then, deter
mining that the New York was out
of sight, made the signal, "Ships close
in." . Sampson then was out of sight,
and we never saw him again until one
long hour after the surrender of the
Colon. ; -
The claim that the Brooklyn ran
from the enemy during the fight Mr.
Graham thus answers:
The ships of the enemy were mov
ing out toward us at the rate of about
eleven knots an hour, and the distance
to traverse was only five miles. We
had opened fire with our port battery.
The turning circle of the Brooklyn in
1,000 yards, and if we had turned in
toward the shore that would have al
lowed the Vizcaya to have gone be
tween us and , the Texas and would
have opened our unprotected side to
the concentrated fire of the Spanish
vessels - and also have intercepted the
fire of our own ships.
If Captain Philip backed his en
gines when he saw us turning it was
because through the smoke he could
not quite tell how we were moving,
and he knew that he had to follow the
motions of our ship and not do as he
pleasedf The flagship- always has the
right of way. 'Up to the time we
turned we had been hit only twice.
After we turned we were hit only
twenty-seven times by projectile and
fifteen times by flying pieces, and
after we turned we left the marks of
five-inch shells ; upon , every Spanish
ship.
To those who criticise Schley's turn
on-.th eground of cowardice I recom
mend the statement of Captain Eulate
of the Vizcaya: "If the Brooklyn had
not made that beautiful maneuver in
turning I could have rammed and sunk
her.", .
In conclusion, concerning this inci
dent, Mr. Graham says:
When the battle was over Schley
thanked his men and signaled his
thanks to every commander under
him. When Sampson arrived he of
fered no congratulations to any man
or any officer, although he did con
descend to offer congratulations to the
public for the splendid manner in
which the fight tha the did not take
part in was conducted.
Mr. Graham adds to the many dif
fering opinions that have been ex
pressed concerning this great " naval
dispute the following of his own:
The men who are responsible for
these vicious attacks are Captain F.
E. Chadwick, who commanded the New
York the day of the fight it failed to
get in; Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans,
the only captain in the fight who hid
in the conning tower; Rear Admiral
Crowninshield of the bureau of navi
gation, and, Indirectly, because he dare
not come in the open, Rear Admiral
William P .Sampson, who should be
court-martialed for his action before
Santiago on July 3, 1898, In weaken
ing our battle line.
THE AMERICAN RAILROADS
Kingly Government
C. D. Casper of the Butler County
Press Is one of the old wheel horses
of democracy in Nebraska, but he takes
exactly the same view of the duty of
Ohio democrats that The Independent
took. He says:
"The Bryan democrats of Ohio have
called a convention to nominate a
ticket. .The noblest service any Bryan
democrat can do his country is , to
beat a gold democrat whenever he can.
When the great trust magnates find
the pinch, coming as it must be
cause they cannot always earn fat
dividends on watered stock, they will
try . to unload their mischief on the
democrats gold democrats sooner
than trust Bryan democrats they will
re-elect McKinley, and it will be the
best thing that can happen this re
public. If they can elect a gold demo
crat and pile . all their sins on his
shoulders, it will make kingly gov
ernment a certainty, - by giving such
unbounded confidence in the wisdom of
the republican party that the people
will cease to question anything it does.
It is the duty of Bryan democrats to
keep republicans in power until they
have worked out the expansion policy
to the bitter end,".
Many of the editorials in the Bee of
late incline one to the suspicion that
they are reprints from old copies of the
True Populist. They e so Insistent
in the argument thatf fusion is moral
ly wrong. Morals was Clem Deaver's
great hold.
- . ,
They Own Enough Track to Encircle tha
World Tea Times and Employ a Mil
lion of Man to Support the Re
publican Party
The reports of the interstate com
merce commission on the operations
of railways are somewhat belated, but
when they arrive they contain a great
deal of valuable information. The ad
vance sheets of the report for the
year ending June 30, 1900, have just
been given out, and while the report
for the year ending June 30, 1901,
would be considerably more valuable
in estimating the : condition of the
roads at present, yet it is a fair pre
sumption that the gains shown for the
year to June 30, 1900, have continued
during the year since that date.
The average revenue per passenger
per mile during the year to June 30,
1900, was 2.003 cents, compared with
1.925 cents in the year previous. The
revenue from freight per ton per mile
was 0.729 of a cent, compared with
..724 of a cent in the year preceding.
The gross earnings from the opera
tion of roads covering J.92,556 miles
were $1,474,044,814, t. being $173,434,b
more than for . the preceding fiscal
year. The operating expenses were
$961,428,511, being an increase of $104,
459,512. Gross earnings from opera
tion per mile of line were $7,722, com
pared with $7,005 in the 'year previous.
The net earnings or amount remaining
after deducting , operating expenses,
was $525,616,303, an increase of $68,
975,184, which was $2,729 per mile of
line, compared with $2,435 in the year
previous. After deducting fixed
charges, etc., and adding Income from
other sources than operation, the
amount available for dividends was
$227,260,447, of which $139,602,514 was
paid in dividends and $87,657,933 was
held as surplus. The surplus for the
previous year was $53,064,877.
The capital stock of the roads, not
including bonded debt, was $5,845,579,-
593. The amount available for . divi
dends, therefore, was nearly 4 per cent
upon the capital, and the dividends
actually disbursed .were a little less
than 2V2 per cent on the whole capital.
As a matter of fact, however, no divi
dends at all were paid on $3,176,609,-
693 of capital stock, and the dividends
actually declared averaged 5.23 per
ceut on all stock on which -ome U -dend
was pad. Roundly speaking,
one-half of the capital stock of Amer
ican roads paid 5 per cent dividend.
The funded debt of jthe roads was
$5,645,455,367, and current liabilities
$594,787,870. Only 5.44 per cent of the
funded deot paid no interest, and 3.61
per cent of the miscellaneous obliga
tions. The total taxe3 paid by the
roads amounted to $48,332,273, or about
$259 per mile of line. The capitaliza
tion, including both stock and bonds,
amounted to $61,490 per mile of line.
The taxation, therefore, was a little
over four-tenths of 1 per cent of the
capitalization.
The number of passengers . carried
was 576,865,230, an increase of 53,688,
722 compared with the previous year.
The number of passengers carried one
mile was 16,039,007,217, being an in
crease of 1,447,079,604, or about 10 per
cent.
The number of tons of -freight was
1,101,630,238, an increase of 141,916,655
over the previous year. The number
of tons carried one mile was 141,599,
157,270, an increase of 17,931,900,117
over the previous year, or about 14
per cent.
The railways, therefore, collected
hlgBer rates per mile for both freight
and passengers, and carried nearly 15
per cent more freight and about 10 per
cent more passengers than during the
preceding year.
The fifty-two railways in the hands
of receivers on June 30, 1900, had a
mileage of only 4,178 miles, or less
than 100 miles to the road. "
The roads had in service 37,663 loco
motives, or 960 more than in the pre
vious year. They had 1,450,838 cars
of all classes, an increase of 74,922.
More passengers and more freight were
carried for each car in service than
during the preceding year. .
The number of persons employed by
the railways on June 30, '. 1900, was
1,017,653, or 529 per 100 miles of line.
There was an increase of 88,729, or 34
per 100 miles, compared with June 30,
1899. Of the employes 42,537 were en
gineers, 44,130 firemen, 29,957 con
ductors, 74,274 other trainmen and
50,789 switchmen, flagmen and watch
men. During the year wages and sala
ries amounted to $577,264,841, which
was $131,756,580 more than was paid
five years before, In the fiscal year
1895. Compensation paid employes rep
resented 60 per cent of the operating
expenses and 39 per cent of the gross
earnings. Placing the number of
aCult males employed by the roads at
1,000,000, it follows that about one out
of every arenty adult males in the
United States is employed by the rail-
wars. "
The absolute mileage of railways in
the country was 259,788.07 made up of
193,345.78 miles cf single track, 12,
151.48 miles of second track, 1,094.48
miles of third track, 829.29 miles of
fourth track, and 52,367.04 miles of
yard track and sidings.
While the report does not go Into
the character of the capitalization of
the roads, It is not too much to say
that the revenues would pay more than
a fair interest on an honest capitaliza
tion of every mile of track in the Unit
ed States. The report for the year to
June 30, 1901, will show this even more
clearly. Earnings have continued to
increase" faster than operating ex
penses. Still another year will be re
quired to determine the effect of the re
cent consolidations upon rates and ex
penses. The presumption Is that the
rate per mile for passengers and
freight will be increased, and that the
4 increase in expenses will be moderate,
if there is, any. The report under con
sideration shows that even in the year
ending June 30, 1900, the effect of con
solidations, and agreements was evi
dent in the higher rates per mile for
freight and passengers. -
Hanna says that Americans cannot
build ships unless they have a sub
sidy. But'the government bureau of
navigation reports that there have
been built during the last year 1,178
ships with a total gross tonnage of
401,000 tons. Now that is giving Han
na the lie direct and unless those fig
ures are withdrawn the head of that
bureau should be sliced off close to his
shoulders. ; Surely "the good of the
service" demands something of that
sort. If that is impractical, then the
villianous owners of ship-yards who
are running night and day to fill or
ders should be required to shut up
shop and not be allowed to build ships
after Hanna has declared that it can
not be done. , -
THE SUBSIDIZED PRESS
It Has Printed Every where a Lying-Ac
count of an Interview With
Charley Tawna
The capitalistic, press has been bur
dened with comments on an interview
said to have been had with ex-Senator
Towne. ; They first proceed to garble
the interview and then lay themselves
out in .columns of comments. What
Mr. Towne said is just what The In
dependent has all along said about
the present political situation. The
statement is the populist position ex
actly. What he said;was as follows:.
"I will say this, that if existing con
ditions continue the reactionaries will
capture the next . democratic national
convention, and David B. Hill will be
the next nominee for president. Noth
ing can stop it.
"When my friends and I declared for
the free, coinage of silver it was not
because we had any preference for the
white metal, but because we realized
that more money was needed with
which to do the business of, the coun
try. Since that time there have been
not only large discoveries of gold, but
the cyanide process of refining the
metal has been discovered, so that
the volume of money has been increas
ed to meet the necessities.
"That is what is responsible for the
present prosperity.! nave always con
tended" that business could not be
done on falling prices, and I have
been ready to debate that proposition
at any time or place. The fact is the
people generally did not understand
the situation.
"The so-called silver people favored
no particular mine owners, but they
realized that unless there was more of
a circulating medium business must
suffer. The question is one now of
the paper issues; ' it is a question be
tween the people and the banks.
"In my opinion, if present condi
tions continue the question of free
silver will not figure to any great de
gree in the campaign of 1904.
"The people of this country are
greatly indebted to the discoverer of
the cyanide process, and Mark Hanna
did not discover it."
' Can a press that treats everything as
it has treated this interview result in
anything but disaster to this nation?
Should not great efforts be made to
sustain what is left of an independent,
unsubsldized press?
Trade Follows Water
In a report of the 56th congress on
the Free Homes bill the committee on
public land3 said:
"The arguments in favor of paying
a few millions of dollars to Indians in
order that additional lands in reserva
tions could be thrown open to home
stead entry - free apply with double
force in favor of appropriations by
congress to assist in the reclamation
of arid lands farther away from the
great centers of population in order
that home-builders may be given an
opportunity to make a living in the
mountain and Pacific coast states,
where irrigation is necessary.
"If it is good policy to buy off Ind
ians and open the 12,000 homestead
tracts in Oklahoma, for which 100,000
are just now struggling, the business
men of the west may consistently urge
that it is right to put water upon 40,
000,000 acres of arid lands, upon which
a million families can raise grain and
fruit on forty-acre farms. But unless
the merchants and manufacturers and
heavy tax-payers of the west realize
that it is their burden, and get behind
the efforts of the national Irrigation
ami- other - associations working for
improved conditions, many of us will
be a long time dead probably before
the western members of congress will
get together and secure the necessary
strength to push through congress the
needed legislation.
"Trade follows the irrigation reser
voir and the ditch, if they carry water
at the right time.
"If organization can be substituted
for talk, surveys for theories, reservoir
building for resolutions, and the home
less from other states be brought into
our valleys and given a chance to
build up homes under favorable condi
tions, then we may justly claim it to
be true that 'The West is the most Am
erican part of America.' "
The republicans thought fusion with
Clem Deaver was all right, but they
are certain that' fusion between pop
ulists and democratCIs morally wrong.
Since Mark Hanna took charge of the
republican party it has been particu
larly strong on morals.
BARTLEY'S ATKINSON BANK
Mnch of Its Aata Were Notes of Kepab
liean Heelers State Journal Lies
Why They Were Published
In last Tuesday's State Journal ap
peared ono of the most infamous,
brazen and dastardly articles that bus
ever been published. It falsely atd
in a cowardly manner accused Samuel
B. Howard, M. F. Harrington. JudKo
Harrington and Judge Westover of
having handled the assets of the de
funct Bartley bank known as the Ex
change Bank of Atkinson, Nebraska,
in an improper and dishonest way.
They published this article not because
the republican politicians who caused
it to be published believed that tht
assets of the defunct Bartley banl;
were Improperly handled, but it -was
done for the sole purpose of trying to
give some excuse for Governor Sav
age's action in paroling Joe Hartley.
who stole from the people of this state
$575,000. Something had to be done
to try and allay the sentiment and in
dignation of an outraged, people, and
no act was too low or desperate for
the old republican ring to resort to If,
by so doing they might fool the peo
ple, and so they had to find a paper aa
miserable, wretched and treacherous
as the article, and as void of principle
as its authors. And where could they
find- a more fitting sheet to publiuh.
those malicious lies than the State
Journal? The Journal has always up
held every republican thief " in the
state, and defended dishonesty by re-
publicans at every opportunity. It con
demned the populist party for honestly
administering the government, of this
state, and has continually howled for a
return of republican dishonesty. Now
let us examine the assets of this bank
and the management of the same by;
Receiver Howard.
After the bank was closed by the
state banking board, Mr. Howard was
appointed receiver, and the assets were
turned over to him by the state banlc
examiner. Mr. Howard found the bant
in a horrible condition, the assets coa
sisted principally of notes given either
to Bartley " or the bank by Hartley's
republican boosters. There were a
few good notes, but the large major-
ity were given by broken down po!i
ticians, that were execution proof. Mr,
Howard compromised some of . these
notes by taking a very small per cent
of their face. He could not force thein
collections, as the makers had noth
ing except what was exempt, and i a
a number of other instances where the
makers of the notes had property that
could be reached by execution, Vera
McDonald," who was assistant cashier.
of the, bank -when it failed, got the
parties to claim that the notes wera
based on usury, and in this way the re
ceiver was handicapped as Allison, the
cashier, had left the state and Bartley
was in the penitentiary. The receivr
was unable to offset the plea of usury.
and was . compelled to accept just
about whatever the makers of the
notes would voluntarily give or lo 30
it all. Notes representing probably
$20,000 or more were represented to'
have been given by politicians Jivin?
either in Lincoln, Beatrice, Columbus
and other towns afround wera' found,
to be absolutely worthless as (most c
these fellows had left "the. state when.'
the receiver got control of the notea,
and whenever one of them could bo.
located, they either denied ever having'
owed the debt or that they had paid
- . a A. TT At, 1 1 1
Bartley long Deiore, dul uaruey buh
continued to carry mem m iue uaun.
as assets. A large majority of these
the receiver reached the bank in the
following manner: Bartley would make
a loan to some fellow who was wortn
less financially, but who claimed to
have influence in politics, tfcen Hartley,
would send these notes to the Atkinson
bank to be held out to the public, as
gilt edge security and the State Jour
nal, in referring to these assets, now.
asserts that they were very valuable,;
all of which it knows tq be absolutely,
false. " '
This bank was a political bank in:
every sense of the word, as. the State,
Journal and every one else who was
at all familiar with Barney's banking
transactions well know, and all that
was necessary to convince any one of'
this fact was simply to look over the
assets. Almost every note the banlo
held was given 'by a republican and
every note that was compromised or;
nothing at all realized on it, was tha
note of a republican, and generally a
would-be statesman. Some parties '
who live in and around Atkinson made
statements to a Journal reporter that
there should have been more realize!
out of the assets. Who were these
parties? They are all a pan of the
same old rotten republican ring who,
when Scott was a defaulter, came to
O'Neill armed with knives and fire
arms, and when they got off the train
marched to the court house In. a body
to keep Barrett Scott, who stols WW
of Holt county money, in officii. They
denied the right of the county board
and the courts to put Scott out of
office notwithstanding the fact that
Scott and his armed outlawa, thuga
and political bums had robbed and
plundered the taxpayers of this coun
ty These are the fellows who now
say that the assets should hav3
brought more. And these same fel
lows when the bank failed each owed
the bank all the way from $-00.00 to
$4 000.00 and the receiver was never
able to collect a cent from them, and
nothing could be collected from them
because all they possess is milignanc
hearts, degenerate minds and venom
ous and slanderous tongues, and at
the same time they have the brazen
affrontery to criticise the receiver.
They would like to see republicans re
turned to office, as this would mean
to them the right to again plunder tho
people's money. These : same fellow J
say the bank building was f.old too
cheap. It is claimed by che Journal
that several of them have said tnat
Sey would I have been willing to havo