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VOL. XIII.
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, SEPTEMBER 12, 1901.
NO. 16.
THE PRESIDENT SHOT
Tfc trU fmm Anarchist Who Clortee fa
Jli Crlm-TU Yhl Co a try
Tbr.aa lal Mearalac
Tb prMEt of the l"cltd States
brought In he started forward and
partly regained hla feet unassisted. I
heard not a word from the assailant
of the president. He was struck down
the moment he fired the second shot,
and If ha could speak It probably was
an exclamation at the very rough
treatment he was receiving."
In an interview Secret Service De-
i is at t.i.rct at the UuSaSo ex
cofltioa was t-mk fhot by an anar- tectlve Ireland, wr o, with Officers Fos
thin U. Krilar. Somber 6. After I r and. Gallagher, were near the presi
r4irj5 rsor than a. hundred columns
i dser!ptie EJttr concurring the
1ti tratir.rs .f ti e crim-. The Inde-
dent when the shots were fired, said
"It has been niy custom to stand
back of the president, and just to his
left, so that I could see the right hand
j i.rwsii! ft- following ac-P "1 'f111- 7'J1-
cwust ac tb Wt that can i gathered ? preSident, so that Mr. Mllburn
from the Eias f stuff, much of It; could stand to thj left and introduce
htri'-?l arid Inrr-Iillr that has ap- the peorle as they appeared. In that
'-f i"f- i-- !,.. ' way 1 158(5 an opportunity to get a good
" ' " ' - ... . . ' look at everybody's right hand.
a b3Cd- i -A few moments, before Czolsrosz ap
ihiktEf r-Hft-ption. Ti:'u5atiis of peo-SproachiHj a man came along with
p. I nrr t:d-J trour. him and i thro fingers of his right hand tied up
trvinr to r. t,. r war Into the i:i a band?.? and he had shaken hands
' ,. , ,. , . with his left- When Czolgosz came up
In l - " 11 P" Ml noticed he was a boyish-looking fel
tfc pr-s: i is a nan who had his i low with an Innocent face, perfectly
haul in a Landkfchlcf as I calm, and I also noticed that his right
if it ts.1 injurrd 11' extended hacd was capped in what appeared to
... , . . , .'N a bandage. I watched him closely.
Lis Land to the prent and b.lt was lntwupted by the mar. in
?a : t htm tw:-e ith the ro!rr ; front of him who held on to the presi
tfcst roiea!-i in the r!?ht hand.! cent's hand an unusually long time.
At Srt all tort of rumors were fo-- i ThU man appeared to be an Italian and
ra-S bv the AocUtM prcs. which ! WOIe a Bhort- beayy black moustache.
r. vould Lii tho5?ht would have;ile was Persistent and it was neces
taken sum- und r the distr&sing ! Ffr fr me to ,Puh him alon& 80 tQat
cirrusastabrcs t gi- to the r-ople the'lhe others could reach the president,
furt trrth. TL Crit accurate Dm flit, 45 he released the president's
was not r-it-d br th p-cil? until ;hand and as the president was reach
the next ir-crnic wha a statement i ng for tbe an1 of tne assassin there
bj th rr-: t-r.t s private secretary J er.t.wo qulf 8hotS"
wa putiic. The fSrst shot rtruck i . "bis startled me for a moment and
th Tr;:;.t trttl-xt and k la need i 4 looked aDd aw the president draw
.fT diins no .wtus iajurr The i I ,iis rlght hand UP under his coat,
t r.i pr.-t-!-.; xh- 2tviom-n and I straighten up, pressing his lips to
r tisr-uKh tl. stomach, fhe ! tihr and give Czolgosz the most
t.rtdM icrliately taken lo!orniui ana contempuuie loo possl-
lh etsTicricy Loj;Stal 03 the grounds
ble.
tf. iS c jration was j-rforrrd. The lue aiae reacnea xor me
fraio in tl e inj( h wre closed ounS man and caught his left hand.
j irett nu.lat.ou into the abdom- Tthe bi neSro standing just back of
inaf ci?r which if allowt-d would bIm and who """ould have been next to
uti4out?d'lr mult in LlooJ poisoning tike the President's hand, struck the
yuu&s did in iae uecK wiin one nana
and with the other reached for the re
volver which had been discharged
through the handkerchief and the
shots from which had set fire to the
or p-rtualtl and end in death. As
. z t'tt- t p-rarion was performed.
h ; h tc:k ,Mit an Lour and a quar
ter, the jr-i4'-nt wis r-mov-d in an
h.'(-rv.' - in;: nee to the house of
t i h was in liuffalo The "Immediately a dozen men fell upon
l:tl nnr th- rv!d-rice were rop-d !flt ,a3Sassi? a?d bore bim to the floor
t.jr tavT ruaris taMisaed v fcile on the fioor Czolgosz again tried
Th... re in the 'c:r.o-t ;ui-t and at- il discharge the revolver, but before
U-nit It & frr; of th mot eminent be could PInt lt at tQe president it
.':?. McKir kr, to hoa the svm- j cr artiuerymen picked it up and
j-athy cf th' vpl ro out as mucL as ? pocket,
to the r resident. wjthtcod the abockt, Vn tn ar down . to the station
r. -'. t-t-r than a exited. She ?"!osz would not say a word, but
Hi r.rt oi!r for a !.-.r r 11 mn Krrauy aguaieu.
!r. a::i. but ha wently recovered
r a f rr; o: tli n.ot eminent ; vv. v i'iucm c
ar, t-i:: -! cum-f the presi- ! was knocked from uis hand by the ne-r-"
as r eit- tice t ?ro It flew across the floor and one
The following is a confession made
,. . r. 4v.
t f.s ,he CJL with w.iisa. n.!-r this ; Police an1 transcribed and signed by
r.-..5t J;-tr'--iR f.rok- the hss proved i"e prisoner.
to t uilly courarus with the! I as born in Detroit nearly twenty
f-;d-r.t L.d L-r ralmtt-iss proves her
c-e of the ir's? Lrtjsc of Lr eex.
A te; srr reporter who stood
nine years ago. My parents were Rus
sian Poles. They came here forty-two
years ago. I got my education in the
f r.LM.M v t-r, i public schools of Detroit and then went
thoci:cS wuri Vive' cne of the!0, Cleveland, where I got work. In
rVart arco-ant related so far. He Cleveland I read books on socialism
aid:
"I f'cod shout tn feet from the
prtid-2.t ar.-i fsw C&xoIkosz. the as
and met a great many socialists. I
was pretty well known as a socialist
in the west. After being in Cleveland
1 , ... 1 . r a. 1
ris. iirroi-h him. The latter bad I1? B V,J1 Jr 1 we,lt lu U1U;?U'
hi right Land drawn up tlos to hi- whfre f remained seven months, after
f T- v... H,iv.WM.f which I went to Newburg, on the out-
rr-! aWut It Vre the appearance ! fkirta .Cleveland and went to work
tdae. He extended his left j ,NewburS lr mills- T .
t .,ir "During the last five years I have
Oti thought he wa injured, for he ,7 A , i U ! . J .
leaned forward ar. 1 iookfd at him In a
e jrm.itLetie may. When directly in
front of the president Csroifoi-z threw
Lis rUM bard forward and fired. I
M the fah ar.d rnoke, fo!lowel by
V rrjxrt, at-! then heard the second
cL Inactiy John Parker, the rol
ed rxan. and S--ret Agent Foster
re tipea VzAgtt. and they bore
js to the foor. Cszolgosx. ljing
prttrae, still retairM a told on his
revolver, and teemed to ! trying to
rt tl arm free to fire aratin.
"Tl-e prefident di! not fail. He
raisd his right hand and felt of his
brat. and Nr.d to be maintaining
hlM ejrlht position only by wonderful
;.rt. I am far be did not speak at
that DoLL He raze-l fixedly at his
if sllart with a I'ok which I cannot
d"tcrih. !rt,;t which I shall r-ever for
.ret. scd in a tr,oment reele-d back Into
the arms of Secretary Cortelyou.
- "Crcdroit t revel r Lad by that
ttTRm h?-n lt:.'ked from his Land and
rr.e oce tad picked jp the burning
baedkerchief which lay at his feet.
Vtlgjit was ticked up. forred back,
acsla knocked dawn.
"Mr. Corteiyoi aal Mr. Miiburn sup
ported the jriSdeat n.nd led him to a
chair. I beard bim ask that the news
b kept from Lis wife, and a moment
lalfT. hen H-retary Cortelyou asked
bim if be f-It much pain be said:
This wound hurts very much.
"II s-s-ed to be fairly easy, a h
rtei la the chair and some of the
fftdltig: color ta:r.e back to his fve.
11 rear hel bis lipht Land ini'.de of his
h'.rt. &nd wb'n be withdrew it Ms
freers w-re tipped with blood. He
Pd ajtain at the f'rht of the blood,
and I think be fainted.
Senrr Apirox. the Mexican min
Ifter. hrakm throir.h the trowd and
ratMrc to the president cried:
My God. Mr. Iret!dent. are yoi shot?
"The mirUter teemed alout to throw
tirE!f at the feet of the president,
&ut waa r.traiced. The president's
amwer very slowly and In a
halting raMued noice.
1 ll;-m I am.
"The prevalent was attracted by the
tccff.e cf the oncers, who were drag
ffBr the wouhd-be murderer away, but
t did cat speak. His bead rested on
the arm ef Mr. Miiburn and he seemed
ct!y partly conscious. Hi courage
ii uperb. and while be was con
trfs ,a wis the ra--tr of the p-in
wkirh be frffered When the ambu-
I Msiz9 cis:a ana a stretcher . was
Cleveland, Detroit and other western
cities and I suppose I became more or
less bitter. Yes, I know I was bitter.
I never had much luck at anything and
this preyed upen me. It made me mo
rose and envious ,but what started
the craze to kill was a lecture a little
time ago by Emma Goldman. She
was in Cleveland and I. and other an
archists went to hear her. - She set me
on fire. ; ' i
Her doctrine that all rulers should
be exterminated was what set me to
thinking, so that my head nearly split
with the pain. Miss Goldman's words
went right through me and when I left
the lecture I had made up my mind
that I would have to do something
heroic for the cause I loved.
"Eight daya ago, while I was in Chi
cago. I read in a Chicago paper of
President McKInley's vl3it to the pan
American exposition at Buffalo. That
day I bought a ticket for Buffalo and
got here with the determination to do
something, but I did not know just
what to do. I thought of shooting the
p resident, but I had not formed a plan.
I went to live at 1074 Broadway,
which Is a saloon and hotel. John
Nowak, a Pole and sort of politician,
who has led his popte here for years,
owns lb. I told Nowak that I came to
see the fair. He knew nothing about
what was setting me crazy.
I went to the exposition grounds a
couple of times a day. Not until Tues
day morning did the resolution to shoot
the president take hold of me. It was
in my heart; there was no escape for
me. I could not have cenquered It haa
ray life been at stake. There were
thousands of people In town on Tues
day. I beard it was president's day.
All theso people seemed. bowing to the
great ruler. I made up my mind, to
kill that ruler. I bought a 32-calibre
revolver and loaded it.
On Tuesday night I went to the fair
grounds and was near the railroad gate
when the presidential party arrived.
I tried to get near him. but the police
He said, Yes. forced me back. They forced every
body back, so that the great ruler could
pass. , I was close to the president
when he got into the grounds, but was
afraid to attempt the assassination, be
cause there were so many men in the
bodyguard that watched him. I was
not afraid of them or that I should get
hurt, but afraid I might be seized and
that my chance would be gone forever.
Well, he went away that time and I
weat home, , Pa .Wednesday I was at
the grounds and stood right near the
president, right under him, under the
stand from which he spoke.
"I thought half a dozen tlme3 of
shooting while he was speaking, but
I could not get close enough. I was
afraid I might miss, and then the great
crowd was always jostling and I was
afraid lest my aim fall. I waited Wed
nesday and the president got Into his
carriage again and a lot of men were
about him and formed a cordon that
I could not get through. I was tossed
about by the crowd and my spirits were
getting pretty low. I was almost hope
less that night as I went home.
"Yesterday morning I went again to
the exposition grounds. Emma Gold
man's speech was still burning me up.
I waited near the central entrance for
the president, who was to board hfs
special train from that gate, but the
police allowed nobody but the presi
dent's party to pass where the train
waited, so I stayed at the grounds all
day, waiting.
"During j'esterday I first thought of
hiding my. pistol under my handker
chief. I was afraid if I had to draw it
from my pocket I would be seen and
seized by the guards. I got to the
Temple of Music the first one, and
waited at the spot where the reception
was to be held.
"Then ha came the president the
ruler and I got in line and trembled
and trembled until I got right up to
him, and then I shot him twice through
my white handkerchief. I would have
fired more, but I was stunned by a
blow in the face a frightful blow, that
knocked me down and then everybody
jumped on me. I thought I would bfe
killed and was surprised the way they
treated me." '
Czolgosz ended his story in utter ex
haustion. When he had about conclud
ed he was asked:
"Did you really mean to kill the
president?"
"I did," was the cold-blooded reply.
"What was your motive? What
good could it do you?" he was asked.
"I am an anarchist. I am a disciple
cf Emma Goldman. He words set me
on fire," he replied, with not the slight
est tremor.
"I deny that I have had an accom
plice at any time." Czolgosz told Dis
trict Attorney Penney. "I don't regret
my act, because I was doing what I
could for the great cause. I am not
connected with the Paterson group, or
with those anarchists who sent Bresci
to Italy to kill Humbert. I had no con
fidants; no one t ohelp. I was alone,
absolutely."
The assassin, Leon Czolgosz (said
to be pronounced Schwablosch), while
it is satisfactorily proven that he has
been doing little work for some years,
yet he has travelled a good deal of
late and has been in several cities.
His family reside in Cleveland, 0., and
are very poor.
The last bulletins which were sent
late last night and early this morning
are to the effect that the president had
passed the danger point and was mak
ing rapid advancement toward re
covery. Many anarchists, including Emma
Goldman, have been arrested in differ
ent parts of the country charged with
conspiracy with the assassin, but from
what has been printed there is no evi
dence yet secured which will make a
case against them under the law as it
exists. It can be proved that the as
sassin was in various cities recently
and in consultation with many leading
anarchists, but what the consultations
were about is not known. It Is only
strong presumptive evidence and the
law requires that the crime shall be
proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
Fake dispatches continue to be sent
by the hundred, the latest is to the
effect that the assassin has confessed
to a conspiracy and named his asso
ciates. If it were true the police
would not make it public at this stage
of the proceedings.
ABOLISH ANARCHY
To do it We Mast Quit Raiting Fapers
and Creating: Millionaires The Boot
of Crime Is Poverty
In-discussing the attempted assassi
nation of the president, Mr. Bryan in
the last issue of The Commoner says:
"There is no place for anarchy in
the United States; there is no room
here for those who commit, counsel or
condone murder, no matter what politi
cal excuse may be urged in Its defense.
The line between peaceful agitation
and violence is clear and distinct. We
have freedom of speech and freedom of
the press in this country, and they are
essential to the maintenance of our
liberties. If any one desires to criti
cise the methods of government or
the conduct of an official, he has a
perfect right to do so, but his appeal
must be to the intelligence and patriot
ism of his fellow citizens, not to force.
Let no one imagine that he can im
prove social or political conditions by
the shedding of blood.
"Free governments may be over
thrown, but they cannot be reformed,
by those who violate the command
ment, 'Thou shalt not kill.'
"Under a government like ours ev
ery wrong can be remedied by law
and the laws are in the hands of the
people themselves. Anarchy can be
neither excused nor tolerated here.
The man who proposes to right a pub
lic wrong by taking the life of a hu
man being makes himself an outlaw
and cannot consistently appeal to the
protection of the government which
he repudiates. He invites a return to a
state of barbarism in which each one
must, at his own risk, defend his own
rights and avenge his own wrongs.
"The punishment administered to
the would-be assassin and . to his co
conspirators, if he has any, should be
such as to warn all inclined to anarchy
that while this 16 an asylum for those
who love liberty it is an inhospitable
place for those who raise their hands
against all forma of government."
THE PRESIDENT'S WOUND
Description of the Surgical Operation Per
formed at the Emergency Hoapltai
on the Exposition Grounds
Dr. E. "VV7 Lee, who was for a long
time a practicing physician in Omaha,
gives the following account of the sur
gical operation, he being one of the
surgeons who was summoned to as
sist, which .was "performed at the . ex
position grounds:
"When I was summoned to the oper
ating room there were present several
physicians in addition to the regulaj
hospital stan. The president's clothes
had been removed and he was lying on
the operating table. He had been giv
en some temporary relief.
"An examination was at once held
and from the president's condition it
was clearly indicated that an opera
tion was imperative at once. We told
Mr. McKinley what was necessary, and
he replied: i
" 'Gentlemen, do what in your judg
ment you think best,-
"The president was just as calm and
quiet as possible. He was not the
least bit nervous. Of course, he was
suffering some pain and wa3 slightly
nauseated, but taking everything into
consideration, he was absolutely calm.
"The second bullet had entered five
inches below the left nipple and ono
and a half inches to the left of the
median line. It had passed through
all the tissues and had penetrated the
stomach in two places, front and back.
The stomach was quite full, the presi
dent having eaten a hearty luncheon,
as he had previously told me. Of
course, there was more pr less hemorr
hage and some of the contents of the
stomach were also escaping. It was
absolutely necessary to prevent any
further leakage into the abdominal
cavity, and this was at once done.
"The bullet must either have lodged
in the muscles of the back somewhere,
or, having spent its force, have
dropped into the abdominal cavity. It
hac. probably done all the damage it
could do.
"Dr. Mann, Dr. Mynter and myself
thoroughly cleaned the abaominal cav
ity, and, turning the patient on his
tide, examined carefully to see If the
missing bullet had lodged beneath the
skin. We were unable to find any trace
cf it.
"Mr. McKinley stood the operation
remarkably well, although it was a
delicate matter to sew up the stomach,
and we were at work about an hour and
a half. He came out of it in excellent
condition.
"Cases of this kind are always criti
cal and every "surgeon present spoke
of the seriousness of the. president's
condition. The patient showed won
derful fortitude throughout, and any
man except an anarchist would have
been stricken to the heart to see that
great, good and grand man lying
there as white as a sheet, and yet with
that dignity and calmness which, are
characteristic of President McKinley.
"No drainage tubes were used, as
the cavity madethem unnecessary. The
incisions In the stomach were sewed
up with silk sutures and those in the
abdominal wall with silkworm gut
sutures.
"The tragedy shows the great need
of an emergency hospital at exposi
tions like the pan-American, and its
location on the grounds enabled the
president to obtain almost immediate
relief. If the patient had had to be
taken to a down-town hospital the con
tents of the stomach would have fil
tered into the abdominal cavity to a
much greater extent and the result
would have been much more serious.
"The emergency hospital automobile
ambulance service is the most perfect
one I have ever seer., and the asphaU
pavements made it absolutely smooth
going. When the ambulance reached
the hospital from the Temple of Music
the patient was rolled out on the most
approved stretcher and the president
felt no shock or jar at all. It was th
same when the president was trans
ferred to Mr. Milburn's home "
REPUBLICAN FREE TRADE
The President's Buffalo Speech Is the
Signal That McKinley Has Aban
doned High Protection
Washington, D. C, Sept. 7. The
shocking news of the attempt to as
sassinate President McKinley at the
Buffalo exposition comes at a moment
ous time in his political career. His
Buffalo speech of the preceding day
indicated that be had so materially
modified his high tariff views as to
become a free trader, though free trade
was thinly disguised under the allur
ing phrase of reciprocity. Time brings
wondrous changes. Had any man had
the temerity twelve years ago to
prophesy that the author of the high
tariff for protection McKinley bill
would become an open and avowed free
trader in 1901, he would have been
laughed to scorn.
But such a thing has come to pass.
In his Buffalo exposition speech last
Thursday President McKinley openly
declared In favor of removing unneces
sary tariffs, and talked long of recip
rocity arrangements whereby the sur
render of tariffs could be made to
yield concessions on the part of for
eign nations which may have erected
tariff barriers against us.
Strangely, too, the president praised
reciprocity views of the late Secre
tary Blaine. It was Blaine who made
the most savage attack on the McKin
ley bill when it was before the senate
committee on finance, where he con
demned it in unmeasured terms for its
failure to extend American markets
in a single direction. But the world
moves. It was Sir Robert Peel, the
ultra protectionist conservative pre
mier of Great Britain who swung
around in even less time than did Mc
Kinley, and forced through the great
free trade reform bill which ensured
Great Britain's commercial and manu
facturing supremacy for over sixty
years.
The great difficulty, however, in the
way of the republican party carrying
out any effective tariff reform pro
gram is that they will be tied and
hampered at every step by their own
supporters and creators. A half dozen
reciprocity treaties engineered through
under the provisions of the Dingley
bill, are. still hung up in the senate
and show no signs of ever being
brought to ratification.
The Standard Oil company was large
ly benefited in the French reciprocity
treaty, but the interests of California
wine and raisin growers were ruth
lessly sacrificed. The Chicago packing
interests had some consideration in the
negotiations with Germany, but the
live cattle interests were entirely
ignored.
The fact is that the two things, while
pretty in theory, won't work together
in practice. A tariff tax is either ben
eficial and then necessary, or it is an
injury and should be repealed. If it is
an injury to the American interests,
no foreign government is going to pay
anything in kind to induce us to get
out of our own way. If we are step
ping on our own toes we had better get
off. Then again tariff bills originate
into the house while reciprocity trea
ties are ratified by a two-thirds ma
jority of the .senate. The two forces
will collide. So if the country ever ex
pects to see tariff reform It will have
to come through some other way.
Yet the president would never have
made the specific promises at Buffalo
had he not seen clearly the drift of
public sentiment against high tariffs
on trust-made articles when it is only
too apparent that the trusts are able
to undersell the world, and it merely
uses the tariff to exact higher prices in
the United States than they do abroad.
The republicans used to sneer that the
democratic party always camped in the
palace the republicans occupied four
years before. The republican presi
dent seems to have landed in a pretty
ancient democratic camp this time,
only the democratic party had not yet
abandoned it.
With a side hint in favor of the ship
subsidy bill, the president made an
other reference in favor of the Isth
mian canal. It is well known that the
Pacific railroads have kept this repub
lican congress from pushing through
the Nicaragua canal bill, so what the
meaning of this proposition? It Is a
strange tale. McKinley is now In favor
of getting control of the Panama canal
and completing it. He will abandon
the Nicaragua canal bill scheme en
tirely. The Panama canal will have
cost so much when it is done that
there will never be rates low enough
to seriously endanger the Pacific rail
road rates across the continent. In
fact, the Pacific railroads are going to
make their profits on lines of traffic
which could never patronize the canal
under any circumstances. So their
opposition to the new deal will be
halted. The canal commission ,it will
be remembered, made a preliminary re
port last winter favorable to the Nic
aragua canal. Their full report has
never been handed in. The fact is, it
Is being held up, .while the state de
partment engineers get through with
the complicated 'problems connected
with the Panama project.
First, the Clayton-Bulwer treaty,
whereby the United States and Great
Britain are mutually pledged not to
obtain exclusive control over an Isth
mian canal, is to be modified or abro
gated. This has been practically ar
ranged, for.
Second, the new Panama canal com
pany is trying to get clear of its obli
gations to pay the old company all the
earnings of the canal above a certain
percentage of the stock of the new con
cern. This the state department in
sists on.
Third, the old New Granada treaty
with this country negotiated to protect
the transit across the Isthmus of Pana
ma, Is to be strengthened and con
sidering the disturbed conditions of
matters in the Isthmian states, which
are all at each others' throats, It is a
good guess that the United States will
take possession of the Isthmus and
keep it within the next five years. But
that is another chapter.
With these obstacles removed, and
the other foreign difficulties smoothed
away, the Panama canal will fall into
American hands. It is not as good a
site as the Nicaragua canal from the
point of American interests, but it has
its advantages. Another nation might
In time complete the Panama canal,
if the United States had exclusive con
trol of the Nicaragua canal, but no na
tion or combination of nations will
ever undertake to build the Nicaragua
canal with the United States in pos
session of the- Panama canal.
THE OMAHA PLATFORM
The Principles Enunciated in it are at
L,ast Finding Defenders in the
Highest Scientific Circles
Upon the fundamental principles of
government and political economy the
populist party stands right where it
did when it promulgated Its fira; na
tional platform. Slowly but sfly
those principles are being adopted ad.
defended by the very highest authority
and many of them have been adopted
by foreign governments. American
cities are the most corrupt in the
world. That corruption comes from
the private ownership' of public util
ities. Wnen one sees as here in Lin
coln, candidates for municipal offices
which do not pay as much as a day
laborer earns, hiring carriages and
spending more money in one day than
the whole legal emoluments of the
offices amount to, he knows that there
is corruption in the deal. Republican
politicians do not spend money and
time for the good of the city at such a
lavish rate. There is money in it for
them when they spend more for a
nomination than the salary of the
office amounts to and everybody knows
there is. Where do they get it from?
From" the owners of municipal fran
chises. Prof. Richard T. Ely is one of the
leading economists and sociologists of
the age and he discusses this question
in the following way:
"The political classes of the public
utilities," he writes, "are water, light
and transportation." In the very start
he antagonizes the Idea that the ques
tion of municipal ownership should
not be decided in accordance with gen
eral principles, but that each cas.e
should be decided as it arises, and also
the proposition that private owner
ship should be adhered to until it is
developed that a serious mistake ivas
been made. "Both these attitudes,"
he asserts, "Imply the renunciation of
science, or a denial of a possibility of
a scientific solution of the problem."
Such an attitude in engineering, as
applied to bridge building, for in
stance, would surely result In disas
ter. Actual concrete conditions will,
of course, be. taken into account by
the practical man in his application of
general principles. "The social engi
neer must In this particular follow
the practice of the mechanical engi
neer." The matter of municipal cor
ruption is handled by Prof. Ely as fol
lows: "When we approach the question of
public ownership versus private owner
ship of such great industries as those
connected with artificial light and
transportation, our attention is at
tracted by the municipal corruption
which existsparticularly in our own
country. The fact of this municipal
corruption, and also the further fact
of the very general incompetency in
the management of municipal affairs,
are not called in question, and they
are not under discussion. The cor
ruption and incompetency may not ev
erywhere be so bad as many pessimists
imagine, and it may, furthermore, be
true that, in both respects, we have in
many cities witnessed gratifying im
provement. Yet, when we have made
these admissions, the true state of the
case i3 bad enough. It is im
portant that it should be understood
that the advocates of municipal owner
ship do not call in question the fact
of municipal corruption and ineffic
iency in the management of public
business, and that they have no desire
to turn over the management of pub
lic utilities to a class of men who must
still be considered typical in the muni
cipal council of the great American
city. ,, ". J
"But when. we have admitted freely
corruption and inefficiency in munici
pal government, it still remains to ex
amine into the causes of these condi
tions, for there is a very widespread
suspicion that a large share of the re
sponsibility therefor must be laid at
the door of private ownership. . A real,
vital question is this: Would we have
the same class of men in our com
mon councils which we now find there,
should public ownership replace pri
vate ownership? Is it true that private
ownership places In office and keeps in
office some of the worst municipal
wrongdoers? It is important that the
reader should understand the real na
ture of the problem under discussion,
and it is believed that these questions
which have just been asked, bring be
fore us a large part of that problem."
Prof. Ely asserts that we must
fasten our minds on the indisputable
fact that there are but two alterna
tives in thisMuestion, These are pub
lic control of private corporations and
public ownership with public control,
which naturally springs from owner
ship. The difficulties in the way of
public control of private corporations
he thus illustrates:
"The men owning and operating the
corporations which furnish public util
ities are numerous, and they maintain
large armies of employes of all social
grades, from the gifted and highly
trained attorney to the unskilled la
borer. The amount of capital Involved
in a great city is counted by tens of
millions. The very nature of the case
brings it about that there should be
persistent, never-ceasing activity on
the part of those to be controlled. The
effort to escape from this control, or
to shade it, is a part of the efforts by
which men earn their livelihood, and
their activity is as regular as their
hunger. The efforts of patriotic and
high-minded citizens, In their self-sacrificing
neglect of their, private af
fairs to look after public concerns,
may grow weary, but not so the activ
ity of the corporations to be controlled.
Can a task of greater difficulty be well
suggested? It iss not said that the
problem here presented is one which
it is impossible for modern civiliza
tion to solve; but it is well that the
general public should know precisely
what it means. Some of us are to con
trol others of us, and to do so against
their will. But who are those whom
we are asked to control? They are
very frequently our friends and
neighbors. I am asked to resist what
is esteemed the extortion of a gas com
pany; but one of the gas magnates may
be my neighbor and friend, and occupy
a pew next to mine in church. Per
haps the gas magnate is my employer.
Perhaps he has just contributed, and
with the best intent in the world, $100
to an object which I have greatly at
heart. Perhaps I am a college pro
fessor, and the street car magnate
whose rapacity I am called upon to
help hold in check has endowed the
chair which I occupy. Imaginary il
lustrations can be continued indefi
nitely, and those who desire to do so
can in any city make them sufficiently
concrete. Is it strange that many of
us who are called upon to control
others of us should simply refuse to
do it?"
Prof. Ely says that he has follqwed
this subject and the trend of opinion
with respect to it for fifteen years, and
that in his opinion the trend in favor
of public ownership is "marked and
surprising." ' He has seen one inves
tigator after another start predisposed
to favor public control of private cor
porations, and "turn away from that .
position as a hopeless one, and take up
a position in favor of public owner
ship as the only practical solution
under our American conditions." A3
showing the continued trend of Prof.
Ely's article, we make the following
additional extracts:
"Public ownership carries home to
everyone the Importance of good gov
ernment, and arrays on the side of
good government the strong classes tn
a community now so often Indifferent.
Frequently men who are powerful In
a community, in working for good
government, work against, rather than
for, their own private interests. It is,
indeed, gratifying to see men of
wealth, as frequently they do, turn
aside from selfish considerations to
promote measures calculated to ad
vance the general welfare. But can
we expect this kind of conduct persis
tently from the great majority? Have
we any right to expect It?
" A further result of mu
nicipal ownership would be a better
balance between private and public
Interests, and this better balance would
strengthen the existing order against
the attacks of socialists and anarch
ists, on the one hand, and unscrupul
ous plutocrats, on the other. A bal
ance between private and public enter
prise is what is fundamental in our
present social order, and a disturbance
of this balance consequently threatens
this order. This balance Is favorable to
liberty, which is threatened when it is,
disturbed either in the one direction
or the other. Anyone who follows pass
ing events with care cannot fail to sea
that it is menaced by socialism, on the
one hand, and by plutocracy, on tho
other.
.. While in the case of pub
lic ownership we have an opportunity,
to recover from mistaken action, in
the case of private ownership mistak
en and wrong action is often irretriev
able in its consequences. Take tha
case of New York city as an illustra
tion. Jacob Sharp secured a fran
chise for the Broadway surface rail
way through wholesale corruption, and
was sent to the penitentiary. The
franchise, however, was retained by;
those in whose hands it fell, and oth
ers have entered into the fruits of hla
theft. Under our American system of,
government, in cases of this sort stolen
goods are retained. The franchises
are retained, and the forgotten mil
lions continue to suffer, because thelo
rights have not been adequately safe-;
guarded. With the other policy, name-
ly, that of public ownership, how difV
ferent would be the result? If the?
street railways were . mismanaged, otj
their earnings stolen, it would be suN
flcient to turn out the municipal plun-
derers. Too many overlook what ia
distinctively American in our prob-
lem; namely, our constitutional sys
tem, which protects franchise grants
when once made, and renders so irre
trievable a mistaken policy, provided
we have the system of private owner
ship. "
"Let it be distinctly understood that,
the position is not taken by the pies
ent writer in favor of municipal own
ership at any and all times, and every
where, and under all circumstances.
It must come In the right way, it must
come deliberately, and it must como
provided with adequate safeguards. It
must" come as a part of other move
ments, especially of full civil service
reform. But It is calculated in Itself
to promote these other reforms, and In
some cases municipal ownership will
be the first step in the direction o
that full civil service reform which ia
so sadly needed."
Prof. Ely's article should be read by; .
every student of the municipal prob
lems of the day. It is a contribution ta
the economic literature of the present
that no intelligent or well-informed,
person can overlook.
THE EL PASO WELL IS IN :
It Has n Eight Inch Casting and Is a Fin
Gusher
The famous Lucas gusher has a rHal
in the Beaumont field which may strip
It of Its laurels. At eight o'clock thi3
morning W. P. Strum brought in for
the El Paso Oil Co. an eight-inch
gusher, which Is two inches larger
than the Lucas or Beatty. The drill
passed through the cap rock last night,
but they would not hazard bringing
in the well at that hour and the gato
valve was closed until this morning.!
Altogether only thrse palls of water,
had been removed from the well,
when, with a mighty roar, it cleaned
itself out and shot an eight-inch
stream of pure oil 125 feet into the air.
Ehe El Paso is the first genuine
eight-inch in the Spindle Top territory
and reflects a great deal of credit on'
Conductor Strum. The well was per
mitted to flow only a short time and
then closed down.
El Paso No. 1 is located on the ex
treme southern corner of block 36,
Spindle Top Heights, and on the Hogg
Swayne syndicate land. The well ia
1,025 feet, or nearly 100 feet deeper
than the majority of gushers In this;
section of the hill. The cap rock Is
eight ieet In thickness at this point.-
Houston (Tex.) Post
The El Paso adjoins the property of
the Texas American Oil Co. and tha
above well is within 100 feet of their'
line. ' -
Women Barred
The general council of the American
Bar association, in session at Denver.
Colo., lately decided that women were
not eligible for membership in the as
sociation, and could not be admitted
until the rules were changed. This
decision was reached after a lengthy;
and heated debate of the question.
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