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TO
MY
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VOL. XIIL
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, OCTOBER 31, 1901.
. NO. 23.
THE IKCOHPETEHTS
farde a ad CaaitUM
Cajard W nh retloe Aimta
LlrUa
Latt y-r it l,et this teason the
OsaLa !. the Stat Journal, and v
try IfitS f republican cctrtry weekly la
ibe -tale rr fclk-J te overflowing
t&jth "tv.i-r pl.a- nssttfr regarding
Gwrrt' T 1 orrt r'a tii ia the mat
!t .f pjin: at 4 j-iioi of convicts
at :b- i- T'uc.fy. Tie articles
.- -4 L tw Harrison, com-
rf'r!f 4 "Ttunler-Mker liar-
n'n."
TtU -r. Lo-tt-r. tLes same pa-:-r
are jii;?u;Iy aiknt on the mat
ter of j-r :ts and commutations un
der th a-jmisittratioa of Governors
Iutrirfa ;d jrii. This painful i-k-sc
iijr-tt-4 that it might be a
rvi r !ii to is litigate the. matter.
Tie ocsaI. both in the governor's
el?.'.- aii4 at I- f-ecitentiary, were
tth to jrive oat any information on
it- ibct, let finally were persuaded
!i.5t t-:r. matter of public record the
public is e tailed to information in
rejrard tb-r-to.
Cori'-arUoa is made of tbe year 1900
utC-r Governor Poycter and for the
j far I Ml ender Gorernora Dietrich
and StTtge cp to sad including Octo
lr J. asd is a follows:
Nsatr jaro!-d
I'o ttr. II M 9
Dietrich at. J .-avas. 1101.
zlne writer breathed a severe condem
nation of the spoils system.
A t uBionlst in the last session of the
Nebraska legislature, introduced a
bill. House Roll No. 122, which was
recommended for pasnage by the ju
diciary committee, providing that no
state officer shall assiss his subordi
nate, clerks and deputies for campaign
purposes, and making it a misdemean
or subject to a fine of from $25 to $500
for the violation thereof. A republican
majority of the sifting committee, and
on the floor of the house, refused to
advance this bill, and put it upon its
passage.
It seems that these adherents to the
principle of higher civilization and
benevolent assimilation were not will
ing to pass a measure to prevent the
state and county officers from assess
ing their employes. This bill would
not prevent clerks, deputies and sten
ographers from voluntarily contribut
ing to their party, state and local com
mittees, but it does prevent poor sten
ographers and clerks from being held
up by compulsory assessments. The
majority party had a chance to in
dorse one phase of the merit system.
They refused to do it.
NEW YORK NATIONAL BANKERS
...47
N-n.tr c( M&tences commuted
IoyEjf-r, 4
I2Tru h and Savage, 1101 16
NinUr vt convict escaped
Pornter. !.- 2
Di'trlcL arid Savage. 1SK1 10
Nsslr escaped convicts returned
fcyxt-r, 0
ltri'L and lavage. 1&01
paroled convicts returned
r;tri't; aiid Savage. 1101 11 j
Porsilr. 1X0 3 1
Cos tcu pardoc-d
PCTSt T. 0
pn-trtch and Savag. 1101 1
N ulster tf contkls died
Poj zt r. 2 !'. 0
D.'trich and Savage. 1101 7
It will be observed that the repub
lican ltt yar were not careful about
using the terra pardon in its strict and
-! .. The records show that
iotirsoi porctrr issued no pardons
during' the year 1 !.. but that he did
rocaiftute the sentences of four con
virts. In view of th terrific howl
'fcica '-t up !xt year from many
thousand republican throats because
c tte four commutations by Gover
nor Poyater. what shall I said of the
sisters cosumtatatlGns and one uncon
ditional pardon Uued under the ad
tainif txatton of Governors Dietrich and
Harare? A parole is to some extent
a ptrdoa fslthoojch not strictly so) in
asratich as the paroled convict gets his
liberty, but is placed under certain
restrictions as to his actions. Here
Governors Dietrich and Savage have
rei-a-d forty-seven convicts as com
rrd i 'j r Ine paroled by Governor
I'ojxtcr. The to this year ought
to i-e trt times a loud as it was last
year, btit not a republican paper or
politician in ihe ttate is mentioning
Use matter.
The republican povemors are not
cn!y indirectly responsible for escapes
from the penitentiary, but here again
we e ten escapes in nine months of
rep'i -l lean rrje as arainst but two in
a whole year under Warden Hopkins.
The number ( Z deaths is also a subject
for comment. Not one convict died at
the penitentiary during the entire year
of 1 ... bat seven have died in the
stort time the republicans have been
is etjitrol at the penitentiary. Typhoid
lever ia a preventable disease. All
the. ar straws which show the way
the wind ia blowing.
When we consider the foregoing
f.-ta and when we further take into
consideration the disastrfias fire which
occurred at the penitentiary as the re
sult of carele-smess on the part of re
publican oScials, fair-minded men
must concede that the penltent'ary has
fallen into bad hands. That the pres
ent republican warden is Incompetent
to perform his duties In a satisfactory
and business-like manner is, further
evidenced by the fact that he has whol
ly failed and neglected to file with the
governor a s-emi-annual report of the
eipendJiures made at the penitentiary
for the six months ending May 311901.
More than this, he has failed to make
the rerular monthly abstract of the
number at prisoners at the peniten
tiary at the beginning of ths month,
nsmber received, number paroled,
eumt-er discharged, number escaped,
cumber died, and number on hand at
the end of the month. These reports
should be filed immediately after the
end of each month in the o2.ee of the
secretary of state; but inquiry at that
&flce shows that no such reports have
been filed there except for the month
of A crust,- 1&0L.
Sueh a record of Incompetency has
seldom been approached even under
the o. 5 -time regime. There Is no nec
essity for permitting the penitentiary
or any ether state institution to be in
aaca incompetent hands. There are
plent cf able republicans in the state
who could perform these duties In a
satisfactory manner. But the present
republican administration is simply s
reinstatement of the old gang who
were formerly in power. That Is the
reaasn the state Institutions are so
badly managed.
Ripstlicaa Spoils
Hi it or Independent: The republi
can legislature refused to drop the
spoils system.
The present chief executive of the
United States is a pronounced civil
service man. The best articles writ
tea bjr Theodore lloc&eveit as a maga-
"! y Every Omm of Tbm Would Now bo
&rvlag Tirmi 1b the PanlUntlary If
tbo Iw H d Bn Kaforeod
Editor Independent: I have re
ceived quite a number of letters of in
quiry that indicates that I have not
been quite explicit enough to be un
derstood by some.
Those who have read carefully prev
ious articles will have observed that all
reserve national banks outside of New
York (43) and Chicago (12) held on
July 15, in the aggregate, $2,713,335.58
of loanable funds. That is if every
one of the seven banks in St. Louis
and the 274 banks in 23 reserve cities
had each held the full amount of cash
reserve required by law then there
would have been in all the 281 of these
banks outside of New York and Chica
go the sum above mentioned that
could have been loaned without viola
tion of the national bank laws.
The seven St. Louis banks are shown
by the reports to have been short in
the aggregate cash reserve required
$3,551,148.77. If the St. -Louis banks
are dropped out of the calculation then
this shortage must have been in the
remaining 274 reserve banks. Add this
amount therefore to the $2,713,335.58
and the sum of $6,264,484.35 is the ag
gregate excess of cash over "cash re
serve required" In the 274 banks in 29
cities. That Is the shortage in the sev
en St. Louis banks is represented in
the increased loanable surplus in the
274 reserve banks outside of New York,
Chicago and St. Louis.
Out of these 274 reserve city banks,
34 held In the aggregate an excess of
"cash reserves required" $6,736,508.82.
That Is, 250 banks out of 274 were
short in the aggregate In their "cash
reserves required" $472,024.47.
The comptroller's abstract for July
15 shows that 165 of these banks In
fourteen cities held an excess and 75
banks in ten cities were short In "cash
reserves required." The banks in four
teen cities held an excess of $4,223,
229.72. Add to this the $472,024.47 and
the sum $4,685,264.19 represents the
aggregate shortage of 75 banks in ten
cities.
Thus, by the shortage In "cash re
serves required" in 75 banks in ten re
serve cities and seven banks in one
central reserve city (St, Louis) the
aggregate loanable surplus Is increased
from $2,713,335.58 to $21,431,773.01. This
amount is In 199 banks In 19 reserve
cities.
Now, consider the situation. New
York and Chicago have a surplus of
$12,099,133.62 and the 281 banks out-
side of New York and Chicago hold
$11,431,773.19. But cf this amount so
held as a surplus by some banks $8,
718,437.43 represents a shortage of
others. It i?nst be remembered that
this is a calculation of reserve cities
and that the abstracts do not enable
us to determine how the banks stand
with relation to each other in each
city. It Is possible (and probable) that
the amount of loanable surplus held
would (If we had this information)
be largely Increased and the number
of banks holding this surplus be large
ly decreased. All such increase of sur
plus above $14,812,469.20 must, how
ever, necessarily depend upon a short
age in "cash reserve required," in part
of the 336 central reserve and reserve
city banks.
Take for example, Baltimore with 19
national banks and an aggregate short
age below the aggregate "cash reserve
required" of $23,310.20, It cm hardly
be supposed that all the 19 banks were
short. A part of the banks may have
had a large cash surplus that could
have been loaned by the bank holding
it without a violation of law, but if so
then every dollar of such surplus must
be added to the $23,310.20 aggregate
shortage to show the increased short
age of other banks.
In other words, according to the
comptroller's abstract every dollar of
loanable money In Baltimore national
banks must be added to the $23,310.20
to find how much some of the banks
are short In their "cash reserve re
quired." Every dollar of loanable sur
plus In any part of the Baltimore na
tional banks represents a shortage in
other banks.
The "cash reserve required" and "re
serve required" are headings of dif
ferent columns in the abstract and
must not be confused. . "Reserve re
quired" means (allow me to repeat) 15
per cent of the deposits in country
banks and 25 per cent of deposits in
reserve banks. "Cash reserve required
means 6 per cent of deposits in coun
try banks and twelve and a half per
cent in the reserve banks, while in
central reserve banks both headings
mean 25 per cent of deposits.
The difference between "reserve re
quired" and "cash reserve required"
may become a deposit in the hands of
"reserve agent." When it does it ceas
es to be, in any correct sense, a re
serve or any part of a reserve.
On July 15, the "reserve required"
in 274 reserve banks in 29 reserve cit
ies was $251,421,985.75. The "cash re
serve required" was $124,140,533.37, but
these banks held cash $130,405,017.72.
It is clear therefore that they had on
deposit with "reserve agent banks"
not less than $121,016,968.03. Presum
ably, this amount was on deposit in
central reserve banks in New York,
Chicago, or St. Louis; principally of
course, in New York.
That is, 43 banks in New York ivith
a cish surplus over and above "cash
resrve required" of only $10,471,887.28
are liable to be called on for the re
serves of reserve city banks which
the hold to an amount of over $120.,
000,' JO.
Just this occurred in 1893 and these
s?m-1 New York banks arbitrarily and
ia violation of law refused to honor the
draft o for reserves they held as "re
serve agents." There were few na
tion' I banks in New York, the officers
of wjtich would not have served terms
in the penitentiary if the law had been
en-i.jed against them. Why, is it
thiit o large a number of these banks
art permitted continually to loan
their deposits until they do not have
the "cash reserve required" by law to
be kept in their vaults? Possibly the
comptroller may be able to explain.
At no time between September, 1899,
and August, 1901, has the comptroller
issued an abstract that does not show
that a large per cent of national banks
in the control reserve and reserve cit
ies were short in their "cash reserve."
FLAVIUS J. VAN VORHIS.
Indianapolis, Ind.
Not War but Murder
Great Britain is and long has been
making war upon helpless women and
children, killing these by slow starva
tion in concentrated camps. It is no
longer war, but the extermination of
these innocent persons. In August of
the present year there were in these
camps 137,619 Boer people, of whom
2,345 died. This is a death rate of over
200 per month, or ten times the normal
rate. At this rate 28,140 of these wom
en and children will perish in a year,
and all of them will be dead in five
years! This statement is made from
records made and published by the
British government. The death rate is
greater than any known to have oc
curred in Cuba under the infamous re
concentrado policy of the Butcher
Weyler. The Cubans are a frail race
with little vitality. The Boers are a
strong, vigorous race. The inference
is, that British inhumanity is incom
parably greater than Spanish savag
ery! - She is transporting from their na
tive land and promises to continue to
transport those who exercise the God
given right to defend their homes. She
is confiscating the property of those
in arms, contrary to the rules of civ
ilized warfare. In this she repeats her
treatment of the hapless Acadians of
one hundred and fifty years ago.
She is burning the homes and de
stroying the substance of non-combatants
as she did in our revolutionary
war and again in the war of 1812. She
is placing these same non-combatants,
bound and unable to defend themselves
in places exposed to instant death,
contrary to all international law.
The Boers iffilave maintained them
selves as did the Greeks against the
Persians, and later in their struggle
for Independence against the Turks,
and as their Dutch ancestors against
Spain in the time of Charles II. Ma
juba Hill and Spion Kop are remem
bered with Marathon, Thermopylae,
and our Trenton and Brandywine.
Kruger, Botha and De Wet will be re
membered along with the greatest
names of all time, with our own Wash
ington, with Leonidas, with Winkel
ried, with William of Orange.
The world cannot let such people
perish. The civilization which they
would construct must not be destroyed
by the civilization of Cecil Rhodes and
Barney Barnato.
The Man Behind the Pick
Up the rugged mountain side a thou
sand feet he takes his way,
Or as far into the darkness from the
cheering light of day.
He is shut out from the sunlight, In
the glimmer of the lamps; .
He is cut off from the sweet air in the
sickly fumes and damps;
He must toil in cramped positions;
he must take his life in hand,
For he works in deadly peril that but
few can understand;
But he does it all in silence and he sel
dom makes a kick,
Which is why I sing the praises of the
man behind the pick.
He unlocks the bolted portals of the
' mountains to the stores
Hid in nature's vast exchequer Jn her
treasure house of ores.
He applies a key dynamic and. the"
gates are backward rolled, -And
the ancient rocks are riven to
their secret heart of gold. ......
Things of comfort and of beauty and
of usefulness are mined
By this brave and quiet worker he's
a friend of humankind; .
Who, though trampled down and un
derpaid, toils on without a kick, "
So I lift my hat in honor of the man
behind the pick.
J. A. Edgerton,
THE UNIVERSITY VETO
It Was a. Premeditated Assaml TJpoa
Higher Edacatioa ljr a, GTrnr Who
Had no Sympathy With it
'A state official" (too cowardly to
reveal his identity) recently rushed
into print defending Governor Diet
rich's veto of the $90,500 appropria
tion for permanent repairs. This de
fence was in the form of a neatly
typewritten "interview" which was
published in the Omaha Bee a week or
so ago. This "state official's" defense
would be laughable were it not such a
tissue of falsehoods and misrepresen
tations. The opening " paragraph is
really charming because of its nai
vety: "In the renewed attack on Governor
Dietrich for his veto of the $90,500 ap
propriation for sundry purposes in
connection with the university the
popocratic editors have' the boldness
to state that the veto of this large
sum was inspired by hostility to this
well-known educational institution. No
more silly falsehood was ever uttered.
In vetoing this appropriation, as
shown by the public records, Governor
Dietrich simply saw that if this
amount were allowed to stand the to
tal . appropriation would exceed the
proceeds from the levy and increase
the state's floating indebtedness."
"Actions speak louder than words,"
Is an old saying that fits Governor
Dietrich's case exactly. He may pro-,
fess the greatest love and admiration
for the university, but his acts belie
his words. Why was the university
selected as the victim of his veto acts?
The 1,400 or 1,500 students at this in
stitution are asking this question as
they walk up to the captain's office and
pay the $6 "Dietrich tax."
This "state official" assures the peo
ple that the popocratic editors have
the boldness to .state that Governor
Dietrich's veto of the university ap
propriation was inspired by hostility
to that institution. It requires no par
ticular boldness to make , a statement
which is corroborated by all the facts
concerning the matter. "Governor
Dietrich simply saw that If this total
amount ($90,500) were allowed to stand
the total appropriation would exceed
the proceeds from the -levy and in
crease the state's floating indebted
ness." The gentleman is not clear in
his statement. It is a well-known fact
that the .total appropriations - made
against the general funds have for a
number of legislative sessions invar
iably exceeded the f amount which
could be possibly--raised by. the five
mill levy for general fund purposes.
But this $90,500 appropriation was
payable from the temporary university
fund and any one acquainted with the
facts well knows that this fund Is de
rived from a one-mill tax levy made
against the taxable property in the
state and the income from two perma
nent funds. In order that the matter
may be thoroughly understood it
should be stated that there are four
different funds which are used in be
half of the university. The first of
these is known as the temporary uni
versity fund. It is derived from a levy
of one mill against the taxable prop
erty in every county of the state; the
revenue derived from the interest .and
rentals of lands belonging to the per
manent university fund and the agri
cultural college endowment fund; and
from the interest on Investments held
by these two permanent funds. Now
this temporary university fund is
analagous to. the general fund in this
respect; that if appropriations exceed
the possible amount which may come
in from time to time, nevertheless war
rants may be Issued in accordance with
the appropriation and, when presented
for payment to the state treasurer,
may be stamped by him as follows:
"Presented and not paid for want of
funds and registered for payment"
(giving date), the same as a general
fund warrant is registered. Hence, it
would be possible to make large ap
propriations against this temporary
university fund and create a large
floating debt of outstanding registered
temporary university warrants.
In order to ascertain whether Gov
ernor Dietrich had a reasonable ground
for his fears of creating a floating debt
by reason of the $90,500 appropriation.
It might be well to look over the re
ceipts in this temporary university
fund for previous years. During the
biennlum which ended November 30,
1898, the total receipts in this fund
were $256,664.90, of which $134,787.64
was derived from a tax levy, which at
that time was three-eighths of a mill
on the dollar valuation in each coun
ty; and $121,877.26 was derived from
the income on lands and securities held
by the permanent university and agri
cultural college endowment funds.
The legislature in 1899 amended the
law with respect to the tax levy for
the temporary university fund and
increased It to one mill on the dollar
valuation In each county of the state.
Hence the receipts during the biennium
which ended November 30, 1900, are
somewhat " increased by the increased
levy of 1899. The total receipts dur
ing the biennium last mentioned were
$314,298.45, of which $219,892.06 was
derived from the tax levy before men
tioned; and $94,406.39 was derived
from the Sncome on lands and securi
ties held Tiy the two permanent funds
before mentioned.
Another fund which is used in main
taining the state university is known
as the agricultural and mechanic arts
fund (cbmmonly known as the "Mor
rill fund"). This fund Is derived from
the United States. Once a year the
United States treasurer sends his war
rant to "the' state treasurer for the
amount due to the state under the pro
visions of the Morrill act. The amount
in recent years has been $25,000 each
year. This constitutes what is known
as a cash lund. No warrant can be
.idivra against tae tuud-ia excess of
the amount of cash in the state treas
urer's hands. There is no possible
way of creating a floating Indebted
ness consisting of warrants against
this fund. There is no such thing as
rgistered agricultural and mechanic
arts fund warrants, because there is
always cash in the state treasurer's
hands sufficient to pay the warrant
when presented and it would be folly
for the legislature to make appropria
tions against this fund In excess of the
amount which would probably be re
ceived from the United States.
. Another fund which is used in the
maintenance of the state university is
known on the books of the state treas
urer's office as the agricultural experi
ment station fund (commonly known
as the "Hatch fund"). This fund is
similar to the Morrill fund and no
warrant is ever drawn against it be
yond the amount of cash in the state
treasurer's hands. .
The . remaining .vote which is avail
able for use of the university is known
on the state treasurer's books as the
university cash funj. This, as was
said before, is derived from matricula
tion fees and other fees pa" by the
students at the state university and it
also Is a cash fund In this, that no
warrant may be drawn against it in
excess of the amount of cash in such
fund in the state treasurer's hands.
The appropriations asked for by the
university and made by the legislature
are as follows: f
Payable from the temporary univer
sity fund for general current expenses,
$74,500; for permanent improvements
and repairs, $90,500; a total of $165,000;
payable from the university cash fund,
for services in farm and dairy schools,
etc., $75,000; payable from the Morrill
fund for services, etc., $50,000; payable
from the agricultural experiment sta
tion fund (Hatch fund), $30,000, mak
ing a total of $320,000 all told for ex
penses other than the salaries and
wages of executive and instructional
officers. This latter appropriation
amounts to $270,000, with $5,000 more
for additional instruction at the ex
periment station. Accordingly the to
tal amount appropriated by the legis
lature for the use of the university and
which would be charged against the
temporary university fund is $440,000
in all. Now, it will be seen that dur
ing the biennium which ended No
vember 30, 1900, and which contained
very little of the one-mill tax levy
(being made up largely of the three
eighths mill levy before mentioned)
that the total receipts for this fund
were $314,000 , in round numbers, of
which $220,000 was derived from tax
ation. The average Income from the
investments and lands belonging to
the two permanent funds heretofore
mentioned will run about $100,000 each
biennium, hence $340,000 must neces
sarily be raised by taxation if all the
appropriations made by the legislature
be allowed to stand. The grand as
sessment roll for 1901 is $174,439,095.45.
Accordingly a one-mill levy each year
would produce about $174,000 of tem
porary university fund taxes, or $348,
000 for the biennium, and this added
to the $100,000 income would make the
total receipts for the biennium about
$448,000. This would be amply suf
ficient to cover the entire appropria
tion made by the legislature and
would include the $90,500 which Gov
ernor Dietrich vetoed.
With this state of facts before him,
Governor Dietrich ruthlessly cut out
the $90,500 to be used for permanent
improvements and repairs. In ex
plaining his veto he said: "My objec
toins are that the within appropria
tions, owing, to the condition of the
state's finances, are Ill-advised and
should not have been made. In the case
of appropriations for the state uni
versity, some of the improvements
asked for should no doubt be made, but
the items were grouped together un
der the caption of permanent improve
ments, into one sum of $90,500. No
part of this act could be stricken out
without striking out the entire amount
available from the one mill levy and
result in a large deficit, It became nec
essary in order to guard against this
large deficiency, to veto the section
relative to permanent improvements."
Was it hostility to the university or
ignorance of the facts which caused
Governor Dietrich to veto this? It
will be noted that he assumes that the
temporary university fund is made up
wholly of the one mill levy, and he
ignores the income from Investments
and . lands belonging to the two per
manent educational funds. It is not
hard to see that the university offi
cials did some close figuring on the
probable amount which would come
into the temporary university fund in
the two years and asked for appropria
tions which could be met and which
would take practically all of the money
which would come in. Governor Diet
rich was certainly informed and knew
that the appropriations as made by
the legislature for the university need
not create any floating debt; hence it
is fair to assume that his veto was in
spired by hostility to an institution
with which he, as a man, has nothing
in common and with which he is not
In sympathy either by nature or train-ins-
The people of Nebraska are greatly
interested in this matter. The above
figures show that $90,500 will be col
lected from the one-mill tax, come into
the hands of the state treasurer, and
be reported as "cash on hand" while
every man of common sense in the
state believes that it is loaned out on
chattel mortgages scattered all over
the state. They also believe that the
interest on that amount, which can
net be less than 5 per cent, will be as
much stolen from the school funds as
any of the money that Bartley ever
embezzled. There is no man silly
enough to believe that the enormous
item of cash on hand that appears in
the state treasurer's reports lies idle
in the vaults of the treasury or any
other vaults. The money from the
one-mill tax was assessed for the sup
port of the university and can be used
for no oher purpose. What comes
into the treasurer's hands from that
sourcv roust remain there or be paid
over to the university. Dietrich's veto
keeps it in the hands of the state
treasurer.
When the Taf t commission, which
is the government in the Philippines,
want their salaries raised, they don't
have to wait for appropriations to be
made by any recalcitrant legislative
body, they don't have to get an order
from any potentate, czar or king, they
just go into a little room and do the
voting to raise them, themselves.
They have got the governor's salary,
including palaces, perquisites and in
cidental expenses up to about $25,000
a year and the rest of them in propor
tion. WThen they want them paid
they just issue an order to go out and
collect it from the people who work
for from ten to twenty cents a day.
All that is despotism pure and simple,
but you must not say-so or you are an
anarchist and the blood of the presi
dent Is on your hands. So please keep
quiet. "
LOBBIES AND LOBBIES
Oaly Oat Klad are Ever Saccessful and
They Represent Groat Pr Irate
Corporations
At the last session of the legislature
there were many effective lobbies.
The normal school men' lobbied in
vain. The progressive alumni of the
university exhorted in vain. The agri
cultural and stock raisers lobbied in
vain for a cheaper freight bill.
But one lobby was uniformly suc
cessful. It was a success in a nega
tive way, however. It was not trying
to promote any new bills; It was try
ing to prevent any change of the laws
which would increase their expenses or
reduce the profits of the corporations
that they represented. The members
of this lobby were more numerous and
more persistent than the railroad lob
byists. They had a well watered grill
room in the Lindell hotel. They
quenched the thirst of every parched
mouthed member of the telephone
committees in both houses. This great
lobby represented the "Bell Telephone
company."
Their special lobby manager was
the essense of sociability and good
will. 1 He was so extremely popular
that he succeeded In getting the pro
moters of every telephone bill, which
had for its purpose the reduction of
rates, to forget their mission. The
gentleman from Gage had cheaper rate
bill, and it died "a borninV The gen
tleman from Thurston had one, and it
was never heard from after business
really began. The gentleman from
Colfax had one, but it was silenced.
Many others were introduced, but none
were passed. In fact, but one mem
ber, (and he a fusionist) ever pre
sented and argued a bill before the
telephone committee in the house, and
his bill was recommended for indefin
ite postponement, by the republican
pro-corporation committee. But the
author of this bill got enough votes by
personal solicitation to carry a motion
to non-concur In the committee's re
port and to place the bill on general
file.
This bill House Roll No. 108 was
introduced January 14, early in the
session; yet the chairman of the great
telephone committee wouldn't call a
meeting of the committee for over, a
month, and not then until the persis
tent populist, who wanted the tele
phone company " to either mow the
weeds around their poles or move their
poles back on the. line, threatened to
make that bill a special order.
Then the venerable, but sleek at
torney from Omaha, who represented
the Bell Telephone company, hooted
at the idea of asking such a great pub
lic . benefactor as the Bell Telephone
company to "mow any weeds.
Yet this bill provided that while the
company shall have free right of way
along the public roads, that the com
pany as well as the land owners should
mow the weeds from around their
property. The farmers encourage these
companies by free right of way, and
they justly asked the legislature to
compel the great corporation to mow
weeds around their artificial obstruc
tions. The statutes provide that farmers
shall, during the months of July and
August, mow the weeds on the road
sides adjacent to their land, or the
road overseer can hire the weeds cut,
and have the cost charged up against
the land owners property with his
taxes. - .
But the republican legislature re
fused to compel these great corpora
tions to mow a space 12 feet in cir
cumference, around their poles which
the farmers cannot get up to with their
mowing machines.
The farmers have enough work
swinging the scythe inside their fences,
on the head lands of their corn fields,
without mowing around these poles
or artificial obstructions in the high
ways. -
If one of those farmers want to talk
to some one in the state capitol, it will
cost him from 45 cents to $3 for a few
minutes conversation over the line of
these great public benefactors. Why,
a man in one of our county seats less
than 100 miles from Lincoln, was re
cently talking with a state officer, and
they talked more than three minutes,
and the charnes were $2.35. Of course,
these companies can fit up a grill room
with choice liquors and cigars to keep
down any measures which tend to re
duce telephone rates, . - F, G. H.
I
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7
SELLING CORN TO MEXICO
. :
Why tb Price Went Down From 95 Cent
- In 18V, to 37 Cents In 1897 and 51
V Cents In 1901
Editor Independent: I have written
considerable in your columns during
the last few weeks on subjects con
nected with the farm, and as the farm
interests of our country are much
greater than all other interests com-,
bined, I might write for years and
take a subject connected with the farm
every time and still in no way exhaust!
the subject. The design of this article,
is to show in as near a tangible way;
as possible Just what caused the de-i
cline in the export price of. the busjiel
of corn to Mexico from 95 cents per
bushel in 1873 to 37 cents in 1897 and
to 51 cents in 1901. Every farmer ia
this country knows tha the export
price controls in a general way the
domestic price. Nearly all the discus
sions for the last thirty years as to
what caused the decline in the price
of the American farmer's products
have been so saturated with political
prejudice and Ignorance that it is an
utter waste of time and In fact life is
too short to attempt to write anything
in a specific way on the subject. So in
this article I shall confine myself to
giving a history of an actual transac
tion and I am sure that deductions
can be made from facts that will coma!
to the surface which will p:ove to the
satisfaction of every intelligent per--son
just what caused the decline in
the export price of the bushel of corn
from 95 cents per bushel in 1873 to
37 cents in 1897 and 51 cents in 1901.;
In order to have a live object les-'
son to consider right before us, I havo
placed a table below giving the years,
the number of bushels, the price per?
bushel received by our farmers at tide
water and the amount paid by the
Mexican in his money at tidewater In
our country. ,
No. 1. v No. 2. No. 3. No. 4.
1873 ......... 104,146 $0 95 $0 83
1874 55,881 72 65
1876 ......... 93,487 81 80
1878 ......... 288,109 93 , 1 02
18S5 ....2,059,937 66 80
1889 434,997 45 Gl
1890 961,958 50 60
1892 ......... 754,548 65 97"
1893 .....6,960,356 62 1 04-
1894 ......... 431,518 51 1 04m'
1896 1,676,758 40 77'
1897 .8,825,880 37 78
1899 ......... 194,644 41 88'
1900 579,517 42 . 9?..
1901 1,566,171 51 1 Or
(No. 1, year; No. 2, bushel3 of cora
exported to Mexico; No. 3, price per
bushel received by American farmers
at tide water; No. 4, price per bushel
paid by the Mexican in his money af
our ports.) There - are three things
that our farmers want to know about
this table. . First, just what caused
the decline in the export price front
95 cents in 1873 to 37 cents in 1897
and 51 cents in 1901. Second, how to
prevent a further decline, and, third,
how to restore prices.
There are six forces that control
prices when conditions are normal.
First, overproduction; second, volumcr
of money; third, ocean freights;,
fourth, wars and famine abroad; fifth,
competition in foreign markets; sixth,
cost of production. I will line up each;
one of the above forces and see If I can!
explain what caused the fall in tho
price of corn from 95 cents In 1873 to
51 cents in 1901.
The farmers of this country want to
know Just what caused that decline of
44 cents in the export price of th
bushel of corn to Mexico. Well, let us
see if overproduction furnished the
force to press down the price from 95
cents to 51 cents. If there was over
production of corn in the world during
1901 as compared with 1873 the Mexi
can would certainly have been buying
his corn for less money per bushel dur
ing 1901 than he did in 1873. The ta
ble shows in column No. 4 that tho'
Mexican paid 83 cents per bushel for
corn in 1873 and $1.09 in 1901. That
Is he paid 26 cents per bushel more for
corn In 1901 than in 1873. With these
facts plainly in view, it would be pre
posterous to claim that overproduc
tion furnished the force to cause this
decline of 26 cents In the selling price
of corn. Further on In this article I
will show beyond all question that it
was as hard for the Mexican to earn
money in 1901 as It was in 1873. As I
have proved that overproduction was
not guilty of causing this fall of 2f?
cents In the price of the bushel of corn, .
I will next see if the quantity of mon
ey, either great or small, caused the
decline as shown above.
In 1873 the official recprds at Wash
ington show that the amount of money
per capita was about $17. The same
records show in 1901 that the amount
per capita was about $26. This makes
a large increase in the quantity of
money per capita and if conditions
had been normal, the price of tho
bushel of corn would have advanced to
the American farmers above the 95
cents per bushel that it was In 1873,
Instead of . declining to 51 cents per
bushel as shown by the table for 1901.
The showing above makes it so plain
that no one would attempt to provo
that the quantity of money either great
or small In this country furnished tho
force to press down the price of corn
as shown in the table.
As to the next force ocean freights
were less In 1901 than in 1873, so as
far as this force is concerned, the price
of corn should have advanced above
the price It was in 1873 instead of fall
Ing below that price.
Next, wars and famine abroad would
have increased the price instead of
causing it to' decline. The fifth forcer
is competition in foreign markets. The
corn, belt of America is the only corrt
belt In the world to amount to any
thing. Therefore the American far
5rs had absolute control of the ir1
U' V
- " . ta- wm - "Si
4