TALKING OF MEN AND THINGS
ible for membership in the Lincoln Ad Club.
His brief and pointed little speech at the Ad
Club banquet Tuesday night left no doubt
in the minds of the Ad Club members where
Nebraska's chief executive stands on the
matter of advertising Nebraska's resources
and possibilities. Nor did the governor fail
to demonstrate the fact that he knows a
thing or two about publicity. Now, if Gov
ernor Aldrich will get behind the McKelvie
publicity bill and give it the weight of ex
ecutive influence, a lot of loyal Nebraskans
who are tired of the pinch policy will be
doubly grateful to him.
Some one or a lot of them, rather have
mentioned Fred Kind of of the Armstrong
Clothing Co., as a likely candidate for the
excise board. The nomination of Fred Kind
would suit Will Maupin's Weekly to a nice
ty. If he is nominated and receives the vote
of every man to whom he has shown cour
tesy and kindness, he will go through with
the biggest majority ever received by a local
candidate.
Several people have mentioned the name
of Dan V. Stephens of Fremont in connec
tion with the democratic gubernatorial nom
ination next year. Nothing doing! Not that
Mr. Stephens would not make a strong can
didate, for he would. None stronger. But
Congressman Latta has announced that he
does not want another re-election, and Mr.
Stephens has indicated that a nomination to
congress would not be disagreeable to him.
And Dan V. Stephens has performed
enough service to the democratic party in
this state to warrant him in exercising some
voice in the matter of nominations. If he
says congress, then congress it is.
The Postoffice Department is running be
hind. Maybe this little incident will show
why. On 'March 1, 1910, the deputy labor
commissioner of Nebraska wrote the post
master general asking for a ruling on a cer
tain matter. On February 5, 1911, the com
missioner, then retired, received the ruling.
It was just eleven months in coming to
hand.
The Lincoln Bryan Club purposes cele
brating Bryan's birthday, March 20, by giv
ing a "dollar dinner" in Lincoln. A commit
tee is working up the matter now. Candor
compels the statement that since the events
of the last state campaign it will be more
difficult to get a big gathering for such an
occasion than it would have been a year or
two ago. There are thousands of democrats
in Nebraska who can not forgive Mr. Bryan
for injecting the county option issue into the
campaign at a time when such an issue
could not be definitely settled, and could
only result in strife and ultimate defeat.
Without entering into any discussion of the
wisdom of Mr. Bryan's action, jt will be
pretty generally admitted that the injection
of that issue into the campaign resulted in
defeating the democratic state ticket. Of
course, if the democratic legislature of 1909
had enacted an initiative and referendum
law as it should have done all would have
been well with the party of Jefferson and
Jackson. But it did not. And with the ini
tiative and referendum the real issue, what
did it matter whether county option was de
feated or enacted into law? The losers
would immediately appeal to the referent
anyhow. Those who believe that county op
tion is a greater and more important issue
than tariff reform and trust regulation are
more likely to interest themselves in the
"Bryan birthday dinner" than those who are
of the opinion thta tariff reform and trust
regulation are the big issues.
Those who profess to see in the Canadian
reciprocity treaty signs of annexation of
Canada by the United States, really ought to
take something to clear their vision. Ca
nadians would have something to say about
annexation, and to become a part of Uncle
Sam's domain, is about the last thing the
average Canadian would, consent to.
Congressman Norris voted against the
reciprocity treaty. - Doubtless he had reasons
for so doing that were sufficient for him.
But if he based his opposition on the fear
that the pauper wheat of Canada would
come rushing across the border and swamp
our own domestic wheat, then he ought to be
ashamed to admit it.
The men and newspapers now demand
ing that a . democratic legislature keep a
platform pledge to establish a college of
agriculture in the southwestern part of the
state merely exhibit their ignorance of what
political platforms are really for. Platforms
are made to get in on, not to stand on.
Champ Clark says he is not running away
from a presidential nomination that has not
been tendered to him. There is only one rea
son for believing that Champ Clark is out
of the running so far as having a chance
for that nomination his nomination would
be an evidence of wisdom on the part of
the democracy, and the democracy is noted
for its proneness to do the. fool thing just
at a time when the fool thing will hurt it
most.
Andrew Carnegie is quoted as saying that
he has made forty-four millionaires. Doubt
less that is true, but it is a small part of
what he has made. He has made, through
the operations of his big mills, hundreds
of widows and orphans whose husbands
and fathers were slaughtered to make a
holiday for remorseless greed. He has piled
up fortunes on the bones of men whose
bodies and souls were not taken into ac
count as factors in the business equation.
Mr. Carnegie may build libraries until their
cornices touch across the continent, and he
may give to peace funds and pension funds
until they, pile mountain high, but he can
never give enough to wipe out the memory
of Homestead and the blood that was shed
there by men fighting as heroically against
despotism as ever men fought at Lexington
or Bunker Hill.
The Lincoln city council has refused to
furnish current from the municipal lighting
plant for the lighting of the city library,
taking refuge behind the plea of economy.
This is the same council that went enthu
siastically into the cluster street lighting
business without taking into account that it
would cost $11,000 to connect up the plant
with the lights. The metropolitan alder
man who moved that his city have a new
jail built as far as possible out of the ma
terial in the old jail,' and that the old jail
be left standing until the new jail was com
pletedthat alderman would have felt per
fectly at home sitting among the wise gen
.tlemen making up the city council of Lincoln.
Mayor Love's remarks about loyalty to
one's home town, made at the Ad Club ban
quet Tuesday evening, were to the point.
It is not surprising that the Star takes exe
ceptions thereto, nor that the Star studious
ly refrains from admitting the real facts. The
Star asserts that Mayor Love, among others,
has been furnishing the knockers with an
excuse for knocking a charge that is ridic
ulously untrue. The charge is made that
the present policy of Lincoln is harmful to
the commercial and industrial interests, but
to date no one has had the temerity to sub
mit figures pretending to prove the charge.
On the contrary, it is easy to show that the
vear 1910 was the most prosperous in Lin
coln's commercial and industrial history. It
is not pretended that this was due to the
"dry" policy ; it is stated merely as a fact.
A majority of the voters said they wanted
a "dry" town, and the administration elected
on that policy has been striving to carry out
the mandates of the majority.
While that policy was in force the city
prospered as never before. It may be only
a coincidence, but there is more room for
believing that the prosperity is due to the
"dry" policy than there is for believing that
the prosperity would have been greater un
der a "wet" policy. Mayor Love, who has
about as many faults as the average man,
and who is a veritable tyro in the game
of "practical politics" has never been so
foolish as to interpret as a "knock on Lin
coln" every protest against the "dry" policy.
The "knockers" are not so scarce as to re
quire that method of identification. As one
who believes that an excise polfcy, be it
"wet" or "dry" has nothing to" do with a
city's business growth, Will Maupin's
Weekly desires to enter a protest against
having that issue thrust forward every time
the question of standing up for Lincoln is
broached. There "are two classes of people
who ought to be suppressed long enough for
the rest of us to settle 'the vexed question
of excise policy those who insist that a
town is commercially ruined unless it has
saloons, and those who think a town is
doomed to business ruin and hellfire unless
it is "dry."
W e would recall the remark of Tom John
son's to the minds of those who can not
see anything to settle but this "excise" prob
lem. Johnson, who is noted as being a
man who is bent upon achieving practical
reforms, said that just about the time he
had the people up to the point of forcing a
reform, along came a bunch of prohibition
ists, beating their tom-toms and sounding
their hew-gags, and attracting the attention
of the voters away from the main question
of the moment. For heaven's sake, good
people, can't we make this excise question
an issue all by itself, without forever mixing
it np with business, with social affairs and
with industrial problems?
The senate on Monday passed the iniati
ative and referendum bill without a dissent
ing vote. Of course this deceives no one,
least of all the men who are thoroughly
committed to the idea of government by
the people. It simply means that a num
ber of honorable senators have shouldered
off upon house members opposed to the
idea the responsibility of either defeating
the measure or so hamstringing it as to
make it ineffective. That fierce opposition
will be encountered in the house is beyond
question indeed, it is expected and the
bill's easy sailing through the senate indi
cates that the senators expect the house to
stop it. That is a favorite pastime with
statesmen of a certain calibre. But Will
Maupin's Weekly stops the press for a mo
ment to warn a few representatives of the
people that the people are wise to this little