WILL MAUPIN'S WEEKLY
IN LOCAL POLITICS.
Things political in the local field
are growing a bit warmer as spring
time approaches. Candidates for vari
ous offices, city and county, are com
ing to the front much after the man
ner that the cicades, or seventeen
year locusts are expected to come by
the "bug sharps" of the university.
March 27 is the last day for filing for
city office, and by the time that date
arrives there will be enough candi
dates for the council and excise board
to make a small army.
Gus . Hyers. of Havelock is still
scooting around in pursuit of the nom
ination for sheriff on the republican
ticket, and by the smile always on
" his face he is meeting with success.
Col. Sam Melick is also after the same
nomination, and the colonel has a wide
.acquaintance and a personal popular
ity that makes him a dangerous com
' petltor. It is hinted that Sheriff
iioagiana would like to try for a third
term, despite the popular prejudice
against third termers. James Daw
son has also shied his caster into the
ring, and James is - not letting any
snow remain untrod under his feet.
i : ... .
either. Two or three "dark horse"
..candidates are being groomed and will
.be sprung at the most propitious
.time. '
.Thomas J. Doyle is a democratic
candidate for city attorney and will
probably have no competition for the
; nomination. It is not . often that a
; city like Lincoln has an opportunity
j. to secure the services of so able an
.attorney, as Mr. Doyle. C. C. Flans
burg, the present city attorney, will
be a candidate for re-election, and ru
,mpr has it that John S. Bishop will
contend with Mr. Flansburg for the
. nomination.
J. C. Pentzer, who occupied a place
1 in the council for years, would like
to get back and represent the Seventh
ward. His petition is already on file
and he will make the opposing candi
dates go some to beat him to the wire.
,E. H. Schroeder of the Fifth wants
another term and does not hesitate to
say so.
"Bob" Maldne is still sore over the
snap judgment taken on him by the
business men's league and insists that
he will stay in the race for mayor
until thev .ultimate arrival, of the dairy
animals at the permanent residence.
Thomas Cochrane, the .nominee of thii
league, Hs not saying a- word, ' ami
seems perfectly willing to let the mat
ter beisolved by the voters - without
any remarks trom him. . ;
Tom Pratt has definitely decided not
to enter the race for city clerk, his
health being such as to make it dan
gerous for him to undertake the phy
sical and mental strain of a fierce pri
mary campaign. Mr. Pratt has been
asked by a number of people to go
after the nomination for mayor but
has refused. "I am building up a fine,
business and enjoying the work," said
Mr. Pratt the other day. "It is my
own private business, too, and I have
no one to blame me for . my errors.
Besides, my health will not permit me
to enter the race for public office at
this time." J
City Clerk Ozman is a candidate for
re-election, of course.
The "committee of fifty," represent
ing the "drys," is holding regular
meetings and preparing to put up a
systematic fight to keep Lincoln from
again occupying a place in the "wet"
column. Things are getting a bit
mixed and a lot warmer, and it is
to be regretted that the old animosi
ties always engendered by a "wet"
and "dry" fight are cropping out even
fiercer than ever, to the detriment
of the city and to the exclusion of
consideration of fitness of candidates
for the positions to which they aspire.
The business men's association has
made no filings for excisemen, and
probably will not for several weeks to
come, the chairman of the committee
on candidates for that board not be
ing in the city.
Mayor Love stands ready to try for
renomination and re-election as a re
publican, provided there seems to him
to be a real demand for it. That
there is such a demand is evident,
and the mayor will .undoubtedly be
compelled to get into the race. The
indications are that if he does he
will have a walk-away for the repub
lican nomination. ' ""
THE PUBLICITY BILL.
clubs of Lincoln and Omaha, as well
as hundreds of individuals in the state
who are desirous of securing good set
tiers for the state.
Mr. Campbell told the governor that
$25,000 was enough to organize the
would be needed, that Omaha is
work, but every cent of that amount
spending $15,000 annually in the same
work, and the state ought to spend as
much as one city. He told the gov-.
ernor he knew of one railroad com
pany having 125,000 inquiries from
people seeking homes in the west and
Nebraska had nothing to send these
men, while from six to ten inquire at
the Commercial Club in Omaha every
day about the state and all there is to
give the inquirers is something which
Omaha prints and pays for.
Governor Aldrich said: "I realize
the situation. I know of 6,000 acres
of hay which was not harvested in
Nebraska last year because the men
could not be secured. I realize that
our railroads are pulling thousands
of people through Nebraska and Ne
braska people are doing nothing to
get the people interested in Nebras
ka. During the next two years many
thousand more will go through. We
ought to give them something about
Nebraska."
The governor said he was ashamed
that Nebraska did not have a better
state exhibit at the Western Land
Products Exhibit recently held in Om
aha and he felt hurt when he visited
it and saw no more than he did from
his own state. He was informed that
what" was shown in space was bought
by the Commercial Club and Stock
Yards Company Of Omaha and the
cases used were paid for by a rail
road company which invested the $300
necessary and then took the exhibit
to every other exposition in the coun
try. Before the conference was end
ed the governor intimated he would
send a special message to the legis
lature soon if thg measure could not
be revived in any other way.
BROTHERHOODS' B!G YEAR.
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....
Railway Men Make Large Gains
Last Twelve Months'. . -j-
Organized labor, particularly the por
tion comprising the four: 'great rail
road brotherhoods, is rejoicing over
the wage results attained in 3010. ..'jln
other industries also the"4 year jst
closed has been one ;of general prog
ress and prosperity for' wor&ingmen.
To railroad employees of the coun
try it was the banner year in the his
tory of the brotherhoods, so far as
wage increases are concerned. Offi
cials of the brotherhoods estimate
that the increases granted by the rail
roads during the year amount to a to
tal of $100,000,000. More than 1.G00,
000 men are affected.'
The great wage movement of rail
road employees begun in the fall of
1009 was the biggest labor feature of
the year just ended. Every dispute
was settled amicably, though several
strikes were threatened.
Of significance in connection with
the disputes was the test to which
the Erdmann law was put and the
demonstrated utility of that federal
statute in preventing disastrous rail
road strikes. Both the railroads and
the . representatives of the employees
displayed a liberal spirit of give and
take.
Both sides joined in giving rnnstiat
ed praise to the diplomacy and skill in
arbitration of United States Labor
Commissioner Charles P. Neill.
Employees in every branch of rail
road service were given wage ad
vances amounting to an average of
from 5 to 10 per cent. The employees
raised include switchmen, firemen, en
gineers, conductors, trainmen and
telegraphers. It is understood that on
several railroad systems the clerical
force and draftsmen in the engineer
ing departments will receive a raise in
pay. ' . .
The wage negotiations for men on
the railroads of the entire west were
carried on in Chicago, beginning early
in the year with the switchmen and
ending on Thursday, Dec. 28, with the
conductors and trainmen. Some of
the employees obtained their advances
bv direct negotiation with the eeneral-
managers and others left the dispute.
to arbitration under the Erdmann law;.
In every instance ' Avhere the question
was submitted to arbitration the men
got an increase. :
The first demand for a' raise was
made by the members of the Switch
men's Union of North America em
ployed on railroads in the northwest.
They refused - arbitration, struck 'and
were defeated. Profiting by this ex
ample, the members of the same un
ion in Chicago early in 1910 consented
to arbitration and succeeded in get
ting a raise of 3 cents an hour virtu
ally for all switchmen in the west. " ;
Following the switchmen came the
demands of the locomotive firemen.
Labor Commissioner Neill succeeded
in averting a strike. An arbitration
board's decision gave the men an in
crease of about 10 per cent.
Wage conferences in behalf of the
locomotive engineers began in Septem
ber and in behalf of the conductors
and trainmen in November. ?
The men threatened to strike, but
Commissioner Neill succeeded in bring
ing the two sides together 'on a conof
promise agreement. ' ... 5
Union Legislators.
The Hon. John P. Murphy, member
of Nashville union, No. 20, and the Hon.
T. A. Rogers, member of Chattanooga
union, No. 89, are added to the list of
successful candidates in the November
election. Both of these gentlemen will
sit in the Tennessee legislature at the
coming session, and their friends are
confident that they will give a goofl
account of themselves. This makes
three stanch members of - the typo
graphical union In that body, the other
being W. N. Page, state senator from
Governor Aldrich has reaffirmed his
support for the bill introduced by Mc
Kelvie of Lancaster, providing for a
state bureau of immigration and pub
licity, carrying an appropriation of
$25,000 with it for the biennial period.
"I have been in favor of creating
such a department from the first,"
the governor said. "I have commend
ed this proposition every time I have
had a chance in public addresses, botn
before election and since I have been
in office. I talked. with the author of
the bill and told him what I thought
should go into it. Many people have
, , .....
spoKen to me aDOut it and several
committees have been here. I have
told them all that I was for it, and I
will use all reasonable efforts to assist
it. I will sign it if it is passed."
The governor was talking to T. F.
Sturgess of the - Twentieth ' Century
Farmer and Will A. Campbell cf Om
aha, who is chairman of, the legisla
tive committee of the State Associa
tion of Commercial Clubs. The bill,
known as "house roll 189; was; intro
duced by Mr. McKelvie at the instiga
tion of the' commercial clubs of Ne
braska. Behind it are also the Ne
Clubs of Lincoln and -OmahaETAOI
braska Press Association and Ad
May Be Worldwide Strike.
Henry P. Griffin, vice president of
the International Seamen's Union of
America, said in . New York recently
that if the contemplated general strike
tf the seamen, longshoremen and oth
ers at all English ports throughout the
world took place it would in all proba
bility extend to this country, when the
men on the coastwise ships in this
country would quit. At the last inter
national convention ef seamen, under
the auspices of the unions in the ma
rine trades of Great Britain, a delegate
was present from the International
Seamen's Union of America, and the
question of a strike both here and in
Europe was discussed.
The New State Progressive.
With the adoption of its new consti
tution as it was framed Arizona will
be running a pretty close second wTith
Oklahoma in the matter of laws for
the protection of the masses, and es
pecially the workingman. One of the
laws embodied in the constitution of
the new state provides that no one can
wrork underground in mines or at other
hazardous labor unless he can speak
the English language. This will virtu
ally prohibit the employment of immi
grants in the mines and will break up
the custom of importing. Mexican
miners every time there is a strike In
the Arizona mines.
Memphis,
