Nct:becattseit is Mr. Cochran, nor because
of any views .he may hold. But his candi
dacy was sprung' at the wrong time and un
der the-wrong circumstances. , 'It was too
muchlike ''snap judgment" against men who
were entitled to some consideration. Of
course it was done with the best of intent,
but the surrounding circumstances were
such as to seriously handicap Mr. Cochran's
candidacy. This much must be conceded in
view of the fact that the men who made Mr.
Cochran a candidate have since given pal
pable evidence of seeing some things in a
broader light.
Don L. Love is the only candiate ad
mittedly backed by the "dry" element. The
clement, opposed to the "dry" policy, to
gether with other elements that are not in
terested in that question to any appreciable
extent, .but interested most vitally in the
business life of Lincoln, have three men to
select from. Lincoln is normally a republi
can city. Mr. Love and Mr. Armstrong are
the republican candidates. The "drys" will
see to it, if possible, that Mr. Love is made
the republican candidate, and the weakest
of the two "wet" democrats nominated
against him. The "wets" will be divided,
while the "drys" will be united. That is the
danger to Mr. Armstrong's candidacy. And
the sorrow of it all is that so many people
are going to lose sight of the fitness of can
didates, the commercial welfare of Lincoln,
in a fight over a policy that should be settled
wholly on its merits and without regard to
the personal opinions of the. candidates for
office.
Why .should we elect excisemen on ac
count of their views on a question that has
no part in politics? And why politics in a
municipal campaign, anyhow ? If by chance
"dry" excisemen are elected to enforce a
dry policy, it means petty annoyance, inter
ference with personal liberties that are un
questioned, prying unto private affairs and
a further growth of animosities and bicker
ings. If a "wet" excise board is elected it
means entirely too much "personal liberty"
and a growth of evil influences that should
be minimized more and more each suceed
ing year. Will Maupin's Weekly will not
support any candidate because of that can
didates views upon the excise policy, nor
will it support any man who will not pledge
himself, regardless of his personal views
on that question, to carry out to the full the
policy decided upon by a majority of the
voters. With this newspaper it is a ques
tion of what is best for Lincoln, commer
cially, educationally and morally. Most
men believe the saloon is a social nuisance
and a social outlaw. Few if any defend the
saloon as a business institution. The ques
tion, then, is : Shall we have a few well reg
ulated saloons, doingr business in the open
. and under the watchful eyes of the law, or
shall we banish it to the alleys, the byways
and the blocks, where it is unseen, unregu
lated and practically unbridled? Let 'us
settle that question all by itself. Let us
settle the question of officials purely upon
their. merits as capable men of affairs amply
able to take care of the city's manifold busi
ness activities.
Taking everything into consideration, and
.without being' influenced in any manner
whatsoever by personal likes or dislikes,
Will Maupin's Weekly believes that the in
terests of Lincoln as a city of homes, or
' growing .business and' of -future possibil
ities, will be best, served by the nomination
. and election of Alvin H; Armstrong to the
office of mayor; that the "dry" policy should
be continued insofar as it pertains to "the
licensed saloon but modified so as. to, pro
vide for the legitimate demands for spirltous
liquors; and that we agree among ourselves
that as soon as the'election is over' we( sink,
all of . our personal differences on the 'excise
question and work together, whole-heartedly-and
unanimously for a' bigger and better
Lincoln.
Let the Babies Die!
The children of the dependent poor might
better die in their infancy than survive to
fight the uneven battle of life under the
present social conditions, according to Jo
seph Fels, millionaire single tax advocate.
The little Jewish soapmaker who had much
to do in causing the peers of England to
tremble, made that assertion to a company
of social workers at the Thomas H. Swope
Settlement yesterday afternoon. In the
same speech he called his hearers "goody
goody ' reformers, who believe they were
doing good in saving lives, but really were
doing only harm."
"You may say I'm hard-hearted," he said.
"I'm not. I'm simply advocating the course
that would mean the most to mankind in the
lorg run. You save, perhaps, two or three
hundred babies here in a month or. in a
year, say. You merely reserve them for a
worse death. You save the boys that they
mry slave in the mines or sweatshops of
the rich and you ' save the girls to be the
prey of temptations when they shall reach
the age, where they are open to them.
"And to save them you, use driblets from
the fortunes the rich have wrung from the
poor. Those pittances are thrown out as
sop to the people, who have lost their birth
right the right to an equitable share in
the wealth their labor produces.
"Better take the money and expend it in
bringing about a display of the child vic
tims of the iniquitous system. Exhibit the
coffins in a public place,- for instance. That
would show the people the awful price they
are paying merely to live.
"True, you are saving lives, but you are
not-getting at the seat of the evil. If you
have a leaky boat, you may be able to save
it for a time by bailing out the water, but
the logical thing to do is to stop the leak.
Charity is - like" bailing-. You have to keep
at it and you just make the objects of those
pdfts dependent; You pauperize them. You
besmirch their manhood and womanhood.
I'll never give five cents to charity. - It's
wrone.
"The answer to it all is the single tax
system of Henry George. The land pro
duces everything in the beginning, and
therefore it should pay all the taxes. Make
it pay them and no vacant land will be held
for speculation and taken from the people.
Nature hs provided ample means -for. the
support of all. The landholders have -kept
the people from their God-given rightto
have the benefits of . the land, and penury
and want is the result. Tax the land arid
make it necessary to use it all and there
will be work for all and want will disap
pear. ' .-: '. -: :' "- -. -
"I had an experience myself r that? shows
how speculation in land works. Some years
ago I bought eleven acres of land in Phila
delphiaclay bank it was then for $22,000.
I let the land stand LJle. Streets were cut
through and three thousand houses were
built in that vicinity. Today that land is
worth $125,000. There's $100,000 that" I
j earned and all I did was to go out and look
at the land two or three times.
"Of course, it's my money. Why, cer
tainly. It just increased in value that much.
But why did it increase? Because the peo
ple came into that neighborhood. Their
proximity to the land made it valuable."
Then they earned it, didn't they? If they,
earned it, it should be theirs. I have no
right to that increased value. I ought to
have to pay it in taxes for the benefit of the
people."
A Great Date. ,
"What great event of national importance
happens this month, and upon what day?"
asked a Lincoln teacher of her grade last
Wednesday,
"On de twentieth!" shouted a small boy.
"Why, Johnnie, nothing of importance is
due on the twentieth of this month."
"Well, I guess yes," exclaimed Johnnie.
"No, but on March 4 congress adjourns
sine die, and the new con "
"Ah, w'ot's dat compared t' de twentieth,
de day dat de Antelopes have t' report f'r
spring practice?" shrieked the young bug.
The Real Reason, Perhaps.
"I was just wondering," mused John
Gavin, after reading of the petition to enact
a law against coursing meets in Nebraska,
"if the protest is not made by people similar
to the old Puritans."
"How's that?" queried a friend standing
by. ;
"Well, I've read that the old Puritans for
bade bear-baiting on Sunday, not because
it was cruelty to the bears, but because it
gave pleasure to the men. The protest
against coursing meets may originate from
the same source."
WILL
MAUPIN'S
WEEKLY
A JOURNAL OF
CHEERFUL COMMENT
Dollar
Year
Fifty-two doses of Nebraska Opti
misma dose a week for a whole
year. '' ..T-."'
. Send the Dollar to Will Maupin's
Weekly Lincoln, Nebraska.
P. S. Send the Dollar Today. ,
