TALKING OF MEN AND THINGS
The city attorney has decided that Mr.
Cochrane can not withdraw his name from
the primary ticket. This may be good law.
But if we remember rightly the Committee
of Fifty considered withdrawing Mayor
Love's name for the purpose of forcing the
"wets" into an untenable position. It was
finally decided to retain him as the republi
can candidate because the word "republi
can" was thought to be a valuable asset in
Lincoln. What we want to know is: If
the Committee of Fifty, of which Mr. Flana
burg is either a member or a legal advisor,
could withdraw Mayor Love's name for
strategical purposes, why is it illegal for
Mr. Cochrane to withdraw for the same pur
pose ?
Representative Randall of Texas an
nounces himself as a candidate for United
States senator from that state. This means
that Randall will contest for the place with
Joseph W. Bailey. Will Maupin's Weekly
is not conversant with the Randall record,
but it's dollars to doughnuts that it is not
nearly so full of vanity, shiftiness and at
titudinizing as the Bailey record. Gover
nor Colquitt neglected a golden opportun
ity to confer a favor upon the democracy of
the nation and upon the whole state of
Texas when he failed to jump at a chance
to make aBiley's resignation a fact.
Political prognosticators pretend to sec
something significant in Mr. Bryan's recent
visit to Governor Wilson of New Jersey.
They may be right, and again they may not.
But there is no gainsaying the fact that
Governor Wilson looms large upon the hor
izon of presidential possibilities. But it is
some" fifteen or sixteen months ere the dem
ocratic natiqnal convention meets, and there
may be a lot of political changes wrought
within that ime. Governor Harmon is
going to show up with big backing, and ex
Governor Folk will have a sizeable bunch
of delegates ready to go to the last ditch
with him. The prognosticators seem to be
overlooking Mr. Bryan's little reference to
Governor Hoke Smith at a banquet pulled
off in Atlanta recently. Time was, and re
cently, when the democrats were limited to
a very narrow field of choice in the matter
of presidential candidates, but that time is
not now.
On the other hand, the g. o. p. is up
against it pretty hard. The Big Noise of
Oyster Bay is again out on a bloviating
stunt, and that doesn't listen good to the
Taft people. If Taft is not re-nominated
who will be the g. o. p. presidential candi
date? LaFollette? He would sit about as
well on the stomach of "Big Business' as a
hard boiled egg on the stomach of a typhoid
fever patient. And even if it is Taft, that
will be something of a dose for progressive
republicans to swallow.
"A Bigger, Broader, Busier iLncoln" is
the slogan of the Business Men's associa
tion. The real worth of that slogan, how
ever, depends considerably upon what is
meant by the word "broader."
The Iowa legislature is still wasting a
couple of , thousands of the taxpayers'
money every day, fooling around on the sen
atorship question. We used to do that
same foolish thing over here in Nebraska,
but we quit. It took us just three days to
elect a senator. One day spent at the elec
tion booths, one day in separate session of
the two branches of the legislature, and one
day in joint session. Iowa wanted to do
the tiling the same way hereafter, but Gov
ernor Carroll said nay. The reasons he
gave were about what would naturally be
expected from a kindergarten kiddie.
A Paris, paper. "The Eclair," seems to
have the right dope on this Mexico-Japanese
Uncle Sain situation in' the south
west. It says: "The purpose of the 'mobil
ization is two-fold to warn Mexico to be
more careful of her foreign policy, arid to
obtain economic concessions desired by the
trusts." If that latter clause does not cover
the situation, then Will Maupin's Weekly
is mistaken.
This newspaper does not take much stock
in the report that Japan is trying to secure
a coaling station off the coast of Mexico.
In the first place Mexico knows that Uncle
Sam wouldn't stand for such a violation of
the Monroe doctrine, and in the second
place Japan knows Uncle Sam wouldn't
stand for it. And the cocky Jap, vain as
he is, has no immediate desire to go up
against Uncle Sam. Besides, Japan is
carrying about all the war load it can con
veniently carry. In case that nation should
desire to engage in war with the United
States, where would she get the money?
Will some one please inform us what finan
cial concern would undertake to finance
Japan in a scrap with us ? It takes dollars
as well as men to wage war, and the dol
lar usually receives the first consideration.
University removal looks like a winner.
Will Maupin's Weekly would prevent the
consummation of the scheme to lug the
university proper out to the state farm. if
it could. Admitting that the removal
might work to the advantage of the uni
versity, this paper believes that it would
result in injury to the agricultural college,
and its first consideration is for the farm
school. That is the big educational asset
of this state. It should not be mixed .up
with any other educational enterprise.
The graduates it is turning out are of vast
ly more benefit to Nebraska than the grad
uates of the institution down town, for the'
are fitted to be producers the future de
velopers of Nebraska's greatest possibilities.
One of the humorous features of the leg
islature developed at a meeting of the house
committee on labor Tuesday evening, when
the paid attorney of a lot of employers op
posed the employer's liability ibll on the
ground that it was an injustice to the em
ploye as well as the employer.
Postmaster Thomas of Omaha is having
his troubles these days. He is charged
with having been perniciously active dur
ing the recent campaign, raising a "jack
pot" for Burket and plugging the postoffice
employes to attend Burkett meetings. The
indications are that Mr. Thomas has been
caught with the goods on him. It is taking
some of the old guard a long time to catch
on to the fact that postmasters are now
being appointed for the purpose of attend
ing to postoffice business. It's hard on the
old guard, but it is quite satisfactory to the
people.
Omaha is framing up to get on a commis
sion basis of government, We started out
Dn that line here in Lincoln about four
years ago, but to date we haven't got any
where save into a fearful muddle. Making
no pretensions of superior culture Omaha
will probably be under a satisfactory com
mission form of government while a lot of
idealists and dreamers in Lincoln are still
chewing the rag over the question. There
are, after all, some drawbacks to this thing
of being made of superior clay.
.. With starling frequency men bob up to
throw shuddering fits over the idea of elect
ing, the president of the local gas company
to the -office oi mayor. VV ill Maupin s
Weekly which has the best interests of
Lincoln at heart to about as great an extent
as. most of them, is not worrying a bit about
that matter. It opines that if Mr. Arm
strong is elected mayor he will not sit up
until after midnight Saturday night to sign
an ordinance jammed through a council to
let a railroad corporation build up a busy
street right into the heart of the city, and
for the sole purpose of accommodating a
newspaper concern that is fearful lest the
election of a gas company official will knock
Lincoln into a cocked hat. Under old con
ditions Will Maupin's Weekly would op
pose the eletcion of Mr. Armstrong to any
municipal office were he connected with any
public service corporation in any capacity.
But with the initiative and referendum, and
enlightened public opinion to back it, there
is nothing to fear. And Mr. Armstrong's
business experience and well known public
spirit peculiarly fit him for the office. -
Fred C. Foster, who is a candidate for
the republican nomination for city attor
ney, is a young man who worked his way
through the university law school, and then
worked his way up as a practicing attor
ney. If nominated and elected to the office
of city attorney he will give the office1 his
personal attention, and not turn the duties
over to a fledging to perform. He is1 -riot
of the opinion that the office is beneath Ms
dignity or unworthy of his standing' as ';a
lawyer, nor is he posing as making a per
sonal sacrifice in accepting the position.
Mr. Foster has the ability arid the ; virility
to make the city a capable legal officer, and
his candidacy is worthy of the careful con
sideration of the voters.
T. J. Doyle will have no opposition for
the democratic nomination for city attorney.
And if nominated and elected the city will
have an attorney whose ability and standing
is beyond question. It is not often that a
city the size of Lincoln has an opportunity
to secure a legal advisor of the Doyle stamp,
and it should be seized with eagerness. " '
Just as we were convinced that ; every
vestige of the old days of the trapper had
disappeared from Nebraska, along comes the
news that the beaver are raising hob with
things along the Minnechaduza. ; They
have become so numerous that they are a
pest to the farmers in northwestern Ne
braska. And the squirrels are overrunning
us in southeastern Nebraska.
A plague on this vexed excise question !
Why mix the personality of our candidates
with the question of "wet" or "dry?-' We
have the initiative and refrendum in Lin
coln, and we can make Lincoln "wet" or
"dry" as we desire, regardless of the opin
ions of the men we select for munipal of
ficers. We elect public officers to do our
bidding, not to make us do their bidding.
Can we not do the sensible thing and settle
this excise question wholly apart from the
question of the fitness of candidates? If
Lincoln goes "wet" and Mayor Love is- re-