the whole central west. She lias the ma
terial right there and in unlimited quan
tities. She has the water power to turn
the wheels of that and other industries.
And, what is as much as anything; else,
she has the wideawake, go-ahead men
who will make things hum. "Superior
the Cement City." That has a mighty
pleasing sound.
The last legislature authorized the sale
of $4,000,000 of bonds of other states
held by the permanent school fund of Ne
braska. And twenty years ago this
spring Nebraska farmers were planting
corn and sowing wheat furnished by the
state because they were too poor to buy
it themselves. Twenty years ago last
winter train loads of clothing and provi
sions were being shipped to starving and
freezing homesteaders in central and
western "Nebraska. Now think that over.
In less than twenty years from a hungry,
half-naked state to a state that is able to
hold $4,00,000 of bonds of other states
for the benefit of her school children. A
state that can do that has unbounded re
sources of her command. Tell the world
the facts about Nebraska.
After reading the reports from various
sections of the state Will Maupin's
.Weekly makes the following crop predic
tions: The corn crop this year will ex
ceed 185,000,000 bushels. The wheat
crop will exceed 47,000,000 bushels,
spring and winter. The oats crop will
exceed 05,000,000 bushels. The potato
crop will be the largest in the state's his
tory, and alfalfa will exceed 2,200,000
tons. The apple crop will be less than
that of last year, but small fruit will be a
.better crop. Paste this in your hat and
wait for the official returns.
THE REMEDY AT HAND.
'The Omaha World-Herald is greatly
exercised lest the time soon come when
the greatly increased value of farm lands
will make it impossible for a young man
to acquire a farm, thus bringing about
a system of landlord and tenant, result
ing in a peasant class and landowning
aristocracy. The Wrorld-Herald's fears
are well founded if the present system of
taxation is adhered to. But the remedy
for" the growing evil is ready to hand if
the people will cultivate intelligence
enough to use it.
There, are ,16,000,00 acres of tillable
land in Nebraska that is untilled, most of
which is held in large tracts by specula
tors. It is constantly increasing in
value, through no effort of the owners
and at the expense of the men who are
developing the agricultural resources of
.the state: NeDraska has about 17,000,-
000 cultivated acres. Suppose 7,000,000
acres of this area were suddenly thrown
back to wild land, what would be the re
sult upon the remaining 10,000,000 acres
.still possible to cultivate? It would in
crease in value from 35 to 50 per cent.
'The owners would not be responsible for
the increase. It would be a community
earned increase which the community
would not profit by.
Hut, on the other hand, suppose the
taxes were levied upon the land accord
ing to its value for use and occupancy,
instead upon its value due to the thrift
and enterprise of men, what would be
the result? Those 16,000,000 idle acres
would soon become productive, and the
pressure upon the lands now; tilled would
be lessened. The result would be a read
justment of land values that would rid
the esteemed World-Herald of its night
mare. There is not a scarcity of tillable
land. There is, however a scarcity of op
portunity to get upon the land. Of the
10,000,000 acres of vacant lands in Ne
braska capable of cultivation, nearly
every acre will produce bountifully of
one or more of the grains adapted to this
section, such as corn, wheat, oats, rye,
barley, or potatoes, sugar beets, alfalfa
and cane. Tax the men who are depriv
ing others of an opportunity by with
holding that land from the market until
the men thus deprived get a fair share
of the increase in the value of that un
tilled land. The comnmnity is adding to
that land's value, and the community is
entitled to its just share of the increase.
The danger of a system of peasantry
and landed aristocracy is not due to lack
of land, but to a system that puts a prem
ium on selfishness and a fine on enter
prise and thrift.
Tax the land's vain a for use add occu
pancy, not the thrift and enterprise of
brave and industrious men.
TALKING OF MEN AND MATTERS
It is difficult indeed to pay a proper
tribute to such men ay Melville 11. Hope
well. One wants to say so much, jet is
afraid that if he writes what the heart
feels he may be accused of maudlin senti
ment. If he writes less than the heart
feels he fears that he will have not dealt
justly. As a soldier in the field, as a
school teacher, as a lawyer, as a judge
upon the bench, as an official of the state,
and as a neighbor, citizen and friend,
Melville R. Hopewell measured up to the
full standard we so much love to
see and meet. Big of brain, big of
heart and big of soul, he took
front rank among the men of his
time. He never shirked a responsibility,
nor failed to meet every requirement de
manded of him by his community and his
state. He was not the typical politician,
yet men instintively trusted him, placed
political responsibility in his hands and
rested well content that their trust would
not be. betrayed. His home life was beau
tiful. His daily walk and conversation
was such as to exercise a powerful influ
ence for good. All in all, Melville R.
Hopewell was a man. It was the privi
lege of the writer to know him for nearly
twenty years. While he was upon the
district bench in the Omaha district the
writer was a court reporter for an
Omaha paper. He found Judge Hopewell
always courteous, always ready to give
the newspaper men whatever assistance
possible, and always more than willing
to temper justice with mercy. Young men
found in him a safe advisor and a stead
fast friend. Three times lieutenant gov
ernor of his state, he presided over the
upper branch of the legislature with firm
ness, a fairness and dignity. Less than a
month ago lie was with us, seemingly in
the prime of advanced manhood's
strength and virility. Today the place
he once filled is vacant, the home circle is
broken. In the passing of Judge Hope
well Nebraska loses another pioneer who
helped to make Nebraska. His life was
a blessing to his community and his
state, and he leaves a record of faithfully
performed civic duty that will be a cher
ished memory with his children and his
children's children.
Exit Governor Marshall of Indiana
from the list of presidential possibilities.
His extradition of McNamara in the face
of the plain provisions of the Indiana,
law simply means that he is either a tool',
of class interests or too ignorant to be;
considered as a presidential possibility..
. The democratic party may not be able to
elect a president with the aid of the
trades unions, but certainly it can not
hope to elect a president with the active
opposition of the unions. The Marshall
presidential boom, born with the ricketts,
came to its death even before the expect
ed time:
The Aurora Republican insists that
the legislature of 1911 "was and still is a
standing joke." The Aurora Republican
merely advertises its blind partisanship
and its ignorance of the legislature's,
work when it makes such an assertion..
The legislature of 1907 was a splendid!
one, but its record for economy in expen
ditures was earned at the expense of the
welfare of the state's institutions andL
wards. The so-called extravagance of the
1911 session was forced by conditions
brought about by the failure of former
sessions to make adequate provisions for
keeping up with the increased demand
of a rapidly growing and developing;
state. Will Maupin's Weekly, while ad
mitting that the 1907 sesion was the best
up to its time, and the real forerunner of
reforms that has since come, will not ad
mit that any legislature is "joke" that
made it possible to secure the initiative
and referendum, that increased the pow
ers of the state railway commission, that
put a fatal cirmp in the white slave traf
fic and kindred vices, that recognized the
rights of wage earners to protection of
life and limb, that conserved the water
ways of the state, bettered our irrigation
laws, gave splendid recognition of our ed
ucational institutions and made humane
provisions for the unfortunate wards of
the state. True it allowed some legisla-
