TALKING OF MEN AND THINGS
Already things are shaping up for the
slate and national campaign of 1912 in
Nebraska. Francis G. Hamer of Kear
ney announces that he will be a candi
date for the supreme bench this ... fall,
which announcement is a sort of starter
for the big campaign of next year. Judge
I lamer was a judge of the district court
for several years, his district comprising
a huge expanse of territory in central Ne
braska north of the Platte river. He be
came judge in the early history of that
section, and for several years was a con
temporary of Judge Gaslin. Judge
Hainer made a good record as district
judge, which is a recommendation for
him in his candidacy for a seat upon the
supreme bench.
Hon. Fred Volpp of Dodge is being fre
quently mentioned in connection with
the democratic nomination for governor
next year. It is not likely, however, that
Mr. Volpp will consent to be a candidate
then, preferring to wait a few years.
There are good and sound politcal
reasons for such a conclusion, some of
them having connection with a recent
lamentable failure as a democratic guber
natorial campaign. Early in the legisla
tive session Will Maupin's Weekly men
tioned Senator John H. Morehead of
Richardson as a likely bit of democratic
gubernatorial timber, and the suggestion
met witli instant favor. As president of
the senate Senator Morehead often pre
sided with fairness and parliamentary
skill. His record as a senator is as clean
as a hound's tooth, and his record as a
successful and enterprising man of af
fairs is such as to recommend him to the
favorable consideration of Nebraska
voters.
It is not surprising that a Lincoln pub
lication refers to Senator Morehead as a
"corporation candidate." That publica
tion has a habit of impugning the motives
and abusing the men whose opinions fail
lo square with its opinions on certain
questions having no part in partisan
politics. Happily for Nebraska the time
lias gone by when the cry of "corporation
candidate" frightens Nebraska voters.
The corporations have been divorced from
polites in Nebraska and are now content
to obey the laws. They find it cheaper
to obey reasonable laws than to pay for
immunity. To charge Senator More
head with being corporation tool is not
only silly but libelous. He is a success
ful fanner and stockman, and is inter
ested in two or three banking institutions
in Richardson county. He came to Ne
braska something like twenty-five years
ago without a dollar. He began as a
school teacher, got hold of a bit of farm
land and farmed it himself, saved his
money, invested it where it would bring
reasonable returns, and is today account
ed a man of some means, though far from
a millionaire. Every dollar he has made
h.e made legitimately and his record as a
citizen and as a business man is an open
book that all may read who so desire. The
editor of Will Maupin's Weekly has
known John H. Morehead for nearly
twenty years, and knows there is no bet
ter gubernatorial timber in the demo
cratic forest.
Hon. Willis E. Reed of Madison an
nounces that he will contest with other
democrats for the senatorial nomination
iii 1912. Mr. Reed was 'a candidate last
fall but , was defeated by Gilbert M.
Hitchcock. He is a lawyer of splendid
ability, an enthusiastic democrat of the
progressive school and a good campaign
er. His geographical location will mili
tate against his candidacy to some ex
tent,, but it should not. A very bother
some question, and one that interfered
somewhat in the last primary, will be
out of the way in 1912, and Mr. Reed's
candidacy will receive considerably more
attention then that it did last fall.
Ex-Governor Ashton C. Shallenberger
has not yet announced his candidacy for
the senate, and it may be that he is not
contemplating a race for the office. If he
does announce his candidacy he will enter
the race with a splendid following, for
there are thousands of Nebraska demo
crats who feel that Shallenberger was not
given a square deal last fall. Besides his
geographical location is greatly in his
favor. And when it comes to campaign
ing there are none better than "Shaily"' in
this western country.
To those who figure that Senator
Brown and Congressman Norris will be
the only contestants for the republican
senatorial nomination Will Maupin's
Weekly would drop a gentle hint. There
will be another contestant in the field,
and his sprinting ability is not to be
sneezed at. He has proved his ability as
a campaigner and vote getter, and per
sonally there is no more popular man in
all Nebraska. We are not at liberty to
announce his candidacy nor even to men
tion his name in that connection, bat he
will be in the race. And he'll make the
man who beats him to the nomination
travel at a mighty fast pace.
Not even Theodore Roosevelt's biased
and unfair editorial, "Murder is Mur
der," will blind the eyes of thoughtful
people to the real issues in " the Mc
Namara case. Organized labor is not on
trial. Mr. Roosevelt sought with all the
power and weight of presidential influ
ence to bias the public mind against the
officials of the Western Federation of
Miners when they were on trial for their
lives after having been kidnaped from
Colorado. They were acquitted by a
jury after the Rooseveltian verdict of
"guilty without trial." McNamara was
kidnaped from Indiana. The evidence
against him is detective-made, just as
the Western Federation of Miners. Mr.
Roosevelt has a pernicious habit of going
oil' half-cocked, and then denouncing as
"liars" men who fail to agree with his
hasty conclusions. We never think of
Theodore Roosevelt but we think of the
little girl who claimed her papa knew
more than any other man in the world.
"But your papa don't know as much as
God," remarked her little companion.
"Well, you must remember my papa ain't
as old as God yet." replied the boastful
little girl. Now and then Mr. Roosevelt
gives evidence of forgetting that he lacks
a great deal of being as old as the Almighty.
The death of Judge S. B. Pound re
moves from the scene of action another
of the pioneers of Nebraska. Upon the
bench, at the bar, and as a private citi
zen, Judge Pound held position in the
front ranks. He was identified with the
legal history of the state, having helped
in large measure to make it. More than
that, he helped to make Nebraska his
tory, for he was identified with Nebras
ka's growth and development for nearly
two score years. Nebraska is a young
state, for many of the men who were
here when the state ernergd from terri
torial clothes are still with us. But the
ranks are growing thinner day by day;
The death of Judge Pound leaves anoth
er gap in their ranks gaps which can
not be filled. ' The sweetest memory to be
cherished by Judge Pound's relatives
will be that of a man who played well his
part upon the stage of action, and dying
left behind his impress upon the com
monwealth which he served so -well and
honored so much.
Will Maupin's Weekly was not a bit
surprised when it learned that Junius
Graham Oldham of Kearney had made
the debating contest of the Nebraska
High School Debating League. It could
have been surprised only by the an
nouncement that young Oldham had
failed to make good as a debater. "Like
father like son," and young Oldham
wouldn't be the son of Willis D. Oldham
if he couldn't stand upon the rostrum
and argufy well. Three years ago Judge
Oldham's daughter, Miss Isabel, won
third honors in the high school debating
league. , It runs in the Oldham family.
But if the young Oldhams manage to
beat their father at the oratorical and
argumentative game they will have to
work overtime.
VMS tlic evidence Tgai::.?! the o'I;c:..I:
Why all this fuss over the report that
a big athlete pocketed a piece of money
for playing on the University of Nebras
ka football team a year or two ago? Does
anybody believe it was the first time such
a thing has happened in University of
Nebraska circles, or at any other state
university? The athletic rules put a
premium on that sort of thing. . One rule
is that no one who has competed for