1
manded. And it would be were it not
for the fact that the socialists realize that
they couldn't come within gunshot of
electing a socialist to succeed him and
.a socialist in office giving only partial
satisfaction seems preferable to an anti
socialist in office. It seems that after
all our socialist friends are made out of
about the same kind of clay as the rest
of us.
Some members of the Nebraska legisla
ture should have heard Will K. Camp
bell's explanation of the defeat of the
$25,000 appropriation to advertise Ne
braska "it was an unselfish proposi
tion," which is to say that it did not ap
peal to any special or particular interest
and did not therefore present ;ui oppor
tunity for deals, swaps, dickering and
trades. Mr. Campbell makes the charge
without stuttering and circumstantial
evidence will convict the legislature on
that charge. Kearney Hub.
We p. re not infoimcd as to what Mr.
Campbell said, but we are willing to en
dorse every word of it. We know some
thing about the publicity bill, hiving
been instrumental in part in arousing
the enthuisasm that resulted in the de
mand for it. There never was a bill more
uninanimously endorsed by the men who
art: making Nebraska. It had the back
ing of every business organization in the
state, ever public corporation, and pub
lic spirited men generally. Several things
conspiredi to prevent the bill from com
ing up. The gentleman who introduced
it got himself in bad odor with the ma
jority of leaders to start with, and fol
lowed it up by failing to secure the back
ing of the men of the minority, of which
he was a member. Again, the legislature
was largely made up of farmers, and they
couldn't see anything but increased ex
penses without any direct return to the
farmers. And lastly, as Mr .Campbell
says, it did not afford any opportunities
for deals, dickers and log-rolling. Hence
one of the most meritorious bills ever in
troduced was allowed to die in commit
tee. Every member contributing to this
fatal neglect is guilty of having worked
a direct injury to Nebraska.
After July 1 of this year manufac
turers using machinery dangerous to op
erate or calculated to injure health if
not properly equipped, will find it cheap
er to safeguard it than to pay damages.
Heretofore human life has been far
cheaper than safety appliances, but the
"last legislature changed that inhuman
doctrine. The new factory law provides
that all dangerous machinery must be
equipped with guards painted red, and
that all emery Avheels, grindstones, buf
fers, polishers, etc., that create a dust
must be equipped with exhaust fans and
suction pipes. Nor shall the worker as
sume the risk when he knowingly uses ma
chinery not legally equipied. The law is
drastic in its provisions. But it makes
human life the chief consideration, not
the saving of a few paltry dollars.
State Treasurer George says that
farmers pay less-tax in proportion to
their holdings than other classes. By
this he doubtless means that they pay
less tax in proportion than other people
who pay taxes at all. The fact of the mat
ter is, the people who owe the most taxes
pay the lest, or none at all. Nebraskans
today have more than $200,000,000 de
posited in the banks of the state. Will
Maupin's AVeekly is willing to wager a
handsome penny that the assesors of the
state will return less than one-tenth of
one per cent of that amount under the
item of "cash in bank." A farmer owning
an improved quarter section worth $16,
000 is taxed more for it than the owner of
a vacant business lot in Omaha or Lin
coln worth $32,000 or $10,000. In the
case of the. farmer he is taxed for the
value he created. In the case of the lot
owner he is not taxed but seizes for his
own profit the community-made value
that is added to his holdings. The farm
er is taxed for his enterprise and thrift;
the lot owner is given a premium by the
public for being non-enterprising. The
value of real estate situated inside of the
corporate limits of cities and towns of
the United States is worth many times
the value of the farm lands of the repub
lic. The farm land values of the nation
represent less than 20 per cent of the
land values of the nation, yet the farm
lands pay nearly 60 per cent of the tax
upon real estate. Of all men the farmer
should be the most enthusiastic advocate
of the land value tax. .
West Point, Cuming county, Nebras
ka, has been on the map for many years.
It always was a good town, but it hasn't
been letting the people know it to the
proper extent. We propose helping to
remedy the defect, for West Point has
just broken a record. Last week the Jer-nian-Baumann
Co. of that city shipped a
few Cuming county eggs to market 36,
000 dozen. It required three . standard
freight cars to transport the shipment.
Four hundred and thirty-two thousand
eggs, all laid by Cuming county hens in
side of twro weeks ! Placed end to end that
shipment of Cuming county eggs would
reach thirteen miles ! Given an egg of size
sufficient to hold the cubic contents of
that one shipment of eggs and we'd have
to contemplate a hen so big that she
could stand at the foot of Farnam street
in Omaha and kick a wagon load of dirt
across the Missouri river into Council
Bluffs with one swipe of her foot, and her
cackle when she laid it would sound like
the sudden collapse of five or six build
ings as big as the New York Life build
ing in the Nebraska metropolis. That
one egg shipment equalled about one egg
for each male inhabitant of Nebraska
over the age of 7 years. West Point is
remarkable for more than the record
shipment of eggs from a Nebraska point
- much more; but the egg shipment af
fords a golden opportunity for West
Pointers to get into the great white light
of publicity. The other good things will
be noted in due time, and then West
Point's business future is assured.
The "Lincoln Trade Boosters" are out
this week, covering a fine expanse of ter
ritory, very square foot of which is nat
urally Lincoln's trade territory. That
the results to Lincoln wholesale business
will be beneficial is beyond dispute. The
business men on this excursion are thor
oughly representative of the Lincoln
spirit and the Lincoln spirit is building
a big, busy city out here on the plains of
Nebraska.
The Evening News offers a five-dollar
bill to the reader who finds for it the old
est resident of Nebraska. We arc; too
busy to look for him, our whole time be
ing taken up in getting out the best jour
nal of cheerful comment published in the
English language or any other lan
guage. But if the esteemed News, will
offer a similar amount for the youngest
man of his years residing in Nebraska
we'll grab it off right now by naming
Thomas P. Kennard of Lincoln. Mr
Kennard has not only helped mightily in
making Nebraska, but he. located the
capital in Lincoln and helped survey the
townsite. He saw the first house built
in Lincoln, and he has helped to build
quite a few here. And today, after having
seen Nebraska grow from a handful of
settlers on the Missouri river to a state
of a million and a quarter of people, and
develop as no other similar expanse of
territory ever developed, he is still with
us, hale, hearty and just as energetic
and enterprising as he was forty-eight
years ago. The sight of his smiling face
today is the best spring tonic one can obtain.
Talk about Nebraska soil fertility and
productivity! A soil that will produce a
farm crop so valuable that a wagon load
of it brings $702 in hard cash is some soil,
thank you. And that is what Custer
county soil has clone. The other day
Charles Francis drove into Broken Bow
with a wagon load of alfalfa seed and
sold it to R. A. Hunter, receiving for it
$702 in real money. Custer county, mind
you, is right in the heart of what was
once called "The Great American Des
ert." And just to think that there are
something like 16,000,000 acres of just
that kind of soil waiting for men to come
along and plow and plant and reap from
it! High time Nebraska let all the world
know what she has to offer to the indus
trious homeseeker.
Mark the prediction ! The supreme
court will knock the Nebraska two-cent
fare law higher than Gilderoy's kite.
Every decision rendered of late along
parallel lines with the rate case points to
that nendr : There is just one handle to
that jug and the railroads have seen
to it that they have hold of the handle.
Paste this in your hat.
