WILL MAUPIN'S WEEKLY
THE WAGEWORKER
WILL M. MAUPIN, Editor
F. L. SHOOP, Business Manager
Published Weekly at Lincoln, Nebraska, by The
Maupin-Shpop Publishing Company.
"Entered as second-class matter February 3. 191 1, at the post
office at Lincoln, Nebraska, under the Act of March 3, 1879."
ONE DOLLAR THE YEAR
JLV AXXO UXCEMEXT.
The issue of Friday, September 1, will
be the Annual Labor Day Edition of Will
Maupin's Weekly. This annual Labor
Day edition was inaugurated just eight
years ago, when this ' newspaper ap
peared under the name of "The Wage
worker." While the name has been
changed and the scope of the newspaper
enlarged, it is none the less the outspoken
champion of that form of organized labor
which finds its best expression in the
calm, deliberate and disciplined trades
unions of the world.
The forthcoming Labor Day edition
will be replete with facts and statistics
relative to organized labor, especially
that of the local field. It will tell what
the Trades Unions stand for and are try
ing to accomplish. It will relate briefly
the history of the Nebraska State Federa
tion of Labor and tell of what it has ac
complished, at the same time outlining
the forthcoming annual convention of the
organization. It will also give in detail
the program of the Labor Day celebration
to be held in Lincoln.
Let no mistake be made. Will Mau
pin's Weekly, like "The AVageworker"
which it succeeded, is not the "official or
gan" of anything. It is independent in
the best sense of the term. It voices the
sentiments of its editor, who carries a
union card and has for thirty years, and
who is always proud to take his stand by
the side of his fellow unionists who are
striving to forward the labor movement.
This newspaper will be just as quick to
condemn violence and injustice when
perpetrated by union men as it is to con
demn violence and injustice when perpe
trated by unfair employers.
With this word Will Maupin's Weekly
asks for the patronage of those who are
friendly to organized labor to the end
that the Labor Day edition wyaj be a
credit to the great holiday.
SHORT JABS.
It pays to advertise. Troof : See Judge
Hauler's vote.
When a republican like C. E. Fields of
Omaha islisgusted with the way republi'
can machine managers work in Douglas,
things must be in pretty bad shape.
Of course business will pick up, now
that congress has adjourned.
President Taft called the extra session,
and may now take a long tour to explain
the act.
The next big thing in Nebraska is the
state fair than which there is none big
ger, or better.
We still contend that Nebraska will
have more than 170,000,000 bushels of
corn this year.
Mr. Clarence Harman of Holdrege
owes Mr. Mike Harrington of O'Neill a
heavy debt of gratitude.
AVe used to weep over the woes of the
down-trodden farmer. Now we are kept
busy dodging his automobile.
The "closed primary" seems to have
been open enough to allow a lot of voters
to temporarily change party affiliation
for primary purposes only.
Arizona is in without the judicial re
call. AVe are mistaken in our estimate of
Arizonans if they do not put that recall
back in without loss of time.
It seems that Douglas democrats are
still out with their knives after the scalps
of any man connected with the adminis
tration that gave us the 8 o'clock law.
Congress adjourned in time to let a
lot of congressmen and senators earn a
bit of spending money by gyrating and
orating upon the Chautauqua platform.
A single dollar will bring AVill Mau
pin's AATeekly to you for fifty-two weekly
visits. This means fifty-two consecutive
weekly doses of optimism and good cheer.
. AAhile the successful candidates are
resting up after the primary exertions,
the workingman can walk the streets
without being embarrassed by friendly
greetings.
Of course, the candidate who expects
to win will see to it that proper advan
tage is taken of the fact that AVill Mau
pin's AVeekly is read by thousands of men
who really think.
If the state committees of the dominant
political parties desire to have head
quarters at the seat of political doings,
they will, of course, establish headquar
ters in Lincoln.
Mr. Hall admits that he spent $600 to
secure the republican nomination for
railway commissioner. That's 20 per
cent of the salary and the campaign ex
penses still to consider Let's see, what's
the legal limit?
Minority Leader Mann says he does not
think much of the democratic congres
sional majority's actions. We opine that
the democratic majority reciprocates, her
ing greatly in favor of reciprocity.
AVe are promised a report from the ex
pert tariff commission next December.
AVe have little faith in any report it v ill
make. AAre would rather trust to the con
clusions drawn by any housewife who
keeps careful track of household expenditures.
Governor Plaisted of Maine utters a
great truth when he says: "For fifty
years we have been enacting laws to
please one class of people, and ignoring
those same laws to please another class
of people." That's the trouble, with most
of our legislation.
Primarj in August, election in Novem
ber. City elections in the spring, anoth
er primary next August, and another elec
tion to follow in a couple of months.
AThat's the matter with abolishing the
off-year elections and making all city
and village elections conform to state
elections? AVe waste too much time on
politics the kind of politics we have.
THE CLOSED PRIMARY.
Is it satisfactory ? Will it destroy
party lines? AVill it gradually allow the
old machine followers to take possession?
These are some questions flying about
these days. It strikes us that the closed
primary now in force goes as far to one
extreme as the primary law it succeeded
went to- the other extreme. Unless a
middle ground is struck in the near fu
ture there is danger that popular disap
proval will send us back to the old con
vention plan.
INTER URBAN CONSTRUCTION.
Every now and then some one ex
presses wonder that there is not an era
of interurban railroad construction in
Nebraska. There is no real reason for
wonder. In our efforts to regulate trans
portation corporations we have swung to
the extreme. It takes money to build in
terurbans, and there is a big risk in
volved. Men are not going to invest a
million and a half in an enterprise that
is experimental, and then be allowed less
returns on one million-, if successful,
than they coud get by investing their
money in real estate mortgages. AVhile
it is all well and proper to prevent water
ing of stocks and exploiting of the peo
ple, it must be admitted by those who
have investigated that we have become so
conservative that we have made it utter
ly impossible to interest capital in the
construction of interurban railroads in
Nebraska. The next legislature should
amend our laws so as to invite capital,
while at the same time not making it
possible to return to the old days of ex
ploitation ,