MEN ANt) MATTERS
; i Mike Harrington neither strengthen
ed his reputation as a careful student
of history nor detracted from the
' Harmon presidential boom when he
charged Harmon with participation in
the infamous Cleveland-Morgan bond
deal. Briefly stated, Mr. Harrington
charged that Judson Harmon, while
attorney general in the Cleveland cabi-
' net, advised with President Cleveland
and- gave his official and legal sanc
tion to the deal whereby the now
' famous bond issue was transferred to
the Morgan syndicate, and by it dis
posed of the next day at a profit of
$8,000,000 to the syndicate and its
friends. Had it even been true that
Harmon was a member of the Cleve
land cabinet at that time, it would
have mattered little. Grover Cleve
land had made up his mind to carry
out the bond deal just that way, and
when the Cleveland . mind . was "sot"
it was "sot" for fair and for keeps.
But it so happens that Harmon was
not attorney general at that time. He
did not become a member of the Cleve
land cabinet until four months after
f hat bond deal was pulled off. Rich
ard Olney was attorney general at
the time. And at the present time Mr.
piney is an ardent supporter of "Wood
row ."Wilson. Mr. Harrington might
have ascertained these facts by taking
a few minutes off from his self-imposed
duties as supervisor of our political
welfare and looking up the record. "We
have a great admiration for Mr. Har
rington's legal ability, and we admire
his prodigious industry. But we are
beginning to lose faith in him as the
guardian of the palladium of our liber
ties. '
It requires no . extraordinary keen
ness of eyesight to see that the demo
cratic situation in Nebraska is resolv
ing itself into two warring camps, one
camp determined to nominate Harmon
because it would be distasteful to
Bryan, the other camp determined to
nominate Wilson because that would
" spell confusion - for - Bryan '- enemies.
Not because they love Harmon more,
but because they like Bryan less is the
animus behind the Harmon boom man
agers. So also, the "Wilson supporters
care less for Wilson than they do for
Bryan. Such little matters are the
good of the party and the interests of
the whole people receive scant consid
eration from most of them in both
camps. And between these two war
ring , factions is a little group whose
members are much more ' interested in
the triumph of democratic principles
than in the success of any particular
man. But the voices of these men
sound low amidst all the tumult and
clash of Harmonites and Wilsonites.
All of which is simply "nuts" for the
republicans.
Don't worry about "factions" in the
g. o. p. For ability to unite the scat
tered parts the g. o. p. has got the .
joint snake backed off the boards. Re
publicans may scrap a lot between
times, but at the critical moment all
differences are healed until such time
as the common enemy is licked out of
its boots.' Democrats are just the op
posite. "With them all is harmony and
good fellowship until the time comes
to present a united front to the enemy.
When that time comes democrats
' straightway . , begin fighting among
themselves, and the enemy walks off
with the arms, ammunition and wagon
trains.
Three months ago it was a mighty
sanguine republican who declared he
believed his party would carry Nebras
ka and the nation. Now he is a mighty
pessimistic republican who isn't will
ing to wager his last dollar that his
party will sweep the platter. It's the
same old story of democratic wrang
ling and discord, democratic failure to
measure up to opportunities, demo
cratic jealousies and democratic dam
phoolishness. ' '
Dr. Winnett has announced that he
will not be a candidate for re-election
to the railway commission, and we may
now expect a flood of filings from self
sacrificing republicans anxious to let
their own immense business responsi
bilities go hang in order that they
may serve the dear people.
Chancellor Mahlon Pitney of New
Jersey has been appointed to the po
sition of justice of the supreme court,
to fill the vacancy caused by the death
of Justice Harlan. Judge Pitney is an
unknown quantity to a vast majority
of the people, but he is well known
of the people, but he is well known to
those who have watched with some in
terest the trend of judicial decisions.
It was Judge Pitney who decided that
a man's employe was his "servant,"
and he who hired that "servant" away
was guilty of a crime. That should
have been enough to damn Judge Pit
ney in the eyes of any thoughtful man.
But isn't this supreme judge or
any other judge business a ghastly
joke on the public t Judge Hook de
cided the Oklahoma rate case in favor
of the railroads, hence a protest from
the people. Then he decided the "Jim
Crow" car case in favor of the sup
porters of the measure, hence the'
warning to Taft that his appointment
would alienate the colored vote. And
Hook was shelved. But just the same,
despite these patent facts, we are
asked to consider a judge as far and
away above criticism, and compelled
to give the courts undivided respect
under penalty, of contempt. It would
be laughable were it not so awfully
serious.
The joke is on the Elks of Alliance.
A few days ago the government gath
ered a carload of elks in the Jackson's
Hole country and shipped them to Yel
lowstone Park. A telegraph operator
at Crawford 'phoned, the Elks at Alli
ance that a car load of elks was go
ing, through, and of course the Alli
ance bunch prepared to give them a
-. brotherly greeting. So it was that a
band, a spokesman and a bunch of
"best people on earth" foregathered
at the Alliance depot to extend greet
ings.... It is presumed, that , the .four-,
- footed elks-enjoyed, the music and .the
undelivered speeches prepared by, the
two-footed Elks. t
.The officials of the Anti-Saloon
League' may be very good and wholly
consciencious gentlemen, but when it
comes to a knowledge of law they are
wholly deficient. Their protest against
the constitutional amendment allowing
cities of 5,600 or more to make their
own charters, based on the fear that
such cities would thus be able to con
travene the constitution and statutes,
is nothing more nor less than an exhi
bition , of ignorance of the proposed
amendment, which specifically provides
that "any city having 5,000 or more
inhabitants may form a charter of its
own government consistent with and
subject to the constitution and the
laws of this state." The trouble with
people obsessed of one idea is that they
see in every proposition a menace to
their own particular, hobby. But the
officials of the Anti-Saloon League
must always be doing something, else
the collection baskets might miss their
regular trips.
Let's see it's been something like
five years since we were going to have
"dollar gas" over night, isn't it? And
after five years of litigation and wor
ry and careful preservation of receipts
and bickerings and recriminations, it
seems we are no nearer '-dollar gas"
than we were sixty months ago. At
the time the dollar gas ordinance was
enacted this newspaper remarked that
it looked very much like the efforts of
a few politicians to play to the galler
ies in order to boost themselves into
office. This newspaper still thinks it
was right.. And by the same token it
opines at this time that a lot of people
are this day sorry, they didn't accept"
the gas company's proffer of a com
promise a few months ago.
Secretary of State Waite is puzzled
to know how to designate the Taft and
LaFollette delegates on. the primary
ballot. The answer to the puzzle seems
easy just don't. In the first place it
can not be done legally. Either they
must be listed according to party or
listed as "independents." But if they
must be designated plainly why ' not
call the Roosevelt-LaFollette delegates
"izzers" and the Taft delegates
"wazzers"t
A . mighty interesting, and likewise
significant, meeting was that of the
Harmon boomers in Fremont last Tues
day. It means that" Mr. Bryan's supre
macy in democratic counciles in this
state is to be contested. It means a
repetition of the old whisky fight with
in democratic ranks. And it seems,
also, that it portends a return to the
old days when the "slaughter house
brigade" faced the "packing house
brigade" in every campaign.
SOME CONCRETE
NEBRASKA FACTS
"With the latest available statistics,
state and national, at hand it is very
interesting to make some comparisons
for the purpose of ascertaining just
where Nebraska stands. And every
time Nebraska's production is ranged
up alongside the production of other
states, or her output of ' wealth com
pared with the national output of
some particular article of common use,
we swell up with pride at the fact that
our lot has been cast in this good
state. T
In 1910 the copper production of
the United States was worth $130,000,
000. Nebraska's 1911 corn crop- short
as it was compared to the average
yearly yield and her wheat crop,
would pay for every ounce of copper
mined in Uncle Sam's domains. So
would Nebraska's 1911 crop of alfalfa,
wild and tame hay. So would the ani
mals raised on Nebraska soil and sent
to the slaughter pens in ; the same
year. And remember that copper,
next to iron, is the most universally
used metal. ,
All the coal, anthracite and bitumin
, ous, mined in the United States in
1910 was not worth as much as the
wealth produced from the soil pf Ne
braska in 1911 not bjr.. $6Q,000,QQq.
Audi coal is .far andaway .r the most,
valuable mineral mined in, this or any
other country. We have, no coal mines
in Nebraska, but we've got something
far better. Our- people can work in
the sunlight and in pure air, and make
enough money in one year to buy all
the coal mined in the United States in
a twelve month.
In 1910 the value of all the cotton
goods manufactured in the United
States was $609,000,000. The agricul
tural and live stock wealth produced in
Nebraska in 1911 came to within $25,
,000,000 of being worth as much rand
the cotton textile industry is the
largest single industry in the United
States. "We haven't any cotton mills
in Nebraska, consequently no strikes
and riots and hopeless operatives work
ing for starvation wages. On the
contrary we have men and women
working in the open, breathing pure
air and enjoying the sunlight, and
making enough every year to buy the
output of all the cotton mills of the
republic. Some class to that, eht
Tobacco is a pretty big crop in this
country of ours. With . so much talk
about tobacco trust, and tobacco on
sale everywhere and almost universally
used by men, one would naturally
think that it was one of the nation's
biggest and most valuable crops. Big
and valuable it is, to be sure. But,
bless your soul, the corn raised in
Nebraska in any one year would more
than buy the nation's tobacco crop for
the same year. Put that in your pipe
and smoke it!
The -sugar of the world was worth
$900,000,000 in 1910. Two-thirds of
it could have been paid for by the
wealth produced on the farms and
gardens of Nebraska in 1911. We've
been building up a sugar industry in
this country through tariff ' laws for
many years. Nebraska's wheat crop
in 1911 was worth more than this re
public's output of sugar in that same
year.
Same thing about wool we've been
coddling and petting the wool busi
ness for a generation. That may be
wise and strictly all right. But the
wool output of the United States in
1910 wasn't worth within $15,000,000
of the value of Nebraska's wheat crop
in 1911.
How about oil? That's a big thing
in this country. Everybody uses pe
troleum or its byproducts in some
form or other. We are apt to imagine
that the oil industry, therefore, would
be something wonderful to contem
plate. And it is. But if you had in
your possession this minute all the
corn and wheat raised in Nebraska in
1911, you, could sell the grain for
enough money to buy all the oil pro
duced in this republic in 1911, and
then have $46,000,000 left to rattle in
your pockets. - .
There wasn't-enough gold mined in
any one state or territory in 1910 to
buy the eggs laid by Nebraska hens
in 1911. Nor to buy the poultry and
butter produced in Nebraska in 1911.
There was not enough gold mined in
the United States and Alaska in 1910
to buy the hay and oats crop of Ne
braska in 1911. Not one state or ter-"
ritory mined enough gold in 1910 to
buy Nebraska's 1911 crop of alfalfa.
No two states or ' territories mined
enough gold in 1910 to buy Nebraska's
1911 crop of prairie hay. '
Nebraska produced more agricultural
wealth per capita in 1911 than any
other state, and performed the feat
upon fewer acres per thousand dol
lars of wealth produced. Statistics are
iot at hand to verify the claim, but
Will Maupin's Weekly is willing to
wager a doughnut against the hole
that . Nebraska has fewer convicted
criminals per 100,000 of population
than any other state, fewer convic
tions for misdemeanor per 100,000 of
population than any other state, fewer
dependents upon public charity per
100,000 of population than any other
state, more churches per 100,000 of
L . ,,J
Nebraska's Anniversary.
March 1, next, Nebraska will
be forty-five years old
Forty -five years of marvelous ?,
progress and development--:
a record unequalled in the
history of state making.
Will Maupin's Weekly will
appear about March 15th as a
'Nebraska Anniversary Number"
and will tell the state's story.
It will be the best number of
the best Nebraska Booster
Organ in Nebraska.
population man any otner state, more
schoolhouses per 100,000 of population
than any other state, and fewer illiter
ates per 1,000 of population than any
other state. 1 -
And not to go into politics at all,
but just to keep the record straight,
about all the political reforms that
are under way today had their in
ception in Nebraska and were brought
to the front by Nebraska reformers.
Wonderful state and she isn't a
half -century old yet. Within the mem
ory of men yet living, hale and hearty,
Nebraska was classed as "The tireat
American Desert," and any man who
would have dared, to : prophesy that
within fifty years Nebraska would be
the greatest producer of agricultural
wealth among the states would have
been haled before the lunatico inquir
endo. v t" ' ,.
They've all got to take their hats
off to Nebraska ! , ' '
.Washington was opposed to third
terms on principle, but George
wouldn't amount to shucks by the side
of Teddy were George alive today. '.
A GREAT BIG BOOST FOR
r GRAND YOUNG NEBRASKA. '
Will Maupin's Weekly, the
best ' single-handed booster No-
braska has or ever had, came
out in a blaze of. glory last '
week with its "Nebraska In-
dnstries Number," ' Twenty-
four pages carried an immense
fjnount of highly interesting
matter regarding the resources,
attractions and opportunities of
Nebraska, and also numerous ad-
vertisements of mannfaetnring i.
concerns who make good good!
in Nebraska and are not a&rail
to let people know it Omaha
Trade Exhibit.
rMt