'94
THE AMERICAN
"AMERICA FOR AMERICANS." We bold that all men are A nerlcaos who Swear Allegiance to tho United SUUs without a mental reservation In favor of the Pope.
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OMAHA, NEBRASKA, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1S94.
Volume IV.
Number 51
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NOTES AND COMMENTS.
Pkikstly outrages aro not al
ways committed In the adjoining coun
ties. Occasionally they occur almost at the
very doors of our homes.
This Is especially true of Omaha, and
particularly just at the present time.
It has been equally true In the days
that are gone, yet these outrages have
seldom been printed.
Just why this is and has been so we
leave a gulled and gullible public to
6olve to its own satisfaction.
While It Is doing that we shall relate
the experience of a prominent German
citizen, as told to us by himself.
To get at the story as it should be
told we will have to take up the thread
of life in the old country some thirty
years ago.
At that time Herman was a young
man, a soldier in the regular army un
der a three year enlistment; while
Gretchen was a comely maiden In his
native town.
They met, by chance; perhaps 'twas
willed by fate they should so meet and
be encharmed one with the other.
At all events they courted; wed; the
girl renouncing Romanism to get the
soldier boy.
More, she pledged the children born
in wedlock should be raised in his re
ligious faith.
A year or two they spent in peace,
then war was in the air; the draft was
mentioned in the village where Her
man and Gretchen lived.
They held a long and earnest consnl
tation; planned a flight to the new
world; and a few days later Herman
kissed his f row goodby and took passage
tor America.
In time he reached this city, where
he worked and planned and saved
in order to bring his family here to
share the blessings of this great new
world.
In the meantime, he received a letter
from his folks from which he learned
that Gretchen had had their baby bap
tized into the Roman church.
He wrote condemning her; she then
confessed; her folks had been to blame.
She made anew heranti-huptial vow;
begged to be freed from their base in
fluence; and plead for life in America.
He sent for her.
She came and brought the children
of their youth.
And for a time they lived as happy
as mortal man and women ever lived.
Then, in an evil hour, he listened to
a daughter's pleadings and sent her to
a Roman Catholic school to finish her
musical education.
Prior to allowing her to attend, how
ever, be called on the mother superior
who agreed that his daughter would be
free from religious instruction; that
they never interfered In the religious
beliefs of the pupils.
He left the school satisfied.
Poor fellow, he little dreamed of the
dissembling of these agents of old
Rome.
So he sent his daughter to their
school; they praised her; the Nashea,
the McShanes and the Gallaghers pet
ted her, and incidentally she became
aware that there was no religion worth
having unless its head was in old Rome.
She left the school; a "finished" edu
cation. For a time her father took her to the
GermanJLutheran church.
She offered no complaint, and one
Sunday when he was Indisposed the
went to church alone.
On her return he said, "Annie, who
did you see at church this morning?"
and she answered promptly, "Mr. Bolln,
Mr. Heimrod," and several other prom
inent men whom she knew would be
there.
For several week the same questions
were asked and like answers returned,
until her father became suspicious.
As a con-sequence the following Sun
day morning found him dressed in his
best suit to go out in Walnut Hill and
look after a lot he thought of buying.
He went out Cuming street and came
back on California, getting in sight of
his house just as his daughter started
for church.
It required no tact to shadow the un
suspecting girl, so he soon saw her
enter St. John's Roman Catholic
church.
Then he returned and waited.
In the course of an hour or two Annie
came home, and he asked her who she
saw at church. Instantly came the
answer, "Mr. Bolln, Mr. Heimrod."
But before she could get any farther
the indignant father was on his feet,
livid with rage, and crying, "Why do
you He to your father why don't you
tell the truth? You were at the Cath
olic church! You are a Roman Cath
olic!" It was a stormy scene!
Finally he told her she would have
to make her own living, that not one
dollar of his should a daughter of his
have who would join the Roman Cath
olic church against his will, and with
out his knowledge.
The mother, the daughter and their
priest held a consultation.
Then the father and husband was
subjected to the most outrageous per
secution in order to drive him from the
home and afford the wife an excuse for
suing him for a divorce and alimony.
His victuals were poisoned, bed
clothes torn into shreds; towels, sheets,
pillow-cases and soap were carried from
the room as soon as he left the hob.se,
and as often as he purchased a new
supply they were removed.
But he remained at the house, when
not working for the city as an inspector.
One day he was at home, and a bald
faced gentleman stopped at a neighbor's
house on the corner and asked where
Mr. lived, and upon being informed,
went across the street, up the walk and
Into the house.
Herman was in the yard watering the
lawn; he saw the priest enter; waited
for his exit, which did not take place
as coon as he thought proper, so he
went in the back door, noiselessly
passed to the front part of the house,
where he found the priest and the
daughter in an embarrassing position.
Indignant at what he saw, he asked,
"Who are you, sir, that you come and
see my daughter, and treat her as a
young man does his sweetheart?" The
other replied, "I am her father con
fessor; I am confessing her sins." "And
do you have to have a lounge when you
hear women confess their sins to you?
You get out of my house, ana if you
ever come back here I'll give you the
worst whipping you ever had Getout,
before I kick you out."
Since that day his wife has sued him;
and the daughter has been employed
in the Morse Dry Goods Company store.
We do not know what the out
come will be in the stand taken by
Ireland and the pope regarding secret
societies. Last week Ireland said
Romanists could join any order but that
of the Masons. This week the pope
says all secret societies not under the
control of the church are under the
ban. Of course Ireland's opinion as a
free American ci izen does not count
(or much when placed in the balance
with that of the prisoner of the Vatican,
and our opinion is that Ireland will
have to back water. Nice church that,
where a man has to think just as the
fellow above him thinks.
The Corbett-Bonacum con
troversy will not down. The latest
move is an appeal by Martin Corbett
from the decision of the district court
of Otoe county, in the case in which
Rev. Thomas Bonacum secured an in
junction restraining Corbett from prac
ticing his clerical duties, was filed to
day in the supreme court. The history
of this case covers some four years, but
the matter did not culminate legally
until May 7, 1894, when the petition of
Bishop Bonacum was filed: The case
now comes up on a motion of Defendant
Corbett for an extension of the time of
filing transcript of the evidence adduced
on the trial of the action in the court
below and for an order upon the official
stenographer of the court to prepare
and furnish to the defendant such trrn
script with all convenient spcod. In
his complaint Bishop Bonacum alleges
that the defendant was removed as
priest from missions and prohibited
from further officiating as priest in any
church of the diocese for refusing to
follow his Instructions. In his naswer,
Corbett declared that the matter was
purely ecclesiastical and not civil, and
that on an appeal to Monslgnore Satolll
he was reinstated and the sentence of
suspension of Bonacum set aside.
This world i3 made up, prin
cipally, of strange things, not the least
curious among the number being the
choosing of Eugene Kelly by tho pope
to act as his chamberlain. A dispatch
from New York says: "Eugene Kelly,
the veteran banker, is lvlng at the
point of death at his home. At mid
night Dr. McCreary Issued a bulletin
that his patient had shown slight signs
of improvement since 10 o'clock tonight.
He gave it as his opinion, however,
that the question of Mr. Kelly's death
was but a matter of hours." If we have
not confused the names and the dates,
it was about one year ago that Kelly
was selected chamberlain to the pope.
At that time Kelly was credited with
being a rich banker of New York city
and a liberal contributor to Peter's
pence. But the strange part is that
the pope, being Infallible, would ap
point a man as near death's door as
Kelly is; yet, when we consider the
question, we discern the reason, al
though it requires an admission of
Leo's infallibility. The pope knew
Kelly was in the last year of his life.
He knew Kelly was rich, that the
church of Peter was poor, and that if
Kelly accepted the call to act as cham
berlain, left New York, entered the
Vatican, and associated with the Jesuits
there assembled, when death marked
him as Its own, he would leave his mil
lions to the church for a single-trip
pass through purgatory into the king
dom of heaven itself. Kelly would be
no worse off than if he Lad not received
the pass, the church would be richer
and the world would NOT be wiser
because of this manipulation.
A dispatch fAm Topeka,
Kansas, says: "Rev. E. KInsells pro
poses to make the burdens of life lighter
by teaching the people to avoid debt
and pay cash for everything they buy.
His idea has taken form in the organ
ization of a cash purchase association
with headquarters at Holton, although
it is Intended to be of national char
acter. It has been in successful opera
tion for several months. The objects
of the association are fully expressed m
its charter as well as its motto, 'Owe
no man anything.' In detail, however,
they are financial: educational, and
benevolent. The financial benefits
which its members are to enjoy are de
rived from the discounts which they
will receive from tradesmen by reason
of their paying cash on everything they
buy. To an ordinary family Father
Kinsells estimates that this saving will
amount to about $00 per year. In Hol
ton all of the merchants who do a cash
business have entered into the scheme
heartily and give members of the as
sociation a liberal discount on all pur
chases. They can afford to do this, as
it relieves them of the labor and ex
pense of making collections, and they
have no bad bills among the members
of the 'Cash Purchase Association.'"
The merchants of this country will hail
this departure as a rift in the unbroken
financial clouds of Roman patronage.
Forjears it has been known to mer
chants that Roman Catholics were the
most conscienceless dead beats the
world possessed, and now that a few
Romanists have decided to pay cash,
they will hope the "malady" will spread
to other sections.
R. W. Breckenridge, Esq. won
a great legal fight In the recent decis
ion of the circuit court of appeals at St.
Louis, Mo. in the case of the Flournoy
Live Stock & Real estate Co. vs Captain
William H. Beck, the agent of the
Omaha and Winnebago Tribes of In
dians, whose reservations are situated
in Thurston County, Nebraska. There
was involved in the case decided about
37,000 acres of land, and depending up
on that decision are four other cases
still undetermined in the United States
circuit court for the district of Ne
braska involving about as much more
land. As Is the case on the borders of
nearly every Indian reservation in the
country, particularly in the west, there
seems to be large numbers of white men
in Thurston county who have very lit
tle respect for the law, and the author
ity of the government; and numbers of
persons so disposed have been for sev
eral years engaged in the unauthorized
and illegal business of leasing Indian
lands direct from the Indians, in viola
tion of an express statute of the United
States which requires leases of Indian
lands to be made by and through the
gent In charge, under certain rules
prescribed by the secretary of the Inter
ior, la every case; the object of such
statutory regulations and rules being to
protect the Indians against improvi
dent contracts concerning their lands.
The lands In the Omaha and Winne
bago reservations are among the very
finest in the state and tho Flournoy
Live Stock & Ileal Estate comjiany,
whose president, a man by tho name of
Lemmon, Is the husband of a Winne
bago squaw, had leased something like
37,000 acres of land from Individual
Winnebagos at a price greatly less than
their value; under instructions from the
department of the interior, Captain
Beck proceeded to take the initial steps
to eject the Flournoy company and Its
sublessees from the lands held by them,
when he was enjoined from further pro
ceedings In the matter. The case was
heard last July, before Judge Dundy,
who granted a porpetual injunction
against the agent, and Mr. Hrocken
ridge, who was apiointed special coun
sel for the United States, in these cases,
appealed to the Unltld States circuit
court of appeals and secured a very
sweeping victory. The court of appeals
composed of Judges Caldwell andThayer
rendered a decision revering the de
cree of Judge Dundy, directing his de
cree to be vacated and the suit dis
missed at the cost of tho Flournoy com
pany. This ought to teach the Indian
land speculators in Thurston county,
that if they want to deal In Indian lands,
they should do so regularly and legally
and not in defiance of law and In con
tempt of the law officers of the govern
ment. The Indians themselves wlil be
very greatly benefitted by this decision,
for the lands now held under these var
ious illlgal leases can be rented to de
sirable persons at approximately their
vaiue for both agricultural and grazing
purposes.
One of the greatest evils our
country will encounter in the future
unless immigration is practically sus
pended will be found in the numerous
"colonies" that dot the north t and
northwestern states, and which just at
present are beginning to turn south
ward, c A recent news item sent from
New York to a daily paper in this city
states that "over 10,000 German immi
grants are to arrive here shortly, and
will locate near Brunswick, Ga., where
Colonel T. P. Stovall of Atlanta, repre
senting a German syndicate, has closed
a deal for a tract of land, embrasing
about 10,000 acres, some twenty miles
from Brunswick. The syndicate has
completed arrangements for colonizing
the property with German farmers.
They will be taken from Castle Garden
by steamer, special rates having been
already secured for the purpose. This
Is but the first step In a gigantic immi
gration scheme which Colonel Stovall
has on foot. Within tho next year he
expects to have 10;000 ruddy checked,
thrifty Germans in Gtorgia. The syn
dicate that is backing Colonel Stovall
is said to number its capital by the
millions, and now has a number of
agents in Germany working up immi
gration to Georgia. Reports from their
agents say that they find no difficulty
in getting the Germans interested, and
just as soon as the syndicate gets pos
session of the land well-to-do German
farmers are ready to come and settle.
Of course, it will take the syndicate
several months to get in shape for the
coming of the Immigration, as it has
yet to purchase the greater portion of
the land and get the titles perfected,
but jujt as soon as this is done the im
migrants will come and settle " The
government should pass strict laws for
the government of these colonies. Peo
ple who come here should become
American. We have room enough for
every loyal man, but not room enough
for one who desires to bring his foreign
ideas and customs here and set them up
as his rule and guide.
Meteors falling from the
heavens are not an uncommon thing,
and it is but natural, probably, that dif
ferent people should see the same one
In a different light. That they do see
things in a different light we are able
to attest. As we were going from lodge
Tuesday night, Nov. 27, 1894, the earth
was illuminated by the most brilliant
"falling star" or meteor, the eye of man
ever beheld. We had just reached a
point in front of our house and were
preparing to step from the street upon
the sidewalk and from there ascend the
steps leading into the yard. The night
was starlit and the trees cast a shadow
into the street and across the walk and
steps. Situated at the farther end of
tho block was a large electric light, but
if it threw any light athwart our path
it was unnoticed, and extremely dim,
for we remarked to ourself as we trudged
up the five or six steps that "that was
a good old electric light to come out so
bright just when we needed it most"
Ere the thought had vanished a new
one took form, "why do the shadow
from the branches of tho trees move so
rapidly?" and wo looked over our right
shoulder to see why the light was sway
Ing, and as we did so we beheld a most
magniOcient sight a star, trailed by a
sheet of fire, lndtscribably bright and
mellow, shooting from the south centre
heaven toward the western hemisphere,
It was visible but an Instant, and while
we stood looking at It, and while yet
high in the heavens, above any build
ing that could obstruct the view, it dis
appeared from sight. We stood for a
moment then hurried into the house
and told our wife altout tho beautiful
sight. Toen It occurred to us to look
at our watch and note the time and
watch the puiwrs to sue who else had
seen the phenomenon. Hut,after three
weeks, we have seen but two references
to It. One was In a Harlan, Iowa, pa
per, which declared tho star had struck
the earth near Pacific Judction, Iowa,
a town lying fifteen or twenty miles
east of our house, while tho other was
In the Columbus Journalnni sald"Tuos
day night of last week what is dlscrlbod
as looking like a big ball of fire burst
over Omaha, with a noiso as loud as
thunder." To our certain knowledge
the star we taw Tuesday night, Nov. 27
at 1 1 :18 o'clock did not strike the earth
near Pacific Junction, Iowa; neither did
it burst with a noiso as loud as thun
der. And our humblo opinion Is that
it will be several thousand yoars beforo
It roaches this planet. This is One of
the things that makes man realize how
little he knows about God and Ills plans,
His Illimitable resources and His
matchless wisdom.
The Record say s, in a dispatch
from Sioux City, la., that "Tho Goth
enburg liquor tystem Is to be tried, for
the first time in Iowa at Ida Grove.
Last winter Representative M. D.
Nicol, ot Ida county, tried to get the
legislature to adopt the system, but
failed. He has succeeded better at
home, and his own country will try the
plan. An association has been formed
by leading citizens of Ida Grove, and
has secured from the town council the
exclusive right to cell liquor in the
town. The association will open a sa
loon at once, having overcome the many
obstacles that have been thrown in its
way by those who oppose this plan.
The association agrees to give all of its
profits, above an agreed per cent of in
terest, to tho town and the Young Men's
Christian Association. All its appoint
ments of officers are to bo approved by
the town council. The association has
filed a bond which the council has ap
proved, and the only serious difficulty
is the opposition of one property owner
within the legal limit of distance, who
refuses to give his consent, and is being
encouraged by the anti siloonists in his
opposition. The organization has fixed
the salary of the treasurer and man
ager at $1,000 a year, and elected to tho
place Patrick Scanlon. An assistant at
a salary of $480 will bo employed. The
men who are back of the scheme have
been violently assailed by their oppon
ents, and but for their high standing In
the town would not have been able to
carry the scheme into effect. They
declare that their Interest In it is
rather scientific than financial, and that
they will at least prove that the saloon
business can be conducted by the com
munity rather than by the individual,
and that under this arrangement it
will reduce the consumption of liquors
and minimize the evils of the traffic.
If they succeed they expect to bring
the matter once more before the legis
lature for consideration, and urge the
plan for adoption by the state." We
may be wrong in our opinion, but it
seems to us that the Y. M. C. A. has
strayed a long way from the path of
usefulness when it enters into partner
ship with any number of men to con
duct a saloon. We do not think all
men engaged in the saloon business are
bad, any more than we believe all men
engaged In the ministry or priesthood
are paragons of virtue, yet we believe
It the duty of every man, for the sake
of mankind, to retard instead of fostering
the liquor traffic. It Is not the saloon
run by criminals, in violation of every
law upon the statute book, that is to be
feared by mothers and fathers of re
spectability. It is the gilded palaces
the respectable saloon into which no
man is ashamed to enter. In them
their sons see judges, law-makers, the
family physician, deacons in the
churches, and editors men who stand
next to the parents in the estimation of
the childran who believe U such men
visit those places, there can be no harm
in their stepping Inside. We have
nothing against a saloon-keeper. We
never had one of them pull us into a
saloon to get a drink and we have
drank a good deal in our time but we
think the . M. C. A. saloon would do
ten thousand times more harm in
year than the reputable saloon would
do in a lifo-time. We hope the Y. M
C. A. saloon has not come to stay. We
would rather our boy would take bl
chances without the Y. M. C. A. saloon
in the contest for the prize.
The Chicago Timex, in speak
ing of Belgium says: "Belgium has,
since Its creation as an Independent
kingdom, been a most suggestive politi
cal experiment. Students of iolitieaI,
social, and economic problems could no
where else find so fruitful a commentary
on what has come to be known as tho
British system. Constitutionally, the
little monarchy is a most consistent
type of jrliamentary government.
Here, if anywhere, the famous maxim
is true the king reigns, but docs not
govern. Had the design to bring to
gether clashing contrasts guided the
councils of the powers that made the
Belgian people a political nationality,
they could not have succeeded bettor.
Religiously, this small but most densely
populated country Is divided Into two
sharply defined and bitterly hostile
camps. A Uoigian is either a most de
vout Catholic or ho Is a dogmatlo free
thinker. This antagonism has up to
tho last decade dominated also the
political controversies. From tho free
thinkers was recruited the liberal
party; the church furnished the con
tingent for the liberals' olltlcal op.
poncnts. Parliamentary majorities
and hence also the king's ministers al
ternated between theso two, the liber
als being periodically In tho ascendancy,
to yield again to their Catholic rivals.
This soo-saw gamo has of late been dis
turbed by tho appearance of a third
iwlltical factor. If the line of cleavage
between the two old contestants was
fundamentally religious, tho young as
pirant for political recognition traces
his credentials to the social conditions
of the people. Bolghftn has been thor
oughly bourgeois or capitalistic. Politi
cal franchise deponded upon property
qualifications. The liberals were doc
trinaires of the Adam Smith and Man
chester school, while the Catholics, in
tho pursuit of their own Interests, hold
also to the doctrine that tho ameliora
tion of the social condition of tho work
ing classes should be loft to the church
rather than be attempted through the
law. As might be expected, the state
of affairs In the industrial centers bog-
description. The exploitation of the
masses has nowhere been carried fur
ther than in this pattern statu of Brit
ish political theories. The myth of
European pauper labor is only truth In
the Belgian mines and glass blowing
establishments. Social Democracy
found thus In King Leopold's domain a
fruitful soil. The leaders of tho work
ing classes were not slow to recognize
that the prime condition of necessary
influence over legislation was a change
in the existing regulations affecting tho
franchise. Universal suffrage became
the incessant war cry, and In order to
give it effect tbey Inaugurated a few
years ago a huge strike, not for the pur
pose of readjusting the scalo of wages,
but of coercing the chamber into ac
quiescence in their demands. Before
such an argument even the inveterate
bourgeois, who had been the beneficiary
of the property clause, deemed discre
tion the better part of valor and y leldod.
Universal suffrage; was conceded In prin
ciple. In practice, however, certain
modifications were insisted on. Every
Be'glan is entitled to vote, but in order
to offset this concession thoe that pos
sess certain educational qualifications,
such as a university degree, are by law
given the right to two votes, while
others whose rate tax is above a certain
minimum have even three votes. The
first elections under this new arrange
ment have been held a few weeks ago.
The result is extremely signifi'ant.
The last senate conis'ed of forty-six
Catholics and thirty liberals, the lower
house of ninety-three Catholics and
fifty-nine liberals. According to tho
returns, the new 3 nate will have
seventy-six Catholics and thirty liber
als, the lower house 101 Catholics,
thirty-three socialists, and fifteen lib
erals. These figures show that the lib
erals have had to pay the cost of the
new departure. Tho thirty-three so
cialists combined received 350,000 votes,
and as theie are undoubtedly individual,
not cumulative votes, they are a symp
tom of how widespread is the dissatis
faction with the existing order of things.
The Belgian liberals deserve no better
fate. Doctrinaires, they were most con
tent to enjoy the freedom to rob and ex
ploit others. Lalssez 'aire was their
creed and for the misery and wretched
ness which the worship of their moloch
entailed they had even no tear. The
Catholics, too. are beginning to lay to
heart this significant upris'ng. The
government will now make haste to in-t'-oduce
bills for the amelioration of the
wage-earner '8 condition. The finance
baron's hay days are happily over In
Belgium, the land of orthodox econom
ics par excellence. Have we nothing to
learn from Belgium?"
Read Whitney's add. Ho desei ves
American patronage.
