The Commoner
APRIL, 1918
11
Istate." he asked, "that their tongues
lieleave to the roofs of their mouths
and their hands are palsied?"
6 McAllister of Antelope made one
ibf his characteristic anneals to the
rsenate to down booze, to throw off
- w . .
kheir timidness and give booze a
knockout blow. Ho said he would
work against it and vote arcainst it
if and leave the responsibility to the
supreme court.
Albert of Platte argued at some
lentrth acainst the taking ud of a
" federal amendment in the face of the
fact that the governor did not in
clude the subject in his call and the
state constitution says no business
except matters mentioned In the call
shall be considered by a special ses
sion of the legislature.
Oberlies ofLancaster thanked God
he did not live in a district where
he would have to be petitioned and
nireed to vote for ratification. He
tsaid he had not received a single
petition or letter. He said he re
fused to slip his hands Into the handr
cuffs in the Henry resolution. He
desired to be free. Oberlies asked
about the power that is being felt In
the senate.
"What kind of spectacles does he
slip over their eyes that they can not
see the growth of prohibition, that
they can not see the letters on the
wall at the Be.lshazzar feast?" he
asked.
Spirk of Saline said it had been
often stated that 30,000 majority was
recorded in Nebraska for state-wide
prohibition. He said 40,000 voters
did not register their sentiments at
the election. He spent some time
berating- W. J. Bryan as the man be
hind the movement for ratification, a
man whom he said held congress at
bay when war was imminent.
Chappel o1 Kearney delivered an
argument otf'Hhe legal phase of the
question. He said the legislature has
a right to act on the federal amend
ment. He cited the report of Sen
ator Hoar in a "West Virginia case
very similar, or at least containing
the same principle as the case before
the Nebraska legislature. He tooK
occasion to pay a tribute to W. J.
Bryan in reply to remarks made by
Spirk of Saline and Moriarty of
Douglas. The latter had said Bryan
is the man who deserted his chief in
the hour of need.
Lahners explained his vote by
saying the absent soldiers ought to
be given a chance to vote on the fed
eral amendment, and it ought to be
submitted to all voters.
A vote being taken the Henry res
olution was adopted, eighteen voting
in the affirmative and thirteen in the
negative, Robertson not voting. The
McMullen motion to ask the govern
or to amend his call bv including
prohibition was d'scussed by itsau
thor and was defeated by a vote of
'thirteen to eighteen. The ruling of
the Qhair that the Henry resolution
made it impossible to consider b'lls
o" ratification and appropriations for
legislative pay and expense iouoweo.
HOUSE PASSED RESOLUTION
TFrom the Nebraska State Journal,
April 2.
The house passed the joint reso
lution ratifying the national prohib
itory amendment Monday afternoon,
by a vote of 66 to 7. Five of the
seven were cast by members from
Douirlas county Craddock, Jelen,
Keegan, Lovely and Schneider. The!
other two votes .were by Sass of
Sarpy and Koch of Cuming. There)
were sixty-five cast on the first roll
rail in the affirmative, and a call of j
the house was demanded. This1
brought in only one more vote, and;
as all the rest of the absentees, ex
cept Behrens, were out of the city,
the call was soon raised. -
Governor and Eighteen Wet Senators In
dorsed by German-American Alliance
From the Nebraska State Journal,
April 3.
At the moment when the govern
or of Nebraska and a majority in the
state senate are defying the will of
the state by refusing to ratify the
national prohibition amendment,
there comes to light a remarkable
document which geems to clear away
the mystery 'of their action.
The house of representatives has
ratified the amendment by a vote of
ten to one. This is generally re
garded as expressing the attitude of
the people of the state. The transla
tion here given of instructions Issued
by the Gorman-American alliance to
the German voters prior to the elec
tion of 1916 reveals a secret influ
ence which may explain why the gov
ernor and the senate are acting so
directly contrary to the house and
the public opinion.
The instructions of the German
American alliance, as the transla
tion published herewith discloses, re
vels this organization as standing
back of Mr. Neville in his election in
1916. The reader will note that the
candidates for the state senate which
the German-American alliance in
structed its members to support are
practically name for name the sen
ators comprising the majority which
defied" the sentiment of the state last
Monday by refusing to consider the
prohibition amendment.
It will be thus seen that the
eighteen men who voted against rat
ification last Monday in the senate
were all endorsed for election, by the
German-Amer.'can alliance. The gov
ernor who refused to include prohi
bition in his call for a special ses
sion and refused so much as to de
liver to the house the certified copy
of the amendment sent him for trans
mission to the house had also, at the
election, the endorsement and sup
port of the German-American alli
ance. - The recent investigation of
this organization at Washington dis
closed that it spent large sums of
money in efforts to influence congress
in behalf of the German view of
American war policy. . The presump
tion is that the alliance was equally
active and effective in its support of
the political candidates of its choice
in Nebraska.
The document reveals Senator
Hitchcock as among those receiving
the favors of the German-American
alliance. It shows the alliance tak
ing special interest In defeating the
"nativlstic" doctrine of prohibition.
The senator's vote against prohibi
tion in congress and the Influence of
his political organization, Including
the governor and the senate majority,
against it in Nebraska seem thus to
be explained.
The German-American alliance en
dorsement of candidates, including
the governor, the "Hindenburg line"
in the senate and faenator liuciicocic
is as follows:
(Translation from p. 1, columns
3, 4, and 5. Weekly Omaha Tribune,
Nov. 2, 1916.
Nebraska State League
Call to Action
Omaha, Neb., Oct, 23,-1916.
To the Members of Subordinate
Unions of the State League and also
the German citizens of Nebraska in
general:
Worthy citizens! You are wait
ing as in the past from the political
committee of the Nebraska German
American alliance again in this year
suggestions concerning the candi
dates whom we are to "support. The
election, on November 7 is the most
'Important in the history of the state,
because abovo everything else the
pending prohibition amendment to
our organic law must bo beaten. Ev
ery German, all of his sons, friends
and neighbors should voto against
prohibition. No matter what the
weather is, whether good or bad, no
one should fail to go to tho ballot
box and vote against prohibition.
Prohibition, abovo all other things,
assails the Germans and their life
time habits. Prohibition springs
from alien-hating fanaticism and
knownothlngism. If prohibition
wins thousands of our countrymen,
honest citizens, will lose .all their
property and suffer loss of their jobs
without the slightest compensation.
Prohibition means, therefore, dis
honesty and destruction of property
without compensation. Prohibition
is unworthy tyranny for the freeman.
Therefore vote against prohibition as
one man by making a' cross in tho
square under tho word "No," riext'to
number 301. Take notice of the an
nouncements of tho Prosperity
league in all the newspapers and
spread everywhere instructions upon
this most Important point. Prohibi
tion must be beaten.
Regarding the presidential elec
tion we should take notice of the ac
tion at our last convention in Grand
Island which expressed no choice of
candidates. Since that time, however,
the German-American conference,
Doctor Hexamer upon his own pri
vate account, and also the German
pastors of Nebraska have each taken
position upon the presidential ques
tion which we recohimend to your
most fundamental consideration.
One of our principal duties must
be this, that we shall. aid in the re
election otUJ. S. Senator Gilbert M.
Hitchcock. Senator Hitchcock has
the great recommendation that he
has, championed the cause of neutral
ity and the embargo upon shipments
of war munitions, that he Is bitterly
fought against by all friends of the
allies, that he is feared by the pro
hibitionists who also seek his defeat.
Hitchcock must receive every Ger
man vote. We ought, however, to do
much more than this for him. We
ought to employ all of our influence
to carry votes for him so that he will
certainly be re-elected. Therefore,
vote and work for Hitchcock.
Since most of the republican can
didates for state offices are out
spoken prohibitionists we recommend
the election of most of the demo
cratic candidates and, above all oth
ers, of Keith Neville, democratic can
didate for governor, of Edgar L.
Howard, democratic candidate for
lieutenant-governor, of the efficient
future attorney-general Willis E.
Reed, also of secretary of state,
Charles W. Pool, of the German re
publican candidate Fred L. Beck-
mann for land commissioner and the
republican candidate for state school
superintendent Dr. A. O. Thomas. .0
If we do not recommend a com
plete list of candidates for state
officers it Is because we do not cer
tainly know how the candidates not
recommended stand.
Candidates for Supreme Court
Although our committee does not
today have complete information
which it can give regarding the can
didates for supreme judge the mat
ter can not longer be postponed, and
we counsel our people to give heed
to what the German press, especially
the Daily Omaha Tribune, may pub
lish the last week before election
day regarding the supreme court
candidates whom we are to support.
The Omaha Tribune recommends' the
following candidates for the supreme
court:
Chief Justice Androw M. Mbr
risoy; Associato Justices John B
Barnes, L. S. Hastings and Albert J.
Cornish.
Candidates for State Senate
As It over has been so now must
it bo our chief concern to re-elect
mon of approved and liberal disposi
tions to the state senate, for only
such ones give us tho guarantee that
no nativlstic or prohibitory laws
shall bo able to pass tho legislature.
Wo know that thoro will bo a fight
made against German instruction and
It is therefore of moot extraordinary
importance to elect state senators who
oppose tho nativlstic ideas. ,
Tho committee has gone to great
pains to ascertain tho standpoint o
candidates in the 28 senatorial dis
tricts in Nebraska. We regret to say
that wo have not succeeded in all dis
tricts. Wo concern oursolves there
fore only for candidates concerning
whom wo have tho most absolutely
reliable information. In tho districts
where wo make no recommondatlom
our people should tako care to ac
quaint themselves personally with,
tho position of candidates for tho
senate.
District No. 2, . Cass and Otoft
counties Candidate, John Mattes,
democrat.
District No. 3, Saunders and Sarpy
counties Candidate, J. M. Gates,
democrat.
District No. 4, Douglas county
Candidates, Robert C. S,trohlow, dem
ocrat; Ed. E. Howell, democrat; John
M. Tanner, democrat; John F. Mo
r'arty, democrat; J. H. Bennett,
democrat; Harry J. Hackett, repub
lican; Bert EJ Miner, republics ;
John M.- McFarland, republican;
Frank A. Shotwcll, republican;
Charles L. Saunders, republican.
District No. 5, Washington and
Dodge count'es Candidate, Wallace
H. Wilson, democrat.
District No. 7 Cuming, Wayne and
Pierce counties Candidate, Philip H.
Kohl, democrat.
District No. 8, Cedar and Knox
counties Candidates, William Boost,
democrat; Charles Ruden, republican.
District No. 9, Antelope, Boone and
Nance counties Candidate, A. F. B.
Ware, democrat.
District No. 10, Madison, Ttanton
and Colfax counties Candidates,
John R. Henry, democrat; "Virgin L.
Horton, republican.
District No. 11, Platte, Polk and
Merrick counties Candidate J., L.
Albert, democrat.
District No. 12, Seward ;and" But
ler counties Candidates. C. W.
Doty, democrat; John P, Stolz, re
publican. . :
District No. 13, Lancaster county
Candidate, A. J. Warner, repub
lican. District No. 14, Gage and Pawnee
counties Candidate, N. L. Ravvlings,
petition.
District No. 15, Jefferson and
Thayer counties Candidates. Thom
as Lahners, republican; William
Grueber, democrat.
District No.. 16, Saline and Fill
more counties Candidate, E. J.
Sp'rk, republican.
District No. 18, Hall, Howard and
Greeley counties Candidates, J. H.
Buhrman, democrat; W. F, Krempke,
republican. """
District No. 20, Nuckolls, Web
ster and Franklin counties Candi
date, C. E. Samuelson, democrat.
D'strict No. 21, Harlan, Furnas,
Gosper and. Phelps countfes Candi
date, J. M. Grace, democrat.
District No. 22, Buffalo, Sherman
and Kparney counties Candidate,
O. G. Smith, republican.
District No. 24, Boyd, Holt, Gar
field, Wheeler, Keya Paha counties
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