Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1918)
wzsnm 'WWSW5!I",",: T-UfT- Commoner i5EBbT'l918 jiourfe yo,-1 think, that" :It Is Impossible for ' therii to avoid standing up ahd'puttitig them- ielve on record " : ,.jo , '..-' . . "' .-" ,n PATRIOTISM IS THE ISSUE . From the Nebraska State Journal, March 31. Former Mayor Charles W. Bryan, acting chairman bf the dry forces of Nebraska, in corn- meeting on the vote in the house of representatives ratifying the national pro hibition" amendment, said: "The almost unani mous vote- of the lower house of the legislature reflects great credit on the patriotism of the peo ple of Nebraska and makes the people proud of the members of the lower house of the Nebras ka legislature. "The rapidity with which the constitutional amendment is being ratified by the various states is more on account of the war than on account of the moral question involved, although its im portance morally cat not be overestimated. It ' was loyalty that caused the members of the I legislature of Maryland to hasten the ratifica tion of the prohibition amendment by a vote of 68 to 36 in the house and 1,8 to 7 in the sen ate. It was, loyalty to the United States that caused the wet state of Texas to hasten the rat ification of the amendment by a vote of 15 to 7 in the senate and a vote of 72 to 30 in the house. It was the demand of the people in Kentucky to f stand by the American forces in this war that caused the lower house of that state to adopt the amendment by 66 to 10 and the senate ratify it by a vote of 28 to 6. It was the patriotism o,f the wet state of Delaware and the 'desire that its legislature not be a party in giving aid and comfort to the enemy that caused the ratifica tion in the house by 27 to 6 and in the senate of Delaware by 13 to 3. "The democratic state of Mississippi ratified the amendment in the senate by 28 to 5 and in the house by 93 to 3. The democratic state of South Carolina ratified the amendment by 28 to 6 in the senate and 66 to 29 in the house. Mon tana has ratified the amendment by 77 to 8 in the house and by 35 to 2 in the senate. North Dakota has ratified the amendment by 96 to 10 in the house and 43 to 3. in the senate, but South Dakota has won the palm up to the pres ent time. The senate of South Dakota ratified the amendment unanimously on March 19, and the house on March 20 voted unanimously to ratify the amendment. "There are two things that have inflamed the . tfublic mind and caused them to demand the immediate ratification of the national prohibi tion amendment, first that every day's delay in the ratification means the worse than waste of food grain that would be equal in value to 6,000,000 loaves of bread daily, enough to feed every American soldier and all our allied sol diers that are fighting for democracy in Europe. The second is that every month's delay means $100,000,000 profit to the breweries of this country; which are owned largely by alien en emies and which investigation has shown that a large amount of the profits are being used to carry on a propaganda against this country. The public feel that immediate action should be taken to prevent the 'collection of money from American citizens to be used to fight. American soldiers or to be used ,to poison the minds of our people so that it weakens the country's sup port of our boys at the front. "The reports coming to the committee ap pointed by the mass meeting recently held in Lincoln indicate that tho people are becoming tremendously aroused over tho newspaper re ports that there was an effort to be made in the Nebraska state senate to prevent the ratification of the prohibition constitutional amendment at this session. The almost unanimous action of the, house, today in ratifying the constitutional amendment shows that the members of the house understand what the feeling is among the people in this state. The state of Nebraska at a recent election voted to prohibit the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors by a majority of al most 30,000. While the American army is on foreign, soil , fighting for democracy, I can not believe that there will be an attempt made in the state senate to suppress democracy in. Ne braska. I do not believe that Nebraska will prove herself to bo less, patriotic than her sister states.. X do not believe that .the people of Ne braska in. -this hour of the nation's peril will be humiliated -.by the failure of prompt action on J the part 'df. the senate to take itsoplaee by the side of the hotise of representatives In upholding tho American flag." WET SENATE KILLS PROHIBITION BILL From the Nebraska State Journal, April 2. "Two widely divergent schools of thought," as Senator Doty of Seward politely calls them, had a thought contest in tho state senate Mon day. One side was thinking "wet" and the other side was holding tho "dry" thought, and they diverged sharply when the smell of booze began to pervade the legislative atmosphere. One fol lowed the old familiar smell and the other rushed in the opposite direction. The "wets" won, not because they thought any harder or better, but because they were more numerous. -There were more swimming in their school. The drys had a baker's dozen, or thirteen In their little school most of the time, but once when Gates of Sarpy and Wilson of Frontier dodged into tho dry school they had fourteen. The wet school paddled along most of the time' with eighteen in the group, buf oc casionally when Wilson of Frontier and Spirk of Saline threw themselves upon tho bank, they had sixteen or seventeen in lino. Robinson of Holt consistently refused to ad mit he was either dry or wet. Ho stood where the spray was thickest but let it run right off his back. He declined to vote on any of the four or five questions before tho senate. When these two widely divergent schools of thought got through thinking and school was dismissed for tho day, it was found that tho Joint resolution passed by tho house for the ratifica tion of national prohibition was dead and that with it died the hopes of any appropriations by this special session of the legislature for the pay ment of salaries and employes of both the house and senate and for the payment of Incidental expenses. Lieutenant Governor Edgar Howard presided over these two widely divergent schools of thought, and his decisions were promptly over ruled except up to the time of the last moment. On the start he ruled the Henry resolution out of order as being in conflict with tho state con stitution, and also for patriotic reasons which he explained. Tho Henry resolution provides that the senate will consider no "proposed act for a law, Joint or concurrent resolution," not men tioned in Governor Neville's call for a special session of the legislature. The ruling of the chair was not sustained, the vote being thirteen .in the affirmative and seventeen in the negative. Beal of Custer offered an amendment to the Henry resolution to except from its provisions "such bill or joint resolution as authorized by the congress or constitution of the United States." This was defeated by a vote of 14 to 16. The Henry resolution was then adopted by a vote of 18 to 13. A motion by McMullen of Gage, to appoint a committee of three from each house to draft a joint resolution asking the gov ernor to amend his call by asking the legisla ture to act on the national prohibitory amend ment was defeated by a vote of 13 to 18. The dead ratification amendment that had been passed by the house and sent over to the senate tor action, pulled .down upon the heads of tho senators three appropriation bills, includ ing a bill to pay their own salaries for services in the special session, and bills to pay incidental expenses and employes' wages and for the pay (Continued on Pago 10.) The crop of constitutional lawyers in state legislatures seems to have materially Increased since the question of ratification of the national prohibitory amendment has been called to their attention by congress. Eighteen members of the Nebraska state senate declared the other week that it was unconstitutional to consider the ratification because the governor had not in cluded it in his call. It is, of course, merely a coincidence that all of these eighteen voted to hamstring the state prohibitory law when before that body in the .winter of 1917. It was argued by the few newspapers remain ing in Nebraska that openly espouse the cause of the brewers that it w,as Impossible to know whether the people of the state favored national prohibition, when it was the banishment of the open saloon that they said was, at issue when the state voted 30,000 dry. And the next day the house of representatives, the only legislative body in the state that comes direct from the body of the people, ratifled, the, national prohi bition amendment, by a vote, of; 68 to 7. COMMONER WORKERS Following is a list of readers who have sent in clubs for tho purpose of assisting in increas ing tho circulation of Tho Commoner. The name of club raiser and number of subscriptions sent in follows: W. W. Sanders, Wis., 6; A. J. Myers, Ind., 2; R. B. Wahlquist, Nebr., 5 J. S. Elraoro, Wash., Ky., 2; W. E. Vincent, Orcg., 4; H. H. Ramsey, Ky., 2; W. E. Vincent, Orcg., 4; C. J. Jay, 111., 5; N. W. Walsh, 111., 5; J. L. Scholl, Iowa, 10; Carlton Grover, Pa., 4; E. J. Baldwin, S. D., 6; Daniel W. Nye, Ind., 4; B. F. McManus, Mich., 6; U. R. Wagner, Ohio, 5; Fred A. Rapp, Ohio, 3; W. A. Deon, 111., 4; W. B. Town, Mich., 4; E. W; Woodward, Mo., 3; W. N. Townsend, Iowa, 5; S. B. McClung, Va., 6; John W. Hormiday, Ind., 6; F. L. Myers, Iowa, 6; W. A. Davenport, Miss., 6; R. G. Wilson, Jr., Mo., 5; W. E. Bryan, Mo., 5; C. F. Baker, Calif, 5; W. C. Dizer, Del., 5; Howard McClune, Ohio, G; William M. Hub bell, Pa., 5; John C. Winterrlnger, Ohio, 2; C. W. Broomhall, Ohio, 3; Edwin N. Prentice, Minn., 6; E. G. Webb., N. Y 5; Martin Menll, Wash., 5; J. E. Hutchcson, Ohio, 2; Frank L. Stuart, Wise, 2; C. N. Schlchetl, S. D., 2; John Bodden, Wise, 5; Watson Rinehart, N. J., 3; Fred H. Sinclair, 111., 2; W. G. Geiger, Iowa, 5; R. L. Bates, Mo., 2; I. C. Hodson, Mo., 9; Rev. M. V. Huston, Ohio, 6; Isaac M. Wells, Mo., 3; W. J. Dooley, Iowa, 3;. Jos. Banta, Md., 2; F. L. Hull, Iowa, 3; P. II. Waters, Ind., 4; J. J, Degan, Ncv 2; T. L. Dunn., W. Va 5; Henrj B. McGee, Texas, 2; A. C. Cunningham, Va., 2; J. J. Carl, Ark., 5; F. H. Moss, W. Va., 6; We M. Knight, Texas, 2; Thomas R. Carmony, Ind., 5; R. A. Eaton, Wash., 2; Jos. Mahood, W. Va., 2; W. Ramsey, Kans., 5; W. H. Kidder, N. Y 5; J. L. Bryan, Ark., 3; Martha E. Findley, Ind., 3; Neil H. Burns, Mich., 4; Wra. M. Brant ley, Fla., 2; C. Y. Miller, N. C, 8; A. L. Ronell, N. D 2; Joseph H. Slear, Pa., 5; C. J. John son, Kans., 4; W. R. Bevlns, Ark., 3; Geo. W, Hensol, Jr., Pa., 7; Jno. H. Brown, Nebr., 3; Wm. Sproat, Wash., 3; Fred B. Sanborn, Maine, 3; P. L. Parks, Wash., 5; Jake Saltz, Nebr., 8; O. H. Huston, Va., 2; Chas.' G. Barnard, N. H.t 3; J. A. Jlorrell, Calif., 6; Wm. J. Thompson, 111.," 10; J. F. McCord, 111., 5; Joseph A. Mills, Pa., 5; Scott Cook, Mich., 8; John G. Parkison, III., 5; Thomas Conner, Iowa,' 5; R. M. Palmer. N. Y 3; R. C. Cutter, Iowa, 5; J. H. Clossou; Mo., 11; Thos. Gornley, Ind., 7; L. E. Ickes, Ohio, 3; II. E. Barrett, Ind., 5; Fred Harl Davis, 111., 8; Ellas Shakley, Pa., 6; James Black, 111., 3; John Clement, Va., 2; M. B. Washburn, Calif., 5; T. M. Edwards, Texas, 5; J. C. Hes penherde, Pa., 3; Geo. E. Osyerhout, Colo., 5; John S. Bottimore, Va., 5. The government expert who reported a few years ago, after what he announced was a thor ough investigation of the subject, that the pack ers mado an average of but 15 cents a head on the cattle they slaughtered, seems to have perused a different set of books than the one Francis J. Heney has found in the. packers'" se cret archives. GET SOMEBODY ELSE (Paul Lawrence. Dunbar) Mii The Lord had a Job for me, " But I had so much to do ' I said, "You get somebody else, ' Or wait till I get through." I don't know how the Lord came out,; But Ho seemed to get along; But I felt a kind o' sneakin' like- Knowed I'd done God wrong. . i One day I needed the Lord, Needed Him right away, But He never answered me at all,, And I could hear him say Down in my accusing heart: "Nigger, I'se got too much to do You get somebody1 else. Or wait till I get through." Now, when the Lord He have a Job for pi I never tries to shirk; I drops what I have on hand, And does the good Lord's work. And my affairs can run along, JOt wait till I get through; Nobody else can do the work That God jnarked. out for you. . f 1 in,
