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jiourfe yo,-1 think, that" :It Is Impossible for '
therii to avoid standing up ahd'puttitig them-
ielve on record " : ,.jo ,
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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. .
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