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The , Commoner
.'AUGUS?, 191&
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nrlvate hands tho vast railroad and other inter
ns which ar& now" and hereafter may be Under
Eovernment control. The senate of the United
states will haye a very large voice lii the mat
ter That is the reason why the Dig interests are
determined to select one of their own men as
senator from Nebraska' this year. It will not
matter to the big interests whether the man be
a democrat or republican. Jay Gould said he
always contributed to the campaign fund of two
candidates In every campaign, so that If either
should be elected liewouhl have a friend at
Which democratic' candidate will tho big In
terests select as their man in Nebraska? 'Which
one of the republican candidates will the big In
terests choose as their man? I must not answer
this question. If I should make the charge that
one of my opponents had been or will be select
ed by the big interests, : then my statement
might he .regarded as bjased, for the reason that
I am a candidate for senator. Hut I feel it my
duty to call attentI6n-to the activity Of the big
interests in his Nebraska senatorial contest, and
I ask both democrats and republicans to do a
little investigating on : their own account. Ne
braska is an agricultural state. The producers
should not permit the 'profiteers to choose a sen
ator from Nebraska at this time. If the big in
terests shall put over both a democratic nominee
and a republican nomiiie.e of their kind at the
primary, then all the shouting in November will
be done by the corporations, and none by the
common herd.. It will be easy for both demo
crats and republicans to discover the corporation
favorites in this senatorial race if they will only
get their eyes half Way oRen.
, EDGAR HOWARD.
' BRYAN FOR, GOVERNOR
The democratic party of Nebraska lias a
chance to redeem itself.' It has been carrying
a heavy load the past few years what with the
Mullen and Hitchcock machine and 'ltd .betrayal
of the people to the special interests. But the
spirit of true democracy is not yet dead in Ne
braska. There is stilP & chalice for the "progres
sive democrats to assert" themselves. Tlie chance
will be at the primaries August 20, when once
more the two contending wings of the party will
clash. Jefferson county has always given a good
account of herself at the polls, although betrayed
at times elsewhere by the back-door politicians.
Two years, ago Jefferson county cast its vote
Tor Charles Vy Bryan for governor and against
Gilbert M. Hitchcock for cenator. The chance
is again at hand to vote for Mr. Bryan and give
him a. chance to be elected governor, and once
in the office, to clean up the special interest
gang who seek to exploit the people through
control of the state government. Mr. Bryan
is a clean, vigorous fighter, absolutely incor
ruptible and unafraid. It is a rare chance the
people have to place a man so big in brain and
character as Mr. Bryan 'in the office of governor,
and the chance should not be allowed to pass.
We have had some very little men 'in the
office ot.governor of this state, quite too 'much
in the recent past, and it is time for a change
time to place a man. in the governor's chair vho
is big enough to fill the office, who will not be
pulled around by a string jerked .from Omaha;
who has progressive ideas, whose sympathies
are with the people, and who is adroit enough
and experienced enough to completely over
whelm the cohorts of selfishness -when they conie
in hordes to the state legislature and to the
state house expecting favors, something they
have been able to secure very easily in the -last
few years, to the disgrace of the democrats of
the state. It is. -time for a house-cleaning in the
partyMr. Bryan Ms offered to do the job;
fellow democrats, let's gladly give him the
chance. Fairbury Journal.
of specific legislation, state and national, to curb
all profiteering." Ho has the interest of the
masses at heart and has fought their battles' in
Nebraska for the past twenty-five years. WiJi
Lieutenant-Governor Howard in tho United
States senate, the common people of Nebraska
would have an able champion of their cause.
i
The Hastings Convention
The Nebraska state democratic convention,
which was held at Hastings, July 30, was an
unusual affair. The democratic party machin
ery in Nebraska, which is almost entirely in the
hands of the reactionary element of the demo
cratic party under the leadership of its national
committeeman, Mr. Mullen, oncountered a dis-
f agreeable surprise. After calling tho conven
tion, making all the arrangements for tho con
vention, selecting the temporary chairman and
arranging the program, they encountered such
stiff opposition in the selection of a platform
committee that although their motion authoriz
ing the chairman to appoint the committo pre
vailed, and the platform committee appointed
by them represented the reactionary element of
the party, the platform finally presented was
Very unsatisfactory to the reactionary element
who secured temporary control of the conven
tion. The first contest in the convention between
the reactionary and progressive forces was over
the manner of selecting the platform committee.
The reactionary element offered a motion to
authorize their chairman to appoint it. The
progressives offered to substitute a motion per
mitting the delegates to select their own com
mittee. On this motion the reactionary element
1 won "by a majority of six votes of the thousand
delegates. The contest, however, demonstrated
to the reactionary element that they would be in
the minority it they attempted to endorse Gov
ernor Neville or Senator Hitchcock by name and
that they would be in a minority also if they
1 attempted to make no reference to the question
6flwoman's suffrage and prohibition.
lVHon. W. H. Thompson Lieutenant-Governor
Edgar Howard and Hon. I. J. Dunn led the fight
for" the progressives and are entitled to credit
for the victory.
We publish below an accurate account of the
' convention as it appeared in the Lincoln State
J'durnal.
BERGE FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL
George W; Berge- has permitted hfs name to
be placed upon -the primary ballot as a demo
cratic candidate for attorney general Mr. Ber&e
is one of the ablest lawyers of the state. He is
a progressive, has been right on all moral and
economic issues and should receive the support
ot the people of the state who desire to help
president .Wilson-protect the home folks from
the war parasitest : ; '"'
HOWARD FOR V. S. SENATOR :
Meutena,nt-Gver;nor toward, wbo is.. a pro
giesstve demQcra,tic,.candjdate for- United ,$tatCi
BenatQi. is, faking, a vigorous campaign in favoi
MACHINE GETS BADLY BENT
'From The Nebraska State Journal, August. 3,
; A distressing accident happened at Hastings,
Neb., Tuesday night, only partial details of which
have been made public. A fine, brand new twelve
cylinder machine owned and operated by Arthur
Mullen, Keith Neville and Gilbert M. Hitchcock
and containing their hopes and plans, was thrown
from the carefully greased track upon which it
had been designed to operate, and badly bent. It
is yet too early to say whether it can be put in
shape again before August 20. Four men are
under suspicion, of having caused the accident,
W. H. Thompson of Grand Island, Edgar How
ard of. Columbus, I. J. Dunn of Omaha and C.
W. Bryan. They have not attempted any alibi,
it is understood that it was -barely able to return
to Omaha on its own power, and is now in the
tinkering hands of Mr. Mullen, who is an expert
mechanic.
Which is only another way, of saying that the
democratic state political machine got a fine
old mauling at the state convention at Hastings
and at the hands of progressive democrats . who
lacked tho power and prestige of having a sen
ator a governor and a national committeeman
as leaders, and despite the fact that the only
two big democratic dailies in the state are lined
up with the reactionary section of the party. The
progressives had no means of communicating
with one another before the convention,-but they
were present in such numbers as to cause a chill
to seize upon the machine leaders.
All of these leaders, including the senator and
the covernor advised the convention to adopt a
sinccle Planic piauorm uuij, nv tt.& v..
war and to leave out all other issues. In this
they were aided and abetted by, the chairman, J.
A Donohoe of O'Neill, who had been picked by
Mullen his former townsman, for the position.
Senator Hitchpock sent a letter to the conven
tion in -which he advised thl8,and also the spe
cif endorsements Governor Neville The chair
' man. gave the, same advice as-to platform in, his
'Seech, and Governor Neville, who wa pushed
to the frput and made the first speaker-on the
program urged that no otkr lgsuovtkn. that of
winning, the war bo .included iaQioplaUoriH,
saying that tho convention should not pormlt any
economic issues' to bo injected nor allow schem
ing politicians to bring forward other things to
divert the public mind from tho war. '
ALL CAREFULLY STAGED.
The whole proceeding was a compliment ;to
tho power of Mr. Mullon as a stagd maiiagefr.
Ho went to Hastings with but one idea, .that'bC
endorsing tho senator and tho governor, .andUdc
claring that the paramount Issuo was wlnainic
the war. He had everything arranged, the rcsb
lullons committee- chosen, tho platform written,
tho governor pushed to tho front and tho latfer's
opponent, Charley Bryan, tacked oil as last
speaker. In addition to tho program ha already
given ho had Mctcalfo follow Novillo, wlth
eulogy of tho lattcr'a administration and a dec
laration in favor of his renominatlon and elec
tion. A . , u
After which Mullen got up and read tho
Hitchcock letter, In which the governor drc'w
some bouquets and tho democrats tpld 'J; w'as
their duty to renominate and re-elect hlm Tho
letter also said that no now issue should bein
Jectcd into the campaign, nothing but Vter treas
ures, Mullon followed this with a letter Xtflia
President Wilson couched in felicitous terras,
but giving no advice.
To still further buttress the machine against
any slip, tho unit rule was invoked in Douglaa
county. In that county a mass convention was
held, under an agreement between tho Mullen- -ites
and the opposition that the delegation should
be split fifty-fifty. The committee had recom
mended that the unit rule be adopted, but it
never was done by tho convention. No creden
tials were Issued to tho dolgatlon until it arrived
at Hastings. The Dahlman-Mullen crowd got
as many of their men as they could to go to'tho
convention, and all of the others not showing Up
they proceeded to fill up the delegation with tho
carpet-baggers, out of a list of 260 names that
had been handedi in, although tho delegation
itself was entitled to only 100 votes. In this
way they got a majority and then proceeded to
vote the minority under the unit rule, where
the 'majority determines how the complete voto
shall be cast.
In a numbor of counties the delegates had
been selected by the local bosses, no conventions
being held. In spite of all this, Mr. Mullen dis
covered when he tried to operate his steam roll
er, that jie did not have a majority of tho con
vention. 'REFUSED HARMONY OFFER. ' ''
"All of this machinery had been arranged with
the three purposes in view, tho endorsemeiit'of
Hitchcock and Neville and the one plank plat
form. This -was necessary in order that the
machine might keep faith with tho licluor ah'd
other interests to which it owed its supremacy
in the' party, and to do this the bosses w'6Vo
willing to override any public desire for. specific
remedies for existing economic evils. .If It Itfbk'o
faith it meant the loss of the interests afrecled
by the program the progressives are urging,
who wanted the party to stand for certain ,'uioral,
economic and patriotic issues. '' . , '.' 'I
The progressives sent State Chairman ''Lang
horst to see Donohoe and Mullen the pig'lt1 be
fore the convention, with a harmony tfrpjflj
tion, to dee If the two sides could n0t get, to
gether on a platform. The progressives gald .liafc
they objected to any persons being menilonedn
the resolutions because this would giye tn'em'aii
unfair advantage- over anjf opponents theyiffrgjjt
have for re-election and' that it was Hi, disposi
tion anyway to the primary law, which rirQvjdes
that no candidates can be endorsed byline 'con
vention. In these negotiations ho dirdefjly rep
resented tho progressive leaders, TjiQiflpsjqiu
Dunn, Howard and Bryan, but Latf gMf&tf' 're
ported that Mullen and Donohoe couid'gfve no
assurance as was desired as to the persbritiel pf
the committee,- that they ha"d declined a confer-?
enco on the propositions submitted a"rid Would
not say whether they would put on any progres
sives or even anyone the progressives named, !
Lieutenant Governor Howard said th'a't bo
could not believe this to be correct; that he had
talked earlier with Mr. Donohoe ami that (he;
latter had agreed to place Mr. Thompson on tho
committee as one of the progressives. H6' wriO
out and saw Donohoe and came back with: the
report that Donohoe declined to name Tfaomp-
son. It was-evident that tho machine thbuat
itself, bo -string that it could deny tho apjaknfc
minority anyt representation on the'eommfee.
Mr. Donohoe also said that if he were alibwe'd &
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