The Red Cloud chief. (Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb.) 1873-1923, January 01, 1920, Image 2
RED CLOUD, NEBRASKA, CHIEF 1 Women nt Trlnltv church. 2 Modest dwelling near St. lucent, France, recently bought by Premier Clonionecnti and to which he will retire when ho leaves public life. 8 Certlllcate given each subscriber to the Roosevelt Memorial association. NEWS REVIEW OF CURRENT EVENTS Supreme Court Deals Hard Blow to the Wets and They Stand Up to Get Another. HOW ATTACKING AMENDMENT Attorney General Palmer Persuades the Packers to Abandon Their Side Lines 'Flume Agreement Blocked by D'Annunzlo's Troops Grow ing Sentiment for Peace Treaty Compromise. By EDWARD W. PICKARD. ' Like n real tragedy to a grunt many tltlzcns of the United States was the rhlef event of the past week the deci sion of the Supreme court of the Unit d States upholding the constitutional ity of the war-time prohibition act. Jt was n severe blow not only for the men who hoped to renew their fast dwindling supplies of "private stock" before Jonunry.10, when the constitu tional prohibition amendment goes In to effect, and to the dealers who had hoped for a clinnce to dispone of their vast stores of liquors, but also to many banks that had made loans on whisky certificates totalling perhaps $100,000, DOO. It was estimated that the govern ment would lose in taxes about SGOO, 000,000, and that the loss In physical iralue of plants and other property tvould be SUOO.OOO.OOO. The total was roughly put at a billion and n half of dollnrs. The cases decided were those of the Kentucky Distilleries and Warehouse company of Louisville, Ky., and Dry foos, Ilium & Co. of New York, Insti tuted for the purpose of compelling the government to ruleaso whisky from bond. In both rases the court denied con tentlons of Ellhu Hoot and. other at torneys for the distilleries that the act, In violation oJ the constitution, takes private property without Just compen sation; thit the period of the war emergency, for which the act wjis passed, had terminated; that the Inw was an Interference with the state po lice powers and an undue exercise of the wnr powers of congress. The wur-tlme act, the court held, is not confiscatory, asserting that more than seven months were given distil 3ers to dispose of their stocks, which time the court believed to be adequate. The act also was not repealed, the tourt held, by the prohibition constitu tional amendment, which, It asserted, ,w binding not only in peace, but nlso t l war times. The wets did not give up all hope, but at once went to work on new lncs, "previously prepared." The He all Liquor Dealers' association of Now Jersey and the state of Ilhodo Island both asked tho Supreme court for per mission to Institute original proceed ings to have the natlonnl prohibition amendment declared unconstitutional mid to enjoin federal olllclals from enforcing It. Ithodo Island Is one of the states that did not rntify the amendment, and tho present action was taken by direction of the legisla ture. These attacks on the amendment ure based on the allegation thnt It violates the fifth amendment to the constitution, which prohibits the tak ing of private property without Just compensation, and also on tho charge that It Is an Interference with the .state police powers. Another attempt to repeal the war time prohibition law was made In con gress, but the houso agriculture com mittee reported unfavorably on the bill by a vote of 10 to .'!, Representative Italney of Illinois made the only argu ment for repeal, urging that tho wot period should be allowed, so tho por tions of small means could lay In a etock of liquor for medicinal pur poses, and tho government could col lect .'0,000,000 In revenue titxen. Ever slnco ho assumed the office of attorney general, Mr. Palmer lias jbeen at work on a plan to curb tho fust growing Interests of the big pack New Yiirlt. In ilntnunetmii,.,! n,miiU) i., ers, and last week It was announced thnt the latter had agreed, admittedly under government pressure, to discard all their Interests except those directly connected with the handling of the nation's supply of meat. More than a billion dollars will be Involved In the disposing of the side lines the packers have been handling, but It Is stated the bulk of their business will not be affected. The "unscrambling" process really began last summer when Swift & Co. gave up their leather business and their foreign business to new com panies. Reorganization of the pnekers Is ex pected to follow virtually the plan of breaking up tho Standnrd Oil company and the method provided in the Inter national Harvester company agree ment In 1018. Of course, the primary object of the department of Justice In this Is to bring about a lowering of prices of foodstuffs. Whether or not this will be the result Is uncertain. The representatives of tho packers were noncommittal on this point, and many persons were of opinion that there would be a tendency to Increase prices through abolition of the control that now exists, if the process of unscram bling does no more financial harm to the packers than It lias done to capi talists In previous Instances, they need not worry on thnt score. At the opening of the week the news was cabled from Flume thnt D'Annun zlo was to hand over that city at once to regular Italian troops, commanded by Genera! Cavlllgla. former minister of wnr, and that France, Great Hrltuln and Itnly had agreed that Italy should have complete, sovereignty over Flume and thnt all tho provisions of the pact of London would bo cnrrled out. The alleged agreement was not confirmed, and nt this writing D'AnnunzIo is still holding the city. The truth seems to be that he was asked to give it up on the promise by the Italian government that It would be held by regulars, nt least until the Adriatic question was finally settled. Hut a largo part of his garrison Is strongly objecting to this arrangement. Ills olllcers and Fiddlers are living In luxury there, receiving much higher pay than they would as part of the regular army, and prospects for work In Italy are bad. Consequent ly they insist that they he permitted to remain as the garrison, and the task of ousting them promises to be dlllicult. Just what the London conference discussed and what decisions It reach ed, If any, Is not known nt this time, ns no ofllclul statement has been Is sued. Doubtless there was n lot of tnlk about the peace treaty deadlock In the American sennte, and certain Eu ropean correspondents were Insistent In their assertions thnt the Rrltlsh and French were rendy nnd willing to accept any reasonable reservations the senate might make In order to assure the co-operation of America. The Eu ropean diplomats realize the urgent need for an early declaration of peace, say these correspondents, and one of them asserts that Ambassador Jus serand for weeks has been trying to see President Wilson to assure him thnt the senate's reservations aro ac ceptable to France. Meanwhile the sentiment In congress In favor of a compromise Is growing stronger dally, though tho president nnd the Republican majority continue to "pass the buck" back and forth. Senator Underwood, who Is a candi date for tho place of minority leader In opposition to Senator Hitchcock, rami forward as an advocate of "pence nt any price." Ho said thnt the presi dent, when he declared he had no con cession of any kind to offer and thnt all the responsibility rested on tho Re publicans, was merely giving notice to the senators to get busy and .compro mise among themselves before asking him to compromise. Mr. Hitchcock proposed the appointment of a con ciliation committee for compromise In a spirit of give and take. Senntor Knox again attempted to have the sen ate sidetrack the League of Nations and pass a resolution ratifying the treaty "In so far as It restores tho status of peace between' the United States nnd Germany," but ho was blocked by objections. Whether or not the Germans are taking advantage of tho unpleasant trenty sltuntlon, they certainly are haggling a lot over tho signing of the liuu'ijmw'i mnJUil i,m.ut n i i ,. .. . protocol. Certain concessions were made to them, but these were not enough, for they Insist they are unnble to turn over the 400.000 tons of harbor and dock material demanded in repa ration for the sinking of the Interned warships In Scapa Flow. Late reports said their proofs of this Inability were so strong thnt experts of the nllle were disposed to consider an offer to reduce the amount to 200.000 tons. Germany's chief Internal trouble Just now Is flnunclnl. The premium lonn, by which It wns hoped to rnlse five billion murks, wns a failure, and some of the papers assert thnt open bankruptcy Is not far distant Austria Is stnrving. Thnt grim fact hns been established by the testimony of numerous persons, and it appears to bo up t"o the United States to supply tho food for that unfortunate nntlon. All tho other nations of central Europe are suffering only In less degree, and Herbert Hoover, who knows more nbout tho foreign food sltuntlon than anyone else, proposes thnt the grent surplus of wheat and flour held by the grain corporation be sold to them on credit. The Russian bolshevik! and the Es thonlnns in conference nt Dorpnt nre not arriving very rapidly at nn amica ble understanding. Tho Esthonlans suspect tho Russians of treacherous designs, nnd In nddltlon there nre ru mors thrtt France Is Intervening In tho Baltic ngalnst the soviet govern ment. In the field the bolshevlkl hnd more victories to report, Including the capture of Kiev, capital of the Ukraine, from General Denlklne's troops. They nlso occupied Kuplnnsk, southenst of Kharkov. The United States and Grent Rrltnln hnve become Involved In nn unpleas ant controversy ovcrMhe treaty by which virtually a Rrltlsh protectorate over Perslo hns been established. A Teheran paper accused the United States of having nlmndoned Persia, whereupon our legation there Issued a statement this country hnd done Its utmost to befriend I'ersln but thnt the net of some Persian authorities In con cluding the treaty with England hnd indicated that they did not desire the friendship of the United States In the future. Rrltlsh Foreign Minister Curzon has taken extreme exception to this state ment ns being undlplomntlc. unfriend ly and even hostile, nnd nsks that the Impression made by it be corrected In Persia by our state department. In the reply from Washington It Is plain ly stated that the United States will not, at the present time, approve of the Anglo-Persian trenty. According to what Is called authen tic Information from the highest sources, the government will not re turn the railroads to private owner ship on January 1, but will continue to operate them until March 1, or per haps for a month longer. This wns good news for everybody nnd served to remove tho apprehension thnt the return would be made before congress hnd passed tho needed legislation, which certainly would result In the paralysis of transportation and busi ness nnd In great general llnanclnl loss. There Is no Immediate prospect of tho pnssnge of the Cummins bill which the senate Is considering, or any other railroad bill, and Director Gen eral Hlnes Is snld to hnve recommend ed to tho president thnt the govern ment retain control until legislation Is effected. Mexico's reply to Secretary Lan sing's latest note on the case of Con sular Agent Jenkins was received In Washington Thursday, and doubtless gave the state department little satis faction. In It Cnrranza said be took It for granted that tho release of Jen kins on ball had removed the cause of complaint, and then declined to have the proceedings against the consular agent dropped. He assorted thnt the American government's belief In tho Innocence of Jenkins wns not sufficient cause for removing that olllclal froin tho Jurisdiction of the Mexican tri bunals. So once more It Is up to Wash ington to make tho next move, and what that will be there Is nn intima tion. Senntor Fall thinks that our gov ernment will not depnrt from Its time honored policy of permitting Carranza to insult and defy it with impuulty. CORKER ITEMS News of All Kinds Gathered From Various Points Throughout Nebraska. OF INTEREST TO ALL READERS State Superintendent Clemmons nys Nebraska must get ready to line tip with Minnesota, South Dakota and Iowa for the Interstate old-fashioned "spelling bee" which Is to be held at Wayne, (his slate, In October, WHO. Every Nebraska school child In the seventh grade and under in city and I'lrhtli grade and under In rural schools Is eligible. Elimination preliminaries will be held llrst In all counties. The Mate will be divided Into thirteen ills jrh'lH, to be announced later. Each district will bold n mutest, the win ders of which will contest In Lincoln some time In Hie spring. J. Cook, county attorney of Dodge county, has sent a vigorous protest to the stale attorney general at Lincoln over the action of the pardon board In approving the release of Tom Culeonl, Wlnslow bank robber, from the state penitentiary. The county attorney says that not a single Dodge county resident was consulted about the mutter, and the people are highly Incensed over the affair. Mr. and Mrs. John Zlniinoror of Seward have donated the former home of ex-Cblef Justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court T. L. Nerval and ;!() acres of land to the city for use as either a home for aged people or a boys' school. The property is valued at S 10,000. The gift was made us a Christmas present. The boycott on certain high priced foods Instituted by the more than 'J.OOO members of the Woman's club at Lin coln, Is already showing results. Lat est reports show that eggs huve dropped from 8." to .1.1 cents a dozen, and some other Important staples have decreased In price considerable. A report Issued by L. I. Frlsble, leader of state Junior work In this state shows that 4 III members of Ne braska Roys and Girls clubs, raised poultry valued at $11,011.:!.') this year. The net profit wns .fO.'JT.'i.O!). The total number of chickens raised was 1L000. The latest state crop report shows ,that the average of winter wheat sown In Nebraska last autumn Is 17 per cent less than that n year ago and about .1 per cent under the usual amount. The estimate Is HJKW.OOO acres as com pnreii with :i,7-,00) acres last year. Although the coal strike has been called olT, reports front Lincoln indi cate that Nebraska Is yet a long way from relief In the fuel situation. Con servation measures, practiced through out the state, must be continued In definitely, the reports say. Railroads are refusing to ship hay Into western Nebraska and hundreds of head or stock are dying as the re sult, according to a letter received by the State Railway oinmlsslon at Lin coln from S. N. Staple! on, Crawford banker and ranch owner. A movement Is on foot at Lincoln to persuade the clly to rebuild the cat tle barn at the state fair grounds, which was recently destroyed by lire, and make the fair association u pres ent of the building. Athletic authorities at the University of Nebraska have already arranged football games with the follow lug col leges for next year: Washburn, Notre Dame, Penn State, Kansas University and Michigan Aggies. Several hundreds of dollars In prizes were distributed among members of the Webster county bo.vs' ninl girls' calf club, at the annual show and sale at Red t'loud. Delegates from all parts of the state are expected to attend the annual con vention of the Nebraska Retail Cloth iers' Association nt Omaha February 4 and .'.. Assistant Adjutant General Dross of the (1. A. R., at Lincoln, declares that urganlzntlon suffered severely from the recent coal restrictions throughout the stale. January 7 to 0 are the dates set for the annual meeting of the county as sessors of Nebraska. Lincoln Is the lucky city to entertain the tax makers. worn lias liegun on the conslructloi of the new $1.10,000 Keystone hotel a Ion t Mcniok. A Kansas City linn has th contract., A movement Is on foot at Geneva to erect nn SS.000 stock sales pavilion. Six veteran railway locomotive en giueers acted as pallbearers at the fin oral of J. W. Coolldtre. Union Pnelll Me engineer, who died at Omaha follow nig ins collapse at the throttle, whll lie ins train was speeding through Vnllej School authorities at Lyons bellev Ihe.V have solved the teacher oiicstl on. Hereafter grade teachers will recelv a minimum of $1,000 a year and 'yearly Increase of SI 00 until a max o a I- mum of SI. 000 Is reached. High si I'bool teachers Will receive n minimum of Sl.'.'OO and a vearlv Increase of S 100 until a maximum of .','JOO Is reaclu (I. Vulle.v county Is advertising for lili for the new court house, the coiistru Is lion ol which Is to bo started ear next spring. Governor McKelvIe has aiipo iilnted Judge C. E. Eldred of MeCook to llll Die vacancy caused bv tln rcSIeiuif lou of District Judge E. It. Perry of tl lie Fourteenth district. The Nebraska law which reoiiLr os the closing of bather shops on Stiiula y c anil wli cli nrohlli its the n vlng of tti barber trade in u private way, w as uplieiu ny the state supremo court a Douglas county case. in Twenty or more organizations, with it combined membership of ninny thou sands or those who have to do with the raising of farm products and llo stock, will hold their annual conven tion at Lincoln between January W and 1M, the dales set for Organized Agriculture meetings. Negotiations are now iteing carried on with several noted speakers who will address tho meetings. This year the farmers huvo many things on their minds, which It Is expected will be brought Up. In some respects the sessions will be as Important as those held during tho war. During the war the runners were asked for a maximum production. Now they are wondering Just what tho future of farming will be during tho next Iwo or three years. ' It Is announced that any American Legion post In Nebraska can now ha'e a women's auxiliary. Slate Coiiuran dor Earl ('line in making this an nouncement slated that anyone desr Ing In organize an auxiliary should ob tain blanks from our slate headquar ters at Lincoln. Membership will he limited to mothers, wives, daughters ami lscrs of members of the Legion, and mot hers, wles, (laughters and sis ters iff men and women who weie in the service during the war. Considerable comment was caused nt South Omaha the other day over tl 'rival of thirty carloads of cattlo sent to that market by the ('row In iIIiims under government supervision. The man In charge or the shipment said the Indians had very good luck In breeding cattle, and proved apt students. Governor .McKelvIe sanctioned tho "rurloiigb" or Reryl Kirk. Omaha ban dit, w;o was released some lime ago from the state prison on papers signed by State Senator Itushce while acting governor, two days before the man was given his freedom, the .supreme court Investigating committee was lold by At torney P. Petrus Peterson of Lincoln. Run county's farmers union held a lively meeting at Tekamah the other day at which the organization went on record as being In favor of the estab lishment by farmers' associations of sugar factories over the state In aa effort to smash the sugar trust. The eleventh mutual Nebraska far mers' congress, which wns to be held at Omaha in December and was post poned because of the coal shortage, will be hold soon nfler the first of the year, O. G. Smith of Kearney, its pres ident, announced. Dr. Dillon, chief of the state bu reau of health, has sent letters from his olllce at Lincoln to lucnl health beards In Nebraska, asking their aid in seeing that all dairy herds are test ed annually for tuberculosis, as re quired by law. State Engineer Johnson expressed the belief, after Inspecting the forty or more army trucks, owned by the state, which were damaged by fire at the State Fair grounds nt Lincoln, that many of the trucks can be saved. The Nebraska College of Agriculture at Lincoln estimates that at least 2.1,000 farmers of this state will keep an accurate account of expenditures and Income by using the college's farm record books this your. - Threshing small grain has been re sullied with the moderation of the weather in the vicinity of Surprise where there Is considerable of that kind of work yet to be done. Oscar Hansen, Fremont's crack shot, will probably be included on the team of the ten best trapshooters to lepre sent the United States in the Oljmplc games at Antwerp next summer. Municipal bonds In Die sum of S 0,000 were recently old at Thedford nnd arrangements are being complHcil for the establishment In the village of a system of waterworks. In an effort to' stamp out no opt di mle of smallpox at P.ltm Springs schools have been ordered closed and it strict quarantine of all cases Is to be Kept. Mrs. J. 15. P.ncon, Dawson county ranch owner, known as the "Alfalfa Queen," realized the sum of S'.'Oitoo from a fioo-ncrc alfalfa field this year. Fifty farmers and business men held a meeting at Venango the other day and organized a Commercial club. A number of extensive Improvements are to be made In the Y. M. C. A. headquarters at I lea trice. The Douglas county fair, which is usually held at Omaha, will he trans ferred to Waterloo next year. Ex-service men of Cedar Rluffs am backing a movement to organize a post of the American Legion. North Pond's new post of the Amer ican Legion started off with a member ship of thirty. Reports from a good many points over the slate indicate that the sugar shortage Is still acute In Nebraska, and dealers say that there will bo no relief In sight for several mnnthr. More than twenty-one acres or pota toes were raised by members or Roys' and Girls' clubs of Nebraska this year. One hundred and seventy-one boys and girls took part In this project, grow ing not less than one-eighth or an acre each. L. I. Frlsblt, head of the clubs In this stale, In making this announce ment, says ho expects greater things In Wi!0. Tlio cattle barn at the Nebraska agricultural experiment sub-station at North Platte hiirned December Ki, causing u loss of about $.1,000. It is rumored at Lincoln Jbat tho Des .Moines club of (ho Western Rase ball league will Ia transferred to tho Nebraska capital next season. Miss Nellie Williams will servo an temporary director of the slate trav eling library, tilling the vacancy cans ed by the resignation of Miss Char lotle Teinpleton. Miss Ruth Warwick of Meadow Grovo has been a'ppolnteU assistant to Miss Williams. CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION NOTES Lincoln. The convention nd.lourncd following Friday's session until lifter the holidays, and, otilsldo of some possible committee meetings, there will ie no meetings of the members until time for reconvening on .lanuary 0. During the holiday recess dele gates will mall to Secretary Huriuiril any proposals they wish to Introduce. Refine the assembly broke up blank ballols were plaied on the desks or members bearing the names or lead ing presidential candidates, to secure a straw vote or the convention. There wero sixty-three ballots turned In, thirty-seven not voting. Some members seemed to take the ballot serlousl.v, but not all. General Wood led, with thlrty.K voles; J'.c.iun was second, with live, while Jo'-ry Howard, repre senting Douhis county and the "lijsh reiuiblli," lied Senator 1 II Johnson of California for third place, both re ceiving four votes. Many other cele brities. Including Piesldent Weaver of the convention, received compliment ary voles. Among the proposals before the con vention Is one by Ryruin of Franklin and Jackson of Nuckolls, which pro poses n reorganizing of the civil gov ernment of the state, eliminating cen .trullxcd power such as Is placed In the governor's hands by the code bill. Tho proposal, which Is attracting a great deal of attention, provides for ten de partments as follows: Public welfare; public lands and buildings; labor; trade and commerce; tlnanco; law; agricul ture; public works; education; ac counts; public utilities. The head or the department or public welfare, would bo the governor, with a salary of SO.000 a yin The proposal would cut down the number of elective state olllcers to the governor, lleii'.enunt governor, attorney general, treusurer and auditor. The scale of compensation fixed by the committee In charge of this fea ture of the convention, allows Secre tary Rarnard 10 a day; two assist ants ?S a day each : stenographers anil engrossing clerks, ?(; sergeant-at-arms, postmaster, custodian of cloak room, assistant sergeant-at-arms, niitneo gruphcr, chaplain, Janitor, bill room clerks and proof readers, S3 u day each, and the two pages, $3 a day each. Svoboda or Howard county hns sub mitted a proposal which he claims will be pushed with vigor, calling ror the election of state senators for a term of four years, one-half elected every two years and makes the number III .Instead of :!.', as at present. It also divides the state Into that number of districts. House members remain the? same with terms of two yours and th pay fixed at S10 a day. President Weaver of tho convention lias been Informed that committees containing some of the ablest members of the convention will have very little work to do, In some Instances practic ally none, while other committees are already swamped with work. Members of the convention generally appear to be In favor of a resolution submitted by Davles of Royd, which would elect supreme Judges bv dis tricts and the chief Justice of the su preme court by the entire state. Abolishment of the state board of control and the slate railway commis sion Is the outstanding- fcatuie of a proposal introduced in the convention by A. II. Ryruin and George Jackson. Juvy service for Nebraska women Is provided for In a proposal by A. II. Ryruin, Rlnoiulngton. lie would also penult verdicts by less than twelve members of u Jury. The llrst 10:i proposals Introduced in the coineiiiiou have been returned from tln printer and were distrib uted to thalr respective commit tees last week for consideration. W. II. PItzer, Nebraska City, has submitted a proposal for a state Indus trial commission of labor, trade and commerce, to consist iff three members uppolnled by the governor. Proposals ror a recall law, applica ble to all elective olllclals, and a workable initiative ami lefeieiidiim lnw have been Introduced by J. N. 'Norton, Polk county. John L. Webster, president of the 1S7.1 convention, will address tho members of the convention on Janu ary 8. The convention voted to Invito W. .7. iRryan, former secretary of state, to address the convention at it date to suit Ids convenience. Rlge'ow, of Douglas county, Intro-' duced a proposal which would allow Omaha and Douglas county to consol idate their governments, In u manner to bo provided by law, 6 The convention will ho asked to nil- thorlire the stale and tuiiulcpalltles to operate and establish public utilities 'and Industrial enterprises whenever 'empowered to do so by a vote of the people, I ' Delegate Scott of Chase county Is the father iff a resolution hefon, the convention which would abolish the In determinate sentence law and forbids any olllclal taking any action which would shorlen tlio sentence of a prB loner, except the usual good tlmu allowance. 1.1 l ty . v