The Omaha Bee]
M O K W I N G—E V E W 1 N G^-S U W P A Y
THE BEE PUBLISHING CO, Publisher
N. B. UPDIKE, President
BALLARD DUNN, JOY M. HACKLER.
Editor la Chief, Business Manager
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and The Omaha Bee's circulation is regularly audited by
their organisations.____
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Omalki Vtefe fhe^fcst is at its Bes (
TO LET THE PEOPLE KNOW.
We have consistently advocated a short and busy
session of the legislature, to be distinguished by the
slightest possible amount of new legislation. This
does not mean that we are in favor of continuing
certain outworn forms that persist under the
statutes. Some improvement can and should be
made in our system of elections. Piscussion has
largely turned on the single point of the direct
primary law, overlooking some other phases of the
system that are really more in need of definite at
tention.
One of these is the so-called corrupt practices
act. We do not question the wisdom or intent of
that law. It has shown by its working, however,
lhat it overreaches the objective. Called into being
to prevent the wholesale corruption of the electorate,
the law as it stands in a sense defeat^ its purpose
by reason of the limitations \t puts on what should
lie a legitimate activity on the part of any candidate
for office.
• • 9
At the late election the voters rejected by an im
pressive majority an amendment to the constitution
that would have put all political parties out of busi
ness. One of the arguments presented in support
of that amendment was that the vote should be for
the individual, regardless of his party views or con
nections. Intelligent voting under this law would
have been impossible, for the corrupt practices act
so limits its candidate that he would find it impos
sible to properly acquaint the electorate with either
his personality or his opinions.
Plainly now, the law that was intended to en
courage independent voting, has had the effect of
keeping a considerable number of the voters in
ignorance as to the character or qualifications of the
majority of the candidates. A comparatively un
known man, no matter how able or well equipped for
public service, can not get himself properly intro
duced to the public and keep within the limit of the
law which specifies how much he can spend in carry
ing on his canvass for votes. We do not think that
this was the original or the present intent of the law.
...
One of the oddities of the law as It stands is
ihat it rigidly limits the amount that may be ex
pended in newspaper advertising, but allows any
sum for posters, cards, circulars or the like. It is
not easy to think that the newspaper was deliberately
discriminated against. Yet under the law the best
possible medium for getting information to the peo
ple is forbidden the candidate after he has reached
i certain point.
Other features of the law deserve consideration.
The whole statute should be carefully overhauled.
Every possible safeguard against corruption should
se preserved, but the way should be made open to
;he honest, sincere man who 13 seeking public office.
He should have every opportunity to make himself
and his cause known to the voters.
Under such a law it might be that many good and
worthy citizens could be induced to enter public,
service who are now deterred because they are not
widely enough acquainted throughout the state. It
might also have the effect of discouraging some who
thrive because by years of persistent self-advertising
they have builded up names that overshadow because
of being better known some that deserve more be
cause of being more worthy.
At all events, the people are entitled to know
all, and under the existing law they can not be
told all.
COMMONER .TAKES A FRESH START.
Mr. William Jennings Bryan has, wa are told,
mads application for membership in the American
Association for the Advancement of Science. A
ribald scoffer suggests this denotes his surrender to
evolution and to Darwin. Far from that. Evolution,
maybe, Darwin, never. We can understand Mr.
Bryan accepting the dogma of growth, which is but
another way of spelling evolution. As to the doc
trine that men sprung from monkeys, .the Great
Commoner will no more assent to that than did Dar
win himself.
On the other hand, the term "science” is broad
end inclusive. Mr. Bryan will find the American
association busy on lots of things besides biology.
He may even contribute to the general sum of its
activities. Out of the depth of his long and varied
experience he surely can evolve something that will
interest his fellow savants. What is bard to con
ceive is a picture of Mr. Bryan as a student, clois
tered and serene, pursuing to its lair some elusive
fact.
He has been too much engaged in the preparation
and dissemination of facts of his own to pay any
heed to what others were doing or saying. Yet,
now, in the cool evening of a somewhat tumultuous
life, he may sit down to ruminative rest. It should
l>e a pleasure to him to co-ordinate and catalogue a
lot of the odds and ends of knowledge he tins gath
ered up ns he hurried along his way from one para
mount to another. Out of these ho should express
an attar of wisdom both sweet and frngrnnt.
If, Indeed, thn Great Commoner is making s
fresh start, a world will wish him well. He will
find In the orderly pursuit of any branch of science,
•van that of politics, something that has been de
nied him so far in life. A calm, dispassionate pur
suit of truth will fill his mature life with a solace
that should take the hurt out of any sting he may
have sustained in the arena where he has so vali
antly battled. Philosopher Bryan that may be,
salutamis!
LAKE-TO-OCEAN BOTH WAYS.
Twenty-eight experts, constituting the board of
inquiry, have approved the plan to allow Chicago
additional water from Lake Michigan. Much de
bate has been in progress for years over this mat
ter. All the way from Milwaukee to Buffalo a pro
test has gone up, and even Toronto has joined in
the chorus of disapproval. It is contended that to
allow Chicago 10,000 cubic feet of water per sec
ond in addition to that already being withdrawn
will interfere with the ports at other lake shipping
points, and generally with navigation.
The experts say that the estimated lowering of
the lake level by five inches for the object con
templated will be slight when compared with the
three to five feet loss incident to patusal causes.
A gain will be scored, because it will aid naviga
tion in the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. The water
in the Niagara and St. Lawrence rivers will not be
affected for years. An inference warranted by
this latter statement is that the new $125,000,000
sewerage system of Chicago will be beneficial to a
lot of folks not directly affected by its prime ob
ject.
Already shipments are being made down the
Mississippi river to tidewater. Some have come up
the river, and with the lllinois-Chicago canal made
of greater capacity, this traffic may also be ex
panded. Work on the preliminaries of the Great
Lakes-St. Lawrence project is going ahead steadily,
and the ultimate outcome of all this should be the
establishment of two feasible routes from the lakes
to the ocean.
River men are urging the provision of funds to
make the upper reaches of the Missouri serviceable
to commerce. It is no longer a dream beyond
reason to picture a network of waterways that will
serve the great interior valley from the Rockies to
the Alleghenies. Persistent, patient plugging along
right lines is bound to bring the reward.
HOW CAN THE PROFESSOR TELL?
The president of Colgate university calls atten
tion to his institution hy declaring in favor- of an
aristocracy of learning. He would have a selective
process established, whereby only those capable of
absorbing an education be permitted to approach
the fount of learning. Too many young people are
now cluttering up the campus to suit him. All over
the land schools are crowded, class and lecture rooms
are packed, laboratories and libraries are inadequate,
all because so many young men and women are seek
ing to know the beauties of higher education.
We will not contend against the professor’s argu
ment that a great many of these young people will
not receive much benefit from a course at a univer
sity. All will get some. One of the most helplessly
inefficient men ever connected with a Nebraska
school had a "Ph. D.” from a great university.
Thomas A. Edison was a trainboy and then a tele
graph operator at a time when most boys are going
through college. Education did not help the one,
nor lack of it hold down the other.
How will the professor go about to make his se
lections? He knows, or should know, how uncertain
the Binet or other of the tests applied by the
psychiatrists have proven. To mention a few—
would he have looked with favor on Charles P. Stein
metz, when he first set out to scale the heights of
learning? Ulysses S. Grant was not distinguished
for class work, nor was John J. Pershing.
Colgate may go ahead, carefully choosing the
material from which to make scholars. It may turn
out prodigies of learning as well as of prowess on
the athletic field. No limit should be set on that,
even though the faculty does restrict the number of
undergraduates in residence at any given time. But
somewhere doors always will be open to the in
quirer, even though he be of the poorest possible
material, and doomed to flunk from the first. He
will at least get his chance.
The notable increase in the total of our exports
during the month of November ought, to impress
some who so loudly cried about the United States
having lost its foreign trade. Half a billion dollars
in shipments for a single month would look good
anywhere.
T)r*Jte the absence of snow President Coolidge
tried ont a new pair of skis on Christmas day. By
dint of practice he hopes to be able to hop over a
lot of congressional bloc obstructions between now
and March 4.
Iff harvest takes the place of building operations
in the normal progression of winter’s programs. We
hope it is soon over, that the builders may get back
on the job.
Wreckers tearing down an old courthouse In
New York state discovered n bottle of 100-year-old
Scotch whisky. There are no courthouse* in Ne
braska that old.
The cross-word puzzle has no terrors for the
man who at the first try can make out his income
tax report in a satisfactory manner.
On# of the enslest things in the world is hang
ing onto your own money and criticizing the way
other men employ their money.
Boy Scouts to guard the coasting areas Is adding
another bit of service to a group that has made
good in many ways.
Homespun Verse
—By Omaha's Own Poet—
Robert JVorthinglon Davie
. - J
THE SCHOOL OF EXPERIENCE.
Tha surest wav Ih which to find
•lust which Is what and why
I* to pursue experience
With vengennre In your eye.
There Isn't any reason for
One's wisdom being great.
Unless It la the reason
That Time makes on* medltnu
On* need not take advht* from tbo-.
Whom ha would Ilka to spurn.
He may go living na he will,
And later aatily learn;
One may not need tha guldanoa of
HI* elder*, hut he tu*v
Expect to know how wlee they were
When he lies gone astray,
I
The greatest school Is probably
Experience,—It gives
A practical cognisance
Through the many years one lives —
And he who Is n scholar
Till life's day Is growing late
la generally much wiser
Than the pink cheeked giaduula
f-—
Confound It, Why Didn’t We Spend That for Police Service?
__
— . . ■. -
■-»-y
Letters From Our Readers
All letters must be signed, but name will be withheld upon request. Communi
cations of 200 words and less, will be given preference.
J
Nebraska’* Primary Ijmt.
W'attsa, Neb.—To the Kdltor ot The
Omaha Bee: The Nebraska primary
law In lt« present form Is a farce. T$o
hody likes It except some politicians.
And yet, whenever a proposition to
change It comes up people holler that
the corporations and special Interests
are scheming to take away from them
their right to choose their own can
didates for office. Why, bless you,
under our present primary law the
people have no voice at all In choos
ing candidates. All they can do Is to
go to the primary and vote for some
one who has already nominated him
self and paid to have his own name
printed on the ballot. That Is the
big reason why people do not get. out
to the primary and vote—they have
no voice In choosing the candidates.
But politicians and special interests
can file the name* of their secret
agents ns candidate* snd have them
printed on the ballots, and all the
people of the state combined cannot
hinder them. Yes, It Is much easier
for a political boss or demagogue to
Induce two or three of his hirelings
to file for an office or to buy a can
didate than to buy half a convention,
lender our present primary svstem
very often many of the candidates
are mere political leeches without
any party affiliation or principle at
all, who fasten themselves by means
of the filing privilege to the party
ticket they believe will he successful
at the polls.
There are many public spirited men
and women who would make splendid
officials, hht who will not themselves
file for office because they are hold
lug good positions, and to take a poli
tical office would mean a sacrifice
on their part. But they would be
more than willing to make the sacrl
fice If they were chosen by the di
rect representatives of the people at
large.
There are many wavs In which the
primary law can be vastly Improved.
It cannot be changed so as to take
away from the people their power to
choose their own candidates, because
they have not that power now. Here
Is a plan hv which the electors can
take the whole nominating power
Into their own hands:
1. A primary is held by eech party
In each precinct or ward. The elec
tors st the primary elect delegates to
the county convention. The number
of delegates shall be one at large and
one for each 10 electors attending and
voting et the primary.
2. The county convention nomln
ales candidates for county officers
nnd elects delegates to the state nnd
district conventions. The number
of these delegates shall be one et
large snd one for each 20 delegates
t——-N
A be Martin
i - --- v
Another hu»ine** that ha* dou
bted an’ trebled *inr« th’ ialoon*
closed 1* th' bu*ine** o’ printin'
bond* fer town* nn' eitie*. Th’
rroa*-word* pur.r.lc* ouifht t' be a
crent education fer th’ folk* that
ran't *ny nothin’ but fine and
dandv
(Coi-jrliM. tlit.)
attending and voting at the county
convention.
Provision could also be made tha*
the primary could by majority vote
bind its delegates to the convention
to support any candidate they would
wish nominated for any certain office
The mainspring in this plan Is get
ting the voters out to the primaries,
and as the representation at the con
vention* Is In proportion to the num
ber of voters st tha primaries this
svstem would be truly representative
Kvery vot# at the primary would
count.
This plan would do sw\v with the
most, objectionable feature of the old
convention system, where two or
three electors could meet In caucus
and elect a dozen delegates to the
county convention It would also kill
the worst featurs of our present prl
mary law whereby a person ran file
for office and if no onj else files for
that office he practically nominates
himself and elects himself Just by fil
ing and paying the filing fee Tt
would also make It Impossible for
politicians and special Interests to
split up the vote by filing several
candidates for an office for the pur
pose of defeating for nomination a
desirable candidate.
While I 'am « goln'" T wsnt to
point out a thing In which our elec
tion law Is decidedly lame. I’robahly
90 per cent of the voters go to the
polling place without knowing who
are candidates for half of the offices
to be filled. They find half a dozen
sample ballots nailed up on the walls
of the polling room, but they cannot,
by merely glancing over these, qualify
themselves lo cast an Intelligent bai
lot. Why not require a sample ballot
of the same form ss the official one
but reduced In size to be published In
one Issue of everv newspaper of gen
era! circulation In the state not les«
than three nor mors than 10 days be
fore election?
The people will not kick about the
evpense of such publication, as It
would he true service to the electorate
.1. K. BAOG8TROM.
' LISTENING IN '
On the Nebraska Press
v_—
We refuse to believe It, even If we
ilkl see It in the Fremont Tribune. A
Fremont youth asked hts sweetheart
what she wanted for Christmas and
she said she just doted on antiques.
Whereupon her sheik sent her a pet
ticoat, and she jilted him.
• • •
Editor Stevens of the Corad Local
solemnly asserts that there is a man
in Corad who never deceives his wife.
He Is such a liar that she Just knows
he isn t telling the truth.” says
Stevens.
• • •
Trees and shrubbery may not be
taxed in Nebraska, and the Norfolk
Press suggests that a monument is
due the one who conceived that Idea.
Pen Sallows of the Alliance Times
Herald says that new- comet seen by
California astronomers is only some,
Hollywood star all lit up.
• • •
Adam Breede of the Hastings
Tribune, who writes some good poetry
himself, Judiciously remarks that free
verse Is just as punk as It looks.
• • •
“Love, honor and betray, and to
morrow there wdll be hellimony to
pay,” soulfully sighs Fletch Merwin
of the Beaver City Tlmes-Tribune.
• • •
Ous Bueohler of the Grand Island
Independent says one of the unsolved
mysteries Is why architects Insist on
making the Inside of a bank look like
a morgue.
• • •
Fred Howard of the Clay Center
Sun quotes an Edgar woman as com
plaining that her sweetheart spent
more money for candy than her hue -j
band spends for her clothes.
• • •
A. It Evans A Sons have founded
the Enterprise at Maxwell. Father!
and sons nrs experienced In the bus! !
ness and Maxwell Is to be eongratu-;
lated.
* ’ *
Ole Buck of the Howard Courier
quotes somebody as saying that the
election of Adam McMullen was the
only worth while thing that haa hap '
pened In Nebraska during the last
two years that Charley Bryan has not j
claimed credit for.
RADIANT COAL
Smokeless Semi-Anthracite
LUMP $13.50 MINE RUN $11.50 SLACK $8.50
Phono WA lout 0300
UPDIKE tSSf'c".*
I Soo Samples of This Coal at Hayden's Grocery Dopf.
AUVr.RTItBMKNT. ADVERTIMUIKXT.
DO YOU GET UP WITH A LAME BACK?
Have You Rheumatism, Kidney, Liver or
Bladder Trouble?
Tnln or dull ache In the back Is
often evidence of kldnav trouble. It
Is Nat lira's timely warning to show
voti that tha track of health la not
dear.
Danger Signal*.
If thssa danger signals »r# unheed
i d mot * serious result* ara ante to
follow; kidney trouble In Us worst
form mav steal upon you.
Thousand* of people have testified
that the nilld and Immediate effect of
Swamp-Root, the great kidney, liver
and bladder medicine la toon readied
-that It etamD the hlgheat for Its re
markabla curative affect In the most
distressing ca«e*. It von need a
medicine, you should have the heat,
laime llark.
I-anta back I* only one of many
symptom* of kidney trouble. Other
symptoms show ing that you mav need
Swamp Root ara. t>elng subject to am
SI'FI’HI. NOTH loti msv obtain
by enclosing len cants to Pr. Kihner
you the opjMirtunlty to prove ttie rent
will also seud you a book of valuable!
thousands of grateful Irtteis received
found Swamp Root to he Just the feme
trouble* The value sod Slices* of Sw
renders see advised to send for s sain
Co., Binghamton, N. V. Whan writing
harraaalng anil frequent Madder troll
Men day and night. Irritation, redl
ment. ete.
lark of eontrol. amartlng. uric arl.l
rheumatlent, bloating, may be loaa of
fle*h. aallow complexion.
Prevalency of Kidney Dlacaac.
Moat t'eople do not realise the
alarming Inereaao and remarkable
prevalency of kidney diaeaae While
kidney dlaordera are among the ntoet
common dlaeaaea that prevail, ther
nia often the laat recognized by pa
ttcnta. who content themaelrea with
doctoring the effect*, while the orlgb
nal diaeaae conatatitly undermine* the
*v«tem.
Regular medium and large »t*e hot
Ilea at all drug atorea.
Don't make any ml*taka, but re
member the name. Dr. Kilmer a
Swamp Hoot, and the addrena Hlng
liamton. N. Y , which you will And
on every Nude.
* a*tuple alxe NMfle of Swamp Hoot
A t’o . Itlrighamton. V Y Thla glvea
arkahle merit of thla medicine. They
n format Ion. containing many of the
from men and women who aav thev
dv needed In kidney, liver and Madder
• nip Hoot air •■> well known that our
o'r td?e Nufle. Yddreaa TV. Kilmer A |
be aute and mention thla paper.
SUNNY SIDE \ST\
Hake Comfort, no rfovg et.
Ghat Sunrise n&\/er failedl#
____
/
Ole Buck render* thank* to Hank Leggitt tor an annual
contribution of Ole’* favorite amoklng tobacco. It must be
good, for Hank had uh secure three or four pounds of mullen
stalk for him the last time we were down In Missouri. He said
he wanted to blend It With some Nebraska burdock leaves Rnd
sandburr* preparatory to making Ole feel good.
Coming Thrioux.
A frisky young buck from the CToux
An Indian maid tried to wioux.
But her father, the brute.
Tried to shut* the galute.
Said the Sioux, “I am thrioux!'' And he flioux.
—Cleveland Plain Dealer,
But a little bit later the Sioux
Took courage and said, O Ploux, pioux!
Til elope with the rnaid
To some beautiful glade
And continue to make eyes gioux, gioux.
— Macon Telegraph.
And. later, we're told that the Sioux
Hat down in amees of fresh glioux;
And when he got a chance
To look at his pance
He found he had torn them in tioux.
—Houston (Tex.) Dispatch.
Then a war whoop went up from the Sioux,
And he cried out: “Now what'll I dloux?''
He sat and he thought.
Then blankets he bought:
Then said: “With the city I'm thrioux.”
•—Hastings (Neb t Tribune.
When oolyumlsts feel sad and blioux.
And scarcely know what they shall dioux,
They clip out this verse
And write one that Is werse,
And then their day’s toiling is thrioux.
Next week we expect to mingle to a greater or lesser ex
tent with the legislators-to-be down Lincoln way. This an
nouncement Is made to avoid the embarrassment of being mis
taken for one of the prospective lawmakers. We have post
poned being a candidate for the legislature until we have com
pleted the List of Laws We Want to Pass. It Is a bigger Job
lhan we thought it was when we started compiling the Laws
Greatly Needed, and pestiferous reformers are daily adding to
the task.
Several hundred friends guessed the missing word in our
recent “Missing Word" contest, and two or three supplied it.
We hope this paragraph meets the eagle eye of OP J. Hyde
Sweet of the Nebraska City Press. k
After sitting and suffering for an hour we are prepared to
sav that some dynamite fails to explode, and some lightning
doesn't produce even a slight disturbance of the atmosphere.
The pipe business doesn't seem to be what It used to be.
The clgaret seems to have slowed up the pipe game. But what
old smoker would trade his favorite pipe and brand of tobacco
for all the clgarets in the world?
Discussion raging about city editor'* desk. Is a deceased
husband survived by his wife or his widow? Surviving party
not heard and deceased party not Interested.
What is there funny about the spectacle of a rotund man
slipping on a glare of Ice and sprawling all over the surround
ing territory? If you see a horse slip and fall your Sympathy
is at once aroused. But If you see a man fall you chortle with
glee. Why the difference?
8 WILL M. MAUPIN.
V—- - --
Every Cold Is Dan
gerous—Begin Taking
Father John’s
Medicine at once
No Dangerous Drugs
NET AVERAGE
PAID CIRCULATION
for the SIX MONTHS
Ending Sept. 30, 1924
THE OMAHA BEE
Daily .. .,.73,790 a
Sunday .75,631
Does not include return*, left
overs, samples or papers spoiled in
printing and includes no special
sales or free circulation of any kind.
V. A. BRIDGE, Cir. Mfr.
Subscribed and sworn to before me
this 4th day of October, 1924.
W. H QUIVEY.
(Seal) Notary Public
..- . , .
BEK WANT ADS BRING RESCLTS.
Chee: io /
the>fevYear
V— V
The New Year ushers in a promise of
the greatest era of prosperity we have
known in many years: a re-newed con
fidence born of untiring effort and
experience.
1925 will bring rewards to those who
express their confidence in American
business by continuous, constructive ad
vertising. To give beauty, charm, and
sales value to advertising through clean,
sharp “cuts” is the mission of this de
partment.
Phone AT Untie 1000
4
ENGRAVING DEPARTMENT
OMAHA BEE
E SCHERER-MGR