VOLUME 7
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, FRIDAY, MAY 13,
NUMBER'S
BILLY MAJOR'S
THE SAME CONTAINING A FEW
MATTERS OF MORE OR LESS
. The knockers on the park bonds are
now busy.. If it hadn't been on on
thing it would have been on another.
There is absolutely no truth . in the
statement that $50,000 of the proposed
issue will, if carried, have to be expend
ed for the Lincoln Park site. The men
who compose the park commissioners
level-headed business men, and they
. are not going to pay more for park
lands than the lands are worth. If
they buy Lincoln Park it will be be
cause they think they are getting it at
a bargnin and everybody knows th;.t
the site is not worth $50,000. The prop
osition is to vote $100,000 bonds for
park purposes. The commission thtn
spends the money as it sees lit, and it
will see fit to expend most of it on An
telope Tark. But the people of the west
and southwest sides of the city deserve
some recognition in the way of parks,
and the Lincoln Park site is a good ono.
In time it can be connected with Ante
lope Park by a boulevard. Then the
boulevard can be extended up Ante
lope creek until it is well, around the
northwest side of the city.
But the taxes! O, rot! Suppose the
bonds run twenty years, and wc raise
a sinking fund of $5,000 a year, and
pay 4 1-2 per cent interest, which
amounts to 46,000 a year. Thht means
we must raise $11,000 a year. That,
course, will be lessened by the interest
the city can secure by banking the sink
ing fund. But call it $11,000 a year. Wo
surely have 55,000 people in Lincoln.
And say there is an average of five to u
family. That's 11,000 .families and
there's the cost, a dollar a family per
year to bring about a park system that
will be worth untold thousands in
health, comfort, pleasure and satisfac
tion. I want every workingman in Lin
coln who has or vote to vote for that
kind of bond issue. The bulk of the
money will be paid by men who have
grown rich from the toll of the wage
earners ; by the men who can go to the
mountains or the seashore every sum
mer. And we workers will soon have
pari s where we can take our wives and
little ones on Sundays and our occa
sional holidays and get a breath of
fresh air, roll in the grass, sit in the
shade, and enjoy ou. selves just like
millionaires.
- By all means, let every wage earner
vote for the park bonds. More than
that, let every wage earner become a
bond booster and campaign fo votes.
Yes, I'm about as crazy a baseball
"bug" as there is in the country, and
when a member of .the home team
makes a rotten error, or the homo
pitcher goes up in the air, I can accum- .
ulate about as huge 4 wad of disgunt
as anybody. But I'm no knocker. I've
got too much sense to get up on my
hind legs and cuss the player who
made the error, or yell anathema at the
pitcher. I've played a little semi-prof e
sional ball. myself, and I know how it
hurts to be cussed and damned by some
addlepated hyena in the stand or
bleachers. The player don't make er
rors on purpose, and yelling at hi in
when he does don't help him to do bet
ter. Many a coming player has been
ruined by consummate idiots on the
bleachers eternally knocking. Ball play
ers are humans, and it's a cinch th.it
they'll resent injustice, just like you
and I will. I 've cussed 'em when
they've played rotten, but I did it un
der my breath, interpolating a few loud
mouthed excuses just to put a littta
more ginger and confidence into the
player. For heaven's sake don't knock
on the home team that is, out loud :
Trust the management to get rid of the
shirker and the incompetent.
And, by the way, what I've said hero
about the ball players goes with the av
erage workingman. The worker can ap
preciate a friendly boost or a little
kindly oversight just like any other
'uiman bring.
O, fudge I Judging by one of the city
I
fl
I
DOPE CARD
UNBIASED OPINIONS ABOUT
INTEREST TO THE PUBLIC
dailies all there is of importance before
the people of Lincoln is whether the
council shall meet afternoons or eve
nings, or whether the sidewalks are ou
straight. There are a lot of people com
ing to the conclusion that this town is
getting too blamed ladylike. Columns
wasted on a few measely sidewalk.,
and not a word about some of the in
dustrial conditions that are making
for the lasting shame of the city. There
are a thousand women working in Liu
coln for an average of less than a dol
lar a day, boarding and clothing them
selves, and hundreds of men trying to
compete with them and at the same
time support wives and children in
semi-comfort. Girls sewing on forty
eight shiit buttons for a nickel, mak
ing overalls for 75 cents a dozen, work
ing ten hours a day behind counters
for $4.50 a week and yet crooked
sidewalks and time of council meetings
are about all the local stuff we get in
the daily papers.
I wish some of the good women who
are so all-fired interested in "civic im
provement" would muster up a little
interest in the welfare of their indus
trial sisters.
The wage earners of the Omaha con
gressional district have an opportunity
to send to congress a man of their own
class a man of more than average
brains, of unimpeachable honesty, of
unquestioned sincerity. I'm afraid
they'll make- the usual fool mistake
letting the opportunity slip. It is nDt
often that wage earners, and especially
union men, have an opportunity to vote
for a man like Laurie J. Quinby. He is
a true-blue union man. He knows what
the workers need, and he's got the
brains and the ability to fight for them.
I know Omaha like a book, and if I
were asked to pick out the best fitted
man from the ranks of organized labor
in that district to represent the wage
earners in congress, I'd unhesitatingly
pick Quinby. The fact of the'mattt i
is, however, he's such a good man, and
would make such a splendid represen
tative in congress, that I'm awfully
afraid he doesn't stand a ghost of a
show to be nominated.
Are we going to try and elect any
wage earners to the legislature from
Lancaster this fall. We've got some al
mighty good timber to select from, and
with the Oregon plan of electing Unit
ed States senators there's no reason why
we should let the senatorial fight cut
any ice with us. I've heard Ed Howe
mentioned, and he'd be a bully man to
elect. He says he's a socialist, but that
wouldn't count with me if he'd run. Ou
the contrary, it would rather help. I
could name a lot of them Dug Smith,
of HaveJock, "Doc" Righter, Georg
Quick, H. E. McGurren, Pinney of the
Musicians, McBride of the Barbers,.
Swanson of the Bricklayers, Frank Cof
fey, Pickard and Chipman of the
Plumbers, Eislor, Walker, Jacobs Or
the list could be extended indefinitely
withouc exhausting the available tim
ber. If ever there was a time for the
organized forces to get into the politi
cal gam$, that time is now.
Yes, the "Citizens' Alliance" is es
tablished in Lincoln. It is meeting reg
ularly. I know the names of some ot
the members, for I saw them in ses
sion. Big employers, some of them, un
ion hatpra most of them, plain ordinary
felines willing to pull chestnuts from,
the fire for big monkies some of them.
But don't get excited. . Just keep cool.
I don't give a hoot when the city
council meets whether in the after
noon or evening. No matter what tim
it meets it may be depended upon to
waste a lot of hot air exuded by Candy
and Leonhardt and others ; to scrap
over sidewalks ; to play horse like a lot
of kids and chew the rag until th
councilmanic lungs are full of line. The
only compensating feature is that th
city as a whole if not judged by the
calibre of the majority of the council.
There are some mighty good men sit
ting in that body. It would be hard to
elect so many without getting a few
good ones now and then. But if I should
see a man willing to trust his private
business of a million or two, dollars a
year in the hands of a body of meu
like our city 'council I'd holler for the
lunacy commission before the men
went plumb broke.
Yes, we are making a good thing
out of municipally owned waterworks,
thanks to a man like Schroeder at the
head of the water committee. And the
municipal lighting plant is all right, as
far as it goes ; . the trouble being that
it don't go far enough. We ought to
have commercial lighting: And if wo
can make a success of municipal water
plant and municipal lighting plant,
why not street railway and gas?
After watching the opening game of
the baseball season I am prepared to
say that William J. Bryan is fully as
good a pitcher as Don L. Love is a bat
ter. And that isn't bragging very much
on either of them.
I hope that "Labor Chautauqua '
proposition isn't going to die a borniu'
like so many other good schemes l ave
died. 'A little boosting and an absence
of knocking, and it can be made a huge
success. And a success would mean a
bigger advertisement for Lincoln tha'i
any other thing that ever happened in
this old town. Come on, boys !
Some people can not understand
how union mechanics and union farm
ers can assimilate. But that's not to be
wondered at. Some people can not un
derstand the simple rule of three or
grasp the meaning of the initiative and
referendum. Low wages, low prices for
farm products; high wages, li'gh prices
for farm poducts. Short hours, more
men employed, therefore an enlarged
demand for food products. Long hour.j,
fewer men employed, therefore dj
. creased demand for food produufs. Tt's
so simple that the man who admits his
inability to understand it simply ad
mits his mental incapacity.
BILLY MAJOR.
BULLETIN OF LABOR BUREAU.
"What One Daily Newspaper Says
About the First Effort
Put Forth.
Deputy Commissioner of Labor Mau
pin is to be congratulated upon the
bulletin recently issued which is the
first one to be devoted exclusively li
labor affairs. It is also the first time
the bureau has complied with the labor
laws of Nebraska an d the pamphlet !
a convenient reference for information.
Added to the laws is the collection of
statistics on the burning topic, the cost
of living. This showing is made on an
average that is fair and the result is
just about what the householder him
self has been able to figure out in an
indefinite way. But it is a comfort to
have the figures for they relieve us of
the suspicion in the always suspecting
quarters that .we are "calamity howl-
- ors." The figures are easrly obtainable
for reference and when a man worries
about what becomes of an $1,800 a
year salary, it can readily be seen that
he should not be the object of accusa
tion for being a pessimist.
! In the matter of statistics the bulle
tin gives a list u? the labor organiza
tions in Nebraska. The 3abor commis
sioner explains that this enterprise is
entirely within the limits of the appro
priation, and Nebraskans know that
the appropriation does not admit of
any waste of funds, the appropriation
being ridiculously small, considering
the large-field which is prescribed for
the operations of the bureau. Omaha
AVorJJi Herald.
GntL STRIKERS RUN SHOP.
A shirtwaist factory owned by fifty
girls, supported by local labor organi
zations, and conducted along co-operative
lines?, is the outcome of the shirt
waist strike at Sedalia, Missouri. Ths
factory will be in operation after
April 25.
J HITTING THE POLITICAL PIPE
A FEW STRAY BITS OF GOSSIP CONCERNING MATTERS THAT j
HAVE TO DO WITH RUNNING
Ed Howe not the Atchison Globe
Howe is being talked of for the legisla
ture as a socialist candidate. Howe is a
printer, a i union man, and would
make good legislative timber. As' a
member of the legislature he would
have a decided advantage he could
"demonstrate" over the recalitrant
: members. "
Ned Brown is quoted as saying he
would like to be senator from Lan
caster couniy for another term. Sena
tor Brown is listed as a republican, and
his record is as clean as a hound's tooth.
He stood for the initiative and referen
dum, he advocated the two or three lit
tle industrial bills introduced, he
favored making the Bureau of Labor
something worth while, and he con
sistently opposed all vicious legislation.
He is not a trades unionist but he is
as square as a die.
We haven't heard a word about Sen
ator J. E. stiller being a candidate for
re-election, although there have been
rumors that; he might get into th-3
gubernatorial fight as a county option
candidates. We take no stock in the
rumors, but! we'd like to see him stand
for re- election to the state senate. He
sat as a democrat, and sat by the. side
of Senator Brown who sat as a repub
lican. But somehow or other they
seemed to be on the same side of prac
tically every question. Senator Miller
stands for the initiative and referen
dum1; he" favored what little labor legis-relation,
was enacted and wanted mor-i,
and he tried to secure for labor as
much recognition as "was given the
hogs and the cattle.
Of course ! And no one expected oth
erwise. No sooner was it proposed to
have 'an extra session of the legislature
to enact an initiative and referendum
amendment to the constitution, than
the anti saloon league servednotice that
regardless of all that it was going to
make a county option fight. Got to
make some showing in order to get the
contributions. With "an initiative and
referendum law in force county option
would be taken out of politics where
it never did have a place.. But that
would mean that a few eminent reform
ers would have to hunt new jobs. There
are reformers in this world who rather
the reform they seek would never come
unless it came just the way they had
framed up the program.
Mayor Jim has been down east giv
ing a few exhibitions of his ability as i
" roper. V He says he is going to win
the. gubernatorial nomination hands
down. He bases this assertion, doubt
less, on the fact that he doesn't meet
up with anybody to dispute it. But
there are a whole lot of people who will
agree to any sort of a proposition for
the drinks. ' " ; '
WThen the Omaha reporters quoted
Charles O. Whedon as saying that the
Payne-Aldrich-Cannon tariff law was
the best that could have been framed x
they simply paraded their own careless
ness, or worse. Of course Whedon said
something of the kind. And when thoso r
same reporters quoted Senator Aldrich
the Nebraska senator, not the Rhode
Island boss as being opposed to the
principle of the initiative and referen
dum, they made a double exposure oi -the
same sort of carelessness or ignor
ance. Whedon is of the opinion that
the Payne-Aldrich-Cannon tariff law is
about as vicious as anything could be,
and unhesitatingly says so. Aldrich be-'
lieves in the principle of the initiative
and referendum. The only opponents of
the initiative and referendum are those
who would force the people to accept
continued bossism by special interests.
The Lincoln city council is all torn
up over the question of a president. We
suggest that a rule be adopted to the ,
effect that the president be denied the
right to a voice on the floor, and then
elect Leonhardt to the presidency. The
THE CITY, COUNTY AND STATE
only possible objection that could be
made to this selection is that perhaps
Candy would be a better man for the
position. ;
Without pretending to be a political
prophet'we hazard the prediction that
there will be no special session of the
legislature. An initiative and referen
dum amendment to the constituion can
and will be submitted by the next
regular session. The initiative and ref
erendum ought to have been submitted
by the last legislature, and would have
been had it not been that a few senat
ors put their fealty to certain corpor
ate interests above their devotion to the
interests of the whole people. Stoeckor
of Douglas, who wrote sucha high-fal-utin'
letter to 'show how much he de
tested the principle of the initiative
and referendum, actually voted for it
in the house. The mere mention of this
little fact will serve to ; show tho .
Stoecker calibre as" a representative. .
'The name of A. W. Ladd of Albion
is suggested as a good one for the re
publican nomination -for governor.
, There is just one thing that will pre
vent the nomination Of a man like
- Ladd. It is only once in a generation
that the republican party in tjie - av
erage state selects a man like Ladd foe
i governor and this isn't the year. The
man who will be the republican nomi
nee this year will have some - strings
attached to him, and the closest sera-'
tiny w'ill fail to disclose any, strings
attached to A. W. Ladd.
Congressman Hinshaw has declined
to stand for re-election, and some one
has suggested that he be nominated
for governor by the republicans.
There are a lot of union wage earners
in this state just aching to get a chance
to throw the hooks into Hinshaw. The
only time he ever had a chance to do or- .
ganized labor "a friendly turn hejlelfn
erately chose to do it an injury, and
organized labor has not forgotten the
fact. ' ' t . - 1 -
' The voter who allows himself to be
influenced by the cry' of "we must
elect a United Stas senator this time"
ought to go out and have his head
bored for the .simples. Under the Ore
gon plan the majority can name the
senator , leaving the legislature to ds
vote its whole attention to the. enact
ment of needed legislation. Democrat,
republican, . socialist no matter what
the paity name the candidates bear, the
voters, and especially ' wage earners,
ought to forget the .senatorial three
shell game and vote forr the candidates
who best represent their interests.
Lincoln wage earners should not lose
sight . of the" city .charter. There - is a
"hen on" and it is up to the wage
earners to watch the-hatching and see
that some of the eggs -are not tampered
with. There are a few, special interests
that will bear watching lest they slip
in a few duck eggs. And there are i
few dreamers .hereabouts who will try
to put us all to sleep and allow the hen
, to wander off long enough to let tho
whole setting get cold. The Des Moines
plan,' with' one or two up-to-date
amendments suggested by experience,
is good enough for Lincoln. This is not
a time to let a few men hand their
names down to posterity as the authors ,
of an Utopian plan of city government.
The charter must be made for men who
usually keep their feet close .' to,. th?
ground instead of going around with
their heads in the clouds. '
In DesMoines, Iowa, the women do
ing housework have formed a sort . oE
agreement to maintain a wage scale, of
two dollars a day. The well-to-do are
very, much incensed, Abuf the average
mechanic's wife is not much concerned.
An effort is being made to secure a
distinct International ior the Bartend
ers, which is to contain no otrter class
of workers.
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