THE
VOLUME 7
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, FRIDAY, MAY (26
NUMBER 10
! BILLY MAJOR'S
THE SAME CONTAINING A FEW
MATTERS OF MORE OR LESS
Mr. Burnham. and his associates in
the ownership of Lincoln Park have
made a very fitting reply to the snarl
ing critics who charged them with
scheming to unload the property on the
city at an inflated price. Mr. Burnham
has withdrawn the park from the mar
ket and says it is not for sale to the
city. No matter bow disinterested or
public spirited a man may be, there are
always those quick to charge improper
motives. No matter how sincerely a
man strives to advance the common
weal , hre are always a lot of narrow-minded
and jealous nonentities
who jun.p in ami declare that ho hua
a "scheme." The "knocker" is always
with us. Lacking either the means or
the brains to be a leader himself, the
"knocker" sneaks aound the alleyways
and hints and suggests, winks and nods
and injects his poison. It takes big
men to pursue the even tenor of their
way and pay no attention to the snarls
and howls of the jealous curs that
abound. Mr. Burnham, with whom I
have not the honor to be personally ac
quainted, has administered a stinging
rebuke to the little men who are not
big enough to cut any considerable
amount of ice, either socially, financi
ally or politically. i
Ex-Mayor Brown is a park booster
for fair. In addition to having the hon
or of being twice elected mayor of re
publican Lincoln on , the democratic
ticket. Francis W. Brown, sr., has the
greater honor of being the father of
Lincoln's park system. Other mayors
. talked about parks, but with his usual
business push Mayor Brown went
ahead and started a park system.
There being no money available for
park purposes, Mayor Brown arranged
the plan whereby the water depart
ment bought the first forty acres, "for
water purposes' and around this nu
cleus the park system is growing. If
Mr. Brown had his way it would grow
a lot faster. I had the honor to serve
on the park commission for two years,
and I know that Mayor Brown was
tireless in his efforts to give Lincoln a
park system worthy of the name. "We
call it "Antelope Park" now, but some
of these days in the distant future
and I hope it is a long way in the fu
ture we'll move to change the name
to "Brown Park."
When Alderman Hardy turned down
that opportunity to make a big bunch
of money merely by securing the en
dorsement of a certain kind of valve to
be used by the city, he exposed a very
common method of graft. It has been
worked time and again and not a
thousand miles from the capitol build
ing of Nebraska. For instance, a cer
tain printing concern that once had a
big pull at the state house managed to
have the state specify a certain brand
of paper and the concern in question
had the exclusive agency for that pa
per. The same concern also managed
to secure the endorsement of a certain
loose leaf ledger device and it had the
sole right in Nebraska for the aforesaid
device.
I am waiting for some advocate of
woman suffrage to explain to me why
Denver went "wet" by 15,000 when
the women of that bailiwick had a
chance to vote on the question. At the
same time I am waiting for some anti
prohibitionist to explain to me why Den
ver went "wet" despite the fact that
women in Colorado have the right of
franchise. During the last session of
the legislature about the only argu
ment advanced against the women suf
frage bill came from anti-prohibitionists
who opposed it on the ground that
equal suffrage meant prohibition. They
did not offer to explain how it comes
that the states where equal suffrage ob
tains state-wide prohibition is ' un
known, while in every state where pro
hibition prevails equal suffrage is un
known. I am not surprised at the out-
DOPE CARD I
0
UNBIASED OPINIONS ABOUT
INTEREST TO THE PUBLIC I
come in Denver, however. Barring, per
haps Philadelphia, Denver is the rot
tenest municipality in the United
States.
If I were a member of the Boiler
makers' Union I would ask Judge Hun
ger to issue an injunction restraining
the "scabs" at Havelock from using
Vile and insulting language towards
the strikers. Those "scabs" are going
to be almighty pestiferous, now that
they have the protection of the United
States court and the strikers are re
strained from protecting themselves
from insult and abuse.
No one will deny that liquor is being
sold illegally in Lincoln. No one with
horse sense expects anything else. The
social evil exists too just as it always
has and always will. But the mau
who tells you that there is as much li
quor "bootlegged" as was retailed in
twenty-five saloons, or that the social
evil is as bad as it was under the "near
license" system, merely lies, and he
knows he lies. Prohibition will never
stop the sale of booze, any more than
'the law against horse stealing will stop
the stealing of horses. But there arc
not as many horses stolen under the
present laws as there would be if we
licensed horse thieves.
The Traction Co. has paid a neat sum
to have the arguments of its attorneys
printed in the daily papers. I know
something about the advertising game,
and I venture to give the Traction Co.
managers a quiet little tip.- Let them
announce recognition of the Street
Railway Men's Union, a slight increase
in the wage scale and better working
conditions, and it will have more
weight with the public than all the
legal sophistries its attorneys can mus
ter in one year. Frankly, if I were man
aging that concern I would recognize
the union, even though I personally
was opposed to organized labor. Why t
Because recognition would put a spoke
in much of the opposition to a return
to the straight 5-cent fare. Recognition
of the union and an increase in wag ;s
would make it difficult for organized
labor to oppose making some conces
sions to the management. For one I
wouldn't kick on paying a straight
five-cent fare if I knew that the men
on the platform were getting a larger
share of the money it costs me to ride.
After a lot of fuss and feathers
windjamming and four-flushing the
Gas Co. has been accorded the privil
ege of erecting a gas holder in east
Lincoln. There never was any real rea
son for refusing the company the priv
ilege, but because it happens to be a
public service corporation it had to
stand for a lot of punching. J don't
care a fig for the Qas Co., not being
a stockholder, and it don't matter to
me whether it builds a gasholder cr
not but the erection of the gasholder
was a necessity and it affords oppor
tunity for better service to a large sec
tion of the city and suburbs. What
was the sense in making all this "hol
ler" about it in the first placet
The Nebraska Press Association has
held another splendid session in Lin
coln. It always has a fine time in this
city. I know, for I have been a mem
ber for twenty years, and I am proud
of the fact that I am a past president
and an ex-secretary of the. association.
The session just adjourned was full of
interest, but I missed one feature that
used to be familiar the "rag chew
ing" about the patent guts business.
Speaking of "trusts" and "octopi," if
there's anything to beat the ready
print trust I never went against it.
And the only people who are to blame
for it are the country publishers.
They've had plenty of opportunities to
squelch it, but country publishers are
like other classes of men they haven't
"cohesive" power. Every attempt to
break the ready print trust "has been
blocked by the old game 'of "cut
prices, ' ' and the country publishers fall
for the game with astonishing rapidity.
, Then, as soon as the competition is
starved out the ready print trust
cracks on the price again and recoups
its losses. One would think that the
country publishers would get wise to
the game after while, put they seem
.willing to be victimized regularly. At
any rate I know of scores who have
been bitten a dozen times or more, yet
they never seem to learn by experience
But, just the same, they are a mighty
fine bunch of men and women, and it
was a pleasure to meet and mingle with
them again.
It has been twenty-four years since
I first entered the newspaper field in
Nebraska. A volume might be written
about the changes in the business dur
ing that quarter of a century. And the
changes have all been for the better.
The old-timers who are still in the busi
ness have learned a lot, and the r
newspaper men are men of superior
business and literary ability. It is my
pleasure to look at something like 350
Nebraska weekly papers every week,
and I'm here to say that Nebraska has
the best, the brightest and the most
profitable country newspapers of any
state in the union. And after ming
ling with the editorial associations of
five states during the last fifteen years,
I want to state with all emphasis that
the Nebraska newspaper bunch takes
the ribbon for geniality, for liberality
and for good fellowship. And their
wives God bless 'emwell, I often
wonder how a lot of men could have
been so uniformly lucky in selecting
handsome, talented and sweet-tempered
wives as the Nebraska editors.
A few years ago the newspaper men
rode on "editorial mileage,'' and it
took twenty-five years for them to.
learn that "passes" were the most ex
pensive form of transportation known
to mankind. I used to ride on "passes,"
and it cost me an average of twenty
five cents a mile. Now it costs me two
cents a mile. When the newspaper men
themselves took action and demanded
the abolition of the pass evil, they
builded better than they knew. It has
made them money. It has made their
papers better. And the newspaper
men are" today as independent as any"
other class of business, men. Some said
the abolition of editorial mileage would
destroy the Press Association. It did
not it made it. Today the attendance
is larger than ever, and those who
come represent the brains and energy
of the profession. Go back to the old
system ? Not much !
The man most .entitled to sympathy
is the man who has an eternal grouch
the man who is always snarling at
his neighbors, impugning the motives
of men who are trying to do things,
or exhibiting his spleen at men who
are achieving success. Some men are
built that way. They can see nothing
good in the efforts of others, and take
delight in pulling down and feel mis
erable at the sight of anybody building
up. Such men can see more evil in an
hour than they can see good in a week;
They megaphone their criticisms, and
if they have to voice commendation
they do it in a whisper, and then only
for pay. They exist in every commun
ity. The only compensating feature of
their presence is that the community
soon gets on to them and when that
occurs their influence is nil. The only
cure for this disease is death. And too
often that is slow and lingering.
The man who can see nothing but
evil in the community in which he
lives owes it to himself and the com
munity to get out. If I knew of a city
I liked better than Lincoln I'd go there.
And when I can not find good words to
say of the town in which I earn my
bread and butter, I'll have the decency
to keep still. The bird that fouls its
own nest is no worse than the man who
curses and slanders the community ,in
which he earns a livelihood.
BILLY MAJOR.
I
i
HITTING THE POLITICAL PIPE
A FEW STRAY BITS OF GOSSIP CONCERNING MATTERS THAT
HAVE TO DO WITH RUNNING THE CITY, COUNTY AND STATE
I think a lot more of Mayor Love
than I used to think. This may not in
terest the mayor a little bit, but it
gives me considerable satisfaction to
make the Announcement. Mayor Love
would cut a big figure in politics if he
was not lacking in the one thing most
essential to the good politician he can
not "mix." This is not due to "uppish
ness" on his part it is merely that hj
lacks the knack of getting close to men.
But he is not lacking in moral cour
age, and he has the too seldom pos
sessed habit of saying what' he thinks
wherever and whenever he happens to
think it. Incidentally, that very habit
is fatal to political success. Mayor Love
is frank to the point of bluntness, as
was evidenced by his address to the
editors this week. He might have so
worded his references to Omaha as to
show that he meant no detraction of
that great city, but he preferred to say
it directly instead of smoothing it over.'
As a candidate for governor Mayor
Love would stand about as much show
of carrying Omaha as the well-known
tallow-legged cat chasing an asbestos
rat through Hades. And yet Nebraska
would be-honored by having such a
man as Don L. Love for governor two
years hence. But before he becomes
governor, or is even nominated, 'he'll
have to cultivate the art of "mixing",
and he'll have to modify his habit of
frankness. We say we like "frank
ness," but when it hits us we holler.
Col. McCullough referred facetious
ly, albeit with a trace of sadness, to
the faet that Douglas county didn't cut
much ice when it comes to the matter
of apportioning the public officials of
the state. It is Omaha's own fault,
however. Ever hear the frog story?
An Arkansas man, learning that people
in New York ate frog legs, wrote a ho
tel man and asked him what he would
pay for them. The hotel man named t
a liberal price and asked: "How many
can you supply?" The Arkansan re
plied that he could furnish a million
dozen, and he was ordered to send them
as fast as he could get them. A week
later the hotel man received a couple
of dozen and a letter to this effect :
"Two dozen is all I could get. I
thought I could get more, but the
durned things fooled me by their hol
lerin." . . ;
The trouble with Omaha is that she
has allowed herself to be judged by the
"hollerin'" of Omahans who misrep
resent the citizenship of that splendid
city. Touch the brewery and distillery
interest. andyou'll hear "a "holler"
that will convince the poorly posted
that Omaha is wholly dependent upoa
the booze industry. But it is the "hol
lerin' " of a score or two of men who
are well paid for their "hollerin', "
and the 150,000 industrious, enterpris
ing and thrifty people of Omaha who
are not in sympathy with booze dom
ination are judged by the score or
two.
What Omaha needs most right now
is not "trade boosting" excursions,
but educational excursions. Let her
spend the next year in showing that
the men who misrepresent Omaha by
their tireless defense of booze are not
the men who ave making Omaha; not
the mn who stand for what Omaha
stands for; not representatives of Om
aha's citizenship. Omaha realizes, or
ought to realize, that she does not
stand nearly so well with the balance
of the state as she deserves to stand.
And she ought,' too, to realize that this
is due to the fact that the majority of
her citizenship has remained quiet
while the couple of dozen booze frogs
in the brewery swamps have Seen mak
ing the rest of the state believe that
Omaha is all brewery" swamp inhabited
by booze frogs. It's not so, and Omaha
ought to get busy and make the truth
known to all men.
The name of Willis Reed of Madison
has been mentioned in connection with
the democratic nomination for United
States senator. Mr. Reed is one of the
big-brained men of the west. His only
weakness would be his lack of acquain
tanceship. He , is not nearly so well
known as many other men of far less
ability and far more political promi
nence. If he were in the senate of the
United States Nebraskans would have
no difficulty in ascertaining where he
stood on any public question. He
wouldn't "straddle" any question.
xnai wiuis xveea is senatorial Bize j
known to every man who enjoys hw
personal acquaintance. Nebraska
would have trouble in finding a better
' man for senator it might easily find a
worse one, and probably will. -
One of the prettiest primary scraps
for a congressional nomination is going
.to be between a couple of democrats in
the "Big Sixth." Taylor of Custer,
who was elected to the legislature as1
a democrat and then insurged to beat
the band, says he wants the nomina
tion. Grant Shumway of Scottsbluff
says he wants it. These two men will
probably fight it out, and those who
know them both say it is going to be
as pretty a scrap as was ever pulled
off in Nebraska. The pipe dreamer of
,this department is willing to' wager a
four-dollar dog against a couple of two
dollar cats that the democratic nomi
nee in the "Big Sixth" will skin Moses
P. Kinkaid to a frazzle.
Every time the pipe dreamer picks
up a magazine and reads about men
like Dolliver, and Cummins and LaFoll
ette and Brewster, he gets hot under
the collar to think that Nebraska,
whose interests are identical with those
of Iowa, Wisconsin and Kansas, is nev
er heard of in all this talk about "p4k
gress and reform.". Beg pardon we dd'
hear of Norris in that connection, but
reference is had particularly to sena
tors. Nebraska in the senatorial equa
tion reminds me of the Irishman who
could count all his pigs but two, and
they kept running. 'round and dodging'
so fast he couldn't count them. It
strikes a lot ot us that about the only,
time Nebraska senators are not on the
fence is when they are down and hust
ling to find a new spot on the fence
where the rails have fewer splinters.
Imagine Charles O. Whedon strad
dling the fence on any question ! It is
unthinkable. But perhaps Whedons'
inability to dodge is one reason why he
has never got very far politically. A
lot of us remember the time when he
yearned to be a delegate to a republi
can national convention and was de
feated by Llewellyn L. Lindsay. You
may not recognize that name, however.
But you will recognize the name
"Bud" Lindsay.
Here is another prediction : Shallen
berger and Aldrich , will be pitted
against each other for the governor
ship and Shallenberger will win hands
down.
"Mayor Jim?" Hell not be in the
running. Figure it our lor yourself
Two years ago there were three dem
ocratic candidates before the primary
Shallenberger, Dahlman and Berge.
This year Berge will be out, leaving
the race to Shallenberger and Dahl
man. Shallenberger won easily two
years ago and the man who thinks the
Berge vote of two years ago will go to
Dahlman this year, ought to. take
something for a diseased imagination.
And there you are.
THE OFFICE BOY. '
I've found out that th' way to make
the boss sit up and take notice is not
to hustle while he's lopkin', but to have
8omethin' t' show f 'r th' time I put in
when he wasn't around th' shop.
I wouldn't dare give my boss advice,
but I ain't afraid to offer a suggestion.
