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About The Wageworker. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1904-???? | View Entire Issue (June 24, 1910)
WAGlWOEKBi THE VOLUME 7 LINCOLN. NEBRASKA, FRIDAY, JUNE 24 NUMBER M BILLY MAJOR'S THE SAME CONTAINING A FEW MATTERS OF MORE OR LESS Not knocking on anybody, but I do wish Lincoln had about 'steen thousand more citizens like the Woods Bros, and their partner, Mr. Boggs. If we had 'em there would be something doing all the time something calculated to make Lincoln grow like the proverbial bay tree. I like men who are willing tc take "the gambler's chance" and stake their money on the bet that the town will grow up to their enterprise. Every time I look at that Rogers' tract and think how the people who own it are snitching on the rest of us; and every time I look at the young tract and seo how the owners of that are get ting all the benefits of a city and refus ing to help pay for them when I look at such people the only thing that keeps me from cussing until it sours on my stomach is to turn my attention to such bully good boosters as the Woods Bros, and their partner Mr. Boggs. Of course, "Woods Bros. & Boggs are out for the money, and I'm hoping that while they are boosting Lincoln ahead they'll make somuch they'll have to haul it to bank in a hay wagon. What Lincoln needs needs right now is a number of funerals, thus making way for a generation that will do something more than sit around like warts on a ' pickle and let a lot of us sweat them richer and richer. Elm Park, Franklin Heights, Sheridan Place and Peek's Grove make a quartet of monuments to the enterprise and unbounded faith iii Lincoln's future of the Woods Bros, and their enterprising partner, Mr. Boggs. Here's hoping their like and their tribe will increase. Glory be! Here comes the Traction Co. attorneys with a single tax argu ment that is unanswerable. When I read the following from the protest of the Traction Co. against its assessment I jumped straight up into the air and sang the Doxology : "There is every reason for taxing real estate to the full limit and no rea son for laying excessive tax burdens on street transportation ; the real estate of this county has appreciated in valua in the last fifteen years approximately four-fold; this increase is purely a so cial value; it was not created by the labor or thrift of the individual owner, but is the result purely of the growth of the state and the nation. On these unearned values the owner is permit ter to demand an income, and high rents based on the enhanced valne of real estate have greatly increased the cost of living to the general commun ity. Because this unearned value in real estate is a free gift of the commun ity, the owner should in all fairness be required to contribute liberally to the revenues of the state." That's the milk in the cocoanut the men who create the values get noth ing in return. The men who profit by the increased values do nothing to cre ate them. While the great body of workingmen give without getting, the few get without giving. And. the only solution of the problem, the only way to make everybody bear their just bur? den of taxation, is to levy the taxes on the value of the land for use and occu pancy, thus putting an end to the fool ish system of taxing enterprise and putting a premium on sloth. One way for the workingmen of Lin coln to make a start towards getting a larger part of what they create is to vote for the park and high school bonds. That will make the big prop erty holders come across and give back to the public that ereated the values some portion of what the general pub lic has created. I'm for the park and . high school bonds, first, because I have a Rooseveltian family of children and I want them to have playgrounds and a decent high school. I'm struggling to do my duty to my city, my state I 1 and my nation by rearing a family ot children and doing my best to make them eredital'k citizens. And I'll be blest if I don'i think thosj pjple whose only family jfs a pu i'.og and a fountain syrinpi. ought to come across and help me a little. They'll help, too, if my vote will suffice to tarry the- park high school bonds. I wish I could get Charles Landers to tell the public through The Wage worker all about the recent "Lincoln Industrial Exposition." Mr. Landers has a mighty interesting story, and it would fit in almighty well with the ac tion of a lot of Lincoln "boosters" who ignored the Lincoln musicians and went out and hired a little country band because they could get it cheap. Speaking of "boosting for Lincoln," what do ou think of a bunch of men who would chase off on a " trade ex tension excursion" right at a time when Lincoln needs every "booster" at home? It looks to me like a lot of fat-headed work had been performed in dating that "trade extension" trip the week before the bond election, the very time that every man who is a A CLOSING WORD. Mr. Workingman, The Wage worker, edited by a workingman and published by workingman, makes an appeal to you to line up on the side of municipal progress. You, above all men, are interested in the development of a worthy park system and the erection and maintenance of a, modern high school. .The high school is as far as you may, in reason, hope to send your children on the educat ional road. The parks are the most in the way of scenic attract ion and healthful recreation that you may, in reason, hope to give to your children. Yon may not send them to college, for the industrial system that has been foisted upon us demands that your children enter the lists of the breadwinners almost before the bloom of child hood is brushed frm their cheeks. That .same, industrial .system ' makes it impossible for you to give them the joys of summers in the mountains or at the seashore. But it is within' the bonds of pos sibility for you to give them the advantages of a high school ed ucation, and you should see to it that they have an opportunity to take advantage of it to the limit. It is also within the bounds of pos sibility for you to give them a chance now and then to get close to nature's heart in beautiful parks provided by the municipal ity. And you can make those who have grown rich from the profits of .your toil share with you the burden of expense. It is a duty you, owe to your selves and your children to share natters so your children may have "uperior high school advantages, nd plenty of opportunities to fearn nature at her best in the chaded dells and on the grass growu slopes of pretty parks. The opportunity to secure these things is at hand. It all depends upon you. If Lincoln is to have a modern high school and hand some parks it will be because the workingmen of Lincoln blaze the way with their votes. .The bonds can nqt carry without the votes of the workers. The rich and childless are not going to tax them selves for the benefit, of the child ren of the poor. But we workers can make them come across. They owe it to us, and we ought to seize the opportunity to collect the debt Work for the bonds, talk for the bonds and vote for the bonds. Every one of us would reap good ly profit by losing a day's work on June 30 and gaining all the ad vantages that are offered to us and to our children. Let's make it unanimous for the bonds. DOPfe CARD UNBIASED. OPINIONS ABOUT INTEREST TO THC PUBLIC ALL TOGETHER NOW. For a bigger and better Lincoln. For a city beautiful. For a city full of happy children. For a city of health and happiness. For all t - at goes to make life worth living 1'or better business. For better opportunities for earning a liveli hood. For all that is best in the lives of men and women let us get out and work for the bonds that will provide our children with a modern high school and all of us with parks. The defeat of the bonds means a black eye for Lincoln. The suc cess of the bonds means a black eye for the detractors of Lincoln. Let the other fellow wear the dis colored optic. Let every wage earner vote and work for the interests of himself and his little ones. That means working and voting for a modern high school and an up-to-date park system. .The future of Lincoln is being weighed in the balance. The scale will tip according to the votes of the workers. The voting of the bonds means a bigger and better Lincoln; the defeat of the bonds means stagnation and dry rot. . Under which flag, Mr. Workman. "booster!' at heart as well as a boost er" in name ought to be at home at tending to the larger business on hand. I have my doubts about the sincerity of the man who claims to be a "Lincoln booster" and then skips out of town at the very time when boosting is most needed. Of course John E. Miller is for the bonds. Mr. Miller is a business man and he knows what good business is. He' has been a consistent advocate of parks for years. I had the honor of serving for over two vears on the park commission with him, and he not only gave his valuable time to further the work, but he gave money. Mr. Miller' is shrewd enough to know that a hap py and contented working population makes the best possible customers. I am not giving Mr. Miller credit for be ing a philanthropist ; I am merely giv ing him credit for enlightened' selfish ness. When more men realize that they servetheir own interests best by serv ing the public interests best, then we'll have a better and happier state of so ciety. ' I know several big property holders who are opposing the bonds on the grounds of taxation. You hunt them up and this is what you will find : You will find men who own a lot of prop erty that has been made valuable by the toil and sacrifices of others work ingmen like myself. They did not do a single thing to enhance the value of the property. They either inherited it or got it on mortgage foreclosure, or got ut when land was so cheap as to be practically worthless. Then they sat around on their hunkers and watched it grow into value by reason of the work of the community at large. Now that they are asked to contribute a little to the public that has made them rich,, they put on a pitiful look, talk in lugubrious tones and whine about "taxation." That class of peo ple gives me a feeling of lassitude in the lumbar region. The workingman who fails to seize the opportunity to make these leeches on society give back a part of the un earned increment is, in my humble opinion, a sucker. Who put the value into the Tucker estate at the corner of Thirteenth and O ? Who put the value into the property at Thirteenth and N, known as the Fraternity block? Not the Tuckers or the Sharps. It was you, Mr. Workingman and Mrs. Working woman. If it had not been for you those valuable properties wouldn't be worth any more today than Uiey were twenty years ago. Come on, now; let's make the people who have waxed rich from our communal enterprise come back with some of it and give your children and my children splendid (Continued on page 2) ! HITTING THEPOLTTlilL PIPE ! 9 A FEW STRAY BITS OF GOSSIP CONCERNING MATTERS THAT HAVE TO DO WITH RUNNING THE OTTY COUNTY AND STATE Governor Shallenberger has defiinite- ;5;' ly announced that there will be no ex nif.. tra session of the legislature. The de cision of the governor is based on ex isting conditions and upon the law. In the first place, those who agreed to get enough legislative pledges to insure the enactment of an initiative and refer endum amendment failed, up to June 20, to get the required number of pledges. Secondly, it would have been necessary to call special elections in three or four districts to fill vacancies. Thirdly, it would have been impossible to -call the session, secure action and. have enough time before the primaries to secure the endorsemnt of political parties so as to permit the referendum amendment to be voted on a straight party ballot. All these things, taken together with the enormous expense o an extra session, influenced the gover nor to decide against calling it. Gov ernor Shallenberger gives his reasons in a terse but comprehensive statement to the public. The Wageworker urges union men to watch Senator Burkett's vote on the Dodds bill, which prevents the pos tal department from discriminating THE CRUCIAL MOMENT. Lincoln is facing the crucial moment. June 30 will decide whether Lincoln is to take a for ward step, or whether she is going to stick in the rut and become a back number. On. the result of the bond election hinges more than a park system and a modern high school. Upon that result hinges the whole industrial future of Lin coln. It means either progress or retrogression; either development or stagation; either a better Lin coln or a dead Lincoln. There is no use mincing words. It is time to "talk turkey." The defeat of the bond propos itions means notice to all the world that Lincoln is realy to hibernate for all time to come ; the success of the bond election means notice to all the world that Lincoln is de termined to forge to the' front. The defeat of the bonds means notice to all the world that Lin coln is content to die of -.civic dry rot; the success of the bonds means notice to all the world that Lincoln has side-traced the "kick ers" and the "knockers" and is out on the main line headed to wards industrial and civic develop ment to the highest possible degree . June 30, 1910 will be a day long to be remembered either for weal or for woe. If you are interested , in Lincoln's future; if you want Lincoln to be a bigger and better city; if you want to put Lincoln in the forefront of progressive communities, vote for the bonds. If you want Lincoln to remain in the ossified class ; if you want civic dry rot to take the place of pro gressiveness ; if you want to give notice to the World that Lincoln lacks enterprise, vote against the bonds. There is no middle ground either you are for a bigger and a better Lincoln, or you are against a bigger and better Lincoln. .If you favor progressiveness and fail to vote that way, you are giving aid and comfort to the enemies of progress. Yeu owe sit to your self, to your families, to your neighbors and to the community at large, to get out and work from now until the polls close in favor of progress, civic improvement and civic right busness. Let's make it so nearly unanimous that the back cappers and the knook ers will be too thoroughly dis couraged to ever again try to block the onward march, of Lin coln towards greatness and civic beauty. The bill has unless some r jimciiu. uuiues iu me rescue it win uie in the senate. The labor press has hard sledding enough without the postal de partment lending its aid to the capital ists to crush the representatives of or ganized labor. Numerous petitions asking W. J. Bryan to be a candidate for senator are being circulated, and thousands of signatures are being appended. Noth ing would please us more than to see Bryan in the senate, fighting alongside LaFollette and Cummins and the rest ' of that little band who think more of the interests of the people than they do of party or class. Gosh, if we only had in the senate a Roosevelt from New ork, a Bryan from Nebraska,, a Folk from Missouri, and' a James from Ken tucky, to line up' with LaFollette of Wisconsin, Cummins and Dolliver of Iowa and Bristow of Kansas ! Wouldn't a bunch like that raise merry hades with the champions of predatory wealth? Wouldn't it make the Aid riches and the Hales and the Penroses walk the plank? The attempt to amend the constitu tion of Oklahoma and strike out a lot of safeguards provided for the works of that state was defeated by a decisive vote. Who defeated the scheme ? Or ganizd labor. Every capitalistic com bine and public service corporation joined in spending money like water to secure the adoption of the amendments. The only financial support given the opposition to the amendments , earns from organized labor. The unions of Oklahoma put up 5 cents per capita per month for four or five months, and with the fund thus collected the expenses of the campaign were paid. And organ ized labor won out over the capitalist! . and the corporations by a majority oi upwards of 40,000. That 's what can ba done by concerted effort on the part of the workers. The Oklahoma union ists did not charge their leaders with being "grafters" or with "working political schemes," or with "trying to deliver the labor vote" to this or that party. They are not that kind of un ionists down in Oklahoma, and that's why they accomplish things. The Ok lahoma incident is a mighty good ob ject lesson for Nebraska unionists. Speaking of. Oklahoma reminds , us that the labor commissioner of that state is fleeted by the people, not ap , pointed as a mark of political favor. He is a state officer on an equal basis with other state officers. And he has some powers that make it possible for him to accomplish things in behalf of the workers. Charley Daugherty, a union printer, is Oklahoma's first labor commissioner. He is a candidate for re-election, and after the splendid rec ord he has made he ought to be re elected by a majority so decisive as to leave no room to doubt that organized labor is willing to back the man or men who do things tow the cause of labor Charley Daugherty has more thar made good, and if his majority isn'i upwards of 50,000 it will be an indict ment of the good sense and loyalty o Oklahoma wage earners. Of more importance to Lincoln than the success of any party or any pa tisan candidate ths fall, is the success of the bond propositions on June 30 Let's forget all about parties and can didates for the next few days and de vote our every energy to putting Lin coln in the progressive class. Let's al low the politicians to chortle all alone, and the party managers to sit and twiddle their thumbs undisturbed, while we of Lincoln get out and give the world a practical demonstration of the fact that we are determined to (Continued on page 2) "against,; the labor press, passed : the house, but