mm
VOLUME 7
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 1910
NUMBER 21
i
! CURT CURRENT COMMENTS
THE SAME CONTAINING A FEW
MATTERS OF MORE OR LESS
' ,
I am grieved, humiliated, filled with
regret. For three weeks I have watch-,
ed the daily newspapers of Lincoln ad
vertising a violation of the child labor
law of Nebraska. I am so accustomed
, to having notices of violation of this
I .. i. AalLxl inr otfanfmn that I Am
not usually surprised. But these vio-
Ltions are usually on the part ot those
ki are admittedly out ior me money,
and who make no pretense of Christ
ianity, humanitarianism or civic right-,
eousness. Consequently, when I noted
that a great religious assembly, headed
by men who pretend to be above all
things law-abiding, God-fearing and
humanity-loving, deliberately adver
tising that the child labor law is going
to be violated. I was shocked. I saw
the law violated, too, after being ad-
vised for weeks that it would be done.
I saw children under the legal age em
ployed in a concert hall, arid employed
after the legal hours, too. I saw a lad
9 years old leading a band, for pay:
a plain violation of the law. I saw
other boys under the legal age playing
under this lad's direction. And thou
sands of Christian men and women
listened and anDlauded. and pillars of
j the church who had violated the law
V by employing these children, looked
on with sanctimonious mein anu saiu
it was good. . '
Perhaps I should have interrupted
and prevented this violation of the law.
Perhaps not. Perhaps the good Ohrit
ian men and women who violated the -law
by employing these children
thought that because those whom they
employed were only "dagoes" it was
all. right. I know that would have
happened had I enforced the law in
this case I would have been the vic
tim of another 'protest,', signed, per
haps, by the head man in", the manage-,
ment of the great religious .'assembly
guilty of violating the .ohikl labor law
as flagrantly as any , messenger sejrvicV
nr bitr dervarrment store. But the
PffTvla nvtfer w.il.l he left tfl the con
sciences of these devout "violators ' of
the law. But it strikes me that good
people so awfully interested in the'
heathen children of China and" India
nncrlit t Wvt nav some little attention
to the laws protecting children in our
own country. Whatf
If the daily prints have quoted Rev.
Dr. Risner correctly I am sorry I was
not privileged to hear his addresses
at the Epworth assembly. If the daily
prints did do the right thing by him,
the Rev. Dr. Reisner is a minister after
my own heart. The donning of a
Prince Albert coat and a white tie
does not seem to have had the usual
depressing effect upon the gentlemen.
Instead of having moral dyspepsia he
seems filled with the religion of good
cheer; to believe that Christianity is
something more than long-faced lugu
briousness. "Some of you people ought
to make a collection of funny sayings
and them over every once in a
while." said. Dr. Reisner. "What the
church needs is action. It's the busi
ness of the church to keep folks so
busv they won't have time to sin."
Then Dr. Reisner continued: "The
church to be practical will have to
give folks real human hapmess. It
is not true that religion alone will give
all the jay a live person wants. We
have to give innocent pleasures be
sides that appeal to the everyday
man."
It would seem from all this that
Rev. Dr. Reisner's religion is some
thing more than a religion of "don't."
It seems to be a religion that appeals
to young men and young women in
whose veins runs the rich, red blood
fmth. And the religion that an-
to such as these .must be a reli-
of action, of innocent pleasure, of
tomg, or ail these things that go
to make life in the new aproach in
leasure, in a measure at least, to the
pleasure they tell us will be ours in
le life to come if we do right here.
It is a joy to note that there is a
growing disposition on the part of the
church people to go to the people
instead of waiting for the people to
eome to it; to make the Christian life
attractive to men and women instead
of repellant. I can remember when
Xthe Sabbath began at sundown Satur
day and ended at sundown Sunday and
yAetweeii these hours we kids- had to
r of
prffis
P
li
UNBIASED OPINIONS ABOUT J
INTEREST TO THE PUBLIC I
out of a churn. To whistle was a
sacrilege, an dto laugh meant a rep
rimand. It was nothing to have to
sit for three mortal . hours and hear
some" long-winded man afflicted with
moral and mental dyspepsia tell us
that we were all hair-hung and breeze
shaken over hell and damnation, and
time and agin we kiddies have been
scared witless by the wierd pictures
of hell drawn for us by some leather
lunged sky pilot. Dance! Heavens,
to even want to dance was next thing
to the unpardonable sin.
ei ruaceanu bbanuih-odaeb-oyeluieSy,
Less than forty years ago Uncle John
Oliver turned the wetter on to his mill
' wheel . one Sunday , morning to grind
a grist for a sick neighbor, and the
congregation of the village church was
' so sure that Uncle John was going to
hell for that awful sin that they called
a special prayer meting to intercede
with the Almighty in his behalf. And
although I am still on the sunny side
of fifty I can remember of more- than
one congregation being rent in twain
by the introduction of an organ some
thing that the ultra-pious thought was
the cap-sheaf invention of Old Nick.
.It .has taken that sort of thing a
long time to die outbut, thank God,
it is dying out, and rapidly. But is it
any wonder that a religion of that sort
failed to appeal to young men and wo
men f Is it any wonder that those
who" clung desperately - to thait sys
tem of theology wondered amidst tears
and groans why young people were
not joining the church and taking part
in religious works?
I am proud of quite an extensive ac
quaintfcnce with Lincoln ministers, and
. nothing gives me more pleasure than
ta. say that most of those whom I know
are to be classed with Rev,' Dr. Rais--ner
instead! of. with the narrow-souled,
, mental dyspeptics who seem to think
that heaven is a 7x9 resort for those
' who deem the acme of happiness to be
i able to shed 'tears and mortify the
flesh. Rev. Mr. Harmon, Rev. Mr, Orr,'
Rev. Mr. Roach, Rev. Mr. Long, Rev.
Mr. Zenor, Rev. Shepherd, O, the list
is too long to enumerate !' But I chal
lenge any city of equal size in America
to exhibit a ministry as liberal, as sym
pathetic, as stalwart and as able.
The good W. C. T. U. women who are
writing '.'.Alice Roosevelt Longworth
and asking her to quit smoking cigar
oots could easily find something to do
considerably more worth their while.
In the first place Mrs. Longworth 's
habits are-none of their business. In
the second place, the chances are a
thousand to one that a majority. of the
meddlesome women could easily find
something in the immediate vicinity
of their own homes that they could,
with profit to themselves and their
families, undertake to reform. It isn't
up to the W. C. T. U. women to reform
Alice. That job is up to Nick. If
anybody is to be censured for the
giddy gyrations of the spoiled daugh
ter of an over-advertised bunch of
egotism, it is the man who married her.
If he is willing to stand for his wife's
doings, all right, but I often wonder
how a man with masculine intestines
who has such a wife can refrain from
bending her laun'chwise across his
knees, with her physiognomy down
ward, and applying a good stiff spank
ing where it is calculated to do the
most good. I would suggest a good
stiff hairbrush as quite the proper in
strument. I have lively recollections
of the efficacy of such an instrument.
The other day a big crowd of people
heard a missionary tell about his work
in China, and when he was through
a lot of hysterical people threw dollars
at him, telling him to use the aforesaid
money to alleviate the woes of the
Chink. That's all right, maybe. The
Chink ought to be saved, but it looks
mighty strange to me that so many
good people are terribly interested in
the welfare of heathens ten thousand
miles away and apparently without a
thought for the welfare of thousands
upon thousands of men, women and
children in this, country. " I've heard
scores of appeals for help for the Chink
and the Hindu, the Hottentot and the
Kaffir, but from the pulpit of the
church of Jesus Christ I've heard but
two or three appeals for the helpless
women and children who are being sac
rificed upon the altar of greed in the
horrible sweat shops of this Christian
. country. Ever hear one of those mis
sionaries who is so eloquent in his pleas
for the children of the Chink and Hot
tentot making a plea for the pinched
faced, thin-blooded, physically .stunted
American child who is being worked to
death in the cotton factories of Puritan
New England and Cavilier Georgia ?
Ever hear them begging for money to
save from a fate worse than , that en
dured by the Chink and the Hindu the
helpless and hopeless female:, victims
of greed whose life blood is sweated
from them in the foul tenements of the
east in order that thousands osten
tatiously given to " charity. We '11
. be in a whole lot better shape to save
the heathen in foreign lands after we
have accomplished by practice, in our
own America what we send missionar
ies to preach about in China and India.
What would the great Methodist
church do if Adolph Busch- of St. Louis
should offer it a million of his brewery
money for missionary purposes t Would
it treat Mr. Busch with the same kindly
, consideration that it treated Mr.
Rockefeller's "donation?' I trow not.
And yet I hold that Adolph Busch 's
money is cleaner than Rockefeller's
money. I have never yet forgiven
the church in which my mother lived
and died lived the life of a saint and
died with a face transfigured by the
glory that shone upon her; 1 have
' never quite forgiven that church for
having listened to the sirenf voice of
Oily John and accepting a pile of his
blood-stained and dirty dollars.
Perhaps I am narrow-minded and fa
natical on this subject, but it seems
to me as fit and proper to run a liquor
saloon in connection with the church
in order to raise money for church ex
penses, as it is to accept "the money of
a Rockefeller for the sme j purpose.
I am not yet ready to subscribe to the
doctrine that giving a part of the swag
to charity atones for the crime;.
Dick Turpin and Robin Hood were
two knights of the road Who robbed
the rich and gave liberally totbe poor
in order to salve their cottscieneeness. :
.What clergyman will condone the
crimes of these two highwaymen oe
cause of their, thoughtfulriess for the
poor? Yet Dick and Robin, were mighty
fine and upright men compared to some
of our financial kings who are landed
for their piety and philanthropy. '..-
This week The Wageworker gives
aspiring candidates an opportunity to
take its readers into their confidence.
I warmly commend the readers to the
advertisements of political candidates
herein contained. The man who writes
about himself certainly ought to know
his subject. '
Now will somebody kindly tell us
what difference it makes whether : a
congressional candidate is for county
option or ferninst it?
The Buck Stove and Range Co. is
billing the county with four-sheet post
ers. It not only pays to advertise, but
it pays to be fair and just.
BILLY MAJOR.
I The Office Boy s J
I Little Observations I
De odder night I saw 'em throwin'
dollars t' the Chink kids wot don't'
have t' hustle like a lot of kids in dis
town t' keep from violatin' de laws
against indecent exposure by wearin'
rags.
Honest Injun, de most fun I ever had
in me life was when I took a crippled
kid wid me an' let him shoot half de
crackers.
Me mudder is so blamed busy lookin''
after her own kids dat she ain't got no
time t' be pesticatin' around tryin' t'
save oder women's kids.
Pap says he could help de heathen
a lot if it didn't take all of his wages
t' keep his own kids from goin' hun
gry. I've noticed dat de feller Wat's alius
so anxious t' git all dat's comin' t'
him ain't very particultr whether he
gets w'hat's comin' t' others or not.
Me mudder can see dirt on de back
o' my neck furder dan I can see de
capitol dome. '
De more, I see o' some men de more
I t'ink dat if there ain't no hell w'ot's
de use. . '
De only diffrunoe between seven-up
an' flinch is de looks o' de cards.
I HITTING THe"pOLITICAL PIPE
1 A FEW STRAY BITS OF GOSSIP CONCERNING MATTERS THAT I
HAVE TO DO WITH RUNNING
Last week we asked Senator Burkett
how he voted on the house amendment
relieving labor unions from prosecution
under the Sherman anti-trust act.
Shortly after the paper was deposited
in the postoffiee we learned that Sen
ator Burkett voted for the amended
bill 'that is, he voted to relieve labor
organizations from attack under the
guise of throttling trusts in restraint
of trade. , We gladly make this fact"
public without waiting to hear from
Senator Burkett.
We would like to see "Dick" Met
calfe and Charles" O. Whedon pitted
against one another for the senator
ship.. Not because we believe Met
calfe could easily defeat Whedon, but
because it would be a cinch that no
matter which should be elected Nebras
ka would be represented in the senate
by a inan who would not dodge and
trim, and who would always be found
on the side of the people. . J
Several republican legislative can
didates in Lancaster county, and " at
least two democratic candidates, have
refused to sign "Statement No: 1." In
other words they will not agree to
vote for the people's choice for United
States senator. Can it be possible that
they refuse to pledge themselves be
cause they want to be in a position to
barter and trade their votes ? The leg
, islative candidate who refuses to sign
"Statement No, 1" should be beaten
so badly that he'll never bob up for
office again. - . - " '
Governor Shallenberger has made
good. .There has not been a single
breath of scandal in any of the state
institutions something that - has vk) -m
occurred during the term of any other
governor. The state tax levy is lower .
than it has been for years, . despite
largely' 'increased appropriations for
education and vastly increased cost of '
maintaining state institutions. - There
has been no abuse of " the pardoning
power, consequently no turning loose
upon society of offenders against the .
law. During the last legislative ses
sion but one real labor bill was passed
the maximum train crew law. Gov
ernor Shallenberger signed it without
hesitation despite the protests of the
railroad corporations. Compelled by
statute to approve a contract for the
labor of convicts, he insisted upon and
secured a supplemental contract pre
venting the sale of prison made gar
ments within the state, and this, too,
despite the opposition of the republi
can members of the board. During
the street car strike in Omaha great
pressure was brought to bear upon .
Governor Shallenberger to call out the
state militia. He refused to consider
the demand and told the union busters
of Omiaha that they could find relief in
arbitration, not in martial law. It so
happened that the corporation against
which the strike was called was
an inter-state corporation, and the
Bureau of Labor was helpless in
the face of the fact that a fed
eral injunction ' would have been
issued the minute the head of the bur
eau tried to conduct an investigation
as provided by 'the state statute. But
during the height of that strike Gov
ernor Shallenberger not only gave the
-deputy labor commissioner a free hand
in trying to bring about a settlement,
but gave him and the strikers every
possible and legal encouragement in
the way of securing a -satisfactory
settlement. ' One of the first acts of
the present deputy commissioner of la
bor was to take the initial steps in form
ing the State Federation of Labor, and
in this work the deputy, commissioner,
had the co-operation of Governor Shal
lenberger. There . is. one quarter from which
Frank Tyrrell is expecting nothing but
untiring opposition the head offices of
the Lincoln Traction Co. The reason is
not far to seek. Tyrrell is insisting
that the Traction Co. get right with .
the people it pretends to serve. Not
only that, but he has taken a decided
stand on the side of the underpaid and
overworked car men in the service of
that company. The Wageworker has
not one word of opposition for either
Mr. Strode or Mr. Spencer. We have
knOwn Mr. Strode for many years, and
know him to be a man of parts- a law
yer of splendid ability, a citizen worthy
of all respect and a public official who
made good every way. That he would
THE CITY, COUNTY AND STATE
19
make an efficient county attorney is
beyond question. But this thing of
"swapping horses in the middle of the
stream" is unwise.' Mr.. Tyrrell has
begun a great work in the interests of
the people, and for this reason, if for
no other, we are in favor of his re
election. 1 Some time or other in a century
long passed, somebody, Cardinal Riche
lieu, we believe said: "If I had ser
ved my God as I have served my king
" and so on. After reading Mr.
Whedon 's circular and his reply to
Senator's Burkett 's alleged answers
thereto, we are reminded that if Mr.
Whedon had studied his Bible as he
has studied the Congresional Record
he would , have been today the best
posted man alive on the scriptures.
The "open primary" ballot is going
to cause all sorts of trouble. A great
many men are of the opinion that
under the open primary they can vote
for any name on the blanket ballot.
That's where they will be badly fooled.
They must vote either one ticket or
he other there can be no "scratch
ing" on the primary ballot. The man
who votes for Shallenberger for gover
nor can not vote for Barton for audi-,
tor. The man who votes for Dahlman -for
governor cannot vote for Hay
ward for eongress. If he tries to do
any of these things his whole ballot -will
be thrown but. , Every voter must
choose his ticket democrat, republi
can, prohibitionist , or socialist and
vote only for candidates on that ticket.
When Will Fowler was state super
intendent of public instruction J. L. ..
McBren'iwias his deputyi ; When Fow-
ley stepped down McBrien stepped in t
and made Mr. Bishop his deputy. When
McBrien stepped down Bishop stepped
in and appointed. Frank Perdue his-de-
puty.V Bishop is about to retire and
Perdue is aspiring to suceed him. Is .
it not about time to put a stop to this',
"law. of primogeniture" or "law, of .
entail! " or " office-holding by inherit- ,-
ance," or -whatever you may call -'it f
The headquarters of about as smooth '
a political machine as was ever set up '
in , Nebraska are located on the first
floor of the state house, southeast cor- '
ner.
George Tobey has one thing to con-1
tend with in his race for republican
nomination for congress the feeling
on the part of the other counties in 'the '
district that Lancastor is inclined to
"hog" it when it comes to distri buy
ing the political pie.! 'This feeling,
however, is not so strong as it was a
couple of years ago when Pollard of
Cass county was the republican candi
date and went down to defeat because
he misunderstood the temper of First
district republicans. The republicans
of the west : will Dot stand for Joe
Cannonism. and Tobey has not hesi-,
tated to announce his opposition to
Uncle Joe and all his nefarious works.
If the feeling against Lancaster is not
too strong, Tobey will be nominated,
and there is a prospect of a merry fight
for the election. Maguire has made
good and will have a lot of" republican
support, but he is up against a brutal
republican majority. As between re
publican aspirants Tobey has the ad
vantage according to the prognosticat
or of this Family Advisor.
Tt is really wonderful the way Met
calfe 'senatorial stock haSbeeri boom
ing for the past ten days. "Met " was
a little late in getting into the-race,-but
this was not, due to any other fact
than that William B. Price filed early
and "Met" refused to "enter the rajce
against his friend. ' This is nbtythe
first time ' ' Met ' ' has been mentioned
for the senatorship. A few years ago
he received the solid democratic vote
in the legislature. This happened six
years ago when Burkett landed the
prize. If "Met" goes to the United
States senate and here's hoping he
will raise the average of intelligence,
honesty, ability and commonsense an
awful lot.
, Having been , caught with goods on
him . Uncle M.ose Kinkaid now . comes
serenely to the front with the claim
that he should', be absolved from all
blame because he has . disposed of the
the goods to an "innocent purchaser."
Uncle Mose is the innocent guy, isn't
he? .- i
!