THE WA65EWDEKE
VOLUME 7
LINCOLN; NEBRASKA, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1910
NUMBER 26
CURRENT COMMENT
The resignation of Francis "W.
Brown Sr., from the park commission
calls renewed attention to the fact that
is high time for Lincoln to quit play-
12 the foolish act and get down to
nnmonsense. ur. isrown, twice inajur
t- a ;
ml father of the nresent nark system.
j Amnnlla.1 . raei fn frTVlll thf Tl H T K
fnllv irood. vou know, that a man who
is donating his services to the city is
prohibited from selling his wares to
the city. Because Mr. Brown is' public
spirited enough to donate valuable
time and faithful worK to the people
of this city, a lot of fanatics raise
merry hades because Mr. Brown, who
is in the lunvber business, sells an oc
casional bill of lumber to the city. All
this would be laughable were it riot
for the fact that it is just this sort of
foolishness that is making Lincoln the
laughing, stock of every sensible com
munity in the country.
One great trouble with Lincoln is
that it has got more fool reformers to
the square foot reformers who are as
fanatical as howling dervishes and as
impractical as a refrigerating plant in
Tophet than any other municipality
in the country. Think of it for a min
ute ! A member of the library board,
serving without compensation, is not
"allowed to sell supplies to the T-ity on
a competitive basis. A member of the
park board, serving without pay, is
prohibited from selling supplies to the
city on a competitive basis. People
questioning the right of a newspaper
to publish city legal notices because
a stockholder in that paper happens
'without compensation, borne people
criticizing the mayor, who is a member
of the excise board, because he happens
to own a building in which is located
a pool hall, which is licensed by the
excise board.
What Lincoln needs right now is to
Khclve a lot of these . dreamers and
would-be reformers, and give practi
cal business men a chance to do busi
ness on a business basis. No one wants
a return to the old days of pass bribery
and political rottenness, -but there are
a lot of people in Lincoln trying to
run the city who ought to get their feet
back on the ground for a little whil.
One great trouble with Lincoln is
that it is too dependent upon the out
side. We rely too much on the dollars
.spent here by visitors. "We spend too
much time figuring on getting an oc
casional farmer to move to Lincoln to
educate his children, and not enough
to developing the business opportuni
ties at hand. State institutions never
built a city. Fanatical reformers go
ing round with their heads in the
clouds never made it possible for hon
est workingmen to secure work at good
' wages. Would-be sociologists always
discussing the continuity of sunbeams
and splitting moral hairs infernally
fine never opened up the channels of le
gitimate business. We want Lincoln to
be a moral, refined, sober city. But as
one modest little business institution
, .seeking the welfare of the many in
stead of the approbation of the few,
The Wageworker here and now makes
irnrpst h.iiiiml Lilt" way a nit x. iiivki-
. ...... I..
cat, irresponsime, ianaucai reiormers
i, i i
are . trying to run the affairs of this
municipality.
As a grandstander Theodore Roose
velt has never had an equal. Indeed,
it is probable that he will forever stand
alone in his class as the champion
heavyweight grandstander of the cen
turies. As a monopolizer of the spot
light he it It, and as a political con
tortionist he is entitled to the contents
of the entire bakery. A few days ago
he thrust his hand into his bosom, and
with an air of virtue that would make
x cherubim wriggle with jealousy he
declined an invitation to a Hamilton
Club dinner in Chicago because -Sena
tor "Billy" Loirhner had also been in
vited. Under ordinary circumstances
such a stand would have been worthy
of applause, but coming from Theodore
Roosevelt it was to laugh. After feast
ing with Guggenheim in Denver it
came in poor ' taste for Roosevelt to
harpoon Lorimer. Guggenheim got his
senatorial toga just like Lorimer got
his. At the banquet board of his son-in-law
in Cincinnati Roosevelt 'hob
nobbed with Boss Cox after grandilo
quently refusing to sit at the board
with Lorimer. The man who so virtu
ously declined to eat with Lorimer is
the man who gave Matt Quay a clean
bill of health, eulogized Joe Cannon
and supported a Spooner in preference
to a LaFollette.
Remember, too, that this same Theo
dore Roosevelt who draws his virtuous
skirts about him so they may not be
contaminated by the vile touch of a
Lorimer, is the same Roosevelt who,
inl906, wrote the "My Dear Sher-
man" " letter denouncing Edward H. "
Ilarriman as an "undesirable citizen,"
forgetful of the fact that two years
before he had written to Ilarriman as
"My Dear Mr. Ilarriman," inviting
the railroad magnate to the White
House and saying "Now you and I
are practical' men. and you are on the
spot and know conditions better than
I do. . If you think "there is any
danger of your visit to me causing
trouble give up the visit for the
time being, and then a few weeks hence
before I write my message I shall get
you to come down to discuss certain
government matters not. connected
with the campaign." And this is the
same Roosevelt who sent Ilarriman
back to raise a pot of money to put
into the 1904 eamlpaign. a pot amount
ing to $290,000, contributed by the
public service corporations that Roose
velt now so strenuously denounces. At
Col ambus Roosevelt ground out an
other grist of his platitudes for the
benefit of the workingmen of that city,
and these same men threw up their
hats and yelled "Great is Theodore the
' First." forgetful of the fact that he
is the same Theodore who wrote in
"Winning the West," that the drunk
en, roistering cowboys were better com
panions ,and better fellows than the
mechanics in the cities.
Roosevelt, the man who made possi
ble the Alton railroad conspiracy while .
he was governor of New York; Roose
velt, the man who tried to prejudice,
the case of men on trial for their lives
and afterwards declared innocent;
Roosevelt, the man who betrayed every
principle of hospitality by accepting
the services of a man and then turning
on him ; Roosevelt, the man who dined
with a Guggenheimer and then virtu
ously refused to dine with a Lorimer;
Roosevelt, the man who praised a
Spooner and opposed a LaFollette;
Roosevelt, who boasted of shooting a
fleeing enemy in the back; Roosevelt,
who denounced socialists as men try
ing to force immorality upon the peo
ple; Roosevelt, who delights in 'blood
and carnage, and to whom one of God's
creatures in forest and veldt is noth
ing more than a target for a rifle
this is the Roosevelt who is now parad
ing about the country telling us what
to do to be saved from the wratti to
come, and preparing to once more make
a prize ring of the executive mansion
at Washington and a wrestling court
of the rooms made sacred by a "Washington-,
a Jefferson, a Lincoln and a
MeKinley. In God Almighty's name,
is it not about time for the thoughtful
American citizens to jalb a pin into the
exaggerated ego of this prince of
grandstanders and let his explode with
a slow, sizzling noise?
The candidate for public office who
imagines that he is going to win the
support of thoughtful workingmen by
advocating a court of compulsory ar
bitration is merely exposing his ignor
ance of the labor movement. We al
ready have compulsory arbitration in
the form of the injunction and we
don't want any more of it. And even
if we should consent to the establish
ment of a board of arbitration, along
would come some federal judge " ap
pointed by the special interests and
enjoin the board from acting if it
showed the least sign of being fair to
the workers.
Is there any crying need for a work
ingman's compensation act? Let the
The Wageworker wants to increase its subscription list. To the
man, woman or child who brings in the largest number of paid-in-advance
subscriptions before Oct. 1, 1910, a prize of Ten dollars
in gold will be given. Subscription $1 a year; 50 cents for six
months; 25 cents for three months. A yearly subscription counts
four points ; a six months subscription pounts two points ; a three
months' subscription counts one point. Only cash subscriptions
counted. In addition to the above prize a commission of 20 per
cent will be paid. In other words you get one-fifth of all the money
you collect, and you may win the Ten Dollar Prize. .Ge to work
immediately.
figures answer. In the ' last eleven
years the liability ' companies of the
United States took in premiums from
employers the enormous sum of $90,
980,000. In the same time these com
panies paid out on allowed claims of
injured workingmen the-sum of $43,
599,000, or about 43 per cent of the
premiums paid in. Of the $43,000,000
paid to workingmen upwards of $13,
000,000 was paid by the injured work
ingmen in the shape of attorney fees.
Of the $90,000,000 paid 'by employers
to insure them against claims from in
jured workmen, less than $30,000,000
reached the injured workers. Seventy
millions of dollars worse than wasted,
and thousands of maimed men and
women thrown upon the tender mercies
of a selfish and cruel world. Common
sense and common humanity demand '
Continued on Page Four
The Office .Boy s . (
Little Observations
KBaBBOBsnnHnaiBBt
Maybe th' Lord made a better fruit
than th' wortermelon, but if He did
He's hid it out.
Th' prize punkins at th' fair wasn't
in it with some of th' politikle squashes
I see ev'ry day. ,
Fo says a lot o ' people who pray ' Thy
will be done on earth' don't do a
durned thing t' help bring it about.
A lot o' people who say that they
take a' intrust in th' workin'man are
always tryin' t' take intrust from him.
While a lot o' people I know are a
prayin' f 'r th' poor, th' union that I'm
goin' t' join is carryin' them potaters
an' flour.
My ma says that it's all right f'r
a man t' git into politics, but when
politics gits into a man he ain't no
good no . more,
It will be four or five years before
I am a voter, but I ain't goin t' save
up any money t' buy shirts t' tear for
no officeseekers when I do get a vote.
Wnen my boss jacks me up f'r miss
in' somethin' I know he means it,
'cause he don't hesitate t' give me th'
glad word when I do things just right.
One thing I like about my boss he
ain't always tellin' me what a intrust
he's takin' in my welfare. He just pays
me my money on th' dot an' expects
me t' make good.
Th' politikle fellers that think so
durned much of th' foreman don't pay
no attention t' me because I ain't a
voter. Maybe they are foolin' th' fore-,
man, but they ain't foolin' me.
REALM OF R0LITICS
I - v A
The opponents of James C. Dahlman
are adopting a plan of campaign that
is' almost certain to elect him by a tre
mendous majority the plan of abus
ing him like a fishwife. Mr. Dahlman
stands for some things that this news
paper and its editor have never stood
for, but, on 'the other hand he stands
for many things that appeal to this
paper and its editor as democratic,
square, honest and calculated to benefit
. the general public. It has been the
happy privilege of the editor of The
Wageworker to personally and inti
mately know "Jim" Dahlman for al
most a quarter of a century. . Those
who picture him as a-dissipated man,
standing for unbridled license and hob
nobbing with the vicious elements sim-
ply do not know the man. That James
C. Dahlman has been under the influ
ence of liquor he nor his friends' will
deny. That he is a drunkard every
body who knows him will deny. A
great deal has been said about a cer
tain event in Sioux City some years ago
and some very extravagant lies have
been circulated about it. Maybe "Jim"
was a little bit off on that occasian,
but a lot of republican newspapers that
have been hounding him about it ever
since never peeped when the former
idol of Nebraska republicanism John
M. Thurston, would get, as drunk as
a boiled owl and make a spectacle of
himself. -
There are two classes of people who
do not drink whisky those who are too
good, and those who are so darned mean
that they hate to spend their money for
it. But when you , come to measure a
man by honesty, integrity, fidelity to
friends, squareness of action and activ
ity in everything that goes to make
business honest and square, we'll
measure "Jim" Dahlman up by the
side of any or all of those who are
throwing such fits of morality over his
nomination. He is opposed to county
" option and says so frankly. We have
no quarrel with him there, for we are
of those who refuse to believe that--county
option as it is touted is any
better than the Sloeum Jaw insofar as
the reduction of the drink evil is con
cerned. When he said he would veto a
county option bill if the legislature
sent it up to him we disagreed with
him. because we do not believe that
sort of thing is democratic. We do not
take kindly to a certain element, that is
very active in his support, but those
who declare that Dahlman ,is the tool
of any element simply give utterance
to a falsehood. "Jim" Dahlman is nd
man's man.
Dahlman has never been accused of
turning a dirty trick. He has never
been accused of throwing a friend. He
has never'been accused of defrauding
any man of a penny. He has never
been before the public for many years,
and it may be that his record is vulner
able. If so, that is the point of attack.
But the God-and morality element that
is now seeking to picture him as a dis
sipated, unreliable, tough-consorting
man are simply paving the way to elect
ing him by the biggest majority a candi
date for governor ever had in this state.
The editor of this little newspaper, who
happens to be an appointee of Gover
nor Shallenberger's, has no political
favors to ask of James C. Dahlman.
But by the friendship of twenty years;
by a knowledge of the man's big heart;
flffilJ
Ml
by the knowledge that lie is as square
as a die and incapable of dissimulating ; '
by the certainty that he would rather "
die than betray a friend or a trust by -an
intimate knowledge of the man we
are not going to hear him lied about
without making a protest. On the fun--'
damentals of democracy James. C. Dahl
man and the editor of The Wageworker
are in hearty accord. On some quest
ions of local policy we differ as. radi
cally as the poles. But as between
Dahlman, who never trims, dodges or
evades, the Aldrich, who sets his sales
to catch any breeze that may drift him
officeward, we have no hesitancy in
saying that we'll choose Dahlman. Be
ing a free born American citizen, white
and past the age of 21, we are not com
pelled to make ehoice between any two
. men for any office. There are blank
. spaces on the Australian ballot, and it
is nearly two months before the polls
open.
No one who knows Governor Shallen- '
berger expected him to accept the-popu-list
nomination and make the race after
being defeated in the democratic 'pri
maries. He is a man who believes in
abiding by the rules of the game. After
the recount in Douglas, if it still shows
that he received fewer votes than Dahl
man, he will be found right where he
has always been found fighting in the
ranks for democratic success. The
shame of it all is that such an excellent
executive should have been defeated
for re-nomination by a fool issue that
has no more place in politics than the
subject of f oreordinaticm or predes- ,
t tination. If there be those who think
ithat Governor Shalenberger's defeat
.. means his retirement from active poli
tical life, let them undeceive them
selves. He wil continue to be one of
the livest political wires in the west.
There will be another senatorial camp
aign in 1912.
The Wrageworker was for Richard
L. Medcalfe for United States sena
tor prior to the closing of the polls on
primary day. Since tnat time it has
been for Gilbert M. Hitchcock. It has
many good and sufficient reasons for
espousing the candidacy of Hitchcock.
No man in the west has shown a more
friendly interest in the welfare of
organized labor thah he. For more than
twenty years he has been one of the
largest employers of organized labor in
the state. The World-Herald, which he
owns, has always been a "closed shop"
insofar as the printing trades were con
cerned. The columns of his paper have
always been open to the pleas of union
men for the cause of organization. His
editorial columns have always been
more than fair towards organized labor.
His record in congress on questions're
I'ative to the welfare of the workers is
as straight as a string and as clean as a
hount's tooth. For twelve years the
editor of this humble little la)bor paper
was on the payroll of the World-Herald,
and every one of those twelve years was
made bright by the gopdfellowship of
fellow workers and the kindly interest
of the man who owned the paper.
Naturally a reserved man, Mr. Hitch
cock has undeservedly won the reputa
tion of being "cold." And we says
"undeservedly" with good reason, for
he is genial, approachable, componion
able and "as common as an old shoe"
after one learns to know him.
Our old friend ""Jack" Ryder merely
filed for the republican nomination for
secretary of state and let it go at that.
And even then he came within a few
hundred votes of beating a manwho
had been actively seeing the nomina
J tion for months. It would have been
easy to give Ryder the nomination had
he worked a little bit himself. , Perhaps
he was just experimenting at this time
with a view to going after something
better, and going in real earnest, fwo
years from now. If that's his inten
tion we are willing to ! bet-dollars to
dog biscuits that he'll iarid all right.
Ml
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