to occur to those who charge Mr. Bignell with controlling their
votes. The fact of the matter is, Superintendent Bignell is so
busy looking after the affairs of one of the heaviest railroad di
visions in the United States that he has mighty little time for
dealing in politics. And for the matter of that, the Burlington
railroad, like other roads, has learned that it is cheaper to obey
the laws than it is to attempt to influence legislation
When Chief Justice Robert W. Steele of the Colorado su
preme court died, not only did the bench lose a distinguished
member, the nation an exemplary citizen and Colorado a citi
zen foremost in good works, but labor, organized and unorgan
ized lost a friend. Judge Steele is the father of the juvenile
court system which Judge Ben B. Lindsay has made famous.
He is the supreme judge who stood by the constitution of the
state of Colorado when a supine governor bowed to the will of
conscienceless mine owners and swept that instrument aside
in order to hurl the military arm of the state against helpless
workers. His dissenting opinion in that famous decision is
a classic, and it should have a prominent place on the records
of every trades union in America. Organized labor can illy af
ford to lose friends like Judge Robert W. Steele.
William J. Bryan is "dead again." This time by the suicide
route, if his enemies are to be believed. Yet the people turn
out by the thousands every time this "corpse" is billed to speak.
And the "corpse" has a confirmed habit of kicking off the coffin
lid every now and then and making life miserable for the
"mourners." They've beaten Bryan three times, but the de
feats cost them millions. Times are always pretty good when
Bryan is a candidate for president, for the "business interests"
are so afraid of his honesty of purpose and his determination
to do the square thing, that they put millions into circulation in
order to defeat him. The name of Bryan, thrice defeated for
the presidency, will be a household word in America long after
the names of a lot of presidents have been forgotten.
Albert Watkins, who is a democratic candidate for senator
from Lancaster county, is a "landmark" in Lincoln, having
come here along about the time Salt Creek was flowing up hill.
He is more familiar with the history of Nebraska, and there
fore with its needs, than any other man in the state. He is an
old time newspaper man, and doubtless is the only managing
editor who ever fired a compositor for making more money
than the managing editor. That was many years ago, during
the life of the old Evening Democrat. Mr. Watkins was the
editor-in-chief, business manager and chief reporter. Harry
Dobbins, now editor of the Evening News, was a compositor
in the Democrat office. Harry was a "swift" in those days.
One pay day Mr. Watkins' attention was called to the size of
Harry's string." It figured up about f 1 more for the week than
the managing editor's salary. Mr. Watkins immediately order
ed that compositor discharged, avowing his unwillingness to
have it said that a printer made more money than an editor.
But if every prnter who makes more money than an editorial
writer or reporter were discharged because of that fact, there'd
be an awful scarcity of printermen around a lot of newspaper
offices in this section of the country.
Horace Philpott, the capable Lincoln correspondent of the
Omaha Bee, used to run a country weekly in central Missouri.
There was a fancy lynching bee in his county once upon a time,
marked by unusual brutality. The victim was a negro and
the offense the usual one, hence the lynching might have been
justifiable. But Philpott wrote an editorial roundly denounc
ing the unusual cruelties inflicted upon his victim, and made
the matter worse by printing a picture of the lynching, scores
of the lynchers being easily recognized. This explains in a
measure why Philpott left Missouri and country journalism.
"Advertisers refuse to patronize a newspaper that has no circu
lation, and as about every head of a family in that county was
a member of the lynching party, I didn't have any subscribers
left," said Philpott in explaining his presence in Lincoln.' "I
am convinced that a country editor should always tell the truth,
but he's a dingblamed fool if he tells all of the truth."
' The other day a long-haired gentleman, inclined to moralizing
and much given to self advertising of his poetic ability, appear
ed in Lincoln and made several addresses. Some of these days
James Barton Adams of Denver, the poet of the Rockies and
one of the cleverest of the newspaper versifiers will condes
cend to turn back to a rather dark page in his history and take
the public into his confidence. When he does he will put a big
puncture into the "poet scout" business. ' v
Mr. Dahlman's remark about a big dancing pavillion on the
occasion of his inauguration recalls a story of Leslie M. Shaw.
Shortly after Shaw was elected governor of Iowa a committee
waited upon him to arrange for the inaugural festivities. After
arranging for the reception, the decorations, etc., the committee
asked: .
"What arrangements would you suggest for the inaugural
ball, governor."
"Inaugural ball !" exclaimed Shaw. "There'll be no inaugural
ball, gentlemen. The incoming governor of Iowa is a
Methodist."
It will be recalled, too, that there was no dancing on the oc
casion of Governor Mickey's inauguration, nor no little dances
in the executive mansion: As a matter of fact, the executive
mansion in Lincoln was a rather chilly place until Mrs. George
Sheldon became its mistress. She kept open house and made
the mansion an always attractive place. Mrs. Shallenberger
and her accomplished daughter have been ideal hostesses, and
the executive mansion under the present administration has
been the scene of many a pleasant reception.
Reverting again to the subject of Mr. Guerdon Wattles, why
is it that he as president of the State League of Republican
Clubs has failed to call a meeting of that organization since
the memorable strike of the Omaha street railway men some
twelve or thirteen months ago?
0 POLITICAL, NOT PARTISAN fl
V
The Nebraska campaign of 1910 will wind up in a blaze of
glory next Monday evening or a shower of mud, most likely
Political campaigns, never Sunday school affairs at best, have
seldom been as full of muck-raking, mudslinging and abuse, to
say nothing of downright misrepresentation, as the present
campaign in Nebraska. Only two men prominent in the cam
paign have kept their minds fixed on national questions, and
strangely enough these two men have nothing in common
Charles O. Whedon and William J. Bryan. Mr. Whedon has
contented himself with exposing Mr. Burkett's shillyshallying
on the tariff question, and Mr. Bryan has discussed that issue
along with political history. The gubernatorial campaign has
been marked by abuse, falsehood and recrimination. And be
cause of the injection of an issue that never had a place in poli
tics, and which could not now be definitely settled in any event,
state issues have been forgotten, a splendid executive has been
turned down, and two candidates for governor offered who lack
consiredably of measuring up to gubernatorial size.
Even Mr. Dahlman's best friends and most ardent supporters
will have to admit that his candidacy has not been strengthened
by his public utterances, although there is considerable doubt
about his having used the words attributed to him by rabid
partisan organs of the. opposition. But Mr. Dahlman, an excel
lent gentleman in many respects, seems utterly unable to un
derstand that Nebraska has outgrown the swashbuckling, slang
slinging, all-night carousing era. Claiming to be a democrat,
Mr. Dahlman frankly admits that because of his own personal
views he would thwart the will of the majority if that will
went contrary to his opinions. Contrasted with this brutal
frankness is Mr. Aldrich's seeming attempt to curry favor in
all quarters by a sort of "good Lord, good Devil" policy. Inso
far as the head of the ticket is concerned the outcome depends
wholly on the personal inclinations of the voters, not upon prin
ciple or upon the personality of candidates. So far as this
paper has been able to observe Clyde J.- Wright, the socialist
candidate for governor, is the only one who has made a cam
paign upon the issues that are of vital concern to the welfare
of the people, and these issues he bas discussed ably, calmty and
forcefully. We may not agree with Mr. Wright on the question
of socialism, but we are satisfied that he would have had an