CURT COMMENT OF THE TIMES
Senator Alberts of Platte arose in his seat in the senate chamber shirtsleeves and chewing tobacco. At former sessions a flock of
last Monday afternoon and gave utterance to a great truth. "I am pretty girls around the clerks' room meant that a lot of the legislators
of the candid opinion," said Senator Alberts, "that the senators often had . more business in there than they had on' the floor of the house,
take themselves too seriously." In the course of his remarks Senator Result: The girls didn't perform the work the state paid them to
Alberts said other good things, but the above quotation is worthy do, and the legislators neglected the business they were sent here
of being carried in mind at all times. Looking back over some to attend to.' When one goes to the office of the chief clerk of the
thirteen or fourteen sessions with which the writer has had more house now one is impressed with the idea that' the state's business
or less acquaintance, we fail to recall any one of them which per- is "being' attended to : There is more work and less conversation than
formed a work calculated to send its members down into history as usual.- "'-For ''all' of 'which Henry C. 'Richmond deserves the' hearty
.constructive statesmen. 'If wewere called upon to, name r"any. one!' "thanks of a taxridden people. : ' ' '; "' -r .--.
session productive of " really "great "results . we " wpuid name rth"e leg?-" iU : "- -f-i r- :w. -. : . , , s.:-.i-..z
islature of 1891. , That may sound like a joke, to some people,' but ' - TverybddywuT rejoice over the 'announcement that the Mariners
the fact remains that the "pop" legislature of. 1891" marked the beand Merchants'- Insurance Company will avoid a receivership. : ''The
ginning of the era of political reform in this state. affairs of the company will be taken over by a strong combination
" of men, and the business of the concern will go right along. Only
Legislators are prone to "take themselves too seriously." We a temporary delay will ensue, and in the meantime the interests
greatly fear that the average legislator imagines that he is the whole of the policyholders will be thoroughly protected. Too much credit
thing instead of being merely the rather low-salaried servant of the not be given to Auditor Barton for the part he has taken in
people. As long as a legislator realizes and acts upon the assump- this matter. Mr. Barton worked day and night to untangle the trou
tion that he is merely the hired servant of the people, he usually aad his work has resulted in the saving of a lot of money to
performs pretty good service . It is when he imagines that he is a the people, to say nothing of having saved the community from the
sort of keeper of the public conscience, or a sort of almoner for the cnus Gf a heavy -business failure,
people, that he swells up and becomes a nuisance. Of course we have
none such in the present legislature but we have had them of former When the grave and dignified senators and representatives of
years. Nebraska visited the South Omaha packing houses last Tuesday
' they were, according to the newspaper reporters, "shown through
The present legislature has, of course, overlooked an opportunity cvery department of the big packing plants." Of course they were
to inaugurate a great and needed reform. We say "of course," uot. They are departments in every big packing house that no one
for we long since ceased to expect the legislature to do it. Reference saye employes ever sees, and which no one but habituated employes
is made to the matter of legislative employes. There are about as couM stand The legislators saw the show place features of the
many employes as there are members, and as a matter of fact there packing plants, that is all. Just why any sane person should want
are so many that they get in one another's road, perform" about as tQ gQ a big packing plant is a question for alienists to
much service as one-half the number could perform better and much decide The sight of blood and slaughter; the smelI of offalj
more quickly. A legislative visitor can not turn around without . spectade Gf dumb brutes being ruthlessly slaughtered what is there
stumbling over some employe, who is waiting for something to do attractive about aI1 that? The packing industry is tremendously
and hoping it will never show up. vital to this COUntry, but isn't it really one of the industries that
- should be rather scluded, insofar as public visitation is concerned?
A private institution that would clutter up its place of business
with as many useless clerks as one may find around the legislature. Nebraskans go to Oregon or Washington, pay a thousand dollars
would land up in the bankruptcy court in short order. Of course aa acre for orchards, and then work Hke nailers. Of course they
the state is in no such danger, for the legislature need only to raise make good money After they have invested that much money in
a little more taxes and pay off all the Toms, Dicks and Harrys it orchard they feel like working. Yet the truth is that the same
sees fit to employ. The truth is that the legislative session not only of work on an orchard in Nebraska would yield better results
costs double what it ought to cost, but it lasts just twice as long as for the reason that the fixed investment would be smaller. The best
it ought to last. Maybe some of these days we'll reach that advanced orchard lands in the world are right here in Nebraska. The trouble
stage of business sense that will permit us to run a state's business is that has been too littIe attention paid to the scientific culti-
just like a private business is run. Corporations do not put favorites vation of them A Iot of men have idea that is to an
on the payroll, and there is no reason why a state should do so. orchard is the planting of the trees, and then waiting for the apples
to ripen. As a result of this policy Nebraska orchards have dete-
Take the committee on enrossed and engrossed bills in the house, riorated through fungus and scale and other diseases,
for example. Three expert typewriter operators could do the work i
better and faster than the big bunch of political favorites that the Eighteen or twenty years ago a little corporation was formed
committee has put on the payroll at $3 per day. But the bills must hl a southeastern Nebraska county for the purpose of orcharding,
all be engrossed in long hand, according to the constitution, which A forty-acre apple orchard was set out. After the trees reached
was adopted in the days of antiquity. The only purpose that law bearing age the owners imagined that all they had to do was to sit
serves is to enable legislators to get friends on the state payrolls. around and wajt for the dividends. There were none, for the orchard
Eighteen or twenty clerks at $3 a day trying to do the work-that Kever yielded, any commercial apples. It was a poor investment,
three good typewriters could do at say $5 a day each is an expensive and the men in the corporation were fixed in their opinion that or
and uncalled-for luxury. And every day above sixty that a legislature chafing jn Nebraska would never would be profitable. They man
remains in session is a day too long. Let's pay the legislator say aged to pay taxes on the orchard by selling the hay and allowing
S10 a day for sixty days, and then fine them $20 a day for each day me man to usi the few measly little apples for cider. A year ago
above sixty that they remain in session. a couple of young men who had studied horticulture made a propo-
v . " . . sition to lease that orchard. The proposition looked good to the
Chief Clerk Richomnd of the house has inauguarated a reform owners, who thought they had found a couple of "easy marks."
that we hope will be permanent. He has declined to appoint any The. two young men leased the orchard and then went to work on it.
women clerks in his department. This is not because Mr. Richmond They pruned, they sprayed, they cultivated. The orchard yielded
is averse to the society of the "fair sex, for he is something of a quite a crop last season quite a sizeable crop. Those two young
. society man himself, but because he wants the state's business trans- men, after paying their lease, buying their spraying apparatus and
acted promptly. He is getting results under his new policy for the paying all claims for labor, but a little over $8,000 on their side of
simple reason that no one wants to sit around and flirt or talk non- the bank books, and they have a few thousand bushels of choice
sense to a lot of male men who are very apt to be sitting in their apples yet in cold storage. Stock in that orchard corporation has
