r :.l I Vol. XIV. LINCOLN, NEB., NOV. 13, 1902. No. 25. A GOOD FIGHT Oat Fopalltt Stat Committer Gives Closing Address Omaha, Neb., Nov. 7, 1902. To the Fusion Voters -of Nebraska: At the opening of this campaign everything was against us and" not even the most sanguine of our party workers be lieved we could win. But we went into the fight hoping at least to cut down the republican majority of two years ago, which was made by imported votes, free railroad transportation and other republican methods. We have been cramped for funds as never before; this retarded the work planned by this committee yery ma terially. Our people seemed to be "dead in the shell" politically. Many party leaders said there was no use to try. Later in the campaign the situation looked more encouraging. It became evident that the fusion ticket would make material gains in the cities and towns where the people began to real ize what it meant to their pocketbooks. We believed the farmers would awake to this fact also and that they would go to the polls and vote. The early returns verified our judgment and in dicated a fusion victory so conclusive that at 10 o'clock election night the republican state committee conceded the election of the fusion state ticket. But when the returns began to come in from the country districts it showed a relative loss and this continued till the battle was lost. The returns do not indicate that the fusion forces have lost any votes; the republicans have made no gains. The facts plainly stated are that 40,000 vot ers did not vote and we have every evi dence that at least 30,000 of these are fusion voters. We desire to say to the populist voters of Nebraska that had Mr, Thompson made one promise demand ed of him by one of the ojowerfuX corporations of this state, that ha would have undoubtedly been elected, But he was true to the people and their interests and answered with an emphatic NO. But the people have been untrue to Mr. Thompson. This is a ; deplorable condition, for it means that ere long it will be impossible to induce a good man, who is free from corporation influence, to accept a nom ination for any office of trust. We can say as did one of the great est leaders of old: "We have fought a good fight; we have finished our course; we have kept the faith." And we are ready to go at them again with renewed vigor. We desire to cordially thank the many party workers who have loyal ly supported our cause, both in the contribution of money and otherwise, rnd we desire to congratulate the boys of Hall, Polk and Douglas counties, Yours for a final triumph of right over might, equality before the law and good government. B. R. B. WEBER, J. R. FARRIS, Chairman Secretary. fsooditfcer ever haw donen'the'tayment rhlch, once under way, will not THOMPSON'S THANKS Fnslon Nominee for Governor Thanks His Supporters In Cheering Tforda To My Friends in Nebraska: I de sire to say that every one of you has my most cordial thanks for the splen did and unfaltering support you gave me in the campaign just closed. The odds were great, considering the oppo sition against us. But that made no difference with your battle and the way in which you talked and wrote and worked for the state ticket. A de feat so worthily contested by the peo pie who are true to the ..elves and the cause, true to the principles so vital to the happines of our state and our nation, is one of which we all may feel proud. And to the press of Nebraska let me add that I recognize the uniform fair ness with which I was treated through out the state. Personally, I appreciate the compliment of having been a standard-bearer on the skirmish line with you -all in the campaign of 1902, and must sincerely thank you for your kindly encouragement and your earn est support. W. II. THOMPSON. Despicable Methods The Lincoln Daily Star (D. E. Thompson's paper) of Saturday, No vember 8, devotes over a column or editorial denouncing the State Jour nal's publication of what purported to be fac similes of annual passes car ried by W. H. Thompson. Of course no person who is accustomed to do his own thinking was deceived by the Journal's forgeries. It was evident that the originals had been made out on purpose and issued to the State Journal instead of to Thompson. The Star seems to think that the railroads had nothing to do with the matter, but that it was all concocted and executed by F. A. Harrison, Harry Lindsay and the State Journal. The Independent be lieves otherwise, and is satisfied that the railroad managers lent their aid to the dirty scheme. After a vain at tempt to get Thompson to say he would not enforce the fusion demand for increased railroad assessment, the Burlington was ready to help along any dirty trick which might lose him some votes. The Star says: "Chairman Lindsay made a mistake when he gave favor to such dirty work as this. He made a mistake when he left in the hands of unprin cipled hangers-on at central commit tee headquarters the planing of 'coups' that are so offensive as to be thoroughly despised by all who like to see fairness and cleanliness in poli tics. He made a mistake when he took the results of a 'tool's' underhand methods, fathered them and sent them over the state as committee 'thunder.' "The preparation of this despicable bit of political filth was the work of one who shines when engaged in such degrading pursuits; it was flaunted in a paper which finds its level only when indulging such . displays of its real inwardness; it was given father hood by a few politicians who are do ing the republican party a greater in jury in practices of this kind than the they are supposed to have performed. Of course the State Journal can do nothing but snarl, as it usually does after being caught in a lie, and it re torts by saying: "The exposure by the republican state central committee of the pass riding habit of the fusion candidate for governor in the late campaign caused deep distress in the heart of every fusionist and every treacherous republican who wanted to see Mr. Mickey defeated." Postmortems will do little good at this time, however. It is not probable that Thompson lost many votes on ac count of the Journal's forgery, but it is refreshing to see a republican pa per like the Star straighten things up a bit. If it will now come out and show that the republican state cen tral committee circulated other equal ly reprehensible lies, one can believe that it really wants to be clean in politics Instead of being animated by a strong desire to "do' the Journal. For example that story about Battle Axe tobacco at the home for the friend less was circulated up to the very last moment, as was also the story that the fusionists run the state in debt some hundred thousand dollars, etc. Patronize our advertisers. Beginning to Beg Edward Rosewater now presents the humiliating spectacle of begging the railroads to be good and "consent to a rational and equitable basis for the taxation of their properties." Ye gods and little fishes, is this the Edward Rosewater who so boldly . went into court to compel a higher railroad as sessment? Is this the Edward Rose water who made a "non-partisan cam paign" for higher railroad assessments and gave support to republican state candidates whom he knew would make no adequate increase? It hardly seems possible, and yet it is the same man. Listen to his pleading: The railroad corporations In Nebras ka could take no wiser course than to consent to a rational and equitable basis for the taxation of their prop erties. It must be apparent to those who control their affairs that they can not hope long to maintain the present status, so unjust to the great body of the taxpayers of the state. The ut most within the bounds of possibility for them to accomplish would be to postpone for a very little time the pay ment of the just share of the tax bur den which they have so long succeed ed in escaping. The Bee puts this proposition to the railroad corporations on the ground of their own interest For them at this juncture to precipitate a desperate struggle to beat the lax roll,, to main tain an army of lobbyists, agents and attorneys, to plunge into litigation and an elaborate system of manipulation of the state government, wil be enorm ously expensive to the railroads them selves. The cost of such a campaigr. would go far toward paying the pro portion of taxes which is fairly due. and which in spite of anything the roads can do will ultimately have to be paid anyhow. Resistance on the part of the com panies will certainly exasperate the people. The facts demonstrating thj tax discriminations against them are too glaring and patent to be longer concealed or glossed over or obscured by false issues, no matter how cun ningly trumped up or to be explained away. It is utterly impossible to break down the force of the truth. To at tempt to seduce and manipulate the government under these conditions would require means so gross and ob noxious that popular agitation would spread like wildfire. It would be moon struck madness for the railroad cor porations of Nebraska now to provoke such a situation. The railroads can richly afford to pay the same ratio of taxes that other property pays. They receive a lavish share of the benefit of the govern ment in police protection and in other ways no other property in the state so large a share. But they cannot so well afford to have the people of Ne braska lay a rough hand on the rate making power, as has been done under far less provocation in Iowa, Texas and some other states. It is easier to excite than to regulate a popular agi tation, and the carrier corporations should beware how they exasperate the people of Nebraska Into a move- stop merely with a reform of assess ment, but will inevitably go the full length of overhauling transportation rates a most serious fact for the com panies if they will stop to think of it. The people would be only too glad to meet the railroad corporations more than half way for a reasonable accom modation. Such an adjustment, while relieving the roads of the vast expense involved in continuous political man ipulations, would secure permanent comfort to both parties and go far to elevate the plane of Nebraska politics. A Rallying Cry Although The Independent cannot agree with the conclusions of the Mis souri World as to matters of history, especially anything which would tend to show that Bryan ever Intentionally did anything for the purpose of dis organizing the people's party, yet we are in hearty accord with the World that "the great issues still are: Green backs instead of bank money; and gov ernment railroads Instead of corpora tion railroads. The Independent is in hearty accord with the World in say ing, "Let every greenbacker and pop ulist stand true to the people's party and begin now the battle of 1904." There Is not a particle of doubt that the growth of the people's party stopped in 1896 after the Chicago platform was adopted. Whether that platform was a shrewd device of the money power, as the World avers, we do not know. But we are satisfied that Bryan was and Is sincere in his advocacy of that platform. Several million men are sincere in their be lief in the principles therein enun ciated, and a great many of them go the whole way with the populists on the railroad and money questions. What they will do if the democratic convention of 1904 either expressly re pudiates or straddles or ignores the Chicago and Kansas City platforms, no man can tell; but it is not hard to see that the populist organization ought to be kept up. As the World truly says, "Millions of men agreeing on what they want cannot be kept sep arated long." THE EQUIVALENT RETURN , Mr. Jonas Argues for Pa bile Owaerskip f Monopoly Editor Independent: Industrial jus tice is attained when all workers se cure an equivalent return for their la bor. This is possible only when mo nopoly is open to none or Is free to all. The philosophy of the competitive industrial system is, that under It, the law of supply and demand will allot the equivalent return to all, because if one Industry secured more profitable returns than another, effort would be attracted to it, causing surplus and cheapening; also depletion with great er cost, until the equilibrium was re stored. This system would have ap proximated industrial justice had all thought of monopoly been utterly re jected by all, for monopoly renders the law of supply and demand inoperative, hence establishes unequal returns, for some industries are more easily and quickly monopolized than others, and some are not susceptible to monopoly at all. The unequal returns are now shown forth in the billions accruing to monopoly, and the bread and water standard of living, forced upon the workers, because they were compelled to keep the bond of the competitive system. Monopoly of land or the ma terial forces, that-admitted no rights of the unborn. Monopoly of the pub lic offices, open only to those fresh from college, and under 45 years of age. Tariff monopolies, fostered at enormous expense, now grown big enough to defy the nation, and "hold up' its necessities. Monopoly of the means of production and distribution, whereby they control employment, and dictate the wage and vote. Thus mo nopoly has destroyed the competitive industrial system, plundered the peo ple, deprived them of liberty, and betrayed the country. When a few Industrialjmlts broke the national 1)onaBlndlngEem "all;"" they became guilty of industrial trea son and it is proper for the people lft their governmental capacity to. war upon, and compete with them Indus trially, by the production and sale of commodities and smash them. Just as they do all public enemies. It is in the constitution of things that only the law of supply and de mand, will determine the just and equivalent return to all. There are two ways to establish it: retain the com petitive system, and totally eliminate monopoly. This is now an utter im possibility. Second, make monopoly public, that it may be equally open to all; substitute co-operation for com petition, and thus restore the law of supply and demand, which works as follows: Who wants to be judge, 'at $7,000, 3 hours daily labor, and 10 weeks holiday, with pay? The enorm ous "supply" would quickly make the terms less engaging. Who wants to drop dead from an electric light pole at $9 a week? The limited "supply" would make the terms more engaging. And thus the "equivalent return" would be accurately determined for all. We prate of our advanced civiliza tion, and pretend to study the genesis of crime with employment (which includes morals, liberty and life) In private control, bah! Organized labor Is now strong enough to win as the plundered peo-: pie's champion. Let them capture the law making power, with the soft po litical snaps. Let all editors with a conscience, open their columns to the people, for the consideration of these vital questions, and "supply and de mand" will be made permanent, the promise of God become visible, and "a man made more precious than fine gold." Isaiah, 13:12. LEVIN T. JONES. . 202 W. Barre st., Baltimore, Md. It was the stay-at-home vote that done the business. There were six hundred le3S votes cast than were cast a year ago. J. P. Hale, in Red Cloud Nation. With a republican majority of 25 in the senate and 62 in the house, the beet sugar interest ought to have no trouble in getting an appropriation to pay off those old warrants and claims that piled up when 'Gene Moore was auditor. Then, too, here is the chance of a lifetime for Bill Dorgan to get pay for that "contract" the state relieved him of some years ago. Of course, Mickey would sign the bills. The Independent Is pleased to noto that Frank J. Tavlor was elected coun ty attorney In Howard county.