JANUARY 8, 1903.
THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT.
THE MEDICINE MAN
In reply to a letter received some
time ago from an ardent admirer of
The Independent, the editor wishes to
say that he never doubted that many
wonderful cures have been'effected by
what are called "mind healers." Ev-
ery student of medicine for 100 years
has been taught that the power of sug
gestion can kill a man in perfect
health. There have been many well
attested instances of it. If suggestion
can kill, he can see no reason why it
cannot also cure.
"Amid savage tribes," says Brinton,
"in undoubted and repeated instances,
the curse kills as certainly as the
fcnife. Among the western Indians of
our country, when a medicine man
'gathers his medicine,' that is, rises
tj the full height of inspired volition,
and utters a withering curse upon his
antagonist, commanding him to die,
the latter knows all hope is lost.
Sometimes he drops dead on the spot,
or at best lingers through a few days
of misery."
Such facts have been so well estab
lished, not only among Indians, but
among whites as well, that no well
informed person longer disputes them.
To what extent this power of mind can
be used for the healing of disease is a
disputed question. No one disputes
that it can be so used or that in cer
tain types of disease that it has
proved very effective, especially so in
nervous complaints and certain kinds
tumors. When it comes to setting
up a theory that is not in harmony
with reason, experience or existing
conditions and which contradicts the
evidence of the senses, that is another
matter altogether. That is a field into
which The Independent will not enter.
DID THE TAKIFF DO IT?
Those beautiful isles of the southern
seas, where Beveridge told us that
one could pick up nuggets of gold
along the creeks, are giving even such
imperialists as the New York Tribune
serious thoughts these days. Notwith
standing - that the Almighty threw
them in our lap, that destiny made it
imperative that the Declaration of In
dependence and the constitution
should be torn in shreds, that they
were necessary to make us a world
power, and ever so many other things
'of like nature, the fact is, they have
indeed been made "a howling wilder
ness." A famine rages there. The
cattle have died, cholera has carried
off more than 100,000, leprosy is
spreading, the bubonic plague has a
firm foothold and smallpox is more
virulent than ever. Congress seems
tc have concluded that the Dingley
tariff did it and is going to reduce the
duties 75 per cent. The Independent
has a very poor opinion of the Ding
ley tariff, but it don't believe that
that is what is the matter with the
Philippines. The distress is the direct
result of the imperialistic policy
adopted by this government. It is
imperialism the overthrowing of the
fundamental doctrines upon which the
government of the republic was
founded that has resulted 'in this
heretofore unheard of misery and dis
tress. The tariff did not do it, and a
modification of the tariff will not re
lieve it. Nothing but distress and dis
ease could follow such a war as was
waged in the Philippines.
DIVIDE AND CONQUER
Every reform party and organiza
tion is divided into factions and votes
for different candidates. This has
for the most part been accomplished
by the use of money by the leaders of
the republican party. That party has
factions, but they all always vote the
same ticket for the same candidates.
The Chicago Tribune has advocated
tariff reform for years, but it always
supported the republican ticket Gov
ernor Cjnmins and his "Iowa idea" is
diametrically opposed to the republi
can policies, but Governor Cummins
r and his followers vote 'er straight ev
ery time. It is by this method that
the republican party holds power.
But in the democratic party it is
different A section of it for the last
six years has voted the republican
ticket. The few votes thus cast are
not of vital importance there have
not been enough of them to change
the result at any time but it ha3 dis
credited the party and has prevented
hundreds of thousands from voting
the democratic ticket who would oth
erwise have done so, jso this division
has very serious results.
The people's party has been divided
and its followers have voted for dif
ferent candidates. The socialists have
been divided and have failed to sup
port the same ticket The labor or
ganizations, while " fighting' govern
ment by injunction and most of the
policies of the republican party, have
divided their vote. So it has been all
along the line.
It must be evident to every m::n
who has common sense that as long as
this condition of affairs continues the
republican party will stay in power
and the trusts, banks and corporations
will rule. The organization of a new
party will not alter this state of af
fairs in the least, or, if it has any
effect at all it will make it worse. The
only way out of this difficulty is for
all those who are opposed to trusts,
exorbitant tariffs, imperialism, gov
ernment by injunction, discrimination
of the railroads and the concentration
of wealth in few hands to vote one and
the same ticket There is no other
way. If any man thinks there is any
other way The Independent would be
pleased to receive a statement irom
him.
SPEAKER MOCKETT
The editors and management of The
Independent are well pleased to see
John H. Mcckett, jr., chosen by the
republican caucus for speaker of the
house. Personally he is a pleasant gen
tleman to meet and will doubtless
'made a better presiding officer than
:-me of his republican opponents.
But aside from any personal friend
liness toward Mockett the man, The
Independent befieves that his election
ought to convince the most ardent re
publican anti-monopolist that he can
have nothing to expect from-the re
publican party in Nebraska. Mockett's
election is a decided victory for the
Burlington railroad, a victory for the
Lincoln Daily Star, a victory for D. E.
Thompson.
The absence of so-many of the old
timers and the presence of so many
new faces among the republican mem
bers of the legislature caused some
anti-Thompsonites to believe that
they had finally won. Perhaps more
than half of all the republican mem
bers did make their campaigns to
some extent with the understanding,
either expressed or implied, that they
would resist the dictations of the Bra
zilian minister; but they fell into his
snares.
Mockett's election is a hard, blow
on the poor, old State Journal. It is a
hard blow, too, on those republicans
who supposed they could smash the
machine. It will be a hard blow on
those republicans who supposed that
their party can stop railroad tax
shirking and railroad freight robbery.
Senator Morgan has go'; the situa
tion in regard to trusts down to a fine
point. In a late interview concerning
democratic an! republican leaders, he
said: "Whichever party i? out of pow
er cries out against the octopus;
whichever party is in power hugs the
octopus to its breast." Mr. Morgan
has been in a good place to observe
party leaders" for many years.
One set of scientists declare that the
coal of the world will be exhausted
within 300 years. Another set say that
between petroleum and the improved
methods of producing cheap alcohol,
.that coal mining will be abandoned
within the next twenty years because
it will not pay. These scientists are
great fellows, especially Professor
Jenks. ' - '
RIGGS' PHARMACY.
Only a few days until we will be at 1319 O street, and we now offer you
the greatest cut ia drug commodities in the history of drug slashing.
Cut Price
;. DRUGS
o e
Grave's Tooth Powder 19c
Pear's Soap J3q
Beecham's Pills 19c
Carter's Little Liver Pills. 15c
Danderine . .' 19c
Zozodont or Rubifoam . . . 19c
Violet America . ... 19c
Merk's Sugar of Milk 39c
Prophyloctic Tooth Brush. . . . . -29c
Castoria ....25c
Creme Marquise 39c
Orange Flower Skin Food 39c
Rigtfs' Kidney Cure 37c
Hay's Hair Health 39c
Swamp Root 39c
Syrup of Figs.... 39c
Stuart's Dyspepsia Tablets 39c
Omega Oil 39c
Malted Milk .".39c
Scott's Emulsion. . -39c
Murine for the Eyes. .......... .39c
p.,.,.? tr a a m
jtjl uuu, or o. ............ . titc
Pepto Mangan 89c
Green's Nervuna .....79c
Hood's Sarsaparilla.... . ... . ...64c
Warner's Sale Cure "79c
Vin Mariani ............ $1 Ofcl
Ayer's Hair Vigor.... ... ..79c
Cook's Hnir Tonic (54c
Solid Back Hair Brush 49c
Yale's Fruitcura 79c
Yale's Hair Tonic. ... ..... . . , . .79c
Syrup of I Jypophosphites. ..... -79c
Pierce's Prescription 04c
Pierce's Discovery , ftdn.
Prescriptions SSrice.
The enormous increase in our prescription business h sufficient proof
that Riggs' prices are right and that we have the confidence of the people.
We guarantee absolute purity and accuracy. We employ fifteen cloAs four
of whom are registered pharmacists. ,
Perfumes cVPTceLowest
Our stock of perfumes is the most complete in Lincoln. To lovers of del
icate perfumes we recommend Violet's (pronounced Ve-o lay.) This is the
ideal perfume. I erfect in every sense. Don't fail to try it. One ounce is
equal to a pound of ordinary perfume.
Mail
Orders
Solicited.
Riss9Cut Rate Pharmacy
Add 25c for
Boxing and
Dray age.
MOVED TO 1321 O STREET.
The right of the government to take
property from one owner, give a title
to it to another owner has had sey
eral applications during the last week.
Many hundred carloads of coal be-,
longing to private parties in urgent
need of it, have been taken . ,by the
railroads under the law granting them
that right. If the railroads can take
coal belonging to private owners and
convert it to .their own use, the gov
ernment can certainly take te rail
roads,, when the public welfare de
mari'ds it. (wvxssN
The rise in freight rates caused a
fall: in the price of grain of 2 cents a
bushel. Every farmer who raises
5,000 bushels of corn conlributes $100
to the-railroads to reimburse them for
the money the roads paid out to re
deem the state of Nebraska. The
dwellers in cities contribute like
amounts on goods which they con
sume. Meantiint the disbursement t?
common schools is greatly reduced and
every mullet head is happy as well as
that class of men who declare that
there was "nothing to vote for" at the
last election.
It seems that many of the business
men of London have recognized the
inevitable and have annexed Canada to
the United States. The Canadian pa
pers state that large numbers of let
ters are received in the Dominion
from business men in London ad
dressed to Canada, U. S. A. It will,
however, not do to give full credence
to that conclusion, the business men
of the tight little island have so long
believed that it was the main part of
the world, that they have very hazy
ideas of where the rest of the world
lies, and instead of thinking that Can
ada has been annexed, they have no
idea on the subject at all. It is just
pure, undefiled ignorance. .
wwvwl
A Porto Rican student at Cornell in
a lettci to the press vigorously pro
tests against being called an 'appur
tenance" to the United States, but he
will have to accept the station which
it has pleased God to place him in.
This race, though it is the worst con
glomeration of different bloods ever
known, is the superior race which Di
vine Providence has chosen to rule
inferior races and Justice Brown was
the inspired and chosen mouthpiece
of the Lord to declare that Porto Rico
was an "appurtenance." So that set
tles it. ss
Mr. Starkey's revival of General
Weaver's apt illustration of the work
ings of "an elastic currency" is time
ly. The principle is wrong. Instead
of a currency that stretches and gets :
bigger when pi ices start upward, it
should act just the 'other way. Hon
est money., is money that .will pur
chase, year after year' atout the same
amount of commodities on the aver
age. An expanding currency robs the
creditor and a contracting currency
robs the debtor. With the issue of
currency - controlled hy the bank,
self-interest dictates that whenever,
prices have -an upward tendency th'o
bankers issue more and thus intensify
what they ought to check; and when
prices start down again, self-interest
dictates that they should contract, an1
intensify the downward movement.
Nothing but ab&olute government con
trol, of the currency will ever remedy
the difficulty.
The plutocratic dailies still declare
that there are "good trusts." That sort
of thing they define as follows: "A
great aggregation of capital engaged
in the production of gocd3 of some
sort which by the combination they
are able and do produce and sell cheap
er than if the combination did not'
exist." Since the Standard Oil trust
has obtained control of the Beaumont
and Louisiana oil fields it has raised
prices $1 a barrel. Is the Standard
Oil trust a good trust?
Every displacement of silver mean3
a lessening of the standard of living
in an me unent That standard,
however, is now so low that a further
reduction means starvation to vast
multitudes, a thing which has already;
occurred in India, and is on the verge
of occurring in the Philippines. It is.
no use to remonstrate with the human
monsters of finance who have planned
that thing, on ethical grounds. The
only appeal to which they will listen
must come from an opposite quarter.
If these millions of Asia and the Asi
atic r.rchipelagoes arc reduced in their
standard of living, it will have a 'reflex
action on the manufacturing nations,
for the orientals will be able to buy no
more goods.
In these days of plutocracy and
trusts a race track jockey gets a sal
ary of from $10,000 to $18,000, while a
president of a university gets from
$3,000 to $6,000.
The southern papers are making it
hot for Brer Watterson for having sug--gested
Gorman for the presidency.
They say that Watterson has assaulted
every democrat who ever favored pro
tection and now takes up Gorman, the
greatest protectionist in the United
States and besides that a tool of the
trusts and is the man who made a
monkey of the Wilson tariff bill.
