STRANGE S1LKNCB
After having made two national
campaigns with silver as the para
mount Issue, it is 'strange that the
democratic party la not alive to the
present situation. Congress at the
last session provided for the purchase
of enough silver bujlion to coin five
million new pesos for the Philippines.
A3 soon as the government began to
purchase, the price of silver bullion
began to rise but the great demo
cratic dallies took no note of the fact
editorially and in their headlines over
the press dispatches announcing the
rise in price seemed to be imbued with
the idea that it was sun spots or some
equally occult thing which had starteJ
silver on the up grade again.
The following, quoted from the
Philadelphia Public Ledger, is worth
noticing: '
Washington, D. C, April 28.
Since the last government pur
chase of silver, on Thursday last,
the metal has gone up 2 cents,
and treasury officials are begin
ning to apprehend further ad
"vances in the price. There were
475,000 ounces bought yesterday by
the director of the mint, at an -average
of 54.46 cents an ounce.
Some was bought at 54 and some
v at 54.375 cents.
The average is 5 cents above
what was paid when the -first
purchases were made, on account
of the new coinage for the Philip
pines. The increase was unex
pected by treasury officers. They
fear that silver may go above the
coinage value of the new coins
to be provided for the Philippines.
The advance is not likely, it is
said, to cause the island govern
ment any serious losses in values,
because the large quantity of Mex
ican silver on hand will appreciate .
as bullion goes up.
Should silver go up 5 cents more
' an ounce pesos will be hoarded in
the Philippines, it is believed. The
explanation given at the treasury
of the advance in price is that it
is caused by the purchases to pro
vide the 5,000,000 new pesos for
the Philippines.
Populists always insisted that the
real question was and is the money
question not simply the question of
silver and any man with an ounce
of brains must have known that with
Uncle Sam In the market for several
million ounces of silver, the price wa3
sure to rise. .Why doesn't some dem
ocratic paper break the silence and
say something about silver?
What is the use of ever holding an
. election in any city or state where
there are two or more parties if ev-
" ery man is to always "vote 'er
straight?" .One election would set
tle the whole matter for a generation
at least. If the republicans had, the
majority, they might as well meet and
name the men .to hold offices among
themselves and the remainder of the;
community not bother themselves
about government at all. The fact is
that this country is not governed by
the men who "vote 'er straight," but
by the independent voters, the men
who are not slaves to any party. There
is nothing more disgusting to a sensi
ble person than to hear a man boast-
ing that "I am a democrat" or "I am
a repuuiicuu. liiai is Biuiyij iu an
nounce that he has no principles of
his own and he is led to the polls with
a ring in his nose by the few men who
manage party affairs and make plat
forms. , The rate of wages and the "labor
cost" of production are tw5 entirely
different things. ' For years The Inde
pendent, has Insisted (and the sound
" ness of the assertion no man who has
investigated the question could truth-
fully deny) that the labor cost of pro
- Auction -In the United states is less
than that in any other nation. That
. has resulted from the superior intelli
gence of American workmen and labor-saving
machinery. , The claim that
we must have a high protective tariff
to equalize the cost of production be
tween this and European countries
has no foundation in truth at all. Ev
ery man who has ever employed labor
knows; that; the highest price wprk-
- men are very often by far the cheap-
est '
i ,, - 1 p
HAIL ORDERS ATTENDED TO ON SAME DAY RECEIVED fe
: : . ; cj
V , v .;. ..; -r. z-. . - &
Lincoln
Nebraska
FURNISH YOUR HOME WITH OUR
Carpet
Curtains
S.RUgSy
READ ABOUT THE MONEY SAVING PRICES
Beginning this week and continuing for two weeks we are offering special inducements to
home-women to buy . Carpet and Curtain Furnishings of us. This is the time when every
household is being cleaned from top to bottom. There are many new things to be bought.
You would probably like to save on some of them, would you? Every thrifty housewife does.
A glance over these items will convince you of the good values we're offering. We are re
modeling our big store. The moving of stock from one part of the store to another, incident
to remodeling time, is an occasion for many bargains in different departments. Don't fail
to avail yourself of this opportunity to buy at big savings. Read on.
CARPETS
GRANITE CARPET 36 inches wide, good fast colors,
new spring patterns, a regular 35 cent value for
yard. . . -28o
ALL-WOOL CARPET We show many pleasing de
signs in these carpets which you can buy at a
saving of 11 cents per yard. Price during the
sale, yard 49c
BEST ALL-WOOL extra super two-ply Carpet, 50
patterns to select from, regular 75 cent carpet,
specially priced for, yard ". 65 C
SMITH'S VELVET CARPET in Persian, Floral,
and Oriental patterns,will be sold at, yard $1 10
BRUSSELS CARPET Many of these carpets you
can secure on very favorable terms, we are anx
ious to dispose of them to make room for new
lines. That's why we are selling them at a re
duction of over one-third off. Regular price is
C5c a yard, sale price, yard.. ... 39c
CURTAINS
NOTTINQHAfl LACE CURTAINS Good width
and 3b yards long, regular price is $2.25 per
pair, sale price, pair $1 25
NOTTINGHAn CURTAINS-GO inches wide and 3J
yards loDg, that are worth 11.00 will sell for,
pair............ ......$2 98
BRUSSELS NET CURTAINS Durable net, good"
width and length, sells regularly for $5.00 sale
price, pair.... ....$3 75
CABLE NET CURTAINS Strong twisted cord, a
beautiful curtain of excellent wearing quality,
worth $150, will be, pair ............ ..'.$5 OO
RUGS
GOOD SMYRNA RUGS Size 27x51 inches, the
regular $1.65 rug, will be marked for.each 01 10
AXMINSTER RUGS Size 30x00 inches, worth
$2.35, special price 95
PORTIERES
ROPE PORTIERES Extra width, large cord and
tassels, and heavy netted lattice top, our regular
$3.50 portiere, will sell for. t'i .T.r. ..... . .$2 50
HEAVY DAMASK PORTIERES Extra quality
mercerized silk, worth $7.50, sale price. .$6 OO
CHENILLE PORTIERS In red and green, that
are worth $4.50, will sell for, pair $3 25
The supreme court of New York has
handed down an unanimous decision
declaring the law to assess franchises
is constitutional. It will add over
$10,000,000 to the income "of the cities
where these franchises have been
granted. . If New York can tax fran
chises of street railrpads, gas and
electric companies, why should not
Nebraska do the same where the con
stitution expressly provides for it A
few poles and some miles of wire of
a telephone or telegraph company is
not the basis of their value. ir a
company only owned the poles , and
wire without any franchise then only
their value should be taxed. But it
owns something else far more valu
able. That value is transferable and
is sold in the open market every day
in the year. Why should it not be
taxed the same as other things of
value?
At one time in his early life John
Stuart Mill was overcome by despond
ency. The cause of it was that he
noticed that the most cogent and con
vincing logic failed to convince or
even make an impression upon the
educated audiences which he ad
dressed. He came to the conclusion
that there vas no hope for people so
constituted, and give up in despair.
It took him a long time to recover
from this state of feeling. If he had
been alive and taken part in the dis
cussions of the last two presidential
campaigns, tlv? probability is that ho
never would have recovered. The
barren, abstract vagueness of the pro
positions defended by the ruling party
expressed in such terms as "good
money," "sound money," "money of
the world" and like meaningless noth
ings was enough to make any one de
spondent. As banking is all "confidence" from
whatever point it is viewed, there is
nothing gained by the juggling figures
that are so often printed in the pa
pers. The Independent is glad to note
that there is a set of bankers in one
city, that has dropped the old-fashioned
lie contained in most of the re
ports. The bankers of the city of Den
ver recently . made a statement that
the ordinary farmer can understand
without assistance and without figur
ing over the matter for an hour. It
stated that the amount of deposits
was 340,385,f50;, bonds and stocks,
?10.843,307; loans,. $21,251,421; CASH
ON HAND, $19,957,950. There is no
chance with such a report as that for
some reporter to declare that the peo
ple of Denver have $60 cash per capit a
deposited in the banks. Such a dec
laration is usually appended to every
bank report piinted in republican pa
pers. But then they are so in the
habit of lying that probably thoy
can't help it
According to George D. Perkins of
the Sioux City Journal; Senator Alli
son is hard 'at work on that plank of
the coming republican platform in
Iowa which shall say that the tariff
shall not be a shelter for the trust3
and it shall be a shelter for the trusts,
so that it will be satisfactory to both
wings of the party. How quick the
trusts can make a republican office
holder lay down is shown in the ac
tion of Governor Cummins. He's for
harmony" now. ,
that the people's party entered upon
its introduction to the world. It was
an unoccupied field, neglected alike
by economists and statesmen. The
great agent3 of the distribution of
wealth are land, transportation and
money. With these rightly con
trolled, the immense fortunes, that
now threaten the welfare of the re
public, would never have been accumu
lated and the mass of the people
would have had a greater share in
the wealth that has been produced.
This is the field that populism has oc
cupied and it is for the best interests
of mankind that it should continue to
occupy it The necessities of the peo
ple call for the continued existence of
the people's party and it will be
maintained. - It is the only, party that
points the way to a more equltabis
distribution ofweajth-
Everything ir. the Philippines seems
to have beau cn the speculation or
der. Some of these speculations beat
all the promoters from Morgan down.
One of them was to confine the na
tives as prisoners of war In camp?,
get money from congress to feed them
and then sell to them rice bought with
the money furnished from America,
at an extortionate price. That was a
"dead sure thing."
A communication from the Young
Men's Educational club, New 'York
city, says: "The Young Men's Educa
tional club conduct a free library and
reading rooms at 319 East 4th street,
in the heart of a thickly populated
district These reading rooms are ex
tensively patronized, and we aim to
keep on our flies a supply of all pub
lications. Our means, however, are
limited as yet. We would greatly ap
preciate the donation of any of your
publications, and .are confident that
your favor would reap a return in a
substantial manner by the advertise
ment received by placing such pub
lications on our tables." The Inde
pendent gladly places this club on
its list for a complimentary copy reg
ularly
The interstate commerce commis
sion, just as lake transportation was
beginning, declared that railroad rates
on grain were too high. It is the cus
tom of the roads to reduce rates upon
the opening of lake navigation, but
the managers now say that they won'i
do it for the action will be construed
as obeying th,e interstate commerce
commission. That shows how much
that c.ostlv rommisskm amounts tn.
The railroads do not now " and never
have paid any more attention to lis
suggestions and orders than the,
would to those of a Nebraska farmer
The commission furnishes some snug
life positions to a few, political pets
at $5,000 a year and that is all. . .