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About The independent. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 15, 1903)
THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT OCTOBER 15, 1903. so. The opinion is' by Judge Sullivan. Here again he stood for the Interests ot the people. in State vs. rrank, 60 Neb. 355, lu supreme court was -asked to hold that the law fixing the alarjrof the clerk of the district court in certain counties and . requiring, all fees oyer and above tfie salary and expenses of the office to be paid into the county treasury was void. The court refused to do so ill an opinion written-by Judr a Sulli van, which can be found 60 Neb. 355. Here against the judge took his posi tion in behalf of the people and against a privileged class. The enor mous income derived by clerks of the district courts of large counties under the fee system, together with many of the petty oppressions of which the clerks were guilty in the collection of their fees, was 'a matter of constant cbmplajnt. A large lobby was em ployed by the clerKs to prevent the passage of the bill. The lobby failed, the clerks then asked the court to do what the lobby could not do. This opinion is also worthy of note because it shows that Judge Sullivan is not only a just man and a learned judge, but a ma of good literary at tainments. The following extract from the opinion shows this: . "The sheet containing the record of the vote on House Roll 251, the bill here in question, indicates that some other paper was once fastened to it r ith a pin. The other paper, . . which, according to the evidence, showed the yea "and nay vote, is gone; the pin hsd disappeared and counsel for respondent insist that the law has gono with it." "And these ; things,' says Victor Hugo, in Les Miserables, 'took place, and the kings regained their thrones, and " the master of Europe was put in a cage and the old regime became the - new, and the light and the shadows of the earth changed places, because, on the afternoon of a summer day a peasant boy said to a Prussian in a wood, "Go this way, and not that." ' Those were momentous conse quences of a trival and common place event; but if we were to adopt the views of ..counsel for respondent, we would have in this state a con dition of affairs capable of produc ing at any time, and likely to pro jduce at some time, a- situation which would exhibit almost as striking a ' disproportion between cause and ef fect. If counsel are right in their ; contention,' then our most important statutes are liable to be annulled by the accidental displacement of a pin; ' municipal bonds' may be invalidated : and men r,may lose their property and their liberty; . divorces may prove worthless and marriages may ibecome null and children be bast- : ardized, because some clerk, charged with the duty of journalizingvlegis- lative' proceedings, has by mis chance used mucilage . instead of paste. The doctrine is monstrous; its acceptance Is unnecessary and might prove disastrous." The case of U. P. R. R. vs. "Itoeser A Book and Six Bottles Dr. Shoop's Restorative On Trial to the Sick. . The cost is absolutely nothing to you If my Restorative falls. I simply ask you to learn by Actual trial what this remedy can and will do. I want people to know what I know about this prescription. There can be no safer.no more certain way to convince the sick than to say, "Take Dr. Shoop's Restorative a month on trial." And this is just what I will do if you write me. 1 know absolutely that it will help yon if you will use it. I know yon will willingly bear the cost $5.50 if it succeeds. I know this because, for five years, I have made this offer everywhere. Thousands have written for my book have accepted my offer tmd only one ont of each 40 has said, "It did not help me." Just think of it. My past records show that 39 werehelped where 40 tried the Restorative. Iam proud of that record. I failed with one in 40 but there was no expense to that sick one. 4 I cannot cure cancer. No medicine can. There must be some failures. Dr. Shoop's re- fitlftittv0 will fin thonmAot V, . .11 -1 . It is my greatest achievement after thirty vears u uusjjiuiio uuu n.1 uoisiui's. i nave tound at Just, a way to cure even obstinate, deep-seated diseases. I treat with Dr. Shoop's Restorative the IN SIDE NERVES. Here lies the secret tVmy sue cess. It is toy discovery. My Restorative is the only prescription that reaches these nerves Without this iuside nerve treatment I could not offer "a month's treatment at my risk " No other known remedy would Etand the test In thousands of homes It is now constantly kept as a safe-guard. Off days will come tons all, but a few doses will set things right again. How, to Secure Trial Treatment Send no money. Simply ask for the book yon need. A postal will do. Then I will arrange with a druggist near you, so that you can secure six bottles of Dr. Shoop's Restorative to make the test. Send meno money. You deal with your druggist, remember. Use the Restorative a full month then decide. If it succeeds the cost to yon is J. 50; if it fallal will have the druggist bill the cost to me Could anything be more lair? To delay means to forget. Write now while you have it in mind. This is important. Simply state Which too no. ih dtskmu dushoIotnanda,1" RlSSKn nresa nr. hnoop. booi no. roa womm. Box 2940, Racine, Wis. nc no. to in. Mm) oot no. on aaicATiii Mild cases, not chronic, are often cured with one or two bottles. At druggists. shows another phase- of the Judge's character. : This was a case brought to recover itamamw fwm TT T P T fV the death of a mar. by the name of Niels' Rasmussen. - Rasmussen was 'a passenger on the U. P. road. As the train swept by one of the stations he recognized a friend on the platform. He stuck his head out of the windows to salute the friend and wave goodbye.- While he was in this attitude his head' came in contact with the mail crane standing close ' to the track. Shortly afterward he. died from the injury sustained. It was contended that the mail crane was too near the track and that the company was neg ligent in -maintaining it' there. The company said that Roeser was negli gent in sticking his head out of the window. A majority of the supreme court took the railroad company's view, of the case, but Judge Sullivan refused to do so, putting his conclu sion upon the ground that Rasmussen had done only what nine men out of ten in the common-walks of life would have done under the " same circum stances. In disposing of the language the judge used the following truthful lan guage: ; "In dealing with cases of negli gence, judges are, ; I am disposed to - think, too . much inclined to take themselves as standards by which to measure the conduct of all classes and conditions of men. Commen surate care in a given case is apt to be what they would have done. They are accustomed to travel, and under stand, the dangers of the road; they are unaffected by novel situations; their native enthusiasm has been chilled by contact with the world; they hold themselves in leash, and wave no improvident salutations to - acquaintances or friends. They are well-posed, circumspect, and delib- ; erate; they ars examples of correct conduct; but, however much it. is to be regretted, their ways are not the ways of exultant youth, nor of 'the man with the hoe.' Carriers of passengers, as was observed in C. It. I. & P. R. R. Co. vs. Zernecke, 50 Neb. 689, 82 N. W. 26, 55 L. R. A. 610, are insurers; they charge for the risk, they assume, and there is consequently no reason why the law imposing liability upon them should be enforcecLwith reluctance. In ac tions brought to recover indemnity, courts have, it seems to me, no call , to put a harsh construction upon the plaintiff's conduct in order to tem per the statute with natural justice " Another case along these lines is the case of C, B. & Q. vs. Martelle, 91. N. W. Rep. 364. fhis was discussed last week. Ed. Ind.) . ; In the case of Western Union Tel. Co. vs. Village of Wakefield, 95 N. W. 659, we again eee the judge's sym pathy with the people. The village of Wakefield levied an income tax on the Western Union Telegraph com pany. It was contended that the company was not subject to the tax. The supreme court agreed with" the company and Sullivan dissented, held the ordinance levying the tax to be valid and state his reasons therefor with his usual force and clearness. In the case of State vs. Kennedy, be ing one of the cases with reference to the Omaha police and fire commission, the opinion was written by Judge Sul livan. The closing paragraph of that opinion :ould be carried at the mast head of every paper in this state which desires the judge's re-election. It gives in clear, terse and forceful lan guage, the Judge's conception of the true attitude of courts towards politi cal questions. In that case it was sug gested by republican counsel that pos sibly the court beins fusion would de cide in favor of the fusion board of fire and police commissioners and hence counsel took it upon himself to warn the court against such a course. It was in answer to this warning that Judge Sullivan wrote the following paragraph: ' - - . "The original brief of counsel for respondents cenveyed quite plainly his apprehension that political con siderations might be a factor in the decision of the case. No Judge con scious of his own integrity will list en to such suggestion. No self-respecting court wi:i tolerate an argu ment which proceeds on the as sumption that, the goad and spur are necessary to compel it to dis charge honestly its constitutional duty. We know, as well as counsel, that the supreme and inexorable ob ligation of a court to truly Interpret the .will of the law-giver has no possible relation to questions of par ty expediency. It is surely not nec . essary to Instruct us as to that. WTe believe thoroughly In the rectitude of our own Intentions; we feel sure of the inflexibility of our purpose to administer justice uninfluenced by considerations of party advantage; and we will not permit counsel to deal with us on the theory that we may perhaps be contemplating a be- : trayal of our .trust.. Whatever may; 1 be the, effect of our decisions upon, I party interests, we shall stiH reso- . 4tW' - VMvu aw vvr iv mm- to the maxim. Fiat justitia ;ruat coelum,' and it will not be necessary ' for counsel to point out that it is : the duty of the court to do its duty." -.o , f Polk County ?--!r- A branch of John : N. Baldwin's rail road runs' through Polk county,' the t ome of Governor Tklickey, who was selected as "our man" by Baldwin & Co. eight days before the 1902 repub lican state convention. Governor Mickey is a member of the state board, which has ,the assessing, of railroads and fixing the state taxjevy of each country. " There may be no connection here, but it is remarkable that although the assessors in Polk county added $64, 899.19 to the assessed valuation of business men's and farmers' property, Baldwin's railroad board cut down railroad valuations $2,995.50 in Polk county.- A two-mill increase this year adds 33.4 per cent to the farmers' taxes, but the railroad increase is al most exactly. 20 per cent over last year. . The state tax levy of 1902, at IVs. mills, amounted to $9,893.91, divided thus: ' , ::,. Railroads -i . . . .......$ 574.86 Others ....................... 9,319.05 This year, at 9v mills, the levy is $13,120.38, divider, as follows: :- Railroads .'. . . . : . . . . . '. ... $ 689.70 ! Others . ; ...... . ; .12,430.68 I Whether Governor Mickey desired to punish" the populists of Polk coun ty or whether it was Baldwin's, branch road that appealed to 'his Christian heart, is not known. - But the fact re mains that the railroads got the big end of the deal out in that county this year as, in fact, they did in substan tially every, county in the state. , ; l The State Debt After a number of years of populist education in the matter of civil gov ernment, there are still a large num ber of persons whose ideas regarding the state debt are very hazy. Let us again inquire into the matter:,,- The fiscal year ends November, 30, and on even numbered years all books and accounts are closed and each state officer, and head of a state insti tution makes a.bienniaV.Cor two-year) report ' Many , accounts are closed tem porarily, at other times,, for. exa.mple, there is a system of .'semi-rannual . re ports to, be made ..to the governor.' State offlce"s are inducted .'into, office on Thursday : following the first Tues-i day in January on odd numbered years. Although at that time there, is a partial closing up of accounts in or der to turn.oyer the offices, this does jiot approach, . in thoroughness the. grand closing up at the end of a bien-r nial period. Hence, -in, all compari sons of populist with republican rule, counting from biennium to biennium, there is always a short period of re publican administration to be reck oned with in populist bienniums, and vice versa. When the republicans closed the books of the state November 30, 1896, the state debt, barring a few small items, was as follows:. State bonds ............$ 449.267J5 State gen. fund war... kr.. $1,727,447.72 Total ". , '. $2,385,540.35 When the populists closed the books of the state November 30, 1900, just four years later, every item of state c"ebt was summed up in the following items: - - . State bonds ... . ."; 1 ........ . . . . none. State gen. fun. war. $l,72,447.72 The "few small items" referred to under the republican administration are as follows: Temporary uni. fund war. . ..$27,444.63 Ins. feeble minded warrants. 31,724.50 Live stock indemnity war.. 172.00 . Most of these were interest-bearing warrants at that time and were paid and cancelled during the four years of populist administration which fol lowed. Leaving these wholly out of account, however, a little calculation will show that under four years of populist ad ministration the state debt was re duced $658,000, as follows: State bonds $449,267.35 State warrants 208,825.28 Total ............ . .... J $658,092.C3 Now, notice what happened in just two. years later: See the auditor's report for the biennium ended No vember 30, 1902, page 29. Ycu will see that the state debt is given as fol lows: ' l : General fund warrants. . .$1,989,328.63 In other words, under republican administration the debt had increased $261,880.91. Today It is likely that the debt is considerably above .the two million mark, but the auditor discretly holds back any information regarding the matter. He may tell us when thef books are closed: November .30,. 'thisi year. i Tho -haw Trrerr . law woe CI - AV4AV under, the railroad: whipft to. wipe. .out the state- debt and make the farmers foot the bill. - Every earmark . shows its purpose. The debt is wholly a re? publican creation.'; . Not a dollar, was ever added to it by the populists, . but on the . contrary,, they cut it down in stead. The' railroads - dominated the ; republican administration responsible for the creation of the debt. Let them pay their share-in wiping it out. This will not be done if the republi cans elect the supreme judge and the district judges this year, because that will be construed and properly, too ay an -indorsement of what the repub licans have done. The election of Judge Sullivan and the populist can didates for district Judge will be the entering wedge in overthrowing rail road domination. , 1 THE CLASSIC OF DEMOCRACY Direct Legislation By The People TBANLAT0 VnOM THI FKtNCH Or MARTIN RITTINCHAUSEN This celebrated work, from the pen of the immortal founder of the Referendum, h-aow niaJ accessible to- English ; readers. It is the book which led to the establishment of the present form of leg islation in Switierland; The eminent Rittinghauaen here lays downjhe prin ciples of. Direct Legislation by the people, showing it to lje the only true type of democratic government; all other forms, and particularly the representa tive system, being shams. No social reformer, no matter of what creed, can fail to derive instruction from its pages. Paper Coutr, 15 cents. 8 copies, $7.00 910.00 per 100 copies TWENTIETH CEHTURI PRESS 17 East 16th St., New York 3 BYTHE FATHER OF THE REFCRENDU W h o I e s a I e Pr i ceo. . 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