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About The independent. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 22, 1904)
Wo Vol. XVI. LINCOLN, NEB , DECEMBER 22, 1904. No. 31 ' A Little Mother's Christmas s gg Sgr. A little maid of the tenements went out to do her Christmas shopping. She was a little German girl, which meant-that she must buy a present for each member of the family. It meant, also, that she did her Christmas shop ping on Avenue A, between First and Eighth streets, in that exciting little village of Christmas booths which springs up there as if by magic just before Christmas every, year. y fhe little girl of the tenements said that the explorer, might go along'. with her while she did her shopping,' and the explorer was glad to go. She was a little mother, but she man aged to leave "my baby" at home for just this one day: It is very wearing to have the baby along when ? one goes shopping. v ;.'. She had three brothers jr nd three sisters, counting In the baby. And her father and mother made eight to buy presents for, and she hadwexactly 25 cents. The explorer thought it would be profitable and interesting , to watch this Christmas shopping. ,v?v The little maid had been to school and knew very well that she had three cents to spend on each one and a cent over, probably to add to her mother's present. But really, the baby would hardly heed three cents. That would be extravagant for a baby, who can not be expected to appreciate expensive presents , , - . . Two gay little tin balls, one gilt, th; other crimson,' tied together with a bright cord, and rattling when they are shaken that will please the baby, and they cost only a cent. - A candy chair; quite' perfect, rounds, back and everything, catclie3 the shop per's eye next. An Italian boy is 'sell ing them, for a. cent apiece.:, One of these will do for the next baby. Ha was the baby until six months ago, and he will admire the chair -and then eat it. V : '-. .''.;- ' ,' And so there are two presents bought and only two cents gone. There is a wine glass, too; only it isn't wine; , but only make believe, and the man selling them is telling people what a good joke it is to invite one's friends to have a drink out of it. That would plase Johnny, who is big enough to see a joke. On6 cent for Johnny. It is wonderfully how money hold3 out, anyway, especially in the hands of a skillful shopper who knows what things are worth. But Mamie Rose must have her full three cents. Mamie Rose is old and crit ical. She know3 the value of thing?. A doll's washbowl and pitcher it costs three cents, but it is worth it. There is a vine painted all up and down one side of the beautiful white crockery. . A little washboard for . 'Lizabeth costs only two cents. ; 'Lizabeth Is not so critical. She will be pleased with anything one gives' her. ";..Y. And then a drum for the third broth er costs another three centa. He must have something to make noise with, and this is the noisiest thing for the money. Only 11 cents spent, and six presents t.ought. That means 14 .cents to spend for father and mother; Seven cents apiece. It is much more difficult to buy ex pensive presents than cheap ones! Tno astute little shopper hesitates and pon ders long. . She goes up and down the village of booths many times, and even -condescends to ask the explorer'! advice. . Eventually she decides on a bright, silvery thimble for her mother, cun ningly imbedded in a dainty little box of its own, with plush all around it and rosc3 on the outside of the box. She i well satisfied with this purchase, but she hesitates long over the gift for hei father. Men are so hard to buy pres ents for. , . . , , At last she stops at a crockery booth and decides on a cup and saucer, which will do for father's coffee in the morn ing, for he always has coffee, it betas the main part of his breakfast. The cups and saucers are ten cents. But she displays the last remnant of her funds, the nickel and theiwo cents clasped tightly in her little xc hand, and firmly demands the coffee cup. Some sharp bargaining ensues. Th-3 salesman orders her to go home and get more money. But when she finally turns to go he weakens, and the cup and saucer are hers. ' Eight presents, all suitable, new and welcome, and the little maid's quarter is just exactly gone. N. Y. Sun. - ..... i .... - A New Classification. National Committeeman A, W. Files of Little Rock, Ark., in a letter to head quarters shortly after election, replying to a request for a forecast of . the votes in Pulaski county, said:: "It is folly to trv to forecast the results here. We have a nefarious 3ystem that depends -"A-v not upon votes cast, but upon the ' count. I learn that In Jefferson coun . ' ty, one . of the most populous counties ' outside of this, that the names of the populist, socialist and prohibition elec tors, were left off the ticket, in some instances, if not entirely so. Hurrah for Watson and Tibbies! Let us up and at 'em again. Bogus democracy is now out of the way.: This is my classification: ' No. 1. Watson men genuine demo- crat3. " " ' "No. 2. Bryan men fairly good dem ocrats. - "No. 3. Parker men (goldbrick) 'alf " and 'alf democrats. " '- "No. 4. Yaller dogs anybody's ... and everybody's men if labeled 'democrat.' " A Question of Ways ftrvd Means To the- Members of the People's Party: Recent press dispatches give a fairly correct summary of the popular vote on president. Four, counties in Michi gan are estimated, and in Tennessee one county is treated similarly. It is also defective in that no vote is re ported from the- state of Washington, where ;Watson and Tibbies electors were' duly nominated and must have received some votes. The electoral vote stands 336 for Roosevelt to 140 for Parker, ; The pop ular vote, as follows: ; , 1904-,'. "Parker ...... . ... ..... . . .... . 5,094,091 Roosevelt 7,640,561 Watson .... .... ... . . . ... ... . 124,381 Swallow ...... 248,411 Debs 392,857 Corregan ..' 33,519 Totals . . . . : ........ .. .13,534,650 a 1900 - Bryan ....... .". ..'.;... 6,357,826 McKlnley . . 7,217,8 10 Barker v...:......;;... 50,218 Woolley 208,791 Debs ... . . . ..... . . . . . . ..... . ' 87,769 Malloney-.... v.... ...... 39,944 Elli3 (U. ii.). y. 5,698 Leonard , 518 Totals .13,968,574 . Notwithstanding the voting popula tion must have grown considerably in the past four years, the vote of 1904 is short of that of 1900 in the sum of 433,924. The natural increase in voting population is somewhere near a quar ter of a million every year; hence, it is safe to 3ay that a million and a quarter of able-bodied men refused to exercise their sovereignty in 1904. Doubtless the number is even greater than this. Inasmuch as the total .vote did not increase, it is fair to assume that the 1,263,735 who voted for Bryan in 1900, but failed to vote, for Parker, in. 19Q4, make up- the increase which other parties gained, and include the loss in the .total vote. The socialist labor par ty candidate, Corregan, ran 6,425 be hind Malloney in 1900, and neither the union reform nor the United Christian parties were represented this year making another loss of 6,216. Hence, the total party losses sustained were 1,276,376. These votes were distributed as follows: Stayed at home..... 433,934 Voted for Roosevelt.......... 422,751 Voted for Debs 305,088 Voted for Watson......;...... 74,163 Voted for Swallow 39,620 Voted for Holcomb ............ ' 830 Total ....................... 1,276,37(5 Compared with the Weaver vote of 1892, Mr. Watson's eighth of a million may seem small to those who were ex pecting over a million and may cause some to feel discouraged. But when we consider that a million and a quar ter who voted for Bryan and a populis tic platform in 1900, refused to be de livered to the Belmont crowd this year, it is evident that there is a large field for future work. In addition to this there must be nearly a million more of new. voters (or substitutes for them; who were not interested in a sham battle between two plutocratic parties and who also stayed at home. - There were ,799,998 eight hundred thousand in round numbers radical votes cast this year. There are three times that many more radicals who did not vote or voted for plutocracy out of spite. Hence, instead of feeling discour aged, the people's party has reason to feel encouraged. Had the total vote increased proportionately to increase in population, both old parties increas ed their vote, and the minor parties fallen. behind then there would have been ground for despair. But such is not the case. The socialists, prohibi tionists, and populists, have all made gains and any reasoning man knows that there is a wider field than ever before for making further gains. The question as to which of these three parties shall gain most of the recruits, is of no moment right now.- The im portant work is to teach them how to make an effective protest against plu tocracy and to cease the unpatriotic, foolish practice of indulging in political pouting. During the winter months the na tional , committee desire to keep up constant , communication with every state, congressional, and county com mittee of the people's party now or ganized, and, in conjunction with the state committees, to perfect tempo rary organization in all unorganized counties and districts, in .order to have an onicial head to the party in every locality. To carry on, this work prop erly will;, .require:; from t25JLLJ400 per month for clerk hire, printing, postage', etc less than 5 cents a year for every man who voted for Watson and Tibbies. But the practical impos sibility of collecting such a; small amount from ,each, makes it impera tive that ; those who do contribute should give a dollar or more each year. Populists, " man for man, own more property and pay more taxes than the average voter in other parties. Shall it be said that they are less inclined to give financial assistance to their party? , CHARLES Q. DE FRANCE, Joliet, 111. Secretary. From Mr. Bryan's Neighborhood Editor Independent: I am still a pop ulist, but am getting a little tired of being so very still. I have read from week to week in your columns since the election, the comments on, and the attempted explanation of the. late political disaster, by more or less prominent populists throughout the country. I have also noted carefully their numerous suggestions as to what should be our party's future policy and line of action. To my mind some of these suggestions seem wise, white many of them seem very much other wise. "Among the most sensible, sin cere and sane of these articles I would place hose of ex-Senator Allen, ex Governor Gilbert and M. F. Harrington;'-'" ' V "L While it is perhaps well, or at least harmless', 1 to discuss, in a temperate and tentative manner, the results of the "late election, and the probable causes that led up to them I regard the attempt to mark out a definite pol icy for the populist party to pursue with reference to the next national campaign, as entirely premature. Three fears and a half is entirely too long for any of us to know, beforehand, or even to predict with any certainty the wisest course to be taken at that time, or even .to any great extent in the mean time. We are living at. a time in which things are not only liable to happen, but in which wonderful things are almost daily happening. Who dare aay what the "number, or character of the changes or -happenings, in this country are going to be in the near future, or, at least, In the next three years that may affect, if not control, to a largo extent, the political actions of any or all parties? Appar ently very small matters frequently, not only control 'party action, but often determine party success. The financial condition of the mas303 of the people, at the time of an elec tion, has frequently more to do with the result than has party candidates of party platforms. , In their indifference, . or I might say in their blindness, tha people have come to regard the na tional administration as entitled to all the, credit -fop- good, and equally re sponsible for all the evils growing out of bad times. "Let well enough alone'' has been the republican slogan, and the mpst potent argument of repub lican orators, for the last three national campaigns. With all our boa3ted in telligence the average voter in cast ing his ballot is controlled more by the products of his fields and -the con dition of his finances than he is bj the production of oratory or the posi tion of his party upon any, or all the political questions of the day. From this viewpoint the republican party has had largely the advantage of all others for a number of years. AddeJ to this and contributing largely to Mr. Roosevelt's unprecedented majority were the bitter feuds among demo crats for the control of their last na tional convention at St. Louis, togeth er with the unorganized condition of the populist party before and even during the campaign. To anyone, therefore, except the merest tyro in politics the result of the last campaign wa3 no surprise for it was visible from its beginning. There was little in Mr. Roosevejt. as a man, or in the repub lican platform as a political creed -to drive a single republican to rvote for any other candidate, while the repub lican candidate was the natural legatee of the dissatisfied and recalcitrant vot ers of all other parties in the race. Mr. Bryan loyally supported Mr. Par ker, as I claim, under all the circum stances, he wa3 in honor bound to do, and while he brought him hundreds of thousands of Votes that Mr. Parker would not otherwise have received, yet there were other hundreds of thou sands of democrats that would not lis ten to even the persuasive voice of their former, and, I predict, their fu ture great leader, and to show their displeasure, and to emphasize their protest against the action of their par ty at St. Louis voted for the repub lican nominee. And our candidate, the gallant and gifted son of the south, Tom Watson, while wishing and seek ing as large a vote as possible for him self, as it was hl3 duty to do, held out no hope of . his own election, but by his fiery eloquence, keen wit and with ering sarcasm directed against the ac tion of the St. Louis convention, and its nominee, Mr. Parker, and Its most active and conspicuous member, Mi-