APRIL 6, 1905
Xj?e Nobrasko. Indopcndont
.
this association is: "Public ownership
" waste exceeds corporate pront."
The civic association says: "A care
ful study of the records made by any
one who is able to distinguish asser
tion from fact, does not make it clear
that Mr. Rockefeller ruined all his
competitors. He seems to have usually
bought them out, representing that
they were in danger of being beaten
in the ace, and to have advised them
to become partners in his concern. The
Standard Oil company, like the rail
road companies, has exercised a kind
of eminent domain. In order to sys
tematize a business conducted with
frightful waste, property was con
demned; but the owners received com
pensation." The brazen effrontery ;of that state
ment was never equalled in the world
before. . Mr. Rockefeller without the
leave of any one assumed to himself
the powers of "government and con
demned and took over to himself, at
his own price, such property of other
private citizens as he wanted. He sim
ply exercised the power of eminent
demain. Of course it was wholly for a
charitable purpose. It was to "save
waste."
, Another part of this defense is a
fair specimen of the plutocratic logic.
It says that the production of oil in
Kansas and Oklahoma is greater than
the world ever saw before, that all the
storage tanks are full. A little fur
ther on it acknowledges that the dis
counts to wholesale dealers has been
withdrawn in Kansas and everyone
knows that the price of refined oil has
' been raised. That is, with a greater
supply than was ever before known,
refined oil is advanced and the dis
counts to wholesale dealers have been
discontinued. How spotless that in
jured innocent is!
Wild-Eyed Legislation
The Nebraska legislature has done
all it could do to leave the state in a
; , condition of anarchy. It has dispensed
,; with annual t elections by a law that
" - ft-',.,''. '. '-t : -.-n '
is in direct contradiction to the state
constitution; It is, said by the lawyers
if that the law can not be tested in the
:1; courts, f6r there is another law prp
;f -hibiti'ng a judge from sitting in a case
in -wmcn ne is personally interested,
" Every judge in the state is personally
: interested in this law for it extends
his term of office for one year. There
you have it. - This act is far more dan
gerous than that of the man who, un
der great excitement said ''damn the
constitution." These republican legis
lators simply damned the constitution
without saying a word about it. The
. constitution provides that tne terms of
office of the supreme and district
judges shall be two .years. These an
archists passed a law that the terms of
all those judges now in office, shall bo
three years! 1 It. appears, notwithstand
ing the old saying that there is no
. wrong without a remedy, that here is
one of that kind. The courts are. the
only power to pronounce upon the con
stitutionality : of any law and the
judges are all forbidden to sit in this
"case for .they all have a personal in
terest mjt. It takes a republican leg-
islature to enact wild-eyed legislation,
. ,v, , Suppose a ? future supreme court
'should decide that all the acts
and decisions of the judges during this
unconstitutional extension of their
terms of office were null and void
What be the condition of affairs re
... suiting, from that? That might be a
criminal and civil suit brought against
".everyone of them for every case that
''they tried.
No corporation ever commlted a
crime or robbed anybody. That would
be impossible. It was some man that
did it. These men rob and steal and
then lay it to the corporation. The
people' are generally fools enough to
' believe the. subterfuge and admit the
men who rob and steal to seats In
the front pews of the churches, while
i they pile curses on the corporation.
Teddy's Canal
When netirly two years ago congress
turned oyer to Teddy the millions nec
essary to build the Panama canal, he
danced around and declared the thing
was going to be done right away. All
this time has elapsed and nothing has
been done except to pay the salaries
of a lot of plutocratic dead-beats. Not
a shovelfull of dirt has been thrown
out of the future water way. Now
Teddy has taken another spell at it.
The old commission has been dis
charged and a new one appointed.
While it is acknowledged that no one
knows what kind of a canal is to be
built, it is said that sme dirt can be
thrown out at one end where it will
have to start no matter what kind of
a canal is constructed. Some time in
the vast, unending future the question
will be settled whether the canal is to
be a sea level ditch or" one with a
system of locks.
The way the president has . con
structed his new commission is that it
is to consist of 'three men, the re
mainder will be dummies and draw
salaries. That is , necessary because
congress refused to abolish the com
mission and Teddy was bound to fix
it to suit himself any way. .The real
commission consists ,of Theodore P.
Shonts, Chas. E. MagoOn and John F.
Wallace. . The dummies are Rear Ad
miral M. T. Endicott, Brigadier Gen
eral Peter C. Haine, retired, Oswald
M. Ernst and Benjamin M. Harrod.
There are some queer things ; about
this t new commission. The appoint
ment of Magoon, who is a lawyer, from
Lincoln; Neb., as governor of the Pan
ama strip is along the line of sanity,
but, as the canal is a hydraulic engi
neering problem, why were such men
as Wallace and Shontz chosen. They
have been simply the engineers and
managers of prairie railroads in the
heart of the continent, far from the
sea, ships and hydraulic problems gen
erally."" The thing j that procured the
appointment of Shonts was the en
dorsement of Paul Morton. : Morton
and Shonts have long been cronies and
both of them haying been connected
with transcontinental ' i railroads, all
their; sympathies and interest are
against building any isthmian canal at
all. Why was not some hydraulic engi
neer chosen and some man put in
charge- that lenew something about
ships, canals and locks instead of men
who had given all their attention
to grades, ! curves, switehes and
bridges? Wallace and Shonts are rail
road men and Paul Morton is a rail
road man. Railroads have charge of
building the Panama canal. Under that
kind of control how soon will the Pan
ama canal be finished?
Each member of the commission,
dummies and all, will 'draw a salary,
of $7,500. ; In addition to that Shontz
gets-$22,50, Wallace $17,500 and Ma
goon $10,000. The salaries of the real
commissions, the three men chosen by
the railroads to see to it that no canal
is built,' are very satisfactory to them
Shontz $30,000, Wallace $25,000 and
Maoon $17,500. The dummies were
put on because congress would not re
peal the law establishing the commis
sion. Under the program published by
Secretary Taft they will have nothing
to do, and $7,500 a year for doing
nothing; mays also be considered pret
ty fair wagesi All that they are, com
manded to do is to go to Panama once
a quarter and attend a meeting of the
commission. Traveling expenses of
the whole gang are to be paid out of
the public treasury and the three real
commissioners are to have houses and
attendants at public cost also. That is
the way Teddy is. going to build a
canal. I i ' ' Vi:":' '! '
, The Parcels Post ;
Since the president appointed White
law Reid as minister to the court of
St. James, the New York Tribune feels
constrained to endorse everything that
Roosevelt does. It must have been
that which caused it to editorially en
dorse the parcels post, as far as for-f
INTERESTING READING
And much food for thought to every economicabuyer is contained In a letter addressed
to the Commercial Club of Silver Creek Neb., an exact copy of which we tuke the liberty
to publish herewith.. '-'.'
' ' SILVER CREEK, NEB., March 23rd 1005.
To the Commercial Club,
Silver Creek, Nebraska .
Gentlemen: I herewith hand you my check for fifty cents, with the
request that you cash it and make such disposition of the money, as
the equities of .the cafe, io your judgement, may require, based on
the following statement of facts. ' ' '
Needing a sack of sugar, recently in Omaha, I stepped into the
Grocery Department of Hayden Bros, and inquired the price. I found
that a sack. of granulated cane sugar would cost me i(1.25 and that the
rate on sugar to Silver Creek was 21c a hundred. A few days aftr-
ward in Silver Creek I inquired the price of sugar by the" sack of
. two of our business firms and found that it wan $7.00. I thereupon
ordered a sack of sugar of Hayden Bros, enclosing my check for
16.25. In due time the sugar arrived in good condition and full
, weight net, freight chargos 25c, ' 1 '
Thus you pee in ordering of Hayden Bros. I got the sack laid down ,
for 50c less than I could have bought it in Silver Creek." But accord
ing to Mr. Hodgin, of the Omaha Trade Review, and others, it was
my duty to buy that sack of sugar in Silver Creek. If so, then that
50c does not honestly belong to me. But if not, to whom does it be- ,
long? To Hayden Brof. or to the merchants of Silver Creek? And
if to the latter, which one? Or should it bo divided amoDgthem pro
rata? - ' ' '.' ' '..
- ' "
Silver'Creek Merchants say that they will duplicate the prices of
foreign houses, but in thia case they did not. . Did I do wrong in not
threatening to buy of Hayden .Bros, if they did not come down on' v
their prices? would it be, just toward the foreign merchant, the
home merchant or myself to got the prices of the foreign merchant
and then use my information as a club to beat down the home mer-
chant on his prices? ,
An answer to the above questions, as well as a disposal of the 50c
in question would I think be. appreciated by the farmers generally as
J,, well as by myself.. -. ; , ,r . .
I attach papers, bills, etc., which I wish returned in due time.
'.';''::.- ' i 1 i Very Truly yours,
: " - V CHARLES WOOSTER.
'" " : ,.-.., i -
INVESTIGATE: : We waMyoAi fo do so. We furnish Catalogue
Samples, Prices, Freight rate information absolutely free of charge
and GUARANTEE absolute satisfaction With every order or' your
money back. Again we eeVto'you INVESTIGATE. , V
Address
Dep't A
HqvdenBms
eign nations are concerned. ' In an edi
torial; last week it said: ; , ', ;
We are really at last to have a par
cels post service between this country
and that other country' with which we
need it most; Great Britain. ,; The ar
rangement, which should have : been
made long ago, is at " last' complete.
After this week 'it will be about as
easy to send a small packet of mer
chandise to England as to send itfrom
one part of this city to another In
deed, it will actually, cost a littlq less
hi postage fees, while; in' respect to
weight and size and other details the
service will be fa irlyi generous; !, ' ; '
This is a great gain. But it is a
step, and nothing , more.' : It is not a
finality. There Is most need of a par
cels post with Great .Britain ; but there
is much need of such a system" between
this' country and every ;othCr civilized
country under the-sun. i! We shall not
be satisfied until there Is a parcels
post on liberal terms . with every mem
ber of the international postal union.
There is' urgent need that this shall be
effected,-a need that is growing every
That , is half-baked populism, j Per
haps jsome" day economic force, or
something else, will drive the Tribune
to accept the pure doctrine undiluted.
If a parcels post is a sgood thing, with
foreign nations . it would be a thou;
sand times better, thing in the United
States. . The domestic .trade bears, to
the foreign trade about that propor
tion. A thousand people would be ac
commodated with a " domestic parcels
where one will be with a foreign serv
ice of that kind. But the Tribune, nor
any other "regular" party' paper, would
endorse a parcels post service among
the eighty millions of 'American citi
zens. That would cut - off ' the cam
paign subscriptions "from the express
companies. ' " ' :
The Grafters Got Left
One of the .things that the grafters
expected to get through the Colorado
i .
UMGOIM
mmm
00LLE0E
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Advantages of a capital city. Write for
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I To The Farmers of
i
Nebraska:
Tin vmx Irnrtw
I feDrana: that you can get
9 eleeant rohes or coats made from
x the horse or cattle hides you sell
to local dealer? Write for par
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J Htorjr Kotm, Prop. 313-315 O Strast'
O ' LINCOLN, NEBR.
. Fur coaU and robes in stock for sale
a w mtae 10 oraer a
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We have an article that sell3 itself.
Agents make $5 per day. Others are,
why not, you? Write today for: full
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to , WESTERN FLY-GUARD CO.,
: . j ', . ; 1 30 Burr.Blki Llhcoln.jNeb.
I
