APRIL 27, 1905.
PAGE .1
&e Nebraska. Independent
has indelibly Impressed his personality upon one
ol the most Important pages of his country's his
tory. To some of its many readers, no doubt, the
change, for a little while, will be attended with a
feeling of uncertainty perhaps even or sadness,
but to those of us who have known you from your
youth up, and have watched your advancing foot
steps to the head of your profession, and have
marked your unswerving devotion to the right as
you have been able to see it, we can sincerely
congratulate, not only you, but the readers of
The ' Independent. I know of no contemplated
changes in policy, in politics, or in name, of the
paper, but knowing yourself as I do and knowing
your views upon all the issues of the day, as
expressed by you in private talks, as well as
upon public platforms, I can assure your readers
that if changes come they will be by your appro
val and will meet with the approval of all con
servative readers. I have great respect for radi
calism. It initiates all reforms, but it is con
servatism that finally must execute. I some
times think that a little more conservatism on
the part of a portion of the reform press is neces
sary to. the full and speedy realization of what
once were almost exclusively populist principles,
. but which are now being accepted in whole or in
part by all parties. The world is everywhere
moving onward and upward. We have passed,
or are rapidly passing the political grades and
are entering the high school of political science.
A genuine revival of the old maxim, "vox populi
vox Dei," is going on. The inalienable rights
of man as man is again being considered by at
least a portion of all political parties. Govern
ment by the consent of the governed is almost
a universal demand. Equality of taxation and
equality of rates of transportation, whether of
person or of property, can but a little longer be
denied; and the sun of the political party boss
i3 well, nigh set. It is generally thought that the
, older men grow the more pessimistic they be
come, but having passed my three score and ten
years I deny the charge. I have never seen the
prospects for the toiler of this and other lands
- brighter than they are today. The common peo-
ple are weighing political parties in tne oaiance
as they never did before. The party yoke no
longer galls the political neck. The Bryans of
Nebraska, the Folks of Missouri, the Cummins
and Larrabees of Iowa, the La Follettes of Wis
consin, and the Deneens and Comfords and
Dunnes of Illinois, are mightily on the increase
. all over the country and are found in all political
parties. And with no intention, and in no spirit
of flattery, but without apology I wish to add
to this splendid galaxy, but by no means a dim
star in the constellation, the new editor of The
Independent. It is true he lost out in the race
for governor last fall, but any other man in the
state would have lost by a much larger majority.
While Mr. Berge was beaten by 9,143 votes, Mr.
Roosevelt carried the state by 56,164 votes over
both Mr. Parker and Mr. Watson, and Mr. Berge's
'vote was 30,404 more than the combined vote of
Parker and Watson. In his race for congress in
1900 he made a similar record, running away
ahead of his ticket. But to Mr. Berge personal
or party defeat has no terrors. He keeps right
on. believing the poet was right when he said:
"When beaten to earth well, well, what's that?
Come up with a smiling face,
It's nothing against you to fall down flat.
But to lie there that's disgrace.
The harder you're thrown, why the higher you'll
" bounce,
Be proud of your blackened eye,
It isn't the fact that you're licked that counts,
It's how did you fight and why?
And though you be done to the death, what then!
If you battled the best you could,
If you played your part In the world of men, .
Why the Critic will call it good.
Death comes with a crawl or comes with a
pounce,
And whether he's slow or spry,
It isn't the fact that you're dead that counts,
But only how did you die?"
So here is success to The Independent and its
new editor and proprietor. Wishing you entire
' success, I am yours for reform.
; J.V.WOLFE.
1 A PROPHET.
Mr. Morning Foretells the Work of The
Independent.
Tc the Editor of The Independent:
The people of this state are to be congratu-
lated upon the entry of such a man as Mr. Berge
into the field of journalism. Those who know
Mr. Berge well enough to know his position upon
public questions, and the tenacity with which
he clings to them, and the courage with which
he fights for them, and his ability to make him
self understood, and his very unusual power of
making a success of whatever he undertakes
will anticipate nothing but the most decided suc
cess in the enterprise. This paper will not only
live and continue to grow, but it will be a pro
nounced success as a business enterprise, and it
is destined to be a power in this state and nation
which no man in public life .can afford to ignore.
Being independent in its politics, it will be free
to attack and expose dshonesty and grafting
wherever found. Honest men in public life will
find in it a friend and champion, but the grafter,
and political boss will find in it an uncompro
mising enemy. There never was a more oppor
tune time for a man like Mr. Berge to enter the
field of independent journalism. The recent ses
sion of the state legislature demonstrated to the
people of this state how completely the state gov
ernment is in the hands of the railroads. The
individual members of the legislature were per
haps as good, if not better than the average, in
point of ability and honesty. Most of the mem
bers, doubtless, intended, when elected, to be
true to their constituents. But they fell into the
trap which is constantly set for the representa
tives of the people by the railroads and other
corporate interests, and they soon lost their po
litical virtue. Most of them accepted free passes
from the railroads before they came here. They
accepted the "courtesy" of the telephone company
ia placing a long distance phone in the hotels to
enable them to talk to distant points over the
state free of charge. They permitted the numer
ous paid lobbyists, who infest the state house
when the legislature is in session; to become
"chummy" with them, ; and call them by their
first names, and to show them all kinds of
"courtesies" to which they were not accus
tomed at home. The result was as the railroads
and other special interests desired, and nothing
was done by the legislature to relieve the people
from railroad discriminations. The people are
now ready for the fightr The free pass must go.
No matter who has used passes or who has not,
that is not the question. The system is wrong.
This nuisance must be abated. No progress can
be made in cleaning up public life, and in taking
the government out of the hands of the rail
roads, until this free pass system is exterminat
ed. It has poisoned the fountains and sources of
public opinion. It has converted the ablest and
best men in every community into apologists for
the existing order of things.- Men who ought to
bis the leaders of public sentiment and who Ought
to be moulding public opinion in favor of re
form, have either had their mouths entirely
. closed -by this free pass system,' or they have
become the open champions of railroad inter
ests. The time has come, and the people are
now ready to end this system. The free pass is
doomed. No one can now say which party will
be the instrumentality through which this will
be brought about. But it is safe to say that the
time is now here when the party which under
takes to straddle or dodge this issue will go
down in ignominious defeat. Public sentiment will
do the work through the instrumentality of one
party or the other. Public sentiment will enter
the party conventions and insist upon nominating
men for the legislature who will not only say
that they favor the abolition of the free pass,
but who are known to stand right on this ques
tion, and who can be trusted when elected. Pub
lic sentiment will force party conventions to
t?ke a decided stand on this question. It is now
looked upon as a disgrace for a man to clean
spitoons around a saloon for free drinks, and
the time will come when public opinion will make
it just as much of a disgrace to do the bidding
of the railroad companies for free transportation.
This paper will be a potent factor in creating
this public sentiment, and you need have no fear
about the people. They will loyally back you
and the many other courageous papers of this
state in the fight. Hammer away at the pasa
grabber ho matter who he Is.' Make him tired,
make him uncomfortable, make him cross the
street to keep from meeting any one connected
with your paper.
The trouble wih us has been that we have
been hampered by party politics. Party lines
are fading away.' Your paper will be read, and
what you say as an Independent, non-partisan
organ will influence men on public questions
and public conditions, where partisan papers
would have no influence whatever. And In the
very nature of things you can do better work
as a weekly paper than as a daily. You will
have time to prepare what is to appear in your
columns with due deliberation and reflection.
The daily papers must give the people the news
on short notice and the editorial work must be
more or less hasty. Your paper will give your
readers the essence of the news after the exact
truth has come to light, but your chief work will
be pointing out to the people the conditions in
public life and public Institutions, and moulding
and directing public sentiment with a view to cor
recting evils and abuses as they are found to
exist.
The Independent being an established paper
will enable the new management to go about
the main work at once, without the necessity oi
wasting time in laying the foundation. It is to
be hoped that this enterprise will receive the
loyal support of all persons interested in good
government, no matter whether they live in thia
state or not. Respectfully,
W. M. MORNING.
'
A Valued Send-Off
The Teller of York, Neb., last week editorially
had the following:
Let us say a word for Mr. Berge. It is not
necessary to say anything to any one who has
heard George W. Berge. He was our candidate
for governor last fall and had it not been for
Roosevelt's popularity, Mr. Mickey would not
have known that he was in the race. Men ot
all parties voted for Berge. He is the Old Abe
of Nebraska; those who know 3erge say that
he looks, acts and talks like the great commoner.
; We want York county to be in the front ranks
in supporting Mr. Berge's paper. The man' docs
. not have it in mind but it means a Berge party
, in Nebraska the same as the people have a La
Follette party in Wisconsin, and a Folk party in
Missouri. .There is no commission or any kind
., of a rake off In it for us. We want to see York
county rally around George W. Berge and let hira
feel that we are with him with our dollars. He
spent his own money in the campaign - last fall,
.. now let us pay part of it back and at the same
. time get one of the best papers in the state. Your
dollar will help to print the paper but your nama
on the list will do more good than will the cash.
Bring your dollar to the Teller office, except any
one who request their names left out of the list.
Publishing the list shows where you stand and
does more good than the amount you pay. Send
him your greetings by being a subscriber to his
paper from Vol. 1 No. 1.
GOOD CHEER
Chicago, I1L, April 24, 1905.
., To The Nebraska Independent:
With the sale of The Independent to Mr,
Berge it Is clearly to be seen that another Tom
Watson has entered the field of reform journalism.
While Mr. Berge is not a total stranger to the
readers of The Independent (as his writings have
appeared in its columns) he Is a new power Jh a
position to aid the cause of reform. His position
of candidate for governor last fall outlined his
co:r se as to the future, and the old guard an
jem hards with him in the struggles in the fut'tre.
He is young, active and full of hope, the very
elements that are needed to fight the political
battles of the future. The Independent under Mr.
Berge's conrtol will lose, none of its usefulness as
a reform paper. We are glad to see him In the
editorial harness and shall see much good come
out of it. With Watson in the east and Berge
in the middle west the cause of reform has two
stalwart champions fully equipped for future cam
paigns. Let the friends of reform everywhere en
roll themselves as patrons of these reform papers.
Yours respectfully,
W. T. KIMSEY.