fl
A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO
POLITICS, AGRICULTURE AND HOME, LIFE
"x. "x. v m a : i
II
Twentieth Year.
ITS ANOTHER EXAMPLE
Discussing the claims of the railroad
managers: about transportation costs
the other day, an experienced business
man remarked: "The railroad man
agers are not honest with themselves
when discussing costs, and it is unrea
sonable to expect them to be honest
with the public." An example of the
truth of this statement is shown by
the relations of the railroads with, the
postal department. It has several
time.'-, been claimed by the transporta
tion companies that they are making
no "money at all out of the mail-carrying
business, and fought the reduction
in piic in congress on this ground.
Investigators say that while in other
countries the mails are carried for
nothing or at cost the United States
pays more than private shippers.
These figures are really astounding,
showing that the railroads charge the
government from two to four times as
much as they do the express compa
nies, which are usually made up 1
high officials of the railroads. Profes
sor Hfnry C. Adams of the university
of Michigan' statistician of the inter
state commerce commission says:
"On these estimates the railway .re
ceipts from the express between New
York and Boston would average SO
cent .'" freight, $1.25 express and
first-class freight, against 89 t ents for
the mails; New York to Chicago, 75
centseents freight, $1.23 express and
$3.56 mail; New York to Atlanta, $1.26
freight, $2 express and $3.50 mail; Chi-eago-to
Milwaukee, 25 cents freight, 30
"cents express, 34 cents mail per hun
dred (this seems fairly reasonable);
New York to Kan Francisco, $3 freight,
$0." exfpress, -and $13.23 mail (this
seems very unreasonable); Atlanta to
Savannah, 61 cents freight, 87 cents ex
press, and $3.17 mail (more unreason
able still.)
"These and other data too numerous
for insertion here indicate that as a
rule railways receive for express 50
to 100 per cent more than for first
class freight, and for mo,il 100 to 300
per cent more than for express.
"A specific case will show n..v ir
Jy the relation between railway re
ceipts for mail and express. The New
York Central gets 40 per cent of the
' grosK-1 arcings of the express company
op' V:Ming ovNt its line. The result is
the following lVlation betweeli mail and
expns.s for th--- route from New York
to Buffalo, 439 nvles:
Railway earnings 5er year for
1:5 tons of mail daily :. .$1,4-17.840
llaihvj.y earnings per year for
125 tons of express daily 436.250
Tile express companies curry maga
zines and newspapers 500 miles and
more nt a cent a pound, anil the railway.-
get less than one-half a cent a
pound, or two cents a ton-mile. Any
gettcial express agent will tell you
that the company will shade the rate
for it l.rge t-hlpT. For example,
th t 'o-i!topolita:i U carried from New
York to Mesifttt, 219 mil.-., for eighteen
cents n huinh -d, or le. than one-fifth
f u i i.t n po ind. Tlii I at the r;te
of 1.6 e.nU per ioi-inlle for the, ex-pre-.
vompunv and three-foiii ti , of h
(i hi a ton-miie for the r iIUv.ij. a rl
n'x'ti? oiie-xtx!' . nih of the a v i.ii:
n.iiil i; 'and .m nisuh of ih JmrU
l.vill ft t" oil lie lllie Whele the Vol-
n ne of ts. iU l. Ki-att'Kt. Tii ' tail
vay .hi!kt ti e c'lvctnuh nt .tl-mt
t;. eif ' a .umI f.r h.ui. sre
. ... h. :.M. r. ;."!; to I'l-if.
oi .i,m and . .ii'.t ;iiU ; .tr.h;;
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA,
to Postmaster General Wilson, but
haul the same stuff for the express
cbmpanies for les? .lian a tenth of a
cent a pound.
CARRION FAOTORIKS.
In the discussion of pure food re
forms in this state it wodld be well
not to overlook the disgusting evils of
cold storage. Dr. Wiley, who pre
sides over the work of the chemical
bureau of the department of agricul
ture, has recently imparted "some val
uable information on this subject.
It is his opinion that not to exceed
three months in cold storage improves
meats, but that after that period it
deteriorates by a process of decay. In
asmuch as meats and poultry are too
often, if not generally, kept in cold
storage from year to year, people who
consume them necessarily do so at
great risk. It is claimed that some of
the turkeys sent out into the markets
just before the holidays had actually
been in cold storage five or six years.
Prof. Wiley's opinion is that milk
and eggs should never be put In cold
storage, as they both begin to deter
iorate at once, yet many of the eggs
upon which the people feed them
selves at artificial prices have ' been
hidden away in the storage houses for
many months. Is it any wonder that
consumers have begun to clamor for
laws that will compel dealers to pro
vide pedigrees for the eggs they Pell
by means of -which the purchaser
may determine whether or not their
purchases may have reached the
period of declining vitality.
Prof. Wiley says also that many va
rieties of fruits are improved by cold
storage, but. that it must not continue
for more than three months. Doubt
less much of the fruit we buy has been
stored longer than that, but vegetable
decay does not seem to be as nauseat
ing to the human stomach as animal
decay, nor so apt to produce Injury.
These are not conjectures by the
government chemist. He is not given
to 'dealing in conjectures. ,For his
work in the study of purity of foods
two cold storage houses in Washing
ton were placed at his jlisposal, and
ample funds for. making his experi
ments complete and effective.
Doubtless if lie could take an occas
ional jaunty through the great cold
storage houses of the west he would
discover the recruiting officers for the
grim messenger's growing army sally
ing forth daily into the food markets
of the world.
A branch of business conducted by a
Philadelphia establishment devoted to
supplying and boarding feathered pets
is that of preparing dead birds for
burial. Children who have lost their
canaries or other songsters through
diease or accident bring the little ca
daver t the More to be laid out in
iweoming wl. vie. Tiny tothiii., each just
large enough for a bird, are kept in
stork, nhio quantities of pale pink and
blue cotton. The latter 1. used fur fill
inx the bird cofiln, and on thb the bird
I. laid. The effect when birdie's body
I it ceuily" t o'.ir .... !! on th pink
and l.lu cotton Ia i.iirhehrit to ronnole
th little nt mrniri -miter or mistress.
Th Hi'! n tU mm y their eoftin
aw. tv for Initial, Fam-rul expense ur
llaht.
j Afvr woman I ih been marred n
j feVV I ear ! pUre hUf clip from
the aeWfPH"I N (Hole likely tl be
! -tmi Hvtem of lowiimr '! srlovr
lio He J' will t"-k lik" new than
J of th poviiu J on oiij;ht M know.
FEBRUARY 21, 1907.
CATCHING SOME
The seductivo salt used by the rail
road lobby for placing upon the legis
lative tail in the matter of the terminal
taxation bill appears to be effective in
some particulars. In one of the Wash
ington county pnpers appears a letter
from Representative Schoettger in
which the following is stated: '
Terminal taxation will soon be under
discussion as a bill has been drafted
to that effect. Under our old method
the terminals of Omaha were assessed
and distributed all along the different
railroads in the state, so our county
derived quite. a benefit from the same.
This has been admitted by ex-Senator
Sorenson, of Omaha, but under the ter
minal taxation plan we will not derive
any benefit therefrom and it will take
some powerful argument to get our
consent to vote for a bill which will
take taxes away from our county which
we have heretofore been receiving from
the railroads of the state.
Mr. Schoettger must have taken
somebody's word for what the termi
nation taxation bill contains, and that
word is identical with the one that
has been passed aroundby the rail
roads. He r:ays that "under the termi
nal taxation plan we (meaning the
taxpayers of Washington county) will
not derive any benefit therefrom, and
it will take some powerful argument to
get our consent to vote for bill which
will take away taxes from our county
which we have heretofore been receiv
ing from the railroads of the state."
The truth is that the terminal tax
ation plan does not take away from
Washington county a single cent of the
taxes it has been receiving from the
railroads of the state. Mr. Schoettger
can find out in ten minutes time, if he
cares to investigate, that this is the
truth. If Mr. Schoettger votes against
terminal taxation, he votes to retain in
vogue a system under which the rail
roads of the state have been able to
avoid the payment of the larger part f
the taxes due from them In the various
municipalities, he votes to make legal
the tax-dodging of the railroads.
If Mr. Schoettger has no other
roaH.n-for his opposition to terminal
taxation than that under that plan
Washington county will lose any por
tion of the taxes it now receives from
the railroads he cannot, in Justice,
ma in tair.- his position. Surely he
would not lend his influence as a leg
islator to assist the railroads in dodg
ing taxes? Yet that Is exactly what
he will be doing if ho votes against
terminal taxation.
A close reading of the Clarke bill
ought to convince Mr. Hchoettger that
tlie bill does not do what he thinks
It will do. It will demonstrate to him
that it does not take a dollar rrom
Wash inn ton county, but makes the
railroads pay their full quota of mu
nicipal taxes. If it did what Mr.
Heho.-ttger thinks It does why should
tiie rillroad be putting In kiicIi hafii
Ilekrt atruiriMt the bill? What different.!
wo. ild it make to them wher they
pal I their taxp? Th truth Is thai
tley know It maii that they will
have to pay tinm taxe. and thai U
why they are lighting It. Mr
ho. Msj r should get u.xt.
'. "iv lUin'y bktilt tits b.i-i rutr.'nnr
beneath IU iirf.t t 'Vi i t i t-1 rrj
a -a itu- !"h ,,iti 1 1 !'!!" of the p; tic.
jU it le.t 'U l-.t.Wi U lvUd
Subscription $1.00
this sewage in a way to make them
wish to Binear it on their hands and
faces, but it is essential that they
think about it enough to make sure
that it is being carried away properly.
Should a defective sewer threaten Ih.i
health .of a community, it would not be
considered good "policy to ignore, tho
fat in order to avoid an unpleasant
subject. On the contrary sufficient
publicity is given to hasten tho re
moval of the dangerous condition. .
There is at least a partial analogy be
tween physical and moral sewage.
We are prone to assume that moral
filth Jh attractive, so attractive that
its existence, wero belter left unknown,
while mankind instinctively revolts
from the lilth that affecls tlie eye and
nostril'. Both of these assumptions
admit of dourt. District Attorney
Atirjill rV T'iirno ttrn rtttircttfi r..T3l
in fiis district against printing ver
batim reports of the evidence in the
Thaw trial such as that of Evelyn
Thaw, citing the federal statute
against circulating obscene matter
through the mails. Louisville and Cin
cinnati newspapers hav.i been indicted
by a Kentucky grand Jury for print
ine this pvidenee. A resolution hall
been introduced in congress demand
ing thuU "as a protection to the honor
and good name of the womanhood of
America" newspapers be forbidden to
print such evidence. Yet a mighty
wave of healthy, horror-stricken dis
gust with Immorality and obscene con
duct has swept the country because of
the evidence in this trial. Nothing
has occurred in years fo , calculated'
to protect "'the honor and good name
of the women of America" and es
pecially of darkest NewTork by ex
posing the plffalls that exist. Surely
no healthy mind could be made worse
by it. If there have peen newspapers
to "play up" the. evidence in a way to
appeal to baser passions that is a dif
ferent matter, A prurient mind could;'
pervert, into obscurity a report of tC
Sunday school convention. There is no
difference of opinion as to what
should be done with such Cases. There
is a law for them. But when it comes
to suppressing the truth as obscene we
enter dangerous ground. It is to be .
considered whether anything is so fully
calculated to make vice attractive as
to make it mysterious by attempts to
suppress knowledge of its real nature,
true extent and Inherent offensiveness.
IMMIGRATION'.
Snn Francisco and her school ques
tion have done what this congress
would otherwise have failed to do in
breaking the deadlock between labor
and capital on tho immigration bill. It
will bo remembered that pach house of
congress parsed a different Immigra
tion restriction bill at the last year's
session. The senate bill raised the head
tax on immigrants to $5, the house bill
kept it at $2. The senate favored a lit
eracy requirement for admission of all
Immigrants over sixteen years of ar;
the house rejected smh a provision.
The house rulwed tho property qualifi
cation of admission, and provided that
refugee from political or r. ligious per
secution should lw permitted to remain
In the country without reference to the
possibility of their becoming a public?
( harge. Tito Nenat rr fused in confer
.nee to aeeepl thl provision,
Until th" Jaiwne. quentl.jn m.io
I here iiiix hum li chance for the twt
I .ue bi iitfi.e on tt vmartg any
iol..i!uU n vv ,ti ! t..o or regtiU.
t - o' l"tiu.4r.4ti!i. Ortf.iiiU-i Uhor
