1)
FEBTil.'A.iY 21, 1907
THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT
With straight face and earnest mien
the railroad representatives assure the
legislature that to make the railroads
pay the cicy taxes which they now
escape would rob the country people.
President Lincoln once asked a
friend: "If you call a sheep's tail a
let-, how many legs would a sheep
have?"
"Five," renlitd the listener.
"No," said Lincoln, "calling a sheep's
tail a leg does not make it one."
Evidently the railroads hope that the
legislature and the people of Nebraska
are ready, like Lincoln's friend, to
count the sheep's tail as a leg Vcause
the railroads choose to call it one.
A department store for the exclusive
patronage of colored people is being
fitted up at considerable expense in a
favorable location in New York. Tha
building has been secured by a corpor
ation owned by colored men, and a
mercantile company similarly financed
will be in charge of the business. This
is a reminder that cool headed stu
dents of the race problem of the south
are beginning to hold out ! the hope
that? as soon as the colored people ad-
vance a step ui iwu ctungimuanji men
patronage will be sought by the white
business men, and then they will have
the strongest sort of club to use in
winning for themselves political rights.
Perhaps this six' story department;
store in case it prove a financial suc
cess wiil offer a needed demonstration
of the value of the trade of the col
ored people.
French human nature would have to
be very different from the sort found
in other countries if French financial
interests tamely submitted to the pas
sage of the proposed income tax Uw
in France. The news that they are ex
erting every effort to defeat the bill,
even though it involve a ministerial
crisis, is ne t at all unexpected. Rus
sia, the United .States, Belgium, Hun
gary and Portugal are the only im
portant countries besides France whers
the income tax is not firmly estab
lished, and the French financiers do not
want to forsake this company. The
reason is not far to -seek. They can
dodge their other taxes directly by
raising rents or interest, as money
lenders do when mortgages are taxed.
But a tax on their incomes they havtf
no way of making anybody else pay.
Moreover, incomes below $1,000 are ex
empt, so that the poorer people not
only cannot have the rich men's taxes
shifted to their shoulders, but do not
even share in the tax proportlonately
to their own little incomes. The present
government in France is not particu
larly responsible to pressure from fi
nancial interests however, and the
chances are strongly in favor of the
final success of the bill.
Naval warfare is becoming so com
plicated as well as costly that the na
tions of the world may soon be com
pelled to resort to The Hague for a per
petual guarantee of their rights in order
to save themselves from bankruptcy.
Besides building Dreadnaughts, the
British admiralty is now planning for
fleets of air ships and submarines to
work in connection with them. The
airships are able to detect the pres
ence of hostile submarines, and to give
warning of. their presence by means
of wireless telegraphy. TIk battle
ships are to keep in touch with the
submarines bv signal bells that are
easil,' heard through the water. When
an attack is contemplated the air ships
give notice to the battle ships of the
location and movements of the enemy,
the battle ship signals to Its own sub
marines, ana tno aiiacn is maue un
der water with eyes that are located
at a distance and far up in the air.
All of this is given in the most matter
of fact manner by the London Express.
The British public pays the bills of
all these expensive experiments be
cause it is supposed to be necessary"
for the salvation of the empire to
have a strong enough fleet to whip
any two or three nations that could
combine against the lady who "rules
the wave."
Be of good cheer; with all of their
absurdities of theory and practice, the
great medical men of the world are
Flowly but surely emerging out of the
woods and coming to exercise a vast
deal of sense. They are beginning to
look for the needle over the territory
where It was lost.
The famous surgeon Dr. Nicholas
Renn has of late years taken a deep in
terest in the cancer problem and after
visiting the primitive people of the
far north and of darkest Africa, he
makes the Matement that there Is no
mnro'r among the Eskimo, and so little
of it among the natives of the dark
Vnnllnmt that lie feels safe In paying1
that the primitive races are Immune;
that It Is a disease of clvil-atlon, duo
to overindulgence. 'Cancer." lie nay.",
"H nothing more or less than the ex
traordinary development of tissue duo
In ovei nutrition." Iook out there, you
fat man lending a sedentary life mil
rating enough to nourinh a lnne, Tti
dn-tnr says the only way to cure a
earner Is to xtarve the exuberant
tlviie.t. This Fii'iv r tidily be doim If
the work is commenced in time. Better
yet is his prescription for civilization
intended as a preventive of these fun
goid tissue developments. "Back to
nature," is the full interpretation of
his remarks along that line. Lead the
simple life. Avoid the excesses and dis
sipations common to our social com
munion. Eat to live. Exercise to give
the muscles healthful tonicity. Drink
in the sunlight and the air and keep
the body clean and the mind free from
worry. In thus making yourself im
mune from cancer and other formid
able and fatal maladies, you dodge the
thousand and one petty distempers
that send you to the drug store for
condition powders or to the boozery
for something to make you feel better.
1A1 HABITS.
In legislation, as in other affairs of
fife, bad habits are extremely hard to
shed. Here at home we have the wolf
bounty and a few other less marked
old fads of legislators which come
along biennially to disclose the frail
ties of our lawmakers and refuse to be
ignored.
In congress Ave, haves the free seed
distribution graft, which is even more
persistent. It is now more than a
dozen years since J. Sterling Morton,
then secretary of agriculture, startled
congress by denouncing free seed dis
tribution as a graft, and each recurr
ing two years period has seen it come
up with a smiling face and refuse to
be knocked down.
Even the present session of congress,
which has manifested on impulse to
ward reform in many directions, was
unable, to deny this antique abuse of
official power, although nowhere in the
United States could there be detected
a shadow of a demand for free seeds.
There Is hardly a newspaper in the
country which, if it has mentioned the
subject at all, has not either denounced
this free seed graft or made sport of
it as something too cheap for counten
ance. Yet it is not cheap for the govern
ment. Congress spends annually large
sums for seeds, paying extravagant
prices for an article that is not always
reliable, to servo no other purpose
whatever than to send a few people in
each district who do not want them
and are merely sent as a reminder by
the congressman to his constituent that
the great man in Washington has not
forgotten his friends. The congress
man might just as well send a comic
valentine. It would cost the govern
ment less money and do the constitu
ent and the congressman Just exactly
as much real good. .1 ,.'
Sneaker" Cannon seems to have
realized the popular contempt "for the
free seed graft,-for when the 'measure
came up in the house, he managed to
be busy elsewhere. Other members
were ' not so careful of their record,
probably because they believed that
the matter was too small a graft to
excite much popular resentment.' Ev
ery recipient of these seeds ought to
send them right back with an expres
sion of disapproval of the graft.
THE PRIMARY BILL.
Under the direct primary planks of
the republican, democratic and popu
list platforms there were left to the
legislature two main points in a pri
mary bill to be settled. These ware
the questions of Avhether the state
wide direct primary should make
plurality or majority nominations, and
whether the "open" primary or 'ho
"closed" primary should be provided.
The open primary permits the voter to
choose in secret the party whose pri
mary ticket lie votes. The closed pri
mary requires him to state publicly
his pirty affiliations as a condition ot
voting the primary ticket of his party.
There Is. something to be said on
both sides of these eiuestions. The ideal
would be majority nominations under
a system of voting first and second
choice, but this so complicates the vot
ing and counting as to make it seem
Impracticable to many of the best
friends of the primary. Likewise the
ideal would be the open primary. But
the open primary has its possible
drawbacks and so long as people arc
wedded to the Idea of close party or
ganization, will have its bitter oppo
nents. The difference in either case
Is by no means sufficient to justify
clivi.-lon among the friends of the direct
primary.
The bill drafted by the special com
mittee on direct piimary conforms with
the platform promises. Except in one
respec t It follows closely t ho Wiscon
sin and Oregon laws, both now In suc
cessful operation. It provides plurality
nominations, ns do the laws of the.
states, and improves upon these law 4
by providing lolatlon of names upon
th" ballot where there are many can
didates. Unlike the Wisconsin law,
however, the Nebraska bill calls fo.'
the closed primary.
Except on one point the closed pri
mary provisions of the Mil are mad.
tut unobjectionable a could be, eveq
to those who favor the open primary.
In order to vote n primary tlekt the
titt-nditi voter ho only to miniver
the generiil question. "What tlftcii
party do joji dlre to a'!liltt with?
Thi fiivirn r'hii fl:iim of thi advocates
of the closed primary, and yet it is not
offensively inquisitorial, since me gen
eral party affiliations of most voters
arc not only 110 secret but a matter or
more or less pride. The provisions
for challenging voters may contain
elements of danger, and need careful
scrutiny from the members ot Doin
houses.
LAWYER'S FEES.
That is not at all a bad suggestion
of a correspondent writing as a con
stituent ot Senator Burns and asking
that a law be enacted limiting attor
ney fees to five dollars a day. Perhaps
the lawyers will hardly sec the merit
of the proposition,- but about everyone
else who has ever become tangled up
in the courts will be able to discern
them with half an eye.
As matters now stand it takes a
marvellous degree of courage for one
to get into the courts, and unfortu
nately courage is not all it takes by
any means. No man has any right to
think of voluntarily going to law un
less ho has a good balance on the
credit sitlo of Ids bank account. But
lie who goes voluntarily to law is a
prize winner when compared to the
man who gets in through the choice
of some one else.
The -volunteer litigant has time to
frame up a bargain with his lawyer,
and if the prospect do.nm't look good
to him, he can drop the scheme. But
it is not so with the involuntary mi
grant. There is a t-tory of 11 man
who said he liked pie, and that he
always cut a pie in two and ate both
halves. The average lawyer knows
Just what the point of that story is..
Law and the services of attorneys
are something of.' a necessity. The
moFt timid and peaceable persons are
sometimes forced into the courts. When
such necessities arise they must have
lawyers. Most of us can recall cases
wherein litigants have been compelled
to pay fees that were scandalously
high. The members of the bar doubt
less invented the system so long pur
sued by the railways of exacting all the
traffic will .bear. They proceed upon
the theory that the person , who has a
just cause would rather give them t!;
lion's share of it than lose" it all fcr
lack of their services.
What is said of the lawyer in this
connection may be said of the mem
bers of several other professions,
though perhaps not so aptly. The doc
tor often measures hin fee by the
ability of the patient to pay. He takes
all the traffic will bear.
So that, as an abstract proposition,
the law has as much .right to. regulaxe
the fee of the lawyer and the doctor
as It has to regulate public service
charges. But when the day comes that
our lawyer can only mulct us for $5 a
oay, it win pay us even better than
it does now not to have any lawyer.
A, VETERA CORRESPO.VInT.-
In the large number of biographies
dealing with the civil Avar period that
have made their appearance in the last
ten years, especially In the south, fre
quent references are found to "Bull
Bun" Russell, the English correspond
ent who won his title by his merciless
criticism of the northern troops after
their first important engagement. He
was also as frank as the typical Brit
on in dealing Avith the south, and both
sections were well enough pleased
Avhen he Avas recalled by the London
Times a year or so after the beginning
of the war. It is now known that Rus
sell Avrote good history, but the fact
could not be admitted at the time be
cause neither side was then in a mood
to have its deficiencies pointed out.
While this visit Is the thing that will
naturally rise in the minds of Ameri
cans when they read of the death of
Sir William Howard Russell of London,
in his eighty-seventh year, it Avas a
small episode in the life of a famous
war correspondent and military au
thority. He was sent to the United
States at the opening of the civil war
not to make a reputation but because
he had already won fame in the Cri
mea. During the last sixty years, until
the Spanish American Avar, in fact, he
Avas an observer of virtually all import
ant armed conflicts. The result of iiis
life work is a dozen volumes of Avell
written, vivid history, to say nothing
of a groat collection of Avar trophies
and decorations.
Ill I !.I)KH3 TOO SLOW.
Vlc President Worthlngion of the
Wabash railway has come to the front
with a new assignment of the respon
sibility for the shortage of rolling
stock. He says that If th railways
have not kept pace with the general
Industrial advancement of the conn,
try. it is due much to th failure of a
part of the manufacturing Industry to
develop as rapidly to has hem net-ilcd.
Thl railway otric lal utaU-n that It
has been Impossible to secure 1,000
additional earn In an order from any
car builder fur tvny cmo rend, or fifty
locomotive from an engine builder
fur one roc.d, it! iniy lnRl time In tin
pft.et ten yen m. Another ixiruthc
rallmad efhVr ha tt.ilcd that It hu
bee n Iiti possible to t "l itre M I rail
to build the truckage that bnt been
needed. Mr. " Worthlngton says that
James J. Hill struck the keynote of
the situation when he declared re
cently that what the railroads needed
w as more trackage and equipment. It
Avas Worthington's expressed opinion
that the railroads of the country need
just twice? their present equipment and
four times their present trackage, but
that development along that line is
being held back by the disability of
car and locomotlA'e builders and steel
rail manufacturers to produce the ma
terials. Tills handicap to the efficiency of '
the railroads is not, limited to the
lesser lines, but the most comprehen
sive and wealthiest roads of the coun
try feel the condition sharply.
The. county option law, still pending
in the legislature, has aroused a gen
eral discussion among the Lincoln
fawyors and such as have come in from
other parts of the state to vi;-:U he
legislature. The bill already defeated
In tho senate and still pending in the
house has been objected to by attor
neys as unconstitutional for the rea
son -hat this bill does not repeal that
section of the Slocumb law It Is in
tended to replace. Even tin; lawyer?
themsclA'es find It difficult to formulate
a bill which will settle the. question of
whether or not there shall be saloons
In the town when the county has A'oted
wet with a local sentiment In the town
and a town council that is dry. If
Clay county, for example, voting on
the saloon question under a county
option law should Vote wet then how
would you got a saloon in Fairfield '
where the anti-saloon sentiment .is
overwhelming and Where the'' town
board is against saloons?
Along with the discOssion of the .
county option proposition there is also
considerable talk among the lawyer
and local politicians of Lincoln as to
the regulation of the saloon system
here. . WhateAir happens in the legis
lature, the city government of Lincoln
must go on and It is becoming more
and more the consensus of opinion that
Lincoln, as a great college center, must
steadily progress, toward stricter r
ulation and gradual strangulation of
the liquor traffic, in u discussion
among a number "of attorne ys the idea
was advanced that the Winnett theory
of closing In upon the saloon business
by gradually lessening the number of
saloons and increasing the license
could be ultimately developed into a
condition where the saloon Avas noth
ing more nor lees than a store where
whisky and beer could be bought but
not used on the premises.
The man a girl has the least use for
Is the one who asks permission ,o Uss
her.
The owner of a fierce dog Is sure It
never bites except under great provo
cation. The trouble Is, so many women ac
cept the estimate of women in the
magazine stories. ..... ....
The boy Avho is fond, of flood Liter
ature is never very popular Avltii any
one but his aunt. -
The man who accepts a situation
usually gets less out of it than the
man Avho takes a Job.
The surest sign of old age is wTien
comfort begins to count for more an
appearances.
A wife's objections to her husband's'
beard do not count for as much in
curing him in ten years . as the first
grey hair.
It is said of an Atchison brag that
any one can be as smart and as rich
as he is simply by being us bi a
story teller.
Atchison Avelcomes newcomers, but
regrets- very much that a man who
raises white setter dogs threaten to
move to Atchison.
llmi Goluniii
If you want to buy, sell or ex
change anything; if . you have
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only 2 cents a word. No ad
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tials find numbers counted as
words. Cash with order. Ad
dress
Tin: iMiKi'KMinvr.
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