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devoetdytournal HOME LIFE; AGRICULTURE AND
Twentieth Year.
THE UNITED CHURCHES
. . , '
Further progress for the denomlna-
tional union movement was made in
the Chicago meeting of delegates from
the Congregational, United Brethren
and Methodist Protestant denomina
tions. The formal movement for the
union of these three denominations
dates from Julyw1903. At that time a
committee of the denominations met at
Pittsburg and issued a call for a gen
eral council of the three denomina
tions to meet at Dayton, O., to discuss
plans of uaion. This conference met a
year ago and made tentative proposals
to be further considered by the con
ference which took action this week.
This plan proposed no material change
in the faith or local autonomy . of the
congregations of tne three denomina
tions, but provided for a common in-ter-congregational
organization. That
meeting did not suggest a name for the
. combined denominations, leaving. that
to" this week's meeting, which suggests,
the name of the United Churches. This
action remains, yet to" be approved by
the congregations in the three denomin
ations before the union is complete.
The, union of these three denomina
tions will bo the second completed
Merger of the several that have been
under discussion or actually underway
in the three, years past. The union of
; the Presbyterian" church 'north and the
Cumberland Presbyterian denomination
has been consummated. AH that it
lacks of physical completeness is the
adherence, of a few dissenting congre
gations of the sjnaller denomination.
In .both cases the union is an annexe
1 ing consolidation of territories rather
' than a union within competing areas.
The Cumberland Presbyterian church
had its strength mainly in the zone
between north and south, where there
were few congregations of northern
Presbyterians. To the newest union,
the Congregationalists contribute main
ly New England and middle Atlantic
states, the United Brethren come large-
ly from the middle west, while the
Methodist Protestants are largely con
fined to the border states of Maryland,
Vvrest Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The Congregationalists bring to the
united society some 690,000 members,
the United Brethren about 255,000, and
the Methodist Erotestants 183,000.
J'lTRU'S TKSTIJSOXY.
' For detailed information of the mo
dus operandi of land graft se. the tes
timony of S. A. D. Tuter of Oregon 'n
the trial f ex-Congressman Hermann.
The evidence now in h oniy a part of
the "stupendous whole, enough to servo
as an upHizer, perhaps. Fifty dollars
was tpent trying to "fix" li couple cC
the grand Jurors who afterwards in
dieted him. S'h"i tlie g nerul land
office held up .uomo of his applications
for land tHUs two one. thousand dollar
bill handed to Senator Mitchell had
a miraculous effect. Two payments of
J'Oa each to a (jvve-nir.eiit special ascent
I ft! o part r ulug title t worth
ies i land In the t 'aiwlf f )ii:;t h.ktV''
wh'clt wjm ?atp 1 1 ! -xotiaK"i un
d-M- i)s. )a i ' Mm law t.r land. loented
ieU"re i'i vorth the l ti dollar
r.n T-f. L-tnl Co.Hitilx-aoi.tr HTn;nn,
afi-T". nni i t.i'i,t a-.u , tu paity to
tlKSf ,t, arc rdinc lo Ihk vviden.v,
and aHwar4 a n wltnuw far th d
fn ti'n Mr. lut r tried and
r.ooiiud two year ago.
1'ut.T a!i Implicate a Portland t
LINCOLN", NEBRASKA, MARCH 28, 1907.
torney in these deeds, as If to remind
us of the current assertion that Mr.
Heny found-only one attorney in Ore
gon free to 'assist him in prosecuting
the land thieves. That one was tho
district attorney, who is trying this
case as a recess appointee, the senato
having refused at the instance of Sen
ator Fulton of-Oregon to confirm his
appointment,"
MONEY THAT CAMP. EASY.
The announcement that Joy and
Paul Morton had lost a million dollars
by the burning of their salt plant at
Hutchinson, Kansas, suggests how
easily money is made by those who are
equipped with the facilities forgain
which corporation control provides.
About the time that President Roose-
ft,"
f
t
, PRACTICAL FORESTRY IN NEBRASKA.
The hardy catalpa plantation of C. D. Robinson near Pawnee City. This
grove, planted In 1889 and 1890, was harvested early in 1908, yielding a net
return of $6.24 per acre per year, after paying for labor, all expenses and com
pound Interest on the investment.
volt was first threatening to bring suit
against rebating railroads, having
shortly before that rnado Paul Morton
a member of his cublnct. the story
gained currency of how Joy Morton 13
camt) head of the xtilt lru.it.
According to thin tory It wa while
Paul Morton was vice-president and
e. n. ral mwnaKvr 'f th Santa y-it-nt
that hi brother Joy lui amc Idetdl
tl.d with tlP wilt lnurtu at llutehln
..h, and that within an Incmllblv
(ihort tljii", by r-am if rhat sdvan
tis.n lora. J thrt Uutehtnson alt con
cern by th Mtnt. Fa railnxid. Joy
Morton found htnwwlf In utwoluta coin
mand of th Halt pnnlulnir industry
of th t'nltej Ul arid h al of t'a
alt Iruat.
RAVISHED BY BOSS REIT
Practically every city In "the United
States has been at some time , in the
unholy embrace of a crew of municipal
ravishers such as that now held up to
the light in San Francisco. It is no
exaggeration to estimate that more
than half of the cities of the country
are in some degree at the . mercy of
such clusters of parasites today. The
complete exposures in San Francisco
enable a more realistic examination of
the shame of cities than even the late
sensational disclosures in Philadelphia,
Minneapolis and St. Louis, because of
the official character of the San Fran
cisco reports. f
In its essential details the graft .;y3
tem is simple. Given a wealthy city;
There are Important contracts i,o let,
puch as contracts forest root transorta
tion, lighting and gas suppy. and
numerous other fervlcia which muat
be performed a.i public functions.
There are also Illegitimate Interest to
be .ent rolled by tn iiity Intflrtutu
basid on vlco atl tnrno of various
tiurtM. It l.i worth much to b allowed
to ply the.i trirrxs unditturbcj. What
would It not bo worth to have thi
dt -oa of alt them lfcHlmalo ond
llloijttlmut prlvilrseii In out' own
lntrrttt instead of In th fahllc Int.T
Ml! Such a u'tlon t'omw to ih
tulnd of r.iilullti urtrkln frjinehl-t
f ivorsi. to li'aUr of tho unrworKt
. klmc the. privilega to ry, to poll
ttrUna M-fklng jxiwrr and the wealth
that vita lt) w therttOb
POLITICS
Subscription $1.00
Sometimes one, sometimes another,
oftenest a combination ; or. the three,
aspires to control of the ' machinery
of public administration in tho hope
of securing this . opportunity. This
once achieved, the jlty government
becomes a brokerage ofilco for the
salo.io tho highest bidder of tho
right to rob. Some buy the right
to rob at tha point of.' a re
volver, otheYs at tha gaming table,-a
San Francisco gas company bought
the right to rob tha people of ten
cents with every thousand feet of
urn I V i.ha ..
The method by which the Ruef ma
chine gained control in San Francisco
is typical, though not identical with
others. Whether or not he is but the
visible head cf an organization whose
real 'builder? arc the public service
corporations and vice dispensers, haa
not yet been made certain. Possibly
Ruef himself built up the machine and
forced these Interests to support hinv
To get hold of the citv machinery hj
had to have soirfc numerical support
In San Francisco-.two elements were
sufficient for thiai , First and greatest,
there were as always everywhere those
honest people who pride themselves on
voting their party ticket whether com
posed of saints or horsethieves. A
majority of this sort in San Francisco
were democrats, and so Ruef went to
work as a democrat to namethe candi
dates. But thofe were not enough of
the sort of democrats who can be de
livered baled at the polls : to insure
control at the elections. To supply the
difference Ruef bought the union labor
vote by filling up his ticket with
creatures who pass as union labor
men, and by permitting union labor
free hand in all public matters di
rectly concerning it, A complete union
labor monopoly extorting from the
city : millions in its rebuilding Is the
price on ' the one hand. ' Ten union
labor men among the sixteen indicted
supervisors witness the price paid on
the other hand.
The complete usurpation of public
powe consummated, the remainder
was simple. Franchises were sold to
the United railroads, the Home Tele
phone company, the San Francisco, gas
and electric light company at prices
profitable to all parties except the gen
eral public. Prize fight promoters were
able to buy desirable privileges, aa
were various forms of vice which have
made San Francisco infamous. City
laws were bought and sold like city
lots. Tho city people who were not
sharing In the graft looked on help
lessly; they had parted with their
birthright, not getting so much as a
mess of pottage therefor.
The wretched plight of civic San
Francisco U no proper occasion for
leveling the finger of scorn. It Is
rather n reminder to pvery citizen of
every municipality to question whether
he. by inertia, neifHhnesM, jitupldlty.
or woro. In not contributing to a lika
disgrace In his own community.
niK'M iin o tiii: I'ltrcumnT.
lUllrnad Interest, are applying A
personal nd political prewtiri? to th
pnvddent tjrh sin no other iwr In
thU country espt unit! pubtta
opioioo 14 capabi.i of uinine4iliiir. J.
I'lert-ont Moritiin U abla to rsk fr
four rwllroad president im If they wm
actually hi "chief clerk, a Pvjj
den? Ktlckny in them I!, with
Mr. lUnUuAJt an J ilr, lUli tnak a
