C5W
ft
M0
K
'i
S.?IS'oVr"'"L HOME LIFE, AGRICULTURE AND
Twentieth Year.
COST OP CONGRESSMEN
What does a congressman cost? Un
til this your a congressman cost $5,000
a year, with a bit, thrown in for mile
age and a few small perquisites which
the congressmen say amounts to only
. trifle. Beginning with the new con-
' gross $2,300 to be added in extra
salary, and the cost of living no doubt
justifies the increase. Some facts
gleaned from the reports of the treas
ury department reveal some other
charges 'which upon'investigation must
he piact-d to the account of the con
gressmen, however. The government
has 15S custom houses, which last year
collected all told $305,000,000 at a cost
for collection of about $9,000,000. For
tunately for our enlightment, the de
partment has figured out the per cent
of receipts at each of these 15S custom
houses which the operation of that
particular. port of entry entailed. Thus
the New York custom house cost one
and eight-tenths cents for every dollar
taken in. Springfield, Mass., made the
best record, which -was one and four
tenths - cents- for running - the custom
house for every dollar of customs re
ceipts. But not all custom houses did
nearly so well. At Tuckerton, Now
Jersey, the revenue receipts for the last
year amounted to forty cents. The ex
pense of the office was $305.31. At
Paducah, Kentucky, the receipts of the
office were $1.70, whereas the two em
ployes drew something more than $400.
At the Annapolis custom house it cost
$24C64 to collect $4.50, decidedly a los
ing game. Other places where it cost
more than a dollar to collect a doMar
were.: Alexandria, Virginia, $1.01;
liaruxtable, Massachusi tts, $4.55;
Beaufort South Carolina, $2.55;
Bri'.lgeton, New Jeraey, $2.50; Bu-ling-ton,
New Jersey $16 97; Castine,
Maine, $1.95; Crtefleld. Maryland.
$42.11; Ellsworth, Maine, $8.58; La
Crosse, Wisconsin, $2.7'; Grand Haven,
Michigan, $1.47; Newborn, North Caro
lina, $1.97; Rock Island, Illinois, $25.08;
Sag Harbor, New lo.-k, $3.41; Salem.
Massachusetts, $1.99; Coos Bay, Ore
gon, $3,0.47; W&ldobcro, Maine. $1.20:
York, Maine, $28.27; Apajachicola.
Florida. S2.7S; Beaufort, North Caro
lina. ?i.SS; Brownsville, Texas, $7.17;
Burlington. Iowa, $4.89; Cairo, Illinois,
$5.8S; Chattanooga, Tennessee, $16.18;
l'Mgartown, Massachusetts, $3.77;
(loorgetown. South Carolina, $21.01;
Humboldt.. California, $1.76; Machlas,
Maine, $4.21; New London, Connecti
cut. $1.33: Portsmouth. New Hamp
shire, $2.fi."; Saco, Maine. $4.03; St.
Mary's. Georgia, $30.34; Sandusky',
Ohio, $1.12; Brashear. Indiana, $2.49;
Whet-ling, West Virginia. $8.3 1, and
Wlscasselt, Maine, $5.37.
Why not these treasury draining of
fice abandoned? Congress has been
a.sl-ed to do It time without number,
but the conropsmi'ti of the districts
whtte the of'lces are located always
combine and defeat 'th plan. To take
away one Mice with Its one appoint
ment would mean one less official to
look :tft-r thu congressman's political
f 'tn'i-y, Tnr. i4-mir.Kly is the only
vplanat i.iti, and Unit Is where tomes
In an exti.; item in tins vo l uf n t-on-gr-:'fm:u.
iiitri'.r, mill itiM oitM.
Fur -"-viral jvais the coffee Wnn ha !
remained nlkiit under a bombardment
t i ilili lm lovohin hmiiic i .other udy
liuir. Co i'l" tltors fur hnukfi-' fa
vor hiivu Veti Instant In niMmn t
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, -APRIL' 11, 1907.
monster known as the coffee heart.
Grain extracts, chicory, the root of the
dandelionand carrot, the seeds of the
iris and sweet potato, each has claimed
to be just as good and not nearly so
conducive to insomina as coffee. More
over they are' cheaper. That these ef
forts have resulted in increased use of
coffee substitutes we are permitted to
assume from the fact that the cam
paign has continued with no sign of
exhaustion now for several years. That
it has done as advertising usually does,
created business rather than trans
ferred it, we can safely guess from tho
fact that the coffee bean Was never so
popular in America as ii is now. In 1900
this country consumed about 734,000,
oOO pounds of coffee. Three years ago
the importations were 960,879,000
pounds, not less than two-fifths of the
world's total production. The per capita
consumption has in fact increased in
the United States from nine and one
fourth pounds In 1884 to twelve pounds
now. Nevertheless, the coffee bean af
ter hearing for a decade without re
crimination the attacks of its competi
tors admits that the charges were not
altogether baseless. Notwithstanding
Its power to allay hunger and weari
ness, to refresh and conserve the phy
sical forces, there is, it is admitted, a
bit of tartaric acid in the chaff that lies
around the inner coating of the coffee
bean, and this ingredient may perhaps
account for some of tho unpleasant re
sults attributed to coffee by its
enemies. Perhaps this honest confession
would not be mada but for the fact
that a process has been discovered for
grinding coffee by which this part of
the bean Is eliminated.
THE KACE ISSUE.
A discouraging form of the race
wrangle, with possibilities of results
out of all proportion to its Importance,
is thrust upon us by the injection of
the race question into the civil ser
vice. It is. not among railway mail
clerks running out of Lincoln alone,
or even among railway mail clerks
alone, that the discontent is Visible.
The draughtsmen in the office of the
supervising architect the treasury
department at Washington protested
to Secretary Cortelyou the other day
because they were compelled to work
in a room with a negro who had quail,
tied for a draughtman's place. On(
southern man resigned upon hearing
the president's decision to the effect
that people who did not like their sur
roundings were free to look for others
more to their taste. The south is
complaining of an alleged disposition
of the government to fill tho railway
mail service with colored clerks, and
that riu pains are taken to assort the
trews sent out with respect to color.
Negroes are segregated In the army
and nothing thought of It, but any
suggestion of manning mall cars with
reference to tho color of the clerks
would be deeply resented by the ne
groes and th Ir white sympathizers. It
Is fur none of us to lecture the white
tin n who object to the close associa
tion with a negro Involved In Joint
occupancy with him of a mail car,
,b- ping away his hours off duty In
the, bunk J'JKt vacated by hi co-U-borer.
He would not object seriously,
we unnl, were H not for the fact
that hN tnnding anion us nutters
pomctthat from hU association, forced
or free, wi lt a number of this other
I are,
A hysterical woman U like a loadod
gun: Mighty danct-rdua to handle.
R005EVELT-HARRIMAN
There were six blind men of Indosian
to learning much inclined, who went
to sec the elephant to satisfy their
minds as to what he was like. The
result is a matter of classic knowledge.
The blind man who felt of the ele
phant's ear declared he was very like
a fan, the man who happened to gra&p
his tail thought a rope expressed the
right resemblance, and so on past the
others who thought he was like a
snake, a spear, a tree, according to the
part each one happened to grasp. The
Investigation broke up in a row.
The differences on pointy of fact
which have arisen between Mr. Har
rimau and tho president are such dif
ferences as needs must arise between
men who for several years have been
opposed In bloodless but not bootless
warfare. Mention railroads to Mf. Har
riman, and he sees a fat mekm to be
bandied about in Wall street with every
once in a while a generous slice for
Harriman. Railroads to the president,
we are safe in concluding from his
words ahd conduct, represent a vital
necessity of commerce to be run with
just regard to he needs of commerce.
Wlien words have such different mean
ings to two men, and the differences
are pot confined to the word railroads,
their respective 'ideas as to the moan
ing of what passes between them can
not possibly agree. As to the ques
tions raised of Mr. Roosevelt's rsla
4Ions to Harriman and campaign funds,
the president's public acts are proof
enough that there was nothing dis
creditable to the president in it.
The lesson of the incident is inciden
tal. When the priests fall out we come
at the truth. The president was given
an enjoyable chance to lay bare a
few details of inside politics. The plan
ning and plotting of the New York
masters of finance to control political
appointments, and Mr. Harriman's cool
assurance of his power to purchase
anything he want in politics are cal
culated to educate the public mind in
an important subject. Mr. Harriman's
letter to his friend Webster convey?
further conviction on this point. Two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars
turned fifty thousand votes in New
York City alone, ;aid Mr. Harrirnaii
in claiming credit for the result
Among ourselves we disagree as to
whether an election can be bought.
Some significance must be attached to
tho fact that Mr. Hsrriman thinks it
can. y
THE EV POLITICAL' Hit A.
University bred men have for some
time found openings in the government
service where special scientific training
fitted them for popitions under the civil
service. No doubt this has something
to do with tliti drift toward tho so
called practical studies In the univer
sities. Should President Roosevelt and
hlr successors succeed finally In putting
tho foreign service entirely under the
merit system, at least Insofar as it ap
plies to consuls and legation officials,
the university departments of political
fi iHt economics, history, and modern
language will no doubt notice tho ef
fect upon the stxo of their classes. In
tho meantime a iIiilcal chnngo has
come in Nebraska that should tlmu
lute proficiency In the art excmp)lflHl
In the debate of last Friday nlrht. t;n
der the system of direct nomination
political Influence and honors wl'l de
pend on one's ability to appeal to the
1'ioi'le, where lfwr th- thin h.4d
POLITICS
Subscription $1.00
usiially to be earned by service to some
invisible political interest, service such
as self-respecting young men hesitated
to enter. The art of slncero public
speaking and particularly of debate, ,
an art almost lost wherever bo:s rulo
prevails, should now once more play ,
an important part in political affairs.
Needless to say, this does not call for
a return of the old time b..ibastio
flight of eloquent emptiness. Tt should
mean tho logical, thorough, matter of
fact presentation of a case such as
the modern lawyer and university de
bater have been taught forms tho ef
fective appeal to intelligerit people.
PHOVECITD.
The purity of the primary Is now as
necessary to good government a the
purity of the ballot box at a regular
election. The people of Lincoln have
reason to believe that gross frauds
were perpetrated at the primary on
Tuesday last. Of the scores of men
who appeared at the clerk's offlce to
take oath that they were republicans
and had not registered last October
for various reasons, more than one
half seemed to have no Idea of the
seriousness .of their act or the fact
that a Jail sentence could be made to
descend upon them If they were
swearing to a falsehood. ,
Even more reprehensible waa the
conduct of certain "free holders." More
than once these men' were seen to sign
their names to the certificates of men
they did not know, and s A-tax to facts
that were admittedly outside of thelf
range of knowledge. It was not un
common for one of these professional
free holders to ask one of his fellow
workers concerning an applicant: "Is
he all right?" Upon being assured in
tho affirmative the free holder would
sign his name to the following:
State of Nebraska, Lancaster county,
ss. We, the undersigned, do solemnly
swear that we are severally free hold
ers, and have been residents of
precinct, In ward, for at least
one year Immediately preceding March
26, 1907, and that we know the elec
tor signing the foregoing affidavit, to
which this affidavit is attached, to be
an inhabitant and qualified voter of
said precinct, and that he has affiliated
with said political party, and that the
facts given in the excuse for not reg
istering are true.
After affixing the signature the free
holder would then lift his hand and
swear that he had told the truth and
the whole truth, "so help me God." It
was evident on the, face of things that
in a large percentage of the v. ascs the
men taking this oath knew nothing di
rectly about the men they were vouch.
Ing for, yet the farco went on hour
after hour to the end that the "saloon
keepers friend" received In the First
ward more than twice as many votes
as were cast by the republicans of that
ward at the last general election.
There Is general agreement among
th law abiding cltlsens of Uneotn
thai It Is time to put n end to the
assault that Is committed upon the
primary ballot box at every city flec
tion by the wholesale use of certl.
flcates. The uy to stop It Is for the
county attorney to mak a demonstra
tion In the next month of the trim,
tnallty of the act of casting an un
authorised vote, and of sinning a cer
tificate without knowing th facts
a-Aoril to !' true,
Fim men Imagine l hey are natural
leader Ko.iit.v? they tttwaya want I J
Uu the Job.