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SeVS01: HOME LIFE, AGRICULTURE AND
Twentieth Year.
A NEBRASKA INSTANCE
There is hardly a richer stretch of
country m xeorasita. urau mo -teen
miles wide extending from Oma
ha westward through Wahoo, David
City, Osceola and Aurora to Hastings.
Thi3 zone is the prospective domain
of the Omaha & Nebraska Central elec
tric railroad, to be tuilt in case suffi
cient bonds are voted by the townships
traversed $80,000 has already been vot
ed and sufficient stock subscribed by
anybody who has the money..:'. -Advertisements
of this project offering stock
for sale contain many interesting
statements. Stock of a par value of
$100 a share is offered for $25, and be
sides as a premium the purchaser gets
an order on the new road for $11.25
worth of passenger or freight trans
portation. The net price asked for each
share of stock is therefore $13.75. This
is important in view of the succeeding
statement that this stock is "dead cer
tain to advance to $100 as soon as the
road becomes operative." Persons who
wait too long to buy will be the losers,
because, again referring to the adver
tisement, the offer cf a transportation
premium "will be reduced in a tew
,i rv.o ppriaintv of a profitable
uajo "
business is based on the intention of.
the new line to "haul everybody- at one
and one-half cents a mile! Who is go
ing to do the business, the roads that
carry people for two -cents a mile or
those that haul them for a cent and a
half?" T--
The i-ailroad discussion of the last
two years has definitely established an
essential difference between establish
es? a railroad through a rich, settled
agricultural district and promoting a
gold mine in the Rocky mountains. The
railroad, as a semi-public enterprise,
havinsr snecial privileges in acqulrir.2
a right of way and performing service
of a public character, is obligated to
perform the service for which it is
chartered at a reasonable profit on the
nrtual capital invested. The purchaser
of stock at $13.75 a share may realize
a fair oroflt. six, eight or ten per cent
on his $13.75, but if the Nebraska rail
road commission does its duty the
profit will never be allowed to rise high
enough to increase the value of the
share materially above the $13.75 paid
for it. When profits grow so large as
tn tonri that way it will be the duty
of the railroad commission to reduce
v.-ioq cwn hHour the cent and a
L 1 J luv) - ' ' - '
half a mile proposed to be charged,
This would also appiy io ui auta wnu
which the new lins would have to dl
vide the business of its rich zone, the
lines it parallels between Omaha and
Wahoo, between David City and Osce
ola, and between Aurora and Hastings,
all ' told considerably more -than half
its 139 miles of proposed length. These
linos would of course, not permit the
new line to set all the business at the
lower rate unless the lower rate were
unprofitable.' In which case the more
business the new Une gets the better
it wouid be, ultimately, ror tne oia one.
Railroad eteek, in line, must bo an in
Ycument, and In no sens a (-peculation.
'
These fads do not argue for or
against any particular new ralir,ad.
.... .. .i., ,, i im t viKl lns rmhlic that
I II V O' I V, I i i inv f -.--p, , . -
the thiy of railroad kiting I past, that
there I in legal or legitimate way
to put -i iioIUr in to a railroad ami take
or, more than a fair latere, t on the
dollar ttmlf. iuidthat It la thofffor 1
f.'s ..i?t ih"t ik'w line b built purely
w ith refVremv, to the commercial lie r-t
t.nd absolutely without referent to tl
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, APRIL 18, 1907.
interest of promoters. Nebraska al
ready has its share of 5weak and rick
ety railroads threading tortuously hero
and there according as this township
voted bonds and that did not, builtHo
pay as a promotion and not as a rail
road. The "the innocent purchasers
of such roads have in the past been
permitted to save themselves at public
expense, but that was because fne
public was foolish or- ignorant. The
thing cannot be done again.
MENACE OF BREWERY. ;
To George Kibbe Turner's masterly
diagram of the operations and align
ment of the forces of vjee in Chicago
we are indebted for a flash light view
of the liquor influence in the 'affairs
of any city. Because Americana drink
more and mere beer, relatively to other
liquors, the brewers have become the
central power of the liquor business.
Brewing establishments, many of the -i
overcapitalized, crowd the land. To
keep running they must sell beer and
more beer. The more saloons there are
the more money for them. Under their
pressure saloons have been established
in Chicago, 30 per cent of them are in
charge of men, who are practically
brewers' agents or employes. In every
town or locality where beer inight be
sold, not only the efforts of some man
who wants to start a saloon are gv -en-
over to brinsciniraboat its sale but the
tremendous power "of ; thFlSrewef s7"eer
in search of a market, stanas oeiu'iu
to help. This explains why there Is
never any dearth of campaign funds
on one side when the. annual struggle
between the saloon and the antl-sald-m
forces takes pla.ee in Nebraska towns.
Political power is highly desirable in
this in perialistic progress. That comes
easv. Every saloon established pro
duces its circle of inebriates who can
be used at the polls in the liquor in
terest. Tiius the association of brewer.-
and llqucr dealers in Oregon wrote
every retailer last year during the-wo-man
suffrage campaign: "It will take
50,000 votes to defeat woman suffrage.
There are 2,000 retailers in Oregon.
That means every retailer must him
self bring in twenty-five votes on elec
tion day. Every retailer can get
twenty-five votes. Besides his em
ployes, he has his grocer, his butcher,
his landlord, his laundryman, and
every person he does business with. If
every man in the business will do this,
we will win."
TRADE FOLLOWS THE PERIODICAL.
Canadians believe that trade tends
more to follow the periodical than the
flag. At present there is no postal wall
between the United States and Canada.
Canada delivers without charge what
ever United States mail comes over the
border. The United States reciprocates.
In the matter of letters the advantages
are about even, but not so wth news-n-mors
and maerazinc.fi. Canadian
newspapers, and particularly maga
zines, cannot compete fcuccessfully with
those of the United Slates, having too
small a field for either advertising or
circulation. This, according to the
Toronto Mall and Umpire, means that
Canadians are better informed about
and more IntenvUed In fiffalrs In the
United Mates than in Cattaila. "Pd ar6
templed moreover l.y (ho advertise
ments of American gcod. To permit
(an.ni:iii!H, to make Canada a practical
even though not a technical province
thH mean, In the opinion of many
of the United F tales. They pror"
tordlnslj' to put a stop to this literary
conqtx-kt by brffttln pot.il reciproc
ity liuof.tr 4 It t-.rUliui to tlm pre
THE ROOSEVELT WAVE
The New York Times has been in
quiring of republican editors in every
state concerning the popularity of
President Roosevelt as compared with
his standing with 'the people when he
was elected in 1904. The result is a re
markable chorus to the, effect that the
president is even more popular than
he was three years ago, and that the
demand for his re-election, or of a man
who-represents his policies, is over
whelming. The republican party, ac
cording to these letters, is completely
under the domln'atlor. of the Roosevelt
sentiment. The expressions on this
point are so strong as to justify the
warning that the breaking away of the
rank and file from the old "conserva
tive"' leadership is complete. The nom
ination of a reactionary Candida to . in
IPOS will invite certain disaster.
Now and then In the letters pub
lished by the Times may be seen a
sign of unwillingness to concede that
th3 country Is going unreservedly with
the presidert and wifh his policies. An
interesting side light on 1he situation
is thrown by the editor of the Burling
ton Ilawkeye, who is supposed to repT
resent the politicians of the Burlington
railroad, whose methods are so familiar
to the people of Nebraska as well as
Iowa; This editor alJh&J"-"
or-rrrc mrrrrngtStT" Reservation' writes;
President Roosevelt Is unquestion
ably very strong in the popular esteem
among citizens of all parties in Iowa.
There is noticeable, however, a growing
restlessness among business men be
cause of the fear the president's atti
tude toward railway and large business
interests will bo detrimental to the
prosperity of the country. It Is recog
nized that radical legislation in Iowa
and other states relative to railways
and other corporations contributes
largely to the fears for the future, and
there is a disposition among some of
the people to attribute to the president
the inspiration of the state legislators
who take the cue from him, when, as a
matter of fact, many of their . acts
would not have the president's appro
val.
When it Is understood that the
"growing restlessness among the busi
ness? men" 5s almost wholly confined to
those engaged in railroad enterprises.
the statement becomes self evident and
self explanatory.
UNIVERSITY Tl'ITIOX.
The decision of iho regents of the
university to charge a tuition fee of $30
a year to students who do not rrVlde
In Nebraska hints at a reversal of the
policy that has heretofore prevailed In
this institution. For thirty years it has
been the ambition of every administra
tion to make a showing of growth n
numbers. New ana attractive courses
have been offered every year and stu
dents have been welcomed from the en
tire world and giver- virtually free In
struction. The growth has been grati
fying and the uhlverMty has been abh
to extend Its Influence widely, but the
eoxt of ueh altruistic effort has pro
voked criticism. The regents seem to
Kive notice by this adoption of a tui
tion charge that Nebraska in no longer
l 'the race for numbers. Jt will offer
the bet l t ruction poudble to it own
pon-nm! daughter freely, but stu
dcr.t from iutMo the utata must bear
a t h ir f the added cxpenw caused
by their attendance.
After the effort to cause a growth In
number every year i definitely ahan
l donet Uw, university can safely throw
POLITICS
Subscription $1.00
overboard a large number of course
offered for the purpose of attracting
students, and give its entire strength
to fundamentals. It will then be pos
sible to Increase the pay of the mem
bers of the faculty instead of increas
ing their numbers and to. secure a
much better plant- because the growth
will be slower and more attention can
be paid to permanence and to archi
tectural beauty. The university has
grown in size in the past at the ex
pense of the quality of its work and at
i It r tit - - MUi V - UaAm
HIV) IaJIiww Vi hMV ? V 41U-VV ufcv-u
compelled to give valuable service for
small salaries in order to leave funds
to provide for a rapid increase in num
bers. That day Is evidently over.
PHYSICAL VALUE.
W. R. Stubbs, the Kansas railroad
contractor, sticks to the testimony ha
gave some time ago to the effect that
he could replace tho main line railroads
of Kansas for $25,000 a mile, and the
branches for $15,000 a mile, exclusive
of terminals, shops and general offices.
Mr. Stubbs has built railroads nearly
all his life, and therefore speaks with
authority when he says that these fig
ures will not only build the lines in
first class condition but will yield the
contractor a "nice profit." The figures
for single track main lines in detail,
as given in the interstate commerce
rmarrngr-arer--aariono ws r , - :
Rails, 140 tons to the mile at $30. .$4,200
Splices, spikes, bolts per mile.. 109
Ties, per mile.,.,;. 2,500
Grading, per mile, 5,000
Tracklaying, per mile.,,...;., 600
Bridge. depots, roundhouses,
right of way and engineers,
per mile. 6,000
Ballast, per mile 4,000
Incidentals, freight, etc. 2,300
Total $25,000
Cost of reproducing Kansas branch
lines:
Ralls, 120 tons per mile at $30.$ 3,600
Splices, etc 400
Ties ...........2,000
Tracklaying ...500
Bridges, etc .4,000
Incidentals 1,000
Total .........$15,000
The further testimony that railroaJ
construction Is exceptionally cheap in
Kansas is of interest in Nebraska, for
the conditions here are identical with
those of the neighboring state. Mr.
Stubbs expressed the prevailing senti
ment in both states when he said that
he wanted to bo fair to the rallroada,
as he understood the benefit they are
to the state. Ho was willing to see
tnem "valued on a liberal basis and
then be allowed to make a liberal
profit on that valuation." The public
is not Inclined to complain until the
capitalization is watered with a lib
eral hose, and then U doubled at one
stroke sis In the case of the Burling
ton or put through the doping process
that ruined the Alton.
ECONOMIC WASTE.
Central American states, on. and all,
havo discovered that war and ihe con
stant imminence of war are a bar to
their prosperity. They are reported to
be ihrefore in a mood to make ar
!iinrcr.icntj to Insure perpetual pe.ic.
Tho mot hopeful element in the wrld
pe'KO movement Is Involved In thin -
b ion, a cornprehfwion of the co-it of
war. Heretofore the talk nfninst war
lm Ijpi'ii based inair y on moral
jrtoutida, lt.i witkedneaa and cruelty.
Tint win well, but it nds to be not
ed that a moral movement thrive beat
after the world Is convinced that It U
an economical morement aio. Modi