' - ' - ' ' Nebr. Second
c ra.t'--Var6mTfferCKilTuc'6'unty5 . . as
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THURSDAY , MARCH 2 , 1905.
EDITORS STAND PAT
Speak Against Passes And For Direct
Primary ,
GREAT INTEREST SHOWN IN THE PROCEEDINGS.
State PressAssociation Goes Strongly on Record on Two Steps
- Toward/Restoring Popular Rule in Nebraska ,
s * * - R'solved , That the Nebraska State Press Association In
convention assembled at Kearney declares its interest in and
support of the question before the legislature for a direct prim
ary law , and such legislation as shall speeeily destroy the
political pass system that exists in this state. "
Kearney , > Teb. , Feb. 22. The
Nebraska state press association ,
after a night devoted to greetings ,
amusement and rest , assembled at
the Midway this morning ready to
take up * the serious business of the
session The enrollment had reach-
e'd'99 by this time , and the attend-
ance-of members was large enough
and the proceedings were sufficient-
ly.charged 'with ginger to make it
a notable session.
'M a result of the work of the
day the-association went strongly
* nd practically unmimously on
record imfayor of the direct prim
ary method of making nominations
nd .against tne free railroad pass ,
\rhfcti wasdenounced as a corrupt
ing injluepce in Nebraska politics.
. The annual report of the presi-
ctentrxrw. lidd ; fitted in per
fectly with the proceedings that
fallowed it. Mr. Ladd congratu
lated the editors of tjje state upon
the elimination of "personal jour
nalism" ' from their columns ; also
Upon the avident Jessening of party
control noticeable among the
newspapers of the state and the
growth of'a sturdy independence.
He urgfld the throwing away of
the old idea that an editor must
j follovFthe beck 'and call of the
pojitipians. The press can never
S&itsfrightfu'l place as the lead
er of public opinion until it. gains
a position of independence of
bosses and political cliques.
trite In.j55N Kvii.
v H. T. Dobbins , editor of the
Lincoln Evening News , in dis
cussing the pass question , told of
the political conditions that had
made it seem wise to the railroad
managers to begin a wholesale dis-
tr bution of passes among men who
co lid be useful to them politically.
Specifying as to present condi-
tkns , he said :
. Tear after year , for twenty-five
it : K thirty years , certain men ,
pnonjinent and influential in their
localities , have been the recipients
of "t'llese favors. Year after year
they have brought into the state
coawntions delegations that once
"there became mere pawns in the
ijEnSS-of political chess. There
'fen't a politician of prominence in
jdour county who does not possess
Siis pasteboard or who cannot re-
-feM-p passes upon application.
result of this system the rail-
ids , . f , creatures of the people ,
iafc become their masters. Do
it ? The overwhclm-
° f investigators is
_ linst you. In a recent article in '
JSucSess" it was stated that in at
te f QjiCtthird of the states of the
litiion 'the railroads are in control
; without any real'
erence from the people. , ancj
- tab Of them. Their
' power to do this lies entirely iii
their use of the free pass.
I am not of those who believe
that a siagle annual or a few trip
passes will buy a man's allegiance
.to the political fortunes of a rail
road. It is the pass received year
after year , the cumulative effect of
long usage , membership and fel
lowship in the society , that makes
men subservient. Weak men , as
a rule , are influenced by wealth
and power , and once brought with
in the magic circle of this potent
force they become as impotent to
work their will as the venturesome
fly enmeshed within the crafty
spider's web.
It is a fact so well Known as to
be beyond dispute that free trans
portation is carried by our gov
ernors , our legislators , all of our
state officers , the judges of our
courts. United States senators ,
members of congress , mayors of
the larger cities , members of city
councils , men in all walks of pub
lic life. Ask any of these pass car
riers and he will indignantly repel
the intimation that its possession
influences his public acts or is re
garded by him as other thin"a :
courtesy. Railroad men don't be
lieve this however , as is proven by
the fact that they confine their
largess to those men who are in a
position to help or harm their in
terests.
The free"pass was compared
with the "free puff" in the news
paper , which is given to those who
ar.e able to do something for the
publisher in return. Continuing
he said.
Have you ever stopped to con
sider why it is that in a state so
purely agricultural as is Nebraska ,
a state where the prosperity of
each of us is dependent entirely
upon the prosperity of the farmer ,
that six lawyers-and two bankers
represent us in congress , and not
a single farmer ? What influence
is it that brings about this con
dition ? It can all be traced back
to the use of the free pass and
railroad favor , which makes fish
of one man's ambitions and fowls
of another's. Why is it that in
the legislature now sitting at Lin
coln it is impossible , notwithstand
ing the fact that more than a ma
jority of the members are farmers ,
to secure the passage of bills com
pelling railroad companies to fur
nish the same facilities to farmers'
elevator companies that they do to
old line owners ? Why is it that
oarnost , honest men in the legisla
ture have struggled for years to
secure a reduction in freight rates
and been unsuccessful ? In 1902
the Nebraska farmer received four
conts loss per bushel for his corn ,
six cents lut& for Ms wheat , five
ionts less for his oat ? and nine
? ; eritslless. for-his . rye than did the
* * * * *
* acr m'ers . .of Kansas. These figu res
J r
ur'c fiom.-j.the government report ,
and the explanation lies in the fact
that there is just that difference in
the railroad tariffs of the two states.
Why is it that you and every
other individual taxpayer in this
state must list with his local asses
sor at its full cash value every dol
lar of property you own while the
railway property in the entire state
is valued by a board of state of
ficers who owe their nomination
almost as a rule to the favor of
state conventions controlled by
railroad politicians holding and dis
tributing railroad free passes ?
What was it , do you think , that
only last Friday , impelled the
lower house of the state legislature
to vote down overwhelmingly a
proposition that it be made man
datory for this state board to value
railroad property at the market
value of its stocks and bonds' , a
method pronounced by the supreme
court as just and fair on the theory
that a property is worth for pur
poses of taxation whatever it is
worth as a means of producing in-
. . .
n ; ; tt.
comes
What dry rot has seized upon
thp morals of our exocutive and
judicial officers , of our legislators ,
that permits them complacently to
violate the constitution and dec
ency by accepting free passes from
the railroads ? Section 16 of the
state constitution requires and ev
ery executive and judicial officer
and member of the legislature
does take this oath : "I have not
accepted nor will I accept or re
ceive , directly or indirectly , any
money or other valuable thing
from any corporation , company or
person , " etc. , the latter covering
his official acts. They evade the
effect of this b.v insisting that the
taking of a valuable thing in the
shape of a pass fro'm a railroad
company does not influence them ,
but I feel sure that if you had a
case in court against a railroad
company you would be very much
disclined to submit it to a jury ,
every member of which has a pass
worth several hundred dollars a
year to him. There is a very
prominent gentleman down at Lin
coln who has been frequently
heard to say that the fact that a
member of a jury which tried his
damage suit against a railroad had
a round trip ticket to Washington
cost him , the plaintiff in the case ,
ten thousand dollars. lie found
out about the ticket after the case
was tried. * *
As a result of the us < ? of the free
pass in the creation of an over-
lordship , we have this condition of
affairs : No man can be nominated
and electee ! to any high office in the
state over the active opposition of
the railroads ; we cannot get
through the legislature of the state
measures that provide for a square
deal ; we are impotent to compel
the railroads to serve the public so
as to promote industry by insuring
to all shippers equality of service
and like rates , to grant all cities
the same facilities they do to one ,
to treat Nebraska farmers as well
they do Iowa and Kansas farmers ;
they dictate what taxes they shall
pay and what rates shippers shall
pay ; they permit political manipu
lators to ride free and charge the
business man and the farmer , with
out whose patronage they could not
exist , a rate high enough to cover
the cost of transporting all three.
And what are we going to do
about it ? How long are we going
to permit an irresponsible boss in
an Omaha railroad office to force
men , in whose breasts ambition
stirs , to come and see him first be-
announcing their candidacy for of
fice ? How long are we going to
sit supinely by and see our legisla
tures tied hand and foot by aclique
of manipulators that has its center
in the person of a railroad lobby
ist ? How long are we to allow the
railroad companies to sit in judg
ment upon who shall conduct our
public affairs to act as toll collect
ors on our high ways , to shirk their
just share of taxation in short to
s.iy how fast shall be our pursuit
of lifo. liberty and happiness ? * " " '
We , as editors , ought to use every
means at our command to assist in
the restoration the control of
the state government to the hands
of the people , and the first great
step in this worts is the abolition
of the free pass. We should help
wrest from the hands of the rail
road its most powerful weapon ,
and we can accomplish this only
by presenting the facts to the peo
ple and to keep agitating , agi
tating.
In dealing with the same subject
Edgar Howard of the Columbus
Telegram ridiculed the idea that
the acceptance of a pass carries
with it no sense of obligation. In
the discussion of the question Mr.
Howard was assisted by numerous
editors and they all jumped into
the fray when Mr. Maupin de
clared that the railroads made ad
vertising contracts with the coun
try newspapers with the object of
bribing them. As it is well known ,
every editor at the meeting went
to Kearney on transportation paid
for in advertising. When Mr.
Maupin charged that these tickets
were really an attempt to bribe
their holders , the air was speedily
filled with language and protests.
The editors present made it plain
that no matter what the railroads
were attempting to do , they con
sidered that their tickets were paid
for when the advertising was done
and that they were free to take
any political action they pleased ,
or to make any reference to the
railroads that they wished.
Tlie I > ii'oct Primary
The editors went on record just
as vigorously in favor of the di
rect primary law as they did
against the political pass. Two
papers were read on this question.
H. M. Bushnell of Lincoln pre
sented a strong historical discus
sion of the matter , showing that
the direct method of making nomi
nations is only a return to the old
system of the fathers , which the
politicians have managed to sub
vert for their own purpose. He
cited the good results reached in
the city of Lincoln , and gave other
evidence of the wholesome effect
of this reform.
L. A. Varner was not present ,
but his paper was read by the sec
retary. It was a telling answer to
the principal objections urged
against the primary. Both pa
pers are to be published entire by
the association.
They were followed by a con
siderable discussion in which it
developed that the editors were at
one on the main principle , and
could differ only in matter of de
tail. State Journal.
The Daily Xews published a car
toon in its issue of last Monday
which , to our mind , exactly de
scribes the real situation of the
trusts , the Senate and President
Roosevelt. The trusts and the U.
S. senate are represented as coast
ing together down a hill when they
suddenly come in contact with the
President. The result is that Roose
velt is whirled several times in the
air and strikes on his head some
distance in the rear. This will be
the outcome of the war made by
President Roosevelt upon the
trusts. O'Nneill Independent.
The Xorth-Western tine.
One of the most interesting series
of articles on the subject of the
great railways of the country that
has appeared recently , is that from
the pen of Frank H Spearman , rec
ently published in the Saturday
Evening Post , and since printed in
book form by Scribners. The chap
ter descriptive of the Chicago &
North-western Ry. has been pub-
lishud by the passenger department
of that line in pamphlet form , for
general distribution , and will be
sent to any address on receipt of 2
cents for postage. 74
For Sorrorr.
Brown Smith Is ao vn Ith brain
fever. Green You don't say so ! Brown
Tea. The doctor says if he recovers
his mind will be a blank. Green-
Well , I'm sorry to bear that. lie owes
Eo ! who brings ridicule Id bear
against truth finds in his hand a blade
without a hilt Landor.
jq ? * ftt tx .
& % &fs *
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The Commoner
Mr , Bryan's Paper
Now is the time to . '
secure Mr. Bryan's paper. All
democrats need the paper and Mr. Br.van needs the sup
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Commoner has commenced to organize the democratic
hosts for 190S. Mr. Bryan's advocacy through The Com
moner of public ownership of railroad an 1 telegraph sys
tems , the election of U. S. judges and U. S. senators by
popular vote , direct legislation , the overthrow of private
monopolies , tariff re-form and other issues , insures inter-
cstingand instructive reading as well as new life to the party.
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