VALENTINE OE&IOCRAT
GEORGE M. GASKILL Editor and Manager.
A Weekly Newspaper published every Thurs
day at Valisntlne , Nebraska. .
Subscription - § 1.50 Per Year
Local Notices , Scper line per issue
Entered at the I'ostoincc at Valentine , Nob. ,
for transmission through the mailsas , second
class matter.
Thursday , December 21. 1911.
Washington News
Jiy 0. H. TAVEX > IU special Washington
correspondent.
By what possibility .could the
United states become involved in
' trouble with foreign nations by
participating in the celebration of
Lake Champlain ? Or by sending
delegates to the International Con
gress of Collisions and Salvage ?
Or by having a representative at
the meeting of the International
Seismological association ; which
has to do with earthquakes ?
Congressman Courtney W.
Hamlin , of Missouri , has asked
the Republicans of the House for
an answer to these queries. He
has.a reason.
President Taft and Secretary of
State knox spent large suras of
money for above mentioned pur
poses , and when Mr. Hamlin , as
chairman of the committee on Ex
penditures in the State Depart
ment , asked how the money was
spent he was denied all informa
tion. "We couldn't possibly give
you any information as to these
expenditures , " declared Mr. Taft
and Mr. Knox , in chorus , "could
not possibly think of it ! You see ,
these expenditures were made un
der a statute which permits us to
withhold all details on the ground
that it might involve us in trouble
with foreign nations ! "
Mr. Hamlin said he found that
the State Department spent § 125-
000 secretly every year , and he
declared it was ridiculous to assert
that some of the things for which
this money was spent "might in-
yolve us in trouble with foreign
. nations. " "We of course do n6t
know , " said Mr. Hamlin , "wheth
er the $10,000 expenditure author
ized by secret certificate , of Presi
dent Taft- for participation in the
celebration of the Discovery of
Lake Champlain was spent for the
purpose appropriated or not , but
1 suspect that in all human prob
ability this § 10,000 was spent in
paying railroad fare , hotel bills ,
automobile hire , banquetings ,
wine , etc. "To permit any man ,
even though he be the president of
the United States , to spend an av
erage of § 339 45 of the people's
money each and every day of the
year , without compelling him to
account to anybody as to how , and
for what purpose he expended
this money , does not accord with
ray idea of properly regarding the
treasury , "
The Stanley steel investigating
committee will continue its probe
of the trust. The efforts of Wall
street to bring the investigation
to a halt have failed. It being ob
vious that the House will not heed
the command of special privilege
to stop the inquiry , it is doubtful
now whether the proposition of
forcing the investigating commit-
te to abandon its inquiry will even
come up on the floor of the House.
But if the attempt is made , it is
certain that the House will stand'
by the committee and order it to
proceed with the hearings. This
marks a new order of things. In
the past the steel trust has been
able to have bills side tracked , de
layed , and finally chloroformed in
committees of the. House. All
this is today impossible.
An entirely unprecedented
thing occured in Washington dur
ing the week following the con
vening of the present session of
Congress on Dec. 4 , although the
country may have been too. busy
to have noticed it.
The Democratic House met ou
every oneof , the six days follow
ing the opening day , remaining in
' session throughout each day , ev
ery moment consumed in real
work , until it was time to light |
the lamps * This policy is in con- '
r -'frjt : * wow *
trast to the Republican custom of
meeting on opening day , and af
ter 'remaining in session a few mo
ments , adjourning to the second
day thereafter ; and upon conven
ing the second day thereafter , of
adjourning to the second day after
that , and so on , until the full two
weeks had been wasted , when ad
journment would be taken for the
holidays. In the meantime , of
course , the congressman's pay of
$20.83 per day , § 156 per week and
6625 per month woulcgo merrily
on , the people paying the bill.
The new policy simply means
this- that the Democrats mean
business.
"If anybody thinks this will be
a 'do-nothing' Congress they are
badly mistaken , " was the answer
maae by Champ Clark to the
proposition that the Democrats
proposed to devote the present
session to efforts to "put the Re
publicans in"a hole , " so as to
strengthen their own position for
next year.
' * The Democratic party made
the deiinite promise to give the
people relief from conditions
which have come to be regarded
as intolerable , " the speaker con
tinued. "The best way for us to
play politics is to carry to a con
clusion , in-so-far as we are able ,
the excellent record we have al
ready made. The people are look
ing to us for the accomplishment ,
rather than for strategy , and we
need have no fear of the future if
we go along with our program as
we have started. " Mr. Clark has
been telling -bis co-workers in the
House that if the party goes to
dilly-dallying around , trying to
put the President , and the stand
patters , and the insurgents in a
deep , dark hole , the result will be
more disastrous tothe hole dig
gers than to those whom they
might intend to engulf therein.
Mr. Clark , in other words ,
realizes that the present is his
party's opportunity , and that the
best way to take advantage of it is
through action , rather than with
attempts to shift the blame to the
other fellow.
Somebody wrote to Washing
ton to ask what had become of
Mr. Norten , who was lately secre
tary to President Taft. The
writer hastens to answer , as fol
lows : Mr. Norten is alright. He
has gone the way of previous sec
retaries and is now in one of Mr.
J * . P. Morgan's banks. It is only
a short jump , after all , from
White House to Wall street , and
the path is much traveled , both
coming and going.
The Chicago beef barons ,
charged with conducting a trust to
squeeze the people on the price of
beef , declare they are innocent ,
wuicu would lead one to think
that they would be in a hurry to
get to trial. Query : Have they
been battling in one court after
another for nine years just to keep
t he public fioai finding out that
they are innocent
The President's Message.
In his annual message the pres
ident says : "It has been said that
the court , by introducing into the
construction of the statute com
mon law distinctions , has emas
culated it. This is obviously un
true. By its judgment every
contract and combination in re
straint of interstate trade made
with the purpose or necessary ef
fect of controlling prices bv sti
fling competition , or of establish
ing in whole or. in part a raonoply
of such trade , is condemned by
the statute. The most extreme
critics can not instance a case that
ought to be condemned under the
statute which is not brought with
in its terms as thus construed. "
If that is true then why has Mr.
Taft neglected to cause the arrest
of John D. Rockefeller and other
Standard Oil leaders , together
with the Tobacco trust" magnates ,
under the criminal clause of the
Sherman anti-trust law ?
The supreme court in the oil and
tobacco decisions declared that ,
these particular trusts and the
men maintaining them had violatr-
ed the law. Indeed , Mr. Tafl
himself give5 ? in his message , par
ticular emphasis on the "anti
trust" quality of those decisions.
He says : ' 'la the Standard O I
case the supreme and circuit
courts found the combination to be
a monoply of the interstate busi
ness of refining , transporting and
marketing petroleum and its pro
ducts , . effected and maintained
through thirty-seven different cor
porations , the stock of which was
held by a New Jersey company.
It in effect commanded the dissolu
tion of this combination , directed
the transfer and pro rata distribu
tion of the New Jersey company
of the stock held by it in the thir
ty-seven corporations to and among
its stockholders ; and the corpora
tion and individual defendants
were enjoined from conspiring or
combining to restore such monop
ly- and all agreements between
the subsidiary corporations tend
ing to produce or bring about .fur
ther violations of the act -were en
joined.
"In the tobacco case the court
found that the individual defend
ants , twenty-nine in number , had
been engaged in a successful ef
fort to acquire complete dominion
over the manufacture , sale and. .
I
I
distribution of tobacco in this
country and abroad , and this had
been done by combinations made
with a purpose and effect to stifle
competition , control prices and es
tablish a monopoly , not only in
the manufacture of tobacco , but
also of tin-foil and licorice used in"
its manufacture and of its products
of cigars , cigarettes and snuli's.
The tobacco suit presented a far
more complicated and „ difficult
case than the Standard Oil suit for
a decree which would effectulate
the will of the court and end the
violation of the statute. There
was here no single holding com
pany as in the case of the Standard
Oil trust. The main company \vns
the American Tobacco company ,
a manufacturing , selling and hold
ing company. The plan adopted
to destroy the combination and re
store competition involved the re-
division of the capital and , plants
of the whole trust between some
of the companies constituting the
trust and new companies organiz
ed for the purposes of the decree
and made parties to it , and num
bering , new and old , fourteen. "
In this same message Mr. Taft
predicts jail sentences for trust
magnates in future prosecutions
under the Sherman anti-trust law.
Will some one kindly explain in
the president's behalf why he
again asks the people to wait and
why he does not call the oil awl
tobacco magnates to account under
the criminal clause of the law
which he says was so vigorously
upheld "by the supreme court in
the notable cases recently before
that body ? The Commoner.
Dennis Quiver was arrested at
Pine Ridge and brought to Valen
tine by Sheriff Rosseter Monday
night on a charge of stealing
horses from Frank Bowman re
siding north of Cody.
Bob Smith and a man named
Tuttle were arrested at Gordon
early this week by Sheriff
Rosseter on a charge of drunken
ness and disorderly conduct. It
is alleged that the two men de
stroyed property in a room at the
Commercial hotel in Merriman
and the proprietor , J. F , Nay lor
had them arrested. They were
fined § 25 50 which they paid.
NOW IS THE TIME TO SELECT YOUR
CHRISTMAS GIFTS. -
Our line of Furniture is most complete in every
respect rNovelty lines included.
Music Cabinets , Ladies Desks , Book Cases , Mag
azine Racks , Library Tables , China Closets , etc.
The Popular Peerless Card Table makes a very
fine present. We have them , round or square
A Large Assortment of Rockers , including
children's size.
inds of Rugs , both great and small |
Couch Covers and Portiers
Carving Sets Silver Knives and Forks.
Coffee Percolators Aluminum Ware.
Fancy China and Decorated Lamps.
A selection of any of the above named articles
will make a very suitable gift. We have them.
What is better than a Gillette Safety Razor
for your husband or boy's present ? We have f |
the different styles.
For the Children and small people we have a
big line of Dolls and Doll Heads , Skates , Flex
ible Flyer Sleds , Wagons , Pocket Knives.Rifles ,
Air Guns , and | 1 Watches.
For the High School Student buy a Pennant , fjl
We have a dandy bunch and all $1.00 or under.
Any member of the family can use a Traveling
Bag , Suit Case or Trunk for their holiday trip.
We have them in all sizes and styles and the
;
prices are right too.
Call at our store and you will need to look no
farther for anything in the above-lines or any of
our many other lines.
Fischer's Hardware.
1 Out
We desire to announce that we are not clos
ing out , but are still selling the very best goods
at reasonable prices.
- Our line of John Deere Implements , Yelie
Buggies , Moline and Davenport Boiler Bearing
Wagons and Samson Windmills is complete
and priced right.
We also have a large stock'of lumber , lime ,
Wall Plaster , Cement , Brick , Sash , Doors , etc.
Is it not good policy to patronize a firm who
expects to continue in business and intends to
handle the same line of goods for years to come.
We never advertise so-called bargains
because we have always had our goods priced
ri ht.
A. E. Morris. W. W. Morrissey. Dr. C. W. Noyes
Go to the
Stock Exchange Saloon
VALENTINE'S PURE LIQUOR CENTER
Walt her F. A. Meltendorff , Propr.
Line
D. A. WHIPPLE , Propr.
Valentine Headquarters at the Chicago House
Rosebud " " " Rosebud Hotel
Leave Valentine at 8 o'clock every morning ,
Sundays excepted. '
Arrive at Eosebud at 2 o'clock p. m.
4
Leave Eosebud at 8 o'clock every morning , T
Sundays .excepted.
i
Arrive at Valentine at 2 o'clock p. m. '
, .
Dinner at Britt at 11 o'clock a. m. >
Special attention to passengers , baggage and
express or packages.
\
Leave orders at headquarters or at the Eed
Front store.
D. A. Whipple.
ARE YOU GOING TO DO
any building or repairing15 in the spring ? If .
so , I respectfully request your patronage.
All kinds of carpenter work done in an up-to-date
manner.
House painting , calcimining and interior finishing a
specialty. Plans drawn to scale and blue prints made. .
Chas. M. Eads
Valentine , Box 5 Nebraska
Socialists Attentions
s
It is a matter of vital importance that every Socialist , .
should send his name , address , and the name of his voting
ing precinct also , of any other Socialists in Cherry
county and any valuable information pertaining to Social
ism , to the undersigned as soon as possible , to make it
easier for the Socialist County Central Committee to
keep up the good work.
Michael J. Faber , Chairman , Co. Central Com.
Valentine , Nebr.
A Crippled Mind.
Many strong- minds , giant intellect -
lect ? , are held down and starved
out by crippled digestive power ,
dyspepsia and the poison absorbed
as a result of chronic constipation.
If your stomach lacks digestive
power the natural and simplest
thing to do is to put into it the
agent it lacks. Above all things
avoid strong drugs that paralize
and irritate the stomach and bow
els. A sound , healthy stomach
contains the same digestive agents
Spruce Pepsin tablets contain.
Spruce Pepsin tablets will di
gest fermenting , decaying- food
that lays like a lump in jour
stomach. "VVe have proved this
thousands of times or we w.ouid
not dare spend thousands of dollars
lars to prove it to every sufferer
from stomach trouble. We will
send you a trial box FREE.
Spru.ce Tablet Co. , Heron Lake ,
Minn. 50c. sizes can be had of G.
A. Chapman , Druggist , Valentine ,
Nebraska.