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Pitiful Appeals
Sent from China
i i m '
Incredible Scenes of Hardship
-Disease Adds Its Horror to
that of Hunger-Many Months
of Suffering and Death Ahead
-America Appealed to for Aid.
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The Kingdom of China The Shaded Portion of the Map Indicates the Ter
ritory Stricke n by Famine.
Frightful famine has its clutches on two lands. Owing to the drought
and the failure of the crops in South Central Russia, 30,000,000 Russians in
27 provinces have seen their means of subsistence swept away. Men, women
and children, huddled in their miserable villages on the steppes of the Volga
and the 'Caspian sea, are face to face with starvation. It is feared that ten
per cent, may die before new crops can be gathered.
The flooding of 40,000 square miles of lowlands in northeastern China has
rendered 15.000,000 homeless. It is believed that fully 4,000,000 of these
may perish.
So pitiful are these calamities 'thaX the voices of the starving peasants
have been heard around the world. America has been among the first and
most generous in appreciating the dire need and in giving of her prosperity.
But all that has been given as yet has scarcely touched the fringe of the
famine-stricken districts.
New York. The climax of the great
Chinese famine is at hand. In the
seaboard provinces 4,000.000 men,
women and children are starring
more than the population of Manhat
tan. Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and
IUchmojnd. According-tov the latest
reports, the situation is much more
serious than that described in these
columns a few weeks ago by a cor
respondent in Shanghai. Since early
in the winter the 4,000,000 refugees
have been homeless and destitute. Ac
cording to the viceroy of Kiangsu. it
is ten times worse than any famine
kuown in China in the last 40 years.
In point of mortality, it is the worst
calamity that has befallen mankind
since the beginning of the new cen
tury. The end is not yet As the Chinese
winter reaches its height, more and
more people must succumb to hunger
and exKMire. It is not a question of
surviving, but of how many thousands
must die. That the famine will last
for months to come is a certainty.
With all the generosity of other civil
ized nations, the relief is inadequate.
40,000 Square Miles Flooded.
The messages received from China
last December told of the beginnings
of the famine. For 40 days and nights
it rained constantly. The great canal,
extending TOO mlies from Tien
Tsin to Hang Chan, close to the sea
coast in the provinces of Chekiang,
Kiangsu, and Shan Tung, burst its
banks ond 40.000 square miles of low
plains were flooded. Fifteen millions
of people in five provinces were more
or less affected. Of these. 8,000.000
lost their property, including their
buildings and food supplies. Four mil
lions were left absolutely destitute.
-To these beginnings, nearly three
months cf unspeakable misery have
since been added. The intermediate
stages were, in some respects, pecu
liar to China. The dwellings and farm
buildings had mud walls and roofs of
thatch. The walls melted like paper
as the water leaked through them.
The peasants were forced to abandon
them and wade through water up to
their armpits to reach dry land.
Stores ef Grain Lost.
These Chinese farmers were a fru
gal people living on millet, rice, pea
OVEER FOODS GLADLY
MADE USE OF BY
SHIPWRECKED
Shipwrecked persons have been
keat alhre on the most repugnant aad
wawhblesome of foods. Probably the
hardest fare that six strong men and
a boy of 15 ever kept alive oa was the
daily mean of the Windover's sur
vivors, who were cast ap oa the Irish
coast aear Kilsegg not long ago. They
lived 1C days on stewed rone yarn.
When they took the skip's small
boat they had water eaoagh for a
month, but only a small amouat of
provisions. These lasted only four
days.. After having nothing at all
to eat for the following two days they
tried boiling lengths of tarred hemp
rape iato palp ana swallowing it.
They had a keg? of paraMa wax,
which they bailed to add to the nour
ishment . The .sickness they experi
enced as result of the diet, says
nuts, sweet potatoes, maize, and
wheat. At the beginning of the win
ter their store of grain was swept
away. The horses, cattle, and even
the dogs that survived were sold.
Hunger reduced thousands to a diet
of gruel made ofbeaas,' when they
could be found, and sweet potato
leaves.
Then came reports of pitiful epi
sodes peculiarly oriental in their na
ture. So intense did the suffering be
come that many sought death. Par
ents killed their children by throwing
them into the water, then took their
own lives. Aged people are being
drowned, or poisoned with opium, to
prevent their slow death by hunger.
The viceroy in one of the flooded
provinces tells of a family consisting
of a father, mother, and two children,
all of whom perished in a single day.
The mother left the house in search
of food. In her absence the father
drowned the children. When the
mother returned, she asked where the
little ones ' were. Her husband re
plied that he could not bear to see
them starve to death, and as there
was no chance of feeding them, he
had thrown them into the water. The
distracted woman followed her chil
dren. The father, in utter despair,
took his own life.
Sell Their Children.
In some parts of the provinces of
Honan. Kiangsu, and Anhui parents
are selling their offspring, the girls
for three dollars and the boys for
two dollars Mexican, which means
about one-half those amounts in Amer
ican money. A correspondent de
clares that in the Sinchow and Pat
chow districts the starving people
have been reduced to eating human
flesh, and that it Is being sold secretly
among the famine sufferers.
Early in the new year, the famine
situation changed. The starving peas
ants flocked to the nearest cities in
their quest for food. They are living
in great camps, where the pitiful con
ditions are intensified a hundredfold.
There are aow fully 800,000 refugees
at nine cities Tslngklangpu. Husian,
Yanchow. Yaowan. Hsucbou, Suchi
en. Ihslen. Chiakiang, and Nanking.
One of the largest gatherings is at
Tslngklangpu. on the edge of the fam
ine district. Here there are five camps
ww ' ""''VYTVTTwvvwuinnnAAiuui
What-to-Eat. was only temporary and
they landed in comparatively good
health.
Capt Maboly of the foundered
steamer Gwalior and his second offi
cer created a record less than two
years ago by llvina for 17 davs on
boot leather and a pint of water a day
each.
Of coarse no teeth can tear cow
hide boots; they have to be cat ap
and shredded with a knife and tbeJ
shreds chewed and swallowed. Boil
ing, even whea possible, it is said,
does no good, but takes from the
noundshmeat of the boots.
A diet of boots and shoes is one of
the commonest of last resource foods,
aad though it is hard for a well-fed
person to imagine that anyone could
masticate aad digest the leather, a
pair of leag aea boots will keep a man
alive for a fortnigkt If he has a little
water.
Two men who went to a small
island off the Irish coast not long ago
kept themselves going for ten days
on a. diet oi probably worse than this.
each with at least 10.M relegees, or
three times as maay atone potmt as
there were Caban recoacentraaoa fa
1898. The flour aad beaa shops of tha
city have been closed. There are
foodstuffs available. All are dopead-
ent on charity.
In a large camp at Aatung the sVssuVl
tute peasants are also facing deaths
The Chinese officials acknowledge!
their helplessness, and say that the
only feasible coarse is to let one kali
the people die and endeavor to obtain
seed and scanty food for those whore-j
main.
In Suchlea, 10 per cent of the peo
ple nave oeen living oa gruei iot
weeks. All the cattle have been seMi
and the donkeys, sheep, hogs, ana
even the dogs have been eaten.
Pitiful Scenes in Refugees Cameo,
In these camps the starving people
find shelter in flimsy huts of matted)
grass and strip the bark from trees,
devouring them ravenously to allay
the pangs of their hunger. In the bet
ter camps the people are fortunate)
if they receive a scanty tea cup of
rice a day.
This is usually supplied at the
kitchens established by the relief coat'
mittees. Some of the most pitifnl
scenes in the camps are enacted an
the crowds of refugees, emaciated, dla
eased, and in rags, besiege the hitch
ens for the dole of food which
their lives. e
J. L. Rogers, American consul of
the district, who is acting as the spe
cial Red Cross representative
the famine sufferers, visited
camps at Chinkiang and Nanking re-,
cently. He was told that these were
infinitely better than the other camps
along the canal, yet he found thn
wretchedness, miser:, and appalling?
horror of the sight almost indescrib
able. There is no attempt at sanitation,
he says. The mat huts are crowded
together, and each contains many
men, women, and children, who are
clothed in rags and are disheveled:
beyond description. To make matters
worse, smallpox and other diseases'
have appeared among them.
Widespread Measures for Relief.
The famine will continue for five
more months, or until the crop of
spring wheat is harvested. Each suf
ferer needs little yet in the aggregate
the requirements for their relief are
formidable. It is said that ten cents
a day will save a family, and $100 will
relieve a small community. Assum
ing that the total number of destitute
is 4.000,000, the relief fund must be
$20,000 a day for five months, or at
least $3,000,000. The relief thus far
has been trifling in comparison with
the need.
In all parts of America parse
strings have been .loosened by men,
women and even little children to
save their kind from the pangs of
hunger and death. The contributions
range from five cents to " $1,000 or
more. Nearly every State Is repre
sented. Fund for Sufferers.
A fund, started by contributions of
$100 each from President Roosevelt
and Secretary Root, is being raised
by the Christian Herald of this. city.
From this fund $35,000 has beaa seat
to China through ,the state depart
ment at Washington. The' newspaper
has promised to raise $50,000 a month
additional for February. March, April
and May.
The Red Cross Society has raised
about $60,000. Of this $45,000 has
been sent to China. Several weeks
ago 300 tons of foodstuffs were shin
ped from America' to the famine disV
tricts. The California Kea cross ee
ciety was also instrumental in send
ing 2.500 bushels of seed wheat from
San Francisco two weeks ago on the
Siberia, free transportation having
been offered by the Pacific Mail
Steamship company. Five thousand
bushels of seed wheat have been
given to the Red Cross at Portland;
Ore., and it is being gathered at Seat'
tie for shipment.
There are two relief committees in
China. One is composed of Chlaese,
Europeans and Americans, at Shang
hai. The other comprises missionar
ies exclusively. They are sending
food into the districts where the
greatest suffer! g prevails, but hava
brai unable to do more than retteva
the starving peasants that are neai
at hand, owing to the lack of funds.
As early as possible in the famine
the American Missionary society load
ed 3,590 bags of millet and rice on
boats and sent them up to the great
canal to the starving peasants. An
other consignment of 20.000 bags fol
lowed soon after. Thus far fully 16.
500 more bags of grain have been dis
tributed, making 40,000 in all.
The Chinese officials realise that
the crisis Is at hand, and have taken
extraordinary measures to aid their
starving fellows. Taxes in the affect
ed provinces have been abated. Many
officials have had their salaries redan
ed. the saving being devoted to re
lief. The mints are running overtime
to coin cash. The acute sufferers la
some of the districts are reeelvlaf
three cash (a sixth of a cent)' a day
for a month. It is also proposed to re
open old canals aad rebuild old roads,
and thus afford the starving an oppor:
tunity to earn a living.
MMHiaaMaiwiMtaMiMaMiaMaaMv
They landed in a boat which was"
smashed by a wave oa their trying to
relaunch her, aad they were kept oa
the bare rocky islaad without food.
Fortunately there waa a spring oa
the Islaad, but nothing to the way of
sea gulls, which they coaM catch, and
nothing with which to make a fire
as a distress signal. There ware not
even any shell flak, as there waa a
beach, aad the pair hat to eebalst am1
tea days oa cold, raw seaweed washes
ap by the tide.
The best known aad moat aeefel of
starvatloB diets for wreaked, eaetairar
people, however. Is that of
Three Englishmen and n crew of
cars who had beaa Soreed to
the flailing vessel North Star a few
months ago kept themselves
more than a week oa
The worst of this aiet m that the
sarnacles give one iatemal riaasja
and caase aa tasafferahle thirst, has
they do aoariah the frame. Toa hava
to reach aaaer. the vessel's atse aaal
pall ehem off, .taking earn net ta leave
the test an ef them sticking to the.
PlaiV '
HOME VS. THE CITY
THAT IS WHAT THE HOME-TRADE
PROBLEM AMOUNTS TO.
WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?
If Yeu Are Sending Year Dollars te
.he Mail-Order Houses Yeu Are
Battling Against the
Home Town.
(Copyrighted, by Alfred C. Clark.)
A far seeing, provident business
man will not pursue a policy which
is subversive of bis best interests.
He will not destroy his own house,
neither will he jeopardize his busi
ness. He will observe the golden
rule, not only in theory, but in prac
tice, and its practical observation was
never more needed than at the pres
ent time. Men dream about the
"Golden Age" and yet, ofttimes pur
sue a policy which renders the dawn
of that age an impossibility.
Within the horizon of every coun
try resident there exists an evil which
is yearly assuming greater propor
tions. We refer to the mail order
business which last year amounted
in money sent to Chicago alone to
$200,000,000. Two hundred million
dollars diverted from its legitimate
channel. Two hundred million dol
lars sent out to enrich those who
were not needy, while those at home
sorely in need of support were passed
by coldly; the local trade was im
poverished just to that extent. This
golden trade reviving stream should
have remained within its own chan
nel, thus enriching its own soil, and
causing desert places to bloom and
blossom.
Many unemployed would have been
engaged at living wages, households
The batteries of the catalogue houses are carrying destruction to the
smaller cities and towns. Are you helping in this work of hurling destruc
tion at the local schools, churches and industries? Are you assisting in the
distribution of mail-order literature and sending ammunition in the way of
home dollars with which they will continue the campaign?
would have been cheered and hearts 1 off the limb upon which he sits. Dis-
warmed; but no, it went to swell the
dividends of surfeited, boastful city
concerns.
The live and let live doctrines was
overlooked; its old-fashioned whole-
someness was utterly aisregaraeu.
The country merchant would have
been engaged in his daily struggle,
instead of battling at long odds
J against ostracism, adversity, big bills
land meager receipts.
Think of $200,000,000, ye who cause
the catalogue houses to flourish as the
cedars of Lebanon, and the green bay
tree; remember that their prosperity
is at the expense of your brother, the
local merchant, and local progress.
Then ask this pertinent question: Can
we afford to play the game longer;
can we longer stultify local interests?
This great evil affects every farm
er, teacher and work hand, every
home, every school, every church in
every country community. It also
touches the interests of the physician,
preacher and pedagogue. It really
robs the country merchant before his
eyes, in a heartless way. He sees the
freight yard crowded with consign
ments to individuals from great cata
logue houses, and sadly does he look
at his country store with its stock
accumulating, for want of trade, and
thus decreasing in value every day.
Sadly too does he look at the refuge
of bankruptcy hourly being hastened
because his townsmen prefer the cata
logue house with its ubiquitous cir
culars. Those train loads of goods
were bought with money that should
have found its way into the honest
hand of your local merchant, who has
the good of your locality at heart, and
who is expected to contribute liberally
and continuously to very moral and
benevolent institution in your midst.
Then likewise remember this, that of
all the millions thus sent to swell the
coffers of houses in great cities, not
one cent will ever return to bless your
community; to clothe the naked, to
feed the hungry or to educate the
ignorant!
This is certainly a misguided, ill
advised policy; If self preservation' Is
the first law of nature, the fact just
stated should cause lovers of this
country to think.. Continue this policy
and' what follows? The value of real'
estate decreases, local improvements.
cease, material ' progress stops, the
whole country suffers.
The money of a community'' repre
sentsia a baetaeas sense jest so much
possibility, and every honest occune
that is injured in proportion as that
is withheld or sent elsewhere.
la a certaia rural community, this
official order and warning was issued:
"Unless had roads are fixed there
will be no rural delivery at all." It la
impossible to put roads In repair with
out money. This lack of meant can
not' he traced to poof crops, for the
harvest jast gathered, la kaa been
superahendant. Men cannot support'
and build ap business concerns in dis
tant cities without sacriacing the
local good. Is it fair-ta establish the
city by depriving the country of its
port?
Maay hold forth the idea that the
country is tbelfeeuer""of the city.
This is onlypartially true. , That doc
trine has been preached till the tex
is threadbare. 'It would be much
wiser for men. to get a new text aad
talk aad' work -the country up, then
allow the- city, including Its mail 'or
der Octopus, to work its own prob
lems awhile. This instead of being
selfishness, would be the finest order
of- common sense. A more marked
feeling of brotherhood interest is
saidly" needed in. the country oa this
particular point r t '
The rural population complain ol
lack of facilities and conveniences; in
order to obviate this, let $200,000,008
this comingyear be disbursed among
country merchants, among the hum
bler storekeepers, then observe what
will follow. The improvements would
be marked. Social conditions would
be greatly Ameliorated. A new order
would maintain in the home and over
the broad acres of the farm and best
of all. the social spirit of brotherhood
would be felt as never before.
Listen to these thoughtful words
from Gov. Folk, of Missouri: "We
are proud of our splendid cities, and
we want to increase in wealth and
population, and we also want our
country towns to grow. We wish the
city merchants to build up. but also
desire the country merchants to pros
per. I do NOT BELIEVE in the mall
order citizen. If a place is good
enough for a man to live in and to
make his money in. it is good enough
for a man to SPEND HIS' MONEY
in. Patronize your own town papers,
build them up, and they will build
your town up in increased trade and
greater opportunities."
These are the words of wisdom and
foresight from a prudent, patriotic
man. As it is to-day, these words are
expressive of the opposite of what
should be in many a country district.
The mail order citizen may think he
is gaining; the truth is he is sawing
aster only can follow. The mail or-
aer citizen manes his money locally
and scatters it abroad in a field where
it is not needed; this is unfair to both
the town and to its merchants. This
shortsighted citizen complains of the
size and character of his town paper,
at the same time he pursues a policy
which tends to destroy both. Then,
publishers ought to be careful how
they exploit and give publicity to the
mail order houses; even if they are
paid well for the space, it reacts dis
astrously on the town's best pros
pects. Let men stand by the local mer
chant, let them protect his interests,
for they thus further their own. The
town that made the man should be
made by the man. This is fair to all.
Let men ponder well this truth, that
we are all interdependent; that the
vein of brotherhood underlies the en
tire social and commercial fabric.
That together we stand or fall; that
the good of the country demands loy
alty and practical cooperation.
ARTHUR M. FROWDEN.
Father's Fond Hopes Dashed.
"Times are changed," said Mark
Twain, speaking of Washington. "I
doubt if nowadays a man of Washing
ton's unswerving integrity would be
able to get on.
"A rich lawyer after dinner the other
night went into his den for a smoke.
He took down from his piperack a
superb meerschaum, a Christmas pres
ent from his wife, but, alas, as he
started to fill the pipe it came apart
in his hands. The bowl had been
broken in two and then carelessly
stuck together.
"With loud growls of rage the law
yer rushed from bis den and demand
ed to know who had broken his new
meerschaum. His only son. a boy of
11. spoke up bravely.
" 'Father,' he said, 'I can not tell a
Ue. I did If
"The lawyer praised the lad's Wash
ingtonian veracity, but that night on1
his pillow he groaned and went on
terribly about the incident.
" 'Heaven neip me he said, it had
been my life's dearest wish to rear up
my son to my own profession, but
now alas alas ' "
Fortunate Men ef Prominence.
Admirers of great, rich or famous
people often bestow their wealth upon
the objects of their regard. The Ger
man emperor heads the list of lucky
oaes so favored. His receipts la
money and real estate during the last
ten years would. It ia said, make a
millloaaire envious. Following prece
dent, a Hamburg merchant prince left
more than $1,000,000 to the emperor's
chancellor, whom Kaiser William im
mediately created "Prince' Bueknr.
William Jennings Bryan recently
came by wealth ia the same way. Ia
England Lord Allertoa tan received
$lM,aea from an admirer of has public
career and Dr. Jameson inherits a sum
one-fifth larger under the win of Mr.
Belt. Queen Victoria waa vary for
tunate la, her admirers, of whom the
wealthiest was NieW, who bequeathed
to aer the sum of $l,25v.vt.
- !
Lincoln Letter
.Current Goaaip from the
STATE CAPITAL
legislative and Otherwise
U.- li i 3
-i The passage of the aatL-pass bill by
the senate has caused : noma v talk
among the house 'members-about the
disposition of the-.measure when-.it
reaches the house. The senate evi
dently intends that the house shall
pass the senate bill. Members of the
house have few objections to this, but
they will make a strenuous endeavor
to amend the bill before they will pass
it For instance, the provision that
bona fide employes may use passes :s
not satisfactory. Some prominent
house members wish to insert tho
the amendment "whose time is prin
cipally employed by their duties with
the railroads." They think this pro
vision will exclude the surgeons and
attorneys who are not specifically
mentioned in the senate bill, but
whom the house greatly desires to seo
prohibited from using transportation.
The fear has been expressed that the
railroads will make some small mone
tary arrangements with this class of
persons that will still permit them to
use transportation unless the bill is
made more stringent.
The senate spent nearly an entire
day considering the pure food hill, S.
F. No. 64, by McKesson of Lancaster.
The result was that the bill was rec
ommended for passage as first ap
proved by the committee of the whole,
with the exception of section 9, whicn
was stricken out and a new one in
serted in its place, giving immunity
to druggists from prosecution if they
can establish a guaranty signed by a
wholesaler or manufacturer from
whom goods are purchased that the
same is not adulterated or mis
branded. The liquor dealers and man
ufacturers who sell goods containing
alcohol or containing certain poison
ous or harmful drugs did not get off.
They must give full weight and mea
sure and if the goods sold contain anv
of the drugs named in section 8. tho
packages or bottles must contain the
names of such drugs. False or mis
leading statements on brands are
made unlawful.
The state senate retraced its trail
at the request of the governor by re
considering the vote whereby the anti
lobby bill, H. R. 18. was indefinitely
postponed. The bill was returned
from the house, before the reconsider
ation was taken and after some dis
cussion it was committed to the judi
ciary committee for amendments.
King of Polk desired it to be advanced
to third reading without delay, but
McKesson of Lancaster asked that it
be sent back to a committee for
amendment so that he could vote for
it. This action annuled the amend
ments that had been proposed by the
committee of the whole and also an
nuls the recommendation of the com
mittee of the whole that the bill be
indefinitely postponed.
Governor Sheldon has signed the
employers' liability bill. The bill as
amended by the senate judiciary com
mittee was passed by tne house with
out amendment. It repeals what is
known as the fellow servant law of
this state and permits juries to decide
as to the comparative negligence in
case of accidents which result in in
juries to employes. It applies only to
railroad men engaged in the operation
of trains. It provides that the con
tracts issued by the Burlington relief
department may still remain in force,
but that such contracts shall not be
a bar to suits in court tor damages
and that the amount that may be paid
to an Injured employe on such a con
tract may be deducted from the judg
ment rendered by the court.
One of the important amendments
to the l-mill levy bill for the state
university was that providing a revolv
ing fund of $5,000 to be used for the
purpose of buying text booxs for the
students at wholesale prices and sell
ing them to the students at this price.
Many students have bees trying to
get the regents to do this for a num
ber of years, as the cost of books in
Lincoln was so high it made it hard
for working boys to get through school
at all. The new arrangement will save
students much money.
President Saunders of the senate
won a battle and obtained the rever
sal of the report of the committee on
soldiers' homes, which recommended
that Bis bill S. F. 439. be indefinitely
postponed. He explained that the bill
not only permits the governor to ap
point the commandant of the soldiers'
home, but gives him power to appoint
the employes. The commandant mest
be aa ex-soldier. Aldrteh of Butler fa
vored the committee report on the
ground that the senate had passed one
of his own bills.
After a determined e fight in the
house the bill which provides for go
ing back to the old preciact system
of assessorship was recommended by
the committee of the whole for pas
sage. The bill was introduced by
Johnson of Saline and abolishes
couaty assessors ia counties of tea
than 20,000 popumtioa. In every
c runty, whether there Is a couaty as
sessor or not, it provides for the elec
tion of preciact assessors Instead of
for their aaaoiatmeat by the county
assessor aa at preseat. - The effort to
strike oat section 8 was defeated.
The house railway commission bill
was given a boost towards final pas
sage whea the senate committee of
the whole recommended it for engross
ment and third reading. The senate
speat the greater part of two sessions
oa It, much time being necessary to
correct small errors and misspelled
words. One of the most important
changes made ia the bill by the sen
ate was to iaclude under the jurisdlc
tioa of the railway commission street
car companies. This was done by an
amendment offered by Ashton.
The final futile attack earn
taxation in tke senate wai
the 15th. aad resulting la a doable
victory for Ue hill, which waa aaaaa
by a vote 'of 23 to fc Sibley of Uaeohi'
county led in the fight against tha
bill, as he did when it was an far
consideration ia committee of the)
whole, but after he had beaa defeated
he voted for the bill, explaining ha did
so because of an amendment he un
derstood woald be made ia tha
The bill will be seat to tha
so that it may be read the first time
Monday aad may to considered la con
nection with the Clarke bin. which
is a duplicate of H. Tha failure of
the railroads to carry the seaate waa
a disappointment, as It had been
ly boasted that n majority of the
ators had promised to vote for Sibley's
motion to recommit the bill to tha
committee oa revenue. When tha roll
was called on this proposition It stood
11 to IS and victory for the bill waa
assured. The measure was at oace
placed upon its passage aad weat
through as before indicated.
H. R. No. 132. permitting the ofiteia.
ballot at elections to be printed in twa
or more columns, instead of ia a sin
gle column, was indefinitely postponed
after a thorough debate. It was urged
that the bill would give country prin
ters a chance to print the ballot In
stead of giving the metropolitan print
ing offices a monopoly on the "shoe
string" type of ballot. Aldrich. one
who opposed the bill, said the conven
ience of the printer was not the sole
question. He said the people had be
come used Ho the present form of bal
lot and a change should not be made
unless its advocates were able to show
that an improvement would be the re
sult. Sackett. who -moved to indefin
itely postpone the bill, believed that
maay voters would stop after voting
the first column of the proposed ballot
and would neglect to vote the second
column.
A quietus was put on the Sunday
base ball agitation in the legislature
when Aldricn's bill. S. F. 230. was in
definitely postponed without so much
as a discussion of Its merits in com
mittee of the whole. A week or two
ago the house killed its Sunday bsse
ball bill and the action or the senate
ends both the bills, which were intro
duced to enable the playing of the na
tional game in Lincoln oa the first day
of the week without the aid or consent
of anyone. The senate bill had been
changed by amendment, but was still
acceptable to the fans who were be
hind the movement. The summary ac
tion headed off what promised to be a
lively debate on the merits of tho
bill.
Without a single dissenting vote tha
railway commission bill passed tha
house. Ten members being absent,
the vote stood 90 to 0 on the bill. As
the vote was being taken the an
nouncement was made by fusion mem
bers in the form of an explanation of
their votes that they believed the leg
islature should enact a set of com
modity maximum freight rate laws
for the purpose of bringing Nebraska
rates down to the same basis as those
charged shippers ia the neighboring
states.
The senate decleared itself la fa
vor of the enactment of a child labor
law by recommending Clarke's bill.
H. R. No. 9, for passage. At first
some of the farmers opposed tha bill
for fear it would interfere with chil-'
dren doing chores about the farm.
Amendments to exclude agricultural
pursuits, with the exception of beet
growing, removed all objections, how
ever, and brought about a favorable
report on the measure.
The inability of the supreme court
as now organized with only three
members, to care for the big volume
of legal business in the state, has re
ceived attention at the hands of the
senate. That body has passed Senator
King's bill calling for seven supreme
judges at a salary of $4,500 a year,
and also increasing the salary of the
district judges from $2,500 to $3,000 n
year.
Chairman Burns of Lancaster of the
insurance committee reported three
bills to the senate with the recom
mendation that they be indefinitely
postponed. All three reports were
overriden by the senate and the bill3
were placed on general file, after con
siderable discussion.
After several lengthy hearings on
the jail feeding proposition as it ex
ists in Douglas county, the committee
on fees and salaries of the house has
decided to recommend a bill which
will allow the county board of Doug
las county to let the contract for feed
lag the prisoners in the county jail to
the best bidder.
State Superintendent McBrlen and
the various educational interests of
the state have begun a hard fight
against the house roll that ia iateaded
to make the free text hook law of tha
state optional instead of mandatory.
Gibson's bill to prohibit brewera
aad distillers from havinaj any Interest
in saloon or saloon licenses received
favorable action ia the senate cam
mittee of the whole. The hill pre
vents manufacturers from having nay
laterest. direct or indirect, ia any sa
teen or salooa license or from owe
lag or Ieaslag property for saleaa ear
noses. Thomas of DonrJaa tried ta
have the latter provision etrichea oat,
hut his aaMBdmaat waa voted dawn
Gibson declared thirty-six of tho
eighty-six aalooas ia 8oath Omaha
were owaed by a brewing company.
Secretary of State Juakia ia making
aa effort to secure aa accurate roster
of the soldiers aad sailers ia this
state ia accordance with aectioa It,
chapter 52a, compiled statutes. Ia a
letter to county aeaeaeors, he uaye:
"We would urge yon ta tastmct your
deputies to do this WsttTvery aaar
ough. as we roaatemfJayaanhaadne; a
roster from sheae letnrat If tha nanv
her of names eetataad1 wUI janttfy
the expease. Please inafnt ihat tha
blanks are all property fined aad. tha
names legibly wriiten and correctly
spelled.''
K.
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