V :
Conservative ;
IA
VOL. II. NEBRASKA CITY , NEB. , THURSDAY , AUGUST 31 , 1899. NO. 8.
PUUM8IIED WEEKLY.
OFFICES : OVERLAND THEATRE BLOCK.
J. STERLING MORTON , EDITOR.
A JOURNAL IJEVOTEI ) TO THE DISCUSSION
OK POLITICAL , ECONOMIC AND SOCIOLOGICAL
QUESTIONS.
CIRCULATION THIS WEEK 6,240 COPIES.
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION.
One dollar and a half per year , in advance ,
postpaid , to any part of the United States or
Canada. Remittances made payable to The
Morton Printing Company.
Address , THE CONSERVATIVE , Nebraska
City , Neb.
Advertising Rates made known npon appli
cation.
Entered at the postofflce at Nebraska City ,
Neb. , as Second Class matter , July 20th , 1898.
Edgar Howard > s
> . . . _ . . . . . .
m.
TO vitiiiES.Papilhon Times is
dancing and sing
ing gleefully because Holcomb has been
nominated for supreme judge and at the
same time forbidden to accept free
transportation on railroads. This is a
direct insinuation , by Howard , as to
Holcomb and all other populists , that
susceptibility to bribery is a prevalent
weakness. Railroad fare , two and a
half cents a''mile ' , being averted by a
the two-and-a-half cent intellects
pass , - - - ,
which are , in Howard's estimate , liable
to get fusion nominations will be deliv
ered from temptation. Too susceptible
are the two-and-a-half-ceut souls. Too
easily led astray by being "passed ; "
would Howard say.
William Vin-
UAH.BOABBH
ALLKN. Cellfc Allonfor'
merly United
States senator and now district judge
by the grace of the House-Rent Hol
comb crowd , declared in many screeds
and speeches for government ownership
of all railroads in the United States.
Perhaps ho will sometime toll how the
government can come into possession of
all , the railroads without paying for
them and how the pay for them is to be
raised without going into debt ?
Railroads employ more men than gov
ernment. Their ownership by the state
_ , , would make more
r „ „ .
More Ofllces. . .
places for politi
cians , like Allento fill with their sons and
other relatives. Even the Oxnards could
. . . . . S &tfi ; " *
not contrive soft jobs as rapidly as they
could be evolved in the railway service
if all the lines were owned and oper
ated by a paternal government like that
carried on by McKinleyism with the
Brother-Abnerism attachment.
Labor comprises sixty per cent of the
operating expenses of a railroad. Rail
road employees rank high in mental and
manual discipline , skill and character.
There are no bread-winners of any class
who outrank the genius , industry and
general capacity for useful work of the
men and officers of railroads in the
United States.
At the close of the fiscal year ending
June 80 , 1898 , the report of the Interstate -
state Commerce
Interstate Coin- _ . . .
mission. Commission shows
that the railroads
of this republic were employing eight
hundred and seventy-four thousand , five
hundred and fifty-eight men. These
men had been paid during that year for
wages and salaries four hundred and
ninety-five millions , fifty-five thousand
and six hundred and eighteen dollars.
That sum represented forty per cent of
the net earnings of all the railroads in
this country for that year.
The figures show the direct outlay in
dollars accruing to the benefit of labor ;
but the indirect
figures Talk. , lt
advantages result
ing from railroad enterprise are vastly
greater , and are so numerous , so far-
reaching , and of such stupendous mag
nitude , that we cannot even attempt to
grasp them all. "Without the railways
this great country would'still ' be a howl
ing wilderness , with the exception of a
fringe of settlements near the coast.
The population would probably be not
much more than a tithe of its present
rating. Millions of emigrants who have
hewn out fortunes for themselves and
families in the New World would still
be toiling in poverty in their native
lauds but for the opportunities afforded
them by the transcontinental railroads.
All this railroad development haa
been accomplished by private outer-
Prlvatu Plunk. prise , . for the hope ,
of gam. The dar
ing exploiters of the wilderness did not in
vest their money in transportation en
terprises from philanthropic motives.
The government of the United States
did not compel the people to furnish
means for constructing these roads ; on
the contrary , the railway lines were
purely private ventures. Yet there are
some discontented grumblers people
who nlways profess to believe that what
ever exists is bad , and that what is un
attainable or impracticable is good
( nmong them unfortunately , not a few
railroad employees ) who wish to SPO the
government assume control of all rail
ways , telegraph and telephone lines , as
well as of a host of other modern private
enterprises. Some of these advocates of
state socialism draw the line at one
class of industries , some at another ; and
still others have such vague and indefi
nite ideas that they have indicated no
boundary lines between private owner
ship and state control.
"Will Senator Allen elucidate his
views ? THE CONSERVATIVE hungers
for the crisp , lucid brevities of state
ment which characterize Allen in eco
nomic discussion. Turn on the Allen
arc light !
The silver smelter
IMPERTINENT
WEALTH. ter at Omaha be
longs to the silver
smelters' and refiners' combine but con
tinues to do business notwithstand
ing Attorney-General Blarney Smythe's
raid upon The Standard Oil Company.
The former trust makes a lubricant
for the wheels of Bryanarchy. The
latter furnishes only a cheap oil for il
luminating the homes of the plain pee
ple. The former is avowedly working
to put up the price of silver , in connec
tion with the advocates of its free coin
age at 16 to 1. It is the dynamo of pop
ulism. ' It is the heart of fusion. It fur
nishes circulation for the "Whole Stan
dard Office-Seekers' Syndicate. Silver
trusts they adore. Oil trusts they de
test.
THE CONSERVATIVE
SIXTEEN TO ONE.
TIVE wagers six
teen to one that the great , good and zeal
ous attorney-general of Nebraska will
begin no action against The Standard
Silver Smelter Trust with headquarters
and leading officers at Omaha.
How can Blarney Smytho attack the
supporting and nominating power of
The Standard Office-Seeking Trust of
Nebraska ?
Without the brains , money and
energy of the silver kings whore would
Sinytho , Holcomb , Allen and Bryan get
contributions of large size for the cam
paign ? How can Smytho smite the sil
ver syndicate that nourished him all
these years and promises rich and succu
lent subsistence for this campaign ?