mew.
. .
tlbe Conservative.
EPITAPH TO WILLIAM MILLER , POUGII-
KEEPSIE , NEW YORK.
Far from those ho loved , and native skies
Mould'ring in thu dust ] > oor Taylor lies.
Pure his jnind , nnd fraught various lore
His warm old heart was never cold before.
IIo loved his country loved that spot of earth
Whirli gave a Hainpden , Stilton , Bradshaw
birth ;
Yet when that country dead to all but gain-
Bower ! her base neck , and hugged the oppress
or's chain ,
In that abject scene ho wept and sighed ;
Crossed the wild waves nnd there untimely
died I
Header 1 wlmte'er thy country , name or hue ,
Like him the moral , upright path pursue ;
And for fair freedom every peril brave ,
And like him scorn to bo or hold-a slave.
In Omaha the
UN-COMMON
SCHOOLS. people are s u r-
prieed arid robbed
by au un-common lot of members of the
board of education. But in a state
where only uu-couinion schools are per
mitted to flourish , boards of education
must necessarily be something beyond
common people.
The crowding , stuffing process is pop
ular in the schools of Nebraska. At the
age of five years little tots are jailed in
the school room. And from the day of
incarceration the mental capability of
the infant is under constant pressure.
It is taxed to its utmost. No sausage
skin was ever stuffed -with less regard ,
care or thought. A little of everything
and not much of anything useful is
jammed into the brains of the children
in these mi-common schools from day to
day. They emerge from pupilhood to ad
ult life , their minds merely specked or
freckled with practical knowledge , but
entirely untrained for real duties in
life.
"Why not have some common schools
in Nebraska ?
ALEXANDER MAJORS.
The death of Alexander Majors has
removed from the scene one whom
many of his contemporaries call a great
man. Certainly there were few who
were more prominent in the opening
days of the history of the territory of
Nebraska. There is much to be said
concerning this man , and THE CONSERV
ATIVE will try to say some of it from
time to time.
"We would like to call the attention of
our readers to the following address de
livered by Mr. Majors to his "outfit" on
the occasion of the starting of his first
wagon-train from Nebraska City across
the plains. One sometimes wonders
whether the men of forty and fifty years
ago had more religious feeling than the
men of today , or whether it was the in
tensity of the period that brought it
more to the surface ; there are abund
ance of queer anecdotes iu this connec
tion out-cropping through the personal
histories of the freighting days. One
thing that was commented on by some
of Mr. Majors' neighbors , in 1858 was ,
that his religion permitted him to hold
slaves , and ho brought 0110 or two to Ne
braska City with him.
His address to his crew was as follows
one would like very much to have a
picture of the scene :
"Ox-teamsters : I am a moral and re
ligious man , and feel it my duty as a
member of society to carry out and en
force so far as possible a wholesome mor
al influence ; therefore I give every em
ployee one copy of the Holy Bible to do-
feud himself against moral contamina
tions , and also a pair of Colt's revolvers
and a gun to defend yourselves against
warlike Indians ; and each of you is re
quired to sign a contract to the effect
that while in onr employ you will not
use profane language , nor get drunk ,
nor gamble , nor treat animals with cru
elty , nor interfere with the rights of cit
izens or Indians ; nor do anything uu-
gentlemauly towards any one ; and a
violation of this agreement shall make
you liable to a discharge and a forfeit
ure of your wages.
"We pay the highest prices that are
paid for the services that you are now
about to engage in , and your good be
havior is a pare of the value that we re
ceive for what we pay you.
"If it were right to take a man's labor
for nothing , which it is not , I would not
allow any one of you to travel with one
of our trains if you would board and
find yourselves and work for nothing ,
and at the same time violate the rules of
propriety just laid down to you.
"It is my desire that our firm shall be
a means of largely benefiting our em
ployees while they are associated with us.
To do this , we must have rules and dis
cipline for your government , which
must be obeyed , otherwise there will be
confusion , and your standard of moral
ity would be lowered. There are two
distinct kinds of influence that affect
the children of men what we call the
bad and the good. If men enjoy the
genial and wholesome influences desired ,
they must be practically right iu their
lives. Otherwise the bad influence will
take hold of them.
"I desire you , wagon masters , to be
kind and gentle and dignified towards
the men in your care , and for this your
reward will be the respect and gentle
manly deportment of your men toward
you. I want you young men who are
placed under these wagon masters to
obey them and shall anything then go
wrong they will be held accountable for
any blunders.
"Now , young gentlemen , you will ob
serve by the rules established that I do
not require you to sign a temperance
pledge , but to keep from getting drunk.
I will , however , suggest that the only
sure way to keep from getting drunk is
not to drink at all. If 1 had a weakness
of that kind , and a man calling himself
my friend invited me to drink , I would
consider him more an enemy than a
friend.
"There are some here who may say
that they cannot refrain from the habit
of swearing. Perhaps you have not
thought of what a wicked thing profane
swearing is.
"Many young men have mistaken no
tions iu regard to this practice , and may
think it an accomplishment , while it is
a shauiohil disgrace. It carries with it
other evils that you would bo ashamed
to acknowledge that you were guilty so.
' Many say that it is the only bad
habit they have that they hate a liar
or a coward. They forget that it if
next to impossible to swear without
commencing with a lie. The greatest
cowards in the world are the most pro
fane and vulgar swearers. No man who
calls upon the Almighty to damn his
soul means what he says. If he did , he
would not be guilty of such blasphemy.
Now , young gentlemen you who think
that you cannot refrain from swearing
I will now tell you of three positions
where it would not be possible for you
to swear. I will cull with you upon
your mother sitting at the center table
with the old family Bible on it , and two
or three other ladies with her. Could
you introduce me to them and wind up
with au oath ? Not one of you is so
degraded as to be guilty of doing so.
"Iyill now go with you to church.
We will place three Christian ministers
iu the pulpit , fill the pews with fathers
and mothers with their little curly-
headed , blue-eyed , and rosy-chesked
boys and girls. Is there a gentleman
among you who could bring out a pro
fane oath with such surroundings ?
"The next situation in which we will
make the test will be iu the position in
which we are now associated. We are
here in our rough costumes , we have the
ox-yoke , the huge wagon and log-chain ,
and our situation is one that gives us
nothing to bolster up or restrain us , but
the manhood and remembrance of our
good mothers and their advice. Now ,
young gentlemen , I will say to those
who assert that they cannot help swear
ing , I will cease speaking for two min
utes , so as to give time for any man who
is now present who says that he cannot
refrain from swearing lo deliver himself
of some of those huge oaths. ( A pause ) .
"So now , not one of you seemed bur
dened with a desire to swear. I thank
you , young gentlemen , for standing the
test , and pray that you may always
maintain true integrity and refrain
from profane practices. If perchance I
meet one of your mothers 1 pray that
she will not say to me that while you
were in our employ you lost your good
name , and my aim shall be to send you
back to your homes vith your habits
and business qualifications bettered in
stead of lowered. Now , young gentle
men , in time of peril remember your
fathers and mothers who raised you ,
and the God who sustains you. "
Alexander Majors , among other quaint
aphorismsdished up to permanently im
press the bull-whacker mind , frequent
ly , in a familiar and colloquial tone ,
said :
"Now , boys , remember , 'Thou shalt
not take the name of the Lord thy God
in vain , ' nor ride upon the wagon pole. "
Biding on the wagon polo made sore
necks for the wheel oxen , if the driver
were a trifle heavy.
M"de- "
DOMESTICATED TJe
PROTECTION. pendencies which
have recently been
acquired by the United States demand
either free trade or protection. If the
first inheres to United States territory
under the constitution , as THE CONSERV
ATIVE believes it does , then Porto Bico
can send in all her surplus productions
