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VOL. II. NEBRASKA CITY , NEB. , THURSDAY , FEBRUARY 15 , 1900. NO. 32.
POBMSIIED WEEKLY.
OFFICES : OVERLAND THEATRE BLOCK.
, T. STERLING MORTON , EoiTOH.
A JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE DIBOOBSION
OF POIjlTIOAI. , EOONOUIO AMD SOOIOLOQ10AL
QUESTIONS.
CIRCULATION THIS WEEK 7,160 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 upon appli
cation.
Entered at the postofflce at Nebraska City ,
Neb. , as Second Class matter , July 20th , 1808.
WHATFOR7 enters upon public
life aud seeks and gets office merely for
the benefit of himself for the money
and not the honor is actuated by
motives similar to those which animate
the burglar. The "practical politician"
and the journeyman burglar are as
much alike , in impulse , as two frogs
jumping in the same direction.
The ambition to do something good
and great for one's country is noble ,
and ought to be instilled into the mind
of every American youth. But instead
of that inculcation , too often , the
schools and the press and the pulpit
teach that the government is something
which can do much for each citizen a
paternal affair that will furnish employ
ment , remuneration , and a good living
to various classes of its citizens and
certain kinds of its industries. The
privileges of citizenship divorced from
the duties of citizenship are constantly
the talk of vote-catchers who seek office
for their own rather than the public
good.
The man who has been able in the
professional or business walks of life to
accomplish noth-
ITor Self. . -T , . , ,
ing for himself
and his family is generally the most
importunate beggar for public promi
nence and political position. And it is
a singular fact that , in a political con
vention , where local offices are to be
parceled out , the prosperous , competent
and successful man and it makes no
difference what party is holding the
county or city convention can seldom
win a nomination over an incompetent
and unsuccessful one. The candidate
who can show the most failures aud
woes in his career will , nine times out
of ten , be awarded nomination , on any
political ticket , over any citizen who has
acquired a competence by industry ,
good business methods and self-denial.
The man who parades his lack of suc
cess and declares that he needs the office
will , as a rule , always secure nomination
when pitted against a competitor of
known ability and established financial
credit.
This sympathy which puts imbecility ,
which has failed in the management of
private business , in
Wrong1. . - , , ,
charge of the busi
ness of the public by awarding it office
out of which to subsist is too general ,
too active and as wrong politically as it
is morally. Those who make office-seek
ing aud office-getting a means of living ,
a profession , are dangerous citizens in
any community.
The rules of business , the careful
management and economy which make
success in the com-
Busluess. . , ,
inercial aud pro
fessional careers of individuals must ,
sooner or later , be applied to the dis
charge of public duties , or government
of the people , for the people , by the
people prove an ignominious failure. In
every county , city and precinct men of
high character , known experience and
success in affairs must be selected for
local offices if taxation is to be reduced
and debts wiped out.
The people in the
SXANDAKD OIL.
villages and cities
aud upon the farms of Nebraska are
getting good oil at very low pricos.
There is no complaint either of the
quality or prices by consumers in town
or country. The cost of oil is less now
than it was twenty-five years ago by
more than fifty cents on the gallon. It
has been cheapened , and its quick dis
tribution among consumers provided for
by the Standard Oil Company.
But a wise , or otherwise , or side wise
attorney-general sees political capital , or
thinks he sees it , in bringing an action
against the Standard Oil Company and
stirring up the prejudices of the people
against incorporated capital generally.
Sharp and self-seeking , as Smyth is
admitted to be by all who know him
well , he is in this
Smyth'
matter , only en
deavoring to store up capital forrenomi-
nation to office. But he , forgetting at
the same time the Silver Smelter
trust , at Omaha , can hardly make the
people of Nebraska believe that it is
their interest to drive out of business in
this state a corporation which has re
duced the cost of a staple article to all
consumers.
The enormous combine to put up the
price of silver bullion has its head
quarters within
Silver.
the sound of the
eloquent voice of Smyth. And that
combine is avowedly to raise the cost of
its syndicated product. In fact , Smyth
himself has been pronouucedly in favor
of putting an artificial price of $1.29 an
ounce on silver , when normally , without
class legislation to aid it , the bullion of
that metal is worth less than sixty cents
an ounce. Now if Smyth will bring an
action against the Silver Smelter trust ,
and that combination can secure the
ardent and efficient services of that old
and tried friend of silver , Senator John
M. Thurston , to defend its interests ,
there will be something in court which
may interest tax-payers generally.
THE CONSERVATIVE awaits the com
mencement , in Nebraska courts , of a
suit to dissolve , set aside , "bust" up or
drive out the Silver Smelter combine by
the Honorable Attorney-General Smyth.
When will that luminous and erudite
officer enter upon a crusade against the
Silver Bullion trust ?
In 1850 THE CON
GENEROUS. . , .
SEUVATIVE , With
absolute faith in his ability and honesty ,
gave a young man a general letter of
commendation. The youth was just
starting for Pike's Peak to search for
wealth and reputation. He was pale-
faced , bright , attractive , but almost
effeminate in physique. He whacked
his oxen through to Cherry Creek , how
ever , and fattened and strengthened on
his coarse camp food and his out-of-
doors sleep in the pure air of the
plains.
In a recent paragraph wo see that the
youth of 1859 has become a man who , in
1800 , presents ouo of his employees a
hundred thousand , another seventy-five
thousand dollars as a token of his esteem.
The name of the youth whom THE CON
SERVATIVE endorsed in 1859 and who is
scattering cash that way in 1899 is
David H. Moffatt. He banks , a little ,
in Denver.
