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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (March 8, 1900)
Ox Conscrv > aftt VOL. II. NEBRASKA CITY , NEB. , THURSDAY , MARCH 8 , 1900. NO. 35- PUBLISHED WEEKLY. OFFICES : OVERLAND THEATRE BLOCK. J. STERLING MORTON , EDITOR. A JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE DISCUSSION Or POLITICAL , ECONOMIC AND SOCIOLOGICAL QUESTIONS. CIRCULATION THIS WEEK 7,200 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 29th , 1898. SPEAKING . from the Inquirer is good : " 'Old Samuel John son evidently did not have a high opin ion of the legal fraternity , ' said the man with the chin whiskers. 'Accord ing to Boswell , who certainly wouldn't lie about a little thing like that , the great English philosopher remarked one day of a man who had just left the room : 'I don't care to speak ill of a man behind his back , but I believe the gentleman is an attorney. ' " And THE CONSERVATIVE wonders how long it will be before some citizen of the United States may remark : "I do not wish to speak ill of anyone behind his back , but I believe the gentleman is a senator , either from Montana or Ohio ? " The state of Neat - at ° - rs and im portunity of a few people who had axes to grind , some years ago assumed the paternal duty of buying books for school children. Rotten contracts for books with vari ous publishing houses and frequent changes in text books have been the most visible results. The pupils do not own their books. They do not take care of them as they would if they did own them , and there is untidyness and don't-careativeness as to the cleanly ap pearance of text books in all the schools of the state. The school board of the city of Omaha , which has just exposed its pustular afflictions to the general public , illuminates the possibility of cor ruption in all boards of education throughout the state under the present paternal system. If it be the duty of the state to buy books for the pupils so that they may study in school , why is it not likewise the duty of the state to buy breeches and boots for the pupils that they may get to school in proper garb and comfort ? Why should paternalism begin and end with book buying ? Is it less the duty of a parent to develop and clothe the mind of a child than it is to develop and clothe the body ? And is the state under less obligation to buy boots , breeches and raiment in general for the body than it is to buy books for the mind ? People who wilfully refuse or neglect to'get books and clothing for their child ren cannot expect the state to develop their breed into useful citizens , even by the alleged efficient system of free schools and a free university boasted by Nebraska. It is related of statesman from New York , the Hon. Tim Campbell , that he asked a friend to help him pass a special bill through congress , whereupon his friend said : "Why , Tim , that bill is unconstitutional and I can't support it. " To which Congressman Campbell , with a rich and persuasive brogue re plied : "Oh the divil I come now , what is 'the constitution amounting to jist between friends ? " "Between friends , " will Colonel Bry an tell us whether Senator Clark of Montana is a God-made statesman or a dollar-made statesman ! Or among friends , can there be any criticism of a dollar-made senator if he's sil verdollar - made ? THE SHAM PHILANTHROPY.TIVE Cannot S66 just how the people ple of Puerto Rico are benefited by the new tariff bill and the return of the revenues under it. If , as Mr. McKinley has always said , the foreigner pays the tax , are we not simply leaving it to the discretion of the president to pay back to the Puerto Ricans that which we have taken from them , less the cosl of collection and the expense required in the return of the money ? If we may judge from the methods usually em ployed in the distribution of public money , the amount the people of Puerto r. ilico will actually have returned to them is indeed an uncertain quantity. MARTYRS. The newspapers of the United States are everlastingly misusing the word "martyr. " A martyr is one who will voluntarily die for a cause of relig ion or politics. Originally only those who died , rather than recant , for the Christian religion wore martyrs. But in modern times , when slatternly and careless choice of words prevails among popular writers , all sorts of dead men are denominated martyrs. The partisan press tells of the "martyred Lincoln , " the "martyred Garfield , " and the "martyred Goebol. " But neither of these men willingly gave up his life for a cause. Neither of them defied torture , thumb-screws , racks , and death itself for any cause whatever. Neither of them was a martyr. The psendo martyrs of this day and genera tion abound in uncounted numbers. But there has not been a real martyr in the United States , according to good author ity , since John Brown was hung in Virginia. In arecent speech PERRY ON the Rev. D. B. TEMPERANCE. Perry of Doaue College , said : "The cost of the saloon for 1890 in money , according to the con servative estimate of Dr. H. K. Carrel , our government census statistician , was : direct , $1,000,000,000 ; indirect , $800- 000,000 ; total , $1,800,000,000. We pay for bread , $505,000,000 ; we pay for meat , $803,000,000 , or a total for bread and meat of $808,000,000. "The wages of union soldiers and pen sions from 1861 to 1895 , thirty-four years inclusive , were $1,858,285,077. This is very little more than the United States liquor bill for one year. "During the civil war 61,362 soldiers were killed outright in battle in four years , but 100,000 drunkards die each year. " The speaker did not , however , dwell on the stupendous fact that the reven ues of this great republic depend al most entirely upon the vices of tobacco and liquid stimulants. If the use of both stopped short tomorrow , the in come of this Christian nation would be cut down to mere nothingness. Full of whisky and standing on tobac- cothe United States poses as the civilizer of the heathen world.
