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.
