y -.r gy
Conservative.
The taxpayers of
DUAAVN.
Nebraska will be
enraptured to learu that the members of
the Board of Railway Commissioners
have never failed to draw their salaries
from the public treasury at Lincoln.
If for drawing freights and passen
gers , engineers on the railroads of Ne
braska had similar skill and strough , a
mile a second would be ordinary speed.
If railroads charged for their services as
railroad commissioners charge for theirs
it would cost a * dollar a mile per hun
dred pounds of freight and twenty-five
cents a mile for passengers in the state
of Nebraska.
Inquiries frequently
THK DIAMOND
SYNDICATE. quently reach THE
CONSERVATIVE as
to the nature of the private business of
the populist nominee for the presidency.
What does ho do ? What is his means
of livelihood ? These are questions often
asked and , to judge by the frequency of
their repetition , never satisfactorily
answered. The people of Nebraska re
member him ten years ago as a clientless
lawyer , who tried to supplement his
income with the emoluments of public
office. They recall his tearful letter , in
it , which ho sought a position on the rail
way commission , not to protect the
interests of the "plain people" against
the greed of the "railway octopus , " but ,
as his epistle frankly stated , for "the
money that is in the office. "
He was disappointed. Undaunted by
failure , he next sought to replenish his
depleted exchequer
Elected to Congress.
uer by making an
effort to place himself on the pay roll of
the United States government , in the
capacity of a congressman. Urgent and
pitiable was his appeal for votes. A
stern necessity made it so. Success
crowned his strenuous efforts. He
gratefully received the annual com
pensation of $5,000 , with uninterrupted
regularity , for four years. While in
congress , his excellence in imitation , his
superiority in declamation , his skill in
emotional acting , easily gave him a
position of preeminence , among his fel
low members , as the most accomplished
in dramatic art. By his retirement it
was conceded , and rightly too , that con
gress sustained the irreparable loss of
its most clever actor and most artful
pretender. The loss , however , was re
ciprocal. Mr. Bryan , in turn , was
deprived of Uncle Sam's generous allow
ance. This was probably the more
keenly felt.
He returned to Lincoln. The income
from his law business had not grown
appreciably since
Profitable Candi
dature. he had announced
that it was insuffi
cient , unaided by the bounty of the
government , to keep his family in a
moderate degree of comfort. Today , as
is well known , his clients are even less
numerous. The general knowledge of
these facts probably prompts the interro
gations to which THE CONSERVATIVE has
referred. People wish to know some
thing about the business capacity of the
one who aspires to look after their
business. Success in private business
indicates fitness for public business.
His fellow citizens are unwilling to
believe him dependent upon the revenue
derived from his candidacy. They can
not reconcile money made from candi
dature for the presidency with either
the dignity of the office or honest busi
ness methods. They logically reason
that one who thus profits might , in the
event of election , use the office to aid
private finance. To avoid the necessity
of frequent apologetic statements , on
the part of admiring friends of the dis
tinguished populist candidate , THE CON
SERVATIVE has investigated the business
connections of the silverine exponent of
populism and is glad to announce
indications of a possible revenue , aside
from the gate receipts of his exhibitions
in vocal pyrotechnics.
The home office of the Mercantile
Tontine Investment Company is located
_ , . . , . . atLincolnNebras-
Tontiiie Investment. , _ , , , ,
ka. The following
is the manner in which the business is
conducted : Investors pay to the com
pany | 1.25 per week for 70 weeks. They
are then entitled to receive a $180
diamond or $160 in cash. The profit
seems almost incredible.
The president of the company is Mr.
A. E. Talbot , long associated with Mr.
_ . . . _ , Bryan , under the
Allen.J
Talbot , Bryan & Allen.
firm name of Talbot
bet , Bryan & Allen. Mr. Talbot is presi
dent pro tern of the senate and , while
Gov. Poyuter was attending the Sioux
Falls convention , acted as governor.
Mr. Allen is brother-in-law of the popu
list presidential nominee. In a recent
interview , given out at Chicago , Mr.
Bryan said that , upon his return to
Lincoln , he would go out to his farm
and be . "An
an agriculturist. agricul
turist , " he said , "was a fellow who
made his money in the town and spent
it on the farm. " This would indicate
that Mr. Bryan has been making money
"in the town. " Can it be that he shares
in the diamond business , as ho has in
other connections of his law partner ?
Can this be the source of his accumu
lations "in the town ? " If so , he is
probably amply able to retire for a while
to the seclusion and ease of pastoral
life.
life.Talbot's
Talbot's diamond company is proof of
genius in finance on the part of the
, . , founder. The en-
. .
GeiiluH In Finance.
terpriso is all the
more commendable because it is free from
the influence of "plutocracy , " and is
managed exclusively by and in the inter
ests of the "plain people. " It is more
profitable than a national bank. Monte
Carlo , in the zenith of its popularity ,
T '
did not compare , as a wealth accumula
tor , with Talbot and company's diamond
syndicate. It pays fifty per cent interest
on deposits. Think of it a financial
institution in Nebraska paying fifty per
cent interest to depositors ! Yet Mr.
Bryan complains of hard times. In the
face of such overwhelming evidence of
prosperity , his appeals to discontent
appear as the empty utterances of a
demagogue ; his predictions of financial
disaster the idle vaporiugs of a false
prophet.
In 1890 Hauua promised good times
and a chance to make money. The good
. . , , . times have come.
. _
Prosperity and Plenty. ,
The opportunity-
to make money is here. Prosperity and
plenty abound in Nebraska. Yea , and
it doeth oven exceed prophecy ! Verily ,
Hauua did not foretell fifty per cent
interest I Nor did his prophetic vision
discern diamonds for the "plain pee
ple. " Talbot and company's diamond
syndicate is indisputable evidence
of the return of better times. This
enterprising firm has discovered the
secret of making gold , for which
alchemy long vainly sought. Farmers ,
stop your senseless toil 1 Abandon your
unproductive farms 1 Desert the sacred
ratio of 16 to 1 ! Get in on the ground
floor with Talbot and company ! Why
endure the privation and solitude of
bucolic life , with its scanty remunera
tion , when Talbot and company are
paying fifty per cent interest ? Why be
doubters ? Why question the scheme ?
It must be all right because Talbot and
company say it is all right. Why ask ,
how they can make fifty per cent ? It
does not make any difference /tow.
They say they will. Accept their word
for this as you did for the proposition
that fifty cents was one hundred cents.
The high esteem in which the firm is
held might lead people to believe they
. engaged in a
, , ,
Persistent Paying. . ° . . .
work of philan
thropy and are not receiving a just return
for their labors as "captains of indus
try. ' ' But they have thoughtfully protec
ted their interests , without in any way
affecting the profits of those who are to
receive fifty per cent. It is in this wise :
The depositors pay at the rate of $1.25
per week for 70 weeks. The principal
is then returned together with fifty per
cent interest. They receive this amount
only by continuing for the entire 70
weeks. If they should fail , however , to
pay every week for the 70 weeks , they
would leave with Talbot and company
the total amount paid , as a reward to
the latter for their business manage
ment. Statistics show that eighty per
cent lapse contracts requiring weekly
payments. This , no doubt , is due to a
lack of proper habits of industry and
economy , for Talbot and company have
too keen a sense of justice , have been
too active in prosecuting the war upon
the "cause of greed , " to profit by the
