Che Conservative.
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VOL. III. NEBRASKA CITY , NEB. , THURSDAY , NOV. 22 , 1900. NO. 20.
PUBLISHED WEEKLY.
OFFICES : OVERLAND THEATRE BLOCK.
J. STERLING MORTON , EDITOR.
A JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE DISCUSSION
OF POLITICAL , ECONOMIC AND SOCIOLOGICAL
QUESTIONS.
CIRCULATION THIS WEEK 9,600 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 postoffloe at Nebraska City
Neb. , as Second Class matter , July 29th , 1898.
CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATION.f CODgreSB Will
make a reapportionment -
tionment of the representation of the
various states based npon the census of
the present year. This should be made
to conform to the letter and spirit of the
fourteenth amendment , section two , of
which provides that "Representatives
shall be apportioned among the several
states according to their respective num
bers , counting the whole number of
persons in each state , excluding Indians
not taxed. But when the right to vote
at any election for the choice of electors
for president and vice-president of the
United States , representatives in con
gress , the executive and judicial officers
of a state , or the members of the legisla
ture thereof , is denied to any of the male
inhabitants of such state , being twenty-
one years of age , and citizens of the
United States , or in any way abridged ,
except for participation in rebellion , or
other crime , the basis of representation
therein shall be reduced in the proportion
which the number of such male citizens
shall bear to the whole number of male
citizens twenty-one years of age in such
state. "
Representation in congress , according
to the present system of apportionment ,
_ is not in accord
, . ,
Unconstitutional. . . . , . . . .
with the qualify
ing clause of this section. The appor
tionment is now based upon the whole
population and not upon the voting popu
lation as the constitution provides. A
glance at the vote cast in the south at
the recent election will convince anyone
that the negro is not much of a factor
in determining the result of elections.
But the representation of the south in
congress and in the electoral college is
based upon the false assumption that
the negro does enjoy all the privileges
of a citizen. There may be , and no doubt
are , very satisfactory reasons for restrict
ing the franchise in the southern states.
THE CONSERVATIVE will not dispute this
point. But if the negro and other
illiterate classes in the south are to be
disfranchised , the southern states should
yield that portion of their congressional
representation based upon the colored
population. It is not right that the vote
of one man south of the Mason and
Dixon line should count as much as the
votes of seven men north of that line , as
is the case under the present rule of
apportionment.
W. E. Onrtis , in the Chicago Record ,
recently made an interesting comparison
of the vote of seven
A Comparison. . . , .
congressional dis
tricts of South Carolina and the vote of
seven Illinois districts. The following
are the votes cast in the seven South
Carolina districts :
Dem. Rep.
First district 8,030 1,529
Second district 4,07 ! $ 122
Third district 4,029 832
Fourth district 4,407 105
Fifth district 4,230 None
Sixth district 1,705 151
Seventh district 4,433 505
Totals . . . . . .20,027 2,804
The Illinois districts made the follow
ing showing :
Dem. Rep.
Eleventh district 10,554 20,000
Twelfth district 14,178 21,484
Thirteenth district 14,977 20,635
Fourteenth district 19,481 21,417
Fifteenth district 20,901 21,143
Sixteenth district 21,082 17,021
Seventeenth district 23,293 21,053
Totals 181,010 148,858
The total vote of the seven congress
ional districts of South Carolina is but
28,831 against 274,279 for the same num
ber of districts in Illinois. One voter in
South Carolina has the same representa
tion in congress as seven voters in Illi
nois. A South Carolina congressman
represents 3,683 voters while the mem
ber from Illinois represents 39,197 or
10,000 more voters than are represented
by the seven members from Tillman's
state. It is these inequalities the next
session of congress should correct by
making a new basis of apportionment in
conformity with the amendment to the
constitution.
VILtARD.THE CONSERVATIVE
HENRY VILtARD.
TIVE is pained to
learn of the sudden decease of Henry
Villard. For many years he had been
the political friend and endorser of the
editor of this journal. And among all
the notable intellects of the passing gen
eration , there was not one more versa
tile , cultured and keen.
It had been the intention of the Vil-
lard family to return to their New York
home about the middle of October , but
the health of Mr. Villard was so precar
ious that his physician persuaded him to
remain in the country until he should
become stronger.
Henry Villard was born Heinrioh Hil-
gard in Speyer , Rheinish Bavaria , on
April 11 , 1835. His great uncle , Theo
dore ( father of Julius Hilgard , who be
came superintendent of the United
States coast survey ) , led a migration of
the family connection to Belleville , 111. ,
in 1835. His father , Gustav , was in the
judicial service of the Bavarian govern
ment , and died as judge of the supreme
court at Munich.
Young Hilgard was educated at schools
in Swelbruoken , Phalsbourg and Speyer ,
but in October 1853 , broke off his univer
sity studies , and set out for the United
States intending to join the colony of
his relatives at Belleville. His father's
opposition to this step made him borrow
the surname of a schoolmate at Pals-
bonrg , and he became Henry Villard.
Arriving at Belleville he becamea , news
paper reporter and continued in the pro
fession until 1868. During these years
he served as a legislative correspondent
in Indiana and Illinois ; a political re
porter , representing the Lincoln-Douglas
debates , the Chicago convention which
nominated Lincoln , the Lincoln cam
paign and later as a war correspondent
and a European correspondent. The
papers he served in this period were the
Cincinnati Commercial , the New York
Herald , the Chicago Tribune and the
New York Tribune and part of the time
he was at the head of News bureaus at
Washington. At one time he owned the
New York Evening Post and the Nation.
Mr. Villard , when he died , was sur
rounded by the members of his family ,
including Mrs. Villard and his two sons ,
Oswald and Harold Villard. He had
been unconscious for two days. His
death , it is said , was caused by cancer
of the throat.
Mr. Villard in social and domestic life
was attractive and gracious. His family
and friends sincerely mourn an irreparable - .
able loss.