"Che Conservative.
CAUL MORTON.
Tun CONSERVATIVE has sorrowfully
to record a death in the family of its
editor the first in twenty years , since
the departure of his beloved wife
brought grief to the hearts of many ,
many friends. Carl Morton , the young
est sou of J. Sterling Morton and his wife
Caroline Joy Morton , died in Waukegan ,
Illinois , on January 7th , 1901 , of pneu
monia. He was born at Arbor Lodge
on February 18th , 1865 , and there he
lived until ho was sixteen years of age ,
when the death of his mother occurred.
After that he went to Chicago , and was
there in the office of his older brothers
for seven years. On December 19th , 1888 ,
he married Miss Boatie Payne in Ne
braska Oity , and made this place his
home thereafter until the spring of
1900 , when he was called to Waukegau
to become president of the United States
Sugar Refinery there , which position he
held at the time of his death. He leaves
besides his widow , a son , Wirt , of
eleven years , and a daughter , Martha ,
of nearly three.
This is too brief a biography , but
there ie no member of THE CONSERVA
TIVE staff who can today write with
composure of the death of Carl Morton ;
it comes too close to us all. There is
universal grief for him in Ne
braska Oity , and to those to whom he
was nearest this is a very , very
heavy day. There is no man
to whom this community owes
more than to him ; it was he who se
cured the capital that built the starch
factory ; he was president of the Cereal
Mills company ; it was he who organ
ized the business of the Morton Printing
Company , and he brought about the
building of the Overland Theatre. Of
his individual kindnesses no one
can tell the number ; the poor and the
unfortunate were left to him by his
mother , it would seem , and their tears
are his monument , as they were hers.
Of what he would yet have done , who
can speak ? It is too soon for him to
have died. There are few young men
living on whom rested such hopes , and
before whom lay such prospects , as was
the case with him. No labor was too
great for his ability , nor any undertak
ing too large for his courage. He had
an eye quick to see and a hand quick to
act ; a soul that could flame with in
dignation at wrong-doing and a heart
that readily felt the trouble of others ;
strength to bear down any opposition
and manhood at all times to confess a
fault ; he was a good sou , a good hus
band , a good father and the faithfullest
and best of friends. R.
' " * years ago
COST or TAMMANY.
[ Tammany was re
turned to power in New York Oity.
Comptroller Color has just completed an
investigation of the expense of conduct
ing five departments of the city govern
ment and , through the New York
Evening Post , gives publicity to some
very startling facts. The increase in
the "cost of A administering the police
department , over the administration of
Mayor Strong'is $6,742,869 , the larger
portion of this amount represents the
cost of protecting vice , the principal
source of Tammany revenue. The in
crease in the fire department is $2,898-
951 ; schools $12,928,629 ; health depart
ment $796,972 ; and building department
$516,602. The total increase in the
expenditures in the five departments is
$23,877,524 , or nearly thirty per cent.
The corruption unearthed by Mr.
Coler is of more than local importance ,
in view of the fact that Tammany
aspires to be a factor in national politics
and indeed did become more or less of a
factor in the presidential campaign just
closed. The late populist nominee for
the presidency , failing to secure the
cooperation of decent and respectable
democrats in the East , formed an
alliance , offensive and defensive , with
Mr. Oroker , the Tammany chieftain ,
who represented an element heretofore
repudiated by men honored with a
democratic nomination for the presi
dency.
Mr. Croker was the ruling spirit at
the Kansas City convention. His will
was law. It was he who made possible
the adoption of a flat money plank by
the Kansas City convention and
thwarted the efforts of David B. Hill
and other sound money men of the New
York delegation.
That this is not an exaggerated state
ment of the power exercised by the
Tammany boss is fully borne out by the
testimony of an unprejudiced foreigner ,
Mr. Poultney Bigelow , who , in the
capacity of a correspondent for the Lou-
don Contemporary Review , attended
the Kansas City convention and thus
gave , to his paper , his impressions of
that gathering :
"The German emperor in the robes of
the Black Eagle radiates no more power
, . _ . by smile or frown
King Croker. ,
than does His
Majesty King Croker holding audience
in the bedroom of a Kansas City hotel.
The Kaiser is limited by a constitution ;
Eichard Oroker is less trammelled , his
power is complete ; he governs a com
munity vastly more rich and populous
than was the whole of Prussia when
Frederick the Great ascended the throne
and his treasury is full. There is not a
crowned head in Europe that does not
envy Mr. Oroker ; there is not a crowned
head west of Warsaw whom Mr. Croker
cannot afford to pity. "
Apropos of the tribute of Mr. Bigelow
to Richard , the London Financial News
said :
4 On landing in New York a few days
before' the convention' ' this" western
*
. . „ . , . , autocrat was met ,
An Unlettered
Democracy. among others , by
an eminent poli
tician of Tammany hall , whom he had
had occasion to reprimand. The offender
was treated an an acquaintance , not as a
friend Tammany knew at a glance that
ho was of 'no further use en earth at
least politically. ' Then Mr. David B.
Hill , late governor of New York , crossed
the'path of the Nikola-like despot. For
the moment he was flung aside , but only
for the moment. 'Mr. Croker had ar
ranged for the public humiliation of his
rival he proposed him for the vice-
presidency. _ Themanoonyre brought
to" their feet a string of speakers who
nominated other candidates , and turned
to the best account the fact that Mr.
Hill declined in 1896 to throw in his lot
with the free silverites , 'and thus the
only notable democratic politician in
favor of gold as a standard of value was
drummed'out of the party. ' Even Mr.
Bryan , with his programme , figures
merely as a pawn on this amazing chess
board. Mr. Oroker told Mr. Bigelow
that 'he thought the time inopportune
for a reform of the civil service , ' ( we
are [ not much surprised at that ) , 'he
likewise showed indifference to the mere
wording of the platform so far as free ,
silver was concerned ; his followers J.
would vote for any platform , and there
fore , his desire was to secure a platform
agreeable to Mr. Bryan and his follow
ers. ' Such is the'western realization of
dreams of an unfettered democracy 1"
After the Kansas Oity convention
endorsed the populist nominee , the
later , did not prove"ungrateful. . Mr.
Croker was duly recognized as his
personal representative and manager in
the state of New York. And when the
man , who proudly registered as a
"democrat with friendly proclivities
toward two other political parties , "
journeyed eastward , in his oracular
exhibitions , and upon arriving at ; the
nation's metropolis he became Croker's
honored guest. He rode with the
bowery murderer at the head of apolitical
parade and by his side sat down to a
sumptuous banquet for "plain people" at
$12.00 per plate , and , with his counte
nance beaming with pride at the
achievements of the master intellect by
his side , he humbly and reverently did
homage to this prince of thieves by ex
claiming , "Great is Tammany and
Oroker is its prophet. "
The theft of $28,000,000 in three years
is typical of the populist idea of civic
purity and public integrity. Those who
look upon public office as an opportunity
for public plunder may well commend
the skill that is able , in three years , to
extort from the taxpayers of New York
Oity the sum of $28,000,000 and they
may approvingly remark , "Great is
Tammany and Oroker is its Prophet 1. "