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"Che Conservative *
The Hntchinsou ,
A FAIR OFFER. ( Kansas ) News , in
a recent number ,
pays a great compliment to Paul
Morton , second vice-president of the
Santa Fe road , becaxise he advises the
farmers of Kansas to hold onto
their live stock , not to sacri
fice it , and promises that if there
is any corn in adjoining states , the
Atchisou road will be glad to haul it at
very low rates to such points in Kansas
as may desire to feed cattle. The News
then says :
"This is not the first time by any
means , that the railroads have come to
the relief of the people of Kansas and
helped them out of the hole. "
It refers particularly to the grass
hopper raid and drouth of 1860. The
News then refers to the fashion and pas
sion among certain political leaders who ,
in late years , have attempted constantly
to array the farmers and shippers
against the railroads of the country.
Nebraska has in its history very much
of a similar experience. The editor of
THE CONSERVATIVE recalls that person
ally he organized the Nebraska Relief
and Aid Society in the winter of 1874-75 ,
and that he was inspired so to do by the
direct request of Mr. Chas. E. Perkins ,
president of the Chicago , Burlington &
Quincy railroad , who started the sub
scriptions by a contribution of $5,000
for the relief of the sufferers in the
western part of the state , and also gave
free transportation for all goods and
provisions sent in from other states for
the relief of the faniined sections of the
commonwealth. Mr. Jay Gould fol
lowed Mr. Perkins with a similar sub
scription , and the Union Pacific , like the
Burlington & Missouri , also distributed ,
freight free , all contributions of food
and clothing in every part of the state
that its lines permeated.
How much of this sort of work lias
been accomplished by the tear-down
party , the political agglomeration which
is constantly denouncing incorporated
capital in the form of railroads , banks ,
and manufactories ? What record is
there of any generous , philanthropic
movement engineered and earned on for
the benefit of the people of either Kan
sas or Nebraska by the populist party
and its adherents ?
On the 24th of
IRRIGATION. this month there
will be held at Den
ver a convention of the friends of for
estry and irrigation. The American
Forestry Congress meets on that date ,
and there is in evidence a sufficient
amount of testimony to convince one
that there will be strong resolutions in
favor of government appropriations for
the purpose of irrigating the arid lauds
of the plains between the Rooky
Mountains and the Missouri river , and
also the arid lands on the Pacific slope.
Years ago the general government
gave to each of the states all the swamp
lands in their respective limits. These
swamp lands were then given by the
states to the counties in which they
were located , and the county sold them
to individuals. Out of the proceeds ,
court-houses and school-houses were
built in many of the Western states.
Immediately opposite Nebraska City ,
the county of Fremont , Iowa , sold
thousands of acres of laud at (50 ( cents
an acre , which is now valued at from
$50 to $75 an acre as coruproducers.
If it was a good thing to give away
to the states , the land which was too
wet , to be used by them as their legis
lators thought best , why will it not be
better for the general government to
give the arid lands within each state , to
the state which holds them , and thus
avoid enormous appropriations and ex
penditures from the national treasury
for the alleged purpose of irrigation ?
Why should the farmers of the middle-
Western , uuirrigated states , who com
plain of too much competition in the
production of cereals and meats , be
taxed to make more competition in
Colorado , Nebraska , or anywhere else
by appropriations to irrigate arid lands ?
If it will pay to irrigate the arid lands
of Colorado there is no need of govern
ment appropriations ; and if it will not
pay to irrigate those arid lands , there
ought to be no government appropria
tions for that purpose. If the valuable
arid lands of Colorado are given to that
state , and tliat state wisely uses the
gift , will not individual and corporate
enterprise develop a system of irriga
tion for more effective than any which
the theorists , whom the government
might employ under a national ap
propriation , would develop ? The recent
successful irrigation of lands about
Rocky Ford and La Junta , in the state
of Coloradodemonstrates perfectly that
personal enterprise is the very best
opener and supervisor of irrigating
ditches in the world. The vast sugar
beet industry which has been developed
in that section of the state , and the
great fruit and melon shipments from
various parts of that commonwealth il
lustrate the fact that wherever there is
money to be made by irrigating arid
lands there are men with money and en
terprise to undertake the work.
If it is the duty of the general govern
ment to make fertile the arid lauds in
the West by furnishing water therefor
at the general expense , why is it not
equally the duty of the national govern
ment to manure the worn-out farms of
New England and some of the middle
states out of appropriations made from
the national treasury ? If it is the busi
ness of government to make fertile the
infertile lands of one section of the
Union , is it not equally its duty to make
fertile the sterile lands of another part
of the Union ?
The Now Republic
PROHIBITION. at Lincoln contin
ues its crusade for
prohibition with ever-increasing zeal.
In a recent issue , it declares "drinking
in moderation is dishonorable , corrupt
ing and foreshadows the downfall of a
people. "
What people ? Those who do ( brink or
those who do not drink ? And if prohi
bition came into absolute vigor tomor
row all over the United States together
with abstention from the use of to
bacco , where would this great and glo
rious government get its revenues ? Is
not the treasury of the republic re
plenished abundantly and almost wholly
by these vices whiskey and tobacco
of its people ?
Says the St. Louis
HIT. Globe-Democrat ,
doubtless for the
benefit of J. Sterling Morton , Judge
Munger , Warren Switzler , and others :
"In Nebraska Mr. Bryan has hit the reorganizers -
organizers in the point of the chin.
There will be consternation in Missouri
also when he swings right and left for
deserters. " Fremont Tribune.
The "peerless" is indeed dangerous
and "hits" with terrible accuracy , es
pecially when he "strikes" as a prophet.
But the poor innocents whom the
Tribune names , have never even at
tempted a reorganization of Bryau-
arohy ? No thinking man can be found
to undertake the reorganization of a de
cayed sausage or the de-odorization of
a limburger cheese , full of nasty skip
pers. Perhaps an apology is duo the
sausage and the cheese foi the implied
comparison.
THE CONSERVATIVE
NON-PARTISAN , believes that the
best state judiciary
in the American union existed before
the judges became elective. An elected
supreme court of Nebraska , nominated
for purely partisan reasons , by either of
the political organizations of the state ,
is not invariably a safe , dignified and
impartial tribunal.
Why not have the lawyers of the
several judicial districts hold a conven
tion and nominate a candidate for the
Supreme Court , on his character and
learning ? With Wool worth , Mander-
son , Richard Hall , W. D. McHugh ,
Lambertson , Sawyer , Whedon , Wake-
ley , and dozens more of great learning
and high character within the profession
here , why should Nebraska have a mere
partisan supreme court ?
THE CONSERVATIVE
NOTICE. has a circulation de
partment to which
all letters relative to. advertisements and
subscriptions should be addressed. The
editor has nothing whatever to do with
the counting-room of the Morton Print
ing Company.
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