The Conservative *
- "TELL ANODER. "
Who is this that comes' a-climbing
And acrceping : in my chair ?
Bless me"Pis ! our queen , wee Martha ,
With her crown'ofsilken hair.
Here she sits , with brown eyes dancing ,
On the , old chair's.- leathern arm ;
"What's your royal will , your Highness ?
I'm a subject 'neath your charm. "
In a truly regal manner
Waves a tiny , outstretched hand
"Tell a.tory , " says Queen Marthn ,
In a'voice of stern command.
Now my. mind keeps up a-thlnking
And a-searching for a tale
"Have you heard , my sovereign lady ,
How a little maid turned vale
When she. , went .to see her grandma ,
With a basket full of cake ,
A'nd a wolf made plans to eat her ?
- . . . .
Till she cried 'For pity sake ! :
What a big , big mouth you've opened ! '
And she wore ( i.redj red hood"
"Dot one too' , " says \yee Queen Martha ;
"Tellanoder. " "Weil , now would'1
You like to hear .qf.things a-shining
And a-gleaming ? I will tell
Of a king whoso namo'was Midas.
Yellow gold.he loved so well'
That whate'er he touched , his.porridge
Or his roses , turned to. gold.
Sad to say , ho touched his daughter
And she grew , so I've been told ,
IT.
Cold find bright. Her hair wad shining
Like the g6ldin your small ring. "
"Mine's dold tool My mamma turls it !
Tell anoder. " So I bring
From my childhood's lore , a-sighing
And a-smiling-o'er the past ,
One about whose quaint name's rhyming
All the fascinations last.
"List ! I'll teller Mother Moroy.
N.ow myistory is begun ,
Will you be surprised in hearing
That my story's nearly done ?
Do you1' know that'Motber Morey
f' : ' Had a brother ? Oh ! Yoii do ! "
VDotone-too , " says wee Quern Martha ;
"Tell anoder. ! ' Hark ! Don't you
4
Hear .the sleigh' bells all a-tinkling
And.a-chiming , going by ? <
What If Santa Glaus is driving
*
Up to reach our chimney high !
For'tomorrow will be Christmas ! "
Wh'efe'8 your stocking ? Got it ! Quick !
First y.pn know.witb. : things.to stuff it ,
Dpwn.will come the dear Saint Nick. .
He.lmB such a'sweet doll baby
fit his sleigh , out in the snow. "
"Dot one too , " says wee Queen Martha ,
'
{ [ Want anoder I Dees I'll go. "
? & $ : * ' 3i ' ' .i. ! , MARY FRENCH MORTON.
- - . -M . , .p" J
* . , . , . „ . -JThe .Oo.usorvar
, ' \COMBINED. \ tiv © . .crossed the
' / . . .CAPITAL..Missouri river .and
' t
r\ \ . , , . . became a citizen of
Nebraska in 1854. The transfer over , the ,
tawny tide was in a flat.boat , which
Was. _ .reached .after four days , hard
travel from St. Joe , Mo. , in a mud
wagon of- the Frost stage line. But
alas ! .those good old.flatboat times
hayo .vanished . .foreveryicked capi
talists cpmbiued , and built a steam
boat -that did the 'ferrying , until
wickeder capitalists ' combined and
qrushed out the stage lines with rail
roads and. tihen with the diabolism of
greater..greed ; spanned-the Missouri
with'iron and1 steel bridges until stage
lines/ flatboats and steamboats , are 'ob-
solcto as common carriers into Ne
braska.
The old freighting times on the
plains are erased forever. Capital
with shrieking locomotives has driven
out every bellowing ox tnvin between
the Missouri river and the Hocky
Mountains. Railroads have a mono
poly over the Holliday coaches and
the Majors , Russol and Waddell wag
ons in transportation of persons and
property. Alas , the dangers of the com
bines and the greed of capital in the
state of Nebraska !
CRIME AND CRIMINALS.
To The Conservative :
More deserving , important and ur
gent , than any mere question or meas
ure of politics , is the reformation of
our criminal code as regards the treat
ment of our convicts.
For centuries the world has made
steady advancement in learning , in
art , in mechanics , in agriculture , and
in everything that goes to make up
what is called our Christian Civiliza
tion ; while in the treatment of our
criminals we have clung , and are
still insistently clinging , to the bar
baric and brutal methods of heathen
ism. It is time we were getting out
of this groove of error and cruelty
and s'omobody must take the initia
tive.
tive.Human
Human rights , amongst which are
life and liberty , are not concessions
of societybut the gifts of heaven , and
are-inalienable what
by any process
soever. . They can neither be bought
nor sold , acquired nor forfeited.
The obligation of government to so
ciety admittedly requires that -it shall
afford protection , fr.om the violence of
the assassin and the depredations of
the plunderer , and restraint and coercion
ercion- when thus directed
, ; * are justi
fiable , and commendable , but when it
goes beyond this , and seeks to inflict
vengeance upon-the individual , it as
sumes -the undelegated" prerogative of
Jehovah , and makes itself criminal.
Age and universality , have rendered
this dereliction of society most diffi
cult of reform , the , courts being
ayowedly bound by precedent , and the
citizen thoughtlessly acquiescing ,
through the force fof custom. But
repetition cancpns.titute no defence
and acquiescence no justification for
crime , even though ; committed through
the instrumentality of an organized
go.vernment.
The advocacy of more humane
methods in pur treatment of the , crim
inal .qlass seems , to the casual observer
to bo subversive of most of our
preconceived notions of justice. To
defend criminals and denounce crime
seems , an anomalous thingand yet the
two .things are not so utterly incon
sistent. Crime is abhorrent to every
just judgmentbut to the infinite .wis-
dom nothing or at least no man is
altogether criminal. The best men
err the worst do but err. The purest
and best man is not better nor purer
than the worst criminal may become ,
nay than he will become , and it is but
a question of time when each shall
glorify God , and make heaven vocal
with grateful praise.
The fault of our present system is
that it proceeds from a wrong motive.
It aims at retribution when its object
should be reform. Instead of the cell
and the dungeon , we should restrain
our convicts in educational prisons ,
surround them with kindly and re
formatory influences and nurse them
back to virtue , morality and integrity.
To hang a man for murder is to per
petrate another crime of the same *
sort , and to confine him in a dungeon
is to confirm him a criminal , and bar
the way to his return to honesty and
honorable citizenship.
Of course those who differ with and
attempt reply to this proposed leni
ency , will indignantly point to the
assassins of our presidents and trium
phantly demand ' ' if these men be fit
to live ? " The answer to which.is :
that if. not fit to live they are certain
ly not fit to die , and that they may be
as effectually barred from further
crime by confinement in a prison as
by confinement in a tomb ; and with
this advantage , that it saves the com
mission of another murder. "An eye
for an eye and a tooth for a tootli' , '
has been abrogated and ' ' when smit
ten on one cheek to turn the other"
is the command now in force , though
too little observed.
It is a large subject , and may not
be disposed of by a single pleabut if
The Conservative would open a deter
mined crusade against .the wrongs
complained against , ' and lend the
weight of its wide influence and its
forceful logic to this reform , it would
plant trees which would blossom in
heaven and ornament the eternal
homes of Paradise.
J. G. LUMBARD. ,
Omaha , Neb. , Dec. 9 , 1901.
PROTECTION AND PATRIOTISM ;
BY PROF. JOHN'BASCOM.
The fullest , firmest , expression of
national strength is patriotism. . , All
other gains include themselves in this
one magnificent product. Free insti
tutions , if developed along their true
lines of growth , especially favor pa
triotism ; if turned aside from the pub
lic welfare , they are peculiarly inimi
cal to it. The sense of justiceof civic
conditions essentially the same for all
under the public weal , is the founda
tion of love of country. Inequality of
opportunities , the grasping temper'of '
the strong , are most unfavorable to
that good will which should incite
. '
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