"Cbc Conservative.
years ago the Oinnlias aud Otocs , num
bering thousands -warriors on each
side , met out upon the plains in a
fierce battle. They fought with the
valor of vengeance and the wratli of
desperation until not a single man on
either side was left alive aud without
wounds. And then came the old men
and squaws and children from the
Otoo village on the south and the Om
aha on the north aud sat down upon
the prairie among the dead and dying
and wailed and wept for days. Then
the Great Spirit , in his merciful
goodness , caused a vast sprincr to
burst open the plain where the battle
was fought and to swallow up the
earth , that was full of blood and tears ,
and to send forth forever to the Mis
souri a stream of bright pure water
like tears. And thus was born and
baptized the Weeping Water ; L'eau.
qui Pleure ; Nehawka.
We feel sure that
HEREDITY. the Nebraska Inde
pendent , that emi
nently sane and temperate authority on
social and financial questions , would
not willingly mislead its readers. But
we fear that presidents of life insurance
companies , who go to its pages for
counsel to guide them in the manage
ment of their enterprises , may bo in
duced to take action that they may
regret afterwards , when they read the
Independent's utterance on the subject
of consumption. Life insurance com
panies have long declined to accept
persons whose parents were tubercu
lous , on the ground that they were
likely to go the same way ; but the
Independent , in scoffing at the Con
servative's proposition that certain people
ple ought not to be married , says that
"if anything has been thoroughly estab
lished beyond contradiction , it is that
tuberculosis is a germ disease , and that
it is not hereditary. The same remark
may also be made about most of the
other diseases enumerated. "
"We would not be arbitrary , nor , as
some foolish European countries are do
ing , forbid by law such marriages ; if
the Independent wishes to marry its
offspring to the children of the insane ,
epileptic , alcoholic , tuberculous aud
gouty , wo will cheerfully acquiesce.
But we will still advise those who
choose to listen to us , not to run the
risk of such alliances. Tuberculosis
is certainly contagious ; that is , perfect
ly healthy peoplb may contract it by
associating with the consumptive. In
sanity is also contagious to a certain
extent , it would seem , for we have
known very seusible farmers to become
violently disturbed in reason by listen
ing to inflammatory utterances. But
the commonly accepted view , shared
also by such small medical authorities
as we have read , is that these disorders ,
aud others like them , arise mainly from
a generally disordered physical condi
tion , known as degeneracy , which is
indisputably transmissible from parents
to children. When the condition
known as degeneracy is once established
in a family , generally by somebody's
misbehavior , there seems to be no way
of getting rid of it. One man may have
consumption ; his children may or may
not contract the same disease , but if
they do not , they are more likely than
not to break out in some other way ; to
bo either drunkards , insane or epileptics.
And about the fourth or fifth genera
tion the bi-eed loses the po\yer of con
tinuing itself , and the line dies out.
Wo therefore still respectfully recom
mend , to those whose mental constitu
tion enables them to perceive that two
and two must inevitably make four ,
that they neither marry nor give in
marriage into families where any of
these symptoms have presented them
selves. To those who would repeal the
law of heredity , or other natural laws ,
by legislative enactment , we believe we
have no suggestions to offer.
Telegrams from
CONGRESSMAN Washington dated
MERCER. December 19 , state
that "Congressman
Mercer hns introduced a bill appropria
ting two millions of dollars for a new
building in Washington for the Depart
ment of Agriculture. "
On page 58 of the report of the Sec
retary of Agriculture for the year 1895
will be found this statement : "If the
Department of Agriculture is to be
domiciled , as every other department is ,
in a building proportioned to the value
and magnitude of the interests which it
conserves , it is suggested than an ap
propriation for the construction of an
edifice for the Department of Agricul
ture must be made in the very near
future. "
That a Nebraska congressman should
make the effort to carry out the sugges
tion above is quite in keeping with the
expanding reputation for successful corn ,
wheat , fruit , cattle and swine producing
that this commonwealth enjoys. Get
ting appropriations out of the national
treasury for any purpose whatsoever is
favorably considered in these times as a
symptom of statesmanship. But ob
taining an appropriation for a really
useful purpose may not be quite so popu
lar as one for buying and distributing
cabbage , carrot , beet and onion seeds as
gratuities.
The Honorable Mr. Mercer will find ,
by turning to the fifth page of the re
port of the Secretary of Agriculture for
the year 1896 and reading down to the
middle of the sixth page , that during
four years that officer under Grover
Cleveland had saved and covered back
into the treasury of the United States
a trifle more than two million dollars.
Thus the money then saved may now
be used legitimately to construct a de
partment building for agriculture. And
it is much easier and far more commend
able in these days of extravagance to get
money put of the treasury than to coyer
money into the treasury. To provide
for expending is patriotism and to pre
vent unnecessary disbursements is pen-
nriousness. But there will be an end to
extravagance and a beginning of frugal
ity in government disbursements or an
end to this government before this
century closes.
The Conservative
"THE OVERLAND has received from
STAGE TO CALits publishers , at
IFORNIA. " Topeka , Kansas ,
Messrs. Frank A.
Root and William E. Connelly , a copy
of this exceedingly interesting and very
valuable record of the pioneer passenger
and freight transportation lines between
the Missouri river aud the Rocky
Mountains. Every public library in
the State of Nebraska * ought to have
this book. It is a record of miracles in
human endurance and achievements.
It reads like an oriental romance , and
yet it is only the half-told truths of
occidental fact and fortitude. Messrs.
Root aud Connelly have performed a
remarkably valuable service to Kansas
and Nebraska by preserving in such ad
mirable book form a portion of the
records of the pioneers of the two
states.
It is about time
ABOUT TIME , for the Honorable
William Vi n c e n t
Allen , formerly a judge , and subse
quently a United States senator , and
again a judge , and by appointment
again a Senator , to wake up , yawn , and
stretch his intellectual muscles prepara
tory to again saving the Republic.
Until Allen and the stingee of ingrati
tude , and also the ungrateful stinger ,
make a new fusion , confusion is immi
nent among the office-seeking mavericks
of Nebraska. It is time for the welding
of the chunks in the political scrap pile
preparatory to another "Battle" like
"the first battle" when populist and
Bryanarchist may once more "scrap"
together.
Oii.the 17th of this
"A COLORADO month The Conser-
COLONEL. ' ' yative received from
its publishers ,
Crane & Co. , Topeka , Kansas , a copy of
"A Colorado Colonel and Other
Sketches , " written by William Gary
Campbell , of Arizona. We httve read
the "Colorado Colonel" with great
satisfaction. It is a perfect picture of a
character common only to the mining
regions of the Rocky Mountains ; it is
well drawn and naturally colored ; in
fact , truthfully faithful to a type of
mankind developed only in mining sec
tions of the country where vast for
tunes are made and lost with the same
facility that children make soap bubbles
with pipes and float them in the air
until they break and disappear. The
character of Wildman is exceedingly
well drawn ; likewise is the character of
Agnes Hargrave and that of Doctor
Eisler. The book , taken as a whole , is
exceedingly refreshing because of its
Western breeziuess and total disregard
of the Bostonesque rules of certain
tribes of literati in the Eastern states.
Every Western citizen will enjoy it.
THE CONSERVATIVE
ABROAD. is pleased to note
that "The Insurance
Business and Remembrancer , " pub
lished in London , England , on Satur
day , September 21 , 1901 , contains the
following allusion to the symposium
which we published a few months ago ,
entitled : "What are the Young Man's
Chances ? "
"American Journalism , which is al
ways practical and at the same time
original , knows no dull season. While
British newspapers in the early autumn
descend to stories of sea-serpents and
gigantic gooseberries , our contempo
raries on the other side of the Atlantic
fill their columns with matter no less in
teresting than instructive. In a recent
issue of THE CONSERVATIVE , 'a'journal
devoted to the discussion of political ,
economic and sociological questions , '
there are published the views of a num
ber of gentlemen who have attained
prominence in fheir different avocations ,
in answer to the all-imporiant enquiry ,
What are the Young Man's Chances ? "
Replies were received from workers in
the journalistic , legal , educational and
industrial fields. Among these contri
butions was an article from the pen of
Mr. Win. B. Carlile , manager at Chicago
cage for the Mutual Life , of New York ,
which in addition to possessing neces
sarily a special interest for all engaged
in insurance work may bo singled out
for its directness of purpose , its eloquence
quence and its practical value. "