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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 1902)
Che VOL. IV. NO. 29. NEBRASKA CITY , NEBRASKA , JANUARY 23r 1902. SINGLE COPIES , 5 CENTS. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. OFFICES : OVERLAND THEATRE BLOCK. J. STERLING MORTON , EDITOB. A JOUIINAL DEVOTED TO THE DISCUSSION OF POLITICAL , ECONOMIC AND SOCIOLOGICAL QUESTIONS. CIRCULATION THIS WEEK , 13,990 COPIES. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. One dollar and a half per year in advance , Sostpaid to any part of the United States or anada. Remittances made payable to The Morton Printing Company. Address , THE CONSERVATIVE , Nebraska City , Nebraska. Advertising rates made known upon appli cation. Entered at the postofflce at Nebraska City , Neb. , as Second Class matter , July 29 , 1898. The upturned REPUBLICAN eyes and the sancti- SHEPHERDS. in onions facial con tortions of some re publican editors in Nebraska upon hear ing that a republican governor had pardoned a republican ex-state treasurer out of prison recalls'the reflections upon shepherds by the Elder Weller when talking to his son Samivel : "The worst of these here shepherds is , my boy , that they reg'larly turns the heads of all the young people about here. Lord bless their little hearts , they thinks it's all right , and don't know better ; but they are the wictims of gammon , Samivel , they're the wic tims o' gammon. " The Pecksnifs and Ohadbands of the partisan press in Nebraska have lifted up their voices in wailing and drained their eyes of tears because Joe Hartley has been emancipated by Governor Sav age. They forget that Joe Bartley re ceived as cash all the accumulated bad paper of his predecessors. They forget that not a single one of their State Treasurers in thirty years had turned over coin or currency of any kind to his successor for the full sum of his liabil ity to the state. They forget that by a precise and strict application of the letter of the law that hardly one of all their State Treasurers upon the expira tion of his term of office could have escaped incarceration. And worst of all forgetfulness among the hypocrites who sob over the pardon of Bartley they never dwell upon extravagance in office , they never denounce the self adjusting conscience of a partisan state treasurer who puts state cash in partisan banks or loans state cash to partisan leaders or subalterns. All such deli- ions derelictions they rather enjoy and commend , and the wrong and wicked ness of 'misappropriating for political purposes the school funds or any other funds of the commonwealth they never mention. But to loan to party banks , and party bankers and party bummers and not get caught is an exalted virtue. Will the republican newspapers of Nebraska go to the records in Lincoln and transcribe therefrom and publish to the world all the loans and other unlawful transactions ever made by the republican predecessors of Bartloy ? Will they tell the truth anoTlet all the voters of Nebraska know that their de nunciatory rhetoric as to the pardon of Bartley is based solely upon the fear that the pardon aforesaid may injure their party ? In all their hypocritical lamentations , the methods and morals of Bartley are unmentioned except as to their bearing upon the fortunes of republicanism in Nebraska elections. Mr. Bartley followed the methods and morals of his own party in hand ling state money. His own party damns a republican governor for having pardoned him because it is afraid the pardon may hurt republicanism in this state and for no other declared reason. Bartley is a vicarious victim. He is punished and reviled because , in doing just what his predecessors did , he was smitten by a financial panic that ex posed and ruined him. Governor Savage .is under a solemn oath to fearlessly , and by his own con science , discharge his duties as the ex ecutive of this state. His mistake in listening to a State Republican Oon- veiitiou which under populistio teach ings became the referendum and asked him to violate his agreement with Bartley for a sixty days' parole was grievous and inexcusable. He as gov ernor had given the prisoner that parole , and it was for sixty days. As to that act , for that purpose , Gov. Savage was funotns officio dead in office. He had no right in law or in morals to cancel his contract with Bartley a contract made by the State which gave him sixty days of liberty. The revocation of that parole was a mistake. The pardon was an executive act. It needed no reasoning for its vindication and Gov. Savage made another mistake in trying to tell why he pardoned Bart ley. ley.The The Governor had a lawful and a moral right to pardon. He did pardon. He did not need to give nor does the law require him to give any reasons for signing a pardon any more than for signing a requisition. Bartley followed republican prece dents. He dealt with republicans alto gether in handling state funds. He owes it now to himself and to his family and to the State to give up the names of his advisers and beneficiaries. Let Joe Bartley turn on the light. Let the people know the whole sad story of his temptation and his fall. Expose all men who were interested , and all banks , and let Truth out to air itself. The Omaha Bee IS IT POSSIBLE ? of January 17th , 1902 , tartly reviews a very interesting and able paper which was prepared for and read before the Nebraska State Historical Society on Jan. 15th , 1902 , by J. H. Ager , Esq. If , as the Bee remarks , "this genial gentleman has done more to degrade and debauch Nebraska politics" than all other men and all other influences combined , does the Bee mean that its political partisan and its political party are corrupt ? The Republican party for more than thirty years has formulated and enacted the railroad laws and all other laws for Nebraska , and if they are bad if they have been born of corruption , the Bee and its fellow-partisans must be respon sible for them , must they not ? And if the present State Treasurer is morally , according to the Bee , as pntrescent as the Bee declares his predecessor to have been ; and if Ager , a republican , has been always employed to influence and direct railroad legislation in Legisla tures alwavs republicanand the Bee has always been cognizant of this alleged infamy , why has the Bee failed to lift up its voice against both the influencer and the influencees ? Why this inter mittent political chastity on the part of the Bee ? Why not become a case of chronic political honesty and stand up for the right like a patriot instead of acting like a mere partisan ? If the Bee believes that legislators have been bribed , why spare them be cause they are republicans ? Why not tell when and where a legislator has been bribed or unduly influenced by Ager or anybody else ? If debauched morals and reeking rot'
