The Conservative *
Bt :
The President's
AS THE ROSE , proclamation reserv
ing 212,000 acres of
Nebraska sand hills for forestry will
transform a barren , useless and un
sightly waste into a wilderness of
sightly and useful vegetation. To
Nebrnskans this is the most important
and least appreciated act of the ex
ecutive since he assumed the respon
sibilities of his office. Most of the
land is absolutely unlit for agricul
ture and it requires from twenty to
forty acres of it to furnish sufficient
grazing for one animal.
Strange to say , this sandy soil is
peculiarly adapted to the culture of
many valuable trees , notably pines ,
and if the work of planting and
nursing is pursued with intelligence
and forethought , the passing of a
decade or two will adorn the hills ,
where cactus and soaproot are now
the heaviest vegetation , with a ver
dant forest such as cannot now be
found in the semi-arid region.
While a decade is a considerable
part of a man's existence , it is but an
infinitesimal portion of the life of a
nation.
Besides flowery
SODA AND LAW. language and savory
beans , some of the
Bostoneso have a penchant for soda-
water , which inordinate craving they
are forbidden to indulge upon the
Sabbath , unless sternly ordered to dose
so by a regular practicing physician ,
who sees in the effervescent fluid the
only hope of saving his patient's life.
Right here is where the press
comes to the rescue of the effete and
thirsty resident of Boston , by print
ing a prescription calling for one
ounce of milk , two of fruit syrup and
eight of carbonated water , which in
the language of those not initiated
into the mysteries of pharmacy means
soda-water ; or , to put it still more
simply , "pop. " This prescription ap
pears in the columns of the daily
paper , over a facsimile of the signa
ture of some reputable physician ,
and the courts have held that il
is a good and valid order on the
druggist , and one that he is bound to
honor ; furthermore that the thirsty
Bostonian may with impunity clip
out the slip , present it at the soda
counter , return due thanks to the en
terprising press for having broken
the Sunday drouth , and sip the re
freshing gaseous liquid in peace.
Who has anything more to say about
the queer laws in China ?
A valued exchange ,
ABOUT FACE ! which in the up
heaval of 189G presented
sented staunch arguments to prove
that money was then too dear , am
brought forward all of the tables h
he arithmetic to support the asser-
lion that a dollar was worth too
much , measured in products , now
grows frantic because "Two , dollars
and fifty cents in 15)01 ) bought thirty
rounds of meat and two bushels of
lotatoes. Two dollars and fifty cents
in 1902 buys twelve pounds of meat
and one bushel of potatoes. "
These statistics are of particular
interest to those who feared that
under the malignant gold standard a
lollar would gradually become so
irecious because of its rareness and
iistoric value that eventually two
dollars and fifty cents would purchase
: -ho season's products of an agricul
tural community.
The western farmer , who has sur
vived calamitous visitations such as
drouths , cyclones , prairie-fires , grass-
lioppers and the Farmers' Alliance ,
must at last succumb to a cheap dollar
lar , measured in beef and potatoes.
Just think what a large crop of dollars
lars he will have to raise next year
in order to keep his poor , half-
starved family acquainted with the
taste of beef and potatoes !
Now that Judge
LIBERTY Tuthill has decided
FOREVER. that it is a wife's
sacred duty to shoot
her husband should he attempt to cuff
her ears , and a United States Senator
has been summarily ejected from a
car by a common , every-day conductor ,
simply and wholly because the astute
legislator for some inexplicable reas
on refused to show cause why he
should be allowed to ride , America
has at last made good its proud boast
that here all men ( and women ) are
equal. That is the way it looks on
paper ; but the fact is that the woman
who protected her ears by taking the
life of the father of her children , or
attempting to do so , is socially ostra
cized ; while the conductor who so
gallantly and fearlessly obeyed the
rules of the corporation by which he
is employed , is in a fair way to be re
warded for his fidelity , with a dis
charge , according to the Chicago
Chronicle which treats the recent un
pleasantness as follows :
' ' In the dispute between Senator
Money and a street car conductor in
Washington tne conductor was clearly
in the right and the senator was just
as clearly in the wrong , and when1 the
senator , in resisting ejection from the
car , drew a knife and cut the cou
ductor ho made his attitude more in
defensible. The street * car employee
could not be expected to violate the
rules of the company oven to oblige
a United States senator and when the
United States senator resorted to
weapons he merely placed himself ii
the category of dangerous brawlers.
" It is intimated that the street car
company is disposed to sacrifice the W ,
conductor to Senator Money's resent
ment because the senate has a good
leal to say about traction franchises
in the District of Columbia. If the
corporation does choose so cowardly
a course , all fair-minded people will
condemn the action.
"Murderous assault and disrecard
of obligations binding upon other
peopk/'are not among the prerogatives
of a senator of the United States. If
anyone is to be punished it should bo
the and the ' '
senator not conductor.
The assessment
ASSESSMENT IN- difficulty a ri s e s
CONSISTENCIES , chiefly from the
fact that all men
are born equally selfish. After the
state board of equalization has as
sessed the corporations , the county
assessors convene and vie with eacli
other to see which shall get the low
est valuation fixed for his district ,
in order to avoid paying any more
state taxes than is necessary.
Then comes the wheel within the
wheel when one township plots
against another , and the country dis
tricts unite in placing an entirely in
equitable proportion of the burden
upon the cities and villages , and in
their fortified position , having a ma *
jority at the assessors' meeting and
upon the board of supervisors , they
boldly declare this' and that farm
property exempt , though the law del
egates to them no such authority.
In York county , ( Neb. ) where the
' 'honest farmer" assessor shines at
his best , they assessed farm real
estate , the landlord's domain , last
year at about one-twelfth its value ;
personal property , the tenant's only
possession , one-seventh its value ; city
and village property , at one-fourth its
actual value. All of this in defiance
of the laws of the state , and the laws
of common decency and common hon
esty.
This species of daylight piracy can
not be paralleled upon the face of the
civilized globe today , though. it is
something akin to the conditions ex
isting in the old feudal days when a
mighty arm , a good sword , stout fol
lowers and a staunch castle were
necessary adjuncts to agriculture ;
the solo difference being that the
old-time robber risked something in
the enterprise , and expected to be de
spoiled in return ; but the twentieth-
century marauder overpowers by
force of numbers , while annually
whining for "equal rights to all ; spe
cial privileges to none , " when the
red fire glows , the torches glimmer
through their own smoke , the band
plays sturdily , and the district barn
yard orator rends the heavens with
his bolts of eloquent invective against
class legislation and unjust discrim
ination.
