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About The Hesperian / (Lincoln, Neb.) 1885-1899 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1891)
THE HESPERIAN. lit It iii I- scored a point. From a. worldly point of view, however, he has been left to the mercies of a cold, cold world. He has refused to come to the ultimatum of the catholic church. Will the catholic church come to the views of Dr. McGlynn? It seems quite unlikely. Prohibition in Iowa seems, at present and especially since the last election, to be in a bad way. Two years of democratic rule have caused a practical suspension of the law wherever public sentiment has favored license. Governor ltoies, after giving his oath to support the laws has apparently made no effort whatever to enforce this law. The old principle of state sovereignty has been let to apply to every community in Iowa. At the present tinie, accordingly, prohibition in Iowa, while not a dead-letter, has, however, no great measure of success. In the late election the issue in Iowa was the prohibition law as regards state politics. The national issue in the cam taign was the McKinley tariff. A strong fight was made on lxth issues, particularly by the democrats. The republicans discussed the tariff issue chiefly. In the election the demo crats were successfull in electing the state officers. They also reduced the republican majority in the legislature to five on joint ballot. Now the democrats in their platform declared expressly against prohibition and in favor of license. The republican platform declared in favor of enforcement of the prohibitory law . A large number of rcpulriicans did not favor the law; in fact, many were very bitter against it. As a result of the outcome of the election their number has been largely swelled. They lay the continued ill success of the republican party to the prohibition law. They vehemently wish to throw prohibition overboard altogether. It is a question, therefore. whether the republican side of the legislature will hold firmly and solidly to the enforcement plank in the republican plat form. The outlook for the continuance of prohibition in Iowa is certainly not the brightest. The probabilities all point to the repeal of the law this winter. It would lc the strange out come of strange events. Superintendent-of-thc Census Porter in a recent number of theNew York Independent enters into an exceedingly interesting comparison of the growth of the metropolitan districts of Lon don and New York- According to his figures the metropoli tan dUtct of New Yoik has added in the last generation 1,526,077 to its population and 1-ondon 1,407,067. 15y the metropolitan district of New York is meant the territory com prising the five cities of New York, Jersey City, Newark, and If ohoken. This district, it must le rcmemlered, is smaller by seventeen square miles than what is called Registration Ixmdon. The area is a very important consideration in com paring ibe $3c of cities. Chicago, for instance, covers an area larger than New Yotk and Ijondon together. lint now if the increai of population in the metropolitan district of New York and in Registration Iondon k compared, it is found that New York with the smaller area increased nearly three times as fast as Ijm&oh. From this Superintendent Porter figures out thai New York, al the present rate of increase, will out number I-ondon by half a million inhabitants in 1920. If, moreover, the area of New York be made to include as many square miles as Registration Ixmdon then New York will more than overtake lxradon by 1913. New York is, of course, handicapped by her cramped quarters. It seems likely, how ever, that loa-er New York 7rilf more and more become a region of warehouses and business blocks. Continually cow the process is going on of transforming this par: of the city into buildings intended for business only. Residents are being forced gradually farther out of town. In respect to area, Chi - cago has a great advantage over New York. In area it is quite unrestricted. Bnt New York has the start and will not be easily overtaken. Whether, however, New York will not be enough hindered in its growth by its small quarters to pre vent its overtaking London is a matter yet to be decided. It hardly occms probable, though, that the present high rate of increase will continue indefinitely. Nevertheless every Amer ican citizen proudly believes that New York is bouud to be the largest city in the world. If prosperity makes people thankful, then the farmers should be thankful this year, especially the farmers of thr west. Year before last there was an immense crop. Yet this j ear's crop of torn, oats, and wheat exceeds the yield in these staples of two years ago by 77,000,000 bushels. What a shortage there was last year may be seen from the fact that this year's crop of the above named staples is about a billion bushels ahead oi last year's. If times were hard last year on account of a small crop, surely there is no reason now why they should not be easy in the near future. 'Some statisticians have estimated that farmers in the west will this year pay off mortgage to the amount of $200,000,000. This seems not at all unreasonable as the value of the crop of corn, oats, and wheat alone is $400,000,000 more than the value ol last year's crop of the same staples. Nebraska, we all know, surely comes in for her share, and no small share, of the tremendous increase. It is said that the seven western states, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, the two Dakota, Illinois, and Kansas will receive fully fifty per cent, of the money paid in the United States for the enormous crop of the three grains above men tioned. Truly Nature and Providence have been bountiful this year it ever. et let there be two seasons alter this as prolific as this and then one of crop failure. What would be the effect? Great financial depression as last year. The farmers will then wake up again, politically, and wonder ii there is not something wrong. They will Ik? very aggrev.ive in reform until another good crop has set them again upon a living looting. Their aggressiveness will then disappear. The same conditions, however, will still remain. When again fulfilled they will produce similar results. What folly then to advocate reform only in times of depression, times when the judgment is unduly influenced by excitement, if not stronger passions. It seems a pity that men will not understand that, if matters were as they should be, one season of crop failure should not produce such great harpship and such hard times as came to this state last year. Ancient Egypt, under Joseph, we are told, hoarded enough together in seven years of plenty to last through seven years of abso lute famine. Modern Nebraska is unable after several years of abundance to pass through one year of poor crops trithcut great physical and financial distress. There is something the matter. Will entire satisfaction with a good crop tell m what the trouble is? The farmers arc called on to answer. ATHLETICS. The tennis grounds have at last been marked ofl but it is not likely that much playing will be done now as cold weather will uo doubt soon set in. The grounds have been leveled np and grcrtly improved. This mode of exercise is bound to grow in favor, and arrangements should be made this fall to have more courts laid off so that playing may begin early next falL Did you ever consider how important and neccessary a seconder of a motion really is? The names of the persons who make the motions arc printed in bold type and sent broardcast over the country while the wen wno second tfceve 4