Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, June 09, 1904, Page 8, Image 8

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THE OMAHA DAILY DEE: THURSDAY, JUNE 0, 1901.
SPURIOUS
True Inwardness of the Recent Anti-Machine
Campaign in Omaha Carried On
-x by the Fontanelle Club.
false Issues, Deceptive and Dis
reputable Tactics Adopted by
Fontanelle Board of Strategy,
Masquerading as Reformers.
t a meeting of the Fifth Ward Repub
lican club laat Thursday night Edward
Rosewater spoke aa follow! :
"We are about to enter another national
campaign, with Omaha aa the center of the
political battleground. It la to be deplored
that at a time when republican are ex
pected to close up tholr ranks and march
shoulder to shoulder against the common
enemy the success of the party should be
menaced and Jeopardised by factional
strife, Whofls to blame for this condition
and who is responsible?
"Last fall an earnest effort to bring about
harmony; and conciliation between the re
publican factions of Omaha and Douglas
county was made In good faith by party
leaders who have been associated with me
In the past. Amnesty was generously ex
tended all along the line for the sake of
hatmony, with the hope that factional sores
would be healed and the past be forgiven If
not forgotten. It was In this spirit that a
Strenuous effort was made by myself with
the so-called machine wing of the repub
lican party to obliterate factional lines and
bury the hatchet, at least until the national
campaign should be over.
"With this end in view a series of meet
ings were held to discuss tho availability of
candidates for the various county offices
so as to make an equitable division and
scmlnate a ticket that would receive the
undivided support of the whole party.
There were, of course, a sufficient number
Of candidates among either faction to nil
every office and It was a delicate and most
disagreeable task to push aside good men
who had been at the forefront of battle on
our side of the fence and give preference
to men who had for years fought on the
Other side.
- 0 of the Proltlessie Involved.
"For example, D. M. Haverly, who had
been twice elected county clerk by the
aid and support of the machine faction,
aspired to the nomination for clerk of tho
district court. He had many warm friends
among the machine men, with whom he
had always been affiliated, myself Included.
It Is an open secret that I urged Mr.
Haverly to accept the nomination for clerk
of the district court five years ago, and If
he had had the nerve he would have
been- the clerk of the court today Instead
f Frank A. Broadwell. But we could not
wall give Mr. Haverly the district court
clerkship so long as the antls refused to
concede to their opponent the candidate for
herlff.
"Aa a peace offering we conceded to the
anrtis the most lucrative office In the county
the district clerkship for which Robert
Smith of your ward and W. W. Bingham
of the Second were antl candidates.
"Mr. Bingham has been a recognised
leader of his faction. He had twice been
tut candidate for mayor and was regarded
as the most available and surest man to
be elected, not only by myself, but by two
thirds of the men on our side who had
been sounded as to their preferences. Had
I been governed by selfish motives I
would have given preference to Robert
Smith, who expressed himself - anxious to
Secure my support and co-operation, and
could have been depended upon to do
everything In his power to smooth down
tho opposition to candidates of our fac
tion, whom we desired to nominate and
loot, i
"Mr. Bingham, on the contrary, seemed
mortally afraid to approach me and made
no effort to communicate with me before
and during the primary election campaign.
Even after be had been nominated he
seemed reluctant. to counsel with me about
his own canvass. For the sake of har
mony I was willing to forego all personal
and factional advantage and Mr. Bingham
received my earnest and active support.
Ho would have carried the county by from
tOO to 1,000 majority had not the malignant
radicals of his own faction knifed him
because and only because I supported him. j
Varestea of tho Radicals.
"These people would knife their best
friends whenever X should happen to sup
port them because I would support them,
and yet they go Into a contest time and
again and try to nominate men who
have been my personal and political
enemies and expect me to fall In and help
elect them, when I know in advance that If
elected they would do all they could to In
jure me politically and financially.
"Last year we elected a legislative dele
gation of that class. I gave them a good
aendoff Immediately after the convention
and did not raise a finger against them
during the entire campaign, but they had
an understanding among themselves, as I
am Informed, that they .were to do all
they could to damage and Injure me and The
Omaha Bee with the power given to them
through lta influence, and they carried out
that agreement to the letter.
"Does anybody familiar with human na
ture expect that a man made of flesh and
blood will allow himself to be vllllflfd,
slandered and cussed and then turn around
and do all he can to ptaoe the men who
have done (hat Into positions of honor and
trustT And yet I have done It time and
gain, and presume may have to do
o again because there are Interests para
mount to personal and political considera
tions. ' There are Issues sometimes so mo
mentous that we must forget all that con
cerns our Individuality, or concerns us In
our pocket and sacrifice It to the good of
the party, or the country. For myself, I
am willing to da that in the future aa I
have done It in the past.
"Whatever may be said about my tactics
In political campaigns my political enemies
must oonoedo that I always fight fair and
in the open. I have been frequently criti
cised by political friends for not adopting
Indian tactics by fighting the enemy from
behind the ambush, or organising an oath
bound band of bush-whackers to waylay
my opponents. This I never have done and
never will do. I confess, however, that my
efforts at harmony end conciliation last
fall were futile and foolish. Teu can not
conciliate a rattlesnake or harmonise a
scorpion.
BtUil tee Feataaelle Bcreea.
"Before we enter upon the campaign this
fall It "may be well that we take a retro
spective view of the recent crusade of de
ception, defamation, slander and hypoc
risy. I do not believe there was ever such
a conglomeration of the godly and un
aodly, of the moo of high moral standards
combining with men of the very lowest
type, aetlng in concert for one purpose
(A Voioet "That was to down Jtoeewater").
REFORMERS
That was not all. There was something
way beyond that. People familiar with the
Inside history know that the Fontanelle
club was conceived with the Idea of being
used to defeat the renomtnatlon of Gov
ernor Mickey and incidentally to control
the nomination of the candidate for con
gress and delegates to the state and na
tional conventions, and behind the screen
was the fine Italian hand of John N. Bald
win and the Milesian hand of that re
doubtable moral reformer, Walter Moles,
who 1ft running a double-distilled whisky
shop and brewery and several crooked dis
tilled whisky mills.
"How did this element get . together
What was the mystic tie that Impelled
them to act In concert? How did it come
that good people who are earnestly and
honestly striving to elevate the moral
standard of the party and the people, who
make it their business to manipulate and
corrupt legislatures and assessment boards,
and the desperadoes who would resort to
any criminal scheme to accomplish a pur
pose, were banded together In a crusade
for political reform. At the outset the
organizers of the Fontanelle club gave It
out that it was their aim to bring together
the active, progressive workers of the re
publican party, regardless of faction, so
they would become better acquainted, cul
tivate friendly relations and smooth down
the discordant elements so as to bring
about more prefect harmony In the party
than we have ever had; but before they
called for recruits they already had or
ganised a board of governors composed of
the most radical leaders of the antl-ma-chlne
faction. This board constituted the
inside wheel and the outsiders were not
aware that they were being roped In and
hitched to the bull ring when they signed
the pledge that they would vote to carry
out the program of the board of governors.
"To mask their plan of campaign, Arthur
C. Smith, preeident of the Commercial
club and a prominent member of the Omaha
Business Men's association, waa made
president of the Fontanelle club, and al
though Arthur C. Bmlth is notoriously a
Burlington man, he unconsciously was
playing Into the hands of John N. Baldwin.
Arthur C. Smith was not the only fly that
was caught In the 'come into my parlor
said the spider to the fly.' There were a
good many flies attracted by John N. Bald
win's free lunches and Walter Moles' re
freshments. A large number of well mean
ing republicans allowed themselves to be
hoodwinked and buncoed out of from $5 to
$15 apiece as entrance money, laboring
under the delusion that the Fontanelle
club was designed to repress factionalism
in the party.
Part of the "Reform" Campaign.
"Before the club was thirty days old de
fensive and offensive alliances were formed
with other elements and organisations.
Prominent among those was the Civic
Federation, made up of democrats, popu
lists, ( mugwumps, independents and free
lances, with democrats, and ipopulista pre
dominating. A sensational . ' crusade was
started by the revival of the atory about
the Pollock diamond robbery that bad oc
curred in Iowa twelve years ago. Lawyers
were employed to get a convict, now serv
ing a sentence for this robbery in an Iowa
penitentiary, to make an affidavit that he
had been instigated to the oommlsslon of
the crime by Tom Pennison and had shared
with him the plunder he had taken. The
sensational stories of the Pollock diamond
robbery which had been published years
ago were revamped In the local yellows
and the convict was taken to Logan, la.,
to tell his version to a grand Jury, on whose
evidence alone an indictment against Tom
Dennlson for receiving stolen property was
procured. More thn ten years ago, in
fact within less than a year after the Pol
lock diamond robbery had been perpetrated,
I had a talk with William A. Plnkerton,
the head of the treat Plnkerton agency,
who told me that he had personally given
a great deal of time and labor to the work
of detection of the perpetrators of the
robbery and the recovery of the diamonds.
If my memory serves me right, and I fell
sure It does, Mr. Plnkerton told me that
no had traced the diamonds to a certain
pawnshop In Omaha, but was unable to
Identify the stones; that he had suspected
Dennlson to be a party connected with
the robbery and had him under surveil
lance many months, but after be had made
a thorough search, he could And no trace
that would Justify his prosecution. Ho
was their chief detective, and still retains
that position. The Plnkertons make It a
special business to pursue Jewelry thieves
and bring them to Justice at any cost,
whether they recover the stolen property
or not. I did not know that such a man aa
Dennlson existed until then.
Example of the Slander.
"That talk with Mr. Plnkerton had passed
out of my mind entirely until the recent
revival of the diamond robbery story, which
was Ingeniously used In the crusade of de
famation and slander as campaign capital
for blackwashlng the leaders of the ma
chine faction. , '
"In the special edition of the Council
Bluffs Nonpareil, that was distributed at
almost every door step in Omaha, during
the anU primary campaign, and paid for
by John N. Baldwin, it was asserted,
among other things, that Tom Dennlson.
who was reputed to bo worth 1600,000
and owned $260,000 worth of real estate in
Omaha, controlled the editor of the most
prominent paper In this city, because he
had loaned him 150,000. , This Infamous
falsehood. Ingeniously worded to create
the Impression that it had reference to
myself, received credence in the minds of
hundreds of people. I doubt whether Den
nlson was ever worth 13.000 In all his
life. Instead of owning $260,000 worth of
real estate. I learn through Tax Commis
sioner Fleming that he pays city taxes on
about $6,500 worth of real estate, aasessed
at its full value, and his laat year's assess
ment by the county was on about $1,U0
worth of property.
Deaalsoa's Cam patera Coatrtbetloas.
"I never borrowed a nickel of Tom Den
nlson or any other gambler, whether no
torious or not notorious, and have never
aaked a gambler to loan me a dollar.
While Dennlson has doubtless spent money
In political campaigns. In democratlo as
well as republican primaries, for demo
cratlo as well as republican candidates. Just
the same as the corporation managers do
In political campaigns and at every session
of the legislature, no campaign committee
with which I have ever been connected, or
representing the faction with which I have
been affiliated, baa ever aaked Dennlson
for a dollar of campaign contribution, nor
has he ever put a dollar into the treasury
of any of those committees. The only time
I have ever known Dennlson to be asked
forva campaign contribution waa by the
antlvnachlue committee, of which Charles
UNMASKED
Goes was chairman, and be paid the contri
bution over cheerfully, I understand. The
only positive knowledge I have of Dennl
son' s contribution to a particular candi
date Is through the telltale memorandum
of his expenses to get a parole for the
robber Shercllffe. In that memorandum
$400 Is charged up as a contribution to
David H. Mercer, who was In Omaha last
month as one of the active leaders of the
reform crusade. And It will be also noted
that in that connection Mr. John N. Bald
win was not a deadhead In that enter
prise. The memorandum shows that Den
nlson had helped him carry Council Bluffs
primaries with Omaha darkeys, and the
favor was reciprocated by the Iowa graders
that came to Omaha to help renominate
"Our Dave."
Personal Notioae About Gambling.
"My ideas about drawing on gamblers for
campaign funds can beet be Illustrated by
this: During one of the campaigns in which
I was very much interested years ago a
gambler by the name of Stephen, who then
kept the Turf Exchange and still lives In
Omaha, called on ma and handed me $300,
which he said was his contribution to the
republican campaign. I said 'You take It
to Henry Bolln. He la the treasurer of the
county committee.' The very next day I
callod on Bolln and said, 'You keep that
$300 until after election and then return It
to Mr. Stephen.' I simply did not want
that money to get into tho hands of the
demo-pops on the other side before the
campaign closed.
"Judging from the manifestos, circulars,
dodgers and postal cards that were circu
lated during the reform cruBade the people
who know nothing about my habits and
career would take It that I am an habitual
gumbler and a special protege and pro
tector of gamblers. Had they taken the
trouble to Inquire they would have dlscov.
ered that I never played a game of cards
In my life and do not even know how to
play a game of cards. Nobody has ever
seen me in a gambling house in Omaha or
out of Omaha. I have never seen a game of
faro or roulette In my life, except upon the
stage. I have had no affinity with gam
blers. On tho contrary, my record is all
the other way. I do not believe that gam
bling Is a necessary evil that must be tol
erated. It can and should bo suppressed.
I am talking about open gambling houses,
and law officers who have honestly endeav
ored to suppress gambling have never had
any difficulty In securing my support. What
I detest la hypocrisy and sham, and that
explains why I have taken no stock. In the
performances of George W. Shields,' I. J.
Dunn and proeecutors of that ilk, who were
simply warring on disfavored Omaha gam
blers while favored gamblers in Omaha and
all of the South Omaha gamblers were al
lowed to ply their vocation unmolested.
Record of Tho Bee. ,
"Those who have lived here far the last
thirty years remember very distinctly . that
I have time and again opposed and de
nounced public gambling. They will re
member that The Bee waa Instrumental In
the exposure that resulted In the indict
ment and conviction of a republican city
marshal and Impeachment of a republican
mayor acoused of accepting bribes from
gamblers. They will remember that the
law making gambling a felony waa placed
upon the statute books through my effort
When that bill was pending before tho leg
islature $5,000 waa Put up by the gamblers
of Omaha and Lincoln to have the bill
pigeonholed or killed. On the floor of the
houses -I addressed-an open letter to the
speaker, while the bouse was in session,
charging the chairman and members of the
Judiciary committee with being parties to
a conspiracy to defeat the bill for boodle.
An investigating committee was immedi
ately appointed with power to send for
persons and papers and the investigation
was to be conducted within closed doors :
like a grand Jury. When " the committee
was about to begin Its work the parties
Implicated got together and arranged a
plan to make the investigation a farce. By
the aid of the gamblers' lobby, the corpora
tion lobby and the penitentiary contractors
they succeeded In winning over a majority
of the members of the house. The next
morning they added four new members of
their own choice to the committee ap
pointed by the speaker, and ordered the
reorganised committee to conduct the in
vestigations in the open. Thereupon I with
drew the statement I had left with the
chairman, showing exactly how and by
whom the conspiracy had been concocted.
I was denounced for running away from
the fight, but the bill passed both houses
of the legislature and Is the law today.
lUnom, Howell and Gorier.
"In 1896 an effort was made by Ransom
and Howell, who were then senators from
Douglas county, to have the law repealed,
but again The Bee exposed the conspiracy
and the attempt was frustrated.
"A great many people do not know, for
example, irhy I refused to support William
F. Gurley for prosecuting attorney In the
fall of 1897, and why I openly supported his
democratic competitor, T. J. Mahoney. My
opposition to Gurley sprung from his activ
ity in the legislative lobby at Lincoln dur
ing the fight over the antt-gambllng bill.
He was there as the paid lobbyist of the
Union Pacific railroad, but was also In
close touch with the gamblers' lobby, st
the time they were trying to consummate
the deal to defeat the bill. Gurley went
further, even, he worked himself Into the
encampment of the Grand Army, held at
Omaha, after my exposure of the con-,
splracy, the pass word to which he had
no right was given to hlra by a Grand
Army man, also then fresh from the Lin
coln lobby, and both worked for the elec
tion of the chairman of the Judiciary com
mittee, who had been Implicated In the
gamblers' conspiracy, and helped bring
about his election as commander of the
department, which In those days was
heralded forth as a great rebuke to Rose
water. I did not think Gurley was the
right kind of a man to be entrusted with
the enforcement of the gambling laws, or
the prosecution of any class of criminals,
and therefore I supported Mr. Mahoney.
Oh of Ma hooey's Opinions.
"Looking backwards, I discover that Mr.
Mahoney, who now figures prominently in
the reform crusade, waa not as active or
efficient in prosecuting gamblers as he
might have been. During the whole period
while he was county attorney public
gambling waa carried on wide open in
Omaha without restraint. Not a solitary
gambling house was closed by the law
officers, not a solitary gambler was prose
cuted to my recollection, and a policy game
was running In Omaha also, undisturbed.
I have heard it whispered that the lawyer
retained by the leading gambling houses,
and Incidentally by Dennlson, was fur
nished with a piece of written advice, by
the prosecuting attorney, to say to the
policy gamblers that If they would sell lead
pencils for I cents or 10 cents apiece, with
a policy ticket thrown in free, they could
not be successfully prosecuted under the
gambling law. It would seem that when
Mahoney was prosecuting attorney, he
could not discover how public gambling and
policy gambling could be suppressed, but
on the contrary, he seemed to entertain the
peculiar notion that lead pencils for 10
cents apiece, with a policy ticket attached
free, would relieve the policy peddlers from
all liability.
"In the recent campaign of defamation
appeals were made to 'all republicans who
are interested in good, clean, econowlc
city government and opposed to the Den-nlson-Rosewater
machine, the corrupt rule
of such machine and the Illegal expendi
ture of public money by said machine, to
vote the Fontanelle elub ticket straight.'
Challenge to the Reformers.
"I challenge any man to produce one
scintilla of proof that I have ever been con
nected with any corrupt scheme of local
government, or when and where any cor
rupt expenditure of public money has ever
been countenanced by myself or that I have
ever shared with any man In profits from
public contracts, or that I have ever even
advised the use of, much less used, money
Illegally gotten out of the publlo treas
ury for political purposes. I also v chal
lenge any man or set of men to cite a
single Instance where I have knowingly
advocated any Job or steal In the city,
county or state governments, or failed to
expose any corrupt scheme of looting the
treasury when brought to my notice.
"When we moved Into the new Bee build
ing we left the old Bee building on lower
Farnam, which had been rebuilt four years
previously, vacant. The property could, at
that time,' have been sold for $50,000, al
though It may not bring as much as $30,000
today. The building could have readily
been converted Into an apartment house or
hotel or gambling house. We would have
had no trouble in renting It as a disorderly
resort. Its location would have Insured
a liberal rental If we had been disposed to
have let It to gamblers. I could probably
have rented It to Tom Dennlson and had
an Income of from $2,500 to $3,000 a year.
Yet that building was allowed to remain
vacant ten long years. Not a penny of
Income In ten years, although we were pay
ing $1,200 a year Interest on the loan for
which the building Btood as security, and
fully $800 a year more for Insurance and
taxes. In the ten years that that
building stood vacant, we paid out not
less than $20,000 for Interest, taxes and in
surance, when we could have recouped our
selves, had I been disposed to rent it for
questionable or lawless purposes.
Would These Do Itt
"We left that building vacant all those
years because I was determined not to
have It occupied for anything but legiti
mate business. How many members of
the Civic Federation can stand up and
say truthfully that, under like conditions,
they would have done the same thing?
I would like to know whether T. J. Ma
honey would have allowed a building
worth $30,000 to $40,000 remain vaoant ten
years It he could have rented It aa an
apartment assignation house or a gambling
den. I would like to know whether Isaac
Carpenter would leave the building he
now occupies vacant for ten years, and
not draw a penny of Income out of it,
rather than let it aa a reconstructed no-questlons-aaked
hotel. C. S. Hayward is
a good business man. He has been presi
dent of the school board and ranks high
In publlo estimation, but I doubt Very
much whether he would allow a building
worth $30,000 to remain Idle for ten years, f
he could have rented it for questionable
purposes without.;, disagreeable publicity.
At any rate, I know bf no other instance,
and I have heard,' of no other instance
among the men so anxious to prevent me
from representing Nebraska In tho na
tional convention on. account of my alleged
sympathy with lawlessness, vice and crime,
who could truthfully" point to such a sac
rifice aa was mado by myself with the old
Bee building. '
Offer of a Bribe.
"Possibly some gentlemen whose names
I have mentioned might not have been
willing to draw rent" from Tom Dennlson or
his class, or from t some keeper of an
assignation house, directly. The transac
tion would ''probkpjy have been. done
through, a rental akint. Comparisons are
sometimes odious. Jw before the opening
of the Transmisslsstcpi exposition a party
called on me yith itt very tempting offer.
All they asked me to do was to make no
opposition In The Bee to tho running of
slot machines during the exposition and a
permit for certain .gambling privileges on
the Inside of tho exposition grounds. For
this comparatively unimportant service and
my Influence nn the executive committee
they were willing to guarantee from $40,000
to $50,000. But the offer was flatly and
unceremoniously rejected, and Z. T. Lind
say. Mr. Klrkendoll and other members
of the executive , committee know my In
fluence as one of the managers of the
exposition was exerted to keep out gam
bling devices of every description, and
especially slot machines. A trifle like $50,000
might not have tempted some of the gen
tlemen who are berating me, but I would
hate to take the risk of their refusal of
such an offer.
"So far as I am concerned, I defy any
body In or out of Omaha to point out a sin
gle Instance where I have bad anything to
do In the way of sharing the income from
gamblers or gambling housea What I take
exceptions to and what I think very wrong
is for people who would not want to do
anything In violation of the golden rule to
circulate through newspapers, campaign
dodgers and postal cards, Inuendos and in
sinuations that place those who happen to
be on one side of factional politics in the
attitude of moral lepers.
Founded on Rumor.
"There are undoubtedly quite a number
of honest, sincere, law-abiding men In the
antl-machlne faction. Quite a number of
them earnestly favor better government.
Those good people have been led to believe
that a condition exists In Omaha that calls
for an antl-crlme, antl-vlce crusade to
arouse the community to the great danger
to which it Is exposed by being overrun by
footpads, burglars and thieves and fleeced
by professional gamblers. When you come
to simmer It down, when these. men are
brought before the grand Jury or into the
open court of publlo opinion, not one of
them pretends to know anything for him
self. They all say that somebody else told
them that a very bod state of affairs exists.
Even. Byron Burbank, who not long ago
proclaimed from the housetops that the city
government was tainted with corruption
and mixed up In all sorts of rotten deals,
when asked to state what he knew about
this terrible condition, admitted that he
knew nothing. I detailed a reporter to In
terview him, to ascertain whether he knew
of a single Instance where criminal collu
sion could be established between publlo
officials and public thieves, or private
thieves, and be admitted that he did not
know. The nearest he could come to It waa
he elalmed that some client, whose name
he could not reveal, had told him some
thing. Only another Instance of the three
black crows.
"I say this is all wrong. It would be re
garded as disreputable even in village gos
sip, let alone In a city like Omaha for men
to retail slander against their neighbors,
much less Is it reputable for men who
stand high in business and In the commun
ity to use their positions to destroy the
reputations of men about whom they per
sonally know nothing.
"The same thing was done two years
ago, when the good women of Omaha were
all worked up over a false issue and helped
elect the democratlo school board ticket by
raising the cry of 'machine,' while all the
time the Book trust was actively engaged
In fomenting factional strife and supplying
the necessary lubricator.
Dome Amaslasr Conditions.
"It is not In the least surprising that
women who are naturally emotional and
sympathetic should allow themselvts to be
Imposed on by the conscienceless charla
tans, but It Is amaslng that good business
men should allow themselves to be hood
winked and buncoed by arrant hypocrites
and frauds who proclaim from the house
tops that they are fighting for reform,
when In fact they are fighting for spoils
and factional control of the avenue to
office. I feel sure that neither the reputable
business men of the Civic Federation nor
the members of the Ministerial association,
who enrolled themselves In the late sham
crusade for reform, were aware of the fact
that they were playing right Into the hands
of a rotten gang of political blackmailers.
I doubt very much whether any of them
even suspected that they were yoked with
such men as the redoubtable Walter Molse
and his gang of grafters and holdups, and
yet this Is literally true. Nobody In Omaha
took a deeper Interest In the triumph of the
Fontanelle club reform than the great and
good man who has figured so conspic
uously. Possibly they do not know to what
egtent they are obligated to Colonel Molse
for the Sunday closing crusade and the
closing of the Diamond pool room.
Career of Reformer Molse.
"A brief sketch of the career of Molse
may be Interesting to both the genuine
and the sham reformers. Molse came to
Omaha about twelve years ago and opened
two saloons on Fourteenth street between
Farnam and Douglas, one wholesale and
the other retail. These saloons were con
nected by a door that swung both ways.
He took out one license for both Joints
Jointly. While he was telling by the br
rel, gallon and quart In one, he was selling
by the glass In the other. Under the lew
he was required to take out a license for
each and should have paid $2,000 a year In
stead of one. He was beating the city out
of $1,000, and because the mayor and police
board would not give him permission to
run two saloons on one license he donned
his war paint and feathers.
"But I am putting the cart before the
horse. Before he had taken to the war
path he had established himself as a demo
cratlo boss and boodle collector. He was
on the staff of Governor Poynter as a
colonel and cut a most Imposing figure In
his uniform on drees parade. HU true
character was best revealed at the hear
ing before the Police commission about five
months ago. It wae shown there by wit
nesses that during the exposition, when he
was In close touch- with the Herdman
board and ex-chief of police, that he
claimed to be able to guarantee police pro
tection, not only to publlo gambling houses,
but that during the exposition a number
of porch climbers and pickpockets came to
Omaha and they reported to him every
night the results of their day's labor and
divided the proceed with him. That was
sworn to before the Police board. There
seemed to be a shadow, if not a good deal
of a shadow, to Indicate that there was
more truth than poetry In these charges.
At any rate Colonel Molse has a peculiar
way In getting mixed up with crooked deals.
Within the last few months revenue offi
cers of the United States seized six
barrels of whisky from Molse, which
were condemned and taken by the
governmen because the stamps which
he had placed an them differed from
the measurement of the contents, that Is,
where a barrel was stamped fifty-one gal
lons it contained only forty-eight or forty
eight and a half gallons, and where a bar
rel was stamped forty-nine there only hap
pened to be forty-six and a half or forty
seven gallons. The natural Inference Is
that he Intended to sell the barrels with
a fifty-one gallon stamp for fifty-one gal
lons when they only contained forty-eight
or forty-eight and one-half gallons. The
government officers not only seized the
whisky, but lodged a complaint in the of
fice of the United States district attorney,
by whom proceedings were presumed to be
Instituted to prosecute Molse under the
statutes. The case Is still pending In the
federal court, so I cannot discuss It too
much. But the strange thing about It Is
this:. The prosecution was to have, been
oarriedoh by William's. Summers Jor his
assistant, 'Mr. ' Rush. ''".",'
Summers Comes on the Scene.
"You all have .. heard of Williamson 8.
Bummers, and a great many have thought
that I did him an injustice. That he was
a conscientious and fearless publlo officer
and was being persecuted because' he was
Instrumental in getting Senator Dietrich
indicted. As a matter of fact, I had pre
ferred charges against Mr. Summers two
years before the Dietrich indictment 'was
thought otl My charges were that he was
In collusion with a lot of rascals who had
swindled the Indians and government; that
he was the companion and counsellor of
Joe Bartley and had been Instrumental in
procuring Hartley's pardon. Now, while In
duty bound to proseoute Molse, Summers
allowed Rush, the assistant United States
attorney, to appear as his attorney and
defender before the police commission. In
other words. Rush accepts a retainer from
Mr. Molse and goes before the police com
missioner and acts as his attorney. Now
you understand the community of Interest
that existed between Summers, Rush and
Molse and tho Fontanelle club to bring
about the triumph of reform in the late
primaries. Of course, Summers waa one
of the reformers that waa anxious for bet
ter government, the rsne as Molse, as
waa also that great ohamplon of muni
cipal purity and arch enemy of pool room
and club room gamblers, I. J. Dunn.
"Ever since Walter Moise and Tom Den
nlson have locked horns I. J. Dunn has
been posing as a lip-snorter reformer and
vice crusher. He has been making a tre
mendous fight to break up gambling and
corruption In spots in the localities that
were offensive to Walter Molse and he has
fought the battle of reform In the name of
humanity and good government to avenge
the wrongs from which Molse claims to
have been suffering at the hands of Dennl
son. There Is the whole secret of the
prosecution against the Diamond pool room,
which was nothing more nor less than a
resort where people who bet on races con
gregated and staked their money on swift
horses.
Oae ef Dais'i Crusades.
"Last January Mr. Dunn filed complaints
against four-fifths of the saloons In Omaha
for alleged violations of the Blocurob law,
but not one that I ever heard of against
any saloon tor which the Willow Springs
brewery, of which Walter Molse Is chief
proprietor, supplied the beer or Walter
Molse' s whisky house supplied the liquid
lightning. Many thought that Dunn was
Inspired by most sublime motives, and I
have no doubt that hundreds, if not thou
sands of good people In this community
have come to look upon him aa a fearless
champion . of law enforcement. But all
things are not what they seem. It Is a
matter of notoriety that Dunn, when asked
the question squarely on the witness stand
whether he had gambled, refused to an
swer, because he did not want to Incrimi
nate himself. It is a matter of notoriety
that after Dunn had filed more than 100
complaints against saloons for violating
the Slocumb law last December he was
Induced to withdraw all aa soon as the
police commission had agreed to override
the protests against the Motes saloons and
the protestants had confidentially agreed
not to press their complaints. Great Is
reform, in Omaha, and greater still Is
Dunn, the reformer, with a capital D,
"By the way, it Is rather singular that
Dunn did not become an evangelist for
reform while he was deputy county at
torney. It Is also passing strange that
Elmer E. Thomas, Dunn's associate In the
county attorney's office, had not heard of
all those terrible doings in Omaha until
very recently.
Thomas as Reformer.
"It Is one thing for a man to preach the
goapel of reform. It Is another thing for
him to practice what he preaches. Elmer
I
E. Thomas waa assistant prosecutor under
Mr. Shields. He had all the oportunlty for
suppressing gambling In South Omaha, or
the Diamond pool room In Omaha; he had
the opportunity of suppressing law violation
that was open and notorious, but he did
not see fit to do so, and ndw he Is the
only source for all the Information that
has been vouched for by the gentlemen
who signed the Civic Federation manifesto.
'There were seven or eight names of
reputable men appended to the document
which has startled Omaha by announcing
substantially: 'We have found from ob
servation that Omaha la a rendezvous for
porch climbers and burglars; that a very
bad state of affairs exists here; that open
gambling, prostitution and vice run ram
pant,' and now all these men, without ex
ceptlon, so far as I ran learn, when called
on to state before the grand Jury what
they know personally concerning the al
leged carnival of crime admit that they
know nothing about the matter, but they
had taken Mr. Thomas' assurance for it,
and on his word alone signed their names
to a charge that blackens the reputation
of Omaha and creates groundless sus
plclons and prejudices for no higher purposo
than to give political aid to a faction In
the republican party In a campaign of d
ceptlon and defamation.
Laxity of Personal Conduct.
"There are many admitted evils and there
Is undoubtedly room for Improvement In
our local government. There are many
abuses that should be abated and many
wrongs that should be righted. I cannot
comprehend how men, who value their
own reputations, and men who occupy high
stations In the community, would allow
their names to be circulated broadcast
over an arraignment that rests upon the
mere statement of a lawyer working for
pay and notoriety. Those who have visited
other cities of Omaha's magnitude will
agree that Omaha at the present time Is as
orderly as any town of its size In America.
I visited St. Paul, Minneapolis and Mil
waukee three weeks ago and took pains
vo inquire concerning crime and social vice.
and I make bold to assert that Omaha la as
well governed aa any pf these cities. There
has been no such serious state of affairs
as would warrant the charges embodied In
the Clvlo Federation manifesto. Genuine
municipal reform has had and always will
have my earnest support at all times. I
think I have labored aa hard as anybody
to prevent Jobbery and corruption In pub-
iio omce and in Nebraska.
"I have never hesitated to expose and
denounce official crookedness as well as
corporate aggression. I hare never yet
been found In any Job or scheme for loot
Ing the treasury. If any man or set of
men want to organise an association that
will bring about honest government re
trenchment, greater economy, greater de
cency In publlo places, I am with them,
but I do not propose to allow them to cir
culate slander and falsehood either about
Omaha or myself without resenting It.
"Good" Men "Who Toted.
'In the recent campaign we might have
been very much more strenuous about
many things. Dave Mercer came to Omaha
all the way from Washington to take part
In the primaries and cast hla vote in the
Seventh ward. Under our election law) no
man Can vote at a primary election who
Is not entitled to vote at a general elec
tion, and no man can cast hla vote at a
general election unless he haa lived forty
days In the county and ten days in the
precinct. Mercer has not lived here for. a
number of years and haa no legal resi
dence In the Seventh ward. I oould name
four or five other reformers who came from
Washington to vote In Omaha, One of
these was registered In the Seventh ward
a year ago, but now lives In the Fourth.
For the sake of purity in municipal gov
ernment he voted In the Seventh on a for
mer registration In defiance, of law.. So,
you see, the good men who raise their
hands In holy horror about the reign of
lawlessness are doing the very thing they
condemn.
"In the late anti-crime campaign the hue
and cry was all about Dennlson and the
machine, and yet the great reformer whose
defeat the purifiers wanted to avenge was
mixed up with Dennlson and Shercllff more
than anyone on the machine side. If the
Dennlson memorandum la to be relied on,
and It Is vouched for as correot by Mr.
Elmer Thomas, our Dave received a con
tribution of $400 for his campaign and
went to Des Moines to implore Governor
Shaw to perdle Shercllff, the diamond rob
ber. , What Makes a "Reformer."
"But pot calling the kettle black does
not set matters right. The fact is that
when It comes to moral Issues the purifiers
do not want to touch upon anything that
happened upon their side of the house, and
In the light of recent disclosures it ap
pears that Mr. Mercer was pretty Intimate
with Mr. Dennlson. When we come to
scrutinize the list of eighty-seven reform
delegates we find that about one-fourth
were formerly on the blacklist of the anti
reformers. For example, A. H. Donneken,
whom the Fifth ward purifiers pictured as
the most rotten rascal that ever had any
thing to do with politics. That was when
Donneken was street commissioner under
Frank B. Moores, but as soon as he had
been pried loose from the city pay roll
they took him to their bosoms aa a speci
men brick of purified goodness and hon
esty. "John H. Butler was appointed building
Inspector by Frank E. Moores in his first
term and worked with the machine so long
as he held the office, but when he failed
of reappointment he could not say any
thing too mean of Frank Moores and his
machine.
Then there Is Henry Ostrom, who had
been Identified with the machine faction
for years. Last fall he wanted to be county
assessor, but In view of certain rumors
about bridge Jobs and letting of contracts
by the county board, Henry was likely to
beoome a very heavy load to carry. Not
only that, but after he had. ceased to be
commlssolner he had hired out as a legis
lative lobbyist to the bridge company, to
whom he had helped to give contracts that
were not considered by some people be
yond fault. I could not very well support
him for the position of county assessor, so
went out of our own ranks and expressed
my preference for Mr. Ure, a man whom I
believed to be qualified for the position and
trustworthy. Mr. Ure declined and Harry
Reed received our support for county as
sessor at the primaries and had the un
divided support of our people In the elec
tion; but my support of Mr. Reed mortally
offended Mr. Ostrom, and he at once con
ceived It to be his mission to Join In the
cry for municipal reform and economy and
retrenchment. I could go right on down
the list and find a score more of men of
the earns stripe, but I will desist, for most
of these men are as well known aa the
men I have quoted. .
For the Future.
"Regarding the future I will be very
brief. Factional dissensions are to be
deprecated at all times, and republicans of
Omaha and Douglas county are not en
tirely oblivious to the situation, We have a
very momentous campaign before us and
we cannot hope to win this fall unless we
nominate honest and reputable men for
the legislature and a reputable and capable
man to represent this district In congress.
Before we maks any nominations another
factional fight will probably have to be
fought, but I fol sure that the rank and
file of the party will repudiate spurious
reformers when the proper time comes, and
I feel sure that even If we can arouse
two-thirds of ths party In Douglas county
to activity In the primaries the regular or
ganization the men who have helped to
redeem Nebraska from democracy and pop
ulismwill together assert Its old time de
cisive majority through the ballot box."
EAGLES FLIGHTT0 THE DEN
Aaaual Migration of National Bird to
Ak-Sar-Hen's Imperial Court
Proclaimed.
The second annual fllnht of Omaha Aerie
No. 38, Fraternal Order of Eagles, will be
made to the den of Ak-Sar-Hen next Mon
day evening. And If the Inscriptions on
the wall have been correctly Interpreted
and the rumblings from the earth rightly
Judged, the tall frathcrs of the national
bird will be yanked next Monday evening
In a manner heretofore unknown. Suffice
It to say that June 13 will be Eagles' night
at the don. The proclamation reads:
Ills Royal Nibs. King Ak-Sar-Bn, ruler
of birds and beasts and men, holds court.
Thither his summoned vassals will resort
from north and south and cut and went.
The Eagles of all creatures first and best,
the royal will hath been proclaimed, that
all of every class should come, both great
and small.
One of the principal features of the even
ing's "divertlsement" will be a grand
human barbecue. As an object lesson to
those who sit around and croak while
others bear the heat of the day, thirteen
representative "knockers, croakers and
skulkers of the municipality are to be
thtown Into a large caldron and par
boiled for the delectation of the spectators
and a warning to those who refuse to
booet" There will be other attractions,
some being of an audible nature, others
visible, while last, but not least, there
will be a goodly variety of the edible vari
ety. And It Is announced that but one price
of admission Is necessary for this great
offering.
All Eagles who already1 have paid their
$10 to Samson are requested to postpone
their Initiation until next Monday evening,
and those who have not paid into the royal
exchequer are warned to "get buoy" at
once, under penalty of possible decapita
tion. One Matador Kills Another.
ST. LOUIS, June 8. Don Manuel Cervera,
a Spaniard who was introduced last Sunday
when the bull fight was attempted and
stopped by the authorities as the favorite
matador of the king of Spain, was shot
through the heart today by Carleton Bass,
known as "the American matador." Bass
and five other bull fighters who witnessed
the shooting were arreatod. The shooting
resulted from a quarrel regnrdlng the bull
fight fiasco Sunday when the authorities
stopped the fight and the angry crowd
burned the arena structure.
Fitters
For over 50 years the
Bitters has been without an
equal for restoring the
stomach to its normal con
dition, strengthening the
Kidneys or to cure Heart
burn, Nausea, Indiges
tion, Dyspepsi a, Belch
lug or. Malaria, Fever
and Ague. All sickly
men and women should
try it at once, i It never fails.
How to Pro
nounce Hyomei
Sherman & McConnell Drug Co. Tell
of ThU Remarkable Treatment That
Cure Catarrh Without Stomach
Dosing;.
"While all our customers who hAvo used
Hyomel agree that It Is remarkably suc
cessful In curing catarrh and other diseases
of the air passages," say 6herman & Mc-
Ccnnell Drug Co., Cor. 18th and Dodge Sta.,
Omaha, "yet there haa been considerable
diversity of opinion aa to how the name Is
pronounced. 1 '
"Hyomel is pronounced Just as if ft were
spelled 'high-o-me,' with the accent on e
first syllable.
'A great many come to our store and
Instead of asking for Hyomel, te'.l us they
want a package of the treatmect for ca
tarrh that we are selling on a guarantee.
"While we know what they mean, and
all of our clerks will give them Hyomel,
yet we want every one to know how to
pronounce the name of Hyomel, so that
they may run no chance of getting any
thing but Hyomel, no matter where they
go. .
'It is nature's true cure for atairhal
troubles. It kills the germs of th's disease,
soothes and heals the Irritated muououa
membrane, and effectually drives all ca
tarrhal poisons from the system.
"All the stomach dosing In the world
can do no lasting good in the treatment
of catarrh unless the nose and throat ore
free from catarrhal microbes. There Is no
stomach dosing with Hyomel; Just breathe
It.
'We have so much confidence In the
value of the treatment that we are selling
It win. tho understanding that we will
return tho money If It fails to cure. All
Bee readers know that we do exactly as
we agree."
A SKIN OP BEAUTY 18 A JOV FOREVER,
R. T. FELIX OOCnitD'O OKIKNTAT,
1 CBEAM.OH KAUIkAL iiuuiiiun
Bomom Tan, Plmplea.Frecales,
raton", u.1, ana sm
sua erery blsuuti
on beauty, ami
ilrflei detection. It
has etood tna teat
of M yean, and la
ao liaimlm v
taaU It to be aura
U la properly niau a.
Acoe it no counter
feit si alinllat
name. fir. L. A.
Surra aald to
UMly ol the nam.
tua (s iiieni)i
'Aa you ledlea
will um Uiem, 1
rsceuweaa
'Bouriud'a Cratn'
M tlie ltaat harmful of all the akin preparation.
f'or aala by all lnif!a ud Kau.y Coutla jjaaieri
n the V. .. Canada, aad turoj.
ff.R0. T. HOPKINS, Prep r. 17 braat Joaaa It, . &
DIRT IS VARIOUS al-
ways out ot place, it mars
live and homes and people.
Tis th: b:st of good mmaers
to be dean. A cake of HAND
SAPOLIOis half a social intro
duction. Its price is small, its
use a fine habit . '
.ana. w
3m
T
V
Jo -
er, tE3
ii'l . X disease
Atf til
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