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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 24, 1915)
THE OMAHA SUNDAY WKK: JANUAItV lM. ml.". 9 B MONEY COST OF WAR TOLD IOILLIONS Careful Compilation Shows Expend itures for Armies Now Reaches Forty-Fire Million! Daily. ECONOMIC 10SS NOT YET ADDED tioi respondenc of the Associated Press. T1'T3 HAGUE. Jan. 23.-An exhaustive ai'tly of. the. cost of the European war I'.Ms Just appeared In the Berlin Vor waorts, a socialist newspaper. Th military expenditures of ths Brit ish empire are given aa about 34,260.MO per day, or f3T,6O0,00O up to January 1, The cot ef tha war to Franca up to Pe- ember 19, 1314, Is given aa ll.2S8.3QO.000. cr, difference In time considered, more than twice the amount spent by Great 1'tltitUi. Tn king the Russian expenditures to No A ember 15 aa a baeia. It Is shown that the iu'ian campaign has ao far cost 39,2no, O"0 per day, or 1,3SO,00,000 up to Janu ary 1. The expenditures of the Belgian, Servian an3 Japanese irovernroenta are lvn as about 11,9000,000 per day, or, roundly, $240,000,000 up to January 1. The figures also show that It costs the allies .2.05 per day to keep a man In the flfilJ. AoDir A agree te Ecillmatti. Ti:e following is given by the Vor arts as a table of expenditures made by the governments of tha triple entente ami their allies: War Cost Total to "ounti-y. Per Pav. Jan. 1. (r ;il I.'ritaln 14 ?50.0.K) t Rn.5cXi.00) Vrnnrr 9.I2.V0 1,S6.,.(V) Hiutla ..' s.rwft'O i.ino.o-iii.o) Their allies 1,600,'XX) 240,000,000 No detailed amounts are given In rela tion to tha coat of the war to Germany and Austro-llungary. The statement la ni1o, however, that the cost for the two is ?:i.0"0.000 per day, or W.luO.OOO.OOO up to January 1. A. Mini? expenditures of alt the nations nt Mur. tha dally total Is about 4S,S,000, ami the total up to January 1 6,SM,30O,OO0. Dednrtlons for France. 1 1 is pointed out by, the Vorwaerts that from the French total exr Jstures so far made must be t , eu ) c following loan: To Belgium, fOO.OOO.OuO; to Bervla, 1.000,000: to Greece. $4,000,000: and to Mon tenegro. $100,000; or a total of $70,100,000, !ilclj would make the amount spent by I tl? French government In military opera tiunx Jl.tlti.TOO.UOO by the close of 1914. Fur a year the European war would on this basis cost the tremendous sum of Si;,iMt,,!(00. Making an allowance for the. cost of mobilization, but keeping In mind that the sending of new troopa into tho field Is In effect a leaser phase of mobilization. It will ;stlll be found that at the nd of a year the powers at war w juld have spent at least $16,500,000,000. Other Costa Wot Concluded. In this sum are not Included tha eco nomic losses of the countries, nor the damage done to property in the various military terrains. The loss to Belgium from tha destruction of property is esti mated at $133,000,000, while the damage 'sustained by East Prussia is said to be roundly $&,000.000. No reliable estimates on the property losses In Poland, Galicla, Slavonla, Bervla, Bosnia, Alaace and east ctif Franca have ao far been obtain, ab'e, but tha Impression prevai that toi sctiisr this would bo no less than $1,400,. oOO.OOO. i To tha cost of the European war must la j be added tha mobilisation expendi tures of Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Nor. way, Switzerland. Italy, Spain, Portugal, Itoumanla and Bulgaria; the cost of tha Turkish operations; tha losses In naval rrt, deterioration of war materials, and tha economio losses du to a general dis turbance of the world's commercial relations. Dr. SHmsnTi Will Speak at the First Methodist Today It. C. F. Stlmaon, recreation expert, will speak at First Methodist church, this morn trig on the subject of "Til Relation of Publiu Recreation Systems to Home, School, Church, Business and Municipal Health." He will glv an txiorfltlon of the reasons why tha i.ailon-wld movement for establishing constructive and preventive welfare and recreation boards and - systems has tha burking of the leading authoritative cxp- ru In Jurisprudence, sctentlfio charity, education, commerce and indus try, and religion. Dr. ftimson, field secretary of the Playground and "Recreation' association of America, under a strong local com mittee and by invitation also of the City Commissioners and the Board of Education, . la engaged as consulting expert in promoting the legislation and organisation required to place Omaha on a level with cities of its class in handling these problems. lie is at present coverlug these interests In the cities of 6U Paul, Minn.; Syracuse, N. Y.; Newark, N. J.; Oreen Bay. Wis., and assisting in Minneapolis. Minn.; Dayton, Ohio, and tcranton. Pa. lie plans to follow up tha Omaha situation aa adviser ami consultant until the system is well estsbushed and sus tained by adequate funds and intelligent public sentiments, following tha wishes and purposes of the local citizens Interested to carry through tha projnets Involved in an adequate system for Omaha. 'BENSON TO GO WITH BAND TO KNOCK ANNEXATION , The Non-partisan Progressiva club of henson held en open ma is meeting Fri day night at Firemen's hall for ta pur jose of discussing th Howell annexa tion bllL Notwithstanding th cold weather, tha hall was packed to its 1 capacity. Th principal speakers were Attorney Henry Maypby and Mayor Hoot or of South Omaha and James , Walsh of Benson, Resolutions of protest against annexation were passed almost unanimously. . A commit ' of six was a'ppolnted to form a delation of Benson cititena to Join ths eou h Omaha and Pundt dels gallons which ar to go to Unoola. with .band and btmners, and march to - th slut capllol next Thursday to protest s gainst forcible annexation. ur wers a larg number of volunUurs. Th hat was pussed and a fund raised to pur clias baanars. etc Tbs mtlng adjourned to ssxt Tues day evening at th city nail, bcasog, when arrangement will be completed. A Cat Is Dss(ru. Break 1$ Hw. Hulls .V.'n-Tar-Uoney is fins for coughs and aoids. Booths th lungs, loss us th mucous. Only ac. All druf rtsti A4vr- The (Continued from Fsg tflght.) It had been about tha middle Of tha morning thst aa express wagon had fulled up sharply before our apartment. "Mr. Kennedy live here," asked one of the expressmen, descending with, hit helper and approaching our Janitor, Jens Jensen, a typical Swede, who was com ing up out of the basement. Jens growled a surly, "Yes but Mr. Kannady, he bane out" "Too bad we've got this large cabinet he ordered from Grand Rapids. ' We can't cart It around all day. Can't you lot ua in so wa can leave it?" Jensen muttered. "Wall I suras It bu all right" They took tha cabinet off tha wagon and carried it upstairs, , Jensen opened our door. sUll grumbling, and they placed the heavy cabinet In tha living room. "Sign here." "You fallers bane a nuisance," pro tested Jens, signing nevertheless. Scarcely had tha sound of their foot falls died away In the outside hallway when the door of the cabinet slowly opened and a masked face protruded, gaxlng about tha room. It was tha Clutching Hand. From the cabinet ho took a largo pack age wrapped In newspapers. As he held It, looking keenly about, his eye rested on Elaine's picture. A moment he looked at it then quickly at the fireplace op posite. An Idea seemed to occur to him. He took tha package to the fireplace, re moved tha screen and laid the package over the andirons with one end pointing out Into the room. Next he took from .the cabinet a couple of storage batteries and a coll of wire. Deftly and quickly he fixed them on the Package. , Meanwhile, before an alleyway across the street and further down tha long block the express wagon had stopped. The driver and his helper clambered out and for a moment stood talking In low tones, with covert glances at our apart ment. They moved into the alley and the driver drew out a battered pair of opera glasses, leveled that at our windows. Having completed futpg the batteries and wires, Clutching Hand ran the wires along the moulding on tha wall overhead from the flreplaca ut.til ho wa directly over Elaine's picture. Skillfully he man aged to fix the wires, using them In place of tha picture wires to support tha framed photograph. Then he carefully moved the photograph until it hung very noticeably askew on the wall. The last wire Joined, he looks! about the room, then, noiselessly movd to the window and raised tha shade. Quickly Jhe raised his hsnd and brought the fingers slowly together. It was the sign. Off m tha alley the express driver and his helper were still gasing up through the opera glass. "What d'ye see. BlllT" ha asked, hand ing over tha glass. The other took It and looked. "Jfs him the Hand, Jack," whispered tha helper, handing the glasses back. tjulekly they Jumped into tha woman and away it rattled. Jensen waa smoking placidly as the wagon pulled op the aecond time. "Sorry." said tha driver aheeptahly. "but we delivered tha cabinet to the wrong Mr. Kennedy." He pulled out the inevitable book to prove it J , "Wall, you bane fine fallers." growled Jensen, puffing like a furnace, la his fury. "You cannot go up agane." "We'll get fired for the mistake." pleaded the helper. "Just this once," urgad the driver, as ha rattled soma loose change in his pockat "Hare-thsra goes a whole days tips." Ha handed Jens a dollar change. n small Still, grumpy, but mollified by the silver, Jens let them go up and open tha door to our rooms again. There stood tha cabinet, as outwardly Innocent as when it came in. lugging and tugging they managed to get tha heavy piece of furniture out and downstairs again, loading It on the E3SPL0T.' of EL'DKIS ..with.., THE .CLUTCHING' HAND PRESENTED BY PATHE EXCHANGE, Inc. . See the Pictures at the Following Theatres Hesse Theatre ulNO Theatre SOUTH OMAHA 16th and Binnoy Every Wednesday , Every Thursday Episodo No. 4 Jan. 27 Eplsodo No; 3 Jan. 28 Favorite Theatre etm Theatre 1716 Vinton St. 1258 So. 13th St. Every Tuesday Episode Ro. 2 Today Jan. 24th Eplsodo No. 4 Jan. 26 Best Projection in City Theatre orj,7ltEsATRE 14th and Douglas tm"ni" ' Every Tuesday 9IAM2DaK.FATRE Eplsodo No. 1 Feb. 2 Every Tuesday Episode Ko, 2 Jan. 26 ROYAL THEATRE LOTH ROP Thoatro Fullerton, Web. 3212 No. 24th St. Every Friday Episode Wo. I Feb. 1! Episodo Wa. 1 VToday Jan. 24tb FOR COOKINGS: w WnE.x5K ! VVHII.WI OMAHA; ' ' ,r'f:DnA8KA Exploits of Elaine waon. Then thy drove off with It, ac companied by a partlrg volloy from Jenaen. In an unfrequented street, ptrhaps half a mile away, th wagon stopped. With a keen glance around, the driver and his helper made sure that no one was about "Such a shaking up as you've given me!" growled a voice as the cabinet door Opened. "But I've got him this time!" ' It was the Clutching Hand. ' "There, men. you man leave me here," ha ordered. He motioned to then to drive off and, ta they did so, pulled off his mask and dived Into narrow street leading up to a thoroughfare... . ' . Craig gated Into pur living room cau tiously. . . ' ' "I can't s anything wrong." he said to ma as I stood Just beside him. "Miss Dodge." ha added, "will you and tha rest excuse me It I ask you to wait Just a moment longer 7" ' Elaine watched him, fascinated. Ha crossed the room.' and then went Into each of our other rooms. Apparently nothing was wrong and a minute later he reappeared, at the doorway. I gbsea it's all right," be said. . "Per haps It wsa only Jensen, the janitor.' Elaine, Aunt Josephine and Susie Mar tin entered. Craig placed chairs for them, bur still I could sea that he was uneasy. From tlm to time, while they were ad miring one of our treasures after another, he glanced about suspiciously. Finally he moved over to a closet and flung the door open, ready for anything. No one was tn the closet and ha closed It hastily. "What Is th trouble, do you think?" asked Elaine wonderingly, noticing his manner. , "I I ean't Just say," answered Craig, trying to appear, easy. Sh had risen and with keen Interest was looking at tha books, tho pictures, the queer collection of weapons and odds and ends from tha underworld tht Craig had amassed in his adventures. At last her eye wandered across th room. She caught sight of her own pic ture, occupying a place of honor, but hanging askew. -: "Isn't that Just like a man!" eh ex claimed. "6uoh housekeepers as you ar -uch carelessness!" the had taken a step or two across tho room to straighten tha picture. ' ,"Mlsa Dodge!" almost shouted Kennedy, bis faoo fairly blanched. "Stop!" , She turned her stunning eyes filled with amassment at his suddenness. Never theless she moved quickly to one side, a ho waved his arms, unable to speak quickly enough. Kennedy stood quite still, gaslng at tho picture, askew, with suspicion. "That wasn't that way when wa left was it, Walterr he asked. "It certainly was not" I answered positively. "There was more time spent In getting that picture Just right Jhan I ever saw you spend on all tha rest of th room." 1 Craig frowned. As for tnyself J did not know what to mak of it "I'm afraid I shall have to ask you to step into this back room." said Craig at length to the ladles. "I'm sorry but we can't b too careful with this intruder, whoever ha was." They rose,, surprised, but. as ha con tinued to urge them, they moved into my room. Elaine, however, stopped at the door. For a moment Kennedy appeared to be considering. Then his eye fell on a fish ing rod that stood in a comer. He took It and moved toward th picture. On his hands and -knees, to one side, down as close as h could get to the floor, with the rod extended at amVe length, he motioned to me to do the same, be hind him. Elain. unable to repress her rfiUratt, took a half step forward, breathless, from th doorway, whlje SusI Martin and Aunt Josephine stood close behind her, , Carefully Kennedy reached out with the pole and; straightened the picture. 'As ha did so ther was a flash, a loud, deafening report and a great puff of smoke from the fireplace. The fire, screen an riddled and over turned. A cliarva of buykhhot shattered the precious pliotogrsrh of l:lalno. Wo had dropped flat on the flour at tle report I looked about. Kennedy waa unharmed and so were th rest. With a bound li was at the fireplace, followed by Klaino ami tha rest of u. There, In what remained of a vackagn dono up roughly Jn newspaper, was a shotgun wllh Its barrel nawed orf about Six Incites from tho link, (listened to a block of .wood and nmnei led to s series of springs on the trigKer, released by a little electromagnetic arrangement actu ated by two batteries and leading by wires up along the moulding to the lo tur wher th slightest touch would com plete tha circuit. ,Th newspapers which were, wrapped about the deadly thing were burning, and Kennedy quickly tore them off, throwing them Into the fireplace. A startled cry from Klalne caused us to turn. She. was standing directly before her shattered rleture. where it hung awry on the wall. Tho heavy charge of buckshot had knocked away largo pieces of. paper and plaster under It. "Craig!" she gasped. II was at her sldo In a second. She laid one hand on his arm as she faced him. With the other she traced an Imaginary line In the air from th level of the buckshot to Ms head and then straight to the Internal thing that had lain In the fireplace. "And to think," she shuddered, "thst It was through me that ho tried to kill your "Never mind,", laughed Craig easily, as Ihey gased into each other's eyes, drawn together by their mutual peril. "Clutchlmr Hand will have to be clevorer than this to get either of us Elaine!" (To Be Continued Next Sunday.) If Kidneys and ladder Bother Take a glass of Balls to Muah out your Kidneys and neutralize; Irritating- suids. i -4 Kidny and Bladder, weakness result from urlo acid, says a noted 'authority. Th kidney filter this acid from the.blood and pass It on to the bladder, whero it, often remains to irrltato and Inflame, causing a burning, scalding sensation, or setting up an Irritation at the neck of the bladder, obliging you to seek relief two or throe times during the night. Tho sufferer Is In constant dread tho water passes sometimes with a scalding sensa tion and Is very profuse; again, ther is difficulty In avoiding it Bladder weakness, most folks call It because they can't control urination. While it is extremely annoying and some times very painful, this Is really one of th most simple ailments to overcome. Get about four ounces of Jad Salts from your pharmacist and take a tablospoon ful In a glass of water before breakfast continue this for two or throe days. This will neutralize the acids In the urlno so It no longer Is a source of Irritation to the bladder and Urinary organs which then act normally again. , Jad Salta Is Inexpensive, harmless, and Is mads from the acid of grapes and lem on Juice, combined with llthla. and Is used by thousands of folks who ara subject tojtal'sed at tXS.QuO par mil, In Franc at urinary disorders caused by uric acia ir-1 rltation. Jaq oaais is spienuia lor moneys i and causes no bad effects whatever. j Mere you nv a picneani. riir,,c.m.p,r mue. in new of this rcmsrkabla llthla-water drink, which quickly relieves bladder trouble. Advertisement -Whiskey ' lad TOBACCO HABITS Treated swssfully wUhut hock, without restraint and NO I LB UNLESS CUHt. LI. Home or oamuiriuiu Tnatment. "Ask OUT Patient. CEDARCROFT SANITARIUM DR. POWER GRIBBLE.upt. ) Bta,a Box 10. Nasbvill,Tna, TeL stain 183 RAILROADS IN NEBRASKA LOSING THOUSANDS .1, . PAY MILLIONS TO PEOPLE IN WAGES TAXES AND FOR SUPPLIES EVERY YEAR It Is a strain; frl, hut nevertheless true, that In ttmei pant the Hop of the average state have not regarded their railroads aa an ''Industry" and yet, next to agriculture, there Is nut a single, cen tral or western state In which the rail rosds do not puy out liiom nionoy for labor and supplies than does any other j slnglo nntrrnrle. however large. Wo brag about our fertile farm landa and rojolce that our cities are filled with tig fac tories with big pay roils which create a market for faim products but w forget that more worklngmen's families depend tfpon th railroads for a living than upon any other one Industry In either th aver age stat or th nation and that their welfare Is therfor olosy linked to that of the farmer and tha merchant net meraly bcaus they furnish hlmi rrwlght and paasengcr service, but because th millions they dtsburs In one way and an other contribute tremendously to" ths prosperity of th stat In which w llv. Thus, for exampl, th railroads ar th largest taxpayer In the stat of Ne braska, their taxes for the calendar year of 111$ having amounted to over $?.K3.00 and this tidy sum contributed Its full share toward th support of every pubUo school, public highway and other revenue expense of tho state. In round figures, th rail rosds of Ne braska ar valued at approximately $276,. 000,000 money which, in ywara gon by. was Invested in those great arterlea of commerc by thousands of men and women who live all over the United States and In Europe and without whose finan cial aid the wonderful progress of our great commonwealth would hav been Impossible. During the last year th railroads of Nebrsska smployed 80.634 men and women In this state, and paid to them over $30,. 000,000 In salaries and the millions did their full ehur to create a profitable mar ket for Nebraska farm products and to uphold the volume of business of Ne braska grocers, clothiers, dry goods men and others who depend upon publlo patronage. . In other words, when the people of Ne brsska look at their railroads' In tha light of an industry when they look at the figures on the other side of the ledger they will find that not only do the rail roads return to them m on way and another practically every dollar they col lect within the state for freight and pas senger service, but that a number of lines are actually doing this business at a loss, while with others the margin of profit Is so small that it doesn't begin to pay a fair -return upon ths capital In vested. In this connection, we wish to digress for a moment to quot some statistics wh'ch should hav had a place In a for mer article. ' It costs an averag of T mills per milm to haul a ton of freight in tho United States, whereas In England it costs 133 cents. In Germany 1.42 cents and In France 1.41 cents. In tha United States tho average wages paid to railroad em ployes are $3.3 per day. In England $1.. and In Germany and Franc not over $1 per day. Tha English railroads are cant- $137,000 per mile. In Germany at $114,185 wnii in th United States the stock and bond capitalisation averages only $63,000 comparison, do American railroads de sorvs th wholesale denunciation which has ben heaped upon thom ; Loases Vadcr rrsnt RstN. As evldeno of th Justlc of the plea of th Nebraska lines that S-cent paasetw gr rates should be restored, during th fiscal year ending June 80, 1913, th Mis. sour! Paclfto lost flSt,M In th total vol umo of Its Nebraska business both state and Interstate Included. Tho Missouri Paolflo has U miles of railroad In th State, and th above deficit means that it sustained an actual operating loss of SIM per mile upon properties valund by th engineer of tho ptat Railway commission at IC2.63J.90 per mile. During this Urns It pa'd t!.3tr7,2n.4 n salaries to Its Nebraska employes and over $106,000 In taia. During th calendar year ending De cember 31. 1913, tha St. Joseph & Grand Island railway sustained an actual operat ing loss of 136,494, or a deficit of IT 9 pr nil on properties valued by the engineer of tho State Railway commission at 3,. 596.4S per mil. During the same periodt the Rock Is liind, which has 216 miles of road within the state, showed net earning of only 1194 per mMes upon properties valued by J the State Railway commission at $43,643.9; ! por mile. During the year 1!14, tho Rock Island earned only aUlttl mor than IK.OOO on all Its Nebraska business, whll In th meantime it paid out more than 11.600,000 In salaries, taxes, for ties, fuel and vther supplies otid material. The Northwestern, which Is one of the stronger line of the state, has 1.0W miles of road In Nebraska, upon which during th calendar year ending December 81, 1913, It earned 31,130 per mil. The phvajf cal valuation placed upon tha North western Is f,436.33 per mile, which means that on this bsnl It sarned oaly a little better than 3 per cent on Its Investment. In a greater or less degree the samo con dition prevail with reference to several other lines, tmce ths abov figures were complied and they are taken from the reporf of the Nebraska Railway commis sion and therefor should ,b entitled to the highest public confidence as to thlr conservatism a reduction of 20 per cent Intrastate freight, known as Order No. V)',' ba gon Into efftot, and this moans, therefore, that fronv this tint forward th showing of tho various roads will be much lower than th figure cited abov, which were based upon railroad Incomes be for th 20 per rent freight reduction went Into effect. While both freight and passenger rates have been Inadequate for a number of years In Nebraska and ad Joining statrs yet In th passer.ger de partment they are nothing short of con BE A SWAPPER Make saps for profit. Look into the "Swapper's Column" fiscatory, and hence th plea of the rail roads that the J-oent 'passenger rates be restored. In view of- the fact and fig ures quoted abov, is there a single fair minded cltlsen In th state of Nebraska who will contend that th railroads aro not entitled to help Is not the present situation an Impossible on and does it not mean Inevitable wreck and ruin to several thousand miles of railroad which ar Intensely essential to th well being of hundreds of towns and farming com munities throughout th stato? Loaaea (.rawing ((laaally. From these figures, which ar open to absolute pioof. It can b seen that th Nebraska lines ar not only sustaining a loss amounting to thousands of dollars annually on their traffic, but that with an over Increasing cost of operation the losses sr constantly growing hsavlsr and If th servle to th pubUo Is to re main efficient and adaquat, and if th railroad Investments of ths stat ar not to b driven to th point of confiscation, th people of Nebraska must, through their rat-maklng authorities, consent to a return to 3-cent . passanger far, which wsa abolished without a du re gard for Increasing labor and supply cost, or sn adsquat Interest return upon th millions. Invested In Nebraska railroad properties. What Industry , It ther in th nation which eould hav tolerated a re duction of one-third In Its Incom en a large volume of its business during th last few years without coming to grief? Four years sgo, aa governor of New Tork, Justlc liughas of ths VniUd Bute suprem court vetoed a s-cent passenger law enacted by th legislature on th ground that It was a arbitrary proced ure which did not take Into consideration a fair return upon the railroad properties of thst stat and few men stand higher in tha esteem of th American peopl than this grt jurist, who did perhaps as much as any other man In th country to break ip illegal and unfair practices on the part of larg corporations. Do, too, th suproma court of Pennsyl vania held that a B-cent passenger far was unconstitutional; in that stat be cause It was essentially confiscatory. This high oourt took ths position that capital Invested In railroads, as wsll aa in other lines of privat property, is entitled to earn pr cent en a fair capitalisation and that th arbitrary cnaotmant et a 2-cent fare rendered such a return upon th lines of th Pennsylvania Impossible. It also took ths position that railroads not only hav th right to Insist upon a fair return upon both freight and pas sender business, but that It Is their duty to do so In order that ene class ef patrons may not be compelled to Py an Inequit able rate to make up the loss snstalnad in another department. It th arbitrary enactment of a I-oent passenger rata 1. unfair to th railroads of New Tork and Pennsylvania, where there, ar large centers ef population and where the nation's greatest density ef freight tonnage naturally exists, how much more unfair la such a rate In a purely- agricultural state like Nebraska, which has a total population ot only a m'Ulon and a quarter with no large man ufacturing centers T The reader Is familiar with the recent 5 per cent Increase In freight rates granted by the Interstate Commerce commission to eastern lines and again, as th com. mission wisely says. If ths precarious financial conditions created by th Euro pean war renders this Increase nc.esry, how much mor ar th weaker western lines, which are compelled to xst almost altogether upon an agricultural pal unage, entitled to tome substantial relief?' Th population per square mile In Massachu setts U 441, In New Tork SW. In Pennsyl vania 181, In Ohio 13, while In Nebraska It Is only 16. If under these circum stances ths sastern lines need relief, can there ba any doubt about th Justine of the plea mad by the western roads? Facia Orav Frofclesas. Unquestionably w are facing soma of th gravest problems that ever confronted us as a nation ud the problems grow largely out of a jwar which is without a precedent in history. Tru. with a rapidly Increasing cost of operation on th on hand and reduced rates en ths other, It was merely a matter of time until th rsllroad question was bound to beoom pressing, but th great tragedy across ths seas has suddenly resolved Int. n acute crisis a problem which might oth erwise hav been solved gradually and wunout any turbanoe. far-reaching industrial dis- - The United States Is heavy debtor na tion. During tre average year our bal ance of trade against the rest of the world amounts to approximately IMO.OOO.- CC0, but on top of this w always w Ap proximately another soo,rjQ,ooo, which heretofore we have been abl to stand off by selling kTurop Industrial securities to that amount. Now. however, the great warring countri hav served notice that they hot only expect us t pay our debts abovs our trad balances la gold, but that in audll'on they look to us to buy back from them hundreds ef millions of dal- lars' worth of American securities which are now held abroad. It was to deliver this grim meissge that Kir Georg Paish, of the English exchequer, psld hi recent visit ta ths United fctaUs, and whan h got through making hts statement to a greup of big Nw Tork bankers, an old veteran financier, who had survived many a financial storm, remarked to his pro foundly silent sudltore. "Th shorlff, with a writ. Is on ths doorstep." That a great ntlon-wde rrop pest year will glv us the Irgt trad balance ws hav vr known is undoubtsdiy tns and ft. w'tb having to finance all our monetary nd at home front this time on and buying back millions ef foreign owned securities, th future at best Is precarious. Howsver, th heaviest strain of ail will eome when th war cease and when Europe begins to rebuild th hun dred of million of dollars' worth of property which. lm hern destroyed for thin period is rertsln lo forco th high est Interest itea the world has ever known, and If at that tim American railroad securities are not earning a fair return iien the Investment, nothing can prevent them go! n Into the financial scrap heap and It In to rrrrwro for this rmcrrrnry to keep railroad securities from becoming a point of national weak ness, which will bring th wholj temple of American Investment tumbling down over our heads to protect the hundreds of banks, Hi and fir Insursnc com panies, etc., whoa sssets ar largely In vested In railroads bond, mm well as the railroads themselves this Is the fear wh'ch I gripping hundreds of financiers, and students of economic conditions In tho present hour-men, many ot whom Jirretofor havo never seriously concerned themsolve ever the troubles of American railroads. In th present Instsnfe. there fore, the rallroal crisis Is of tremendous ' importance because In It Is lnvolve.1 the ' still greater problem of the Integrity ai d safety of the whole superstructure American business. That w cannot shove It astds by a broadsld of demagogic ! hl.tlttij.. n w I i i ,. w.. i , .... mi iMiiiiiiii.ii uy vinpioying ine strategy of an oslrlrh I apparent to all thinking citlsens who ar seriously con cerned In their en and th country's future welfare. Vb e people of Nebraska. In fw other ststes have the railroads hsd a larger share In progress and de velopment then In Nebraska, whose broad prairie they helped to convert from th habitat of. roving herds of buffalo and savag Indianaand from that hour to this they hav contributed their full share) to a story ef thrift and enterprise which swell with pride the breast of vry tru Nebraskan. Th last federal census report shows that from ItOO to 110 the general value of Nebraska farm land Increased 1M per ent and In view of theee facta, hsd the men and women who put hundreds 'of millions of dollars Int Nebraska rail road securities years age Invested thftr money In Nebraska farm lands, would not ths Investment have proven Infinitely more profitable for them? ' And have not the railroads played a tremendous part I these advancing land values In the past, and will they not also have much to do with the vain which will b added from this time forward? Have not tha Interests of the farmer and the railroads always gone hand In hand In this great western country? Did they not conquer th wild erness together and would the progress of one hav been posslbl without the other?. Should not the railroad ef this stat. therefor, hav th good will nl frlndshlp of the farmer when all they ask is that they be permitted to earn a reasonable income upon their Investment? Splendid a ha been our progress tn. th past, Nebraska today stands merely on the threshold of He true destiny. We have ample rooro for thousands ot addi tional tllUrs of th soil. Bo. too, our splendid Inland towns and cities plead for factories In order that we may, our selves, produce much of th finished mer chandis for which our people spend , many millions of dollars annually. Again, we sUU need hundreds of miles ot new railroad mileage before w shall fee able to make the most of our. agricultural and commercial possibilities and the millions necessary for tho construction of these factories and these added i transportation facilities will not ba forthcoming unless ws treat fairly the millions already In vested within our midst No state can rise higher than Its peo ple. Th stat Is what Its people make It. ' " H dependent upon each other. The welfare of the town and the sur rounding farms depends upon a spirit of kindly cy-operatlon between those who llv In town and those who live upon th farm. Without splendid llttl Inland towns w would hav a rural atmosphere which would drlv every bright country boy and girl to the cltles-ewhlle without ( th farms th towns would wither and di. Even so It Is with our great com. monwealth a a whole commonwealth which for its own sake and for which It Is a part should contribute It full share to the "New Day" to which the president referred so sutifully tn a re cent sddress-a dy fraught with broader understanding an Justice for every man or Interest, whether great or small. At this moment there are a half million men out of work la New Tork City, nearly WO.COO in Chicago, almost 100,00 In St. louts, while the Kansas City Comrneretal erub for th first titme m the history of thst splendid city is grappllng with the problem of thousands of idle men. Truly U is v time to thick! The Coarse f Empire. . Slowly but surely th course of smplrs Is moving westward. Its lands Irapowsr Ished In fertility, New England, a wll as ths (rest nations of th old world, today look to ths com belt for foodstuff and sooner or later th center of this -mighty nation's walth will be feund her amid th rich valleys ef th Missouri and th Mississippi, which, to point of pre- J ductivenese. ar without an equal In any similar area pon th habitable globe. Here oup' people are assured that nature will always sooner or later amply reward honest thrift and industry. Here our famllle ar farthest removwd from those influence which corrode and cor rupt civilisation. Her America man hood and womanhood find their broad est opportunity, and with a eommon wealth so rich In promise and so much' In need of additional capital with which to develop Its resources, can it peopss do a wiser thing than to ay to th World that every dollar Invested , In Nebraska enterprise and Industry shall be per-, mlttad to ears a fair return for its owner from this tlms toward? Would not such,, a declaration bs fair? Would it not be inflntely wis aa a matter of pure busi ness policy on behalf of cur great state.' ; It is because Nebrsska railroad be- . Ilv that Nebraska peopl will b gen- ' roust y fair one Ibey know tha truth about this great nuistloe that ha prr suaded them to rnsks this appeal through tha publio presa In doing so they hove tried to stst their elds ot the story . fairly. They hav mad no attack upon aayon or sought to appeal to prejudice-' and thst ths reader may accord to them the same credit for sincerity which he claims for himself that be nisy b will , ing to rals hi vole In dtenr of their right h would expect others to do in hi behalf under similar circumstances this is all ths railroad ot Nsbraaku ask. (Paid advertisement) irt rs at) n . er BS Id til ti li T t'J t hi i i In f- tr I 61
