I
THE BEE: OMAHA, MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1916.
THE OMAHA DAILY BEE
FOUNDED BY EDWARD R05EWATER.
VICTOR ROSEWATER. EDITOR.
THE BEE PUBLISHING COMPANY, PROPRIETOR.
, Bntered at Omaha poetofftce as seoond-class matter.
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OFFICES.
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NOVEMBER CIRCULATION.
55,483 Daily Sunday 50,037.
Dwlghl Wllllami, circulation manager of The Bee
.Funnelling company, helng duly '!
average circulation for the month of November, llll, was
SMX3 dally, and 50.037 Sunday.
DWIOHT WILLIAMS, Clrcnlallon Manager.
Subscribed In my preeence and aworn to before ma
this Snd day of December, 111.
' C. W. CARLSON, Notary Public.
Subscribers leaving Ik city temporarily
ghould have The Bee mailed to them. Ad
dress will bo changed ai often as required.
Nothing: to stoo any family from trying out
a diet squad 01 its own. i
It is gathered from remarks on both sides of
the firing line that the fighters will Christmas in
fits epencheo na usual.
The "public ownership" slogan is a wonderful
mantle to cover alt sorts of tubs that won't stand
on their own bottoms.
"Get Villa I" was the substance of the original
prder to General Pershing. Looks as if the "get
ting" had not bn vtTY food.
It is by no means sure, (hough, that this un
excelled brand of weather' will continue long
enough to give us a green Christmas.
9 Expert calculators assert there is enough gold
S in the country to give each person, big and little,
I $17.50. Well, who is obstructing the distribution?
Who know! but what the children! petition
for peace may reach higher and mightier power
than earth holds. Great events oft spring from
minor causes. 1 '
' There Ire many things all Omaha can pull
for together, regardless of. differences on other
questions; for example, a new union depot and
"a pipe line from the Wyoming oil fields. Any
dissent? ,jt " ' ' " ' '
i ranarlian revenue is alowlv mounting no to
the outgo. The- readiness of the dominion in
meeting the demands of war, means as well as
men, forms an impressive object lesson in colo
nial loyalty. " . . ... i
t: " Extinguish the tongrespionai Kecora, as
Champ CUrk suggests? Perish the tboughtl
An editorial sanctum not receiving that diurnal
document during the sessions would be absolutely
lost in darkness.
. : 1 -Eighty-six
known dead and forty-one injured
constitute the human "bag" of the hunting aeason
in fifteen states. Still our statute books are
jammed with laws safeguarding human lives, but
none safeguarding hunters from themselves.
V The citizen who does not shirk his duty wilt
vote at Jhe special election tomorrow. Either
vote "yes" if you want the city to have 1,000
more street lamps without extra cost, or vote
"no" if you want the street lighting to remain as
it is. ' . : ,
Farmers and Food Prices.
When the Nebraska farm congress meets in
Omaha it will have for one of its leading topics
the question of embargo on food products. Quite
naturally, the farmers are opposed to this, as the
artificial restriction of the market thus brought
about will have a reflex effect on the prices of
their commodities. The point is one in which
the entire public is concerned, for the increased
cost, of food products touches everybody. First
of steps in the way of solving the problem will
be to determine in how far the farmer is respon
sible for the existing prices. The Bee has main
tained that the inflation is due to manipulation
by speculators, a position that is supported by
the government report, which shows that the
1916 wheat crop will return the growers $200,
000,000 less than did the .1915 crop, and this in
spite of the tremendous advance in quotations at
Omaha and on other markets. The same report
is authority for the statement that 75 per cent of
the 1916 wheat crop has been sold by the farm
ers at an average price of $1.18 per bushel. As
wheat has been soaring between $1.75 and $1.95
per bushel for the last three months, it is ap
parent the grower is not the one who is gathering
in the big profit. Nor is wheat the only food
product with which the gamblers have played. An
embargo might check the present movement, but
it is not the remedy. What is needed is a better
system of marketing, under which the producer
will be assured of a fair return and the consumer
will not be at the mercy of unscrupulous speculators.
; Members of the Federal Reserve board might
; as well look for holiday hospitality at home or
1 1 distant from the seaboard. The recent hunch
against foreign treasury notes banishes the pros-
pect of catting a Christmas cake on or about Wall
street.. y
t , A note of grave alarm is heard in New York
over the painful reach of the income tax. One
1 fifth of the total collections for the fiscal year
was paid by New Yorkers. Higher rates enacted
last August greatly increases the reach during
the present fiscal year and promises to swell the
note of alarm into a mighty scream.
Some of the rural papers are deploring the
failure of re-election of State Superintendent
Thomas as a blow to the cause of education in
Nebraska. To Superintendent Thomas, however,
it will probably be a Godsend in relieving him
from obligation to fill a $2,000-a-year job when
his talents can earn much more.
Artificial Remedies
""" Waihmftae Poet
If the vociferous element of the population
would cease demanding, artificial remedies for ev
ery evil and would turn its attention to more nat
ural, if less obvious, remedies, real progress would
be made. Embargoes will not reduce the cost
of living. On the contrary, they will reduce the
purchasing power of the American people.
There are two ways of meeting the high cost
of living. One is by individual effort, devoted to
economies in purchasing foodstulfs and in house
hold management. Another wav is for the rov
ernment itself to evolve policies which wilt bring
huuui ciuiiumica in ludiiuiatmrc antl agriculture.
Those who are advocating an embargo on
foodstuffs apparently overlook the fact that the
short crops are more ; of a factor than the in.
creased demand from , Europe. There is suffi.
cient land available for an immense increase in
the crops of the nation. Moreover, if the United
States were producing as much per acre as most
of the foreign countries, the supply of foodstuffs
in this country would be greatly beyond any pos
sible demand. Instead of discussing: embargoes.
congress should be directing its attention toward
increasing the quality and Quantity of oroduction
No good can come from the movement to
check the natural now or trade. Whenever that
experiment was tried in the past it failed wholly
in its object. There is no reason to suonose that
this country ctn be independent of foreign sales
at tne present time wnen a considerable portion
fji uic iiouuii a pivepciitjr la uascu UJMJH Hie J,
O00.000.000 export trade. -
There is every reason to believe that President
Wilsons leadership will prevent the establish
ment of any false economic policy whieh would
i i ... .i i r
i:au lu Mic uiiuci jimiiug ui )ji uspcniv. .
Playing the Postoffice for Perquisites.
One of the unique communications we have
just received comes from a democratic postmas
ter in an interior town (name and address we
mask out of consideration for the writer) which
reads as follows:
Somewhere, Neb., Nov. 28. To the Editor of
The Bee, Dear Sir: My name has been placed
on some of the state dailies free and I would
thank you to extend me the same favor if not
against your business methods. Yours truly,
Jim Jones, Postmaster.
As this particular postmaster has no more
claim than any other postmaster and as there
are more than 1,000 postomces in Nebraska, to
say nothing of adjoining territory in Iowa, South
Dakota, Kansas and Wyoming, in which The
Bee circulates extensively, anyone can see what
it woutdiean if we had to put every postmaster
on a free list. Viewed from the other side why
should a democratic postmaster be entitled to a
free daily paper as a perquisite any more than a
free weekly paper or a free monthly magazine?
Why, again, he should confine his demands to
"state dailies" when he doubtless handles publi
cations'from other states, if not from all over the
world? Why, furthermore, should a pqstmaster
have his newspapers free any more than that he,
should have food or clothing or other things
free from concerns that use the mails or parcel
post to deliver products to their customers? And
if one of Uncle Sam's postmasters is entitled to
such perquisites, why not other federal officials?
Why take in the postmaster who draws a good
salary and stop short of his subordinate clerks
and carriers, whose morj meager pay limits their
indulgence in reading matter?
The Bee answers this letter thus publicly not to
pick on a poor postmaster (doubtless writing ig
nprantly or thoughtlessly), but to show up I a
sample of postal administration the country en
joys under democratic rtle. .
Packing House Prosperity. ' -Daring
the greater part of the year all the
agencies of publicity exploited the huge profits
of war realized by many American industries.
Munitions plants have been pictured as golden
mints, steel milts rivaling the richest days of
the Klondike, and "war brides" yielding profits
surpassing the dreams of avarice. Eliminating
the margin of fiction in these speculative tales,
there still remains a large foundation for fat
dividends or huge reserves. Yet while publicity
played, these as favorites, equally opulent money
makers dodged the high lights and quietly pulled
down a record measure of prosperity. , ;
The five big packing companies are closing
up the largest and most profitable business year
in their history. Figures compiled by the. Chicago
Investment News, based on returns for ' ten
months and estimates for November and Decem
ber, indicate an aggregate business for the cal
endar year of $2,000,000,000,' an increase of
$659,000,000 over 1915.- War accounts for the
greater part of the increase. Up to June 30 last,
exports of fresh meat increased 35 per cent over
1915 and 325 per cent over 1914.
The extent of the profits from this vastly
increased volume of. business cannot be deter
mined by the packers' ratio of 2 per cent. The
frequency of the turnover and the income from
by-products are unknown 'but important factors
in the size of the total. 'The increased value of
the latter last year surpassed the entire profit
on cattle, and the price uplift thus far has not
hesitated an instant.
While the big five deal almost wholly in meat
products, their famous efficiency methods which
"utilizes everything but the squeal," derives addi
tional luster from the perfection of their melons.
A select few picked for the holiday cutting hold
$110,000,000 in liquid sweetness. It is highly
probable those participating in the feast will
avoid unseemly references to the high cost of
living. -
Boston and Billy Sunday
Literary Direst.
Boston wants the same things of the base ball
evangelist that the rest have had, but Mr. Joseph
Edgar Chamberlain says he is not giving it. In
stead, he seems to be "deliberately doing less in
the way of shocking and startling than he did in
Paierson and Philadelphia toning himself down,
diluting himself, cajoling the Unitarians (part of
the time), throwing bouquets to Dr. Channing,
Charlotte Cushman, and Fanny Davenport, cut
ting out the roughest passages." Boston, it ap
pears, doesn't altogether feel pleased, for when
they bargained for "Billy" Sunday they knew
what it was they asked for. The writer for The
Transcript feels that Sunday is going to have a
harder game to play in Boston than he ever
played before:
"He is himself up against diminishing energy
and a weakening voice. And then, even though
the tabernacle audience may be very receptive,
it has probably the Boston habit of analyzing a
speaker m a pretty thorough fashion. No doubt
the audience, or the major part of it, will demand
the full rendition of the regular "Billy" Sunday
thing. What came we out for to see? Not a
dignified rhetorician, surely. Generally speaking,
the more extraordinary the things reported of
Sunday in the last seven or eight years since he
became s national figure, the more fierce the de
mand is upon "Billy" for shocking words and
antics. He has to make good along that line ac
cording to a more and more startling standard.
His performance is like eating opium you have
to eat more and more all the while in order to get
the effect. If Sunday does not do a little more
in each place than he did in the last place, he is
doing less.
"And yet, is that what he is doing? Mani
festly not. One effect will be that if Sunday has
great spiritual powers, he will have to reveal
r i i . . i i . i . i
tnem more truly ana striKingiy man nc uas ever
revealed them before. That is the direction in
which he will really have to make good. Just in
the proportion that he suppresses the mounte
bank, he will have to make the prophet appear.
If there is no prophet there then, as he would
put it himself, there is nothing doing.
"Suppose he does it. Suppose he keeps on ex
purgating himself. Suppose he succeeds in pleas
ing the Unitarians. Suppose he succeeds in re
placing monkey-shines with spirituality and gets
away with it. Suppose he 'gets' his audiences on
a new basis of serious evangelistic power. Well,
then, the Boston-and-'Billy'-Sunday boot wilt be
on exactly the other foot. He will be influenced
more than he will influence. This town will re
main the same, but 'Billy' will be different.
- "Instead of 'Billy Sunday converting Boston,
it will be Boston that will hare converted 'Billy'
Sunday.
"One thing about 'Billy' Sunday's- preaching
may go less easy with the Boston bleachers than
it has gone with others. It is the electric trick of
the man. Original discourse has always been a
characteristic thing about Boston. Boston got
out of Habit of echoing long ago. The other day
Sunday said that theologically he stands' about
where Cotton Mather stood. That is evi
dent. But Cotton Mather, one of the earliest of
Boston's preachers, was an eminently original
L man. Boston began that way and kept on the
original tacK rignr. along, u even actcpieu yiur
a time), in the earliest days, a woman preacher,
Anne Hutchinson, because she was so original."
The Hair of the Dog
-Washington Poet.
Thought Nugget for the Day.
There Is always a best way. of doing
everythlnft, If It be to boll an egg
Ralph Waldo Emerson.
One Year Ago Today In the War.
Henry Ford's peace crusaders sailed
from New York.
Kitchener, Asqulth and Balfour met
French chiefs In council of war at Ca
lais. Austrlans forced part of Italian line
at Mt. Nero, but were driven out
again.
England confirmed Turkish claim
that British army In Mesopotamia was
retreating on base, 105 miles below
Bagdad.
In Omaha Thirty Years Ago.
An entertainment was held at the
residence of A. J. Poppleton In the
way of a fair for the benefit of the
Vassar fund.
The coal shed of the Union Pacific
on South Thirteenth street, near the
track, will be torn down In a few days
and the remaining; supply of coal will
be taken to another place.
Blake, Bruce & Co., a wholesale
drug firm of Ottumwa, la., are to re
move to this city. With Sloan, John
son & Co., the wholesale grocery
house, the firm has rented tne six
story building of McOavock on Ninth
and Leavenworth streets, and will
jointly occupy It
John Barker, living in West Omaha,
met with a damae-inK accident. He
was enKaged In grading on Twenty
fifth and Cuming streets when the
bank caved In upon htm, killing both
of his horses instantly.
' An important meeting of the
Methodists was held In this city to
discuss the matter of securing the lo
cation of the new Methodist univer
sity here.
Mrs. E. P. Peck gave a reception, at
which she was assisted in receiving
by Mesdames Richardson, McCord,
Lander, Nye, Bradford, Misses Rich
ardson, Knight and Ijama.
Mrs. Wakefield entertained a few
friends at an informal card party.
The guests were Messrs. and Mesdames
Troxell, Orr., John Brady, Fred Gray,
Cady, Van Kuren, Williams and Drt
and Mrs. Hoffman.
!
An official survey of what remains of the Kan
sas City Southern railroad reveals a capitaliza
tion of $99,000,000 in round numbers on , a
property that can be reproduced for $46,000,000.
The figures closely resemble a fifty-fifty split by
the promoters, which shows rare modesty on the
part of anyone from .Missouri.
An insurance authority places the male suicide
rate for 1915 per 100,000 population at 24.1, and
that of females at 7.7. Various explanations are
offered for the surprisingly higher rate, but all
blend into the mental depression' occasioned by
the wreck of the notion that man is the sole
boss of the works.
Automobile crooks admit having touched in
surance companies for hundreds of thousands of
dollars through padded policies on cars rescued
from junkpiles. Unless the companies admit the
touch the country is justified in holding the tal
ented profession immune to mikery.
Nebraska does not go dry for five ninths yet,
and that time was decreed for the particular pur
pose of permitting those engaged in the liquor
traffic to arrange to discontinue business. It is
up to them to heed the notice and be ready for
the curtain drop.
One of the kind of boys that almost anyone
who has ever been a boy can understand shied
a stone at a small girl acquaintance the other
day. By way of punishment the judge sentenced
him to throw 1,000 stones at an old tin can, and
the truant officer saw that the sentence was car
ried out. The first forty throws were great fun,
but after that the youth's interest lagged. There
was a later progression from real work to a
sense of terrible judgment enforced. The 1.000th
domic passed through space, leaving behind -a
penitent boy with tear-stained face and a swollen
arm. He says he isn't ever going to do it any
more, i
" Perhaps the highest form of wisdom consists
in this character of punishment Deprivation of
inherent rights through imprisonment or similar
means may be necessary, if only to protect the
liberty of others. Yet if some way could be
'developed to show the "exceeding sinfulness of
sin" greater reformatory conquests' might be
achieved. It is not enough, that a work should
have been wrought merely by afflicting the of
fender with a sense of what he has lost. If that
alone were achieved, recovered liberty would
mean merely an opportunity for fresh lawless
ness. The habitual gambler is sorry that he has
tost his "roll," for he feels sure that if he had
it back he would win next time.
In some fields of the curative processes the
prescription of the hair of the dog as a remedy
for the bite has been found to work out well.
The tales of Midas illustrates the point. Some
cures for alcoholism adopt the simple expedient
of putting the cherished liquor info everything
the coffee, the food, the bath until the victim
loathes sight, taste and smell of his old deceiver.
Some day, too, it may be possible to work
equal healing by resort to moral expedients sug
gested 2,000 years ago. We consider it wildly
impracticable to give the demander more than
his dues and then heap the measure to overflow
ing. Yet the injunction is: "If thine enemy hun
ger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for
in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his
head."
People and Events
Here's one way of bringing the H. C. L. down
a peg. "The "cash" and carry" system inaugu
rated by a grocer at Fond du Lac. Wis., cuts the
cost 5 per cent for cash and an additional 5 per
cent to the customer for delivering the goods.
The sourest recluse in all Rhode Island, Mrs.
Elizabeth Sweet, passed away at Providence. A
diligent search for money she was known to pos
sess was fruitless until one of the searchers up
set Lizzie's favorite chair. The bottom dropped
out and also $12,000 in cash and securities.
A novel -question confronts the probate court
of Portsmouth, N. H. Can an American citizen
legally will the bulk of his estate to an English
regiment? Charles A. Austin, an eccentric resi
dent, wrote the provision into his will and the
court is asked Jo declare if void as contrary to
public policy.
The champion mine owner in the feminine
world is Miss Anna Durkee of Oatman, Ariz.
On a friendly gold mine tip, two years ago, Miss
Durkee took a flier and now owns mining prop
erty valued up in six figures. Scores of mere
men are on her payroll, but she does all the
bossing by her lonesome.
"Don't make me laugh, my lips are cracked,"
chuckled James E. Wetz, Chicago egg king, as
he listened to the clatter of the consumers. "I
was stung last year," he murmured, "and the
nuhlie laughed sood and plenty. - Just because
hens quit laying isn't any reason why I shouldn't
hang on to mine, seventy cents a oozen by reD
ruary 1 looks good to me." Looks like a cinch,
but you can't tell what will hatch out.
The drug habit is turning big money into the
pockets of a few doctors willing to take a
chance. Philadelphia authorities liave possession
of 1,000 prescriptions for narcotics written by one
doctor. Investigation shows the addicts range
from children of 12 years up to adults of 30. In
South Philadelphia children victims of the habit
are astonishingly numerous. In Kansas City one
drug store does a land-office business in dope,
young and old forming a regular procession from
the doctors to the dope shop. A large number of
victims have been arrested and penalized. One
girl victim touched the core of the evil when she
asked the court: wny snouia wc ue tne vig.
tuns and not those who carry on the traffic?'
The court could not answer.
This Day In History.
1783 Washington bade farewell to
his officers at Fraunce'a tavern, In
New York.
1795 Thomas Carlyle, famous Eng
lish historian and philosopher, born.
Died February 4, 1881.
1816 Benjamin Sllliman, one of the
foremost chemists of his time, born
at New Haven. Died there January
14, 188B.
1818 William W. Loring. an Amer
ican general, who became a pasha In
the army of the khedive of Egypt,
born at Wilmington, N. C, Died in
New York, December 30, 188.
1827 First steam vessels In the
British navy were placed in commis
sion. 1839 In the whig national conven
tloa at Harrisburg, William Henry
Harrison of Ohio was made presi
denlal candidate of the reunited party.
1856WTwenty-even inmates of the
state Insane hospital at Augusta, Me.,
perished In a Are that destroyed the
building.
180 Justin McCarthy elected
leader of the Irish nationalists in op
position to Mr. Parnell.
1891 A lunatic named Norcross at
tempted to assassinate Russell Sage
In New York by exploding a bomb.
1894 Leon Abbett, former gover
nor of New Jersey, died in Jersey
City. Born In Philadelphia, October
8, 1838.
The Day We Celebrate.
Constantino J. Smyth Is 57 years old
today. He has served on the school
board and In the legislature and as
assistant to the attorney general under
the Wilson administration, and is
thought by his friends to be In line
for a federal judgeship. '
Delmer C. Eldridge today celebrates
his fiftieth birthday. He is vice presi
dent of the Farmers Co-operative
State Union.
Lillian Russell. (Mrs. Alexander P.
Moore), for many years a leading
light opera star of the, American
stage, born at Clinton, la., fifty-five
years ago today.
Charles Holmes Herty, president of
the American Chemical society, born
at Milledgeville, Ga., forty-pine years
ago today.
Frank J. Gould, youngest son of the
late Jay Gould, : born In New York
thirty-nine years aero today.
Warren Garst, former governor of
Iowa, born at Dayton, O., sixty-six
years ago today.
John F. Collins, outfielder of the
Chicago American league base ball
team, born at Charlestown, Mass.,
thirty years ago today.
Robert J. Shawkey, pitcher of the
New York American league base ball
team, born at Brookfleld, Pa., twenty
six years ago today.
Jesse Burkett, veteran base ball
player and manager, born at Wheeling,
W. Va., forty-six years ago today.
Timely Jottings and Reminders.
The Sixty-fourth congress assembles
today for Its final work of legislation.
Pope Benedict will hold a secret
Consistory today and a public con
sistory Thursday, at whicB he will
create new cardinals.
An economy campaign of nation
wide extent Is to be launched by
American farmers at the Fourth Na
tional Conference on Marketing and
Farm Credits, opening in Chicago to
day. Many Important cases are docketed
for hearing before the supreme court
of the United States, which recon
venes today after a recess over the
Thanksgiving holidays.
1 An official recount of the vote of
New Hampshire for president Is to
be commenced by the secretary of
state at Concord today.
Secretary of War Baker has called
the Council of National Defense and
the Advisory commission connected
with It, to meet in Washington today
for organization purposes.
The libel suit brought against the
German submarine Deutschland for
the sinking of the tug T. A. Scott, Jr.,
is to be heard In the federal court
at Hartford, Conn., today.
Storyette of the Day,
The district trustee was addressing
a school In Ohio.
"Children," Bald he, "I want to talk
to you for a few moments about one
of the most wonderful, one of the
most Important organs in the whole
world, what is it that throbs away,
beats away, never stopping, never
teasing, whether you wake or sleep,
night or day, week in and week out,
month In and month out, year in and
year out, without any volition on your
part, hidden away in the depths, as tt
were, unseen by you, throbbing,
throbbing, throbbing, rythmically ail
your life long?"
During the pause for oratorical ef
fect a small voice was heard:
"I know it's the gas meter."
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
I
rim
7ft
Push for Tanneries and Leather
Works.
Council Bluffs, la., Dec. 3 To the
Editor of The Bee: As one of the
first subscribers of The Bee, In 1871,
I must cnnfriia that The Bee has al
ways urged a constructive policy for
Omaha. I have not always liked cer
tain policies, especially when they got
up a Joke bill and crammed it down
the throat of the Magic City, telling
of the great benefit South Omaha
would derive by annexation. The time
was not ripe for such a union, but
Omaha always looked at the $500,000
or more annual taxes It could make
good use of In the north city. Of
course in the end it will come out
all right for both cities, but not In
my lifetime, and. as a property owner
of what was the best city on earth
for its age, my Interests as well as
of all property owners are at this
time.
But that is now settled. So let us
all, like The Bee, push for the great
est city In the northwest. I have read
your editorial on six good suggestions
that shouN be taken up and discussed
and not passed up. The. writer has
worked in the leather industry since
1869, and should know what he is
talking about as to the suggestion of
a tannery. Any schoolboy should
know the benfifs to a city of such an
industry, and the writer has known
the citizens and Commercial club to
boost for lesser enterprises. I never
could understand why there is so lit
tle boosting for a tannery, with prac
tically all the raw material right in
the city, the best customer (the mid
dle west) right at our door, and the
great number of other allied enter
prises. Of course It takes capital, but
the Omaha Robe and Tanning com
pany has started the ball rolling, and,
while I am not authorized to talk for
It, I believe that with the proper
badklng they could do much more,
because I have time and again been
unable to get leather suitable for my
purpose of them, as harness leather
Is not a leader in their line. 1 be
lieve with proper support they could
sell more of this product than in the
taxidermist and , fur-tanning line.
They tan a fine shoe leather, if I am
any Judge, though harness leather Is
my hobby, and while the auto has cut
Into this line materially, there will al
ways be horses, and leather is as
staple as gold, for It has tripled in
price in twenty-five years.
J. G. BLESSING.
i Limit the Grist of Bills.
Utica, Neb., Dec. $. To the Editor
of The Bee: I am writing all mem
bers of the house, asking their co
operation In an effort to reduce the
vast number of bills presented to the
house for consideration.
All old members fully appreciate
the physical impossibility of consid
ering as many bills as are usually pre
sented. Last session about 1,300 were
introduced, of which only a small per
cent became laws. One member in
troduced thirty-two: the writer con
fesses with embarrassment to placing
his name on thirteen. For the benefit
of new members I .will explain that
It is Impossible to effectively defend
thirteen, much less thirty-two bills,
before the various committees and on
the floor. t
Saturday sessions are' not well at
tended, because so many members go
home. Night sessions are poorly at
tended, and the members are then
more inclined to play pranks than do
serious work. Aside from the impos
sibility of handling so many bills,
there is a large expense connected
with preparing and printing the bills,
60 per cent of which no doubt will,
land in the waste basket through lack
of time to handle.
The result of this condition is that
near the close of every session the
speaker is .forced to appoint a sift
ing committee, which is forced to
slaughter bills without fear or favor
In order to clear the calendar for
adjournment '
Now why could not each member
act as his own sifting committee? All
bills can then be given careful con
sideration and we cannot be accused
of presenting the state with ill-considered
legislation. And, too. If we
limit the number of bills we can es
cape the embarrassment of introduc
ing bills by request in which we can
find no merit
I have discussed this condition with
many old members and leaders, in
cluding Speaker George Jackson, who,
we must all admit irrespective of
party, is one of the best speakers that
ever presided, and all favor some
action being taken. I propose a rule
be made limiting each member to five
bills. GISOKUJS Lauuri, Jn-
The Fate of Mexico.
a. Platte. Neb., Dee. .3. To the
Editor of The Bee: The political at
mosphere is pretty well laden with
opinions on the subject of Mexico and
what action our authorities should en
force In dealing with our near neigh-
, - Tw, ,v.a a,lv rinva nf the Snan-
ish-Amerlcan war, the prime minister
of the British government made a
public address in which he classed
the powers of the earth in two classes,
the living and the dying. The speech
aroused great Interest and was ac
cepted as a prophecy, like that made
a couple of years before the civil war
by Abraham Lincoln, who boldly de
clared that this nation could not ex
ist half slave and half free.
As to Mexico, the people should
know that the frail, so-called repub
lic is composed of the dying classes
of the earth, who must yield their
place to the superior race. This is
the teaching of history. Briefly, the
United States should take possession
of Mexico and establish a protectorate
over that Inferior people. They, of
themselves, are incapable of self-gov- ,
ernment. The principle that all men
are created equal falls to hold true
when applied to Mexico. A superior
power will be compelled to assume
control of that land If they are ever
to enjoy freedom.
To suppose that the United States
will maintain 100,000 soldiers along
the Rio Grande is a weak and vain
conclusion.' The subject must be met
and disposed of. in a statesmanlike
manner.
If we had a president of more force
of ' character thje AmerlcanMexico
crisis would soon pass and peace would
rule. With a patched-up delay and
all kinds of compromises we need not
expect much heroic action from the
present head or our repuoiic. oaiety
first sounds cowardly and silly. Duty
first flavors of the Abraham Lincoln
statesmanship. JASPER BLINES.
Wants Bigger Street Car Signs.
Omaha, Dec. 3. To the Editor of
The Bee: Why don't our street car
company adopt some better plan, so
that a person can tell at night or day
which way a car is going. All cities
throughout the country have signs,
either across the top or on both sides,
or at either end on top. The best
thing I have seen is the sign across
the top, for instance, on the- Park
line, could say, "Hanscom Park Line,
West Side," or, "Hanscom Park Line,
East 81de" then have these signs to
operate by the conductor by pulling
a rod which turns the sign over, show
ing, "Sixteenth Street, North Twenty
fourth Street, Florence" another
could say, 'Sixteenth Street North
Twenty-fourth street, Forest Lwn, '
anfl so on. All cars could be labeled
so that a person could tell which way
a car is going from either side of car.
The ancient way we have now, you
must get up close to the front of the
car or on one side only, to And out
where it Is going.
Why don't we adopt the near-sjfle
stop again? After all fooling around
in this city, you will And that most
people now favor the near side.
J. THOMPSON,
1033 South Thirty-first Street
MIRTHFUL REMARKS.
"I 'went to our cashier's woddlns yester
day." V
"How was the bride dressed?
"So appropriately. Bhe wore a dross of
changeable silk." Baltimore American.
"Can you loan me five beans?"
"My boy, why do rou speak of beans when
yon mean dollars? There's no comparison.'
"Oh, I don't know. The bean now has a
recognized standing as a standard of value."
Loulevllle Courier-Journal.
Winter Tourist Fares
Via Rock Island Lines
t
(FROM OMAHA.)
Jacksonville, Fla., and return $54.89
Lake City, Fla., and return $54.56
Tallahassee,- Fla., and return $54.56
St. Augustine, Fla., and return $56.86
. Palm Beach, Fla., and return $73.06
Tampa, Fla., and return $66.16
Key West, Fla., and return' .....$87.66
Savannah, Ga., and return . $54.56
Mobile, Ala., and return $44.31
New Orleans, La., and return $44.31
Pensacola, Fla., and return $46.91
Thomasville, Ga., and return $54.56
Augusta, Ga., and return $52.77
Aiken, S. C, and return $53.67
Charleston, S. C, and return .$54.56
Columbia, S. C, and return - $53.67
Jackson, Miss., and return $38.90
Meridian, Miss., and return $38.90
Havana, Cuba, and return, via Key West, or Tampa and
steamer $94.80
Havana, , Cuba, and return, via New Orleans and
steamer $92.15
Jacksonville, Fla., and return, via Washington and rail,
or via Baltimore and steamer; same route both di
rections $74.40
CJRCUIT TOURS
Jacksonville, Fla., and return, via New Orleans in one
direction, direct routes in opposite direction . . . $65.56
Jacksonville, Fla., and return, in one direction via direct
routes; in opposite direction via Washington, D. C,
and rail, or Baltimore and steamer $63.76
Havana, Cuba, and return, one way via New Orleans,
Jacksonville and Key West, or Port Tampa and
steamer; other way via Jacksonville, thence direct
routes $111.80
Havana, Cuba, and return, one way via Washington and
rail, or Baltimore and steamer to Jacksonville,
thence Key West or Port Tampa and steamer; other
way via Jacksonville, thence direct routes $126.50
Tickets on Sale Daily, with Long Limit and Very
Liberal Stopovers.
i4uomafi'c Block Signals
Finest Modern All-Steel Equipment
Superb Dining Car Service '
Chicago-Nebraska Limited at 6:08 P. M., Daily
I
Tickets, reservations and informa
tion at Rock Island office. Phone,
write or call
J. S. McNALLY, D. P. A.
Fourteenth and Farnam Sts.
Phone Douglas 428.