THE BEE: OMAHA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 1917
4
THE OMAHA DAILY BEE
FOUNDED BY EDWARD ROSEWATER
VICTOR ROSEWATER, EDITOR
THE BEE PUBLISHING COMPANY. PROPRIETOR
Enured at Omaha pnstoffla. as aillassmaUsT
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION
By CarrisT
dct month
Dally and Sunday . . . Re
Daily without Sunday 46e
Evvntnv and Sunday 40e.........
Evening without Sunday 2R
Sunday Bn only 20...-
Daily and Sunday B. thr ars in advanee,
By Han
prr yir
. . -J6.00
. . . 4.00
, .. 00
. . . 4.00
. . 2.00
110.00.
Sand notiea of chant, of address or Irwaolanty in d.
livery to Omaha Bet, Circulation
REMITTANCE
Remit by draft, mrMS or postal order. Only 2-fent tiw
.k - .. .-..n wioimu. Personal cnerKA,
eaeept on Omaha and eastern exchange,
not accepted.
OFFICES
Omaha The Bee bolldmlt.
South Omaha 2118 N. atreet.
Council Bluffa 14 North Main itreet
Lineoln S2 Little Bulldiw.
Chicago 1 People's Gas Building.
New York Room S0, 20 fifth avenue.
St Louis 101 New Bank of Commerce.
Waahtngtow T2 Fourteenth atreet, N. W.
CORRESPONDENCE
Addreaa eomraunieationa relating to news and editorial
matter to Omaha Bee. Editorial Department.
DECEMBER CIRCULATION
53,368 Dnily Sunday 50,005
Dwight Williams, circulation manager of The Bee
Publishing company, being duly sworn, says that the
average circulation for the month of December, me, was
13, 18 daily and SO. 006 Sunday.
DWIGHT WILLIAMS. Circulation Manager.
Subscribed in my presence and sworn to before me
this 4th day of January, HIT.
0. W. CARLSON. Notary Public
Subscribers leavinf th city temporarily
should hay Th. Baa mailed to th.ra. Ad
drug will b chanted a ofUB as raqu.st.d.
The Thaw degenerate ia only another example
of the pernicious influence of too much money.
Are all those interior Nebraska cities except
Hastings asleep at the state capital switch?
Now that few county jobs are parceled out
among the faithful, the pieless multitude will
kindly obey the sign, "Keep off the grass!"
"My occupation," said Tom Lawson, "is that
of a farmer." Sure. Don't all the stock exchange
; sheep-shearers cultivate lambs for the wool?
To a man up a tree it looks as if those demo
: cratic leak investigators were afraid they might
discover something they do not wand to find.
With Edgar Howard on guard at one end of
the state house and Jerry Howard at the other,
the only chance of putting things over is to
. work the middle.
i While New York pants with pride over an
; official showing of diminished vice, Chicago blows
I off the lid and starts fumigation. The value of
I the treatment depends on steady application.
) It is not so much a question whether political
service qualifications are considered for places in
the Farm Loan bank as whether the jobs are to be
: made the base of operations for future work in
j politics.
'. A place to save public money is pointed out
by Edgar Howard in the excessive and multiple
premiums exacted for official bonds, all of which
! come out of the taxpayers' pockets. The surety
. bond graft game is certainly worked to a fraizle
;ln Nebraska.
Among the joyful charms of midwinter, apart
; from fuel bills, is the speed with which hope,
' aided by a fashion magaiine, spots the approach
of fluffy spring. Already flocks of pajamas gara
: bol in picture print as friskily as the traditional
hare in March.
, i The presence of a fleet of commerce protec
tors on the north Atlantic coast goes to show
that the allies slowly adjust themselves to the
; widening reach of war. Making secure the sup
1 ply routes across the Atlantic constitutes the first
line of national safety.
The only limitation on the number of bills
a member of the legislature may sponsor lies
in the constitutional requirement that they be in
troduced within the first twenty days of the ses
sion. There is no danger, however, that this will
seriously interfere with the output.
One-fourth of Douglas county's revenue ap
portioned for roads and bridges is to be spent al
most wholly outside of Omaha, which pays nine
tenths of the taxes. The rural residents of this
county know good thing when they see it and
also realize the advantage of holding on to it.
Someone objects to one member of the Doug
las county delegation serving in the legislature
on the ground that he is a resident of another
state and, therefore, barred by the constitution.
Inasmuch as he is a good democrat and the demo
crats control the house, "what's the constitution
between friends?"
However successfully he may have sat on the
fence between "wet" and "dry" in Nebraska, our
democratic United States senator has recorded
himself "wet on District of Columbia prohibi
tion, but his newspaper organ here carefully re
trains from printing the roll call lineup, just as if
that were going to keep it dark.
Working One's Way
Washington Poat.
A Good Old Scout.
William Frederick Cody, better known as
"Buffalo Bill," was first of all a typical American.
He was emblematic of the great west, of a region
of mystery and adventure, and through his ef
forts some taste of this was carried into the
haunts of the older civilization. That tlie west
of "Bill" Cody's boyhood no longer can be found
is not occasion for much regret, but men who
are not so very old readily recall experiences of the
sort that gave the great scout his prestige and
helped him along the way to fame. For much of
the stuff that has been woven into romance with
"Ruffalo Bill' as the hero actually did occur. Peo
ple who move through the tales of Ned Buntline
and others of the ilk really did live and move
and to some degree in the atmosphere therein de
picted. Cody was shrewd enough to capitalize
the interest thus aroused, and throughout two
world's he carried the vanished life of the rowdy
west, the cowboys and the scouts, the Indians
and the road agents, and vividly pictured to mul
titudes scenes that were not lacking in elements
of fact.
Thai Cody died a comparatively poor man is
a tribute to his eminence as a frontiersman. He
was unversed in the ways of business and made
bad investments. But he had another quality of
the men who made the west his heart was big
and his nature guileless, and the wealth he won
went as easily as it came. He came up from the
condition of a poor, unlettered orphan to be com
panion to the great ones of earth: kings and
emperors welcomed him, and yet to the end he
was "Bill" to those whose friendship went back
to the days he celebrated in his showman's years.
Such of these as yet live will mourn him with a
sincerity unknown to the friend of later times,
who knew only the famous Colonel Cody and
had slight opportunity to become acquainted with
"Buffalo Bill."
Nebraska had a deep interest in him, for the
greater part of his active career was spent in
this state, which once honored him by election
to the legislature and also gave him his military
title. Hundreds of our pioneer citizens will sor
row that the good old scout, in the best sense of
the term, has reached the end of the trail and
gone to his last sleep.
Go Slow on Unlimited Bond Issues.
Giving power to the municipal authorities to
issue bonds within limited amounts yearly for con
struction work that must be planned ahead and
continue over a long period of time may conduce
to economy, but there is no such reason for bonds
desired for any particular one-time project on
which a popular vote of approval can easily be
had. To authorize unlimited bond issues for any
purpose subject only to veto by referendum, would
be merely to put projects of the second class on
the same basis as the continuing projects on
which a referendum can now be taken.
The fact is Omaha has not been unduly reluc
tant to vote bonds for any purpose answering
a real demand; on the contrary the general feeling
prevails that the participation of non-taxpayers
in bond elections increases the chances of carry
ing the bonds and safeguards have been imposed
against reckless bond issues by requiring an abso
lute majority of all ballots cast in a general
election or a two-thirds majority in a special
election. Omaha's municipal debt has been
growing apace and does not need automatic de
vices to inflate it further.
Fish and the Cost of Living.
State Fish Commissioner O'Brien renews a
suggestion to the people of Nebraska1 that they
fish for the purpose of providing food and not
for mere sport. He is following a propaganda
set on foot many years ago by "Lou" May, who
did more than any other man to get Nebraskans
interested in fish as food. It is not necessary to
raise carp or similar muck-eating fish, for the
noblest of fresh-water finny tribes, the black bass
and the channel cat, thrive in Nebraska waters.
Perch and crappie' also do well in streams and
lakes, while the swift-runnnig streams in the cen
tral and western portions of the state are filling
up with trout, and provide splendid sport as well
as dainty food.
The possibilities of the fish pond have never
been thoroughly tested by Nebraskans. It lias
been proven that an acre in fish pond will pro
duce more of real food material than can be had
from a similar area through any other means.
Moreover, good dieticians allege reasons why
fish are deemed worthy of a permanent place on
the menu, while eminent physiologists have en
dorsed the Friday practice of substituting fish
for flesh as conducive to good health, no matter
what its religious significance may be. This is
another resource of Nebraska undeveloped.
The observation is frequently made thai op
portunities for young men have become restricted
I in recent years as a result of the growth of busi
ness. More and more frequently the complaint
is heard from young men that they have not the
same chances that their forebears had. They
! think it was easy enough for Lincoln to work
his way up from woodchopper to president, while
nothing like that would be possible today.
- isuuuriumijr, now, as nertioiore, is almost
..entirely a matter of personal initiative. As in
i Lincoln's day, the young man who sits back and
'waits for the proverbial knocking at the door by
' opportunity is doomed to disappointment.
1 In the annual report of a great university Ihe
! statement is made that in the year which ended
May 31, last, 718 students earned $155,000. The
j earnings averaged more than enough to pay tui
! tion in the most expensive courses. The majority
I were aided in getting employment by a commit
, tee, whose records show that since 1898 students
have earned at total $1,514,000.
I The 718 students who thus worked their way
through college were made of the right stuff
-They did not. and are not likely to regard oppor-
tunity as limited. Without funds they have ob
Mained a good education. The same spirit will
i carry them over all the difficult hurdles of life,
1 and they are bound to reach the top. Most of
ihe big manufacturers, financiers and railroad
wen came up from the bottom and from poverty
Opportunity is as great now as ever it was for
:' the same sort of men and women who were suc
cessful in other periods.
Our victory, or at worst our demonstration
that a German victory is impossible, will knock
Ihe linchpin out of Che allied applecart and the
strained embrace in which the Tommy, the Poilu
and the Cossack areyiow enlaced will relax with a
very perceptible lowering of the temperature of
the three pairs of shoulders. The French tariffs
will gall whilst the French navy grows: and the
rugged Russian bear will, from his new vantage
grounds of Persia and Poland and Constantinople,
overshadow regions which, within my lifetime we
would have fought for to our last penny sooner
than have left them nnder Russia's influence or
that of Japan, much less of the two in alliance.
I was ridiculed in my youth for saying that
the balance of power was still as live an issue as
ever. Well, nobody ridicules me tor uttering that
platitude now: vet some of us imagine that we
can suddenly take the enormous weight of Ger
many out of the scales and replace it by a burn
ing feather without bringing down the opposite
scale with a crash that may jerk half the weights
out of it Our transient rages and spites and quar
relings and vendettas have no place in the diplo
macy of such balancings. They are useful only
as whisky is useful to a soldier who runs short of
British pluck and has to eke it out with Dutch
courage. Mill less have they any place in the
diplomacy which alone can supersede the diplo
macy ot military power-balancing, bnpernational
law, when it comes, will not be a respecter of
nations; nor will it act on Mr. Cecil Chesterton's
proposal to establish a class of feeble-minded professional-criminal
nations with curtailed rights as
an excuse for plundering and disabling Germany.
Lieutenant Governor Howard's Inaugural,
Our pencil-pushing brother, Edgar Howard,
has redeemed our fondest expectations on assum
ing office under the constitution. He has lifted
the position of lieutenant governor from the
abysmal depth of fifth wheel to the wagon to
one of real importance. In a notable address he
imparts to the senators his conception of the of
fice and the duties of the incumbent, evincing a
remarkably clear understanding of his responsi
bilities and prerogatives. His pledge to be gov
erned in the performance of his duties by the
constitution may alarm some of his democratic
brethren, who have developed so marked an in
clination to ignore that venerable document. If
the new lieutenant governor succeeds in swing
ing them back to the straight and narrow path
along which lawmakers may proceed with safety,
he will be doing a real service to the state. Sena
tors will profit if they take advantage of the ex
perience of their presiding officer and let him
use his editorial blue pencil now and again on
some of their productions.
"Laboratory" Work Gone Wild.
"Teaching the young idea to shoot" according
to modern methods has brought many novelties
into the school room, but it has remained for
Wisconsin high school to put the top sheaf on
the shock of experience in this direction. Girl
memoers oi a class in domestic economy are
reported to have adopted a 2-month-old baby
that they may demonstrate thereon the house
hold hints and other advice given them as to
the care and sustenance of infants. Old-fashioned
indignation will rise at this exhibit of the
extremes to which a fad may be carried. It is
possible and probable no harm will come to the
child and that it will have treatment better than
it could have in its mother's care, yet even these
concessions will not answer objections to taking
over a babe on which to allow school girls to
prove out their experiments. Wisconsin has
obtain considerable notoriety for many socio
logical departures, but this latest looks like carry
ing the uplift to the verge of the ridiculous.
Bernard Shaw on Peace Terms
The New Republic
The fact to be faced is that non-German
Europe is not Koine to spend the remainder of
the duration of this planet sitting on Germany s
head. A head with the brains of 60,000,000 of
people in it take more sitting on than we shall
have time for. What we really ought to consider
what is to become of the alliance wnen tne
pressure under which it was riveted is removed.
That pressure was the fear of Germany ("Fear is
the mainspring of war ): and we have already
shown that the Gorman terror was a scarecrow.
Nobody now supposes that Germany can steam-
roll F.urope, or that it was ever worth its while
to trv. The dav after the oeace we shall be more
afraid of Russia than of Germany; and all Europe
will be more afraid of us than of any other single
power. France will for the first time have a very
keen sense that we cannot altord to quarrel witn
it, and that its fleet, which counted for something
in our command of the sea, hitherto eclipsed by
the military German bugaboo, will shine out be
fore the world as a menace to the rest of the
world of precisely Ihe same character as the
German army was two years ago.
Failing the establishment of suoernational
taw, the powers will have to fall back on alliances
as before; for the days of single combat between
the great powers are over. And in the bidding
for allies the balance of power will more and more
le with the United states, because they now form
the only single political unit of the first magni
tude that is completely selt-sufhcient. England
will want an alliance with America; and Germany
will want an alliance between the west and the
east. It will be vital to England's interest that
Germany should not choose the east; and the only
way to prevent it will be to let it into a western
alliance. Now the exclusion of France from an
Anglo-German-American combination would suit
neither France nor the combination; and thus we
may get what we should have played for all along:
an irresistible magnetic nucleus for western civ
ilization consisting of an allied France, Germany,
Britain and North America. Such a combination
would almost instantly accrete the Netherlands
and Scandinavia. As compared to it a combina'
tion of Japan, Russia, Italy, France and England
is a desperate and unnatural adventure in wanton
heterogeneity; and nothing but the sense of an
overwhelming danger from Germany keeps it to-
getner today. Mr. Cecil uiesterton, in clamoring
for the utter destruction of that dancer, is also
clamoring for the inevitable break-up of the com
bination it has called into being and held together.
The more he studies the combinations that are
likely to succeed it, the more he wil aooreciate
the wisdom of the old political precept, "Treat
your friend as one who may some day be your
enemy, and your enemy as one who may some
day be your friend."
For a Commission on "Pork'
Philadelphia Ledger.
There is a good deal to be said in favor nf the
proposal, said to have emanated from the White
House, that a national commission dealino- with
all phases of the rivers and harbors and inland
waterways and irrigation projects shall be an
thorized by congress. The only reason for such
a commission is to take' the "pork" of sectional
ism and ot partisanship out of the scandal that
arises from the passing of the average rivers
and harbors bill. It is easy to sec that, unless
the commission be made ud of men who shall he
men truly national, its recommendations will be
of no more value than those of the present com
mittees ot congress nased on the supposedly im
peccable reports of the army engineers. If such
a commission be called into being, however, and
if it actually does work the miracle of making
these improvements represent all that common
sense and sound principles of transportation call
for. and the local grabs snffer. then the in
jured can only blame themselves for bringing the
punishment that has been their due these twenty
years.
Experience shows that nork dies hard. It
is intrenched everywhere. And if one is to juHkc
by the weak address of General Hixby, retired,
belore tne recent Kivers and Harbors consress.
or the equally unsatisfactory address of General
Black, the present chief ot engineers, or the reso
lutions of the congress itself, no one in or oul
of the War department or in or out of congress
dares resist the local pressure, no matter how
much talk there may be about scientific methods.
General Ulack, for instance, after saying thai
while it could be demonstrated that the returns
to the people of the United States at large would
be greater by the improvement of New York har
bor than by deepening the upper reaches of Cape
Fear river, then surrendered bodily to giving these
small local streams an appropriation. General
Bixby got rid of the "pork cry 'by saying there
"has been nothing unworthy in the way of rivers
and harbors appropriations in the last six years.
To cap the climax, the Rivers and Harbors con
gress, alter admirably recommending that
"a general plan be devised applicable lo the
country as a whole, by which the most impor
tant projects from the standpoint of national
efficiency, including defense and the needs of
commerce, be selected, so as to fit into a har
monious and comprehensive system; that a fea
ture of such system shall be standardization,"
then stultified itself by endorsing the "annual riv
ers and harbors bills" as at present made up.
Naturally, the president, with such confusion
and such hopeless Bourbonism before him and
also with the evidence that something is surely
wrong, turns to a commission to save the day.
People and Events
Health Hint for the Day,,
Eight hours at least out of twenty
four iihould be devoted normally to
"Ifep. during which the body should
bi completely relaxed without strain
or cramp upon any muscle.
One Vcar Ago Today In the War.
Anstrlans captured Montenegrin
stronghold on Mount Lovcen.
I'arls reported the big German of
fensive In Champagne had been re
pulsed. Uussians began fresh onslaught on
fiermann and Austrlans in Gallcla and
Bukowlna.
British relief olumn reported
bloc ked by superior force twenty miles
south of Kut-el-Amara.
In Omaha Thirty Years Ago.
J. K. Preston of the Chit-ago &
Northwestern railway office, has Just
received an excellent crayon ink por
trait of himself drawn on white corded
silk. The work was done In Japan
and Is for that reason a curiosity as
well as a work of art.
Andy Hogan. ex-policeman, seems
to have more than his share of hard
luck. He had barely recovered from
being held up and pounded by two
men when he was run Into by a coast
er at Sixteenth and Mason, causing
Official reports show a total of 7.650 traffic
fatalities in New York City during eleven months
of the last year. The record beats 1915 by 18
per cent, and spells too much speed in the wrong
direction.
By the irony of fate Lord Milner, now en
gaged with his English colleagues in directing
the war against Germany, was himself born in
the land of the kaiser, and received there his early
education.
New Jersey saloonists, fearing a dust storm
in that section, are moving on the legislature for
a law requiring communities closing saloons to
compensate the owners for loss. They seek
compensation on the basis of capitalization and
esLiuiated profits.
his team to become frightened and
himself to be thrown out of the wagon
and severely injured. Sergeant Matza
had the injured man conveyed to the
hospittil.
Articles of Incorporation of the
Rees Printing company were filed,
the incorporators being Samuel Rees,
J. T. Fairlie, D. C. Shelly, A. V. Ram
say and C. E. Reynolds and the capi
tal KTi.OOU.
Sol Bergman, one of the young men
In Max Meyer's store, has gone to
Milwaukee to be married to Miss Klora
Heller, after which the young couple
will reside in Omaha. Before his
departure, Mr. Julius Meyer tendered
the happy groom-to-be a supper at
his rooms at Twelfth and Farnam.
Among those present were: Messrs.
S. P. Fisher, S. Oberfelder, M. Ober
felder, 8. Schleslnger, I. Schiff, A. H.
Gladstone, A. Cahn, F. Silberstein,
A. Meimhurg, August Schafer, J.
Wise, J. Robinson, C. Goldsmith, A.
Mandelberg, Max Meyer, S. Rinds
koff and Mortiz Meyer.
The Y. M. C. A. has enlisted the
interest of a number of leading busi
ness men of the city In the cause of
their new building. To consider this
subject a meeting was held in the par
lors of the Nebraska National bank,
at which the following advisory board
was present: Messrs. George Hoag
land, H. W. Yates, Herman Kountze
and A. J. Poppleton.
Dr. George B. Ayres has removed
to his old office, 1F,05 Farnam, oppo
site the Merchants hotel.
This Dny In History.
1757 Alexander Hamilton, one of
the greatest of American statesmen,
born in the West Indies. Died in New
York City, July 12, 1801.
1785 Seat of the United States gov
ernment located at New York.
1805 Act of congress creating the
territory of Michigan.
1816 Cumberland island, Georgia,
taken possession of by Captain Barrie
of the British ship "Dragon."
1817 Timothy Dwight, president
of Yale college, died at New Haven.
Born at Northampton, Mass., May 14,
1752.
1825 Bayard Taylor, celebrated
author, born in Chester county, Penn
sylvania. Died in Berlin, Germany,
December 19, 1878.
1856 Sergeant Uzel Knapp, the last
survivor of Washington's life-guard,
died in Orange county New York,
aged 97 years.
1861 Alabama passed an ordi
nance of secession.
1892 United States senate ratified
the Brussels treaty to suppress the
African slave trade.
1897 A treaty of arbitration be
tween the United States and Great
Britain was signed at Washington.
aine duces,
a. A
A Flower on the Bier,
Omaha, Jan. 10. To the Editor of
The Bee: Permit me to say a word
nut of respect to the memory of the
late Edwin C. Hardy, with whom 1
was associated in newspaper work for
a number of years. Those who knew
him well recognized his ability as an
editorial writer und appreciated his
personal worth.
He wils a gentleman of the old
school, a man widely read, with a
faculty for reaching sane conclusions.
His editorials for the most part treat
ed of national affairs, and at inter
vals he would discuss international
politics. Most of his work presented
a tine finish in the matter of construc
tion and bore evidence of a wide range
of knowledge.
He will be remembered in Omaha
an a kindly, courteous gentleman of
rare mental attainments, whose liter
ary product entitled him to high rank
in the editorial profession.
J. B. HAYNES.
I vils nf Pool Halls.
Scotia, Neb., Jan. 10. To the Editor
of The Bee: 1 have been a reader
and subscriber to your paper for a
number of years, but I have never
contributed to the Letter Box be
cause I thought perhaps others had
subjects of more importance to them
than anything I could discuss, but
when the communication from "A
Mother" struck my eye I wished I
might meet her and together we might
take steps to get the women of Ne
braska to say the pool halls must go.
I have arways contended that a pool
hall is a bigger nuisance than a
saloon. I took an active part in the
dry campaign, and had it not been
for the Influence of the pool halls on
boys and young men I doubt very
much if we would have had so many
drunkards. In talking with different
ones 1 find a strong opposition to
them and if the women would demand
it I doubt not but they could be abol
ished altogether.
MRS. DEE VINECORE.
The Day We Celebrate.
William M. Giiler, former police
commissioner, was born January 11,
1860, at Whitehall, 111. He is a mem
ber of the law firm of Weaver & Gii
ler. and has been In Omaha for more
than twenty-six years.
General John C. Cowin ts a native of
Ohio, born January 11, 1846, at War
rensville. He is in the front rank of
our veteran lawyexs.
Samuel Mort, buyer for Nelson Mor
ris Packing company, was born in
Leigh, Lancashire, England, fifty years
ago today.
Irving F. Baxter is just 47. Judge
Baxter has held several oft! res. includ
ing county judge, district judge and
I'nited States district attorney. He
is a New Yorker and read law at
Ttica, N. Y.
Thomas K. Coleman, assistant man
ager of the Midland Glass & Paint
company, is 40 years old today. He
was born at Kalis City and started out
here in Omaha as a drug clerk.
Karl Curzou of Kcdleston. I.ritish
statesman, who has just wedded Mrs
Alfred Duggan, a former A lalmnia
girl, born at Kcdleston. England, fifty-eight
years ago today,
Itear Admiral Leigh C. Palmer,
chief of the bureau of navigation of
the Navy department, born in Mis
souri, forty-four years ago today.
James H. Hustls, former president
and now receiver of the Boston and
Maine railroad, born in New York
City, fifty-three years ago today.
Sir Charles W. Macara. for many
years the foremost figure in the Brit
ish cotton manufacturing industry,
born in .Scotland, seventy-two years
ago today.
Miss Alice Paul, a noted leader in
the movement for woman suffrage,
born at Moorestown. N. J , fifty-two
years ago today.
Thomas Dixon, author of the "The
Clansman" and other well known
novels and plays, born at Shelby, N.
C. fifty-three years ago today.
Timely Jottings and Kemintlers.
Denmark's ratification of the treaty
providing for the sale of the Danish
West Indies to the I'nited States is to
be dispatched on a steamer leaving
Copenhagen today.
The latest developments in auto
mobile engineering are to be disclosed
to the Society of Automobile Engi
neers at its annual meeting to be held
today in New York City.
A concerted movement of New York
realty owners to seek relief from the
present burdensome system of taxa
tion is to be launched at the state tax
conference which is to begin its ses
sions today at Rochester.
A conference of the chairmen of
the four railway brotherhoods has
been called to meet in Chicago today,
presumably to discuss conditions
caused by delay in the enforcement of
the Adamson law and to decide upon
a line of action in the event of an ad
verse decision by the supreme court
Ia Federal Road Law Constitutional?
Silver Creek. Neb., Jan. 10. To the
Editor of The Ree: The doctrine that
the United States government has a
right to do whatever it may please
to do is a most pernicious one. Mem
bers of congress take a solemn oath
to support the constitution of the
l-nited States, and its mandates are
just as much binding up them, and
even more so, as upon the private
citizen.
The government of the United
States, as every high school boy is
supposed to know, is one of delegat
ed powers and so far as the states
are concerned congress can lawfully
make no law unless authority for so
doing can be found in the constitu
tion; while a state, on its part, may
make any law it sees fit in regard to
anything whatever and so does not
conflict with some provision of the
constitution.
The power to build and maintain
public roads or highways is surely
one of those powers reserved to the
states a power held unquestioned and
in actual operation ever since the
adoption of the constitution more than
125 years ago.
And now comes congress and by
means of the federal road law un
dertakes in an indirect way to take
from the people this power over their
roads and place it in the hands of
the secretary of agriculture at Wash
ington. No matter what in their
speeches they may have said to the
contrary, congressmen .knew, every one
of them, that they had no right to
do that, and for this, and other simi
lar acts whereby the federal govern
ment is fast shearing the states of all
power and obliterating state lines, the
people ought everywhere to arise in
indignant protest.
Put in common, every-day phrase,
this federal road proposition amounts
to about this: Congress says to the
people of Nebraska, "We know we
have no right to have anything to do
with building y,our roads; but you
have not sense enough to make good
roads, and even if you did know
enough you are too stingy to put up
the money to do it, Now we make
you this proposition: If you will con
sent to letting the secretary of agri
culture say what kind of roads you
shall have and boss the job of mak
ing them we will pay out of your
own pockets half the cost of them,
provided you will put up for the other
half. If you will not do this, then we
will make you pay as much as would
have been half the cost of your roads
to help build roads in other states,
while you get nothing." And thus it
is that congress our servants, if you
please would punish us rob us of
our money for refusing to permit
them to rob us of our constitutional
rights as to our own local affairs. It
is understood, of course, that the
money congress would give us for
roads comes oul of our pockets by
indirect taxation exactly as does that
provided by the legislature by direct
taxation.
it is true that the constitution does
give congress the right to establish
"post roads," but everybody knows
that congress did not set out to do
any such thing, and to put forth any
such claim only makes the thing look
more rotten.
For my part, I am disposed to defy
congress and would be only too glad
to have a chance to chip in to hire
a good lawyer to knock out their beau
tiful scheme of setting up at Wash
ington a big road overseer, while ih
people, particularly the farmers, foot
the bill. CHARLES WOOSTER.
Would Repeal Foreign Language Law.
Omaha. Jan. 10. To the Editor of
The Bee: t is time to speak out,
not in fear and trembling, but as an
American. Our state has been invad
ed by a foreign influence and by laws
of their making that are intended to
emasculate Americanism. Nebraska
has a law that actually compels school
boards to provide for teaching foreign
languages in all grades above the
third when certain petition therefor
is filed with the board. It is not left
to the discretion of the board. The
languagemiust be taught regardless of
other conditions of the school.
In Omaha twenty-one schools must
teach Germany in all grades above
the third. Three schools teach Bo
hemian, one teaches French and three
teach two foreign languages. A peti
tion is reported about ready for Italian
and others are incubating, etc., ad
nauseum.
Such a large number of rooms are
required in the schools of Omaha for
teaching foreign languages that a,
thousand or more pupils under the
fourth grade who do not study for
eign languages are actually forced out
of school half of each day. During
the half day these thousand children
are permitted to attend school they
must stumble over the full day's work.
Repeal that language law and res
cue these thousand children from
their unfortunate predicament and
save our Americanism.
The German-American alliance fos
tered the enactment of that foreign
language law. Senator John Mattes
of Otoe county, now president pro
tern of the Nebraska state senate, was
an organizer and supreme head of the
Nebraska branch of that alliance.
Senator Mockett of Lincoln intro
duced the foreign language bill that
is now the law. Self-respecting Amer
icans of native and foreign birth, do
you believe in one country for all,
one language for all, loyalty to our
flag for all?
ERNEST L. IRELAND.
2726 Pinkney Street.
CHEERY CHAFF.
"Pop, I have been reading ona qufer
thing."
"What ts It, my non ?"
"Here's an article nays that prize flghtera
arc never allowed to drink and yet the
gladiators were continually Indulging In
Roman punches." Baltimore American.
"Has the doctor Been here today?" anked
the wife.
"Yes. he ha." replied the gouty husband.
"What did he say?"
"Two dollars." Yonkers Statesman.
Mi AR MR. KA8IB8LE,
VJOUlbNou AWISE ME "id ier
MARRIED ON NBN NEARS Wit
MARK RUBV
Wf START WE NEW VEAR
Wife (during thi spatl I wasn't an
ions to marry you. I refused you six ttmc.
Hub Yen, and thon my luck gave out.
Boston Globe.
"Talk Is always cheap," said ths Wlsa
One.
"Except,' returned the Mutt, "when
you talk on the long dlstanre telephone."
Buffalo Kx press.
THE GET-NOWHERES.
Strickland Oilman.
The tiny Htlnts that ,et nowhere A
WoVin Iki illohao- u.rnl.hlnir flnnri
Replacing nig or stool or :hair;
The endless trijia through swinging doors
Thne and a thousand other tasks
Of equal Import, day on day!
What known she of their irk, who hau'l-
In sated leisure, tired or play?
The floor so swept at early morn
Wilt n1 to sweep again tomorrow;
The garments mended noon a torn
Will tpar again. No need to borrow
From other liven In other spheren
The daily complement! of care.
'Tin love alone keeps back the tears
While chained to tasks that get nowhere
You who ran toil with high ambition.
You with your hope of gold or fame.
You have your dreams of changed conditio
New lufter for your tribal name.
But she hers Is th part heroic!
No crown too bright for her to wear
Who, tolling aye with courage stole.
Does little tasks that got nowhero.
Brambach
Grand Piano
Smallest Grand
Greatest Tone
Wonderful
Action
Absolute
Durability
Price Down to
465
Convenient Terms
A. HOSPE CO., 1513-15 Douglas St.
"THE VICTOR STORE"
Persistence is the cardinal vir
tue in advertising; no matter
how good advertising maybe
in other respects, it must be
run frequently and constant
ly to be really successful.
