4'
THE M&H: OMAHA, MONDAY, JANUARY 22, 1917.
The Omaha Bee
DAILY OlORNINCHBVEMNO-fiUNDAV
FOUNDED BY EDWARD ROSEWATER.
VICTOR ROSEWATER, EDITOR
THE BEE PUBUSHPIO COMPANY, PROPRIETOR.
EgUred it Omaha poetoffice ai seemd-elm BitW.
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION.
Br Curt By lull
Deitr ma sendw pet Men. s w, W.M
Detlv without Sunder 4.M
JtTMlnf ud SwodmT ' Wo
BiaiUf without Suaaar " g" "
under Bet ontj " JOB
null and aoodtT Bea, lane ywrf te oW................
ft,Tid noik of cbuin ef eddrae or Irrenuerili la denier to (heaee
Bee. ClnuleOon DopMtln.
REMITTANCE. .
RvmJt or drefl. on or metal onto. Oal t-eaat etaapl take.
pvment of muul aooounta. raraonet abacae, enept m Onahe ana
eeetem aBehaofe, not eooepted.
OFFICES.
Omasa The Baa JMIoti rwar PewMl flea BoiMla.
South Oaiaka ail N St. Jliw Tot W Flfia in
Gmiarfl Blaffa-U If. Mala ft BL bane-Haw ". of Ooatawoa.
Liocola Utile rtalldtof. Waehuuua fat lte BL M. w.
CORRESPONDENCE.
AMnaa eonfmnloaUaoa niacins to am aod etttertel Bi
Omaha Baa. Editorial Department
DECEMBER CIRCULATION
53,368 Daily Sunday 50,005
Anna rtrratation for tee nnMA aoaaerlbal and won la br
wtulaaM, nrculauoa aunaiar.
Snkecriban Uortnf tin eltr eoetUd kavn Tae
aeeiled ta these. Aadrau chenied as ftaa ee nsanti
When the stickups are caught, it will be up
to the court to stick them (or good long prison
sentences.
As the Navy department views the affair, the
over-reach of American mills spoilt their useful-
ness in a shell game.
.. . ,
The railroads blame the shippers, and the ship
pers blame the railroads,- for car shortage.
"Fifty-fifty" as It were.
Every method advanced for reducing the high
coit of living eventually comes around to the first
principle of saving prudent economy in the home.
A vast quantity of financial cream must be
skhnmed this year to make up one-half the na
tional deficit, amounting to $236,000,000. It it evi
dent Uncle Sam will have few holes in his skim
mers, i
Of course it is merely coincidence thai the
need of resorting to a bond issue to supplement
a revenue shortage invariably happens to come
' when we have a democratic administration in our
midst
Now and then the august senate fits action to
the occasion. "After listening for two hours to
a speech by Senator Works of California," says
a Congressional Minute, "the senate adjourned
for the day". Small wonder. 1
Boasting about Omaha's prosperity operates
to attract everybody who is abroad looking for
financial support for worthy public or charitable
enterprises. A reputation for generosity is a
good thing, but it also has its drawbacks.
'Nebraska has tried both the sale and the leas
ing plans with reference to its state school lands
and after the test of experience deliberately de
cided against the sale plan. Tell at what, If
anything, has really happened to justify reopen
ing the ease. i, .'i.-Tiv-Vi .
As the stipend of the: Nebraska lawmaker is
strictly limited to $600 by constitutional proviiion,'
the only gainers from a protracted session are
the per diem employes who don't care how long
the final adjournment is shoved off by time
frittering diversions. .V:. '
Governor Neville's flock of gold-lace colonels
is so numerous that it it doubtful whether all of
them can be gotten into one photograph which
makes it questionable whether it will be worth
the price to them to equip themselves with uni
forms and accoutrements. '.
The prospect looms large at Washington that
congress will strip "war brides" for some of the
raiment to cover the shocking nakednett of the
national treasury. In that event the favorites of
other daya may be driven to the extremity of
using a postage stamp at a Mother Hubbard.
The army insists it was not its fault that it
did not accomplish what it set ont to do in
Mexico. "Political considerations anticipated mili
tary results, viewed from the standpoint of mili
tary duty the expedition won laurels for itself and
credit for the tervice. Return to "God't country"
endt an awkward situation.
The Bethlehem Steel company counters on
Secretary Danieli' assertioni by offering to build
two of the four battle cruisers at, the tame cost
at the two built in government yards, betidet
agreeing to have the thipt ready for tervice ahead
: of the government ships. The offer blows a gap
ping hole in Secretary Daniels assertion of "ex
orbitant bids."
Consider the Hen
-Wall Street Journal.-
'One of the good things to be given the Amer-
.' ican people in tne near tuture is a new hen. A
government experiment station is said to be
4 working on the problem, and expects in the near
future to give the American public the benefit of
its lanors in the shape of a strictly business hen.
Heretofore our hens have been soecialisti in the
various lines of poultry products. The Leghorns
. and other Mediterranean breeds deal exclusively
in eggs and pay little attention to the fascinations
of a roaster. On the other hand, while the big
breeds of Asiatic extraction carve beautifully,
the complaint is that they are lazy. Even when
eggs are worth 98 cents a dosen and corn $1 a
bushel, they stick to the union rate of production.
Braving the penalties of the Sherman law
against combinations, scientific breeders haAre
been employed to merge all the good qualities of
the two classes of producers of poultry products
into one. inc resun snouia demonstrate again
now mucn more aesiraoie is co-ordinated env
ciency over cut-throat comoetition. The rl.uo-h,
ters of this new hen are expected to line the nests
with eggs, while, like a devotee of Moloch, she
1 will offer her sons to be roasted. In fact, thev
will dispute with the turkey for the place of honor
. .on ine taoie. -
A hen may be a little thing in the eyes of the
, unthinking. Yt among the country's greatest
assets may be classed the hen and the dairy cow.
1 hey form two of the surest sources of food sup
ply and guarantee against famine. What would
. not Germany give now for an abundance of hens
and cows and the ability to maintain them? Either
of the two produce more in value than our aver
age wheat crop. All the gold and silver mined hv
.the world in any year does not equal the value of
the product of either the American hen or dairy
If, therefore, governmental aid aueceedi in H.
veloping an improved type of hen, it means more
to those who consume food, as most of us do,
than the eradication of the boll weevil or even of
the packing oi porn at Washington.
Clearing the Car Congestion.
Now the Interstate Commerce commission has
set itself to a task that will provide a real test of
its powers and ability. It proposes to clear up
the existing freight car congestion, relieve the
stress incident to enforced shortage of transpor
tation facilities in producing sections, and to es
tablish a balance that will restore normal condi
tions throughout the country. First off, it" is
sues an order to all railroads, requiring that all
cart be returned to their owners within a speci
fied time. After this is accomplished, certain
regulations needed to keep cars moving are to be
enforced. Obstacles to be encountered by the
commission in its crusade are mainly those re
sponsible for the abnormal situation in the trans
portation industry.. This is the excessiye move
ment of commodities in one direction. General
distribution has been neglected in favor of the
special service of the export trade with a result
ant blockade that has been seriously reflected in
derangement of business in other sections. The
most serious of present factors is that while the
suffering tectiont of the country are clamoring
for relief, othert are demanding cars that more
goods may be sent to the seaboard. If the Inter
state Commerce commission succeeds in un
scrambling this omelette, it will do more of real
good than it hat yet achieved in all its previous
history.
Champ Clark Early Bird.
The prize for the first glimpse of the first
robin has not yet. been pulled down, but the an
nouncement of Champ Clark that he will be can
didate for the democratic nomination in 1920
marks him as the presidential "early bird." To.
be ture, Champ adds the .little condition, "If the
sign is right," which means that the prospect of
victory will have to be very bad indeed to keep
him off the track.
What Champ Clark's already announced can
didacy for 1920 presages for the democratic party
is a purely speculative question. Looking back
to Baltimore, it is hardly to be expected that he
will be the preferred heir-apparent of the Wilson
dynasty, nor is it within the probabilities that
he can escape the active opposition of the Bryan
element. -
Yet be it remembered Champ Clark carried
the democratic primary in Nebraska in 1912. Can
he do it again? Will the same forces that backed
him then be behind him for another try?. If it
should get down o choice between Champ Clark
and Bryan, what would Nebraska democrats do?
Far be it from ut to play the oracle for our
democratic friendt, but here are some interroga
tion points for them to juggle with.
Effect of Webb-Kenyon Decision.
What it to be the effect of the action of the
United Statet supreme court upholding the Webb
Kenyon law upon the prohibition movement?
Thit very vital question finds all sorts of answers
in the current comment on the decision. One
view it that it insures speedy nation-wide pro
hibition, and another, diametrically 'opposed, that
it interposes a new obstacle to the federal amend
ment All agree, however, that it makes it pos
sible for "dry" states to make their prohibition
laws at effective as they want to make them.
Referring to it as an attempt of certain ttatet
to force upon all the states the adoption of their
habits, the New York Timet, for example, sayt
"the court hat found for the country a way of
escape' from that peril" which "would be destruc
tive of our theory of local telf-government." '
The New York World it of the opinion that
"thit decision will cause more consternation in
many of the prohibition ttatet than anywhere elte
outside of the express companies and wholesale
liquor houses which cater especially to the pro
hibition trade. State governments no longer have
an excuse for failing to enforce prohibition. The
ancient plea that atate authority wat nullified by
federal authority and that there could be no ttate
interference with Interstate commerce has tost its
force." At the same time it teet "infinite possi
bilities" in giving to the doctrine of ttate rightt
"a new force and a new direction" presumably
for federal help to make state laws on other sub
jects effective.
To the Boston Transcript, on the other hand,
"it teemt quite probable that the effect will be
to put a certain restraint upon the adoption of
prohibitory lawt within the ttatet" because "it
will be impracticable at a legislative proposition
to adopt prohibition without making it fully effec
tive," and it suggests that "there are states which
may even be inclined to abandon the prohibition
bow in force."
Nebraska people, who have recently gone
through a prohibition campaign, will tee chiefly
the counter-balance in the fact that hereafter the
"prohibition-doetn't-prohibit" argument can no
longer be used to advantage, and that has been
one of the mainstays of the "wets." Generally
speaking, the decision has given visible impetus
to the "drya" and has plainly impressed congress
with the growing strength of the nation-wide
movement.
Democrat! Playing for Place.
Douglaa county democrats apparently intend to
take no unnecessary chances in their effort to
hold on to whatever offices have fallen into their
clutches. Representative Schneider fathers a bill
in the legislature, undoubtedly prepared by the
local governing board of the party, to transfer
from the county judge to the county attorney
membership on the board empowered to fill
vacancies. At present this board is made up of
the county judge, clerk and treasurer. In Doug
las county the judge and clerk are republicans,
while the treasurer and attorney are democratic.
If the Schneider bill becomes law, the democrats
wilt gain control of the board. This is important
to them just now, for a democratic member of the
Board of County Commissioners is in court facing
charges that may result in his removal. To name
his successor is the goal aimed 14 by the demo
crats, who may be depended upon to push the
Schneider bill with all the powers of the party
organization. ,
! " V
An official statement shows a shade less than
6 per cent profit on railroad capital in 1916. The
number of railroads included in the average is
not indicated, but the melancholy minimum could
scarcely have been reached in a boom year with
out piling in every streak of rust between Can
ada and the gulf.
"Once a convict, alwaya a convict" is gradu
ally disappearing from the unwritten rules of
police. Last year the New York force found em
ployment for 700 ex-convicts and assisted them in
other ways toward an honorable livelihood. Help
fulness bridged the gulf in these cases and marks
the main highway to penal reform. .
Why Shoes Come High
-Literary Diat
Doubtless some will think it is due somehow
to the war; everything seems to be due to
the war. But this time the amateur economists
are in the wrong. Shoes have gone up because
of the astute business ability of a Los Angeles
shoe dealer. The story, and it is vouched for by
the veracious Kansas City Star, reads like the
old saying, "For want of a nail, the kingdom was
lost." The high cost of shoes, if we are to be
lieve what the Star says, was sprung, like the
great oak, from the acorn of a business man's
desire for increased trade. How was it done?
"Women's shoes began to jump about two
years ago," said a local shoe dealer, "and a little
before this jump was noted you may have ob
served that the women were beginning to wear
high-top shoes shoes with tops higher than they
ever Jiad been before and in colors that pre
sentej a rainbow medley when you got enough of
them on the street at the same time. Naturally,
the dealers now cry that the shortage in leather
has sent up shoe prices, and, while that is true in a
seme, the war has had very little to do with the
leather shortage. Responsibility really rests with
an enterprising retail shoe dealer out in Los
Angeles.
"I think it was three summers ago that this
particular Los Angeles shoe dealer, owner of
the largest and smartest shoe store in town, con
ceived the idea that something extraordinary
would have to be done if he were to sell shoes
to women who were touring California from the
east. There had always been high-topped shoes
for woman and always shoes in many colors,
but they were the kind of shoes (or boots) that
one usually saw on the stage. They looked good
on the chorus girls and the prima donnas, see?
Well, this Los Angeles man sent an agent east
and he bought up all of these fancy boots that
he could find. In the course of time there was
received by the Los Angeles dealer of a job lot
of women's fancy shoes that looked like the
dream of an opium eater."
No specialist in futurist art, we are told, could
evolve a greater variety of colors than those
which tinted the wares he received. There were
champagnes, ivories, Havana browns, mouse and
pearl grays, chamois, smoke grays, pinks and reds
and it ia whispered no lack of the strange exotic
tones so romantically called elephant's breath,
song of roses, pigeon milk, negro head and a
thousand other indescribable shades purloined
from the "Arabian Nights." Then, adds the
narrator: '
"The dealer makes a great window display of
these fancy boots and the women tourists in
Los Angeles took upon them, then gasp for
breath, then wonder what has happened in the
east or in Paris and straightway start to buy.
"In the course of a few months the tourists
from California, returning east, began to startle
the women who had remained home and were
wearing the common old blacks and tans. The
stay-at-homes started a rush on the home shoe
stores, the home shoe ttoret ttarted a rush on
the manufacturers and, as a consequence the
leather market was upset and the manufacturers
were kept busy night and day making new pat
terns in a dozen different colon, and totally un
aware all the time as to the identity of the man
Who had ttarted all the excitement
, "Manufacturer!, of course, don't let golden
opportunities skid down the toboggan. They shot
up prices and women's boots of the more than
ordinary pattern now range in price from $12.50
to $25 a pair. The women would have them and
the manufacturers decided that the women must
pay for their fun. Not meamntr, you understand
that these high-priced boots are not made of
expensive material nor that they are not actually
worth far more than the fancy boot of an earlier
day. But that is the story. The Loi Angeles
man did it. If it hadn't been for that Los Angeles
fellow, I dare say the women would still be wear
ing black! and tani, leaving the richer and more
colorful boot! to the musical comedy, which, in
my candid opinion, owe a targe measure of their
decline to the competition which is now offered
by female pedestrians on our most frequented
highways." v
"What price shoe will the average woman buy
who enters your shop?" the dealer was asked.
"I should lay that $15 a per pair would be a
fair average. Many go as high as $25, others
drop down to $10. Many buy ahoes at $12.50 per
pair. I should say that $15 would be the average
price." ,
"How long have you been in the shoe busi
ness?" the dealer was asked.
"Fifteen years," he replied.
"Now, fifteen years ago," the visitor Continued,
"how many pairs of women" shoes did you tell
at, say, $12.50 a pair?"
The dealer smiled. "Let me tell you some
thing," he said. "If a woman came into the store
fifteen years ago and paid as much as $6 for a
pair of shoes, it caused such a commotion among
the clerks that we closed the doors after the cus
tomer had departed and talked about the unusual
incident for a solid hour."
People and Events
Out of 300 men examined in Chicago for
places in the United States signal corps only
twenty-four are reported to have passed. This
doesn t applaud Chicago's superior physical con
dition, but maybe the applicants are not repre
sentative. Burglars unawed by fearsome tradition have
broken over the so-called "dead line" thrown
around the jewelry and financial districts of New
York years ago. Three hauls of cash and jewelry
from cracked safes in one week indicate that
"dead lines" have lost their terrors.
A shrewd laundryman of Chicago, after a try
out of both classes, advertises for "women over
40 years of age, for laundry work" in lieu of
"girls." He finds the elders stick closer to their
jobs, do more work and are pi ef erred over young
sters. Hustle counts, not the years.
Old sea dogs at Portland, Ore., shake their
heads and mutter, "I told -you sol" At a recent
launching the bow of the craft was smeared with
loganberry juice instead of champagne. Half
way down the ways the boat keeled over and
stuck in the mud. At the end of three days the
craft took water.
A party by the name of Pat Crowe, competing
for a prize of $25 in Minneapolis, offers as a
substitute for "safety first" the motto, "Proceed
with caution." "If the slogan is adopted," com
ments the Minneapolis Tribune, "not only the city
but the wide country will be talking about it.
Moreover, it may that the $25 would come in
handy for Pat Crowe."
The Manhattan Association for Improving the
Condition of the Poor concludes from it! expe
rience in the metropolis that poverty is chiefly
caused by sickness. Ninety-five per cent of the
relief given last year was to families suffering
because of the sickness or-death of the wage
earner. By comparison, drunkenness, desertion
and unemployment were trivial causes.
The Brooklyn Bar association, composed of
675 members, rallied eighteen members to a
meeting which defeated a resolution condemninp
as unprofessional the acceptance of "any com
mission or rebate from the charges of printers
stenographers, auctioneers, newspapers or other
fiersons rendering services in connection with
itigation." The professional temper of the stay-at-homes
is anybody's guess.
William Thebus, Denver druggist and member
of the state board of pharmacy, says the first
year of prohibition in Colorado boosted the
candy industry beyond the dreams of dealers.
Many take to sweets as a substitute for drink.
"That's fine," comments a Denver dentist "A
fellow can drink if he has 100 holes in his teeth,
but say, when he gets to eating candy he will
have to have those holes plugged up, believe me."
Health Hint tor the Day. .
For persons subject to colds the
dally sniffing of a solution made from
Seller's alkaline antiseptic tablets (one
tablet to a half a cup of warm water)
Into the nostrils, and the gargling of
the throat with a half pint of cold
water twice daily are of great benefit
in cleansing these parts of germs.
One ear Ago Today In the War.
Greek officials acquiesced In allies'
occupation of Corfu. ,
Austrian! began march through
Montenegro to "disarm" the popula
tion. Allies violently bombarded Ger
man lines in France and Belgium.
Russians captured Austrian posi
tions in Gallcla and attacked on Bes
sarabian border.
In Omaha Thirty Yean Ago.
In the district court N. Merrtam and
others filed a petition asking that Al
fred Millard be appointed to succeed
his father, the late Ezra Millard, aa
trustee of a land syndicate which owns
a large tract of real estate in Merrick
county.
Dr. S. J. Chambers, Omaha's fa
vorite veterinarian, and wife have re
turned from a flying visit to old Eng
land. He left there eighteen years
ago, a young stripling, and when he
returned, an extra heavyweight the
we for NtaaSKAi j
townsfolk looked upon him as a
curiosity. Evidently they got a good
opinion of the climate and provender
of Nebraska, for Dr. Chambers is a
pretty healthy specimen.
Ed Rothery, Archie Rothery and
Captain O'Malley have gone to Platts
mouth to attend Paddy Norton's
benefit
Mr. Penned, with characteristic
energy, has gotten together the best
boy voices In the city and hit choir
at All Saints,' strengthened by a quar
tet of which Mrs. Cotton Is the so
prano, far surpasses that of any Epls
oonal church In Omaha. The pretty
church also contains a fine organ,,
manipulated oy Ji. A. xoaa.
Miss Carrie Detweller entertained a
few of her friends at her, home.
Twenty-second and Davenport in
honor of Miss Mamie Oliver of Coun
cil Bluffs. Among those present were
Misses Mamie Joslln, Annie and Jen
nie Toung, Messrs. John Brown,
Charlie Stone, Leonard and Charles
Strang.
MIbs Rich, a young girl in South
Omaha, has painted two creditable
fruit pieces that are now on exhi
bition at Hospe's art store.
Thit Day In History.
1788 Lord Byron, the poet who
"awoke one morning and found him
self famous," born in London. Died
In Greece, April 19, 1824.
1799 John H. Lathrop, first presi
dent of the University of Missouri and
also organiser of the University of
Wisconsin, born at Sherburne, N. Y.
Died at Columbia, Mo., August 2,
18.
1811 Sudden attack upon United
States troops by the British at River
Raisin, Mich., and massacre of; the
panic-stricken soldiers by the Indians.
1827 Duke of Wellington appointed
commander-in-chief of the British
army.
1881 Obelisk brought from Egypt
set up In Central park, New York
City.
1890 Adam Forepaugh, famous
circus proprietor, died In Philadelphia.
Born. In 1881.
1901 Victoria, queen of Great
Britain and Ireland and empress of
India, died at Osborne, Isle of Wight
Born at Kensington, May 24, 1819.
1905 Black Sunday in St Peters
burg: Russian strikers attempted to
present a petition to the czar and were
fired on by troopa
1906 Steamer Valencia wrecked
oft Vancouver Island, with loss of 129
lives.
1910 The Knox plan to neutralize
the Manchurlan railroads was re
jected by France and,Great Britain.
1912 United States troops occupied
Tientsin In China. ' ,
The Day We Celebrate.
Prince Christian of Schleswig-Hol-stetn,
who married a daughter of
Queen Victoria, born eighty-six years
ago today.
Chase S. Osborn, former governor
of Michigan, bom In Huntington
county. Indiana, fifty-seven years ago
today.1
Terence V. Powderly, former head
of the Knights of Labor, later con
nected with the Department' of Labor
at Washington, born at Carbondale,
Pa., sixty-three years ago today.
Dr. Francis L. Patton, former presi
dent of Princeton university, born in
Bermuda, seventy-four years ago to
day. Amos A. Strunk, outfielder of the
Philadelphia American league base
ball team, born In Philadelphia,
twenty-eight years ago today.
Timely Jottings and Reminders.
"Gong He Fat Toy." meaning" "a
Happy New Year." This expression
will be on the lips of the celestial
elite today, as this Is the beginning
of the new year of the Chinese.
The American Institute of Interna
tional Law, organized at the Pan
American conference in Washington
last year, begins its second annual
meeting today in Havana.
Topeka's sixteenth annual Mid-Winter
.exposition is to be opened today
and will ' be continued until Feb
ruary i.
Upward of $1,000,000 worth of furs
will be placed on sale In New York
today at the opening of the third in
the series of public fur auctions held
In that city since the beginning of the
war.
The so-called labor cases, In which
more than 100 labor union leaders
are charged with restraint of trade,
are docketed for trial before Federal
Judge Landls in Chicago today.
Industrial and military problems
growing out of the war are to be the
principal subjects of discussion at the
seventeenth annual meeting of the Na
tional Civic Federation, which begins
today at the Hotel Astor in New York
City.
Storyette of the Day.
There lives In Providence a, very
matter-of-fact man whose wife is, and
always has been, a bit sentimental and
fond of trying to draw from husband
those little endearments he has ever
failed to furnisb.
"I suppose," said she, on one occa
sion, "if you should meet some pretty
girl you would cease to care for me."
"What nonsense you talk!" said hus
band. "What do I care for youth or
beautyT You suit me all right"
New York Times.
Endorses The Bee's Stand.
Omaha, Jan. 20. To the Editor of
The Bee? 1 am glad to see your op
position to such measures as the sale
It the state school lands and the bill
for child Insurance. Both movements
should receive a most emphatic con
demnation. Let us hope that our
state Is too far advanced In civiliza
tion to countenance either. There Is
perhaps little hope of the latter of
these two bills getting anywhere, but
the unthinking might readily accept
the sophistry advanced In support of
the first proposition.
That there may be some degree of
Injustice done to those counties In
which there are large sections of the
state school lands, on account of such
counties not receiving taxes from
them, is not to be questioned; but the
remedy does not lie in the direction
of robbing the entire state in order
that a few land grabbers might secure
a foothold.
If these lands become alienated they
are lost forever to the people of the
state. As long as they are retained
the entire state In a measure Is the
beneficiary. The more valuable they
become the larger will be the revenue
to the state. Senator Robertson ad
vances the idea that it is no more in
consistent for the state to dispose of
these lands than for the federal gov
ernment to alienate its lands. That
may be true. But there are those in
this country wise enough to under
stand that the federal government has
been blundering along on this propo
sition for years. Why need this state
follow the same ignorant example?
The time will come When the people
of this country will see the blunder
on the part of congress. Let the peo
ple of Nebraska kill this proposition,
so far as this state goes, In order to
prevent future regrets.
It is far better that the users of
these lands pay the state a rental
than become the prey of land grabbers,
their substance gouged from them In
rents.
If there Is no other way, let those
counties receive larger apportionment
from the school fund in proportion to
the taxes they fall to receive from
these lands. L. J. QUINBY. .
Needed High School of Commerce
Building.
Omaha, Jan. 19. To the Editor of
The Bee: We notice in most every
edition of the papers something about
the building of Brownell Hall; how
some rich person has donated sev
eral thousand or even hundreds of
thousands of dollars for its comple
tion, but it la very seldom that we see
anything about the building of our
own public schools which are so badly
needed.
Take, for example, the High School
of Commerce, growing to be one of
the largest schools in the city of
Omaha. Look at the location, Its sur
roundings and the building. The
building itself is not fit for teachers
or pupils to dwell in, the rooms not
being properly heated. Then, also,
between each period pupils and teach
ers have to go back and forth from
annex to building, or building to an
nex, regardless of the weather. And
then the health doctors will wonder
why so many pupils are sick and put
of school. This is the reason and the
the only one. The school is now so
crowded that we can hardly move
around between periods. When the
February freshmen come, which will
be very soon, I don't see what we will
do; hut we will get along some way,
for "where there's a will there's a
way," and the will is always to be
found at the High School of Com
merce. 1
All the store buildings around, with
an addition of eight new annexes, are
now used by the High School of Com
merce and there is still a demand for
more room and the only way to get
more room Is to have a new building.
The citizens of Omaha can have it
built. So I hope the citizens will show
their spirit and see that this school,
which is doing so much tor the edu
cation of pupils, will have a new
building.
HIGH SCHOOL OF COMMERCE
PUPIL.
About Ambulance Chasers.
Omaha, Jan. 19. To the Editor of
The Bee: There is, and has been, so
much talk of "ambulance chasers"
that a, word on the subject may not
be out of place. There are two kinds
of "ambulance chasers," both equally
objectionable. The first ambulance
chaser, and the one always on the
job, is the claim agent of the corpora
tion or Insurance company which has
assumed the liability of the accident
This ambulance chaser not infre
quently beats the ambulance to the
injured party and many persons (so
suffering as to be unconscious of their
rights) have signed away their rights
for a song, and are now inmates of
charitable institutions, supported by
the community, when they should be
supported by those responsible for
their Injury.
The ambulance chaser who solicits
damage suits should also be sup
pressed, but before he Is wiped out
of existence the corporation ambu
lance chaser should be abolished.
The workman's compensation law has
done much to prevent the bringing
of damage suits by employes; but has
it been of any real benefit to injured
persons? This law should be revised
and there should be a rule established
which will hold void any "compro
mise" of any claim for damages until
after a certain time say six weeks
or two months after the accident
which caused the injury. When this
has been done, then any solicitation
of business by lawyers should be de
clared unlawful; but one ambulance
chaser should be given no advantage
over the other.
This whole matter really comes up
because of the commercializing of the
practice of law. We are trying to
harmonize commercialism and profes
sionalism. In my opinion, It cannot
be done. All lawyers must earn an
Income by which to live. Only in re
cent years has the right of any attor
ney to a legal claim for fees been rec
ognized. Once the lawyer received
"honorarium" and the client was un
der no legal obligation to pay any
thing. If the old method persisted
land the most ethical of us would
probably object to a change In the
present law) there would be fewer
lawyers and those In the practice
would work for love of the profession
and not for the cash which it pro
vides I notice one Omaha firm advertises
"law business." The conscious or un
conscious irony of this advertisement
Is delicious. We have reached a point
where law is recognized as business;
therefore, let us not object to "busi
ness" methods with all of Its ad
vertising, soliciting, huckstering and
brokerage and let the best man win.
Legal ethics still persist in the minds
of a few of us who were so unfor
tunate as to "read" law in the office
of some old fogy whose love of the
profession exceeded his ability as an
advertiser. Long live the modern law
school. Its prospectus opens the door
of imagination to those looking for
"easy money." and as it competes
with the commercial college, the de
partments of applied business and
applied science of the modern schools
It produces Its logical results an an
nual output of bright young men who
will have financial success in spite
of the time-worn traditions of the
bar.
All hail the "business" of law! Hats
off to the new system! The fine old
traditions may be shattered; the entire
judicial system may be overturned:
"substantial Justice" may take the
place of well-defined law and the will
of the man temporarily sitting as "the
court" may take the place of rules
long established and upon which our
entire legal system is founded; but the
"business" of law must proceed and
only a few "old fogys" are pained be
cause of the friction produced by the
inevitable change of the practice of
law from a profession to a business.
H. H. CLAIBORNE.
Looking Back at the Election.
Scottsbluff. Neb., Jan. 20. To the
Editor of The Bee: Referring to the
second chapter of the "Lamentations
of Agnew," permit me to say that this
attempt to stir up sectional strife by
exhuming a skeleton that has been In
terred for more than half a century
deserves only to be mentioned that it
may be despised.
Neighbor Agnew has the wrong
hypothesis altogether. It may be true
enough that the suppression of the
colored vote in the south, much as
It is to be decried contributed to in
crease Mr. Wilson's majorities in some
of the southern states, but it was the
intelligent untrammeled, patriotic re
publicans of the north and west that
cast the decisive votes.
Four distinct elements contributed
to Mr. Hughes' defeat: Organized la
bor, the disaffected faction of the so,
called progressives, the pacifists, and,
last but not least, Mr. Hughes' "sealed
bid" for the votes of the un-American
element of our foreign-born popula
tion. Mr. Hughes' campaign of criticism
was inopportune. Anyone can "find
fault." I, even, can criticise, and I
am not a candidate for president
either.
I would advise Neighbor Agnew to
take something for what ails him.
I would suggest that he take three
grains of tincture of Americanism, dis
solved in a tablespoonful of warm
patriotism, to be taken just before he
writes his regular trl-weekly letter to
your Letter Box.
J. F. WEYBRIGHT.
SMILING LINES.
"That man haa mora money than he
knowa what to do with."
"1 heard that and was trying to help
him out by ehowing htm several thlnsa In
which he might lnveat money. And still
I couldn't lntereat him." Loulaville Courier
tEARMK.KAilBBlE,
U6Y tDWIqW WRTHE FWSr
TIME - SVWtt X oRWr VfcSfc
FfTtVW SOME ClqWS
WWl;rOVOUttr0lJr'Wff
HE SrIT ALUWatb SMOKE
1W THE PARBRf
She What does It mean when the ntm
of a stock In the stock-market quotations
haa the letters "w, 1." after UT
He (who didn't know himself until he
bought on a five-point margin) Wasted la
come, an far as I can discover, Puck.
WANTED
A thoroughly capable stock
and bond salesman, preferably
with promotion experience Is
wanted by large middle west
corporation whose business Is
with the best class of business
and professional men. We
must have a man wbe under
stands western people and
western ways and who can
meet the most intelligent ele
ment of the community on a
plane of mental equality. To
such a man we offer an ex
ceptionally desirable connec
tion, both from the viewpoint
of remuneration and character
of work. The man we want
will be ' able to earn from
$8,000 to $6,000, or better, a
year, depending upon his abil
ity solely. Applicant must
positively be over thirty and
be prepared to furnish highest
references. State age and give
your experience briefly in first
letter.
Address Box 1486
Bee
Yon do not scowl at a friend yon meet
on the street; yon smile. Why have a
scowl in your voice when you talk over the
telephone?
NEBRASKA TELEPHONE CO.