fHE BEE: OMAHA, MONDAY, JUNE 18, 1917.
The Om'aha Bee
DAILY tMORNJNG)-EVENINO-6UNDAY
FOUNDED BY EDWARD ROSE WATER
VICTOR ROSE WATER, EDITOR
THB BEE PUBLISHING COMPANY. PROPRIETOR.
Entered at Omaha poatofftot m Memd-elus Batter.
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION.
Br Curt. Hf UftlL
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Bt1iuj without Suadftj V 4.00
limdti Bt only SDo 100
fend actio of cbtnft of tvtdrtu n tmtolirity Is dtllTUT to
REMITTANCE
teat! (R draft axpmt er gotul order. Ootr 1
paromt oT trntil ooountt. rmoau mdu
OFFICES.
OauDfr-Tbt Ba BuJPdin. Chicago Puroifi flu Balldlaa,
Hmtth Amah-.!!! N Ht Km fork MA fifth Alt.
ObudbII Bioff-14 N. Mats tt Be Lonlt B'k. of Oohubwoi
Liiioota LittJa BalidiBf, wu&iuftoa tss ia at . w.
CORRESPONDENCE
f)flr murnnlntlon relating to tm ud 4.loi.iI attt td
MAY CIRCULATION
56,469 Daily Sunday, 51,308
arms sucnlstlnfl for ths monUa obteflfed too .won 10 tr DirilM
wuilauis, uroulMioa Manas.
SabKribm lurlsf th. city tfe.uM km Tk. Bm bmIImI
t. than. Adtfrau ctuufM M ua M rasjisisua.
How does your garden grow these days?
Hard smashes along fifty-mile sections of the
front fairly answer the assertion that Haig has
last the initiative.
Those bickering detectives may yet be sub
jected to the muffler regulation, so that the un
interested public may sleep.
Congress could render the country great serv
ice and pull down considerable revenue by im
posing a confiscatory tax on war prophecies.
Neutrals are given to understand that the sur
est route to America's food lines is to line up
with the allies. Come on in, the shooting is
good.
Omaha did more than its share to put across
the Liberty loan and will now do more than Its
share to put over the Red Cross hundred million
, dollar war fund.
For the benefit of those too young to be
'drafted and still want to serve, it is suggested
that the cornfields need men as badly as the
battlefields just now.
Nick Carter, Old Sleuth, Cap Collier, Craig
Kennedy and other of that glorious company must
feel some tinge of professional jealousy when
they read of what is going on between their
Omaha prototypes these days.
Uncle Sain will not wait for congress to act
on the food law, for waste and consequent hunger
will not delay while statesmen deliberate. The
job of establishing control may be half over by
the time the bill is ready to sign.
Speculative bids around $2 a bushel for the
new crop of wheat find few takers among Illi
nois wheat growers. A vast majority of farmers
lost out on last winter's top prices and are not
likely to grab the short end of the market price
this year.
T;he treatment accorded the defeated Ameri
cans on the tanker Morcni by the victorious sub
marine commander is the first touch of warlike
chivalry reported since the beginning of U-boat
ruthlessness. The action is far more typical of
German manliness than the method of frightful
ncss pursued by inhuman masters,
As a joykiller I'rof. Irving Fisher of Yale uni
versity achieves " distinction. Gloom exudes
through lamentations over what he regards as
the low standard of health in this country. Ac
cording to his census, the health of 99 per cent
of the people is below par. Cheer up, Doc; take
the fresh air treatment mixed with sunshine.
Our amiable contemporary wants to slur Prof.
E. R. A. Seligman as one who on questions of
taxation and finance is "deemed an authority on
.Wall street." Recognition of Prof. Seligman as
an authority Is not confined to Wall street or any
other street, but is world-wide and universal with
fcveryone who has any familiarity with the subject
. Nol Omaha refuses to yield superiority to
Des Moines for facilities, location or accessibility
for the military cantonment To a man up a tree,
it looks as if there were either an invisible factor
working for a decision in favor of Des Moines or
an inexcusable failure on the part of our repre
sentatives in Washington to press the advantages
possessed by Omaha.
Starvation and War
-Will Stmt Jsuroal-
Ir is of the last importance at this time that
our bankers particularly should bring before the
wide public with whom they .are brought in con
tact in the most intimate and confidential way the
seriousness and purpose of the war. Above all,
they should discourage sentimental peace talk,
where the wish is merely father to the thought.
Miss Jane Addams furnishes an example of this
kind of agitation, unconsciously bringing out the
typically illogical position of the pacifist. She says:
The United States owes too much to all na
tions who have come here to till her broad acres
iu uiuw uic women ana cnuaren ot any nation to
atarve. The United States should tell in atli..
.-. ' - "- r iiiuhiu icii u. nines
it is not tn this war for the purpose of starving
anu imiuicu.
Miss Addams is incapable of falsehood, but this
s much more dangerous because it is a half truth.
She states that part which suits her sentiment and
ignores the rest. When she speaks of starving
women and children she means the women and
children of Germany. When the north block
aded the south it was not concerned about the
women and children, for the good reason that it
was always in the power of the south to protect
them by surrender.
This is the principle of siege and blockade. The
blockade of the allies is increasingly effective and
it does not seem to occur to Miss Addams that
Germany and its German friends here have made
two irreconcilable statements and continue to
make them, indifferent to the fact that one kills
the other. The first is that Germany cannot be
starved out I he second is that the allies are, as
Miss Addams claims, starving Germany's women
and children.
Before the surrender of Paris in 1871 Bis
marck was asked if, in common humanity, he
would allow the little babies to be taken out of
the city, in order to save their innocent lives. He
flatly refused. He said the Parisians could termi
nate the siege and the hardships it involved by
surrender. A siege without such hardships would
be no siege at all. If the women and children of
Germany are starving Germany can- always ter
minate the blockade. It can surrender. It does
not hesitate to starve the women and children of
Belgium or of Poland or Roumania. But evi- i
dently these are not the women and children in
the mind of Miss Addams,
The arrival of the American mission in Fetro
grad and the interchange of formal greetings be
tween Mr. Root, on behalf of the United States,
and M. Terschencko, minister of foreign affairs
ot the new Kussian government, augur well for
concerted action by the "oldest and youngest of
the great democracies."
The purpose of the mission is put in most
telling form in the declaration that we, in Amer
ica, "are going to fight and have already begun to
fight for Russian freedom equally with our own"
and the demand upon Russia "to fight for our free
dom equally with theirs." In a word, we have
made a common cause with Russia and the other
European allies against the threatened domination
of military autocracy, not because we are the
particular target aimed at by Germany, but be
cause the destruction of democracy in Europe
and the subversion of all the accepted laws of
nations hold out the same threat to our own free
institutions.
Mr. Root has also tried to make it plain that
the United States has no desire to interfere with
the development by Russia of its own form of self
government to solve its own problems in its own
way. The war is, in fact, from one point of view,
a war to insure to each nation this right to make
its own government conform tn iti ririr. nl
own people and to work out its salvation free
irom tne interference or pressure of the autocra
cies of other countries impelled by greed or self-
interest.
The very fact that Mr. Knot .nit hi.
in Petrograd is recognition by the United States
of the importance of the position occupied by
Russia and of our feeling that the prolonging or
speedy ending of the war will dmniH larri
on Russian co-operation. We havi now the
assurance on the Dart of Russia thai it will f,t,.
with us, and if that assurance is followed up in
good laitn, tne result must be quick progress to
ward peace through a triumph of democracy.
Taking Over the New Ships.
The first really vifforou. InrwirA n.-,,u
by the United States in its war nrnorram ts t
j"o- mv
commandeering of all the work n ,,nj.. .,
struction in the several shipyards of the country.
naising ana equipping an army, passage of needed
appropriation, selling a hum bond in. &nrf itmL
lar acts are the routine acts of preparation, but
the taking over of the shins nnw hen& hilt
add them to the equipment of the government, is
reauy a war move ot first magnitude. German ex
perts base their assertion that' th I c,.,-
is a neglible quantity in the European fighting be
cause of shortage of tonnage needed to move men
and materials. In making this they rely on the
continued activity of the U-boats, crediting that
campaign with such effect
Atlantic transportation. It is quite apparent.
inereiore, tnat our trovernment ha. ..
difficulty that might be experienced in the mat
ter of securing transports and, while relying on
the shipping of its maritime .lt;. ; -...
- - . iiujiuatg
also to secure what may be required on its own
moiion. uur navy lias never been as thoroughly
supported with noncomha ttant vc.fla B ita
,-. . 11.
rivals, nor has our army had an extensive feet
lor its service, out the move now made will in
a measure meet the emergency. Transport for
men and munitions will be provided, despite the
u-ooai inreats.
Question of Food Prices.
The Federal Trade commission h ariniil,.
commenced work of inauirv into tlir nnV. nf A
in the United States, preliminary to the general
survey of the entire food situation, soon to be in
stituted. It will be weeks, nerhan. t,.fr.
definite statement may be looked for, as a satis-
raciory investigation will take a long time to
make. Governmental inauirie. h.v Mn u.a
the effect of really remedying the trouble looked
into, lor tne very reason that, no matter what
the finding, delays from One cam., nr Anntli.,
have interfered with the report and the applica
tion of any auggested improvement until the pub
lic ha forgotten the Astern-, nf th. h,r,i .-
watching tome new grievance. This time, how
ever, me suojtct is too vital in its nature and
all-embracing in its scone to nermit th. lnni,ir
being smothered by interested parties. A gen
eral and well-founded belief exists that food prices
have been unfairly manioulated. that unni;. h9.
been controlled and artificial shortage created, to
tne end that gamblers in public necessities have
enriched themselves throuch inflatinn thn. mart
possible, i The first great duty of the new board
will be to get to the bottom of this condition.
When that point is reached a start ran h. man.
on the next big job, that of protecting consumers
irora lurmer extortion.
When Mexico Gets Ita Revenue.
President Carrama is going about the ioh of
reviving the depleted excheauer of his
in a very practical and energetic way and by the
time ne reappears tor election should he last
out his present term he will have a ennsicWahl.
fund accumulated in the treasury he found empty,
most oi it garnered trom the foreigner he so
frankly dislikes. Principal of the new taxes he
has decreed since he received the formal .1. rtinn
as president is one on oil and all its derivatives
entering into export. Whatever of the Mexican
product is consumed in Mexico is free of tax,
but each drop of oil of any grade entering into
the export trade, as well as all the by-products
of refining, must pay tribute to the national ex
chequer. As the sale of oil fnr .vnnrt ilnu.1
wholly to the United States and England, the
Mexican on fields being owned by American and
British concessionaire th. to 1. n;A h.. tk. .
Vies for which the genial president in the past
nas expressed the least liking. Of course, this
pian ottered the readiest means for supplying the
urgent needs of the country for a rcliahl. r.u.. I
nue and the oil industry deserves the designation
appnea to it Dy the president in his decree, "a
fount of income for the federal treasury, propor
tionate to the great profits derived tlierefrnm hv
the companies and concerns dedicated to the oil
industry. Between oil and sisal, the Gringo is
going to be a pretty steady contributor to the
fund for rehabilitating Mexico.
"I .thought the whole world knew about mv
leaving the United States." said General Persh
ing, on landing somewhere in England. The
wnole world might had the newspapers told all
they knew, if ports were made to veil the depar
ture of the general and his staff, but these were
rendered futile by exposing on the dock 300 pieces
of baggage bearing labels as conspicuous as
theatrical posters. Secrecy which surprises peo
ple inland amounts to a joke at" Atlantic 'ports.
With nrnq:uJ ll L.l A f - - i -
vl s-,tiu niror gelling oenina looa price
r,mil,(in f- J , . ... ..
i '"uu speculators mignt as well come
down and play fair. 'In a battle between the or
ganized manv and tl.a : i r
j u lvc vuuauiig icw even an
amateur sport can pick the winner.
The Oil of War
By Frederk J. Haskin
Washington, June IS. If the war lasts for
several years, unless some great new source of
petroleum is found, the pleasure car and the pleas
ure boat may have to be deprived of their share
of the world's dwindling gasoline supply.
This is the substance and meaning of several
reports which have been made by the bureau of
mines to a subcommittee of the Council of Na
tional Defense, which has charge of the petroleum
problem. This committee is composed of leading
oil producers, with Mr. Bedford of the Standard
Oil as its chairman. .Needless to say, this com
mittee will not be at all hasty in recommending
the curtailment of any use of any petroleum prod
uct. It is known that it has not looked with favor
upon any line of argument pointing toward the
limiting by law the use of gasoline.
Petroleum is one of the chiefest sinews of war.
We can no more beat Germany or defend Amer
ica without an adequate petroleum supply than
we can do it without enough men. Not a wheel
turns without a oetroleum oil to lubricate it.
Gasoline moves armies and their supplies, lifts
aeroplanes to vantage heights, carries back the
wounded. Modern navies burn petroleum. And
right now the allied navies are counting their
barrels of oil like misers. All of our big vessels
are oil burners and our Navy department is
counting upon keeping up its oil sunolv bv dis
tilling petroleum out of shales a process which
nas not been perlected as yet in this country.
Director Van H. 1'anning of the bureau of
mines has prepared a graphic chart wl !ch shows
how we are using this precious fluid more clearly
than any words. He has plotted three curves,
one of which shows tf"c rate at which we are
producing petroleum, tnother one the rate at
which production of gasoline has increased, and
the third the rise of the automobile. If these
three lines were nearly parallel we would know
that we could go on using gasoline at the present
rate for an indefinite length of time. But these
lines diverge sharply. It would be impossible for
them to diverge much farther. They show that
the production of automobiles has already in
creased fliu per cent above the increase ot gaso
line production. Tbjis is what Mr. Manning calls
"the apparently unsolvable puzzle" of our gasoline
supply.
Should things go on as they are going, the
answer to the puzzle is easy. It would be as easy
as tne puzzle presented Dy a tank which is leak
ing two gallons an hour, and receiving one gallon
an hour, the tank would soon be empty. And
our gasoline supply will soon be exhausted un
less something is done either to supplement the
VK. icsinci lis use.
There are several oossibilitie9 of sunnlement.
ing the supply which may make unnecessary for
a long time any restriction in the use of gasoline
or oil. The trouble is that none of these is more
than a possibility. The thing to keep in mind
iiuw is mm jasmine is a national need, and mat
it is unpatriotic to waste it.
Scientists are working to supplement our gaso
line supply in several ways, all of which will prob
acy De successiui to some extent in the course
of time; but none of which can be counted upon
to win the war. More efficient methods of get
ting oil from the sands are being perfected. Great
quantities of oil will undoubtedly be distilled from
snaics in me near luiure. 1 he new cracking proc
ess pencciea oy tne Bureau ot mines turntshed
7'A per cent of the gasoline production last year,
has enormous possibilities, and is being installed
in most of our large oil works. The treatment
of natural gas by compression, refrigeration and
absorption has produced a good grade of gasoline.
Products of the distillation of coal are now being
used as substitutes for gasoline in Europe.
The mathematics of the gasoline and petrol
eum situation in this country, as summarized by
Director Manning, are as follows: Our total pro
duction of gasoline last year was fifty-four million
barrels. The increase in the number of auto
mobiles since 1910 used just about half of this
amount. Between 55 and 60 per cent is exported
and the rest is used in boats, tractors, stationary
engines, and for uses of minor importance. All
of these uses show some tendency to increase.
The only thing that is hard to increase is the
gasoline supply.
Our marketed production of petroleum in 1916
was 295 million barrels. Our storage stock in
January of that year was estimated at 170 million
barrels. By the end of the year this had dwindled
to 150 million barrels. In other words, we had to
draw twenty million barrels of oil from storage in
order to make up our failing production.
During 1915 the normal consumption of crude
petroleum was 12 per cent greater than in 1914,
and last year it was 13 per cent greater than in
1915. If it goes on increasing at the same rate,
our normal peace consumption of petroleum for
1917 will be about forty million barrels greater
than that of 1916. This takes no account of the
increased demand caused by war. And this is
what Director Manning says about the supply.
"The production of crude petroleum in this
country during last year is thought to have
reached high water mark, and it is very likely
that the production for 1917 will be smaller than
it was last year. . The difference between
the estimated production and consumption during
this year will amount to sixty million
barrels which must be drawn out of
storage. With only about 150 million barrels of
crude petroleum in storage at the first of the year,
and with it becoming necessary to draw
irom mat reserve probably sixty million barrels
it becomes apparent that some radical
step must be taken to meet the situation."
Don't waste it. That's all you can do.
Our Fightng Men
James Proctor Morton.
t Commander James Proctor Morton, U. S. N.,
in command of the Scorpion, which vessel was
reported recently to be-interned by the Turkish
government at Constantinople, is regarded as
one of the most cool and courageous officers of
the United States navy. During the war with
Spain he was an assistant engineer and was in
charge of the engine room of the little gunboat
Vixen. While on blockade duty nff th. -nat
of Cuba an accident occurred to one of the boil
ers of the Vixen. At great personal peril En
gineer Morton entered the fire room of the ves
sel and directed the repairing of the machinery.
He was in charge of the Wisconsin, Kearsarge
and Kentucky, in reserve at the Philadelphia yard,
when assigned to command the Scorpion in the
early part of 1915.
George R. Clark.
Captain George R. Clark, U. S. N., who for
some time has been stationed in Hawaii as com
mandant of the United States naval station there,
is 60 years of age and a native of Ohio. His ex
perience in the navy dates back to 1878, when he
left Annapolis and went on his first cruise. During
the interval between that novitiate and his gain
ing his present rank in 1910 he had the usual
tour of the fleets, serving in the Pacific. Atlantic,
Mediterranean and China squadrons. He was an
active participant in the war with Spain, in the
suppression of the Philippine insurrection and in
the Boxer rebellion in China. Captain Clark is
considered one of the best informed officers of
the service and is the author of several books
dealing with the history of the navy.
William S. Mitchell.
Major William S. Mitchell. ,U. S. A., who is
serving as aviation attache of the American mili
tary mission to France, is one of the noted avia.
tion experts of the United States signal corps. He
cnierco tne military service at the beginning of
the war with Spain, enlisting from Milwaukee
as a volunteer in the signal corps the dav after
President McKinley called for volunteers. At the
close of the war he entered the regular army and
for eight years was the youngest captain in the
service. His experience and inventions in con
nection with wireless telegraphy have been note
worthy. Last spring h was sent to France to
serve as military observer for our army. Re
cently he was cited in the general orders of the
French army for bravery and efficiency in the
face of the enemy.
rfyg" 1" A V M
Proverb for tbe Say.
Discontent la a charming lapdog.
One Year Ago Today In the War.
Paula reported recovery of ground
for the French In the Verdun region.
Russians further expanded the Lutak
salient south of Kadzlvlloff.
Lieutenant General Count von
Moltke, celebrated German com
mander, died of. apoplexy Id Berlin.
In Omaha Thirty Years Ago.
The Benson motor made Its trial trip
over the new line and the "ars will
run regularly In a few days aa soon as
the connection is made on Cuming
street.
The commissioners have accepted
the resignation of Captain tV. S. 8ea
vey from his position aa chief of the
Omaha police force and have "elected
John McDonald, the senior cAptain of
the force, to succeed Chief Seavey.
Mr. Burton, manager of the Midland
Electric company, was presented with
a tea et and an elegant watch charm
by his Independent Order of Odd Fel
lows friends.
The lioyd Dramatic club presented
"The Pearl of Savoy," in which the
following took part: Mrs. W. E. Kock
well. Miss Mary Meyers, George Os
tram, Miss N. O. Hatcher, Joseph
Murphy, Annie Bogue, J. C. Palmer,
John King and Arthur Rathbun.
The Board of Public Works met,
Messrs. Bulconibe and Ileimrod and
City Engineer Tillson being present.
The graders on the northwest exten
sion have reached the heavy grade just
west of Crelghton college, where they
have a cut of eighty feet.
While hose cart No. 1 was hurrying
to a Are In the barn of J. V. Sweeney
on Fifteenth and Capitol avenue the
wheels struck a pile of rock on Izard
street and threw Driver Kreager to
the ground. The horsea dashed on
with the apparatus to Douglas street
and thence to Sixteenth and Leaven
worth before they were caught.
Thl8 Day in History.
1776 American forces under Gen
eral Sullivan retired from Canada to
Crown Point N. Y.
1778 British evacuated Philadel
phia and retired across the Delaware
through New Jersey toward New York.
1812 War declared between the
United States and Oreat Britain.
1815 Battle of Waterloo between
the French tinder Napoleon and the
allies under Wellington and Blucher.
1852 Surviving British officers who
fought at Waterloo held their last an
niversary dinner in London.
1867 Finland celebrated the 700th
anniversary of the Introduction of
Christianity.
1864 Confederates under Generals
Lee and Beauregard repulsed the re
peated assaults ot the federals on
Petersburg.
1893 The bodies of Prussians who
fell at the battle of Stall In 1870 were
delivered by French to German troops
and taken across the border for re
burial. 1916 President Wilson called out
the organized militia of all the states
for service on the Mexican border
The Day We Celebrate.
John E. Utt. general agent of the
Rock Island, was born June 18, 1849,
In a log cabin in Missouri. Ho went
into the railroad business in 1869 and
has stayed with it, except for the
period he was commercial ngent for
the Lincoln Business association and
commissioner for the Omaha Commer
cial club.
Claude T. Uren, oto-laryneologist. la
just 30 today. He was born in Lfad,
b. D., and is a lecturer in his chosen
field In Crelghton university.
Major John J. Kingman, member of
the general staff corps of the United
States army, born in Nebraska thirty
live years ago today.
Naval Constructor Richard M. Watt,
former chief constructor of the United
States navy, born at York, Pa., forty
five years ago today.
Raymond B. Stevens, former New
Hampshire congressman, now a mem
ber of the Federal Shipping board,
born at Binghamton, N. Y., forty-three
years ago today.
William C. Redfteld, secretary of
commerce in President Wilson's cab
inet, born at Albany, N. Y' flfty-ulne
years ago today.
Isaac Stephenson, former United
States senator from Wisconsin, born
at Frederlcton. N. B., eighty-eight
years ago today.
Timely Jottings and Reminders.
The annual Bunker Hill day cele
bration at Charlestown, Mass., today Is
to be made the occasion for a big pa
triotic demonstration.
President Wilson haa proclaimed
the week begining today aa Red Cross
week, "during which the people of the
United States will he called upon to
give generously and In a spirit of pa
triotic sacrifice for the support and
maintenance of this work of national
need."
A three months' course of training
for negro citizens of the United States
wishing to become officers of the Unit
ed States army will begin today at
Fort Des Moines, la.
Executive officers of western rail
roads are to meet in Chicago today to
consider curtailment of passenger
train service aa a war measure
economy.
The annual wage conference be
tween representatives of the Inde
pendent Sheet and Tinplate Manufac
turers' association and the Amalga
mated Association of Iron, Steel and
Tin Workers opens today at Atlantic
City.
The annual convention of the Inter
national Association of Rotary Clubs,
meeting today at Atlanta, is to have
as speakers Charles M. Schwab. Gen
eral Leonard Wood and others of
prominence.
WE TALK OF THE FLAG.
Detroit Krc. Press.
"Toll me about the flag." he said.
Aa I .as putllnc htm to bed.
"And why men wave their hats and c!
Whenever It Is drawing: near?"
And so we stopped undressing then
To talk about the time when men
Were facing cannon shot and shell
10 serv. me nag we love so well.
r
I told him of the mn who diM
In froin wood and countryside
uonw rra yo in battles prim
To keep a flag; tkn that for htm.
I told him all about the mar.
Th pot)ei whlto and crimnon bara.
And what they drtnmed of and they so&ght
Aa bitterly they bled and fought.
"X,t no on tell you a you grow
That nothing to the flag you owe.
I-t no one whisper that it means
Hut pleasant days and peaceful scenes.
And merely calls to mind a land
Where wealth abounds on every hand.
Because no more that flag will fly
Wheu men for It refuse to die.
'And It may be,' said t. "that you
Must some day serve that ban..er, too.
And then If such a day should eoma
That sounds again the stirring drum
And blows once more the martial fife,
Be not a slave to peaceful life,
Ae they wore men, you be a man
And give that flag the best you can."
"Bully for The Be."
York, Neb., Jun 16. To the Editor
of The Bee: Bully for you. Your
editorial defending Roosevelt from the
misrepresentation by the World-Herald
is all right WILLIAM COLTON.
Where to Lay the Tax.
Omaha, June 15. To the Editor of
The Bee: I enter my protest against
paying a tax on checks for the reason
that people don't want the bother for
the little It will amount to in revenue
for the government, and the writer
believes that some will work on a
cash payment basis, keeping their
money out of the banks in hiding to
accomplish this, creating somewhat of
a famine In the money market. Can
not the senate committee adopt some
what better plan by conscripting
wealth? I note one of our leading
papers thought it something wonder
ful that the government was going to
take 35 per cent of a man's income.
Tbe writer thinks it all bosh, and
wants the tax to be levied on his or
her wealth and not on his or her in
come, prorated in proportion as they
are rich. It appears to me that if
our congress can conscript men for
war it also can conscript wealth by
the above named system of taxation.
C. L. NETHAWAY.
Again Zeal of New Convert.
Omaha, June 15. To the Editor of
The Bee: Comes now the World
Herald and takes to task no less a
person than Theodore Roosevelt for
alleged attacks- on the administration
in its hour of stress. If the World
Herald will look carefully at that Lin
coln speech, it will discover that the
colonel was attacking mostly the "pro
fessional pacifist," and if the World -Herald
insists upon placing the ad
ministration among the professional
pacifists, that is not a matter that
Roosevelt can help.
"What, in heaven's name, would
have happened to this country and in
this country, had the president de
manded war and congress declared it
two years Hgo?" asks the editor of th
World-Herald in evident distress. And
then the editor proceeds to show that
the country even now is hardly ready
to follow the president and congress
when they have declared war.
Two years ago the fiber of Ameri
cans had not been slackened and
loosened by slack, hesitant, uncertain
leadership and the country was more
ready, mentally and morally, and just
as ready materially as now for war.
The last two or three years have not
tended to 'insure to the government
the support of the people." On the
contrary, the slackerB have been en
couraged, the loud-mouthed agitators
grown bolder, traitorous language has
become commoner than two years ago,
all because nobody in authority took
the kind of a stand that would tend
to discourage them. The World-Herald
is all wrong. The people are not
as ready now as they were some time
ago to follow into war and it is not the
fault of the people either.
What will bring the necessary en
thusiasm and get the people behind
the administration as they should be?
Nothing in the world but a plain,
frank, straightforward statement of
what we are fighting for, and that
must be something sensible, tangible
and fair to ourselves, Germany must
be whipped, and then Germany must
pay. Germany must know what it
means to have homes and towns de
stroyed, although it is to be hoped
that it may not know the other bru
talities of which it has been guilty;
and Germany must know what it is
to stagger under the burden of try
ing to pay for what tt has destroyed,
even though some who are innocent 1
suffer with the guilty. All Oermany
is guilty of the outrage on civilization
that has been going on for nearly
three years and Germany will never
understand any pity or tenderness
when it has been conquered.
Does that sound brutal? Maybe so,
but It isn't. It is common sense and
truth. Even German-Americans and
Germans in America will respect us
and recognize the Justice of it when
we take that stand. Let the World
Herald try it. Our government has
always been just and more than fair.
We haVe conquered, taken territory
by force, maybe sometimes unjustifi
ably, but we have always paid for
what we have taken afterward. That
will not d in this case. We have
been attacked without reason, without
Justice, without mercy even to our
women and babies. Germany cannot
pay adequately for the murdered
women and babies, but it can pay for
the destroyed property, and it must
be made to do it. Let the administra
tion drop phrase-making and deal out
a- few straight - from - the - shoulder
swings and then listen for the howl ot
delight that will go.up from 99,000,000
Americans. It's the other million who
are making all the noise now, and they ;
don't count, H. W. MORROW.
Marco Polo or Flavio Gioja invented
or disco'ered the mariner's compass;
another Italian, now living, invented
wireless telegraphy: the stationary
steam engine was the invention of
James Watt, a Scotchman; the steam
boat was invented by I'atrick Miller,
another Scotchman; the balloon was
invented by a Frenchman: a French
man, Le Fevre, invented papier
mache; the locomotive" was invented
by an Englishman; the magnetic tele
graph and the airship came from
America; the telescope was invented
by an unknown Hollander. So on, so
on. Bering's serum comes closer to
an original discovery or an invention
than anything else Germanic.
The German race excels any other
that ever existed in the working out
of detail; in the development of what
others have produced. But they dui
not even invent the submarine.
The German language is adapted
neither to science or poetry; tt con
tains more gutterals than any lan
guage with which we are familiar, ex
cept Choctaw. Germany has produced
three great poets. But they -succeeded
in spite of .heir language rather than
because of it. Heine was not a Ger
man. Any one who has studied tI?o pres.
ent war knows that Kaiser Wllhetm
has been simply a successful imitator'
of Napoleon. The German army Is
a superb machine; the German soldier
can obey orders, but he cannot take
the initiative. In America he would
not be worth a continental damn as a
scout. Germany, at the outbreak of
the present war, had every advantage.
This whole empire is considerably
smaller than Texas. With a superb
system of railways; with a people who
can all speak the same language; with
an army systematized as no army was
ever systematized before, they could
plav the Napoleonic trick of bumping
with practically their whole force first
one side, then on the other.
We are at war with Germany; the
quicker we realize that fact the better,
it is Germany we are fighting. Tho
kaiser is the imperial personification
of his race. Like prince, like people.
Nero could never have survived an
hour anywhere but in Rome; with the
masses of Rome he was popular. They
would not believe him dead, but
looked for his return with as much
faith as the Seventh Day Adventist
looks for the second coming of th
Nazarene. When Tweed was in power,
he was the average New Yorker's idea
of statesmanship. Every country will
develop just as good a government as
they are fitted to enjoy. We want no
"pussy-foot" tactics in this war. Do
not talk of forgiveness. A distin
guished writer once said that there
were crimes that nature could not for
give or it would cease to be nature. As
well might the lover forgive the ra
Isher of his mistress. Philip Sheri
dan's words at Five Forks ought to be
printed on the banner of every regi
ment sent to France "Smash 'em.
boys, smash 'em."
"Awake the burning scorn
Of vengeance long and deep,
Which, till a better morn,
Shall neither tire nor sleep."
DKtt HEIDE.
LINES TO A LAUGH.
"We of Ion compare pfople to pohtto.
but now tli comparison takes on hn added
significance"
"As to how?"
"Some tnay he umallr than other, but
they're all worthy of consideration." '
Louisville Courier-Journal.
"How's your boy Josh getting on at the
training camp?"
"Wonderful:" replied Farmer Corntossel.
"I feel a ses of great security. An army
that can mak Jonh wlllln to got up early,
work hard all day an' go to b-d early kin
do anything." Washington Star.
"That tall, handsome policeman doesn't
seem to be doing much In the way of duty.
He doen nothing but stand and poso."
"Well, ipn't he always arresting atten
tion?" Baltimore American,
"Sly dear, the woman yon sent from
the Intelligence office was very impertinent.
What do you think nhe said when I asked
her why Bh had 1 ft her laat place?"
"What did ah say?"
"She asked ine why my last cook lefi
here." Baltimore American.
"That, man Is ri benefartor of his rnoe
who makes' two blades of grass grow whire
only one grew before."
"Ho he is; but not the fellow who sow a
double portion of wild oats." Host on
Transcript.
The two girl were talking with a young
lieutenant who had got a bullet through
his arm.
"And what were your emotions during
the first battle?" asked one girl,
"What were my emotions?"
"Yes. How did you feel?"
"Oh, slightly bored," was the reply.
Boston Transcript.
Germany's Roal Genius,
Somewhere in Nebraska, June 14.
To the Editor of The Bee: Now we
hear to the verge of tympanic distress
of the wonderful genius of the Ger
mans. One would think the German
race sprang, like Minerva, from the
brain of the Supreme Being; that
science was born In Germany. For
God's sake, let up on pampering the
egotism of those cusses.
If Germany ever produced a single
great invention it has passed from
memory. Koger Bacon, an English
man, invented gunpowder; Laurence
Koster, a Hollander, invented the art
of printing; an Italian be his name
W Do you know that carbon and
H friction are always found in the
company of poor grade oils? f
iThe L V.?holasOil Company
i
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