Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 10, 1917)
THE BEE: OMAHA. FRIDAY, AUGUST 10. 1917. The Omaha Bee DAILY (MORNINO-EVENING-SUNDAT FOUNDED BY EDWARD ROSEWATER VICTOR ROSEWATER, EDITOR - THE BEE PUBLISHING COMPANY. PROPRIETOR. Entered at Omaha pot toft ice m seeond-elasa matter. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION By Carrier. Br Mall. Mx'T mi Bnnday Vt rily wttboot SiiSiUy 11 IS - 1X2 Kwotoj and Suod.y . 5 Z f h-foilcf without Sunday - .25 4undi Bat on If Job - t oo Smqoetlos of etiwif of Mnm or Irrenunty is detlfsry to Oraata ft, GlreuUllon DeperUoest. REMITTANCE . Kmtt trj draft, nm e pxeil erdw. Only l-esnt etaar t tTmml of null accounts. PmsobsJ check. except on Owabe sod eastern eichuite, au accepted. OFFICES. Onus- Bee BulhJlrf. "" WU B'nfTll S. Main SU W. Sf" t.'aeola Little Building. W tthimua 12$ Hit St. w... CORRESPONDENCE address eomis'mleetlnnt reltin to news ted etftoml matter ta OtnxJsn Boa. Editorial Department JULY CIRCULATION 57,229 Daily Sunday, 51,153 Arerace drroltOOB tor trrs omnia su&ecmied ut fwora to BT OirtiO. Williams. Circulation alsnsset. . Suoscribere leaving y theuM Tha Bee mailed lo them. Aadrese changed aa olUn reguaeted. Consider the bootlegger. His days of profit ' are few and end in trouble. Earth and sea have had their day in war with out reaching a conclusion. Signs point to the air as the battlefield of the grand finish. Don't get excited over the cold snap, for the chances are it will be hot enough to suit even a salamander before snow flies again. Sixty-four per cent of the conscripts examined in the Omaha districts passed all physical tests. Vliis is a record of fitness well above the average. Public print letter writers who call people names invite letter writing in return and must not complain if 4hey are paid back in their own oin. I The size of the home town cuts little figure in the base ball score. That accounts for Wichita and Joplin throwing clouds of dust on the home team. . Draft resistance scores a melancholy finish in Oklahoma. Others inclined , to dodge or defy Uncle Sam should heed the lesson and save trouble. Note that the subscriber who stopped The Bee because it was not pro-German enough for him is still reading and writing to the hyphenated World-Herald. ,. , n The egg men and the poultry men who got caught under the slide in prices may have plenty of company after the food administrator lias been n the job for a little while. Omaha will send its "own" soldiers away with their appetites for good grub well appeased if chicken dinners, barbecues and the like may be depended upon to turn the trick. "S Rain hail, drouth and frost are all part of the farmers' hazards and absorbed in the generat average.) It is the grand total ef the yield and the price levl of the market that count. Presumably The Bee should refer very gen tly to tljs kaiser and his warriors! Perhaps "min ' istering. angels" is what'we should call them if we are 4o satisfy our kaiser-worshiping critics. At My rate the eastern expert who "surveyed" Omaha schools has an exalted Idea of qur abil ity to spend money when he estimates $5,000,000 for the immediate necessary building campaign. . Herbert Hoover is slated for head food con troller. It is in order for our amiable hyphenated contemporary to publish again its recent vicious attack upon him or tell what was the moving eaurt for it ; One by one the joyous perquisites of the times take flight The Interstate Commerce commis sion sends the deadhead express package to the limbo of the free pass. As a joykiller the I. C. C. is a painful reality. A record crop of corn, barley, rye, potatoes, tobacco and hay. Other essentiat products of farms come up to the average. This is a show ing of fruitfulness calculated to inspire demo crats and hasten the .doom, of autocracy. The enabling act passed by the last Nebraska legislature for the general manager plan of city government excludes cities of more than 100,000 population, which means if we in Omaha want to try it out we will first have to adopt a home rule charter or wait for another legislature to give us permission. Every ' well-wisher of- Ireland -will welcome with pleasure increasing signs of unity and pat. riotism supporting the constitutional convention sitting in Dublin. The test of success is, yet to come, but the influence shaping the convention's deliberations affords confident hope of solving a century-old problem. No " American flood for Them -New York Timee- ' Certain products which the neutrals want we cannot spare. One of them is wheat of which we have not enough for ourselves and our allies. Probably all of our fodder grain will be required for the support of our people and armies and those of our partners in the war. It is said that !!lU.e?t.yfive. Dutch 8n'Ps n our ports have 10,000,000 bushels of grain on board. The latest reports say they will not be allowed to carry it across the Atlantic. Holland asserts that it must sell food to Germany in order to get coal in re turn. Why should not.these ships take on cargoes of American coal in place of the grain? Geany'a need of food from abroad grows 'laily. The food obtained from these neutrals and from us has enabled it to prolong the war. Their domestic .supplies are now comparatively small and shipments from this country have been sus pended. German trade unions have appealed to the chancellor for more food, threatening to re flnce the output of coal if their demands are not . satisfied.. Food regulation have recently been ignored and violated in many places because carcity has caused a rush for what is in sight. Our dispatches quote the following words from the speech of Herr Haase, leader of the minority socialists, n the Reichstag two weeks ago: "If the war is to continue much longer th Oerman nation -will bleed to death and fall from , exhaustion. The feeling of the people, as the re sult of the leaden weight of hunger, is such as to startle even the most frivolous. You have read of riots and strikes in Silesia. Do yon think the masses can possibly endure it much longer?" Germany s new crops are deficient We are v..fui ut Jicreancr it win get no American rood by way of the neutral countries for its peo- Food Control Settled. The fitia. enactment of laws giving the presi dent authority over food and other supplies sets us fairly on another most important phase of our war preparations. Extraordinary power is granted the executive by the terms of these measures, the faithful exercise of which should be of tremen dous service to his countrymen The food situa tion in America last winter threatened to become calamitous, not for want of ample supply, but be cause its control rested in private hands. Selfish groups through ability to manipulate market con ditions sent prices skyrocketing and consumers were mulcted to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. On many articles of daily consump tion these inflated prices still persist and every time the family sits down to the table it pays some tribute to the profiteers. The president now has the power to put a stop to this and to so regulate conditions as will bring relief to the people, who actually have suf fered in time of plenty because of the oppression of food gamblers. It is not expected ihat dras tic action will be needed to effect such regulation of prices as will bring the needed change in con ditions, but the authority exists, and it may be ex ercised ff demand for it be found. A careful sur very of the situation as to supply and needs and a prudent distribution of supplies may produce re sults sought for, but the public does look for bet ter treatment than it has had for many months. Herbert Hoover has a big chance before him and his work will be closely watched by all. How Nebraska's Senators Voted. To the Editor of The Bee: For information of myself and several others interested, will you kindly tell us exactly how our Nebraska sena tors voted on the different propositions involved in the prohibition amendment to the constitu tion when it went through the senate? W. J. W. We take it the votes inquired for are those taken upon the different modifications of the origi nal draft of the resolution as well as upon the final vote upon the amendment itself. On the proposal of Senator Stone for compen sated prohibition by reimbursing damages to prop erty of liquor manufacturers both Nebraska sena tors voted "No." .On the proposal offered by Senator Newlands restricting the prohibition to "distilled" liquors, thus exempting wines, champagnes, beers, etc., Senator Hitchcock voted "Yes" and Senator Nor ris voted "No." On the Borah motion to make the time limit for ratification in the Harding amendment ten years instead of six years Senator Hitchcock voted "No" and Senator Norris Voted "Yes" and they are likewise recorded on the adoption of the Harding amendment fixing the six -year limit; al though Senator Norris in the debate said he would favor the' principle providing it were made general by a separate amendment of the consti tution applying to all other amendments. On the propSsal of Senator Plielan to submit simultaneously two amendments, one prohibiting all "intoxicating" liquors and the other only "dis tilled" liquors, both Nebraska senators voted "Yes." . On the final passage of the resolution submit ting the prohibition' amendment Senator Norris voted "Yes" and Senator Hitchcock voted "No." Need for the Home Guard. , Preliminary steps have been taken for the for mation of a n?w National Guard for Nebraska and t talk has been heard of the organization of -a home guard l?ody. The need for some such provision is urgent Withdrawal of troops soon to attend training camps will leave unprotected all the spots thejr have guarded. Their work in this line must be carried on and it is much better done by a body of disciplined men under control of responsible officers. Food warehouses and factories, bridges and the like are exposed now as much as at any time and will need continual watching. (The forces of the enemy have not di minished because of the departure of the troops nor is it likely that these agents for destruction will cease activity simply because guard is no longer mounted over the property exposed. The home guard service will permit many who have been unable to enter the army for any reason to do their bit and in a way just as important as go ing to the front. The work of organizing this force should not be permitted to lag. ' Placinf the Blame. ! In making up judgment on the "slackers' weight must be given to all elements in the case. To do this, and justice requires that it be done, we must go beyond the young man who seeks to evade military service and consider those who have pressed the propaganda of opposition to the draft. Men eminent in American life, learned in the law, holding chairs and professorships in col leges, whose leadership is effective, have given the weight of their names and the force of their voices to the opposition. That they are in the minority is not sufficient; they are intelligent and capable of reasoning to the extent at least of understanding that their actions are treasonable. If the uninformed resisters of Oklahoma or the thoughtless evaders of Omaha or any other large center of population are to be punished for vio lating or defying the law, what is to be done to these men, who rely on their prominence and fan cied lecurity of station for protection in their diffusion of doctrine that means defeat for our national hopes? "Must I shoot the simple-minded soldier boy?" asked Abraham Lincoln, "while not a hair of. the wily scoundrel who encouraged him to desert must be touched?" College professors, preachers, lawyers, editors and the like who have openly or covertly stimulated or advised resist ance to the draft have strengthened the arm of Germany and weakened America to that extent. They should be dealt with accordingly. "Ed" Dickinson's passing will be the occasion for sincere mourning in Omaha, for, while he had ceased in a great measure to be an Omaha man by reason of casting his lot elsewhere, his long residence and great activities while here had made for him friendships that outlasted any distance or time. He will be followed to the grave by kindly thoughts of those who knew him in his Union Pacific days and who had followed with real in terest his career since leaving here. Speaker Cnamp Clark bewails the lack of "a national anthem with . a punch." "The Star Spangled Banner? strain hit vocal chords and "America" is impossible, being an old German air. To the Vocal scrap heap with these go Yankee Doodle" and "Tipperary." This leaves the, musical field fairly clear for a revival of Champ's famous classic: "Quit Kickin My Dawg ArounV y inirty days longer is allowed the distillers to get surplus stock into shape for the embargo. -vi v. .iicwicr Can oe cooked up m a month. - Motor Dope By Fre 'eriy J. Haskin New York. Aug. 6. Since day before yester day you must know how to drive a car before you are allowed to operate one on the streets of New York City. That is, every owner of a car who proposes to b his own chauffeur must have a license and pass at) examination to prove his fitness. Incredibly enough, the law heretofore has been that a paid chauffeur must be licensed and examined, but any one who owned a car was allowed to practice running it upon the traffic throttled streets without any regard to his knowl edge or qualifications. More than once a reck less amateur has killed pedestrians by running his machine up on the sidewalk. A good many men have learned to be careful at the expense of sev eral lives. Unless war scarcity and war prices of gaso line (cut down the'purchase of pleasure cars, it is hard to see how their increase can be checked. For the automobile has become the very symbol of metropolitan America. It is the plaything, the tool and the pride of the city. It represents speed, wealth, pleasure, crime, ostentation. It has found its place in every essential and typical phase of the city's life. Cars, many cars, immense cars, are invariable perquisites of wealth. The car is the vehicle of big business, and of society. ' Motor trucks carry more and more of the city's delivery business, and their radius of action is steadily extending.' Ambulances, fire engines and patrol wagons are nearly all motor-driven. Every oncin New York rides everyone except the great multitude that toils and walks and dodges. But everyone rides who has money, and money rules New York as absolutely as the Pharaohs ruled Egypt. So the auto is here to stay and go on in creasing, be the death toll what it may. Fifth avenue, designated as a thoroughfare for leis urely splendid carriages, must continue to be a harnessed channel for an endless, restless torrent of motors. Broadway, that was never expected to be anything but a modest business street, must Carry in countless taxis an ever-growing swarm of humanity. Stand on a corner of Fifth avenue for half an hour during the rush hours of the evening, and you can see more different kinds of cars go by carrying more different kinds of people than anywhere else in the world. It is a sort of ticker of the city's stock of men and motors. Every class except the poor is represented, and every conceivable shape, color and size of machine. You will see a doughtjn little Ford snorting along under a large family party, and an enormous im ported car burdened with an overdressed woman and a supercilious-looking pomeranian. Rubber neck , wagons pass, loaded with forty-seven dif ferent kinds of "provincial" America; speedy little police autos. equipped with big search lights; electrically driven glass cages with queer human exhibits inside; limousines showing glimpses of luxury through their windows; taxis innumerable bent upon furtive errands. 1 And this auto stream, pours through all of the principal traffic streets and for fifty miles into the country. On hot evenings the lights flicker up and down the banks of the Hudson as thick as fire lies ove a clover field in August, and the air is filled wtth drone and rumble and squawk, while the machines cluster like moths about the radiant roadhouses that crown the hilltops above the river. Yet there are not nearly as many motors on the streets now as there will be a couple of months later. Mr. Mills E. Case, the statistician of the police department, has made a careful study of the habits of the motor fleet and has found that its movements vary with remarkable regularity, both by the year and by the day. Motor traffic is at its lowest ebb in February; only 108 auto accidents occurred in that month last year. The curve which Mr. Case has plotted rises steadily, with a little set-back in July and August, until September, which is the favorite month for the pleasure car. Last September there were 805 auto accidents. ,,,. For two hours in the afternoon motors of every sort literally fight for the right-of-way; the streets are filled with the noise of them; the traffic cops swear and sweat; pedestrians dodge, and sometimes dodge in vain. And, no class, on its own initiative, makes any effort to break this thrall of habit, and take advantage of the hours when the streets are open. Mr. Case believes that this state of affairs will undoubtedly be regu lated by law, and the capacity of New York's streets greatly increased. He suggests that each class of retail stores making deliveries should employ a traffic expert, whose word would be law. He would route delivery wagons just as train dispatchers route trains, and most of the goods bought on Monday would be delivered be tween 2 and 6 o'clock Tuesday morning. The passenger auto really knows no law but the whistle and arm and word of the traffic cop, who is a feared and often hated individual. Beset by a host of difficult problems, encounter ing more different kinds of fools in a day than anyone else in the city, he vo-Jd be a wonder of sweetnes!, indeed, if his temper did not acquire an edge. But there are many wonders in New York, and One of theni is a polite traffic c )p, who atways wears a smile. He was the recipient last Christmas of a generous purre from the Automo bile association. After the War -Washington Pool The character and standing of the men who established the League to Enforce Peace unques tionably had much to do with the serious consid eration given to the proposals of that organiza tion. As president of the league Mr. Taft was stanch in his support of the United States govern ment in all the measures adopted to uphold the national honor. The attitude of the league was rational and constructive. The organization was not composed of mere theorists, but of men who recognized the scope of the problem of bringing about enduring peace. It was because of the strength and dignity of the organization and the logic of its proposals that alt the belligerents' have incorporated the suggestion of a league to enforce peace in all their discussions of peace terms. In a letter to Mr. Taft the former British ambassador in the United States, Viscount Bryce, remarks that "this awful struggle will have failed in its object if some ef fective plan is not framed for preventing the re currence of like calamities. And this view seems to be gaining ground." Mr. Taft patriotically has set aside the entire month of August to accept invitations to speak in Kansas, Nebraska, Illinois and Indiana. He hopes he may be able to do some good in explain ing why this nation entered the war, the vital im portance of the war both to this country and to the world and the opportunity that will be af forded for an international agreement to make peace permanent. This is the most constructive work that could be done at this time. Under standing the causes of the war and the aims and objects of the United States and the allies, the people of this country will fight more valiantly for success. If the future is to bring enduring peace, the war against the enemv of civilization must be pushed to the hilt.- People and Evens General Sir Herbert Plumer, the British com mander who blew up Vimy ridge, is known in the service as the "dandy general." The ex-khedive of Egypt, first of the minor rulers to lose his job in the war, is reported living near Vienna on the bounty of the Austrian gov ernment. Royalty deals kindly with its favorites. Sweetheart Mary Pickford of the movies re cently participated in a thriller so unexpected that the camera failed to get it A mad maid armed with a fierce hatpin chased Mary all over her back yard at Los Angeles striving to insert the pin in her cuticle. A policeman ri-n- fc- ancj disarmed the maid. I Proverb for the Day. Ill news travels fast. One Year Ago Today. In the War. - Austrians evacuated Stanislau, pro tecting the road to Lemberg. Allied forces captured Dolran, near Salonikl from the Bulgarians. King Victor Emmanuel entered Go rizia with the Duke of Aosta, com mander of the army.' In Omaha Thirty Years Ago. Cars Xo. 92 and No. 42 of the Red line collided on a switch at the corner of Sixteenth and Capitol Avenue through the unmanageable antics of the horees. Police 8ergeant Moystn and . an unknown lady were badly bruised and one of the horses was killed. Fowler Bros, have contracted for three modern patented Arctic freezers to be put in their establiBhment at a cost of $140,000. K. Karlson, the grocery man is jub ilant over the arrival of a bouncjng brand new son. Judge and Mrs. J. H. McCulIoch save a reception at their residence, 2420 Decatur, in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas McCague. Among the large number present were noticed the fol lowing: Messrs. and Mesdames James Boyd, Samuel Burns, G. G. Wallace, C. N. Dietz, Isaac Congden, Fred Lowe, George Armstrong, the Misses Anna McCague, Eva Bartlett,' Lena Dietz, Nellie Burns, Susia Phelps, Edith Phelps, Messrs. Robert Patrick, Bruce McCulIoch. William Balrd. E. W. Simeral, H. Westerfleld, Gould Dietz, Charles S. Elgutter, Sam Boyd and George Gllmore. The first stained glass window has been put In place over the eastern win dow In the Chamber of Commerce. It represents a pair of stalwart steers with horns longer than a telegraph pole. As a street car was passing down the hill on St. Mary's Avenue, the driver lost control of the brake and horses and car went flying down the hill. A 'boy named Stubbs and a Mrs. Euler were injured when they attempt ed to Jump from the car. This Day In History. 1763 Edmund Randolph, first attorney-general of the United States, born at Williamsburg, Va. Died Sep tember 13, 1813. 1777 Burgoyne sent a British de tachment to seize the military stores at Bennington, Vt. 1790--George McDuffle, governor of South Caroline and United States sen ator, born in Columbia county, Ga. Died at Cherry Hill, g. C, March 11, 1851. 1821 President Monro approved the bill fpr the admission of Missouri to the Union. 1867 First city election held in Cheyenne, Wyo. 1874 Marshal Bazalne, the French commander who surrendered Metz to the Germans, escaped from prison in Isle Ste. Marguerite. 1887 Eighty persons killed and many injured when an excursion train broke through a burning bridge at Chatsworth. 111. 1914 Germany massed a . great army on the eastern border. 1915 Turkish army' of 90,000 de feated and driven back Into Armenia by the Russians. The Day We Celebrate. Joel E. Goodrich is Just 55 today. He was born in Marysville, O.. and is now president of the Goodrich Drug company. F. L. Nesblt chose this day for a birthday Just forty-five years ago over in Herrlck, Pa, - He is now head of the Standard Furnace and Supply company. R. C. Hoyt, clerk of the United States district court at Omaha, Is 62 today. His birthplace is Holland Pat ent, New York, and he was appointed to his present position during a term of President Cleveland, of whom he is a relative. Associate Justice Joseph McKenna, the oldest member of the supreme court of the United States In point of service, born in Philadelphia, seventy four yeat-s ago today. ' ' Rear Admiral Thomas B. Howard, U. 8. N., retired, who has been de tailed as superintendent of the United States naval observatory, born at Ga lena, III., sixty-four years ago today. Herbert C. Hoover, world-renowned as the director of the Belgian Relief commission, and now serving as "food dictator" of the United States, born at West Branch, la., forty-three years ago today. Paul N. Warburg, vice-governor of the Federal Reserve board, born in Hamburg, Germany, forty-nine years ago today. Horace Fletcher, the world's most energetic food expert, born at Law rence, Mass., sixty-eight years ago to day. William Ernest Hocking, of the philosophical department of Harvard university, born in Cleveland forty four years ago today. ! Timely Jottings and Reminders. Arthur Henderson, the British mem ber of parliament whose recent "peace" mission to Paris evoked much criticism in England, has called & special conference of the Labor party to meet in London today to define its attitude toward the war. The Tupper Family Association of America is to hold its second annual reunion today at Sandwich, Mass., at the old Tupper homestead, built in 1627 and now one of the oldest houses standing in New England. The governors of all the states which have sent men to the military training camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison, at Indianapolis, have been invited by Major General Barry to attend a re vU w of the men at the camp today. The members of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Irish His torical society, will pay a visit today to Hull, Mass., and erect a memorial tablet in honor of John Boyle O'Reilly, the ce' jbrated Irish poet and patriot, who made his summer home at Hull. Storyette of the Day. Premier Lloyd George, of Great Britain, was making a speech. He cried: "I stand for home rule for Ire land" great cheering. "'Home rule for Scotland" eome cheers. "Home rule for gallant little Wale" thunder of applause, and a voice: "Ome rule for 'ell," and yells of laughter, hisses and catcalls. "Right," said Lloyd George, "quite right I like to see a man stand up for his own country." New York Globe. OUT OF THE ORDINARY. M. 6;humai of th Niek (Frmneo) Ob Mxvttory bo diieovered now comet, Tbo boot to-tallod Japoneio "rico" paper for cisarcti ! mada from flax and hemp waste. The amallest known bird Is a Central American humming bird that is abdut the ize of a blue-bottle fly. . Monopolizing Patriotism. Omaha, Aug. 8. To the Editor of The Bee: Owing to press of business and the worry caused by the "carry ing away" without my request of my fine English setter dog by a fellow In a dark red automobile, I have not had the time or humor to reply to' the fine letter of Mr. H. W. Morrow or to the inquiry of my friend, August Miller. By way of diversion I will say that the fellow who carried my dog away can find his pedigree and registration certificate in my possession if he wants to see or get them. Coming back to people, I will say that there are a few people In this state who seem to think they have a monopoly on patriotism and 'who act as if all who do not toe the mark as they think they do are guilty of trea son. No president of the United States was ever maligned and abused as was Abraham Lincoln, when he was using all the great powers of his brain and heart to save the union from destruc tion so that republican forms of gov ernment would not perish from the earth. Some who are so squeamish about any criticism of Wilson now were not so careful in the times of Lincoln, when the danger to the re public was as great as it Is now, If not even more so. If the conduct of our part of the war is not satisfactory to the general public I believe it Is just and right to make public the reasons for dis satisfaction, so that the best policy may be carried out, for all patriotic citizens want to see the war finished successfully for the allies as soon as possible. Many of use believe that the time to sever relations with Germany was when the Lusitania was sunk, so that so many submarines could not have been made. The delay has only prolonged the war. . I believe most of our citizens of for eign birth, mean to be loyal and I still think there has been too much doubt of their loyalty and for that reason I think we ought to go slow in calling others disloyal. Replying to Mr. Mil ler's Inquiry as to whom I suspect as the man who sent me the two pro German publications and a great many others before that, I will say that Mr. Miller knows as well as I do whom I meant. When a man keeps sending pro-German "kaiser stuff" to another man he is apt to not only suspect, but to know who has sent the publications. FRANK A. AG NEW. What's Back of St. Mary's Avenue Grading? Omaha Anir 9 Ta IVa TMHni nf The Bee: Didn't we once cherish the rona aeiusion tnat the adoption of the commission form of government would bring economy and efficiency into the conduct of city affairs? "Delusion" appears to be the right word. What ever may have been my own opinion In the past, I am no longer able to believe that the commissioners, Just because ;moBt of them are receiving about three times the salary they could earn in any business Job, are thereby endowed with executive ability, intel ligence or common sense. Nor by the same token do their opinions become infallible nor their motives Immune from attack. Has your attention been called to the proposed change ef grade on St. Mary's avenue as set out in an ordi nance recommended for passage on the 6th Inst.? It provides for reduc tion of grade from the present 7 per cent to one of 5.8 per cent filling at the bottom and cutting at the top and the consequential adjustment of cross streets. For this reduction of a little; more than 1 per cent it Is pro posed to tear up about sixty acres of territory in an old established section of the city, where all streets have been paved for years, and the owners of improvements supposedly have some claim to permanence. The enormous damage is so dispro portionate to the benfit that a mere statement of the fact ought to be suf flcient and yet when a few of the threatened owners tried to make the commissioners- see it the meeting took on such a cut-and-dried air as to jus tify the suspicion that official astig matism was again epidemic. Naturally the proponents of the plan are those who are to suffer least or not at all and unfortunately their foot frontage counts as much on a peti tion as that of those whose property will be practically confiscated the USual ineaiiltable nrnnr.m.iit , To reduce the grade of one street a maximum or twenty Inches in 100 feet the city authorities have expressed their willingness to tear up many miles of pavement, permanent sidewalks, water and gas mains, conduits and pole lines, to say nothing of imposing upon property owners a tremendous sacrifice of private Improvements and the cost of reducing lots to a new grade line. Doesn't it look as though a real estate speculation were con cealed somewhere? And all this at a time when material and labor cost much more and general iao are mucn nigner than ever be fore in our history, the city commis sion having Just certified a levy of 81.47. mills for next year. And our city planning board is com posed of real estate agents! We would do well to trade it ott for a board of survey to check up our budget. E. M. FAIRFIELD. Foreign Language Papers. Omaha, Aug. 8. To the Editof'of The Bee: I notice in your August 7 issue one Leonard Hohl of Albion, Neb., sends you a clipping for publi cation of a communication from Ja cob Cratts entltlf.ri "Ono no-..,...,,. - - wciiiiaua Views' and I heartily coincide with Mr. Cratts' views In condemning the kaiser and regarding America as be ing the grandest and best country on earth, but this gentleman makes one statement that indicates gross igno rance of the true facts. I refer to the sentence occurring In the last par agraph of his letter, as follows: "Stop all foreign language papers printed in the United States." If Mr. Cratts knew anything of the foreign language press of the United States I do not think he would make such a rash and thoughtless remark. There are printed in this country over 1,500 foreign language publications of all kinds, dailes, weeklies, semi-weeklies, fortnightlies and monthlies printed In thirty different languages and serving a combined populace of over 32,000,000 loyal, faithful and pa triotic citizens of Uncle Sam's (nearly one-third of our total population). In Nebraska alone there are twenty-one foreign language newspapers printed in six different languages (Bohemian, Swedish, Danish, Italian, Polish and German) and the United States cen sus of 1910 shows that 63S.S18 of the ciUiens of our state are of foreign ex traction (nearly 50 per cent of our total population of 1,100,108). When President Wilson ordered congress to eonvene in extra session early in April and urged the severing of diplomatic relations with Germany these foreign language newspaper publishers all over the country immediately held local meetings in their respective localities and telegram after telegram was sent President Wilson commending his course and pledging the unswerving loyalty of themselves and their read ers to the president and the United States of America, And later devel opments have proven the loyalty and real patriotism of these foreign-born, not the "patriotism for profits" kind. We find the ranks of our recruited army filled with men of Bohemian. Swedish, Danish, German, Italian and Polish extraction and these men for the most part answered the call to the colors shortly after our declaration of war they did not wait to be drafted. Evasion of the draft took the form of armed resistance by organized bod ies of men down in Oklahoma. The United States census shows that there is a very small percentage of foreign ers in Oklahoma, to be exact 134.1 2S. We didn't have any armed resistance in Nebraska, with nearly 50 per cent of our total population of foreign ex traction, did we? Nor down in Texas, with 601,898, nor over in'Illinois, with 2,926,407, nor in New York state, with 5,736,520 foreigners. ' We find that our citizens of foreign extraction subscribed mqt liberally to the Liberty loan and 'the American Red Cross. And we find the foreign language papers liberally donated much valuable advertising space as well as priceless editorials to the gov ernment in urging their readers to subscribe for the Liberty loan and the Red Cross. Will someone kindly ex plain why the foreign language press of the United States has suddenly be come, such a 'terrible menace" while performing such acts of patriotism? Does it make a Bohemian farmer or a Swedish farmer love the Stars and Stripes any the less because a farm paper printed in his mother tongue tells him how to properly plow his field or how to test seed corn, etc.? To say "he should learn to read Eng lish and get that information from an English farm paper" again shows ignorance of the foreigner. It is ex tremely difficult and a very slow proc ess for a Bohemian farmer, for In stance, to learn the English language, not because he does not want to, but because of the radical difference in the roots of the Slavic tongue and the Anglo-Saxon. And even those that have studied the English language twenty-five or thirty years speak it brokenly, seldom fluently like their children who are educated in our pub lic scho'bls and who learn It during' their childhood. Naturally the old folks prefer to get their agricultural information from a paper printed in their mother tongue because they can readily and thoroughly comprehend it. Like our friend, Mr. Jacob Cratts, they have come to this country poor, and have here grown rich and independ ent and will never go back to the land of autocracy which they left behind and they love and revere this country anu wnat it tands for. It Is qijite generally true that those who attack or condemn the foreign language press know very little of that press, the high and lofty motives of its patriotic editors and the splendid and commendable educational and Americanization work it has and is performing. Generally the. intensity of the attack varies in direct ratio to the knowledge, or rather, lack of knowl edge, of these papers; that Is, the less they know about it the more vi cious the attack. Because there might be a few "black sheep" among these papers, is that the reason for con demning them all? ' Let's have a little more real sense and less nonsense In considering the foreign language press more knowl edge and less guesswork especially, from those who are doing the most "considering." WALTER ROSICKY, President and General Manager Asso ciated Foreign Language Press, Inc., an Organization of the Foreign Lan- -guage .Newspapers of Nebraska, LINES TO A SMILE. "You gay you didn't steal thia watch. rhn how did you get it" "I won tt on a bet. yer honor." "On a btt?" , . "JTrs. ycr honor. I bet a friend T oouM tako it away from the man who saja I atolo it" Boston Transcript. During a violent thunderstorm the teacher began to tell of the wondcra of the ele ments. . . "Jimmy," she asked, "why la tt . that lightning never strikes twice In the sama place?" "Because," said Jimmy confidently, "after It bits once, the same place ain't there any more." Christian Register. The One I see the government la to pub lish a newspaper. Where will they get. their jokes? ' Tho Otheri-What's the matter with some of the congressmen? Puck. CREDIT u,k in my tior iu,t vnE.ui i M loud M eath Um your credit and be well dressed. BEDDEO 1417 DOUGLAS Your Liver has important work to do. Un der favorable conditions it does It well II sluggish, relieve it with Sis Largest Sale of Aar Medietas fat the Warl4 Sold everywhere. la boxes, 10a 25c IV a WOOEN! Mothers f DAUGHTER You who tire easily; are pale hag f ard and worn: nervous o r Irritable: who are sub ject to (Its of melancholy or the "blues." get your blood examined for Iron deficiency. KVXATBS IBOW taken three times a y after bIs will increase your strengh fane loo per cent In in many cases. Ftrdin I IUXATCS IRON mi a attained iks w aaiMi Urn F. KlnjfL if Hint. 0 WW alwve fc eratrt money re- fl'e-psia ! sner amis THE OMAHA BEE INFORMATION BUREAU Washinjton, D. C. Enclosed find a 2-cent stamp, for which you will please send me, enureiy iree, a copy 01 Ifie Ked. Wqite and Blue Book. Name Street Address, City.,., State.