Nebraska Newspapers

    THE - REE: OMAlU. TUESDAY. "DECEMBER 18. 1917.
The Omaha Bee
DAILY (MORNING) EVENING SUNDAY
FOUNDED BY EDWARD ROSEWATER
VICTOR ROSEWATER, EDITOR
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OFFICES
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CORRESPONDENCE
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NOVEMBER CIRCULATION
58,715 Daily Sunday, 51,884
ViTjg eimjlstten f"t Hip m-mh. aii'tcribeii and anoro to by Drtaht
Vwllianii. Circulati'-u Manager
Subscriber! leavinf the city ahould have Tbe Be mailed
to them. Addreaa changed aa often aa requested.
Put your V)H Red Cross membership at tlie
top u tlic list.
Hut ilic fuel administration lias not ruled
against congress turning on the light.
Even the mightiest and most successful
wrestler has to take his final fall never to rise
tgain.
- The c.Npeotcd lias happened in Russia. Had
the unexpected happened, it would have been al
most a miracle.
Denver will have to go sonic just the same to
come anywhere near a two-to-one Red Cross
membership exhibit as compared with Omaha.
It is one thing to get business men elected
to the school board and it is another thing to
get them to stay there and serve out their terms.
Rival thoughts publicly expressed by Hoover
and Spreckcls indicate more vinegar than sugar
in the controversy. Conservation forbids wast
ing the latter.
Despite the tearful pessimism of Columbus,
there is yet hope of Colonel Neville drawing his
sword. Where there's a will, there's a way of
circumventing pothouse politics.
A six months' sentence for lesc majestc stands
against Hcrr Trotzky in Germany. In view of
his splendid services for the fatherland a real
pardon may be quickly effected.
Still, if Governor Neville is really so eager
to fight for his country, there is nothing in the
way of his enlisting as a volunteer, with or with
out the consent of the democratic political bosses
of Nebraska.
Tope Gregory probably emitted a pious
chuckle when he finished the job of calendar
making. The way he planted the short days of
the year just before Christmas suggests a deft
stroke on the funnybone.
Poor old Turkey 1 Day by day its bounds
contract and its plumes vanish. The fall of the
Ottoman empire, now well advanced, emphasizes
once more the folly of a broken down national
crook allying itself with a live professional.
Fifteen hundred barrels of flour, 200 tons of
meat and nearly 200,000 pounds of sugar saved in
a month constitute a fair starting score for Ne
braska conservationals and glimpses big results
when belts are tightened a few more notches,
Omaha cordially reciprocates the compli
ments and renewed good will of the State
Teachers' association. The moldcrs of the citi
zenry, by repeated evidence of good taste and
discrimination, show themselves worthy of their
high calling.
Assurances of the paramountcy of the United
States in the Allied end of the war flatters na
tional uride a bit. Seriously viewed it measures
a big job cut out for this country. Confidence
abroad and at home all the more urgently presses
for enefgy and speed in certain vital directions.
1
Nebraska has more than $10,000,000 in its per
manent school funds, the annual interest pro
ceeds going to tlit support of our educational in
stitutions. With this princely dowry Nebraska
will have little excuse for not keeping up close
to the top in the record for least illiteracy of its
inhabitants.
Selective draft fairly equalizes national serv
cc within age limitation. Similar equality in
'ooting the bills calls for earnest efforts at home.
The Iowa plan of grouping levies for war wcl
are work and levying a tax, proportioned to
.vealth, for the" amount, maps one route to
;quality of expense. Like other taxing methods,
.he plan offers no means of gripping invisible
vealth and shaking it loose.
An Amazing Case
-New York World-
The Armistice With Russia.
The first armistice of the war has been 'con
cluded between Russia and the German-Austrian
combination, but it must not be taken as any
harbinger of early peace. So far as the kaiser is
concerned he doubtless can draw some degree
of satisfaction from having reached this point as
a result of Russia's- internal troubles rather than
of his own success at arms of having secured
from the revolutionists what he was covertly
negotiating for with the czar at the very time
of the latter's dethronement. Even at that, the
kaiser is holding out terms to Russia far different
from what he expected to exact when he set fire
to the fuse that started the world war. Then, ac
cording to his plans, he was to crush France
with one quick blow and with the next to bring
Russia to complete subjection. A peace agree
ment with a provisional government of question
able capacity to carry it out is far different from
the glorious victory which the kaiser promised
his people at the outset.
What influence will the eastern front armistice
exert on the other fighting fronts? That is a
question which must wait for its answer. It must
be admitted that the Russian truce will not make
it easier for us and our allies, but it must make
us all the more determined to do our part to save
the day for democracy, no matter at what sacri
fice or how Jong it takes.
Cafe Patriotism
By Frederic J. Haskin
pay yaw p A V
Washington, D. C, Dec. 16. Patriotism in
the cafes and restaurants these days is reaching
prodigious proportions. It does not stop at
meatless and wheatless days. Indeed, no! Ameri
i can eating houses disdain such small sacrifices for
! their country. If food must be conserved they
; believe in doing it properly. In time of war. one
oyster is enough for an oyster pie; to be thor
i nughly patriotic, grape fruit should be no larger
j than a lemon; an order of ice cream should re
1 scmble a snowflakc, and string beans should be
j served by the piece.
It is quite understood by everybody, of
! course, that the cafes and restaurants of the na
j tion must take an active part in food conserva
I tion. Uefore the war they represented the fourth
1 largest industry in America an industry whose
1 sole purpose was to sell food. Incredible quanti
; tics of food arc handled by the hotel cafes alone
which might easily lead to incredible waste it
carelessly used. Hence, when cafes and res
taurants are careful to waste none of the prod
ucts needed by American and allied soldiers they
are performing a very necessary patriotic duty.
Our Debt to Gasoline.
"Gasoline stopped the enemy at Verdun," said
Marshal Jofftc, hero of the Marnc.
The debt we owe to gasoline does not stop
there. It not only saved France at a time of
mortal urgency, but it will finally win the war.
It is not alone in the voitures, trucks or flying
machines, but also in the tractors of American
farms. Only by the use of up-to-date tractors
can American agriculturists cope wth the lack of
labor and produce the bigger, better yields we
demand of them.
America must feed the allies. And she is
working under terrific handicaps. Munition plants
and factories have steadily drained labor from the
fields. The draft has taken thousands more. Un
skilled farm labor is in the first draft class. De
spite these disheartening facts, Uncle Sam's farm
ers must stimulate production as never before.
No essential factor working toward this end can
be neglected.
To solve the problem, machine must replace
muscle. The farm tractor is the most effective
weapon Uncle Sam can place in the hands of his
agricultural army. He should see to it that the
road is cleared for manufacturers of these valu
able implements. He should help them secure
materials for turning out tractors in large quanti
ties. Uncle Sam must back up his fighters on the
farm as well as on the firing line.
Dependency Due to Desertion.
Every cold spell acids to the work of the As
sociated Charities, already arduous enough. The
activities of this organization grow from year to
year, for there seems to be little or no diminu
tion in the number of urgent cases. It was or
ganized, not only to afford relief, but to occupy,
chiefly, the entire field of charitable work in
order to prevent duplication of succor, or im
position by mendicants. The worthiness of each
case must be established before anything is done
for it. The plan of operation is excellent and
well executed. A contributor" to the relief fund
can feel certain that his money will not be mis
appropriated. We commend Associated Chari
ties to the benevolent-minded men and women
of the city.
We understand that the directors are not un
mindful of the number of recreant husbands who
desert their families at the beginning of the win
ter season, leaving them to the mercy of the
good people of the city. Usually they are utterly
destitute, and must be cared for. The men who
thus shirk the sacred responsibility voluntarily
assumed seem to escape punishment for the
despicable act of desertion. Would it not be
well for the county attorney to investigate these
cases of desertion and make some effort to find
the deserters and, failing in that, to watch for
their return in the spring and grab them.
The county attorney could do another thing
to lessen the burden of the Associated Charities
by starting an investigation to ascertain how
many indigent persons have been transported to
Omaha by officials of other counties or others in
order to obviate the expense of their keeping.
It is an old practice which the county attorney
and deputies should stop and this is a good time
to start the needed investigation.
If the charges made against Otto Julius
Merkel, wdio was arrested in New York, can be
substantiated, his is one of the most amazing
:ases of espionage the war has yet brought forth.
The man is said to have maintained several
expensive apartments and commanded many em
ployes. He had an organization of university
graduates for German defense," a term of dou
ble meaning. He sought knowledge of newspa
pers in which articles favorable to the Gerniih
tause might be printed. And while thus poison
ing the sources of American information, lie is
alleged to have been in receipt of code messages
from Mexico and to have sent military informa
tion to his family, in Germany, intimates of Gen
eral Mackensen.
Understanding that lack of concealment is the
best concealment, this artist in super-espionage
is represented as doing his work not behind
locked doors in his apartments, but in the reference-room
of the New York public library, with ;
his stenographer by his side and attendants
bringing books to so distinguished a "student." j
He was much "annoyed by his detention; it
caused "surprise" to some of his associates. !
Unless Merkel has been grossly maligned by j
zovernment officials, his arrest suggests two
'v . i . e ' II. I
.videiy ai.iterent lines oi inquiry: jiow many
men such as he is described to be are at large in
the country? How long in Berlin could a nun
engage in such activities without being backed
against a cold, grim, blank wall to face a firing
squad?
Rising Tide of Realty Values.
It's an ill wind that blows nobody good. The
cost of building materials going into the con
struction of large and small buildings in this
city may have reached the apex in the scale of
prices. There arc some indications of a down
ward trend in some of the materials. Yet the
decline is not sufficient to make any considerable
difference in building plans. But the transporta
tion problem is getting more complicated every
day, and with the difficulty in getting materials
for b,uilding operations an artificial demand is
created, which of course, enhances prices con
siderably. In this situation it isvdiflicult to pre
dict much of a fall in prices between now and
the opening up of the building season in the
spring.
The average advance in prices of building ma
terial covering a period of the last five years is
such as to render impossible the duplication to
day of any structure built five years ago. Thus
the actual value of all buildings put up during
the period named or even within the last ten
years in enhanced and property owners are en
joying an increment upon improved property
held by them. On this point the single taxcrs
might say that the owners are enjoying such in
creased values when they have n right to them.
But the more rational way of viewing the matter
is that the law of supply and demand is operat
ing here to the advantage of men fortunate
enough to own Omaha real estate.
It is not too much to predict that these slow
but sure advances in value will continue during
the period of war. And incidentally it may be
said that the mortgages, if any, held against im
proved real estate properties in Omaha are based
upon better security than ever before and this
security in some cases is stronger arui better
than it was at the date of the mortgages.
New enterprises represented by capitalized
corporations as yet show no recession on ac
count of war. The New York Journal of Com
merce reports a total of $285,500,000of capital
stock companies launched in November, a marked
increase over the same month of the two previ
ous years
Klght in the Spotlight.
Andrew J. Pctors, who is a canili
dite for mayor of Boston in tlie
municipal election to be held in that
city today, is a former member 'of
congress. Born in Boston in Is?-, lie
took up tlie profession of law af; r
his graduation from Harvard. His
political career bepan in 1902 with
his election to the Massachusetts lce
i.lature. In IlflfS he was sent to run
gresH. He made an excellent record
in the minority and when the demo
crats gained control of the house he
had so demonstrated his ability as a
careful legislator that he was chosen
the New England member of the com
mittee on Ways and Means. Jn 1911
Mr. Peters resigned his seat in con
gress to areept appointment from
President Wilson as second assistant
secretary to the treasury. As candi
date for mayor of Boston he has the
indorsement of the Good Government
association of that city.
But there arefcertain things tlie American and
allied soldiers do not need things that could not
be shipped even if they did need them. For ex
ample, the food commission does not anticipate
the shipment of any great quantities of oysters,
nor fish, nor lettuce, nor oranges, nor turnips. So
far as can be ascertained there is no particular
reason why the cafes should be so extremely eco
nomical in the use of these products; maybe they
are so from force of habit. But the fact remains
that diners-out are now sometimes finding it
necessary to order two (lilies of everything in
order to get enough to eat. It used to be that
two people could order one dish of turkey or po
tatoes an gratin and make it do, but now tlicy
order four.
Furthermore, this extraordinary conservation
on the part of the restaurants and cafes has not
brought the prices down; on the contrary, they
have gone up. Conservation has its rewards for
the household consumer, for his saving on food
products also saves his pocketbook. Rye bread is
cheaper than white bread; cheese is cheaper than
meat; rice is cheaper than potatoes. If he vol
untarily cuts his own rations he also reduces his
own costs. Not so, the dine out. He pays just
as much for rye bread as he does for the other
more than he did two years ago and the price
of a few leaves of lettuce is just a little more than
wdiat he us,ed to pay for a whole head.
In the markets the prices of fresh vegetables
have not increased in the same proportion that
other commodities have. You can still buy let
tuce at 10 cents a head, celery at 10 cents a
bunch, beets and carrots at 5 cents a bunch. The
cafes and restaurants, buying from wholesale
houses, get them for much less. But you would
never suspect it from the prices on their menus.
Also, many first-class cafes that would never
have been guilty of such a thing in the past now
feel they have a perfect right to be "out'' of
things. Mot long ago, a government clerk in
Washington, feeling the burden of an enlarged
pay envelope, dropped into one of the better
cafes of the city. It happened to be a wheatless
day, and the waiter informed him that they had
nothing left but nut bread. As a matter of
necessity, the government clerk ordered nut
bread, and later was somewhat irritated to find
that it cost IS cents extra. Since then he has let
the better cafes alone.
This particular cafe happened to be a very
fashionable little place with dainty Japanese trim
mings, vases of yellow chrysanthemums and neat
blue-ginghamcd waitresses to match the wall
paper the blue gingham, not the waitresses.
Every afternoon tlie fashionable ladies of the
capital give tea parties here, at which time the
place becomes filled with a mass of rich furs,
pinnies, velvets, pcrfumj ami epauletcd officers.
Naturally the prices are high, the tea good and
the food indifferent. But it is always crowded,
for everybody's ambition is to be seen where the
"best people" go. On the other hand, a cafe
farther down tl)c street, which serves much bet
ter food, but is not quite so pretentious, can
hardly secure enough trade to keep it going.
This instance is typical of the whole country.
Everywhere people are willing to pay more for
a fashionable atmosphere than they are for food.
What does it matter if the filet mignon is only
the size of a marrow bone if the person on one's
left is the owner ol a yacht and a cottage at New
port? Thus, while the household consumer is
actually struggling with the high cost of living,
the diner-out is struggling with the cost of high
living which grows more expensive with each
week of the war.
T his is not true of all diners-out, of course,
Usually a healthy appetite will seek its own level,
and wherever there is a demand for well-cooked
nourishing food at moderate prices an establish
ment answering these requirements grows tip.
Take New York, for example. . Nowhere may the
diner-out be found in such copious numbers, and
nowhere is the pursuit of the fashionable quite
so conspicuous.
There arc many cafes in New York, notably
the French and Italiartable d'hotcs, that serve
excellent meals at amazingly low prices. This is
doubtless because most of their patrons are "for
eigners, and foreigners are most apt to pay for
what thev get not for what they look at. Then
these cafes arc out of the fashionable district.
Far from the razzle-dazzle of Broadway, they arc
disdained by most New Yorkers, wdio are not to
be satisfied with a mere bi!l-of-fare. Ask a New
Yorker what he knows about any of the foreign
cafes of the table d'hote variety, and he will most
likely tell you: "Oh, that is one of the cheaper
cafes I have never been .there."
Where the Rich Live
-St. Ix)tils Clone Democrat"
Human curiosity will never be satisfied until
the names of the heaviest income tax payers may
be lawfully published, but the publication of
the surtax receipts by states gives some comfort.
A table appearing in tlie New York Annalist
gives much interesting information. All the
states and Alaska, Hawaii and the District of
Columbia have residents paying surtaxes on in
dividual incomes up to $200,1)00. Then Alabama,
Alaska, Mississippi, Nevada, North Dakota,
South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming drop
out. Arkansas, New Mexico and Utah have no
body paying on incomes between $250,000 and
$300,lXjO. Iowa has none with an income above
$300,000. Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky. Maine. Mon
tana, Nebraska and New Hampshire have no
individual incomes above $500,000. The District
of Columbia, Oregon, Virginia, West Virginia
and Wisconsin have no incomes in excess of
$1,000,000. California. Colorado, Georgia, In
diana, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Ver
mont and Washington have no incomes in excess
of $1,500,000. Only 13 states pay no incomes in
excess of $2,000,000, ranking in the following
order, as to surtaxes from this class: New York,
Oklahoma. Delaware, Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio,
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan, Rhode
Island, Illinois, New Jersey and Florida, the lat
ter getting in by the skin of its teeth, its pay
ment being 13 per cent on $44.
New York leads in every class and in the
total. The surprise is that Oklahoma, the baby
state, should stand second in the highest class,
its payments mofe than doubling those of Dela
ware and of Texas, trebling those of Pennsyl
vania and being nearly six times those of Ohio.
In fact, its surtaxes from this class equal the
total of all the other states, after excluding New
York and Pennsylvania. It stands seventh" in
total payments of individual income taxes, the
rank being New York. Pennsylvania. Illinois,
Massachusetts. Ohio, New Jersey and Okla
homa. The answer is oil; nothing else could ac
count for such a .showing either in the highest
surtaxes or total individual income tax. The
surtax on the class of $2,000,000 and over fur
nishes $16,000,000 of the $167,000,000 total from
individual income taxes.
One Year Ago Today in the War.
French recovered Chambrettcs r.t
Verdun and repelled attacks near
Peronne.
British premier announced in Par
liament that Allies rejected German
peace offer.
German semi-official estimate put
French casualties at 3,800.000 and
British at 1,300,000 since war began.
In Omaha Thirty Years Ago.
S. G. Whitaker, the Chicago bi
cyclist, is in the city
Mr. Popendick, proprietor of a sa
loon at Thirteenth and Howard
streets, held a fourth interest in the
ticket which drew the third capital
prize in the last drawing of the.
Louisiana lottery, amounting $50,000.
Mr. Popendick's interest will bring
him in the neat stun of $12,500.
C. C. Williams of Missouri Valley,
wants to shoot Frank Parnieleo a 50.
bird match Christinas for $100 aside.
Merchants are putting their shelves
In order for their Christmas trade, and
today will be served as "grand open
ing." Service was held in the new Pres
byterian church of South Omaha for
the first time.
Thirty-nine cars of hogs and no
cattle wero reported at the stock
yards.
Mr. Julius Meyer threw open his
private rooms to the members of the
National Opera company, all of whom
were present.
The most successful meeting hpld
by the Press club took place in the
parlor of tlirt Barker hotel.
Charles Mack, who for 12 years has
been inhe employ of the Union Pc
cilie railroad company has received
the appointment of yardmaster for the
I'nion Pacific Stock Yards company
of .South Omaha. Mr. Mack's knowl
edge of the business makes his selec
tion an admirable one.
This Day in History.
1865 Thirteenth amendment to
the federal constitution went into
fori p.
IStiV Convention of leading manu
facturers at Cleveland demanded the
full payment of the national debt.
1878 A gold and a paper dollar of
the I'nited States were of equal value
for the tirst time in 17 years.
1S83 The German crown prince
visited the pope at the Vatican.
1S89 David J. Brewer was com
missioned nn associate justice of the
supreme court of the United States.
1892 Sir Richard Owen, famous
English naturalist, died. Born July
20, 1801.
1 914 British protectorate claimed
throughout Egypt.
1915 German cruiser Bremen re
ported sunk in Baltic by British submarine.
The Day c Celebrate.
L. M. Whitehead, chief clerk of the
general passenger office of the. Bur
lington, was born at Fairmont, Neb.,
38 years ago today.
Nathan B. Scott, former United
States senator from West Virginia,
born in Guernsey county, Ohio, 75
years ago today.
Or. Lyman Abbott, noted clergy
man, author and editor, born at Box
bury, Mass., 82 years ago today. x
Charles II. Dillon, -representative in
congress of tne First South Dakota
district, born near Jasper, Ind., CI
years ago today.
Francis Burton Ilarrisongovernor
general of the Philippines; born in
New York City 44 years ago today.
Otis W. Caldwell, celebrated botan
ist and dean of the collegiate depart
ment of the University of Chicago,
born at Lebanon, Ind., 48 years ago
today.
Rt. Rev. John Grimes, Catholic
bishop of Syracuse, born in County
Limerick, Ireland, 65 years ago today.
Tyrus R. Cobb, outfielder of the
Detroit team and champion batsman
of the American league, born at
Royston, Ga,, 31 years ago today.
Timely Jottings hikI Kemlntlers.
The president and Mrs. Wilson will
observe their second wedding anni
versary today.
Nathan H. Scott, former United
States senator from West Virginia
and long a republican leader of na
tional prominence, reaches his 75th
birthday today.
A conferene.0 has Vecn called for
Richmond, Va., today to further con
sider plans for the proposed union of
the northern and southern Presbyte
rian churches.
Four loading candidates, each of
whom is a past or present member of
the national house of representatives,
are contesting for the mayoralty in
the election in Boston today.
The society of the Army of the
Philippines, composed of otfieers and
enlisted men who served in the
Philippine Islands from 1898 to 1902.
is to meet in Boston today for its 18th
annual national convention. ( More
than half the present membership of
the society is now in active military
service.
Sloryettc of the Day.
Many a good Scotch story is told
by Sir Henry Oliver, one is in re
gard to a certain beadle who had to
show visitors over the remains of an
old abbey "somewhere beyond the
Tweed." lie had on one occasion per
formed this service for a lady who,
on leaving him at the churchyard
gates, merely rewarded him with
than ks.
"Weel, my leddy." he remarked,
"when e gang ha me, if ye tin' oot
that ye have lost your purse; ye maun
recollect that ye haven't had it oot
here." Liverpool Post.
MIRTHFUL REMARKS.
' "There is one thing which shows whit an
ii!roniMtent creature man is."
"What Is thai?"
"Hi- wants his friends always to be think
ins of him. and yet It makes him mad th
minute they begin to reflect on him.' Bal
timore American.
Uncle 1.1B9 bought a clock. One night the
d"Ck got out of order and began to strike.
The old man awoke and counted 102. He
promptly sat up in bed and. calling to his
wife, said: "Cynthia, get up. Bet up. it's
lattr than I've ever kuovved it to be."
Everybody" Magazine.
oAs Base's
Has No lc for German Language.
Oxford, Neb, Dec. 15 To the Edi
tor of The Boo: Under "German in
the Lincoln Public Schools" ywu right
fully say that tlie teaching of Ger
man should not be permitted to inter
fere with the thorough Americaniza
tion of our foreign born population.
Let rne say that that very interfer
ence is what the German language
propagandists have sought to do and
there is no ipicstion thft Germany
valued and counted on it as a help
to keep us from declaring war though
they murdered our citizens and -stroyed
our commerce. The damn
able Mockett law that disgraces the
Nebraska statutes is only one of the
results of this thoroughly worked
propaganda. Germany has not al
lowed the inhabitants of her stolen
territory to even speak, much less to
use the public money to teach their
native language. Yet we find in this
country our business interests often
catering to this unAmericanizing
America. Gorman hanks, German
stores, German supply conipanifs and
German churches all testify to its
baneful influence and the hold that
German kulttir has gained in these
United States. The German language
press is another powerful adjunct in
making our citizens of German
birth believe that true conditions
and reliable W-ws can be read--only
in the German language and that
made in Germany is the one thing to
be hoped for.
The parochial school that takes
the youth from the seventh grade and
pufs them under a German preacher
who instills in their mimTs the im
portance of the German language
and the necessity of learning the
catechism in German if they expect
to be understood in heaven does not
tend to Americanism nor spell for
loyalty to our flag. These children
are compelled to sit through German
singing, German prayers and German
.sermons on Sunday when they could
understand English much better. So
powerful has become this foreigniza
tion propaganda that demagogues
cash it in to help them into office.
Here again Nebraska is disgraced by
the shadow of disloyalty and lack of
common sense. One senator preach
ed an embargo, and that our people
should all stay in their own dugouts
to please Germany. The other sena
tor gloried that he could prevent our
president from arming our merchant
ships, for fear the gunners might
sink a German submarine bef' '""
their own ship was torpedoed. He
told our German sympathizers in
plain English that we had just as
much cause to go to war with Halle '
and England as with Germany So l
most respectfully cliff, r will' the Bee
editor as to the value of the Gel "man
language. A people who pride them--.elves
on dropping bombs on not f
combatants. who celebrate- the
achievement of sending women and
babies to watcrv grave.-, who subject
women and young girls in their cap
tured territory to then' brutal lust.'
while thev mutilate the children ano
enslave tlie men. I say that pcopl
who do tii-.se things and value sacred
treaties as scraps of paper while they
flood the world with their damnable
..pies- are not likely to produce a
world hankering for th-ir language
after the war. No one more than our
citizens 'of German birth arc inter
ested in correcting the evil I havn
complained of and none more than
thev should be interested m driving
the Patricia Newcombs and their ilk
fn"" A. O. RANKIN.
t ut ut Political Nonessentials.
omaha, Dec. I 5. To the Editor of
The Bee: I read an account in your
paper of a gathering discussing wom
an's suffrage in the olllces of t nited
States Senator Norris at Washington
and was wondering if that is what
Norris is interested in at this time.
Mr. Norris" reeortl in tlie last ses
sion goes to show that he was much
interested in nonessential amend
ments on woman's suffrage, temper
ance, prohibition, along with a few
others who hampered and stalled im
portant war measures and wasted
valuable time in doing so. Are we
to have that again this session?
our industries and the business i.i
general is cutting out the nonessen
tials and putting all their energy in
essentials pertaining to the war. Why
not cut out political nonessentials?
At this ;ime it seems to me a duty
which we owe to our country, to our
lighting boys and everybody in this
war, a duty which we should all per
form without being urged, and organ
izations should set the example for the
individual. P. G. LEWIS.
THRIFT STAMPS.
thrift si.-iuip, th" thrift stamp,
c. that':! the .-tump for me;
Jt tinile-s lie to weik hihI fte,
And pniiik-o true economy.
My money I'll no Imiper hoard.
In i-upboiinl and in stocking;
Where moths corrupt and thii v.s hrtaU ir
In wn.-i that arc inoht fhoekintr.
Nor will 1 "spend my hard -earned ensh
tin vainly and M-lf -.seeking
Not when the batih-d fields ef France
With human blood are reeking.
I've found a way to us my savings
That beats these ways by far
I'll buy thrift stamps of Uncle Sam
And help to win this war.
I.oltl.N" ANDRKW' THOMPSON.
Fremont, Neb.
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