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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 23, 1918)
THE BEE t OMAHA, MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1918. The" Omaha Bee DAILY (MORNING) EVENING SUNDAY f FOUNDED BY EDWARD BOSEWATER ' VICTOR RQSEWATER, EDITOR " THE BEE PUBLISHING COMPANY. PROPRIETOR MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ' Tht AnocUttd Pnm. of which Th Be l Dumber. ti aicluilMlj entitled to the uie for publication ol all neve disiwtchee credited to It or not oUierwiee credited to thle paw. end eleo the local dltpatebaf ere eleo reeened. OFFICESi Chicaio People'e Ou Building. Omaha Tha Bee Bids. New York 28 Fifth Ate. South Omh KM N Bt St. lioule New B'k of Commeree. Council Bluffa 14 N. Main St. WuhUuton 1311 U St. Lincoln Little Buildlm. NOVEMBER CIRCULATION Daily 69,418 Sunday 63,095 Arertfe circulation for the month wbacrlbed and iwora to bj B. B Ragan, Circulation Manager. Subecribert leaving the city should have The Be mailed to them. Address changed as often as requested. THE BEE'S SERVICE FLAG AAA A A- Ar A: AA A Ar Do it today. Omaha is going after Christmas in the old- fashioned way this year. Merry England will have its first real - Christmas in five years, and plans on making it a real one. Cato Sells boasts of the part the red men played in the war, as if it were any especial sac rifice for an Indian to take the war trail. A die cutter in Boston is reported to be col lecting wages at the rate of $220 a day, but that still leaves him outside he Rockefeller class. I "s Mr. Baker will probably welcome a recess of nine months M'ith no congress to interfere with his peculiar way of handling the army. Old Boreas has blown a little bit of cheer into the life of the coal man, who was begin ning to wonder when his harvest would come. Thirsty Denverites stood all night in a snow storm, waiting to get their booze from the ex press office. In Omaha that would be consid ered easy. The navy is looking ahead to recruiting 200, 000 men next year. This will afford some op portunity for the boys who have not had enough of the fighting. Just as a sort of Christmas gift, the "four minute men" are to be demob;lized the day be fore Christmas. The country will do its own talking hereafter. The prince of Wales is about to make a tour af the British dominions. He ought to be re minded that no bars are up between the United States and Canada. Mr. Wilson's coming week will be a busy one if he carries out the program laid down for him. But congress will not be in session, and that will ease his task a little. No. room to question the patriotism and self ,accifice. of .our Omaha school childrenl They i. come across and over the ton in resnonse to 1 , r , ''.'AviPr' rati mn in fti nomo rf thai nmmtrv . ,, ...... . ... ...v v,. w... w..w. j .. The Home guards will give up their career of glory and return to a peaceful life again, conscious of knowing that if a call had come 'or their services, they would have met it in some fashion. No matter where the flu originated, or what caused it, the scourge is upon us, and no one will lose anything by observing reasonable cau tion in the matter of personal conduct until the danger is over. If New York school children aije dying of hunger, as is reported, it shows that someone has been terribly careless, for in this country no one should be hungry at any time, and espe--daily not when so many agencies of relief are actively searching out every case of need or distress. Our democratic brethren are more than ever worried for fear the republicans are going to commit some great blunder that will ensure their defeat in 1920. If they will just be pa tient they will see the party of progress and liberty redeem its promises, just as it has in the past. It is not only in Europe by a good deal that our mail service has broken down, as any busi ness man with an extensive correspondence can testify. Burleson methods work out inevitably -wherever put into effect. Senator "Jimmy" Reed is having trouble with the Department of Justice over the proteut propaganda, ' but will probably finish about where he did on the food administration matter. Yes, he is a democrat, and so must be an ad 'ministration "supporter." Americans at Coblenz r American troops are on historic ground at Coblenz, capital of Rhenish Prussia, on the Rhine. The frowning fortifications of Ehren breitstein, atop a 400-foot rock across the river look down upon them. If they had eyes to see and minds to think, they doubtless would be amazed at the spectacle of an alien armed force privileged to take them over whenever demand s made for their transfer. - At this point on the Rhine is some of the most interesting and impressive scenery in all Europe. The old town of Coblenz is hoary with buildings four centuries old and more. The present Ehrenbreitstein fortifications themselves ,in part, are 100 years old. They succeed the ones captured by the French in 1799, after a siege of fourteen months, and destroyed by them two years later upon the signing of the peace of Luneville. Cession from France to Prussia was made in 1815 by the peace of Vienna, and the following year the present stronghold was started. , The "American army of occupation, in its silent, bloodless taking over of Coblenz, will look upon the equestrian statue of William I at the junction of the Rhine and Moselle rivers. ' They will be reminded afresh thereby what a change has come over the deeply lined face of . Europe in the last month. Verily, the right of might, proclaimed by Treitschke and Bern- " hardi and the whole Prussian militaristic crew, ' has lapsed, never, we hope, to find another i&otinn. Minneapolis Tribune). t FIXING REVENUE LAW FOR 1920. Partisan control of the senate by the demo crats has enabled them to incorporate in the new revenue bill provisions fixing the tax rates for 1920. This was done presumably at the behest of the president, who adopted the suggestion-made by Secretary McAdoo before his retirement. It is ostensibly to stabilize busi ness conditions, by giving advance notice as to what taxes will be. This, however, is regarded as a mere pre text. The real reason is found in the fact that democratic control of congress will pass after March 4, and with'revenue legislation out of the way, a call for an extra session of the Sixty-sixth congress may be avoided. In order to accomplish this, and so provide for an in terim of nine months, during which time there can be no interference with democratic legisla tion already on the books, the present congress usurps the function of its successor. If the needs of the country for revenue were known that far in advance, the action might be excusable as a mere partisan maneu ver, but the late secretary of the treasury ad mitted that estimates could not be safely made at this time. He fixed $4,000,000,000 as the sum needed on the general theory that federal expenditures are not likely to fall below that amount ' If the president will gain anything by not having a republican congress in session during the summer, it is quite apt to be at the expense of exposing the country to dangers' of financial disturbance, and maybe to an inordinate tax levy in 1921. It would have been far wiser to have allowed each year to be taken care of as it comes until recovery from the war has been farther advanced. America's Merchant Marine. The future of the American merchant ma rine is far from being settled. No longer is there any argument as to the desirability of having our foreign commerce carried on Amer ican bottoms and under the American flag. How to provide for means to attain this is the great problem. The enormous energy expended in the pro duction of freight carriers to meet the war emer gency produced tonnage, not to the amount that was promised by reckless press agents of the enterprise, nor even up to a point that bade fair to fill all requirements. Contracts for construc tion on government account of a large number of similar vessels are being carried out.i These in time will come into commission and will be engaged in ocean traffic. But these vessels will outlast the lifetime of the Emergency Fleet Corporation, and then what will happen? It may be, although it is hardly probable, that the United States will con tinue in the shipbuilding or traffic-carrying trades. Will the term of five years after the war, as now established, be long enough for the complete revival of the American merchant ma rine? This question will come before the next congress in this and in other forms. Under the law creating the Shipping board it was to investigate shipping conditions and study shipping laws and navigation throughout the world, that an authoritative report might be made to congress as a guide to legislative action. This report has not been made, for, as Chairman Hurley puts it, the board has been "too busy building ships." In 1924, according to the present outlook, the Emergency Fleet corporation will cease to operate ships, and the Shipping board will sell, lease or otherwise dispose of the government vessels. Before that time a definite program should be adopted, and that does not seem long, when it is remembered that the merchant marine has been a subject of more or less active debate for forty years, and the Shipping board is the nearest approach to a solution yet presented. Can Germany Pay the Bill? Estimates as to the bill that probably will he presented to Germany as liquidated war dam ages are mounting higher day by day. These will be subject to a final scaling by a commis sion, which will determine eventually ' the amount to be exacted from the Germans as reparation and indemnity. In anticipation of this interest centers on the ability of the Ger mans to meet the demads that will be made upon them. Dr. Walter Rathenau, the greatest of the scientific captains of industry of the empire, says his country is bankrupt. English and French authorities insist the capital and re sources of Germany are scarcely impaired as a result of the war. Man power has been con siderably diminished, but may be replenished, temporarily at least, by the employment of men from neighboring coimtries whose industries were deliberately destroyed by the Huns, who systematically wrecked factories of all kinds wherever found, that the empire would have a market for its wares when peace was restored.. It has been discovered that the German plea for food was largely a sham, and it may be found that the poverty now set up is also ficti tious. Careful inquiry will be needed to deter mine the value of Dr. Rathenau's assertion. He is right as to one thing, that it is the worst ca lamity that has befallen Germany in 2,000 years, but this will not relieve the Huns from ;the debt they owe. Restitution and reparation will be strictly and justly insisted upon. Payment of the bill will require the product of generations of Germans, and they may outgrow their no tions of another war by the time the last claim is settled. Again the Child Mind.' French socialist deputies have withdrawn from a committee of the chamber because the chairman would not accede to a demand that Clemenceau be interpellated on a point that might raise a row, but scarcely would serve a good purpose. In Ireland Sinn Feiners elected to Parliament will not take their seats, allowing their constituencies to go unrepresented.' In either case the motive is the same. It is nega tive rather than positive resistance to the course of government The socialists resign as a pro test and deprive France of any service they might give on the committee, because they can not have their own way. The Sinn Fein lead ers will have no share in the deliberations of the imperial Parliament, because they seek auton omy for Ireland. It is the child-mind mani festing itself in the sprit of refusing to play "because unable to dominate the game. Real reforms, social or political, do not make progress this way. Protests are only potent when presented with reason and logic behind them. Right in the Spotlight. Gustav Ador, who has been elect ed president of the Swiss- confedera tion for the year 1919, celebrates his 73d birthday today. For many years Dr. Ador has been regarded as Switzerland's foremost citizen and statesman. Of late years he has be come widely known outside his own country as president of the interna tional committee of the Red Cross, to which office he was chosen in 1910. During the European war he had an opportunity to prove his skill and talents as an organizer. He founded the now world-famous agency of the prisoners of war, the main purpose of which was to act as intermediary between jrjsoners and their families or friends. It was he who was largely responsible for the exchange of wounded and sick prisoners by the belligerents. Dr. Ador is personally known to many Americans, having visited Washington several years ago to at tend the , international Red Cross conference; One Year Ago Today in the War. Austro-German forces in the Asiago offensive stormed the sum mits of Col de Rosso and Monte Valbella, cutting off more than 6,000 Italians from the main army. In Omaha 30 Years Ago Today. Rev. Dr. Joseph T. Duryea as sumed his duties as pastor of the First Congregational church, deliver ing his first sermon to crowded pews. The noted divine is described as "of impressive appearance, about 45 years of age, iron gray hair, lofty and striking forehead, with strong ly arched eyebrows and penetrat ing gray eyes. He is clean shaven and wears the usual garb of black." Mrs. Pierson was appointed to as sist County Poor Agent Mahoney in looking after the poor. She is to receive $75 a month for three months. Cold wave flafl is flying with notice of a drop of 24 degrees in the temperature. Cap. O'Malley and a party of gunners bagged eight fine geese at Calhoun. Frank Bandle is being talked about for the staff of Western Association umpires. The Day We Celebrate. ' Dr. A. A. Holtman, physician and surgeon, born 1869. J(acob Marks, salesman for the Eagle Lye works, born 1867. John A. Rine, former city attor ney, born 1878. Giacoma Puccini, whose new operas have recently been presented for the first time in New York, born in Lucca, Italy. 60 years ago., Oscar S. Straus, New York' mer--chant, philanthropist, diplomatist and former cabinet officer, born in Georgia, 68 years ago. Connie Mack, the veteran manager of the Philadelphia American league base ball club, born at East Brook field, Mass., 56 years ago. This Day in History. 184 Hansom cabs were patent ed by Joseph Aloysus Hansom. 1875 Royal palace at Barcelona, Spain, destroyed by fire. 1893 President Santord B. Dole of Hawaii denied the right of the president of the United States to interfere with Hawaiian affairs. 1914 The Austrian garrison be seiged in the fortress of Przemysl, made an unsuccessful sortie against the Russians. 1915 German reply to latest American note on Frye case failed to satisfy American demands. 1916 British aircraft carried out successful raids in the El Arish re gion of Egypt. Timely Jottings and Reminders. King Albert of the Belgians to day enters upon the tenth year of his sovereignty. Close of the "Christmas roll call" campaign of the American Red Cross for membership. Today is the 100th anniversary of the death of Sir Philliu Francis, the British politician and pamphleteer, whom many believe to have been the author of "Letters of Junius." King Victor Emmar.uel of Italy will conclude his stay in Paris to day and depart for Rome to com plete arrangements for the coining visit of the president of the United States and Mrs. Wilson. The return of the American battle ship squadron from Europe is to be made the occasion for a naval review at New York today which is expected to be one of the most notable affairs of its kind in the world's history. Storyette of the Day. One infantry sergeant, badly wounded in action in Argonne, did not really come to tii! he woke one morning in a snowy bed in a dis tant hospital. The nurse, a benevo lent vision, was bending over him. "Are you feeling better, Lieuten ant Johnson?" she asked. He thought that over for a while and then decided the voice was not part of the strange dream that had been haunting him. "You've got me wrong, miss," he said. "I'm Sergeant Johnson." "Oh, no, you're "not," said the nurse, "you were promoted while you were asleep." Stars and Stripes. "AND BE A CHILD AGAIN." Work for League of Nations I would free myself from the love of pelf, From the grasp of glittering gold: I would envy not the rich man's lot With thirst for wealth untold. I would free mjaelf from the world-mad rush. From the greed of power and gain; 1 would free myself from the love of pelf And be a child again. I would free myself from the autocrat. From his vile and hardened plan: I would try to live and let others live And be a common man. I would find some good, I would find some bad In the hearts and livea"of men; ' I would covet ways of my youthful days And be a child again. I would trust myself with the common lot. With a patriot'a word and pen; I would trust myself where the stars and stripes Float o'er the lives of men. I would trust myself where the land la free From a tyrant's curse and reign; I would trust myself with the common lot And be a child again. II. II. HOPEWELL. Omaha. New York Evening Post. ' It was once said that if Austria had not been in existence she would have had, for the peace of Europe, to be invented. But now, for the peace of the world, Austria hasbeen destroyed. The half-truth contained in the epigram, how ever, still remains valid. Something must be invented to take the place of the badly fitting hoops of oppression, called the dual empire, which kept that almost inextricable mixture of races and languages in middle Europe from constant explosion. A political philosopher might well point out that the League of Na tions, tar irom being a remote uiopia, must De come a reality if the broad swath of discordant elements from the Baltic to the Adriatic is to develop in peace and prosperity, with justice and an equal chance for all. The League of Nations must take the place, and indeed much more than take the place, of the discarded Hapsburg monarchy: must substitute justice for the time-serving Austrian policy that played off racial hatred against racial hatred in order that, by the plan of divide et impera, the em pire might survive. The chief problems of middle Europe con cern national boundaries and minority rights. The peace conference will do its best to settle national boundaries, to make as equitable a map as possible for Lithuania, Poland, the Ukraine, Czecho-Slovakia, Hungary, Roumania, and Jugo-Slavonia. But island minorities, of vary ing sizes and importance, will be left within the boundaries of each new state. This would be unfortunate enough if these majorities and minorities were mutually compatible; but where ages of competition under oppression have bred hatred and mistrust, so that race groups in the same town, living on opposite sides of the street, to put it concretely, boycott each other, you have a situation full of dyna mite. Lituhania, if erected into a separate princi pality, will inlude many settlements of Poles and Jews; thei new Poland must include col onies of Germans in Prussian Poland and the Dantzig district, a very large percentage of Jews and a considerable number of Russians and Ukrainians as well. Czecho-Slovaki will have to cope with a German Ulster; Hungary must contain many islets of Roumanians, Ger mans and Slavs; Greater Roumania, in Tran sylvania, will have not one, but two, Ulsters, of Hungarians numbering almost 1,000,000 and of Germans fewer in number. Jugo-Slavonia will attempt the most difficult task of all. It will try to unite not only the Austrian Serbs and Croats, two elements which, till little more than a decade ago, had not acted together politically, but it will also attempt to absorb the kingdom of Serbia, Bosnia, with about 500, 000 Mohammedans, and Herzegovina and Mon tenegro. The magnitude of this task can be appreciated when one considers only the ques tion of religious differences, leaving aside sec tional antagonisms; since, in addition to its Mohammendan citizens, the new state will con tain Roman Catholic and Orthodox Greek pop ulations in about equal numbers. The Ukraine will have a very acute Polish, Russian and Jew ish problem, though, in the event of federation with a great Russian republic, the final appeal for the Ukrainian minorities will be to the Russian central government. Current events must convince the veriest skeptic of the need for some higher authority to protect minorities in middle Europe. The wave of anti-Semitism that seems to be sweep ing through Poland, the terrible conflict that' is going on at the present time between the Poles,, and Ruthenians in eastern Galicia, the complaints of the Magyars that the Czechs are takng over more than true Slovaka from Hungary, the outcry of the Dalmatians, of the new Jugo-Slavonia, against Italian irredentism, are but a few symptoms of the strife that even peace, the justest peace ever devised by man's honest intention and utmost ingenuity, will not lay. Be it remembered how the Congress of Berlin in 1870 provided that Roumania give the Jews equal civil and political rights, and that the Roumanian government never paid the slightest attention to this provision. No peace treaty will enforce the rights g.anted race mi norities. There must, therefore, be a tribunal, sitting always, to which these minorities may appeal for justice. This tribunal would be the League of Nations. Its courts will be full of middle Europe's litigation for years to come, and by this litigation the great nations will benefit. The world-public will gradually be come accustomed to seeing international dis putes settled peaceably. Then, when a serious difference between two of the great powers finally arises, it will, as a matter of course, be referred to the league. The small lawsuits will serve to develop a new body of interna tional law, and to accustom mankind to discard the arbitrament of machine gun and hand gre nade for the law court. Breaking Up Big Fortunes A will recently probated disposes of the es tate of the widow of a man from whom she inherited $9,000,000 when he died in August, 1911. How much of this sum remains is not yet known, but the testator's son, who inherited a like amount from his father, had reduced his patrimony to $5,000,000 by the time of his death two years later. At the rate of two million a year spent during the brief span of life that re mained to him he was on the high road to the poorhouse. These facts are worth the consideration of those eminent publicists who are clamoring for a redistribution by some process of legal con fiscation of what they call the "swollen for tunes" of America. There is no need for any special legislation on this subject. The work of breaking up the great inheritances is carried on automatically in a way that is far more thorough and effective than by anv scheme that even the most radical wielder of the red flag could devise. Of the fortunes of forty years ago, then regarded as stupendous, only a few remain intact. The others have either been wasted in stock gambling and dissipation or have been divided and subdivided to the vanish ing point. Moreover, nearly all these fortunes have been accumulated by men who began life with no capital save brains and ambition, and thfs fact is a constant stimulus to young men of the rising generation. Back of these schemes of legalized confiscation lurks that mean envy of the rich which is a failing that human nature is heir to. New York Herald. People and Events A confederate veteran of 75 years, living ffi Arkansas, has just been married for the 12th time. Of course such Old codgers are pro foundly touched by war's havoc on men and strive to ameliorate a partial famine. Besides, a real Arkansas reb cannot easily put the fight ing habit aside. Orange profiteers in Florida received a lively roast from State Food Controller Beacham and volubly "passed the buck" to the middleman along the route to northern consumers. Mr. Beacham says there is no reason why oranges should be sold at retail for more than 5 cents each. Dealers might supply reasons enough to fill a book. A telephone girl in aWisconsin town saved the town from destruction by sticking to her post to spread the alarm, while the exchange was burning about her. Similar instances of heroism have been noted in Omaha and in manv other communities, demonstrating that peaceful pursuits reveal courageous conduct "no less renowned than war." A strong sidelight thrown on the operations of tax lien sharks on Long Island revealed a system of swindling of home-makers which drew a batch of criminal indictments from the grand jury. A stretch of land taken in by tax title and heavily mortgaged was sold to home mak ers on the installment plan. As title did not pass until the last payment .was made, purchasers were not aware of the mortgage and stand to In,, nil ..nines tlln.r fT.t tnir.flia. r A li.f., , 1, first lien. ' t Jn the Wake of War While the cost of living In London Increased 80 per cent during the war, the percentage of children found In a poorly nourished condition is less than half what It was in 1913. The doughboys at Brest taught the youngsters to sing. "Hail, Hall, the Gang's All Here," and handed the ragtime packa-re to the president on landing. Moreover, it sounded "okey" to a maker of "limericks." Thrifty folk In France foresee the rush of American tourists and are putting their houses in order. In the Vosges region hotels are being planned and the fortified sectors held by American troons nresprved for the sightseers with appropriate tags. "American troops in all their fighting In France," savs the Stars and Stripes, "took more than 21 Ger man prisoners for everv American captured by the enemy." The total number of Germans ' captured is 44,934, not Including prisoners taken In Belgium In the last few days of hostilities." Once in a while Old Dobbin steps high as he moves before the spot light. The president of France and the president of the United States rode away from the railway station in Paris In a carriage drawn by two horses. Although considerable gas is buAied up in one way or another in Paris, horse power Is still in high fa vor, offsetting in old-time stateliness what it lacks in modern speed. Some of the thieves are disgorg ing the loot gathered in France and Belgium, but the quantity restored is a trifling part of the total. The shell-blasted cathedral at Rheims gets back some of its altar vessels and art goods, through the medium of Cardinal Hartmann of Cologne. No doubt the victors will press for the restoration of all stolen goods that 'can be traced, and all known robbers receive a full measure of justice. "I was with the railway artillery within six miles of Metz on the morning of November 11," writes Ralph Pembrook of Harvard, Neb., to the home folks. "You can take it from me there was the most terrific artillery fire on that Monday morn ing that there has been since the St. Mihiel sector was wiped out in Sep tember, for I was there then, too. No one had the slightest idea that there would be an armistice and you can imagine what took place when we got the general order from Gen eral Bullard at Toul about 10 a. m. Then that whole sector cut loose and there was one roar of artillery right to the stroke of 11. Of course, from 10 a. m., November 11, no one had talked of anything but going home. We thought that our bat talion might get home among the first, but that fell through with last night, when we received orders to fit up 65 American boxcars for roll ing quarters and await orders to move up some plare in the neighbor hood of Luxemberg. Yesterday the men were so happy they were yelling and howling continually because of the prospect of getting home early in the spring, but ton'Tht they are making about as much noise as a bunch of clams, I can't believe we will be In Germany so very long, and that we may still get home in time to do some good this spring." STATE PRESS COMMENT. Hastings Tribune: When in doubt what to do, go back to the farm and enjoy a real Independent life. Columbus News: We brag about the freeing of black slaves, but no body seems to be doing anything for the women who become the mother of seven or eight children. York News-Times: Governor Mc Kelvle made no mistake when he selected J. E. Hart of this city to be secretary of the state banking board. Mr. Hart Is well qualified for the position and everybody, re gardless of party preference, is well pleased with the appointment. Kearney Hub: The Nebraska State Railway commission does not fall in with the McAdoo suggestion that the government retain control of the railways for a period of five years. Commissioner Taylor is quoted as declaring that government control has developed a type of rail road autocrat much less endurable than under private operation. Hastings Tribune: Farmers in Nebraska ought to raise more chick ens. They don't cost much and are a money-getting property thd year 'round and all the time, Stock rais ing and dairying should also come In for more attention. Iowa farm ers are still making baTrels of money with cattle. Aurora Republican: The wisdom of electing a trained newspaper man for lieutenant governor is already demonstrated by Col. P. A. Earrows, who makes a number of suggestions to the approaching legislature that will greatly expedite Its work, If followed. The multiplicity of bills has always been the great stumbling block. Mr. Barrows would solve this problem by having the respective committees of the two houses mce: Jointly and consolidate all bills deal ing with the same subject. He would choke off the free advertising abuse by eliminating the names of intro ducers from all bills, which is the sole incentive for much proposed legislation. The lieutenant governor elect has represented The Omaha Bee at the state house for many years, and no one knows better than he how much human nature there is in the average legislature. He shows the wisdom of Solomon by striking at the real cause of most of the in efficiency In that branch of the state government. WHITTLED TO A POINT Baltimore American: President Wilson's attitude towards the free dom of the seas may hinge upon whether he experienced mal de mer or not. Kansas City Star: An inventory of the former kaiser's personal be longings shows that he had 598 uni forms. He probably took the other two with him when he went to Holland. Washington Post: When Wood row thinks of the soft snap he has in France and then looks ahead to bucking a republican congress, he almost makes up his mind to stay over there. Philadelphia Ledger: One of the surprising things about these reve lations concerning the activities of the German propaganda is that, al though they did not escape -detec-tlon, they escaped punishment. Detroit Free-Press: The former kaiser might turn over his 598 uni forms to the society gathering clothes for Belgians, if the Belgians could so alter their appearance as to make it safe to wear them. Brooklyn Eagle- A new invention that will multiply by four the capac ity of each long distance telephone wire and by eight the capacity of every telegraph wire is formally placared. Reduction of rates is not placarded. Who really gets the bene fit of mechanical inventions? New York World: Even since the armistice went into effect the Cologne Chamber of Commerce, in a formal resolution reported from sympathetic Zurich, expresses the hope that the destruction of Indus tries in Belgium and Northern France will allow a rapid regenera tion of Germany's international power, In spite of harsh peace terms. Will nothing enlighten such appall ing stupidity? Test for Nation-wide Prohibition. New Yovk, Dec. 14. To the Editor of The Bee: In the existing condi tion of national legislation, includ ing In that expression the executive orders which such legislation has authorized and which, pursuant thereto, have been made, argument of the strongest has been provided why the legislatures which assemble in 1919 should stay their hands on the subject of the federal prohibition amendment and await the results of the laws now, or soon to be put, in force. These results will oe tre mendously informing. No legisla ture can act at Its coming session with any tithe of the knowledge that will avail to it within the next two years. It is always easier to do a thing than to undo it. Federal pro hibition will be hard to repeal and state prohibition has been so often repealed as to afford abundant proof that laws taking from people their rights are unsteady laws, laws that provoke restlessness, trouble,, prejudice and, when they are really difficult to get rid of, revolution. Thirteen states have at one time or another adopted prohibition and have later changed their minds and repealed the law. These are Ala bama, Connecticut, Delaware, Illi nois, Maryland, Massachusetts (twice), .Michigan, Nebraska. New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island (tw,ice). South Dakota .and Ver mont, states so widely distributed over the country as to prove that the will to repeal relates not to section nor industrial occupation nor to city or mountain or plain. Already the manufacture of spir ituous, vinous and malt beverages is forbidden. Already the distillery and the brewery are outlawed, their capi tal sacrificed, their business de stroyed, their employes thrown out, and the industries on which they drew for raw material shorn of their market. On July 1, 1919, It becomes a crime, punishable by a year's im prisonment and a heavy fine, for any person to sell to another any alco holic beverape in any quantity from a drop to a hogshead. Long before that time the supply of beer will be gone. The distilled liquors will have been consumed or exported. The supply of western wines, if any then remains, will have become a total loss. And, until the war la officially over and our armies demobilized (the date of their demobilization to be announced by the president) there will exist throughout this country absolute prohibition. It is entirely within the discretion of the president to say when the war is over. It is equally within his dis cretion to say when demobilization has ended. So, We are Inevitably bound to have a considerable period of nation-wide prohibition and without the federal amendment It would be the exercise of the merest com mon sense for our legislatures, be fore acting on the federal amend ment, to seek the instruction that they will so certainly obtain from the experiment In nation-wide dry ness that these present laws have imposed. They can then see by ac tual operation what prohibition costs and what It comes to. They can then act with full knowledge of what they are doing and they have six years from now within which to act. Is it too much to say that when a man is called upon to render a de cision that he knows must be mo mentous, the full effect of which by no possibility can he presently determine, when he or the man in succession to him for the purpose of rendering this decision has six whole years within which to consider and act, and when the opportunity is presented to him to ascertain by a preliminary experiment, an exact complete, sufficient experiment pre cisely what his decision will in volve in consequence that he knews will profoundly affect capital, In dustry, public resources and per sonal rights, is it too much to say that nothing will prevent him as a reasonable man, from taking to him self, or to his successor in duty, the benefit of all the information that this experiment will bring, unless it be, a timidity that is contemptible or a prejudice that Is vicious? JOHN McE. BOWMAN. angelic dispositions. Tha answer isf that they stand practically convicted) as profiteers by the courts of thej land, and are now trying to pervert1 the public mind and evade the final condemnation and order of dissoliw tlon at their hands. Of all the su preme gall this is surely the limit, admittedly bo by their campaign of so-called publicity, for If there wasn't something wrong, why do they have to advertise? No honest man has to carry advertisements ot that fact Nor for that matter do dishonest men, either, as we learn of men by their deeds. I know this isn't Christmas cheer, but noticing the disposition to get all possible for Christmas gifts, the spirit is dampened when one feels the largest part of the gift Is given to the merchant instead of the intended recipient. For instance, I witnessed tho sale of a 2 -pound box of Christmas stationery for $3. 98, when 1 know its wholesale value to be around $1, and sold by a catalogue house for around $1.00 or usually retails around $2 to $2.60. This store was selling them at a bargain price, $3.98. No, this store Isn't threatened by bankruptcy. Why not a little investigation along these lines? DOCK YAK. Vl'liy Such Waster Omaha, Dec. 19. To the Editor of The Bee: By the newspaper report I notice that the envoys to the peace conference from the United States are said to be strongly In favor of the sinking of warships that are in the hands of the allies as surren dered by the Germans, Austrlans and Turks. For one, I would like to ask why the ships should be sunk? If no other use can be made of them, why not turn them over to the Belgians and let them make use of them in any way they see fit? It would be fitting that the Germans should be compelled to let the Belgians have them and to use them as a small recompense from the terrible de struction that was inflicted upon them by the vicious destroyers of their homes and cities. We have had conservation pounded Into us every minute since the war with Germany was declared in April, 1917; were threatened with arrest and fines if we did not strictly fol low the dictations of the food des pots, and were called unpatriotic if we felt nauseated in eating the mix tures called bread a number ot months this year, yet the peace en voys to the conference to be held soon In France now propose to de stroy vessels that cost millions of dollars and contain much valuable iron and steel that would go far to wards repairing the vast damage done to Belgium in the war. If there is to be conservation, the fellows at the top should set the example for the rest of us to follow. The talk of the peace envoys that the war was not for the acquisition of property is killed in itself hn minute they vote for the restoration of Alsace-Larraine to France, as should be done. They should be con sistent and let some nation or na tions have the vessels for old iron, if nothing more. Theie has been so much destruction of property that it is time it was stopped and real les sons In, conservation brought before us. The war cost us much more than was necessary if the government had tried to follow up the conservation of food, In other lines, but now that the war has ended all but in name, there should not be any more de struction of property, even if it does consist of ships built by re Ger mans. There should be a protest sent out from all over the country against the sinking of so much val uable steel and Iron up into thou sands of tons. FRANK A. AONEW. SMILING LINES. "Pop, what Is mertt by a figure e spffech ?" "Well, my son, when you hear of a wo. man being speechless with Indignation, that's a flgura of speech." Hs I'd like to know why you girls get engaged to several men at once. She When you have only one match, doesn't it go out? Boston Transcript. Smith I hear Green was sent to th lunatic asylum. Is it true? Jones Yes; poor fellow; he's as crazy a( a bedbug. Had a mania for exchanging umbrellas every chance he got. Smith Pshaw! Almost any man will do that If he has half a chance. Jones Yes, but poor Green always, left a better one than he took. In" dlanapolis Star. Prices and Christmas Cheer. Omaha, Dec. 19. To the Editor of The Bee: One can hardly help pro tecting against certain merchandis ing practices annually pulled off in not alone Omaha, but In all Jarge cities. During the war we have be come more or less familiar with the "profiteer," whom, barring the Hun, should stand as the most despicable thing on earth. We have this breed of so-called business with us, when we went to buy necessities and Christmas th'ngs and found many articles marked up, for no other reason than it was believed the price could be gotten "on account of the war." How many millions of dollars have the American people overpaid no one knows. A people who have met every call for taxes, bonds, Red Cross and charity. In fact every thing for the sake of humanity even the blunders of the democratic! party. These people have exhibited the patience of Job, but the worm has commenced to turn. No people will stand the grafting and exploita tion of others' misfortunes forever. They will not pay two prices fur ne cessities of life, foi always, just be cause the food administrator says the price is fair. The price printed is usually the maximum. Take bacon, for Instance, 65 cents sliced or 60 cents for a whole side. There are about a dozen different grades of bacon, which retails from 22 cents to 65 cents per pound. Now, practically all the stores attempt to get 60 cents or 65 cents, or 56 cents and 67 cents, but the fact is that the best of bacon should be sold at around 40, 45 or 50 cents per pound. With hogs selling at 13 cents on foot, the allowing of 65 cents for bacon Is either encouraging profit eering, or an act of ignorance. Butter and eggs are similar ex amples. I believe creameries ran make 1 M pounds of butter from 1 pound of cream testing 24. Cream usually tests 35 to 40, and from ex perience, I would believe that 2 pounds of butter can be made from a pound of butter fat with a little sweet milk. This Is only about 100 per cent profit. Eggs we nil know about the cold storage, practically controlled by the packers, who are : oaily conducting an advertising cam paign to impress the public of their A RAW III III EI RAT Eases Quickly When You Apply a Little Musterole. And Musterole won't blister like the old-fashioned mustard plaster. Just spread it on with your fingers. It penetrates to the sore spot with a gentle tingle, loosens the congestion and draws out the soreness and pain. Musterole is a dean, white oint ment made with oil of mustard. 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