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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 1919)
1 THE fiEE:- OM AHA,' MOKD AY,' JANUARY 6, 1919. -The Omaha Bee 'DAILY (MORNIKC) EVENING SUNDAY POUTPED BY EDWARD BOSS WATER J I VICTOR ROSEWATER. EDITOR THE BEE PUBLISHING COMPANY. PROPRIETOR MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Tkt Associated Press, o whica Ths Bee It a member, it uclsiifeit atltM to las use fee publication of til ni 4ititches credited to II Of sot otherwise credited In Ull pr. and tlta Ult loctl , published herein. All risbts t publlcWIoa of our tpwlt) ' ettpstebes or tlta mened. OFFICESi i -ilile Pewlt'i flit Bulldtnf. Omihe Th. Bee Bldf. . Km Tors 1M rifle, An. gout Ooitht N HI. rf M. Urals S H'k of Commercs. Council Blurr li N. Mtlo Bt, f WtthlnnoB 1811 Q Bt Lincoln Lllllo Bulldltif. ; NOVEMBER CIRCULATION : Daily 69,418 Sunday 63,095 'ojmo olreultMoB for th DMBtk tubssrlDed tad nan to be M. 1 Iwd, ClrcnliUon Utoir. SubscriWs Utvlng tat dty should hvo Tho Be moiled So thorn. Address changed ftsn requested. T- One week titl the big doings at Versailles. I Why should a railroad investigate a federal judge? Reports of the alarming illness of the kaiser uggest that nature may yet answer the ques tion as to his future. f ii is an ngnt to Diame the "cootie tor a million deaths, but the main question is how to exterminate the pest. i" Serbia is making quite a war talk for a coun , try lately emerged from the load under which 'ft rested. six months ago. Bordeaux-to-Bagdad is quite as alliterative -and just as practicable as the former project. i Let the world h ave the service. Up in Alaska, where street cars and movies are unknown, the people die from flu just the aine. And it is quite as cold there as here. ' With the watchfire in the washtub gone out, j the weird women of Washington will have to I look up some new outlet for their foolishness. I Paris is entertaining a more immediate men ace in the form of flood, the Seine being on l' Us annual bender. This cannot be stopped by Yankee boys. - "It's not the first cost, but the uokeeo." siirli Lthe city fathers, as they contemplate bills of I $63,000 for maintaining sixty automobiles one year. Something wrong here. t Now with the street car strike and the flu and a lot of other annoyances out of the way, let us get down to business and do some of the real 4hings we have on the program. .- The state council of defense beat the gov-ternpr-elect to it, but he will be technically credited with having redeemed his promise to liever some of the members from their jobs. Nebraska could not attend in a body at New port News, but the boys from the Antelope later who got ashore there yesterday, must feKjhe wave of welcome sent them from .home. j , Mr. Wilson starts the move to relieve Europe's hungry by asking for an appropriation W $100,000,000 ., to provide food for those who lican not buy for themselves. This will be money well spent. I Twenty billions, five hundred millions is jwhat the railroads represented as a capital in vestment when taken over by the government V year ago. This simplifies the problem of gov ernment ownership. I . , ' : .g Mr Baker comforts himself with the thought lhat if the war had gone on long' enough, Vmerica would finally have been ready to sup- ?ly its own army. Others are not so easily con oled over the unpleasant facts. v The democrats are having quit a time try- ing to chase Governor McKelvie out of his iwn comfortable home and into the big, barn ike house Nebraska calls "the governor's man sion." If "Mack" rs as wise as we think he is, he will hold on to his own house. Another city planning expert has told us how to spend a lot of money in opening new And widening and grading old streets, but has iiot said a word as to how the fund is to be Raised. This may be all right as an indoor pport, but Omaha has more important problems ahead. ; The death of David Lubin may result in the ermination of the work he undertook to estab lish at Rome, that of a central bureau for the tlearing of world crop information. He had til organization well under way when the war broke out, its work being carried on afterwards under difficulty. When Me matter was brought before congress last summer on an attempt to ecure a renewal of the appropriation for its upport, a serious objection was raised as to the value of the service performed. The Inter national Agricultural institute may survive Lubin, as a monument to his enterprise, but it Ought to be organized as a government func tion, and not be under private control. The Nation's War Bill It appears from figures compiled by the sen ate committee on appropriations that congress for the fiscal years 1918 and 1919 appropriated and authorized contract expenditures for the prosecution of the war with Germany aggregat ing tome $55,000,000,000. Contract cancellations and various other deductions made possible by the armistice will bring the figures of actual ex penditure by the United States on account of the war down to about $33,500,000,000. i This for two years is a sum ten times the fioney cost of the civil war to the northern tates during four years, with a fourth of the resent population of the United States. It is more than five times the cost of the Napoleonic wars to Great Britain, extending over a period of 20 years. It represents a cost per year more than double that incurred by Germany or any other chief belligerent in Europe. It is an amount exceeding the entire wealth of the Nation as late as the year 1870. v- So great a financial sacrifice for the time given has never at another period been made by any nation and has not been made by any p'ther nation at this time. But it brought the war to a victorious end with a quickness which has dazed the whole world, and particularly the enemy world. That is and will continue jo be the ample justification of so unprecedented an expenditure, no matter what time will reveal of the extravagance and waste necessarily attend ing the vast and improvised outpouring of the IstfSoVi at?batanci,es .York, .World. "MAKING PROGRESS." The street car men, through) their leaders, are reported as saying that they feel they have made progress in the finding of the war labor board on the issues they raised with the com pany. We are glad they feel so, and glad, also, that the war board's ruling has enough in it to permit the men as well as the company to claim vindication of their respective positions and satisfaction of their demands. But let not the street car men fool them selves with the delusion that they have gained anything that in any way repays the cost of the senseless and needless street car strike with which they afflicted this 'community for more than a week. Let not the street car men try to persuade themselves they have made the smallest bit of progress by holding up traffic of a great city like Omaha in the busiest season of the year that they couldjiot have made, and would not have made, by appealing directly to the war labor board without the strike. Let it not be forgotten that the company, right or wrong in its treatment of the men, from the first expressed a willingness to let any grievances under the previous award go to arbitration and that the strike was called in spite of all this, with a resulting loss in wages to the strikers of not less than $30,00(3; to the company of revenues exceeding $100,000, and incalculable damage and inconvenience to the people and business interests of the community. Let not the moral of the war labor board's decision be lost on either side of this contro versy. No strike can be successful that is not backed by popular sympathy and no street car strike in Omaha can have popular support that is precipitated in violation of existing agreements and in flagrant disregard of the public as the great third party at interest. Only if the street car men, and we say it with most kindly intent, learn this lesson from an egreg ious mistake, have they really made progress. The President at the Vatican. Only a sentimental importance can attach to the visit of the president to the Vatican, but that sentiment can hardly fail to have its due effect on the progress of history. The interview between president and pope" is said to have lasted half an hour, and it is impossible that any detailed discussion of world relations could take place in that short time. Significance of the visit will rest cm the order of the procession, from the Quirinal to the Vatican. As the head of a great church organization, and the spiritual guide for millions of people resident in all parts of the world, Benedict has an interest in the affairs of humanity that can not be gainsaid. While he is denied any temporal authority, the political influence of the church in some lands is quite as great as its spiritual. Especially will His Holiness be concerned with the future of the Catholics of Austria-Hungary, Bohemia, Poland, Belgium and other of the countries in which the church numbers its great member ship. Mr. Wilson's presence at the Vatican must therefore be interpreted as an expression of disinterested friendship on the part of America towards the pope, and as such likely to have its reflection at Versailles. It is merely a pledge of our devotedness to the square deal. Y. M. C. A. and Its War Work. Dr. John R. Mott, general secretary of the war council of the Y. M. C. A., says criticisms and complaints by returning soldiers should be faced and given frank answers. Less than that would disapppint the public, who gave many millions of dollars to support the work of the association and the institutions allied with it in their activities here and abroad. Scattered and disconnected complaints scarcely deserve attention, but the persistent criticism that has been heard since peace was declared make it imperative that the facts be developed and published. That the Red Tri angle workers covered themselves with glory is admitted. Evidence is plenty of the self-sacrificing nature of their service. Unfortunately, signs point to at least a misunderstanding some where as to the whole scope of the work. When the association took over the army canteen service, at the request of General Pershing, foundaion was laid for a great deal of dissatisfaction among the soldiers, who found themselves paying war prices for articles they bought, and who could not understand why this was so. Similarly, folks at home could not comprehend the necessity of charging sol diers full prices when so liberal contribution had been made for the support of the work. Complete publicity of all the activities of the various relief agencies should be forthcoming, that the pubjic may know just where the money went. This is certainly due the donors, and will clear away any doubt that may now exist as to the wisdom as well as the zeal with which this phase of the war business was managed. Waste in State Printing. One of the most remarkable publications ever paid' for by the taxpayers of Nebraska is the report of the deputy labor commissioner. It is not only remarkable for its bulk, but for the kind of matter it contains. For example, twenty-two pages are devoted to the reproduction of poems, bits of verse; scriptural texts or quotations from philoso phers, and W. J. Bryan, none of which have iny place in a bureau report, the whole winding up with a glorious song to Woodrow Wilson, pledging him that Nebraska is for him, although the state had returned a solid republican dele gation to congress and turned the democrats out, some time before the .copy went to the printer. Eighty-nine pages are consumed in present ing details of shipment of surplus products, with nothing to show whether the movement was intrastate or interstate, or only intercommunity. Ninety-five pages are used to publish infor mation in regard to the manufacturing plants of the state which could have been compressed into ten pages had it been properly digested and tabulated. And perhaps fifty pages more are used up in discursive consideration of economic problems not properly included in the scope of. such a report. In all, the volume contains more than 200 pages of printed matter, the cost of which ould have been saved had someone reviewed the work and carefully revised the material before sending it to the printer. .Such profligate waste should be rebuked by somebody in authority. Right in the Spotlight. Arthur Henderson, who has sum moned a conference of international socalists to meet today at Lausan nes, Switzerland," is a former min ister without portfolio in the British war cabinet, and well known as a labor leader in Great Britain. He is a Glasgow man, shrewd, bigehearted, and loyal to the core to the cause which he has espoused. From the time he bcgai work as a machin ist's apprentice he has always beei. firomijient in trade unioh circles. He began his public career as a member of the Newcastle city council. In 1903 he was returned to parliament and soon became a prominent and influential figure in British political life. During the war he has turned his efforts toward bringing about a unity of thought and purpose among trft Iowa's Four-Minute Men the socialist leaders of countries. allied One Year Ago Today in the War. Berlin temporarily suspended the peace negotiations with Russia. Pet rograd dispatches stated an armis tice had been declared in the Uk raine region. In Omaha 30 Years Ago Today. City Treasurer Rush offered $61 ? 000 of Omaha paving bonds and they were snapped up by C. H. White & Co. of New York City at 1.0393, which is taken to reflect the city's high credit. Will Lawler, manager of the Eden Musee, banquetted the Georgia min strels with a sumptuous spread laid in his curio hall. M. W. English, deputy register of deeds, is very ill at his residence on Georgia avenue. Lt. Gov. George D. Meiklejohn of Fullerton dined at the Millard. Grand Island, Lincoln, Hastings and Fremont want Omaha to come in with them for a state base ball league. ) A first-class jeweler can have em ployment with C. L. Erickson & Co. at $20 a week. The Day We Celebrate. .Marshal Eberstein, chief of police born 1859. Most Rev. Charles Hamilton, archbishop of Ottawa and metropol itan of Canada, born at Hawkesbury, Ont., 85 years ago. Rear Admiral Hugh Rodman, U. S.N., commander of the Ninth divi sion, Atlantic fleet, born in Ken tucky, 60 years ago. Duncan U. Fletcher; senior United States senator from Florida, born in Sumter county, Georgia, 60 years ago. Joseph Medill Patterson, author, journalist and playwright, born in Chicago, 40 years ago. Henry E. Dixey, long a popular actor of the American stage, born In Boston, 60 years ago. This Day in History. 1819 John Overton, Gen. Andrew Jackson and Gen. James Winchester entered into an agreement which resulted in the founding of the city of Memphis. 1832 Gustave Dore, the world famous illustrator, born in Stras bourg. Died in ijaris, January 20, 1880. ' 1857 Vermont state capitol at Montpelier burned. 1858 Canton was bombarded and taken by a combined British and French force. 1865 Federal military expedition under General Terry sailel with thT fleet of Admiral Porter from Hamp ton Roads to attack Fort Fisher. 1915 Russians defeated the Turks at Sarikamysh, annihilating one whole army corps. 1916 French city of Nancy bom barded by the Germans from a dis tance of 15 miles. 1917 War council of allied states men and military leaders convened at Rome. Timely Jottings and Reminders. Sixty years old today is Rear Ad miral Hugh Rodman, the Kentuckian who commanded Uncle Sam's battle ships in the late war, and who is credited with having seen more sea duty than any other officer on the active list of the United States navy. Robert D. Carey will be inaugur ated governor of Wyoming today in succession to Frank L. Houx, secre tary of state, who has been acting governor since the resignation of Gov. John B. Kendrick, on February 26, 1917. Charles M. Schwab, Bainbridge Colby and other men of wide prom inence are scheduled to speak be fore the eighth annual convention of the National Shoe Retailers' asso ciation, which is to begin its sessions today at St. Louis. Many important cases, including several involving the constitutional ity of the espionage act, are docketed for early hearing in the supreme court of the United States, which re convenes today after the holiday re cess. Storyette of the Day. "Can any boy tell me what har ness is?" asked the teacher. Not a single boy knew. "Well," she continued, "is there any boy here whose fathter works among horses?" One small boy stood up and an swered, "Yes. teacher;mine does." "Well," said the teacher, "what does your fathter put on the horse every morning?" "Please, teacher, every cent he has." Washington Star. HERE AND THERE. . Women employed in cigar stores in Portland, Ore., are prohibited from working after 8 p. m. From 10 acres of sweet corn, E. O. Brown has hauled to the factory at Vassalboro, Me., 12 loads, for which he got 11,137. His banner load brought him $117. The latest addition to the flags of nations is the standard of the new Siberian republic. It is plain white and green, symbolizing the coun try's snowflelds and its virgin for ests. It is said that the cleanest town in the world is Brock, Holland. It has been famous for cleanliness from time immemorial. The yards and streets are paved with polished tones Intermingled with bricks of different colors. New York Evening Post. The part played by "organized speaking in Iowa during the war" is regarded by the His torical society of that state as deserving of record in one of the bulletins issued by it under the general title, "Iowa and War." The speak ing was of two sorts that of the four-minute men and that of more than four-minute men. The latter are old friends. It is in no spirit of self-glortncation that we say that Iowa has nothing to teach us about them. Of New York as of any other state or country, it might be written: ' "When it came to the test the man who had been accustomed to taking 10 minutes to 'tret the audience,' who had been in the habit of embellishing his talks with anecdote and illus tration, proved to be a failure in the four-minute business. No amount of coaching on the part of the chairman or critic and no warning of the exhibitor 'could induce him to start and finish within the stated time.' " One Iowa chairman reported to the central office a speech of. 16 minutes by a local celebrity to whom he had "tactfully pointed out" that to ,.,.,... .u i.t i i ... . ..Kly me (jiduunu lunger man miir minutes was a direct breach of contract. "What did you" do about it?" asked a chairman from an ad joining county. "Well, believe me." was the good-natured reply. "I forgot him in the next assignment." How did the four-minute men originate? The Iowa bulletin solemnly states, they "sprang into existence without the aid or comfort of the National Security league." This would be in credible except upon the authority of an his torical society. Credit for the idea is given to Mr! Donald M. Ryerson of Chicago, who. late in March, 1917, "foreseeing our inevitable par ticipation in the world struggle, determined to do his part in awakening the people to the grav ity of the national danger." With a friend or two, and the endorsement of a dozen prominent citizens, he began to make four-minute speeches between numbers aj the motion picture thea ters. His subject was "Universal Military Training," and he was announced on the screen. Rut why four minutes? For the simplest of reasons: "Four minutes as the time limit seems to have originated in the fact that it takes approx imately four minutes to run off a short film in the motion picture theater." Moreover: Mr. Ryerson and his colleagues felt that more than that time would not be a just request to make of the theater managers; and further, it was the general feeling that four minutes was as long as the average speaker could be depend ed upon to hold the attention of an audience in a motion picture theater." But why so much speaking? Why not rely upon the newspapers and, if necessary, phono graphs? .Because, in the campaigns that, in the picturesque phraseology quoted by the bulletin, called for "the everlastin' team work of eveYy bloomin soul," facts had to be presented "in a manner and a spirit that would convince the listeners of their truth and soundness and make them want to do the thing requested." For achieving this end new speakers were found to be as good as old. if not better. A wealth of local talent was discovered. There were even four-minute boys and girls. What was wanted was speakers with the essentials of every effective speaker; to have something to say, to say it, and quit. "If," -philosophizes the bulletin, "the war has taught 43,000 men to do that one thing, surely it has not Aeen fought in vain." It even draws a com parison between the winning of the war by nonmilitary peoples and the winning of audi ences by untrained orators! And what of the audience? Instances of re sentment, we are told, were very few, and were due, not to four-minute speaking as .an institu tion, but to lack of preparation or personality on the part of the speaker. Thus, "These in stances might be regarded as an evidence of a fine discrimination on the part of the audience rather than an exhibition of disloyalty I" Be sides, if an outsider may say so, Iowans had been accustomed to chautauqua speakers, and so may have had special cause for welcoming the four-minute man. So popular did he be come that theaterless towns soon began to feel that they were being discriminated against. In the -background, as is apt to be the case with great movements, was the busiest figure of all. the local chairman -"the man who is obliged to look up the auctioneer, and ask for four minutes at the next sale, or call on the presi dent of the agricultural society and make an appeal for a little time at the approaching meet ing, who must persuade the minister to give up his pulpit to the cause on Sunday morning or convince the cemetery association that the gov ernment has a special message which it wishes to deliver at the next session." The four minute innovation must have added to our stock, not of speakers only, but also of diplomats. Ireland And The Irish. Omaha, Jan. 4. To the Editor of The Bee: I have read with ; some patience but more amuse i nient the epistolary interchanKe I being carried on over Ireland by sev j oral of your correspondents. While I I admit, with Sancho runza,vthat j "it is a waste of lather to shave j an ass," the Celtic blood in me , leaps at the opportunity for en ! gaging in such a lovely row. Kspeoially are "Altfh" and Mich 1 ael O'Connor shooting beside the ! mark. Kach seems animated more by partisanship than by a desire to ' get at the real facts; however, "Aitch" is nearer than he knows, while Mr. O'Connor is unfortu nate In his comparisons, at least. When he sets Carson and Casement alongside each other, he merely puts an emphasis oa the point against Ireland. Carson was in oontumaev. ! but not against British rule; he . . 1 . - l . i Buuftiu auit-i.v ui infaerve uie union 1 of Ireland with Great Britain. When the war with Germany adjourned the dispute, the Ulsternieii marched away to France to fight alongside their Catholic brothers. Then Case ment, acting for the Sinn Fein, set about his conspiracy with Germany, and sought to inflame an insurrec tion, not especially to free Ireland, but to aid the kaiser. Casement, a knight of the realm and a former gallant soldier, paid the penalty for treason. Carson was actuated by a desire to preserve the union Case ment sought to disrupt. If an ex ample of England's justice and magnanimity were needed, it is af forded in the case of Lynch, con demned to death for hia part in the Boer war. He was elected to Par liament by an Irish constituency while a fugitive In France; England permitted him to come home, take his seat in Commons, and when con scription was ordered for Ireland he sought to counteract the edict by urging voluntary enlistments dur ing tho late war. What Irish man will question Lynch's devotion to Ireland or the cause of free dom? The Redmonds and the Dillons surely are as concerned for Ireland as the Devoys or the Fords; one Redmond fell in Flanders, and his body was brought back for bur ial by the Orangemen from Ul ster, who had fought by his side. Dillon opposed conscription, as did Redmond, but they both urged the Irish to enlist and render conscrip tion unnecessary. For this Dillon is rewarded by having his seat given to Prof. De Vaiera (what a name for a Dublin Irishman!) who was noted as a "scientific socialist" be fore he espoused Sinn Fein. As to Irish firesides, O'Connor is again entitled to look up the facts. More peasants in Ireland own their holdings than in either England or Scotland;' in fact, not such a great while ago talk was rife of a revolt among the crofters of Scotland, who asked to be treated as well as the Irish peasants. Rack-rent and the like have practically vanished from Ireland, although a most recent case of eviction is one reported from a Dublin court, where a relative of Charles Stuart Parnell sought to oust a delinquent tenant from the family estate. Board of Trade figures show Ireland to be more prosperous than ever in its history; Sir Horace Plunk ett has said the situation of the Irish farmers compares favorably with that of any in the world. The shipyards and other factories of Bel fast are fully employed and are pay ing well, and everybody seems to be happy but the Sinn Feiners, who are hunting trouble. My guess is that England will give Iceland home rule in time, but will not consent to disunion; nor is it probable the question will be brought forward seriously at Ver sailles. In the meantime, the dis pute will be eagerly pursued by those who, in the term borrowed by Jerry Howard from John Finerty, are "in visible in war and invincible in peace." MACK. Is not expected from a woman to carry out ashes, cut wood and bring in the coal," said the learned judge in granting divorce to a woman who comes from a common laboring family, and who, in her own fam ily, lived from hand to mouth. So, according to the standard of this judge, it is more proper for a woman to work in dirty factories, shops and stores than to take care of her own housework. And what about all the good farmers' wives who not only do not expect their husbands to carry out their ashes hut raise large gardens, flocks of poultry, help care for the stock and even, during rush times, help in the fields? Nothing like planting seeds of dis content by a divorce Judge, and it doesn't take much analysis to get at the root of our divorce evil. - SIMPLICIMCS. The Magic of Motherland President Wilson wove a tenderly human touch into the experience of his "visitin' 'round" in England when he left the pomp and circum stance of brilliant ceremonials in London to go to Carlisle, there to pay the tribute of filial af fection to the memory of his mother and grand father in their old home. More than any other word in the English language having to do with mortals, "mother" has a magic that evokes the best there is in tnan. It is a word that embraces In its significance love, home, self-foreetfulne'ss and devotion of the highest type. Thousands of men born of good mothers have turned out to be wholly un worthy the women who bore and reared them, but it is doubtful if there ever, was a son of such a mother who was not responsive to some appeal to his better manhood. When the son is a living honor and an acknowledged debtor to his mother, as President Wilson is, the nobler instincts of all mankind applaud and all good men are moved by such incidents as those in which the president figured in Carlisle. Motherhood, always held in reverence in Christian lands, has taken on a more beautiful significance than ever before in the last four years. Men have carried their concept of it nearer to that of divinity and in doing so have themselves come more under the potent sw' of that Godly estate. At the shrine of a mother's memory a son, whatever his station in life, be comes a boy again. President Wilson became just that, and the yearn that moved him was shared by all other good men, whether their mothers be living or gone, near or far, gray haired or in Ahe prime of their womanhood. Minneapolis Tribune. America's Air Force Despite the unfortunate experience of the war aircraft program, it seems that the American air service m France gave a very good account of itself. While the United States was unable to approximate the number of airplanes which the aircraft board promised would be sent to France, the men of the American flying cors did their part nobly in combating the air forces of the enemy According to a report made by Major Gen eral Harbord. American airmen in France brought down a total of 854 German airplanes and 82 German, balloons, while the American losses were 271 planes and 45 balloons. The total casualties of the American air service were 442. of whom 109 were killed. 103 wounded. 200 missing. 27 taken prisoner and three internedfl z In view of the numerous lengthy controver sies that have raged upon the subjeat. it is inter esting to learn that up to November 10 a total of 6,472 planes of all types were received by the American air forces in France. The total per sonnel of the American air forces in France was 2.161 officers and 22.351 men at the front, with 4,643 officers and 28.353 men in the service of upply. These facts indicate beyond question that the American fliers acquitted themselves with credit in this branch of the service, as did their helpers. If the aircraft board had been one-half as practical and earnest as its human material, the record of the United States in the air war would have been brilliant Washington Post. Reply to Pagan us. Omaha, Jan. 1 To the Editor of The Bee: Thanking you in advance for your generous custom of giving your readers space to relieve their minds on current events. Recently, "Paganus," in airing his views on the Irish question, informed Irish agitators, "Your enemy is not Eng land; your enemies wear black robes." These must be Catholic priests. Now isn't that a queer de fense against the freedom of Ire land? Belgium is also a Catholic country from the king down. Still, It is said England went to war for the freedom of Belgium, whose en emy must also wear black robes. Even the Hun did not justify the theft of Belgium on such cannibal like pretenses. If Ireland must be governed without her consent, be cause of her religion, then wh set up all these Catholic central Euro pean countries on their own hook and deny freedom to those wearing the yoke of the allied countries? One-third, at least, of the U. S. mili tary forces are Catholics. How are you going to explain this matter to them, Paganus? You have some job. We are listening. WATCHFUL WAITING. Evil of DJvorce. Omaha, Neb., Jan. 2. To the Ed itor of The Bee: One of the most serious questions that calls upon our country for readjustment and reformation Is the question of di vorce. When the matters arrive at a stage where there is more than one divorce to every three mar riages, as it is in Douglas county, there is something radically wrong. Marriage Is no more a sacrament as taught by the church. The frivolity with which it is contracted is only surpassed by the frivolity with which it is broken. "I take thee for bet ter or fir worse; for richer or for poorer: in sickness and in health, until death do us part," as pre scribed by the old church law is con veniently changed Into, "I take thee for better, for richer and 'the first time I shall get tired of you I will ask the court for a divorce and com pel you to pay heavy alimony." Why such decline in a sacrament or institution, if you please, that should be the holiest amongst holy? The answer is courts, i. e., judges. There are other contributing causes, but they are only secondary. The main cause of our mounting divorce is a Judge who sits on his bench from which he doles out divorces right and left when often, by proper tact and reprimand he could pre serve the family and by refusing di vorce avert ten other. Not very long ago a judge in Omaha granted a divorce, plus heavy alimony, to a town woman who married a farmer. "It is evi dent that this woman has been used to a different life and that she can not reconcile herself to farm life," said the judge, and proceeded to sen tence her to a life of leisure by bur dening the spoiled and ruined life of her young husband with heavy ali mony. And hundreds of women within hearing learned of the luck of the city lass and seeds of many other divorces began to sprout If the judge had said to this woman ttat she entered into marriage with open eyes, that since she had chosen a farmer, her duty was to adapt her self to farm life, no doubt not only that family could have been saved but friction in many others averted. Another statement that will cause many germs of divorce to develop and multiply came from the same Judge last week, "In these days it Dr. Glecson Protests. Omaha, Jan. 2. To the Editor of i the Bee: I wish to voice a protest j against the too evident abuse of your public pulse column. We all enjoy a clean, healthy discussion of topics that engage public attention, tut when you allow your paper to be come a medium for such filthy trash as expressed fh letters signed "James Irvine" and "Paganus," it Is time for respectable people to protest. Your-- paper is supported by all classes and when you begin to print such letters as mentioned above you insult all Catholics, whether of Irish descent or otherwise, and you are slipping into the class of the Menace and kindred Journals, which are for bidden the use of the mails. Wake up, Mr. Editor, and brush the cobwebs from your eyes. JOHN J. GLEESON, M.D. "An Ireland on Their Hands," Glenwood, la., Jan. 2. To the Ed itor of The Bee: The witty George Bernard Shaw has observed that he would like to keep his Investments in the north of Ireland, but would prefer to live in Dublin; or, in other words, he thought the inhabitants of protestant Belfast were better business people than in the southern or Catholic districts, but that on ac count of the blue laws in the protes tant portion, it was not a very agree able place to live. In all this discussion on the merits of home rule for Ireland, we hear a great deal about the bad laws of England and the general Irish dis content, and comparison is made with the French system of assimilat ing alien races like the Flemish and Italians, who are now part and par cel of the French renublic. It is apparent to anyone who 1 ever visited Ireland that the chief complaint against "English misrule" "English bad laws," which com plaint one hears echoed on all sides, is the great lack ml tact displayed in the British rulers, believing that laws that suited Great Britain would also suit an entirely different race, differing from the English in their religion, their ideas of life, and in many other ways. It is well to re member that Fitzgerald, who trans lated, or really presented, Omar Khayam, was Irish (and an agnos tic) and one of the morals taught by that great work is that "a hair perhaps divides the false from true," and if such is the case why fret about enforcing your pet ideas on the other fellow. The English statesmen have always been as anx ious as other reformers (in places closer home) to force their own views and ways of life on the Irish, by act of parliament. For example, the best horses in the world are raised in Ireland, and for centuries horse racing has been a national sport, but the English laws, by pro hibiting betting on horses, have killed the sport (for the time being) as their brother reformers have suc ceeded in doing in New York. Then, again, the English enjoy Sunday blue laws, and desire no more in the way of amusement than hearing a church service in the forenoon and a walk to tbe cemetery in the after noon, and to insure the Irish enjoy ing the same benefits they have en acted as many laws on the subject as town councils in small towns In the U. S. A., all of which makes for friction and discontent. ' It is well to recall that when the United States army of occupation left Cuba for the second time some years ago that the first act, passed in the first month by the Cuban assembly, was the repeal of the alien acts which limited amusements, proving that in a country which was inhabited by a Latin race, and not an Irish race, that these same blue laws were similarly regarded, as op pressive and contributive to discon tent It is in these and similar matters that the British have shown that they have not got "the viewpoint" of their neighbors, and until they do get that viewpoint tHey are likely to continue to have "An Ireland on their hands." WALTER BURWELL. Stale Press Gomment ' Kearney Hub: Judge Munger of United States court at Lincoln has rendered a decision which denies the light of the president or the di rector general of railways to issue orders in any matter of railway op eration that over-ride the laws of congress. This is a timely halt Wayne Herald: There ought te be some way to give more perma nency to the roads of Nebraska. A highway is graded and nicely smoothed, and then comes along rain or snow, followed by travel, and the work on the road is half de stroyed. Trained and experienced in the greater task of war, people oimht to have the courage to tacklt and secure permanent road building. It would benefit every farmer and every todwnsnian. Fremont Tribune: An Omaha doctor of some repute has set hit seal of disapproval upon the quar antine as a remedy for influenza. He says the dir.ease is caused by tht "outside influence of a miasmatic or heavy-laden humidity in the air which is due to the constant inter ruption or disturbance of the upper air currents fop the past three years. view it as we may. But that s the way he view's it. It used to be said these disturbances caused rain, but this year we had a drought in Ne braska. Will we have to wait as long to find aut they don't cause "flu?" Nebraska City Press: Nebraska has a "Blue Sky" law on the statute books but it is inadequate. Thers are still many loop-holes through which Irresponsible and crooked stock and bond salesmen can unload their worthless "securities" on a population that has grown careless through too much prosperity during the past two or three years. Ne braska has a lot of money Just now, but lt is not necessary to waste lt In order to get rid of it. ' Most people investigate financial offers befoM they are accepted, but a lot of peo ple merely take the salesman's word for it and squander their money. When they are "stung" they look with suspicion on legitimate busi ness propositions and the honesl concern Ruffers in consequence. The state legislature should devise a plan to make the Blue Sky law a lit tle more binding. CHEERY CHAFF. "I nee whr th president of aom mill company In New Tork lias been arretted for arson ' "Don't believe It. No milkman woulJ want to call out the Ireman ana hr 'em waate that much water." Baltlmor. American. Mrs A. Tour husband told my hus band that hta word was law at home. Mrs. B. Yea, It's one of those lawi that are never enforced. Boston Tran script. Overheard tn a downtown store, a wo man addressinR a bluejacket: "And hew Is your friend fretting- along?" "He ain't my friend, he's my cousin." Detroit Free Press. But TIs O, SAY, CAN YOU SING? O, say, can you lng, from the start to the end. What so proudly you stand for when or chestras play It; When the whole congregation. In volcii , that blend, Strike up the grand tuna and then tor ture and slay lt? How valiant they shout when they'ro firtt atartlnff out: 'the dawn's early light" finds them floundering about. 'the Star-Spangled Banner" they're trying to sing, But they don't know the words ot tht precious, bravo thing. Hark, "tho twilight's last gleaming" has some of them stopped, But the valiant survivors press forward serenely To "the ramparts we watched," wnoo some others are dropped, And the loss of the leaders is manifest ' keenly. Then "the rocket's red glare" give th' bravest a scare. V - And there's a few left to facs "tho bombs bursting In air"; 'Tls a thin line of heroes that manago to save 7 The last of the verse, and "tho homo ot the brave." ' Chicago Standard. Opposes Foreign Langunges. Omaha, Jan. 1. To the Editor of the Bee: The importunate question whether German and all other for eign languages should raWbolished in this country is causing quite a hubub. A fine-drawn analysis of this question will decide one to plead for the negative. The forces op posed to the banishment of foreign languages are gregarious and incon siderate. They are the foreign-born, and love to infuse eloquent sophistry In their talk about their old coun try. This noxious activity will but det0 the spirit of democracy, and it should be obliterated as far as possible. The banishment of foreign languages will tend to alleviate the animosities of folk. It will insure a permanent standard of Ideal and will make people less individualistic, more wholesome in their support of democracy. A PATRIOT. RIGHT TO THE POINT. Minneapolis Tribune: "Nothing succeeds like success"; all those strictly neutral countries are pro ally now. St. Louis Globe-Democrat: With Pershing and Wood both boosted for the republican nomination for presi dent, the civilian candidates would have a hard time attracting atten tion. P Kansas City Star: If Mr. Scheide mann and other Germans keep on telling how much their country Is in accord with the 14 pointsa good many Americans will be getting those points out and reading them again. Jack Frost, Icy Frost and Snow Frost are all real people. They live in Portland. Ind. Jack Frost is the father of the family and he was so well pleaspd with his own name that he gave his daughters names as chilly as his own. -VfHY-7-r- f BuIjwb It Owt-tUcx Tr ONLY WEIGHED 97 POUNDS, BUT HE NOWJEIGHS 137 x t f i r nr.. XT i tlI Lawless .3 ays no r? wvb and Out When Ha Began Taking, Tanlac. "When I first began taking Tan- . lac I only weighed ninety-seven pounds and was just about down and out," said 0. D. Lawless, the well known Omaha produce mer chant, residing at 604 South 28th Street recency, "but I now weigh one hundred and thirty-seen, nd so far as my health is concerned, I couldn't ask to feel much better. "I have not gotten all my lost weight back yet," he continued; "for I had dropped down sixty-one pounds, but I am still taking Tan lac and expect soon to tip the beam at one hundred and fifty eight, my weight before my troubles began. I tegan suffering from stomach trouble and getting into a run-down condition fire years ago, when my appetite went back on me. I lost all desire for food and everything I d'd eat caused nausea. I had to give vp my coffee and many other things I like best, as I could not retain them, and the only ining mai nan j way agreed with me was iruits. There were terrible pains in my right side, which would almost cramp me double two or three times a week. I became uneasy, fearing appendicitis, and no one seemed to understand my case or do me any good. I just kept suf fering and losing weight until it looked like I would shrink up to nothing. "My condition had become no- flahL tn nil who knew mp nnrl while talking over my case with a friend one day he asked me why I didn't try Tanlac. Weir, this put me to thinking mere mignx Do m i m A sometning w xaniac ior me, ana there certainly was, for I have ak ready picked up forty pounds an my old-time strength and energj have come back to me. I hadn't finished my first bottle until the . pains, which I feared were caused by appendicitis, had disappeared. I can drink my coffee now and eat, just anything I want and never have the least trouble with my stomach. So you can see why I'm so strong for ,Tanlac. It has made t life worth living for me and I feel like I ought to pass the good word along." . Tanlac is sold in Omaha by all Sherman & McConnell Drug Com pany's stores, Harvard Pharmacy and West End Pharmacy underthe personal direction of a special Tan lac representative. Also Forrest ) and Meany Drug Company in South Omaha and the leading druggist i each city and town throughout 3 state of Nebraska. Adv.