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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 1919)
12 THE BEE: OMAHA, SATURDAY; NOVEMBER 15, 1919. The Omaha Bue DAILY (MORNING) EVENING SUNDAY FOUNDED BV EDWARD BOSEWATKB VICTOR ROSEWATER, EDITOR TH BEK PUBLISHING COMPANY. PROPRIETOR MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Tin AmmHtvl Tnm, which Tn Bm ill nb; J (jltluli muVtd to tb oat for publication of U aewi 4"Pt onIM 5 It not thnrlM uediud Id thia Daw. 'J STiomI Im publiibrd bmln. Ml rlghu ot publication our Mudil dupatchee ara alio raiarnd. BEE TELEPHONES. punt btuk Ei-.nv,M. Tyler luuO DopwtBMBI or Particular Penoo Wanted. J For NUh - Sund.y S.rrlc CJlt Mttorlal Department - - " Circulation Department li i,J,g! ArteertUtni Department "Ier 1W8U OFFICES OF THE BEE . KniM Offlr. lie Buildiot. 17th nd rarnam. Brunch ufi ret: . Aim 4110 North MUi Park bSh U Military A. gout '! CoweJl Bluff 13 Scott 8t I Walnul Out-ol-Town Offieut N,w tor SS rifth An. n Chicago MIS Unenwortn Z3i n oirw 119 North 10th 1311 0 Street 1330 B Street OCTOBER CIRCULATION t Daily 66,315 Sunday 63,160 Arernga circulation for th month lubectfbed ml nam to E B EUian. Clrculttlon Manner. Sub.crlb.ro Itavtnf tb. city ahould bav. th. B mailed to them. Addree changed aa eft aa required. You should know that Omaha's aggregate factory out put for the year 1918 reached a total of $427,271,161. What The Bee Stands For: 1. Respect for the law and maintenance of order. 2. Speedy and certain punishment of crime through the regular operation of the courts. 3. Pitiless publicity and condemnation of " inefficiency lawlessness and corrup tion in office. .4. Frank recognition and commendation of honest and efficient public service. 5. Inculcation of Americanism as the true basis of good citizenship. Wake up Omaha? Watch tfs! Now is the time to sell your dollar. Silver is worth $1.24. Article X is now up to the president. He will have to say pretty soon. Another turn on the discount rate screw may help lower other than stock quotations. "Hurry up wagons" at $5,700 each is going some, but it seems Omaha must have them. The war-time lid has a great many holes in it in spite of the effort of congress to make it tight, i It is well to keep in mind that all the radi cals in the United States are not members of labor unions. ,Wall Street bulls have staged a nice little come-back, but it is a good place for an out sider to avoid. Wool enough on hand to more than supply the country's need for a year, but that will not affect the price to the users. The prince of Wales must have been enorm ously impressed by the sight of a bed that has been in use seventy-five years. A red petticoat was waved to prevent a smashup on a Georgia railroad. Usually wav ing such a garment has an opposite effect. A bridge across the Missouri at or near Yankton has long been a dream so alluring that Omaha can well afford to make it come true. Omaha may not have the best police force in the wprld, but will be equipped with luxurious patrol wagons. Delinquents should appreciate this distinction. Lifting the blockade on Fiume is Italy's way of notifying the world that the government is finally reconciled to the actions of d'Annunzio. It wis tough, of course, but had to be done. , French opponents of the League of Nations are using Galicia as a terrible example of the league's impotence. The case is only one of a number that might be found in Europe today. slows towns are suffering because of no coal, but the people over there keep right on buying automobiles. ' It is the realization of the sug gestion made by the French queen that thepeo ple be given cake when the bread ran out SETTLING THE MINERS' WAGE. When the miners and coal operators reas sembled with Secretary Wilson to resume dis cussion of differences, a new and encouraging note was apparent. Ostensibly, the miners were bent ou demanding all they asked for in the beginning, and the operators determined to insist that the war wage agreement still holds. As a matter of truth, neither side had any se rious intention of pursuing this attitude. The men know they will not get support in unrea sonable efforts to enforce their original pro gram, while the operators are equally sure that a new bargain must be struck. It is within the range of possibilities that before the affair is closed a commission wilt be named to make inquiry into the entire range of coal miners' employment. Enough has been brought out already to support the statement that the men have some well founded griev ances. Just what these are and how to remove them can only be determined- by a competent inquiry. Such an inquiry was made in the anthracite fields in 1892, and on the report then made the operation of the mines- has since been continuous, with wage and' working con ditions subject to adjustment from time to time. A similar investigation might be of equal serv ice to the soft coal industry. One of the prime factors in the situation as it exists is the failure of the operators to provide continuous employment for the miners. This in turn rests on the inability of the mine owners to obtain cars as fast as needed. Coal mining and transportation, each a basic indus try, are so closely related in this regard that better co-operation is absolutely needed. When steady work is furnished the men, at wages based on full consideration of all that is in volved in the service, one of the persistent causes of industrial friction will have been re moved. ' A careful inquiry made now will be worth many times its cost to the country in the future. ' Socialists of Milwaukee having nominated Victor Berger for congress again, will now go about to convince the test of the country that the vote of expulsion was an extravagant abuse of power. Or, maybe they think a man can not bs kicked out of congress twice for being a traitor. Profa " in Abnormal Times Free Speech in Old England. We are often reminded that England is the birthplace and home of free speech as we un derstand it that there, if anywhere, persists the inestimable right of the old Saxon tribes, wherein any man was free to say whatever was on his mind, accepting full responsibility for his words. Exercise of this right frequently en tailed personal inconvenience, and now and then necessitated whatever of short fufieral serv ice was in vogue. But it was free speech. So John Bull has let the advocates of any. old idea, no matter how radical and absurd, talk as much as they cared to, holding that as long as the pressure was not pent up it did not become dangerous. A limit exists for all mundane things, and this has beeen reached in England, where zeal ous prohibition advocates are extolling the beauties of a bone-dry world. One other dearly prized right of the free-born Briton, coming down from an antiquity as remote as that of free speech, is the right to drink whatever form of beverage he fancies. Like the hero of the Australian ballad, "Rum and gin and bitter beers, anything to swell his head with it. was all the same to him." So, when the 'exercise of free speech begins to interfere with the exer cise of the right to drink anything and every thing, trouble is started. Our British cousins must not delude them selves with the though that riding a prohibi tion speaker on a rail will discourage the prop aganda. The London episode may be re peated many times, but the crusade will not be abandoned. Nothing can be more ' persistent than a prohibitionist when once he gets started. One of Burleson's Costly Blundert. ; When the. telegraphs and telephones were, seized by the government last year, war neces sity was pleaded by the postmaster general as an excuse for his action. This could not have applied to the telephone, as that service was not taken over until the end of the war , was in sight. Generally throughout the land the course was looked upon as a high-handed ex hibition of autocratic power on part of Mr." Burleson, totally uncalled for and not justified' by any existing conditions. That it was costly as well as outrageous is now shown by the re quest of the postmaster general for an ap propriation of $14,418,237 to pay the companies the difference between the guaranty given them and actual net earnings. .President Mackay of the Postal company, who did not welcome the intrusion of the government on the operation of his concern, says his company has earned more than the amount guaranteed. He announced long ago that the increase of rates enforced by the postmaster general was unnecessary. This is part of aprivate quarrel, though, and is of interest only as such. The outstanding fact is that Mr. Burleson's brief try at managing the wires cost the patrons not only the inconveni ence of the curtailed and inadequate service, to gether with the added cost for using the wires, but the large sum he now seeks to make up the price he agreed to pay for the fun of imitating Secretary McAdoo's handling of the railroads. It was, all in all, s costly at well as an irritat ing blunder. Releasing the Railroads ; In the interest of the public the federal De partment of Justice sought and obtained a temporary injunction to restrain certain officers . of the United Mine Workers from directing and managing a general strike. In the interest of the same public the fuel administration, by order of the president, has fixed coal prices and put in effect certain restrictions on distributions. Now. the primary lists of the federal fuel, ad ministration may be open to intelligent criticism. i The event will demonstrate the existence or non existence of mistakes in the measures taken to prevent either profiteering or a scramble for coal and its unequal and inequitable distribu- tion. But there is no room for any serious dif ference of opinion respecting the propriety of the course of the government in regulating at this time both the price and the distribution of coal. The notion that it is interfering with the beneficent and all sufficient law of supply and demand is fallacious. Attorney General Palmer has punctured this fallacy in a vigorous communication to a representative of the whole , sale coal dealers. ; Regulation by supply and demand is effective ' under normal conditions. Competition when it is 'active and genuine amply protects consum ' ers against extortion.. When monopoly or scarc ity due to strikes removes competition as a - substantial factor; when the demand is so far in excess of the supply of a necessary commodi ty that the venders are able to obtain any price . tfiey choose to set regardless of the cost of pro duction, the question of reasonableness in fix inf profits or any other relevant consideration, then the consumers are entitled to special measures of protection and relief. Chicago iiswa. Mexico Armed and Waiting. Reports from Belgium and Spain that Mexico has been laying in large supplies of arms and munitions of war are not reassuring, nor especially alarming. It was not expected that if the United States were to be called upon to cross the Rio Grande with a real army, that Carranza wofild be found unarmed and helpless, nor does the fact that he is armed deter the movement. Americans have exhibited unusual patience with the Mexicans., not through any dread of the encounter, but be cause of a chivalric reluctance to engage in con flict with an enemy so weak. This sentiment is not appreciated in Mexico, and it may be eventually set aside in America. Disclosure of the preparations made by Carranza to resist American intervention may well have the effect of strengthening the resolve of our people not to put up with outrages along the border for ever. Conditions have not improved in the six years Mr. Wilson has watched and waited, and the country is getting weary rather than ac customed to the spectacle of outrage and depredation endured by American citizens from Mexican bandits. . Thanksgiving dinner will be some affair if graced by a turkey this year. A modest esti mate of the cost of material forxa family feast to fill six people is $10.75 for the raw materials. And this does not include a pie. For once Mayor Smith is right; the pur chase of the high-priced automobiles for police use is extravagance. From the New York Times. Under the law for federal operation of the railways the president has power to retain gov ernment control of them tor 21 months after the proclamation' of peace. He gave a year's notice of his intention, nevertheless, to sur render his control at the end of this year, and he has' in his hands the bill passed by both houses restoring to the Interstate Commerce commission immediately the powers which were suspended when the roads were taken over by the government as a war measure. The present status of the companies, therefore, cannot con tinue, and the interval for decision re specting their future operation is not only snort in time, but comes when congress is weary with other activities. The special session probably will soon adjourn, and when the regu lar session meets in December the appropriation bills cannot be neglected. Senator Cummins introduced a bill whith has - not gained strength with time, although diligently and frequently amended, and which has so antagonized the labor interests by anti strike proposals that its prospects in the house are not good. That is particularly true since the house prefers the Esch -bill, which has profited by avoidance of some of the unwelcome fea tures of the Cummins bill and has not attracted the confidence of the senate thereby. The pres ent prospect is that when either house receives the bill of the other it will strike out all but the enacting clause and substitute its own, and the surviving measure will be agreed upon in con ference. That requires time, much time for a measure affecting twenty billions of capital and all the industrial interests of the country. It is not likely that the permanent future status of the railways can be settled before private operation is resumed, and it is not desirable that the action taken should be . rather hasty than well considered. What can and must be done quickly is to safeguard the welfare of the companies and the country during the interval between the end of government control and the renewal of private operation. Essentials only should be considered, for contention and delay grow with each additional detail in dispute. First, the companies must be safeguarded against the current deficit which would bankrupt many of them if put upon them instead of upon the government. There has been a welcome improvement in the earnings of the roads recently, but there remains a gaping deficit of $271,160,742 for the last nine months, or, say, roundly $300,000,000 for a year. That leaves out of account payment for several hundred millions of equipment ordered for the government's use for war purposes at war prices and condemned by the companies as unduly expensive, unsuit able as a private charge, and not well adapted for use by many of them. There is well ad vanced a proposal for financing this debt charged to the companies, but, even if it should be en acted and accepted by the companies, the cost would practically be a charge on either the raUs collected by the companies or the taxes collected by the treasury. Besides, the im provements in the companies' earnings is be lieved to have been at the expense of their phys ical condition. This year the government has bought 200.000 tons of rails, or just the amount which the Pennsylvania company is now in the market for on its individual account. It is likely that many roads need rails more than the Pennsylvania, and are less able to buy them. Calculating only on the proportion of the Pennsylvania, the companies as a whole need 2,600,000 tons of rails, and that would be below a fair yearly consumption, worst ot an is tne deplorable condition of the companies' credit in the money market. During the first nine months of this year there has been issued over two bil lions of new securities, and not one dollar in new railway shares. The railways have been able to do some refunding, but the industrials have put out $1,750,000,000 securities, indicating an activ ity of trade which will be checked if the railways are unable to grow up to it. Many would like to sell railway shares and few will buy them. - Under such conditions it is clear that under either temporary or permanent legislation there should be for a time a continuance of the guar antee of the standard return, and some action which should prevent the renewal of the guer rilla war by the state commissions on the rates fixed by the federal authority. That is even the opinion of the chairman of the Interstate Com merce commission.'who has said recently that, since the condition of the railways was forced upon them by war conditions, "until the corpora tions have reasonable opportunity to make their own readjustments, the government should stand behind unavoidable losses to a reasonable ex tent." Only those can dissent who wish the rail ways to become insolvent as a step to govern ment ownership and operation. Even the brotherhoods have seen how hopeless a program that is and have dropped the Plumb plan to that end. ' Heroes Who Must Be Recorded Commendation is deserved by the Navy league for the efforts it is making to get in formation of a definite kind as to the identity, the achievements, and the fates of the young Americans who, seeing more promptly than did their own country what should be done to de feat the ambitions of Germany and to defend her chosen victims, enlisted before the rtpril of 1917 in the military service of one or an other of the allies. These men, fortunately for American repute, numbered some hundreds of thousands, and they scattered pretty well all Over the surface of the world. In character, as in courage, they should rank high in the roster of national heroes, for they did much did all that was done till we entered the war-r-to prove by their offer of life itself the .existence here of full ap preciation of what was going on in Europe. Many of them died in the great and noble adventure upon which they entered, and it would indeed be deplorable if they should lack at home the reward of fame and remembrance that was so well earned. Most of the survivors, of course, finally were transferred to the Amer ican forces, but they have a right to have it recorded and made permanently known that, With no other call than that of their own consciences, they risked the supreme sacrifice for the good cause-and did it betimes. New York Times. The Day We Celebrate. . . . Ernest H. Button, manager of the LeFebur Ledger company, born 1879. Sir John Aird, one of the eminent financial leaders of Canada, bom in Quebec 64 years ago. James O'Neill, a popular veteran of the American stage, born in Kilkenny, Ireland, 70 years ago. Charles E. Merriam, university professor and several timet candidate for mayor of Chi cago, borr. at Hopkinton, la., 45 years ago. The Fairbanks twins, Madeline and Marion, well known to the stage and motion pictures, born in New York City 18 years ago. Vincent .Astor, one of America's richest young men, born in New York City 28 years ago. Thirty Years Ago Today. Marshall Field of Chicago, and his brother Joseph of Manchester, England, visited the Real Estate Exchange and while in the city were the guests of J. H. Millard of the Omaha National bank. Mr. Robert Patrick entertained at Happy Hollow in honor of Judge Brewer. There were present "10 judges, seven lawyers, one marshal and one client. A son was born to Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Callahan. The local W. C. T. U. voted with Miss Frances Willard in endorsement of the pro hibition party. , Mrs. Charles Woolworth was visiting Mrs. Guy C. Barton. ( i 7U3J& Jerry Sends DeValera $100. . Omaha, Nov.' 15 To the Editor of The Bee: President DeVaiera's misBion to America is a righteous one because It is In behalf of a race of people who have been struggling to throw off the yoke of the in vader for nigh 800 years. His lec ture in Omaha was listened to with marked attention by the general public. Besides, the press gave it considerable publicity. But lo, and behold, the unbounded enthusiasm of the "patriots" In their aspirations to become members of the reception committee together with their anxi ety in having their pictures taken with President DeValera, was most magnanimous. Can it be possible that the exhibition of patriotism that was so visible during the presi dent's visit has vanished? Perhaps it Is awaiting another spasmodic occasion for display. Hon. Frank P. Walsh, chairman of the American commission on Irish Independence, has submitted a $10,000,000 bond certificate issue of the Kepubllc of Ireland. The Sinn Fein leaders who at one time were branded as visionary-idealists, are showing themselves to be the most practical of men. President DeValera, in their name, asks us '.o help them carry to a successful is sue the great work they have under taken, Ireland's emancipation. The friends who were ever and always faithful and true to Ireland will re spond immediately to this invitation to help the men and colleens on the firing line on the Other side of the Atlantic. Let us supply them with the munitions of war by purchasing the bonds of the Irish republic to the fullest extent of our ability. The time has come for backing up our professions by our dollars. That passage In the book of books, which says, "A tree is known by its fruit," is applicable to that class of patriots who are Invisible in war xand invinclnble In peace, whether the war is active or passive. To keep history straight, besides jogging the memory of the shotless warriors, professional patriots to do their duty, I might mention the fol lowing, lest they forget. Previous to "Easter Week' through your great paper a con tribution of mine was forwarded to the Irish National Volunteers. This time the Sinn Feiners have sub stituted the plan of passive re sistance and it is working like a charm. To help along Ireland's righteous claim for . freedom. By way of example, please forward for me, a horny-handed son of toil, to Hon. Frank P. Walsh, chairman American commission on Irish Inde pendence, New York City, the en closed $100 check, to purchase a bond certificate to the Irish repub lic. JERRY HOWARD. Dosn't Mean Anything. Men criticise the way the women dress because it has always been done. They don't mean anything by it. Toledo Blade. DAILY CARTOONETTE, I'M 0lNfOUTT0SHOU) THE HEW COOK HDUT0 RUN THE" qflSSTOUE? T km) HE DID- ' V ,. i ". II i ' I II . . . I , I ' I . 1 1 ',i'Vr - Telephone Operator. By ELIZABETH MATKER. "Hello, Main 1970? Hello. That you Jones? ' ' "Well, this is Smith. Had a pip pin of a time getting you. Got the wrong number twice. "Yeh. Maybe they are breaking in a new girl. You know a job as a telephone operator takes a girl with considerable -brains. "Your niece .wants to be one? Weil, I've a cousin that is a chief 1 "l&f .111 nventhre genius may nrva a way w traduce a -piano vrith Kme more permaiurnt and more beautiful than mat of the matchless Bat so &t hitm&n ingenuity has tailed to approach, tne su preme standard set br this "pianoforte or the dis mmrnattnrf Mason Gr Hamlin fc the final choice or those who have tried all, and tjrho are satisfied trith nothinq "but the test. ffkrhest 'priced J ' highestprsdsed Cash or Time All Same Price. 1513 Douglas St. The Art and Music Store. operator. She told me how they choose, operators and train them: "They wanted to know if your niece was a high school graduate? Well,- that isn't always necessary. My cousin says they prefer a high school education, but a grammar school educa'ion will be accepted. "Yes, sure, a girl must have per fect hearing, good general health and good articulation. Your niece could expect to stand an examina tion on these three points. "You are right about that matter of temner. A crirl who wants to be come a telephone operator should be courteous and patient if nothing else. "How'd my .ousin get into the business? Well, she started in at the bottom. The company gave her a month's training free, paying her a salary in the meantime. Then , she started as an operator. Later she became a supervisor. A supervisor, you know, has charge of about eight or 10 operators. Now she is a chief operator. A girl who goes into the business has pretty good chances for prc.notion. There are a lot of clerical and executive positions that have to be filled by girls who have had actual experience as operators. "Your niece tried to find a school where telephone operating was taught? There aren't any regular schools. Most of the big companies maintain schools of their own for the purpose. If she will go to one of the exchanges or write to the company thev will see that she is trained all right and will pay her while learning. "Oh. That so? Well, goodby. Call you up later." . . (Next week, "Americanization Teacher.") Boya and Olrla' NVwapaper Service. Copyright. y J- H. Millar. I WONDER. I cannot your face But In my mind I traca . tailor hoy wno s tail And very fair With irotd-fleoked hair, -And winaoma eyea that drtajn And aeem . To aee beyond th mlat-icreened ; I wonder. Lad, do you meT I.e Baron Cooke in Contemporary Verse." J WORK AMBITION ACHIEVEMENT WHATBOYSCANBE Mechanical Engineer. By It. S. ALEXANDER. Jimmy was fixing the Ford. Sis's beau, waiting for Sis to put on her hat, watched him. "Like to work with machinery, Jim?" he asked. "Yeh," said Jimmy screwing home a spark plug. "Good at mathematics and physics?" "'A' in both of 'em last term," answered Jimmy cranking up. "Well, why not be a mechanical engineer?" "Gee that would take too long,' objected Jimmy. "Not so very. You have another year in high school. Then go to a technical school for four years. After you graduated you could take a job. That makes you 23 when you start. That's not too old." "Dad couldn't afford all that?" "You could work in the summer in a machine shop and help out. There are a lot of mighty good technical schools giving evening courses for fellows who have to work in the daytime. One big school has its students work part time in shops nearby to gain experience." "What kind of a job would I get when I graduated?" taking off the fan belt. "A mechanical engineer is a me chanic with a scientific education. He is a man who has made a syste matic study of the designing, mak ing, and running of machines. He is trained to take charge erf the design ing and running of machinery or to run a gang of mechanics. You would probably be able to land in some machine shop overseeing the making of machinery or in a power plant overseeing the running of it." "Who could 1 write to to learn more about it?" "Write to the head of the depart ment of mechanical engnieering of any good technical school, or to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 29 W. Thirty-ninth street, New York. The society pub lishes a monthly journal called 'Mechanical Engineering.' 'Engine ering as a Vocation,' by Ernest McCul lough is a good book on the general subject. 'Elements of Me chanics' by Merriam is another good one to start on. 'Engineering News,' 200 Broadway, N. Y and 'Engineer ing Magazine,' 140 Nassau St., N. Y., are good magazines. Get some of them, read 'em, and think it over," he concluded moving off to join Sis DOT PUZZLE. i ' 2(o .24 Sb 23 5 ' ' W 2i 7 io At . ,4. V 54 Add one dot to fifty-three See a that fell for me. Draw from on to two and ao on to th end. who appeared with her hat in her , i nana. (Next week: "Government Em ploye." Boya' and Olrla' Newspaper ferric t nnvr ffht. laia. hv .1. H. Millar. Good for Comic Sections. It will be amusing, but not Impor tant, to follow the findings of the German tribunal appointed to de termine the responsibility for the war. Cleveland Plain Dealer. S OTMaSa (MHM SSSSW 4SMSSSSt (Special Sale on I ; sweater toatsj H T TT TIT. -1 I I Men's Heavy Sweater, $10 at $6.50 Sweater at Wool grade, .$6.95 Coats, $5 Sweater Coats.. $3.95 $4 Sweater Coats. $2.98 CT i Art T All lir - I $i.vu oersey ah wooi Sweaters $2.98 I Boys' Fancy Sweaters, I at $2.95 1 Boys' Slipovers 75c Heavy Wool Sox 69c Heavy Union Suits.$1.98 j J. HELPHAND CLOTHING CO. j I 314 N. 16th St. J I 0 A Public . 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