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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (May 3, 1921)
fHE BEE: OMAHA, TUESDAY, MAY 3, 1921 TheOmaha Bee DAILY (MORNING) EVENING SUNDAY THE BEE PUBLISHING COMPANY NELSON B. UPDIKE. Publisher. MCMBEK OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Trs iaam-tatad Prsaa. of ilen Tba Dm 1 amber. U i slusttal anUtlsd is lh um for puMli-sUoa of M newa dlapalrhas Of4Jtd ia II or not ctlwnriM crdltd In thia paper, and alan tlx laeal nni eubllattad huM. All r!bta of publication of our special eMaaetchee ers alao mtnri. BEE TELEPHONES Prtrsae Branch Kachawa. Jkik for Xwl 1 fWI tte LKpwtmtat of Param Wanted. yier 1UW For Nifht Call. After 10 p. m.t aMKorlsf Department Trlrf 1wr. Clraulatlnn Ipartemit - -- Trier Wh VdrorUilsf Department Trior 10O0L OFFICES OF THE BEE Main Ofni-a: i;th and Fsrnair CraawU Slur's 15 Soou Si 1 Boutu Side. 9SJ Scuta lata St. Out-el-Tewa Off leu i Wee Tork SM lhftb Ira. I Waahls(tn Hit t St, Cstesie Steiar Bids. I Tana. Vraaoa. 450 Bua St. Bonort The Bee's Platform 1. New Union Passenger Station. 2. Continued improvement of the Ne braoka Highway, including the pave ment of Main Thoroughfare leading into Omaha with a Brick Surface. 3. A short, low-rate Waterway from the Corn Beit to the Atlantic Ocean. 4. Home Rule Charter for "Omaha, with City Manager form of Government. Right Road to Peace. When the senate adopted the Knox resolu tion r1sl3rirtff fri atit it war mI. f!Am!inr' no longer to exist, it gave effect to the verdict rendered by the people last November. How ever strenuously and speciously advocates of the Wilson plan may argue in support of its ! provisions, the fact remains that it was rejected by the "great and solemn referendum". ft progenitor invoked. We believe the voters did understand what it contained, and that they de liberately registered their disapproval. That rtaini tliji pig. lliitr H'as nArhincy 1ff tnr tViA senate to do but to proceed as it has, to revoke the resolution declaring a state of war to exist, and so to clear the way for the president to take up negotiations for peace. When the house has,, il it tirrvhaStv wilt. naprl tlip resolution, then Mr. Harding will have opportunity to act. k We have not abandoned our associates fn the' " ' war. They made peace with Germany according to the terms of the Versailles treaty. These, Of at least those which directly affect Europe, we v ,hve accepted in both letter and spirit. , We have specifically objected to the terms of that treaty as applied to Chinese territory and cer tain of the Pacific islands, so far as the award i. of control to Japan is concerned. President ; Harding has made his attitude very clear on the point. Secretary Hughes recently addressed to Germany a note so plain that even their most ac complished diplomatic sophists can not distort ; its meaning. The United States holds Germany ' responsible for the war, and requires that that - country admit the fact. It also stands behind the Allies in their demands for reparation. There fore, if the Allies coold, and did, negotiate a separate peace, without waiting for the United States, there is nothing in jeopardy because of our proceeding to make peace on terms accepta . ble at home. Under the new status our moral force will be greatly strengthened. Now we will not approach . Germany as a foe, but as one desiring peace, and : so making more potently effective the. tenor of I the Hughes note. This will be understood by the German leaders, and no doubt will facilitate ', their composition with the Allies. An ultimatum has been served on Berlin, and a few days will , decide the issue. Finally, the passage of the Knox resolution does not signify that the senators are trying to take out of the hands of the president his con ! stirutional power of negotiating treaties. They ; have merely cleared the way for Mr. Harding. ; To quote from the Boston Transcript, there is every disposition on the part of the present occupant of the White House to solicit the advice and consent of the senate in the de : velopment of foreign policy. The Harding ' way is the better way and it is the constitu tional way of dealing with foreign affairs. In pursuing it the president and the senate are . r turning their backs upon autocracy In foreign affairs. They have restored the representative government set up by the constitution, and the effect of that restoration will he felt through out the length and breadth of American affairs. Cut the Freight Rates. t One settled conviction in connection with the business situation in America today is that the cost of railway transportation is too high. On ? almost every commodity the tariff is such as cheeks production," and so not only retards the so-called liquidation of labor, but actually pre f vent the accumulation of capital that is needed ; to relieve the railroads. In this way the high rates made possible, by the order of the Inter state Commerce Commission have defeated the nt fr which thev were oermitted. farmers have suffered more than any other class because of the situation. They have been forced to sell . at a tremendous loss to themselves. While such of them as could have withheld, their produce, - practically all of them have been driven from the f buying market. Forty per cent of the popula- - tion of the country is rural, and with these en tirely out of the market, the effect on general business is easy to see. Building operations, in fact every line of endeavor, are affected ad versely by the railroad situation. While these strangling rates prevail there will be but little ; recovery, and that little will be slow. The rem edy is plain. Reduce the freight rates to a point where producers can afford to ship their wares to markets. This will induce manufacturers to resume, will permit the farmer to send his stuffy to market, will revive payrolls all over the coun try, and so stimulate general activity that the roadi will get business they now need and with- out which they can not endure. None urtder- stand this better than the magnates who control, . and why they do not apply the simple remedy is inexplicable. Clearing Up the Newberry Record. While the campaign was on in 1920 the demo crats made a great deal of fuss about the "con ' vict" senator. While the senate of the United State had accepted Truman H. Newberry as enator from Michigan, instead of Henry Ford, tom-tom heaters for the Cox ticket maintained a continual hubbub over the allegation that the senate had been organized by the republicans through the presence there of a convict The federal court jury at Detroit had brought in a ' verdict of guilty, although both the sufficiency and the propriety of the proceedings had been challenged. Now the supreme court of the United State sets aside the verdict and dis misses the suit, giving to Senator Newberry a clear title to his seat. We have no thought that the decision of the supreme court will check the cry of corrption and "convict" raised by the op position, but apprehend that in the next cam paign the decision of the greatest tribunal in the world will be questioned, for partisan purposes solely, yet the fact is that the voters of Michigan made their choice and itwas not satisfactory to the democratic leaders, therefore it was to be condemned. About the Bridge Bonds. Wide difference of opinion, to say nothing of some degree of heat, has been evidenced in the closing days of the discussion over the voting of a million dollars in bonds for building a new bridge across the Missouri river. Yet despite the display of energy by a' few interested par tisans, pro and con, the general public appears to have little interest in the result. The question should not be overlooked on the ballot today. Voting a million dollars for any purpose is something worth consideration. In the present instance, this is but an initial step. Should the bonds be voted by the city of Omaha, there is still the question of a bond proposition by the City of Council Bluffs and Douglas county is listed as a further future contributor to the cause. Once the bridge is built, it must be maintained and interest on the bonds must be paid. These things make the question one of even more importance than appears on its face. The value of a free bridge to the city and the neces sity of building a new bridge rather than taking over the present toll bridge have been discussed at length by advocates and opponents ot the project. The decision rests today with the voters, who should choose for themselves one way or the other. Pick Good Men for the Jobs. It is the first duty of every Omaha voter to decide on the merits and qualifications of the men who seek office. Efforts of self-constituted committees and Interested slate makers to do this for the voters deserve to be rebuked at the polls. While the maintenance of law and order is of prime importance in a city, it does not com prise all that is expected from government. Mod ern municipal housekeeping includes many mat ters of detail beside the management and di rection of the ooiice force and fire department. Both of these are essential, but the parks streets, buildings, accounts, health and general administration demand careful attention. Then there are the plans and designs for accommodat ing the city's growth, to secure the greater com fort and convenience of its citizens, to improve living conditions and facilitate communication. Omaha is coming into a flew period of growth; it has weathered the stress of war, and the enterprises checked by the interposition of the military demands of the world are being taken up under the head of "unfinished busi ness," and will be pushed through. Just as pri vate employment for capital is looking up, so the execution of many public improvements im pends. It is well to leave the carrying out of these to the men who have conceived and planned for them. Each man "on the city eommissionModay has a good record of public service. Each is quali fied to do even better work because of the expe rience he has had in the last three years of troublous times. When the voters nominated these men for re-election at the primaries, it was something more than a vote of confidence in them. It was a request that they be continued where they can give the city the benefit of their knowledge and ?bi!ity Now the voters have an opportunity to make good on that request. It can be done by voting for Ure, Ringer, Zimman, Falconer, Towl and Butler. Cut Expenditures to Reduce Taxes. A statement from Secretary Mellon with re gard to the Treasury operations contains one great illuminating truth. The "nation cannot continue' to spend at this shocking rate." If' anything in pur future is as clear as the noonday sun, it is that retrenchment in national expendi ture must come. Only through that will it be possible to lower taxes. Revenue under the pres ent law1 is dropping off because the business operations ' that produced it have so shrunken that collections are correspondingly less. Whatever of a program is finally adopted congress is assured in advance that the revenue derived from incomes and profits taxes will be less and less caeh, year, because incomes and profits are less. Therefore, it is imperative that a more reliable basis for levying the tax must be found. This may be on sales, on turn-over, or any one of a number of expedients or devices suggested, but the shift must be made. Also, many of the existing makeshifts will have to be dropped, because they produce more vexation thari revenue, permit chica'nery, allow grafting at the expense of the public, and generally defeat the purpose for which they were adopted. When all these matters have been attended to, then the cost of running the country must be lowered. Much along this line will come through the announced intention of reorganizing govern ment departments. If it were possible to save more than a million dollars a day in 1912, through a proper arrangement of departments and bureaus in the administrative service, it still is possible, and perhaps the sum may be almost doubled. Cost of government has increased, just as all other costs have, but waste in government should be rigidly eliminated, just as it has else where. Taking up the lost motion in the ma chine, as proposed by the president, will help a lot, and a more careful scrutiny of expenditures, as made possible under .the budget system, will do more to bring the outgo down to where the income will cover it. Uncle Sam is about to redeem his promise, to give the slacker some public attention. A lot of curiosity has been aroused over this matter. In the booths today Omaha voters will reg ister their verdict on the issues. What is your guess? One more day. for making claims, and then the count will settle all doubts as to the winners. The "reds," like Bottom the Weaver, roared a lion as gentle as a sucking dove. ), Write your own ticket, but remember the men who have been faithful. Getting Back to Normalcy How Business Men Are Meeting The Problems of Reducing Costs Chicago's rent war is the biggest thing on the domestic map today. At least, German knows what to expect. Answers received by the Chamber of Com merce of the United States from about 2,000 busi ness men to questions designed to ascertain what they were doing to meet present conditions con tain a variety of interesting information. The answers indicate that business conccrns'are low ering expenses rather through the reduction of .the ruimber of employes than by cutting waees. Only about one-fourth of those answering had made any direct wage reduction. One of the questions asked by the chamber was what should be done to help bring the cost of merchandising to a normal basis and the greater number of answers to this brought the suggestion: "Do something to lower freight rates." About 58 per cent of those answering have reduced the number of employes, these having discharged one-fifth of their workers. One-fifth have abolished or reduced commissions and bonuses. Generally the answers show that business men are cutting down their overhead costs to meet the public demand for lower prices by call ing for more work from fewer men, demanding greater efficiency per inch on advertising, de pending more on budget and cost accounting system and by scrutinizing credits more closely. Little has been done by business men on cut ting down service. Only 6.39 per cent reported any decrease in delivery service, while 2.02 per cent had increased deliveries. One firm re ported: "It costs us today 20 cents each to de liver packages, while before the war it cost us SH cents each." Another reported: "We are charging interest on all accounts which run longer than the 15th of each month following date of purchase. This has reduced the monthly balances on our accounts approximately 25 per cent." There was no considerable reduction in ad vertising space used. One of the questions asked was: "What have you done to reduce your publicity to a normal basis?" More than a fourth of those answering said they had cut down .advertising space, but this action was bal anced in part by others who found depression a justification for increased use of advertising. There has been an increase in circularizing as a means of publicity, "an indication, perhaps," says the domestic distribution department of the Na tional Chamber, "of a desire to move quickly ac cumulated stock." Some of the answers on the subject of pub licity were: "We have taken no steps to reduce our ad vertising space, as it is our. feeling that it is false economy to cut down advertising at a time when business is in need of a stimulant to keep it alive." ' "We are economizing in space and size of the issues, but not oruning as to number-of or kind of channels. Our newspaper advertisement rates have very materially increased, however." "Are making special efforts in direct adver tising, by personal sales letters, and enclosures." "We regard our advertising rather a an in vestment and as business insurance than as ex pense. Our effort, therefore, has been to main tain an adequate all-round campaign at a mini mum total cost." "We use more mediums but smaller space with equal results. Space does not count; pound ing away all the time is what tells." "We do not feel that we should decrease pub licity if any change, it should be increased." "Concentrating more than ever on the con sumer, by circular letters, house-to-house work and dealer demonstration." "Have increased our .advertising expenditures to increase our business." "We have increased our direct circularizing." "It is our idea that cutting the advertising would only . increase the cost of selling mer chandize and we believe we are right." "We have rather added to advertising, as this has always been our custom advertise heavily when business is hard andgo easy' when it is coming anyway." "Are trying to make what edvertising we do more effective. Have simplified the new 'cata logue we are getting out by eliminating all goods for which there is not an active demand." "We are striving for greater effectiveness in publicity by more careful selection of items ad vertised, requiring more careful merchandising preparation." "Have stopped entirely the advertising in so-celled 'charity publications.'" "We have reduced the newspaper space, let ters, etc., and in the place of this we have given more attention to extra values in our windows and in our localities. It shows good results, be cause we feel that the price is the thing that is most interesting to the trade instead of reading matter." "We kept our appropriation down to bedrock during the days when there was practically no sales resistance, conserving our funds for a time when they would stand us in good stead. We feel we now owe it to our distributers and deal ers and to ourselves to help keep things moving a satisfactorily as possible by securing the healthy flow of distribution, produced through consistent, well-directed and forceful publicity." "We feel that there is greater sales resisance, particularly on our products, at this time than before, and in consquence we are taking aggres sive action in the matter of space and direct-by-mail efforts." "Less white space in advertising." How to Keep Well By DR. W. A. EVANS Questioas concoraing by(iene. Mnlta tlon and pravtntton of diaaaaa, sub mitted ta Dr. Evans by roodsrs of Tho Boo, will bo aaoworod porsoaally, subject to proper limitation, where a stamped, addressed envelope is en closed. Dr. Evans will not make diagnosis or prescribe for individual disosoes. Address lettsrs in car of The Bee. Copyright, 1921, by Dr. W. A. Evans. What Had Changed the Picture? Froni Paris in the shape of a dispatch to the Herald comes a story to the effect that one Gassy, a painter, when passing the shop of a prominent art dealer, saw displayed in its window a picture of a dish of fruit which he recognized as having been painted by himself. It bore in one corner, however, the signature of Wrhist'er, and on entering the shop M. Gassy found that $8,000 was the price demanded for it. M. Gassy was able to prove that the signature was a for gery, and immediately its price was lowered to 100 francs, or about $ at present exchange rates. This illustrates, or seems to illustrate, again what to the Philistine uninitiate is the strange fact that the value of works of art, or at least of pictures and statues it is different with books, some of which also are works of art depends so largely, that without much exaggeration in the case of acknowledged masters it can be called wholly, not on the intrinsic merit of a given production, but on the name and fame of the man who made it. In this instance the painting certainly was no less admirable after it had been proved a for gery than it was before that had been done, and yet instantly all hope of selling it for more than a few dollars was abandoned. Why such drops in price occur has been variously explained by those who claim to understand such things, but none of the explanations ever has convinced anybody who asked for one, and the questioners have been left in their original doubt as to the existence of any definite standards by which to measure the money value of a picture or a statue, as such. Of course, even the skeptics can see that a work by a great artist, whether it be good, bad or indifferent, does have a value aside from its artistic merit a value that would be lacking in equally good work by an unknown man, but this increment does not seem to be an art value it is what might be called a curio value, or a value from association, and one wonders that it is not treated rather scornfully by the truly esthetic unless they happen to be dealers. New York Times. ABOUT HELEN KELLAR. I am asked to wrlto something about Helen Kellar. The various biographical eketches how that alio was born In 1880 of a family from whom she inherited uperlor mental powers. At 19 mlntha of ape she had an attack of fever, according to several sketches and of scarlet fever according to one. Whatever the kind of fever, when she waa convalescent it waa found that she was blind, deaf and dumb. One sketch Mid sh was also without the sense of smell The infection which Is most dlkelj to cause loss of the special senses such a sight and hearing is menin-g-ltl. It is not beyond the ran of possibllty. however, that thn sketch which said ehe had scarlet fever was correct. She must have known how to use her vocal organs in the saying of a. few words, but she forgot this power after she became deaf and blind. Sht evidently was blind, deaf and mute for more than four years, be cause she says: "I was about 6 years old before any of the upecialists my parents consulted w8 brave enough to tell them I should never see or hear." Within a year thereafter her educa tion under Miss Sullivan had begun. Later other very able teachers as sisted In her training, teaching Jier to speak, to modulate her voice, to write on a typewriter, and finally carrying her through college. The Encyclopedia Britannica says her education is the most extraor dinary ever known in the educa tion of the blind, deaf mute. She is a great philosopher, sociologist, lin guist, writer and public speaker. She ha an excellent inheritance. The stock from which she sprung has produced a long list of people of superior ability. But at 19 months of age her brain was cut off from most of the contacts with the outer world. It was like a telephone cen tral with important incoming and outgoing lines cut off. How can a telephone central develop or even keep in touch with things if the wires are cut? How can a brain develop without the educating ef fects of sight, hearing and speech? According to Minot's view the curv of learning is highest at birth and constantly decreases throughout life. A baby learns more the first day ot life than during any day thereafter. Burnham says the ability to learn increases up to the second or third year, is very high until the sixth or seventh year, then falls off gradual ly. Miss Kellar lost these five years during which the ordinary child learns most. Of speech she says "It is the deaf child's one fair chance to keep in touch with his fellow's." Of deaf ness she says "In many ways deaf ness is a greater disaster than blind ness. I. too, was born again. I, too, have escaped the dread silence Into which no message of love, no song of bird, lio happy laugh may enter." On many occasions nhe has written and spoken of the mental dwarfing which so frequently results from blindness. Her education, begun In the sev enth year, proceeded rapidly. At 10 she learned to speak in one month. This marvelous training of the many muscles engaged In the production of speech was accomplished In the span of onei month we are told. This seems to indicate that she merely had to recall to the speech muscles training which they were undergo ing when she was taken sick at 1 months of age. When a little bit older than the average college age she was able to enter and then to maintain herself in Radcllffe. At 30 she was a cultured, well read, philo sophic woman of the world. , Defending herself against the. charge that she merely repeated the thoughts of. her teacher. Miss Sulli van, she admitted that she absorbed ideas and learning from Miss Sulli van and all other superior people with whom she had been in contact or whose writings she had read, but that she thought for herself as well. What's the answer? A fine In heritance, a good brain, five years of slow gain taken out of the heart of the period of greatest rate of gain, the best of teachers. Individual in struction shielded from the waste of trivial experiences, opportunities for reading and thinking, constant as sociation with brainy people at their .best in both heart and brain. It's Not Dangerous. Subscriber writes: "1. I noted In your column that you speak of snip ping oft the end of the palate which causes a sore throat or tickling sen sation in the back of the throat. I should like to know If having this done is in the least way dangerous, and I cannot bear the sight of a knife. 2. Would a person have to take an anesthetic? 3. Would it do any harm not to have it removed? T was told that this was my trouble?" REPLY. 1-2. No. ' 3. If the answer was yes, why the operation? Have An Examination. B I. N. writes: "Some five years agoI had an attack of appendicitis and peritonitis and was operated on. Since that time the place where the cut was made has swollen and hurts when-1 walk. Is another operation necessary?" REPLY. You may have a rupture at the point of operation. Have a physician examine and advise you. . . Baby Ia Overfed. Mra. P. writes: "Why is my ba by's urine strong sometimes and smells like ammonia? She Is fed on sweetened condensed milk and breast milk. She gets more of the bottle milk than the breast. She ia fretful and does not sleep well through the day. Has been quite a vomiting baby and is also under weight." REPLY. When a baby has ammonlacal urine it Is because It is overfed or because the food Is too rich. Brighter Days Ahead. j At the rate the cost of living is coming' down in a couple of hundred years life will be 1 so easy wc will hardly notice it. Los Am?cles Times. j 33-4 CORD $18.00 334 FABRIC $15.00 Tyler 3032 Sprague Tire Co. ox For tho Ringer Ticket. Omaha." May I.T0 the Editor of The Bee: If the" electorate votes on conscience beyond question the Rin ger ticket will win overwhelmingly. But conscience In thousands of vo ters is deluded or seduced or, for this occasion, locked up. For every one knows that the Dahlman forces are the Tammany of Omaha and everyone knows what Tammany is, an organization for giving hostages to lawlessness, and therefore an or ganisation, not for combatting and driving back, but for securing its support, for perpetuating It In effect. It was less costly for the time being to give hostages to the Uarbary pir ates than to suppress them. Such a political policy is sure of great constant, power. It gathers into its net with fat baits thousands of men of trained but locked up con sciences. One doesn't despise these men becaue economic warfare Is not child's play and many a fairly good man convices himself that he can't afford to be choosy as to his weapons. This political policy has the advan tage not only of a constant vote but, over a brief period, of a better show ing in cost of government against a political policy whose aim is good government. If a good government policy comes into power after a reign of let us for brevity call it bad gov ernment policy, it has not only to clean house but it has to build, and the house cleaning may be so great a job to leave little time for build ing. 80 its holding power is most hard, because it hasn't time in a sin gle term . to achieve convincing re sults. A municipal election is usually a contract, I take it, between an or ganization devoted tindlscriminating ly to the progress of a community a a whole and an organization devoted to itself, and therefore to attaching to itself certain groups and certain classes by making itself profitable and indulgent to thom. This betng true, as it indisputably is. I believe it's plain that good government is lucky, miraculously lucky, to embark upon power with favoring winds. Usually it has to plow through fierce counter-winds. For, with so much to undo, it cannot do in the beginning without a budget and a disorder that makes retention of power most dif ficult. Planning the progress of a com munity as a whole in this day in cludes community centers, a bigger school bill, more and better, because higher paid, teachers, parks kept up and extended, better paved and cleaner streets AND a bigger and higher paid police force. The police alone make retention of power by good government hard. P'or the po lice under good government have Only their wage and it Isn't high enough to bring fit men to the force. Wherefrom it's probably true that a good government's police, themsel ves, want a return of bad govern ment and work for it in an election. In these circumstances all through a good government's first term, crime inevitably speeds up to discredit it. , Take prohibition. About everyone I know believes it was for the best because of it downing the saloon. That being so, taking reefs in itr must be done most warily and in response to public sentiment. In the mean time, not to fill Into contempt, it must be enforced. But enforcing it by good government may play Into the hands of bad government, for bad government looks only at the relation of prohibition to office get ting and in the present situation plainly estimates that disloyalty to it will pay for enough's been said for us to know that the Dahlman forces are bidding for the support of certain classes by promise of indul gences, of their winking at lawbreak ing as to prohibition. It comes to this, I think, that good government laya greater hardships) and greater self-denials upon a com munity for a time but leads to much pleasanter places. Or, it- occurs to me, bad government has a rather pleaaant smack but an unsound core, while good government is rather puckery but sound. Wr. El. MARTIN, 511 S. 40th St. Civic Pride Against Taxes. Omaha, May . To the Editor of The Bee: On Tuesday, May 3, we will be called upon to accept 'or re ject the socalled "free" bridge bonds, which in my opinion are as important as the selection of our city officials, for the next three years1. We can and do honestly differ ae to our choice of the latter, each view ing it from the many angles which enter into a city campaign, but the voting of bonds at this particular time is a cold-blooded business prop osition. Just one question enters into it. Do I want to encumber my property at this time? Much has been said for the "poor" autoist, who has to pay 15 or 20 cents bridge toll, when he Is taking a "Joy-ride" from Chicago to Denver or from New York to San Francisco, but not a word for the small home-bwner, who spends every dollar here, pays his share of every dollar of bonded indebtedness and is struggling to meet the payments on his home. Nine out of 10 of the latter never use -the bridge, so I ask In all fair ness why mortgage their property for the man who lives in Illinois, New York or some other eastern or western state? Some say civic pride should cause us to approve of these bonds. Yes civio pride has caused us many times to vote for school, park, water, gas and other munici pal bonds and we will do It again, but the bridge ' bonds are for the few, then why encumber us with this burden, at this time, when there are so many other things civic pride IS asking of us. Mr. Taxpayer, bear In mind jthat our county bonds total some 11,000,000, olty bond some J82.000.000, and with the near fu ture improveuiovits our city planning board is recommending taxpayers will be staggering under a bonded indebtedness that will cause tho strongest to cry out for help. Don't forget that we are paying Interest on millions of Indebtedness, that we are spending $800,000 repairing the court house, building a new state capltol, spending millions on our roads and that the legislature. Just adjourned, made an appropriation of some $39,000,000, a lnrge part of this having to be raised by Omaha taxpayers, U of the above probably necessary', out must be met by the struggling masses, who have grad ually felt the burden of taxation bearing down upon their shoulders. Don't misunderstand me, I am not interested in the street rallwny company, as they are able to take care of themselves. In fact I favor a free bridge at the proper time and when the expense Is fairly distrib uted, my oflici.il record bearing me out in this, but I say stop, stop vot Inr unnecessary bonds, until we can I eaten our breath. Bridge building conditions are abnormal at present and as evidence which way the wind is blowing for the future, Is shown by the new bids for paving In Doug las county, showing a saving of some $200,000 in a few shirt week. This is not an educational proposition, not a clvie pride problem, but as far as the present is concerned, a golden pipe dream by some en thusiasts, which should be shattered by no votes next. Tuesday. FRANK C. BEST. Advice From an Outsider. Geneva, Neb., April 30. To the Editor of The Bee: The coming elec tion in the city of Omaha, will be decided May 3d. I am disinterested only to the extent I am not a citizen of the great western metropolis, but am interested in a clean Omaha of my state. Dahlman nor his gang of colleagues ever made an attempt to suppress vice, but did encourage it, by their administration. Do the peo ple of Omaha want that reclme of government again? Omaha has had only a few years of clean cut repre sentatives to rescue it from the pit of vice and corruption. That the threa "D's" placed it in. These three "D's" are Dahlman, Dunn, Dennlson. Citi zens of Omaha let me ask, have they changed? "Birds of a feather flock together." The few years that your present officers have represent ed you. shows a remarkable change for a cleaner and better Omaha. So voters of Omaha are you going to displace these efficient men who have the city's best interest at heart with a group of men, who for 12 years or more made your city a dumping ground for vice and corruption? You are going to be the Judges May 3d. Here's trusting that you, every hon orable voter will hit this three "D" gang so hard with your ballots that they never will be resurrected again. F. A. BRADSHAW. Decline of Illiteracy (From the Now York Times.) The four sets of census returns that are now coinpleft indicate a decline of Illiteracy so marked that. In the opinion of School Life, pub lished by the bureuu of education at Washington, "the coming genera tion of Americans will be practically free" from it "In nearly every part of the country-" During tho three decades between 1890 and 1910 Il literates have decreased in Delaware from 14.3 per cent to 5.9 per cent; In the District of Columbia from 13.S per cent to 2.8 per cent; in Arkansas from 26.6 per cent to 9.4 per cent, and in Alabama from 41 per cent to 18.1 per cent. In Alabama especial ly thn results nre encouraging, t'p to 1900 theve had been an increase in the number of illiterates, though the percentage declined slightly. The first compulsory education law waa not passed until 1915. ) In addition to poor whites, the state has a teem ing negro population, so that the cost of the public shnols falls upon a relatively small portion of the pub lic. Hopeful as these results are,, their import mny easily be exaggerated. None of the states with a large for eign population ha yet been heard from. Judging by experience In New York, moreover, census takers ar none too diligent and efficient. The Individual citizen Is deponent as re gards his own literacy and Is not like ly to underestimate it. In a popula tion where large numbers can neither read nor write many must remain unrecorded. The reports of ths army draft boards linger unpleasant y in memory. For the country taken as a whole, 24.9 per cent of draftee men, or only a minute fraction lesi than one in four, were reported ai Illiterates. The test wa9 doubtlesi more severe than a citizen sets foi himself when filling in a censui blank, but it was a real test and thers could have been no disposition to reject or handicap a man who was fit for use in the army. Granted, however, that the effi ciency, or Inefficiency, of census tak ers has remained approximately the same, and that the four reports In hand are characteristic and these are natural assumptions It Is evi dent that the country Is advancing toward literacy. Compulsory edu cation is doing Its work. Yet the fact remains that in 1917 one-quarter of Americans of military age were not sufficiently educated to become private soldiers. We shall have no sure means of reckoning progress until similar tests are again applied. How to Amerlcanb.e. Now is the time to go Into the country, make a garden, raise some chickens and tell the profiteers the exact spot in the lake where they may jump in. Chicago News. Constitution Forbids. Gas is to be used in carrying Out the death penalty in Nevada. Will the poor victim je shown his month ly bill? Minneapolis Journal. Phone Douglas 2793 CY laasJaWjassSamBaaM OMAHA If I ss T ( PRINTING l JJ COMPANY JSrBj Pr! 'ESS' rmu j ' rz'" PW,jM.WigSaM.j,aiiai 'I' oiajwiar'ieT Conm (rciai Printers Lithographers steel Die Embossms loosc ttAr devices Every Man His Own Printer Many a serious case of the Printing Sickness has yielded read fly to the Multigraph treatment. Once enred by this method, it stays cured for keeps. The Multigraph print near ly everything, and its work needs no apologies. It prints stationery, all kinds of forms, price lists, advertisjrtf folders, etc. and it prints them in the privacy of your own establishment. Right now there is naturally an extra strong demand for Multi graphs, but we are still giving prompt Print it on , the MULTIGRAPff service. THE AMERICAN MULTIGRAPH SALES COMPANY 1037-40 City Nat'l Bank Bldg. Phone Jackson 3715 fM Cud 'a- Lorn D'S Now Arrives Chicago 8:05 A. CV3. as Westbound Service Improved Mo. S FROM CHICAGO 6:10 P.M. (Chicago Town Time 7:10 P.M.) ARRIVES OMAHA 8:10 A.M. No. 1 FROM CHICAGO 5:30 P.M. (Chicago Town Time 6:30 P.M.) ARRIVES OMAHA 7:00 A. M. 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