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about dazed until he got accustomed to things. Lincoln, after its
three or four years uninterrupted sleep, has the same
difficulty in rousing itself. The sheets and blankets that have en
shrouded the town still cling to it, despite the earnest effort to leave
these things and enter upon a new career.
A great many business men in Lincoln are not enterprising. They
take what coses to them and are content. They pay no heed to the
whirr of progress to be heard on all sides of them, and have, appar
ently, few ideas outside of their shops. They don't take any parti
cular interest in Lincoln or anything. If Lincoln is slow or if busi
ness is bad, they are not disturbed. They do not know what public
spirit means. Hence it is not surprising that the efforts of the men
who are responsible for the organization of the Commercial dab did
not, at first, meet with an enthusiastic reception; neither is it sur
prising that bo little interest, comparatively, has been manifested in
the meetings so far held. The business men haven't quite recovered
from their'doze yet; and no one would expect Lincoln people to ex
hibit any marked enthusiasm on any subject. Somehow the busi
ness activity bo noticeable in Sioux City and Denver is entirely lack
ing in Lincoln. Here we would rather sleep than be up and do
ing. But there has been some interest displayed, probably more than
some of the movers anticipated, and it is quite probable that some
thing definite and tangible may yet result from the movement the
first step of which .was the organization of a Commercial club.
Maybe the sleepers will wake up and do something.
The Codbiek has been hammering away along this line for nearly a
year now; and it would hardly be proper for us to make any stronger
appeal for the proper development of the Commercial club than we
have already made, or to emphasize more forcibly the importance of
such a movement as the one just inaugurated in this city. Surely a
great deal has been accomplished in the formation of the club. We
are hopeful that it will not be allowed to dissipate into a state of
nothingness through sheer neglect. We would go so far as to say
' that we really believe much good will be accomplished by the club,
that Lincoln is on the verge of of a new activity and prosperity.
The fact that an attempt will be made to amend the charter of
the city of Lincoln at the coming session of the legislature so as to
make the salary of the mayor $200 has doubtless had some effect
in encouraging citizens to become candidates for this office. Even
at this early day there are a number of candidates, and the crop will
be enlarged before spring. George Woods sustained what might be
called his first real defeat, or met with the first obstacle in his con
spicuous progress in political preferment at the recent republican
county convention when something struck his candidacy for the
chairmanship of the convention; but the young councilman's
'serenity was hardly disturbed, and he has already forgotten all about
it. Mr. Woods is a prominent : prospective candidate for mayor, and
if he makes an effort to secure the nomination he would not be an
easy man to beat. At least one other councilman, Frank Graham,
is, or will be, a candidate. There is also some talk of Ed. R. Sizer
for the office, and the traveling men expect to bring out a candidate
of their own, F. A. Bartholomew being mentioned in this connection.
has frequently been said that had it not been for the fact that the
y principal newspaper in Omaha was republican in politics, he would
have az$B his original paper, the World, a republican organ; that
he was fenced to get on the democratic side of the fence because
RwsewaV had usurped the republican field. This is denied by
some ofuiose who know Mr. Hitchcock well, and we are of those
who believe the editor of the World Herald to be conscientious
in his political beliefs, peculiar though they may be. Since the
World was united with the Herald the policy of the hyphenated
journal has gradually grown more and more complex and variegated,
until today it is far from an easy matter to tell just what the pol
itics of the World-Herald is.
Sometimes a careful reader of Mr. Hitchcock's paper may discover
traces of what might be called republican sentiment; but five times
out of six the editoral page of the World-Herald leans either to
wards democracy or populism; generally towards populism. And
this is where the strange part of it comes in. Mr. Hitchcock was
supposed to be worth something like $750,000 a few years ago, before
his newspaper had begun to eat up htt assets. His friends and as
sociates were and are people of wealth, and he naturally inclines
toward aristocracy. There is nothing democratic in his mode of
life. And yet this man of wealth has for years been advocating the
doctrines of socialism with all the force at his command. The demo
cratic party has not contained enough of socialistic doctrine to suit
him, and he has taken up and advocated nearly every one of the so
called principles of populism. He has inveighed against capital and
monopoly with all the eloquence of a bare-foot and empty -stomached
street orator, and he has pleaded for the workingman with unre
mitting ardor. In his enthusiasm he has gone to extreme lengths,
advocating some of the most heretical of socialistic or populistic
ideas. Hie friends have joked him for this leaning in the direction
of the fads; but he has been indifferent to ridicule and has persever
ed in his course, upholding Bryan and Allen and the various ex
tremists of both the domocratic and populist parties. We do not
know that Mr. Hitchcock has ever been called a demagogue, a term
that is sometimes applied rather indiscriminately, and the
fact that he is not accused of hyprocrisy is a high tribute to his
character. Mr. Hitchcock, we are sure, believes in the ideas bo in
dustriously advocated in his newspaper.
Mr. Hitchcock's father-in-law, Lorenzo Crounse, governor of Ne
braska, with whom hejs on the most intimate terms, is in many re.
spects the exact opposite of the young editor. Government has long
been a hobby of Governor Crounse. He believes heartily in the pre
servation of law and order, and he has no sort of sympathy with the
fanatical ideas of the Burrowses and VanWycka and Schraders and
Aliens and Bryans. He t?kes a hopeful view of conditions and be
lieves the country will be able to cope with any emergency that may
arise. He is a xepublican and he thinks the republican party can be
depended upon to provide every needful reform. For a great many
years he has been looked upon as an anti-monopolist; but he has
never gone to the extreme lengths to which his son-in-law so often
goes. People say that the discussions between Governor Crounse
and Mr. Hitchcock on socialistic subjects are particularly interesting.
We have a fine line of trouserings.
Jeckell bros tailors, 119 no 13 street
The best soda water in the city at Hawke's Pharmacy.
What Mayor Weir k going to do is not very clear. It is pretty
certain that he will be foiled in his great ambition to be nominated
for governor by the populists. In default of anything else he would
probably like to run for mayor again; but this would do him no good.
Weir could not by any possibility be re-elected mayor. There is a
Battering prospect that his honor will re-enter private life next year.
Intimate friends of G. M. Hitchcock, editor of the Omaha World
Herald, and others who are familiar with the facts, have observed
the political attitude of that gentleman with a great amount of in-
tercet during the last three orioar years. Mr. Hitchcock, as is well . gee Sisler Before ordering Ice Cream, he can save you money.
known, is the so of a man who was an ardent republican, and it 133 south 12th street Phone 630. '
Hurlbct & co. have moved to 113 north 11 where they are pre
pared to serve you.
Dr. L. W. Ed wards has re-located at rooms 90 and 91, Burr block,
9 a. am. te'l p. M p- 5 p. m. aad 7 p.
;tBv.
Albert D. Havdea. Notary -Public
aad general 'stenographer
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