Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 1895)
iv 'j- RS :' !K VOU 10. NO. 49. ESTABLISHED IN 1836 PRICE FIVE CENTS 1 IPs LINCOLN, NEB., SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7 1895. m - - -- (5j 8 I nml nnlltlrnl cnrnpstprs. N'n crime Is 2cyiM&1" so Wack that ,l nnt flni1 ln the Jour- CCr- Mj MjjJ WKtwJ B a!y ..w.. uw.wf.v, a'.wv.u... ..- 'liikni criminal can command Influence. The paper that made frantic excuse for C. . entered in the post omcE at uncoil W. Mosher the day after the closing of as second-class MATTEK the Capital National bank, that fought step by step, every effort that was r PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY made to meet out justice to the mem bers of the Mosher ring, cannot be ex- Bt pected to be Influenced by any consider- THE COURIER PRIMING AND PUBLISHING CO. P"lc weal. It never has been In the past, and It Is doubtful If It will Oflico217 North Eleventh St. be In the future. The Journal Is a great and powerful newspaper. It Is impos- Jelephorxe 384 s,ble to estImate the benefit it might . bring to the people of this city and this W.MORTON SMITH Editor and Mannjror state quite as impossible as it Is to SARAH B. HARRIS Associate Editor the ev R ,g respon8,b,e for. The State Journal, the recognized cham- Subscription Rates In Advance. pion of boodlers and the upholder of vice Per annum 82-00 ,s the greatest enemy to good govern- Six months 1-00 ment and the public welfare in the Three months 50 wnole state of Nebraska. This is a One month -jj sweeping assertion; but a little reflec- V tion will convince any proper minded - . person that it is true. One reason why there is so little ef- OBScKVA 1 iUINb 2) the wronKS tnat are done is the knowl edge that the morning newspaper, which should be, naturally, a powerful ally. In last week's Courier regret was ex- stands ready to discourage any move pressed that the public conscience In ments of this sort. Two or three weeks Lincoln and Nebraska is in a state of ago there was started in this city a chronic somnolency. This is readily ex- movement to protest against the exorbl plalned. The people in this city and tant rates charged by the Lincoln Gas many portions of the state have for and Electric Light company for the many years taken a matutinal opiate lighting of the city. Nobody questions in the perusal of the State Journal, the fact that the prices charged are ex Through that paper there has been dls- cessive, and the newspapers, as self-ap-tilled into the sensibilities of the people pointed guardians of the people, might a subtle poison that has been damna- reasonably have been expected to take bly effective in dulling the individual, up this protest and demand a hearing and through the individual, the public One paper, the News, did so. What did conscience. tne Journal do? In Its columns there promptly appeared a threat that the The people of any community natural- stockholders of the gas and electric light ly look to the newspapers for an inter- company, many and powerful as they pretatton of and judgment on acts of are. would retaliate In no uncertain way public concern. If the newspapers are on any person who ventured to Join the honest and quick to expose corruption movement for lower rates. That threat and unlawful practices the people are constituted the Journal's comment on rendered alert and are easily stirred to this important subject. A little later action. When, on the other hand, the in Judge Dundy's court, in connection papers to which the people look for in- with the Outcalt case, there was perpe struction, become mere apologists for trated an outrage that moved the en vice, when they gloss over the most tire community, somnolent as Is its con wicked crimes and stand sponsor for dltion. Did the Journal utter one word practices at variance with all proper of condemnation? Not a word. Then ideas of right and justice, when the In- came the disgraceful verdict in the terests of the whole people knock at the Davis case. What had the Journal to door of the editorial sanctum unheeded say of this' disgusting spectacle, this while the boodler and felon are welcom- judgment. In effect that Davis didn't ed with outstretched hands, then it is commit murder, but should be punished not surprising that the public conscience as if he did? Some smooth generalities is rendered Inactive. In this section the and equivocation and an inadvertant people have looked to the Journal and admission of the "fact that there is a for a quarter of a century they have remote possibility that he is innocent." been confldenced and abused. Not But with all the suggestive facts In the once, from the first day of its life, has Davis trial before it,-not one word of It lifted its voice or exerted its power protest against the outrageous and par againsf a. public wrong when the wrong adoxlcal verdict. And thus It Is with doeitwas backed by money or power. I every question of public interest. The si defy' anybody to point, to a single In- edltorof the JournaI,Mr. Gere, is a good i stance where the Journal has taken "the' man, and his private' character, would ilde of the people against the boodlers entitle him to sweet peace In the life to come. But the venality of his newspa per rises up as a bar, and if there is any weighing done at the gate of heav en the Journal's vlclousness may more than balance the editor's personal In tegrity. Lincoln has had Its annual visitation of satirical infidelity. Hobert G. Inger soll, with his jibe and grimace, has been among us assailing the Bible. Col. Ingersoll assesses as few other men of this generation possess the gift of put ting words together. When he 'speaks the words come In rythmical cadence. When he writes his prose takes on all the beauty of poetry. He Is an artist in diction. When a man ventures to ar ray himself in opposition to the chief tradition of all time, when he displays in that opposition the touch of genius, the trace of art, it is no wonder that at tention is attracted to his iconoclastic performance. The most perfect thing that was ever created can be attacked as Col. Ingersoll attacks the Bible. The shafts of ridicule, the fling of sarcasm, can be directed against nature Itself with more or less ephemeral effect, es pecially if one hos the fine gift that is Ingersoll's. But this smirking come dian is taken too seriously. Sunday, fol lowing the lecture, several of the city ministers made his discourse the sub ject of their sermons. What Is the use of combatting with argument the buf foon who, unable to penetrate the mys teries of heaven, mocks the Almighty and jokes with eternity? There is no occasion for any alarm. The Bible and religion and Christianity have all with stood harder blows than this cynical humorist is capable of dealing. Time will take up Col. Ingersoll and carry him along, and oblivion will cover him over, but the Bible and religion and Chris tianity will go on as they have gone on these many centuries. Poetry and sneering cannot tear down that faith in man which has been steadily strengthened through eighteen hundred years. I do not know about Inspiration; but the Bible is a good book, considera bly better than any other book that was ever written. Religion and Chris tianity may have flaws in them; but they brought light and civilization into the world, and they have made good men and women out of brutal savages; and Col. Ingersoll, much as he would like to take away these three things, can offer us nothing in their place. Let the comedian do his intellectual skirt dance. It may be shocking, but it will not work serious Injury- The solid foundation of religion, faith the Bi ble, Christianity, cannot be punctured by the toe of the kicking clown. There is in Omaha a man named John D. Howe. He Is a lawyer. He is Insane. His certificate of insanity was publish ed in last Sunday's Omaha Bee. The certificate, in the form of a signed let ter to the public, was one of the most pathetic harrowing manifestations I have.ever seen It should commend Mr. Howe to the sympathetic consideration of his friends and secure for him a suitable retreat where future ebulli tions will not have the publicity given to last Sunday's attack. Mr. Howe discussed Mr. Itosewater and the recent elction in Douglas coun ty. This man. who up to his recent af fliction, enjoyed a reputation for an In telligence, at least up to the ordinary level, said, among other things: "Why. Itosewater is the man who has done more for Omaha and Nebraska than any other man In either; the most In fluential man in Nebraska. He built the Bee the greatest paper west of Chi cago; he built the Bee building, the best building In Omaha." There was a col umn of this sort of stuff. Mr. Itosewa ter has seriously affected u number of pretty good men; but I do not remem ber another Instance where he has pro duced such a disastrous result as is evidenced in the disordered mentality of Mr. Howe. The most influential man in Nebraska should put a curb to his influence. It is a bad thing to rob men of their reason. In Omaha they are going to have a society circus, and Mr. W. J. Bryan Is going to be ringmaster. The Omaha people displayed rare good Judgment when they selected Mr. Bryan for this important position. No man In Nebras ka knows more about the show busi ness than he. Mr. Bryan Is acquainted with all the weaknesses of the public and he possesses all the foibles essential to a successful showman. If there Is any one thing In the whole gamut of sawdust experience he does not know that fact has yet to be ascertained. Mr. Bryan, better than any other man in Nebraska can surround himself with the glitter and panoply of seeming reality, and induce the fanfare of ag gregated orchestras and the noisy pipe of the shrill toned calliope. Mr. Bryan better than any other man, can provide little side show attachments designed to entrap the unwary who escape the se ductions of the big ring. Mr. Bryan, better than any other man, can exhibit a versatility in catering to public taste that always brings a measure of suc cess. He can, with the greatest facility, provide various entertainment for var ious people. In Nebraska the people have had an opportunity of wit nessing many different kinds of circuses in the past ten years. There has been the great and only Pride of Two Con tinents Spectacle of the Exalted Bee. with high and eccentric kicking by E. Itosewater. There has been the one ring clrcu3 with Mosher as master of the hippodrome. There has. been the Politician's Populist Pretension Ex travaganza In extenso, owned and con trolled ly C. H. Van Wyck. There have been many spectacular and more or less diverting exhibitions; but nothing in the show line has equaled the extraor dinary Perennial Vaulting and Contor tionist Political Ring Show put up by Kingmaster W. J. Bryan, with side shows to suit the time and place. There has been an up-to-dateness about all of Mr. Bryan's performances that .-'yacjgagT-nniii iii '
