Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 1896)
I?"E3qprjjWTT3 SSSzESS VOL.11.NO. 7. ESTABLISHED IX 1336 PRICE FIVE CENTb LINCOLN NEB., SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15 I89G. ox. -Cjil-C H WCWKvE.s? 1?"" rrlarl tr lnnwm 1... V.... . J1...1 Lr . L.IUU LIS 1CU11I LUI1L L1ITI HII Hl'I'liniPII Xoi25'A,X-X - nn t1ona in tltn ..jtntZn. nH3 Vifv' . "v jjawc iu mc iiiutiruiinu uuu nru motion of te business interests which the "principal dailies' have under their -Tj1) ,. care. j. ue average country eauor nas fondly imagined that he, in common evteeed iif the post omcE at LTxcoLs with the great editors or the "standard as secoxd-class kattek dailies , was laboring in the common cause of the welfare and upbuilding PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY of Nebraska. He is doubtless unpre- Br pared for the cold announcement which comes from Mr. Kosewater that the IDE COURIER PRINTING AND PUBLISHING CO. county weeklies have nothing in com- men with the "principal dailies," and he Officer; North Eleventh St. is. perchance, shocked. The excuse is, if the truth must be told, a little thin. Telephone 384 There's the State Journal! It has seams and spots, but ir the Bee w,.,.. ..-., j. j . and World-Herald are principal W.MORTON SMITH Editor and Manager ,...,, , A, . . SARAH B. HARRIS Associate Editor dailies the Journal must be given a place . in the same class, and that paper, or - i .. t r a.. rather, its editors, hare found it pos- Subscription Kates In Advance. ' . sible to leave the eternal grind long Per annum 82.00 ... , 4L Sixmo the 100 enoupk togive some recognition to the Three months ................ ..". 50 state association. The Journal would One month 20 scarcely contend that it has nothing in Single copies 5 COmmon with the country newspapers. Airs. Peattie's remark is unfortunate. ' Country editors mav construe it to rvDcrrD;ATirkTC useless.'' and that idea will not enhance UDbBKVAlIUiNb theJr Jovt. f0r the World-Herald. & Country editors have found the associa- SSg5SsS5SS)SSSS) t. . , Th f t th t th t Apropos of the recent meeting of the Omaha editors find it useless will gener state editorial association in this city ally be taken as a species of arro and The Courier's remarks concerning pance. the notable absence of Omaha news paper men and women, Mrs. Peattie re- It is rather a dull day in Omaha when markB that the press association is a somebody does not commit suicide. A 'singularly useless thing," and the Bee, number of those who voluntarily seek answeringthe friendly paragraphs which death are non-residents. Omaha isbe appeared in these columns said: "It coming widely known as a good place to was not egjtism that caused the absence die in. of the editors of the Omaha dailies, but the eternal grind that keeps them at the The people of Lincoln and the state daily mill. Incidentally it must be ad- have this week had impressed upon mitted that the principal dailies of the them the importance of the state uni country can not, in the natureof things, sity. The exercises have attracted have the same interest in state ind dis- much interest and many people. The trict editorial associations that the public is beginning to realize that the country papers have, which almost ex- university is the greatest thing in Ne clusively makeup the rank and file of braska. their memberships. As a matter of " necessity, the standard dailies are com- The curfew ordinance is in full force pelled to join with other leading dailies an(j effect. Outraged authority is on in associations for the collection of tele- the warpath End boys and girls are find graphic news and for the protection and ;ng -ir necessary to provide themselves promotion of business interests which -jth guardians. Vigilance is the eign they have in common, but with which an(j seai 0f the cjty administration. Un the weeklies and smaller dailies have attended youth are the especial mark of little or no concern. On this score the the high moral -Grahamesque regime, relations of the Omaha dailies to the With the ringing or the curfew, or rather Nebraska state editorial association dif- the blowing of the curfew, a wave of erin no way from the relations of the vjrtUous zeal rolls over this city of varie Chicao, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Cleve- gated morals. Angels of mercy and land, Detroit, St. Paul, Minneapolis, tender care, disguised as blue-coated Milwaukee or San Francisco dailies to policemen, rise up on the street corners' the associations of their respective and the bojs and girls are driven back states." fron, the confessed foulness of the town. The excuse of the "principal dailies f the country" for their non-representation at the state meeting of "country editors" is interesting, but it savors strongly of arrogance. The "country" newspapers will no doubt be The curfew in Lincoln! It is said they have evening prayers in Hades. Who. among those who helped prepare for "wide open" Lincoln, thought tho curfew would ever sound in the evening tillness in this great and up-to-date community? Who, of the bronzed and battle scarred warriors who flourished pikes in the municipal melee of one year ago, and joined in the frantic chorus of glory to Graham, as the com ing opener, imagined that ere a year had passed, the curfew would send its warn ing note into every nook and cranny of the place, hurrying unaccompanied 3'outh away from the evil that stalks the streets, into the protected enclosure of the home? Who, in heaven's n me, thought that Lincoln would cone to this? The curfew in Lincoln as the observer of today finds it. is an anomaly so conspicuous that persons of rational mind find in it a source of increasing wonder and interest. No one can question the desirability of the curfew ordinance. It is a good thing and Mr. Lawlor, who introduced it, is a great man, and the councilmen who passed it, and the mayor who 6)gned it, are, in a limited way, great men. Mr. Graham's administration has manifested such an eager solicitude in catering to the sentiment that demanded a wide open town thatjthe curfew demonstration was hardly looked for. The curfew is a great disappointment to the boys of the citv and they are many -who were wont to join the maturer revelling con tingent in the nocturnal efforts to keep things wide open. These youthful celebrants now regard His Honor with unconcealed disfavor. It is bard, so it seems to them, to have to keep within doors after nightfall, while their elders are out gamboling and gambling in freedom, passing from one form of vice to another with no restraint other than their own will or their means. But these pent up youngsters notwithstanding,-the new ordinance is a fine thing and the authorities should be encour aged by public sentiment to enforce it to the letter It is curious, tho, this passing of the curfew law Naturally there is much speculation as to the reasons that prompted its enactment. Are the authorities preparing for a wider open ine and driving back the youth as a slight concession to conscience? Or are they tiring of the outlawry that obtains and is the curfew the first step in a general movement to restore Lincoln to its former place in the moral scale? Surely the men who have taken the oath of office and pledged themselves to administer public affairs for the best in terest of the people cannot be pleased with the state of things now existing. It must be that they are convinced that running a town wide open is, not. as they supposed, the proper way to promote its business interests, and that, morally, the wide open plan is decidedly objection able. Taking this presumption then as the only reasonable explanation of the curfew incident the people may look for a general onslaught on the evil of the town. Gambling is going on daily and nightly in this city in open defiance of the law. Nowhere, not even except ing the mining townsof Colorado, where vice is given the freedom of the place, is there a more shameless disregard for the law than in Lincoln. Gambling rooms are located in the very center of the city and are even given police pro tection. Here, all day long, and far into the night, men openly violate the law. Boys crowd these places, even after the curfew sounds, and the police stand b to see that the gamblers are not disturbed. Of course, after the cur. few, the mayor intends to be, consistent and close these places, and others more vicious. Certainly he will not stop at the curfew when there is sd much to attend to in this wide open town. When will he begin the general attack? When will the curfew ordinance be followed by an order to close the gambling houses? It is past belief that after this recent manifestation the mayor can stand till. He must proceed. The eyes of the people are upon him. Joseph R. Dunlop, the publisher of the Chicago Dispatch was sentenced to a fine of $2,000 and to serve two years in the penitentiary, for sending obscene matter through the mails. The offense consisted in publishing "personals' of evident vicious purport. Sometimes it is right that an editor should go to jail. Dunlop got no more than he de served. There is room in the jails for a few more newspaper men of his stripe. m The Times-Herald in discussing the conviction of Dunlop, said: "Many people are surprised that the aid of the federal law at.d a federal court had to be invoked to rid the town of the un clean Dispatch astonducted by Joseph R. Dunlop. Have we no state law, they inquire, that will cover such offenses? Is it because our law is inadequ ate? Not at all. It is because the ad ministrators of the law are unfaithful to their duties and are too fearful that their personal fortunes may suffer if they should attack an unscrupulous newspaper and its owners. In the fed eral courts no such feeling controls the action of their officers and the result is that the people havo faith in them.' The federal court throughout the country is given tho same distinction accorded to the United States court in Illinois by the Times-Herald. Gener ally this court is above assail. It is for this reason that the federal court in Nebraska, under Judge Dundy's rule, is conspicuous for its shortcomings. University students may have to be brought within the provisions of the curfew ordinance. The interruption of the performance at tht Funke opera house last Saturday night, may have been higher criticism; but there is no demand for that sort of thing in Lin coln. A couple of weeks ago reference was made in these columns to the patriotic movement in this state which has
