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SSSzESS
VOL.11.NO. 7.
ESTABLISHED IX 1336
PRICE FIVE CENTb
LINCOLN NEB., SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15 I89G.
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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
