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About The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903 | View Entire Issue (April 25, 1896)
r- 3 r o '.-"r s.v"l5- j-g- t "Zqt-fr -p "X J -$ VOL 11. NO 17 &STABLISHBD IN 18S6 PRICE FIVE OBNTb .- 0tm LINCOLN NBB., SATURDAY. APRIL 25 1896 v'mc's EXTESED IN THE KM OFFICE AT LIXCOLX AS SECOND-CLASS MATTES PUBLISHED EVEBY SATURDAY BT IK COURIER PRINTIIG AND NiLISIIK 68 Office 217 North Elerenth St. Telephone 384 W. MORTON SMITH Editor and Manager SARAH 8. HARRIS AaaocUte Editor Subscription 'Rates In Advance. Per annum . 12.00 Six months 1.00 Three months 50 One month 20 Single copies 5 OBSERVATIONS I Mr. Metcalfe, the interesting political writer of the World-Herald, comes very dutifully to the rescue of Lorenzo Crounse. It will be remembered that the wife of the handsome proprietor of the World -Herald is the. daughter of the tiresome patriarch who, in the inter regnum between James Eclipsed Boyd's departure from and Silas Adipose Hol comb's entry into the gubernatorial office of this state, managed to make of him self an executive spectacle of consider able and ridiculous proportions. Of course it was incumbent on the World Herald to extenuate the latest demon stration on the part of the ex-governor, as it was incumbent on that paper to defend Joseph Garneau when that cracker fed young man was floating Lil lian Russell in a sea of champagne at the World's fair at the expense of the state of Nebraska. A newspaper must stand up for its father-in-law and its in timate friends. And Mr. Metcalfe makes the most of the job it is no easy task to attempt to place Lorenzo Crounse in a reasonable light before the people of this state. a Referring to the introduction of the Crounse resolution Mr. Metcalfe says: It was a carefully created piece of sar casm directed against the man who shared equally with McKinley in the idol worship of tho occasion. It re quired, certainly, considerable courage for a man to breast that storm of dis approval. The man who could gaze complacently down the mouth of a cannon might hesitate "long and loud" before running up against the taunts and jeers of opponents in a great politi cal gathering. When Tom Reed, Allison, Quay, Cul lorn and all the others who are not Mc Kinley enthusiasts read in their morn ing paper that Lorenzo Crounse of Ne braska bearded the McKinley lion in its den is it not probable that their hearts warmed up considerably for Nebraska's ex governor? Will they be likely to forget the name of Lorenzo Crounse? Asa matter of fact, Governor Crounee had nothing to lose in the presentation of his resolution. If McKinley is nomi nated the ex-governor will have no part in the glory, but he does not appear to desire any. But if after all McKinley shall be defeated it would be only the logical result of practical politics if the doors of the White House should be re moved from their hinges every time Lo renzo Crounse of Nebraska approached the old white structure. The logic of practical politics is mer ciless and it is often fearless. Whoever receives the republican nomipatiou will depend confidently upon the votes of Nebraska republicans. When the time comes for the distribution of rewards the men to be rewarded are not those who aided in the election so much as those who showed their hand in the ante-convention contest. Governor Crounse is on record, and if McKinley shall be defeated and the republican nominee shall be elected Senator Thurs ton may not have the disposition of that cabinet portfolio, which he promised to turn over to some other Nebraska re publican. That portfolio might be trun dled up in the vicinity of Calhoun. Perhaps Governor Crounse had no such anticipation. Perhaps he merely wanted to go on record with his inter esting opinion, but if McKinley is de feated the ex-governor's unpopularity will fade as the mist before the sun, for there is nothing that succeeds so com pletely in politics as success; and there is nothing that inflicts the penalties of ignominious failure so certainly as afail ure that comes to the politician who has swept everything before him and crushed out every obstacle that prevents his reaching the final goal. The people of Nebraska bore with Governor Crounse patiently. When the massive form of Silas Adipose loomed upon the gubernatorial horizon they dis missed him in silence, and from that day he was permitted to rest undisturbed in the recesses of Calhoun. Notoriety fell away from him, and fame was too busy even to go out and spend Sunday with him. But he tired of his heimitage, and came down to Omaha, and got where the public gaze would fall upon him. Once more he asks for attention. Crounse's administration was produc tiveand the product was peculiar. Defaulter Hilton and other men and things might be mentioned; but the one feature of supreme radiance was Garneau, the World's fair conmissioner. the soda biscuit nabob. Things scin tillated for a while in Chicago. The airy, fairy Lillian drove Sandow the strongman and Garneau the cracker man, tandem. But all. that is past The latest act of the ex-governor is charac teristic. He had no popularity to lose, and he was, therefore, entirely safe in introducing that impossible resolution. Crounse has, for years, been at outs with his party. It is said that there is ice water in his veins. Certainly he pro duced a frost at the state convention. He may have brought himself to the fa vorable notice of Quay and Piatt and Morton and the rest, and it may be that they may yet take the White House doors off the hinges for him. But the idea will doubtless occur to some people that the man who purchases the favor of aliens at the expense of the good will of his neighbors is extravagant in ob taining what may never be of use to him. One thing is certain Crounse has pulled down on himself a weight of op probrium that never will be removed in Nebraska. And the screws are still se curely fastened in the White House hinges. Many republicans think Senator Thurston has been unwise in his recent course, and the senator himself can doubtless see where he has made mis takes; but Crounse's resolution was ridi culous and inopportune. The recent meeting of the board of regents of the university was not pro ductive of important results. Beyond giving the school of agriculture some additional and appropriate recognition, and some minor changes in the faculty, there was not much business transacted except the usual routine. Possiblv to the disappointment of some members of the faculty there were no increases of salary. Professors at the state uni versity are, as is well known, giving particularly able aud effective service for compensation that is, gen erally, inedequate. But the regents acted wisely in not raising salaries at this time. Nebraska has suffered and is suffering from a serious depression, and until better times are assured, it is undoubtedly wise and prudent to keep down the operating expenses of the in stitution. There is a time coming when the state can afford to pay instructors what they are worth. Victor Rosewater, regent, vice Henry D. Estabrook, resigned, was present at last week's meeting. Mr. Rosewater takes a lively interest in the university, and he made it apparent at this meeting that he will be a valuable member of the board. The board as at present con stituted may be depended upon to ad vance the welfare of the university. Mr. Morrill, of this city, has taken a per sonal interest ic the instituton for so many years, and is so well acquainted with its needs and is withal a man of liberal progressive views, that he is es pecially valuable to this, the biggest and greatest enterprise in the state. Mr. Morrill is amply re-inforced by Mr. Rosewater and the remaining regents. The hew chancellor has practically completed his first year. His adminis tration has been marked by an utter absence of any demonstration. He ap proaches the closing of the school year in the same manner that he took up the work last autumn, and without having in any sense attempted to make an effect, he has left a strong impression of strength and scholarship on the students and faculty, and on the gen eral public as well. The Courier has on one or two occasions given ex pression to the public's ap preciation of Chancellor Mac Lean, and it is gratifying to be able to state that as time goes on his hold on the public, and in this city the public is directly influenced by the faculty and students, strengthens. In the past year there have been distinct advances in many directions in tne state univer sity. People on the outside observe a broader, more scholarly spirit, and what is especially noticeable is the harmony which animates the management. It was a foregone conclusion that the regents would deny the students' peti tion for permission to occasionally use the armory for social purposes,!. e.,danc ing. In this denial the regentB un doubtedly acted contrary to their own desire as well as contrary to the dictates of common sense. But sops must be thrown to Cerberus, and this was a pmtty good opportunity to make a throw that would be noticed. Granger or populist sentiment in an agricultural state makes cowards of us all even of good republicans. That aristociatic and cultivated gen tleman, the Honorable J. Seedless Mor ton, secretary of agriculture, has tired of public life. In a recent public state ment he says: In, my career in the agricultural de partment I have seen enough to satisfy me that the government pays a great deal more than it should for the service performed by the employes. The Chicago Tribune, cruelly facetious, remarks: "This, then, is the real grievance. This is the burden that has embittered the secretary's formerly hopeful spirit. Here was the weak spot in Mr. Morton's armor, and the govern ment reached it. His pride is hurt, that is clear. His conscience smites him o the point of open confession. The BenBe of being overpaid, of knowing that one is not earning his salary, that he is in a way a government wart, for the un earned surplus, that he is the victim of an extravagant sjstem which, single handed, he cannot overthrow, must be a keen torture to a sensitive man, and the secretary has shown that be is a sen. sitive man, and worse still, the argu ment is unanswerable.' It must be admitted that the secre tary's objection to holding office is unique. There are only a few sensitive men in the country, and Mr. Morton is the first one who ever held office. Now, there's the Honorable Erraticus Sock dolager Dundy. He's not sensitive. He takes all that the government allows and Scip and Elmer take the rest, and he doesn't know what a qualm Is. The peo ple of Nebraska, bearing in mind Errati cus Sockdolager, will agree with Mr. Morton that in many cases, "the gov ern men? pays a great deal more than it should for the services performed by the emplojes." President Cleveland has approved the bill giving General Thayer a pension of 8100. a month. It was thought that the president might refuse to sign the bill on account of General Thayer's re publicanism which has sometimes been called rabid, and more especially on account of his attitude in the Boyd Thayer case. But prominent democrats in this city and elsewhere urged the president not to