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About The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 26, 1899)
VOL. XIV., NO. XXXIV. ESTABLISHED IN 1886 PRICE FIVE CBNT8 - -pj "fl ""3zSMs5?sKlr3a3siit-ii$JCsMLBBl "Y-- '7 LINCOLN, NBBR., SATURDAY, AUGUST 20. 1800. ENTERED IN THE POSTOFFICE AT LINCOLN AS HECOND CLASS MATTER. PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY lit THE COURIER PRINTING- AND PUBLISHING GO Office 1132 N street, Up Stairs Telephone 384. SARAH B. HARRIS, Editor Subscription Katep In Advance. Per annum 9100 Six months 75 Three months 50 One month 20 Single copies 05 The Cockier will not be responsible for vol notary communications unless accompanlod by roturn postMRo. Communications, to rocoivo attontion, must bo sitrnod by ttio full nnmo of tho writer, not moroly as a guarantee of good faith, bnt for publication if advisable, : 8 OBSERVATIONS. v 1 oo Governor Poynter's Indignation. The Governor's tirade against the railroads reminds one of the relief of a small boy when detected in guilt and out of all favor with everybody, another boy comes in who is also im perfectly aware of his obligations to society, and upon whom by harping on his misconduct, he can divert the indignation and unpopularity that is likely to cost him square meals for a day or two. The Governor endeavors to stimu late the popular grudge against rail road companies by accusing them of greed for not acceding to his demands for lower transportation of the First Nebraska. Yet he himself cared so little for the First Nebraska lie re f UGed to sign his name to a resolution of appreciation of the First's gal lantry passed by tho Nebraska legis lature. Ho accuses the officials of the Union Pacilic road of discourtesy and arrogunce and the other railroad officials whom ho approached he says were insensible of their obligations to tho boys of tho First. Yet ho asked these men in effect to con tribute several thousand dollars by reducing tho faro of passengers in tho west who must come east and en deavors to excite the animosity of tho public against railroad companies who aro doing business for gain rather than because it is a humane and noble and altogether sentimental thing to carry passengers from one end of tills country to the other. And this Is the same man who refused (not to contribute money to tho First, there is no record that he has done that) to sign his nume to the card of thanks which the legislature in tended should bo sent to the boys, then on the tiring line in Luzon. Ever since the country and the world recognized the distinction in bravery and endurance attained by the First Nebraska, Governor Toy ti ter has been conscious of the mistake he made in taking Mr. Bryan's advice about the thanks. He might have been successful In diverting tho re proaches of an unsuspicious people to the railroads if it were not for the exultant tone of his account of the pcriidy of the railroads which rings a personal note of relief on his escape from a pretty tight place. The Railroads and the Soldiers. Not that the railroads should not bear their share of the public debt of gratitude we owe the volunteers, They have been granted by the gov ernment extraordinary rights not granted to an individual. In every town in this country the police offic ers and police court arc occupied with olfenders who have been brought there by the railroads and arrested on railroad property. If there is a strike which threatens destruction to pro perty scattered over three thousand miles of territory the soldiers are sent out to protect It. There Is per haps no business so dependant on the power of the central, state, and mu nicipal government us railroad property and in tho matter of rec ognition and reward of bravery to a volunteer soldiery the refusal on the part of all the railroads to taise the passenger rates would have been a patriotic and fur-sighted move. For there is little doubt thut the high rate eastward seems like taking ad vantage of the soldiers. And the rate which brings them back from the Pacific coast should bo no higher than that which takes them there. The coal consumed is the same, the conductors' and the brakemens' and tiremens' wages are the same. Pas sengers who buy transportation from east to west aro apt to feel injured and imposed upon when required to pay more to return east. It muy bo thut the western rate is too low, but so long as common people cannot understand the dilference between Lhe expense when the engine is pull ing east, that hurt feeling will lust. Mr. Thompson's Loan to the State. Never was advance more timely than Mr. Thompson's disinterested investment of twenty thousand dol lars in tho First Nebraska. It en ables tho men to come home together and Insures the success of tho recep tion to tho First. Mr. Thompson do sorves and should receive the thanks of tho state and tho payment of his loan with the highest legal interest us soon us it assembles again to pay bills, elect u United Stutes senator, make new laws and repeal those made by preceding legislatures according to the immemorial custom of such bodies. By this loan Mr. Thompson has saved the name of the state from the reproach of ingratitude and sluggish patriotism. Every otticr man with the same credit had the sumo op portunity and might have offered tho loan but at the last moment, unless Mr. Thompson had come forward, tho movement would have fulled. He deserves the credit for Ills faith in the state and his acceptance of the opportunity and he Is receiving it without prejudice. It Is with con siderable hesitation that the news papers speak of Mr. Thompson's loan because, of his well-known anxiety to keep all mention of his gratuities out of tlie newspapers, yet in this case the unexpectedness and the im minent necessity of such a loan makes it impossible to repress the general thanks, even though it is so painful for tho donor to sec his be nevolence exploited in the press of the state. Senator Hayward's Convalescence. A note from Mrs. Hayward says that Senator Hayward is convalescing rapidly nnd will soon be restored to his usual health. The heat of the Inst two or three weeks has been of a sort not to send tho thermometer up to the point of discomfort it actually represents. Wo are used to a dry, stimulating, light uir. But the con temporary atmosphere has been heavily charged with moisture nnd our unaccustomed lungs have missed the stimulant and grown tired, us from a weight. The fulntness which seized Mr. Hayward in the crowd at Brownvilie was due to theso condi tions, which everybody lias realized were trying. The Street Car Compromise. Universal satisfaction is expressed concerning the action of the council in accepting $05,000 in settlement of the back tuxes assessed against the road. The most sunguine of those who urged the continuunce of tho suit would not admit thut the city could be adjudged more than $71,000 and the cuse could not be reached in the supreme court sooner than five, or at best, four years. Besides tho com pany is putting their road into good shape, laying down extra long, deep rails, and making a smooth and dur able roadbed I think the mutter logs and threatenings of Dr. Farn hum rather hastened the decision of ttic council to compromise with the road. Though a very reusonuble council, willing to talk the mutter over with taxpayers and nonotllclal citizens, it has resented as ono man Dr. Farnham's impertinent threats and his opposition, us u mutter of fact, did more to harmonize the coun cil and the street ruilwuy company thun any other influence. The coun cil is elected to attend to the city's business and I remember no occasion on which tho present council has for gotten its dignity us a solf stilllelent, integral municipal body which cuu neither bo bribed, bullied nor intimi dated. No citizen, at ull familiar with the conduct and decisions of tho present council can distrust its good faith and sincere desire to full HI its duties towards the city. Injunctions are rather out of favor theso days. They aro doubtless justl ilablc enough in extreme circum stances just us a pistol is sometimes, but a man who nourishes ono too often loses tho reputation of being a brave man and acquires u coward's, even on the frontier. An Injuctlon is an unsatisfactory stay of proceed ings which Irritate tho enjoined and delays and makes moro complicated a final settlement. The populists be gan a crusado against government by injunction and on this subject they have the sympathy of pcoplo who arc deterred from voting witli them on account of weighty objections to other purls of their platform. The Worker. Mr. Edward Markham's poem, "The Man with the Hoc" wis written, of course, with exclusive application to tho picture of 'The Man with the Hoc." That man Is a p re-Re volution peasant in the days when the peasantry of France and tho small city merchant paid ull the tuxes, the nobles not being as sessed ut nil; a peasant whose life was of no more consequence than that of u donkey, not of so much as an or, n peasant whom his lord of a frosty morning, killed that he might warm his feet in his body, who slept in the struw, who was hntless, rugged, al ways hungry, who worked constantly only to keep this side of starvation; this mun's life, und this man's fea tures and this man's environment bcur no resemblance, either obvious or real to the American workman. And it Mr. Markham intended to convey tho impression that tho American workmnn Is kin to this dull eyed ox let him tuke the picture und stand on the curbstone and ex amine the faces and expressions of the men who urc engaged In laying; brick, or in preparing tho streets for the asphalt in this city. Those who shovel stone and sand, load wagons and dig up the disused track are not skilled work men. They are both black and white and the boss of a division of tho as phalt gang seems to be a tall mulatto, wlio works with nn energy which does not diminish from seven o'clock till the six o'clock whistle which stops his day's work. He looks at the mixture of sand, rocks und cement as critically and knowingly us a good cook preparing the piece do resistance of a banquet. Ho moves about his work with the alertness and intelli gence and a grace thut Indieato bruins however humble the task upon which the workman be engaged. His