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About The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 9, 1899)
THE COURIER. they cannot pay for, the grocers, dry-goods men, and boot and shoe merchants would all be taking ad vantage of the bankrupt law. It is these people, who buy only what they have the money to pay for, that sup port tliis town and every other. The patronage of the few rich men in the largest city in this country is not comparable in bulk to the patronage of tiie poor and of those who arc said to live from band to mouth but whose food is paid for before eaten, if William Waldorf Astor's fortune or fortunes in America and England were divided according to the per capita allowance of the economists and these thousands of people were to take themselves out of New York and settle in London the merchants in the latter town would be over joyed at the immediate increase in the number of consumers and the New York merchants would have to adjust themselves to a sudden shrinkage of their market. But when William Waldorf Astor all by him self leaves New York for London, the English arc not overjoyed and New York is serene. For he can only cat three meals a day, wear 'uc suit of clothes at a time and live in but one house. He can only look scornful and haughty with one face and that one the Prince of Wales does not like. Economically and aesthetically lie is but little loss. So while the poor many do not receive the considera tion their importance and patronage deserves, it is well enough to remind the retail dealers of a fact they are well enough aware of viz, that the patronage of the poor, makes pros perity. The singular unwillingness of the rich to pay their bills Is incom prehensible to the poor who hate to be dunned and regard It as an over whelming disgrace. The Com. The last two weeks have not been favorable to the corn. The weather lias been too hot and dry as the con dition of the corn In this section shows. Much of It Is dry and shriveled and loose on the cob. The milk in the kernel has dried too rapidly and yielded its moisture to the air, leaving the kernel wrinkled and insufficiently nourished. Thus our only inducement (barring the cultivation of a virtue for virtue's sake) to patience and submission is destroyed. The delicate, hollow, silk en threads of nerves which contain the pollen-fertilized milk and which arc attached to each kernel In an ear of corn are shrunken and destroyed by the dry heat and the kernel is starved. The effect of the heat how ever Is not wholly disastrous for the price of corn as a result has risen. The Carter Case. The apologists for Captain Carter claim that his sentence was another case of army prejudice and Jealousy like that of Captain Dreyfus. This is scarcely credible. Captain Carter is not a. lew, nor does he belong to a nation or a sect which ignorance and prejudice lias been in the habit of persecuting He belongs to a wealthy family but when he was in charge of the harbor contract he tilled the government yacht, of which he was in command, with his own guests at the expense of the government. These guests were wined and dined in a style which only a few millionaires can afford. When he was charged with embezzlement every attempt was made to destroy testimony. The long delay in the examination of the papers and the efforts made to in fluence the president to' mitigate or annul the sentence of the court martial have awakened the suspicions of the people. Simply saying that It Is another case of Dreyfus persecu tion will not allay these suspicions. An American court is not a French court and the testimony and wit nesses in the Carter case were direct and positive, and not implicatory as. in the Dreyfus case. The epoch of a foreign war Is sensitive and criticism of the administration is inexpedient. There is all the greater reason why the president, being suspected of too groat an affection for the rich, should be sure that the people understand the facts in the case of Captain Ober lin Carter. So that no matter how many and how influential his friends, we nny bo sure that he receives jus tice the same as the friendless postal clerk who is detected in stealing live dollars from a letter. As the candi date of.the plutocracy alone, Presi dent Mclvinlcy's chances for re-election are slim. The inlluence of money In Washington has delayed justice and prevented the passage of many a bill, like those, for instance, directed against the adulteration of foods. So great is the fear of this in lluence among the people at large, that if this one rich man should be pardoned for reasons which the com mon peope do not appreciate as sound the effect upon the president will be more severe than the less of a few rich allies -the friends of Captain Carter. Sympathy for Captain Dreyfus, and there are no antl-Dreyfusards In this country, will not be diverted into sympathy for Captain Carter, who has not been confined for five years in a cell on a barren Island, but on the contrary has spent, the time since the court martial pronounced his sen tence, in the most fashionable of the New York chilis, breakfasting at eleven, driving fast horses and at tending tiie opera or amusing him self according to the vagrancies of an elegant and opulent taste, unham pered by responsibilities of any sort. The Chief Corner Stone. Invitations to the ceremonies of laying the corner stone of the United States Government building in Chi cago have been sent to thirteen thous and distinguished men in this coun try. There are probably fifty thous and other distinguished men who will receive them, but thirteen thousand had been dispatched when the com mittee discovered that Mr. Henry Ives Cobb, the architect of the build ing, in whose otlice the invitations had been designed, had placed Ills name in unnecessary large letters under the cutof thebuilding,and placed a shield in the upper left corner bearing the monogram U. S. and balanced it by another shield in the upper right corner inscribed with his own initials, II. I. C The invitation is signed by Governor Tanner, by Mayor Harrison, and by the chairmen of the general and invitation committees. When these gentlemen discovered that Mr. Cobb had utilized the invitations to advertise and exploit himself, they wero Indignant and have stopped the Issue. The members of a democracy object to the elevation even of an architect on their shoulders. Mr. Cobb climbed up unawares and was blowing his own horn and occupying a position in the sight of the multitude before the owners of the shoulders realized his intentions. He will hardly be able to maintain the position until the ninth of October, the day of the celobratlon, so man hands are outstretched to pull him down. If he had not at tempted to balance his own initials with the shield of the United States and to write his own namo ubovo thut of the United States, the fifty thous and other gentlemen who intend to go to Chicago and re.eclve the adora tion of tiie pack would not have ob jected to the notice the architect of the structure deserves and would naturally secure, but his claims were so Insistent for the chief place and all the homage, that they are likely to cause his eventual rejection by the builders, each one of whom would like to be the chief corner stone himself. Old Stories. A column of "DontV was published in last week's Courier, some of which wero peculiarly applicable to Lincoln. Every place has Idiosyncratic features, and Lincoln has its share. About in its fortieth year the old codgers of Lincoln have fallen into the habit of relating tales of the early times. This is all very well but "repetition maketh a dull man" and when a racconteur al lows himself to be teased into telling a good story three or four times he is likely to get Into the habit of telling It and not wait for a request. Some of the codgers are not fso very old, not much older than the city, but they have tasted the delights of story tell ing and their appetite increases by what it feeds on, till anyone will do for an audience and any old thread bare tale, that even the dogs, by re petition, have learned the words of. is acceptable not to the manacled listen er butjtothe hopeless racconteur. Of this character is the shirt story which the original prevaricator attached to Mr. Marquette; a story which has no foundation, in fact, and which was in vented by some commonplace mind to illustrate Mr. Marquette's unusual ability to concentrate his mind en tirely upon one subject to the entire exclusion of the trivialities which, after all, occupy the time and thoughts of most men and women. Mr. Mar quette's mind was entirely at his dis posal, a fact which the men who have tittered over the story frequently over look. Jf the hundreds who have heard it could learn to forget so tran sitory and unimportant a subject of thought as the clothes they wear, not for a week as Mr. Marquette Is said to have forgotten them but for an hour, the results of the concentration of all the power of even a mediocre mind on one subject for that time might favor ably affect the fortunes of the scatter brained whose accomplishments to date are the direct result of devlded attention. There aro also many stories about Mr. John Fitzgerald whose tireless energy and dynamic purposes inspired workmen to accom plish twice the work for him in a given time than for any other contractor. There are many stories of Judge Mason and some of Mr. Touzalln who, however, was only a nomad in Ne braska. The other three men are wrought into the early history of the state. But these stories are covered by the barnacles of tradition (so quick ly does tradition grow) and aro not of much use. even as Indications of the character of the men and the times. They are only referred to here in tiie interests of a fatigued community in the hope that they may fall under the notice of at least one of the chest nut venders and remind him to tell his stories only to bona fide strangers and newcomers, and only once to them. The County Election. As election time approaches a num ber of republicans express dissatis faction with certain names on the ticket. That ticket was nomi nated In the convention and good or bad, satisfactory or unsatisfactory, the party which named the men must accept the responsibility for them. In county and city politics it docs not matter much to the community, after the election, as to whether a man Is a republican or a democrat. But it is a matter of vital importance to the community whether a man Is an hon est man or a thief. And in this con nection thief Is not a name to bo lightly used. No man, not even in politics, is Justified in calling a man dishonest without being moreexpllcit If he Is not honest, he has stolen something. If that bo so, what was It? How much was it? When did he steal it? Where did lie steal it and whom did lie steal it from? In these days we have progressed in plain speaking if not in politeness, and the candidate who accuses his rival of dis honesty in general terms is condemned of Injustice by the most Ignorant of his audience. Not that a campaign conducted in this way is admirable. But the campaign of innuendo is abominable. Every man, even the transgressor is entitled to fair play and the sportsman's blood which lills the veins of most of the spectators at every contest, political or otherwise, will see that he gets it. President and Mrs. McKinley. None of the pictures of President McKinley taken alone have endeared him to the whole people like those In stantancnus photographs stolen by the artists of the Illustrated weekly papers. In all of these the president Is just a common, tender, faithful man taking care of his invalid wife. He has not assumed the presidential look he has in all the official photo graphs, where he Is shown at his desk thinking, or getting into his carriage from the steps of the White nouse, or taking the oath of otlice, or discussing expansion with ills cabinet. In all of these the President is prepared for the photographer and his expression Is otllclal and there Is no opportunity for acquaintance with his august nibs. In t lie vacation pictures the President is not thinking of himself at all nor or the impression he Is like ly to make on the several million people who will look at his picture. He is holding a wrap for his wife, or he is helping her out of the carriage and guiding her to the best place to Bee, or to the most sheltered spot on the boat thoy have baen eailiog in. Such self forgetfjlness, patience, and tender nesB as the President's face exprasses must appeal to the most obstinate dem ocrat of them all, so that for the moment anti-expaoBioo, anti-protection, and antieingle standard are forgotten and swallowed up in appreciation of the chivalry and devotion of the man. Gty Lighting. The city pays S18.G24 a year for lightB. The gas company is not to be blamed or called hard names for churging us much for electricity as the people will pay. A high price is not robbery and a compet itive market is the only regulator. Sen tiraout has nothing to do with business. Busines? is neithor moral nor immoral, it is business and unrelated to anything except the laws of commerce. The city council, I am sure, will koop these principles which no one has uiado, but which are immutable in mind, when dealing with the guB corapauy. Mr. Thompson is the president of the gas company and is anxiouB to make a good bargain with tbo city for lights next year. His private character and the antagonisms whteh were caused by his political methods and ambitions have nothing to do with the bargain the gas company is anxious to make with the city and the city is anxiou to make with thegaB company. The company is an old one. It has enjoyed the use of the streets and alleys for many years. Its electric light poles