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About The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903 | View Entire Issue (June 9, 1900)
am- A 7- v V- v X VOL. XV., NO. XXIII ESTABLISHED IN 1880 PRICE FIVECBNTS M 1 i v LINCOLN, NBBR., SATURDAY, JUNE 9. 1900. THE COURIER, Official Organ ef the Nebraska State Federation of Women's Club. EMTKSKOIN THK POSTOFTICK AT LINCOLN AS SECOND CLASS MATTKB. PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY BI THE COURIER PRINTING AND PUBLISHING CO Office 1132 N street, Up Stairs. Telephone 384. SARAH B. HARRIS. Editor Subscription Kates In Advance. Per annum $100 Six months 75 Three months 50 One month 20 Single copies 05 The Coubiek will not be responsible for toI untary communications unless accompanied bj return postage. Communications, to roceive attention, must be signed by the loll name of the -writer, not merely as a guarantee of good faith, but for publication if adrisable, : 'V00''''9 g OBSERVATIONS. 8 A Constitutional Monarchy. Queen Victoria reigns without much regard to popularity, while the president of the United States, es pecially in bis first term, cannot al ways do, what from his immeasura bly superior point of view, is best for the people, because of his human de sire for a re-elect ioo. The Queen has a royal patience, the royal indiffer ence to the temporary disapproval of her people and a wholly royal self confidence. ' William T. Stead says the Queen's position closely resembles that of a permanent editor-in-chief appointed for life by a proprietary of millions o'f shareholders, who never writes his own leading articles, who must ac cept a staff nominated from time to time by the shareholders, but who has ample opportunity to influence everything that is written in the paper and to effect the promotion of every member of the staff. The in fluence of such an editor-in-chief who has been sixty three years in office, over the ephemeral leader-writers and sub editors, who are appointed for brief periods, must, necessarily be exceedingly great. When her staff are unanimous they can publish what they please, and she must sign it. But when the staff (as sometimes hap pens) differ among themselves, she can and usually does, exercise the casting vote. In the times of politi cal interregnum, while the nation is changing the temporary staff, she takes the whole control of the paper and carries it on till her new assist ant is appointed. Such au analogy enables us to form some idea of the immensely Important part which the Queen has played in the government and development of the British Em pire since she came to the throne. The foregoing is Mr. Stead's some what famous parable of the relation of Queen Victoria to the business of government of the Empire. Al though really shorn of the veto power Queen Victoria's influence on events and the policy of the nation is really much greater than our president's. Hersis a power which the Prince of Wales will not inherit. Sixty-three years of experience, conscientious" study of the needs of the people and correspondence with the sovereigns of Europe the Prince cannot assume with the crown. No man and no other woman has ever reigned so long and so well as Queen Victoria. The kings of England have had a scandalous personal history and only the queen, Elizabeth, whocan be compared to-her was not a mother. She was jealous, vindictive and her policy was not always broad, tem perate, wholesome and virile. Queen Victoria has been singularly free from prejudice either personal or national. Not once in the sixty three years of her reign has she lost her temper and made a diplomatic mistake for that reason. Frequently she has scolded and been out of temper about her own affairs when a woman's willfulness would not affect the affairs of the nation but as the queen, steering Eng land for the English, she has been superbumanly calm and reasonable. The Telephone Franchise. Excessive disappointment is felt and expressed at the failure of the Independent telephone company to get a satisfactory franchise. If a general expression could be obtained from the business men and house keepers of Lincoln there Is every in dication that it would be in favor of granting the franchise. Nevertheless there is a strong objection on the part of th people to speculation in city franchises. The applicants from Plattsmouth who are the principle stockholders are men of character, of long residence in the state and thor oughly trustworthy. But that is not the question. The city, of Lincoln needs repaving. It needs more and better street cleaning and suburban watering. It needs a city park with flowers, grass and trees. The fire de partment has too few "firemen and is in urgent need of new apparatus. A suitable city building is out of the question, but the city needs larger rooms for records and for conducting the business of the city. The assets of the city are taxes and one which has never been considered until lately franchises. The burden of taxes in this city is very heavy in deed upon owners of real estate Bond, stock and mortgage holders are scarcely taxed at all, which is one reason why there is slight sale for real property in Lincoln. And we have given away to ralIroad3, over land and urban, to gas companies and telephone companies, franchises which they can sell in New York for enough money to pave all the streets, keep them clean, enough to light the city, water it, patrol it, police it for a year and have something left for a park and the ornaments and recrea tions of city life. The council which granted the Bell company a franchise for noth ing for fifty years without reserving regulating rights as to charges, did an injustice to the whole people which that company has still forty years to wreak. Their poles and wires are on and in our property. They erect their plant on our land, they disfigure the streets with unsightly, unpainted poles yet they charge for the use of the telephones without re gard to the gratuitous favors from the city, without which their fran chise would be valueless. Then here is another company which makes a much more reasonable request and offers to put in telephones and charge less than half the present rate, for their use. not as a philanthropic meas ure to the people but because the company has tried running telephones at that rate in other places and found that it pays. The establishment of this company in this city means a saving to each subscriber of from eighteen to thirty dollars a year. All things considered therefore, it is bet ter that some new company should be allowed to enter the city, if not on our terms, then on theirs. By no other means can the present exor bitant and unreasonable rates be re duced and the poor service be im. proved. If the new company will accept a franchise which binds the members of the company not to sell the stock to a competitor all the benefits of genuine competition will be ours. If this new proposition is made to the council there is every reason to sup pose it will be granted. State Universities. The childless, the rich, the poor and the middle classes arc taxed for the support of the state university. Only & few of those who are taxed send their children to the school. The proportion is as two thousand to the heads of Nebraska families. It is reckoned, and correctly, I think, that the few who attend the university are enabled thereby to be of more service to the state and that thus those who have paid for the educa tion of other peoples' children receive the worth of their money. If it should appear that university gradu ates are of no more use to the state than other citizens, state legislatures will be harder than ever to convince qf the needs and usefulness of the university. So far the experiment in Nebraska has been a success. Nebraska uni versity is a j oung institution but its alumni are distinguished in the towns where they are settled, some have a state prominence, and otliors are founding a national reputation for ability and probity. Thus In spite of the license allowed the undergraduates tlio system of education seems to force the seeds of good citizenship which ripen after the students have been graduated. During their under-graduate period while their living is being supplied to them by their parents tho conduct; of the male students -is irresponsible and does not indicate that they wilt ever be of much use to the state. A soon as they have received the bounty of the state, and begin to know some thing about the price of things and how hard it is to earn it, how inti mate is the connection between the banker and the butcher, between each member of a community and. every other member, the silly notions., fostered by constant association with twelve cr fifteen other fellows who have sworn a childish oath of con stancy, begins to wear off, and the youth, who was a hopeless isolate be gins to find himself, and soon after that the state will come into her inheritance. The American Republic.. Of course the Boers singly or in groups are welcome to come to Amer ica if they can evade the pauper law,, which most of them can who hate the English enough to emigrate out of their society and their sunlight. We will let them vote as soon as they can get naturalized which will not be fif teen years.by any means. We will not afflict them with sumptuary laws The men can serve as jurymen just as soon as they can speak English, which by the way they will very much ob ject to. They will find, much to their, disappointment, that in spite of the, Revolution we keep English institu tions, that our freedom and manner ofspeechjs English, that our laws,, proceedure and law courts are Eng lish, that our constitution is English-,, that most of our classical literature and the basis of our study of Iitera-. ture is English, that our method oC doing business is English, that our traditions are either English or Irish,, that, in short, we look like, act like,, think like, and are like our cousins of. Great Britain between whom and us. there is a bond too strong and vital to be broken by a nation whoe an cestors have no literature and whose, history is without record of steady ,. normal, constitutional development. Should they come in any numbers to America, settle upon the land which, we can now farm profitably without slaves, send their children to our. schools, which though far from an swering the purpose they were de signed for, are much better, than, Dutch schools, and join in our politi cal life, they will comprehend what a. real republic means. The Boer farm er is not in the habit of workiog him self and in a country where a proprie