THE COURIER
the mayors whose duty It was to 're
ceive the Prince and show him their
towns. It is doubtful if there is an
Individual who disapproves who would
not have done the same thing: if he
had been a mayor or an admiral or
anything: In the way of a large enough
representative functionary to receive
a prince. A prince is a curiosity, a
survival of feudal times; to Americans
he Is a rare historical relic, and par
takes of the sacredness of relics whose
usefulness has long ago passed away,
but which retain the consecrating ef
.fect of institutions and implements
which have been precious to our an
cestors. This Prince was such a genial, simple-hearted,
cordial man that If
princes had been commoner, as they
seem likely to become in America, we
should not have thought of courtesy
Ing to him. He went to all the parties
and dinners and ate samples of all the
interminable terrapin, canvas-back,
crabs and oysters that were set be
fore him. He was tired as a hunting
dog before he could start for home,
but he never said so, and his poor
stomach was in rebellion, but he did
not complain. He was here for the
purpose of making friends with the
Americans and he made thousands
and hundreds of thousands of admir
ing friends. He showed the Ameri
cans how nice a very nice prince can
be. There is nothing we really ad
mire more than pluck, and Frince
Henry is a sportsman through and
through. The dinners and things bored
him, but he wore an expression of de
lighted surprise and as if he was hav-
ing no end of a good time tasting
things he had never before been able
to afford. For all this we are duly
grateful, and that he got away with
out being hurt by an imported anar
chist we are profoundly thankful.
His visit was the result of Emperor
William's happy Inspiration. There Is
no doubt that the friendly feeling it
expressed and with which It was re
ceived has already put the two nations
on friendlier terms, and that if an In
ternational discussion should arise it
will be treated in consequence by the
representatives and congresses of both
nations with less prejudice and less of
national predisposition to offense and
jingoism. But this is all. Prince
Henry's visit has not the vast mean
ing and threat of a Germanic-American
alliance imagined by the newspa
per correspondents of France, Spain
and Italy. "We were proud and happy
to see him and glad that he got safely
away, and It is very gratifying to the
people to know that so great, powerful
and growing a nation as Germany is
anxious to be friends with us. The
Prince's visit was expensive to Ameri
ca, though it is inhospitable and mean
to mention it now. But it did not cost
as much' as the first shots of a war
would cost, and two nations who go
armed or with a large number of fight
ing men within call, need all the store
of good feeling they can lay up in the
times when they do not both happen
to want the same strip of country.
And Prince Henry, as if by chance,
occasionally said a word to the Ger
man American that he Is likely to re
member and which may influence the
training of his children. In Boston
when he was presented to a prominent
German-American who spoke to him In
English, he said to him: "Why don't
you speak German? It is a very nice
language for you and your children
to speak." The splendid literature of
Germany is unknown to many of the
children of German parents because
they have not acquired .the German
language and their parents did not in
sist upon their use of it at home when
they might have acquired it without
effort in the early days when It Is so
easy to assimilate learning and lan
guages especially.
America is poorer for this letting go
of a great language and of a noble
literature- by German emigrants. For
all true literature is an inspiration to
life. The result of bringing two living
languages together is the enrichment
of both. It Is truly said that no man
can speak and think effectually in
more than one language. But the man
who as a child spoke the language of
his parents and at the same time
learned at school and from his play
mates the language of the country to
which his parents had Immigrated
possesses an enriched vocabulary and
a wider horizon In correspondence.
And in such a man's mind the co
existence of two languages nrfects
them both and If there are many such
men the German and English tongues
would reflect the adjacence. Prince
Henry's advice to the German father
was very wise. His boys and girls will
learn English anyway. But their rich
teutonic inheritance can only be pre
served to them by early parental fore
sight. I saw in Chicago while the Prince
was passing an old peasant woman
from the Black Forest region wiping
her eyes. The Prince was giving the
military salute with his right and his
left hand to both sides of the crowded
streets through which his carriage was
passing. The old woman hud never
seen the Prince when she lived In Ger
many, but he was the German and the
brother of the head of the state. Her
old fuce was convulsed with emotion
at the sight of him: of such immeas
urable and unexpected depth is pa
triotism. The old woman did not know
exactly why she cried when the debon
nalr Prince passed by, but she saw the
forest of her childhood, saw her moth
er and her father and the little house
where they all lived together, and she
threw her apron over her head and
Hed down the street overcome by an
emotion which the city crowd, come
out to see a prince, had not experi
enced. j . j
"C nr c
Prohibition
What has become of the ancient and
pathetic story of the rich saloon
keeper and the poor drunkard? The
rich saloon keeper rode In a carriage
past the shrinking drunkard's wife
carrying home a bundle of freshly-
laundered clothes. In. another version
the shrinking wife with a shawl
thrown over her head, which she w3
too poor even to Din together at the
throat, calls at the magnificent dwell
ing of the haughty saloon keeper. Her
feet sink Into the pile of a carpet at
least an Inch thick, and as her heart
fills with the bitterness suggested by
this magnificence and her own squalor
she reproaches the wife of the saloon
keeper with her husband's calling. The
story has faded out of Juvenile and
tract literature but the Impression of
a saloon-keeper's opulence remains.
There are no rich saloon keepers In
Lincoln. Elsewhere they may still ride
to their bars in coupes and victorias
displaying a dazzling little finger and
shirt-front.
In Nebraska under the high license
law the saloon keepers must pay a
thousand dollars a year and in Lincoln
they compete with fifty druggists,
more or less, who sell liquor, but pay
no license. By strict economy the sa
loon keeper In Lincoln can make
enough money to support a family
modestly. He can not Haunt a car
riage or Turkish rugs. The temperance
agitators have accomplished much of
the sweeping reform they believe Is
possible. But prohibition Is still a
theory. Topeka is full of dives where
boys are lured in greater numbers be
cause they are illegal. The prohibition
ists say there are no saloons to speak
of In Kansas, yet Mrs. Nation smashed
the bars of a great many. The Kan
sas saloon keepers pay no revenue to
the state but they do pay a tax to the
politicians who prevent their places
from being raided by the police. Even
the governor of Kansas Is afraid of
the saloon politicians and the Immense
immunity fund provided by the saloon
keepers of a prohibition state. His
demoralization when Mrs. Nation ap
peared before him and asked him some
blunt questions revealed the complete
subjugation of even the highest .Kan
sas officials to the rum power.
O. C. BELL.
Much In the debt of O. C. Bell Is the order of Sons and Daughters of
Protection, of which he is serving the second term as supreme secretary.
A year ago when individuality1, if not the very life of the organization,
was threatened by a coalition with the Bankers Union of the World, it
was he who was able to muster the facts that served for Its salvation.
He thwarted the plans of the officials and as a result the Sons and
Daughters of Protection were able to maintain their society.
Thirty years ago he came to Lincoln from Illinois. He was born
January 9, 1847, in Cass county, Ind. The civil war aroused his martial
spirit and he enlisted December 8, 1863, not having reached sufficient age
to enlist earlier. He was mustered out on August 31, 1865. He moved to
Lincoln on February 1, 1S72, and on December 10, 1874, was married to
Minnie D. Polly. When he came to Lincoln It was to act for a boot and
shoe firm, the second one In Lincoln. Afterwards he was six years with
a retail and wholesale crockery firm, that of D. H. Andrews. He was ap
pointed deputy county clerk on February 1, 1880; was elected county
clerk and took the office on January 8, 1SS6, and was re-elected in 1888. In
November, 1890, he was appointed deputy secretary of state. On July 16,
1891, he was made receiver of the First National bank of Red Cloud. On
June 1, 1899, he was elected supreme secretary of the Sons and Daughters
of Protection, and on January 16, 1901, he was re-elected. He is also
prominent in other fraternal societies, being a member of the Odd Fel
lows, Knights of Pythias, Modern Woodmen of America, Royal Highland
ers, Tribe of Ben Hur, and American Order of Protection. He also la
a member of the G. A. R.
There Is a better way than prohibi
tion. The dispensary system, for In
stance, where the agent who sells the
whisky makes Just as much money if
he sell during the month one quart or
a hogshead. Under this system no one
Is allowed to drink his whisky on the
premises and treating Is lessened. On
election duys and national holidays no
liquor Is sold to anyone and the man
authorized to sell It on other days Is
under a large bond, whose forfeiture
means disaster to the agent. The
thirsty man Is willing to bribe the
agent, but in this case the bribe must
be of an irresistible size. Poverty,
moderate, not desperate. Is one of the
chief causes of sobriety and temper
ance. Most men reside under the dis
pensation of a moderate poverty.
If prohibition were advisable there
would be a model for It In the moral
law. We are created with a liking for
evil, and If we choose ve can. In spite
of scruple. Indulge our propensity. The
reason for the existence of evil 1 the
good the struggle does us to conquer
it. When men are forcibly restrained
from liquor they take other nerve
stimulants like morphine and many
olhtr drugs. Temperance Is from the
ht-arl and mind out and can not be In
duced by legislation. The experiments
in Maliif. Iowa and Kansas convince
the prohibitionists that the sale of
liquor can be prevented. Conditions In
these states convince everybody else
that restriction, surveillance and a
very high license Is a better regime.
Laws can be circumvented, but the
inner light cun not be put out. Those
who believe that man was originally
created by an all-wise, all-powerful
being sometimes wonder why he did
not make every one good. He might
have made goodness supreme without
a struggle in every human breast. If
he had there would be no savor to
goodness and most of us would court
death for very ennui.
j& 3J H1
A Budfct of Letters
Our genial Dr. Ruth Wood has pub
lished a budget of letters, beginning
with one from California and continu
ing with many from England and the
continent. A modest dedicatory page
begs readers with this-book-hand to
cast aside the critic's eye, quite an
unnecessary request, for upon dipping
into the book one is fascinated by the
sunny narrative, and one hears Dr.
Wood's sympathetic voice relating her
adventures by land and sea. These re
flections of the Doctor's are sui gen
eris. The personal note Is struck, the note
of humanity and to It all human
things respond and the reader will not
be willing to let such an outside bar
barian as the critic interpose between
himself and the Interest of the author's
glimpses of wayfarers and cathedrals.
After three months of London, Its
sightseeing alternated with visits to
clinics and hospitals, follows a stay in
a charming -villa at Nice. "There's
something In a name, be sure of that,"
Mercy Vint said. "So with me hearing
'Mercy! Mercy! called out after me
so many years, I do think the quality
hath got under my skin." Ruth the
Gleaner springs Into view as one
counts Dr. Ruth's sheaves of travel
in Paris at the exposition, In Brussels,
In Berlin, Vienna, Munich, In Venice
and Rome, these are all names to con
jure by. To our traveler, they are as
her portion of dally bread from which
she gives a generous share to us at
home. Perhaps the author's enjoy
ment is most manifest In rural Eng
land and In Switzerland there she
paints many a landscape and sky
scape for us, and adds a graphic his
tory of the Passion Play at Oberam
mergau, and you will linger with her
in contemplation of the grand and aw
ful scenes in our Masters life.
A cheerful spirit breathes through
out the letters. It is also the practi
cal spirit of a live American. On page
89 you are pleased to discover in Paris
an English speaking coachman. No.
13179, and you will be sure to send
around to the Compagnle des Petltes
Voltures to engage him.
