tffifc COtJftlEIt
nesa he responded to the complex calls
of life, but after all, his sons and their
children, his sister and his own wife,
whom he never forgot for a moment,
were the source of his love of life and
his good use of It The superficial ob
server of his dally life would not have
called him a man of sentiment, but his
life and powers were fused by senti
ment Into a blessing: for all of those
with whom he came in contact. Arbor
Lodge, where he lived so long, he left
to his oldest son in order that the es
tate might be kept in the family and
descend to heirs of the name and tra
ditions of the family. He loved all his
sons and grandchildren, but he loved
history and he had a laudable ambi
tion to make the family and Arbor
Lodge estate permanent. Of all vege
tation he loved best the tree because
of Its .long life and increasing service
to man. He established "Arbor Day"
and clung to the home and estate of
his first settlement because he was a
sentimentalist and a poet who dis
cerned the spiritual meaning of mat
ter. For this reason he loved history
best of all the human curriculum. It
is likely that the tendency of life in
America .will defeat the plan of an
ancestral estate. But at least for a
generation or two. Arbor Lodge will be
the home of Mortons, and the whisper
ing pines, that owe their existence to
his hand, will still guard the wlde
porched house of the man who built it
and loved It and its meaning.
A Pardoning Board
It is supposed by the unreflectlve mil
lions in Nebraska, who raise more corn
and do less sub-soil thinking than any
other people on the surface of this
globe slightly flattened at the ends,
that a board composed of three or five
men Is more capable of attending to
the cases of depraved criminals than
any governor of Nebraska. If so be the
board .is, composed of five men, then
when a criminal who Is serving a de
served sentence is pardoned, each man
composing the board Is only one-fifth
guilty of coming short of the confidence
reposed in him by a fatuous people.
But when a governor pardons a no
torious and unrepentant criminal, and
the people are outraged in their "fin
er" feelings the governor and only the
governor is to blame. Upon him the
whole force of their resentment is vis
ited. If a member of a pardoning board
of five comes before a convention for
renomination after corporate action
displeasing to the delegates and rep
resentatives of the people, he is fur
nished with an excuse as good as
Adam's, anyway. He can say to the
tribunal that the four other men
had decided to pardon the convict.
And what is one man to four?
Besides, in reflection on a pro
posed action if there are five shlr-
ers of responsibility, it is likely that
no one of the five will think of the
matter as exhaustively and as con
scientiously as though the decision and
the responsibility were his alone. The
responsibility and power are Just where
it belongs now. According to the stat
utes of the state of Nebraska the par
1 donlng power is vested exclusively in
the governor. If he misuses it in his
first term, he must come before the
convention of his own party for a re
nomination. If they disapprove of his
administration, either In whole or in
part, he will hear from the men whose
votes and influence he must secure If
he is renominated. Even If he secures
a nomination there are a sufficient
number of voters of his own party who
will vote for his opponent If his use of
delegated power does not Justify Itself.
Students of municipal politics and
economics believe that the cure for
many of the ills of corruption is to give
the mayor more power and hold him
strictly responsible for its use. Too
many councilmen, too many officials
created on the supposition that In
council there is safety, have divided the
power to the point of Irresponsibility.
In the borough of Manhattan, unless
the mayor is assisted by a conscien
tious prosecuting attorney and honest
councilmen, his efforts to administer
the affairs of the city according to the
Instructions Of an enlightened Intellect
are futile. The more power Is divided
the less energy there Is to apply to the
governing function. If the state of
Nebraska Institutes a pardoning board
In the hope that more conscience and
intelligence will be applied to the
granting of pardons, the expeuient will
defeat itself. How long would Bartley
have stayed in prison if the responsi
bility of keeping him there had been
divided among five men? One fifth of
a pardon is twenty-five times easier to
get than a whole pardon.
Slaves of The dock
Higher critics of "The Arabian
Nights Entertainment," or the thous
and and one tales told by the wily
Scheherezade to save her neck from the
bow-string of a sultan who had sworn
to take a wife every Saturday and have
her strangled Sunday morning, have
begun to doubt the truth of some of
the tales. To be sure, a person who
must tell a good story or die is" not
hampered by truth and Is likely to dis
regard everything except the light of
Interest in the sultan's eye. To be guid
ed to safely by that flickering, cruel
light showed what a resourceful wo
man Scheherezade was. Her invention
was a device to save her life, and the
magazine editors have adopted her dis
covery of the serial story to keep alive
the Interest In their publications from
one month to another.
The story of Aladdin and his Won
derful Lamp is one of the best known
of the tales of Scheherezade. The hero
found a lamp that he rubbed and
brought to his aid a powerful genie
who could do anything except escape
from the owner of the lamp. The story
has a modern and an American appli
cation that Indicates Its essential truth.
It is true as a parable Is true. The
most powerful genii in this country
are slaves of the clock. They carry
their masters in their vest pockets.
They consult them constantly. The
watch allows his slave so much time
for his breakfast, dinner, supper, a few
hours for sleeping, and a much more
limited time for dressing, bathing and
changes of costume during the day.
Then the slave has a little time for
reading, but the reading is not for rec
reation and elevation of the slave's
own mind; he must read to get in
formation concerning the market and
politics which effect the market.
Knowledge of the pathology and geog
raphy of the markets make him a more
useful slave. So the time devoted to
investigation of the conditions of trade
Is not limited. Nor are the means con
fined to reading. Brokers and students
of how to make money quickly and In
large quantities discuss the ways and
means at luncheons, dinners and even
at evening parties where the sex which
Is more interested in ingenious ways of
spending money than in ways of
making It, is present. The men gather
In groups, look solemn and rich and
discuss ways and means of turning an
honest million. If a woman with whom
none of the party happens to be in
love addresses a remark fragrant and
shining with sweetness and light to one
of the solemn males, she gets the ley
polar breeze for complying with the
command to preach the gospel to all
heathen.
After a long time, when Aladdin was
an old man and the genie had built
him a gold mounted palace set In dia
monds as big as apples and paved with
lapis lazuli, when the genie had stolen
the sultan's daughter for Aladdin's
wife, when Aladdin had everything
that he could think of that other men
could not get, he was filled with ennui.
And at this moment the old and hateful
magician who envied Aladdin his lamp,
told him to ask the genie for a roc's
egg to hang in his .hall. If he could
get the egg, the magician told him, he
would have what no one else In all the
world could get for a hall chandelier.
Now Aladdin did not know that the
roc was the sacred bird of the genii.
If he had it would not have made much
difference, for satiety breeds an im
perlqus greed. So he rubbed the lamp
and the genie appeared before him fret
ful ut still obedient. When he heard
his master's command the clouds broke
and the thunder pealed, he grabbed the
lamp from his master's hand and lied,
cursing him for a fool and the desecrat
or of the sacred, mythical, extinct roc.
The end of the story In America is
the same. Carnegie got tired of being
ordered about by a watch and he an
nounced his manumission. There are
other genii who are preparing to re
gain their freedom. In latter days
greybeards play golf, ping pong or any
thing else that defies money getting
and money slavery. Walsh bet money
at roulette at Monte Carlo not so much
because he wanted to make money as
to prove to himself that he did not care
anything about It. Man was not made
to serve a monotonous clock, divided
into twelve parts and possessing neith
er versatility nor Inspiration. Man, as
well as woman. Is a creature of mood
and caprices. He makes himself into
a machine or the slave of a machine
at his peril. That way lies softening of
the brain, apoplexy and loss of power.
Mr. Rockefeller's master allowed him
only the recreation of Sunday school,
and that was not sufficiently absorbing
or diverting and his hair fell out. Now
he has gone off to a place In the coun
try where he can be alone and unob
served of those with no money an 1
plenty of hair. If he had played golf or
ping pong or danced or played bridge
whist to show his Indifference to losing
money, he might have a luxuriant head
of hair now. The stomach rebels
against a monotonous undiversllied
diet. The brain sags after a thirty
years' course of oil and Sunday school.
And in such a case it is very difficult to
restore the equilibrium.
The Opponents of The Direct Primary
It was proposed to take the nomina
tion of county officers out of the hands
of a few engineers of the machine and
place the power in the hands of the
people where it belongs. The night be
fore the county central committee were,
to discuss the question, those inter
ested in limiting the peoples' power In
elections to a choice" of Inferior men
selected by candidates to a county
convention who3i action is circum
scribed by the schemes of corrupt poli
ticians, were present. A few of the
men who believe that It is ruinous to
be governed by a selfish oligarchy
were at the meeting. But the men
whese living depends upon the main
tenance of the present system were all
there and In good voice. The motion
to recommend the county central com- "
mittee to adopt the direct primary
system in the nomination of county
officers was lost by a vote of 113 to 39.
It Is impossible to do more than re
tard a movement in a republic against
an oligarchy when It Is once started
and has obtained an Impetus. The
meeting on Thursday evening con
firmed the suspicions of the people that
the office-holding class were, to a man,
opposed to the project of allowing the
people to make their own nominations.
Listen: the meeting was called to
order by Postmaster Sizer who said it
was time to begin, and he nominated
George A. Adams for chairman. He
was elected, though Mr. Lambertson
nominated Judge Holmes. Mr. Jo.
Burns, the water wizard, was sure that
the present system was the safer and
easier and less expensive to handle.
He was followed by a few platitudes
from Mr. W. J. Lamb In regard to the
age, flavor and service of the conven
tion system. Messrs. Munger, Lind
sey, John M. Stewart and Gus Hyers
realized that the occasion might be the
beginning of a crisis In their lives and
incomes, and endeavored to impress
the danger of allowing the people to
select their own candidates upon their
auditors. It was not difficult to ac
complish for It was a packed meeting.
Mr. Lambertson, Mr. Strode, Mr.
Field. Dr. Wharton and Mr. Hall
spoke in favor of the Lincoln system
and reminded the meeting of the help
it had been to Lincoln in nominating
better councilmen. But they were not
inspired by the loaves and fishes. They
were not the hunted and it is not like
ly that they had spent the day in urg
ing the friends of popular government
to come to the meeting. At any rate
they spoke to the beneficiaries, actual
or expectant, of the present system
and they were not encored.
On Friday afternoon of the next day
the county central committee met.
There was no discussion of the direct
primary system. Mr. D. O. Courtnny
moved that the primaries be held May
20 for the purpose of electing delegates
to the county convention to be held the
succeeding day. May 21. The motion
carried without discussion. Commit
teeman John S. Bishop moved that a
committee of three from the city and
two from the country be appointed to
Investigate the direct primary system
and report thereon to the county con
vention. Mr. D. G. Courtnny said In
regard to the motion, that so long as
the party was Increasing Its majori
ties yearly It was foolish to try a new
plan. Otherwise the suggestion was
good. He was not In favor of having
a. row every time the republicans got
together anyhow.
Democracy Is too much the fashion
to be cried down by convention manip
ulators. The zeal and earnestness
with which this preliminary action to
putting the power back In the hands
of the people was denounced, has al
ready convinced many republicans who
had not made up their minds In regard
to It that it is sound policy.
Sol Smith Russell
As Frank Stockton's work Is to Mnrk
Twain's so is Sol Smith Russell's to
Joe JefTerson's. Stockton's stories
were milder, of a less exaggerated
humor, but more subtle, with more of
the gleaming light we see around us
all the time, and In this respect, more
Shaksperean.
Sol Smith Russell was long. lean,
halting in his speech and walk. He
had the awkwardness of Lincoln and
hl3 homely phrasing. His enunciation
was never hurried. Like all great ac
tors he spoke slowly and distinctly.
and by the time the words lodged In
the listener's ear the definition was
there, too. He had respect for his
audience and the audience repaid him
by an affectionate attention and mem
ory that was waiting for him when he
came again. Withal he was shrewd
and canny. When he died he was one
of the richest actors in this country,
if not the richest.
He could not sing, but the songs he
sung with a child on his lap and an
other posed In childish attention at his
feet will never be forgotten. He had
not the voice, but he had the tempera
ment and the soul of music. When he
sang, nis gentleness, quaintness, di
rectness, child-likeness melted Into the
consciousness of the audience. Yet the
voice croaked and often strove for a
note until it cracked. Then Mr. Rus
sell let it go at that and you loved him
for the failure and for the brave at
tack. He could only play effectively one
sort of character. He was not a ver
satile actor. As Dr. PangIos3 he made
no Impression, though perhaps he
sketched the man well enough. But It
lacked vitality. As the poor relation,
and as the student of the poor widow
of Peaceful Valley, as the modest but
learned and talented book-reviewer, as
the quixotic, pure-hearted lawyer, he
was playing phases of the character
of Sol Smith Russell and his houses
rose to the sweetness, strength and
purity of the character he showed
them. He never changed his charac
teristic walk. On the street, the stage,
in the Urawing room, the peculiar, stiff
footfalls as of one unused to walking
and its technique were the same, as if
he was not sure of his own feet and
could not trust them. He was an
actor of varied experiences. For years
he had been on the vaudeville stage
and he could dance with the best of
them. But he died of locomotor ataxia
and the walk and gestures we loved,
because they were Sol Smith Russell's,
were a consequence of the disease that
has conquered, in spite of the thou
sands of people who were waiting to
see him and hear him again.
No matter how hard the times. Mr.
Russell never played to a poor house