Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, February 4, 1895, Page 4

THE OMAHA DAILY BEE: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1895. S T S BT S B 1115 THE WORK OF MARPLOTS VOICE OF THE STATE PRE: Hastings Democrat: You couldn't get o Nebraska legislature to pass an anti-pass bill The railroad pass fs a comfort and a joy for- hiv L e Local Reformers Scheming to Get Control of Nebraska City Independent: Why don't N the State Board of Transportation close up the Polics Department, shop and go home? The transfer switch act ‘e I8 declarel unconstitutional and the maximum s frelght law is hung up in the courts by ARE OFFICIAL BONDS WORTHLESS? Are official bonds worthless? This auestion is soon to be presented for the decision of the courts of South Dakota, and the answer will be of im- portance to the people of not only that ate, but of every state in the union. | An official bond purports to be a guar- anty to the public against loss by mis- disposed to play a double game with | grounds solply, There has rafely been THE FAST MAIL AR the United States and the British Par-|a more scandalons exhibition of par- liament were to consent to such a piece | tisanship tifflii fvas made by Mr. Quiney | ¢ of unfair dealing, the interest of British | while assitant secretary of state in tradesmen fn the preservation of the |the sweeple Temoval of consuls be- senl fisheries furnishes a why | canse they jypre republicans, but there the United States may fairly ask the | would havg, been some palliation for British government to co-operate In any | this if he bad wade fitness the test in plan which will prevent the extermina lecting theft succ instend of K. THE OMAHA DALY 713}:13 8t Paul Ploncer Press has proved Impossible in the past to remedy the flagrant abuse and perversion to private interest of the fast mail eervice of the United States government. It will con- inue to be so as long as congress is more sub- servient to the wisheg of Chicago representa- tives than to the demands of the public in- ROSEWATER, Editor. PUBLISHED BVERY MORNING T TRR - % reason TERMS OF St BIx Montia T)O DR'G IT INTO PARTY POLITICS SOr perpetual Bulldin Bouth Omaha, Singer DIk N Council Bluffa, 12 Pearl Str Chicagn Office, 37 Chamber New ¥ 3, 14 and 15, T Washin Street, N. W CORRESPONDENCE ANl communieations relating to 1 torial matter should be addres: r BUSINE S, All husiness let and remittances should be addressed to Tublishing company maha. D payable THE BEE P'UL and 24th Ste, ibune 1310g. wa and_ edi the Editor. company COMPANY HTA o B EMENT © ULATION Tzschuck, secretary of The Hee Pub Nishing company, being duly sworn, eays that the ctunl number of full and complete copi of the Daily Morning, Evening and Sunday Hee printed during the month of January, 8%, was as follows 10,305 1 Sl v unsold and returned copis ptal i Iy average unday Public. i s it st Au appeal from Queen Lil to Grover may be hourly expected. The colonel from Anamosa will now deliver himself of another grandstand harangue. Receiverships have become the order of the day. They ave the sugar plums at the disposal of federal judges. The question now is, What the nature bond issne? ing? will be 1l amount of the coming not, Is a bond issue com- Tt seems that the government of Ia wall now has ex-Queen Lilivokalani on Its hands, both literally and figura- tively. When it comes to lopping off tax-c ing barnacles the employes of the Be of Health should not be entirely over- Tooked. That Pacific Brice committee the reverse effect intended. Irond report of the sparently had Just of that which was State treasury defeleations seem be the fad. The latest is a shortage of $50,000 of the ex-treasurer of Wyoming, who relinquished his office a month age to Dissatisfaction with the work and methods of the State Relief commission grows apace. A thorough reorgani tion of the commission will alone move the causes of complaint. Had the Nebraska legislature had the ~courage to voice the real sentiments of the people of this state the Nebr: il delegation would have been a unit against the Reilly bill on the vote in the house. re- Tt is just worthy of notice that in all the talk about economy in municipal affairs the large sums of money an- nually drawn out of the city treasury by certain franchised corporations are not even mentioned. There Is no reason why every public official should not settle his accounts Wwith the public treasury before he turns over his office to his successor, partic- ulafly when he has had ample notice of the lmpending change. The vote of the Nebraska delegation in the house was five to one against the Union Pacific funding bill in its present form, and Nebraska stood shoulder to shoulder with the Pacific const delegation against perpetuating this colossal debt. Now that the Reilly funding bill has been put to sleep in the trundle bed of the Pacific railrond committee, the sen- ate will have no further bother with Mr. Brice’s plan of settlement for the remainder of the session, which will terminate on the 4th of March. The best way for South Omaha to get out from under the dilemma in which she finds herself in regard to taxation under the provisions of the bill now be- fore the legislature for the government of cities of the second class is through annexation, The only question s whether Omaha is willing to vote in favor of, annexation and assume all debts and liabilit The Institute for the Feeble Minded at Beatrice, which is vepresented by a goodly sum of unpaid interest-bearing warrants in the illegal floating debt of the state, modestly asks for only 50,000 from the legislature for new buildings 1o enuble it to extend the scope of its money spending activity. As if the state would not have enough to do to redeem the outstanding indebteduess of that institution. The demoerats no longer have a Jority in the United States senate. number of democratie actly connterbalanced by the number of rvepublican and populist senators combined. The opportunities for a tie vote on party questions are now mani- festly increased. In case of a tie the vice president is permitted to cast the deciding vote. Vice President Steven- son may now have the fate of his party in his hands. The senators is ex- Governor Holcomb lhas written a let- ter to each member of the relief com- wmission, calling attention to the com plaints that are Dbecoming well-nigh universal and expressing the hope that they would endeavor to do better. The governor has administered a homeo- pathic dose of harmless sugar pills when the esse enlls for a surgleal op- eration, The governor is altogether too tender when the emergency calls for heroic treatwment, | fect | e a | tion of South conduet of men entrusted with the per- formance of public duties. It binds the suretics in a penal sum to make | good any pecuniary injury which the people may suffer through the failure or neglect of the principal to fulfill its express conditions. In this respect it not differ materially from bonds exacted for the same purpose from per sons in private employment. There is this difference, however, t in the case of official bonds the sureties seem to have a greater incentive to attempt to evade their obligation, and the pub- lic authorities anxious to prosecute suits to recover upon them. he offer of the sureties of the d faulting South Dakota treasurer to ef- compromise settlement with the state in itself proves that the demand to make good the defaleation is felt to just one. But as the constitu- Dakota prohibits the re- lease of any linbility to the state, this offer is apparently made merely in partial justification of the preparations making to fight cvery effort to en- force judgment on the bonds. The outline of the defense has al- ready been made public. In the first place it is claimed that the public ex- aminer, had he done his duty, would i discovered the shortage of the treasurer at least a month earlier than he did, and that owing to this neglect the amount of the defaleation was in- creased by $200,000. This is to set up something like a plea of contribu- tory negligence by the state. Sccondly, it is said that the ex-treasurer loaned sums of the public money to the other officials, and by placing them under obligation to him prevented them from requiring strict compliance with the law. Pinally, it is claimed that inasmuch as the shortage extends over two terms of offi the state will have to show just when each defaleation took place in order to divide responsi- bility between the two bonds. As thisis a physical impossibility, the bondsmen will insist that they are entirely re- leased. ach of these alleged defenses, with perhaps the exception of the last one, could readily made in overy case of suit upon an official bond anywhere If oevery public official serupulously obeyed the law to its very 1o one in, the public service would ble to get away with any consid- ble amount of public money. Dis- covery would be both prompt and cer tain. Negligence can be pleaded by the sureties on any bond, and if it is a legitimate defense no bond will ever hold good. If official bonds are really and recent experience here and else- where has certainly tended that way we ought to know it as soon as pos ble and take precaution to protect our- selves by some safer method. If it is impossible for the state to ever recover in suit on an official bond, the require- ment of bonds is a useless formality. It is still, however, the popular im- pression that official bonds ave really of some value. 'he outcome of the litigation in South Dakota will either strengthen or entirely destroy that im- pression. does eem less Vo state be worthless, EXTERMINATION OF THE SEALS. The secretary of the treasury a short time ago sent a letter to congress in r lation to the condition of the seal fisher- fes in Alaskan waters, in which he stated that the present rules for the pro- tection of the fur seals are entirely in- adequate and that within three years the seal herds will be slaughtered almost entirely if Great Britain does not fur- nish some adequate co-operation’ with the efforts alrendy made by the United States for the protection of the seals. The secretary spoke from au- thentie information, it having been shown by investigation that during the past season the poachers made tre- mendous havoe among the herds. The United States allows its lessees on the Pribylov islands to kill only a limited number of seals, but this has prac- tically gone for nothing, since the nun- ber of seals illegally slaughtered greatly exceeds the number allowed to be killed under the contract. Thus the money expended by this government to pre- vent the extermination of the seal herds is almost wasted, owing to the fact that it seems unable to cope alone with the poachers. Representative Dingley of Maine has proposed a heroie remedy for this state of affairs in a bill to the effect that if Great Britain does not consent to as- sist in the adequate protection of the seals this government will proceed at once to capture all fur-bearing seals and preserve their skins, Of course this proposition will not be adopted, but it must be admitted that some sort of radical policy will have to be adopted by this government within the next two or three years if it would save this val- uable interest from destruction, It is stated by way of showlng the way in which the government's investment has been lessened that while a few years ago 600,000 seals were taken without any decrease in the average size of the herd, a catch of only 16,000 skins conld be allowed last year to the government lessees, while the poachers during the same period eaptured neavly four times as many without paying one cent of revenue to the government. Referring to this Representative Dingley said: dbviously self-interest as well as self respect demands that this farce should be ended, as it costs this country more than §$200,000 a year to execute the Paris regulations, and all for the ben- efit of the pelagic sealers, mainly the Canadians.” It probably will not end, however, until the United States makes a determined “effort to secure from Great Britain an agreement for the pre- vention of poaching and for the protec- tion of legitimate pelagic sealing. It is hardly to be expected, however, that any such effort will be made by the present administration. It is suggesied that the British gov- ernment is bound in honor to deal fairly with the United States in this under the arbitration agreement, and also that even if Great Britain were | support matter | tion of the seals. 8o far as the v ter f honor is concerned it does not ap- pear to have thus far had any weight, and the British government seems to have quite as much coneern for the welfare of the Canadian poachers as for that of the British tradesmen, perhaps because the former have the of the Canadian government. This matter may be the source of fur ther trouble between the two countries before Great Britain will consent to do the proper thing. A STATE BAR ASSOCLATION. the meeting of the Omaha Bar fon last week a committee was appointed to correspond with leading attorneys throughout Nebraska with a view to forming a te bar associa- tion. That there is room and need for such an organization few will deny. State bar sociations exist in almost 1 the states older than Nebraska and include within their membership nearly every eminent attorney in the United States. © The objects of these associa- tions are similar to those of ciations of men in other professions or occupations. By unified action many things may be accomplished for the common good which would be almost beyond the power of individual effort. The exchange of views at annual meet- ings inevitably broadens the horizon of those participating and opens up abuses that demand reform. There are a great many things incidental to the practice of law in which uniform- ity by itself is a very desirable char- cter, and state-wide uniformity in e can be attained only through organization. The attorneys throughout ought to be glad to co-operate with their Omaha associates in this matter, if only out of pride in having such an wocintion in this state. Nebraska at- torneys might well cultivate o more fraternal feeling for one another and display n greater eagerness to main- tain and raise the standard of their profession. A state bar association will be a valuable aid in promoting these purposes. st ate nsso- Nebrasks COUNTY RETRENCHMENT. While the Board of County Commis- sioners 1 shown commendable effi- ciency in regard to the introduction of business methods in the management of the affairs of the county, there is still room for a great deal of improvement. The board can, if so dis ed, make a material reduction of its expenses by lopping off several sinecures and read- justing the salaries of emplo) In 1888, when the boom was on and property was changing hands every hour of the day, the salary list in the office of register of deeds aggregated $ 33 a month. At the present time, with the register of deeds at the same salary as in 1888, the monthly pay roll in that office aggregates $7 In 1888 the pay roll of the treasuver was $566.66. This year, the treasurer's pay roll is $830 g month, In 1888 the sheriff’s office aggregated $409.33. Today it foots up $588.33. The salary list of the county judge in 1888 was $370 per month. Now, $521.60. The clerk’s office pay roll was just the same in 1888 as it is now, but the board employs a county auditor at $125 a month, where it paid only $100 in 1888, and the board also employs an assistant auditor at $1,000 a year. The engineer t the court house gets §90 a month, while the engineer at the poor farm draws $100 per month. .If any reason exists why one engineer should get higher pay than the other we have not been able to find it out. As a matter of economy the board should require the superintendent of the county farm to board and lodge all county employes and their pay should be readjusted on that basis. The cost to the county for boarding and lodging half a dozen men in addition to the superintendent and his family would be trivial, but the sav- ing would pay the superintendent's sal- ary. The Bee has no desire 1o see any of the departments of public service crip- pled, underpaid or overworked, but the demand for retrenchment is imperative and the taxpayers look to the county board to do its duty without fear or favor. BUSINESS MEN WANTED. The National Board of Trade, which held its annual session last week, ap- DProved a report from its standing com- mittee on the consular service, in which the present method of making appoint- ments to that service for political rea- ns was unqualifiedly condemned. The committee declared its bellef that a thorough investigation into the value of the consular service would be a start- ling revelation to the people of what could and ought to be accomplished through that instrumentality in behalf of our languishing trade and industries, It is urged that consuls should be lected on the ground of fitness alone and that they should be business men who are familiar with what is needed to extend American commerce. In the opinion of the committee the time has come when the great agricultural and industrial interests of the country de- mand that the consular service shall be no longer in any sense a sinecure or made to serve purely party purposes. “The report says: “There can be no need of any discussion of the evils of the consular system of the United Stat beyond what the public has heard for the last twelve months, during which a flood of light has been thrown upon it, almost beyond precedent.” ‘This is an arvaignment, by a represent- ative body of the business men of the nation, of the present administration for the utterly reckless way in which it has turued the cousular service of the coun- {fy to partisan ends. As was stated by Senator Lodge in a recent address, to which reference has heretofore made, nearly every desirable position in the consular service is filled by a so- been partisan of this adwinisteation, and ull were selected und appointed on political great | polities. Thy fecessary result of this policy is that the service has deterior- ated, and it¢ Wsefulness and efficiency have been lnigidired. Two billssare pending in which propdse the reform of this serv fce, %0 as to put it on a business 1 as it should he. It not to be pected that these measures will acted on by the present congress. The | party in control is not in favor of this sort of reform. It is not disposed to cut off any of the remaining avenues for the distribution of political spoils On the contrary it would like to in crease them, But the propogad legi tion will ultimately be adopted. In the meanwhile only good from public agitation in favor of it, and the voice of no class will carry mnch influence as that of the business men of the country, speaking through their or wizations, congre: sis, ox be can come S0 The silly petjtion asking for a con- stitutional amendment diverting the money derived from Hquor licenses and police court fines to fund other than that devoted {6 the support of the public schools has found its way to the legislature, The profest against the present arrangement is said to be based on moral grounds. If there is any moral objection it cannot, of course, depend upon the amount of public money se- cured from the saloon keeper, but must be ecqually strong whether the sum is one dollar or one thousand dollars. Since the owners of all property arve subject to general raxation and con- tribute to the proceeds of the general tax levy the only way to eliminate this moral objection is to exempt from taxa- tion every picce of property that is not employed for purposes that meet the approval of these pretended reforme Saloon keepers and their landlords would hardly object to such an arrange- ment. But just propose once to tax everybody for the benefit of these ex- cmpted classes and see low many tax- payers will fall in with the idea. some The blooming idiots who are afraid that the manufagturer of beet sugar will profit by a bounty appear to ignore the fact that the American people are now sending more than one hundred millions a year in the yellow metal to buy Deet sugar in Germany, « France and Au: tria, which éan ‘be raised in this cour try providing tne conditions of raising the beets and maufacturing the sugar are equalize®. 'The foreign beet raiser has the advantage of pauper labor and the exporter of |beet sugar receives a Dbounty for every pound he exports, be- whagk in the shape of tax on hisplant. ~ Such competition can only be me’t, by a bonus or by im- port duties ‘to ) offset the difference. Now, whicli isiibetter—to import our sngar and drain‘this country of over 100 millions a ‘year or raise the beets, manufacture the sugar and circulate the money in our own countr This is the problem in a nutshell. An Importunt Declsion, New York World. The decision of the supreme court of the District of Columbia in the Long case virtu ally asserts the doctrine of “‘vested rights” in "pensions once granted. This doctrine will become highly {mportant if the federal supreme court decides that it {5 sound. ke 14 Congress t Swallow Tt. New York Sun. Mr. Cleveland knows perfectly well that his proposition for a 3 per cent gold bond will not be acceptable to a majority of the southern and western democrats In the present congress, or to his own party, the popullsts. If he had any plan that would recommend itself to congr:ss he should have proposed it. If not, he should have held his peace, EP e 2 A Spectacle for Honest Mon, Lincoln News. The spectacle of members of the legisla- ture cheerfully waltzing up to the state treasury and drawing mileage at the rate of 10 cents per mile to and from their homes, while at the same time there peaccfully reposes in their inside pockets a bunch of railway passes, is something the honest man should gaze upon twice. The proyision for payment of mileage is o cover the expenses of ‘members, but if they do not incur any expenses we fafl to understand why they should put a bill in for fictitious amounts, — - The Pass Invincible, Indianapolis Journal According to a press dispatch, the speaker of the New York assembly and Hon, Chaun- cey M. Depew, president of the New York Central railroad, have agreed on a plan for the evasion of the new amendment to the constitution of that state forbidding the issuance of passes to members of the legislature, The plan,contemplates the passage of a bill ‘allowing the members mileage and the issuance by the speaker | of mileage certificates, which would be honored by the railroad and ultimately paid by the state. It is not an edifying spectacle to find two of the foremost citizens of New York thus engaged in devising a method of nullifying an amendment to the constitution adopled by the people, and it would be simply scandalous If the legislature should pass such a bill as that proposed. —— The Obstinucy of Bill Bry: St. 1 Globe (dem.). Mr. yan of Nebraska opposes measure recommended by the presi- He wants free colnage of silver or Mr. Bryan does not seem capable appreciating even so impressive an event as the falling of a house on hir Flat- tened out as flat as the dollar he worships, he rises smiling to shout gold bugs and money power and free coing ted thorolighly, He vation for repre candidac: state. He palnge of demonetization, Young the dent and announced his Ile stumped the rid colors the horrors He pointed to the mort- gages, the debls,, the ‘shrunken values of farm produce, and, in impassioned rhetoric, told his farmers that poverty had followed demonetization' as ‘darkness follows the sef ting of the sun. Mhe state 15 agricultural, Had its farmers believed him, his election would have been all but unanimous. He FoL the votes of the few democrats of the egislature, even the populists not voting for him, and ‘Thurstan, the railway attorney, sits in the seat he would fill. "Mr. Bryan is a sadder man for his experience, but he shows that he!is not a whit wiser, - Cause-of-tho Destitution. Kansas City Journal A Boston paper takes up the subjec the destitution in drouth stricken d! of the west as an argument to Induce New nglanders to stick to their sterile farms, and says that the fact that a single crop failure shauld bring o a condition of things in the west shows that the promise of independence on the prairies is a delusion and a_snare The facts of the case are that the suffering 1s not the result of a single crop failure, nor 15 it the result alone of series of erop faillures. The people had been ble with good crops until they were not only in a condition of reasonable prosperity, but they had demonstrated that with the ordinary favors of nature where they had chosen their homes, they had no need to fear a re- versal of fortune. But a succession of crop fatlures came—a Tepetition of elimatic phe- ena not peculiar (o the region affected, before unknown there. At the same time the depression in prices which brought serious resulls to the farming inQustry all over the country reduced thelr resources still further and made it impos- s'ble for even the more prosperous among them to tide over the misfortune of last season, terest. But we are glad always to ses the matter stl d up and ths abuse exposed, as it has been again lately by Representative Perkins of Towa. The Chicago have been roused to frantic remonstranc his of the fact that the government maintains a costly department of postal work to no except to in their private business, and enable them to enlarge, arti- ficlally and at public expense, the fleld cf their competition. Nothing can and disigreeable fact. The Omaha Be the debate in congress, states the stances of the abuse thus Today elght fast mail Chicago every morning, at bu for correspondence, and in fact thet mail trains go out tween 10 an 12 p. m. in every are ample for all commercial interests ex- cept the newspapers At a moderate esti- mate, the cost of tr special trains, it paid for by the publishers, would exceed $1,000,000 a year. Should this expense papers s by exposure rease of no trains run out an hour when the the face of direction, and I Chicago is entitled to this special why are not St. Paul, Minneapolis, City, Denver and Omaha entitled to fast mail traing? Why do these fast malls run from Chicago to the Missouri river, and why do none run from the Missouri river eastward? The adjustment of the fast mail service it, as it has been from the first, one that as no relation whatever to the conven jence of the business community or, rather, one that is as inconvenient as pa ble to the bus nunity, in order that the fast mail t carry the Chicago news- papers. s gross an abuse s was e made of any branch of government ser: pe erted to the ends of private enterprise. We have no favors to ask and fear no com- parisons. But we think that the time will come when the representatives of the people will no longer dare to maintain an alleged facility for the transmission of mail matter, at a cost of millions, which is really nothing but an adjunct to the newspaper publishing business in the city of Chicago This enormous misuse of government re- sources to subsidize the publishing business in a single city has been attacked repeatedly, but has been maintained by the solid sup- port of the Illinois delegation. If this ad ministration has any sense of fairness and any degree of freedom from the influences that have controlled heretofore in the ad- justment of the fast mail service, it can work a great reform. As trains are now arranged, every business interest outside of Chicago would be exactly as well served if the fast mail trains were abolished. They gre utterly, useless, running on their prosent Fehedule, and the mail which they carry could as well be transported by the regular trains. But if their schedwes were arrangel to fit the wants of the great business com- munity, instcad of the demands of the Ch cago newspapers, an entire day might be saved in the e lage of mail matter across the continent. At a time when the government is in financial straits, and there is a_deficit of $9,000,000 in the postal department, it does seem’ as if it might be worth while to con- sider the withdrawal of the immense subsidy now given to the papers of Chicago, at the sacrifice of the convenience of business men throughout the west. The fast mail service in this section is as useless an appendago as the House of Lords; and, like that, it wants to be cither “mended or ende: e THE CURRENCY CRISIS. Chicago Times (dem.): more than $81,000,000 in gold in the New York banks, but their presidents do not cease to grieve that the treasury supply con- tinues to run low. That they might give some of this gold back to the treasury in exchange for the legal tenders with which they took it from the treasury never occurs to the patriotic bankers of New York. Washington Post (rep.): It is our belief that if the Fifty-third congress should con- tinue to shirk its duty to tho pecple who cre- ated it and should, on the 4th of March next, expire in the black shadow of a wicked and wanton recreancy, Mr. Cleveland will convene the Fifty-fourth congress without a moment's hesitation. If a democratic congress can- not or will not come to the country’s rescue in this dire emergency Mr. Cleveland is pa- triotic_enough to_ offer the glory and the honor to its republican successor. Philadelphia Times (dem.): Compromises never do fully satisfy anybody, and since it is evident that if any financial. relief at all is to be had at this time it must be brought about by compromise, both sides ought to prepare themselves to make some conces- sions which they may not actually approve. Either this must be done or the present course of events must be allowed to run on to the suspension of gold payments and the general collapse of existing values, followed by a laborious building up upon a new foun- dation. This will not be an agreeable task for the republicans to undertake in the new congress, with the silver men still unsatisfied. Chicago Herald (dem.): The gloomy pre- dictions of some British newspapers over our present financial predicament have famil- lar ears, We saw them several times in the past. They loom up in history. They were visible above the horizon in 18i2. They were discernible at the zenith for several years between 1861 and 1865. We smile at thelr magnitude and are amused by their con- volutions. And meanwhile they may just as well be hauled in and put in dry dock again for some future emergency, The United States will take care of their finances and go right along working out their salvation in their own way without British help and with no British sympathy. New York Sun (dem.): In the message which President Cleveland sent in to congress he proposes that the $500,000,000 of outstand- ing legal tender notes shall be retired and cancelled by the sale of an equal amount of fifty-year 8 per cent bonds, payable in gold, principal and interest, and receivable at the treasury as security at their par value for national bank circulation. This is, in effect, a proposition that the country shall pay the national banks $15,000,000 in gold every year for fifty yedrs or $750,000,000, altogether, for supplying it with $500,000,000 of paper money which it now gets for nothing except the loss of Interest on the comparatively small amount of gold needed for a redemption fund, e THE PACIFIC RAILROADS, There is something Buffalo Express: E. Ellery Anderson, rep- resenting the receivers of the Union Pacific railroad, writes to the chairman of the house railroads committee that it would cost the government about $100,000,000 to acquire pos- session of the Union Pacific road. If the Union Pacific s really in the bankrupt con- aition it is represented to be the holders of the first mortgages should be willing to sell out much cheaper than that, New York World: The right thing to do with all these Pacific railroad debts is to col- lect them. If the companies will not or can- not pay, their property and franchises should be sold for debt, precisely as is done with any other insolvent debtor. In this case the government should proceed also to collect the $64,000,000 for which the original stockholders or their estates are justly liable. And it is certain that the government would long ago have done both of these things if corporate influence had not interfered to prevent, One of its most impudent interferences is the pressing of this tricky Reilly bill of false pre- tenses. The right thing to do with it 15 to vote it out of existence. Chicago Herald: A dozen fortunes of from twelve to twenty millions each have been mado by men who have managed the Pacific railroads. Cliques, combinations, inside rings and spoliators have diverted the earnings of the companies and filled their own pockets Congressional corruption and lethargy have permitted this to be done, while the govern- ment has been robbed of the money which it has paid year after year as interest, and of the money which was not paid into a sinking fund for the redemption of its bonds. It is now $185,000,000 “in the hole,” with the first mortgage debt of $65,000,000—more than the whole property is worth—cutting off its lien under the second mortgage. The Leland Stanford, Huntington and other fortunes ab- solutely accumulated by the manipulation of the roads for private galn, instead of for rev- enue to puy the debts, amount to enough to repay the government, and to leave a com- fortable competence for the famlly of each of the millionaires included in the Pacific rallroad rings. Ideal justice would vindicate schiemes of confiscation in the case them have demanding what s Lincoln up, but to bankrupt the | for her personal gain is a question that should be promptly sat upon Columbus Journal: The doilies fast Chicago simply to enable the Chicago dailies to get out their issues and place them on the trains obscure this plain | noting | clrcum- | ness man can possibly make use of them | fasy g0, It is also necessary ew York to Omah cisc: of Chicago be- | Lincoln Moore more omployes be | taxed against the people under any pretext? | favor, | Kansas the law in that re sized ernor. payers of the state | legislature was open to the same charge. 1t | being a candidate for governor begets an am bition ministering the affairs of state government, | then we ought vite every public official to come to the guber- natorial contest at once. Blair Pilot: who were impeached by the legislautre of two years ago and acquitted by the supremo court, through their attorney in the latur | reimburse them for expenses of Mosher and Taylor! criminals ‘demanding “reimbursement”’ the state are questioned. ture bill that proposes thus to Jobbing ex-officials should be branded with op- problum so hard and deep that it can never Do effuced. Nebraska bill introduced for the relief of John C. Allen, the three state officials who wers by the legi attorneys. Webster $1,600, John Atkinson printing, etc., amounted to total cost bill, we believe, should be rejected, as it is extremely doubtful if any expended the time, it tendents of state institution: penitentiary contractors, and, in fact, almost every tributa to a general fund to help out th ficials in might develop some interesting facts connection. Harlem Life: Fi he could not live without me—that T wa short sar And gave him exactly persona non grata. Chicago Tribune the tramp who was waiting round the cor- ner. growled the tramp with the red nose, t ing a few 1 “One fully. Do ye want the earth?" Washington resolution, own valentine next month.” “I_did that once. a comic and jilted me.” Sweet as the murmer of Whic Sweet as the earliest breath of timid spring, When Sweet as the ocean’s endless harmony, Where restless breakers fret the idie sand; Or songs of birds, which worship ne Son; ©Oh, man! Her Has soun injunction ves, they do draw City Press: Lincoln seems reformed from the old habit of about everything in sight, and worse, she thinks leserves it needs all she can get to hold her alance of the state there is no need a salary for oh hraska not to she The Sioux City and other in their tarrying Journal, | Missouri river opposition to the | several hours at | Omaha are mail Beo right traing Let there be no uncalled-for delay these trains, If it Is necessary to have | mall tr run from New, York to Chi- | they? be run from | to Denver, to San Fran nd.no diserimination. ews declined Because State to audit the the statutory number and because Lieutenant e has evinced.an ambition o k pect, an Omaha paper has | them both up as candidates for gov- | It would be a glorious thing for tax it every member of the | Auditor | has claims of | than of senate Governor | b within to be honest and economical in ad to let down the bars and in- And now the ex-state officlals | Bias | from present are asking for a cash donation state of Nebraska of almost $10,000 to attorney fees and other impeachment trial. Shades | Wh we coming | shall all sorts of | from whenever any of their transactions The members of the legisla- | squint toward favoring tho | ward these stock- in the Pretty soon we soe who even City News: According to the | R. Humplrey and George H. Hastings impeached those offi- liberal in hiring | The bill sfys they paid John L. | R. Webster $1,500, M Murfin $1,500, C. A. Broady $300, and the | 220, making the | impeachment $9.200. That | ature two years ago seem to have beep very Hayward $1,500, B. $500, J. H of that uch sum was ever the defendants, and then, at was rumored that the superin- state employes, by state employe was called upon to con- of- ion in this trouble. A thorough investigas WHITTLED TO A POINT. st Vassar Girl—He said in irl— well, T that he was not a sine qua nor ou said— Second Vs First Vassar Girl to understand Git anything?” asked iot enough to buy one finger o' whisky,” cent pieces on the ground. finger?” refoined the other cheer- “Well, that’s three bones, ain't it? Star :-* he said, with “T am not g to compose my Why not?” The girl thought it was HER PREFERENCE. Washington Star, They stood before a brown Corot. ‘Twas almost time to close. The room was quite deserted when His amorous spirits rose, “What school of art do you like best?" And her parted 1ips he kissed, When she, with drooping lashes, sald: “I like the impressionist. ————— HER VOICE. Chicago Record, the trembling string, sighs caress; again beneath the bow's brooks and breezes wake to joy- fulness. horn which we love, but cannot under- stand. Oh, piteous, vulgar clod of clay, voice—I must confess—my pen be steady— ed sweete: when T heard her say accents: the dinner’s | politicians | and The Trumped-Up Clatm that mits Gambling Tonses to Ran “Wide Open” Made n Support of the Chureh dteform BHLY Omata Pore tussell The past week the World-Herald published under flaming headlines an article purporting to show that Omaha s called & “wide cpen” town respect to gambling and That there are no claim can be based was best evidenced by the article in question, A careful reading of failed to reveal footing for the uncement made in the headlines have In hand the arrangements fair races denounced the article emphatic lan- guage, while city officials, whoss names aro freely used without authority, disclaim any knowledge of the matter, and deny that they have expressed thelr views on the subject to any reporter within the past month A Why was this article published? This quos- tion may better be answered by a statement concerning the actions of a coterie of local who have been eming day night ever since the November election to get control of the Omaha Police commis- sion. They have prepared a bill, now pending in the legislature, which provides that the governor, attorney general and commissioner what s with houses pool rooms facts upon which such o which ping Men for in most any sw ann who | of public lands and buildings shall constitute a board of appointment, whose duty bo to appoint members of fire and police com= missions in metropolitan cities. The avowed supporters of this bill have claimed that it i designed solely to take the fire and polics departments out of polities, but the transpars ency of thelr pretenses became so marked that they determined upon another tack, by which “sentiment” might be manufactured in favor of their proposed bill. The fact that a republican legislature passed the law which empowers the governor to appoint the police commissioners for this city, and that republican governors appointed all of the com= missioners now in office, seems to have been lost sight of, as-has also the fact that tho present law provides that the commission, shall be nonpartisan, there being a demo- crat, a populist and two republicans now members of the board. The mayor, who 8 airman of the board, is ex-offic'o a member. The newspaper article which has been the subject of such bitter denunciation was got- ten up purely for effect upon members of the legislaturo whose support for the Churchill-Russell bill is sought. The men back of this scheme are trafficking upon the anti-Omaha sentiment that prevails to some extent among members of the legislature. They hope to make lawmakers from country districts believe that gambling houses aro all running wide open in this ety and that liquor dealers are openly violating every pro- vision of tha license law and the charter de- signed to regulate and restrict the trafile. The coterfe of reformers will appeal to mem- bers to vote for their bill, which will put a stop to all such alleged lawlessness. They are already charging the police commissioners with responsibility for the wide open condi- tion of things and promise legislators that upon the passage of their bill good order and respect for law will be restored. Tho snomalous position of these self-con- stituted reformers is an Interesting feature of the matter. In order to secure support for their pet measure they must discredit the work of the republican party from start to finish. When they contended that the police and fire commission must be taken out of politics they were met by the rejoinder that it is now and has been since the passage of the present law as far removed from party polities as is possible. They seek now to take the appointing power from a populist governor and place it into the hands of two republicans who were recently placed in offico by the party responsible for the present law, which these reformers are making desperato efforts to repeal on the ground that under it men have been appointed on the police commission who permit all forms of crime and vice. They ask a republican legislature to assist them In efforts to discredit thelr party. It is predicted that Judge Scott's charge to the grand jury will also be prepared with special reference to this matter and will show to what extent the judge's confidential ad- visors are responsible for the noise about wide open gambling houses and pool rooms. What effect this charge will have upon mem- bers of the legislature and how much it will help the Churchill-Russell bill is a matter of conjecture. Fortunately, however, there has never been a time since the passage of the charter pro- vision divorcing the police and firo depart- ment from politics when there was less gam- bling and lawlessness in Omala than there is at the present time. Thoe police court docket and the criminal docket of the dis- trict court prove this statement to be true. Nebraskn Kellef. Springfleld (Mass) Republican. We print this morning a frank letter from a resident of Albion, Neb, whose re- liability is beyond challenge, to the effect that no further aid need be’sent from the t to that state™ The relief societies of our churches have already made most gen- Crous response (o the appeals from Nebraska, and it is time to divert the stream of glving into_other channels, That state can care for its own without further outside assiste it shall our Moncy’s Worth or Your Mon ance, Baclk, Going Up Higher- Everybody agrees on that-—we've getting higher : - and higher every year™ on the qual- ity—of our clothing—Good dressers don't buy where it is handiest—but they pic k out a high quality—low price—house like ours--and stick to it—seven fifty for a suit or an over- coat don 't amount to much—but you get a mighty nice article of us for that—there are §10—$12 —$1 qualities no better—but th: ours are better, of course, th used to get lots more for them, the trimmings, linings, etc, on an the g7.50 goods. We Boys' suits, $2-—$2.50 5 overcoats and suits —$3,00—$3.50 with boys’ ulsters at $5 and $6--Such prices as these for our high grade goods are outside the pale of competition. ity—Dbut we also make the b We not only make the best qual- cst prices, BROWNING, KING & CO., Reliable Clothiers, S, W e Cor, 15th and Douglas.