Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, December 9, 1901, Page 6

OMAHA DAILY BEE: MONDAY, THE ©MAHA DALY BEE IWATER, EDITOR, JSHED EVERY MORNING. SUBSCRIPTION Your.$6.00 TERMS OF Dafly Bee (without Sunday) Daily Bee and Sunday, One Year Hlustrated Boe, O Year . Bunday | | Saturday Bée, One Year 1o | Fwentieth Century Farmer Year., Lo | DELIVERED BY CARRIER )| Daily Bee 3 per copy... 2 Dally Be ¢ week . 120 Dally He v week i Sunda - Evening Be 1 Evening week Complaints should be ud partmen: (with (withou Ginciudin pet (without 84 (ncluding K per nday), per we tec inday), ¢ irregularities in delivery sed to City Circulation De: OFFICES, Bullding City M streets 10 Pear] Btreet Unity Bullding New York—Temple Court Washington—-51 Fourteenth St CORRESPONDENCE Communications relating to news and cdl 1| atter should be addressed: Omaha itorinl Department BUSINESS LETTERS etters and remittances ghould be The Hee Publishing Company, Omaha—The Pe South Omaha wenty-fifth arnc Hall Buflding, Council Chicago—16 ot Business addressed. Omaha ” REMIT NCES. 1 - Remit by draft, express or postal order, n\nl’fl:v to The Bee Publishing iumruu)! nly 2-cent stamps accepted In payment ,‘,’" mail accounts, Personal checks, exc "(l‘ll Omaha or eastern exchanges, ot ac |rY THE BEE PUBLISHING ( OMPANY. BTATEMENT OF CIRCULATION. tate of Nebraska, Douglas County, ss.t B G eorge . Tanchiick, secretary of The Hee Publishing Company. belng duly swort, says that the actual number of full ant complete coples of The Dally, Morning, Evening and Sunday Bee printed durlng the month of November, 1901, was as fol- lows: 1 12 1 " 5 Total . Joess unxold and returned coples.. Net total sales 5 - Auily average e GEO. B TZ8CT and_sworn 1o svember, A. D. NGAT, ry Public. fut hefore 1001 S ribed in my me this 30th da al.) Signs of economic war are observed over Europe Most people, use to helieve in slgns. pudside i b Wonder if the 18,000 cash surplus fn the permanent school fund still re- mains in the vault in the state treasury? —_— Did the Omaha school hoard call for a grand jury in order to have the South Omnha school board hauled over the conls? hovering however, T Just now it is all the rage to Kick the heathen Chinee, 1t does not take much | courage to hit a fellow who has no friends. a The first & reduction is to ex- pand the assessment roll by including the property that has heretofore evaded taxation. Omaba’s holiday trade has been re- tarded by unseasonable weather, but it should now make up delays on the rome streteh. Ever patriotic f Nebraska who admired President McKinley sghould contribute his mite to the Me- Kinley memorial fund. It the Buffalo exposition promoters succeed in prevailing on congress (o make good thefr deficit out of the na- tlonal treasury, they will achieve the record for smooth work of persuasion, o The threatened split in the National Live Stock association between the cattlemen und sheepmen hus been de- clared off and the sheep herder reposes serencly in the lap of the cowpunche: Statistles of the internal revenue show that the output of whisky and distilled spirits is inereasing. The idea that hard times drives people to drink is apt to be shattered by this exhibit, Wanted--A political osteopathist who can straighten the skeletons of crooked politicians who are seeking the aid of Governor Savage to project themselyes again ioto publie life through the new Fire and Police commission, Governor Van Sant Is having more fun out of the railway community of interest consolidation plans than the raflrond magnates themselves, With- out this punching bag the Minnesota governor might have dried up for lack of officiul exercise The latest supreme court decisions in the fusular cases turn on the question whether certain imports are dutiable but In substance they constitute a writ of MARdAWUS 0N CONgress to puss some sort ‘of legislative measure to provide clvil government for the Philippines. The pope will not be represented by the usual delegate to the coronation of King Edward. His holiness says he has had no lnformation as to the ac- cesslon of a4 new sovereign to the Brit- tsh throne. Someone must be keeping the daily papers away from the pope. The Platte powek canal project 1s still lingering in the dim and distant future, but that should not prevent Omaha business men from giving substantial encouragement for the establishment of mills and factories that will provide steady employment for wage workers, That Nebraska bhas outgrown certain features of Its state constitution is ad- mitted by everybody, but the do-nothing obstructionfsts, like the Spaniards, say manana whenever a rewedy is proposed. In the interval the progress of the state i retarded as by a strait-jacket and the burden of taxation unlightened, The Woman's club of Vienna has fallen into financial diticulties appar- ently because it devoted its energies more to educating its members up to the beauties of whist and 5 o'clock teas than to the sacredness of the ob- lgation to pay club dues promptly. The Vienua women should import a club womun or two from America to show them how to do the thing prop- erly. ¢ { ISNEBRASKA SAFELY REPUBLICAN? majority by which Judge Sedgwick was elected to the su has been Interpreted by the republican press as proof positive that Nebraska is safely republican and may be counted on to elect the repub lican state ticket in 1902 by an equally decisive majority, This view is batted by the official state organ of populism in a ecarefully compiled ex Libit of the comparative vote cast for e decisive preme beneh com | candidates at the head of the respective republican and fusion state tickets in every election since 184 The vote polled’ by republicans is as follows: MacColl, governor . 94723 Post, judge Hayward, governor .... Reese, judge Dietrich, governor dgwick, Judge ... Phe fuslon vote stands 1806 189 1808 1807 1808 Holcomb, Sullivan, Poynter, Holcomb, judge 1900—Poynter, governor 1901-—~Hollenbeck, Jud The deductions ma i these figures are that the average fusion vote for the last six years is 103,036, while the average republican vote is only 00, indicating a fusion majority of 6,650, While any caleulation based on aver- ages for any considerable number of years is misleading, careful study of the figures justifies the conclusion that upon a full vote the margin between the republicans and the democrats and populists combined in fusion 1s still very narrow. Comparing the aggregate republican vote cast for Judge Sedg. with that cast two years before Judge Reese, we find a gain of while the vote cast for Hollen beck as compuared with that for Judge Holcomb shows a loss of 22,086, Two years ago the total vote cast for the republican and fusion candidates for supreme judge was 208,588, while this year the total vote cast for the repu lican and fusion candidates was 185, H27, or 18,206 less than in 1899, While substantial republican gains were doubt- less made in the last two elections, it Is manifest that the chief factor in the large shrinkage iu Judge Hollenbeek's vote was the stay-at-home populists and demoerats. Taking the vote cast for governor last year and the vote cast for supreme judge this year as the basis, the stay-at-home vote of 1901 aggregated 47800, of which less than one-third was republican and fully two- thirds represented the elements in op- position, Looking the 116,415 102,828 governor Judge ... 1805 governor .. 1564 wick for facts squarely in the face, Nebraska republicans should re alize that the outcome of the next year's campaign will depend upon the ability of the party to inspire the con- fidence of the voters and the character of the candidates presented to the people. With continued prosperity and lonest compliance with party pledges Nebraska can be made safely lican. repub- A FLOOD OF PENSION BILLS. Already about 1,000 pension bills bave been Introduced in congress, which if not an unprecedented number at the opening of a session at least shows that the demand for the government's bounty in the form of pensions is far from being exhausted. It is stated that some of these bills, if they became law, would add about $100,000,000 a year to the pension expenditures, while it by any possibility they could all be come law, it would take all of the revenues of the government to meet the expenditures called for in the bills One measure directs the secretary of the interior to place on the pension roll the names of all officers, soldiers, sallors and marines now surviving who were taken prisoners of war by the confederates and provides that such men are to be given a bonus of $2 for every day of their confinement in confeder- ate prisons, with $12 a month pension, which is to be in addition to any pen- slon the are now receiving. Other bills graut pensions to every man who enlisted in the civil war, either as a soldier or a sallor, no matter whether pauper or millionaire, “In fact,” says the Washington correspondent of the Phil- adelphia Pr ry concelvable ex- cuse by which a name could be gotten on the pension list is made use of in bills already introduced.” In addition, there are bills to extend the pension laws so as to include the life saving service and various other branches of the government not now iucluded in any pension laws, Of course most of these measures will not become law. Many of them have been introduced as a sop to constitu- ents who might be benefited by such legislation. Doubtless the new con gressmen have been most active in this respect. But it is to be expected that enough of them will becowe law to incrense waterially the pension account, which for the last fiscal year amounted to over $142,000,000, with a large nuw- ber of claims pending at th of the year. The last congress passed 1,301 special pension acts and from the start already made in introducing bills of this Kind it seems safe to as sume that the present congress will at least maintain the record for pension legislation. NOT A SECTIONAL MATTER. The Boston Transcript, referring to the president’s proposition that the gen eral government should concern itself in the enterprise of arid land reclama- tion, remarks that the idea Is one that ought to appeal to the patriotism and public spirit of all American citizens, “It is not a sectional matter,” says the Transeript, “provided we consider it broadly, for while the states and terri- torles in which these unproductive lands are located would acquire new dignity and importance from the pro- posed wholesale schemes of reclama- 1 the rest of the country would be correspondingly benetited.” Our Bos- ton contemporary urges that having expanded outwardly we cannot ration- ally overlook the opportunity to ex- pand inwardly, or “rather relieve that immense vacuum agd realtze the great potentialities suggested by this vast but now waste territory,” by - peaceful weans and ut o woney cost less than » close | pany would efteetively | are correctly wa have freely authorized for results not heneticial even with the best we may hope or expect from them." - T'his is the broad and sound view to take of the question and such papers as the Transcript—intelligent, ervative and influential-can do no better sgervice to the country than in showing to the people of the east the true character, lmportance and signifi cance of the proposed reclamation of the arid and semiarid reglons and pointing out the value to the entire country of earrying out this great en terpr The prevalent notion in the east, judging from the past position of the representatives of that section in congress on the t, that only the west would be benefited by opening up settlement the arid lands, s utterly narrow and erroneous. Not only would thousands of eastern people sot tle in these lands, but the increased agricultural production would benetit all the people of the east well as the people of other sections. In the great addition that would be made to the productive power and therefore to the wealth of the nation ev part of the country would share. No question more distinetly na- tional than that of adding to our agri- cultural area a vast region which If properly irrigated, as there 1s no doubt it can be, it 18 estimated would sup- port a population equal to that we now have—a region where may be estab- lished hundreds of thousands of Amer- fean homes, annually adding enor- mously to the wnational wealth and power. wretary Hitcheock says in his annual report: The expansion of our fnterior trade and commer through the settlement of the arid lands und the inel of population in the west, would benefit every class and section of our country in the same way that the settlement of the Obio and Mississippi valleys has brought | perity and wealth to the states east of the Alleghenies, The tement of the vast arld region still farther to the west would benefit the whole cast ern half of the United States by cre- ating new home murkets for eastern merchants, southern cotton growers and all manufacture) Surely no tional man can doubt that an ent prise promising such results is national in its scope and Importan &0 conspicuous or subje to is ke ra- A MANIFEST MISCONCEPTION, The Central Labor union has extended a vote of thanks to Mr. W. 8. Popple- ton for successtully carrying to the su- preme court his injunction to prevent the mayor and council from entering into an agreement with the water works company for a moditication of its con- tract with the city, under which the company had agreed to reduce its fire hydrant rentals and furnish free water for all public buildings and parks, in consideration of the waiver on the part of the city to exercise its right to pur- chase the wi in 1901 for the sum fixed by a board of arbitration. 'his action was taken by the Central Labor union on the presumption that the compact entered into between t mayor and council and the water com- block municipal ownership of the water works. As a matter of fact the injunction procured by Mr. Poppleton has in no way expe- dited municipal ownership of the water works, Although the contention of Mr. Poppleton has been that the city had a right to acquire the works by purchase, under the arbitration of the water works ordinance, in the year 1901, 1o steps have been taken in that direc tion, and Mr. Poppleton himself, if we informed, does not favor such acquisition under the arbitration clause, because the city would be bound to abide by the appraisement made by two of the three arbitrators, even if that appraisement should be double or treble the actual value of the water works plant. The provisions of the water works or- dinance are that the efty shall appoint one of the appralsers, the water works company the second and these two shall choose a third, and the valuation fixed by a majority of the three shall be ab- solutely binding on all parties. Should the water wor company be able to persuade the third member of this arbi- tration board that the estimated value put upon their property by thelr repre- sentative on the arbitration board was about right the city might be compelled to pay for the works severnl millions more than the amount for which they could be duplicated. The injunction in no way affected the right of the city to acquire the works by condemnation process by the exer- cise of the right of eminent domain, and the only drawback to such a process s that the city would have to pay the es. timated value of the unexpired contract in case the works are taken over before the expiration of the term, which Mr. Poppleton claims to be in 1906 and the company claims will be in 1908, The taxpayers of Omaha, the have not been benefited In the the decision of the supreme court sus- taining Mr. Poppleton's position. On the contrary, the injunction has proved a costly luxury, inasmuch as it has en abled the company to exact fire hydrant rental at $80 and $60 a year per hydrant for the remaining period of their con- tract, when they had offered to reduce that rental by one-third and In addition would have been willing to forego the collection of all wate mtal for city buildings and parks. At the most conservative estimate these reductions would have already saved the city more than $100,000 with out in the least interfering with the city's vight to acquire the water works plant or retarding in any way the ex- periment of municipal ownership, clanse ks efore, least by According to the monthly report of County Treasurer Elsasser the surplus of county funds deposited in the various banks approximates $110,000, but the taxpayers of Douglas county are not receiving # penny of interest on thiy deposit, while the funds in the custody of the city treasurer are drawing 2 per cent interest for the benefit of the city taxpayers. Why cannot the county commissioners take some steps that will give the county the benefit pf iuterest DECEMBER 9, 1901 e ——————————————————————————————————————————————————— Re publican State Press Discusses Bond Deals —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Investignte Immed Imperfal Republican: Treasurer Stuefer's statements te the people have been very unsatiefactory to the republican press of the state. Let the governor and other mem bers of the Board of Educational Lands and Funds see that an immediate Investigation 1s held and the matter straightened up. The party demands it and the people in general demand it. ntely. Convicts Himself, Rushville Recorder: 1t the interview of Treasurer Stuefer, as given in the World- Herald last Friday, fs correct, either he is such a simpleton as to be unfit for the office or elso he does not realize the gravity of his actions. An Investigation is the only way to settle this matter, and remo from discussion of the press, until the hard facts of the are placed in hands of the people. £t Responsibilities. . Cannot s Grand Island Independent (rep.): The friends of Treasurer Stuefer are trying to put all the blame on the county officials who sold the bonds at a higher rate of interest. 1t fs admitted, at least, that there was an unnecessary rakeoff. And the theory that there need not be an investigation at all, that the people haven't a right to know what the facts are in the matter, lsn't up- held by their own position, Not Explicit Enough. North Platte Tribune (rep.): It Stats Treasurer Stuefer s gullty of gross manipulation of county bond deals—and we still mafotain that tho transactions have a shady look—it cannot be sald that the republican press of the state has condoned Stuefer's acte. More than nine-tenths of the republican papers have called on Mr Stuefer for more explicit explanation than he has yet made, and they have m the demand with the expectation that he will hearken to it. Why does Mr. Stuefer hesitate Explanutions Make It Worse. Sidney Republican: The case made The Omaha Bee against State Treasurer Stuefer is a very strong one. The state school fund has suffered a loss by “specu- lative manipulation,” and Mr. Stuefer, who fs accredited with more than ordinary abllity as a financler, ought to have dis- covered the leak. The Bee charges that he has been a party to this “speculative manipulation,” and we are inclined to be- leve The Bee is right. The Burt and Cum- ing county bond deals do not ehow up well for Stuefer, and his efforts to explain only place him in a worse light. The at- titude of the republican state convention, with relation to state funds, was made very clear, and Stucfer should resign. by Does' Not Aftect Bond Deal. Kearney Hub: State Treasurer Stucfer counted the money In his possession be- longing to the permanent school fund De- cember 2, in the presence of the governor, attorney general and secretary of state. The amount was $18,179.20. All other money belonging to the fund has been invested in interest-bearing bonds. The balance in current funds, amounting to $535,2 are in depository banks and the treasurer showed his certificates for the amount. The showing was perfectly satisfactory, but It will of course be understood that it has nothing to do with the other matters that fs not have been charged against And as a matter of fact it that the bottom facts will ever treasurer. probable be Known. Stuefer Shonld Fiest (o Ask. Hartington Herald (rep.): Governor Save age seems fnclined hift the responsi bility of starting investigation of the state treasurer's bond de upon other shoulders than hie own. This is unfortu nate, to eay the least. The fact s it plain there s a “nigger” in the wo omewhere and the “nigger” should located. We very much dislike to beliove Mr. Stuefer guilty of manipulation of the trust funds to his own advantage, but it would seem that if he were entirely blame less he would under the circumstances be the first one to ask for an investigation % Beyond Cont Wayne Republican The are at hand, and every paper {8 permitied to Judge of m himselt. We have no desire to placing the state treasurcr in a bad it it s not just. Neither do wish help defend him for wrong-doing. The history of his transactions stand about as follows: He was given opportunities to buy county bonds bearing good rates of in terest, but did not bid upon them. Private partios, with whom he had association be- fore his ofcial A1d buy the bonds and then sold them to the state (Stuefer) and made several thousand dollars by the deal. Now, these points are not open to controversy. The reader can pass upon the matter in his own way. He lost some interest money by the routine process apd it the treasurer s fnnocent of intentional wrong-doing he s somewhat careless in looking after the best int of the funds intrusted to him. That to s ol pversy. fa rea ts In the of this sters for case or assist in light cnreer, rests 18 all Does Not ¢ Tilden Citizen urer's enr Main Charge (rep.): The state treas semi-annual report ls more completa than any other similar account previously made public by a Nebraska sta and shows in detafl the disposition the state funds. This is satisfactory enough, but |t not in any manner clear up the suspicion resting on Mr. Stuefer in the matter of the Burt and Cuming county bond deals. He smugly re- marks in his report: “I desire to state that there is nothing covered up or hidden 1n this office and that T am perfectly willing to submit every transaction to the thorough examination and the most ing scrutiny by the proper authority.” Ex- actly so. Mr. Stuefer's accounts are no doubt accurately kept, and so far as the direct transactions of the treasurer are concerned his administration of the affairs of his office appears very creditable. No one ex- pected otherwise. But there still stands a direct charge against him of having ma- nipulated the school fund to the advantage of others than the people of Nebraska. This has nothing whatever to do with his report, and the taxpayers of the state are entitled to an explanation from him. The charge i explicit, and, briefly stated, is as follows Bonds were purchased by an outsider who pald for the same with the treasurer's checks on state deposits. The outsider then ostensibly gold the bonds to the treasurer, first, however, detaching interest coupons to the value of several thousand dollars. The explanation due from Mr. Stuefer should show why, since the bonds were originally bought with money belonging to the permanent school fund, all ‘the interest treasurer of all most reh- arisiog from these bonds should not gone into the same fund, rather than the pocket of his business associate. Until this explanation is forthcoming the repub lican party of the state must re stigma which differs only in ¢ that which culminated in the and imprisonment of Joe Bartley have into under a from conviction ree uld Offer ( usive Proof. Stanton Pickett (rep.) dividuals who introduction that his records ary erly kept and di him in connection 1t fs stated by in have been favored with to Treasurer Stuefer's books all straight, are prop- prove e y charge against with bond deals f{rom which he is alleged to have profited unlaw- fully. Such may be true. We would like to believe ft 1s. If it 1& we would like to know 1t such a statement made public by the treasurer as will silence hig accusers, or at least brand them as falsifiers, or to put it more mildly s being mistaken. If Treas urer Stuefer is in if he has do wrong, If he has not profited in an il manner or knowingly permitted oth 0 at the expense of the state himselt, to friends and lican party to make the best a defense possible. to an ocent no gal 1o he owes it to the repub 1 strongest #hould he be able to ahow the satisfaction of unprejudiced minds that he fs fnnocent of the charges made against him 99 per cent of the republicans in Nebraska would re more, per. haps not much of the high esteem In which they have previously held Mr. Stuefer, as because of the relfet from stigma which it would give the party whic is responsible for his election. 1t Treasurer Stuefer {s innocent he should do more than assume the roll of imjured fnnocence. The all from Missourt, but they right (o demand that they be shown Smacks of Trickery. rs Lo his to ofce, not w0 because have not Call (rep.): The Call was greatly surprised last week at the disclosures pub lished by The Bee relative to bond deals in Hurt, Cuming and other counties by State Treasurer Stuefer, and still more surprised that Mr. Stuefer has let nearly two weeks go by without expliclt statement ex plaining satisfactorily every step in the deal. As it stands now the deal smacks cf crookedness and trickery, and the reput of Nebraska cannot and will not stand or tolerate any such actlons on the part of its officials. The Call in weeks past has sincercly defended Treasurcr Stuefer's administration agalnst the attacks of the Worll-Herald, having great tence in him and belleving him to be an honest man, as well as a sound business man. Mr. Stue- fer must explaiu his actions in these bond deals more satisfactorily, however, before we can place our confidence fn him and defend him again. The republican party in its con- vention last fall was sincere in its platform relating to the mode of the state treasurer conducting the office. It was not drawn for the purpose of electing men to office only, but to follow to the letter after their elec- tion and induction into office, The party cannot afford to shield Mr. Stueter If he has no better explanation than that given to the public and any paper that attempts to ehield him does the party a great injustice and injury. We cannot expect to hold our te in the republican column and wink at deals of # shady character on the part of our officials. 1f Mr. Stuefer cannot make a satisfactory statement regarding the purchasing of sald bonds he should not burden his party longer. licans con on ite deposits? The mere fact that the depository law fixes the minimum of in- terest on county funds at 3 per cent does not constitute an absolute bar to the acceptance of any interest, nor does it justify the loaning of this money without interest. ' No treasurer or public officer will be punished for e payers, In.all the coutests over police com- missions and the exercise of the power to remove officers and members of the fire and police departments the taxpay- ers of Omaha have always got the worst of it. They have had to pay salaries to people who rendered no service for the benetit of a coterie of lawyers who make a specialty of the lucrative practice of lawing for back pay on percentage or commission. These ralds upon the city treasury have not been trifling matters either, for they have run into thousands and thousands of dollars. The back sal- ary grab is always a tempting mark for conscienceless lawyers. Senator Millard has served notice upon the chairmen of republican county committees in Nebraska that a liberal supply of congressional garden sceds will be forwarded to them for free dis- tribution to all who may desire to plant them where they will do the most good. Chairman Goss, who represents the largest republican constituency in the state, may be expected to establish an experimental station in the Ninth ward, where Clristmas trees, sunflowers and water lilles will hereafter bloom all the year round. The privilege of participating in the coronation exercises of King Edward in the capactly of household servants is belng eagerly sought by the highest sclons of British nobility. Of courss the royal carver Is no wmore expected to carve anything than the chief butler to superintend the royal pantry, but the competition is of the Keenest just the same. It is interesting to mnote that the identity of the royal boot- black has not yet been disclosed, An Unpleasant Inspiration Philadelphla Ledger. The refusal of the Omaha Jacksonian club to inyite him to their annual banquet is caleulated to inspire in David B, Hill's mind a doubt whether he s a democrat after all. Unlque Cracks at Trusts, Indianapolis Journal Colonel Moses Wetmore, a manufacturer of tobacco in St. Louls, sold out his business to one of the tobacco trusts almost two years ago at a big price Hao then started another prosperous tobacco company and Joined Mr. Bryan in denounc- ing trusts. Now comes the report that he has again met the octopus and sold out hls company at another exorbitant price. for the tobacco trusts they find Wetmore & costly opponent to get out the fleld, successful Colonel of The Undelivered Speechen, Washington Star. Although this is the long session of con- gress no attempt will be made to deliver all those speeches which would appear to have been delivered The leave to print will do business at the old stand and the Record will continue to be the refuge of gentle- men with weak lungs, shy nerves, sore throats and hoarseness. If the rule of “leave to print” could be #o enforced as to strike & balance betweem the silent and ising | Lis discretion in the interest of the tax- | | our: ! tropolis. As | the clamorous orators the effect would be pleasing. But the silent speaker will per- &ist in committing plous frauds upon his constituents and the vociferous gentleman will continue his efforts to produce rain with vocal bombs. How Navigation Laws Work, Philadelphia Ledger. Sir Christopher Furness, the great Eng- lish shipbuilder, was successful in drum- ming up a large amount of business during his visit to this country. He is on his way home now with orders in his pocket for twelve large freight steamers, which are to cost an aggregate of $1,000 They will be built with American money for Amer- lcan owners, but under our antiquated nay igation laws they will have to sail under the British flag and be counted as British and not American vessels he Irrigntio; oblem. Chicago Tribune, While the president dlscourages hasty action large to be done at pellmell or taken up plecemeal. He says “we must not only understand the existing situation, but avall ves of the best experience of the time in the solution of its problems. A careful study should be made both by the nation and the states of the irrigatton advises action he The job is too |1aws and conditions here and abroad.” When the necessary knowledge has been obtained the general government can take up this great work of converting millions of acres of arid lands into fertile flelds Bryan for Gover Chicago Chronlcle M The populistic end of the democratic party | in Nebraska has a plan to nominate W. Bryan for governor and they will try elect him. 3 to Apparently they think that if he should | be elected governor of that republican etate it would show that the democratic-populistic | tusion stlll exhibits signs of vitality that Mr. Bryan had not pas portance as a commanding tlonal democratic politics. The trouble with the scheme Is that Nebraska is an irre- voeahle republican state, as has been shown in recent elections where Mr. Bryan in- vested all the strength of his personality in the campalgns which resulted in demo- cratic defeats. Besldes, it and out of im- figure in na- it should be shown that Mr. Bryan could carry Nebraska at a presiden- | tlal election (he lost in 1800) it be worth while to nominate him for the sake of saving eight electoral votes from his own state with a dead certainty that at least 100 electoral votes would be lost on bis account in other states. Municipn! would not Fremont Tribune. The supreme court has handed down an opinion, as has foreshadowed, taking from the mayor and lodging with the gov- ernor the authority to appoint a Fire and Police boafd at Omaba, This will be cause for a fresh political revolution in the me It will probably put the present coterle of officers out and a new one in. It will be a case of fieeing from ills the people have to others they know not of n- al principles the nearer this power can he brought the better. If the board is not to elective the power ought to be the mayor. This is in harmony principle of local self-government are times, of course of good government. the authority shouid not be in the mayor. Municipal likely to be more corrupt than itles. There therefore, of having an unscrupulous mayor than bad governor. But, as a rule, the peoy cities get as good adminisiration want. They at least hav hands to correct existing evils. They have just shown their ability to do it in New York, 8o it need not be regarded as lmpos- sewbere, heen On g to people be made vested in with the The is olitics s state pol 18 greater danger it in their own appointive | the | | | “inv | of moderate means have been se | curities %old on the “curb,” when in the interests ROUND ABOUT NEW YORK, Ripples on the Current Metropol Life in the Printers’ ink played a conspicuous part in the New York municipal campaign. With- out counting the newspapers, which were practically unanimous for the winning ticket, the Citizons' union printed and dis- tributed 2,314,000 pleces of campaign liter- ature, at u cost of one-fifth of a cent aplec )00 Low buttons, 90,000 Low litho- praphs and pasted up 135,000 posters, be sides handing around 115,000 pamphlets an- tagonistic to Police Commissioner Devery. Advertising in street cars cost $2,000 and a like sum went to fourteen newspapers for printing speeches in foreign languages. The regular republican organization used up a barrel or two of printers’ ink and the Acorns, an organizatfon of young voters dlstributed 3,000,000 political leaflets of th warmest kind The novelty of a judge reversing himselt In court occurred in New York recently, when Judge Hascall criticised a previous ruling. It was in the case of Fred J. Wilson, a life saver, in whose favor a judgment for $750 damages for false arrest was filed. On & motlon for a new trial made by counsel Judge Hascall set aside the verdict and granted a new trlal on the ground that he erred in his charge to the jury. “The min- utes show,” he says, “that incompetent evidence was admitted on the trial and that portions of the judge's charge to the jury were unfalr to the defendant” Brave man! The New York police seem to have at last awakened to the idea that there is in Wall street a fertile field for the exercise of “the eye that mever sleeps.” The num- ber of get-rich-quick schemes that have been perpetrated upon an Innocent and largely out-of-town public from that dis- trict iu recent months probably surpasses even the comprehension of those who might be supposed to be the best Informed. Not even the widely advertised history of the Miller or “‘Franklyn syndicate,” which cost tors" so dear, seems to have had a deterrent effect upon the out-of-town pub- lie. And it supply always equals demand there must indeed be a wonderful demand for wildeat {nvestments of various sorts right now. The police are tackling the evil In an energetlc fashion, however, and with good results, as the raids and arrests of the past few days abundantly testify ent years, due (o the general busi ness prosperity of the country, Americans rehing for profitable investment and have fallen prey to the financial adventurers who have of tered fabulous dividends. There are many varleties of these concerns, and ‘“promo ter pseudo “‘bankers' and ‘“‘brokers,’ whose ideal financler {s Ernest ab Hooley of international fame, figure among them. They buy derelict industrial proper tlos for a song and “float” them for mill lons. The present wave of wildcat pro- moting began with the rush to the Klon- dike After the Spanish war came the boom In copper. Since then “bucket shops,” “dlscretionary and “fiscal agents theme and variation, have prospered by the score, The “disc lonary pool” scheme seldom falls to draw thousands out of per sons who think that someone else wanted to make tor them. When the publi is not “hiting” at wildcat Industrials cour ageous promoters try them with some se where all sorts of myths and outcasts are offered for with such success at times that brokers are bitten money A sult for $50,000 damages has been com menced against the company operating the loop-the-loo) at Coney Island A girl of 17 took a ride on this erazy machine and became delirious soon after returning home A day later her mind gave way. she is now in a state hospital. In bringing the suit her guardian declares that the ma- chine ¥ directly, responsible for her cous and on, that it is reason, and that to the company fangerow facts to lite a were known permitted the t a ride. these girl to take the risk « Th ertaln young surgeon in t New rk City without assured been Ably case surgeon the whose ne miti 1s A means deal light, m the other ain the n trotted triend who i they The friend was out, operate tho ma patien to di vest himself of his clothes, but the goon stopped him, explaining that clothing doesn’t even cast a shadow {n a skiagraph, 0 the man was photographed as he stood The result in the regfon where the “Foreign | substance in the the sur geon. “You must he The patient 4. and | geor. was explaining the came his friend doctor X-ray apparatu graph and then the patient “H'm,” he gr ol “Bee thing unusual lately “No,” sald the patient “Didn't happen to swallow your car fare, perhaps?” The man zeal for operating o ity therefor has consid Thi X-ray as had a myste gated greatly of dingnosi of experienc however, A day complaining right side of him ar He b with rreat the fon patient came of a severe p abdomen, Dr fonal on over X-ray technically called Dr. B undertook t chine himself. The to a pict profos takes are w0 showed a cireular spot pain was folt sald demurr while the sur in the who owns the He looked at the skia necessity at n eating any- dented 1t “That spot to ma atrangely ke a nlckel. Let's geo your vest.” Ho exam- ined the lower right pocket and drew out a forelgn coin. The patient explatned that it luck plece. “The luck is that T found it in time,” said the X-ray export The patient departed badly scared and cured himself with a dose at the drag store. He had nothing worse than indi gestion. was a RSONA Rather more s belng sald about Presl- dent Roosevelt's luncheons than about his predecessors’ dinners. George Gould has converted an ugly spot on the grounds of his Lakewood (N. J.) home into a beautiful sunken garden. It {s Orlental in fdea and sald (o be the only sunken garden in America. Miguel A, Otera of New Mexico | 48 about to move in the direction of stop ping the vandals who have been dismantiing the homes of the eliff dwellers, monuments of a civilization older than the pyramids The Russlan government has sanctioned the plan to erect a monument at Warsaw in memory of the celebrated Polish com- poser, Frederie Chopin. The orlginators of the project intend fnviting designs for the work from British and forelgn sculptors. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Shaw of Chicago have just sailed for southern Europe, where they will start upon the most extensive automobile trip ever undertaken, including a Journey through northern Africa, in a new automobile now being constructed for them in Parls. The tour will cover more than 3,000 miles. Representative Charles Curtis of Kansas, who {s always returned by his constitus ents, has Indian blood in his veins and i proud of it. No Indian who visits the great father at the White Houso feels sat: isfled unless ho has scen and talked witl Representative Curtis, They regard him a¢ one of the guardian angels of the Indlant in congress. The Elks held a lodge of sorrow at Cum- berland, Md., on Decomber 1 and Senator Wellington delivered a eulogy on a departed member. In th( courko of his remarks he said with great emphasis that he would not eulogize anyone who in lifa had been a ource of disgust and disap- pointment to his friends. This thinly vetled reference to the famous remark of the senator regarding President McKinley was recelved with absolute silence. Governor POINTED REMARK Judge: Jack—You scem afrafd to pop tha auestion Billy—No; I'm afraid to question “pop.” Baltimora Amerfcan: Full Christmas poet will, with w ing grin, pick up his trer drag the' Yule log poem in =oon _the 1Arous Know- ant pen and Philadelphia Press: He him. She—1 ways he ‘is He- wouldn't yhody . T don't like h how that's Ehow beeause one suppose ixlous to If he was on mind, within v anxlous to show one but he wants to show hearing, Brooklyn Life: ~ Bronco Bill-So you 1 th' wrong felle h Rube—Yes. We imagined he was lo th hoss, but he wasn't ronco Bill-Huh! Yer should he more ful how yer stretch yer imagination, ) Tribune: “Gabriel” sald ‘% wife, “have you settied yet er Shurpe for conducting that for you In sourt last year “No," sald the tor, that fime, you remember, that on him for appendicitis,’ and T want te Know what his bill is before T make out 1 suppose he's waiting for the sams tha with cnse was abou I operatet Baltimore Americin the fajr plaintift in fngs, “you will be favor in granting “Your honor,” sald the divorce proceeds oing me a very great ny divorce, You sec when 1 marrled him, his ved hair harmor fzed beautifully with the decorations of the house: but 1 have just had It repapored and all the furniture upholstered in green and now he clas| dreadfully Philadelphia Press: “He fsn't such a gay doceiver as he used to be. There was A'fime when he ealled on four or five dif- girls In one week.'” he's become very nomlcal Christmas is coming, you know oo you have memento with the da Rrooklyn Eagle: *1 » of the foot ball Thanksgiving game on it remarked Mr. Oldfashion ' the foot ball? Hardiy!" olaimed Jack Halfback, — withering) “That's Bob Rusher's right There wasn't enough left of the ball at the end of the game to put in your eye! 1 plece of the written x- Doctor,” asked the information, “did yon celebrated’ Schleswig- Chieago Tribune man In _search o ever underatand Holstein question ) {IPerfectly,” answered the venerab Helst "hen T wish, “you would tell to be the exact Porto Rico Ccourt decisions.” PAST AND FUTUR pu " cagerly rejoined the other, me what vou conceive statns of the Phillppines under the late supreme Somerville Journal A quarte itury wo had no teles phones, buRiness men we Ceniral's duleet tone A quarter-century ago, the at night By kerosene or gas, and 1 “lectric ght A quurter-centur Know, whows you now tail, hone by bone Flar-cantury ot been dr bestrode the ey quirter-century” ag 0 seen, ago, And not beguiled by stroots were it ne foresaw the ago, the X-ray was une That your sekelton in de- the gay automobila d and but few wheel no A Had A alrships had And t v fller stood with poor Dar A quarter-centur out west Had said: “You will do the rest A quarter-century bloomed And no sign of the horizon loomed A quarter-century used the birch And Sundays almost every and went to chirch fuct, & QUAFLEr-century wits rather slow Compared with what It {s today, ng to be, you Know ago, no business firm ess the button and we 10, In the schools they New Woman on the far In the RO, schools they ono drossed up & ago, the world and 18 [ And t suggests the question: prophet now can fix The flmft ot the wonders of 10 What