Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, December 4, 1916, Page 4

i § i. | ¢ B | g ! k1 i i H | : i 3 34 i § | . the crops of the nation, @ & $ 4 THE OMAHA DAILY BEE FOUNDED BY EDWARD ROSEWATER. VlCTOR_ROSEWATER, EDITOR. “THE BEE PUBLISHING COMPANY, PROP) Entered at Oma TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. By Carrier By Mall per month. per year. Daily «nd Sunday (123 $6.00 Dally without Sunday. BT s oy 400 Evening and Sunday..... ocep sty ia 500 vening without Sunday., Hoc, 4 20c.. 2.00 Sunday Bee only S S Daily and Sunduy Bee, three years in advance, $10.00 Send notice of change of address or irregularity in do- llvery to Omaha Bee, Circulation Department. REMITTANCE. Remit by Araf(, express or postal order. Only 2-cent stamps Taken in payment of small accounts. Personal checks, except on O and eastern exchange, not accepted. " OFFICES. Omaha—The Bee Building. South Omaha—2318 N street Council Bluffs—14 North Main street. Lincoin—526 Little Building. Chicago—S§18 People’s Gas Bullding. New York—Room K03, 286 Fifth avenue St. Louls—603 New Bank of Commerc Washington—726 Fourteenth street. CORRESPONDENCE. Address communications relating to news and editorfal matter to Omaha Bee, Editorial Department. NOVEMBER CIRCULATION. 55,483 Daily—Sunday 50,037. Dwight Willlams, circulation manager of The Bee Publishing company, being duly EWOrn, Says that the average circulation for the month of November, 1916, was 56,483 dally, and 50,037 Sunday. DWIGHT WILLIAMS, Circulation Manager. Subscribed In my pr'pe;u-» and sworn to before me 2 y December, 1916, DA IS "¢ W. CARLSON, Notary Public. , Subscribers leaving the city temporaril should have The Bee mailed to them. Ad- dress will be changed as often as required. Nothing to stop any family from trying out a diet squad of its own. | It is ‘gathered from remarks on both sides of the firing line that the fighters will Christmas in the trenches as usual. The “public ownership” slogan is a wonderful mantle to cover all sorts of tubs that won't stand on their own bottoms. “Get Villal” was the substance of the original order to General Pershing. Looks as if the “get- ting” had net been very good. ! | It is by no means sure, though, that this un- excelled brand of weather will continue long enough to give us a green Christmas. Expert calculators assert there is enough gold in the country to give each person, big and little, $17.50. Well, who is obstructing the distribution? \ \ Who knows but what the children's petition for peace may reach higher and mightier power than earth holds. Great events oft spring from minor causes. ——— There dre many things all Omaha can pull for together, regardless of differences on other uestions; for example, a new union depot and a pipe line from the Wyoming oil fields, Any dissent? y ; — A " Canadian revenue is slowly mounting up to the outgo. The readiness of the dominion in meeting the demands of war, means as well as _men, forms an impressive object lesson in colo- ial loyalty. 3 Extinguish the Congr: : Clark ‘suggests? An editorial sanctum not receiving that diurnal document during the sessions would be absolutely ‘lost in darkness. ’ 1 Eighty-six known dead and forty-one injured jonal Record, as . _émumm the human “bag” of the hunting season in fifteen states. Still our statute books are ‘jammed with laws safeguarding human lives, but none safeguarding hunters from themselves. ———— The citizen who does not shirk his duty will vote at the special election tomorrow. Either vote “yes” if you want the city to have 1,000 more street lamps without extra cost, or vote “no” if you want the street lighting to remain as it is. 3 — ) Members of the Federal Reserve board might ~ as well look for holiday hospitality at home or' _ distant from the seaboard. The recent hunch against foreign treasury notes banishes the pros- pect of cutting a Christmas cake on or about Wall street, Y A note of grave alarm is heard in New York over the painful reach of the income tax. One- fifth of the total collections for the fiscal year was paid by New Yorkers. Higher rates enacted last August greatly increases the reach during the present fiscal year and promises to swell the “note of alarm into a mighty scream. Some of the rural papers are deploring the failure of re-election of State Superintendent _ Thomas as a blow to the cause of education in Nebraska. To Superintendent Thomas, however, it will probably be a Godsend in relieving him from obl?gztion to fill a $2,000-a-year job when his talents can earn much more, Artificial Remedies Washington Post If the vociferous element of the population would cease demanding artificial remedies for ev- ery evil and would turn its attention to more nat- ural, if less obvious, remedies, real progress would be made. Embargoes will not reduce the cost of livi On the contrary, they will reduce the purchasing power of the American people. There are two ways of meeting the high cost of living. One is by individual effort, devoted to economies in purchasing foodstuffs and in house- hold management. Another way is for the gov- ernment itself to evolve policies which will bring about economies in manufacture and agriculture. Those who “are advocating an embargo on | foodstuffs apparently overlook the fact that the !short crops are more of a factor than the in- ! creased demand from Europe. There is suffi- cient land available for an immense increase in Moreover, if the United States were producing as much per acre as most of the foreign countries, the supply of focdstuffs - in this country would be greatly beyond any pos- sible demand. Instead of discussing embargoes, congress should be directing its attention toward increasing the quality and quantity of production. No good can come from the movement to check the natural flow of trade. 'Whenever that experiment was tried in the past it failed wholly in its object. ‘There is no reason to suppose that this country c#in be independent of foreign sales “at the present time when a considerable portion of the nation’s prosperity is based upon the $5,- 000,000,000 export trade. There is every reason to believe that President ment of any false economic policy which would m to the undermining of prosperity. ¥ rish the thought! |. ~Wilson's leadership will prevent the establish- | T Farmers and Food Prices. When the Nebraska farm congress meets in Omaha it will have for one of its leading topics the question of embargo on food products. Quite naturally, the farmers are opposed to this, as the artificial restriction of the market thus brought about will have a reflex effect on the prices of their commodities. The point is one in which the entire public is concerned, for the increased cost, of food products touches everybody. First of steps in the way of solving the problem will be to determine in how far the farmer is respon- sible for the existing prices. The Bee has main- tained that the inflation is due to manipulation by speculators, a position that is supported by the government report, which shows that the 1916 wheat crop will return the growers $200,- 000,000 less than did the 1915 crop, and this in spite of the tremendous advance in quotations at Omaha and on other markets. The same report is authority for the statement that 75 per cent of the 1916 wheat crop has been sold by the farm- ers at an average price of $1.18 per bushel. As wheat has been soaring between $1.75 and $1.95 per bushel for the last three months, it is ap- parent the grower is not the one who is gathering in the big profit. Nor is wheat the only food product with which the gamblers have played. An embargo might check the present movement, but it is not the remedy. What is needed is a better system of marketing, under which the producer will be assured of a fair return and the consumer will not be at the mercy of unscrupulous specu- lators. Playing the Postoffice for Petquisites. One of the unique communications we have just received comes from a democratic postmas- ter in an interior town (name and address we mask out of consideration for the writer) which reads as follows: Somewhere, Neb.,, Nov. 28—To the Editor of The Bee, Dear Sir: My name has been placed on some of the state daijlies free and I would thank you to extend me the same favor if not against your business methods. Yours truly, Jim Jones, Postmaster. As this particular postmaster has no more claim than any other postmaster and as there are more than 1,000 postoffices in Nebraska, to say nothing of adjoining territory in Towa, South Dakota, Kansas and Wyoming, in which The Bee circulates extensively, anyone can see what it would ‘mean if we had to put every postmaster on a free list. Viewed from the other side why should a democratic postmaster be entitled to a free daily paper as a perquisite any more than a free weekly paper or a free monthly magazine? Why, again, he should confine his demands to “state dailies” when he doubtless handles publi- cations'from other states, if not from all over the | world? Why, furthermore, should a pqstmaster have his newspapers free any more than that he should have food.or clothing or other things free ftom concerns that use the mails or parcel post to deliver products to their customers? And if one of Uncle Sam’s pontfl'lnters is entitled to such perquisites, why not other federal officials? Why take in the postmaster who draws a good salary and stop short of his subordinate clerks and carriers, whose morg meager pay limits their indulgence in reading matter? The Bee answers this letter thus publicly not to pick on a poor postmaster (doubtless writing ig- norantly or thoughtlessly), but to show up(a sample of postal administration ‘the country en- joys under democratic rtle. Packing"House Prosperity. * During the greater part of the year all the agencies of publicity exploited the huge profits of war realized by many American industries. Munitions plants have been pictured as golden mints, steel mills rivaling the richest days of the Klondike, and “war brides” yielding profits surpassing the dreams of avarice. Eliminating the margin of fiction in these speculative tales, there still remains a large foundation for fat dividends or huge reserves, Yet while publicity played these as favorites, equally opulent money- makers dodged the high lights and quietly pulled down a record measure of prosperity. The five big packing companies are closing up the largest and most profitable business year in their history. Figures compiled by the Chicago Investment News, based on returns for ten months and estimates for November and Decem- ber, indicate an aggregate business for the cal- endar year of $2,000,000,000,' an increase of $659,000,000 over 1915.. War accounts for the greater part of the increase, Up to June 30 last, exports of fresh meat increased 35 per cent over 1915 and 325 per cent over 1914, The extent of the profits from this vastly increased volume of, busines§ cannot be deter- mined by the packers’ ratio of'2 per cent. The frequency of the turnover and the income from by-products are unknown ‘but important factors in the size of the total. ‘The increased value of the latter last year surpassed the entire profit on cattle, and the price uplift thus far has not hesitated an instant, While the big five deal almost wholly in meat products, their famous efficiency methods which “utilizes everything but the squeal,” derives addi- tional luster from the perfection of their melons. A select few picked for the holiday cutting hold $110,000,000 in liquid sweetness. It is hjghly probable those participating in the feast will avoid unseemly references to the high cost of living. An official survey of what remains of the Kan- sas City Southern railroad reveals a capitaliza- tion of $99,000,000 in round numbers on a property that can be reproduced for $46,000,000. The figures closely resemble a fifty-fifty split by the promoters, which shows rare modesty on the part of anyone from Missouri An insurance authority places the male suicide rate for 1915 per 100,000 population at 24.1, and that of females at 7.7. Various explanations are offered for the surprisingly higher rate, but all blend into the mental depression’ occasioned by the wreck of the notion that man is the sole boss of the works. Automobile crooks admit having touched in- surance companies for hundreds of thousands of dollars through padded policies on cars rescued from junkpiles. Unless the companies admit the touch the country is justified in holding the tal- ented profession immune to mikery. — Nebraska does not go dry for five months yet, and that time was decreed for tHe particular pur- pose of permitting those engaged in the liquor traffic to arrange to discontinue business. It is up to them to heed the notice and be ready for the curtain drop. Literary Digest. Boston wants the same things of the base ball evangelist that the rest have had, but Mr. Joseph Edgar Chamberlain says he is not giving it. In- stead, he seems to be “deliberately doing less in the way of shocking and startling than he did in Paterson and Philadelphia—toning himself down, diluting himself, cajoling the Unitarians (part of the time), throwing bouquets to Dr. Channing, ting out the roughest passages.” Baston, it ap- pears, doesn’t altogether feel pleased, for when they bargained for “Billy” Sunday they knew what it was they asked for. The writer for The Transcript feels that Sunday is going to have a harder game to play in Boston than he ever played before: “He is himself up against diminishing energy and a weakening voice. And then, even though the tabernacle audience may be very receptive, it has probably the Boston habit of analyzing a speaker in a pretty thorough fashion. No doubt the audience, or the major part of it, will demand the full rendition of the regular “Billy” Sunday thing. What came we out for to see? Not a dignified rhetorician, surely. Generally speaking, the more extraordinary the things reported of Sunday in the last seven or eight years since he became a national figure, the more fierce the de- mand is upon “Billy” for shocking words and antics. He has to make good along that line ac- cording to a more and more startling standard. His performance is like eating opium—you have to eat more and more all the while in order to get the effect. If Sunday does not do a little more in each place than he did in the last place, he is doing less. “And yet, is that what he is doing? Mani- festly not. One effect will be that if Sunday has great spiritual powers, he will have to reveal them more truly and strikingly than he has ever’ revealed them before. That is the direction in which he will really have to make good. Just in the proportion that he suppresses the mounte- bank, he will have to make the prophet appear. If there is no prophet there—then, as he would put it himself, there is nothing doing. . “Suppose he does it. Suppose he keeps on ex- purgating himself. Suppose he succeeds in pleas- ing the Unitarians. ‘Suppose he succeeds i re- placing monkey-shines with spirituality and gets away with it. Suppose he ‘gets’ his audiences on a new basis of serious evangelistic power. Well, then, the Boston-and-‘Billy’-Sunday boot will be on exactly the other foot. He will be influenced more than he will influence. This town will re- main the same, but ‘Billy’ will be different. “Instead of ‘Billy’ Sunday converting Boston, it will be Boston that will have’ converted ‘Billy’ Sunday. “One thing about ‘Billy’ Sunday’s. preaching may go less easy with the Boston bleachers than it has gone with others. It is the electric trick of the mian. Original discourse has always been a characteristic thing about Boston. Boston got out of Habit of echoing long ago. The other day Sunday said that theologically he stands' about where Cotton Mather stood. That is evi- dent. But Cotton Mather, one of the earliest of Boston’s preachers, was an eminently original man. Boston began that way and kept on the original tack right along. It even accepted (for a time), in the earliest days, a woman preacher, Anne Hutchinson, because she was so original.” The Hair of the Dog ‘Washington Pos One of the kind of boys that almost anyone! who has ever been a boy can understand shied a stone at a small girl acquaintance the other day. By way of punishment the judge sentenced him to throw 1,000 stones at an old tin can, and the truant officer saw that the sentence was car- ried out. The first forty throws were great fun, but after that the youth’s interest lagged. There was a later progression from real work to a sense of terrible judgment enforced. The 1,000th dornic passed through space, leaving behind ‘a penitent boy with tear-stained face and a swollen arm. He says he isn't ever going to do it any more, Perhaps the highest form of wisdom consists in this character of punishment. Deprivation of inherent rights through imprisonment or similar . means may be necessary, if only to protect the liberty of others. Yet if some way could be ‘developed to show the “exceeding sinfulness of sin” greater reformatory conquests” might be achieved. It is not enough that a work should have been wrought merely by afflicting the of- fender with a sense of what he has lost. If that alone were achieved, recovered liberty - would mean merely an opportunity for fresh lawless- ness. yThe habitual gambler is sorry that he has lost his “roll,” for he feels sure that if he had it back he would win next time. In some fields of the curative processes the rescription of the hair of the dog as a remedy or the bite has been found to work out well. The tales of Midas illustrates the point. Some cures for alcoholiém adopt the simple expedient of putting the cherished liquor into everything— the coffee, the food, the bath—until the victim loathes sight, taste and smell of his old deceiver. Some day, too, it may be possible to work equal healing by resort to moral expedients sug- gested 2000 years ago., We consider it wildly impracticable to give the demander more than his ‘dues and then heap the measure to overflow- ing. Yet the injunctign is: “If thine enemy hun- ger, feed him; if he ‘thirst, give him drink; for i‘:t s&andning thou shalt heap coals of fire on his ead. People and Events Here's one way of bringing the H. C. L. down a peg. “The “cash and carry” system inaugu- rated by a grocer at Fond du Lac, Wis., cuts the cost 5 per cent for cash and an additional 5 per cent to the customer for delivering the goods. The sourest recluse in all Rhode Island, Mrs. Elizabeth Sweet, passed away at Providence. A diligent search for money she was known to pos- sess was fruitless until one of the searchers up- set Lizzie's favorite chair. The bottom dropped out and also $12,000 in cash and securities, A novel ‘question confrants the probate court of Portsmouth, N. H. Can an American citizen legally will the bulk of his estate to an English regiment? Charles A. Austin, an eccentric resi- dent, wrote the provision into his will and the court is asked-to declare it void as contrary to public policy. The champion mine owner in the feminine world is Miss Anna Durkee of Oatman, Ariz. On a friendly gold mine tip, two years ago, Miss Durkee took a flier and now owns mining prop- erty valued up in six figures. Scores of mere men are on her payroll, but she does all the bossing by her lonesome. “Don't make me laugh, my lips are cracked,” chuckled James E. Wetz, Chicago egg king, as he listened to the clatter of the consumers. *I was stung last year,” he murmured, “and the ublic laughed good and plenty. © Just because Eens quit laying isn’t any reason why I shouldn't hang on to mine. Seventy cents a dozen by Feb- ruary 1 looks good to me.” Looks like a cinch, but you can't tell what will hatch out. The drug habit is turning big money into the pockets of a few doctors willing to take a chance. Philadelphia authorities have possession of 1,000 prescriptions for narcotics written by one doctor. Investigation shows the addicts range from children of 12 years up to adults of 30. In South Philadelphia children victims of the habit are utonishinx?y numerous. In Kansas City one drug store does a land-office business in dope, young and old forming a regular procession from the doctors to the dope shop. A large number of victims have been arrested and penalized. One girl victim touched the core of the evil when she asked the court: “Why should we be the vic- tims and not those who carry on the traffic?” The court could not answer. Charlotte Cushman, and Fanny Davenport, cut- of his horses instantly. HE BEE: OMAHA, MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1916. { Thought Nugget for the Day. There is always a best way_of doing everything, if it be to boil an egg.— Ralph Waldo Emerson. One Year Ago Today in the War. Henry Ford's peace crusaders sailed from New York. Kitchener, Asquith and Balfour met French chiefs in council of war at Ca- lais. Austrians forced part of Italian line at Mt. Nero, but were driven out again. England confirmed Turkish claim that British army in Mesopotamia was retreating on base, 105 miles below Bagdad. In Omaha Thirty Years Ago. An entertainment whs held at the residence of A. J. Poppleton in the way of a fair for the benefit of the Vassar fund. The coal shed of the Union Pacific on South Thirteenth street, near the track, will be torn down in a few days and the remaining supply of coal will be taken to another place. Blake, Bruce & Co., a wholesale drug firm of Ottumwa, la., are to re- move to this city. son & Co, With Sloan, John- the wholesale grocery house, the firm has rented the six- story building of McGavock on Ninth and Leavenworth streets, and will jointly occupy it. John Barker, living in West Omaha, met with a damaging accident. He was engaged in grading on Twenty- fiftth and Cuming streets when the bank caved in upon him, killing both An important meeting of the Methodists was held in this city to discuss the matter of securing the lo- cation of the new Methodist univer- sity here. Mrs. E. P, Peck gave a reception, at which she was assisted in receiving by Mesdames Richardson, McCord, Lander, Nye, Bradford, Misses Rich- ardson, Knight and Ijams. Mrs. Wakefield entertained a few friends at an informal card party. The guests were Messrs, and Mesdames Troxell, Orr.,, John Brady, Fred Gray, Cady, Van Kuren, Williams and Dr. and Mrs. Hoffman. This Day in History. 1783—Washington bade farewell to’ his officers at Fraunce's tavern, in New York. 1795-~Thomas Carlyle, famous Eng- lish historian and philosopher, born. Died February 4, 1881, 1816— Benjamin Silliman, one of the foremost chemists of his time, born at New Haven. Died there January 14, 1885. 1818—William W. Loring, an Amer- ican general, who became a pasha in the army of the khedive of Egypt, born at Wilmington, N. C. Died in New York, December 30, 1886. 1827—First steam vessels in the British navy were placed in commis- sion.~ 1839—1In the whig mational conven- tion at Harrisburg, William Henry Harrison of Ohio was made presi- denial candidate of the reunited party. 1850—Twenty-seven inmates of the state insane hospital at ‘Augusta, Me., perished in a fire that destroyed the building. 1890 — Justin McCarthy elected leader of the Irish nationalists in op- position to Mr. Parnell. 1891—A lunatic named Norcross at- tempted to assassinate Russell Sage in New York by exploding a bomb. 1894—Leon Abbett, former gover- nor of New Jersey, died in Jersey City. Born in Philadelphia, October 8, 1836. The Day We Celebrate. Constantine J. Smyth is 57 years old today. He has served on the school board and in the legislature and as assistant to the attorney general under the Wilson administration, and is thought by his friends to be in line for a ‘federal judgeship. Delmer C. Eldridge today celebrates his fiftieth birthday. He is vice presi- dent of the Farmers Co-operative State Union. 5 Lillian Russell. (Mrs. Alexander P. Moore), for many years a leading light opera star of the, American stage, born at Clinton, Ia., fifty-five years ago today. 3 Charles Holmes Herty, president of the American Chemical society, born at Milledgeville, Ga., torty,nlne years ago today. Frank J. Gould, youngest son of the late Jay Gould, born in New York thirty-nine years ago today. Warren Garst, former governor of Towa, born at Dayton, O., sixty-six years ago today. John F. Collins, outfielder of the Chicago American league base ball team, born at Charlestown, Mass., thirty years ago today. Robert J. Shawkey, pitcher of the New York American league base ball team, born at Brookfield, Pa., twenty- six years ago today. Jesse Burkett, veteran base ball player and manager, born at Wheeling, W. Va., turt_y-slx years ago today. Timely Jottings and Reminders. The Sixty-fourth congress assembles today for its final work of legislation. Pope Benedict will hold a secret donsistory today and a public con- sistory Thursday, at which he will create new cardinals. An économy campaign of nation- wide extent is to be launched by American farmers at the Fourth Na- tional Conference on Marketing and Farm Credits, opening in Chicago to- day. Many important cases are docketed for hearing before the supreme court of the United States, which recon- venes today after a recess over the Thanksgiving holidays. An officlal recount of the vote of New Hampshire for president is to be commenced by the secretary of state at Concord today. Secretary of War Baker has called the Council of National Defense and the Advisory commission connected with it, to meet in Washington today for organization purposes. The libel suit brought against the German submarine Deutschland for the sinking of the tug T. A. Scott, jr., is to be heard in the federal court at Hartford, Conn. today. Storyette of the Day. The district trustee was addressing a school in Ohlo. “Children,” said he, “I want to talk to you for a few moments about one of the most wonderful, one of the most lm&on.n.nt organs in the whole world. /hat is it that throbs away, beats away, never stopping, never ceaging, whether you wake or sleep, night or day, week in and week out, month in and month out, year in and year out, without any volition on your part, hidden away in the depths, as it were, unseen by you, throbbing, throbbing, throbbing, rythmically all your life long?"” During the pause for oratorical ef- fect a small voice was heard: “I know—it's the gas meter."— Cleveland Plain Dealer. ThePees LeHer; Push for Tanneries and Leather Works. Council Bluffs, la., Dec. 3.—To the Editor of The Bee: As ome of l}‘lc first subscribéers of The Bee, in 1871, I must confess that The Bee has al- ways urged a constructive policy for Omaha. [ have not always liked cer- tain policies, especially when they got up a joke bill and crammed it down the throat of the Magic City, telling of the great benefit South Omaha would derive by annexation. The time was not ripe for such a union, but Omaha always looked at the $500,000 or more annual taxes it could make good use of in the north city. Of course in the end it will come out all right for both cities, but not in my lifetime, and, as a property owner of what was the best city on earth for its age, my interests as well as of all property owners are at this time. But that is now settled. So let us all, like The Bee, push for the great- est city in the northwest. 1 have read your editorial on six good suggestions that should be taken up and discussed and not passed up. The writer has worked in the leather industry since 1869, and should know what he is talking about as to the suggestion of a tannery. Any schoolboy should know the benfifs to a city of such an industry, and the writer has known the citizens and Commercial club to boost for lesser enterprises. 1 never could understand why there is so lit- - tle boosting for a tannery, with prac- tically all the raw material right in the city, the best customer (the mid- dle west) right at our door, and the great number of other allied enter- prises. Of course it takes capital, but the Gmaha Robe and Tanning com- pany has started the ball rolling, and, while T am not authorized to talk for it, T believe that with the proper backing they could do much more, because I have time and again been unable to get leather suitable for my purpose of them, as harness leather is not a leader in their line. 1 be- lieve with proper support they could sell more of this product than in the taxidermist and fur-tanning line. They tan a fine shoe leather, if I am any judge, though harness leather is my hobby, and while the auto has cut into this line materially, there will al- ways be horses, and leather is as staple as gold, for it has tripled in price in twenty-five years. J. G. BLESSING. Limit the Grist of Bills, Utica, Neb., Dec. 3.—To the Editor of The Bee: I am writing all mem- bers of the house, asking their co- operation in an effort to reduce the vast number of bills presented to the house for consideration. All old members fully appreciate the physical Impossibility of consid- ering as many bills as are usually pre- sented. Last session about 1,300 were introduced, of which only a small per cent became laws. One member in- troduced thirty-two; the writer con- fesses with embarrassment to placing his name on thirteen. For the benefit of new members 1 will explain that it is impossible to effectively defend thirteen, much less thirty-two bills, befdre the various committees and on the floor. Saturday sessions are not well at- tended, because so many members go home. Night sessions are poorly at- tended, and the members are then more inclined to play pranks than do serious work. Aside from the impos- sibility of handling so many bills, there is a large expense connected with preparing and printing the bills, 50 per cent of which no doubt will land in the waste basket through lack of time to handle. The result of this condition is that near the close of every session the speaker is .forced to appoint a sift- ing committee, which is forced ta slaughter bills without fear or favor in order to clear the calendar for adjournment. Now why could not each member _npt a.sihlA own sifting committee? All —i bills can then be given careful con- sideration and we cannot be tg(-t'used of presenting the state with 11!-con- sidered legislation. And, too, if we limit the number of bills we can es- cape the embarrassment of introduc- ing bills by request in which we can find no merit. 1 have discussed this condition with many old members and leaders, in- cluding Speaker George Jackson, who, we must all admit, irrespective of } party, is one of the best speakers that ever presided, and all favor some action being taken. I propose a rule be made limiting each member to five bills. GEORGE LIGGETT, JR. The Fate of Mexico. La Platte, Neb, Dec. 3.—To the Editor of The Bee: The political at- mosphere is pretty well laden with opinions on the subject of Mexico and what action our authorities should en- force in dealing with our near neigh- bors. In the early days of the Span- ish-American war, the prime minister of the British government made a public address in which he classed the powers of the earth in two classes, the living and the dying. The speech aroused great interest, and was ac- cepted as a prophecy, like that made a couple of years before the civil war by Abraham Lincoln, who boldly /de- clared that this nation could not ex- ist half slave and half free. As to Mexico, the people should know that the frail, so-called repub- lic is composed of the dying classes of the earth, who must yield their place to the superior race. This is the teaching of history. Briefly, the United States should take possession of Mexico and establish a protectorate over that inferior people. They, of themselves, are incapable of Self-BOV- pmumm l ernment. The principle that all men are created equal fails to hold true when applied to Mexico. A superior power will be compelled to assume control of that land if they are ever to enjoy freedom. To suppose that the United States will maintain 100,000 soldiers along the Rio Grande is a weak and vain conclusion.® The subject must be met and disposed of in a statesmanlike manner. If we had a president of more force of character the American-Mexico crisis would soon pass and peace would rule. With a patched-up delay and all kinds of compromises we need not expect much heroic action from the present head of our republic. Safety first sounds cowardly and silly, Duty first flavors of the Abraham Lincoln statesmanship. JASPER BLINES. Wants Bigger Street Car Signs. Omaha, Dec. 3.—To the Editor of The Bee: Why don't our street car company adopt some better plan, so that a person can tell at night or day which way a car is going. All cities throughout the country have signs, either across the top or on both sides, or at either end on top. The best thing 1 have seen is the sign across the top, for instance, on the. Park line, could say, “Hanscom Park Line, West Side,”” or, “Hanscom Park Line, East Side”—then have these signs to operate by the conductor by pulling a rod which turns the sign over, show- ing, “Sixteenth Street, North Twepty- fourth Street, Florence’—another could say, {Sixteenth Street, North Twenty-fourth Street, Forest Lawn,” and so on. All cars could be labeled * so that a person could tell which way a car is going from either side of car. The ancient way we have now, you must get up close to the front of the car or on one side only, to find out where it is going. Why don't we adopt the near-sfle stop again? After all fooling around in this city, you will find that most people now favor the near side. J. THOMPSON, 1033 South Thirty-first Street. MIRTHFUL REMARKS. went to our cashier's wedding yester- \ the bride dressed?” appropri . She wore a dress of changeable silk."—Baltimore American. “Can you loan me five beans?" “My boy, why do you speak of beans when you mean dollars? There's no comparison.” “Oh, I don’t know. The bean now has a & .( N 1 A recognized standing as a standard of value.” Loutsville Courler-Journal. — Winter Tourist Fares Via Rock Island Lines (FROM OMAHA.) Jacksonyille, Fla., and return Lake City, Fla., and return . Tallahassee,” Fla., and return St. Augustine, Fla., and return Palm Beach, Fla., and return . Tampa, Fla., and return ..... Key West, Fla., and return .. Savannah, Ga., and retum ... Mobile, Ala., and return ...... New Orleans, La., and return Pensacola, Fla., and return .. Thomasville, Ga., and return Augusta, Ga., and return . Aiken, S. C., and return .. Charleston, 8. C., and return . Columbia, 8. C., and return .. Jackson, Miss., and return . Meridian, Miss., and return . Havana, Cuba, and return, via Key West, or steamer Havana, A Cuba, and return, steamer ...$54.56 .$54.56 ++0.$54.56 ...$56.86 ...$73.06 ...$66.16 ...$87.66 ...$54.56 ..$44.31 ¢ ..$44.31 .$46.91 .$54.56 .$52.77 .$53.67 ...$84.56 .$83.67 ....$38.90 . ...$38.90 Tampa and via New Orleans and .$92.15 $94.80 Jacksonville, Fla., and return, via Washington and rail, or via Baltimore and steamer; same route both di- rections -$74.40 CIRCUIT TOURS Jacksonville, Fla., and return, via New Orleans in one direction, direct routes in opposite direction ...$65.56 Jacksonville, Fla., and return, in one direction via direct routes; in opposite direction via Washington, D. C., and rail, or Baltimore and steamer ...$63.76 Havana, Cuba, and return, one way via New Orleans, Jacksonville and Key West, or Port Tampa and steamer; other way via Jacksonville, thence direct routes cees...$111.80 Havana, Cuba, and return, one way via Washington and rail, or Baltimore and steamer to Jacksonville, thence Key West or Port Tampa and steamer; other way via Jacksonville, thence direct routes. ......$126.50 Tickets on Sale Daily, with Long Limits and Very Liberal Stopovers. Automatic Block Signals Finest Modern All-Steel Equipment Superb Dining Car Service Chicago-Nebraska Limited at 6:08 P. M., Daily Tickets, reservations and informa- Rock Island J. S. tion at Rock Island office. Phone, write or call McNALLY, D. P. A. Fourteenth and Farnam Sts. Phone Douglas 428.