Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, December 5, 1916, Page 6

| THE OMAHA DAILY BEE S0 POW ARD ROSEWATER. \’nc'ron"Rés;sfi'}\i'r:l{.’EDinR. THE BEE PUBLISHING COMPANY, PROPRIETOR. Entered at num:x postoffice as second-class matter. /TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. By Carrier By Mall 65 $5.00 ' | Daily and Sunday Y | ' Daily without Sunday... Evening and Sunday Evening without Sunda: A '\ Sunday y.. > » P Daily and Sunday Bee, thres years in advance, $10.00. Send motiee of change of address or irregularity in de- Jivery to Omaha Bee, Circulat rtment L. 4.00 600 4.00 Remit by draft, express or postal order. Only 2-cent stamps taken in payment of small accounts. Personai checke, except on Omaha and eastern exchange, not accepted i " OFFICES. Omaha—The Bee Building South Omaha—3318 N street. luffs—14 North Main stgeet 326 Little Building. Chicago—$18 People's Gas Bullding New York—Room 803, 236 Fifth avenue ew Bank of Commerc 5 Fourte street [ CORRESPONDENCE. || Address communications relating to news and editorial [' matter to Omaha Bee, Editorial Department, " "NOVEMBER CIRCULATION. 55,483 Daily—Sunday 50,037. Dwight Willlams, b:lrcuh:’u«[m m-nnn:-;.! ;rn:-; !'l;: 'y 1 aworn, T atetlon for tha month of November, 1916, was 55,483 4 60,037 Sunday. Aty SHGHT WILLIAMS, Clroulation Manhger w Bubscribed in my vrewm‘; and sworn to before me December, 1916, fhinase Y C‘t W. CARLSON, Notary Public. Subscribers leaving the city temporarily should have The Bee mailed to them. Ad- dress will be changed as often as vequired. = - All ready for the president's message! —— | ] | | | | { i The Sixty-fourth congress is off for the last . heat, Just by way of safety, Villa's autograph on the Mcxican‘promcol might help some. When it comes to cabjhet changes it tooks as if King George might beat President Wilson to it. —— The sole redeeming feature of Villa's opera- tions lies in the pep shot into news from Mexico. — i i { i ! , ( Prosperity records in Omaha crowd so fast upon each other that there isn't room for a back- ward slip. Note, however, that Mr, Bryan has his invi- ‘tation to eat dinner at the White House ahead of “Art” Mullen. 3 | i 1 l | It 1 When it comes to pulling off a big show With | publi to match, Old Father Knickerbocker ;g its the high spots every time, ' 3 Still, much trouble and worry might be chased | away by a more general distribution of the joy- | riding facilities of fmunicipal limousines, P! h / That attempted auto theft, stopped by a sleep- i ing child in the back seat, suggests an idea’ A ~(hlmmy joccupant might serve as a “scarecrow” i while the car stands parked How many times has Chihuahua been taken land re-taken and re-re-taken? Does Mexican Il warfare resemble anything more thyn it docs a qun‘e t}i battledore and shuttlecock? 5 —— _ lIn most matters it is all in the point of view. When the Carranza crowd lose ground they “re- or “retreat,” but when Villa meets rebuff always “fiees™ to the mountains. ——— ' From his lofty perch on the crest = Mount Calm, Colonel Bryan will keep his eye on Wash- ngton. Hope and habit woven through twenty cars of struggle is difficult to shake off. X ; Special referendum election today the street lighting contract that will give us’ 1,000 nore electric street lamps with no added outlay. te for a bigger, better, brighter and lighter )mahat 0 R ~ The cession of Constantigople and the Darda- lles to Russia marks the high level ofj allied irosity. The matter of delivering the goods s a detajl which Russia is welcome to attend to leisure. 5 | ’ - Weather bureau observers lend the weight of hority to the general belief that November an uncommonly dry month in Nebraska. t'settles it. Reservations on the waterwagon ¢ now in order. 1t is within the province of the speaker to clear ithe galleries any time he so orders, Let Champ itry out his scheme of expediting business by re- oving-the temptation to perpetrate oratory and how it works.\ . Perhaps no other incident so clearly measures he havoc wrought by the blood lust of war on rican sensibilities than the current talk of ting death on unfit babies. The suggestion is hy of the head hunters of Borngo or the nditry of Mexjco. \ S ——— 'l European critics of the United States haye 0 fmvmcn which they persistently exploit. One is that we are a greedy, mercenary people ho have capitalized the war for our own profit. he other is that we are a sentimental and im- tical folk who would like to stop the war before it has been fought out to a definite con- clusion. ' Nobody attenipts to reconcilel these conflicting riti Nobody tries to explain how it comes that a mercenary people whose unprece- ted prosperity is stained with blood should the same time be so eager o end the blood- That is (‘ot the ‘way mercenary people it act. N = - What prosperity has come to this country out | of Europe's calamity is not of our seeking.” We not want the war. If it had been possible us to have prevented it, there would have been war. When it came and American business ind commerce and finance were demoralized and rupted, we proceéded to adjust ourselves to conditions and take care of our own, ie American people have never sought good tune in the misfortune of others. Any pros- ty that mmn. to them out of Europe's devas- n and suffering they would instantly forego ¢ could thereby establish peace. American people do not think of this war ns of prosperity. They think of it, to use age of Presi Wilson, “In deep sym- Wi the strickerrpeoples of the world upon the curse and terror of war has so pitilesshy, They think of it as the greatest cnr:% been inflicted uton the modern world, curse for which there are no compensa- Short Session Prospects. The reconvening of the Sixty-fourth congress immediately brings up the question: “What may be expected from its labors?” It is of record that short sessions are usually devoid of really constructive legislation. The law-makers meet the first Monday in December only to adjourn in less than three weeks for the holjdays and, when they get down to business after the New Year, they have scarce sixty lays ahead of them’before the clock sounds ¢he session’s death-knell. In this brief time all the big appropriation bills for the conduct of the different departments of gov- ernment must be considered and enacted and this mere budgetary work is year by year becoming more detailed and more exacting.of attention, and takes more and more time, particularly in view of the growing practice of making appro- priation items for foundations for far-reaching legislation. \ True, several important measures remain over from the preceding sessions in various more or less advanced stages of consideratiom and these will obviously have the first call, but they were left over for the very reason that they invite con- troversy, chief among them the program for deal- ing with the threatened railroad strike of last fall. But just a few. strongly fought proposals; even if finally enacted, are eénough to block the possibility of comprehensive law-making on other subjects. It is a safe assumption, then, that short session prospects will not. go much beyond the appropria- tion bills and two or three pieces of general legis- lation which the president will personally select and drive through by the sheer force of his executive power, Limiting Servige of the Canal. The decision of the United States supreme court in the rate case, involving the request of inland cities to be placed on a parity with coast terminals, is likely to bg far-reaching in its final effects. Not enoughyis'teld in the press dis- patches to give awclear notion of exactly what principle the court laid down, but it was shown that the permission given by the Interstate Com- merce commission to railroads to adjust their rates to meet water competition between thé At- lantic and the Pacific ‘cdasts applies only to the actual ports and not to inland points. First re- sult of this will be to give the railroads control of the freight situation. The main advantage of water transportation is its cheapness, and if the railroads are to be allowed to adjust their rates to smeet this, the issue is plain. Freight will travel by rail, and the service of the canal will thus be restricted. A secondary result will be that the traffic that does not fall within the scope of canal competition will be’charged with the deficit accruing from the\lowering of rates neces- saty to give the coastal cities their advantage. This, plainly stated, means that Omaha in com- mon with all other points inlaid must con- tribute to mlake up the loss incident to hauling goods to San Francisco by rail as cheaply as by water. Some further readjustment of rates will /,he required .if the great central portion of the United Stdtes is to have any advantage whatever from the.canal. ————— First Cut of “Pork” is Ordered. Promptly with the fall of the speaker’s gavel, announcing that the congress is in séssion, comes the rivers and harbors appropriation bill, carry- ing a total of $32,136063. This “pork” measure has the grace this time of being framed to cost the people ten million dollars less than the last. It contains many old family items, although the Trinity river scandal does not show in the allot- ment to Texas. Onesthing that impresses the casual reader is the advantage the solid south enjoys over the rest of the country. Of course, the states aldng the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts have many “rivers and %harbors,” and must be cared for. But this fact will not overcome the cloquence of the figures, which show totals for the southern states as follows: Alabama $ 271,000 699,500 572,250 2,282,000 132,600 1223,000 064,000 238,000 1,038,000 1,144,300 1,097,000 ..$9,291,800 Almost one-third of the total amount goes to these twelve democratic states, insuring them in advance a fairly remunerative return_ for their loyalty to the dominant party. People of Ne- braska have little occasion to complain, though, for they will get some share of the $35000 al- lotted to take care of the Missouri river between Kansas City and Sioux City. E crene This Competition for Bachelors. With reference to this competition for eligible Lincoln bachelors Fhe Bee hereby takes a firm and unwavering stand for patronizing home in- dustry, We insist' Omaha boasts a greater pro- portionate number of eligible,bachelors than does Lincoln and we: boldly challenge comparison of pulchritude and pocketbook. If Lincoln bache- lors undertake to entice applicants from Omaha we will demand retaliation. This is a game more than one can_ play at and we stand up for our home town as against Lincoln and all the world. No recent deliverance ~from *the esteemed bench of Nebraska approachtes in judicial vigor, depth of reasoning and sweep of legal perspira- tion, the remarkable dicta of Judge Fred Jeffers on Woodcraft, The legal luminary of Hamilton county demonstrated by practice and precept that sawing wood unites pioneer talent with mod- ern speed and produces a suppleness of backbone highly desirable on the bench. The"Jeffers pre- cedent is bound to go' chortling down the corri- dors of courts bearing a message of jowful ex- ercise to perplexed Solomons. — If the federal trade commission is alive to its opportunities instant action_should be taken to check paper wastage in congress. Four-fifths of the congressional wastage might be saved without disturbing the machinery of government. No doubt congress will “heed the commission's economy hints as cheerily as did the newspaper publishers last summer, Of course, 'this is no war of aggression or land-greed over in Europe, though Russia wants Constantinople and the Dardanelles, Ttaly ex- pects to take Austria’s Adriatic provinces, Ger- many would hold onto Belgium, France desires to-tegain Alsace-Lorraine, and just a few other little minor considerations like that. ‘ The A B C of the Embargo ‘Minneapolis Journal. Foodstuffs are high, They tend to go higher. This makes the problem of living a serious one in many families. The natural question is, What makes food high-priced? and the ready answer is, The war demand. Hungry Europe, busy with fighting, has little time to produce food, and so competes in the markets for the food we produce. | At about this juncture it occurs to sgmeone to suggest an embargo on food products. \\'hf let Europe have the food, when we need it our- selves? Why not keep it at home, remove the competitive buying tiat sends prices up, and so let everyone here live more cheaply As if it were as simple as that! The embargo is a boomerang that returns to smite him who hurls it. So Jefferson found, when he tried it in 1808. It would pay the embargoists to read the history of that little experiment in militant ¢co- nomics. The United States was smitten between the eyes by that bomgsang embargo, and stag- gered badly until congress acted But surely we are justified in Keeping for our- selves the necessities of life! Yes, but what are the necessitics of life? Food is only one of them. Clothing and shoes are quite necessary, ‘too. They are gaing up in price. Shall we then put an embargo on wool and cotton and leather? For the farmer who produces our food.” 11 chinery is a necessity. Steel is its principal component, and steel is going wp because of the foreign demand. Shall we keep all our steel at home? The steel company is crowding the price upward, unduly, we believe. But that is another quéstion, For the railroads, which transport our food and our fuel, and which find themselves unable to get enough cars to do the work, and unab'e io procure new cars inside of a year from the mak- crs, steel is a necessity of life. Shall we put an embargo on steel? There is another side to the question. We are waxing fat-and prosperous out of our war trade, the munitions we make, the war supplics we sell. Food is only one item in the hig hills of goods the people of Europe are buying in our markets, }rnw can we refuse to sell them-food, and continue to sell them shells?” How can we clothe them and arm them and equip them, but decline to feed them? And if we make the embargo logical, if we make it cover the other necessities of life hesides food, hall we not close up our mills and our factories, at the same time we are denying lhc] farmer his just share in the profits of the war business? No, the embargo idea won't stand analysis. Am.erica is part of the world, and must remain so. \ R e Roumania’s Capital Bucharest, the Roumanian capital, whjch fig- ures so largely in the news of the day, is a city of over 300,000 population. s The name of Bucharest is spelled in no fewer than seven different ways, and no one seems to be able tor agree as to the origin or meaning of the word. Bucharest stands in a swampy plain traversed from northeast to southwest by the Dimbovitza {)ivtr. on the bank of which the city is mainly uilt, ; . Modern historians declare that Bucharest was originally a fortress built on the site of the Daco- Roman Thyanus to command the approaches to Tirgovishtea. < 4 After having been nearly destroyed by the Turks in 1595; Bucharest was restored again, and in the year 1698 was chosen by Prince Constan- tine Brancovan for his capftal. In 1828 Bucharest was occupied by the Rus- sians, who, the following year, made it over to the prince of Wallachia. It was again held by the Russians in 18534, and on their departure an Austrian garrison took possession and kept’| it until 1857, To the west and sauthwest, Bucharest is sheltered by a low range of hills, but on all other sides the land“stretches acrgss marsh and low- lands ‘away to the sky line, to where the great Wallachian plain sweep down to the Black Sea. The brightly colored tumes of the gypsies and Roumanians, the Russian coachmen or sleigh driver and the curious cries of the peddlers who throng its streets, lend to Bucharest the unmis- takable air of the east, so common to the Balkans. Bucharest has been called the/ “Paris of the east,” and in the matter of boulevards and public buildings, it certainly maintains the Paris tradi- tion, It has a multitude of gilded turréts and cupolas, which lend to the city a certain pictur- esqueness in_which, otherwise, it might be lack- ing by reason of its essentially modern character. One of the most striking buildings in Buchar- est is the cathedral, which was commenced in the year 1656, Built in the form of a Greek cross and surrounded by a broad cloister, it has three tow- ers, and standing as it does on high ground, it overlooks the whole of the city and commands a splendid view of the distant Carpathians. Bucharest has three main boulevards, the Plevna, Lipscani add Vasaresci, which skirt the left bank of the Dimbovitza river, while “the Elizabeth boulevard and the famous Calea Vic- toreie, or “Avenne of Victory,” whicll commem- orates the Roumanian successes at Plevma, run out, east and west, respectively, from the Lips- cani and megt a broad road which, practically encircles the city. People and Events Terre Haute's municipal coal mine knocked local prices all right and proved so great a suc- cess that an additional fifty acres of coal land has been leased fer immediate working, Two farmer brothers near Troy, Ala., saved the surplus of their cotton crops since 1913, Last month they sold their holdings Yor $90,000. Can any two kings of the corn belt match it? A proposition lifting th€ satary of the cit§ and county attorney of gan Francisco from $5,000 to $10,000, with immunity from election and re- call for several years, was submitted to the voters at the last election. They jumped on it with both feet by a majority of 62,000, leaving it as lifeless as a pure food amendment. Organizations of real estate owners in Phila- delphia are vigorously resisting a tax increase of 20 cents, which will make the municipal tax rate $1.20 per $1,000 of yaluation. The opposi- tion contends that real estate already is excessive- ly burdened, and that the increase should be slapped on invisible wealth -which notoriously escapes its share of government burdens. A shrewd old digger of wealth in a hole in the ground is Lew Dod{e of Greeley, Colo, Lew had touched many a promising prospect in his day and none came up to the promise. Recalling these bygone illusions, he refused to get excited when told he had inherited a fortune of $100,000. Instead he puffed his pipe, grabbed his pick and shovel and rdnarkedé:o “I'm on the job until I see the color of the coin.” . Three years ago Chicago had an excess of $4,062,000 in revenue over outlay. Today the city finances are in the hole and going strong. Mean- while income increased but expenditures put on such speed that the formef smothered in dust. Last year the excess of expenditures over in- come was $1,500,000 and this year's excess prom- ises to give taxpayers the backache. The high cost of government is a big factor in the problem of living. Preparedness ideas are presumed to dominate New York life. All metropolitan preachments carry the tone and give the impression that prac- tice pulls with preachments. No city in this country, probably none in the world, has a larger assortment of hotels or increases the number so steadily, But the transient crowd grows and grows and overflows accommodations. Last Sat- urday night the jam was so great at all hotels that managers were forced to requisi(ior\outsid: rooms. Thought Nugget for the Day. The great majority of people who have done things that have benefited the world were not geniuses, but men and women who developed their aver- age ability and cultivated their ordi- nary talents to their fullest capacity. —Orison Sweit Marden. me Year Ago in the War. Vienna reported Austrian over Montenegrins. On the Austro-Italian line the vio- lent fighting aroumd Gorizia lessened perceptibly. War policy of Italian cabinet sus- tahned in vote of confidence by Cham- ber of Deputies. Retreating Serbian troops overtaken and defeated near Albanian border by Bulgarians. = victory In Omaha Thirty Years Ago. Mr. Chauncey Otis Howard and Miss Alice Rustin were married at the i"irst Congregational church. The bridesmaids were Misses Helen Hall and Mamie Royeg. Mr. and Mrs. Howard will make their home in Mt Pleasant addition. Miss Kittie Lowe has completed her beautiful fish set aj has sent-it to Chicago to be fired” The plates are in a dozen different designs, the platter is painted to represent water and the horder is of fish’in a conventional de- sign. Mr. Gilbert's two handsome houses on Chicago street are completed and *{; models of architecture and finish. (« e is occupied by John M. Clark and the other has been taken by a family from lowa, a Mr. and Mrs. Shriner. A pleasant surprise party was tend- ered Miss Mabel Van Ness at her par- ents' residence, 917 North Wheaton street. The wedding of Miss Laura Schamel and Henry Sautter occurred at the residence of the bride’s parents, Twen- ty-fourth and Pierce. 'Fhe ceremony was performed by Rev. J. S. Det- weiler, Rev. Dr. Foy of St. Louis, who has been appointed pastor-of the Christian church on Twentieth street, is quar- tered at 2210 Capitol avenue. The first masquerade of the season will be that of the Seamstress’ union and will be held in Cunningham's hall on the 8th. The prompter will be George Bénson. This Day In History. 1782—Martin Van Buren, eighth president of the United States, born at Kinderhook, N. Y. Died there July 24, 1862. 1816—President Madison, in a mes- sage to congress, urged the establish- ment of a national university. 1839—George A. Custer, famous soldier, born In Harrison county, Ohio. Killed in battle with the In- dians at Little Big Horn, Moptana, June 25, 1876. 1846—General Stephen W. Kearney, under orders from Washington te pro- ceed to California and establish a pro- visional government, arrived at Santa Maria. * . 1864—President Lincoln named Sal- mon P. Chase as chier justice of the supreme court of the United States. 1870—Rome declared to be the capi- tal of Italy. . 1876-—The body of Baron de Palm was cremated at Washington, Pa., this being the” first cremation per- formed in the United States. 1894—The.new parliament house in Berlin was opened by the emperor. 1904—First trackless trolley, speed ten miles an hour, began running in Berlin. s 1905—S8ir Henry Campbell Benner- man became British premier. The Day We Celebrgtse. Rome Miller is just 61. He was born in §t. Louis and started in the hotel business at Fremont in 1881, going right ahead until now he OT half a doven hotels, including e Rome, running them himself. Gus Bolton,- with the Hupp Auto- matic Mail exchange, was born De- cember 5, 1875, at Montezuma, Ia. He came to Omaha in 1898 and went into the postal service in 1900. Leo A..Hoffman, the undertaker and funeral director, is celebrating his thirty-sixth birthday. He is prominent in lodge and Catholic church circles. Dr. Irving 8. Cutter, dean of Ne- braska University Meficnl school here, is 41 years old todiy. He was born in Keene, N. H., and first entered the field of education an instruc- tor in the schools at Humboldt, Neb. Charles W. Adams, mahager of the Flanley Grain company, was born in Cedar Rapids, Ia., thirty-six years ago. V. W. Boyles, associated with his brothers in the Boyles' college, is 35 years old today. He made his mun- dane debut at Clay City, IlL Vice Admiral Sir John R. Jellicoe, who has been named first sea lord of the British admiralty, born fifty-eight years ago today. - Rear Admigal John H. Upshur, U. S. N., retired, the oldest living grad- uate of the Naval academy, born in Northampton county, Virginia, ninety- three years ago today. Lieutenant Sheyman Miles, U. 8. A., son of the formér commanding officer of the army, born thirty-four years ago today. Rt. Rev. Walter T. Sumner, Epis- copal bishop of Oregon, born at Man- chester, N. H., forty-three years ago today. Lord Decies, who married Miss Viv- ian Gould of New York, and who has been—*“doing his bit” in the British military service, born fifty years ago today. “Kid" Williams, premigqr bantam- weight pugilist of America, born in Copenhagen; Denmark, twenty-three years.ago today. Timely Jottings and Reminders. The annual convention and exhibi- tion of the Missouri State Poultry association opens at 8t. Joseph today and will continue until Saturday. A national conference of raw milk producers is to meet in Chicago to- day to consider a plan to reorganize the production and distribution ’,M whole milk in the cities. / Social insurance in all its forms is to be the subject of an international conference to be opened in Washing- ton today under the auspices of the federal bureau of labor statistics. Ex-President Taft and several oth- ers of wide prominence are on the pro- gram for addresses at the thirty-sixth annual meeting of the National Civil Service, Reform lgague, which begins its sessions today at New Haven. Storyette of the Day. Little Margaret lived i\ a gossipy neighborhood, and, being an observ- ant child, she had got some ideas into her curly head. Omne day, hav- ing done something naughty, she was sent upstairs to confe her trans- gressions in prayer. “Did you tell God all about it?” asked her mother, when she came down again. “Deed 1 /didn’t,” she declared. “Why, it would have been all over heaven in no time.'—Boston Tran- script. 3 The el fynr Problems of Dry Omaha. Omaha, Dec. 4.—To the Editor of The Bee: A few days ago 1 read a public letter asking what will be done when the dry law goes into effect with the vacant buildings and what lines could pay the present rents, “what will Omaha do” for the employes in the liquor trade? Will they be driven from the city, etc., all in true calamity form. The letter answers itself in| part by stating that many saloons are paying six times #he rent other lines could afford. Granting that all saloons pay excessive rents, the lapdlords will | not suffer greatly by change in| tenants, for since the buildjngs in gen- eral are good and well located, they will not long remain vacant. After the movings are done any surplus of store rooms can be adapted for dwell- ings and Teadily rented. It is.unlikely that any hotels or restaurants will quit business, owing| to the dry law. Breweries are so con- | stituted that much of the building is suitable for other uses, and such as are not, can be adapted by what is not prohibitive expenditure. That these converted plants would profit equal to a brewlery is not expected, nor would their gresem use handicap | their futufe product. \ There is no especial favor ,[due one by reason of his being left unem- ployed even when the liquor traffic is stopped by law; nor should it be pre- sumed here in Omaha, where the wets polled a good majority, that for the same reason there will be any prejudice against their employment in other lines—they surely will be on an equal footing and command going wages. The stopping of an industry. so large as the liquor trade must neces- sarily entail hardship to many; how- ever, it is consoling to know that there never was a time when it could have been accomplished with so little suf- fering as at present. Prohibition in| Nebraska has been impending for vears; its coming at this time should surprise no one, and that it was so| long delayed is distinctly to our dis- credit; nevertheless, let us try and make the adjustment with as little pain as is possible. T. E. B. [—— Revising Our Pronuanciation. Russel, Kan., Dec. 2.—To the Editor of The Bee: In The Bee of today, in discussing the matter of a considera- tion of American and British forms of the English language, you suggest that better would be an official convogation of ‘dictionary makers to cohsider, standard formns of pronunciation and) spelling.” ou may be interested to know that | several agencies have striven aleng the lines you so appropriately sug- gest. Several times “In fifteen years past, resolutions have been offered in congress to secure official recognition of a world moyement in the calling of an international convention to consider the possibility, feasibility and advisability of formulating defi- nitely a standard sét of characters or alphabet to represent all sounds used in human speech. This has been espe- clally urged as desirable for use in dictionaries of whatever language to indicate pronunciatiap, instead of leaving to each dictionary the formu- lation of its own code of signs to in- dicate pronunciation. The National Educational association has also done much work ‘to a similar end. For about thirty years the International Phonetic association has labored all over the world to secure a permanent standard of sound-expression for uni- versal use. By a code of its own, it has demonstrated how useful such an alphabet would be. Al No doubt many newspapers would glady assist in improving pronugcia- tion if that were easy, but at present it is too awkward and complicated to express pronunciation, for newspapers to attempt it except rarely and halt- tingly. / J. 8. RUPPENTHAL» Says Praiseworthy; Not-Blameworthy Omaha, Dec. 4.—To the Editor of The Bee: Kindly give me space for a few words in behalf of my good friend and ' Sunday school teacher, Gus Miller, who has been unfavorably criticesd for allowing the marriage of three couples under age. He has not uiied me to write this; perhaps he needs no defense; but he deserves it, nevertheless. The law is not to be lightly regarded, to be sure, even thpugh it be bad law; but evén if good, if in a certain case it would blast the prospects and happiness of lnnecen(\bnhles and pos- sibly of all parties™ concerned, it should be given a very eral inter- pretation indeed. Of courSe there is no real excuse in logic or morals for the stigma which society places upon | the ‘{llegitimate” child, but, consider- ing existing conditions, to shield a child from the unjust stigha is surely the part of kindness and good sense and good citizenship. Mr. Mhller has given names to three children about| to be born; he has shielded them in the way indicated, and perhaps he has rescued from moral destruction the child-parents responsible for their coming. Mr. Miller did right; not wrong, and he ought to be praised instead of -blamed. EDMUND R. BRUMBAUGH: Negro Disfranchisement in the South Omaha, Dec. 4.—To the Editor of The Bee: In discussing the véry seri- | of the * which have so long disg! graded the national cha The illustrjous patriots and sta men alluded’ to by Mr. Agnew wers themselves the authors of all enact- meénts and measures that were de- signed for the betterment bf the col- ored man's status. They nobdly did their best in their day and generation toward advancing the gause of lib- erty and justice: but thé tenor of Mr. Agnew’s letter, it seems to me, is well calculated to create the suspicion that he has little faith as to the capability or sincerity of those upon whom has descen the mantle of leadership of the Grand Old Party today. Mr. Lincoln said in his first inaug- ural address while speaking of that mgst infamous of all infamous legis| tive enactments, the last fugitive slg law: “The law’ is about as well re- spected as any law which runs coun- ter to the sentiment of the c#mmunity would be.”” (I give substance only.) And ‘this fact is applicable to the sit- uation so long existing in the south. The enactment of laws investing the negro with rights and privileges and then trusting the enforcement and ob- servance of those laws to his invet- erate foes, without even a shadow or pretense of national supervision in his behalf was, to say the least, a pro- ceeding the wisdom of which may well be questioned. I can easily -see that the election of president and vice president by popular vote would be a much simpler method, more direct, and hence mini- mizing opportunity for the practice of rascality. ~But, undoubtedly, the ab- sence of federal supervision would prove “a fly in the ointment,” jlst as we have it now. CYRUS D. BELI. Limitless Field for the Upliff Blair, Néb., Dec. 3.—To theflfi’ of The Bee: In this highly edu onal column of yours, I noticed an article entitled, ‘“The Retort" Medical,” the other day, wherein a doctor and a deacon are not “mincing words.” From language used the dictionary is called into evidence to prove the gentleman ritical” turn of mind is a “new-born calf,” with no reference to the high-grade steer whose com- mercial value is now recognized as such a valuable adjunct to our pres- ent-day civilization. The doctor tells us that a thousand lives in Omaha would be saved annually if proper methods were followed, by heeding the teachings of modern science and philosophy. . I concur with the doctor in this idea, but educatjon of the masses along these lines wauld “legislata” the drug store out of Bysiness, and that, with the saloons already voted out, would be almost a double calamity, affecting some of us democrats and others. The ‘‘eating of the light breakfast indicated would also be helpful in days when the high cost of living is S0 momentous. (*ommon sense is an- other ingredient. While standing on the bluffs of thé grand old Missouri in the vicinity of Blair on a bright December morn, facing the east, at break of day, would also be helpful. On with the discussion, gentlemen: ‘“‘eat, drink and be merry, for ¢n the morrow ye die,” and if you can as- sist suffering humanity in the inateria medical world, mental telepathy, higher thought, Christian Science, or even the Salvation Army route, I am with you on the great highway of human life, with vanishing clouds of war, with right thinking and correct living,~placing humanit§’on a higher plane, automatically establishing be no need of man being his brother's keeper, either mentally or physically. T. J. HILDEBRAND. LAUGHING GAS. The Mother—Do you think he has matri- monial intentions, dear? The Maid—T certainly do, mother. He tried to convinee me last night that I ap- peared to hetter advantage in that $12 hat than in the $50 one.—Puck. “When do you expect to go abroad > “Not fpr somg time. It will take several years after\the war i over for us to re- cover fro e expense of having to Uve al home."—Puck. / DEAR M2 KAGIBBLE =’ SHoOULD | MARRY A MM WR BIACK EYES — Anovs — “No HES MRt NARRED “Here's an account of a man's death which says he was In perfect health a fow minutes before he expired. Now, that's ridiculous.” “Not at all. He might have smoked too near the gasoline tank.”—Baltimore Amegi- can. \ “You don't know beans,” sneered his wifs. “1 don't know many edibles,” he protest- ed mildly, “with all\these fancy. dressings and trimmings you get up."—Louisville Couricr-Journal. ous question of disfranchisement in those southern states that joined in the attempt to disrupt the union fifty- | odd years ago, F. A. Agnew makes | use of language that leaves no room for doubt as to his position. | “I would be in favor of the plan (of | electing presidents by popular vote) were it not that it would not be a fair expression of the people so long as 50 many states suppress the votes of | many hundreds of thousands of citi-| zens, This is a question that should | have been dealt with many year: ago by the republican party when the great stalwarts, Wade, Chandler, | ete., were alive.” i It may not be amiss to mention a | few facts that bear directly wpon this branch of our subject. It would be universally , conceded that the provi- sions embodied in the second section ' of the fourteenth amendment to the| national constitution, ' if enforced, would prove an adequate remedy for | the foul poiitical condition so preva- lent in the south. The first section of the fifteenth| amendment would gertainly not be less | efficacious for dc{ng away with the| vitiatin, ractices -There is nothing \imaginary about the world-wide N Ultra- lity PIANOS and 'YER PIANQS It is the naturah recognition accorded to tangible musical merit—the lasting appreciation of supremacy of tone, touch and construction, Easy Terms Used Pianos Taken in Exchange A. HQSPE CO., 1513-1515 Douglas St. and déstructive i run frequently Persistence is the cardinal vir- tue in advertising; no matter how good advertising may be in other respects, it must be ly to be really successful. and constant- equality before the law, and there will -