The Nebraska independent. [volume], October 30, 1902, Image 1

About The Nebraska independent. [volume] (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1896-1902

Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE

                
- . .
y
VOL. XIV.
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, OCT. 30, 1902.
NO. 23.
EASTERN POLITICS
Hill and Piatt Stop th DUnlon of all
Vital Itinet-OroTtr Cleveland
to Take the Stomp
Editor Independent: One week ago
today we could not think of anything
except how to get coal. Now we can
not think of anything except the elec
tion. In the Fourth congressional district
of New Jersey Charles N. Fowler, of
the Fowler bill, is running against
DeWitt Clinton Flanagan. The state
was newly districted in 1891 and Fowl
er has a new district to run in. Gro
ver Cleveland, if Princeton, N. J., is to
speak for Flanagan on October 30,
and when you take into consideration
that Flanagan means Grover Cleve
land and that Fowler means the Fowl
er bill, there is not much to choose
from. It is not likely that the Fowler
bill will be much discussed. Mr.
Fowler will talk for protection and
Mr. Cleveland will talk for tariff-for-revenue-only.
If Mr. Fowler is elected,
he will vote for the Fowler bill and if
Mr. Flanagan is elected, he will vote
for the same bill; and therefore it
makes very little difference to the
plain people who pay the taxes who
is elected. If I were going to predict,
I would say that Flanagan will be
elected, first, because some of the re
publicans, are opposed to Fowler, and,
in the next place, there is a small dem
ocratic majority in the district. Mr.
Fowler is under the disadvantage of
having enemies in his own political
household, while he is fighting the
enemy outside.
In New York they are fighting very
much on the old lines. Bird S. Coler,
the democratic candiate for governor
David B. Hill's candiate is in favor
of tariff-for-revenue-only, while, of
course, Odell, the republican candi
date for governor, stands for protec
tion, nothing being said about the cur
.''revpey. - 71t?v democrats declared, in
their state convention, in favor of tak
ing, by the feera government, the
coal lands of Pennsylvania under the
power or right ol's eminent domain.
This has been talked about, in the
newspapers, more t Jar? any other is
sue. The democrats in New York are
making it a national issue, inasmuch
as the coal lands are to be taken by
the national government isnstead of
having the state of Pennsylvania do
it But, Bird S. Coler, the democratic
candidate for governor, does! not favor
the measure, so that Mr. David B. Hill
and his own candidate do i not agree
on what is one of the most prominent
issues. It Is hardly necessary to say,
that there Is not much prospect of
Mr. Hill's electing his candidate, not
much prospect of his carrying the New
York legislature, and not much pros
pect of his being senator again; nor
win lie u icduci mut u luugci ui
New York democracy. It is a pity,
however, that Hill is able to prevent
the policy of an income tax from be
ing discussed and can also prevent
the money question from being dis
cussed. It is unfortunate that the
politics of the great state of New
York can be made to turn on such is
sues as are of no consequence to the
plain people who pay nearly all the
taxes.
The tariff question seems to be used
for the purpose of preventing the peo
pie from seeing their own true inter
ests. If the attention of the people
could be directed to an income tax
and such a law could be enacted, there
would be no necessity for a tariff for
revenue, and then all the discussion
about a revenue tariff could be dropped
- and we would have nothing left to talk
about except an income tax, on the one
side, and a protective tariff on the
other side. When will the democrats
cease to talk about tariff reform am
revenue reform, all of which means a
tariff for revenue only? If the tariff
must be talked about, let the republi
cans talk about it. They are in favor
of a tariff for revenue as well as for
protection. If there is any difference
between the two systems the republi
cans have the best of it, because, if
there is any virtue in a revenue tariff
they have it, and if there is any vir
tue in a protective tariff, they have it.
If the democrats would only stop talk
ing about the tariff and substitute an
income tax, they would soon begin to
gain favor with the people, because
they would be advocating a system of
taxation that would fall upon wealth
instead of consumption. The poor con
sume a thousand times as much as the
rich, and therefore they now pay a
thousand times as much taxes as the
rich. We are collecting about two
hundred millions annually through the
custom houses on goods coming into
the country, which must necessarily
add to the prices of the goods, im
ported, unless foreigners, who bring
the goods here, pay the tarif duties,
which seldom happens. W ; 'are ob
liged to collect this amount for the
government annually, and as long as
we continue to collect this amount in
this way, the poor will be obliged to
pay nine hundred and ninety-nine dol
lars ($999) to every single dollar that
a rich man pays; and they will be
obliged to pay their large share out of
their wages, which they have to work
hard for, while the rich will pay their
small share out of their rent, interest
or dividends, which the poor have to
pay to the rich, in addition to paying
their large share of the tariff taxes. If
we have a tariff for revenue only (as
the democrats propose) then the tariff
duties will be high on such goods as
we do not produce or wish to produce,
and very low on such goods as we
do produce or wish to produce. This
will make high prices for goods which
we do not produce and low prices for
all goods which -we produce or wish
to produce. Low prices for goods
which we produce will necessitate low
wages and our working people will be
called upon to pay high prices for tea,
coffee and air other thingB which we
cannot produce, out of their low waaros.
Low duties on such goods as we pro-
duce (as the democrats propose) will
not only cause low prices for all such
goods, but foreign goods will have a
SECRETARY SHAW'S BLUNDER
tendency to come in and our working Pooled by the Clearing House Tarn That
people will then be out of work, and
they will be called upon to pay high
prices for their tea, coffee, and all
other articles which we cannot pro
duce and low prices for all goods
the New York Banks Were Fnrniih
iag Money to Move the Crops
In the last few days it has been
shown indubitably that the money
A Bold Forgery
which we can produce and they will stringency in New York is not caused
have to do it when they are out of by a scarcity in the west coincident
work and have no wages with which with enormous demands for crop-mov-
to pay high or low prices for any- ing The west nas plenty of money
thing. for aii -, needs. as is attested by the
Such is the practical working of a kv RtatPmpnt jmri the shinment of
tariff for revenue only. It has been millions to New York to relieve the
tried and found wanting, wherever we situation there. Nor is the stringency
have free labor. If we have a tariff caused by legitimate business. Com-
for protection only, then all goods merciai paper finds all the accommo-
which we do not produce, such as tea Nation It requires, and money is easy
and coffee, will come in free of duty for tne legitimate demans of trade,
and the prices of all such goods will commerce and industry. Where, then,
be low, and our working people can lies the source cf the trouble? It is
have them by paying the price abroad, discoverable in Wall street, where
pius transportation, pius tne cost oi speculation is the only business known,
distribution here, without paying any Gambling in stocks and bonds has
duty or tax to the federal government; absorbed the supply of money, and
the duties will be high on such goods Bince gambling is illegitimate the ef-
as we produce or desire to produce, fects of it upon the mc,hey market
and the prices of all such goods will arfi nf the same strine. Hence we say
have a tendency to be high, on ac
count of the lack of foreign competi
tion, especially If there Is a domestic
the stringency is illegitimate.
These facts seem to have escaped
0.m..4-.t..r 9 T'r'r.r fllir OtiQIir ffW
trust formed here for the purpose of ErVoT wIri Zn 7,2 tn
rwrn nmnamtAn v, r,, he has blundered again and gone to
preventing competition here. But even
if prices of commodities are high here
and we have a domestic trust here for
the purpose of keeping them up, yet if
the trust keeps our people at work.
and they have high wages, as they can
have, by exercising the power and the
right of striking for higher wages,
then a protective tariff is better than
a revenue tariff, because our working
people have their wages, with which
to pay for things, when they are high
as well as when they are low.
, We are now living under a protec
tive tariff, with plenty of trusts. We
are better off with our tariff and our
trusts than If we should have a tariff
for revenue only, because, with the
latter, foreign goods would come in
and our people would have no, worx
and no wages. The worst thing that
can happen to a nation is no work.
This means anarchy and a general
breaa-up.
The difficulty with our present tar
iff is, not that we have a tariff for pro
tection, but we have" a tariff for rev
the relief of what he flippantly de
scribes in his latest circular as the
street" The benefits to accrue to the
public from a money stingency which
would squeeze the water but of stocks
that now figure prominently on the
market and reduce values to a legiti
mate basis are not wholly material
this consideration. That they would
be Incalculable, and that a stringency
having such results would be a na
tional blessing, are patent to all. But,
leaving out that phase of the question,
we have to deal only with Secretary
Shaw's action.
Is the speculative market to be
backed up by the treasury of the Unit
ed States? Are the stock gamblers of
Wall street to have at their command
the money of the people? Are the re
sources of the public treasury to be
used in sustaining the market price of
inflated stocks and watered and ques
tionable securities?
These questions are made pertinent
by the action of Secretary Shaw in go-
enue as well as protection. Here is ing to tne rener or tne speculative
the trouble and the great defect. We market Twice within a few days he
ouerht to have a tariff for Drotection has done the very things comprehend-
only, if we have any at all. We never ed by these questions. The money of
ought to have a tariff for revenue only, tne people is even now oemg used to
On the contrary, we ought to have an facilitate the operations of those men
income tax or some kind of a tax that whose , "crimes of finance" have as
falls upon wealth, for revenue only. If tounded the world during the last half
the democrats would only stop their de.cade. And Secretary Shaw now pro
talk about revenue tariffs, and go in poses to furnish them with $20,000,000
for an income tax, there would be more from the public treasury to bol
some hope of reform. But as long ster them up in the games they are
as they keeD ud the old talk about Mpiaymgi
tariff reform, meaning a tariff for rev- If the people had a voice in the mat-
enue only, there is no hope. We can
see this in the campaign now opening.
JNO. S. DE HART.
Jersey City, N. J.
Plutocratic Lies
ter they would quickly put a stop to
a practice which makes the nation's
wealth in money subject to the de
mand of "the street" for its stock
jobbing deals. If Secretary Shaw's
purpose Is to establish precedents un
der which Wall street may drain the
it, thta they mad rid themselves of
such an official, for as things now
stand a blundering secretary of the
treasury, who goes out of -his way to
encourage inflation and protect wa
tered securities with the money that
belongs to. the nation, is more to be
dreaded than a panic among the spec
ulators in watered stocks. Baltimore
READ
Editor Independent: A story has treasury vaults, the people will know
ueeu gumg lue rouuus ui me eastern
dailies to the effect that Mr. Bryan is
worth more than $200,000, etc. The tale
has appeared in several Baltimore pa
pers and as the wording is identical in
each, it is evidently the work of some
"bureau for tfte dissemination of in
formation" located at, or near, Wall
street, probably by the same crowd
which furnished "sound money, boil- American.
ci -yiaic maiLci ill xoou. ii. ji y xn o
wealth greatly worries these gentle
men, but it cannot be said he got
any of it in the way most of the
thieves do, by robbing the common
people. THOMAS O. CLARK.
Baltimore, Md.
(In 1896 these men were circulating
through their boiler-plate literary bu
reaus the story that Mr. Bryan was t
non M.nn 11.. ,1 T 1 I
piauui-anji a. pauyci tiiiu iiau never
made enaugh to decently support his
family until he went into politics. They
sent agents here to examine the coun
ty records to see how much taxes he
paid. Now that he has shown the
whole world that he can make money
if he turns his attention to that sordid
work, they are no better satisfied than
they -were before. Both the accusations
that have been brought against Mr.
Bryan by the plutocrats go to show
the vileness of these human vampires
whom he has fought There is no
doubt that with his paper, his books
and his lectures Mr. Bryan makes
money perhaps more than if he had
been president. But every dollar of It
is honestly made.The reason that these
vampires object to it is because he
does not make it by trust methods or
tariff grafts. Ed. Ind.)
ftoses P. Kinkaid's
Letter to
Joe Bartley
age 3
George III and Baer
& & t & & & Jt
& ,' ' &
The Nebraska State Jour
j nal of Sunday, October 26, &
& 1902, carries on: its front page &
what' purports to be fac similes
?t of three -annual passes issued
8 to W. H. Thompson,' one each
Burlington, Elkhorn, and Union &
& Pacific. No ' comment is made &
except the words: - " 'Our Man' &
Thompson, democratic candidate
& for governor of Nebraska." The s
whole thing is as glaring; a fraud
t as was ever perpetrated. The
originals Irom which " the pre-
s tended fac similes were made
were filled out- by the respective
S roads and issued to the State 2
& Journal not' to Mr. Thompson &
at all. They were never in his &
st possession. He never saw them. &
& They bear no number an im-
& portant fact, showing their s
& fraudulent character They are "t
8 mere make-believe passes issued &
& to the State Journal, as any dis- 5
cerning person can see by ex- i
' amining the 'facsimiles.
di That these character assassins
8 are desperate is! very evident
5s Alter spending iq tne neignoor- ?
t hood of thirty thbusand dollars
in a vain endeavor to fool the &
people into believing that the &
S railroads are paying- their fair 5
8 share of taxes, and feeling the i
jt futility of - trying to deny that &
Mickey is an abject tool of
theirs, these -' railroads have 8
stooped to the ; dirtiest' piece of 8
& politics : since they abducted &
4 Taylor. -
J No republican naner has ever &
t attempted to deny the Baldwin &
& interview,-which appeared in the &
& Omaha Bee- of June 9, 1902 &
t nine days before the republican 8
state convention. Mr. Smith, the 8
& Bee's correspondent, was Of 8
8 course on the alert for politi- 8
8 cal news. Judge Baldwin and a &
8 number of - other - railroad at- &
2 torneys were in Lincoln looking j
8 after - that -"second answer" ,58
S which the republican board of 8
equalization and the republican J8
8 attorney general filed lit the tax
& case. The Bee's staff cor respon- 8
J dent says -that Judge Baldwin
8 was in "a lbquaeions mood," but &
& fails to say whether the loquac- S
8 ity was caused by Baldwin's sue-
8 cess in getting the- second an- $8
& s wer filed, or whether he had ?8
8 just taken a nip from the bot- 8
J tie of "Mickey whisky" at the
& Lindell hotel bar. In any eveht 8'
?8 he. was loquaeiousifjnd he said: 3
8 "We are not -botnering about 8
& the governorship any more.'?8
& That has all been settled. We
& had a conference a day or two S
ago and we all agreed on Mickey &
t as OUR MAN." .
?8 No single thing in the whole 8
8 campaign has been so damaging 8
8 to Mr. Mickey's chances for elec- 8
S tion. It cannot be denied that 8
S Judge Baldwin said what the
Bee's staff correspondent re- 8
j8 ported. It cannot be denied that &
the words quoted above ap- t58
& peared In the Omaha Bee of 8
J June 9," 1902, first page, 7th-col- 8
umn. So disastrous has been S
Judge Baldwin's loquacity that 58
8 Mr. Mickey has for some time 8
S been proclaiming from the &
stump that he made no prom-j8
8 ises whatever in order to get 8
j his nomination. Of course, he
did not. No one has charged ?8
,38 him with making any. It was ,58
wholly unnecessary. That had
& all been settled at the confer- j8
ence of Judge Baldwin and his
& fellow railroad attorneys. They 8
8 had "all agreed on Mickey as 8
S our man."
t5 t
ABSOLUTE OWNERSHIP
P
It appears that Baer in his cele
brated letter concerning the divine
rights of the coal barons plagiarized
George III. John W. Slayton has been
looking the matter up and fimds that
.u9L..i.KC...cir mwitine can revolutionists, and President
Editor Independent: It is amusing Baer. writing of the coal strikers, were
to see the people here in the east walk not only animated by the same thought
up ana tane tneir medicine. Tney but that thev used almost the same
otea tne millionaires into power ana language. Here is the deadly .parallel:
the coal out of their stoves and now
are howling because some one does
King George III. "The rights and
interests of the American colonists
ttiS?'J 7 aboui will be looked after and cared for, not
getting up a mob and going down and k QCTio.. k1 k,.
SK.. "ST" Mnd of bTrktiargenSn whom
Thompson For Schools
For the past nine years I have
known Hon. W. H. Thompson quite
intimately. He is an ideal neighbor
and a public-spirited citizen. And also
a successful business man. As mayor
of the city of Grand Island he car
ried his business tact and rare admin
istrative ability into the management
of public affairs and thereby won the
confidence and admiration of his fel
low citizens.
Mr. Thompson has been a trustee of
the Grand Island college since its or
ganization, for many years being the
chairman of its executive committee.
As such trustee he has freely devoted
his time, money and legal services to
the furtherance of the interests of the
institution. ' -
I know Mr. Thompson's symptahy
and influence are always on the side
of religion and morality. His con
tribution for the support of both mi&
Isters and churches have, been both
generous and frequent. Very truly
yours, GEORGE SUTHERLAND,
Pres. Grand Island College.
will have to take their medicine. They
"now want the government to own the
mines, but I asked them why they
dldn t vote for the party that has been
fighting for public ownership for the
last ten years.
I, as the direct representative of God,
have appointed to look after my lands
in the western world.
President Baer "The rights and in
terests of the laboring man will be
The democratic party of New York lo.2?e,? afte nlcar? f not by the
has a grand anti-trust platform, but
they - nominated Bird Coler for gov
agitators, but by Christian men to
whom God, in His infinite wisdom,
ernor and he is a Wall street broker I18;3 Z1 the control of the property
and the president of two trusts. ' A
fine man to nominate on an anti
trust, democratic platform. .
P. J. CATLIN.
Oswego, N. Y.
interests of the country.
Mr. Baer has been unfortunate in
his selection of a model. George III.
never forgave the Americans who re
belled against his tyranny, and it isn't
lively that Mr. Baer will ever be rec
onciled to the policy of liberty in the
coal regions. But the rebels of 1776
are honored by the succescsors of
George the king, and the successors of
An Oregon PopulUt
Editor Independent: Look out for
barbed wire fences until 1904 and
prepare to bury the republican party Mr. Baer are quite sure to regard both
in lwus oy tno populists and socialists, arbitration and Industrial progress
LOSSEN TOLEN. with favor. Thus does history repeat
-ossii, ure. . ltself.-MJhicago Record-Herald.
As some wrong statements have been
made and circulated among our
preachers, I am glad to say, in the in
terest of justice and fair play, that
Hon. W. H. Thompson is regarded by
the Christian people of this community
as a man of sterling character and a
warm friend of the churches.
While he himself is not a member
of any religious body, yet he is always
ready with voice, pen or pocketbook
to help on every worthy enterprise. -
At the recent session of our annual
conference his fine home was cheerful
ly thrown open and a number of our
ministers were welcomed as honored
guests. W. W. CARR,
,t Pastor First Methodist Church.
Grand Island, Neb.
It will pay you to read the advertise
ments and take advantage of the bar
gains offered.
No Such Thlnj Eftr EiiiUd orErer Can
Xxltt la Civilized SocUtjr
The Indepenent has long been beg
ging the people and especially the
voters to read and "think." The re
sult of it is that in all the states and
territories there are readers of the pa
per have been engaged in "thinking."
Among them there are many fair econ
omists, and the professors in our great
universities, who have an idea that the
intricacies of the science of political
economy can only, be understood by
the liberally educated and scholastic
class, would be greatly astonished to
hear some of them discuss the ques
tions which, have been treated In the
great works on that science. But
while The Independent has done some
thing toward getting men to "think,"
the gerat mass were satisfied to follow
their party leaders, swallow, all the
catch phrases and adopt all the sophis
tries of the politicians whose greatest
object was "to keep the party in pow
er" so that they might themselves
profit thereby.
Recently something has happened
that has set a great many men to
"thinking." The divine right to do
what one pleases with his property,
regardless of the public welfare, has
been called in question in such a way
as to "force" men to "think." After
thinking, as is always the case, they
want to express their thoughts, and
that has produced some articles in the
dailies (strange as the statement may
seem) that have been worth reading
and their educational effect will bear
upon government in the near future.
So far, none of them have taken the
true stand, that there is no such thing
as the absolute ownership of property
by individuals and cannot be, if by
that we mean that the owner can do
what he pleases with his property un
der any and all circumstances. How
ever, in this discussion some things
have been well said, and among them
is the following article written by
William E. Singleton and first printed
in the Chicago Record-Herald:
The plea of Edward S. Elliott for
the sanctity of property rights of the
anthracite coal operators contains pre
sumptions which appear to me to be
not -only unwarranted, but dangerous.
He says: "Each individual has the
absolute right to control and do what
he pleases with that which is his
own."
I , submit that this sweeping state
ment is to put it mildly a mistake.
I may own a lot in Evanston, but if I
open a saloon upon it 1 win soon
learn that the city has rights superior
to mine. .
If I should start a glue factory- in
Hyde Park I would speedily be taught
the same lesson.
If I try to make a bonfire of my
residence I will learn that such use
of my property is contrary to public
good. Many similar limitations will
readily suggest themselves without
numeration. y
Again, there are distinctions be
tween different sorts of property, as
to the degree of control which the in
dividual owner may exercise over it
In some sorts of property, like the an
thracite coal mines, 'for instance, the
public has a much larger interest be
cause it has become a necessity to the
comfort of the people also to the in
dustrial progress of the nation.
From its very nature it, like the
railroads, is a quasi-public property,
and this characteristic is enhanced by
the fact that the production has been
monopolized by -a few men who also
own the railways which haul the coal
to market
One of the conditions of such quasi
public property is that while the own
ers are entitled to fair, reasonable
profit on their investment (not on wa
tered stock), the public, through state
or national government, is entitled to
supervise the management, so far as to
see that the public interest is served.
The underlying reason in . this, as in all
other limitations of individual owner
ship, is "the public good."
The individual owner owes his
property rights to the consent of th-s
public, as expressed in constitution
and statutes. -: But in every instance
and in all countries his individual
rights are subject to the prior right
of the public.
,If, for instance, John Smith of Os
wego county, New York, had monop
olized all the land in the country ca
pable of bearing wheat, and, getting
into . a controversy with his employes
had refused to consider their de
mands because they had organized In
to a union, had refused to arbitrate,
had called for an army to repress al
leged violence, and then had failed to
grow wheat when protected by 10,000
armed men; had spurned the offer of
the president to mediate in the Interest
of peace and for the public welfare, I
submit that John Smith would have
by his success in monopolizing a pub
lic necessity made his property "quasi
public;" that is, the public by his
hostile act in creating a monopoly
has acquired the right to supervise.
and if need be to control his wheat
growing property.
In other words, John Smith of Os
wego, N. Y., monopolist of all the
wheat-growing lands In, America,
WOUld
not be permitted to say to the
su.uuu.uou of citizens: "Tnis is my
property. I will do with it as I please
If I don't choose to grow wheat, you
can live on corn, or straw"
In that or any analogous case eith
er .the state or the national govern
ment under our theory and practice
has the right to take possession of
that property so monopolized, and can
rent It to the public use afterward,
allowing the said John Smith reason
able compensation. Mr. Elliott's con
tention that In all cases of the exer
else of universal domain prior litiga
tion to establish value is essential Is
equally unfounded. Here again a dis
tinction exists which Mr. Elliott hns
overlooked.
Most of the statutes regulating the
exercise of the power of eminent do
main refer to the delegated exercisie
of that power used by .railways and
other "quasi-public" corporations, and
do not bind the national or state gov
ernments when in a great emergency
the public good calls for prompt action.
Indeed even the municipal govern
ment can appropriate and destroy my
property without asking my consent in
the face of such an emergency. For
instance, a great fire is sweeping
across the city. The fire marshal
thinks that he may be able to stop it
by bloving up my house. v Does tie
wait for a decision of a court? Does
he stop to argue the question with
me? No! He says: "The fire is
coming. I'm going to dynamite your
house. Get out" 1
If I say I won't have It done he ps
plies: "The publia good demands it:
get out" But I say: "I have heirlooms
I want to save.' He replies: "There's
no time to wait; get out!" And I
have to get out
Public good demands the sacrifice of
my individual right to control, but I
have the right to recover from the ac
tion the reasonably pecuniary (not
sentimental) value of the property i?o
taken for the public use.
Innumerable instances of the exer
cise of such powers of appropriation
for the public good might be enum
erated, but the above will surely suf
fice. A great emergency justifies
prompt and drastic action by national,
state or municipal authorities, leaving
the ascertainment' of value to subse
quent action. !
For instance, when the opportunity
of buying the Louisiana territory oc
curred to Jefferson" he knew that the
constitution conferred no such power.
Strict constructionist as he was, he
was great enough to realize that con
stitutions and laws are made for the
people, and he did what he knew to
be for the well being of the people.
So in the emergency through which
we have just passed. President Roose
velt would have been justified in seiz
ing and operating the mines in the in
terest of the people when the operators
refused his well meant 'offer of me
diation. He might have held this
power over them to compel a recogni
tion of the miners' union, but, consid
ering his environment, he has done
well. The public through his efforts
has gained a truce which may last
for three years, and has escaped the
danger of a coal famine this winter.
It will be well for the operators and
all monopolists who believe ' in the
divine rights" of th Individual or
corporate owner to remember that the
tmblic has superior rights which it
may In any emergency enforce.
A WALL STREET TOOL
Mickey's Record
We have before us the Nebraska
House Journal of 1881, which . Is . t he
official record of the proceedings of the.
house during the legislative session of
that year. In going over its pages we
find many evidences of Mr. Mickey s
work In behalf of the corporations.
And in not one single instance do we
f nd that he ever voted-against their
interests. He made his vote' count al
ways on the side of the roads that
charge all the traffic will bear." Hre
is what we find from this official rec
ord, and we give the page taken from
in every instance in order that It may
not be said that we have printed that
wLirh the record does not contain..
Page 126 Voted against the appoint
ing of a committee to draft a maximum
freight rate bill. This resolution was
introduced by Mr. Moore, then irom
York county.
Page 722 Voted in favor of the post
roning action on house roll No. 121, a
bill to prevent extortion in freight
charges, etc.
Page 723 Voted against Advancing
house roll No. 121 to a third reading,
and being with the minority was de
feated.
Page 725 Voted against the passage
o? house roll No. .226, a: bill declaring
that railroads shall not limit their
commtn law, liabilities, by receipts
reouiun to be signed by shippers.
Page 841 Dodged and failed to vote
for senate file No. Ill, a bill fixing a
maximum standard of freight charges
to prevent unjust discrimination, secret
rates, rebates, etc.
Is it any wonder that John N. Bald
win, general attorney for the Urdon
Pacific railway, should have declared
ten days prior to the republican state
convention that the roads had agreed
upon Mickey as their man? Is it any
wonder that Mr. Mickey says that he
has not made any promises, and that
he does not intend to make any? The
railroads do not need any promises
from a man who has such a record of
faithfulness to corporate rule behind
him. : 1''"
Are. you willing, Mr. Voter, to help
continue the railroad rule in Nebraska,
or do you want to see the rates of the
roads decreased and they made to pay
thMr inst nronortion o taxes? You
will have to answer this question with
vour vote In the coming election. You
are either for the interests of the state
or those of the railroads. Osceola
(Neb.) Democrat. -
V Very Provoking
The Easton, Pa., Sentinel, after giv
ing a short speech, made by "a citizen
of Nebraska," in that place in the
autumn of 1896 in which he denounced
"special privileges" says:
"It was most provoking In 1896. to
see men who would have been ben
efited by supporting Mry Bryan to vote
aealnst him, but it Is still more so
now to hear these fellows talk of
combating evils that Mr. Bryan cau
tioned them not to help promote. We
believe the same people, however, are
ready and willing to be humbugged
again. They seem to like it They
had one chance to show that they
were men and they threw it away
They deserve no sympathy now if
they are injured and wronged.";
Th TwiaU and Tarn That the Comptrol
ler Kmploya to Delv th Popl
Bank KtMrtei Continually
Grow
Editor Independent: For four or
five years I have had my name on thi
list to have the comptroller's abstracts!
sent to me, but I did not get No. 2i
until I sent for it My article on this
abstract had only just been mailed
when I received No. 30.
I have formerly mentioned that th
comptroller has changed the form- 01!
the most important table contained in
these abstracts, so that it is now nec
essary to consider the table in a dif
ferent way. What was the purpose of.
this change I do not know, but that it
has not made the. abstracts any mor
easily understood is very certain.
The table of "deposits and reserves"
now has a column headed cash on
hand, due from reserve agents and in
the redemption fund." This bunching
together of two or three things pre
vents the amount of cash on hand from
being readily seen as it could before.
It now requires considerable calcula
tion to get at it This bunching also
carries with it the pretense that tho
amount due from reserve agents in
cash, when the fact is it is no mom
cash than the amount due from other
national banks or from state banks,
or in fact the amount due from "loans,
and discounts." Nothing is cash that
is not money on hand. A deposit by
one bank in another bank is not cash.
even if the bank receiving the deposit
is called a reserve agent. It ought to
be well understood that deposits in
banks are not cash in the hands of de
positors, but liabilities of the bank to
depositors. What the comptroller calls
"cash due from reserve agents" is a
liability of one national bank (calle.l
a reserve agent) ror a deposit mada
by another bank.
It is worthy of mention that tha
reports required by the comptroller to
b3 made by national banks to him, and
that are the .basis of these abstracts, do
not contain any such pretense.
That which In the abstracts is called
cash due from reserve agents" is in
the reports themselves called "balances
with reserve agents. Every bank la
required to report to the comptroller
by items the actual cash on hand. Th
comptroller is not compelled to make
calculation to find out how much cash
a bank holds. If this is important to
him, why should not the abstracts
also show it In the same way. The
people have a right to ask the comp
troller to make his statements to them
as plain as he requires the banks to
make to him. If he does not do it, we
have a right to charge him with being
a party to an attempt to conceal the
real Situation from the people. In
stead of trying to make things plain.
he is chargeable with making his al-
stracts so that the average reader wHl
not observe some of the most import-
ant" facts relating to the condition of"
national banks.
The abstracts previous to No. 2S
were obscure enough, surely. I had
some correspondence with the comp
troller "about them, as your readers
will remember, by which his atten
tion appears to have been called to the
fact that the abstracts showed rather
to distinctly two things: the amount of
cash the banks are required to hold;
and the amount actually held. Imme
diately after this correspondence he
struck out of the abstracts these two
columns. I had called his attention
to a mistake made by including, under
the head of "reserve held," balances In
the hands of reserve agents not avail
able under the law as reserves, and
which made it appear that a bank"
could have a full, lawful reserve, and
at the same time a short cash reserve.
This mistake first appeared in the
second abstract issued by Mr. Eckels
on April 9, 1897, and ran through ev
ery one down to No. 28. Instead ot
correcting this mistake, when it was
pointed out to him, the present comp-i
troller tried to excuse it and cover it
up. He changed the form of the ab
stract table In-which the mistake ap
peared, made it more obscure than it
was before, striking out or it as stated
above two most important Items of in
formation, so that it now requires an
expert to get out of it what the public
ought to be able to see at a glance.
, By "this new arrangement, which
makes no pretense of showing cash
reserve required and held by banA,
but which bunches together "cash on
hand" and "balances with' reserve
agents and in the redemption fund?
and then shows this as a percentage of
the deposits upon which reserves are
calculated, and puts by the side of this
column a column of the amount of re
serve required (not cash reserve it will
be observed), so that a comparison la
shown where it ought not to be made.
By this arrangement the same result
is reached as was reached by the mis
take mentioned. Even with this er
roneou comparison, it still appears in
No. 28 that five cities had not enotigh
"cash on hand, balances due from re
serve agents and In the redemption
fund" to equal the amount of reserve
required of them by law to be hld.
At the same time, sixteen out of thirty-three
reserve cities were short in
tueir cash reserves, and, therefore,
short in their lawful reserves. In
this way, in No. 29, it is made to ap
pear that only three cities held less
than their lawful Teserves. At the
same time, eleven cities aire short in
their lawful reserves. (Keep in mind
the difference between lawful and cash
reserves.)
In the old form of abstract, with a
column that showed the amount of
cash the law requires to be held and
another column by the side of it show
ing the cash actually held, it was a
matter, of but a moment to make the
comparison; but with this new ar
rangement a calculation must be mada
to find out how much cash the banks
of each city ought to hold, and then