Omaha daily bee., 1883-10-01

when years after the hOmestcader dis
posed of his" improvements to another, OF
even abandoned his claim without any
sale, the land became a part of the pub.
lie domain and could not be reached by
the railroad grant, and was only subject
TO homestead or presumption entry. The
Land and Interior Departments at Wash.
ington hold this opinion emphatically.
Never think of paying a dollar on any
such claim. Will you do this-so as not
to repeat the wicked blunder of Knevals'
land-organize at once-gather every
man into All association agree to make
no concession or settlement, get every
man in this county and adjoining u
ties and every man in Kansas in such an
association. After you have done this, ]
will employ at my own expense, n OF
the best attorneys in Nebraska and one
at Washington, and be ready to contest
the claim.
"When Congress meets / will have a
full investigation made as TO the facts
and if they are as bold and barren of
merit as | believe them, no doubt the
cloud sought to be put on your title can
be removed"
Beatrice is seriously hampered at the
present time by its inability to levy sufi-
cient taxes to meet the requirements of a
rapidly growing city. Besides ranking
third as a railroad center, its commercial
Importance is felt and recognized by its
metropolitan sisters, and its growth the
present year has been equal, compare
lively, to that of any city in the State.
One of the pressing necessities of the city
is an adequate system of water works. A
proposition was recently submitted to the
citizens by the Michigan Pipe company.
"The proposition stipulated an annual
rental of S4,500," says The Express,
(Which is considered reasonable by our
leading business men; but the law limits
the city levy for general purposes to
ten mills, and the fund that this tax
would create is wholly inadequate for the
purpose of paying a water rental and
bearing other expenses of the city gov
eminent. Cities of the second class may
upon a vote of the people issue twenty
year bonds for building works, but the
three mill special tax authorized to
create n water fund for maintaining the
works would again be insufficient. AS
badly as Beatrice needs protection from
fire, such as this system and the PROPOSE.
ton offer and would admirably afford,
there seems to be no way out If the dill
emma until the Legislature frames some
laws enabling cities under ten thousand
inhabitants to drop their swaddling
clothes"
The Dakota capital fight is a repetition
of that Witnessed in nearly every terri.
tory before the transition to statehood.
The recent decision of Judge Edgerton
of the Territorial District Court, ~ousting
the capital commissioners, had no appar.
ent effect upon the official ring which
designated and laid the foundation of the
capitol in Bismarck. The seat of the
Governor is there and the Territorial Aud.
itor, (Ordway's sony, while Secretary
Treasurer, and Attorney General remain
st Yankton and refuse to obey the Gov.
errors order to transfer themselves tC
Bismarck. Governor Ordway ridicules
the adverse decision of the District Court
and rushes into print with the boldesI
kind of statements going to show that
Bismarck is bound to be the CAPT
tai any way. Both financially and
politically he has musR. at stake.
He is the virtual owner of an addition to
Bismarck, which is supposed to be his
share of the swag distributed among the
parties to the capital commission scheme,
and unlike Alexander Mckenzie, one Of
the capital commissioners, he has not un.
loaded all his lots yet. Should the re.
moval of the capital utterly fail to be
brought about it would expose itself as al
Infamous transaction, and his excellencJ
could not easily escape the consequences
of his personal connection with it. Tit
Governor may, however, get himself int
trouble by his present course. He ha:
publicly designated Bismarck to be The
capital, and convened the board of equal
~ization there for the purpose of the as
sessment of the Territorial tax. Thi
board the Governor took care last winte
to get into his own hands by forcing OF
the Legislature the appointment of his Sol
rs auditor, the board consisting of Gov
ernor, Auditor and Treasurer. This be
came, in reality, IL father and son govern
ment.
/, Judge Moody, one of the counsel TO
Yankton in the quo warranto case, and
1,f ..,N.,l a-,.-,,n -. Al.
! action of the board of equalization vii
vitiate the Territorial taxes for the cur
rent year, thus adding a fresh complica
, ton to the affairs of this Territory as a
present administered.
= The'situation is growing decidedly in
1 teresting. The commissioners, aided b
the Governor, will preserve a bold front
and may succeed in carrying the case II
to the United States Supreme Court.
Quite a lively discussion is going on i
i Montana newspapers over the propositio
I to build a railroad through tn
: most prominent points of interest in tn
t Yellowstone National Park. Outside tn
newspapers under the thumb of tn
Northern Pacific the proposition is vig'
rously opposed, The extortions of tn
d Hatch hotel monopoly are too fresh, an
near at hand to create a lively enthusiasts,
for another monopoly. Rufus was a
lowed to squat upon q ten acre patch, b.
with wisdom begotten of a life of schen
D. ing in Wall street, he distributed his te
n acres over various portions of the Parl