Omaha daily bee., 1885-02-13
sALT.MAKING AT LINCOLN.

The BEE objects to the development of
the salt interes S Of the state on the
ground that the men who propose to put
their Money into 1t comprise a syndicate
Of fat purses. In the name e all the
title tin gods on wheels, of which it ia
the very latt and much the least, whst
does the BEE mtau2 IL tie fat purses
are TO he ruled out of all enterprises
simply because 1t is criminal and treason
able to the stste and threatening TO SO
ciety to be o fat purse, or be tho owner
of one, then how are big enterprises to
be placed on their feet and pushed to sue
cessful operatiop2 The BE is simply o
crank of intense emotion or a knave OF
low degree, -Lincoln Journal.
We are not aware tha. we have OF
posed or retarded the development Of the
sillne interests of the state, CT any other
legitimate undertaking that would add to
our we,lth.producing power. Up to this
time THE BEE has said nothing editori-
ally In regard to the proposed saline bill
one way or the other. The only suspi-
cious circumstance connected with that
scheme Is the zeal exhibited in Its favor
by partle, and ewspapers that
are always VIGOROUSLY up to
their necks in jobs and schemes
of plumber. Before the legislature votes
away the last 5000 acres of land that
remain the property of the state, 1t be-
hooves the members Of that body TO
thoroughly inform themselves about the
saline land business. 1t Is true that O
large porto of the lands donated by the
general government for the development
of the saline Interests OF this state have
been diverted to other channels and pur-
poses. 1t is a'so notorious that every
scheme up to this time to utilize the salt
springs near Lincoln has been connected
with a land steal and a Job to rob the
taxpayers of the ttatc. The original
Tichenor lease was procured by fraud and
bribery. The contracts with Is9ac Calm
were engineered by corruption ond bri-
berry. The various eff r:s since
Calm and his associates abandoned
the salt works lave aimed at only one
thing, and ttat was to get q chance to
grab the remaining saline lands and leave
the state nothing to show for the lands
except a hole in the ground.
Now we believe it to ba the interest
of Nebraska to utilize the salt springs
near Lincoln, aud If possible to build up
a largo salt manufacturing industry.
There Is \ decided difference of opinion,
however, among men who claim to have
aualy zed the component paris of the
brine In the Lincoln salt basip, IS to the
Quantity of salt tia! can be extracted
there from. 1t is asserted by come that
the brine is too weak and will not pro-
ducs salt enough to Fay for
working it. On the other hand the
parties who are urging the present saline
bill make the most extraysgant estimates
and claim that more salt will be taken
out of Salt Creek than Is produced either
at Saginaw or Syracuse, and that the
prospects are much better than were
t those of the Syracuse sat fields when
they were frat opened. Now it strikes
j. us that If any set of capitalists have &C
much confidence In the productive cspao
ity of those springs the safest and best
{ thing for the state tt do i, to give
them q free lease for a term of year,, tc
be followed by a royalty on what they
produce thereafter. This will place the
rlak entirely with the capital ste,
and if they take 1t they are
| fairly entitled to the benefit. Gu,
advice to the Legislature would be to au,
thorizs the state officers to make such @
l lease. That will leave the proceeds Of
the saline lands, which are worth $40 to
$15 an acre, or from $3.50, 600 to 5000,
900 in the aggregate, to the stste Instead
of the royalty which is promised us in
case the experiment proves a success. In
other words, we would prefer to keep the
saline lands In lieu of the royalty which
these p~srtles propose to pay during the
next ten or twenty years, and take NO
risks whatever. If the capitalists have
not the confidence to Invest forty or
fifty thousand dollars with the
ASSURANCE that they have a
free lease, or a. lease at a nominal figure,
for a term Of years, it would be rash and
} reckless for the state to vote away these
, lands and take the chance at the end OF
, the next year of having nothing more
t than a hole In the ground for Its invest
r mont.
!, This i, our opinion expressed without
/ fear or promise Of reward. The PARTIES
and papers that ara SO clamorous for the
{ legislature to vote away these lands with.
, out any other guarantee than ths mere
chance of securing a royalty are evident.
, ly boring for sugar instead of sat.
Our attention has BEEN called to TIE
fact that early in the month of January
, Hon. III w CrOok introduced In the