Omaha daily bee., 1889-02-24

plods, through mud or sand, over hill and
swamp, with fifty bushels Of wheat, giving
a days haul. and vast relative expense, to
The initial operation Of delivery in Europe.
T., B.. Meatyard is one Of the iuquircrs who
have done the country good service in call
ing the attention Of legislators to this sub
jeCt,
Commenting on the recent defeat Of the
Saturday half holiday bill in Pennsylvania,
the Public Ledger observes; HOLIDAYS are
like roads in one respect where the people
make them or the lines for them are laid out
by nature there they are pretty sure to be
adopted. The holidays the people make have
no necessity Of being backed by law, and
where they rave not been made by the poo
pie no act Of the legislature can, by itself,
compel their observance or give them any
popular force. They must be established 10y
the spontaneous action of the people. Hence
the public may look with complaccnce on the
defeat of the Saturday half holiday bill in
the state senate, as that has not yet worked
its way sufficiently into popular favor. Law
cannot make it acceptable or advisable till
the right time comes.
Several papers in the east have been com.
mcnting on the fact that San Francisco alone,
of all the great cities in the country, still per
mits and even encourages prizc.fighting.
The examiner thus comes to the defense of
the city Of the Golden Gate: Some ultra.
virtuous journals Of the east have recently
experienced hcartrending pnngs at the
thought of the wickcdncss of San Francisco
as 'thc only city in the union where prize
fighting is openly permitted"
Pugilism may or may not be dcfcnsiblc on
high moral grounds, but we beg to remind
certain of our shocked eastern contemporary
les that there are some excellent prcccdcnts
in justification of it. To the New York
Evening Post, for example, which takes
lofty ground against the mcrcst mention OF
a ring battle, we might recall the little affair
described in the thirteenth book of the Had
of Homer, translated by a former respected
editor of that highly esteemed publication u
And the twain set upon each other. Then
PeiSandrOs smotc the chest of the helmet
shaded with horschair close below the very
plume, but Mcnclaos struck him as he came
forward, on the brow above the base of the
nose, aud the bones cracked and the eyes all
bloody, fell at his feet in the dust. Then he
bowed and tell, and Minclaos set foot upon
his breast and triumphcd."
Shall this ancient scrap" be excusaDlc
and not the more d~ecently conducted affairs
of modern days. And If our ofreminate
llltliNS W a SGdlNi NlS lNbi'N Nli NhNJ
not find precedent for fighting, and for the
graphic reporting thercofi We commend to
their attention the first book of Samuel
from the thirty. eighth verse onward.
In an editorial headed 'The Prohibition
Folly in Rhode Island,'' the New York
Evening Post says:
There are encouraging signs of a popular
uprising in Rhode Island which will put an
end TO the prohibition folly which has done
the state such serious harm during the past
few years. Thu first step toward the change
was taken when the lower house of the leg.
stature, by a vote of a. to %, rejected q
proposal to engraft the injunction clause Of
the Kansas prohibitory law upon the statute
books. This proposal had been urged by the
prOhlbitionistS with great zeal, and as the
agitation has advanced it has been recog-
nized by both sides that the failure of the
proposal would involve the safety of the
present prohibitory law,
During debate a monster petition, signed
by 625 names, representing millions of dol
lars of taxable property, was presented,
asking as follows 4 r~esubmlssiOn of the pro-
hibition question 10 a vote of the people:
The undersigned taxpayers and business
men Of this state, feeling that the amend
LISHt 10 Inc COnSlltuJlOH pfOHiDitinP inc Nldn-
u~facture and sale of Intoxicating liquors as
a beverage is injurious to the best interests
OF the state, as well as incapable of enforce
ment; that 1t has placed the liquor business
beyond control and supervision, has disar-
ranged business and deprecated the PRICE of
real estate, respectfully petition your honor.
able body TO put before the people of this
state an amendment to the constitution, abb
,Ar,tinr Tho ,rDbihitiDn n,nnplp,apt az
called, and as in duty bound will ever pray"
IL is thought by the best judges Of the sit
uation that the legislature will vote to re-
submit the question, and that the ultimate
result will be the repeal of the present law
SIT has been represented " says the Phila
delphia Record, that Judge Brewers de-
cision ~sustains the claim of the Granger
companies that tho railroad commissioners
have no right to impose on transportation
companies liked schedules of freight charges; |
yet that, having done SO, there is no legal
means of hindcring the enforcement of these
rates. Nothing in the printed report Of the
decision warrant such Il statement. The
doctrine of law is that wherever there is a
wrong there IS Il remedy. The judge re- |
fused to grant n preliminary injunction on
the ground that the ratesiiXed by the
railroad commissioners appeared to be
TO the company. In re-
fusing the injunction he intimatcd that |
by tho time the case should come to n
final hearing the fact that the rates were |
would appear so clearly that no
injunction upon the commissioners could
cquitably be issued.
In the opinion Of the Judge, the weight Of
evidence was that the freight rates fixed by |
the Iowa commissioners are not unreasonable
But, following the decision Of Justice Woods
in a former case, he concluded that IL would
be best to let the schedule go into operation
and be subjected to the test Of experience. |
While the law authorizes the railroad com
missioners to establish reasonable rates of
transportation, the courts may intervene to
the spoliation of railroad stOckhold-
ers should unreasonably low charges be
fixed.
The New York World is by no means so
well pleased with the present administration
of the Office Of secretary of state as is Mr..
Bayard himself. Commenting on the series
of political reviews now being published in
the Baltimore Sun, the World says:
'Secretary Bayard's retrospect Of his ad-
lnlnistration Of the state department, as pub
lished in the Baltimore Sun, shows that the