Omaha daily bee., 1893-11-06
A LhSr word OF WARNING.

the day after he had been nominated
sheriff by the republican convention
two years ago, he was a total stranger
to me. His bearing impressed me
favorably, and the fact that he had been
a hard working mechanic enlisted my
sympathy in his behalf. Without ask
ing for a single pledge, either of patron
age or political service | gave him the
nest earnest and cordial support from
the beginning of the campaign until
election day. From that day to this no
personal controversy has occurred be-
tween us. During the two years since
he has been sheriff he has never been
able to refuse mt q political favor,
directly or indirectly, and has never
been asked to contribute a penny to
The BEE except as q subscriber.
Their is no complaint against him on
my part on the score of patronage.
The sheriff's advertising is at best not
very profitable at legal rates, which are
40 per cent lower than the rates we
charge to regular customers, who adver-
tise more every month than the sheriff
does in a year.
More than a year ago I became con-
WINGED that George A. Bennett was
neither a competent nor an efficient law
officer. His office work had all to be
done by a substitute and his executive
work as custodian of prisoners had fallen
into the hands of negligent and law
defying deputies. Jail deliveries became
frequent, and in one instance a city
prisoner was released by Jailer Bennett,
the brother of the sheriff, without an
order from the police judge or mayor.
When the sheriff's attention was called
to these fragrant violations of prison
usage he passed them by in contemptu-
GUS Indifference.
AS time passed matters went from bad
to worse. Criminals who were pre-
sumed to be in close confinement in Jail
were encountered in saloons and ques-
tionable resorts, sometimes in company
of the jailer and sometimes alone. Last
spring one Henderson, arrested as an
embezzler, was taken to the Diamond In
the night by Theodore Bennett, the
jailer, and left there to amuse himself
in a game of faro. The jailer himself
WIN ~ ~ "ihSc wiz Liuii lS1 hIo
prisoner several hours without a guard.
Then came the Mosher scandal, fol-
lowed by other revelations that are too
vile to be detailed in any paper. Suffice
it to say that the proof is overwhelming
that under Sheriff Bennett the Douglas
county jail has not only been turned into
an designation house, but a veritable
brothel, in which custodians of prisoners
acted the part of procurers. In one in
private visits to a white girl Is years
old, on whom, it is represented to me,
an abortion had been performed, with
full knowledge Of the matron.
The only defense which George A.
Bennett has so far vcntured to make for
this horrible state of affairs has been by
the vilest of personal abuse and gross
libels gotten up by two criminals whom
he had harbored in the Jail. At first
this model sheriff circulated a leprous
sheet edited by a convicted libeler rep
resenting me as having become incura-
bly, insane. This was followed up by q
shower of muck from Bank Wrecker
Mosher, who stands self-convicted OF
perjury and forgery. This %unconscion.
able thief had the insolence to charge
in an open letter that he had been form
erly associated with me in deals and
that l had worked for the transfer of the
convict labor contract from Stout tC
himself. In proof of this fabrication he
cited the fact that several of my po
litical friends, including George w
Lininger, had voted for his bill. AS 6
matter of fact Senator Lininger is OF
!, record as voting against his bill, and ex
Representative G. J. Smythe will bear me
out when l say that l urged him to OPP
pose the bill when it was before the house
The charges made by THE BEE wer,
! not trumpet up for campaign purposes
I Some of them were made months befor,
Bennett was renominated, and the mos
serious charges were published befor,
the republican convention had beef
: held. George A. Bennett knows tina
| THE BEE is perfectly responsible
: Every charge made against him i
. borne out by aiiidavits and credible wit
t nesses. Bennett had ample time an,
= opportunity to secure a vindication b
dSklng lOr an lnNS5tlBaJlOH Nv bHe manu-
5 of the county commissioners A major
: ity of the board are members of his ow
party and certainly would have give
= him a fair hearing.
Instead of demanding an investiga
S ton, Bennett has sought to counterao
= its effect by the most dastardly Del
sonai assaults upon me and by circula
n ing the most impudent falsehoods col
a corning the motives that impel me
IT oppose him. One OF the stories he hs
n put in circulation is that my oppositio
9 to him is a fight against the America
s Protective association order, whe
everybody knows that THE BEE is gil
2 ing cordial support to, half a dozen men
bers of that order who are or the repul
n lican ticket.
j. Another Infamous libel which he h'
Ie circulated industriously is that | hay
It been paid or promised an enormous su
al of money by John A. Creighton al
is John A. McShane to bring about his d