Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1894-06-26

Fl IN>L<kW these two gentlemen
y N\l can and do quarrel
the year round about
HON. j. P. ST. JOHN. the tariff and call
each other all kinds of naughty names.
But when third party attacks the liq-
uor traffic they come to its rescue with a
degree of brotherly love, unanimity and
enthusiasm that is really wonderful to
behold.
"Rosewater becomes greatly agitated
because l said that from 1879 to 1899 the
penitentiary population in high license
Nebraska increased 1G7 per cent, while
during the same period in Kansas it de-
creased per cent. and yet his own fig
ures more than vindicate the truth of
my statement. Ny statement showing
the great decrease of per capita wealth
in Nebraska during the same period and
a corresponding increase in Kansas was
based upon the official records of the re-
spective states, and Mr.. Rosewater does
notpretend to deny the existence of these
records, but attempts to break the force
of the truths they unfold by drifting off
into a lot of mystifed statistics about al
legged municipal and other Indebtedness,
which has nothing whatever to do with
determining the per capita of the assess
ed valuation of the property or wealth of
the people.
II took my figures about the length of
railway lines operated in the two states
from the statistical abstract of the Unit
ed States, issued by the treasury depart
ment for 1892, page 274, and I think the
authority ought to be as good as my
friend Overmyer's friend, Rosewater.
Yes, Kansas is proud of her public
schools, and she has reason to be, and be
it said to her honor and good name that,
unlike Nebraska, she does not educate her
children by revenue derived from
business that debauches her people.
But Overmyer's coworker says made
a mistake when l said that Kansas had
but 'one-ffth greater population than
Nebraska. Come to think about it, l
guess l did. When 1 made the state
ment, had in contemplation the year
1899 and supposed that Nebraska had
grown 10000 since the census of 1890.
But looking over the files of Rosewater's
newspaper, the Omaha Bee, his editorial
utterances convince me that l was away
off in my estimate, as he not only shows
clearly that the state has ceased to grow,
but gives few of many reasons why it
is so.
SIN The Weekly Bee of July IS, 1888,
he says:
Nebraska today is, with one exception, the
worst tax ridden state in the Union. While the
state of North Carolina, with debt of $12, ,000,-
600, levies state tax of 35 cents on the hundred
dollars, Nebraska, with practically no state
debt, levies tax of 81 cents on every hundred
dollars of valuation. The state tax of Kansas
and Iowa is only % cents on the hundred dol
lars.
"Sept. 5, 1890, he said:
1.-THE truth may as well be told. One of the
prime causes of the depression in our real es-
tate market is high taxes. When capitalists
are told that city taxes alone are Al mills, they
naturally take to the woods. The county tax
is 20 mills.
"And still later, Oct. 6, 1891, he said:
ave are now running a city government
with costly machinery for a city of GOO pop
ulation. Taxation has become almost unbear-
able, and investors have been kept away.
Three hundred thousand population
in Omaha alone Oct. 6, 1891, and now he
admits in his letter to The Capital that
the aggregate population of 10 Of Ne
braskas largest cities, including Omaha,
is only 273,334.
mo wonder there is depression in
real estate No wonder that investors
keep away Who would not under
such circumstances naturally take to
the woods?
"No wonder Rosewater howls, for he,
be it remembered, is the owner of @
building in Omaha which he solemnly
and frequently affirms is the pride of
two continents
'The trouble with Omaha is that she
has about 300 saloons. She has been in
tested with gambling dens and all sorts
of haunts of vice. 1t was there where
prohibition gave its first martyr, in the
person of Watson B. Smith, who was
brutally assassinated at the hour of mid
night on the public streets of the city.
1t was in Omaha where Christian minis
ters and other peaceable citizens were
assaulted and driven from the polls and
innocent women and children egged and
stoned.
''Its politics have been run by the sa-
loon, gambling den and bawdy house in
fluence for years, until investors wisely
keep away and decent people naturally
take to the woods Finally let me say
that the Democratic and Republican
Rosewater- -Overmyer combination don't
represent the sober Christian sentiment
of either Kansas or Nebraska. They are
the apologists for and the defenders of
very bad business-a business con-
demned by the highest judicial tribunals
in our land as the breeder of crime and
poverty
sit Is business that scatters broadcast
among our people murder, misery and
heartache. 1t is a business without a
single feature to commend it. 1t has no
conscience and respects no law. 1t is
menace to the peace, prosperity and hap
piness of every home. 1t is stencil in
the nostrils of common decency, and in
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