Omaha daily bee., 1895-06-05
HOT AFTER STATE PLUMS
Lincoln Statesmen Eager to Sacrifice
Themselves to the Public Service.
ANY KkD OF AN OFFICE wElc NE
Troubles of tho State thanking board in
Selecting Receivers for Dcfunct state
Banks-woes of the Newspaper
Wrecked by W. Morton smith.

| thetic with the prospects of the more stable
and profitable products OF the state and the
| old gang Of barnacles, taxeaters, ex-onlcials
and their next best friends have taken on
| new life and new hope during the growing
| weather Of the past week. with business
men and farmers feeling jubilant over the
| prospects Of a bountiful harvest there is no
reason why the delectable coterri OF public
| leeches should not extend their tentaces
| with more hope and assurance.
OF course, just at present the public pas
| ture land does not afford very succulent pick
ing but 'he barnaces are wathcing for the
tender shoots and nip them as soon as they
appear above the surface. In fact, some OF
the very hungry have been taking mean
advantage and have been roofing for plums
that have barely sprouted, The best thing
| in sight just at present is the recevershps
that are being provided for the banking In
stitutons of the state that have succumbed
| TO the financial depression. With the limited
picking and the imitless number of pckers,
| there has been some tall hustling to make
| the provender come anything like going
| around. These receiverships are passed out
by the State Banking Board composed of the
| state treasurer, attorney general, state audi
| tor, and the men they have selected to man.
| age the affairs of embarrassed banks would
| cut strange figure in monetary confer
| ence. AT the first symptom of disease in a
| banking concern In the state the political
| browsers prick up their ears and there is a
stampede for the scene of action.
SAMPLE OF THE TROUBLE.
The difficulties encountered in fixing upon
| receiver for the late Bank of Commerce
of Broken Bow furnish good example OF
the troubles that constantly beset the over
| worked members of the State Banking
Board About the time the local barnacles
were waiting for the bank to ask for a re-
cever Hon. Gilbert l.. Laws, ex-secretary OF
state, ex-member of congress, ex-United
States land commissioner and eX-a number
Of county offices in this and other states,
was on a train nearing the Nebraska line
and coming through Kansas. Hon. Gilbert
had been playing in hard luck. He had run
the list of offices in Nebraska and had then
gone to Oklahoma to get in on the ground
floor and get at picking while 1t
fresh. He had got in the wrong push, had
been branded as a maverick and frozen out
OF every political field as fast as he could
break into 1t. He was on his way back to
Nebraska. Just before reaching the state
line a friend dropped in and asked Laws
why he did not put in an application for the
receivership of the Bank of Commerce at
Broken Bow. Suggestion promptly fol-
lowed by action, and the operator at the next
station, just outside the border of the prom
ised land, had filed with him for transmits
sion a telegraphic application for position
as receiver, by Laws, for the Broken Bow
bank. The next morning Hon. Augustine
r. Humphreys late commissioner of public
|
with the banking board for the position
Laws claim was in ahead of him and the
delay gave time for another applicant to get
in line in the person of Frank Ross, ex-
deputy oil inspector under Frank Hilton,
> who out of meat and had to have some-
thing done for him.
} 1t Is with the settlement of such vexed
l financial matters as these that the State
, | Banking Board Is being kept busy these
! days
, The inability OF the state banking board
to find fat places for all of the barnaces
has caused trouble that threatens to affect
, the board and other state house employees.
, The men who hungered for places are maxi
ing, in their desperation, charges to the
. effect that at least two of the state house
q salary drawers are revelling in snaps that
are pretty rich during these depressed days,
when one job with a pay attachment is all
, that reasonable barnacle ought to expect.
q Dick Towney, chief clerk of the state bank
q ing board Is a retired naval officer, and
I draws $40 month from the government
n OF the United States, in addition to his
, 81 500 yearly rake-off a member of the
: banking board. Then there is another man
in a similar boat. Brad Cook, clerk In
4 | the Office OF the commissioner OF public
v lands and buildings, draws $1,000 year
from the state of Nebraska and at the
G | same time is on the pension roll OF the
q United States at $72.50 a month, the PEN
sion drawn for total disability. In times
h like these the hungry applicants feel that
Colonel Townley and Colonel Cook ought
: to be satisfied with one pay day a month
| and give their fellow sufferers a whack al
. the fodder trough.
W. MORTON SMITHS HOODOO.
n The affairs of the Lincoln Call very
| much in evidence in political, newspaper
II and business circles here just at present,
e and thereby hangs a tale. When the guber-
6 material campaign was on last year |. M.
a RAYMOND of Lincoln was an aspirant for
| ha
organ and so invested $4,000 in an interest
in the Daily Call with l.. H. Austin, sue
"A ceeding Bushnell & Cox. Mr.. Raymond
made q present of his interest to w. Morton
Z Smith, who was installed as the manager
of the brain department. The venture did
e. not prove a success, either for Mr.. Raymond
10 politically, nor for his protege, Mr.. w.
Morton Smith. Creditors recently took q
hand, and Mr. Smith was sidetracked, much
against his wishes. He is now very much
is out Of a Job, and receiver is being sought
r for the Call, so 1t is rumored. Mr. Smith
" has not decided yet as to whether he will
lg Jump in the river, leave the city to pre-
ne vent further embarrassment, or stay and
ly let his claimants have some fun with him
es Mr. Hanna manager OF the John r. Clarke
to estate has a big interest in the Call and
le also In the Lincoln Journal, and he is very
t. anxious now to have the Call placed on iti
I'll feet again, but only as an evening paper
as thus keeping 1t out of the field as rlya
in or competitor Of the Journal.
he H. M Bushnell is the fellow who has falleI
upon his feet in the shakeup Of the Call af
fairs and now has a soft snap in the stat'
treasurer's office. In 1887 Charley Mosher
e. late Of Lincoln had bill passed by the leg
D. slature which provided that all permanen
NO school fund bonds that should come into thu
hands OF the state treasurer should b.
OF stamped, "The Property Of the Nebraska
ey Permanent School Fund Not Negotiable.
ne At the last session Of the legislature tn
" state treasurer secured an appropriation TO
bond clerk at 500 per month for tw
years; to be known as bond clerk, ant
charged with the duty Of stamping the abov
ed endorsement on the back Of the warrant
ct that may come into the hands Of the stat
ed treasurer That work will keep a man busy
of II he is lucky about ten minutes a month
,r- Mr.. Bushnell has that Job.
as Al BeeIner. late warden OF the peniten
ne tiary, has taken up his residence in Lincol
,tnn and is in line for the appointment as super
Nv intendent Of contractors at tho penitenttar
under the Russell-Churchll regime. Gov
A ernOr Holoomb holds different view Of tn
m, situation. He asserts that Warden Leidig
- ~ Is competent to protect the states interest
va at the penitentiary, and will oppose the innt
| vation proposed by Churchill and Russell