Omaha daily bee., 1902-02-03

about treasury embezzlers and treesur-
ers who farm out public funds for pri-
vate gain, the ofncial organ Of Nebraska
popullsm makes a desperate effort to
convince the allied forces of reform
that their late State Treasurer Meserve
is a victim Of the most foul political
conspiracy ever matched in Nebraska.
To bolster up this assertion. this organ
Of reform. the Nebraska Independent,
INDUCES in the habit of impudent falsi-
hcatlon. For the information Of the re-
formers. The Bee proposes to nail a few
Of the little lies fabricated for con-
sumption by the ~credulous and ignorant.
1t is charged by the Independent that
the Douglas county grand jury that in
dicted Mr.. Meserve was drawn secretly
under personal direction Of Judge Ba-
ker, This is absolutely untrue, The
names for the Douglas county grand
jury were drawn by the democratic
clerk of the district court out of the
same box and in the same manner as all
other juries are drawn. Three-fifths Of
the names In that box were selected by
the three democratic members Of the
county board and two-ffths by the re-
publican members more than a year be-
fore the drawing and without even a
suspicion that a grand jury would be
drawn from the list.
1t Is charged by the Independent that
tho ora nd furv uaa naognuIakod aod
controlled by Tom Dennison, who is
alleged to have the monopoly of all
gambling in Omaha, and that In conse-
quence the grand jury never brought
an Indictment against Tom Dennison or
any Of his notorious open gambling
houses" AS a matter Of fact the grand
jury brought several indictments against
Tom Dennison and also indicted the
keepers Of all the gambling resorts
against whom complaint was made. II
Dennison owned that grand jury. he
ought to have had influence enough to
keep himself from being indicted.
1t is charged by the Independent that
"Rosewater is the Associated Press
agent at Omaha and all the dispatches
that go to the Associated Press are
sent from The Bee Office. He took
care that in every newspaper In the
United States there should be printed
an account Of how the recent populIst
state treasurer had been indicted by an
Omaha grand jury for embezzlement
which was a lie out and out, as embez-
element vas not charged In the indict-
ment" As a matter Of fact, the Associ.
ated Press has had no Office in The Bee
building for two years and nobody by
the name Of Rosewater is agent of the
Associated Press or has anything to dc
with preparing or sending out Associ.
ated Press dispatches. or the two news
correspondents now maintained by the
Associated Press In Omaha, one is on
the star of the World Herald and the
other is independent OF all papers.
Furthermore, the report that the re
cent populist state treasurer was in
dicted for embezzlement is not "a Lie
out and out" but is the exact wordlnf
Of the Indictment. But II the indictmen,
bad charged Meserve with a%pproprlat
ing to own use interest collected on state
money. it would not have made the of
Tense any milder.
With these few corrections, the men
dacious organ of reform may be par
doned for houndering around in the
quagmire into which 1t has been plunged
by the man whom OF all others 1t hat
exalted and worshipped as the embodi
ment Of the highest integrity. SO far Al
The Bee Is concerned, It has Away
been willing to hew to the line and lie
the chips fly where they may. 1t bonn
barded BARLEY while he was treas
urer to make him disclose the where
abouts of the school moneys. 1t ham
mered Mr.. Meserve from time to tim
for following in the footsteps of Bart
ley In refusing TO make public thu
amounts In the school funds and tn
places where they were deposited. /
has pounded Treasurer Steufer for fail
ing 10 comply with the demands OF tn,
republican state convention and has de
nOunced in unmeasured terms the deal
by which middlemen have been Above,
TO use the school fund in ~speculatiy
bond purchases.
In exacting the most scrupulous hon
esty In the handling Of public funds
The Bee recognizes no partisanship an
admits no fayoritism. We contend this
1t would have been much more credit
able for the reform organs 20 rebuk
the betrayal OF trust on the part Of thel
former state treasurer than to try to pa
late his onerse or seek to shield hir
under the pretense that he is a victir
OF political persecution.