davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Omaha daily bee., 1903-05-31

there is an excellent farming country,
where corn and wheat can be raised, but
the products are so far from the dense
population on the seacoast that Ii cannot
be carried there. We may perhaps fear
that Russia, with the Siberian railway
completed. may enter into competition with
us for the Asiatic flour or wheat trade.
The transportation question settles that.
Tho average rate on the Russian state
railroads is IS cent per ton per mile. II
the actual cost of operation amounted to
but two-thirds OF this fgure-1.2 cents per
ton per miIe-this rate, applied to the dis
tance from that part of Siberia where the
wheat is grown. would give a transpor-
tation charge of $40 per barrel on flour,
while 1t should be carried from our Pacific
ports to Yokohama, Nagasaki, Kobe.
Shanghai and Hong Kong for 25 cents a
hundreds, IS a ton. so cents a barrel
Russia ia not In a position TO complete
with us at all, even If the wheat and -four
were carried for the naked cost of its
transportation to the Government. What
applies in this respect to our wheat applies
to cotton from the south and to every other
article we export. even to iron and steel.
IF your home market. which we have
nursed so long for iron and steel industries.
is of so much value, let us now
go on and take some care OF our
agricultural interests and not leave them
where they are today-without an iota of
assistance from any point.
"a year ago you could buy nails for SIPS
a keg; now they are 1925. You know how
lumber has gone up and all other articles
of prime necessity OH the prairie farm.
Fuel has advanced. Everything made of
iron has advanced. But the wheat crop
has not advanced, because It is sold I'm
open competition with the product OF the
world. And until we get other people TO
eat wheat It will not advance and we will
go on hoping against hope. We will not
get IA high price for our wheat until wheat
is made scarce. II we could increase our
export to the Orient by 5O,OOO.O0 bushels
/ have not the slightest doubt that it would
Omaha daily bee., 1903-05-31

advance the price OF what we do send to
Europe Is or 20 cents.
I'm the first place. what we would send
to the Orient would go from the Pacific
coast. The grain OF that coast is handled
at present in a manner entirely different
from that which prevails east of the Rocky
mountains. Having to cross the equator
twice, IT must be carried in sacks to pre-
vent heating. and not in bluk in the hull of
the ship, as on the Great Lakes or the
Atlantic. The grain is practically all
bought by three concerns, two of them
located in Liverpool and also interested in
n lire of steamers, so hat they can furnish
their own shipping. The wheat is sent to
England and sold for what 1t will bring.
1t acts as n damper-a wet blanket-on the
entire market. The voyage around the
Horn is four months long, and by the time
the first cargoes are reaching port the last
are leaving, so that IL Is all afioat at the
same time. The buyer in Europe knows
what is afloat. Thus. the manner In which
the crop is handled breaks the market
down more than twice the same amount
from Atlantic ports. There the buyer must
send over and place his order I'm advance
of shipment. with the Pacific coast grain
it must sell for what 1t will bring. The
ship cannot be delayed and the grain can
not be stored In sacks.
I'VE can never get away from the prac-
teal proposition that we are in competi-
tion with every wheat raiser in every
countryside peasants on the steppes of
Russia. the ryots OF India, and the
Argentine farmers, most OF whom went
from Italy. We are In competition with
them on an even hifietree. We always
will be so long as we ave TO sell outside
of our own country; and that our own
country will ever consume our entire pro-
duct no intelligent man will believe at least
for half a century.
"Our farmers can do nothing in the way
of getting a market. / can do very little.
The price Of transportation has come down.
CONTINUED or Page Fifteen.J
Omaha daily bee., 1903-05-31
By c. ]. BOnaparte, President Of
the American Municipal League

been nominated by a packed convention
chosen at fraudulent primaries and that
rascal has been caught with arms up to the
elbow in the peoples money box. and the
ordinary everyday citizen is saying, with
our old friend Tweed: "Well. what are
you. you reformers. going to do about itF'
The question Is "A fair one. for in the
cases supposed. and they occur daily, there
is something to be done. and. l must add,
that refurmers are too often prone to over
look this necessity. while they explain how
nothing OF this kind could happen. II only
their favoyite panacea for all existing or
conceivable evils had been or were now
applied. This may be cumulative voting or
minority representation or direct legisla-
ton or female suffrage or prohibition or
the single tax OF AIRY one OF many schemes
TO usher in the millennium; all Of which
are earnestly and intclligently and edo
ouently advocated, none of which l am here
to critlcise; but, whatever II may be, the
beauties visible TO the eye Of faith In the
more or less distant day of It's practical ao-
ceptance, in no wise help us to deal with
the scoundrel who yonder winks and leers
at us while he pockets the salary we pay.
He must be handled now, not In a future
golden age, and IL we wait until he and his
kind have voluntarily made their own pros
perity and continued existence Impossible,
we shall wait long and very much to his
and their satisfaction.
I was much impressed by a sermon I
once heard on the gospel story OF the
paralytic to whom was said: Arise, take
up thy bed and go into the house. The
clergyman who preached IL suggested that
the invalid might most reasonably have re-
piled: sir, l have not walked for years:
for this did / come to Thee: heal me first
and most gladly will 1 then obey Thy
words" Such an answer would have been
reasonable, and had he made 1t, the sick
man had not been healed. So IL we wait
fer existing evils to be cured by Providence
or to cure themselves, wait for some great
change to come somehow at some time, we
know not how or when; and, while II is
coming. content ourselves with telling what
we will do when II comes or would do were
1t here. 1t will simply not come at all. and
we shall lie as we lay before. PROSTATE and
helpless.
But If. letting Utopia take care of itself.
dealing with a present duty. which. of a
surety. needs and deserves our full strength,
wo obey the voice of honor and conscience
within us and dc what we know ought to
be done now and here, that which seemed
impossible may well come to pass, indeed
1t will surely come to pass II we but try and
try without ceaslng to bring It about. As
we strive to gain a better government, we
shall come to deserve one and as when we
dserve this we shall have this. Freedom
is not the birthright Of slumberers.
Those serve truth best who to themselves
are true
And what they dare to dream Of dare to do.
Such men. and such only. will remain
truly freemen.
DoIsK.z-. naa
Omaha daily bee., 1903-05-31

after getting the agreed price, always tfleS
to cheat him out of tho goods sold, but
the devil is too bright for him and en-
forces specific performance. according to
the letter of the bond. We should like thus
to deal with those who rule us. to have
them spare us all the burdens of our free
dom. and yet give us all its benefits; but
they don't do 1t.
Because we cannot expect a perfect
government. whether of an American city
or of anything anywhere else unless and
until the people governed arc also perfect.
which is not likely to happen here OF else
where, in our time, the conclusion is not
infrequently drawn that meantime any i'm
prOvement is hopeless; but this is "A grave
mistake. No doubt, as there never has
been, so there never will be, a perfect
government of men by men: but there has
been, there are now, much better govern
ments of great cities than those we live
under In the United States OF today, and
l believe hat there might be better city
governments now and here than any which
the world has known in this country or
any other. The true lesson is that the
question of good government I'm American
cities is essentially a moral and only in
cidentally a political one; indeed, this is
true Of all governments in all countries,
but more clearly and emphatically true of
a popular municipal government than that
of any other. 1 mean by this that what
the friends or good government in America,
and especially in American cities, have to
do is much less to devise methods for the
efficient and economical administration of
public affairs than to clearly and fire.
quently set forth and constantly and
forcibly impress on the attention of their
fellow-citizens the true and admitted ends
81 - - A. AgI
manifest and grievous derelictions of duty
on the part of public officers ard of the
voters. If, for example, one finds some
great department of a city government,
through which millions of dollars of public
money are annually spent, I'm a weller of
confusion, extravaganza and suspected
peculation. the remedy is, not to give it's
head a new name or to put It in the hands
of three men instead of one or vice versa
but to thoroughly expose its abuses,
adequately punish the man or men RESPONSE
BILE for them, and give 1t a head chow called
and whether made up of one person or of
more than one are matters of very sub
ordinate importance) under whom such
abuses shall become, and be seen by all to
have become impossible for the future.
1 must not be understood to mean that
constitutional provisions and laws and or
dinances or systems and rules of admins
tration may not be material factors in the
problem; what 1 wish to make clear Is that
they are not vital factors; the one thing
Indispensable. the one thing without which
good government of any kind or degree is
impossible, and which. under reasonable
limitations. takes the place and supplies the
want of all others. is good men. II you
have as public officers men thoroughly hon
orable and conscientious and also sufi-
Omaha daily bee., 1903-05-31

H"Ht good CltlzenS. buThe , wen khONh
$3.50 words have been often quoted;
they have been even quoted more than
once by me; but we cannot too steadily
remember that, as he said. There was
never long a corrupt government of a
people, When we find any self
governing community afflicted with chronic
misgovernment, we can safely and fairly
believe that It does not deserve a better
fate. II may indeed wish to be well gov
erned, just as many a drunkard, in his
seasons of repentance and headache, wishes
he were temperate, just as many a de-
faulter. as yet undetected. in saner mo-
ments wishes he could repay what he has
taken, and feel himself once more an hon
est man. But as such men do not wish
hard enough to keep away, the first from
the bar. the second from the faro table or
Wall street, so much a nation, state or
city, does not wish hard enough for good
government to make bad government i'm
possible.
I remember the story, of a man who had
been run over in the street; a sympathiz-
ing crowd gathered around him. and many
expressions of compassion were heard. A
preoccupied man. hurrying to his business.
stopped, took in the situation with a rapid
glance, and said: "Well friends, i pity
him 81 worth for a hack to take him
home; how much do you pity lin? OF
course, we are all patriots. especially in a
presidential year, but what is the value
in dollars and cents, in sacrifice of money,
time or personal inclination. of our patriot
ism? We long to see good and wise men in
publicofflce. the peoples burdens tighten, the
peoples work we'll done; but II we put
this longing in the scales, what will over
balance it? VIII blind and paltry preju-
dices of party or race or class or creed
outweigh 1t? VIII some mean and trivial
qualification to self-interest or vanity out
Incompetent relative or dependent on the
taxpayers for support; say the prospect of
becoming a presidential elector or a colonel
or general on the governors staff. Will
sheer Incidence and cowardice outweigh 1t?
the dread of unaccustomed distasteful
work; the fear of abuse and personal en-
nifty. Will it be found wanting when
matched against the mere squeamishness
which runs away from coarse and ugly
surroundings. however vital the task to be
done in their midst. much as a man might
rather die of typhoid fever than clean out
a sink? If such is the measure of our
patriotism, If such Is the moral avOirdu-
pois of our citizenship, WI need not won
der, we ought not to complain, II, while
we are finding excuses for not doing the
work of our government In our interest.
some one else does 1t for us in his own.
You have all heard the we'll known fable
of the man who sells his soul to the devil;
satan is to give him wealth and high sta
ton and worldly prosperity in return, and
does it; the other party to the contract,
Omaha daily bee., 1903-05-31

|RADAD. ~ ia a. AoAo maj
E%AN Suppose he said to a repre-
2&x2S sentative of this paper, "our wheat
trade with China alone to amount to l per
cent per capita for each day in the year,
that would amount to $4,000. COO a day
nearly $500. COO, eco a year"
Mr.. Hill believes that an Asiatic market
can be secured for the American farmers
wheat. He bases this belief on the fact
that wherever wheaton flour has been in
PRODUCED to any race, with the single ex-
ceptiOn of the black race. they are ready to
consume it from that time on" He be-
lieves this so firmly that he is building the
five largest steamers that the world has
ever seen to carry the wheat of the Pacific
coast to China, Japan, the Straits Settle
ments and other Oriental lands.
In short. his scheme is to make wheat
scarce by opening new markets, thus adj
vance it's price at home and abroad, and
thus put more money in the pocket of the
man who has been called the nations back
bone-the farmer.
Mr.. Hills views on an Asiatlc market for
America, in view of the present internn-
tiOnal concern over the ''open door in the
East. are exceedingly timely. He says:
"The question of a market is next in i'm
p~ortance to the question of raising the COM
mOdities we have to sell. We have ex-
tended the areas from which our agricul-
tural products are raised. unul we have
practically created a supply that is in ex-
cess of the demand for a large portion of
the time.
"The population Of this country doubles
about every thirty years. In the year 1880
we shall have a population OF from $50, OC0.-
900 TO 10000 eco. All tine people must he
occupied. If the population continues to
increase I'm the ratio indicated, where are
we to put them all and what are they to
do?
"our country is expanding in popula-
tion. What has been done TO expand our
markets? What intelligent work has been
done since the civil war-and that is as far
Omaha daily bee., 1903-05-31
Essence of Good City Government s tSs G AM M

GENTLY educated to Understandable discharge
their duties, you will have, whatever the
defects of your statutes or customs, a
good government; IL your places OF public
trust are filled by ignorant. incompetent,
self-seeking or uEscrupulOus men. you may
multiply checks and balances, you may de-
wise all sorts of ingenious and complicated
safeguards. but. whatever its scientific
merits In theory. your machine OF govern
ment will. i'm practice. work III. Institu-
lions are in politics what fortiflcations are
in war; each, II we'll planned. may aid
good and brave men to do their duty;
neither can take the place Of such men.
1t was not breastworks or rilepits hat
stopped Pickett at Gettysburg: u brave
enemy will ever have a picnic with forts
and big guns and all sorts Of elaborate
engines of destruction whose defenders take
TO their heels: and in administration no
less than warfare, it is. after all. the hui
man element that counts.
Neither would ] discourage the careful
and scientific study of questions of govern
ment; no more worthy or more promising
field of inquiry can be offered to the mind
of mall. Indeed a very striking and en-
couraging phenomenon In American So
ciety is the general and increasing interest
in such questions at all of our leading seats
OF learning; moreover, 1, at least, see In
the widespread popular concern with this
subject, to which l nave already referred,
the fruit, In great part. of much quiet read
Ing and thinking. writing and talking, in
such regions during the last decade. In no
small measure the literary fellers' have
gone into politics. though not precisely
as the politicians would understand the
term, and the results of their doing so are
good for them and good for the American
people.
But whilst l would be the last to dis
countenance the most painstaking research
or the collation. of all attainable informa-
ton on these topics, 1 would interpose one
word of warning: by all means study, but
in the meantime act. The science Of medi-
cine has male immense progress during
this century, but, while men of research
have repeatedly revolutionized 1t by their
inventions and discoveries, men Of action
have all the time fought disease, eased
pain, saved life by methods which next
year become obsolete but this year served
their ends. They could not tell a mother
whose child had dlphtheria that, when they
had learned by a few months more expert
ment just what to think OF anti-toxine, they
would come and treat him; tho merits Of
the treatment would scarcely interest her
as she returned from laying flowers on his
grave. AS with our bodily ailments, so
with those of our body polite; we must
cure them as best we can while we learn
how to cure them better. Those who have
leisure and learning and a facile pen can
with great profit to all of us write mono
graphs and pamphlets and magazine articles
on proportional representation and referen-
dun and the Gothenburg liquor system, and
their work will tell In time, but while they
read and think and write this rascal has
Omaha daily bee., 1903-05-31
James ]. Hill Says Asia is the Hope of American Farmers

W@AMES ]. HILL believes tina tbs
~ hope of the American farmer
lies in an Asiatic market.
$%S6M Suppose" he said to a repre-
Omaha daily bee., 1903-05-31

} HAVE a good city government in
the United States we must. first
of all, and before all else, have
good citizens. Burke's well known
words have been often quoted;
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-18
DEATH BY ACCIDENT.
Verdict Rendered at Inquest Over Re
mains Of Lucy Flynn.

An inquest was held at the sixth precinct
police station today in the case Of the col
ored woman, Lucy Flynn. who was fatally
injured in the Albemarle apartment house
a week ago. and whose death occurred at
Freedmen's Hospital two days ago. 1t was
in evidence that the woman had carried
some clothing down in the freight elevator
and that she was in the basement when she
received her injuries. Just how she was
hurt is matter Of conjecture. The best
information the jury could obtain showed
that the woman had probably been thrown
from the freight compartment by the sud-
den starting Of the car.
william Cantey, the elevator conductor,
was at his post at the time and the acct
dent is said to have been caused by no
fault of his. Occupants of apartments in
the building told the jury that Cantey was
a capable man and that he was always at
tentive to his duty. 1t was stated that
some trouble had been experienced with
the elevator at certain hours OF the day
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-18
CHILD FATALLY BURNED.
Daisy Wilson Dies at the Emergency
Hospital Today.

Daisy Wilson, three-year-old colored
child, was fatally burned this morning at
the home of her parents. 1923 street
northwest About $50 o'clock a call was
received at the Emergency Hospital for the
ambulance to go to the house. DR.. White
accompanied the ambulance and upon
reaching the house discovered that there
was no hope for the little one. He did
what he could to relieve her sufferings and
had the driver of the ambulance make
quick run to the hospital. The child lived
nearly three hours after the hospital was
reached John E. Wilson, father of the
child, was sick in bed in a room on the
second floor of the home and Mrs. Wilson
had gone to the store to make some pur-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-18
Substance of Reports.
CLOSED TO BREWERS.
Authorities Will Not Permit Beer to
Pass Through Military Reservation.

Acting on the advice Of Judge Advocate
General Davis, the Secretary Of War has
denied an application from brewing COM
pany for permission to LAND beer, ETC., for
certain bar rooms near the military reser-
walton at Fort Washington, Nd, on the
government wharf at that post. This &C.
ton was taken simply with view Of pre-
venting the transportation OF beer and
liquors through the military reservation
the sale of liquors in the bar rooms just
outside the military reservation at Fort
Washington.
diction whatever outside the limits of the
land occupied by the garrison, and. al
though they are not willing to encourage
the sale of liquors to the soldiers, they re-
aIize that their action in closing the wharf
to the LIQUOR dealers will not prevent their
getting their supplies in other ways.
The first step was taken yesterday when
the transportation companies. whose
steamers land at the wharf at Fort Wash
ington. were notified that they would not
on and after today be allowed to land any
packages Of intoxicants on the wharf, and
the guards havesbeen Instructed to see that
the order is obeyed. The steamboat COM
NAMES here this morning refused to receive
shipments of beer and liquors consigned to
parties who receive their freight at Fort
Washington. and the order has thus had
the effect of temporarily cutting Off sup
plies.
The dealers, of whom there are three or
four will at once arrange to receive sup
plies either over. the, road from this city,
or at other wharves in the vicinity, and
the action of the military authorities will
not have a prohibitfve effect.
There Is some talk Of contesting the
right of the military authorities to close
tho wharf, on the ground that while 1t
is on a military reservation 1t is semi
public wharf, from the fact that the grants
OF the original owners of the land to the
government for the fort, specifies that the
for all time for the use of the owners of
land in the rear Of the reservation and
their successors.
An official of the War Department states
that the order is intended to preserve dis
cipline. With bar rooms at the gates OF
| Fort Washington. which the military au.
| thorities are powerless to close, and a,
which the soldiers can obtain liquor at any
| time despite orders forbidding their leav.
| ing the reservation. it has been found very
difficult at times to keep the discipline Of
| the post up to the standard set by the army
regulations. The landing of the liquor OF
| the fort wharf and the carrying of II
through the reservation In open wagons
! looked like the dealers were Haunting 1t il
| the faces of the officers, and on the repre-
sensations of Col. B. K Baker, command
| ing at Fort Washington, he was author
| lied to take the step forbidding the land
| ing of liquor at the wharf and the order
| will be enforced. This may give the deal
ers some little trouble but they will get
their supplies as usual