Omaha daily bee., 1903-06-09
RRAsS BANp CHARITY.

/
! heaven.
| Therefore, when thou doest thine aims,
do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the
hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the
| streets, that they may have glory Of men.
4 Verify say unto you, they have their re-
ward.
But when thou doest aims, let not thy
| left hand know what thy right hand doeth;
| that thine aims may be in secret, and thy
! Father who seeth in secret Himself shall
reward thee openly.-Matthew, Chapter vi.
Newspapers, like men, may be judged
| by their acts and not by their vain
glorious boasting. Brass band charity
as a medium of advertising newspaper
benevolence with other peoples money
does not conform with the ideals which
The Bee and its editor have set for
themselves either as a stimulant to pop
ularity or patronage. The brazen-
throated blasts of the world-Hersld to
advertise its achievements in the way
of public charities and relief would pass
unnoticed were it not for the uncalled-
for and invidious comparison 1t has seen
| fit to institute with its latest effort at
-glorification.
In the truly charitable spirit that per
meates our nmiable contemporary The
Bee is stigmatized as "the meanest paper
that has ever come out of printing
press" and in the recital of its own
countless distributions of public charity
The Bee is pointed out as the paper that
has never yet contributed Ito the allie
Walton of human distress and in every
instance has sought to discourage work
ers engaged in such laudable undertak-
ings"
On this score The Bee has only the
to say-that its work of charity has not
been conducted on Pharisee lines, and
without boasting it points to the fact
that it has contributed more to char
table institutions and public enterprises
in any one year than the World-Herald
has done altogether since it came into
existence. But it has not found 1t neces-
sary to advertise its benefactions, which
include not merely most of the religious
and benevolent institutions in Omaha,
but a respectable number in the state of
Nebraska as well as elsewhere.
One would naturally infer on reading
the chapter of World Herald seh-glori-
fication that The Bee had never been
known to encourage or assist in any act
of benevolence OF charity. Perhaps it
may not be out of place to cite the fact
that The Bee raised over $4,000 of con-
tributions to the heroic school teachers
who distinguished themselves by life
saving during the historic blizzard of
1888. And how did the World-Herald
conduct itself at that period? After
making the most strenuous efforts on
behalf Of these teachers, and especially
Miss Royce, who had lost both of her
feet the editor of The Bee was awak-
sned at his home at half past two one
morning by a World-H Herald reporter
and asked what he had to say regarding
the report that had been sent out by
the United Press, for which at that time
the World-Herald was western agent
that he had embezzled $1,000 of the
money contributed to Miss Royce. Not
only was this accusation a most in
famous libel. but as matter of fact
Miss Royce received every penny Of the
principal contributed and per cent in
terest on the balance then on deposit.
AS matter of fact, also, the delay oc-
casioned in the settlement. as was well
known, was due to the appeals of the
people of Plainview that the money be
invested either in life annuity or in
bonds in order to protect Miss Royce
from the sharks who were trying to bor-
row the relief fund without a proper
guaranty.
Perhaps the World-Her has also
forgotten that The Bee raised a large
fund for the cyclone victims at Brad
shaw, and that it's refusal in later years
to become the medium of charity dis
tribution has been largely due to the
outrageous treatment received Mt its
hands in raising the school-teacher biz
zard relief funds.
An instance especially cited MS dis
creditable to The Bee is it's alleged op-
position to the collection of Christmas
presents for the First Nebraska and the
raising of the fund to pay the return
fare of the regiment from San Fran
cisco to Omaha. There is absolutely no
truth in the first charge and the second
is malicious and misleading. The brass
; band charity concern started the move
ment for the return of the First Ne
braska for political ends. 1t was pal
pable from the outset that so large a
sum as $4,000 could not be raised by
, popular subscription and Governor
Poynter knew as well as anyone that
the scheme was impractical. The only
, chance was I'm an agreement on the part
: of the railroads to accept l o U's from
, the state with an assurance OF getting
. an appropriation through the legisla
; ture. To bring this about the editor OF
The Bee made an unsuccessful personal
appeal to President Burt and Manager
Holdrege, but while the Burlington and
. Union Pacific magnates had an under
standing to make no concession, the
Burlington played the winning card
| through d. E. Thompson, who hnndcC