Omaha daily bee., 1903-04-05
A DOUBLE srlNplRp rArRiUT

ners on the police board allowed the drug
gists and liquor dealers Of Omaha TO be
held up by the Omaha fakery 70 the tune
OF about $500 last December they had
a right to expect that the favor would be
reciprocated. This explains why the
World Herald tries to make light Of the
indefenslble course pursued by the COM
mission in the appointment and promotion
OF police officers who had scsndalized the
service years ago and should by right
have been barred from ever again being
allowed to wear a policeman's uniform.
The fact that the infamous conduct Of
these men had been committed years ago
does not make their reappointment by the
present commission less offensive. The NAL
| odorous record Of Captain Haze and former
Chief sigwart was brought to the atten-
tion OF the commission at the very outset,
before they had entered upon the reorgani-
zation Of the police force, and the board
therefore could not plead the baby act as
an excuse for reinstating these men In
the service.-The Bee.
In answer to this indictment the bene-
Gclary of police power usurpation de-
clares that w. j. Broatch 'has for
many years been generally regarded as
one of our most eminently respectable
citizens for whom a very considerable
number of Omaha people entertain n
genuine affection and who as a bust
ness man and citizen enjoys the con-
fidence and respect of the people gen.
orally. Had that not been So" adds
the demi-oficial organ. "Broatch would
long ago have succumbed to the attacks
made upon him and would have lost the
good opinion entertained for him by his
fellow citizens"
If all this were true it would by no
means disprove the accusations made
by The Bee. It simply affords a strik-
ing illustration of the dual character
Of the man. No man who has figured
in public life in Nebraska is as conspic-
uOus an example of the double standard
of morals as w. ]. Broatch. As a
hardware merchant he has borne q fair
reputation for business integrity. As a
public official he has established a rep
utation as a monumental fraud. AS
mayor of Omaha he is reputed to have
built a sewer connection from the main
sewer to his storehouse at the city's ex.
pense. During the last night of his first
term as mayor the Doodle council com.
bine passed a resolution ordering the
city attorney to confess judgment fol
A $4,000 against the city Of Omaha on O
claim trumped up by the gas company
which was pronounced by w. ]. Con.
nell at least $4,000 above the amount
to which the gas company was actually
entitled, and which, moreover, could
not have been collected in the courts
Broatch appended his approval to this
steal within a few minutes after it.
passage. On the last night and in the
last hour of his second term Mayor
Broatch signed the electric light con
tract that fllched thousands of dollars
out of the pockets of Omaha taxpayers
As a citizen w. j. Broatcht has con
Quoted himself without ~reproach-al
mayor OF Omaha he looted the treas
ury by employing several hundre,
street ~scavengers to carry the primarie
and ordered their payment out of tn
city treasury when the city did not ow,
the men a penny for actual work per
formed.
} Among business men w. J. Broatcl
| has enjoyed fair credit, but as arb
traitor for the state Of Nebraska and a
appraiser of the property turned owe
by William Dorgan, the lessee Of tn
2 penitentiary he acted the part Of a cor
summate crook. he appraised two span
of spawned old mules, a couple Of wor-
out old wagons, and a Job lot of oil
truck, which under the most favorabI
= conditions could not have been sold 70
( $4,000, for $4,000, and pocketed for hi
t services $500, for a half days work.
Mr. Broatch is known to be for,
handed and always has been thrift
T The last time he occupied the mayor
: chair he managed to conduct his ow
: business affairs, managed to draw $3.50
T a year out of the city treasury for sa
airy as mayor and $500 more from Ii
United States treasury as Nilsson
q river commissioner. As a double stan,
d ard patriot Broatch stands peerless
y this country.