Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1905-12-12
WHEN THE "nre STICK" LANDED.

Fremont Herald: And now another pair
OF republican officials has gone wrong in
Nebraska. There must DO something in
the climate which breeds crookedness in
the men whom President Roosevelt has
honored i'm Nebraska.
Leigh World: j. c. Pettiiohn, register
Of the land Office at Valentine, has been
discharged from duty and the secretary
Of the interior has requested the resigna-
ton OF Receiver a. l.. Towlc Of the same
Office. 1t seems that the present admin
istration will stand for no monkey business
and it Is right that they should not
Beatrice Express: The new appointment
to the land office positions at Valentine
illustrates the danger OF selecting the man
who gets in first or hardest with his en-
dorsements. That is, IL will illustrate II
pretty soon, for very few who know Orva
Gallogly will believe that he can stay in
an office like that very long without his
fingers getting very uneasy. He will want
to settle contests by throwing dice or play
ing sevenup with the claimants After
the Tucker experience the senators should
have hesitated about taking a man who
wears his hat on the side of his head lust
because he had been lively in gathering up
endorsements.
Grand Island Independent: Six hours OF
Imprisonment for the violation Of the laws
of the land is in the first place farcical.
When, then. the officer whose duty il is 10
gee that the sentence OF the court is car
ried out adds to the gaiety and the comedy
Of the occasion by turning the convicted
violators. of the law over to their counsel
the procedure becomes still more ridiculous.
The Department of Justice at Washington
however has somewhat greater respect
for the DEGREES of the federal courts and
when 1t learned, through press reports that
two men convicted in the federal courts at
Omaha had been so Tin custody" it recon-
mended the application of the big stick and
United states Marshal Mathews head came
off Mr. Mathews has been somewhat mis-
represented In the matter, but admitted
that he had Immediately turned the prison
ers over TO their attorney the latter to keep
them in custody, and-well, it was a ridic-
ulous procedure. Mr.. Mathews was re-
moved Friday. 1t begins to look more
and more as if there were a spirit abroad
in Washington, II not in the land. that laws
and the DEGREES Of courts must be respected
by the offender of means no less than by
the offender in humber walks, both Of
whom, of course, should stand on an equal
basis before the law.
Nebraska City Tribune: Like lightning
| from a clear sky comes the removal from
office of United States Marshal Mathews
of Nebraska by order of the president
While the streak of lightning is dazzling
to the eye for a moment the optic nerve
| is quickly adjusted to the situation and
we are brought to realize that the Roose-
! Welt square deal" is Just the same thing
in Nebraska It is in Washington New
| York, Indiana or anywhere else. That's
| all there is to It, Two offenders who had
defied the statutes OF the United States
! for years were finally rounded up after
the expenditure of large amounts Of time
and money by the government. An APP
/ parently inadequate penalty imposed by the
! trial court contained as a portion OF the
| punishment that the convicted men be
given into the custody of United States
Marshal Mathews for six hours. There was
| a good deal of i'll concealed disgust in ad-
mnistration circles at Washington when
! the results of the cases and the sentence
/ OF the court became known and when It
leaked out that even the six hours in
custody of the marshal" had been to all
| intents end purposes nulliied by the fact
| that the marshal had turned the men over
to the custody" of their own attorney,
there was something doing and the Roose-
welt square deal" axe hit Marshal
Mathews in the jugular before he could bat
| his eye. The Tribune stu stands fcf
/ Roosevelt and the square deal"-at home
as we'll as abroad-in Nebraska as we'll
as in Indiana or Jersey.
Valentine Republican: Reports from
Washington involving the register and re-
ceiver of the land Office here reached this
community like thunderbolt from a clear
sky. Both stand high here, have the
entire confidence of all, and having had
no official notice OF charges being preferred
against them people OF this section, re-
CARELESS Of political Affiliations, are up in
arms and highly indignant Had the regis
! ter and receiver permitted, a petition would
have been circulated and signed by nine
tenths of the citizens in the district asking
that they be renstated. All kinds of mis-
leading reports have been published and
| circulated by the enterprising and indus
trious metropolitan press. There is no truth
! in the statement that these men have
been in collision with those making fraud
ulent entries and fencing OF government
land. and neither have acquired or at.
tempted to acquire title to foot of gov
eminent land. So far as known the only
thing for which complaint could be made
was the Withholding of two ACCOMPLISHMENTS
by Mr.. Pettijohn from the records until
after the rush incident to filings under the
Kinkaid 640-acre homestead law, and he
having at one time. in 1901, government
land under fence. From the relinquish-
ments he did not profit one cent and the
tract fenced at that time had been passed
up as worthless by people filing in that
community. in Brown county, near Long
Pine. This action is undoubtedly due to
knockers who are liable TO prosecution
and hope to save their own necks by impli-
eating others. In this latter however
they are sadly mistaken, for the govern
ment is hot on their trail and will prob
ably give them more Justice than they
have dealt misery to Register Pettijohn
and Receiver Towle.