Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-09-01

on the spot where twenty OF the best years
OF my life were spent. where every one OF
my children was born, I should see today
erected a structure that would be recog-
niEed as the largest newspaper building
on the American continent" Ut was at
that time and until recently covered
larger area than any other similar struc
ture)
IL neither looked to the right nor the left,
nor did look back During all the career
have had in Journalism. when drafts
were coming due at the bank and l had
no money TO pay them, when notes were
coming due and l did not know where to
get a dollar, when creditors harassed me
30 was afraid to pass one OF them upon
the street l never thought OF worrying. l
never worried about thing that was going
to happen. but kept moving on toward tile
goal desire to reach. A few more years
and 1 am done. feel 1 have done my
duty as a man and a citizen. II has been
hard struggle"
Rosewater's Early Struggles.
Many stories are told by other men 20
substantiate the last sentence. I. W.
Blackburn, an Omaha lawyer, says:
I'm 1876 l reported for The Bee the ses-
sion Of the legislature that failed to re-
senator. Rosewater shared a room with
me at hotel in Lincoln. He was bitterly
opposed to Hitchcock and was at the cap
ital as much OF the time as he could be.
He would never go to bed until after. 1
o'clock in the morning. Then he would
merely remove his boots and coat and lie
down on the edge of the bed. At 5 o'clock
he would go to Omaha, fifty miles away,
on an early train. He spent the day In
Omaha working on his paper, writing ed
itorial and news matter and personally
supervising everything about 1t. In the
evening he would return to Lincoln, bear
Ing a bundle of The Bee under his arm.
He distributed with his own hands the pa
pers TO legislators and persons having in
fluence with them. The whole evening and
part of the night would be spent in per-
sonal campaigning. The session lasted sew
cral months and this was the constant
daily program"
Mr.. Blackburn happens now to be a vio-
lent political foe of Mr.. Rosewater's.
The speech Rosewater made at the DIM
ner sixteen years ago helps to show how
little men know about their futures. He
then thought 1t about time to retire. Since
he has been more fertile, more virile, more
powerful than ever before. Much OF the
work by which he will be remembered was
done. He suggested the Transmississippi
exposition of 1898. headed the subscrip-
tion list, and was one of the men who
made the affair conspicuous success
financially as we'll as otherwise. He took
the stump against Bryan and debated the
money question with him, and more than
| any one else caused the Nebraska delega-l
| ton to stand for the gold monetary stan
| dard in the st. Louis convention. Locally
some of his biggest political victories were
obtained and his honorable defeat for
| senator In a deadlocked legislature
achieved. He saw his paper grow and ex-
pand in many ways and formed the
| friendship and gained the confidence Of
men like Mckinley. Hanna and Roosevelt.
These were the golden years OF his life.
| In national politics, Rosewater has
found it compatible with his mind to
| sist in the fortunes of the republican
party. but he has resigned from republican
| committees and turned the balance In
favor OF a democratic governor. GER
| tain congressman was elected term after
| term from the Omaha district. He got to
! be a power, at Washington. His machine
| at home was nearly perfect The time
| came when Rosewater thought the con-
gresham more closely aff1liated with
Washington than with Nebraska, and he
1 slipped the dogs OF war. For one term the
| Second Nebraska district was represented
| by democrat. This democratic congress-
man CHANGED to be Gilbert NJ. Hitchcock,
son Of ex-senator p. w. Hitchcock, whom
Rosewater helped to defeat for reelection
| In 1876. Hitchcock junior became owner of
the rival paper. espousing the cause of
democracy and combating his and his
fathers personal and political foe, Edward
Rosewater. After that election Hitchcock
met Rosewater on the street. They had
not spoken for years.
| mr.. Rosewater, you elected me to con-
gress; let me thank you," said Mr.. Hitch
cock.
Some months later Mr.. Hitchcock took
/ up two columns in a Chicago paper de-
scribing how my most bitter personal
and political enemy helped me to congress
and my best personal apd political friend
civilian J. Bryan once deprived me of
election to the United States senate"
Able to do nearly the impossible in
| electing some one else, personally he
seems to be able to do about as much for
himself. politically. as a granger stacking
hay. In 1904 he was turned down as a dele
gate to the national republican convention,
so numerous were his local antagonists.
As a practical. working. political man.
ager Rosewater's fame is almost as great
as that Of editor. With a never-diminish-
ing energy he is deeply interested even in
ward primaries, contending that home rule
is the foundation Of good government In
diligence in the whirlpool OF local mu-
nicipal politics has caused one or two as
sociations not altogether fortunate, and
this has resulted I'm a slight dimming of
luster. quite useless and not at all de-
served The opponents dealt with usually
have decidedly less horizon than he, and
the thwarting of their petty interests
breeds rancor hard to appreciate. They
do not full understand Rosewater, who.
abused every now and then by clergy
man for refusal TO cooperate in every new
plan to increase public morality. refuses
to issue a Sunday extra rather than inter
rupt the quiet OF the day.
The private side OF Rosewater is severe
and plain. In hours OF relaxation he is
best pleased with the members OF his own
family. He has no fads and few recrea.
, tons. The walls of his once are covered
with portraits given him by famous men
and women. Entertaining weIl-knowr
writer's. actors, soldiers statesmen, phil.
anthropists. artists, when they happen &c
visit Omaha, Is his principal social diver.
sion.