Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-08-26
No Precedents to Guide Them in Max
ing Up Their Estimates.
SWITCH ON TALK ABOUT PRESS
City Papers Blamed No Matter Which
Tack They Take in Campaign.
BONE OF CONTENTION
Plum which started All the Fight
Over the Candidates for Supreme
Judse-Chnnce for Legis-
lnture to Act.
CFrom a stan Corrcspondent)

LINCOLN, Aug. 25--(special Telegram y
The work OF the rival press bureau" or
ganizatlons has been practically ended,
although they have both been busy right
along up to this time. Both sides of the
Scdgwick-Reese controversy are insisting
that they have the better OF II, but the
Reese boosters do not make their claims
with quite the cock-suredness that they
did little while ago
All are agreed that the outcome will
depend, as between Reese and Sedgwlck
In their quest for the supreme judgeship
nomination, upon a great many contingent
factors, on which no one can make intell-
gent estimates, particularly in view of the
fact that this will be the first trial of a
statewide primary in Nebraska. Weather
conditions. local fights for county nomina-
tlons, the personal folowngs OF different
leaders who have espoused one cause or an
other the intelligence OF the primary elec-
ton officers, the form In which the ballots
are put up by the county clerks-will all
have something to do with the vote polled.
For the regular election these contingencies
might be discounted and some fair concep-
tion had of the size of the vote and the
preferences OF the voters. For this first
experiment under the statewide primary
everyone seems to be at sea on these points
and the most seasoned political bellwether
refuses to risk his reputation even on a
guess as to approximately how many re-
publican votes will be footed up by the
State Board of Canvassers
Windup Rather Tame.
The last week has been decidedly tame
for the spectator watching the political
performance, the climax apparently having
been reached iri the interchange between
pa md
redfre was then set off all at once. Ths
friends OF the opposing supreme Judge can
dldates have since been trying to overaws
each other by parading the lists OF the
newspapers enlisted under their respective
banner. while the Reese organs have been
trying to take 1t out on the city dailies for
not stampeding at their boast of being the
only true exponents OF reform. Right here
is where they have turned another anus
ing somersault since the opening OF the
campaign, when they called loudly upon
the city papers to take the lead and tell
the country brethren what to do. Secretary
Perkins OF the state committee, through
his St Paul paper, at that time declared
that "to the city papers is due the greatest
credit for progress already made and to
them are the country papers as well as
the people looking for leadership" But
now the same Reese papers are excoriating
the city dailies for having taken stand
in favor of Sedgwick and are serving notice
on them that the country editors are the
real moulders of public opinion and will
prove in the coming campaign that the
city fellows have no influence whatever.
Possible Outcome of Fight.
"In tell you what this Reese-S -Sedgwick
fight is likely to result in," says a state
house politician. "It is likely TO result in
the enactment of law by a not far distant
legislature, fixing a salary for the clerk OF
the supreme court. When the people como
to realize that this unseemly fight has been
precipitated because OF the spoils and
rivalry to get what is the fattest political
office in the state they will begin inquiring
what there really is in II. The tendency
of the times is toward the abolition OF fee
offices, in which the rakeoff is indefinite.
and to hx specific salaries for all public
officers There is no more reason why the
clerk of the supreme court should keep
all the fees that come into his possession
than that the celrks of our distric courts
should do the same. OF course. the clerks
of the district courts used to do that very
thing. but abuse got so fragrant that the
legislature was forced TO stop 1t and put
them on salaries l say that II the clerk
OF the supreme court were salaried posi-
ton, with a moderate stipend no bigger
than the salary OF the chief justice, there
never would have been any -Sedgwick
scrap"