davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
ELEcroRAL coLLEGE GROWTH.
FiEures OF interest to the udiO
voter.

NoNeEs
Kansas City star.
It has been 100 years since James Madi-
son was elected to his first term as presi-
dent. Madison received l22 votes in the
electoral college and Charles c. Pinckney
Of South Carolina received forty-seven.
George Clinton Of New York received six.
In a century the vote Of the electoral col.
lege has increased from 17b to 4sS. Notwith-
standing Madison's overwhelming ma
jority of the electoral vote In 1872, he still
Lacked eighteen Of as many votes in the
electoral college as Parker received In 1904,
and Parker was overwhelmingly defeated.
The increase in the electoral vote of the
states marks the growth and development
Of the entire country. The admission Of
new states has been a prominent factor in
increasing the vote, but the growth in popu-
lation is chiefly accountable for the differ
ence between the. electoral vote of 1s0S and
that of 1903.
The greatest increase in the electoral vote,
however, was in the first quarter of the
century. From 1905 to 1882 the gain was Ill.
From 1892 to 1856 the vote in the electoral
college increased but ten-from 2S6 to 296.
From 1856 to 1880 the increase was seventy
three, and from 1880 to 1904 the gain was l01,
In these four periods the same number of
states have been admitted TO the union.
From 1908 to 1892 Louisiana, Indiana, Missis-
sippi, 1llinois, Alabama, Maine and Missouri
were authorized to vote for president. From
1892 to 1856 the electoral votes Of Arkansas,
Michigan, Florida, Texas, Iowa, Wisconsin
and California were added. From 1856 to
1880 the admissions were Minnesota, Oregon,
Kansas, West Virginia, Nevada, Nebraska
and Colorado. From 1880 to 1904 North and
South Dakota, Montana, Washington,
Idaho, Wyoming and Utah were given the
right Of suffrage in presidential elections.
The vote in 1908 will be Increased but
seven over that of 1904. The reapportion-
ment Is made every ten years, so that the
only change from the electoral vote of 1904
will be the seven votes from Oklahoma, ad-
mitted last year.
In the Madison campaign, 100 years ago,
only the thirteen original states, with Yer
mont, Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio, par
ticipated. 3D.
Prior to 1924 no record of the so-called
popular vote for president was made.
But from 1924 to 1904 the popular vote in
creased from 1852, O62 to 1850, 70S.
In 1924 Andrew Jackson received 1876, S72
votes. and his plurality over John @. Adams
was 50,551, although Adams was elected
president. The vote of the nation as late
as 1924 was less than half the vote of Kan
sas in 1904.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
PARAMoUNTs m PROCESSION.

~
When william j. Bryan first pre-
sented himself to public favor as a
candidate for congress, his paramount
issue was the destruction of our pro-
tective tariff. Free trade with all the
nations of the world.s To annihilate
the rubber tariff barons was absolutely
necessary to the prosperity of the
country, and until the tariff wall was
torn down It was useless to attempt
to redress any other grievances.
When Mr.. Bryan ran for the presi-
dency in 1896, his paramount issue
was the free and unlimited coinage of
gold and silver at the sacred ratio of
16 to /, without waiting for the aid
or consent of any other nation on
earth. In his famous Gross of Gold"
speech he explained the paramount
Importance Of free coinage by declar-
ing that when we have restored the
money Of the constitution, all other
necessary reforms will be possible, but
until this is done there is no other
reform that can be accomplished"
In 1900, when he went a second time
to defeat, Mr.. Bryan's paramount issue
was military Imperialism. So para
mount had this danger suddenly be-
come that he declared It more i'm
portant than the money question,
more important than the tariff ques-
ton, more important than any econo-
mic question"
And now just as free trade was most
important at the start, just as in 1896
free coinage was more important than
free trade, Just as in 1900 the menace
of Imperialism was more important
than free coinage, 50 we have another
over-shadowing issue, which is none
other than Let the people rule" I'm
less this is settled, we will, doubtless,
be told by Mr.. Bryan, as we have been
so often told by him before, no other
reform can be accomplished and with
this settled by his election, all other
desired reforms will come of them
selves.
Should the new paramount issue
prove no more helpful to Mr.. Bryan
than the old ones that have been dis
carded, It will be relegated to the scrap
heap and another oyer-shadowing issue
conjured up for the mex battle.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
NEED FOR oUroKENBD JUSTICE.

NDhD EONN W. SAh BtN WI
Mr.. Taft struck q responsive chord
when, In an address before the Vir-
ginia Bar association, he declared that
the most important question before
the, American people, is 'the improve
ment of the administration of justice,
civilly and criminally, in the matter of
it's prompt dispatch and the c~heapening
Of it's use for the poor man." Poll
tically leaders may question Mr.. Taft's
assertion that this is the greatest ques-
ton before the people, but there can
be no question that reformation is de-
manded for the errors of a system
which gives the rich litigant an i'm
mense advantage over the poor one
and which, if not reformed, contains a
serious menace to the republic.
Ever since the law, as we know it,
was established, 1.-The laws delay" has
been q subject of complaint. Popular
faith in the courts of justice has been
to a degree undermined by an abuse OF
the right of appeal and the practice of
taking advantage Of mere technicalities
of the law. This abuse has given
birth to a disregard among the people
OF the restraints of law and a disposi-
ton to evade its limitations. The
popular impression that the courts are
available only to the rich tends to i'm
pair the judicial system at its very
heart; to rob 1t of its poise and bal
ance. The courts should, in fact, be
open to all, equally available for the
poor as for the rich. That they are
not is not due, perhaps, to n Impair
tiality or any lack of integrity on the
part of the judiciary, but because the
rich man can afford the cost of litiga-
ton and the delay incident to appeals,
while the poor man cannot On this
point, MI. Taft says:
There seems to be no absolute remedy.
The only thing you can do is to render the
administration OF justice as prompt as pos
sible. The evil is in the delay more than any
thing else. And one of the great demagogic
arguments, for It is a demagogic argument
and l have heard 1t 50 often in legislatures
when a proposition Is made to have only
one appeal In cases involving less than $500,
is, Twill you deny the poor man the right
to obtain the judgment Of the supreme
court of the United States?"
There never was a more specious argu-
ment. The wealthy man can afford to wait
for years for that $500 and can afford to
carry the case on, but the poor man cannot
do IT. That 500 he needs. and needs 1t at
once. IL he is going to get 1t, and If not,
he needs to know that at once, and not
be put to the expense OF extended counsel
fees and appeals.
It is better that the case should be de-
cided against him than that he should lose
five or six years and finally win after he
has paid out the amount in attorneys fees
Mr.. Taft will nave the enthusiastic
commentator me support Of the
whole people in his announced inten-
ton to further 10 the fullest extent of
his W the reform Of judicial
procedure in this respect. The patience
of the people has been overtaxed by
abusive resort to the delay-compelling
facilities offered by the law and its
administration. The layman, with a
simple, just claim, has wearied OF be-
ing led into a legal maze to learn, after
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
IMPROVING IRISH CONDITIONS.


Two measures passed by the British
Parliament hold a promise that Eng
land is preparing to depart from its
long policy of stupidity in governing
the Irish people. One of the new laws
provides for very materially ~enlarging
the educational facilities for the Irish
people, and the other provides for the
gradual change of the land system In
Ireland, to the end that the country
shall become a land of small proprie-
tors, rather than a country as hereto
fore Of great landlords.
For years England has opposed the
advancement of education in Ireland,
solely because of a prejudice against
Catholicism. Three-fourths of the
population Of Ireland belong to the
Catholic church. At present there are
two universities in Ireland, one of
which is the fatty endowed Trinity col
lege, which for a long time expressly
excluded Catholics. The second uni
versity, established as nonsectarian,
and nicknamed Goddess" has prac-
tically been boycotted by the Irish,
with the result that advanced education
has been denied to three-fourths of the
Irish. people. The new educational bill
provides for the establishment of two
universities, one of which will be To-
Gated in Dublin and adopted by the
Catholics, with allied colleges in Cork
and Galway, while the other will be
located in Belfast and destined for the
benefit Of the Presbyterians and non
conformists who people the north Of
ireland. While the English may be
opposed to sectarian education, there
can be no doubt that the accommoda-
ton of the Irish Catholics and the Irish
nonconformists is the only intelligent
solution of the educational problem In
Ireland at this time,
Equally important to Ireland and
the Irish people is the plan for the
education of the small farmer along
practical lines. The governments
proposal to buy the lands of the big
Landlords and sell them to the Irish
farmers is already showing promise of
good results. Nearly 500 cooperative
creameries have been established and
supplying about half of the country's
output of butter. Similar cooperative
societies have been formed by flax
growers, bee-keepers, poultry r%aisers,
lacemakers and the like, with the re-
suit that the Irish peasant is being
rapidly emancipated from the grip OF
absentee landlordism" and boss rule.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09

The death in automobile accidents OF
two prominent New Workers, one in
Paris and the other in New York, en-
phasizes the fact that automobile
owners and operators are the slowest
to profit by experience. The reports
in both cases attribute the fatalities
to accidents when, in fact, there was
little of element of accident In either
case. In the death OF Mr.. Sands in
Paris, the chauffeur testified that Mr..
Sands was running his machine at the
rate of sev~enty-five miles an hour over
a road with which he was not familiar.
The testimony in the other case shows
that Mr.. Lauterbach, the New York
millionaire, was driving his car at sixty
or more miles an hour, when the car
dashed into the guard rail of a bridge.
1t is charged that the bridge was not
properly lighted, but, at that, no ex-
cuse can be offered for such a rate of
speed over such roads as are too com-
mon in this country.
On a perfect roadbed. with the right
of-way properly guarded, railroad
trains rarely travel at sixty miles an
hour, any speed greater than that be-
ing considered too risky, yet automo-
bile drivers think nothing of hitting
up a speed of sixty to seventy-five
miles an hour on country roads that
are rarely found in good condition. not
only with danger of death or serious
injury to themselves but also the i'm
minent danger of death TO pedestrians
and other occupants of the road.
When the folly of recklessness takes
possession of the victim of automobile
speed mania, the harvest for the
morgue and the hospital is usually
found ripe.
Every state and city has ample legis-
lation for the regulation of speed, not
only of automobiles, but of teams and
railway trains. The trouble and the
harvest Of casualties is due to lack of
proper enforcement of the laws. Law
enforcement should be put under high
pressure to overtake the machines I'M
lawfully speeded. Some action of this
kind is necessary not only for the
protection of the pedestrians but for,
the protection of the a~utomobilists
themselves.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09

years of delays. that he has been
cheated by a technically OF loses, even
II he wins, because his case has cost
him more than the worth of his original
right. In a Georgia case, for instance,
a man convicted of stealing 500 pounds
of cotton, had the case remanded by
the supreme court because the attorney
for the prosecution had failed to prove
that c,tton was a thing Of value, while
in a Montana case an embezzler es-
capped conviction because the prosecu-
ton failed to show that the money he
had unlawfully taken from the bank
was taken without color of right and
authority and with intent to steal the
same" Such cases do not aid in the
administration Of justice, however
much they encourage the feeling of
distrust in the efficiency and integrity
of the courts.
There appears, as Mr.. Taft says, no
absolute remedy, but he has done a
patriotic and n%onpartisan service in
calling attention to the need of reform.
Nothing could serve so speedily to curb
the power of corporate wrong and in
his efforts to this end, Mr.. Taft should
have the support and encouragement Of
attorneys and judges. who has shown
too much of a disposition to make
te~chnicalities and legal formulae para
mount to the administration of careful
and yet not tardy justice.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
Personal AND OTHERWISE.

Fire insurance on airships is the real
thing IN risks.
Mr.. Tillman is in Africa. Wherefore the
campaign hesitetes on the brink
Chicago pre-eminence as a resort Of sum-
mer is most impressive in the record of
p~rostrations.
A New York judge, approaching his limi-
tations, declined to issue an injunction
against a Growing rooster.
From the intensity Of the debate it is
evident both Hearst and Gompers are eligi-
bic for membership in the Ananias club.
A coat of mail is not a comfortable
garment in hot weather, but 1t helped his
~sultanic majesty in delaying the surgical
operation.
When Its justly celebrated lake breeze
lays down in midsummer Chicago mops its
brow, soberly thankful because the lake
produces ice in winter.
Senior Obaldia's election as president of
Panama has been made unanimous. The
senor's steam roller should be sent north
for exhibition and inspection.
An trade put out by the authorities of
Boston fixes 10 p. m. as the closing time
Of spoonlng campaigns on the front porch.
Isn't that awful, Mabel?
Japanese fans do not regard the cushion
treatment worth while. They act as they
shout. The umpire Of a recent base ball
game was carried off the field by the
undertaken.
Local papers are again discussing New
York's skyline. 1t helps to remind the
natives that the skyline is more extensive
than the narrow streaks visible from the
bottom OF the canyons.
Signs of campaign activity are multiply
ing. Mr.. Taft is charged with posing as
a fairy at a church entertainment, years
ago, and Mr.. Bryan is accused of farming
for the money there is in it.
The town fathers Of Harrison, N. j.,
believe in caring for the youngsters, as
the elders can take care of themselves.
Orders have gone forth requiring rubber
tires and feather springs on all baby
buggies in use in that town.
She had a prescription acquaintance with
the druggist, and felt brave enough to
inquire over the telephone. rs my husband
there2" mo, madam" responded the
gracious compounder, but we have some
thing just as good"
A Chicago man, henpecked to the limit,
threw himself on the mercy of the court.
"Any death, yer honor, but talked to
DEATH" pleaded the unfortunate, whose
wife argued the court out of breath. The
modern Solomon of that bench granted the
prisoner three days divorce from his
photograph and handed him the coin
wherewith to celebrate his liberty.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
The NEREsT FIREARM.

Howard Maxim, the inventor of the
noiseless gun, is represented as shud-
dering over the destructive possibilities
of his invention, and expressing a wish
that he had failed in his efforts to
evolve a weapon that could be dis
charged without attracting the atten-
ton of the neighbors. This is perhaps
an evidence of conscience out of keep
ing with those who bave made a study
of the fine art Of killing, but Maxim's
Invention really belongs in the kinder
garten class when compared with the
centrifugal gun, the invention of which
has just been announced by a New
York man.
This New Yorker once had the good
or i'll fortune to see a flywheel burst
and to be outside the zone of flying
fragments. He caught an inspiration
and decided that centrifugal force
might be made TO supply the place OF
explosives for d~ischarging projectiles,
and the centrifugal gun is the result.
From meager descriptions at hand, 1t
appears that the gun is built on the
sausage machine plan and al be
loaded with a shovel. An active man,
observing union rules. can feed bullets
enough in the hopper 70 devastate a
nation every working day. BY a sys-
TEN Of clutches, speed gears and other
easily adjusted arrangements, the bull
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
ACCIDENT PUBLICITY.

It is gratifying to note that the re-
sponsible official of our great railroads
are coming gradually to adopt the
policy of accident publicity at which a
little while ago they would have held
up their hands in holy horror. The lat
est order for complete publicity OF acct
dents has been issued by President
Shonts of the marlborough Rapid
Transit lines of New York City, d.
recting subordinates in cases OF acct
dent involving personal injury or de-
Law to traffic to communicate the facts
promptly to the public through the
newspapers. In all instances the rep
resentatives of the news agencies and
newspaper publications are to have full
and free access for their W investi-
cations, as well as to have at thei
disposal the official reports and the
company's explanations.
This accident publicity idea is said
to have gotten its greatest impetus
from it's Inauguration by Mr.. Harri-
man on the Union Pacific, from which
1t was quickly adopted by the Penn
s~ylvania railroad, and since then by
a number of other important systems.
The new rule is to be to let in all the
light possible on every mishap,
whereas, formerly, the rule was to
keep it dark at all hazards. The keep
it-dark plan went on the theory that
sitting publicity helped to get favora-
BILE settlements of damage claims, but
intelligent railroad officials have
finally gotten bravely over this hal
lucination. In the long run, accident
publicity is bound to prove beneficial
to the railroads and to save them
more by prevention than they can pos
sibly lose at the other end.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
DOMESTIC PLEAsANTRIEs.


May l see the lady Of the house2'
inquired the canvasser.
I'm sorry, but this is the cooks day
out" replied MIR. Wyss. IF you care to
see the woman. Of the house Ill call my
wife."-The Bohemian.
Mr.. Phusser-Cynthia, 1 have Joined a
Mrs. Phusser-I am sorry for the club.
II will have to change its name.-Chioago
Tribune.
Il want to bet $1,000 on Bryan" an
nounced the man who was next"
Make 1t 5000 and I'll go you declared
the man who was next to next
Both them gents viii want to stand
me of for a Decent shave until pay day.
confided the barber to the customer in
the charlottesville Courier-Journal.
you want to marry my daughter. eh7
May / ask what chances you nave for
getting on In the world :"
81 have an automobile, a yacht and an
airship.'
We'll, you seem to have every means
for getting on. She's yours, my boy
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Where is that new cape your husband
promised to buy you"
1T is what 1 call geographically res
What do you mean?'
.,"L mean as far as my prospects Of getS
good hope."-Philadelphia Ledger.
Husband (timidly)-rm afraid I lost
some money. Did you find a tear In my
Wife (pointedly)-I didn't find the rent
there.-Baltimore American.
i've often wondered" said the thoughts
full man, why they. throw old shoes and
l see the idea now"
"YesY' asked the other.
Yes; suppose the idea is that they'll
come in handy for spanking purposes in
the CONGRATULATIONS Press,
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
Battle Fleets Teachings.
Washington Star.

Geographically this voyage round the
world will teach its important lesson. 1t
will demonstrate In a concrete manner the
fact that the United States lies between the
two great seas in the path Of commerce,
in the commanding position between Europe
and Asia. A nation that must send its
ships thousands of miles around a great
continent to go from one door to another
and then is able to send them the rest Of
the way around the world in order to re-
turn to the starting point is proving itself
a power of the first magnitude and is COM
manding by its achievement the most re-
spectful consideration of all peoples.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09

washington is the most hospitable
capital in the world" says the Wash
ington Times. Yes, just noticed by
the press reports that a New York
man who called on a lady friend in
Washington was met at the door by
the lady's husband with a couple OF
able assistants and treated to a nice
coat of tar and feathers and invited
to call again the next time he was in
town.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09

Mr.. Bryan doubtless wishes thai
Tom Watson would get so busy run
ming for president that he would not
find time to stop and throw rocks at
other entries in the race.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
QuarreIing over Games.

DUIIlBIIVIU INVUUUIUuIs
And now it is Germany that protests an
American victory, the demand being mad
in behalf of the gallant Protos car, which
was first in fact to reach Paris, but set
back by the penalty imposed. These inter-
national %squabbles are not nice, but they
are harmless. Let the children keep on
playing together till they learn not to
quarrel over their games.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09

There is no place in the house for
a man when fruit is being put up"
says a contributor to the woman's
page. Possibly not, but a man is very
much at home in the house when fruit
Is being put down.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09

Mrs. Longworth and Mr.. Hartman
both refuse to tell what they talked
about when they met at Chicago. It's
a safe wager that the policies of Mrs.
Longworth's father were not the topic
OF conversation.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09

Paris reports 500 guests at a ban
ouet suffering from ptomaine poison
ing from a duck. The chef who can
get 500 portions from one duck ought
to command a handsome salary.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
work for VILLAGE Cops.
Pittsburg Dispatch.

]. p. Morgan's sons-in-law are reported
to be organizing an automobile combination
with a capital OF t5,OOOIOOo. Suburban
towns with ambitious officers may now
proceed to put up their speed penalties and
capture that capital.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
where CeIerIty COUNT.
Washington Heral.

1t seems 10 be a case Of young Turks
gains old Turks in the Ottoman empire.
The young Turks should be sure to pull
the thing off before Thanksgiving day, or
there will probably not be a eorporal's
guard left to tell the tale next day.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09

A Missouri man ate forty-eight ban
anas. n gallon Of ice cream and
drank three quarts of lemonade at a
church picnic the other day and the
Kansas City Star asks, What do you
think OF thatG" We think he won't
~ invited again.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09

The Technical World estimates that
there are 500, OOO, OOO,O 600 bees at
work in this country. This probably
includes the seven of the presidential
variety.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09

"Wha will Mr.. Bryan do after cleo
tion?" asks a New York paper. He
will renew his lecture engagements
and resume the editorship of the Com
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09

A man has been arrested in Chicago
for stealing $1,000 worth of furs. He
was probably preparing to wait for the
returns at the democratic h%eadquar-
ters on the night of November 3.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
who Guarantees the GoodsF

81 IbAi9 ANSPhbAiNs
With canned speeches from opposing can
didates ground out from opposite sides Of
the street, the next political possibility of
science is tampering with the contents of
the can in a way that will destroy con-
fidence in the label.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09

Senator Stone admits that Missouri
is debatable ground this year. 1t is,
and the Missourians are getting over
their former fancy for gum shoe poll
tics-