Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-05-12
Lincoln Bureau of The Omaha Bee
Should Give New Code Law
Trial Before Referendum
Bawows Says Real Motive Behind Efforts of Democrats
to Kill Statute Is Question; Every Man Should
Thoroughly Understand Law Before Urging Pc
tition

have been made better. He may be
wrong or he may be right. How
ever, am willing to see the law
put into effect and then it can be
discovered whether my judgment in
the matter was we'll founded /
would not have the whole law held
up simply because there are parts
of it, perhaps. which | think could
be changed and made better. After
it has had chance to work per-
haps these seeming defects may be
all right. Anyhow, | am willing to
see it tried out as it is, that | may
see whether it is all right or not.
| will never know for sure until
the law has been tried out, but if
the promoter of the referendum
petition is successful in getting the
necessary $4,000 names neither l or
anybody else in Nebraska will
ever be able to know whether the
law is good one or not.
would like to know, and | think
there are a great many people in
the state who would also like to
know what the real motive is be-
hind the organized effort to hold
up the code law. There is an or
gained effort headed by Fred C..
Ayers, a former democratic Office
holder. who lost his job because the
republicans were successful to hold
up the law Mr.. Ayers is a poor
man from a financial standpoint.
He cannot afford to hire an ex-
pensive office in one of Lincoln's
most modern office buildings and
take part in propaganda to hold
up one of the most important laws
the legislature passed
What Is Motive.
What is the real motive behind
it all? Who is furnishing the
money to kill off the work of a
republican legislature, which true to
its promise made the people, has
enacted into law that pledge made
the people? 1t is known that demo-
Gratis are doing the work. But who
is putting up the money? The
putting into effect of the code law
means the death blow to certain in
terests. The question naturally
arises, why SO much interest taken
in an effort to keep the law from
going into effect?
What is the use of the republican
party making platform of pledges
to the people and redeeming those
pledges, if the opposition party can
take such steps as will keep the
people from ever finding out wheth-
er those pledges were kept or
whether they are worth putting into
effect.
1t is very easily understood why
the democratic party looks so lightly
upon platform pledges. They sell
dom put them into laws, themselves
being content to use them simply
to get in on and then forgetting
all about them when the time comes
to redeem them. They never have
been able to understand why the
republican party always tries to re
deem its promises to the people.
Consequently the action of the
democratic special committee in try
ing to keep the people from finding
out whether the pledge of the re-
publican aprty was good one or
not is easily understood.
Use Republicans.
Promoter Ayers attempts to give
his cause standing by saying that
he has about 80 republicans already
who have placed their names on
the petitions. Sure. When demo-
cratic organization desires to pull
off any blue sky propaganda it
knows it will never get anywhere
unless they can give it an air of
responsibility by the use of the
names of some republicans. 1t is
the same old confidence game used
ever since the gold brick, paddock
game and few other such schemes
were promulgated. Some good
men. are induced to allow the use
of their names and the rest is
easy.
Every man, before he places his
name upon one of the referendum
petitions, would understand that by
such action he is signing away his
right to find out whether the law
is a good one or not. He should
understand that the action of in
voking the referendum is simply
democratic movement, backed by
interests of which the people are
kept ignorant and that it has for its
purpose two things: First, the keep
ing of republican legislature