Omaha daily bee., 1919-05-07
DEMOCRATS OF
STATE unite TO
OPPOSE c. 0. P.
DiIapidated Machine Gather.
ing Its Broken Parts To-
gether to Fight Code Law
Passed by Republicans.


Nebraska. Democrats who fought
the Hitchcock Mullen-Neville politi-
cal machine in the late campaign are
now working in sublime-harmony
with the two official organs of the
machine, the Omaha World Herald
and the Lincoln Star.
What brought them together? Did
the machine in its sadly dilapidated
condition promise to be good? Did
the anti crowd promise to take back
all the bad things they had said
about the machine and promise to
forget and forgive?
Not on your life. They have SIM
ply joined forces for the purpose of
trying to carry out what they con-
slider the great fundamental princi-
pie of the democratic party-that
of trying to discredit a republican
legislature and republican COVER
nor whom the people have elected.
Whence Comes Cash2
They have lain down together, but
who is the child that is feeding them
is the question in the minds of many
people. In other words, who is fur
nishing the money which enables the
special committee, self appointed, to
rent Offices in one of the best and
most modern Office buildings in Lin
coin and start a propaganda that is
going to take lot of money to fl
nance?
1t is true that they have interested
a few republicans in their work. This
is done to give it a sort of air of
responsibility, so they can point to
themselves and say this is a nom
partisan committee. See the repub-
1icans on il"
Former Deputy State Auditor
Fred Ayers, a democrat, heads the
committee, and former Deputy At
torney General Dexter Tecumseh
Barrett, another democrat, is the
spiritual and legal adviser of the
committee. Who is furnishing mon
ey to pay these high-priced individ-
uals to put in their time consort-
ing with the old democratic machine
which only six months ago they
were declaring to be worse than
democrats and unfit longer to asso-
ciate with in political way.
First Move Made.
The work of discrediting the re-
publican legislature and republican
governor is starting out already with
an attempt to invoke the referen-
dunn on the administrative code bill
In order to secure vote upon the
bill it will be necessary to secure
about $4,000 names to petitions al
ready to be circulated. Should these
names be secured the new code law
will be held up and the people will
not be given chance to know its
merits.
The "ferninster" committee is
basing its argument for the holding
of the referendum on the charge
that the people do not know what
the bill contains and, therefore, it
should not be put in effect, Yet
they are asking the people to sign
these petitions and hold up the bill
so that the people cannot know
what the bill does. There is no
better way to discover whether
law passed by the legislature is
workable or not than to put it in
force and see if it has defects or not
If it appears to be a good starter,
coming legislatures can remedy the
defects and make the law satisfac-
tory and workable,
The people to whom these hold
UP petitions go should be very care
full before they place their names
upon them, for in placing name
upon such a petition it simply de-
prives the people of Nebraska of
the chance to try out the law and
see if it will work.
Republican Belief.
Republicans went before the peo-
pie with a pledge in their platform
to do what? To do this:
"We favor the enactment of
civil administrative code in this
state, creating a financial and &C
counting system whereby a vigorous
and effective audit over financial
expenditures of the. state may be
established, and providing for the
consolidation of the boards, institu-
tons, commissions and different de-
partments and agencies of govern
ment, thereby eliminating useless
offices and positions and avoiding
the overlapping functions thereof.
and we further favor the creation
of budget system to the end that
government functions may be more
efficiently. and economically
The above was the twenty-second
plank in the republican platform and
with others was made a part of
the pledges made the people of the
state. The people accepted the
promise of the republican candidate
for governor, the candidates for
state offices and the candidates of
that party for the legislature and
enacted those pledges into law as
they said they would do.
Sample of Methods.
Has any democratic committee
any right now to go before the
people. and by calling into play
the referendum law, discredit the
legislature which kept its promise?
Have they any right to, by using
the referendum, hold Up the law
from going into effect and deprive
the people of the right to see it work
and understand its workings.
Fred Ayers, the man who is in
charge of the discrediting move
ment, has issued statement to the
people through the newspapers in
which he attempts to prejudice them
against the code law by saying that
y l.