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The Commoner.
VOL. I. NO. 3.
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, FEBRUARY 6, 1901.
$1.00 a Year.
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VUillleLm J. Bryan.
IBcIItor Arid Proprietor.
The Cuban Constitution.
The Cuban constitution, as it has been drafted
and will probably be adopted, is, in many respects,
similar to that of the United States. Cuba is de
clared to be "a sovereign and independent state
under a republican form of government." The
provision for citizenship is a? liberal as ours. The
guarantees of personal liberty, religious freedom,
freedom of speech and of the press, are similar to
those in our Constitution. The president is to be
elected by a direct popular vote, "an absolute
majority thereof cast on one single day" being
essential to election. The term of office is for a
period of four years. The president may be re
elected, but is ineligible for a third consecutive
term. The vice-president has powers and author
ity similar to ours. The congress is to be com
posed of a senate and house of representatives.
The senate will consist of thirty-six members,
elected for six years, one-third retiring every two
years. The house will have one member for
every2 5000 inhabitants, or fraction above 12,500.
The house members are to be elected for four
years, one-half the membership retiring every
two years. The congress has powers similar to
ours. The judicial power is vested in a supreme
court, and it is provided that "justice shall be
ministered gratuitously." The judges of the
court are to be appointed by the president with
the approval of the senate and are to hold
office during good behavior. Each of the six
provinces is to have a governor elected for three
years and a "departmental assembly" elected for
three years. These provinces are given the right
of independent action in their local affairs, pro
vided that no law is enacted inconsistent with the
Cuban constitution.
Municipalities are given powers and privileges
not enjoyed by towns in the United States. Here
the municipality is recognized as a creature of the
state, having no powers which the legislature
does not bestow. But the Cuban constitution
prohibits the "departmental assemblies" or prov
ince legislatures from enacting any law that shall
be antagonistic "to that which pertains to the in
herent right of the municipalities." The most
liberal home rule is given to the towns, and these
towns are immediately governed by a mayor and
board of councilmen. The Cuban congress is
given authority over telegraphs and railroads.
On. the whole, the draft of the Cuban constitu
tion is a meritorious dooument. Such errors as
it has are for the most part copied from our own
Constitution, and we are not in position to criti
cise them until we adopt amendments here.
The people demonstrated their right to liberty
y their willingness to fight for it The proceed
ings of Cuba's constitutional convention have
demonstrated that the fortunes of tho people of
that island arc more secure in the hands of Cuban
statesmen than they would be in the custody of
American politicians.
W
Towne's Great Speech.
Just before closing his brief senatorial career,
Mr. Towne delivered a speech which may fairly
be regarded as the best of his many excellent pro
ductions. Mr. James Creelman, the distinguished
newspaper correspondent, describing the delivery
of the speech and tho immediate effect produced,
says that no speech delivered in the senate in re
cent years has created such a profound impres
sion or brought to its author such general and
hearty congratulations. As an arraignment of
imperialism the speech has never been surpassed.
The following is the peroration:
I do not wish to convey the impression that in my
opinion the present policy will at one fell swoop con
vert this republic into an empire in fact. But I do
say that the seeds of empire lurk in this policy, and
that time and favoring environment will and must
bring them to their flower and fruit unless we make
a seasonable prevention. God speed tho day when
the American people, whose annals blaze with records
of un equaled heroism, and who again and always, if
some great cause demand it, would freely pay with
life itself tho price of its defense, shall have tho
moral courage to do their civil duty a rarer thing
than to face undaunted the cannon's mouth and
with their sovereign voice declare that this un
holy war for greed and empire shall be stopped, and
that no soldier of the United States shall ever again
in all our history be sent to other lands to war on
people fighting for their liberty.
I shall not willingly cease to dream of a twentieth
century devoted to the. demonstration, the first and
only one in history, that a government of the people,
for the people, and by the people need not perish
from the earth. There is an inspiration in the
thought that to our beloved country may be reserved
the culminating glory of the ages in crowning with
success the long experiment of righteous self-government.
W
A Royal Opportunity.
Edward VII, King of Great Britain and Ire
land and Emperor of India, is now the supreme
ruler over more than three hundred and fifty mil
lions of people. As such he has opportunities
which come to but few persons in a generation
and his responsibilities are commensurate with
hip opportunities. It is too much to expect that
one who was born heir to a throne and who was
reared in an atmosphere of royalty will regard
the people as the source of power. Neither can
one who relies upon inheritance for his own
social and official standing be reasonably expected
to disregard the claims of birth and wealth and
distribute favors according to merit, but there
is much he could do without surrendering his
belief in the monarchiai principle or disturbing
the aristocracy.
He could announce his willingness to join
Parliament in extending to the people of Ireland
the rights and privilege now enjoyed by his
English subjects, and he could " express a deaire
for tho termination of the war in South Africa
in which Englishmen are boing sacrificed and
Boers slaughtered in order to raise the Britisk
flag over a few gold mines.
But even if he is not disposed to espouse the
cause of those who desire enlarged political right,
there is still a sphere in which ho could employ
his energies to advantage. Having all the wealth
that he can use and all the official honor that he
can covet, it is within his power to win the hearts
of his subjects and give them a substantial reason
for their loyalty by proving his personal interest
in their welfare.
Great problems press for consideration, and he
might exert a powerful influence in their correct
solution. If ho will devote his time to studying
the needs of the people rather than to the pleas
ure and dissipations of the court; if he will visit
the crowded tenement houses and the workshops
of tho great cities and devise means for their
betterment; if ho will acquaint himself with the
condition of agricultural labor and use his in
fluence to keep tho farm, land from boing swal
lowed up by vast hunting estates; if he will in
vestigate the monopolization of industry and pre
vent the destruction of the independent merchant
and manufacturer; if he will see that the laws are
enforced against those who plunder by wholesale
as well as against those who do wrong on a small
scale; if, in other wordsn he will show that he i
anxious to live for those who in any emergency
would be willing to die for him, he will add
honor to the crown rather than receive distinction
from it.
j
Popular Election of Senators.
While it may be impossible to secure favorable I
action at this time, an effort ought to bo made m j
the Senate to bring up for consideration the reao-"
lution looking to tho election of United States
senators by a direct vote of the people.
Tho House of Representatives in both the
Eifty-second and Eifty-third Congresses adopt
ed . resolutions submitting tho necessary consti- j
tutionai amendment, but each time the Senate0:
defeated action. That there is a popular demand '
for the change is evident from the fact that a ,;
similar resolution passed the House of Repre-i
sentatives of the present Congress by an almost
unanimous vote.
In 1868 President Johnson, first in a special j
and later in an annual message, urged the sub-
mission of an amendment placing the election of I
United States senators in the hands of the people ;
at large, and from that day to this there has beem I
a constant growth of sentiment in favor of this
reform. Wherever the matter has been acted1
upon by the people an overwhelming majority has
been recorded in favor of the proposition. The i
offirmntlvA arcmimAnfa mnv Via fliimrnd nn mm '1
CHIUAAUMV I V WW OL W WV 9 W .Willi IIVW t? mt
follows:
First. The people have a right to speak
through senators of their own selection.
Second. Corruption and corporate influence
are bringing scandal and disgrace upon senatorial
elections and impeaching the iategrity ef a legi