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The Commoner.
'A Maryland young man who rocked a boat
and caused the death of two or three of his com
panions, was arrested on the charge of
Boat Rockers murder and brought to trial. The jury
and failed to agree and a new trial must be
Gun Pointers, had, pending which the young man ha a
been released on bail. This doubtless
means that no further attempt will be made to
prosecute him, but it is to be hoped that he has
learned a lesson that will last him through life.
The fool who rocks a boat and the fool who points
a gun at a friend are constant menaces 'to society.
The Christmas tree season is close at hand,
and it behooves the people to exercise care in the
use of Christmas decorations. Every
Christmas Christmas brings a long list of fatall
Tree ties and property lost by reason of fire
Accidents. caused by the too liberal use of in
flammable decorations and carelessness
iii the handling of candles. A single spark com
ing in contact wlth.the usual decorations of cotter
and tinsel is sufficient to start a blaze that may end
in a panic and an appalling loss of life and prop
erty. The inflammable Christmas tree and the un
loaded gun have contributed materially to mort
uary statistics.
The difference between "shackling cunning"
and expressing due regard for the "great captains
of industry' is marked by the time be
Scptembera tween Labor day, September 2, and
and the opening of. congress on December
December a. 2. During that time momentous events -
have transpired, and the orator on La
bor day has become president of the United States.
It is another proof that it all depends upon the
point of view. The Labor day speech received
the approval of those who are the victims, of the
trusts. The message will receive the approbation
of those who , victimize, the ..people -through, tho
medjum of tthejtrusts. ,, , -.
There is a marked difference between Blaine
reciprocity and Roosevelt reciprocity. Blaine's
idea of reciprocity was explained In
Reciprocity of brief by the definition of tho word
Blaine and itself. Roosevelt's notion is that ree
Roosovcit. iprocity should be "the handmaiden of
protection." Blaine's idea was that
reciprocity treaties should be arranged with the
sole view of establishing a condition that would
be alike advantageous to both the contracting 'na
tions, having in view nothing but public interest.
Roosevelt's idea is that the high protection theory
should be kept uppermost in mind, and that'rec
iprocity,, instead of being a serious and-important.
policy in itself, should be merely- incidental.'
According-' to the -Washington -(Correspondent-.
of the -New York World, republican" leaders have"
adopted a" plan whereby a tariff com
mission' will be appointed.' -This com- -mission
will be authorized .to investi
gate the subject of. customs and recip
procity and report to congress..'. It fs
expected that this commission will require sormuch
time for its investigations that it will not be able
to report at the next session of congress, and that
the question of tariff revision and reciprocity will
be postponed, as the trust magnates desire. It is
becoming more and more evident that the republi
can party is preparing to formally repudiate Mr.
McKinley's last speech.
General B'otha has issued a statement. calcu
lated to carry dismay to the British. He says the
Boers are capable of carrying on their
Botha resistance against British Invasion for
startles five years if necessary. Judging by
Britain. events in England this length of re
sistance wll -not be necessary. Already
the British taxpayer is aroused and beginning to
understand that he is being burdened with taxa-
Repudlatlng
Hr.AlcKIn-
' ley's Speech.
tlon for the purpose of furthering tho Interests
of a few would-be exploiters who take no noto of
human life when gold mines and diamond fields
are under consideration. Evldonces aro multiply
ing to show that Great Britain Is seeking a way
out of the troubles into which the kingdom was
precipitated by tho cupidity of a few adventurers.
Every day sees the Boer cause strengthened and
the British cause weakened.
There are many evidences of a revival of the
old-fashioned methods of studying spelling. Mod
ern school methods aro in most rc
A Reform spects a great Improvement over tho
In days when "Webster's Elementary"
Spelling. was tho chief text-book in tho public
schools, but it must be confessed that
with Improved methods came a growing disregard
of the "spelling lesson." As a result young men
and women who have acquired a fair knowledge
of astronomy, chemistry, stenography, botany,
mental philosophy and kindred branches of knowl
edge have often failed to learn that sugar is not
spelled with an "h" nor diphtheria without it.
It was Josh Billings who remarked that ho
"wouldn't give a cent for a man that couldn't spell
a word more than one way," but the humor of the
remark should not cause us to lose sight of the
fact that there is usually but one way to spell a
word.
5yN
Sympathised
With
Kruger, too.
In the conclusion of his message Mr. Roose
velt refers to the "deep and heartfelt sorrow" oc
casioned in the United States by tho
death of Queen Victoria and of the
"genuine sympathy" of tho American
people because of tho 'death of the
empress dowager of Germany. Mr.
Roosevelt might have added, without doing tho
least violence to the truth, that the grief of the
American people because of the death of the wife
of President Kruger, and the American pedple's
sympathy with the bereaved president of the South
African republic, were no less sincere than tho
grief and sympathy felt because of the death of
either Queen Victoria or tho empress dowagdr of
Germany. Such an expression from the president
would have been entirely appropriate, because tho
empress dowager was the widow of a dead em
peror, while Mrs. Kruger was tho beloved wife
of a living president.
The retail grocers are now being given a de
monstration of the ability of tho trust magnates to
make sport of the merchants of the
Power of the country. For several weeks the price
Trust of sugar, was put down to a low notch
magnate. at the- trust's ordor for tho purpose
of forcing the beet sugar manufactur
ers to -terms. . .Without .warning on November 20
the price was, raised and the merchants, as well ns
the consumers have nothing to do but to comply
with . tho trusts requirements. The .indications .
are that, during-the coming winter, the American
people will bo treated to the demonstration of tho
powers and 'the. evils of tho trust system such as
they haye-never? had before, . .The. commodities..
. upon which tho people depend for existence are
controlled by trusts and the people will be le
quired to pay for these commodities whatever
price may suit the fancy of the trust magnates.
President Roosevelt's failure to state his
position on the South African war will be defended
by the administration organs on the
ur ground that a reference thereto in a
Humiliating presidential message would be an" of
Position. fense against good taste, and that such
reference would be foreign to the in
terests of the Americans. Yet other presidents
have not hesitated to state, their posltionMbder
sjmilar circumstances. President Monroe! .ml
ways been looked upon as. a .statesman, of therst
rank and he did not hesitate to express his synr-
rathy for Greece. President Taylor emphatically
expressed his sontlments concerning tho Austrian
war upon Hungary. And until foreign complica
tions made American expressions of sympathy for
a people struggling for liberty "as sounding brass
and tinkling cymbal" no one has accused Presi
dents Monroo and Taylor of violating good taste.
Timo was when any people struggling for liberty
could look to tho United States for sympathy, but
that was before thiB country embarked upon a
policy of conquest and imperialism.
Mr. Canon, president of tho Chase National
bank and a-dlrector of tho Great Northern rail
road, speaking of tho consolidation of
Wanfs tho trans-continental line, says:
to bo Let "Thoro Is absolutely no call for rem
Aione. edial legislation, as no law, anti-trust,
state or national, has been violated.
It resolves itself into tho simple proposition that
If a man owns a suit of clothes, a watch and a
horso and wagon, there is no violation of law,
moral or otherwise, if he should become tho owner
of another suit of clothes a watch and a horse and
wagon.". Mr. Canon makes it very simple. If
the owner of one railroad wants to buy up all the
railroads it is, according to this logic, nobody's
business but his own. Possibly Mr. Canon Is a
believer in tho republican doctrine of "let well
enough alone' Ho Is getting along well enough
and wants to bo let alone.
Tho republican platform of 1900, . referring to
trusts, said: "Wo condemn-all; conspiracies and
combinations intended to restrict busi
riu5t Rcguiato ness, to create monopolies, to limit
the ' production, or to control prices; and
Conspiracies, favor such legislation as will effective
ly restrain and prevent all such abuses,
protect and promote competition and sccijyjLJis
.rjghts.pf.prpducers, labor, and aH who are ongSgwl
in Industry and commerce." But now, according
to tho republican policy as defined by Mr. Roose
velt, these conspiracies are not to be condemned;
they aro to be regulated. And in Justification ot
the plan of publicity towards trusts, Mr. Roosevelt
.sayst "There would be no hardship in such su
pervision. Banks are subject to it and in their
case, it Is now accepted as a simple matter ot
course." The republican, party, however, never
found'it necessary to say, "We condemn all banks."
Prior to election day the republican party pre
tended to regard trusts as conspiracies, but now
the conspiracies have suddenly been transformed
into legitimate business Interests in tho regulation
of which great caro must be exerclded lest injus
tice be done:
A. reader of The Commoner reports'thei follow
ing instance of partisanship: A republican
- - dropped into his office to read tho
Partisanship daily-paper, and by chance pickedup
rub i a copy of Tho Commoner. After de
rhui: voting: .fully' an hour to. its perusaj he
- turned to the subscriber and com
mended-tie paper and asked him. how he happened
' tosHbscribo for. a Nebraska paper. The subscriber
pointed to the line just under the title, giving the
name of the editor. The partisan republican im
mediately threw the paper down and declared that
he wouldn't read "such slush." The subscriber
asks how it is possible to reach and convert such a
.person. It does seem a difficult task, and yet a
great many republicans left their party In 1872,
others left at intervals between '72 and '96, a larg3
number left in '96, and still others left in 1900. It
is necessary to continue the discussion of public
questions, for in a free country argument is tho
only legitimate influence that one man can exert
upon another. The republican party Is not respon
sible for any good thing which the American peo-.
. pie-enjoy and;it Js only .a question ofr time when
the evil principles which- underlie -their policies
vill be understood and' repudiated
s