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Jan. 16, I93.
A reader of The Commoner writes: "The
Standard Oil company lias advanced the price of
oil one-half of a cent per gallon
A live different times in almaflj, as
pair man) weeks. Is that a sample
Sam Die. of tho" way comhinations with
v improved facilities cheapen the
product?" The. Standard Oil company as a rule
provides pretty fair samples of the way combina
tions operate for "the benefit of the people."
:vy
The 'Atlanta, Constitution thinks the old fal
lacy that "the foreigner pays the tax" is dead
, . beyond resurrection. If the edi
Tho tor of the Constitution will
Old crowd the average republican
Fallacy. editor into a corner, on this
point he will learn of' his' mis
take and will ascertain very readily that the pro
tectionist is wedded to his idols and does not hesi
tate even at this day to reassert the absurdity that
"the foreigner pays the tax."
The Chicago Tribune says that the president
has made "a serious effort to enforce the anti
trust law." Perhaps the Tri
Plcaso 3Une -will be able to explain why
Explain the president has not undertak-
lt. ." en to enforce the criminal clause
of that law. No representative
of the administration, and so far as we have ob
served no republican newspaper, has ever ex
plained why this, the chief provision of the Sher
man antL-trust law, was not enforced.
A brick manufacturer in Chicago has obtained
Judgment for tho sum of $22,000 for damages suf-
ierea Dy a ooycott organizeu
against him by the Chicago ma
son's and builders' association
and contractors, and the brick
manufacturers' association. A
few more judgments of this kind and the repre
sentatives of the trust system may conclude that,
after all, independent business men will be pro
tected in the effort to provide competition.
A
Big
Judgment.
SXNSXN
A pretty story is being told relating to the
late Jessie Benton Fremont. During the civil
war Admiral Porter had com-
A. mand of the federal fleet on the
Pretty Mississippi. He occupied as his
Story. ' flagship the steamer Benton,
named after Mrs. Fremont's
father. The, admiral named the little tender at-
" iached to tho flagship Jessie Benton Fremont, and
he wrote to Mrs. Fremont in explanation: "You
have' always sailed close to your husband and
your father."
There
Congressman Cannon, who will probably be
the speaker of the next house, relates this inter
esting tale: "I wore my old
slouch hat one day, and went
are over to the congressional library,
Others. where they have the models of
this great scheme for beautify
ing Washington. The man In charge sized me up
right the very first time as a countryman from
Illinois. 'What's it all about?' I asked. He told
mo in detail. 'How much will it cost?' I asked
again. 'The cost is estimated at a thousand mil
lion dollars.' 'Great Scott!' I said. 'Will the peo
ple stand for it?' 'Sure,' he replied, 'they've got
to stand it' " This is not the only scheme which
tho people "have got to stand."
The Washington Post approaches the danger
line when it gives utteranco to this treasonable
T statement: "We find the press
1,10 declaring that the trusts 'are
Dangerv bursting with as bitter a hatred
Line. of the president and the repub
lican party which supports him
as ever they could feel for tho powers of extrem
ist destruction.' The fact and the dimensions of
the republican victory in the middle of a presi
dential term prove that tho trusts were not out
for the scalp of the g. o. p. Tho party's consis
tent record of fidelity to tho interests of monopol
istic combinations was accepted as a guarantee
of continued friendship. Whore is there the slight
est indication of danger to the trusts from repub
lican animosity?"
2OS
Walter Wollman, the well-known newspaper
correspondent, has written an interesting article
. for the periodical called "Suc-
A cess," In which Mr. Wellman
Powerful shows that tho United States
Dozen. senate, a body presumed to com-
, prise ninety, twelve men actually
t,ommat0. Mr. .Wellman does not care to under-
o, tlle -taslc- oti presenting-, the- names- in the
uer f precedence,1- but he does not hesi-
The Commoner,
tote to name as the twelve men of power
ildrfeh ofn , th? , f0,,l0WinS; Nd8onP W
of f Iowa AlbPrfT nSlan,d,: WillIam B- "
M cS?nm 5? fm S0'1 Indiana; Shelby
m. Uillom, of Illinois; Charles W. Fairbanks nt
Frve "2 mZZ Br ot l P
A Hanna o ownS8"8 Hn1?' f Marae; Marcu8
chusett? nrSul oswHo2FyCabot B0 of Ma88a
inhl n a H Platt o Connecticut, and
John C. Spooner, of Wisconsin. '
nheToLenT Y?,Fl "L conPlains because
the office of collector at Charlestown, S. C. is
There considered too sacred to bo pro-
tanod by an occupant with a
ro black skin, just as the postofflco
Others. at Indianola is considered too
rn uu ,, , sacred to bo profaned by a wo-
Srve SoLanbrla?k fk!?'" The Tribuno ahuld re
serve some of its indignation because of tho fact
2? f if y im??rtait fedcral "lce in the northern
states is considero d"too sacred to be profaned by
an occupant with a black skin."
W. D. Bynum, who left tho democratic party
on the ground that ho was "too good a democrat"
to inuorse bimetallism, has now
declared in favor of tho high
tariff policy. It is somewhat
significant that many of tho
TY1QTI wVlrt Knfnnn.1 i- .... L M.
democratic ticket in 1896 and in 1900 on ino ground
that they disagreed with tho party on tho financial
question have "little by little, but steadily as
man s march to tho grave," embraced the general
policies of the republican party.
Many Observing persons will be inclined to
agree with the Chicago Chronicle when it says:
Th "From the general tone of re-
1,10 publican comment upon Sena-
Hoar tor Hoar's anti-trust bill it is
Bill. pretty safe to predict that the
Massachusetts sage will be about
as successful in his war against .uo trusts as ho
was in his attack upon imperialism. Tho repub
lican party esteems and venerates Mr. Hoar only
so long as he keeps his hands off the various
forms of favoritism which that organization fos
ters and protects."
Some republican papers are urging the repub
lican congress to make a revision of the tariff.
But they : re met with that old
time campaign slogan, "Let well
enough ane." The republican
editors wno favor tarnf revision
may remember that rlnrinf thn
campaign they urged the people to "let well
enough alone;" and yet soncnow or other this
phrase when used by tho republican congressmen
does not appeal to those who insist that the
trusts should be deprived of the shelter which
they find in the tariir.
5
Now
He is
all Over.
A
Slogan's
Roast.
C"V'"'
A Porto Rican student at Cornell, Traviesco
by name, has written a letter to the Chicago Rec-ord-Herald.
This student draws
In an unhappy picture of the ad-
Porto ministration of Porto Rican af-
C0 fairs and among other things
says: "In order that his will
may be done and that his power may be absolute
Governor Hunt supports the party of the minority,
composed of American adventurers and native ren
egades, who have no regard for the welfare of the
country and are ready to applaud so long as they
enjoy official protection."
yv,
Mr.
Oxnard's
Power.
It is announced on authority of the New York
World that Mr. Oxnard of ae beet sugar trust
nas ueciueu to anow tne reci
procity treaty giving a 20 per
cent reduction from tho tariff
rates on Cuban sugar to be rati
fied. At the same time Mr..
Oxnard is said to have warned tho president of
tho United States that the bill reducing the Philip
pine tariff from 75 to 25 per cent of tho Dingley
rates cannot pass. .r. Oxnard has had his way
on several occasions and it will not be in the least
surprising if he has nis way at this time.
Generals Botha and Delarey have issued a cir
cular in behalf of the Boers asking for assistance.
In this circular it is said: "Tho
misery and want are great,
greater than word or pen can
describe, but we have hopes
hnsfiri on recent utterances in
writmc of the colonial secretary that tho British
Mveniinont, when convinced of the extent of tho
destitutton and ruin, will do all in its power to
alleviate the misery of the people of the two late
The
Spectaclo's
Ghost.
republics. But thoro will always romaln need for
nolp boyond what tho govornmant can give." In
the light of this appeal from tho subjects of Great
Britain who will undertako to Justify tho oxtrava
ganco and display shown in tho gorgeous spectacle
at Delhi?
Tho New York World has interviewed Grover
Cleveland with relation to tho Monroo doctrine.
The readers of tho-World would
IK doubtless obtain moro accurato
Mr. iniormatlon concerning that
Olncy. doctrine if Richard Olney wero,
persuaded to say something on
tho subject. Mr. Cloveland says tuat this Ameri
can prlnciplo will never bo bottor dofonded or moro
bravely asserted than was done by. Mr. Olney in his
dispatch to the British government in 1895. On
this point there will bo very general agreement
with tho former president
Tho Atlanta Journal has concludod that aftor
all there is something of a problem in tho Phll
ippino question. The Journal
!t says: "American army officers
is a returning from tho Philippines
Question. Btato tuat It will bo necessary
to plnce tho three principal pro
vinces of tho island under military rulo once moro.
Wo may as well look tho Phillpplno problem
squarely in tho face one time aB another it is
merely another Indian problem, but with a vnst
ly superior and more formidable peoplo to deal
with, and that, too, under less favorable conditions."
Indianola
Post
Office.
The action of tho administration In abolishing
tho Indianola, Miss., postoffice Is open to serious
criticism. Representative Plerco
of Tennessee says: "The post
office was established by law
and if It is to be abolished It
should bo abolished bv law."
The representatives of tho administration claim
that the better element among the Indianola citi
zenship condemns the-annoyance to which tho
colored postmistress was subjected. This being
true, it is strange that the administration would
Insi3t upon putting .the entire community to tho
inconvenience of doing without a postoffice.
"Senator Lodge of Massachusetts has Intro
duced a bill providing for the suspension for a
period of ninety days of the tar
Fr iff on anthracite coal. In his
Ninety messngo to congress Mr. Roosc-
Days. velt said: "In my Judgment tho
tariff on anthracite coal should
be removed and anthracite put actually where it
now is nominally on the free list. This would
have no effect at all save in crises, but in crises
it might be of service to the people." Are wo to
understand that the Lodge bill complies with tho
president's recommendation? Can it be possible
that all danger of crises will be avoided If an
thracite Is placed on the free list for a period of
ninety days?
The Kansas City Star gives a bit of good ad
vice to the negro when it says: "There is too
much of a disposition among de
Blt of cent black men to shield tho
Good bad representatives of their own
Advice. race Tne public officers con
tinually complain of this ten
dency and they testify that it Increases the diffi
culty of .enforcing the law. This feeling of sym
pathy Is' probably a natural herltago of the days
when the negroes were generally persecuted and
oppressed, but there Is no necessity for it now.
Tho negro in Kansas City and everywhere else
owes it to himself to cast out the vagabonds and
criminals of his own color who bring reproach
upon him and who keep alive the prejudice against
tho race."
The Baltimore Sjun provides food for thought
when it says: "It has been the experience in re
cent advances in wages that the
Food public, the consumer, must pay
For tho freight. When tho wages
Thought. f railroad employes have been
advanced tho advance has been
usually accompanied by an Increase In freight
rates, so that upon the whole the company has
perhaps made money by the operation. Mr.
Rockefeller gives a million dollars to a college
and raises the price of oil so that he will get his
million dollars fctick from the public many times
over. The people would appreciate liberality by
the corporations to their employes, whether in
the form of profit-sharing or In the increase of
wages, if tho liberality was at the expense of tho
corporation and' not extorted' from the public"
'GM
UlttiimBlmMiim'mtimim-
