r "nwrjr V'T".- "T
'--j- '.
v,-1'!
i . '
uM
:i'
. r. s ' -m
VOLUME 4, NUMBER Ik ,
wtmi"'
gland, find likowlso of the banks of Mexico.
Thin smaller proportion botweon tho deposits
nnd tho capital Block arrested my attention be
caiiHO in tho United Slates tho proportion Is somo
tlmoB ho great an to leavo little margin for nhrlnk
ugo In tho ovont of industrial disturbance. If a
bank has loans amounting to ton tlmcB Its capital
stock a Bhrinkago of ono-tonth In tho value of its
assets would wipe out tho capital.
Tho Dank of France, the Bank of England and
tho loading banks of Mexico seem to bo conducted
on a more consorvatlvo basis. The Bank of En
gland and tho Bank of Franco differ largely in
their noto Issue Tho former has tho right to Issuo
uncovorod notes to tho oxtcnt of tho bank's loan
to tho English government.
Upon this loan tho bank rccolvcs no Interest,
the noto Issuo bolng considered an equivalent, as
no rcoorvo la required to bo kept against these
notes. Tho bank can also Issuo notes, in addi
tion to theso, but I found to my surpriso that this
noto Issuo Is not protltablo to tno bank, since
theso notes aro virtually gold certificates, tho
bank bolng required to keep on hand an equal
amount of gold as a redemption fund.
Tho Bank of Franco has outstanding nearly
$900,000,000 in notes, which aro tho paper money
of tho country. Tho bank has tho option of re
deeming theso notes either in gold or silver, and
It cxorclsoB that option by rofuslng to pay gold
whon gold becomes scarce, or whon It seems un
doslrablc to furnish gold for export.
It has recently refused gold, and thoso de
siring to export that metal had to purchaso It
at slight premium.
Tho "gold contract," which has becomo so
common in tho United States, apd which was
used to torrorizo tho public in 1890, seems to bo
unknown in Franco; or nt least I could find no
ono who know anything about such contracts.
Thoy aro regarded as contrary to public policy.
Tho prosidont of tho Bank of France is ap
pointed by tho government, so that the bank
stands in a different attltudo toward the govern
ment from tho national banks of our country.
I had tho pleasure of mooting a number of
prominent Frenchmen during my visit to Paris,
among them Sonator Combes, tho prime minister,
who is just now a most conspicuous figure in
tho contost between tho government and tho vari
ous religious orders; Senator Clomenccau, one of
tho ablest odltors in Paris, and a brilliant con
versationalist; Baron Dostournessos do Constant,
a man of high ldoals nnd loader of the peace
movement in Franco; tho Rev. Albert Kohlor, au
thor of "Tho Roligion of Effort," and tho Rev.
Charles Wngnor, whoso book, "Tho Simplo Life,"
has had such largo circulation in tho United
States.
Tho Rev. Mr. Wagnor is just such a looking
man as you would oxpect to write such a book
strong, rugged and earnest. Ho Impresses you as
a man with a mission, and although young In
yoars ho has already made an impress upon tho
thought of tho world. His book is a protest
against tho materialism which is making man tho
slave of his possessions.
Tho infiuouco which Mr. Wngnor has already
exerted shows the power of a great thought, even
when it must cross tho boundaries of nations and
pass through translation into many different
tongues. I shall remorabor my communion with
this apostla of simplicity ns ono remembers a
visit to a refreshing spring.
Dr. Max Nordau, tho famous author of "De
generacy," although a German, lives in Paris
I enjoyed my call upon him very much. One
quickly recognizes tho alertness of his mind bis
brilliant powers of generalization and his apt
ness In oplgram. I also had tho pleasure of meet
ing Sonator Fougeirol, a noted advocato of bi
metallism. Tho visitor to Paris is immediately impressed
by tho magnificence of tho city's boulevards parks
and public squares. There Is an elegant spacious
ness about tho boulovards and squares that sur
passes anything I havo seen elsewhere.
Parisians assert that tho Avenue des Champs
Elysces is tho finest in tho world, and so far as
my observation goes I am not prepared to dispute
tho claim. Tho beauty of Paris deserves all tho
adjectives that havo been lavished upon it.
One might dwell at length upon an' almost
endless array of brilliant shop windows where
ewelry, bric-a-brac, hats, gowns and mantles aro
displayed (and I am not surprised that Paris is
ho mecca for women), but I desire to refer brief
i moro remanent beauty of Paris-tho
IS y ar"ecture, sculptures and paint-
Paris' public buildings, ancient and morinm
combine solidity with beauty The statu cot
umns and arches that adorn the parks and b'oii?e
vards bespeak tho skill of tho artistsaSS th ap
The Commoner.
prcciation of the public which pays for. their
maintenance. ...
Paris' many picture galleries, chief of which
arc tho Louvre and tho Luxembourg, contain, as
all tho world knows, extraordinary collections or
treasures of art. The encouragement given by
tho government to every form of art has made
Paris the abode of students from the four corners
of the earth. , ,, . .
The huge palaces at Versailles and lontaine
bleau are interesting as relics of the monarchical
period, and they are instructive also, In that they
draw 'a contrast between the days of tho empire
and tho present time. Tho extremes of society
have been drawn closer together by the growth
of democracy, and the officials chosen by tho
people and governing by authority of the people
aro much nearer to the people who pay the taxes
and support tho government than the kings who
lived In gorgeous palaces and claimed to. rule by
right divine.
I havo left to the last thoso reminders of
earlier France, which aro connected with the
reigns of Napoleon. You cannot visit Paris with
out being made familiar with the lace of the
"Little Corslcan," for it stares at you from the
shop windows and loolcs down at you from the
walls of palaces and galleries.
You seo tho figure of "the man of destiny" in
marble and bronze, sometimes on a level with the
eye, sometimes piercing tne sky, as it does in the
Placo Vendome, where it is perched on top of a
lofty column, whose pedestal and sides are cov
ered with panels in relief made from cannon cap
tured by Napoleon in battle.
Tho gigantic Arch of Triumph in the Champs
Elysees, commenced by Napoleon, in commemora
tion of his successes, testifies to the splendor of
his conceptions.
. But overshadowing all Napoleonic monuments
is his tomb on the banks of the Seine, adjoining
tho Invalides. Its gilded Come attracts attention
from afar, and on nearer approach one is
charmed with the strength of its walls and the
symmetry of its proportions.
At tho door the guard cautions the thought
less to enter with uncovered head, but the ad
monition is seldom necessary, for an air of sol
emnity pervades tho place.
In tho center of tho rotunda, beneath the
frescoed vault of tho great dome, is a circular
crypt. Leaning over tho heavy marble balustrade
I gazed on the massive sarcophagus below, which
contains all that was mortal of that marvellous
combination of intellect and will.
Tho sarcophr.gus is made of dark red por
phyry, a fitly chosen stone that might have been
colored by tho mingling of the intoxicating wine
of ambition with tto blood spilled to satisfy it.
Looking down upon tho sarcophagus and the
stands of tattered battlo flags that surround it,
I reviewed the tragic career of this grand master
of the art of slaughter, and weighed, as best I
could, tho claims made for him by his friends.
And then I found myself wondering what the
harvest might have been had Napoleon's genius
led him along peaceful paths, had the soil of
Europe been stirred by the ploughshare rather
than by his trenchant blade, and the reaping done
by implements less, destructive than his shot
and shell.
Just beyond and abova the entombed em
peror stands a cross, upon which hangs a life
sized figure of the Christ flooded by a mellow
lemon-colored light which pours through the
stained glass windows of the chapel.
I know not whether it was "by accident or de
sign that this god of war thus sleeps, as it were,
at the very feet of the Prince of Peace.
Whether so intended or not, it will, to those
who accept the teachings of the Sermon on the
Mount, symbolize love's final victory over force
and the triumph of that philosophy which finds
happiness in helpful service and glorv in doing
good. w. J. BRYAN.
JJJ
A Conscience Campaign:
(Abstract of speech by Mr. Bryan at Now Haven
Jackson Day banquet, January 11, 1904.)
The word campaign suggests warfare We
use terms with which wo are familiar in physical
struggles to describe those political contests in
which wo appeal not to visible force but o
those invisible influences which are. stronger than
ar!mf ma,n' And lt is especially fitting to
use military phrases tonight when we assemble
in memory of Andrew Jackson, who showed in
civil contests all of the courage and purSSJe thS
ho displayed on the battle field. puipose tliat
It is good tactics to strike the enemy where
Ho is weakest, and use thotweapons which aro
most effective. The weak point of every bad pol
icy is that it sacrifices human rights to selfish in
terests, and today to prove a system evil we havo
only to show that it violates that sense of jus-
W'n wbinii ir satisiieri with notnine 'ess man -
equal rights to all and special privileges to none.
The only appeal which is permanent in its ef
fectiveness and enduring in its usefulness Is tho
appeal to conscience, and while it may seem
weakness to the brutal and folly to the sordid
it arouses a response which at last sweeps ev
erything before it.
The conscience controls human actions when
ever it is weakened, and it is only weakened by
a voice from another conscience. If we would y
touch the consciences of others we may get evi
dence that our own consciences have been quick
ened. The great issue at this time is the issue
between man and mammon, between democracy
and plutocracy. All surface questions of national
policy, of taxation, of regulation and of finance,
are but phases of that century-long, that world
wide struggle between the common people and
organized wealth.
To say that it does not pay a nation to
violate the rights of a people of another nation
involves so much of addition, subtraction, multi
plication and division that many are lost in a
maze of mathematics, but to say that the wages of
sin is death is to give an epitome of history that
accords with each person's experience. To say
that taxation which confers immediate benefits
upon the privileged few who secured the enact
ment of the law does not find its way back by
indefinite and devious ways to the pockets of tho
many may confuse the minds of some, but to say
"Thou shalt not steal" either by law or in de
fiance of it, can be easily understood. And so in
dealing with principles, with finance, with labor
problems and all the other questions at issue, wo
may view them from a moral standpoint and ar
raign every evil at the bar of public conscience.
Will it win? Nothing less can give perma
nent success. Asthe martyrs who, eighteen hun
dred years ago, Icneeling in prayer while hungry
beasts devoured them, invoked a prayer mightier
than the legions of Rome, so today it is not only
possible, but necessary to appeal to that moral
sentiment of a nation which, when aroused, will
prove more potent t-ian the press.
JJJ
The Dead of 1903.
Each year that passes set-ms to exceed 'its pie-,
decessors in the number and fame of its dead.
The year 11)03 was unusually prolific in deaths
among well-known men and women, although the
list of really great is shorter than m some other
years. It seems, however, that death was unus- .
ually active among those whom the world classes
as statesmen. Premier Sagasta, beloved in Spain
because of his patriotism and devotion to his
country, and in America becruse of his untiring
efforts to heal tho wounds caused by war, ,is
prominent among the illustrious dead of li)08.
Lord Salisbury, formerly prime minister of En
gland, and Sir Michael H. Herbert, formerly Brit
ish ambassador at Washington, are two more Eu
ropean statesmen who succumbed to the gum .
reaper during the year just closed. Among Ameri
cans who deserve to be classed as statesmen we
find upon tho death roll th names of William
M. Springer of Illinois, Henr Laurens Dawes of
Massachusetts, John R. Proctor of Vermont
Abram S. Hewitt of New Vork, and James H.'
Blount, wfio, however, owes his fame chiefly to
tho fact that he was President Cleveland's min
ister paramount" to the Hawaiian islands when
those islands threw off the yoke of the reigning
dynasty.
The literary world, too, suffered heavylosses.
Ada Ellen Bayly, better known as Edna Lyle "
Joseph Henry Shorthouse, author of "Jean Ingl'e
sant," and other well-known works; Paul Bloiltt
better known as "Max ORell;" Richard Henry
Stoddard, poet and critic; B. L. Farjeon, novelist,
and Noah Brooks, aro perhaps the best known in '
the long list of literary workers whose names
appear on the death roll.
In the religious world many vacancies wore
created. Chief among tho ill-istrious dead in this
department of the world's work appears the name
oi Pope Leo XIII. Another is Very Rev Dr
George E. Bradley, dean of Westminster, whose
tragic death during the coronation ceremonies
in London is well remombered. Very Rev Fred
erick William Farrar, dean of Canterbury, was
another noted dignitary o2 tho Cnarch of En
gland to answer the final summons. Rov. W 11. '
Millburn known to every American as "the blind
chaplain, ' entered upon his reward. The Catholic'
church also lost Cardinals Parrochi and Vaughn9
m
rM
i
&
i
llrH
fcv
-1
,.J
