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The Commoner
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THE COMMONER, Lincoln, Neb.
RICHARD L. METCALFE.
On tho first day of May, Mr. Richard L. Met
cnlfo, for many years editor-in-chief of the Omaha
World-Herald, severed his connection with that
paper to accept tho position of associate editor
of Tho Commoner. Since tho establishment of
Tho Commoner, Mr. Metcalfe has been an edito
rial contributor, but ho will now remove to Lin
coln and dovoto his entire timo to this paper.
Mr. Motcalfo stands in the front rank of American
journalists and has earned an increasing reputa
tion for ability, courage and fidelity in tho advo
cacy of democratic principles. Among his friends
and they include all who know him -he Is fa
miliarity addressed as "Met" and and his name
affixed to a newspaper story is a guarantee of its
fairness and accuracy. The quality of his democ
racy may bo judged by the fact that he was
unanimously chosen a delegate at large to tho
Kansas City convention and was the Nebraska
momber on tho resolutions committee. On an
other page -will be found his picture and a report
of tho non-partisan dinner tendered him on the
ovo of his departure from Omaha. Having been
intimately associated with Mr. Metcalfe in politics
for fifteon years and in editorial work for nearly
six years, I know whereof I speak when I say
that I have strengthened The Commoner's claims
upon its readers by securing his services.
W. J. BRYAN.
Doubtless Mr. Bigelow was quite prominent
in the opposition to postal savings banks.
The railroad magnates are trying to make
it appear that they make less than tho beef
magnates;
If that battle between Rojestvensky and Togo
is equal to the advance press notices it will bo
something of a hummer.
Tho difference between "can" and "will" is
defined in Mr. Edward Atkinson's declaration that
"a woman can dress on $65 a year."
. It took many years to find the remains of
John Paul Jones. Does anybody know where re
publican Revision of tho tariff lies? -
The small boy will take little interest in
tho commercial trend of the day until some con
cern corners tho angleworm industry.
Democrats who will circulate blank primary
pledges for signature will bo supplied with the
necessary blanks upon application to this offlce.
The primary organization aims to give the
people an opportunity to express their opinions
instead of leaving tho matter to selfish interests!
nn ww S?d fa examininS a set of Standard
Qil books for the purpose of ascertaining the nfet
cost of refined oil. But has ho "the" set T of books?
The St. Paul Daily Globe has suspended mill
ication. The Globe was a "democraUc" orPgm
that almost invariably supported republican pol
Coincident with hoisting the price of hf
other notclTthe trust points to Mr Garfieia's r
port. The beef trust hi developing a' ve! of
sardonic humor. yu r
The Commoner.
Somehow or other tho public is not quito
satisfied with Mr. Rogers as a witness to Mr.'
Rockefeller's honesty.
Mt. Shasta, Calif., is throwing out clouds
oC mud. It must bo that the old hill imagines
itself a regular republican campaign committee.
Mr. Garfield says ho is going to the very
bottom of the oil business. We object. Tho
trouble lies in the other direction, Mr. Garfield.
It Is said that the Japanese language con
tains no "cuss words." This may explain why tho
Japaneso usually win they couldn't express
themselves if they lost.
i.i. ! 1 1 m
Wisconsin's legislature is awfully scandalized.
A member has actually had tho temerity to an
nounce that he Is on tho floor for the purpose of
representing the people.
The Chicago Review suggests that in view
of tho success of "good crops trains" and "good
roads trains," a "good citizenship train" might
prove a good investment.
Rev. Washington Gladden still clings to the
opinion that there is very little of the odor of.
sanctity about one of those Standard Oil "Ameri
can Beauty" rose contributions.
Secretary Shaw asked for a coachman, and
the civil service commission gave him an ex
gravedlgger. The secretary is at a loss whether
to take it as a joke or as a sign.
A Boston minister recently preached a 40
minute sermon on "Tho religion, of the trust."
A sermon on "The Christianity of the trust" would
have lasted about thirty seconds.
Tho embezzlement of several million dollars
to speculate in wheat by Mr. Bigelow is only
one of thousands of similar cases. The gambling
craze is responsible for most of tho financial
crimes of the day.
"Look at the legislature!" shrieks the Hous
ton Post. What's the matter with it that those
of us with legislatures of our own should stop to
lcok at it? Has it paused long enough to do some
thing for the state of Texas?
The Chicago Chronicle is growing hysterical
over the "Bryanite socialists." Can it be possible
that tho owner of the Chronicle sees grave danger
ahead for his monopolistic ventures?
Some people are inclined to blame Mr. Law
son for the flurry in Equitable circles. They are
the people who are most often mentioned in the
discussion of the Equitable scandal.
Speaking of the demise of the St. Paul Globe
the Minneapolis Tribune says: "It was better
than its party." It will be noted, however, that
tho party still lives and is not wearing heavy
mourning.
The New York World is terribly worried lent
government ownership entail the rule of bosses
This is calculated to make Messrs. Aldrich, Rocked
feller, Frick, Cassatt, Rogers, Depew, Knox et al
smile broadly.
The railroads that went through government
receivership a few years ago were vastly bene
fited by government control. The railroad mag
nates who oppose government regulation of rates
f r publIil0Wnership shoull talk about that fact
;.
, S ?t JFel07 the defaulting president of
the First National bank of Milwaukee, was presi
dent of the American Bankers' association last
?f?rl J8 annual address he pictured "the
dea banker." He could not havo missed hfa
ideal farther by shooting in the opposite direction!
While condemning the crime of President
Bigelow, let us not overlook the crime of other
men who speculated in a commodity that o
prime necessity to tho public. Men who Specu
late in the necessaries of life are guilty of a
moral crime, even' though our lax laws do nn?
make it a criminal offense. not
"Four per cent on the capital invested" ic
what the railroad managers, are claimtag in the r
efforts to prevent government remiinHnn ,!? r
Pity the poor stock and bondholder? f S38,
roads bonded and stocked at S 300 to 1 Son
-.-''-'"'' , VOLUME 5; NUMBER 15
The Springfield (Mass.) Republican com
ments on the fact that some of the relisdonq
papers are less sensitive than the secular panerJ
in regard to the Rockefeller contribution Thin
is to be regretted. It is impossible for religious
papers to do much in an ethical way while the?
say as. one of them recently did: "We only wish
that they (tho Rockefeller contributions) wero
larger, more numerous and more widely dis
tributed."
"No one needs be robbed by a trust!" de
clares tho Lincoln, Neb., Star, and then inti
mates that all one needs to do is to refrain from
buying goods made By a trust. How easy! All
one has to do is to quit eating meat, buying cloth
ing, buying medicine in case of sickness, having
laundry work done, buying breadstuffs or canned
'goods, going to the theatre, or traveling on the
railroads. The Star is deserving of great credit
for discovering an easy method of "busting tho
trusts."
In a recent issue of The Commoner referenco
was made to one J. B. Corey, a coal operator, who
rushed to the defense of John D. Rockefeller and
based his defense on his own sales of coal to the
Standard Oil company. The Commoner added:
"Pie speaks of Mr. Rockefeller as if he was ex
pecting another order." Mr. Corey writes to Tho
Commoner to say that he,, has not b.een for five
years "in tho coal business nor in a position to
receive, expect or desire an order from the Stand
ard Oil over any other company." The correc
tion is gladly made. Mr. Corey demands evidence
of ono single act of wrong doing on Mr. Rocke
feller's part. Ho is respectfully referred to
Lloyd's "Wealth -vs. oCmmonwealth," to Ida M.
Tarbell's articles on the Standard Oil and to
Henry Rogers recent admissions in regard to
the acceptance of rebates.
The
Eight Hour
Day
t There is one argument in favor of the eight
hour day that social economists often overlook.
Modern machinery has in
creased output to a degree un
dreamed' of a decade ago. Tho
result is that vast stocks of
goods are accumulated in pertain.
seasons, and then comes a season of industrial
depression that lasts until these vast stocks are
sold. The shortening of the work day will havo
the effect- of providing, employment for moro
wage earners, and to that extent lessening tho
liability of lack of employment. Labor unions
are not advocating the eight-hour day for the
sole purpose of securing shorter hours for thoso
who work; they are striving to find employment
for those who have no hours to work.
Passing
of a Great
Actor
The death of Joseph Jefferson removes tho
laqt of the old school of actors who accomplished
so much for the American stage.
It is not enough to say of Mr.
Jefferson that he was a finished
actor. Ho was far more than
that he was a student, a think
er, an artist and an exemplary citizen. His was
the art that made for good, "and no one ever left
the theatre in which he appeared without feeling
the better for having sat in his presence. His
ideals were always high, and he spent his life
in trying to achieve them. With the knowledge
of the strong efforts he made it is only a tribute
to the loftiness of those ideals to know that ho
hielf admitted that he fell short of achieving
them. Not only was the stage bettered by his
connection with it, but the country was made
better by that connection. He won a foremost
place in the hearts of the people, and his death
will be accounted a personal loss hy lovers of
the pure and lofty in dramatics.
The suspension of the St. Paul- Globe has
brought out considerable comment. There is,
however, really no cause for
The surprise. The Globe was known
St. Paul Globe as the official organ of railroad
Suspends interests, and its editorial utter
ances were the utterances of
James J. Hill. Pretending to be democratic, it
only used the democratic cloak to hide its cor
poration proclivities. If ever there was a timo
that the people could be successfully deceived by
this sort of thing, that time long since passed.
The reading public long ago learned to disting
uish between newspapers that represent public
interests and newspapers that represent private
interests, and the suspension of the Globe merely
proves that the people are growing tired of sup
porting newspapers that oppose public interests.
The demise of the Globe is ono of the greatest
tributes that has been paid to the loyal democ
racy of the nation in a generation.
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