2
The Commoner.
b-s..
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Senator Mitchell, of Oregon, was convicted of
receiving money for legal services rendered be
fore the departments, and Senator Depew was
shown, to have drawn a complimentary salary from
the Equitable and to have voted for a doubtful loan
to a corporatici in which ho was interested. All
theso are now in disgrace and "nono so poor
as to do them reverence," and yet their crimes
are not so great as the crimes of some who still
stand high. Both Burton and Mitchell violated
the law a very necessary and salutary law but
how many were injured by their" acts? Few at
most. Mr. Depew's offenses are rank and dis
gusting, but the sins for which he is now being
lashed by public opinion are minor offenses com
pared with those which he and other senators aro
constantly committing.
Mr. Depew was for years the lobbyist of the
New York Central railroad and was finally made
senator by the railroad influence. Outside of the
senate and inside of tho senate he has been the
servile tool of the corporations. He has never
been in a position to decide any question from
the standpoint of the people. The facts have
been known to all and yet he could move in polite
society, sit, in the directorate of Yale and pose
as a moralist. But the moment he is found guilty
of petty pilfering he falls liko Lucifer. The evil
he has been doing as lobbyist and corporate repre
sentative in the senate is immeasurably greater
than the evil ho has done as a director of the
Equitable, but it was not so regarded by the
public. Nor do' . Depew stand-alone. Aldrich,
Piatt, et al., are much more dangerous to the
public than either Burton or Mitchell for their
subserviency to tho corporations affects all the
people.
The conscipp.ce of iho nation was shocked be
cause Addicks tried to buy a senatorship for him
self and yet that conscience is but slightly dis
turbed when railroads and trusts buy seats for
their paid representatives. Bui Ion and Mitchell
deserve the punishment that they now seem like
ly to receive, but the day of rejoicing will not
come until the senate is rid -of its big grafters
as well as its little ones, and the best way to
purify the senate i3 Id make that body elective.
"When the voters have a chance to speak di
rectly upon the question they will retire tho
eminent attorneys who now draw salaries from
tUa public for representing tho ra.Iroads, express
companies and trusts in the United States senate.
, JJJ
"THE MAN BEHIND THE OCTOPUS"
The New York Post recently printed an edi
torial entitled "The Man Behind the Octopus;"
The Commoner has had occasion heretofore to
refer to that editorial, but attention is again di
rected to it because of its present day import
ance. The Post demanded the enforcement of
the criminal clause of the Sherman anti-trust law
against all violators of that law. It demanded
to know why the me.i connected with the North
ern Securities company had not been fined and
imprisoned, and it added:
Until tho law smites in their persons a
few of these gentlemen who sustain our
churches, adorn our clubs and promote our
philanthropies the talk of controlling the
trusts as such is the wildest unreason or the
most patent hypecrisy. NobUy likes to be
imprisoned. The most formidable deterrent
lies at our hand, and we are too easy-going
to use it; and until a fearless enforcement
of the present laws 'ands a few pillars of
society behind the bars, all oxecutive excur
sions and alarms against the trusts will recall
that king of France whose twenty thousand
men came down the hill and passed 'into
nursery mythology.
Those who criticise Mr. Roosevelt because his
tiling in the Morton-Santa Fe case tends ab
solve individuals from prosecution while confin
ing proceedings to the corporation, must not for
get that that ruling is in line with the clearly
defined policy of the republican party as ex
pressed through its representatives in congress.
nio interstate commerce law as it existed
prior to February, 1903, provided for fine and
mprisonment. The rjlkins law, by which the old
aw was amended, provided that in all convic
tions for violations of that law, whether com
mitted before or after the passage of the Elkins
law no penalty shall be imposed on the guiltv
party other thrn the fine prescribed by law im
prisonment wherever . :w prescribed as part of
the penalty being hereby absolved."
Mr. Foraker in the senate undertook to amend
the Sherman anti-trust law on similar lines. He
'SK,'11 was lmown as tllQ Foraker bill.
I he bill did not pass, but it was a companion piece
for the Elkins bill. The Foraker bill sought to
repeal the criminal clause of the Sherman anti
trust law and declared "that nothing in the act
to regulate commerce approved February 4, 1887,
or i.i the act to protect trade and commerce
against unlawful restraints and monopolies, ap
proved July 2, 1890, or in any act amendatory of
either of said acts shall hereafter au
thorize imprisonment or forfeiture of property as
punishment for any violation of such acts, except
for perjury or contempt. of court."
JJJ
THE STRIKE'S LESSON
The lesson taught by the Chicago teamster's
strike ought not to be lost on the public. After
months of idleness on the part of the men, loss on
the part of the employers, expense on the part
of the city and annoyance to the people at large,
the men decide to go back to work. Surely no
one can believe that the present situation should
be continued. Arbitration is the only remedy.
The employers can not be trusted to arbitrarily
fix the terms and conditions on which labor
is to be employed; neither can the employes
be trusted to determine arbitrarily the terms
and conditions upon which business shall be done.
Both are likely to take a one sided view. In a
prolonged contest between labor and capital the
latter has the advantage because the wage earners
have so little laid up that their necessities drive
them to accept at last terms which they believe
unjust.
The interests of the laboring men and the
interests of the public demand the substitution of
arbitration for the clumsy and expensive strike
system and the employers ought to consent to it.
An impartial body would in nearly every case
reach a decision acceptable to all and thus avert
a test of endurance. It is not necessary that the
finding be binding on the parties. If there is
compulsory submission of the Questions in dis
pute public opinion can be relied upon to enforce
the findings. Every state should have a law es
tablishing a permanent board witli power to in
vestigate any case at the request of either side.
In fact, society has so much, interest in the estab
lishment of justice that the board should be au
thorized to act on, its own initiative even if both
parties prefer to fight it out between them
selves. So long as the investigation is for the
guidance of public opinion and not binding upon
tho parties, neither party can object to an in
vestigation. In older to insure fairness the per
manent board should contain two temporary
members for each investigation one recommend
ed by each side.
Such a system would go far toward prevent
ing strikes by removing the cause of disagree
ment. No position taken by the democratic party
has ever been more completely vindicated than
the position taken in favor of arbitration, and
this position taken in 1896 was reiterated in 1900
and 1904. The demand for arbitration ought to
be renewed in 190S and be given even greater em
phasis. JJJ
"FADS AND FANCIES"
New York society is stirred because some
of its members have been led into the buying
of an expensive book because their names would
'appear in it. Some paid five hundred, some fifteen
hundred, some twenty-five hundred, one per
son as high as ten thousand. In some cases
the persons were threatened, it is said, with un
pleasant notoriety if they did not subscribe, but
m most cases it was simply a ta:: on vanity
While in this case the tax was high the
system did not differ much from that employed
in many enterprises of less magnitude. Did you
ever look through the various publications known
as the "Great men of state" or "Historv of
county?" J
As a rule the pictures and sketches are paid
for on exactly the same principle. The argu
ment is: "The book would not be complete with
out your p cture." "Your neighbor will expect
to see a sketch of yen- life in here" etc A
good answer to make is the one that Cato made
when asked why no monuments had been erected
to him: "I would rather have men ask why no
monuments have been erected to me than to have
nyTionor "W y monuments hrt been erected T2
VOLUME 5, NTJMBER
be asked. Mr. Rockefeller is him ,
He objects, to having questions asked ami?6 ase'
jects to the promise not to ask auction. he ob
This Chicago university professor 'n ,
done well had ho followed the S IX?1? have
the commissioner of education! VnX by
Pices of the interior department a gom
publication was issued in which Mr S?nl
was given unstinted praise. It s not aW?U?
that Mr. Harris will lose his noniS i " llkely
distributes this tribute! nor ? tZ$P
Mr. Harris' O. K. of an educational fiStE
application for funds would be entire yignSl
the patriotic chief of the world's gmteTm
JJJ
DEMOCRATIC LITERATURE
,S. J. Weller of Dundee, Ky., writing to Tho
Commoner under date of July 20, encloses his
primary pledge, and says: "I regard your
primary pledge plan a being essential in tho
effort to accomplish reform. But I regard tho
circulation of such democratic literature as Tho
Commoner of more importance. If every voter
could be brought to read such literature ho
would attend the primaries without signing tho
pledge. Let every voter go to work and see if
we cannot give The Commoner the. largest circu
lation of any paper in' the world. I am sure
it merits such a circulation, and I will see what
I can do in the way of obtaining subscribers."
Co-operating on the lines of the special sub
scription offer H. A. W. Skeen, Big Stone Gap,
Va., sends 18 new subscribers to The Commoner;
M. A Hoyt, Carroll, la., sends 10; H. J. Hnber,
East St. Louis, 111., sends 7; and McCall Bros.,
Carnegie, Okla., sends 17. Others send new sub
scribers in numbers as follows: Silas Grimes,
Smithville, Ind., 12; B. T. Williams, Finley, I.
. T., 5; H. Z,. McLaurin, McColl, S. C, 5; J. E.
jtfcClanahan, Riverton, La., 7; Peter Pifer, Jenera,
Ohio, 5; Dr. Carter, Indianapolis, Ind., C; W. D.
Hockaday, Granite, Okla., 5; Joshua Draper, Ox
ford, Ala., 5; W. A. Taylor, M.trray, Idaho, 5;
J. D. Leclair, Uniontown, Pa., 6; James Church,
Farmersville, Tex., .; W. S. Evans, Princeton,
111., 5; J. C. Davis, Livonia, Mo., G; A. P. Harman,
Neal, Kans., 5; George Coyner, Waynesboro, Va.,
6; J. T. Duke, Galesburg, 111., 6; W. M. Hamilton,
Waynesburg, Mo., G; M. A. Hoyt, Carroll, Iowa,
10; N. E. Weaver, Fcrt Wayne, Ind., 5; H. J.
Huver, East St. Louis, 111., 7.
'Those who appixn- of the work The Com
moner is doing have the opportunity of rendering
material assistance through the special subscrip
tion offer. Every reader is invited to co-operate
in this work.
According to the terms of this subscription
offer, cards, each good for one year's subscription
to The Commoner, will be furnished in lots of
five, at the rate of $3 per lot. This places the
yearly subscription rate at GO cents.
Anyone ordering these cards may sell them
for $1.00 each, thus earning a commission of $2.00
oi. each lot sold, or he may sell them at (the cost
price and find compensation in the fact that he
has contributed to the educational campaign.
These cards may be . id for when ordered, or
they may be ordered and remittance made after
they have been sold.
A coupon is printed below for the conveni
ence of those who deairo to participate in the
effort to increase The Commoner's circulation.
THE COMMONER'S SPECIAL OFFER
Application for Subscription Cards
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ASKI
ING QUESTIONS
A Chicago university professor has been dis.
charged because in r;kine Mr. Ronkofniin S
- r-- v.iwavitv,! AUI MM.
that no questions would
donation he promised
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To
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75
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Publisher Commoner: I am interested in in
creasing The Commoner's circulation. Mll'
sire you to send me a supply of subscription
cards. I agree to use my utmost endeavor to
sell the cards, and will remit for them at tne
rate of CO cents each, when sold.
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