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The Commoner.
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VOLUME 6", NUMBER 11
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The Commoner WASHINGTON CITY LETTER.
ISSUED WEEKLY
WJIXIAM J. DllTAN ClUKLES w. BHTAW
Editor and Proprietor. Publisher.
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Address oil communications to
THE COMMONER. Lincoln. Ijeb
MR. BRYAN ABROAD
Mr. Bryan has completed his tour of India
and a cablegram reports the safe arrival of him
self and family at Cairo. He expects to spend a
week or more in Egypt, going from there to tho
Holy Land, where he will probably remain two
of threo weeks. It is now his intention to go
from Syria through Turkey and on to Moscow and
St. Petersburg, Russia, where he will arrive short
ly after the convening of the douma. Sweden,
Norway, England, Ireland, Scotland, France. .
Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Germansthis is
about the order irwJUch beYillvisit the coun
tries named, reaching the United States about
tho middle of September. Immediately after the
November election ho expects to visit Australia
and New Zealand, which he was compelled to
omit from his present trip to enable him to visit
India and Egypt before the warm season was too
far advanced.
It begins to appear that Mr. Jerome exhaust
ed his initiative in his prospectus.
' An observant public will note that the min
ers, not the operators, offered to submit their
differences to arbitration.
The czar's idea of representative government
seems to be to allow the people to elect their
representatives and then throw the representa
tives into jail.
News of Mr. Hadley's illness and Mr. Rocke
feller's reappearance appeared with considerable
and remarkable simultaneousness.
- "
Mr. Carnegie declares that he has extracted
much profit from the reading of poetry. If he
will divide the profit with those who write it
he will be doing a really philanthropic work.
Mr. Baer asserts that he and his fellow coal
barons are merely protecting the public. But
just the same no shepherd is going to be foolish
enough to follow the Baer precedent and employ
a lot of wolves to look after his sheep.
The Houston Daily Post has just celebrated
its twenty-first anniversary. Tho Post is a great
democratic nmyspaper, deserving of all the sue
cess it has achieved, and In line for even greater
work for democracy in the future. The Com
inou?r wishes it many, very many, happy returns
A Youngstown, O., readers asks for the namo
of the author of the poem containing the line
nnS hnn "J, ln,n5y ll0UB0 by th0 8lde of tho road
and be a friend to man." This pnem was writ
ten by Sam Walter Foss, author o 'Poeml of
War and Peace" and other verses. It to been
Washington, D. C. April 16. The indications
aro that the national publicity bill will be acted
upon this session by tho house of representa
tives. The measure was referred to the houso
committee on tho election of president, vice presi
dent and representatives in congress. The com
mittee have granted several hearings on the bill.
It was introduced in tho house by Representativo
McCalh of Massachusetts; in the senate, by Mr.
Patterson, of Colorado.
The leaders among tho laboring people are
conspicuous this year in communicating the in
telligence to those who have looked into tho
situation that the working men of the country
will have numerous candidates of their own run
ning for congress. For two months or more they
have been formulating plans to obtain directly
and definitely from both republican and demo
cratic candidates their position on questions
which the labor leaders regard as being either
in favor of or against the wage-earners of the
United States. And it is stated by these same
leaders in the most positive terms that the in
quiries will be pressed as fast as candidates for
congress are nominated by the political parties.
As ono of the labor representatives stationed
here to watch the progress of events put it they
propose to run candidates of their own In certain
districts should it be found that the democrats
or republicans have in the field men whom the
labor organizations can not support. In speak
ing of the departure that is to be made, one
of the well known labor leaders said substan
tially: "The working men of this country will
have more to do with politics this year, in my
opinion, than ever before in the history of the
country. Heretofore our organizations have been
backward in coming out openly and running can
didates for congress in districts in which have
been nominated men who are objectionable to us
We want our people to take a hand In the elec
tions in districts in which none of the regular
Jjitical parties Have brought out men upon
jKnQvwe can depend to see that labor has its
rights protected. In years gone by the labor
vote has been manipulated, and I regret to con
fess too often so called leaders supposed to have
the welfare of the toiling masses at heart have
played fast and loose with us, and I fear they
have, in many instances, profited by using their
inuence to swing voters Into line for candidates
who did nothing for the cause of labor after be
ing sent to Washington."
Nearly all the labor representatives who have
been in Washington during the present session
of congress complain bitterly that the republican
managers have been promising them many things
asked, for in the way of legislation, but they
aro painfully slow In carrying out the promise.
They talk as if the republicans have not kept
faith with them and, according to the frame
of mind they are in just now, there is a general
disposition to have a reckoning with the "grand
old p wty" candidates next November. One of
the most serious complaints heard almost daily in
the corridors of the capitol against the high
officials of the administration 1b that the repub
licans have failed to carry out their promises
regarding the eight hour law on government
work. They cite, as one notable instance, the
construction of tho mammoth filtration plant in
the District of Columbia, which was completed
last year and which required several years to
. put in working order. It is charged that the
officials worked the mechanics and laborers ten
hours a day instead of eight, as the force had
been made to believe would be the case. In the
fifty-eighth congress Hon. William Hughes, of
Patterson, N. J., was a democratic member of
the house committee on labor. Mr. Hughes was
most active in trying to have the regulations ob
served. Labor representatives state that "during
his term in the house he kept right after the
officials for violating the eight hour regulations,
and he had a large number of letters from these
officials on the subject. Mr, Hughes has all the
correspondence, it is said, and it has been copied
for use by labor organizations to show that the
officials referred to did not treat the mechanics
and workingmen right in compelling them to
work over-time on the -Washington city filtration
plant. It is asserted that this is but one of tho
many instances that could be cited
Another thing that is said to anger the labor
people is that the senate interstate commerce
committee is holding up the railroad liability
bill Mr. Elk ns, of West Virginia, is chairman
of this committee, which is the same one that
had the railroad rate bill in charge. Senators
Aldrlch, Kean, Foraker, Crane and other repub
licans constitute the majority of the committee.
They held up the rate bill, it will be recalled, as
long as they could, and finding they could no
longer resist public sentiment fixed up a scheme
to have Senator Tillman report and manage the
rate bill on the floor of the senate a task that
the South Carolina statesman did not shrink from.
Indeed, he was anxious toassume the responsibil
ity. Nearly two months ago Senator Daniel and
other democrats tried to get the senate to act
on this railroad liability bill in the interest of
the 600,000 railway employes of the United States
who have been asking for the legislation for
many years. The labor leaders say that all these
men are watching the congressional proceedings
closely and are noting from time to time the at
tempts being made to prevent legislation on the
subject. The house passed the bill after a great
pressure had been applied at that end of the
capitol. There was but one. democratic vote
against it in that body. If the committee over
which Mr. Elkins presides does not hurry mat
ters it is understood that Senator Daniel, of West
Virginia, will offer the liability bill as an amend
ment to the railroad rate bill. Labor leaders who
have reached the conclusion that the interstate
commerce committee will not act are strongly
of the opinion that the amendment will be
adopted unless it should be ruled out on a point
of order. However, they say that if Mr. Elkins
and his republican associates on the committee'
persist in holding the liability bill back and no
action is taken on it this session the Tvorkiingmen
of the country will know where to place the re
sponsibility. They will see to it, they declare,
that every labor organization in the United States
shall be acquainted with thef fact that there has
been no democratic oposition to a measure that
the railroad employes have demanded for the
past ten or more years. Quite a number of the
, prominent labor leaders whose duties require
them to be stationed- here in the interests of
legislation affecting the welfare 6r the wage
earners are not a bit mealy-mouthed in admitting
that during the past decade the labor vote was
cast heavily for republican candidates at the na
tional elections. In consideration of this -support,
and without which the republicans would
undoubtedly have been badly defeated, some of
these labor representatives do not hesitate to
proclaim publicly that the managers of the re
publican party are not grateful to the classes that
contributed so much to their success.
Few of the senators look for a vote on the
railroad rate bill before the end of April It
seems to be the policy of Mr. Aldrich to keep
the measure hanging in the air until he can ar
range deals to strengthen the opposition to the
general proposition. The Rhode Island senator
continues his policy of saying very little as to
?if I???'. That Se stiU hopes eitner to defeat
all legislation on the subject no well posted per
son for a moment doubts. If he fails in that pur
p 5,e J?6,11,6,1 move on the Pa of Mr. Aldrich
and his followers will be to incorporate in the
measure a court review amendment that will be
hSS?1 bth ? the majOTity of the senatl
and house democrats. Mr. Aldrich appears to
ilTeZL? defeat& the Bailey amendment.
for nXbably C?rreCt In WS abllIty tO dO this,
wVfin a numl)er f the senate republicans
want the Long amendment placed in the bill
Senator Tillman and perhapgPa majority of the
ranratH Df the upper branch of congress do
not sanction the Long proposition, even though
Whiteous? VG bGen prePared at tho
ALFRED J. STOFER.
NEBRASKA DEMOCRATIC, EDITORS
The Nebraska Democratic Editorial associa
tion will meet in annual session in Lincoln May
tz. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss
EX? m?aDS. for furtherance of deZ
cratic principles, to become better acquainted and
to outline a plan of action for the campaign that
will soon open. Democratic newspapers are not
numerous in Nebraska, but the averag? is mora
than enough to make up for any lack of numbers.
The democratic weekly press of no other state
numbers better papers, more thoroughly demo
cratic ed tors or more faithful exponents of Jef
fersonianism. In season and out of season
through stress and storm, the democratic editors
of Nebraska have been found at their posts doine
double duty, and their influence has been tort
beyond the confines of the state.
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