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The Commoner,
VOLUME 6, NUMBER 27
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Editorials by Commoner Readers
'Samuel Johnstone, San Francisco,
Calif. Curront Topics of December
1 shows how the beef lords were
fined for fencing and using 212,000
acres of our public lands for ten or
more years $G00 and- sl?c hours in
the custody of the United States mar
shal, and no costs of suits, some
thousands of dollars, which are always
paid by the guilty, while a poor devil,
for stealing a few chickens, would
bd locked up from three to six months
at least. Let me ask: In proportion to
these cases, what would the fine be
for the Standard Oil company, -when
It owns in the same way all the
United States? This is a broader
farce than Garfield's beef trust report,
and such seed will eventually bring
a worse crop than the czar has on
his hands to harvest. I quote the
following from the San Francisco
Star: "It is authoritatively announced
In the press that the United Railways
Investment company, the holding com
pany of the United railroads, is to
pay a deferred dividend on the pre
ferred slock of the former company
of six per cent. This sum. Is to be
paid out of the proceeds of a bond
Issue of $900,000. The. announcement
does not state whether these bonds
are to be issued by the United Rail
roads of California or the New Jersey
holding company. This is an outrage
ous proceeding, and should be given
Immediate attention by the proper au
thorities. Do the people of San Fran
cisco realize what this company pro
poses to do? Borrow money issue
bonds to pay dividends on watered
stocks. We can not believe' that such
action is legal, and we hope that stops
will be taken .to prevent it." This
tells only Dart of -the storv nf n fiiipv.
&$' street railroad company who com-
Cisco, save two, one of- which Is soon
to-be rebuilt by the city. These roads
cost to build under six million dollars
and they have been watered to equal
wsuiy minions, and this holding com
(States supremo curt decision ofh
Smyth v. Ames, October, 1897, page
46G, from which I quote: "The pub
lic can not properly be subjected to
unreasonable rates in order simply
that stockholders may earn dividends
' If a corporation can not
maintain such a highway , and earn
dividends for stockholders it Is a mis
fortune for it and them which the con-f
stitutlom does not renuire to bo rem
edied byimposing unjust burdens upon.
the public, we hold, however, that
the basis of all calculation as to the
reasonableness of rates to be charged
by a corporation maintaining a high
way under legislative sanctions must
be the fair value of the property be
ing used by it for the convenience of
the public. And in order to ascertain
that value, the original cost of con
struction, the amount expended in perr
manent improvements and
the sum required to meet operating
expenses, are all matters for consid
eration, and are to be "given such
weight as may be just and right in
each case. What the company is en
titled to ask is a fair return upon the
value of that which it employs for the
public convenience. On the other
hand, what the public is entitled to de
mand is that no more be exacted from
it for the use of a public highway than
the services rendered by it are reas
onably worth. "But the rights of the
public would be ignored if rates for
the transportation of persons or prop
erty on" a railroad are exacted with
out a reference to the fair value of
the property used for the public or
the fair value of the services rend
ered, but in order simply that the
corporation may meet operating ex
penses, pay the interest on its obli-
gallons and. decln ""'iiviaends to
storVsSluai-b. "if a "railroad nomnanv
i"has bonded its property for an-
amount that exceeds its fair value,
or if Its capitalization is largely ficti
tious, it may not impose upon the
public the burden of such inoreasfid
rates as may be required for the pur-
comparison between the petit crim
inals who are convicted and the great
criminals who have been immune
from the law. I have shown this ar
ticle to a number of my friends, and
I would thank you to mail me four
or five copies of this number of The
Commoner for distribution.
N. P. J., Davenport, Iowa. What
do you think about the enclosed edi
torial from the Washington Post, en
titled. "Why parade that hoodoo?" If
one had not read the article in The
Commoner one would be led to be
lieve that the whole editorial of two
anrd one-half of its wide columns were
wholly devoted to the free silver
question, whereas, only nine .lines of
these wide columns touched upon this
matter. Taken all in all the criticism
is insincere, and its writer betrays
that he is no such a friend to de
mocracy, although he tries to pose as
such."
"A Commoner reader," -Kingfisher,
Okla. The packing houses say they
kill and put on the market for use
nothing but wholesome, well and
healthy animals. Will you please in
vestigate and publish, for general in
formation, what becomes of the de
seased cattle and hogs that everyone
knows goes to the markets, also what
becomes of those that are crippled and
killed .in transit?"
(The various publications made
with respect to fhis subject, appear
to cover the bill quite fully. The
Commoner.)
nanv is in hnahln M,ic TvvotV 7 ,i7 ruwa " raay ue required ror tne pur
to take tte BuiSiiim i?2 JJ pose o realIg profits upon such ex
S,,5iJ! sH?lus earnings of the I cewlye valuation or fictitious natiltnl.
Philadelphia. Pa., roads fawned vv
this band) over, or In excess of the
amount they are allowed by their
, charter to collect and pay the interest
on this water, so they can market
(unload) their securities, that are
rot& ,a se?ond mortgage, upon the
small investors of the United States'
and are busy doing so, by paying a
- big commission to brokers, etc. One
flucli company out here lias been pay
ing 30 and 40 per cent to sell out in
that way. This is a sample of "high
finance" of the New York Life In
surance company and others style, and
should be illustrated by Tom Lawson.
The way to remedy this evil is simple
and plainly shown in the United
xjessiye valuation or fictitious capital.
ization." Let the American neonlc
wake up; no, longer sleep on their
usuLa, uuafHe. counts to tne present
centralization oT capital, or serfdom
as in Russia, is in sight. '
A Sign
ul iJi0U .flnd . tucso symptoms present, von
a boui?ofneClCCt thCm' but at onoe
Dr. Miles'
New Heart Cure
It will cure and at a verv utiin nvrnn,,
pared with doctors' J8 Wo arc ?sn m;
it, that If lirst bottledbcs riot henUTLot
druggist will return youSmSnc? it wm 5i f
Jlor two months I walked on the edeo of
8? mb ?rom weft,c beftrt Poor blood Brcu
latlon und nervous prostration. Dr mw
REV. W. A. ROBINS, Port Elgin, Ont.
C. H.' Weiss, Wentworth, S. D
In reference to the president's re
marks regarding coal and oil deposits
I hand you horewith printed copies of
House and Senate resolutions No.
S?f.7?nd No' 7901' respectively, of the
fiftieth congress, dated May '14, 1888,
and June 23, 1888. Being the insti
gator of this bill, which was framed
by Congressman Smith of Milwaukee,
I am sorry, more so today than eigh-
lu years ago, that it did not become
a law, and sincerely hope that Mr.
Roosevolt's recommendnHnn win o.
-complish, in what Mr. Smith failed.
iiow much would this bill, had it
become a law in 1888, have saved to
the constituents of those who killed
it in committee on public lands?
I hope that the honorable membors of
the present congress and its commit
tee, before which such a bill may
come, are made of better flesh and
blood, than those of the committee of
public lands of the fiftieth congress
who voted it to its death. Ubres3'
W. B. Phipps, Medford, Ore.I
have been a subscriber and a 'close
reader of your paper since it was first
started, and have, from time to time,
sent in quite a number of subscrip
tions thereto. I want to express my
especial appreciation of Mr. Met
calfe s article in the number of May 18
entitled, "Ben Daniels at 'The Door
, TH?P- T1" People will read
such interesting articles as this, and,
in consequence, must make a mental
J. W. Shea; Syracuse, N. Y.-Your
article on the "Chicago platform" was
good. The fact that the president
and those in the senate who were
friendly to the railroad rate bill ap
pio.ed lor about a month the inter
ference by injunction or otherwise
therewith by the courts, made it clear
that the .courts are not above the sus
picions of persons in high places,
Where they are, no doubt the best
known'. If this condition of things was
argued in 189G by the advocates of
the Chicago- platform, what a howl
would go up from Wall street? The
people are getting wise, even; though
late. It is perhaps, in time.
James B. Bebb. Lake City, Ark,
As my subscription for The Com
moner has expired I will send you
$1.00 to renew it. I see a letter from
a Commoner reader referring to the
effort to enlarge the Commoner's cir
culation. I highly approve of this, for
Whenever I can speak a gopd word for
The Commoner, I always do so. I
was interested in the suggestion made
by G. W. T. Conrath Bowling Green,
Ohip, as a plan of, creating a fund to
place one or more Commoner's in
every barber shop where the would
allow it. I have been thinking some-
uiiug aiong xnac line myself. I tried
to get a democratic campaign commit
tee in Oklahoma to adopt that plan
when I lived there. A great deal of
money collected for campaign funds
is wasted. I suggest that .campaign
committees appropriate, say $3.00 in
every voting precinct, for five yearly
subscriptions, in order that The Com
moner may be sent to five republicans.
I thinlc the money could not be spent
to better advantage."
s.
Charles Devine, Philadelphia, Pa,
I am deeply interested in Mr. B.ryan
and I hope he and his wife and family
are enjoying what they went abroad
to see God's creation and the abode
of man. I see by his letters that he
fully enjoys the vastness of the Crea
tor's works and what the Creator has
prepared for His creatures. He has
made plenty of provision for all man
kind, but we have got the selfish man
who cares not for his fellow being, not
evuu ma muicer, and his idea is that
everything was made for him. But I
can see that in the future the day is
near when in this country we will put
down those hateful beings and estab
lish a country of righteousness, t
could name you a Columbus of thiJ
new era, and all the good people ad
mire him, and he is the one who is
destined to give us a regenerated
country- We have to be careful how
this is to be done. Sometimes great
ne?ihav,lt0 act as Jacob did to his
brother Esau I would not encourage
it, but I see the good we have received
through Jacob's seed. We have re
ceived the Immaculate Mother who
gave us the Saviour of the world
So God must have; approved of Jacob
cheating his brother, Our president,
Mr. Roosevelt, is a Jacob. He kept
quiet until he got the people's blessing
and then ho came out and declared
he would not be a candidnte for the
presidency again. He directly went
back on the people who put him there
and his actions now show that he is
not the man that the trusts thought
he was. Now he is acting for all tho
people, he is letting the cat out of
the bag and when the cat is entirely
out won't the people have their eyes
opened? I have a man that . stops
with me sometimes and the poor man
cannot see through the window. I
often pity him. We have had plenty
of blind men. who could see but did
not want to have their eyes opened,
but the light will bo so strong that
they will have to dee. Mr. Roosevelt
is doing what the democratic party
LOW ROUND TRIP RATES
TONEWJERSEY.LONGISLAND
and Maw England Coast Resorts.
The Lake Shore will sell "excursion
tickets to Ashbury Park. Atlantic City,
Iiong Branch, Sag Harbor, Newport,
Block Island and all principal Coast
Resorts. Return limit Oct. 31st, 1006.
Stop-over of ten days at New York,
Philadelphia, Niagara Falls etc. For
full particulars call on or write A. G.
Burrows, T. P. A10th & Walnut Sts.,
Kansas City, Mo. W. J.Lynch, Pos
sencor Trafllc Manager, ChicagoT
Subscribes' Admitting Department
This department Is for the exclu
sive use of Commoner subscribers,
and a special rate of six cents a
word per insertion the lowest rate
has been made for them. ' Address
all communications to The Com
moner, Lincoln, Nebraska.
"lft JEWEL ELQrN OR WALTHAM
--- movement, fitted in 20 year open I aco
case, $9.40. send for our watch catalogue. Ad
dress, Q. H. Goodwin Co., Tracy, Minn.
GOITRE CURE. TREATMENTINTERNAL.
Cure by absorption. No patent medicine
and no danger. Thirty days' treatment free.
This offer good tin, July 20th, 1000, Dr. J. W.
Blnckley, KentonjOhio.
FOR SALE-SPLENDID BOTTOM.FARM
two miles from town, tfood roads, 167
acres, cultivated bottom, 00 to 70 bu. corn per
aore, never fails, 17 acres upland pasture, good
fences, three-room house, good out-houses,
large barn. $50 per acre. $1000 down and easy
terms for balance. Purchaser to have two
nf th3 of present crop, 135 acres. Farm pays for
itself. Box 02, Herrick, 111,
Mm,
3.
S.-fa.ftfo.c