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The Commoner,,
JLj WILLIAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR
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Vol. (. No. 46.
Lincolri Nebraska; November 30, 1906.
Whole Number 306.
CONTENTS
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Educators Vs, .Trust Magnates
The Thanksgiving Season '
Lawrence Callahan's Three -Barns
The Victory in North Dakota
Asset Currency
Now It is Something Else
The Yote in Indiana
Tracing Popular Phrases
Pjjace and Trusts at Kansas City
Comment on Current Topics
Home Department
Whether Common or N ot
News of tue Week
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'HERE WE ARE AGAIN"
Educators Vs. Trust Magnates
, jFor Particulars See Page Seven
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1 ' i A VALIANT FIGHT!
Having fought shoulder to shoulder with In
surance .Magnates and other trust managers dur
ing the. NJew York campaign, the New York World
is now "waging "relentless war" against the evils
for which its late comrades in politics are re
sponsible. The World is a valiant fighter for reform
after it has helped the enemy to power.
To those who teach: Have you ever com
pared your work with the work done by the trust
magnate? You occupy a very important position
in society. There can be no civilization, as we
use the term, without mental development, and
there can be no mental development without
teachers. While the parent if educated could
supply the place of the teachers to some extent,
. the parent does not do so. As society is now
organized the child from the time it enters the
kindergarten until it leaves the university is
under the instruction of the school teacher. A
great responsibility rests upon the school teacher,
for the child's progress depends upon his efficiency
and fidelity.
The school teacher, whether man or woman,
is an important factor in society and an intel
lectual stimulus to the community. Almost with
out exception the teacher is a person of high
Ideals and exemplary life. Not only in the school
room but outside of the school room as well,
the influence of the teacher Is of great weight,
and that weight Is thrown upon the best side of
all questions.
The pay of the school teacher is small woe
fully small when the value of the work Is con
sidered. The stenographer in the average busi
ness office receives higher pay than the average
school teacher in the country; the head clerks
in the business houses draw a larger salary than
the superintendents of schools, and the average
professional man is better paid than the average
college professor. So much for the services, in
fluence, and compensation of the school teacher
who has devoted years to preparation for work.
. What of the trust magnate? His preparation
for workris usually not so extensive as that or the
teacher; instead of rendering a service to society,
his- business is a curse; his influence, instead of
being thrown upon the right side of public ques
tions, is almost invariably used against society,
and yet his wealth mounts up by leaps and bounds
because he is in position to extort what he will.
He brings into business no useful idea; he re
stricts rather than increases the production of
wealth, and his example discourages a thousand .
where it gives Inspiration and ambition to one.
Why is he tolerated? Why is he permitted to
monopolize industry and prey upon society? Why
is he allowed to grow fat at the expense of the
people while a deserving person like the teacher
receives but a scant reward for a large service to
society?
It is because society permits it, and society
permits It because many do not see the evils in
volved in private monopoly, and many who do see
the evils are silent when they should speak. The
teacher owes it to himself to protest against this
unequal distribution of the common fund derived
from labor, and standing as he does upon an
eminence, he owes it to the masses who pay the
taxes which support him to sound a note of
warning. If all of the teachers in all of the
schools and colleges would speak out against the
evils of private monopoly and use their Influ
ence to exterminate the principle of private
monopoly wherever it presents itself, Industry
would soon be freed from the menace which now
confronts it.
Recognizing how important a factor the teach;
er is in the formation of public opinion, the trust
magnates have commenced to subsidize colleges,
and they have already closed lips that ought to
speak and blunted pens that ought to denounce
the aggressions of predatory wealth. Will the
teachers study the subject, and studying, wilT
they speak out in the interest of the public?