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rOVEMBER 30, 1906
The CommonerV
9
ram not disposed to criticize the church "and" its
irorkers except insofar as it remains silent when
should speak out. "We are in need of an
Enlightened public opinion -which the church could
ielp to create if it tried." Rev. Mr. Stelzlc took
I'eclded issue with Mr. Mitchell and declared that
le best evidence , that the church did oppose
ttiild labor, and was in hearty sympa'thy with
le aims of organized labor, was the fact that
lis own branch of the great Christiaa church
lent him in the field in order to assist in the
prork of furthering the great social reforms advo-
ited by organized labor. He declared that if
te thought for one minute that the church was
t opposed to child labor and other forms of
ijustice, ho would leave the church, without
tesitation or delay and associate himself with
Some other organization having for its purpogo
le abolition of these wrongs. "The Presby
terian church does not need to keep me , in , my
iresent position one minute if it does not want
to," declared Rev. Mr. Stelzle. "I have two pairs
r union-maae overalls, anu i nave a paid up ,
mrd in the Machinists' Union in my pocket, and
can return to the machine shop if necessary.
ECRETARY OF THE Interior Hitchcock is
soon to retire. A Washington dispatch to
the Indianapolis News says: "The announcement
that Ethan Allen Hitchcock is to retire as secre
tary of the interior the 4th of next March will
abe good news to a horde of land and timber
Ithieves throughout the far west. It will also make
fglad the hearts of a few far western senators
and a largo number of western members of the
Ihouse, who Jiaveit in for Mr. Hitchcock because
?he has made, life unpleasant for some of their
friends; Mjv Hitchcock has been one of the most
'useful men connected with this administration.
He has done his work without any blast of trum
pets, but he has got results. The penitentiaries
of a dozen western states now hold men run
,to earth byfjWs perseverence. James R. Garfield,
who is to succeed, him, is 'a hard-working young
.man of fair .abilities. He evidently intends to
do his best, to carry forward the Hitchcock policy,
rbut some of his best friends fear he will not be
F-able to rise to the occasion."
"
IN THE COMMONER, November lb, m reter
rlng to the Wisconsin elections it was said:
"Babcock was for LaFollette and was assisted to
defeat because some republicans were opposed to
his tariff revision views." Edwin J. Cross of Mil
waukee calls ' attention to this plain error and
asks to hrfve it corrected. It was in fact a typo
graphical error and should have read "Babcock
was opposed by LaFollette," etc. In his letter
to The Commoner, Mr. Cross says: "Congress
man Babcock has always misrepresented his dis
trict to the advantage of the 'interests.' Senator
LaFollette does not support men of that type.
Neither does he receive the'ir support. As a mat
ter of fact, Senator -LaFollette not only openly
opposed Mr. Babcock for the nomination, but just
as strongly at the election. Speaker Lenroot
whom LaFollette supported for the republican
namination for governor, during the last primary
election, went into Mr. Babcock's district and
helped materially to bring about his defeat. Mr.
Babcock was opposed by the better element of
his party, because he placed the corporations'
interests above that of the people, and his de
feat should not only be a source of pride to the
republicans of this state, but to those of the
nation as well."
r-rHTii TERM OF thirty members of the United
I I States senate will expire March 3, 1907.
Tne New xorK world uescnues uie bhuuiwu m
this way: MIn only a few, states, and those re
publican, does the re-election, of sitting senators
nr thft ohoif.fi of their successors remain in doubt.
I Where democratic senators are to retire in the
I south their democratic successors have generally
been designated, as in tne case oi senawr rtjny,
of Arkansas, and Senator Carmack of Tennessee,
who will make room for Governor 'Jeff Davis
and 'Fiddling Bob' Taylor. Senator Patterson
of Colorado, will yield probably to Simon uuggeu
iheim, who is credited with having financed the
i republican state campaign, and tne legisiaturea
' p T,ui,n oti1 -wrnntnrtn will rflnlaee Senator DU-
ff. . ' , '. ii. .i4-u .nmihllxana Thfi
t Dois and senator vjiunt whu iciiuuw".
good old days seem to have passed in mouuiw
?when Clark with Midas-like touch could turn re
publican votes into gold. In at least thrco stalos
the republicans aro sharply divided. In Rhode
Island en'ough independent republicans have de
clared themselves against the corrupt Brayton
Aldrich machine to threaten the extinction of
Senator Wetmoro and to give hopm, through dem
ocratic co-operation, .of the election of Colonel
Gddtfard. Senator Dryden's chances of re-election
in New Jersey grow slimmer as the limo for
assembling of the legislature draws nearer. But
he Is fighting desperately and has gone to Tren
ton to marshal his forces in person. Michigan
has four leading candidates who aspire to Sen
ator Alger's seat Representative William Alden
Smith, Representative Charles 13. Townsend,
Arthur Hill, a wealthy lumberman, who fought
the old McMillan machine in days past, and
William C. McMillan, the former senator's son.
Norris Brown is slated to take the place of Sen
ator Millard, of Nebraska, and Senator Benson,
of Kansas, who by appointment s serving out
tho unexpired form of ex-Senator Burton Which
Burton is serving in jail expects to be elected.
In New Hampshire Winston Churchill, leader
of the Lincoln republicans, may reappear as a
candidate for Senator Burnham's seat. In Dela
ware Senator Alice may be replaced by a DuPont
man. Kentucky has already elected Judge Payn
ter to succeed Senator Blackburn next March,
and the recent elections indicated Governor Beck
ham as Senator McCreary's successor after March
3, 1909."
WILLIAM H. MOODY of Massachusetts, is.
not the first attorney general of the Uni
ted States to be appointed to the United States
supreme court. Recalling this fact) a writer in
the Baltimore Sun says that seven such appoint
ments, including that of Mr. Moody, have already
been made; only three of these wore confirmed;
two were rejected by the senate and one died .
four days after his nomination. The three who
were confirmed were: Nathan Clifford of Maine,
was appointed attorney general under Polk in
1846, and was appointed" to .the supreme court in
1858 by Buchanan, where lie served twenty-three
years. Roger B. Taney of Maryland, was appoint
ed attorney general by Jackson in 1831, and to
the supreme court by the same president in 1836,
where he served twenty-eight years. Joseph Mc
Kenna of California, who was appointed attorney
general by McKinley in 1897, and to the supreme
court by the same president in 18.98, where he has
since served. The two attorney generals whoge
nominations to places on the supreme court failed
of confirmation were: Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar
of Massachusetts, who was appointed , attorney
general by Grant in 1869 and to the supreme
court by the same president, but failed of ratifi
cation by the senate. George H. Williams of Ore
gon, the third of Grant's attorney generals, ap
pointed to that office in 1871, and to the supremo
court by Grant in 1873, when he failed of ratifica
tion by the senate.
U
DWIN M. STANTON was nominated for the
sunreme court in 1869 by President Grant,
but according to the Sun writer he died immedi
ately after his nomination had been sent in. Tho
Sun writer adds. "Nathan Clifford, one of the
first attorney generals confirmed as a member of
the court, was a native of New Hampshire, who
settled in Maine and became a member of con
gress in 1839, serving until 1843. Three years
later he became Polk's attorney general, and in
1848 he was sent to Mexico as a United States
commissioner to arrange terms for the cession
of California to the United States. On his return
in 1849 he resumed the practice of law in Maine,
and in 1858 Buchanan appointed him as associate
justice of the supreme court, where he served
twenty-three successive years, or until his death,
in 1881. -Justice Clifford was one of the four
members of the supreme court who were mem
bers of the electoral commissloq in 1877. Justice
Clifford presided, and in all test votes the deci
sion was so close that Justice Bradley's votd was
decisive."
THE FIRST ATTORNEY general elevated to a
place on the supreme bench was Roger B.
Taney of Maryland. Referring to Taney the Sun
writer says: "Ho had been attorney general
under General Jackson from 1831 until 1833, and
had been out of the cabinet several years when
Jackson named him for the supreme court. Two
years after Taney entered Jackson's cabinet 'Old
Hickory,' to whom Mr. Taney had rendered im
portant political services, wanted to give him the
treasury portfolio, but tho nenato refused to con
firm him. In January, 1835, Jackson nominated
him as an associate Justfco of tho supremo court, t
but tho senate, still adverse, indefinitely post-'
poned tho nomination. Bettor fortune attended
his appolntomont to the chief justiceship, on tho
death of Marshall, In tho aamo year, and though
Taney was strongly opposed by Clay and Web
ster, he was confirmorl by a majority of fourteen
votes. Ho sat for twenty eight years In the chief
justice's chair and was a jurist of ronrnrknblo
ability although ono of his opinion tho bred
Scott decision aroused great Indignation In
northern states when rendered In 1857. In tlila
opinion Chief Jrmtico Tanry declared that any
person 'whoso ancestors wore Imported Into thin
country and hold an slavcn had no rights to nuo
in a court in tho United States. In o'her words,
ho denied citizenship to any person who had
been a slave or a descendant of a slave. Taney,
with the sanction of tho court, further declared
that the framers and supporters of Urn Declara- ,
tion of Independence did not Includo tho negro
race in the proclamation that 'all men are croat
ed equal,' and that the patriots of tho revolution
and their progenitorn 'for more than a century
boforo regarded tho negro race as so far In
ferior that they had no righto which the vrhltc j
man was bound to respect, and that they werr --.
never spoken of except an property. Ho nlito
dcclarod that the framers of the constitution held
the same views, and said tho Missouri compromise
and all other acts restricting slavery were uncon
stitutional. For several yearn after his death
Taney's bust was oxcludcd from Ito place among
tho chief justices on tho wall of the court room.
It' stood in a sort of Umbo in a niche In one of
the passages near the senate chamber, and Charles
Sumner watched cvory appropriation bill to pre
vent an item being included to authorize Its
purchase. When Sumner died there was no
further opposition to paying for It and giving it
its proper place. Both of the attorney generals
whoso nominations were flatly rejected by tho
senate were appointcen of General Grant, who had
more Individual cabinet officers than any other
president and whoso cabinet changes bare brcn.
exceeded in number only by those of President
Roosevelt. Grant did not believe in transferring
cabinet officers from one portfolio to another.
When he made a cabinet change he near7y nJwnjm
put a new man in tho cabinet. Grant's nominees
who failed of rejection Williams of Oregon, and
Hoar of Massachusetts were appointed at a lime
when the supreme court had been the sabject
of much controversy In the senate."
THE TWENTY-FIFTH anniversary of Bis
marck's announcement In tho rcichstag that
the emperor desired that tho state should syste
matically assist the working people by accident, '
sick and old-age insurance, was celebrated In
Berlin November 17. A Berlin cablegram to tho
Now York Press says: "The socialists, following
tho policy which they adopted when the laws were
passed, found fault with the Insurance as being
Inadequate and not radical enough to really pro
vide for the 'casualties In the Industrial warfare
and tho disabilities of those worn out In the
service of capital.' But the vhole body of liberal
and conservative opinion appeared convinced that
the laws are beneficial. During the last twenty
years $555,750,000 has been paid out Tor Illness.
$233,750,000 for accidents and $13,500,000 for old
ago. The law also provides for compulsory con
tributions by employers and employes. In canes
of illness two-thirds of the expenses are paid
by the employer, and in canes of old age pensions
half the amount Is paid by the employer and half
by tho employe, tho government supplementing
each pension with ?12.50 yearly. The sum ot
$312,500 wan expended dally on the combined ob
jects, the total of the various funds Is $575,000,
000, the total amount paid In since the law was
passed is $1,056,750,000, and 00,000,000 persons ,
Have profited by this legislation. The official
Imperial Gazette this afternoon published a de
cree on the anniversary of the message of Em
peror William I. on Btate Insurance, pointing out
the great ideas contained In the message, which
not only had unrivalled success in his own coun
try but was spreading beyond the frontiprs oC
Germany and adding: 'Unfortunately the accom
plishment of its highest aim has been retarded
by the continuous opposition of those thlnttng
themselves entitled to represent the interests oC,
the working classes.' Tho message closes with,
expressing the hope that the insurance bills may
guarantee the inner peace of Germany, and an
nouncing that it Is the emperor's will that the
legislation shall continue until the task of pro
tecting the poor and weak Is accomplished.
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