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The Commoner.
WILLIAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR
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VOL. 7. No. 10.
Lincoln, Nebraska, March 22, 1907.
Whole Number 322.
CONTENTS
OUR DUAL GOVENMENT , .
MONARCHY SUGGESTED
PANIC : '
STATE VS. NATION
LIGHT ON' SHIP SUBSIDY K'
INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM
MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP IN LINCOLN,
NEBRASKA
POPULISM IN WALL STREET
.COMMENT ON CURRENT TOPICS .
HOME DEPARTMENT
CLINTON BABBITT
WHETHER COMMON OR NOT
NEWS OF THE WEEK
GRATIFYING
The Wall Street Journal says: "Too much Im
portance cannot be attached to the interview be
tween J. Pierpont Morgan and President Roose
velt. It is of course absurd to say that as a result
of this interview either Mr. Morgan will surrender
his independence or that President Roosevelt will
.-,wtaxeretlie great policy of government .,regula
tion with which his name is identified."
It is gratifying to bo assured that Mr. Roose
yelt will not "reverse the great policy of govern
ment regulation." But it is of the highest im
portance that Mr. Morgan will not "surrender his
independence." Mr. Morgan has the habit of sur
rendering points of vantage. It would be too bad
altogether if he "surrendered that independence"
for which he has become famous.
oooo
NOT LIKE 1906
The St. Louis Globe-Democrat, republican,
says: "But powerful as Mr. Harriman is, and
vast as is the interest of which he is a considerable
part, neither he nor the remainder of the men of
his guild in combination with him will be allowed
to rule this country."
This is not in harmony with what the Globe
Democrat told us in 189G. Then Harriman and
"the remainder of the men of his guild in combi
nation with him" were the "guardians of national
honor" to whom, in the Globe-Democrat's view,
'the people could safely entrust their interests.
What has comq o'er the spirit of the Globe-Deino-.
crat's dreams?
OOOO
GET IN LINE
A Washington correspondent says Secretary of
the Treasury Cortelyou will "sit tight for the pres
ent and absorb knowledge." He might begin by
pondering over the action of George W. Perkins
in restoring to the New York Life $54,000 which
he had misappropriated for the use and benefit of
the republican party under Mr. Gortelyou's man
agement. If the new secretary of the treasury
really "absorbs knowledge" he may conclude that
the republican party Itself should join in the more
or less popular rush for the conscience fund.
OOOO
WHITTLED DOWN
The St. Louis Globe-Democrat, republican,
says: "In a spirit of accommodation Mr. Harrt
man. expresses u willingness to let himself down
to the level of the United States. Perhaps the con
cession offered will be greater before the toboggan
slide ends."
Has the Globe-Democrat forgotten that It was
the republican party that sought to make Mr. Har
riman greater chan the United States V
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AND HER NAME WAS-DEMOCRACY 7
OUR DUAL GOVERNMENT
"Jefferson, on the contrary, was a believer In
man; he affirmed not only the right of man to
self-government, but the capacity of man for. self
government. Commencing with individual liberty
and the inalienable rights of the man, he pro
ceeded to the defense of the rights of the com
munity. Following out this doctrine he insisted
that matters which concerned the state only should
be decided by the state and that only national af
fairs should be entrusted to the national govern
ment. In his first inaugural address he set forth
what he deemed "the essential principles of our
government, and consequently those which ought
to shape Its administration." In tills statement
of principles he presented his views respecting the
spheres of the general government and the state
government as follows:
"The support of the state governments in all
their rights, as the most competent administra
tions for our domestic concerns and the surest bul
warks against anti-republican tendencies; the pre
servation of the general government In Its whole
constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our
peace at home and safety abroad." v
Jefferson placed his defense of the state gov
ernment upon two grounds: first, that it is more
competent to administer domestic concerns, and
second, that it is a bulwark against centralization.
So tenacious was he about the preservation of Me
state's Influence that he insisted an amendment
should be added at once specifically asserting that
"the powers not delegated' to the United States ly
the constitution, iior prohibited by it to the states,
are reserved to the states respectively or to the
people."
Jefferson's part In the adoption of the len
MB MB 1
amendments is referred to In a letter which he
wrote in 3802, uhile ho was president, to Joseph
Priestly. He says: "One passage In the paper
you enclose me must be corrected. It Is the fol
lowing: 'And -ill say it was yourself more than
any other indlvndual that planned and established
the constitution. I was in Europe when the con
stitution was planned, and never saw It until after
it was established. On receiving it, 1 wrote
strongly to Mr. Madison, urging the want of pro
vision for the freedom of religion, freedom of the
press, trial by jury, habeas corpus, and substi
tution of militia for a standing army, and an ex
press reservation to the state of all rights not
specifically granted to the union. He accordingly
moved in the first session of congress for these
amendments, which were agreed to and ratified
by the states as they now stand This is all the
hand I had In what related to the constitution."
The ten amendments cover many subjects, but
they all relate to two tilings, viz.: the protection of
the individual and the assertion of the doctrine
of local self-government. The Individual was safe
guarded in his nght to worship God according to
the dictates of his conscience, in his right to speak
his mind and to put his thoughts on paper, In his
right to assemble and to petition; in his right to
bear arms, in his right to trial by jury, and in hi
right to hold property. So careful were those who
insisted upon these amendments that after enu
merating all the rights they could think of, added
amendment nine af .a precaution: "The enumera
tion in the constitution of certain rights shall not
be construed to deny or disparage others retained
by the people." The tenth amendment carries
the same doctrine a little farther, and gives the
state the benefit of the presumption as against the
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