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The Commoner.
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James Gayley, that If the governmont does not
take at least 15,000 tons of armor plate per
annum the works Carnegie . company would
be forced to shut down, thereby throwing thou
sands out of employment, and leaving to the ten
der mercies of the Midvale company the further
production of armor plate. This last threat be
comes amusing when we remember it was the
Midyalo company that forced the Carnegie and
its associate trust, the Bethlehem company, to
lower their prices on armor plate. Three times
the Midvale company underbid the Carnegie
company but the latter's influence at court
navy board had always obtained the lion's
share of the government contracts until recently.,
When the last contracts for armor plate wero
bid on, although the Carnegie company had cut
their former prices considerably, the Midvale
company got the contract, but they were com
pelled to divide with the Carnegie company.
In the 'face of such facts the threat by the Car
negie company to Bhut down their plant unless
the government would take at least 15,000 tons
of plate annually Ts, to say the least, a cause
for laughter. When they first built their works
they had not the assurance,, that half of the
above quantity of plate would be taken by the
government, but, nevertheless, the plant was
built, and the builders the steel trust have
been amply repaid. The promoters of this and
associate Interests have in a masterly way, un
derstood the art of creating an anxiety for the
"safety of our helpless colonies," the "defense
less condition of our coasts," etc., etc., that we
have built ship after ship, are still building bat
tleships, t" such an extent that we have more
ships than we can find men for. We shall next
wintor, probably, hear the same old song, varied
by the cry that we must own (have) a well
arranged, up-to-date plant for the manufacture
r or snip armor, in order to oe ready for emer
gencies when, war comes, and the poor steel
trust, swollen with its millions of profits, will
demand the building of more ships, or the
works will be forced to close and throw thou
sands of men out of employment and all these,
men have votes. In spite o this, if nothing
be done or if the government dare to buy
from the Midvale company then woe to the gov
ernment left to the tender mercies of such a cor
poration. As the Midvale company compelled
the Carnegie ..company to lower its prices, the
graft the. government will be -forced to pay the
Midvale- company can not be worse than the
enormous sums that' Carnegie has already bled
this government."
1 1
Washington Letter
Washington, June 17. Perhaps the most
dangerous thing that can befall a statesman or
an administration is to be made ridiculous.-
Washington, which naturally watches pub
lic events more closely than any ofher commu
nity, has for some days been laughing at the
complete collapse of thia administration's
noisily announced attack upon E. H. Harriman.
JTor weeks past indeed ever since the publica
tion of Mr. Roosevelt's earnest appeal to Mr.
Harriman to come down and talk politics "as
one practical man would to another" the White
House has been emanating threats of vengeance
even as the United States fleet off Santiago"
hurled steel bolts at the enemy. The vital dif
ference lias been that the fleet destroyed the
enemy. The administration has turned and fled.
Naturally the newspapers of the country
believed that the presidential outcry was to be
taken seriously, and so from Sandy Hook to
the Golten Gate the artists in headlines have
been telling what Roosevelt was going to do to
Harriman. The railroad man was to be prose
cuted criminally; he stood facing a penitentiary
sentence; he Would be driven from control of his
roads. The cartoonists did their share in de
picting a small and shrinking Harriman cower
ing under the shadow of the "big stick." Per
haps the only penalties -which were not to be
imposed upon him were those described In the
Gilbertian opera, "The Mikado," as "something
humorous with boiling oil or melted lead." -
Now after two long conferences of the
whole cabinet it has been determined that Mr.
Harriman shall not be touched. By way of let
ting the administration down easily, the news
was given out that perhaps there might be some
civil suits brought. But the real truth of the
matter isthat this administration will drop
further action against Harriman, against the
railroads and, except for some slight teasing'
litigation, any further attack upon the trusts.
This is notorious in Washington and Is. as safe
a statement as prophecy ovor can be.
j The reason is obvious. It isnt because tho
president and tho cabinet officers are going to
their respective summer places, for work can
be done In tho summer as readily as at any other
time. The present Interest of the personally
controlled administration is to get ready for tho
presidential election, and a party which has boon
in the habit of winning with the aid of an enor
mous campaign, fund fears to further allenato
the individuals of the corporations from which
that fund Is to be procured.
Another illustration of what a state can do
by way of protecting its people against railroad
aggression has just been finished by Texas.
Some months ago the railroad commission of
that state attempted to fix rates for accommoda
tions on sleeping cars. To tho resident outsldo
of Texas tho proposed rates would not be readily
Intelligible, as they were fixed with reference
to the distance between certain towns. This fact
however, is of general interest, namely that the
commission demanded that the -price of an upper
berth should be less than that of a lowor one.
The usual charge which the Pullman company
made of $2.50 tho commission sought to reduce
to $1:60. Of course tho Pullman company went
Jnto the courts and obtained an injunction which
is still pending But in the meantime the atti
tude of the authorities has been so aggressive
that now one of the most prominent railroads
in the state has given notice that it is building
its own sleeping cars, and will accede to tho
rates the commission is striving to fix. Of course,
there is no reason today why any railroad should
be bound by the Pullman monopoly save for.
the fact that the railroad managers are heavy
owners of the Pullman company stock. Never
theless the lead taken by the state of Texas
should be, and probably will be, followed by
state railway commissions wherever the rail
roads don't own the commission.
Up in New York there is a man, formerly
a governor of that state, more lately a senator
of the United States, and until 1900 a possible
candidate for the presidency on the democratic
ticket. Mr. David B. Hill, if he remembers the
things that were said about him when he sug
gested in a platform for the democratic party
in 1902 that the coal lands of the nation should
be given oyer to public ownership, must Wonder
how It Is' that Mr. Roosevelt, saying practically
the same things today, receives cheers and. com
mendation. Mr. Hill was denounced as a so
cialist. Mr. Roosevelt Is applauded as nr patriot,
The antithesis is less unfair than it might be if
Mr. JHill was still In politics, but as he is alto
gether out of active political action, it is rea
sonable to call attention to what he said, anil
was denounced for saying, and what the present
president of the United States said and has been
applauded, very properly, for saying. At James
town a few davsmgo Mr. Roosevelt said, among
many-'other things, this:
"The mineral fuels of the eastern
United States have already passed into the
hands of large private owners and those of
the west are rapidly following. This should
not be, for such mineral resources belong
in a peculiar degree to the. whole people.
Under private control there is much waste
from short sighted methods of working and
the complete utilization is often sacrificed
for a greater immediate profit.
It is obvious that the mineral fuels should
be conserved, not wasted, and that enough
of them should remain in the hands of the
government to protect tho people against
unjust or extortionate prices so far as that
can still be done."
No president of the United States has said
words of more importance to the. public welfare
than these. No candidate has done better In one
speech to express his knowledge of the needs
of the public, and his desire to meet those needs.
He fell short of what former Senator Hill said
In the platform that he wrote and which is here
quoted:
"We advocate the- national ownership .
. and operation of the anthracite coal mines
by the exercise of the right of eminent do
main, with just compensation to owners.
Fuel, like water, being a public
necessity, we advocate national ownership'
. arid operation of the mines as a solution of
1 the problem which will relieve the country
from the sufferings which follow differ-
ences between labor and capital in the an
i thraclte mines. It will relieve
the consumers of coal, not only in this state,
but throughout the whole country."
"The difference between the points of view
of- the two men "is that Mr. Roosevelt believes
that only mineral or oil lands still owned by
the nation should be. hold by the nation; Mr.
- i
nill suggested that tho anthracite coal lands
owned by individuals should bo taken by tho
nation undor tho right of ominont domain and
kept for tho good of all tho pcoplo.
Almost pvcrybody will recall tho fact that
at that timtf tho great anthracite coal striko
was on.
Tho president had recognized its Impor
tance by creating a special commission to tako
evidence .concerning tho merits of each side,
and Mr. Bacr and other distinguished owners
of railroads that carrlod coal to Tidewater had
announced that they alone wero entrusted by
tho kindliness of a dlvino providence with tho
custody of tho coal Interests of tho United
States. New York, Washington and other east
ern cities wero compelled' to take tho soft coal
of tho west and destroy tho health of their pcoplo
and the appearanco of their buildings by tho
smoke that rcsulte'd from It. It was at that
time that Senator Hill demanded tho plank for
public ownership of tho anthracito fields. Ho
was denounced by every metropolitan news
paper. Today wo find tho same newspapers ap
plauding Mr. Roosevelt for what is almost tho
same demand.
At tho risk of seeming to harp too much
on one subject I wish to again say a fow words
about the political conspiracy now bolng con
summated to keep tho 1,500,000 people of
Oklahoma and tho Indian Territory out of tho
United States. What is being done to offoct
this purpose, and to prevent tho possible addi
tion of a now democratic state to the column
of that party is absolutely the most discreditable
and disgraceful piece of political chicanery re
corded In tho history of this country.
Hero is one illustration. Recently I met a
certain Frank Frantz, govornor of Oklahpma by
appointment of Theodore Roosevelt. Frank
Frantz was ono of those Rough Riders who did
not ride in battle, but wero all, or many of them,
ridden Into public office by the aid of their
formor colonel. He was lieutonant under the
famous Captain "Bucky" O'NoIl, and upon tho
death of that officer succeeded to tho captain
ship. After tho war ho wont to Oklahoma and
speedily became a politician. Ho got a $2,500
postmastership, and when Mr. Roosevelt bo
came president aspired higher. He was appoint
ed by the president governor of tho territory,
not because he had any peculiar qualification
therefor, but because ho was a Rough Rider
andsa trustworthy supporter of Roosevelt repub
m licanism. Tho people of tho territory had noth
' ing to say about it. There woro 8.00,000 people
in Oklahoma when ho was appointed, but ono
man put him in office. Naturally enough Gov
ernor Frantz doesn't attach much importance
to' voters or votes.
I wish to lay emphasis on what ho said to
me recently. I asked what was the political
character of tho convention which adopted this
convention. "There wero one hundred and
twelve delegates," said he, "of whom ono hun
dred wero democrats."
"Supposing tho constitution is approved by
the voters and turned down by the president
of the United States? ' I asked, "is it not. prob
able that the next convention will bo even more
overwhelmingly democratic? Won't there be
a feeling in the two territories that an unfair
partisan advantage has been taken at Washing
ton? And If another convention shall be con
stituted in the same way as thl one, what will
you do then?"
"We will appeal to Washington again."
In other words the governor of Oklahoma,
appointed by the president, looks to Washing
ton to save him, and his job, from tho vote of
the people of his tarritory. He was here accom
panied by a number of the least creditable mem
bers of tho republican party, to plead for a con
tinuance of the conditions under which nearly
1,500,000 pepple in that growing southwestern
section are disfranchised; aro given absolutely
no voice even in their"bwn local affairs. Thoy
are governed as Porto Rico Is governed. They
are governed as England governs the people of
.India for the profit of a few favorites of tho
ruling class.
Governor Frantz was asked what objections
he could urge to the constitution as adopted by
delegates who were elected by the people of
the territories instead of being appointed by o,
beneficent ruler 1,500 miles away.
He didn't like the proviso that corporations
doing business in the state should become in-
corporated in the state. He thought the de
claration for tho initiative and referendum was
entirely wrong, but he heartily approved the
submission of the prohibition plank in the con
stitution to the people. In other words he shyed
, at the word "referendum" and yet he applauded,
, the one immediate application of it.
WILLIS J. ABBOTT.
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