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The Commoner.
WILLIAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR
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VOL.7. No. 28.
-Lincoln, Nebraska, July 26, 1907.
Whole Number 340.
CONTENTS
.
GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP NOT AN
ISSUE.
IS HE REALLY EOOLED?
THREATENING PANIC
NOT DIFFICULT '
MISREPRESENTING MUNICIPAL OWNER
SHIP 'AFTER THE ELECTION.
FROM TWO STANDPOINTS
STORY OF THE INTERLOCKED DIREC
TORATE .LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE
WASHINGTON LETTER
PARAGRAPHIC PUNCHES
COMMENT ON CURRENT TOPICS
HOME DEPARTMENT
WHETHER COMMON OR NOT
NEWS OF THE WEEK
IS HE REALLY FOOLED?
The Topeka (Kansas) Herald referring to
John D. Rockefeller's appearance on the wit
ness stand says: "The result of the whole
affair will be to create a better feeling toward
Rockefeller. His efforts to escape an -appearance
in court on previous occasions were ex
asperating in the extreme to the public, and only
served to lend color to the charges made against
the company and its leading men. Now it ap
pears that Mr. Rockefeller has not been actively
connected with the cotnpany for a good many
years, and that he has all along known nothing
to tell. Under the circumstances it is regret
table in the extreme that he did not appear on
the stand on previous occasions when his pres
ence was desired by the court. If he had never
made any effort to escape,, both he and his
company would have avoided a largo propor
tion of the ill feeling that, has been aroused
against them."
Is it possible that any man with sufficient
intelligence to secure a position on a news
paper, really believes the absurd statements
above quoted statements which appeared in a
leading editorial in the Topeka Herald?
-Has the editor of the Herald really fooled
himself or does he imagine that he can fool
his readers?
Surely some of these republican editors ask
a great deal of their patient, long-suffering
readers.
oooo
THREATENING PANIC
Whenever the people show any disposition
to stop the extortion practiced by the trusts the
trust magnates threaten to bring a panic if they
are disturbed. They learned it from the tariff
barons who have for a generation warded off
tariff reform by the threat of panic.
Now come the manipulators of our great
railroad systems and threaten jmnic if they are
interfered with. The trust magnates, the tariff
barons and the railroad magnates have their
hands in the pockets of the people and they
demand that they shall be permitted to continue
their exploitation of the public as the price at
which they will allow the people to enjoy
prosperity.
Have we reached the point where all legis
lation must await the consent of the benefi
ciaries of privilege and favoritism? Is this the
'condition to which the republicans have brought
..;tU the country? The sooner reform comes the
'$' easier it will be 'accomplished the longer it
' " " ' is delayed the more radical" the change.
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JY AT ALL EVENTS PROVOKING
The Milwaukee Sentinel says: "Let us be
fair with Mr. Rockefeller, even if he is'proyok-'
lngly rich." Yes, or provokingly lawless.-
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"DON'T MOVE OR YOU WILL CREATE A FEARFUL PANIC."
Government Ownership Not An Issue
As the campaign approaches it becomes
more and more, evident that of the economic
questions, three the trust question, the tariff
question and the railroad question will share
public attention, and these three really , present
the same issue between 'the general public and
the privileged classes. , Shall the government be
administered in the interest of the whole people
or in the interest of a few? This is the issue -presented
by the trust question, the tariff ques
tion and the railroad question.
Government ownership is not an immediate
issue. A large majority of thepeople still hope
Jtor effective regulation, and while they so hope,
they will not consider ownership. While many
democrats believe and Mr. Bryan is one of
the number -'that public ownership offers the
ultimate solution of the problem, still, those who
believe that the public will finally in self defense
be driven to ownership, recognize that regula
tion must be tried under the most favorable
circumstances before the masses will bo ready
to try a more radical remedy.
Regulation can not be sufficiently tried
within the next year, and there is no desire
anywhere to make government ownership an
Issue in 1908. Mr. Bryan fully agrees with
those who believe that it, would be unwise to
turn attention from regulation, on which the
people are ready to act, to government owner
ship, upon which the people are not ready to
act. To inject the government ownership ques
tion into the next campaign would simply give
representatives of the railroads a chance to
dodge the issue of regulation and deceive the
public.
So far, the Tailroads have been successful
in preventing effective federal regulation, and
state regulation has, as a rule, been restrained
by the. United States courts. It is about twenty
years since the interstate commerce commission
was created. It required about ten years for
the courts to find out that the powers con
ferred wore insufficient, and then it took about
ten years to secure an amendment. The rail
roads fought the amendment at every step, and
tho president was finally forced to compromise
with the railroad republicans In the seriate in
order to secure their support. Even that amend
ment, secured a'fter tremendous effort, falls
short of what it should bo. It aims to stop
rebates and passes and the railroads profit
pecuniarily by both the stoppage of rebates and
the prohibition of passes but extortionate rates
still exist, and state legislation for the reduction
of rates has resulted In an agitation on the
part of tho railroads for legislation which will
deprive the state of authority and centralize all
regulation In congress. , The democratic party
must meet the issue presented; it must resist
the encroachments upon the authority of the
states. It must insist upon the exercise of fed
eral power for the regulation of Interstate com
merce, and it must insist upon the exercise of
state authority for, the exercise of all of tho
power vested in the state. This question has
grown In importance during the past year and
its prominence will be increased if any attempt
is made to impair state authority. The repub
lican party is ao impotent to regulate the rail
roads as it is to exterminate the trusts and to
reform the tariff.
The democratic party has In three national
campaigns demanded effective railroad regula
tion, while t the republican national platforms
have been silent upon the subject. The presi-
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