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The Commoner.
WILLIAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR
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VOL. 7. No. 81.
Lincoln, Nebraska, August 16, 1907.
Whole Number 343.
CONTENTS
RAISING A FALSE ISSUE s
THE TURN IN THE LANE
GOVERNMENT OF DEPENDENCIES
TARIFF CATECHISM
THE TWO-CENT VETO
WHAT JUDGE LANDIS SAID -
THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN
COMMENT ON THE BIG FINE
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE
WASHINGTON LETTER
COMMENT ON CURRENT TOPICS
HOME DEPARTMENT
WHETHER COMMON OR NOT
NEWS OF THE WEEK
HELP OKLAHOMA
The Oklahoma election will take place Sep
tember 17. It is plain that in the pending Okla
homa campaign the democratic party stands for
the people while the republican party represents"
the special interests.
The Commoner invites the attention of the
democrats of the nation to the fact that the
Oklahoma democracy is in need of financial as
sistance. Oklahoma democrats have many ob
stacles to overcome. They have arrayed against
them the powerful influence of all the public
service corporations of the state and the na
tional administration, with every federal official
In the vicinity actively engaged in the effort
to bring about a republican victory. Then the
republican party has all the money it can con
veniently use.
Oklahoma democrats feel that they will
win, but they will leave no stone unturned. They
are entitled to some substantial assistance from
the democrats of the nation. If every democrat
who reads this article will contribute a small
sum Oklahoma democrats will have ample funds
with which to pay the legitimate funds of their
campaign.
Such contributions may be sent to Ed. O.
Cassidy, chairman of the Oklahoma state demp
cratic executive committee, care Lee Hotel, Okla
homa City, Okla.
oooo
UNMINDFUL OF WARNINGS
" The Chicago Tribune in defending Imper
ialism cites Egypt, Macedonia, Rome, England,
France and Germany as nations that "have oc
cupied foreign territory nd governed alien peo
ples in the interest of commerce and civiliza
tion." The first three have already fallen and
the others are inviting disaster. The Tribune is
not only unmindful of the warnings of history,
but it Is indifferent to the advice of Lincoln,
who declared that we could not destroy the
spirit "which prizes liberty as the heritage of all
men In all lands everywhere" without "planting
the seeds of despotism at our own doors." Man
has not changed much; human nature is quite
the same. The man who denies the principles
of self government when applied to others can
not defend them with any force when he seeks
to apply them to himself. Who would have
thought, ten years ago, that imperialism could
find apologists in the,UniteM States?
OOOO
A NEW QUESTION
If, as it seems, the reading public has lost
interest in the New York World's famous ques
tion, "What is a democrat?" that great news
paper might provide Ian interesting symposium
from answers to the question, "Why does the
New York yorld show signs of uneasiness every
time the railroads are hit?"
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ADVOCATES OF EXCLUSIVE FEDERAL REGULATION PLEASE NOTE
RAISING A FALSE ISSUE
Error always employs deception. Nothing
Is more fatal to a false doctrine than to have
It clearly stated and the defenders of a false
doctrine admit this when they studiously mis
tate the issue. The St. Louis Globe-Democrat
furnishes an Illustration of this. In an editorial
entitled "The New Irrepressible Conflict"
the Globe-Democrat takes Governor Glenn,
Governor Comer and Governor Swanson to task
for prosecuting the railroads and declares that
these governors are assisting the doctrines that
led to the civil war. The charge Is not true and
"the Globe-Democrat con-sses the weakness of
its position when It attempts to present a false
issue. Neither Governor Glenn, Governor Swan
son nor Governor Comer has disputed the su
premacy of the federal government In the reg
ulation of inter-state commerce. The question
involved in Novija. Carolina and Virginia is, have
these states the right to regulate commerce
wholly, within their borders?
A federal judge undertook, at the request
of the railroads, to suspend the state rate law
and to release persons arrested for violation of
that law. The law had never been decided un
constitutional or confiscatory, but the judge
ASSUMED that the exparte statement of the
railroads was correct and proceeded to restrain
the states. The governors decided o test the
question, and the roads finally decided to do
what they ought to have done in the first place,
namely, comply with the law while they con
tested its validity through the regular channels.
Governor Comer of Alabama is testing an
other question, and this Is tho question which
most disturbs the Globe-Democrat, .namely,
whether a state can forbid a corporation to
transfer a case to tho federal courts when suit
Is brought against it. The Alabama legislature
enacted a law forbidding the removal and pro
viding for tho revocation of license as a penalty.
The Southern railroad violated the law and the
road's license to do business in tho state waa
revoked. Governor Comer is enforcing the law,
and why should he not enforce the law? Ho
swore to enforce the law when ho took the
oath of office, but probably the Globe-Democrat
would have him read into uch oath "except
where tho law concerns a railroad."
If a state creates a corporation can it not
fix the terms on which It can do business? And
if a state permits a foreign corporation to do
business within its borders can It not prescribe
the terms and compel compliance with thoso
terms? And what requirement is more reason
able than that the corporation shall submit Its
controversies to the courts of the state? Tho
stato courts are less expensive and nearer to the
litigants. A state acts not only within Its rights
but according to Its duty when it protects its
citizens from the vexation of litigation In fed
eral courts.
The Globe-Democrat does not dare to stato
the issue as It Is for then it would have to ad
mit its sympathy with the corporations as
against the people. To conceal its bias in favor
of corporate aggression it refers to ttie war and
appeals to prejudice. But Its attempts will fail.
Every state ought to have a law like that which
Governor Comer is enforcing and every state
ought to have a governor like Governor Comer.
The republican readers of the Globe-Democrat
in Illinois and Missouri are just as much inter
ested as the democrats in securing protection
from the delays, inconveniences and costs of
tho federal courts.
All of these controversies are hastening tho
day when the rights of corporations will be de
fined and .their powers properly limited. There
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