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The Commoner.
WILLIAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR
i
VOL. 7, NO. 38
.
Lincoln, Nebraska, October 4, 1907
Whole Number 350
CONTENTS
THE NEBRASKA PLATFORM
OKLAHOMA WINS
THE USE OF WEALTH
MAN VS. MONEY
THE FLOOD OF GOLD
THE COURTS AND THE PEOPLE
WHY NOT TO OTHERS?
WASHINGTON LETTER
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE
COMMENT ON CURRENT TOPICS
HOME DEPARTMENT
WHETHER COMMON OR NOT
NEWS OF THE WEEK
"THE BEST INTELLIGENCE"
The Louisville Courier-Journal is now, tell
ing us what "the best intelligence" of the south
demands in politics. Does Mr. Watterson speak
from inside knowledge or from outside obser
vation? Is he of -the. best intelligence or has
the best intelligence selected him as a mo'hrtf
piece? It is too bad that we have anything
in the democratic party below the best intelli
gence and worse still that this inferior intelli
gence insists upon being consulted in nomina
tions and in elections. Would it not be possible
to adopt the Philippine plan for the United
States -and govern by an appointed commission?
But who would appoint the commission and
who will select the best intelligence? Can it
be that popular government is a failure?
Possibly it might be arranged so that the
nominations could be made by the best intelli
gence and then allow the plebeians to support
the ticket.
oooo
FREE TRADE AND "IMMEDIATE"
When a republican neighbor shows you an
editorial from a republican daily paper either
opposing tariff revision altogether or insisting
upon postponing revision until after the presi
dential election call his attention to the reso
lution adopted by the American Newspapers
Publishers' Association in which the republican
newspaper owners belonging to that association
demand that the tariff upon everything that
goes to make white paper the product in which
newspaper publishers are so vitally interested
be "immediately repealed."
There is no high protective tariff in that
resolution; it is absolute free trade.
There is no postponement in that resolu
tion; it is for immediate repeal of the duties
that press no more heavily upon the newspaper
publishers than the duties upon other neces
saries press upon consumers generally.
oooo
- WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT
Our government can be made what the peo
ple want it to be, and they should want it to be
the protector of equal rights and the enemy of
privilege. While the professional classes should
be farsighted enough to recognize that a just
government is a richer legacy to leave to child
ren than any amount of money could be, the
wage earner has even a more immediate reason
for acting upon this theory, because he often
has little to leave as a legacy except the govern
ment whose character he helps to determine.
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WELCOME
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Th
e Nebraska Platfor
m
On another page will be found the platform
adopted by the democratic convention in Ne
braska September 24. The platform states the
party's position on the questions at issue and
states that position so clearly that no one can
misunderstand it. It is an honest platform
dealing candidly with each question discussed.
It demands legislation which will cleanse politics
of its corruption and specifically asks for laws
preventing corporations from contributing to a
campaign fund and requiring the publication
before election of all individual contributions
above a reasonable minimum. Are not such
laws desirable?
It points out the distinction between the
sphere of the state and the sphere of the nation,
and condemning the centralization suggested by
republican leaders, asks that federal remedies
shall be added to the state remedies not sub
stituted for them. Is that not sound democratic
doctrine?
It advocates the election of United States
senators by direct vote of the people and de
clares this reform to be the gateway to all other
national reforms. Is it not time to press this as
an important issue? The house of representa
tives has declared for it five times but the senate
stands in the way. Nearly two-thirds of the
states have declared for it but the favor-seeking
corporations prefer the present method because
it enables them to pack the United States senate
with their representatives. Is it not time for
the people, irrespective of party, to demand that
the control of the senate be placed in the hands
of the voters of the nation?
And what about trusts? Are they not in
defensible and intolerable? Ought no4 too crim
inal law to bo enforced against trusts and trust
magnates? Should not the interstate corpora
tions bo compelled to sell to all on tho same
terms? Should not the Jaw prevent the dupli
cation of directors among competing corpora
tions, and would not the proposed license sys
tem put an end to private monopoly? Tho
reader will notice that this system does not
abridge the right of the state to create corpora
tions or to regulate, as It will, foreign corpora
tions doing business in the state it Is a federal
remedy added to the state remedies. It will
also be noticed that it docs not apply to corpora
tions controlling less than twenty-five per cent
of any product in which they deal; it does not
interfere ' with legitimate corporations doing
legitimate business but lays its hand upon those
who reach out after monopoly, and it absolutely
prohibits the control of more than fifty per cent
of the product. If wo had such a law now, every
trust would be broken up. It is a simple remedy
and yet an effective one and easily enforced.
The platform points out the distinction be
tween the natural man and the- artificial person
called a corporation and favors the enactment of
such laws as may be necessary to compel for
eign corporations to submit their local disputes
to the courts of the staten in which they do
business. This platform is aimed at the corpor
ations which drag their litigants into the fed
eral courts and wear them out with delays and
expense.
Thetariff plank is short but to the point.
It demands a revision downward and an imme
diate revision at that, commencing with placing
upon the free list all articles entering Into com
petition with trust-controlled articles. Does this
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