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VOLUME 8, NUMBER U
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The Commoner.
ISSUED WEEKLY.
WllMAM.I. llHVAN
Killtnrniul I'lnprlHor.
II It'll A flit I.. MlflCAI.I'K
Afforialf ICiIIIor.
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Killlorlnl IWioniK iiml Hiwlnrwj
Ofllco SiM-aSO FoiiUl 12tli Hlrrpf.
I-iilfHd nt Hip I'oMofllcr nl Lincoln. Neb., nf K-ctniiI-eliiuf mnltor
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I-'oiPlKti rMiip fVJ (Viilf TCxtrn.
SUMSCIUI'TIONN run ho went dln-ct to 'J lo Com
inoiMT. Tln-y run iil.so ho writ thfouKli nowspapcra
which huvc udvorllHi'd u clubblntf rul or throun
Jociil fiKditM, wlu-iv imh-fiKciitK have brun appoint
ed. All ivnilttiuiccM Hhonld ho writ by poHtofllco
money order, expren.M order, or hy hank dratt on
New York or Chlcajo. Do not wend individual
checltH, Hi iimpH or money. . , . '
DISCONTINUANCES It In found that a largo
majority of mir KUbwrlbcr-H prefer not to navo
their HtihHerlptloiiH interrupted n;id their nics
broken in nine they fall to remit before expiration.
It Ih therefore nHHiimed that eontlnuanco is desired
nnleii.'i HiibKerUierH order di.seontinuanco, olther
when HiihrterihliiK or at any timo durliiK tho year.
Presentntlon topics: Many persons subscrlbo for
friends, Intending that the paper shall stop at tho
end of tin- year. Jf Instructions aro Riven to that
effeet they will receive attention at tho proper
time.
HIONICWAI.S -The date on your wrapper shows
tho time to which your subscription is paid. Thus
January a I, OK. means that payment lias boon re
ceived to and Including tho last issue of January,
1908. Two weeks are required after money has
been received before the date on wrapper can bo
eharwred.
CIIA Nt.'F, OK AIl)ltns.S Subscribers requesting
a change of address must give OLD as well as NEW
address.
ADVIOllTlMNt; Hates furnished upon applica
tion. Address all communications to
THE COMMONER, L'ncoln, Neb.
A Chino-Japaneso war may, after all, bo
tho solution of tho "yellow peril" problem.
That, congressional investigating committee
Booms determined to go to the bottom of the
Bubmurlno Inquiry.
Tho Chicago convention may be compara
tively noiseless, but, the platform will emit the
Biimo clouds of smoke to obscure the real issues.
Tho Washington Post, says of Mr. T-Iarrl-man:
"Uo is a practical man." Now, let's see;
where have we heard that said of Mr. Harriinan
before?
"Boss"
Cox of Cincinnati, dethroned bv
Taft, is one of Ohio's delegates and instructed
for Taft. We presume that the proper guards
will bo sent along to see that Mr. Cox stands
hitched.
The Omaha young man who tried to
Crlghton $n,000 from a banker by nourishing
a bottle of water made a huge mistake. Finan
ciers do not make their money by using water
that way.
Walter Wollman has discovered great ex
citement in the south over the "Ohio plan" of
reducing southern representation. Mr. Well
man also discovered the north pole via the Hy
ing machine route.
A correspondent of the Philadelphia Public
Lodger asks: "If labor must, share the profits,
should it not also share the losses?" Doubtless
labor would be willing to stand its share of
the losses if given a fair share of the profits.
Pennsylvania's "big four" are not the emi
nent gentlemen selected to be delegates-at-large
to the Chicago convention. Thev are tho other
eminent gentlemn found guilty of grafting a few
millions in building and furnishing Pennsylva
nia s new state house.
The Commoner.
lor? We've seen criminals escape through a
Loch iilcnl ity.
Congress has decided to replace the motto
on tho coins, and we are anxious to have ocular
proof that it has been done.
A Now York paper has started a discussion
on how to give the democratic party new life.
The best way would be for it and some of its
favored interests to get off the party's neck.
"Mr. Parker was overwhelmed," says the
New York World. And Mr. Parker was selected
by tho World as the standard bearer. Now the
World wants to select another.
The democratic students of Harvard have
organized a democratic club and have estab
lished an olllclal organ, the Harvard Democrat
1 ho Democrat reprints tho Nebraska democratic
platform and refers to it as "a clear statemont
of tho principles of the party." unont
The Philadelphia Public Ledger assorts
that the verdict of guilty secured against "fom
public servants who had abused their trust will
vindicate the good name of the commonwe-lth
Wouldn't It be well to wait and ee hat ie
higher courts of Pennsylvania do in the nun-
Captain Simm's complaints about our navy's
gun practice have not yet been endorsed by any
one of several hundred Spanish gentlemen who
witnessed that last great exhibition thereof.
Tho Philadelphia Public Ledger opposes the
Nebraska democratic platform because, as the
Ledger claims, it is inimical to "ordinary rules
of business conduct." Ordinary rules of busi
ness conduct in state and municipal affairs in
Pennsylvania and Philadelphia mean anything
to get the money.
Asserting that the "cost of living is less"
the Philadelphia Public Ledger says: "Only
tea, vinegar, potatoes, apples, grains and a few
other food articles seem to be higher than at
this time last year." But hasn't the Public
Ledger included about all in its enumeration?
Potatoes and food articles made from grain con
stitute the bulk of food consumed by working
men, and higher grain means higher meat.
A reader of The Commoner suggests that
"counterfeit capital" is a phrase more easily
understood than "watered stock," "fictitious
capitalization" or "over capitalization." The
term is a good one, for the stock is counterfeit
in the sense that it pretends to be valuable when
it is not. The phrase "counterfeit capital" can
be added to the others and those who want to
call attention to the evils of the system can take
his choice.
Senator Beveridge says: "The chorus of
denunciation of the president is swelled by
wrongdoers whom he has not reached and can
not reach as president." Then Senator Bever
idge points to a couple of financial concerns as
horrible examples, forgetful of the fact that one
of the president's most trusted cabinet advisors
is the eminent legal authority that showed these
wrongdoers how they could keep the letter of
the law while breaking its spirit.
WHERE IS REESE M. CHAPMAN?
Mrs. Sarah Chapman, Saltville, Va., desires
to learn the whereabouts of her son, Reese M
Chapman. The boy left his home ten years ago
and tho last word from him received by the
mother, was in February, 1908. Mrs. Chapman
believes that her boy is in some one of the west
ern states. When last heard from he was in
Mason City, la. If any one knows of tho where
abouts of Reese M. Chapman a message to tho
mother at Saltville, Va., will be greatly appreciated.
SENATOR LAFOLLETTE'S GREAT SPEECH
(Continued from Page 5)
lion companies of the country and those inter
ested in their securities have been able to sue
cossfully exert in preventing legislation
m "Today we are confronted with tho aston
ishing proposition that congress shall hold out
legislative inducement for the exaction of trans
Donation charges which shall net a continuous
tour per cent dividend on railway capitaliz-i Hon
It is idle to say that this measure , 8 In ite d
in ts scope, that it has reference simply to -i
United issue of railway bonds as security t-Tp
is blind, indeed, who does not see the ultimnro
effect of a proposition which direct!? " indi
rectly raises a standard for the payment on
hxed dividend upon the railroad cap"taH7atio2
without regard to the valuation of the pronortv
"The certain effect of this actionTy" con
gross is to stimulate every railroad company
within the purview of this statute to mainta n
the position of its bonds within the favored
class, and every other railway company to ni nl
iiy at the earliest possible moment for ic? mu
son to the favored class. It is plain sir t
the noonday sun, that the direct effect of this
proposition will be to advance railway
charges, and that it will identify the government
with a maintenance of rates in all cases where
it has accepted railway bonds for currency cir
culation." He insisted that the interstate commerce
commission is not empowered to ascertain tho
value of the physical property of the railwiy
companies of the country and strongly favored
such a valuation as the only means for fixing
railroad rates.
"When once the government invites the na
tional banks of the country to invest in them
for the patriotic purpose of averting financial
disaster, these railroad bonds will become sacred
paper," he said. "The good faith of the country
will be pledged to defeat any legislation that
suggests a disturbance of the four per cent divi
dend upon the stocks. The senator from Rhode
Island will be heard in solemn warning. We
will be told that the bonds were bought by the
banks, not to make money, but to be held in
readiness to protect the credit and commerce
of the country; that bond markets are easily
disturbed; that such markets are delicate and
sensitive; such legislation menacing dividends
even upon grossly watered stocks would alarm
the holders of these bonds and force them upon
a falling market at great sacrifice, possibly pro
ducing panic and leaving the banks but partially
prepared to take out emergency currency.
"Could any plan be devised which would
be more effective in blocking the way of legisla
tion for the physical properties of railways and
defeating the final reduction of rates to a just
and reasonable basis?"
Senator LaFollette resumed his speech
March 19. The Washington correspondent for
the Chicago Record-Herald referring to this sec
tion of the address says:
He read a letter signed H. R. Vermilla, aud
itor of the Washington Life Insurance company,
calling upon an agent to send premiums, collect
ed weekly, to New York, and he said such let
ters were sent to agents of that company all
over the country.
Senator Gore of Oklahoma interrupted to
ask whether in view of the charge made by the
senator from Wisconsin the president was justi
fied in congratulating the men who brought on
the panic.
"Does the senator think," he said, "that
President Roosevelt and Secretary Cortelyou
were not star actors in that performance or at
least that they congratulated the chief actors
when it was over?" He quoted from a letter
sent by President Roosevelt to Mr. Cortelyou.
"Whatever the agencies were back of that
panic," said Mr. LaFollette, "whatever the pur
poses were behind it, the president and his sec
retary of the treasury were confronted with a
condition. The panic was on," declared the sen
ator, in tragic tones that rang through the cham
ber. "The panic was on! I do not know how
the president regarded it. He was sitting there
in the White House. He was a man who had
faced all manner of dangers without flinching,
but he was confronted with a situation and tho
panic was on. He saw that legitimate business
was put in peril, and the .responsibility came
to him as the head of the government and to
his secretary as the head of the treasury de
partment. Where else could the money have
been sent to stop the panic, no matter what in
fluences might have been behind this bill?"
Senator Bailey said he sympathized with
the Oklahoma senator; that the money should
have been sent to the banks throughout the
country, whose money was in New York and
was kept from them.
Mr. Gore said he justified the president "in
standing and delivering to these pirates and de
positing with them the people's money when
their dagger was at his throat. But I can not,"
he said, "excuse him for congratulating tho
pirates as public-spirited benefactors."
Mr. Gore stated that he heartily agreed with
the senator from Wisconsin, "that Mr. Rocke
feller and Mr. Morgan brought on this country
a panic which had ripened to the point of fall
ing, but he did not think they should be hailed
as benefactors afterward."
There was quite a large attendance of dem
ocratic senators in their places, but compara
tively few republicans. Occasional conversa
tions between senators on the republican sido
caused the senator from Wisconsin to discon
tinue tho reading of his remarks. On one occa
sion he remarked: "If there is any comment
on my remarks I would be glad to have them
made so audibly that I can hear them."
After speaking for more than two and one
half hours Mr. LaFollette yielded the floor, with
the statement that he would resume his speech
Monday.
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