-v . ; ,$ ttM4 'ww v 'wpy -?y- ,,rTKyf,'KfJ?iwyjwffr
- -fc-w . (.yirf-
A
E&
fv.
i
t
IBBHlBS BiBBS
Wo do not legislate against the man who uses
tho printed pago for the purpose of deception
but, viewed from tho standpoint of morals, tho
man who, whether voluntarily or under instruc
tions, writes what ho knows to bo untrue or
purposoly misleads his readers as to tho char
acter of a proposition upon which they have to
act, Is as guilty of wrong-doing as the man who
assists in any other swindling transaction.
Another method employed to mislead tho
public is tho publication of editorial matter sup
plied by thoso who havo an Interest to serve.
This ovll Is oven moro common than secrecy as
to tho ownership of the paper. In tho case of
tho weolcly papers and tho smaller dallies, the
proprietor is generally known, and it Is under
stood that tho editorial pages represent his
views. Ills standing and character givo weight
to that which appears with his endorsement. A
fow years ago, when the railroad rate bill was
before congress, a number of railroads joined In
an effort to create a public sentiment against
the bill. Bureaus were established for tho dis
semination of literature, and a number of news
papers entered into contract to publish as edi
torial matter tho material furnished by these
bureaus. This can not be dofonded in ethics.
Tho purchase of the editorial columns is a crime
against the public and a disgrace to journalism,
and yet wo havo frequent occasion to note this
degradation of tho newspaper. A few. days ago
Senator Carter, of Montana, speaking in the
United States senate, read several printed slips
which woro sent out by a bankers' association to
local bankers with the request that they bo in
serted in tho local papers, suggestion being made
that the Instructions to tho local bankers be
removed before they were handed to the papers.
The purpose of the bankers' association was to
stimulate opposition to the postal savings bank,
a policy endorsed affirmatively by the republi
can party and, conditionally, by the democratic
party, tho two platforms being supported at the
polls by moro than ninety per cent of tho voters.
I no bankers association is opposing the policy
and, in sending out its literature, it is endeav
oring to conceal the source of that literature and
to make it appoar that the printed matter ren-
' mimU?. 0I,ini0n C 8 ono in io com
., The journalist who would fully perform his
..-duty must be not only incorruptible, but ever
. alert, for those who aro trying to misuse th
newspapers are able to deceive "the v"ry llec?S
Whenever any movement Is on foot for the se
curing of legislation desired by the predatory
interests, or when restraining legislation to
threatened, news bureaus aro establ shed at
Washington, and these news bureaus furnish to
.; such papers, as will use them, free renorta dallv
' or weekly as the case may be from the nation
capitalreports which purport totfve general
SSSS JJSnSSL 252?" Z fa!
f..SSmn08ithSneB doclare(1 at the man who re-
Hn 1J i ?ral vlctory as well as tho satisfac-
The profession for which I was trained ,
nnTpre8en.tR another 1In of temptauons T h$
has done his full dutv n T i entltIed to, ho
goes beyond this he goes It V Tl aV,d if he
me a lawyer who ha! spent a h?h Verih .Show
obscure tho line between ? rleh ?e tryIng to
Ing to prove that to bo Just whh h?' iry'
bo unjust, and I will show vnT, 1 l he knew to
grown weaker n cl arSvl? I1 who has
whoso advice, at last wil M by year and
clients, for ho win have lost tl?l Vahle to hls
corn between right and won? Si WOr to d,s"
the other hand, a lawyer I i SUow me' n
- time in tho search for truMi 1 T SPent a lit
low where it loads, and L " win ti1ermlned to fo1"
who has grown stronger in IhltV ?ou a niaa
and whose advice coMtontlvh2cter day b day
"able to his client bee ,Shonies more val"
' ecauso the Power to discern
The Commoner
the truth increases with the honest search for it.
Not only in the court room, but in the con
sultation chamber the lawyer sometimes yields
to tho temptation to turn his talents to a sordid
use. Tho schemes of spoliation that defy the
oflicers of the law are, for the most part, in
augurated and directed by legal minds. Presi
dent Roosevelt, speaking at Harvard a few years
ago, complained that tho graduates of that great
university frequently furnished the brains for
conspiracies against the public welfare. I was
speaking on this very subject in ono of the great
cities of the country some months ago, and at
the close of the address, a judge commended my
criticism and declared that most of the lawyers
practicing in his court were constantly selling
their souls. The lawyer's position is scarcely
less responsible than tho position of the jour
nalist, and if the journalists and lawyers of the
country could' be brought to abstain from the
practices by which the general public is over
reached, it would be an easy matter to secure
the remedial legislation necessary to protect the
producing masses from the constant spoliation
to which they aro now subjected by the privi
leged classes.
Most of you, I presume, will engage in what
is known as business, although I confess that
I have no sympathy with the narrow definition
which is often given to the word, business.
Every person who contributes by brain or
muscle to the nation's wealth and greatness is
engaged in business and is a necessary factor
in the world's progress.
Commerce is an increasing factor in the busi
ness world. It includes both exchange and
transportation and stands next in importance to
production. Production comes first, but pro
duction could only be carried on on a limited
scale without the exchange of merchandise. To
desire to gain an honorable distinction in this
department of labor is a worthy ambition. He
who improves the instruments of trade or brings
Kl,?a?Seima?d consumer nearer together, and
thus facilitates exchange, may count himself a
real benefactor. But even here there aro temp
tations to be avoided. Let me suggest three
Sirf' d0 not mean to say ttat
the element of chance can be entirely eliminat
ed from any kind of business. The fatme takes
his chances upon the seasons; the1 merchant
takes his chance upon the market; the railroad .
owner takes his chances upon both the season
and the market; and we all take our chances
upon sickness and death. Uncertainty entors
into every human calculation, but a distinction
can be drawn between those uncertainties which
nil nufnfaVOldable' and those certainties which
are of the very essence of the transaction. There
5.a gltImat? Work for the stock exchange and
for the chamber of commerce, but there is Sn
illegitimate and vicious speculation on the stock
exchange and the produce market which has
lured many business men to their fa The
nrrnvacy meih0ds of 'cumulation are neces!
sarily slow when competition is left free toS
ulato profits, while the gambler is spurred on
by the hope of quickly realizing a large nrofS
upon a 'small investment. It is not st tw
many are charmed by the siren fnnt !
nf ticker, but it mLnseruSin,enand0ntf the ex!
?' & cLnsS
unS 2MKSJ
latLn pon'Tnlocr pfrfie6:11 J?"" of -Peou-
juggled up o?7ugled Swt hvH prperty is
tors of the market but I mall,Pula-
not to the innocent outsider ffiW myself
may bo tempted by the nrnm ?l to,those who
inside ring. "would UBP7m,8Bd to the
hose who by cornering thf SwWmr' that
law of supply and demand et fued the
and defraud those 2 2 ad(J crlUe to vice
in a "chance" which has n ndU?ed to Invet
j .Monopoly is tic secon? Jftua xistence.
. t Jon, Monopolies h "t nJP131 i teniPta"
,s nee trading began and tw , attemPted ever
today than Iver befo?e he?mfJ WOPe conmon
be made out oV fRSS.S?.86 ??orevmoney can
ness men permit themselves- to iTT5 bus
Practices which are noltnYy8 iden SSTta
VOLUME 9, NUMBER 4
realm of conscience, but which violate the jfnt
utes. The officers of the law are constantly l
of Trade l prevent the mnopolizi?g
It is strange that anyone should attempt to
defend a private monopoly, for its plan M d
operation can be easily understood by any m
who knows either human nature or history T
judge would be permitted to preside in his own
case; no juror would be allowed to serve in a
suit to which he was a party, and yet the head
of a monopoly arbitrarily decides every dav
questions where his interests are on one sido
and public interests on the other. Can he be
trusted to decide impartially and to exact onlv
a reasonable profit? It is absurd to expect him
to do justice, to tlose with wlioni he deals, The
student of history knows that the monopolist
has .always been an outlaw. Three centuries
ago, under Queea Elizabeth, the House of Com-
mona prptested against the monopolies which
Ho'lv fnw Gd' and found the
?? ? Jland' that a very complete monopoly ex
isted there some seventeen hundred years ago
Josephus tells how John of Gishala secured a
monopoly in olive oil and charged ten times as
EV0! the. oil, as he paid for. it. For the
benefit of-those who think that all monopolies
are traceable to-the rebate, I venture to sug
gest that the oil trust of Palestine was succesf
Sli peraiedT 5efore railroads existed. But
2ftbi?S1.Jolm had nomS better than a
fast freight line of donkeys and distributed the
oil in goat skins, he showed as correct an under
standing of the possibilities of monopoly as any
wffthS.agnateTh,aB-today and X hav Pondered
whether our John secured his idea1 of an oil
trust from John of Gishala.
rJ?Q S1edi.lawB makine the private monopoly
Impossible, birt we must have back of these laws
wlSS? ?entAmen in condemn thl club
wielded by the monopolist, as moral sentiment
?h0?Mem?8 th? JHwayman'a bdgeon
The third temptation to which the commercial
man s subjected is . the corruption of politics
Just in proportion, as. a corporation secures a
monopoly of the business in which It is engaged
Vi7 f."s-aco,. ttuu . x may aaa. tne nifH-
ffontyfnMeCUrin .'fi&nlation incfpasSs ta TAporw
t on to the necesdfty for it. Shjcipaf " co?run
. .tion.haSbe;come a byword, and the lobbytet has
made, his evil presencV left at 'th nSSonar and
state capitals Bribery is becoming a fine art
spre'Thenllf nri3. setatL is
?i a, e one lesson that must be taucht
is that the man who gives a bribe is as-wicked
as the man who accepts it I am not luTe but
that he is more wicked, for thT necessities of
S?HnTn W accept the briSeif Tee" Caii
palliate such an offenseare usually greateJ
than those of the man who offers it n anneal
toS nTA t?,0emias,UScetoonteheh edl"
' S2f e"r?a,, WS? "What Shanar?
ana VsefulneSall ianrunon ttPiTS' honor
tion is not merely to fiJ? VUJ?0Be of educa'
to- prepare m TaJ'd woS? the mlnd; Ifc Is
,The measure o a rii eacher says, or does.
from an Inspee tte "elnSn
the. conception, of life whirl, minaon papers;
away must be, SuSSdta SEti?1
fionf erued. The pecuniary ?lw25ii G 5eneflts
are usually small 'Xn rnJ ,of the teaoher
wards of buXei. Thl? ?aX!?d Vth th& re"
to our failure to feoffivZLSr in Part
which the teacher S ? but ?fPatS the worlc
.accounted for yfilWiy
derives from his S ? Pe teacher
than that obtaild rom Z?talpn sreater
ments. . 'a Irom mPst ptjher employ-
-of Ihe SenS8', intact: with the life
"Dived from the , cSSwtoS 5 oy is" de
Qthers,; . the teaSJrf ij2h5 v 8n2'--h?ylns befited
found in the SowlLi?unPJ,tewi,,,-to bo
his influence 1 th?ougf fuVlat 'he Projecting
-"ougn future generations. The
HKKllllllB
