The Commoner.
WILLIAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR
VOL. 9, NO. 50
Loves Festival
Christmas la love's festival. Set apart for the
commemoration of God's gift of His Son it has
grown into a great holiday which is observed
throughout Christendom by rich and poor alike.
Even those who refuse to take upon themselves
the vows of any church are constrained to join
in the beautiful custom which makes both par
ents and children look forward to this day with
pleasant anticipations. For weeks before De
cember 25, busy hands are at work, tiny savings
banks are gathering in their sacred store, and
eager expectancy is written upon the faces of
the young. To the boys and girls, Santa Claus
is a sort of composite donor who monopolizes
the distribution of presents and who, reading
the minds of his little friends, rewards the good
(and all are good just before Christmas) with
the very toys that they themselves have selected,
while tho older ones learn by experience that
it is more blessed to give than to receive. Back
of Christmas and the Christmas present is love,
and tho broad, brotherly love taught and exem
plified by the Nazarene is not content with the
remembrances which are exchanged as tokens
of affection between members of the family and
between intimate' friends,' it is compelling a
widening of the circle to include the poor and
tho needy though not of kith or kin.
What an instructor love is! How It develops
the one of whomit, takes possession! It "is the
mightiest Influence known among men.' When
once it is awakened it dissolves all opposition.
Dr. Parkhurst, the New York clergyman, in illus
trating the difference between force and .lpye
said (quoted- frpni memory) that force is the
hammer which can break a block of ice into a
thousand pieces but leaves each piece still ice,
while love is the ray of sunlight which, though
acting more slowly and silently, melts the ice.
At this, season ,pf the year our thoughts turn to
the contemplation tho new' degree oMove re
vealed to the World byJesus. To love between
members of the family and love between friends
He added an all-pervading love that includes
every member of the human race. Even enemies
are not beyond the bounds of this love, for man's
puny arms are not strong enough to break the
bonds that unite :esch son of God to all his
brethren. "Love is'itot stupid," says Tolstoy.
It makes known to us&our duty to our fellows
and it will some day rule the world. Force is
the weapon of tho animal in us; after it comes
money which the Intellect employes, sometimes
for good, sometimes for liarm. But greater than
all is love;, the weapon of the heart. It is a
sword that never rusts, neither does it break,
and the wounds that it leaves are life-saving,
not life-destroying. No armor can withstand it
Lincoln, Nebraska, December 24, 1909
CONTENTS
LOVE'S FESTIVAL
MR. BRYAN IN TEXAS
CONGRESSMAN HITCHCOCK AND SECRE
TARY BALLINGER
WAITING EVER WAITING
CHRISTMAS THOUGHTS
A KANSAS ' BANKER ON THE PROPOSED
CENTRAL BANK
IDEALISM IN BUSINESS
EDUCATIONAL SERIES THE COST OF
LIVING
PRESIDENT TAFT "ON THE BREAD LINE"
THE REPUBLICAN PROGRAM
A HOUSE OF MIRTH AND A HOUSE OF
. MOURNING
WAR ON THE STEEL TRUST
CURRENT TOPICS
HOME DEPARTMENT
WHETHER COMMON OR NOT
NEWS OF THE WEEK
WASHINGTON NEWS
Whole Number 466
A CHILD'S CHRISTMAS PRAYER
Dear Lord, bo good to Santa Claui,
Hos been so good to me;
I never told him so because
Ho Is so hard to see.
He must lovo little children so
To come through snow and atorm;
Please care for him when cold winds blow
And keep him nice and warm.
Dear Lord, be good to him and good
To Mary Christmas, too.
I'd like to tell them, if I could.
The things I'm telling you.
They've both been very good to mo,
And everywhere they go
They make us glad; no wonder wo
All learn to love them so. ,;',
Please have him button up his coat
So it will keep him warm;
And wear a scarf about his throat
If It should start to storm.
And when the night is dark, please lend
Him light if stars are dim,
Or maybe sometimes you could send
An Angel down with him. . -
Please keep his heart so good and kind'
That he will always smile; ', ,u
And tell him maybe we will find
And thank him after while.
Please keep him. safe from harm and keep ,
Quite near and guard him when
He's tired and lays him down to sleep.
Dear Lord, please do! Amen.
T. W. Foley, in Collier's.
and no antagonist can resist it. 4 But why try
to define this love or to measure its scope? Paul
tho apostle, in his first epistle to the Corinthians,
describes it in language to which nothing can
be added and from which nothing can be taken.
Let his words suffice:
"Though I speak with the tongues of men and
of angels, and have not love, I am become as
sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And
though I have the gift of prophecy, and under
stand all mysteries and all knowledge; and
though I have all faith, so that I could remove
mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the
poor, and though I give my body to be burned,
and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. Lovo
suffereth long and is kind; love envieth not;
love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth
not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her
own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; re
joiceth not in inquity, but rejolceth in tho truth;
beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth
all things, endureth all things. Lovo never
faileth; but whether there be prophecies, they
shall fail; whether there bo tongues, they shall
cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall
vanish away. For we know in part, and wo
prophesy in part; but when that which is per
fect is come, then that which is in part shall be
done away. When I was a child, I spake as a
child, I understood as a child, I thought as a'
child; but when I am become a man I put away
childish things. For now we see through a
glass, darkly; but then face to face; now I know
.In part; then shall I know even as also I am
known. And now abideth faith, hope, love, these
three; but the greatest of these is love."
SHOCKED, OF COURSE
The Washington correspondent for the New
York American says that President Taf t's special
message on trusts will "cause a stir in Wall
Street." This correspondent says that tho presi
dent "believes the issue must be met with frank
ness" and he will absolutely insist upon a na
tional incorporation law.
" Wall Street may pretend to be shocked but
the national incorporation law Is desired by the
representatives of special interests, and In mak
ing such a recommendation the president will
not part company with Mr. Aldrlch.
Mr. Bryan in Texas
Mr. Bryan spoko at Galveston on Dccomber 3,
and at Houston on Docombor 9, discussing the
tariff along tho lines of tho Dallas, Fort Worth
and El Paso speoches. Tho domocracy of Toxaa
has not yot gono ovor to protection, and it has
NOT ondorsod tho doctrine that a platform U
not binding.
.i10 Hallas Morning Nows makes this roport
of tho Houston meoting:
Houston, Texas, December 9. An audionc
which filled tho auditorium from top to bottom
and estimated at 3,500 hoard Hon. William Jen
nings Bryan discuss tho tariff tonight.
It did not seom to bo a critical audience, but
one apparently In full sympathy with his views.
Not a discordant interjection was made during
his speech, although his remarks at times woro
ovidently Intended to reach thdso who boliovo
in different tariff doctrines. On the contrary,
encouraging remarks came from all parts of the
houso at all times, and when particularly point
ed remarks wero made ho was applauded voci
ferously. If ho has lost any in popularity slnco his last
visit to Houston, It was not apparent tonight,
' as the audience seemed enthusiastically in sym
pathy with him and his views on tho tariff. Tho
crowd seemed particularly anxious to hear some
.talk about thoso opposing his views in Texas,
but, except by inference, their wishes were not
gratllled.
Mr. Bryan arrived on a train from Bay City
ten mlnuteB hotoro ho-began spanking, Ho'lott
tonight for' Ennfs, 'where ho is 'to apeak to
morrow. Colonel 0. T. Holt presided ovor tho speak
. ing. Many of the most prominent citizens of
Houston had seats on the platform, and several
out of town people of prominence, among them
being Attorney General Davidson, also had
places on tho platform.
Judge Presley K. Ewlng, introducing Mr.
Bryan said: "No man could introduce William
J. Bryan to an American audience, and I shall
not attempt to do more than merely present
him. Ho comes to speak to you from a purely
educational, viewpoint, as I understand, on the
tariff, one of tho gravest political problems now
confronting our people, and one upon tho right
solution of which may depend tho future of tho
democratic party and will inevitably in largo
measure depend the welfaro of our common
country, of which Texas, great as It is, is only
a part. I hall him tonight, not alone as tho
loader in congress of that tariff reform which,
along the exact lines of his present views, lifted
to the White House the only democratic presi
dent we have had since the war of the '00s
Grover Cleveland. I hall him, not alone as tho
son of Nebraska around whose banner at Chi
cago, in 189C, trooped the banners of all the
states for him as their chosen chief. I hall him,
not alone as the only private citizen in the his
tory of time who, traveling abroad, without
glamour of office, by his own peerless person
ality dazzled the vision of an admiring world.
I greet him rather as the citizen of these United
States, belonging in his magnificent manhood to
all the young, tho menace of American male
factor, the fear of the American politician, but
the friend and Ideal of the American people."
Reverting to the tariff, Mr. Bryan led up to
the utterance that caused the greatest demon
stration of the evening. He was on the subject
of corrupting influence of tho protective tariff,
stating that it was the most corruptive In
American political life, as so many were easily
led to believe that protection put money in their
P"You' simply tax all of the people for the
benefit of the few. One man can not benefit un
less another, and probably 100 men lose under
tho protective system of taxation. Where one
Texas wool grower profits at least 1,000 Texans
who must wear woolen goods suffer. Accep- -