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MARCH 25, 1910
The Commoner.
"' ' ' 94 "
far Cukrgnt Topics )W
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FORTY TWO-CENT postage stamps were re
cently received by C. L. Allen, general man
ager of the Syracuse, New York, Rapid Transit
company. These 'stamps were enclosed in a let
ter bearing the signature "Rev. H. B. Tower,
Evangelist," The letter, which was dated at
Marysville, Tenn., says: "Some time ago while
a resident ofyour city, I evaded several fares
on the 'street car. Inclosed please find forty
stamps refund. I am serving the right Master
now and desire to make all things right as far
as possible. If you are not the right official to
pay,; kindly pass it on to the proper official.
Yours in His service."
NICHOLAS V. TSCHAIKOVSKY and Madame
Breshkovskaya were arraigned at St. Peters
burg on indictments charging them with being
revolutionists. Tschaikovsky was acquitted and
Madame Breshkovskaya was convicted, the latter
being given the comparatively mild sentence of
exile. Referring to this trial the Lincoln (Neb.)
Journal says: "Nicholas Tschaikovsky is re
membered by many people in Lincoln, he in
company with Alesix Alladyn, a member of the
first Russian duma, having visited Lincoln at
the request of Mr. Bryan while making a speak
ing tour of the country in 1907. While here
they delivered two addresses each, speaking be
fore the students at the university and in the
evenjng addressing a large audience in St. Paul'B
church." In this connection an,Associated Press
dispatch from St. Petersburg is of interest:
"The budget committee on the duma has struck
at the root of the system of Siberian exile by
cutting the appropriation for the administration
of the system to a bare $34,500. The commit
tee admitted that the government had greatly
reduced the number of exiles in recent years
and, declared that the system was bad and must
go." ,
THAT TSCHAIKOVSKY, the Russian patriot,
should be acquitted in secret trial for his
life is, in the opinion of the Omaha World
Herald, a remarkable instance of the fact that
Russia is actually sensitive to the criticisms of
the rest of the civilized world. The World
Herald adds: "The petitions and letters from
'America which have been flooding Premier
Stolypin, urging that the accused be given a
fair trial were not written in vain this time.
.While Tschaikovsky could doubtless have been
legally convicted on some of the minor counts
against him, the court acquitted him of all
charges. Tschaikovsky is called the 'father of
the revolution.' He has been fighting the cause
of self government in Russia for over a half
century. Hejsvas accused of inciting the rebel
lion in the Baltic fleet, but there was not a
ehred of evidence in support of this. It doubt
less could have been proved against him that
he used a false passport in getting in and out
of Russia, but the court gave him a clean bill
tor much the same reason, evidently, that Tol
stoy is not imprisoned. His work has been
educational and he has a tremendous hold upon
the people. It Is significant that while Tschai
kovsky was bo promptly acquitted, the woman
;who was tried with him was as promptly con
victed and exiled for life. There is much rea
son for supposing that the familiarity in this
country and in England with the facts and with
the character and work of Tschaikovsky saved
him from hopeless exile in his last years."
HERE IS AN interesting dispatch from Chi
cago printed in the New York World:
"The spectacle of a millionaire telling his hear
ers that he made his millions by robbing the
people, that all monopolists do, but that he had
begun to recover his conscience and was going
to devote his wealth to fighting the system
jwhich made it possible, was the unique enter
tainment provided by the City club at its lunch
eon today. The speaker was Joseph Fels of
Philadelphia, head of a naphtha soap company
bearing his name. He said he was a disciple
of Henry George. and would always remain a
'single taxer.' We can't get rich in a lifetime
nowadays Mr. Fels said, 'under the present
system of things, unless we do so by robbing
the people. I have made my money that way,
and my firm is still doing it. You are all
doing it. Every one of your self-made million
aires has done it. However, L want to say I
have begun to recover my conscience, and I
am going to devote my 'swag I like to call
it that, for that's what it is to doing away with
the cursed system which makes it possible. If
any of your millionaires feel the same way about
it, for God's sake let's cross hands on it. I
may be an oddity. It is unusual, though, for
a man who has made his money by robbing the
people through a monopoly to be called a
curiosity. It is also a curiosity to find a man,
after nearly fifty years of monopoly-mongering,
to admit it and undergo a change of heart. But
I am sincere.' "
JESSE J. DUNN has been chosen chief justice
of the supreme court of Oklahoma. The
Oklahoma City Oklahoman says: "The five jus
tices of the supreme court elect one of them
selves as chief justice. The arrangement is
that the honor shall go In turn to each of the
justices. Justices Dunn and Kane were next
in turn last May, as both their terms expire this
coming election. It was decided that one of
these two would be chosen then and that ho
would resign early in 1910 to allow the other
to enjoy the honor before his term expired. As
Justice Kane was about to be married. Justice
Dunn joined in insisting that he take the place
first and the former was given the honor and
Justice Dunn was elected this afternoon. Jus
tice R. L. Williams of Durant was the first
chief justice, and either Justice Hayes or Justice
Turner will succeed Justice Dunn. Chief Jus
tice Dunn. Is forty-two years old. Ho was born
In Illinois in 1867. During his boyhood he
lived in Mississippi for six years, and at eigh
teen yeaTs of age moved with his parents to
Kansas. He attended the Kansas university
and in 1893 came to Oklahoma. He began the
practice of law at Alva, Woods county, and
in 1896 and 1898 was elected county attorney,
serving two terms. In 1902 ho was elected
president of the state bar association, in 1904
chairman of the territorial democratic commit
tee, in 1906 chairman of the democratic cam
paign committee for the election of delegates
to the constitutional convention, and in 1907
was elected to the state supreme court by the
largest vote polled by any of the justices."
THE AUGUSTA (Ga.) Chronicle recently
printed the following interesting article:
" 'What would the American Roman Catholic do,
were the king of Italy and the pope of Rome to
declare war on the United States?' Is a question
that has many times been asked, in Augusta as
well as in other parts of the country. A passage
in the lecture, Thursday night, of Prof. J. C.
Monaghan comes as reply. Prof. Monaghan's
statements may be regarded as authoritative. He
is lecturing for and under the auspices of the
Knights of Columbus the duly accredited
spokesman of their national body. The Knights
of Columbus are the greatest body of Catholic
laymen in the world. Prof. Monaghan, Thurs
day night, in Augusta, .said: 'I was asked by a
Protestant ten days ago where we would bo in
case the pope should invade our shores, either
at the head of his own army or as an officer in
ah Italian army. Stupid as the question was,
I answered it. I told him we, you, I, every good
Knight of Columbus or Catholic citizen, under
conscience and God would be in duty bound to
meet him on the coast and hack him and his to
pieces. More, I said, in an hour of danger to
this republic Cardinal Gibbons would stand be
hind the president as John Carroll, his great
predecessor, stood behind Washington. Arch
bishop Farley would follow in the splendid foot
steps of John Hughes who, as Aaron for Moses,
held up the right arm of Lincoln in all the long
years of the civil war. Archbishop BJenk,
worthy successor of Archbishop Chappelle,
would stand behind Taft as his predecessor stood
behind McKinley in the Spanish war. Nay,
more. Let danger come, let revolution raise
its flag, the serpents of discontent come forth
to tear the flag of our fathers from the staffs,
the cardinal, archbishops, bishops, priests in ca
thedrals, in humble hillside chapels, will burn
or melt down the sacred vessols and sell the
bullion, sell the jewels and sacred vestmonta
if necessary to save tho republic, to perpetuate
it, to keep it. That flag is our flag. Its colors
are Catholic colors. IC you seo a nurso in Romo
bearing a babe and both hands decorated with
red ribbons, you know that tho child is a boy
dedicated to St. Joseph, whose colors are red.
If tho colors, are blue, tho child is a girl dedi
cated to our blessed Lady, whoso colors are
blue. Tho papal flag is white. Christ's Hag is
white, the flag of peaco, tho flag of truce, tho
only flag that ever floats above the red, white
and blue is tho white flag of Christ. t These
colors, then, are ours. That flag is as sacred
to us as to any man on earth.' "
WHAT PRODUCTION has done for wool Is
tho subject of an interesting editorial in
the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch. The edi
torial follows: "Docs 'protection upset tho nat
ural laws of trade, create new wealth and fatten
up infant industries till they can stand on their
own feet rather than those of all tho tax-payers?
Let us glance for a moment at the New England
sheep industry, as illuminated by tho following
tablo comparing tho number of sheop in that
section in 1891 with 1909:
1891. 1909.
Maine .547,670 210,000
Now Hampshire 183,182 70,000
Vermont 851,249 180,000
Massachusetts 55,065 35,000
Rhode Island 20,433 7,500
Connecticut 45,824 38,000
Total New. England. . . .1,204,824 540,500
No American product has been so bountifully
and gloriously protected as wool. 'Wool,' ex
claimed Senator Aldrich, in awesome tones, dur
ing tho tariff sessions, 'is tho very citadel of
protection.' Tho statement was quite true. Much
of tho worst Jobbery and most barefaced greed
that have stained our national tariff history have
been displayed In behalf of this product. Upon
it protection has lavished its kindest, and duties
have piled on duties on the theory that taxation
upon the clothes of us all would finally force a
few sheep-raisers into an artificial and jery
built prosperity. Yet in tho face of all this effort
and oppression the wool-growing industry of
New England shows a 50 per cent decline in tho
last eighteen years. England, a free-trade
country, has 258 sheep to the square mile. New
England, though protected up to the limit and
far beyond for many years, has 9.6 sheep to the
square mile, and the number is decreasing. The
nation has paid and is paving a heavy annual
toll into the pockets of the sheep-raisers. What
for? What Is it getting for its money? At tho
present rate of progress backward, how long
will it have to continue paying before wool can
stand alone? Some of the ardent protectionists
will kindly write."
p EPRESENTATIVE Long worth, son-in-law of
JX Theodore Roosevelt, stands sponsor for this
story which, although a bit old, is yet good.
An old negro was stopped on tho street on
election day by a white man who asked him If
he had voted. "Yas, 'ndeed, I'se voted," replied
the negro. "Did you get anything for your
vote?" "Oh, yas, suh. I got paid foh mah
vote." "What did you get?" "Well, suh, it
was laik dls. De republicans come to me and
dey says dey give me 'leven dollahs if me and
mah three boys vote de republican ticket, an' I
took de money; an' de democrats come to me
an' dey says dey give me seven dollars foh mah
vote and mah boys' votes, an' I took do money."
"You took money from both sides. Then which
ticket did you vote?" "Oh, I voted de demo
cratic ticket." "Why so? The republicans gave
you the most money." "I voted for de demo
crats foh jes' dat reason dey wasn't as corrupt
as de republicans."
The American Homestead, a monthly farm
Journal of national scope, will be sent to all
Commoner subscribers, without additional cost,
who renew their subscriptions daring the month
of March. Take advantage of this offer at obc
and send in your renewal.
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