The Commoner.
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WILLIAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR
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VOL. 10, NO. 33
Lincoln, Nebraska, August 26, 1910
Whole Number 501
A Few Questions
Question: The money invested in breweries,
" distilleries and saloons In Nebraska is small
' compared with the money invested in farming,
manufacturing and merchandising. Why is mon
ey invested in the liquor business sc much more
potent in politics than money invested in other
forms of property?
Answer: Because money invested in breweries,
' distilleries and saloonB is always used as a club
. to beat any one who opposes the demands of the
. liquor interests while the owners of other forms
of property allow themselves to be terrorized.
Question: Why do those connected with the
lfquor traffic exert more influence in politics than
educators?
Answer: Because the nation spends four times
as much for drink as it does on education.
Question: If it costs one hundred dollars per
year to feed, clothe and take care of a child
(and the estimate is certainly low enough) a
' child at fifteen represents an investment of fif
. teen hundred dollars. If the child con
tinues his education until ho is twenty-ono
' he represents an investment of not less than
i fifteen hundred more. This entire investment
. is jeopardized if the young man acquires an
' appetite for drink appetite has destroyed mil
lions. Has not the parent a pecuniary reason as
well as stronger ones, in opposing the plans of
the liquor trust?
Answer: Yes, is the only answer that can no
; giyen.
- . Question: If a saloon is a benefit to a town;
if it draws business to the town and- improves
Vtrade why demand a high, license from the man
'.,, ;who wants to help the town, by, opening a
saloon?
Answer: It is not true that a saloon helps a
. town. A few business men may think that tho
. saloons will bring them business enough to justi
fy them in being indifferent to the injury done
to the town. If they thought the saloon a real
benefit they would be in favor of giving the
saloon a subsidy instead of putting a tax upon it.
Question: If the saloon business is aB legiti
mate as any other business why not treat the
saloon as we do the grocery store, the restaurant
or the barber shop? Why require the consent
of neighbors to the opening of a saloon, hedge
it about with restrictions and require a bond
to cover damages?
Answer: The saloon business is not like any
other business. It is an outlaw it lives by
" sufferance. Its evil influence infects a commu
nity as the odors issuing from a slaughter house
pollute the air of a neighborhood.
Question: Why should the people of a county
be denied a voice in deciding upon the re
strictions to be placed on the liquor traffic in
their county?
Answer: There is no good reason.
ILLINOIS ON TRIAL
.. The wholesale attempt at tampering with the
jury in the Browne case raises the question
whether Illinois is going to be able to vindicate
the lawand punish the men who are connected
CONTENTS
MISSIONARY MOVEMENT
A FEW QUESTIONS
: ROOSEVELT IN 1912
K WHY NOT TAKE THE REINS
THE RAILROAD IN POLITICS
A PRAYER FOR NEWSPAPERMEN
EDUCATIONAL SERIES THE ABOLITION
OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS
WALL STREET GETS THE LOOT
CURRENT TOPICS
HOME DEPARTMENT
"IF THE PEOPLE RULE WHY DON'T THEY
GET WHAT THEY WANT?"
- WHETHER COMMON OR NOT
NEWS OF THE WEEK
Roger Sherman Hoar, Concord, Mass.
Tho best answer I have yet seen to
Senator Owen's question Is contained in
the following poem by Charlotte Perkins
Gilman, published by tho Trade Union
Book Concern of Chicago:
If fifty men did all the work
And gave tho price to five;
And let those five make all tho rules,
You'd say tho fifty men wore fools,
Unfit to be alive.
And if you heard complaining cries
From fifty brawny men,
Blaming the five for graft and greed,
Injustice, cruelty indeed
What would you call them then?
Not by their own superior forco
Do five on fifty live;
But by olectlpn and assent
And privilege of government
Powers that the fifty give.
If fifty men are really fools
And five have all the brains
The five must rule as now wo find.
But if the fifty have the mind
Why don't they take the reins?
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with 'the " corrupting of the Illinois legislature.
The state is on trial and it behooves tho good
people of that commonwealth to bestir them
selves. It Is a reflection on the state that Lorl
mer can hold his seat in spite of the high hand
ed methods employed to protect the men at
whose handa he received the office. Why not
Investigate the source of tho funds that pay
the expense of the defense? Who is footing
the bill? Find tho men who are supplying
Browne with counsel and jury fixers and you
will know who elected Lorimer and whoso
financial interests he is expected to guard.
And why not hold a few public meetings and
denounce corruption of legislatures and' jurors?
Are the business men of Chicago too busy or
too Indifferent to speak? A little moral courage
would go a long ways.
ROOSEVELT IN 1012
It looks like Roosevelt expected to be a can
didate in 1912. Some of his enthusiastic
friends have been talking about him but there
was nothing to support their prophesies until the
confidential friends, who visited him after the
turn down for chairman, announced that ho will
bo a candidate only if it is necessary to do so in
order to carry out "his policies". That means
that he is not satisfied with the administration
and expects to contest the nomination two years
hence. That means fun. And how will he set
forth, specifically, the policies which he regards
as his? It will bo Interesting to know what
policies' he regards as of such vital importance
as to justify him in violating the precedent of
a century. Are there any good policies 'that a
democratic victory would not protect?
MAYOR GAYNOR RECOVERING
The readers of The Commoner will be grati
fied to learn that Mayor Gaynor of New York is
rapidly recovering from tho wound Inflicted up
on him. It was a dastardly attempt upon the
life of a faithful public servant and the mayor
has had the sympathy of the nation in his brave
struggle with the would be assassin's bullet.
Th'e revengeful Gallagher, instead of killing,
has simply focused attention upcrh the mayor
and his splendid record.
THE NEBRASKA SENATORSHIP
Mr. Hitchcock has made an excellent record
in congress and Mr. Bryan will do all in his
power to secure Mr. Hitchcock's election to the
senate. He ought to have every democratic vote
and enough. Insurgent votes to elect him.
Missionary Movement
Tho lato missionary confcrenco at Edinburgh
grows upon ono. Its bIzo, its representative
character, tho spirit manifested throughout it
sessions, tho vast amount of information
brought out, and Its far-reaching results all
combine to make it tho most Important religious
gathering in tho history of Christendom. Somo
eleven hundred delegates woro present, from
ovory important denomination of tho Protestant
branch of tho church, from all tho Christian
nations, and from nil tho Important mission
fields. Tho United States and Great Britain
(including Canada and Australia) took tho lead
ing part both in number of delegates and in num
ber of speakers, as they did In tho preparatory
work; but Germany, Franco, Holland, Switzer
land, and tho Scandinavian nations inado val
uable contributions to tho discussions. Japan,
China and India were heard through representa
tives of tho native churches, and these added no
little to tho interest.
Three halls woro used for tho sessions, which
were held simultaneously, in tho forenoon, after
noon, and evening, and tho galleries as well as
tho main floors woro generally filled. No ono
could attend without being impressed with the
intellectual and moral strength of those who
participated. They were, for tho most part,
past middle life, averaging fifty-five years or
moro In age men and women who had won
their right to speak for tho church by long
arid dovoted service to this branch of Christian
work. A spirit of consecration pervaded the
halls, and tho attitude of earnest attention lqnt
encouragement to those who-8poko?-irhe pres
sure for timo was such that tho speeches in
the general discussions woro limited to coven
minutes all too short for the hundreds who
came with a message. Tho work to bo dono
during the conference was much simplified by
the preliminary reports prepared by the eight
commissions appointed in advance and composed
( " tho most prominent of tho exponents of mis
sions. One day was given to each report, and
tho eight constituted so important a part of tho
total work done that even a brief review of tho
conference would bo incomplete without an
enumeration of tho subjects considered and tho
names of the chairmen of tho commissions.
First. Carrying the Gospel to all tho Non
Christian World; chairman, Mr. John R. Mott,
M. A., of New York, general secretary of tho
World's Student Christian Federation. Mr.
Mott, it should be added, was chairman of the
conference, and proved a most admirablo and
efficient presiding officer.
Second. Tho church in tho Mission Field;
chairman, tho Rev. J. Campbell Gibson, D. D.,
of Swatow, China, and representative of tho
Presbyterian church of England.
Third. Education in Relation to tho Chrls
tianization of National Life; chairman, tho Right
Rev. C. Goro, D. D., bishop of Birmingham,
England.
Fourth. The Missionary Message in Regard
to Non-Christian Religions; chairman, Professor
D. S. Cairns, D. D., United Free Church College,
Aberdeen, Scotland.
Fifth. Tho Preparation of Missionaries;
chairman, President Douglas Mackenzie, D. D
Hartford (Connecticut) Theological Seminary.
Sixth. The Home' Base of Missions; chair
man, the Rev. James L. Barton, D. D., secretary
American board of commissioners for foreign
missions, Boston, Mass.
"Seventh. Missions and Governments; chair
man, the Right Hon. Lord Balfour of Bur
leigh, K. T.
Eighth. Co-operation and the Promotion of
Unity; chairman, Sir Andrew H. L. Fraser, K.
C. S. I., LL. D., of Great Britain.
The several reports summarized the replies
received from a lafgo number of representatives
in the mission fields sometimes from ono hun
dred and fifty or two hundred with the con
clusions and recommendations of tho commis
sion. The discussions emphasized, approved of,
or dissented from tho vaTious part of the reports.
And what a wealth of material these reports
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