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The Commoner.
VOLUME 11, NUMBER 32
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The Commoner.
ISSUED WEEKLY
Entered at the Postofllco at Lincoln, Nebraska,
. second-class matter.
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THE COMMONER, Lincoln, Nob,
Wilson to attend the state fair at Dallas, was
extended. It is expected Governor "Wilson will
.be"itt Dallas Saturday, October 28. Prominent
ministers of Dallas churches are trying to per
suade the New Jersey executive to address them
the following day.
Congressman Robert L. Henry of Texas, sent
a telegram, in which he said: " Woodrow "Wil
son is tho overwhelming choice of Democrats
in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Vir
ginia, and New England. He is very strong in
New York, Georgia, the west and northwest.
Mr. Wilson stands for a people's government as
against one dominated by special interests. He
is democratic to the core and will make a great
president. Congratulations on your early or
ganization in his behalf."
The Houston (Texas) Chronicle printed the
following editorial: Bailey's Houston organ, in
n double-leaded editorial, sneers at and chal
lenges the movement to organize Woodrow Wil
son presidential clubs in Texas.
It broadly Intimates the purpose of these
clubs is hostile to Senator Bailey.
Can you boat it? Did you over see such arro
gance? Do these people think Bailey owns
Texas, and that Texans have no right to speak
with favor of any other man but Bailey?
Harris county democrats who think they aTe
still free to act on their own political intelli
gence will assemble at tho city hall Thursday
night, notwithstanding tho Post's editorial warn
ing to stay away.
Woodrow Wilson is a gentleman, a scholar,
a statesman, a splendid son of the south, and
tho successful democratic governor of an Ameri
can state. He is a candidate for tho democratic
nominaMon to the presidency. He has not asked
permission of Senator Bailey, nor of any other
man, to be a candidate.
A good many Harris county democrats, seeing
in him tho making of a great president, and
seeing in him also an excellent opportunity to
seat a southern man in tho white house, favor
his candidacy.
Bailey's Texas organs knock tho Wilson clubs
because they favor Harmon, tho man who bolted
Bryan and helped elect McKinley, for-the demo
cratic nomination.
CAN'T BE AliL BAD
.Houston (Texas) Chronicle: Bryan has not
been able to win a presidential race, but every
president in office since Bryan first ran has been
praised by tho people chiefly for policies bor
rowed from Bryan's platforms.
STATEHOOD IN THE SENATE
Special dispatch to the Kansas City Times:
Washington, Aug. 8. Tho New Mexico and
Arizona statehood bill, with tho provision that
allows Arizona to recall its judges by popular
vote, will be put up to tho president. The senate
passed the bill today with the recall safely in
trenched in the Arizona constitution. And the
vote in the senate was surprising, 53 to 18.
The president, who is opposed to the recall
in relation to the judiciaTy, is expected to veto
the bill, but it has a majority in the senate
sufficient to pass the measure over the executive
veto, it is believed. Under these circumstances
It is possible the president will not use his pre
rogative. Tho Nelson amendment, striking from the
Arizona constitution tho provision for the re
call of judges, was voted down after senators
individually had expressed themselves as op
posed to this feature of the document.
By the terms of the resolution aB adopted, the
people of the territory will have to vote sepa
rately on ratifying that provision, and the people
of New Mexico will have to vote again on the
extremely difficult provision made for amending
their proposed constitutions. But no matter
how they decide, the territories will be admitted.
After the bitter assaults made on the recall
feature of the Arizona constitution the over
whelming vote for the unamended measure came
as a surprise. Nine regular republicans joined
eleven insurgents and thirty-three democrats to
make up the fifty-three for tho measure, while
only fifteen regulars could be mustered against
it. These, with one insurgent, Kenyon, of Iowa,
and two democrats O'Gorman of New York and
Bailey of Texas made up the strength opposed
to tho measure.
Two democrats, Senator Bradley of Kentucky,
and Senator O'Gorman of New York, voted for
tho Nelson amendment. The same two members
with Senator Bailey, voted against the final
passage of the measure, as did two progressive
republicans, Senator Bristow of Kansas and
Senator Kenyon of Iowa. The others who voted
against the admission of the territories were
Brandegee of Connecticut, Burnham of New
Hampshire, Crane of Massachusetts, Curtis of
Kansas, Dillingham of Vermont, Heyburn of
Idaho, Lippitt and Wetmore of Rhode Island,
Nelson of Minnesota, Oliver and Penrose of
Pennsylvania, Root of New York and Smoot of
Utah.
That provision, although the debate of the
last two days had made it plain that it was dis
tasteful to nearly every senator, waB retained
in the Arizona constitution by a vote of 43 to
26 on the ground of the right of the people of
the territory to decide for themselves. Two
Insurgents, one democrat and twenty-three regu
lars voted for the amendment eliminating the
feature and ten insurgents, one regular and
thirty-two democrats voted against it.
VICTORY OP THE "COMMONS"
In England, the government long ago took
over tho telegraph lines.
In England, the government makes railroad
rates. The railroads have nothing to say about
them.
In England, the government has just taken
over the telephone lines.
In England, the government has monopoly on
the express business through its parcels post.
These economics are now accepted, orthodox
doctrines.
In the United States private Interests own the
telegraph, telephone, railway and express lines
and make their own rates.
For the government to own these utilities
would be "socialistic."
In the United States the land Is owned by
millions of small holders AND IT IS TAXED.
This Is accepted, orthodox doctrine.
In England, 2,000 people own one-half of the
land. In the British Isles, 5,000 people own
over half the land.
Over there, land was never taxed until Lloyd
George passed his budget a year and a half ago.
Now it is taxed but lightly.
In England, a land tax is held up to the
public as "socialistic."
Thus the tory, who derives profit from special
legislation, rears his flag in all countries. 'So
cialism" is used to scare the timid, whether to
ward off land taxes or any other reform in the
public interest.
Fundamentally, the struggle in England is
identical with the struggle in the United States.
It Is the conflict between the people and privi
lege. Today, the people of England have given
privilege a smashing blow. What is known as
the "veto" bill has been accepted by tho house
of lords, who have been driven to a corner by
popular sentiment, twice expressed at tho polls
and by the threat of the king to create enough
new peers to overcome tho tory majority if the
bill Isn't passed.
The effect will be to make the house of com
mons practically the sole legislative body of
England. Tho lords will retain their titles and
dignity, but not much else.
And the commons is what we Americans call
"progressive." The victory means the ulti
mate freedom of the masses from the land
owning, liquor-controlling, privileged reaction
aries. Things will happen rapidly in old
England from now on. Omaha Daily News.
WHICH IS THE DANGEROUS ONE
The president is reported to have let it be
known that he will veto the statehood bill be
cause it permits the people of Arizona to
determine by special Tote whether they will
adopt the provision for the recall of the judi
ciary. "Mr. Taft," the dispatch continues, "has
no objection to the New Mexico constitution."
Now the New Mexico constitution would im
press tho average man as a curious sort of
document. It doesn't intend that any of the
new f angled. notions shall ever get a hold in New
Mexico not if it can help it. For instance,
under the proposed constitution the state of New
Mexico can never provide an educational quali
fication for the ballot -or for jury service unless
the constitutional amendment making such a
provision Is approved by a three-fourths vote
of the whole state and a two-thirds vote in every
county In the state which means never.
Ordinarily amendments require a two-thirds
vote of . the members of each house of the
legislature, and a majority not only of voters
but of counties. This provision can not be
changed by an amendment, but only by a con
stitutional convention.
It is provided further that if tho constitution
should some day unhappily be amended to per
mit the use of the initiative, the people may
enact only such laws as the legislature has power
to enact.
In the bill admitting the two territories to
statehood congress provided that the people of
New Mexico have the chance to vote at the outset
on an amendment simplifying the amending pro
cess. A similar vote Is provided for Arizona on
the recall of the judiciaTy. Yet it is the Arizona
constitution that the president objects to.
A curious viewpoint.
The New Mexico constitution might sew tho
state up as a corporation borough for years.
The Arizona constitution merely proposes to
adopt a provision which the Oregon constitution
has had for ten years but which has never been
used.
In which state is the public welfare really
threatened? Kansas City Times.
OLDFEELD SEEKS TO CURE DEFECT
The Washington correspondent for the Little. .
Rock Gazette, sends to his paper the following:
"Representative Oldfield of Arkansas intro
duced a bill which seeks to cure the defect in
the Sherman anti-trust law caused by the su
preme court's recent decision in the Standard
Oil and American Tobacco company anti-trust
cases.
"Mr. Oldfield is firm in the conviction that
the dissenting opinion of Justice Harlan is tho
sound view of this matter. It is a well-known
fact that because of the supposed minor changes,
Wall street is highly elated over tho opinion of
the supreme court, notwithstanding the fact that
the court held that the Standard Oil company
and the American Tobacco company should be
dissolved. The fact that the court inserted in
the opinion the word "unreasonable" pleased
the Standard Oil and tobacco companies, and
within a few hours after the decision had been
rendered, the stock and bonds of each of these
companies jumped up several points.
"It Is also a well-known fact that when tho
Sherman anti-trust law was written the great
corporate wealth of this country tried to havo
congress put the word 'unreasonable' in the
statute the very word which, twenty years
afterward the court read into the statute.
The bill provides that every contract in de
straint of trade or commerce shall be adjudged
by the court to be unreasonable and that every
person who shall make any such contract or
engage in any combination in restraint of trade
or commerce shall be deemed guilty of a mis
demeanor and be sentenced to a term of im
prisonment for a period of not less than one nor
more than ten years. .
"Mr. Oldfield states that it is difficult enougH
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