The Commoner.
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so widely controlled that th public interest
never do in jeopardy.
le SDeech Itself was nnimmirtant. bnt th
.ture of the performance which should bo in-
ictive to tne public was that Mr. vreeland,
the edification of the house, essayed to point
what are the defects of the present system
Ich the Aldrich nlan is to correct.
He declared it to bo necessary before con-
ering the remedies to consider these defects,
'illRA. ofhfir-w4RA. thn hniino nnd ti mthlln
idKlld not annrnolato how thorouch nr Mia
yfi'l Jwnedies proposed or how much they are
maided. When Mr. Vreeland concluded the
Wlfcole house annlauded. the domocrfitR mnnlfpf-
Sas hearty approval of the speech as did the
et it will be shown tomorrow nicht that.
lie the agents and representatives of cen
lized money control believe they can ad
ce thpir own purpose to force through the
rich bill by pretending a frank dfisp.rlnt.inn
the actual defects of the present banking
tem, including some suggestion of the exis
tce of a money trust, the moment there I a
oposal that a real Investigation of these de-
is do inaae publicly and In the in
vest of the public, it is regarded aa an n.
ChlStiC TirOnORltfOTT wlllnVl tniiaf ho faaiatnA ,ir
a overwhelming maioritv of the fipmnnmfa
'The country has heard a great deal about bi
partisan control of legislation for the benefit of
pecial privilege, but it has never heard this
bipartisan control more thnronchiv fiomnn.
trated, since the necessary number of demo
crats voted with the "old guard republicans at
.the beginninc of the lash nnncroaa nni.nnfnnfn
Jfinnonism.
Kopresentative Henry today- made public a
litter he had received from former Representa-
e rowier, or wew Jersey, former chairman
the banking and curreno.v mmmn-too tmi
gper said: "No one was ever engaged in more
;fwhteous catlRe Minn vnu Tf TOin i1n ,.j,
f&,.,nsLtf tlle, American people not to pass your
rwwolution.''
- 'WJ&? also save out a letter from Arthur Still
JmJ president of the Kansas City, Mexico and
tf&vmx: ", "v."u'ib tuo aibi,bih;o Ul LllO
LHw.r uubl uuu uescnuing its menace to the
oruxc muriuan people.
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GENERAL JAMES B. WEAVER
There will be general regret among men of
I parties because of the death of fipnnmi .Tnmoa
B. Weaver of Iowa. Under the headline, "A
gjuigmer ivanen, tne Dubuque (Iowa) Telegraph
xieraiu prims tne ronowing:
C "An agitator," some one has said "a n mnn
'who refuses to accept old lies." Gen. James
3. Weaver was pre-eminently an agitator. If
crusader be preferred as a more fitting term, let
mm oe caueu a crusaaer. Wherever the general
was he found need of fighting. Maelstroms
suited well his temperament when he was in
the very center of them. He stood where the
battle raged fiercest, straight as the pine grows,
grim visaged, his jaw set, his eyes flashing.
When he spoke it was in language chaste, in
voice rich and mellifluous, with emphasis mark
ing his every period. Whatever the subject
discussion touched upon, the general had ideas
about it his own ideas and unfavoring wind
nor circumstance could repress his "expression
of them. He was captain of his own bark, the
master of his own soul, and the play he had
given it since early youth made his an uncon
querable spirit. He never measured things by
the rule of expediency. Whatever was morally
right must be practical. Such was the general's
philosophy. If others hesitated to speak even
in whispers he dared to thunder from the house
tops. He had faced the cannon's mouth nor
felt tremor in his muscles. He had willingly put
his existence in the balance, and thus schooled
to subordinate life itself to principle, he feared
nothing earthly. He was a man unafraid of all
but God. To Him alone he bowed subjection.
The general was deeply religious. His last pub
lic appearance was as a lay preacher. He dis
covered, he said, that the masses of the people
were hungry for word of Chrisf and he found
pleasure in going about from place to place tell
ing the story of the Nazerene.
General Weaver was on the picket line
through all of life. He was a political trail
blazer. As victory for principle is won con
structive minds ta"ke up the task of fitting the
machinery to the need. Inevitably there is com
promise. For this task the general was unsuited
ho hated compromise. Thus it came about
that when those who followed him were appor
tioning the fruits of victory, he was off on some
new tack. His eyes searched the future, and
Martin Dies Attacks Mr. Bryan
Following is an Associated Press dispatch:
Washington, Fob. 10. William Jennings Bryan
was held up to the house as the "evil genius
hovering on the flanks of democracy" by Repre
sentative Martin E. Dies of Texas, who spoke
in reply to The Commoner's latest attack on
the democratic membership of the house.
Democrats and republicans alike cheered Mr.
Dies' declaration that ho "noithor feared the
power nor respected the judgment" of the Ne-
braskau, and his further announcement that
democracy, under the leadership of Champ Clark
and Oscar W. Underwood, was headed toward
complete success swept the democratic side of
the house into storms of applause.
"I am almost ready to join Governor Wilson
in his desire to find some decent and orderly
manner of 'knocking Mr. Bryan into a cocked
hat,' " said Mr. Dies amidst a roar of demo
cratic laughter and applause.
Mr. Dies' attack on Mr. Bryan followed Hie
latter's declaration in the last issue of The
Commoner that the thirteen democrats who
voted against a recent amendment in the house
to require publicity of all recommendations to
the president on judgship appointments were
"unworthy to roprcscnt a democratic constitu
ency." Mr. Dies doclared that if Mr. Bryan had spent
as much time "reading law ns ho had attack
ing democrats in public life, ho would huvo
known that tho proposed law would bo uncon
stitutional and an Infringement of tho presi
dent's rights."
"Mr. Bryan has led tho do-nocrats through
three disastrous defeats," cried Mr. Dies. "Like
tho bourbons of old, ho has learned nothing and
forgot on nothing. Iio points our column
straight to tho rocks of St. Helena.
"The people are ready to give us more power.
In this situation, it is a calamity, if not a crime,
for Mr. Bryan to sow seeds of discord In tho
ranks of tho party.
"Whatever wo do displeases him. Tho pros
pect of democratic success seems to anger his
very soul. I prefer to follow tho leadership of
tho gentleman from Alabama. I have followed
tho Don Quixote of Nebraska until I am weary
ing of a war upon windmills. I demand to bo
led against tho flesh and blood enemies of de
mocracy." The conclusion of Representative Dies' attack
was marked by general applause and tho clus
tering about him of democratic colleagues who
shook his hands.
his steps carried him along new paths that
needed clearing of obstructions in tho way of
common men bent by the weight of burdens im
posed by privilege.
If there was inconsistency in tho general's
partisanship, there was consistency in his devo
tion to principle. Between the republican party
of Lincoln and the republican party of McKinley
and Taft there is the difference between democ
racy and p'utocracy. The general was a Lin
coln republican and tho proof of his intellectual
integrity is that he was a Bryan democrat. A
greenbacker he naturally -was an advocate of
the quantitative theory of money which under
laid the demand for the free and unlimited coin
age of silver at the ratio of 1G to 1. A pro
hibitionist he naturally balked at and bolted a
platform declaration favorable to license of the
liquor traffic. A populist,' and that party dis
membered, ho naturally graviated to the
radicals.
It is hie:h praise but just withal to say of the
general that he was one of tho original insur
gents. He insurged against slavery he was an
abolitionist. He insurged against privilege
wherever it showed its head and fought wrong
as his moral perception disclosed it to him. If
there be higher eulogium to pay the memorv of
a man the reason it is not here expressed is that
the mind can not frame the language for the
pen to write. To say of one gone to meet his
Maker that he left behind him a record of ser
vice is to say that he fulfilled the purpose of
his creation, and that tho world commends him
to the favor of his Father.
nOW THEY LOOK AT IT TN OHIO
From the Piqua (Ohio) Daily Leader-Dispatch:
Within the past few months straw votes
have been taken upon preferences for presi
dent by various papers and persons in different
parts of tho country and all show an unmistak
able trend toward progressive democracy. In
the poll taken by the Indianapolis Star out of a
total vote of 9,360 votes cast for Bryan, Kern,
Wilson, Marshall, Harmon, Clark and Folk, Har
mon received but ICG votes less than 2 per cent.
In tho poll taken by the Denver News in which
9,387 votes were cast, Harmon received but 436
votes, or less than 5 per cent. In the poll taken
by the Indianapolis Star Bryan led with 3,403.
votes followed by Kern with 3,128, Wilson 1,629,
Marshall 723, Clark 96, Folk 93, scattering, 12"2.
In the Denver News poll Wilson led with
3,473, followed by Bryan with 2,999, and Clark
with 1,714, Marshal 303, Folk 214, Underwood
191, scattering 57.
In Ohio where Harmon ought to run well, if
anywhere, he is not able to even poll a majority
of the votes. For instance, in the Ohio constitu
tional convention, a body composed of repre
sentative democrats from all parts of the state,
out of 63 votes Harmon received but 30, while
Bryan received 17, Wilson 10, Clark 5 and Folk
1, making a field of 33 as against 30 for Har
mon. The Harmon press bureau is responsible
for a straw vote given out from Wayne and
Delaware county, and in these counties the vote
was as follows: Wayne county, Harmon 471,
Bryan 342, Wilson 106, Clark 23, Folk 14, Mar
shall 11, Underwood 4., making a total of f00
in. the field as against 471 for Harmon in Wayne
county. In Delaware county Harmon received
73 while Wilson received 42, Bryan 35, and
Clark 3, a total of 80 as against Harmon's 73.
These two counties were given out by Harmon's
press bureau for what reason wo do not know
because it does not prove anything in Harmon's
favor. But they omitted to give Summit county
in which county out of 1,408 votes Harmon re
ceived but 471, Bryan received 693, Wilson 62,
Marshall 121, Clark 32, Folk 29. In other
words the field aggregated 927 votes against 471
for Harmon, almost two to one.
It will bo remembered that in a poll of the
students of 11 of the colleges and universities
in Ohio, of tho 1,088 votes cast for democratic
candidates only 245 wore for Harmon and the
remaining 843 wore for Clark, Wilson and
Bryan.
At the Jefferson club picnic held In August,
1911, out of 2,200 votes polled Harmon received
but 400, while tho remainder were divided
among Bryan, Wilson, Clark, and a few scat
tering. A Toledo and Cleveland newspaper took a
joint vote in November, 1911, on preferences for
the democratic nomination with tho result that
Harmon received but 28 por cent of tho votes
cast while the remaining 71 per cent were
divided among Wilson, Clark, Bryan and scat
tering. All of these taken from various parts
of the country show that the people are determ
ined that tho next president shall bo a progres
sive and Judson Harmon Is not that man.
IN ONTO
J. Clinton Long of Versailles, Ohio, has Issued
the following statement:
I shall be a candidate for delegate to tho
democratic national convention, from tho
Fourth Ohio congressional district, and in
order that no voter may be deceived in casting
his vote for me I make the following statement:
If I am elected delegate I shall cast my vote
for W. J. Bryan if he Is a candidate, and shall
continue to vote for him so long as he is a
candidate.
My second choice for president Is Joseph W.
Folk of Missouri. My third choice Is Woodrow
Wilson of New Jersey.
Under no circumstances would I vote for
Governor Harmon for the democratic nomina
tion. To nominate and elect Harmon would bo
to turp the wheels of progressive democracy
backward twenty years.
I kindly solicit the support of all progres
sive democrats. I am, yours for the election of
a progressive democrat in 1912.
J. CLINTON LONG.
vi;
WILL YOU JOIN IN THE EFFORT
TO INCREASE THE COMMONER'S CIR-
OULATION FOR 1912?
TAKE IT UP AT ONCE WITH YOUR
NEIGHBOR.
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