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The Commoner
! - . , .- WILLIAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR
VOL. 14, NO. 9
Lincoln, Nebraska, September, 1914
Whole Number 665
TWENTYSIX PEACE TREATIES SIGNED
More than one billion, one hundred million people are now pledged to each other by treaty not to begin war until after the matters in
dispute have been thoroughly investigated. Treaties were signed September 15, 1914, with Great Britain, France, Spain and China. These
governments, together with the government of the United States, exercise authority over more than a billion souls. The twenty-two treaties
previously signed add one hundred and fifty million more, making in all more than two-thirds of all the population of the globe. The peace
plan is a success, It goes further and has spread more rapidly than any previous plan. The principle is simple, so simple that thirty-four
nations have endorsed it, including Germany, Russia and Austria. It is only a question of time when treaties will be concluded with these
nations and all the other important nations, and then we may expect treaties between other nations until investigation will be the rule.
W. J. BRYAN.
Economic Reforms
Secured
.-', -TJhis administration has dealt -with a number
oiiScbnomic questions, among which four may be
mVnftorieil as ol special importance:
First, a reduction has been made in the duties
on imports.
' For twenty years the democratic party has
been trying to secure a reduction of the tariff.
The revenue law of 1894, the only successful at
tempt, did not have a fair chance. It began with
a' compromise forced upon it by a few demo
cratic senators in the interest of manufacturers
in their own states; then it was blamed for a
panic which was really due to the financial sit
uation; and, to make matters still worse, the
income tax for which it provided waB held un
constitutional, so that it failed to produce the
necessary revenue.
The law of 1913 has had much better luck
than the revenue law of 1894, and it has met a
much more favorable reception; in fact, It is
now accepted and approved by a large majority
of the people.
Second, the Income tax provision of the new
law is also an improvement over the income tax
law of 1894 and it has the advantages of being
authorized by a constitutional amendment, so
that there can be no doubt of its validity. The
two parts of the law taken together the import
duties and the income tax make a most credit--able
showing In the matter of taxation.
The republican party, because of the influences
that controlled it, was powerless to bring relief
to the country either by the reduction of import
duties or by the enactment of an income tax
law.
Tile third economic question to which the pres
ident invited the attention of congress involved
the currency system. In this his success as a
constructive statesman was even more pro
nounced than in the tariff-income-tax law. The
country scarcely realizes yet the magnitude of
the change effected by the new currency law.
For the first time since the war tho government
asserts its sovereign right to issue paper money;
for the first time since the war state banks are
admitted to the benefits of treasury deposits
on equal terms with the national banks; for the
first time since the war banks,' both state and
national, have been put in c posltlopi to respond
immediately tp emergencies existing in a1 com
munityfor th firsts rleM war the fed
eral governinen has assumed the responsibility
of safeguarding the commercial and industrial
world by affording protection from panics; and,
what is not least Important, for the first time
since the war the power of Wall street over tho
political, as well as the financial world, has been
broken.
The republican party was likewise powerless
to bring relief to the country from the currency
system which had operated in the interest of tho
big money magnates.
The president is now engaged in what will be
a successful effort to protect the people from
private monopolies. The bills which have been
prepared by a democratic congress, acting In
conjunction with the president, promise relief to
the people from the heavy tribute which tho
trusts have collected. These bills also include
relief to the wage-earners from government by
injunction.
The above record is without parallel in our
economic history and ought to win from the
country a unanimous endorsement of President
Wilson and the democratic congress, senate and
"house of representatives. W. J. BRYAN.
CONTENTS
TWENTY-SIX PEACH TREATIES
ECONOMIC REFORMS SECURED
AUGUST 13, PEACE DAY
NO LOANS TO BELLIGERENTS
THE PEACE TREATIES
PIUS X.
PRESIDENT WILSON'S APPEAL FOR
NEUTRALITY
THE OHIO CAMPAIGN
PRESIDENT WILSON SAYS "DUTY
, FIRST"
MR. BRYAN'S SPEECH BEFORE THE
INTERPARLIAMENTARY UNION
"WATCHFUL WAITING" .WINS IN
MEXICO
RELIEVING AMERICANS IN EUROPE
THE WORLD'S GREATEST WAR
August 13, Peace Day
On jinptber page will be found an editorial
which appeared in a recent issue of the Stt
Louis Republic, suggesting that the 13th of
August b observed as peace day in commemora
tion of the ratification of tho eighteen peace
' treaties on that day. ' The Comiponor takes
pleasure In seconding the motion. Probably on
no other day in the history of tho world have so
many treaties been ratified, and the day is more
worthy of note when it is remembered that
.these treaties are the first that have provided
for Investigation In ALL cases. They leave no
gap; every dispute of whatever nature, which Is
not otherwjso provided for, shall, when dlplo:
matic means fall, be submitted to a permanent
commission for Investigation before any declar
ation of war or commencement of hostilities.
This leaves nothing which can in a moment of
anger bo made an excuse for wa. The contract
ing parties covenant with each other to refrig
erate their misunderstandings to keep their
disputes In cold storage, as it were until pas
sions subside, reason resumes Its sway and an
opportunity has been given to separate questions
of honor from questions of fact. If, after a
thorough examination of all the matters In dis
pute, the nations feel that they must go to war,
they can do so, but who believes a war probable
at the end of a' year's deliberation?
Yes, let August 13 be put down on the cal
endar as the day upon which tho public mind
shall be turned to the peace movement; when
expression can be given to that rapidly increas
ing sentiment which demands the substitution
'of reason for violence in tho" adjustment of In
ternational difficulties. The Republic Is to be
congratulated upon the suggestion which It has
launched. W. J. BRYAN.
Neutrality may not stir the blood like par
ticipation in war, but It does not have to bear
the blame for vacant chairs by the fireside and
it is much more pleasant to look back to.
i 4
What has become of His (Satanic) Majesty's
ship "Piffle"? The jingo press has not made
fun of the battleship, "Friendship" since the
European war broko out.
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