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The Commoner
VOL. 19, no. 12
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A Business Man for
President
An editorial in tho Saturday Evening Post of
October 4th last mado a plea for a business man
for president. Tho appeal so touched the heart
of tho Simmons Ilardwaro company that it pat
it In pamphlet form, tho reason given being
"Bocauso these sentiments scorn to us to be so
thoroughly sound, so well expressed, and so en
tiroly non-partisan, wo have reproduced it in
this form for tho benefit of tho traveling sales
men who may not have had an opportunity to
read It."
Tho high standing of tho Saturday Evening
Post would in itsolf call attention to tho edi
torial, and tho endorsement of so prominent a
business firm as tho Simmons Hardware com
pany omphasizos tho importance of tho subject
treated. A careful perusal of tho editorial,
however, reveals tho fact that no ono is men
tioned as an illustration. A good business man
would not bo apt to buy an article offered for
salo unless ho was permitted to examine a
sample, and, so, in considering the merit of tho
Post's argument, a sample would be enlighten
ing. What businoss men have tho Post and
tho Simmons Hardwaro company in mind? Tho
requirements, as stated by tho Post and en
dorsed by tho Hardware Company, are, to say
tho least, quite oxacting. Hero, for instance,
is what tho businoss man must bo: "Our
problems aro first and last economic that is,
straight businoss problems concerned with
production and distribution greater produc
tion, bettor distribution. Only a broad
gaiigod, sympathetic, common-sense, close-to-the-ground
man, understanding farm
ing and its problems, manufacturing and
its probloms, selling and its problems, will
fit tho issue. Ho must bo a man who will
play no capitaljstic favorites for the sake of
friendship, and no labor favorites for tho sake
of votes. Ho must bo a man who will give
short shrift to anyone who plays it hoads-I-win,
tails-you-loso. Ho must believe in profit
sharing and loss sharing too. lie must not bo
afraid to go after anyone who trios to-assume
power without responsibility or accountability;
who broaks his word or his contracts, individual
or collective. Such a man's creed would be:
A fair chance for all classes, and no looting of
any ono class for tho benefit of the other. He
would bo an American of tho Americans and
concerned about what kind of men become
Americans. He would givo more attention to
the quality of immigration than to its volume,
and ho would start a little involuntary emigra
tion." Out of somo forty million voters, men and
' women, we ought to bo able to find several
persons who would, to a reasonable degree,
moot tho requiremnts of tho above description.
But would tho Post and tho Hardwaro man
agree on tho ono selected"? And, even if they
could agree, what of the other business men?
Would they endorso the selection?
Of course, tho man would have to bo a SUC
CESSFUL businoss man, and successful as
moasurod by prosont day standards. That is,
ho would have to bo engaged in BIG businoss,
for it would bo humiliating for big business
mon to join in tho support of a little business
man. What big business man would tho Post
and tho Simmons Hardwaro company suggest?
Tho only business mentioned in tho editorial
is the steel business, and tho suggestion then
mado is that "A manager for a steel company
is not choson becauso he comes from Indiana
and is popular with tho boys out there, etc." I
wonder if Judgo Gary is tho dark horse? Or
might it be Mr. Swift or Mr. Armour or Mr.
Sohwab? Or somo railroad president? Or pos
sibly, a Pullman car company official? Give us
his name that we may examine his record before
the convention meets. If this ideal business
mantis old enough to be president ho has lived
during an eventful period and, unless too much
absorbed in businoss, must have taken a posi
tion on tho epoch-making reforms that have
beon adopted.
Was ho for or against election of the United
States Senators by the people? Tho last fight
against this great reform was led by that dis
tinguished business man, Chauncey M. Depew.
Was this business man's1 candidate for or against
tho income tax? A good many successful
businoss men opposed it and insisted that the
poor man should pay his own taxes and, in ad
dition theroto, a part of the taxes that tho rich
ought to pay. And whore does this businoss
man stand on tho currency question? The big
bankers, almost to a man, opposed the cur
rency law, and yet it has given us the best
currency system wo have ever had. What has ho
done to curb tho trusts? And might it not
bo interostng to know the views of the Postr
Hardwaro candidate on the subject of profiteer
ing? Is he FOR it, or IN it or AGAINST it?
Tho Post and tho Hardware Company seem
to regard popularity "with tho boys" as a fault
rather than a virtue. Are wo to have a new
method of selecting presidents whereby the
candidate will bo unavailable in proportion as
lio is popular and available in proportion as he
is unpopular? By what machinery are we to
exclude tho man whom the people prefer and
set above the voters a man whom they dislike?
Name tho candidate, please; givo the people a
chance to look him over. Boy, page Mr. Busi
noss Man Candidate. W. J. BRYAN.
THE PRESIDENT'S CONDITION
The following account of Senator Fall's re
cent visit to the White Hcvuso, and his descrip
tion of the president's condition, was carried in
the press dispatches:
"The whole conference was declared to have
been of the most friendly nature, the president
closing it with a story about an Irishman, who,
when asked whether he thou'ght the United
States would take Mexico, replied: 'I think wo
will. It's so contagious to us.'
"At another point, when jests were being ex
changed about the president's health, Mr. Wil
son was said to have referred to the statement
made in a letter by. Senator Moses, republican,
of New Hampshire, that the executive was re
ported to have a brain lesion.
" 'The president remarked,' Senator "Fall said,
'that aD a result of the conference he hoped the
senator would be reassured, although he. might
be disappointed t
"Senator Fall gave a detailed account of the
White house visit. He said Dr. Grayson re
ceived them ,and took them up to the president's
bedroorn, where Mr. Wilson shook hands with
each senator.
" 'The president shook hands with each of us,'
Senator Fall continued. 'He was lying in bed,
flat on his back. His shoulders were propped
up slightly! His bed was in a shaded portion
of the room. Ho greeted us pleasantly and
while his articulation seemed somewhat thick,
during tho entire conforonce I could understand
perfectly every word ho said.
" 'I think ho was covered up to his chin, with
his right arm out. I sat a little to one side and
slightly below him. near a tab.le, and he fre
quently turned his head to talk to me. He also
reached over to the 'table several times of ob
tain papers on it.' "
ROOZE AND UNREST
In so far as industrial unrest is due to tho
low wages it will be difficult to connect it with
prohibition. If a man has difficulty in living
on his wages WITHOUT liquor, what would be
his condition if he spent a part of his earnings
on drink?
THE FINANCIERS' DILEMMA
The financiers are in a dilemma. To be con
sistent with their contentions in 1896 or to
abandon them which? That is the question
They said in 1896 that it mattered not whether
the country had much money or little just so it
was all good. They ridiculed the quantitative
theory and swore by the molting pot test. Now
they have to explain high prices and, to shield
tho profiteer, they aro compelled to throw tho
blame on the INCREASED VOLUME OF
MONEY. Yes, they surrender unconditionally
tho quantitative theory has triumphed But
is the increased volume of money entirely to
blame? No. Hero are the figures from tho
comptroller's office: "
Per capita in 1916 $39.28 .
Per capita in 1917 45 74
Per capita in 1918 5081 -
Per capita in 1919 ',' 5350
Tho figures would account for some increase
in prices, but not for the increase 'that has
taken place since 1916. In 1913, tho year' be-
warsS14rrl?iWar' tUeKoPOr capit d'etat P
was $34.56; it is now $53.50 -less than 60 per
cent increase, while prices have increased 131
per cent above tho pre-war lovol. The profiteer
muet have a share of tho blamo. ' I,roniecr
W. J. BRYAN.
Catechism of the
Reactionary
Question. 'What is a reactionary in polltlmT
Answer. Ono who objects to reforms XI
yearns for the "good old days" when p?edatorJ
corporations pillaged without let or hind!
lonQ'? T Wha Party d Uie roactionwiS 1 &
A. Most of them are members of tho Rem.h
lican party; a few, however, call themselves
Democrats, but they act with Republicans wh
ever, their vote is needed to protect the imS"
atory interests.. , l
Q. What do the reactionaries in the Rennh
lican party do? epub"
A. They flead it and dictate its policies in
spite of. the fact that a large majority of the
members Qt the Republican party aro progres
sive. Q. What do tho reactionaries in tho Demo
cratic party do?
, A. They disgrace it by bringing suspicion
upon it.
Q. Why do not the reactionaries in tho
Democratic . party go over to the Republican
party whore they belong?
A. " Because they know they can do tho pred
atory interests more good by keeping progress
sives out of the Democratic party than they
could by. calling themselves Republicans.
Q. What are the reactionaries doing now?
A. They have several schemes on hand.
Q. Which is their most important scheme?
A. Turning tho railroads back into private
hands and giving tho railway magnates the big
gest private monopoly in the world.
Q. What else are they planning?
A. They want to abolish the Federal Trado
Commission,
Q. Why. ,
A. Because it makes the predatory corpora
tions mad by exposing them.
Q. Why does exposure make them mad?
A. Because fhe people will not consent to
being plundered when they know what is going
oh and who is exploiting thOm.
Q. What is that noise that we hear that
seems to como from tho suburbs of Chicago?
A. That is tho packers squealing. Their
protests drown out the squealing of the hogs
they are killing.
, Q. Who has been investigating thorn?
A. The' Federal Trade Commission.
Q. Does that explain why some of the reac
tionary republican senators are demanding in
vestigation of the Trade Commission?
A. Yes. The reactionaries do not investigate
those who plunder tho people; thsy only in
vestigate tho committees and commissions that
investigate, plundering. '
Q. Will the Democratic reactionaries join
the Republican reactionaries in tho effort to
abolish the Trade Commission?
A. They want to do so. but the people may
awakon before the commission can be abol
ished and the reactionaries go slow when tho
people are watching.
Q. When should the people be on tho watch?
A. All the time; vigilance is the price of
liberty. W. J. BRYAN.
WHY NOT JUDGE WEBB?
On" another page will be found a report of
Judge Webb's first charge to a jury. It is
ivorth reading. Judgo Webb will be renum
bered as the North Carolina congressman who
gave his name to. the Webb-Kenyon law and
led the fight for prohibition in tho District 01
Columbia and for the pronation amendment.
The democrats seom to be at a loss for a pru
dential candidate. What's tho matter wltu
Judgo Wobb?
AN UNPOPULAR SLOGAN
'"We don't knovT where we are going l'"1
we're on the way" soems to be the platform 01
most of tho would-be cand'datos for tho demo
cratic presidential nomination. It is not HKoiy
to" prove a popular slogan.
1
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REJECTED THE LOTTERY
Great Britain has rejected the oondTJ lottrte5
scheme by a "smashing" majority in liarIi?n!f" '
Good. That is a higher moral standard uu
Germany and Franco established when wj
made gambling in bonds a mattor of patnui
ism.
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