The Commoner
VOL. 20, NO. 2
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The Commoner
IsHsiTOD MONTHLY
Entered at tho Poatofllco at Lincoln, Nebraska,
aiT nccohd-clasn matter.
WILLIAM J. BRYAN, CHARLES W. BRYAN,
Editor and Proprlotor Assoclato Ed. and Publlshor
Edit. RmH. attd Bunincso Office, Sulto 207 Press Elder.
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TUB COMMONER, LINCOLN, NKH.
' Did 'Mr. Hoover 1- ' tho.World as his man
ager or did some one &h it on him?
Tho Republicans still muddy the waters with
Investigations in order to oscape outlining a policy.
fiiiltM hard to-sa t ,iosent which Is doing tho
Hoover boom the greator harm, his silenco or
tho World's effort to do his talking for him.
If the World picks out tho candidate for the
Republicans, and Mr. Hay's committee writes the
platform in advance, the national convention
will bo a quiet affair.
Representative Mondoll is away off on most
public questions, but he sure did hit the bull's
cyo when ho spoke out against universal mili
tary training. Ho said something then.
Governor Edwards has not yet heard that thirty-throe
states (almost two-thirds), are already
dry by their own choice. Mr. Edwards is New
Jersey's now governor and says that 100,000,000
people havo had prohibition imposed upon-them.
" pi , , H ,.
Well, tho cartoons of Undo Sam, now going
tho rounds of tho liquor controlled press In
Great Britain are no worse than the attacks
the same interests mado on prohibition in this
country and still prohibition triumphed in the
United States.
It will be noticed that three stout strings were
attached to tho Hoover hat when tho World
threw it into the ring the "Historical Democ
racy string, the "Liberal Progresslvism" string
and' tho "Hoover Record,." Tho hat can't be
blown away by any sulden gusts of radical wind.
"GABRIEL" EDWARDS
r, Governor Edwards aspires to be tho Angel
Gabriel, does ho? Well, "Gabriel" Edwards will
never know anything about tho horn that Ga
briel is expected to blow. It will be quite a
different HORN from those with which the gov
ernor's followers, aro intimately acquainted with
Governor Edwards may visit a graveyard, but
ho wont carry any Grabriol's trumpets with him,
;; SECRETARY MEREDITH
-The President has mado tho very best selec
tion possible in putting Mr. Meredith at tho head
of the Department of Agriculture. He comes
from Iowa, ONE of the best, if not the b?st
agricultural state in the union.' As the owner ot
Successful Farming, he has for many years been
in close touch with all thai affects the farmer
Ho tea man of high character and unusual abilU
ty. He is fundamentally democratic; he is pro
gressive; ho is courageous His sympathies To
with the peoplo, and he is just old enough to
have the wisdom that comes with years and yet
not old enough to havo lost the vigor and energy
of youth. His public utterances shv that ho
has studied tho situation and is alive to thn Ln!
of profiteering w iR f f i,J . ff A1 VI tho ov ls
Strength to hia arm ww " ? "JP??P0-
'. . uniiUN.
Mr. Bryan Discusses .
Political Situation
(From tho Ashoville, N. C, Citizen, Jan. 30.)
1
In an 'interview regarding the public men and
Democratic candidates he criticised, Col. Bryan
also took occasion to place himself in tho list
of thoso who aro not seeking- the Democratic
nomination for President.
His statement Is as follows:
"My criticism of Edwards and Cumimings. has
brought upon mo the charge that I am making
a wholesale attack on public mon with a view
of being a candidate myself.
"First, as to the attack on candidates. It ia
now thirty years since I entered congress and
nearly twenty-four years since my first nomina
tion for the presidency. My political activities
therefore, cover nearly a quarter of a century.
During that timo I have criticised only a few
men and haye seldom answered criticism, al
though I have been- the recipient of as much criti
cism as any other man in public life. My fight
has always been for principles and I have only
mentioned men when they assume a position,
which made, them a menace to what I believed
to bo tho public interest.
"I criticised President Cleveland, not perspn
ally, but because of his attitude on the money
question, and in that view I had the support of
the Democratic party, which refused to indorse
his second administration.
"I opposed tho nomination of Judge Parker In
1908. ' It was not a personal criticism, but op
position to the forces behind him. He was nomi
nated and defeated, falling a million and a quar
ter behind the Democratic vote in both the pre
ceding and succeeding campaigns.
"In 1912 I opposed Judge Parker for chair
man of the Baltimore convention. It was not a
personal criticism, but I felt that his attitude on
public questions and his political record made
him an unfit man to sound, the "keynote of a pro
gressive, convention.
"In that convention I changed from Clark to
Wilson because New York was attempting to
select the candidate. I did not criticise Mr.
Clark. I stated when I voted for Wilson that I
would change my vote from him to some other
candidate if New York voted for him. This ought
to be sufficient proof that it was not a personal
opposition to Clark.
"I believed then and still believe that the
candidate of the Baltimore convention, whoever
he might have been, would havo been defeated
if New York had been permitted to select him.
In the present campaign Governor Edwards is
the only candidate I have critioised and my crit
icism of him is not personal. I do not know the
man and have been able to form no opinion of
him personally.
"In the case of other candidates I have Bim
ply inquired as to their pqsition on public ques
tions and deferred discussion of them until thov
announced their views. .
"EDWARDS VIEWS KNOWN" "
"But Governor Edwards views are known. He
iVH w?n .?. thre6 states that have Taot
ratified the prohibition amendment. He is a wet
a soaking wot- not personally, for I do not
know whether ho is a total abstainer or a drink
er, but he is against prohibition, and that meana
JuA'f 0r bringing saloons back to tho
United States. The papers have quoted him as
promising to make New Jersey as wet as tho
Atlantic ocean, and since the campaign- he has
announced his intention, of preventing tle en
forcement of the amendment in his state if pos
"Can any Democrat be indifferent to the in
jection of such a candidacy into our campaign?
Three-fourths of the Democratic senators voted
for submitt ng tho prohibition amendment and
?? t,hree"fouf ths of the Democ?k , mem
bers of the house voted for It. Every Democratic
state ratified it. It is an insult to th Demo
cratic party for any man to ask it to defy?he
conscience of tho United States and the expressed
wishes of the party and make itself tlTcllm
plon of .an outlawed business.
i,'CriHcIsed Chalrman .Cummings not person-
?7ibb0CaUB0J!s a Demratic official he at
tended Governor Edwards' coming-out nartv amr
gave respectability to tho EdwardV boom
much f?r my attacks on public men. Now
for tho second proposition. I have repeatedly.
stated that'l am not a candidate. Do I act iitr
a candidate? Candidates aro very careful IS
to disturb the harmony of the party o?to aioSL
opposition. A candidate usually sits on iitoS
and looks pleasant so that everybody will info
him, hence It is necessary that some men in nib.
lie life shall be freo to speak for the nubX
without being afraid of hurting themselves No
other Democrat is under so great an obligation
as I am to speak out on men and on policies h
cause no other Democrat has received such ft
yors as I have. No other Democrat now livint
has carried tho party standard in three earn
paigns or enjoyed the confidence of so manv
Democrats for so long a time. y
"Nobody is in a better position than I am to
speak out against any man whoso candidacy
threatens the country's welfare and against anv
principle or policy which seems hostile to tho
country's interests.. I have so many enemies that
a lew more don't, count. And I havo been in poli
tics long enough to expect abuse from two
sources
"First, from the papers that openly chamnion
the predatory interests. wiion
"Second, from those papers less courageous
that promptly attack any public man who crit
icises the predatory interests.
"The first class represents tho big dog that
does the fighting, and the second class repre
sents the 1 littlo dogs that do the best they can
to help the predatory interests without running
any unncessary risks. Just now tho liquor
traffic is the greatest as well as the most con
temp tibje of the predatory interests, and the
friends of prohibition havo to meet the abuse
of the opem champions of the traffic and also
vlllification at the hands of that part of tho
press which does not dare to support openly the
liquor business, but is bold enough . attack
anyone who attempts to protect society from
It
"LETTING THE OAT OUT
n
Mr. Louis Seibold, the leading political writer
on the New York World staff, has been "feeling
out" the sentiment in Washington and has
located the Hoover vein. Ho says:
"The two outstanding impressions that
members of Congress and political leaders
obtain from the advices regarding the Hoo- .
ver movement are:
"Independent Republicans, convinced
that the boss-controlled machine of that
party is unalterably opposed to the nomina-
tion by it of a man of Mr. HooVer's type, are
beginning to urge the organization of a now
party.
"Democrats who do not want to see their
party stampeded by William Jennings
Bryan, or fall into the hands of extreme
. radicals, are beginning, to perceive in Mr.
Hoover an agent through which It may bo
saved from complete demoralization."
The World is afraid the RADICALS may con
trol the Democratic party. Mr. Hoover is thus
presented as a cure for radicalism. "Historical"
democratism will soon be defined as conservat
ism or Wall streetism.
On another page will be found a statement
compiled "by the National City bank showing an
Increase in the world's debts of 160 billions be
tween 1914 and 1920jr400 per cent increase in
six years, and yet there are Americans who want
the United States to spend' neary a billion a year
for universal military training.
.SIMS SHOULD BE DISCHARGED
Obedience is the first law in the army and
navy. The President is commander-in-chief and
acts through the secretary of each department in
giving commands. Rear Admiral Sims was
guilty of more than Insubordination; he tried to
Injure his nation by disclosing instructions
which, if they had been given, were of the most
confidential nature. He revolts against his commander-in-chief
and does it for the lowest and
most despicable of motives, viz., vanity, jeal
ousy and revenge. It is no credit to Republican
leaders that they condone so serious an offense
in the hope of making party capital out of it.
Tho question of discipline is not partisan. If the
situation were reversed the Republicans could
not find language severe enough to characterize
the injection of politics into such acase. Sims
Should be dishonorably discharged as a earning
to future officers, W. J. BRYAN.
jj.A-,. r'&ilf 'M'jmXATItiUti