"W"'i
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The Commoner
i
r nf self-dofense, of self-preservation, and
hfl Dower should be absolute and complete,
iJfnniv restriction being that, when the gov-
niMit want3 to make a now application of it,
fSl submit it to the voters themselves and
-f them decide. I go bade, tU.erefore.sto that
1 Zl proposition, "-faith in the people."
Sifit the people of Nebraska; let them have
iht they want in government. The test of
vour 'faith in the people will come when the
ime is raised between a private monopoly that
B for the benefit of a few and a government
monopoly that is for the benefit of all.
Every proposed changed of importance should
1,0 submitted to the people for their approval;
in a democracy we must trust the people on every
subject There is one exception to the referen
dum if an emergency arises and there is not
timo'for the submission of the issue the gov
ernment must act immediately; you cannot allow
n state or community to suffer. The recent coal
strike at the beginning of winter was a case in
point The owners of the mines and the mine
workers quarreled, and the federal government
bean to assert its rights to protect the -people."
Instruction followed instruction. "You must shut
down your factories three days of the week;"
"you must cut down the use of coal;" "you must
suspend work that is not necessary,'" "the es
sential things come first." If the' condition had
continued and it had become necessary, the fed
eral government would have stepped in and taken
control of the mines. The American people
would not freeze; acting together they would
have protected themselves. And what the na
tion can do in a coal strike, a state or city
may have to do if an emergency arises. The
right of self-preservation in any governmental
unit is as complete as the right of self-defense in
the individual. t x
Before leaving this subject, allow me to sug
gest that franchises, being temporary in charac
ter, should be strictly limited in duration and
should always contain a provision reserving the
right of the governmental unit to take over the
property of the franchise holding corporation
at any time upon payment of ACTUAL replace
ment value. No allowance should be made for
the value of the franchise (which is a gift) or
for what is called "going value," and, of course,
no franchise should be granted without approv
al by tl3 people on a referendum vote. The life
of a franchise should not be over twenty-five
years; no generation should bind the genera
tion that follows.
THE PROFITEER
Next you will have to deal with the profiteer;
you cannot escape the issue that is presented
here. The profiteer is abroad in the land. The
darkest blot upon this nation's prosecution of
the war was the fact that while millions of our
young men were ready to bleed for the nation,
the nation was being bled by men whoso greed
outstripped their patriotism. And the bleeding
at homo continues even though the war is over.
We have just had an illustration of it. The mine
owners said they could not afford to give the
increase the miners demanded. We have
a law requiring corporations to make a
tax return, and a government document
was published showing the excess profits
of. many corporations, and what were they?
Nearly three-hundred coal companies haa
Profits above twenty-five per cent on cap
ital stock; one hundred and twenty-nine of
them had profits running between twenty-five
arid fifty per cent; seventy-five had profits run
ning from one-hundred to two-hundred per cent;
Eome to five-hundred per cent; some to a thous
and per cent, and four had reported profits in
no year twenty times as great as their jcapitai
ck; that is, they had taken from the people
to whom they sold coal enough money in one
year to retire their capital TWENTY TIMES;
and that was a year when mother were giving
UP their hoys to die for their country; when
wives were taking upon themselves a double
nurden in order that tlieir husbands might go
to war, and when the nation was straining every
nerve! '
,vTlje commercial classes have not been fair,
wo have given them judges and courts and of
fers to serve them, and any dealer can call any
customer before the court and collect his bill if
;no customer has the property from which to
joilect it, but there 'is no tribunal' before which
jne patron can go and secure rfn investigation of
Jie charge of extortion. Investigation shows
tf ,0veu in' a MX lilce Lincoln the profit of the
jailer is sometimes eighty-five per, cent. What
00 you think of a man charging nearly as much,
for handing out a' pair of shoos over his coun-
wa? ,PJid, t0, a11 wh0 Produced the animal
that furnished the leather, to all who did the
work in the tannery and factory and to all en
gaged in transporting the shoo? This convention
should set the world an example and show other
states how to deal with men who attempt to
extort from their follows. Wo need a state, trado
commission like the commission at Washington,
with powers as complete. Wo need a local trade
commission in every community so that every
person who is charged with extortion or prof
iteering can be brought before the tribunal and
investigated. There should bo a remedy for
every wrong; the government should protect
evory citizen from every arm uplifted for his in
jury. TJie honest men of the community should
separato themselves from the extortioner ann
the profiteer. The odium should not rest upon
all, but it will if the merchants stand together
to protect their class from fair investigation
and from the punishment of guilt. This is a very
important question? you should deal with it
thoroughly; you should see to it that there is
lodged somewhere a power to require a license,
if a license is necessary; a power to fix the per
cent of profit if that is necessary.
LIMITING PROFIT
We say that a banker cannot charge more
than a certain rate of interest. If a banker is
not above control, who is too sacred to have his
rate of profit fixed? If the bankers who claim
to hold in their hands the honor of the busi
ness community cannot be trusted to decide what
rate of interest they will charge who, inferior in
influence and in the respect that they
can claim exemption from scru
regulation? There ought to be
to license, power to limit prot-
to take over, if necessary. The
right of the community is superior to the right
of any individual. If conditions are such that it
becomes necessary for a community, for tho pro
tection of the rights of its people, to take pos
session of any business temporarily and admin
ister it until the emergency is passed, it should
do it, and the constitution should confer this
power upon each unit of government.
command,
tiny and
a power
Its, power
COOPERATION
Before leaving this subject, allow me to add
that cooperation between individuals should bu
encouraged. Tho middleman can only justify
his toll upon trade when his services are abso
lutely necessary. Pie is not unalloyed good; he
is at best a NECESSARY EVIL. He is a burden
to both producer and consumer, and should be
dispensed with whenever and wherever possible,
Individual cooperation is tho remedy, but to bo
permanent it must bo conducted on a sound
basis and kept in the control of those for whoso
benefit the organization is formed. Because
every coperative plan rests on confidence, care
should be taken to prevent any abuse of that
confidence, and the misuse of funds held in
trust.
And now I. come to another proposition. 1
have not had time to consult any of you and my
words will, of course, have no weight except as
my arguments convince you. Nebraska has, in
my judgment, a great opportunity today, and I
shall point out that opportunity as I see it. Ne
braska has been a leader in this country; meas
ured by every standard. Nebraska is progres
sive Now we are entering upon a new era. We
have abolished the saloon. (Applause).
T wvo here at 4:30 for the East, stopping
nt Omaha and Des Moines, but my destination
?s mshington, and I shall be there. Providence
- -4irr nn Friday, the 16th. wny.' ac
So Friday ?s tEfdaV. and Nebraska made it
en nVor which there will never be another
?0' ?i , Zinnn in the United States. There is
?, i mp You will find it in the 20th verse of
L1!8 2rS Chapter of Matthew,-the language in
the 2nd una-penr, Vrrv were assured that it was
n'tsis? to tho Hoiy
safe to take the c sought the young
L,aM?; n When you remember that King
child's life. wneny ild than Herod ever
C think ?nat you will agree' me that the
did, I thinic uiai j Which to express tho
most appraprlate words in wi
joy that fills i the J, t quoted, "They are
Mfat bought The youngchild's life."
dead that Ub t corrupt.
And just at this time wnw oufc of polI
ing influence ever K nown i arena flf
ffiSSSS SSSf S,-M t0 the 3uds-
ment of man, hastens tho triumph of over
righteous oause.
Lot me IlluHtrate It as I -soo It Supposo two
armies of one-hundred thousand each aro strug
gling for mastory on a hotly contested battle
field; suppose that, just at tho moment when
tho conflict is at its height, half of tho army
on ono sldo is drawn away, leaving the FIELD
TO BID DEFENDED BY THE REMAINING
HALF, would not tho chances of victory be with
tho hundred thousand? And supposo that, just
at that momont, fifty-thousand fresh troops
came to reinforce tho one-hundred thousand.
That Is what wo havo today; just as tho corrupt
ing influence of tho saloon is being drawn away
from ono side, the conscience of woman comes?
to support every cause that is righteous and for
tho nation's welfare. ,
SINGLE STANDARD OF MORALITY
Our state has done its part a croditablo part
in securing these reforms. Now, I suggest a
step in ndvanco. I would like to sco the state
of Nebraska raise here tho banner of the next
great moral reform by writing into tho consti
tution the SINGLE STANDARD OF MORALITY.
All legislation rests upon a thoory and that
theory should be statod In the constitution. You
necessarily endorso tho single standard or tho
double standard. I urgo tho endorsement of tho
single standard no segregation of sin; no li
censing of vice; tho ponaltios for immorality on
forced impartially against the two soxos. That,
my friends, I bellovo is to bo tho next groat
moral reform, and I would like to soo Nebras
ka lead the fight, Tho women aro here; their
consciences will be with us; their influence will
help us. How daTe wo longer discriminate
against woman and give to an immoral man tt
rospectabllity that wo deny to her? I beg you
to consider whether th's is not tho time to en
dorse the single standard of morality and declare
that, in Nebraska, there Bhall no longer bo dis
crimination in favor of an immoral man as
against an immoral woman. They w!ll stand
side by side before the judgment bar of God, and,
if they must stand side by side there, wo should
not give one of them an advantage over tho
other in the tribunals which man creates.
GAMBLING
This convention will have to deal with gai
blirnr. I liono tho constitution you aro wrltlril
will put the seal of its condemnation upon all
forms of gambling. It is one of llie sins that,
like intoxicat'on and Immorality, has come down
from the remotest past, but it overthrows God's
law of rewards. When the Creator gave us tho
earth with its fertile soil, the sunshine with Its
warmth and the rains with their moisture, His
voice proclaimed as clearly as If It had issued
from the clouds, "Go work, and in proportion
to your industry and your intelligence, so shall
be your reward." That is God's law of rewards,
and it must prevail except where forco sup
presses it or cunning evades it.
The axe should be put at the root of tho
tree. Gambling is not a question of amount, and
it does not matter whether one wins or loses;
it is the principle that should be considered.
There should be no more toleration of gambling
on a small scale than on a large scale. Gambling
at cigar counters, gambling with slot machines,
gambling with wheels of fortune all are gam
bling and should not be permitted. Chance
should not be allowed to be substituted for hon
est industry; our children should know from
their youth that there is at least ono state In
this union that makes' no discrimination- be
tween kinds of gambling, high or low, large or
small, but that all gambling Is prohibited In
Nebraska as far as law can prevent It.
I am not sure that you can deal by consti
tutional provision with the subject to which I
now invite your attention although it is In line
with what I have said on the subject of gam
bling. I have been convinced for many years
that wo should have a law that will make It a
criminal offense for any bank official, or other
official entrusted with other people's money, to
SPECULATE ON MARGINS. We should not
wait until he loses to punish him. A few years
ago I read a news Item to the effect that within
a radius of one-hundred and fifty miles In tho
state. of Iowa ten bankers had in a short time
committed suicide because of embezzlements
discovered. Wo should protect trust officials from
overpowering temptations. We do not allow
a man to carry matches in a powder
factory, mo matter how careful he is, wo
should not allow a man entrusted with
other people's mopey to gamble or to be
tempted to gamble. We should save him
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