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The Commoner
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VOK 20, NO. 7
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The Commoner
ISStJKD MONTHLY
Entered at tho Postolflco at Lincoln, Kobranlcu.
ft Kccond-clasfl mat ton
Si. i I '
WILLIAM J. BRYAN, CHARLES W. BRYAN.
JBdltor and Proprietor AnHoclate Kd. and Publisher
o Edit, Rmft. and BubMcbs Ofllcc, Suite 07 Prcsfl-Bldfir.
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THE COMMONER, LINCOLN, NEB. -
ancj fa enact laws authorizing each local com
munity ,totcreateri as needed, similar .commis
sion for,. the investigation of local charges of
profiteering.
about an equal number of votes from both
parties in congress for prohibition - measures.
Tho twenty-two national prohibition organiza
tions, including the Anti-Saloon League, repre
sented in tho National Temperance Council,
wore a unit in favor of an expression from tho
political partlos for the effective enforcement of
the Eighteenth amendment and the laws enacted
pursuant thereto. It was perfectly proper for
either political IJarty to take credit for the part
which the party had in securing this legislation.
Mr. Bryan's attitude was perfectly consistent on
this point as a champion of tho prohibition
cause. His' leadership made the wot defeat cer
tain. Inasmuch as tho enforcement of national
prohibition is challenged In certain states, and
because enforcement of law is necessary to the
porpeluity of the government, wo believed that
tho time had come to ask tho political parties to
Stand openly for law and order and thus safe
guard the victory that has been won. The great
victory, of course, was the defeat of the wet
amendment. They polled their whole wet
strength for it. The leaders of both parties
reached tho conclusion that the platform should,
be silent. Tho fight served a good purpose in
educating tho people on thox law enforcement
issue and calling attention to the fact that they
must be alert in securing the nomination and
election of, a congress thatwill not nullify na
tional prohibition by repealing or weakening the
federal prohibition code."
COMPULSORY SERVICE
o are opposed to'Universal compulsory mill- ;,
try straining in time of peace. '.,."
tary
'' ' TREATY PliANK " ., . ;
Tho Democratic party demands an amend
ment; f6 the Federal constitution prbvldingfor
tlie ratification of a treaty by a majority vote, so
that it will bo as easy to end a war as it 'is to
declare war. Planting ourselves upon the most
fundamental principle of popular government,
ndmoly, Ahe right of the people to rule a
doctrine In support of which wo have recently
spent over twenty-five billion of dollars and for
which wo haye sacrificed 100,000 precious lives
- Wq favov an immediate re-convening of the
Senat6ttna' this principle may bo applied to the
treaty controversy and ratification secured with
such reservations as a majority of ,th. senators
may agree "upon, reserving for the future the
making of such changes as we may' deem neces
sary. We favor the appointment by the President
t with the consent of the senate of delogates to
represent this nation in the league until regu-
larly chosen delogates are elected and qualified.
We favor, tho selection of the nation's delo-
gatcot in the League of Nations by popular vote
in, .districts in order that the people may speak
through representatives of their own choice in
the august tribunal which will consider the wel
fare of the world.
These delegates should be Instructed not to
vote for war Without specific instructions from
congress or from the people, given by referen
dum vote. ,
Our nation's delegates should also be in
structed to insist upon the disarmament of the
world in order that the burden . of militarism
may be lifted from tho shoulders ot those who
toll and tho foundations of an enduring peace
laid In friendship and co-operation"
NEBRASKA AT, THE CONVENTION '
Not for tho purpose of exulting, but merely
as a matter of history, be it remembered that
Senator Hitchcock's candidacy turned out as Mr.
Bryan predicted. He received 18 vote3, 16 from
Nebraska (Mr. Bryan's alternate cast Mr. Bryr
an'js vote for him) und, 2 from the other t47
Btates. These 1$ stayed with him until he re
leased them on the fifth ballot. To 'make Sen
ator Hitchcock's defeat more complete, the wine
and beer plank on which the senator m&de hla
fight was defeated on roll call by a vote ot over
&to L While the dry members of the delega
..tonjiafl no reason to complain of the President's
treatment of the Nebraska senator, still they
could not but notice that the President's1 mana
gers, made no effort to aid him, and
yet, in the primary campaign, it was ar
gued that, as Mr. Hitchcock led the Presi
dent's fight against reservations, a vote
against him would be regarded as a vote against
the President. Mr, Wilson did not seem to take
the matter so seriously and did not give any of
his numerous delegates to tho senator, even for
a few ballots. The dry pai't of the delegation,
however, made a record. They helped to force
the fighting for a dry a plank. The drys were
defeated, but when they went down they carried
with them a greater temple than fell witli' Sam
son. They aided in the prevention pf the passage
of a wet plank (that would probably have been
passed if Nebraska had gone wet) ; and,, by help
ingto defeat the wet plank, they notified the
nation that "'the election of a wet congress is
hereafter impossible. That is some accomplish
ment for tho eleven men elected on the so-called
Bryan tickets Mr. Bryan is proud of his ten colleagues.
ANTI-SALOON LEAGUE'S ATTITUDE
With reference to the various planks before
the Democratic convention relative to prohibi
tion enforcement, Wayne B. Wheeler, General
J Counsel of the Anti-Saloon League,' and Chair
man of the Committee representing twenty-two
national prohibition organizations to present a
memorial to the platform committee, said:
"The Ariti-Saloon League asked, for the same
law enforcement plank .from the , Democratic
party that it presented to the Republican party.
We. did not ask to haye prohibition, put in the
party platform as a political issue because the
C1HU is not a partisan movement and it secures
AN INTERVIEW
Mr. Bryan was interviewed by the Post-In-tolligoricer,
(Seattle,)- following the-San Fran
cisco convention. The interview follows:
!Mr. Bryan, it was known in the convention
that delegates were going to you and urging
you to throw your influence to Mr. McAdoo in
order to beat Governor Cox." .
'Yes, I had the pleasure of, meeting a quite a
number of Mr. McAdoo's friends, Saturday,
Sunday and Monday, but I was powerless. Mr.
McAdoo's friends Had joined with friends of
Governor Cox to take away my weapons, and
then they expected mo to go against the giant
of, the Philistines. I had the pebbles I do
not knpw whether this 'Goliath had a forehead
but I had no sling, They took that away from
me when they defeated the dry plank. I was
not in favor ot Mr. MeAdoo because I believe
he was fatally nandicapped by close relationship
with tho president. No one can blame him for
his marriage but he should be content with that
We have a law in this country which forbids
marriage with more than ofie woman t a time
It may Te a little harsh oil some but it is gen
erally commended. Wo also1 have an unwritten
law in this country which says that children
cannot have a president for both father and
grandfather , It Jmay be a little hard on some
persons but 'only on a few. at protects us from
hereditary government and, after all, that is
more important than that any individual should
be so -doubly blessed as Mr. McAdoo's friends in
sisted that he should be.
"It is no reflection on any man to say that
ho should not be permitted to establish a reign
ing family in the United States, and I am sure
Mr. McAdoo will in days to come rejoice that
he stands in history On his own merits and not
under the shadow of his father-in-law. I like
Mr. McAdoo personally but I love my country
more than 1 love jany man and I was not will
ing to share responsibility for tho defeat that
would havo followed his nomination.
"The drys who were unwjlliflg to put fhe
Democratic party on record in an indorsement
of its glorious part in the greatest moral vic
tory of the generation-, have only themselves to
blame for tho nomination of Governor Cox. A
dry plank would have excluded wet candidates
from the consideration and we then could have
proceeded to tho selection ofthe most available
dry, but the president demanded silence on the
liquor question. Ho got what he wanted in the
platform and what he did not want in the nomi
nation, but even the best of us" cannot have
everything. I wonder, which the president
would have, preferred or if It ever occurred to
him that the convention 'might insist on putting
a dot oyer one his- "i's" or crossing one of his
"t's.". '
-- &RYAN ANI COCKRAN
(ByjrohfD. Barry,. in SanFrancisco
"? Newspaper.)
The rbest par of the afternoon consisted of
the, debate between Bryan and Bourke Cockran.
There was no question of the showing. Bryan
was by far, the abler and .the more impressive.
He towered way "beyonjl any one that had been
heard in the convention., He was courteous,
genuine, direct, simple, logical.aiid impassioned
in his argument against alcoho!,including cider,
light wines and,' beer. ? It you '""don't want
alcohol to make you druhk," he thundered, "why
do you want it at all?'
Cockran was smooth, careful and so courteous
that his courtesy almost became a ! joke. He
threw compliments about and then he threw
more and it seemed as if hekl never tire of
throwing compliments. He got, lost for a while
Svrhen he wandered down, south and talked
about the negroes. -
The audience for thw most part, was heart
and soul with the side -of Cockran. But it was
thrilled-and dominated by the fervor and power
of Bryan.
Other causes pleaded, by Bryan "vere sub
sidiary by comparison, important as they were
in themselves, restraint of profiteering, opposi
tion, to compulsory military service, the estab
lishing of an -official newspaper--to give the big
news of the country impartially and a modifica
tion of-the "ilsdn League Qf Nations plan.
Before the day was, over Bryan was to find
himself beaten on every point. But he showed
that nothing could weaken his loyalty, to what
.he: believed in and his courage. "'
vfHes twenty years ahead of his time as
uSfel."
"He's the only, big man 'the Democrats havo
got,' He is the only man they could win with."
In the fighting of the afternoon Bainbridge
Colbyv emerged and showed that he was a
speaker with a good delivery and with an
attractive, presence and a mind that ran along
with Wilson's. n. '
Some of the more knowing ones spotted him
as a dark horse in bigb favor with the President.
' But, in spite of everything, the day belonged
to Bryan, the man that had been meeting de
feat after defeat for a quarter of a "century and
making them stepping stqnes in a career that
had in it a kind of sublimity.
A pleasing incident of the recent Democratic
national convention at San Francisco was the
presentatioaoTa large houquet of peonies to Mr.
Bryan, Xollcrwing his speech to the convention, by
Mrs. George 3JJ, Hall of ,Nebrafcka
Sontaor Nugent of Idaho joined in reporting a
dry .plnk;,to the Democratic convention at San
Francisco. Additional nows of the convention
will be given in another issuo. ,