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The Commoner
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The Commoner
ISSIIKD MONTHLY
1 fc, - '
Entered at the PoBtofflco at Lincoln, Nebraska,
as sconcI-dlttBs n)attor.
WILLIAM J. BRYAN, CHARLES W. BRYAN,
fldltor and Proprietor Asaoclato Ed. and Publisher
Edit. Rmft. and Business Offlce, Suite 207 ProB Bldg.
I j.i.i ji.i. ii.i i .urn ii iiiiiiiit ir n I I I ' I ' ' m m i i i i i i
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TUB COMMONER, MNCOTiW. SflSB.
N. Y. BANK EXTORTION
I will also add that there is not, and has not
boon, In my judgment, the(,least justification for
tho excessive and burdensome interest rates,
running up to 10, 12 au 15 per cent and higher
which have beon exacted by some of he banks
( in New York City, the principal financial center of
our country. New1 York is the only clty.of con
sequence in tho world whore such interest rates
exist and are tolerated. They do not prevail in
London or Paris, Berlin or Rome, Pekin, Hong
King or Tokio, or in any of the leading cities of
our own country, San Francisco, St, Louis, Kan
sas City, New Orleans, Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago,
Minneapolis, Cleveland, Richmond, . Baltimore,
Philadelphia or Boston.
These excessive interest rates and the pub- v
ltcity given them have increased the uneasiness
in financial circles and have been a contributing
-Cause rather than a consequence of the upsetting
C9tf security values, and of tho excessive and un
justrates which corporations and others have
been required to pay for money in recent
mouths. Tho banks which havo charged their
cuoEomors these excessive rates at times as
high .as 1 5 per cent or more have themselves
at the same time beon liberally accommodated
s with millions of dollars by tho Federal Reserve
Banks at average rates of considerably less than ,
six per cent. From Public Statement of Comp
troller Williams July 31,-1920.
PROHIBITION IN NEW YORK .
On another page will be found some interest
ing statistics furnished by tho New York State
Prohibition Commission and published in the
New York Tribune. The .figures show a , de
crease of 34vper cent invcfime in seventeen of
the larger cities city antf bounty courts of. the
state and a decrease of over 50 per cent In
cases of intoxication in New York City. Read
tho record, and then remember that a New York
Democratic state convention recently declared
UNALTERABLE opposition to prohibition and
-, demanded nullification of the enforcement law
until the national amendment is repealed.
' . THE WETS AT WORK ,
On another page will bo found a Baltimore'
item printed in the Washington Post of Sept.,
6th showing the activity of tho wets. They
have no politics. They want a wet congress
that they may (1) repegl the Volstead ict, (2)
loavo each state to enforce (or refuse to enforce)
the amendment, and, (3.) repeal the Eighteenth
amendment. Do the drys need, any more notice?
It Is time for them to walco up.
, '
; , ' SENATOR NUOENT
Senator Nugent of Idaho has received the in
dorsement of the Democratic party andris in
the-race for re-election. He has become a lead
er in the Senate, and is on the right side of very
question. He should be overwhelmingly elected
it would be a calamity to tho entire west for
Senator Nugent to be defeated. --
Mr. Bryan Interviewed
"(From The Washington Times, Sept. 7-),
"Whatever I may fool it my duty to do this
fall, I do not expect to leave the Democratic,
party. f-
William Jennings Bryan, thrice the Demo-(
cratic oomlnco for the Presidency, made that
statement hero, says a Washington dispatch by
J. Fred Eosary in the Baltimore Sun. '
UI expect to work in and through the Demo
cratic parj-y for the securing Of such things as
I believe to be good for the country," ho added.
Whether ho will support Governor Cox in the
closing days of thG campaign; Colonel- Bryan de- '
cllned to say. Just now, ho says he is devoting
himself to tho election 6i a congress that" will
reject all attempts to weaken" the prohibition
laws of the United States.
"Canxa man expect to remain in a party and
bo silent during a Presidential campaign?'' the
Nebraskan was asked. f
.."Yes," was the prompt reply. "I know a
Democrat who became President after ; refusing
to vote for the party candidate. I remember
one Democrat President ho helped to elect a
Republican successor, and I know of a Republi
can ex-President who helped to elect a Demo
crat to the Presidency. So you see I am entirely
within my rights when I refuse to discuss the
national campaign at pre&ent."
Colonel Bryan was asked, what wffs meant by
"at present," and ho stated that he had no plans
beyond today: Ho is in Washington withTMrs.
Bryan, and not to discuss politics, he said. ' -
No public appearance will be madQ by the
Commoner until lato in September, when he
will address the International Conference on Al
coholism here. Me'anwhile, he is doing some re-
search work in the congressional library.
"When you declined the prohibition party's
nomination for the Presidency a short time, ago,
you Bald you were still a. Democrat," Bryan was
reminded. "Do you still come under that classl- -flcation?"
r
"That stands," he tersely responded. '
.- Through his paper, The Commoner, Bran
has undertaken a national campaign to pledge
all candidates for cpngress against weakening,
the Volstead a&t, and said that when he left Lin
coln on Friday the pledges were coming in. at
the rate of fifteen a day.
It is kn6wn that Colonel .Bryan regards Sena
tor Harding and Governor Cox as both wet.
"I am for the dry man as against the wet man,
no matter w,hat party he belongs to," -he said
today. "The wets know no politics, why should
the fxlends of the home be less earnest? Why
should partisanship separate tho friends of pro
hibition now? It did not separate them in' the
r light for submission, and ratification of the Con
stitutional amendment and both are useless
without enforcement" f
It was recalled that after tho Democratic Nar
tional convention had refused to ado'pt a plank
in its platform declaring for .strict enforcement
of the Volsterid act Bryan said: "My heart Is in
the grave,"
"Yob," he agreed, "it is still in the grave, but
the grief has, abated sufficiently to allow me to
go to work for a dry congress." ,
The Nebraskan then was told that some of
his friends said he would support Governor Coz
eventually, to which he responded: s
"For the twenty-four years that I have been
actively in politics no friend has ever spoken
for me. With a paper of my own and access to.
tho other papers, It is not necessary for me to
speak through a screen. ,1 am not happy over
the failure of the two big parties to declare
their (position on prohibition enforcement."
"Bryan said he hopes tosee & congress elected
this fall that will be numerically strong enough
to override a possible Presidential veto of leg
islation designed to maintain the integrity of the
prohibition amendment and laws enacted lor
Us enforcement. Irrespective of party, ho wants
to secure a congress with two-thirds of the mem
bers of each house favoring impeachment of a
president of the United' States who might vio-
m late his oath of office by being derelict in enforc
ing prohibition,
"Do you consider election of a congress
pledged to support the present prohibition laws
, more essential than the election of a Senate that
will ratify the peace treaty?" was Inquired of
Bryan.
"Neither party can have two-thirds of the
n if
next Scn'nteqveryone, kndwsthat. A majority
can take" us intp war; why snoultl it take two
thirds to take, us out? I favor majority rule,
and 1 thinks the constitution ufehould be bo
amended as to allow a majority to ratify
treaties:' ' ,
While declining to discuss campaign issues,
Colonel Bryan showed a willingness to comment
on suffrage. '
' "Women Will be Very effective in every moral
question, now that they have the ballot;" he
said. "They will have algreSt influence on two
questions that are very near to my heart. They
will see that John Barleycorn has no resurrec
tion -and they will favor the; .abolishment of
war."
"Will they be bound by party ties as strong
ly as men?" was aske'd.
"Coming intothe franchise now, and having
no partisan record they will be more free today
to decide tfye issues of today," he replied.
"Nevertheless, they will have a strong predis
position against the liquor traffic in any form
and they will favor a substitute for war."
M'ADOO FOR PROHIBITION
An Associated Press dispatch from New
York, under date of September 8, which quotes
a statement given by ex-Secretary McAdoo, fol-'
lbws: . v
"Modification of the Volsteaa act to permit
the sale pf light wines and beers would destroy
ultimately the entire prohibition amendment,
"vyilliam G. McAdoo, former Secretary of tho
Treasury, declared in a prepared statement
made public tonight.
"He added ho, believed a modifyirg clause
would make every lunch room, drug store and
soda fountain a saloon, encourage youth to
drink and bring a curse upon thg country great-
er than -war.'
" Prohibition means prevention,' he con
tinued. 'It does not mean license in any form.
To permit the sale of 'light wines and beers is
to open a crack in the door of prevention, and
onceHhe' crack is open the door is wide. It is
impossible to administer" a light wine and beer
vlaw in such a manner as to "prevent the gravest
abuses.
" 'Brewers and wine merchants know such
a. modification would destroy the prohibition
amendment. To restore the liquor faction to
political power would be to reestablish liquor
trafficking in the worst form.' '
" 'It is a notorious fact,' he'' added, 'that all
drunkards begin by drinking light wines and
"beer when young, and as the appetite grows,
the desire for stronger drink is developed. If
we turn loose upon the country light wines and
beer, the greatest victory, ever achieved for
helpless women and children would be thrown
to the wjnds.
" 'If congress can, by a mere majority vote,
with the approval o,a favoring president, license
light wines and beer, then prohibition, which
required a two-third vote, plus the consent of
three-fourths of the states, can be nullified by
a majority of congress with the approval of the
President.
" 'Every man and woman" voter 'who puts the
welfare of children and humanity above the
mere gratification of harmful appetites, should
see to It that the next congress does not de
stroy the prohibition amendment.' "
Welcome, Mr. McAdoo. If he had come out
earlier, and his friends had helped to put a dry
plank in the national platform, ho might have
becojne the nominee.
ONE JFEARLESS DEMOCRAT
It , was refreshing to listen to Wm. J. Bryan
at the Democratic National convention. There
may be little he said .with which we agree; but
at leasts he had hid' say. He stood before a
hostile convention,, spoke his heart; and while
the delegates stolidly voted against him, he
moved the galleries to the one genuine demon
stration of the gathering. When a man stands
his ground in the face of newspaper ridicule and
organized" opposition, and preaches the faith
that is in him, he commands the admiration and
respect of those who love courage and free ex
pression Mr. Bryan represents a dwindling
few, in our national life those who yet believe
in tho American right Of free speech and frank
discussion. In battling for his principles,
openly and courageously although our views
may bo ajt variance wtth his Mr. Bryan per
forms a real and a much needed service in our
politics, Hirani W. Johnson in Sunset.
to,w Mil iv.
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