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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 1921)
flTOM'IRVWfB?' The Commoner ;.T,0&?1, NO. 9 srJt 2fc' R r & They See Approach ing Storm Ofi. another page will bo found an interesting,, editorial taken from the Chicago 4 Tribune, which calls itself "The World'o Greatest News paper," Its aha" s are aimed at Minority Leader Kitch en, Saimiol Gompers and Mr. Bryan. They are all guilty of the same offense, namely, pointing out that the Republican lcadors in congress are trying to shift the burden of taxation from the ricli to the poor. But why should it confine its attacks to these throe. Why not denounce the Republican caucus that knocked out the retro active clause and prevented a gift of 450 mil lions to the profiteers and 00 millions to the men with big incomes. Why does it not scores the western Republicans who condemn the pro visions of Oio taX.bill as bitterly as the Demo crats? The Tribune quakes as Jt thinks of the Ides of November, 192L2. W. J. BRYAN. i - i i - - --. .iiiiM---- i i t JUDICIAL "DIGNITY" "Resolved, That the conduct of Kenesaw M. Landis in engaging in private employment and accepting private emolument while holding the position of a federal judge and receiving a sal ary from' the federal government meets Willi our unqualified condemnation as conduct unworthy of the office of judge, derogatory to the dignity of the bench and undermining public confi dence in the" independence of the judiciary," The above resolution, adopted by the Ameri ' can Bar association, deserves a place among the mock heroics. If the men who voted for this resolution had been as jealous of the honor of the court as they would have us believe, they would have included judges who receive' an in come from stocks and bonds of corporations. Such securities may influencqthe decisions of judges; the salary that Judge Xandis draws will not; i' RESTRAINING THE PACKERS ,At lr.st we have a Jaw restraining the pack ing combine. Thinly of it tho farmers secure protection fromtwo enemies . within . the same month! The packers are controlled and the grain gamblers are restrained by THIS congress. And. it is not because this congress is better than former congresses it is because the farm er's condition COMPELS attention, The con gressmen aro all scared they are afraid the farmers will revolt next year. They will THE GAMBLERS SURRENDER It took thirty years to round up the gamblers in farm products, but they have surrendered at last. On another page will be found a news item in the Chicago Tribune showing that the Chicago" Board of Trade accepts the situation. It is a great victory for the farmers, but what a shame it should have taken nearly three decades for one-third of tl.e country (the farm ers constitute about one-third of the population) to protect themselves from a handful of speculators. . WORK FOR THE JOBLESS The jobless in Boston hit Upon a good plan to inyite attention to their "condition, as revealed in the story of an auction sale told in a press dispatch on another page. The auction was a success. CITIES, STATES AND THE NATION MUST PREPARE TO FURNISH FOOD OR WORK FOR ALL WHO CAN NOT FIND JOBS THEY MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO SUFFER! IT IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL 4The. worst leak is the appointment of wet of ficials to enforce dry laws. It violates the con stitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishments. What could be more cruel than to' require a wet official to cut off his own sun ply by enforcing a dry law. - - i Xi 1 NOT SUNSHINE BUT MOONSHINE When the Palmer ruling was handed down the wets thought they saw a ray of sunshine but it was moonshine. It was not much of a ray, and it quit .shining on August 9 When the, Senate passed the anti-beer bill. .Attorney General Daugherty said something when:; at the National Bnr nsannjnn iX -5 the, sympathizers with lawlessness .for Verfer- Uf, .. mc '".mcui or prohibition. LOWDEN SOUNDS WARNING, The following dispatch is respectfully com mended to those who are expectii.o' prosperity while agriculture is prostrated: "Waukesha, Wis., Aug. 19. 'There can be no return to permanent prosperity as long as the great disparity in the price of farm products, as compared to other commodities, continues, fo'rmer Gov, Frank 0. Lowden of Illinois told 2,000 Waukesha county 7-Iolstein breeders at their annual picnic at Lac La Belle today. "Mr. Lowden is president of the National Holstein Friesian Cattle Breeders' association: He reprimanded bankers and other economic authorities for their repeated avowals that the period of depression has reached its climax and' that prosperity is on the way. " 'Lying can't bring back prosperity,' Mr. Lowden declared, and added that no one indus try could suffer unless all did .nd that if the equilibrium in one industry was disturbed de-. pression was bound to come." ii-. i ii LABOR SUPPORTS DEMOCRACY Eleven million German members of organized labor pledge President Ebert their support in maintaining the republic of Germany. What other class will give the republic such an unan imous indorsement? Not the army, surely, for they are shouting for a return to monarchy. What other class offers its services on, battle fields, if necessary, to preserve popular 'govern ment in Germany? NOT BETTER BUT SCARED It took nearly thirty years to secure a law protecting the farmers one-third of the conn try from a handful of gamblers on the board of trade, but it is done at last. Why? Not be cause this congress is better than preceding ones but because it is more b'adly scared. The congressmen know that the farmers are getting desperate. ALABAMA REPRESENTATIVE SPEAKS Congressman Henry B. Steagall of Alabama delivered a forceful speech in the House of Repre-r sentatives, August 23, upon the pending revenue measure brought before that body by the Repub lican majority. It-will- be published in part in the October issue of The Commoner. WHAT CAN HE DO? What can the farmer do? His cattle, his hogs and his grain have gone down, and now his land is falling in price, but the middleman is keeping up store prices. There should be trade commissions in every state and city to deal with the profiteers. Letters continue to get lost in the mail in -spite of the fact that Mr-. Burleson is no longer postmaster general. At least that is what one must conclude, judging from the war news from Greece and Turkey, with respect to their invita tions to attend the disarmament conference An- -other explanation may bo that each expects to disarm the other before November, thus reduc ing the necessary number of delegates by one. If all the Republican senators were like Ken yon and all Democratic senators were like Ken- drick, it would not take long to make the Sen ate the most respected legislative body in tha world. The bill to restrain the packers is an, illustration of-their team work? pacKers ls ' Some of the doctors are denying that there is any such disease as auto-inttxication, but we, notice that most of the lawyers who are defend ing booze runners find considerable difficulty in convincing juries along that line. Marconi thinks he has intercepted a wireless message from Mars, but can not understand it If he wi use the War department c6oV on it he may discover that it is a protest- against the disarmament conference. " bdm.st e Can the militarists, &nd the manufacturers of munitions prevent disarmament? g hav failed to prevent the calling of the Serence?' Tokio may be "W at Loon,CpnarirsenaCned The ex-service merican now undrestanrl w it was' impossible to secure a bonuShi? S" profiteers" who made millions S7thR and-are still at it must have relief 'r(? War.T i - i (. .s The middleman blobksHhe wav ths0n. , prosperity, i Be is cyulhihg both nrtdiffS-"1"? consumed; 'he fs theVtfmhioa t ene$? ' -&1 Why Not Tax the Bonds? When tax free bonds constituted but a small part of the nation's securities, the exemption worked no great injury, but with 40 billions of dollars "worth of tax free bonds on the market the nation confronts a real danger. " The plutocrats are now insisting that high in come tax rates shou)d be reduced because so much money is being invested in tax free bonds. The remedy is not to lower the' income tax rates but to substitute taxable bonds for non-taxable ones.' New conditions require this change; it should be made at once. W; J. BRYAN. THE DISARMAMENT COOT)SRENCE From statement issued by Senator Walsh of Massachusetts: - I "Concerning the way ' in Wliich the negotia tions of th ecoming disarmament conference are to be conducted much1 uncertainty and not little dubiousness appears to be in the air, and it has not yet been stated in official quarters whether the hearings of it shall proceed with open doors and in full public view, or whether they' shalf be closed, and their happenings kept secret from the knowledge and disposition of the public. It is my opinion that the first single feature of the modus operandi of this confer ence which should bo at once determined is the question of open sessions. I do not mean by that that the doors "of the conference should be thrown open to the general public because that obviously involves -practical difficulties in nego tiating Which ,would gravely interfere with and impede progress and expedition. But I feel most strongly that these 'hearings should bo accessible to representatives of- the press just as the Senate Committee hearings are, so that a complete report of the claims and proposals of the various powers as well .as the final decisions of the, whole conference; nd the reasons there fore may be daily give'n-t;bMthq. 'people of the world. If-at times -during 'deliberations it is impractical to have outsiders present, executive sessions can. be "resorte'dr to, but even then the results of the same should 'be'-available for the use ot the press. ,t t "I am, therefore, presenting for the considera tion of the Senate a resolution urging upon the President the desirability of open sessions in this conference. I feel it to be the sense and wish of the American .people and the people of the"world that they should be so." JUDGE LANDIS The greatest public service of the year has been - rendered by Judge landis. He has knocked down a pernicious and destructive sys tem of operation which prevailed in the build ing trades and which kept the people from get ting the homes they needed. He has obtained a settlement which removes an obstruction to industry and housing. , He was able to accomplish this by the weight of his own character, by his yigor, by his repu tation for equity and public spirit which has been earned on the federal bench. Ho is the one man in the city who could have done it, probably the one man in the country who could have done it. . , " We do not believe that any commission would have succeeded. It would have left the situation just as it found it, if not' worse. Statutes had been unavailing. Threatened prosecutions were not having effect, and Judge-Landis did -succeed because all the emphasis o,f his character is on the side of equity. If he had' been merely a distinguished jurist, a profound legalist, he could not have accom plished it. He could and did because back of him, springing from, the record of his acts and words, was a body of public opinion which peo ple do not care to offend. If Landis found out rageous, iniquitous, and lawless -combinations, agreements, and restrictions "in the building trades the people, would know that his condom nation of. them , came from his sense of equity and that men who opposed.' him or tried to block him did not have a leg to stand on moral ly. Chicago Tribune-. : . f Every time" infe- German goverWient shows signs of refusing to' meet th3 ttftney payments involved in the war indemnity France wants to move Woro'soimers to th'e mankV'of the nhine, whicheem tp'foe ab'out tbtTni'dsfc solid banks in that part Wthe'woH'd'.:. Kv !; f 4V, t ', jWif , V it' ,T '&fi?jh&2&-?i;-