The Commoner
t WILLIAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR
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VOL 23, NO. 1 f Lincoln, Nebraska, January, 1923 Whole-Number 765
/
Practical Remedies in
Governor Bryan’s message is worthy of care
ful perusal; it is a plain, businesslike statement
of existing evils and of the remedies needed. For
the better enforcement of prohibition Governor
Bryan recommends that the governor j>e empow
ered to suspend during trial the local officials
charged with failure to perform their duties. At
present the accused officer holds on* during a
protracted tr'al and thus paralyzes enforcement.
The legislature can hardly fail to respond at
once to the suggestion.
The governor also recommends a rural credit
law based upon the South Dakota law on the
I subject. Such a measure is much needed, and the
[ legislature, representing as it does one of the
greatest agricultural states, can hardly fail to
support the governor in this recommendation.
An income tax law patterned after the Wis
consin law is also recommended. This, too, vq.ll
appeal to tb(£ legislature as a means of reaching
the holders of invisible property. Because the.
holders of invisible property do not pay their
just share of state taxes, the holders of visible
property are overburdened. '
Another recommendation of the governor im
peratively^heeded is the law authorizing the mu
j nicipalities to establish water plants, coal yards,
lighting plants, etc.
The recommendation that the soldier’s bonus
. be substituted for the ship subsidy is refreshing.
It is like grafting a sweet orange tree on a
lemon root—it can be done in the orchard, why
| not in legislation? W. J. BRYAN.
THE ^RISH FREE STATE
The withdrawal of British troops from Ireland
^as an event of such great importance that it
is not surprising that the departure of these
symbols of an outside authority called forth
! great rejoicing. Ireland's struggle for home rule
has lasted for centuries. Sometimes her cause
has grown brighter, at other times her pros
pects grew dim. Out of ebbing and flowing
hopes triumph has at last come and the destiny
of Ireland is in the hands of Irish men and Irish
^omen. x
Every friend of self government will hope
that the power now secured will be wisely em
ployed for the benefit of the people who have
bo persistently struggled for freedom. Here’s to
the health of Ireland and to the success of her
Pew government.
AN EXAMPLE TO FOLLOW #
A press dispatch from Tokio says, "The unions
of retail traders in Tokio are being forced to
reduce prices in the face of business depress.on.
Why not force trade combinations in the
United States to reduce prices and rates of prof
it? Those in control at Washington might well
follow Japan’s example.
At the beginning of this,
its 23rd year, The Com
moner rededicates itself
to the cause of the com
mon people; for their in
terests as against the in
terests of special classes.
THE SHIP SUBSIDY GRAB
The Minority Report on the Ship Subsidy bill,
prepared by Senator Fletcher, is worth reading.
No unbiased person pan read it without wonder
ing at" the a,i4aiei£y^o1'TTie"Tne'n who 'sponsored
the bill.
It was radically amended in the House where
some of its most glaring iniquities were elimi
nated but it is still so bad that it ought not to
find a single supporter in a body like the Senate.
No wonder the Ship Subsidy bill was deferred
until after the election. Nearly all of the Re
publican congressmen who were defeated in No
vember voted for the Ship Subsidy bill a fact
which is contributing largely to the popularity
of the measure designed to move the sessions of
congress forward and thus prevent a post-elec
tion session.
In this issue will be found a cartoon drawn
by Kirby of the World which sets off the situa
tion. It shows the Ship Subsidy bill being towed
by the lame ducks. It is one of the best car
toons of the season and ought to make converts
of any who still adhere to.the Ship Subsidy pro
ject. W. J. BRYAN.
EUROPE NEEDS AMERICAN ADVICE
The dissensions among the allies as to repara
tions threaten the peace of Europe. The United
States ought to lend its advice, reserving always
the right of independent action. It can not al
low itself to be bound by decisions made in Eu
rope but, with its moral prestige and its disin
terestedness, it is in a position to aid by its
counsel. In fact, it is the only nation that can
speak peace to the world. W. J. BRYAN.
A DEMOCRATIC OPPORTUNITY
The Democratic party is the only party of any
size that represents the producing masses of the
nation. The late elections put it in a position
where it can outline remedies and secure the
support of progressive Republicans. This puts
a great responsibility upon Democratic leader
ship in Washington. They must meet these re
sponsibilities or the Democratic party will suf
fer from their failure. W. J.BRYAN.
Darwinism in Public
Schools
Now that the legislatures of the various
states are in session, I beg to call the attention
of legislators to a much needed reform; viz,, the
elimination of the teach ng of atheism and
agnosticism from schools, colleges, and uni
vers'ties supported by taxation. Under the pre
tense of teaching science, instructors who draw
their salaries from the public treasury are un
dermining the religious faith of students by sub
stituting belief in Darwinism for belief In the
Bible. Our constitution very properly prohibits
the teaching of relig'on at public expense. The
Christian church is divided into many sects,
Protestant and Catholic, and it is contrary to the
spirit of our institutions, as well as to the
written lawr, to use money raised by taxation for
the propogation of sects. In many states they
have gone so far as to eliminate the reading of
the Bible, although i-ts- wtorate and-tts literature
haveTaTaTuc^entTre!y* distinct from the religious
interpretations variously placed upon Ihe B ble.
Quietly and unnoUced, the enemies of the
Bible have been substituting irreligion for re
ligion. Having excluded the teaching of religion
they are da ly teaching that which cannot be
true if the Bible is true. They do not always
openly attack the Bible, but that which they
teach is built upon the theory that the Bible is
untrue. Many of these teachers are atheists and
do not believe in either a personal God or a
personal immortality, as Professor Leuba of
Bryn Mawr University shows in h s book, “Be
lief in God and Immortality.” Leuba has him
self rejected belief in a personal God and belief
in a personal immortality and presents evidence
to show that a majority of the prominent sci
entists agree with him. *
Some deny that they are atheists, preferring
rather to call themselves agnostics, it being
easier to plead ignorance than to defend atheism.
Darwin declared himself to be an agnostic, hav
ing substituted his hypothesis and its implica
tions for the Bible. Darwin began life a Chris
tian, but finding that his hypothesis was incon
sistent with the fundamental teachings of Chris
tianity, he rejected the Bible as an inspired book
and with it the Christ of whom the Bible tells.
Darwin declared himself an agnostic and .‘-aid
that the beginning of all things was a mystery -
insoluble by man.
The tendency of Darwinism, although unsup
ported by any substantial fact in nature, since
no species has been shown to come from any
other species, is to destroy faith in a personal
God, faith in the Bible as an insp red book and
faith in Christ as Son and Saviour.
The so-called theistic evolutionists refuse to
admit that they are atheists, contending that
they believe in a God back of creation; they
argue that evolution is God’s method, but they
put God so far away as to practically destroy
a senseiof God's presence in the daily life and