Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Plattsmouth journal. (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 24, 1902)
- V-"" - h- v'."'"; J .e--. m:;v J i i f, 5 I i i ' i f f. V -m--::--:::-w ...Commoner Comment J Extracts from V. J. Bryan's Paper. f That Populist Influence. The reorganizers are always com plaining1 of the influence which the Iopulists have exerted upon the demo eratie nartv in recent vears. When ever a reorganizcr wants to find fault with the democratic platform or any nart of it, he denounces it as populistic. The fact Is most of the things which are complains! of as populistic were advocated by the democrats belore tne populist party was organized, and that which the democrats did borrow from the populist party was indon-cd by practically all of the democratic party prior t the Chicago convention. Take for instance the question of free silver. The democratic party in congress had for years leen contending for the very tiling1 which the Chicago platform in dorsed. Time and apaiii before there was a populist party nearly all of the democrats iu both the house and sen ate had voted for the financial system indorsed by the platform. They had voted for free coinage and for unlimit ed coinage; they had voted for a bill opening- the mints at the ratio of 13 to 1 without waiting for the aid or eon v" of any other nation, and no na tional democratic platform hati ever announced a different doctrine. The Chicago eonvnt?ou opposed' the na tional bank of issue, but in so doing it ' was entirely consistent with the party record. The Chicago platform indorsed the income tax. The principle of the in come tax had been indorsed in the prev.ons populist platforms, but it had also lieen enilnxlied in the revenue incasnre passed by congress in 1S'.I. Comparatively few of the democrats in the honse and senate voted against the income tax. Senator II ill of No v York, being the most rabid of its opponents. While it was known io the democrats in congress that Mr. Cleveland did not favor an individual income tax, he a!!o-ved the bill containing this tax to lieconie a law without his signature. The opposition to the income tax p!.iok has cot lieeo directed so much to the principle involved as to the wording of the platform, and the word ing of the platform was not suggested by anything the populist party had ever said or done. tioverriment by injunction was also denounced in the Chicago platform, but it will ! remembered that the United States senate had already passed, practically without opposition. the bill which the democratic platform commended. These are the propositions usually referred to as populistic, and yet, while the populist and aeusocratic party agree 0:1 these propositions, they are thoroughly democratic, and no demo crat can consistently object to them merely because the populist party fa- Tors them. lint whv should men who voted the republican ticket find fault with the populists who supported the demo cratic ticket? Should men who sup ported the Palmer and I'uckner ticket ieel aggrieved because the populists were more anxious than they to secure the reforms for which the democratic party had been working? If men are to be judged by their acions rather than by their words, the populists are much more in sympathy with demo cratic principles than those who spend their time criticising and carping ai the populists. Something .More Than Independence. The imperialists' claim that the American colonists simply struggled for independence fron Great ISritain and did not lay down a rule for the government of future generations, is well met by an extract from a speech delivered by Mr. Lincoln February 21, 1361. On that occasion the great re publican said: "Away back in my childhood, the earliest days of ray be ing able to read, I got hold of a small book, such a one as few of the young er members have ever seen 'Weem's Life of Washington.' I remember all the accounts there given of the battle fields and struggles for the liberty of the country, and none fixed themselves upon my imagination so deeply as the struggle here at Trenton, N. .1. The crossing of the river and the contest with the Hessians, the great hardships endured at that time, all fixed them selves on my memory more than any single revolutionary event; and yon all know, for you have been lxj-s, how these early impressions last long er than any others. I recollect think ing then, boy even though I was, that there must have been something more than common that those men struggled for. I am exceedingly anxious that that thing which they struggled for, that something even more than na tional independence, that something that held out a great promise to all the people of the world in all time to come I am exceedingly anxioue that this union, the constitution and the liberties of the people, shall be perpet , i! a ted in accordance with the original idea for which that struggle was made, and I shall be happy, iuueed, if 1 shall be a humble instrument in the hands of the Almighty, and of this. If is almost chosen people, for perpetu ating the object of that great struggle. The Lincoln (Neb.) State Journal, republican, asserts that the "steel cor poration, usually called 'trust, has earned during the first nine months of is existence 883,000.000. Does the highwayman "earn the money he taks from his victim? Dr. Loeb claims to have discovered the death microbe and a means of rend ering it harmless. This is encourag ing. Perhaps the good doctor will in time discover the trust microbe and a means of rendering it harmless. Talk about amending the constitu tion should be postponed until a com mission has time to investigate and re port whether there is enough left of . the document to sew a patch to. Administration organs have not yet ceased berating Webster Davis for hav ing the courage of his convictions. Mr. Davis has been guilty of the hein ous crime of doing his own thinking. Mr. ITanna will not work indns fri'onslvat the labor-capital harmony job until after he gets that Ohio legis- A Chance of Itase. Although we may deplore the lower ing of ideals that has taken place in ,, t if i,wu we must eive its editor credit for recognizing the inconsistency lxtweanthe Declaration of inuepen denee and the Philippine policy of the republican administration. In a recent editorial he speaks of the principle that "all governments exist for the benefit of the governed." One does not have to be learned in the science 01 government nor far advanced in the knowledge of language 10 recogni the wide difference between the prin- .irl nlxtrr stated and tle self-evident truth that "governments derive their ju-t powers from the consent of the governed." The principle stated in the Outlook is one mat lias neen as serted bv ever king and potentate who claimed to rule by right divine. V man would be a monster who would ?efend a government upon any other theory, but while this is the theory usually put forward in defense of mn arciiies and aristocracies, the all im-por-.ant question is, who shall decide what is for the "lienetit of the gov erned.'"' Shall this question be decided by a king, or by a few, or shall it be deeided by the people themselves?. Tne trouble with one who rules by ebitrary power is that he insists upon fleciding what government is best for his subjects, and then he insists upon shooting them if they do not agree with him in regard to the merits of the government which he proposes, anil under which they must live. The whole difference between a govern ment resting upon force and a govern ment resting upon the consent of the governed is involved in the difference between the Outlook's idea of govern ment and the theory of government set forth in the Declaration of Inde pendence. Jefferson defended the view embod ied in the Declaration of lndepence. In his first inangral message he said: "Sometimes it said that man cannot be trusted with the government of him self. Can he then be trusted with the government of others, or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him?" Lincoln announced the same doctrine when lie said that God never made a man good enough to gov ern another man without the other man's consent. It behooves us to analyze the princi ples which underlie imperialistic pol icies, and when those principles are understood they will be found to le not ones just discovered, but the old and blood-stained ones, trampled un der the feet of the soldiers who enlist ed under the banner of Washington. The Chicago Record-Herald, a repub lican newspaper, commenting upon the recent decisions in the Philippine case. refers to "the acrobatic Justice Brown The Record-Herald sa3-s that Justice Brown's distinction "seems to be that while they (the Philippines) are part of the United States, they may be leg isiateu against as though thev were a foreign country, though they are de nied the right of a foreign county to retaliate." This republican paper con cludes that "the stronger reasoning is with the justices who believe that uni form federal laws should apply to all America u territory and tne subject still remains to bs disj'.issJ as a ques tion of iolicv lefore congress. That body will find itself in a very peculiar and embarrassing position if it takes to making discriminating tariff legis lation for the Philippines." But why more 'embarrassing'' than when it undertook to enact discriminating tar iff legislation for Porto Rico? The Record-Herald says, "If for the Philip pines, why not for any other territory of the United States? If for anj- other territory, why not for any separate state in the union?'' To be sure, why not? But did not the Record-Herald make itself in part responsible for this very policy, when it enthusiastically supported for office men who were strongly committed to the very policy which it now vigorously condemns? Justice, Bat email & Co., wool mer chants, have issued a bulletin in which they say that the danger of reciprocity is past, but that the wool industry is now menaced by Babcock's threat of tariff tinkering. The spirit of the re cent reciprocity convention (composed of manufacturers who do not want re ciprocit3'), was expressed by one of the speakers who denounced reciprocity by saying that we would simply ask for eign nations to permit us to assassi nate some of their industries in return for our letting them knife some of ours." As long as the manufacturers control the administration it is easy to iruess the fate of the "handmaiden of protection," as the president has de scribed reciprocit3'. Having subsidized the steel trust into making steel we are asked to suIh sid'ze the shipping trust that carries the steel abroad and sells it at lowci priees than is charged home consum ers. In due time we will e asked to subsidize the foreigners into buj'ing the subsidized steel carried in subsi dized ships. Charles Emory Smith has left the postoffice department and "Historian" MacClay has been pried loose from the navy department, but the literary fel lows are still represented in the gov ernment employ by John Hay. Mr. Fry sa3's he has eliminated the objectionable features from the ship subsidy bill. If he has the bill will carry no subsidy provision. The people who pay the freight might solve the merger proposition by organizing1 a merger at the polls. ' It takes an unusually acute hearing to recognize any prosperity shouts from the wool growing regions. The country needs a servicable cen sus bureau much more than it needs a permanent census bureau. Perhaps Alfred Austin forgets that John Bull and Uncle Sam came togeth er on two former occasions. It appears that the Boers do not need a strenuous poet to urge them to renewed activity PBCGBfcSS IN TREE surgery. Lives of Many Are Now Saved toy Thnely Operations, there has als been very great progress In tree surgery or the methods of treating trees and shrubbery when It J becames necessary to apply the knife or pruning shears. Many a tree Is living today that would have died a few years ago from causes that would then have brought on death, but which today are successfully treated. An instance of this progress can be Eeen in the Simon Cameron tree, aa the spreading elm near the footpath leading from New Jersey avenue to the south wing of the capital in Washing ton is called. This tree received its WMle surgery aa applied to man has made great strides in recent years. name by which it is universally known now when the elder Olmstead laid out the capitol grounds and provided for a footpath which would have made nec essary the removal of the stately old elm that was so greatly admired by Senator Simon Cameron. Mr. Cam eron interested himself in saving the tree with the result that it was al lowed to stand in the center of a space that would otherwise have been covered with a granolithic walk. The tree flourished until a. year ago. when an amputation became neces sary. One of Its big limbs, showing signs of decay, was cut off. The op eration was successful enough, but the wound being left open, in the course of time decay set in. The decay was working into the very vitals of the elm and would have killed it in a few ears, but recourse was taken to an operation that la now very frequently applied in tree surgery. The decayed portion was scraped off and a cover ing of asphaltum was placed over it to arrest further decay. The tree is now as well off. says the Washington Star. as would he a man with a limb am putaicd and properly dressed with an tiseptlcs. In the course of time the wound will probably be healed and the ree will be perfectly healthy again. C00KINQ BY THE SUN'S RAYS. s'oel Plan Invented by Mas from San Francis ru. Ccoking by the heat of the sun is a novel idea, but suggests economy, and is certainly practicable if there is no exaggeration in the claims made by San Francisco inventor In behalf of a newly patented contrivance. The apparatus consists of a sort of oven made in the shape of a rectangu lar box. open on one of its four sides (through glass) to the direct rays of the sun, and similarly exposed on an other side to solar rays reflected from a series of prismlikc mirrors Inasmuch as the box and mirrors are adjustable at various angles, the rays of the sun may he concentrated upon the inside of the cres. a? r.y hour of the da The oven is set upon one edge Whereas the upper two sides are of glass, the lower two sides are of wood, and the whole box, save for the two glass sides, is double-wailed and lined with felt and sawdust. Thus, glass being a'so a nonconductor, the heat that enters the box does nor isily get out again. In fact, .r ;.re vere water Inside, it is claimed that it would quickly boil on a sunshiny daj The Internal arrangement of the oven consi&ts cf three shelves which remain horizontal no matter at what angle the box is placed. On these Ehelves baking is done. 'Along the top edge of the box extends a flat piece of metal, hollow inside, into which hot air is admitted from the oven beneath. This Is a broiler, and the inventor says that one may cook a steak on it nicelj. One advantage of the solar method of cooking it that it is clean. No fuel tas to be supplied, and . there are no hes to remove. It is a process that ecommends itself vmost strongly, therefore, to the neat and thrifty housewife. History of Irish Poplin. Lady Carew, who died the other day, was a benefactress of Ireland in this way: She was the first person to wear in Paris an Irish poplin dress. It was in primrose yellow with a design in gold thread, and so much admired that the foremost ladies at the court )f the Tuilleries asked her where she bought the poplin, an', upon learning the address, wrote for patterns. Marie Antoinette ordered one in lavender, enriched with .a gold pattern; the Princess Marie one in blue and silver, and Princess Clementine one in pink ,nd silver. Irish poplin wa3 first man ufactured in Dublin by Popellne, . a Huguenot refugee. It became the rage and was greatly worn on occa sions of high ceremony, as rain did not spoil it. Poplin became a favorite dress for the public promenades at fashionable hours. All its French imi tations, the wool being less carefully treated, cockle and lose luster when exposed to the least shower. Balzac dresses some of his grand ladies in poplin. The Princess Clementine wore a plaid poplin gown the day the late Queen Victoria first landed at Treport to visit Louis Philippe and Marie Amelie at Eu. Irish , poplin is still much worn by the children of the wealthy, and is thought to go well with Irish guipure. London News. Barber Canning: Bid for Trade. T perceive," said the barber, "that you shave yourself and that you are a rignt-nanaea person. 1 Know mat you shave yourseu ana mat you are right - handed because your hair, where it ends in front of your ears, Is blocked out by the razor at unequal lengths. It is much longer, a full quarter of an inch longer, be fore your left ear ' than before your rignt one. rnese inaccuracies snow ine that you shave yourself, and the longer hair on the left side shows you to be right-handed. For you have, you sea, a better, freer reach with the right hand, and in the first stroke of shaving that you make on the right side the trained muscles of your arm muse you unconsciously to begin high- . , x j er up. IT you were ieii-uauaeu ma kftir ot the "? He would be the horter." Philadelphia Record. Censamptlvee la Australia. According to Dr. Sidney Jones, 16,- 000 consumptives are moving about Australia annuallj. i TARIFF AN OUTRAGE. y. j. BRYAN DENOUNCES LEGISLA TION FOR PHILIPPINES. fcyj i Eclipses the Oppression Prac ticed bjr Knglaud t'pwn Her American Colonics Secretary U's Report Be reals Republican Flnanrlel Views. The Philippine tariff measure passed jy the house of representatives, prac Jcally by a party vote, is one of the nost shameless pieces of legislation -ver proposed by any party, and it ught to seal the political fate of any nan who supports it. England. In her ppressjon of the American colonies, vas never guilty of anything more yrannical, and even Spain, whose des otism aroused our country to armed irotest In behalf of Cuba even Spain acked the refined cruelty which Re mbliean leaders practice with seeming mjoyment. While the West Indies vere under the rule of the Castillian hey enjojed free trade with the moth- ;r country, and had representation in he Imperial parliament, but the Fili ilnos. after co-operating with us igainst Spain, were bought like chat els from a vanquished foe, and placed mder the control of high-priced carpet tag officials. Now they are to be shut nit from commercial intercourse with he United States by a high tariff wall :onstructed to enable a few American nanufacturers to grow rich at the ex lense of the rest of the people and de lied representation in the legislature vhlch taxes them. The Democrats In he house of representatives have jreatly strengthened their party by heir rigorous opposition to the meas ire. The short time given for debate n the house makes It imperative that he Democrats of the senate shall pre ent to the public through the Con cessional Record the facts relative to olonialism as thus far developed. fhe Commoner. SECRETARY GAGE'S REPORT. .That the Arreptanre ot Ills Recom mendations Would Mean. In his annual report Secretary of he Treasury Gage has recommended t shipping subsidy; the repeal of m tor war taxes; a central bank; the cre .tion of a national clearing house of tational banks; the enlargement of the imit of subsidiary silver coinage to 120,000,000, and the asset currency lan. Concerning the latter proposition ;ecretar- Gage's recommendation em odies practically the provisions of the 'verstreet bill or the McCleary bill The secretary of the treasurj' appears o be fully convinced as to the pro rie-ty of this plan. He thinks that at east two beneficial results would fol- ow. He thinks that $60,000,000 in Jnited States bonds, now in security. rould be gradually released for sale In he general market. The impounding f the greenbacks as security for the tank notes would, he thinks, relieve he government from all the burdens iow incident to their redemption to an extent of $200,000,000. For the balance f $146,000,000 in legal tender notes vhich would then be outstanding, the :150,000,000 In gold now held as a spe ial redemption fund would soon be txcessive. If this were reduced to 1146,000,000 the greenbacks would be tome virtually what Secretary Gage hinks they ought to be in reality, 'gold .ertificates, says the Commoner. In eaiit-, Secretary Gage's plan contem- ilates the actual retirement of the greenbacks and the substitution of a lational banking currency for the gov irnment currency, giving to the na- Jonal banks, in addition to the enor nous power they already possess, the trivilege of doing an immense amount if business on wind. This is "sound Inance;" this would be the realization if "a wise and business-like financial Kilicy," according to the Republican heory. This represents. In the most iresentable form, the purpose of Re- mblican financiers. The American Jeople have not yet begun to realize he responsibilities they were assum ng when they elected and re-elected he Republican party to power; but lay by day the plans of Republican eaders are being unfolded; and "little y little, but steadily, as man's march o the grave," the Republican leaders ire transforming liberty Into license. ind no one need be surprised if "asset urrency" and branch banks, in a short ime, become realities. Blerely aa Entering Wedge The new subsidy bill is by no means satisfactory measure to the men who have fathered it, but they are inxious to get some measure recogniz- ng the principle of ship subsidies :hrough congress and are willing, be cause they must, to wait for what they most desire until they can ask for it in the ground that congress must itand by the policy it has inaugurated ind perfect it. The aim of this bill is capture the support of western members who revolted against the aoldly obnoxious features of the form er bill, on the ground that the new bill s harmless. But for the purpose of Setting some kind of a subsidy meas jre through as a starter Senator Frye ind the rest would not consider this Jill worth fighting for. Boston Iler ild. An Issoe for AU Democrats. We have free traders and tariff 'evlslonlsts and some protectionists n the party. We have silver men and intl-sllver men, as well as gold men; '.hose who believe in taking the power 'o issue currency away from the banks ind those who believe we should seep the Philippines and who favor ;he most rigid control of public and cuasipubllc corporations and those -rho believe in state ownership of ubllc utilities. We have men who jelieve we should keep the Philippines ind those who think we should let hem go. But there is not a man In :he entire country who calls himself a Democrat that believes in the political ibsolutism which prevails to-day un Jer the control of the Republican party in national affairs. St. Paul Globe. HowVRMsTi Wt. Rerard It. Congrejn he khiwtu3 of Mississip- t measures which closes our ports to ar ticles imported from the Philippines, said that the Filipinos would refer to us as the stepmother- country rather than as the mother country. It is a point well made, but it might be stated even more strongly. A stepmother often shows great devotion to and makes great sacrifices for the children of her husband, but no nation has ever administered a carpet .bag government with benevolence or even Justice. N Great Armament Needed. It is time that all who believe In keeping the United States free from the heavy military burdens which now handicap the great nations of Europe, morally as well as financially and in dustrially, should make themselves heard.. There is no evidence that the American people as a whole desire anything more than a strictly defen sive navj'. and the existing fleet has gone beyond this limit. This country has never performed a greater ser vice to the world than by demonstrat ing Its ability to get on without great armaments. New York Evening Post. Tariff the Paramount linoo. While all Democrats do not agree on the tariff, they are more nearly har monious on that than any other sub ject. It is not a new question and the long-maintained Democratic posi tion on the question appeals more and more to the sense of right and Justice of intelligent voters. It should be a leading Issue in the next campaign if the party is to make a campaign along defensible Democratic lines. If not. it doesn't matter whom it declares for or against. Nashville American. Make a Clean Job of It. The Republican majority in the Am erican house of lords ought not to confine themselves to reducing the minority representation on the several committees. Why not cut off that representation entirely?. It would make but a minor difference, any wa. and it would be entirely conso nant with the idea of absolutism which has found so much favor in doing the national business within the past three years or so. St. Paul Globe. The Presidents Advisors. The American Anti-Trust League filed a protest against the confirmation of Attorney General Knox. The oppo sition was based upon the ground that he had not prosecuted offenses against the anti-trust law even when those of fenses had been brought to his notice. The senate committee, however, re ported in favor of the attorney gen eral's confirmation, taking the position that the president has a right to choose his advisors. Gage's Scheme Not In Favor. The reception which the financial community accords to Secretary Gage's proposition for a central bank should finally dispose of that abstract scheme. It is to be regretted that the secretary's last report should not have been more practically suggestive. It was almost entirely barren of sensible advice. Not for a long time, if ever in its history, will the country come to' the idea of a centralized banking system. Philadel phia Times. The Most Amazing; Injnxtlm. Schley, the man who fought and won the battle. Is allotted less than one-seventh as much prize money as has been paid to Sampson, and less than one-fifth as much as the sum allotted to Chadwlck. If these figures were not official they would seem im possible. ' Comment is superfluous. They constitute the most amazing in justice In the records of this govern ment. Philadelphia Times. Peril f the Trust (System. The peril of the present system of trust capitalization is plain. The gen eral public is in profound ignorance of trust conditions. Investors necessarily take undue chances when they buy trust securities. There should be at least a reasonable guarantee of safety to investors as well as to consumers. This guarantee must be found In pub licity as one measure of regulation, St. Louis Republic. Their Co-Operatlon Not Wanted. The Washington Post says: 'There are a great many teopie wno wouia be glad to co-operate with the Demo cratic party as it formerly existed." Undoubtedly, and Messrs. Hanna. Frye, Gage. Foraker, Quay. Addicks. Piatt. and others might be named aa a few of the many. Democracy, however, has ceased to hunt for that kind of co operation.' The Systems Are Irreconcilable. When oil and water mix harmoni ously with the utmost ease and celerity the Chaffee idea of rule in the Philip pines and the Taft idea of governing their people may work together with good effect. Until such a phenomenon - 1 1 t 9 tit occurs. However, cm 11 ruie anu mili tary sway in those Island are alto gether likely to "clash" and disagree at a hundred points. Boston Globe. Gen. Chaffee's Dilemma. In forming an opinion as to the ca pacity of the Filipinos for self-government. General Chaffee, the military governor, is somewhat embarrassed by the fact that he cannot decide for the Filipinos without deciding against the interests of the carpet bag officials and exploiters who find good picking In our new possessions." Prospect of Disagreement, Mr Hanna and Mr. Cleveland will be on the committee to devise ways and means by which capital and labor mav be brought into Harmony, it is highly probable that the committee 111 disagree. Mr. cieveiana is out ot nolltics and Mr. Hanna is In politics. That will make the difference. Dallas News. The Farmer Wants Ills Whack. After paying the wages, of a nurse for the other fellow's infant industry all these years, it Is not strange that the farmer has come to believe that somebody ought to hire a nurse for his hei sugar Industry. Detroit Free AS .TO BR ANCH BANKS SECRETARY GAGE REC0MMEND3 GREAT CENTRAL TRUST. Xaormooi Power ft gnrh at Financial Institution Would R a ConUant Dan f Object or the Promoters of Such Scheme 6hoin by The Commoner. In his annual report Secretary Gage recommends a great central bank. He says that the existing system does not afford "the highest assurance of pro tection" and does not establish "a bond of cohesion, the power of co operative action, the ability to co ordinate for the general good or for mutual defense." such as would be provided by a central institution with multiplied branches. Those who have carefully observed the part which the banking institutions have played in the politics of the country will obtain a hint cf the enormous power a cen tral hank with "multiplied branches" would wield when they observe that the promoters of the proposed system believe that between the banks as or ganized to-day, there is no "bond of cohesion," and no "power of co-operative action." Mr. Gage says that the oroposition for a large central bank with broad powers for establishment of branches "offends the common in stincts of our people," and "may be looked upon at present as Impossible of realization." We may accept this language, then, while giving no en couragement for the immediate pres ent, as holding out the hope that after a while, when the people shall have become quite accustomed to Republi can Impositions of all kinds, the com mon instincts of our people" may be violated with impunity and even a central bank may be established. If this proposition does now offend the "common instincts of our people" what manner of official Is this who holds out even the smallest hope -that the offense may yet be given? The "common instincts of our peo ple" have provided the safeguard of our liberty and have insured the per petuation of free government. If Mr. Gage shall finally succeed in establish ing this "offense" U the "common instincts of our people," he must either effect a complete change in those "instincts" or he must place the people in such a state of servitude that they will not be able to give ex pression to their "common instincts." The central bank la not the only Re publican proposition, that offend3 the "common instincts of our people," and yet Ir many other instances the Re publican party has ignored these "in stincts" and established un-American policies without the slightest regard for public criticism. May it not be possible that Mr. Gage has some war rant in believing that the time will come when even on the question of a great central bank, the "common in stincts of our people" may be defied with Impunity by the Republican narty? The Commoner, Facte of TLivlngr Interest "Ont of the statistical and technical aridness of the secretary o the treas ury's report" the New York World has produced these facts- of living in terest: The government taxed the people last year $6D9,216."i30 which is $351,694,625 more than its receipts for the last fiscal year before the Spanish war, 1897. It spent $621,598,346 which is $235.S24,3S7 more than it spent in 1S97. If taxation were the same now as it was four years ago, and the expenditures had increased to their present figures,, instead of report ing a surplus of J77.000.000 the secre tary of the treasury would have to re port a deficit of $273,876,641. If ex penditures were the same as before our colonial experiments and taxation were up to its present height, the re port would have been of a surplus of bo less than $333,522,371. No wonder President Roosevelt speaks of the Philippines as "a great burden. The- Dominant Middle West. The middle west the region be tween the Alleghanies and the Rockies and stretching from the Ohio river and the southern boundaries of Mis souri. Kansas and Colorado to the Canadian: line has become in recent years the dominant section of the country and its ascendency Is further emphasized by the advance of Gov ernor Shaw to the control of the finan cial arm of the government. Shaw's own state as now the speaker of the house, the head of the senate's com mittee on appropriations, the heads of other important committees in the other branch of congress and the heads of iwo departments in the cabi net the treasury and agriculture. Illinois has Cullom at the head of the senate's foreign relations committee and Cannon is chairman of the appro priation committee of the house. Other western states are also well provided In this respect. The Chinese Dancer. The Chinese exclusion law expires in six months. Unless renewed this winter this country will be flooded with Chinese who will come in swarms and take the places of Americans at wages that Americans cannot live on. The corporations are all fighting to prevent this law being renewed that they may have cheap labor that has no votes. If this 13 done, there will be race riots in this country the like of which has never been witnessed on earth. The working people of this country have shown in the past that they are unwilling to have the Chinese displace them in their native land. Great events will occur out of this subject. The congressmen and sena tors the working people have elected will serve the wishes of the corpora tions. Mind the prediction. Beware the result. Prosperity Unequally Divided. A Delaware reader of The Com moner meets the Republican argument that prosperity is equally distributed, by calling attention to the experience of a friend of his who had an oppor tunity to invest !.en thousand dollars In national bank stock twenty years ago, but instead of doing so Invested in farm land. The bank stock Is now worth three time:, what it was worth then, and has paid over 12 per cent Interest all the tine, while the farm can be bought for eight thousand an.! In the meantime? ha3 not yielded ccar ly so large a profit as the bank. This is not an uncommon Illustration, but many farmers who have hal a simi lar experience are still willing to allow the bankers, the trust magnate at. 1 the protected manufacturers to niak the laws. Wasting Time In Congress, Sixteen closely printed pages of the latest issue of the Congressional Rec ord are devoted to prlvato UMs pre sented In the house and referred. They number 1.338. The serioua de bate of the session, occupies less thau three pages of the Record. AH these bills are referred to congressional committees and most of them will in due time come liek to the house for passage. It Is a physical impossibility for any committee to examin them carefully. They will generally be rail roaded through and pas'ed by a sys tem of trading favors. In many in stances the country will thus be mai to pay unjust claims. But the mis chief does not end here. Muc h of tb energy of congressman must be wasted In committee work that ia of 110 na tional importance. It is absurd that the congress of the United State should devote a large share of Its ex ertion to trivialities that might prop erly occupy the fittenticn c' a council of a small town. Stakes a Convenient I-oophole. Some members of the house of rep resentatives insist that the Philippine revenue law should originate in the house because the constitution pro vides that all bills for raising revenue shall have their origin in that body. Congressman Overstreet of Indiana, however, is reported as saying that the Philippines bill may originate In the senate, as it Is "not a revenue measure within the meaning cf the constitution." This expres.-ion, "with in the meaning of the- constitution."" seems to be a very convenient one, and has often been used for the pur pose of covering a multitude of sins. ."Way Have Made Mistake. From the fact that various directors of the new Northern Securities com pany who are directors also of the railroads which this company owns have found It necessary to resign from one or the other it ia to be inferred that the "eminent legal authorities" who undertook to steer the big com bine safely through the breakers of the law made at least one mistake. Probably In the course of time it will be found that they overlooked some other points. Murder will out. no matter how "emlnen" the legal au thorities retain d In its behalf may be. Silver Itsue Xot Dead. But silver is not dead. Net only that, ft cannot be killed. Silver, in the abstract, is not the issue. The farmers of Iowa and the planters of Alabama do not care for your silver or its price. They are silver men solely because they will not tolerate the contraction pchemec of the big leaders of the Republican party, and if all the silver on earth were anni hilated now, the fight on that prin ciple would be carried on as fast as conditions made the fight necessary or available. XUe People or- tlio Traols. It will soon he, if it Is not now, a question of whether this country is to be ruled by the people or by the trusts and corporations. We hear much of "influence" in the present con gress. The subsidy bill is said to be supported by powerful influence, the isthmian canal is threatened by other influences, fair treatment of Cuba de pends on the result of the fight be tween the two great influences and the relation of our statesmen to them,, and so on. One wonders where tLa people come in. The- Attorney General' lvty.. Washington reports agree that there i little likelihood that the attacks on Attorney General Knox and the op position to his confirmation will amount to anything, and that the attorney general will be confirmed when the question is reached in. th senate. This i3 probably a correct forecast, .but some of those opposing the attorney general are very much in earnest, and out of the debate may come a clearer perception of the duties of that officer in the enforcement of the laws. A Hint froi Hint (try. Sir Robert Peel and William E. Gladstone were the strenuous uphold ers of protection till everything was going to ruin. Then they became, as McKinley apparently purposed, thi apostles of freer trade, and as such their names have gone into history. The protection theory Is bound, soon er or later, to be overthrown. . The history of protection in England will be repeated here. Protection is war; trade, commerce, is peace; there can be nd lasting agreement between the two. The "avy We Need. No patriotic American grudges the money necessary tor a navy iur ae- feuse, but a navy for Imperialistic conquest or simply to gratify the col lector's passion of those high In na tional authority is a useless burden on the people. We do not need a navy "whose hammering guns," to employ the rhetorical words of the 'president in his message to congress, "beat out the mastery of the high seas," but for purposes of defense only. Building s New Tariff Wall. The coal trust that ha acquired control of all the coal landings and harbors on the Ohio at Louisville snd Jeffersonvllle has the cities about where it wants them. It has secured by Its deal a new kind of tariff wall and can levy its tolls on all coal that passes through its gates. The Voters Will Thlak. Sharp practice may prevent any agitation of the tariff question In con gress, but it doesn't, suppress the thoughts of the voters who think with out the aid cf a machine. It a bee ptings. kill Urn and the wound will not swell.' i V t 1 V K I V p 9 r lature on fit-W -upq--lj '""' "" "e ""'